资料来源: IELTS 官网
Academic Reading Sample Task – Summary Completion:
selecting from a list of words or phrases
学术阅读示例任务 – 摘要完成：从单词或短语列表中选择
[Note: This is an extract from a Part 3 text about language.]
[注意：这是关于语言的第三部分文本的摘录。]
© Guy Deutscher, Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group. 2006
© Guy Deutscher，兰登书屋成人贸易出版集团 (Random House Adult Trade Publishing Group)，2006年
---------- 中英对照 ----------
'This Marvellous Invention'
这项奇妙的发明
Of all mankind’s manifold creations, language must take pride of place. Other inventions – the wheel, agriculture, sliced bread – may have transformed our material existence, but the advent of language is what made us human. Compared to language, all other inventions pale in significance, since everything we have ever achieved depends on language and originates from it. Without language, we could never have embarked on our ascent to unparalleled power over all other animals, and even over nature itself.
在人类创造的众多 (manifold) 发明中，语言必须占据最重要的地位。其他发明——轮子 (the wheel)、农业 (agriculture)、切片面包 (sliced bread) —— 可能已经改变了我们的物质生活 (material existence)，但语言的出现 (the advent of language) 才是我们成为人类的原因。与语言相比，所有其他发明都显得微不足道 (pale in significance)，因为我们所取得的一切成就都依赖于语言，也源于语言。没有语言，我们就不可能开始攀登超越所有其他动物，甚至超越自然本身的无与伦比的权力 (Without language, we could never have embarked on our ascent to unparalleled power over all other animals, and even over nature itself)。
But language is foremost not just because it came first. In its own right it is a tool of extraordinary sophistication, yet based on an idea of ingenious simplicity: ‘this marvellous invention of composing out of twenty-five or thirty sounds that infinite variety of expressions which, whilst having in themselves no likeness to what is in our mind, allow us to disclose to others its whole secret, and to make known to those who cannot penetrate it all that we imagine, and all the various stirrings of our soul’. This was how, in 1660, the renowned French grammarians of the Port-Royal abbey near Versailles distilled the essence of language, and no one since has celebrated more eloquently the magnitude of its achievement. Even so, there is just one flaw in all these hymns of praise, for the homage to language’s unique accomplishment conceals a simple yet critical incongruity. Language is mankind’s greatest invention – except, of course, that it was never invented. This apparent paradox is at the core of our fascination with language, and it holds many of its secrets.
但语言之所以重要，不仅仅是因为它先出现。语言本身是一种极其复杂(extraordinary sophistication)的工具，但它却基于一种精巧而简单 (ingenious simplicity) 的理念：“语言这一神奇的 (marvellous) 发明，用二十五到三十种声音组成了无限多样的表达方式，虽然这些表达方式本身与我们心中的想法毫无相似之处，但却让我们能够向他人揭示它的整个秘密，让那些无法理解它的人了解我们想象的一切，以及我们灵魂的各种悸动(all the various stirrings of our soul)。” 1660 年，凡尔赛附近的 Port-Royal 修道院的著名法国语法学家 (French grammarians) 就是这样提炼出语言的精髓的，自那以后，没有人比他更雄辩地赞美语言的伟大成就。即便如此 (Even so)，所有这些赞美诗中只有一个缺陷，因为对语言独特成就的敬意 (homage)掩盖了一个简单而关键的不协调之处 (incongruity)。语言是人类最伟大的发明——当然，除了它从未被发明过。这种明显的悖论是我们对语言着迷的核心，它隐藏着许多秘密。
Questions 1 – 4
问题 1-4
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-G, below.
使用下面的单词列表 A-G 完成摘要。
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
在答题纸上的 1-4 框中写下正确的字母 A-G。
The importance of language (语言的重要性)
The wheel is one invention that has had a major impact on 1.................aspects of life, but no impact has been as 2 ………… as that of language. Language is very 3 ………… , yet composed of just a small number of sounds. Language appears to be 4 ………… to use. However, its sophistication is often overlooked.
A difficult
B complex
C original
D admired
E material
F easy
G fundamental
(答案见文末)
---------- 答案 ----------
1 E material
2 G fundamental
3 B complex
4 F easy
---------- END ----------
