英语语言学期末考试题

I. Directions: Read each of the following statements carefully. Decide

which one of the four choices best completes the statement and put the

letter A, B, C or D in the brackets. (2.5%×10=25%)

1、As modern linguistics aims to describe and analyze the language people actually use, and not to lay down rules for "correct" linguistic behavior,

it is said to be ___.

A 、 prescriptive

B 、 sociolinguistic

C 、 descriptive

D 、 psycholinguistic

2、Of all the speech organs, the ___ is/are the most flexible.

A 、 mouth

B 、 lips

C 、 tongue

D 、 vocal cords

3、The morpheme "vision" in the common word "television" is a(n) ___.

A 、 bound morpheme

B 、 bound form

C 、 inflectional morpheme

D 、 free morpheme

4、A ___ in the embedded clause refers to the introductory word that

introduces the embedded clause.

A 、 coordinator

B 、 particle

C 、 preposition

D 、 subordinator 主从连词

5、"Can I borrow your bike?" ___ "You have a bike."

A 、 is synonymous with

B 、 is inconsistent with

C 、 entails

D 、 presupposes

6、The branch of linguistics that studies how context

influences the way speakers interpret sentences is called ___.

A 、 semantics

B 、 pragmatics

C 、 sociolinguistics

D 、 psycholinguistics

7、Grammatical changes may be explained, in part, as analogic changes, which are ___ or generalization泛化.

A 、 elaboration

B 、 simplification 精简

C 、 external borrowing

D 、 internal borrowing

8、___ refers to a marginal language of few lexical items and straightforward grammatical rules, used as a medium of communication.

A 、 Lingua franca通用语

B 、 Creole

C 、 Pidgin

D 、 Standard language标准语言

9、Psychologists, neurologists and linguists have concluded that, in addition to the motor area which is responsible for physical articulation of utterances, three areas of the left brain are vital to language, namely, ___ .

A 、 Broca's area, Wernicke's area and the angular gyrus角回

B 、 Broca's area, Wernicke's area and cerebral cortex

C 、 Broca's area, Wernicke's area and neurons

D 、 Broca's area, Wernicke's area and Exner's area

10、According to Krashen, ___ refers to the gradual and subconcious development of ability in the first language by using it naturally in daily communicative situations.

A 、 learning

B 、 competence

C 、 performance

D 、 acquisition

II. Short answer questions(15%x3=45%)

1. what features of language do you think should be included in a good, comprehensive definition of language? Language is a rule-governed system.

Language is basically vocal.

Language is arbitrary.

Language is used for human communication.

2. what are the major individual factors for SLA? The acquisition of a second language is dependent on a combination of factors.the rate and ultimate success in SLA are also affected by individual learner factors.

(1)The early years of one’s life before puberty;

(2)They must have strong motivation, instrumental or integrative;

(3)The extent to which learners differ in the process of adapting to the new culture of the L2 community, that is , acculturation.

(4)Learner’s personality.

3.State briefly your understanding of the differences between the term acquisition and the term learning in language acquisition study?

⑴The distinction between acquisition and learning was proposed by the American SLA scholar Stephen Krashen on the assumption that they are different processes. ⑵Acquisition refers to the gradual and subconscious development of ability in the first language by using it naturally in daily communicative situations.

⑶Learning is defined as a conscious process of

accumulating knowledge of a second language usually obtained in school settings.

⑷It ’s recognized that children acquired their native language without explicit learning, which a second

language is more commonly learned but to some degree may also be acquired, depending on the environmental setting and the input received by the L2learner.

⑸A rule can be learned before it is internalized(i.e.

acquired),but having learned a rule does not necessarily preclude having to acquire it later

III. Text Analysis (10%x3=30%)

Read the following passage and answer the questions in your answer sheet.

About one of man’s frailties Thomas Wolfe wrote, “he talks of the future and he wastes it as it comes.” This observation is related to a principle by which I try (without always succeeding) to live. I believe in living in the present because it is futile to dwell on the past, to worry about the future, or to miss anything in the only reality I know. It is futile to dwell on the past. What existed or

happened in the past may have been beautiful or exciting and may now bring profound and precious memories; but the past is dead, and it is not healthy for living spirits to linger over a world inhabited by ghosts. The past may also be a place of horror, of regret, of spilled milk, of unfortunate deeds that “cannot be undone,” of sad words like “might have been.” However, it is painful and pointless to fixate on a period that cannot be relived or repaired. It is

unproductive self-punishment. The past must be kept in its place, outlived and outgrown.

It is also useless to worry about the future. Why fly to

heaven before it is time? What anxious visions haunt the person who thinks too much about the future? He may envision the horrible mushroom cloud; the earth shriveling from radiation; the overpopulated, abused earth gone dead. He may imagine his own life going awry, appointments missed; advancements given to someone else; his house burned to the ground; his love lost; everything in his life as in a nightmare, slipping away from him. There is no end to the disasters a person can worry about when he focuses anxiously on the future. There are events in his future, including his own demise, over which he has little or no control, but he can ruin his life worrying about them. There are some disasters he may be able to prevent, but he must do that by living well in the present, not simply by worrying about the future.

The present moment, which is even now moving into the past, is the reality I know, and I don't want to miss it. The wild-cherry cough drop dissolving in my mouth is sweet and soothing. Even my sore throat and back-ache have meaning. The cool night air, the crackling noises of my furnace, my cat yawning and stretching -- these, are the tangible realities I can recognize. They exist in this moment,

together with my own breathing, the warm lamp overhead, the jerking of my typewriter. Along with these are the

realities of other people and of all life on this earth, which matters to me now, not at some past or future time. Everyone needs a sense of history, I think, particularly a feeling for his own roots, but history needs to keep its distance to be appreciated. It is also vital to have some sense of direction, which means making plans for the future but not becoming preoccupied with them. What is most important, I believe, is living in the present, that is, being alive now.

Questions:

What is the thesis statement in the passage? (5 points) How does the writer develop his ideas in this passage? (10 points)

Please comment on one of the author’s views. (10 points)