Can software bring dead tongues back to life? Probably yes. A computer algorithm
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Can software bring dead tongues back to life? Probably yes.
A computer algorithm（计算程序）works almost as well as a trained linguist（语言学家） in reconstructing how dead "protolanguages" would have sounded, says a new study.
"Our computer system is doing a basic job right now," says Alex Bouchard-Côté, an assistant professor in the department of statistics at the University of British Columbia and lead author of the paper describing the algorithm. But the program does a good enough job that it may be able to give linguists a head start, the statistician added.
For centuries, scholars have reconstructed languages by hand: looking at the same word in two or more languages and making educated guesses about what that word"s "ancestor" may have sounded like. For example, the Spanish word for man （"hombre"） and the French word for man （"homme"） developed from the Latin word "homo." The way linguists compare words from descendant（后代）languages to reconstruct the parent language is called, appropriately, the comparative method.
The early 19th-century linguist Franz Bopp was the first to compare Greek, Latin and Sanskrit using this method. Jacob Grimm, one of the Brothers Grimm of fairy tale fame, used the comparative method to show how Germanic languages developed from a common ancestor.
The difference between that and Bouchard-Côté"s program, the statistician says, "is we do it on a larger scale." As a proof of concept, Bouchard-Côté fed words from 637 Austronesian languages （spoken in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and more） into the new algorithm, and the system came up with a list of what the ancestor words of all those languages would have sounded like. In more than 85 percent of cases, the automated reconstruction came within one character of the ancestor word commonly accepted as true by linguists.
The algorithm won"t replace trained human linguists, but could speed up language analysis.
Using a computer to do large-scale reconstruction offers another advantage. Bouchard-Côté says, “With big data sets, you can really start finding regularities … You might find that certain sounds are more likely to change than others."
So Bouchard-Côté"s team tested the "functional load hypothesis（假设）," which says that sounds that are more important for two clearly different words are less likely to change over time. A formal test of this hypothesis in 1967 looked at four languages; Bouchard-Côté"s algorithm looked at 637.
"The revealed pattern would not be obvious if we had not been able to reconstruct large numbers of protolanguages," Bouchard-Côté and his coauthors write in the new study.
In addition to simply helping linguists understand how people spoke in the past, studying ancient languages can perhaps answer historical questions. For example, Bouchard-Côté says, "Say people are interested in finding out when Europe was settled. If you can figure out if the language of the settling population had a word for wheel, then you can get some idea of the order in which things occurred, because you would have some records that show you when the wheel was invented.”
小题1:The underline word “protolanguages” in the first paragraph probably refers to __________.| A．the languages that couldn’t be reconstructed by hand | | B．parent languages that existed in the past | | C．languages developed from a common ancestor | | D．languages used to explain things that occurred in the past |
小题2:We can learn from the fourth and fifth paragraphs that the reconstruction of “protolanguage” by scholars __________.| A．is commonly accepted as false | | B．dates back to the 19th century | | C．focuses on European languages | | D．is conducted using the comparative method |
小题3:According to Bouchard-Côté, reconstructing the dead "protolanguages" might _______.| A．arouse people’s interest in when Europe was settled | | B．allow us to find answers to some historical questions | | C．enable us to picture the way linguists communicated | | D．help figure out how the wheel was invented |
小题4:The author probably wants to prove the computer algorithm program led by Bouchard-Côté ___________.| A．will bring every dead language back to life | | B．can take the place of linguists in language analysis | | C．is of great help to promote language analysis with big data sets | | D．can merely reconstruct Asian-Pacific “protolanguages” |
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答案
小题1:B
小题2:D
小题3:B
小题4:C |
解析
试题分析：以前语言学家通过比较的方法研究以前失去的语言，现在由Bouchard-Côté带领实施的计算程序可以进行大量数据的语言分析，除了分析语言以外，这项调查还有助于解决很多历史问题。
小题1:猜词题：根据第四段的句子：The way linguists compare words from descendant（后代）languages to reconstruct the parent language is called, appropriately, the comparative method.可知“protolanguages”指的是过去人们说的语言，选B
小题2:细节题：根据第四段的句子：The way linguists compare words from descendant（后代）languages to reconstruct the parent language is called, appropriately, the comparative method.可知学者们重新构建“protolanguages”是通过对比的方法，选D。
小题3:细节题：从文章最后一段的句子：In addition to simply helping linguists understand how people spoke in the past, studying ancient languages can perhaps answer historical questions.可知Bouchard-Côté所说,重新构建已经失去的原语言，让我们找到一些历史问题的答案，选B。
小题4:写作意图题：从文章第六段的句子：The difference between that and Bouchard-Côté"s program, the statistician says, "is we do it on a larger scale."可知作者可能想证明由Bouchard-Côté带领实施的计算程序对于促进大量数据的语言分析是很有用的。选C。 |
举一反三
Researchers in the psychology department at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) have discovered a major difference in the way men and women respond to stress. This difference may explain why men are more likely to suffer from stress-related disorders.
Until now, psychological research has maintained that both men and women have the same "fight-or-flight" reaction to stress. In other words, individuals either react with aggressive behavior, such as verbal or physical conflict ("fight"), or they react by withdrawing from the stressful situation ("flight"). However, the UCLA research team found that men and women have quite different biological and behavioral responses to stress. While men often react to stress in the fight-or-flight response, women often have another kind of reaction which could be called "tend and befriend." That is, they often react to stressful conditions by protecting and nurturing their young ("tend"), and by looking for social contact and support from others - especially other females ("befriend").
Scientists have long known that in the fight-or- flight reaction to stress, an important role is played by certain hormones(激素) released by the body. The UCLA research team suggests that the female tend-or-befriend response is also based on a hormone. This hormone, called oxytocin, has been studied in the context of childbirth, but now it is being studied for its role in the response of both men and women to stress. The principal investigator, Dr. Shelley E. Taylor, explained that "animals and people with high levels of oxytocin are calmer, more relaxed, more social, and less anxious." While men also secrete(分泌）oxytocin, its effects are reduced by male hormones.
In terms of everyday behavior, the UCLA study found that women are far more likely than men to seek social contact when they are feeling stressed. They may phone relatives or friends, or ask directions if they are lost.
The study also showed how fathers and mothers responded differently when they came home to their family after a stressful day at work. The typical father wanted to be left alone to enjoy some peace and quiet. For a typical mother, coping with a bad day at work meant focusing her attention on her children and their needs.
The differences in responding to stress may explain the fact that women have lower frequency of stress-related disorders such as high blood pressure or aggressive behavior. The tend-and-befriend regulatory(调节的) system may protect women against stress, and this may explain why women on average live longer than men.
小题1:The UCLA study shows that in response to stress, men are more likely than women to _____ .| A．turn to friends for help | B．solve a conflict calmly | | C．find an escape from reality | D．seek comfort from children |
小题2:Which of the following is true about oxytocin according to the passage?| A．Men have the same level of oxytocin as women do. | | B．Oxytocin used to be studied in both men and women. | | C．Both animals and people have high levels of oxytocin. | | D．Oxytocin has more of an effect on women than on men. |
小题3:What can be learned from the passage?| A．Male hormones help build up the body"s resistance to stress. | | B．In a family a mother cares more about children than a father does. | | C．Biological differences lead to different behavioral responses to stress. | | D．The UCLA study was designed to confirm previous research findings. |
小题4:Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?| A．How men and women get over stress | | B．How men and women suffer from stress | | C．How researchers overcome stress problems | | D．How researchers handle stress-related disorders |
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It is nice to know what the weather will be like when we plan a trip. Do you know anything about the history of weather? Don’t look at the sky. Don’t look for old weather reports. Looking at the tree rings is more important. Correct weather reports date back only one century, but some trees can provide an exact record of weather even further back.
It is natural that a tree would grow best in a climate with plenty of sunlight and rainfall. It is also expected that little sunlight or rainfall would reduce the growth of a tree. The change from a favorable to an unfavorable climate can be found out by the reading pattern of rings in a tree trunk. To find out the weather of ten years ago, you can count the rings of a tree trunk from the outside to the inside. If the tenth ring is far from the other rings, then it is certain that plenty of sunny and rainy weather occurred. If the rings are close together, then the climate was bad for the tree.
Studying trees is important not only for the history of weather, but also for the history of man. In an area of New Mexico you can find only sand — no trees or people. However, many centuries ago a large population lived there. They left suddenly. Why?
A scientist studied the pattern of the rings of dead trees that had grown there. He made up his mind that the people had to leave because they had cut down all the trees. Trees were necessary to make fires and buildings. So, after the people destroyed the trees, they had to move.
In this example studying tree rings uncovered an exciting fact about the history of man.
小题1:We can find out the weather of five years ago by counting the rings of a tree trunk ____.| A．from the left to the right | | B．from the right to the left | | C．from the inside to the outside | | D．from the outside to the inside |
小题2:If the ring was far from the others, we can conclude that the weather of that year was ______.| A．bad | B．sunny | C．favorable | D．rainy |
小题3:By studying the rings of dead trees in an area of New Mexico, the scientist found _______. | A．why the people had to leave | | B．where the people had to go | | C．what the people had to eat | | D．how the people left |
小题4:The ancient people usually lived where there were plenty of trees mainly because ______.| A．trees provided an exact record of weather for research | | B．trees could supply them with fruit and food to live on | | C．trees could supply them with shades | | D．trees were materials for fires and buildings |
小题5:By giving the example of an area of New Mexico, the author tries to prove .| A．trees can’t live in the area without population | | B．that studying trees is important for the history of man and weather. | | C．what the real relation is between tree rings and the history of man and weather | | D．the history of man is important for the history of trees |
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Can you imagine learning by playing games. To be sure, only children experienced some things differently from those with sisters and brothers. Many feel more pressure to succeed. They also tend to look only to their parents as role models in the absence of brothers and sisters.
In India, 10-year-old Saviraj Sankpal founded a support group for the tiny minority of only children. Among other things, the group does volunteer work to counter (or be against) the myth that they are not responsible. "People think we"re treated too kindly and ruined," says Sankpal, a computer engineering student. "But I"d like to remind them how lonely it can get."
Most only children, however, say they wish for sisters or brothers only when it comes to caring for aging, unhealthy parents. Britain"s David Emerson, coauthor of the book The Only Child, says that such a person bears terrible burden in having to make all the decisions alone. Emerson knows from experience: After his father died, he chose to move his elderly mother from their family home, where she was vulnerable to (or easy to be attacked by) house breakers, to a new one with more security." The move was quite hard on her, and she might feel that I pushed her into it," he says,". After all, I am left with that responsibility."
In the future, more and more only children will likely face similar choices. With working mothers increasing, many families are finding they simply don"t have the time, money or energy to have more than one child. As only children become common, perhaps the world will realize that the Charge made against them is unjust.
小题1:It can be inferred from the passage that the author"s attitude towards only children is _______.| A．ironic | B．objective | C．unfriendly | D．unjust |
小题2:It can be inferred from the passage that only children"s parents should ___________.| A．found a support group for their only children | | B．do volunteer work to help their only children | | C．let their only children make all the decisions alone | | D．set good examples for their only children |
小题3:Emerson decided to move his elderly mother to a new house because he ___________.| A．is the only one who cares about her | | B．doesn"t want to leave her alone | | C．wants to share the responsibility with her | | D．is worried about her safety |
小题4:It is quite usual now for a working mother to ____________.| A．spend all her time and money on her only child | | B．be responsible for bringing up her only child | | C．have and bring up only one child | | D．devote all her energy to her job |
小题5:The main idea of the passage is that ________.| A．only children are ruined and irresponsible | | B．only children have to face many challenges | | C．most only children want to have brothers and sisters | | D．most only children share their responsibility with their parents |
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Many people think of the brain as a mystery. They don"t know much about intelligence and how it works. When they do think about what intelligence is, many people believe that a person is born smart, average, or dumb — and stays that way in the whole life. But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle — it changes and gets stronger when you use it. And scientists have been able to show just how the brain grows and gets stronger when you learn.
Everyone knows that when you lift weights, your muscles get bigger and you get stronger. A person who can"t lift 20 pounds when he/she starts exercising can get strong enough to lift 100 pounds after working out for a long time. That"s because the muscles become larger and stronger with exercise. And when you stop exercising, the muscles shrink and you get weaker. That"s why people say “Use it or lose it！”
But most people don"t know that when they practice and learn new things, parts of their brain change and get larger a lot like muscles do when they exercise. Inside the cortex (皮层) of the brain are billions of tiny nerve cells, called neurons. The nerve cells have branches connecting them to other cells in a complicated network. Communication between these brain cells is what allows us to think and solve problems. When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get stronger. The more you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells grow. Then, things that you once found very hard or even impossible to do — like speaking a foreign language or doing algebra (代数) — seem to become easy after learning them for a period of time. The result is a stronger, smarter brain.
Scientists started thinking that the human brain could develop and change when they studied animals" brains. They found out that animals that lived in a challenging environment were more “perspicacious” — they were better at solving problems and learning new things.
小题1:According to the first paragraph，________.| A．the function of our brain is like that of the muscle | | B．until now it"s impossible to explain the brain"s mystery | | C．many people believe one"s intelligence is naturally determined | | D．one"s brain grows stronger as the age increases |
小题2:Training muscles is compared to ________.| A．using the brain | | B．connecting things in your brain | | C．lifting weights | | D．doing research about the brain |
小题3:What is Paragraph 3 mainly about_________?
The complex structure of the brain.
B. How changes in the muscles affect the brain.
C. The importance of the brain.
D. How the brain becomes stronger by learning new things.
小题4:What does the underlined word “perspicacious” in the last paragraph probably mean_________?| A．Strong. | B．Smart. | C．Popular. | D．Active. |
小题5:The paragraph that follows the passage will most probably talk about _______.| A．the differences between animals’ brains and humans’ brains | | B．the relation between human brains and muscles | | C．scientists’ findings about animals’ brains | | D．how to make your brain smarter through self-development |
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Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a major cause of climate change, and now a new study has confirmed that atmosphere CO2 is also affecting the ocean chemistry and potentially harming sea life.
Montana State University scientist Robert Dore has been researching the water in the Pacific Ocean for almost two decades. “We’ve been going to the same spot in the Pacific Ocean, and we try and characterize long-term change in the open ocean environment. And one of the key things that we measure is CO2 levels. And we’ve been able to record this increasing quantity of atmosphere CO2 into the ocean.”
Scientists expected that as atmosphere CO2 increased, more and more of the carbon dioxide would be absorbed into the ocean, affecting the chemical balance of the sea water, with a potentially harmful impact on shellfish and coral in particular.
“As carbon dioxide dissolves in the water or seawater in this case, it forms a weak acid, carbonic acid,” Dore explains. “And therefore, as the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere goes up and that exchanges with the surface seawater, it drives the pH down, and makes it more acidic.”
The seawater samples Dore and his colleagues have analyzed confirm what the theory predicts.
The effect was particular striking at about 250 meters down, and again at 500 meters. Dore and his colleagues came up with two possible explanations. It could be that surface water picked up CO2 and then moved to those depths. Or there could be a biological explanation.
“It’s important to realize that the oceans are really becoming acidic. And it can have negative impacts on a whole variety of sea life from fish to coral. It’s potentially catastrophic.”
小题1:What can be the best title of the passage?| A．Scientist Researching Seawater | | B．Sea Life Facing Danger | | C．Oceans Becoming More Acidic | | D．Climate Change Affecting Seawater |
小题2:With the increase of atmospheric CO2, _______.| A．more corals will appear in the sea | | B．the chemical balance of the seawater is affected | | C．the surface water is becoming warmer | | D．the pH of the ocean out here has been increasing |
小题3:Which of the following shows the process of the impact of atmospheric CO2 on sea life?
a. Sea life is endangered.
b. CO2 goes into the surface water.
c. The ocean chemistry is affected.
d. CO2 decreases the pH and makes the seawater more acidic.
e. CO2 levels in the atmosphere go up.| A．a→b→c→d→e | B．e→b→c→d→a | | C．a→e→b→c→d | D．e→d→c→b→a |
小题4:Scientist Robert Dore came to the conclusion based on_______.| A．the expectation of other scientists | | B．some former theory | | C．his research and analysis | | D．a major cause of climate change |
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