A
Sandy, a young Chinese Singaporean, is fluent in English and Mandarin, the official “mother tongue” of Chinese Singaporeans. Her grandmother spoke little of either.
Their language barrier was the product of decades of linguistic(语言的) engineering. English has been the language of teaching in nearly all schools since 1987, to promote Singapore’s global competitive advantage. But, depending on ethnicity(种族特点), pupils study a second language-typically Mandarin, Malay or Tamil. In the case of Mandarin, its acquisition has been promoted by the government’s annual “Speak Mandarin Campaign”, started in 1979.
So dialects - Hokkien, Cantonese and Hakka - were disparaged. In the early 1980s television and radio programming in these languages almost disappeared. By the campaign’s own standard, the success is striking. The use of Chinese dialects at home has fallen down from 76% of Chinese households in 1980 to 16% in 2015. Over the same period, the use of Mandarin rose, from 13% of Chinese households to 46%.
In 2015, the 50th anniversary of the nation’s founding was accompanied by a rush of sentimentality over Singapore’s roots. These days officials are a bit readier to tolerate Singapore’s linguistic variety. Meanwhile, younger Singaporeans are embracing former mother tongues. Ski Yeo and Eugene Lee were motivated to found LearnDialect.sg upon seeing an elderly Cantonese-speaker in a nursing home struggle to communicate that she was cold. Health workers have signed up to their courses, while others want to say the right things at family gatherings over the lunar new year.
1. What can we know about the Speak Mandarin Campaign?
A. It made Mandarin an official language in 1987.
B. Mandarin was greatly strengthened as a result of it.
C. It was held every other year since 1979.
D. It makes no difference to young people in Singapore.
2. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “disparaged” in the third paragraph?
A. Strengthened. B. Praised.
C. Undervalued. D. Well-understood.
3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. Young people lack communication with their family.
B. Health workers are faced with difficulties due to language barrier.
C. The officials object to the variety of languages.
D. The younger generation of Singapore attach importance to Mandarin.
【答案】1. B 2. C 3. B
【解析】
【分析】
这是一篇说明文。本文主要讲述了新加坡人和普通话之间的故事。通过加入“讲普通话训练营”，会讲普通话的新加坡人的人数有所上升。这便让普通话在新加坡的地位也得到了极大的提升。
【1题详解】
细节理解题。根据第三段中By the campaign’s own standard, the success is striking. The use of Chinese dialects at home has fallen down from 76% of Chinese households in 1980 to 16% in 2015. Over the same period, the use of Mandarin rose, from 13% of Chinese households to 46%.可知按照该运动自己的标准，这一成功是惊人的。中国家庭使用方言的比例从1980年的76%下降到2015年的16%。同期，使用普通话的家庭比例从13%上升到46%。由此可知，可知，因为这个训练营，讲普通话的人数有所上升。普通话的地位也被提高了。故选B。
【2题详解】
词义猜测题。根据后文In the early 1980s television and radio programming in these languages almost disappeared.可知在20世纪80年代早期，这些语言的电视和广播节目几乎消失了。由此可知，这些方言被人们贬低，认为不重要而遗弃了。故划线单词意思为“贬低”。故选C。
【3题详解】
推理判断题。根据最后一段中Ski Yeo and Eugene Lee were motivated to found LearnDialect.sg upon seeing an elderly Cantonese-speaker in a nursing home struggle to communicate that she was cold. Health workers have signed up to their courses, while others want to say the right things at family gatherings over the lunar new year.可知Yeo和Eugene Lee在一家养老院看到一位说广东话的老人努力想要表达出她很冷的意思，于是他们萌生了创建LearnDialect的想法。卫生工作者已经报名参加了他们的课程，而其他人则想在农历新年的家庭聚会上说些正确的话。由此可推知，由于语言障碍，卫生工作者面临困难。故选B。
【点睛】易错分析
第三题，What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. Young people lack communication with their family.
B. Health workers are faced with difficulties due to language barrier.
C. The officials object to the variety of languages.
D. The younger generation of Singapore attach importance to Mandarin.
本题容易根据最后一段中Meanwhile, younger Singaporeans are embracing former mother tongues.(与此同时，年轻一代的新加坡人开始接受前母语)而错选D选项，认为“新加坡的年轻一代很重视普通话”。文章指提到了年轻人开始接受，并未提到已经很重视了，故D选项无法从原文中推断出来。本题答案在最后一段中Ski Yeo and Eugene Lee were motivated to found LearnDialect.sg upon seeing an elderly Cantonese-speaker in a nursing home struggle to communicate that she was cold. Health workers have signed up to their courses, while others want to say the right things at family gatherings over the lunar new year.可知Yeo和Eugene Lee在一家养老院看到一位说广东话的老人努力想要表达出她很冷的意思，于是他们萌生了创建LearnDialect的想法。卫生工作者已经报名参加了他们的课程，而其他人则想在农历新年的家庭聚会上说些正确的话。由此可推知，由于语言障碍，卫生工作者面临困难。故选B。
