选择知识点

As more and more people speak the global languages of English，Chinese，Spanish，and Arabic，other languages are rapidly disappearing．In fact，half of the 6，000-7，000 languages spoken around the world today will likely die out by the next century，according to the United Nations Educational，Scientific，and Cultural Organization （UNESCO）．
In an effort to prevent language loss，scholars from a number of organizations----UNESCO and National Geographic among them----have for many years been documenting dying languages and the cultures they reflect．
Mark Turin，a scientist at the Macmillan Center，Yale University，who specializes in the languages and oral traditions of the Himalayas，is following in that tradition．His recently published book，A grammar of Thangmi with an Ethnolinguistic Introduction to the Speakers and Their Culture，grows out of his experience living，working，and raising a family in a village in Nepal．
Documenting the Thangmi language and culture is just a starting point for Turin，who seeks to include other languages and oral traditions across the Himalayan reaches of India，Nepal，Bhutan，and China．But he is not content to simply record these voices before they disappear without record．
At the University of Cambridge Turin discovered a wealth of important materials----including photographs，films，tape recordings，and field notes----which had remained unstudied and were badly in need of care and protection．
Now，through the two organizations that he has founded----the Digital Himalaya Project and the World Oral Literature Project----Turin has started a campaign to make such documents，found in libraries and stores around the world，available not just to scholars but to the younger generations of communities from whom the materials were originally collected．Thanks to digital technology and the widely available Internet，Turin notes，the endangered languages can be saved and reconnected with speech communities．



Many scholars are making efforts to ______ ．

A. promote global language
B. rescue disappearing languages
C. search for language communities
D. set up language research organizations

What does"that tradition"in Paragraph 3 refer to？ ______

A. Having full records of the languages．
B. Writing books on language teaching．
C. Telling stories about language users．
D. Living with the native speakers．

What is Turin's book based on？ ______

A. The cultural studies in India．
B. The documents available at Yale．
C. His language research in Bhutan．
D. His personal experience in Nepal．

Which of the following best describes Turin's work？ ______

A. Write，sell and donate．
B. Record，repair and reward．
C. Design，experiment and report．
D. Collect，protect and reconnect．

Children of all ages gathered in New York City recently for the International Toy Fair． Hidden among already popular toys were new， high-tech educational products．
Educational products are important to the toy industry． In recent years， parents have shown an interest in STEM-related toys - ones that help teach Science， Technology， Engineering and Mathematics． But now， toymakers are working to create products for improving a child's emotional intelligence． These toys reportedly not only help raise intelligence in children， but also their emotional quotient， or EQ． Companies showed off their products last week at New York's Jacob Javitz Convention Center．
PleIQ is a set of plastic toy blocks． It uses augmented reality（增强现实） technology to teach words， numbers and other things． Edison Durán directs the company that makes PleIQ． She showed people at the toy fair how virtual images appear on the blocks when they are held in front of a tablet camera． Intelligence includes intrapersonal skills -- processing information within one's mind -- and interpersonal skills， or dealing with other people． Durán said PleIQ builds on both by having children act as teacher or guide to a companion character．
On the other side of the convention center， Karen Hu demonstrated an educational robot called Woobo． Hu asked the hairy green robot： "Hi， what's your name？" With a childlike voice， the toy answered， "Are you trying to trick me？ My name is Woobo．" The robot comes programmed with educational games and activities． Children use its touchscreen face to get them started． Toys that work as companions also aid in social development． Hu described how the robot can help a child who has autism．
"He can communicate with Woobo and he can follow some of the instruction Woobo is giving because he thinks of this as a companion instead of a parent or someone else telling him to certain things．"
A more low-tech companion is a toy animal called Manimo． The manufacturer says this toy can help reduce hyperactivity in children and improve their ability to pay attention to a subject． Whether it's a snake， dolphin or other animal， Manimos can be placed across a child's arm， chest or neck． Karine Gagner， president of Manimo， explained that adding deep pressure to one's body can help calm a child before bedtime．
In remains to be seen whether a game or toy can improve emotional intelligence． But toymakers are doing what they can to help parents in their efforts to raise well-rounded children．



According to the passage， why do toymakers focus on the creation of educational products？ ______

A. Because they try to meet parents" increasing needs．
B. Because the toys are advanced in high technology．
C. Because traditional toys don't appeal to children any more．
D. Because the toys are helpful to those kids with special needs．

To which situation can intrapersonal skills be applied？ ______

A. Little Mike is trying his best to work out "2+3=？"．
B. Kate is unwilling to make friends with those in her kindergarten．
C. A robot can process information faster than man．
D. Jerry with autism loves to be left alone．

What can be inferred from the passage？ ______

A. High-tech toys can make a big difference to both EQ and IQ．
B. A hyperactive child may have difficulty staying focused．
C. Woobo can start automatically and offer kids educational games and activities．
D. Toys served as companions can be helpful in economic development．

What's the author's attitude towards the toymakers ？ ______

A. Sceptical
B. Neutral
C. Negative
D. Positive

When I was 12，all I wanted was a signet （图章） ring．They were the" in"thing and it seemed every girl except me had one．On my 13th birthday，my Mum gave me a signet ring with my initials（姓名首字母） carved into it．I was in heaven．
What made it even more special was that it was about the only thing that wasn't being"replaced"．We'd been burnt out in fires that swept through our area earlier that year and had lost everything-so most of the"new"stuff （东西） we got was really just to replace what we'd lost．But not my ring．My ring was new．
Then，only one month later，I lost it．I took it off before bed and it was missing in the morning．I was sad and searched everywhere for it．But it seemed to have disappeared．Eventually，I gave up and stopped looking for it．And two years later，we sold the house and moved away．
Years passed，and a couple of moves later，I was visiting my parents'when Mum told me that she had something for me．It wasn't my birthday，nor was it Easter or Christmas or any other gift-giving occasion．Mum noticed my questioning look．"You'll recognize this one，"she said，smiling．
Then she handed me a small ring box．I took it from her and opened it to find my beautiful signet ring inside．The family who had bought our house 13 years earlier had recently decided to do some redecorations，which included replacing the carpets．When they pulled the carpet up in my old bedroom，they found the ring．As it had my initials carved into it，they realized who owned the ring．They'd had it professionally cleaned up by a jeweler before sending it to my mother．And it still fits me．



The underlined word"in"in the first paragraph probably means" ______ "．

A. fashionable
B. available
C. practical
D. renewable

When she got the ring back，the writer was about ______ ．

A. 13 years old
B. 15 years old
C. 26 years old
D. 28 years old

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage？ ______

A. The writer's family moved several times．
B. The writer never stopped looking for her ring．
C. The writer's ring was cleaned up by the new house owner．
D. The writer lost her ring in the morning when she took it off．

What would be the best title for the passage？ ______

A. My New Ring
B. Lost and Found
C. Lost and Replaced
D. An Expensive Ring

Reading can be a social activity． Think of the people who belong to book groups． They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them． Now， the website BookCrossing．com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group．
Members go on the site and register the books they own and would like to share． BookCrossing provides an identification number to stick inside the book． Then the person leaves it in a public place， hoping that the book will have an adventure， traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it．
Bruce Pederson， the managing director of BookCrossing， says， "The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read． BookCrossing combines both．"
Members leave books on park benches and buses， in train stations and coffee shops． Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it．
People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it． E-mails are then sent to the BookCrossing to keep them updated about where their books have been found． Bruce Peterson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home．
BookCrossing is part of a trend among people who want to get back to the "real" and not the virtual（虚拟）． The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty-five countries．



Why does the author mention book groups in the first paragraph？ ______

A. To explain what they are．
B. To introduce BookCrossing．
C. To stress the importance of reading．
D. To encourage readers to share their ideas．

What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 2 refer to？ ______

A. The book． B. An adventure． C. A public place． D. The identification number．

What will a BookCrosser do with a book after reading it？ ______

A. Meet other readers to discuss it．
B. Keep it safe in his bookcase．
C. Pass it on to another reader．
D. Mail it back to its owner．

What is the best title for the text？ ______

A. Online Reading： A Virtual Tour
B. Electronic Books： A New Trend
C. A Book Group Brings Tradition Back
D. A Website Links People through Books

A new collection of photos brings an unsuccessful Antarctic voyage back to life．
Frank Hurley's pictures would be outstanding----undoubtedly first-rate photo-journalism---if they had been made last week． In fact， they were shot from 1914 through 1916， most of them after a disastrous shipwreck（海滩）， by a cameraman who had no reasonable expectation of survival． Many of the images were stored in an ice chest， under freezing water， in the damaged wooden ship．
The ship was the Endurance， a small， tight， Norwegian-built three-master that was intended to take Sir Ernest Shackleton and a small crew of seamen and scientists， 27 men in all， to the southernmost shore of Antarctica's Weddell Sea． From that point Shackleton wanted to force a passage by dog sled（雪橇） across the continent． The journey was intended to achieve more than what Captain Robert Falcon Scott had done． Captain Scott had reached the South Pole early in 1912 but had died with his four companions on the march back．
As writer Caroline Alexander makes clear in her forceful and well-researched story The Endurance， adventuring was even then a thoroughly commercial effort． Scott's last journey， completed as he lay in a tent dying of cold and hunger， caught the world's imagination， and a film made in his honor drew crowds． Shackleton， a onetime British merchant-navy officer who had got to within 100 miles of the South Pole in 1908， started a business before his 1914 voyage to make money from movie and still photography． Frank Hurley， a confident and gifted Australian photographer who knew the Antarctic， was hired to make the images， most of which have never before been published．



What do we know about the photos taken by Hurley？ ______

A. They were made last week
B. They showed undersea sceneries
C. They were found by a cameraman
D. They recorded a disastrous adventure

Who reached the South Pole first according to the text？ ______

A. Frank Hurley B. Ernest Shackleton C. Robert Falcon Scott D. Caroline Alexander

What does Alexander think was the purpose of the 1914 voyage？ ______

A. Artistic creation B. Scientific research C. Money making D. Treasure hunting