真題呈現
（2018高考I英語閱讀理解C深度解析）
Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter-gatherers，small，tightly knit(聯繫)groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other. Some language experts believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12, 000 languages between them.
Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centuries, trade, industrialisation, the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation and better communications in the past few decades, all have caused many languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English，Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.
At present, the world has about 6, 800 languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven. The general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages, often spoken by many people, while hot wet zones have lots, often spoken by small numbers. Europe has only around 200 languages; the Americas about 1, 000; Africa 2, 400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800.The median number(中位數) of speakers is mere 6,000, which that half the world's languages are spoken by fewer people than that.
Already well over 400 of the total of 6, 800 languages are close to extinction (消亡), with only a few elderly speakers left. Pick, at random, Busuu in Cameroon （eight remaining speakers), Chiapaneco in Mexico (150), Lipan Apache in the United States (two or three) or Wadjigu in Australia (one, with a question-mark): none of these seems to have much chance of survival.
28. What can we infer about languages in hunter-gatherer times?
A. They developed very fast
B. They were large in number
C. They had similar patterns
D. They were closely connected
29. Which of the following best explains "dominant" underlined in paragraph 2？
A. Complex
B. .Advanced
C. Powerful.
D. Modern
30. How many languages are spoken by less than 6,000 people at present？
A. About 6,800
B. About 3,400
C. About 2,400
D. About 1,200
31. What is the main idea of the text？
A. New languages will be created.
B. People's lifestyles are reflected in languages.
C. Human development results in fewer languages.
D. Geography determines language evolution.
正確答案
BCBC
答案解析
本文是一篇科教類閱讀，作為說明文，語言表達獨具特點，閱讀難度較大。文章講述的是語言的演變與發展。語言已經有千百年的歷史，不斷地產生，發展 和消失。但最近語言的發展出現了新趨勢，新出現的語言越來越少，而消失地越來越多。同時伴隨著社會和工業化的發展，語言消失地越來越快。這類科普說明文的作答時，可以採用查找法，這樣可以避免了因為文章閱讀時碰到的的生詞和難句，而影響了做題效率。
1，B．本題屬於推理判斷題。根據題幹信息languages in hunter-gatherer times，定位到第一段 When the world was still populated by hunter－ gatherers， small， tightly knit（聯繫） groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other處，其句意為：在狩獵的時代，狩獵團隊各自形成了自己的語言模式，這會導致大量不同的語言，語言種類的的數量是巨大的，這B項They were large in number語義一致。.
2．C．本題屬於詞義猜測題．根據「詞不離句，句不離段」，定位到 and dominant languages such as English， Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over處，such as English， Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over就是對dominant languages的例證，再結合常識可知，現在佔據統治地位的語言有英語、西班牙語和漢語。 dominant意為應該為」統治的，強大的」，故選C.
3．B．本題屬於數字計算題。根據題幹信息languages are spoken by less than 6,000 people at present定位到 At present， the world has about6，800 languages及 The median number（中位數） of speakers is a mere6，000，Which means that half the world＇ s languages are spoken by fewer people than that處，其句意為：世界上的僅僅不到6000人卻說的語言佔到一半的世界語言，世界所有的語言大約有6800種。而6800的二分之一為3400，故選B.
4，C，本題屬於主旨大意題．全文的角度去分析，本文是一篇科教類閱讀，文章講述的是語言的演變與發展。語言已經有千百年的歷史，不斷地產生，發展 和消失。但最近語言的發展出現了新趨勢，新出現的語言越來越少，而消失地越來越多。同時伴隨著社會和工業化的發展，語言消失地越來越快。故選C．
真題譯文
語言已經有千百年的歷史，不斷地產生和消失。但最近的幾年裡，新出現的語言越來越少，而消失地越來越多。在狩獵的時代，狩獵團隊各自形成了自己的語言模式，這會導致大量不同的語言，語言種類的的數量是巨大的。一些語言專家認為，一萬年前，當世界上只有五千萬到一千萬人口的時候，他們說的是白話。 他們之間有12，000種語言。
不久之後，這些人中的許多人開始定居下來，成為農民，他們的語言也變得更加穩定，數量也越來越少。近幾個世紀以來，由於過去的幾十年裡貿易、工業化、發展 ，民族國家的發展和普及義務教育，特別是全球化和更好的交流，都導致了許多語言的消失。
目前，世界上大約有6，800種語言。這些語言的分布非常不均衡。一般的規則是，溫和的地區通常由許多人講的語言相對較少。 而溼熱區經常少數人講大多數語言。歐洲只有大約200種語言；美洲大約有1，000種；非洲有2，400種；亞洲和太平洋也許有3，200種語言，其中包括巴布亞紐幾內亞。 僅幾內亞一國就有超過800年的人口，而說話人的中的人數僅為6，000人，這意味著世界上有一半的語言是由比這更少的人說的。
在總共6800種語言中，已經有超過400種語言瀕臨滅絕，只剩下幾種講英語的老人了。隨機挑選喀麥隆的Busuu(8人)、恰帕內科 墨西哥(150人)，美國的LipanApache(2或3人)或澳大利亞的Wadjigu(1人)：這些似乎沒有多少存活的機會了。