DOC《2008年12月全国大学英语四级考试 —— 听力原文》

3000 and

6000 public languages in the world, and we must add approximately

6 billion private languages since each one of us necessarily has one. Considering these facts, the possibilities for breakdowns in communication seem infinite in number. However, we do communicate successfully from time to time. And we do learn to speak languages. But learning to speak languages seems to be a very mysterious process. For a long time, people thought that we learned a language only by imitation and association. For example, a baby touches a hot pot and starts to cry. The mother says, Hot, hot! And the baby, when it stops crying, imitates the mother and says, Hot, hot! However, Noam Chomsky, a famous expert in language, pointed out that although children do learn some words by imitation and association, they also combine words to make meaningful sentences in ways that are unique, unlearned and creative. Because young children can make sentences they have never heard before, Chomsky suggested that human infants are born with the ability to learn language. Chomsky meant that underneath all the differences between public and private languages, there is a universal language mechanism that makes it possible for us, as infants, to learn any language in the world. This theory explains the potential that human infants have for learning language. But it does not really explain how children come to use language in particular ways. Questions

30 to

32 are based on the passage you have just heard. Question 30. Why does the speaker say there are great possibilities for communication breakdowns? There are numerous public and private languages. Question 31. What is Chomsky'

s point on the ability to learn a language? Human infants are born with the ability to learn language and the potential to learn any language in the world. Question 32. What does Chomsky'

s theory fail to explain according to the speaker? It does not really explain how children come to use language in particular ways. Passage Three When US spacewoman Joan Higginbotham is not flying and working in space, she might be found somewhere on earth giving a speech. Higginbotham, who grew up in Chicago and became an engineer before joining NASA, that is the National Air and Space Administration, gives about a dozen speeches a year. Each speech is different because she tailors her remarks to each audience. Through interviews and E-mails, she finds out in advance her listeners'

educational level and what information they want to know. On the subject of space walks, for example, audiences vary in their interests and how much complexity they can comprehend. To elementary school children, Higginbotham may discuss a problem that many kids want to know about. How do spacemen in a spacesuit eat, drink, and go to the bathroom? Her answer is the spacesuit is really a small spacecraft with room for food and water-containers, and a waste-collection system. To a high school audience, she mi........