A
For centuries, people have tried to invent a perfect universal written language and Chinese has actually been considered before. Francis Bacon used to assume that a language like Chinese and its writing system would have qualified. Chinese doesn’t use an alphabet based on sounds, but symbols indicating meaning.
Chinese character has its special relationship between the sign and what it symbolized. Each character represents a word or a concept and you pile them up together like Lego bricks, children’s plastic building toys, to build more words. Some of them also look like what they represent. For example, a mountain may look just like a mountain with a peak in the middle. And fire resembles some blazing (燃烧的) logs. When you put them together and you get volcano. Isn’t that amazing?
While some of them look like what they represent, most of them really don’t. In fact, some of them are incredibly complicated. For instance, “Biang” is the name of a kind of noodle, which has 57 strokes (笔画). It is very hard for people to pronounce or recognize this character, let alone writing it out correctly. Chinese is so complicated that since the 1950s, a simplified system of characters has been used in mainland China. But there is a problem. Chinese characters often represent whole works, and there are a lot of them. In the Chinese dictionary there are around sixty four thousand characters.
So Chinese characters might not become a universal writing system soon. The trouble is not just inventing one, but getting people to use it. It wouldn’t be easy for the whole world to agree on the same set of meanings. After all, language needs a cultural context. You cannot really just use a universal language as you like.
【文章大意】本文属于议论文。讨论中文是否适合成为世界通用语的问题。
1. What can we learn from Francis Bacon?
A. He believed that Chinese writing system was perfect.
B. He managed to invent a universal written language.
C. He recommended Chinese to use alphabets based on sounds.
D. He thought written Chinese language could be used globally.
【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据第一段Francis Bacon used to assume that a language like Chinese and its writing system would have qualified. 可推测出Francis Bacon过去假定中文可以符合作全世界通用语的标准。故选D。
2. How does the author explain the characteristic of Chinese character?
A. By analyzing structures of toys.
B. By comparing concepts.
C. By giving examples.
D. By collecting data.
【解析】选C。推理判断题。根据第二段For example, a mountain may look just like a mountain with a peak in the middle. And fire resembles some blazing logs. When you put them together and you get volcano. 可知, 作者用山和火举例子来介绍中国汉字的特点。故选C。
3. Why do Chinese people use a simplified system of Chinese characters?
A. It is hard to pronounce Chinese characters.
B. It is difficult to recognize or write Chinese characters.
C. It is fashionable to use simplified Chinese characters.
D. It is complicated to look up Chinese characters in the dictionaries.
【解析】选B。细节理解题。根据第三段It is very hard for people to pronounce or recognize this character, let alone writing it out correctly. ”可知, 由于中国汉字难识别和难写的原因, 中国人开始使用简化版的汉字系统。故选B。
4. What is the passage mainly about?
A. How to write simplified Chinese characters.
B. Why people need a universal written language.
C. Chinese is a perfect universal written language.
D. Whether Chinese is suitable to be a world language.
【解析】选D。主旨大意题。通读全文可知, 文章讨论中文是否适合作世界通用语的问题。故选D。
【知识拓展】佳词积累
1. based on 以……为基础
2. pile up 堆积, 堆放
3. look like 看起来像
4. let alone 更不用说
5. agree on 同意; 达成共识; 达成一致
