雅思4.4-reading.doc

Lost for words

Many minority languages are on the danger list

In the native american navajo nation，which sprawls across four states in the american south-west，thenative language is dying
在里本土的n国民，which延伸跨越四个州在里美国西南部
T语言是正在死亡

Most of its speakers are middle-aged or elderly。Although many students take classes in navajo，the schools are run in english。Street signs supermarket goods and even their own newspaper are all in english。Not surprisingly， linguists doubt that any native speakers of navajo will remain in a hundred years’ time
很多的它的说话者是中年或者老人的。虽然很多学生取学校在里n，这学校是跑在里英语。街道

Navajo is far from alone。Half the world，s 6800 languages are likely to vanish within two generations—that，s one language lost every ten days。Never before had the planet，s linguistic diversity shrunk at such a pace。
N不是唯一一个 。一半这地球的6800 语言是很可能去消失在里两个代 that是一个语言丢失每十天。从未有过星球的语言的多样性缩减在入一个步伐

‘at the momentwe are heading for about three or four language dominating the world’ says m，an evolutionary biologist at the university of reading。‘it，s a mass extinction，and whether we will ever rebound from the loss is difficult to know’
在这时刻 我们是面临为关于3或4语言支配着地球
他是大多消失and 是否我们将回弹从这丢失是很难去知道

Isolation breeds linguistic diversity：as a result，the world is peppered with languages spoken by only a few people 。 Only 250 languages have more than a million speakers，and at least 3000 have fewer than 2500。it is not necessarily these small languages that are about to disappear。
孤立产生语言多样性：即一个结果，这地球是被布满用语言口头 通过只有几个人。只有250语言有更多比一百万说话者，and at至少3000有较少比2500。他不是应该的这些小的语言that 是关于去不显示的

N is considered endangered despite having 15000 speakers。What makes a language endangered is not just the number of speakers，but how old they are。If it is spoken by children it is relatively safe。The critically endangered languages are those that are only spoken by the elderly，according to michael k，director of the alassk n language center in fairbanks
N是被考虑危险的 尽管有150000说者。什么造成一个语言变危险不是只是这数目of说者，而是多老他们。如果他是被说通过孩子 他是相对安全的。这危机的濒危的语言是那些that是只有被说通过老的，一致to m，主任of
Why do people reject the language of their parents？ It begins with a crisis of confidence，when a small community finds itself alongside a large，wealthier society，‘people lose faith in their culture’ he says。‘when the next generation reaches their teens they might not want to be induced into the old traditions’
为什么做人们拒绝这语言of他们的父母？ 他开始于一个危机of信任，当一个小的社区发现他自己在旁一个大的，富有对的社会，人们丢失信念在里他们的文化。当着下一代到达他们的青少年他们可能不会想去诱导在里这老的传统

The change is not always voluntary。Quite often，governments try to kill off a minority language by banning its use in public or discouraging its use in schools，all to promote national unity。
这个改变不是总是自发的。很多时候，政治家们尝试去抹杀一个小数语言通过禁止它的使用在里大众或者阻止它的使用在里学校 所有去推广国家统一

The former us policy of running indian reservation schools in english，for example，effectively put languages such as n on the danger list。 But s who chairs the linguistics department at the university of chicago，argues that the deadliest weapon is not government policy but economic globalisation。
这以前美国政策fo 推行i保留学校在里英语，为例子，有效的推行语言如同n之上这危机名单。但是s who 主任这语言学的濒危at the 大学，争论that 这最致命的武器不是政府的政策而是经济上的全球化

‘n americans have not lost pride in their language，but they have had to adapt to socio-economic pressures’。‘they cannot refuse to speak english if most commercial activity is in english’。 N美国的没有丢失自豪在里他们的语言，但是他们有必须适应 去社会经济的压力。他们不能拒绝去说英语如果大多的商业活动是在里英语

But are languages worth saving？At the very least，there is a loss of data for the study of languages and their evolution，which relies on comparisons between languages，both living and dead。When an unwritten and unrecorded language disappears，it is lost to science。
但是语言值得去保护吗? 至少，这些事一个遗失的数据为这研究of语言and 他们的进化，which 信任在之上比较之间语言，两个活and死。当一个不成文的and没有记录的语言消失，它是丢失对于科学

Language is also intimately bound up with culture，so it may be difficult to preserve one without the other。
‘if a person shifts from n to english，they lose something’
‘moreover，the loss of diversity may also deprive us of different ways of looking at the world，’。
语言是也亲密的结合与文化，所以他可能困难去保存一个没有这其他。如果一个个人从n到英语，他们失去什么，此外这丢失的多样性可能也丧失我们的不同方法看世界
There is mounting evidence that learning a language produces physiological changes in the brain。‘your brain and mine are different from the brain of someone who speaks french，for instance，’pagel says，and this could affect our thoughts and perceptions 。‘the patterns and connections we make among various concepts may be structured by the linguistic habits of our community。’
这些是越来越多证据that 学习一个语言生成生理变化在里大脑。‘你的大脑and我的是不同从大脑of某人who说法语，为实例。And 这个能影响我们的思维and看法。‘这模型and联系我们做之中多样的看法可能构建通过这语言学的习惯of我们的圈子

So despite linguists’best efforts ，many languages will disappear over the next century。But a growing interest in cultural identity may prevent the direst predictions from Coming true。所以 不管语言学家非常好的成果，可语言将消失over这下一个世纪。但是一个增加的兴趣在里文化认同感可能防止这悲惨的预言从成真

‘the key to fostering diversity is for people to learn their ancestral tongue，as well as the dominant language，’
这钥匙去抚育多样性是为人们去学习他们祖先的舌头，如一样好主流的语言

‘most of these languages will not survive without a large degree of bilingualism’
很多的这些语言将不能存活除非一个大的程度的双语

In new zealand，classes for children have slowed the erosion of maori and rekindled interest in the language。
在里z ，课堂为孩子降低了这侵蚀of m and 重新唤醒兴趣在里这语言

A similar approach in hawaii has produced about 8000 new speakers of polynesian languages in the past few years。In california，‘apprentice’ programmes have provided life support to several indigenous languages。
一个相似的方法在里h有生成大约8000新的说者of p 语言 在里过去的数年里。在里c ‘学生’计划有提供生活支撑给几个本土语言

Volunteer ‘apprentices ’pair up with one of the last living speakers of a native american tongue to learn a traditional skill such as basket weaving，with instruction exclusively in the endangered language。
志愿者‘学徒’组成于一个of最后活着的说者of一个本土美国语言去学习一个传统技巧如编制篮子 用教导只用在里濒危语言

After about 300 hours of training they are generally sufficiently fluent to transmit the language to the next generation。But m says that preventing a language dying out is not same as giving it new life by using it every day。‘preserving a language is more like preserving fruits in a jar’
之后大约300小时of训练他们是通常足够流畅去传递这语言去下一代。但是m说that 预防一个语言死亡是不能相同即给他新的生命通过使用它每一天。保存语言是更多像保存水果在里罐

However，preservation can bring a language back from the dead。There are example of language that have survived in written form and then been revived by later generations。But a written form is essential for this，so the mere possibility of revival has led many speakers of endangered languages to develop systems of writing where none existed before。
然而，保存能带来一个语言返回从这使死亡。那里是例子of语言that有幸存在里书面里形式and当是被复兴通过下一代。但是一个书面形式是必要为这个，所以这只是可能性of 复兴已领很多说者of濒危语言去开发系统of写哪里没有存在在之前