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Passage
One
Many
people in deaf communities around the world use sign languages
as their primary means of communication. These communities
include both deaf and hearing people who converse in sign
language. But for many deaf people, sign language serves
as their primary, or native language, creating a strong
sense of social and cultural identity.
Sign language can also be used as an alternative
means of communication by hearing people. For example, in
the United States during the 19th century, groups of Native
Americans in the Plains who spoke different languages used
a sign language now known as Plains Indian Sign Talk to
communicate with each other.
Languages can be conveyed in different ways
known as modalities. The most important modalities are speech,
writing, and sign. Modality should not be confused with
language, however. English and Navajo, for example, share
a modality─speech─although they are different languages.
The same is true for sign languages. Even though British
Sign Language (BSL) and American Sign Language (ASL) share
the signed modality, they are two distinct languages. English,
Navajo, BSL, and ASL constitute four distinct languages.
Sign languages exhibit the same types of
variation that spoken languages do. For example, sign languages
have dialects that vary from region to region. In the United
States, many African Americans in the South who communicate
through sign language use a variant of standard ASL, just
as many African Americans might communicate through their
own vernacular English in speech. In Switzerland, there
are five geographic dialects of Swiss German Sign Language
with slight variations that derive from regional schools
for the deaf. In Dublin, Ireland, where boys and girls attend
different schools, the sign language used by deaf boys has
a distinctly different vocabulary from that used by deaf
girls. Although girls learn the boys' signs when they begin
dating, after marriage women continue to use the female
signs with girls and women.
(328 words)
1.
Sign language _______. ( D
)
(a) is only used in the deaf communities
(b) serves as the language for the hearing people only
(c) is one of the primary means of communication by hearing
(d) is one of the most important modalities conveying language
2.
Which of the following statements about Plains Indian Sign
Talk is TRUE? (
C
)
(a) It was used by the deaf people in the Plains
in the United States during the 19th century.
(b) It was used by the hearing people in the plains in the
United States during the 18th century.
(c) It was a means of communication by the Native Americans
in the plains who spoke different languages.
(d) It was a sign language used by all Indians in America
who didn't know English.
3.
English, Navajo, BSL, and ASL constitute four distinct languages
because ________. (
D
)
(a) they share the signed modality
(b) they share a speech modality
(c) they share a writing modality
(d) they share neither a signed modality nor a speech modality
4.
Examples of __________ are given to show that sign languages
exhibit the same types of variation as spoken languages
do. (
A
)
(a) distinct dialects
(b) different systems of meanings
(c) large vocabularies
(d) complicated grammatical structures
5.
The proper title for this passage is :_________.
( B
)
(a) Variation of Sign Languages
(b) Introduction to Sign Language
(c) Sign Language and Deaf Education
(d) Sign Languages and Spoken Languages
TOP
Passage
Two
In American culture, certain colors send
certain messages. Black is considered morbid, dark, and
mysterious. In fact, one of our allusions is to "white
hats"
(the good guys) and "black hats" (the bad). Red suggests
exuberance, energy, and even rage. Green and blue are "cool"
colors, or are associated with the environment. Green also
symbolizes jealousy. Pink is considered feminine. And so
it goes.
The same is true outside the United States—same in the sense that colors convey messages, but not
necessarily the same messages. For example:
Green is the national color of Egypt,
but it should not be used for packages.
The French, Dutch, and Swedes associate
green with cosmetics and toiletries.
In the Orient, green suggests exuberance,
but when agriculturalist Steve Renk visited northern China
and distributed green baseball caps, he found that men refused
to wear them. The reason? In that region, when a man wore
a green hat, it advertised that his wife or sister was a
prostitute.
Purple is the color of death and funerals
in Brazil and Mexico. And yellow marigolds are the cemetery
flower in Mexico, meaning they are presented only for decorations
at cemeteries.
White is the color of death and rebirth
in Japan, so it may be seen at both funerals and weddings.
In the Orient, bright red envelopes
are used to present gifts of money.
White can represent purity and is
therefore the predominant color in the United States for
wedding dresses; however, in India, bright red or yellow
fabrics are preferred.
(258 words)
6.
In American culture, red suggests all of the following EXCEPT
_________.
( C
)
(a) luxuriant growth
(b) vigor
(c) being feminine
(d) furious anger
7.
_______ flowers are considered most appropriate for funerals
in Brazil and Mexico.
( C
)
(a) White
(b) Black
(c) Purple
(d) Yellow
8.
In the Orient, a man wearing a green hat signifies that
he has ____________. (
B
)
(a) a sister
(b) an unfaithful wife
(c) a faithful wife
(d) an inexperienced sister
9.
White is not the right color for brides in _________.
(
D
)
(a) Japan
(b) China
(c) America
(d) India
10.
The main idea of the passage is that _____. (
A
)
(a) meanings associated with specific colors vary from culture
to culture
(b) there is a great difference in understanding colors
between the west and the east
(c) certain colors send different messages in American culture
and in Chinese culture
(d) it is important to know what associations colors have
in a culture
TOP
Passage
Three
Laura B. lived in Japan as a young girl
because her father, an American, had been assigned there
by his American employer. Laura had a young Japanese girl
named Miko as a live-in companion. On the occasion of her
mother's birthday, Laura's father presented her mother with
a beautiful ring decorated with four exquisite pearls. When
Miko saw the gift, she turned white and explained, "You
must not accept that. Four is an unlucky number. It means
death." Laura's family smiled and brushed off Miko's advice.
Several days later, they found the ring was missing one
of its pearls. When they asked Miko, she confessed that
she had removed it because she simply could not allow Laura's
mother to wear such a deadly omen.
This true story dramatizes how powerful
some superstitions can be among some cultures. In Japan,
as well as in China and Korea, the word shi means "four,"
but it also means "death." So, among Orientals, the relationship
between the two meanings is strong.
At the opposite end of the superstition
scale stands the number eight. In the Orient, the word for
eight is pronounced faat, which means "prosper." There are
eight emblems in both Confucianism and Buddhism. Author
Angi Ma Wong, who is also a marketing consultant in California,
explains that many Chinese businesses flock to the San Gabriel
Valley of southern California because the area code there
is 818.
Among the Chinese, the word for nine is
popular because it is associated with dragons and longevity.
In Japan, however, the number nine is associated with suffering,
so it has bad symbolism there.
Throughout much of Europe, as in the United
States, the number thirteen represents bad luck. And when
presenting flowers in Europe, always give an odd number
of blooms (but not thirteen), because an even number is
considered unlucky.
If you consider this strange, remember that
many Christians in the United States recoil at the number
666, since it is wisely believed to represent the Devil.
Finally, bear in mind that even the numbers
on our calendar are not necessarily followed universally.
In the Orient, the Lunar calendar dictates when one of the
most celebrated holidays is held, the Chinese New Year.
(368 words)
11.
Miko removed one of the four pearls from the ring because
_____. (
C
)
(a) the pearl is so exquisite
(b) she likes it very much
(c) four signifies death in Japan
(d) three is a lucky number in Japan
12.
According to the passage, the word "four" has a connotation
of death in all the following countries EXCEPT ____________.
(
C
)
(a) Japan
(b) China
(c) America
(d) Korea
13.
Chinese businesses moved in large numbers to the San Gabriel
Valley because___________. (
B
)
(a) it lies in southern California where the traffic is
convenient
(b) the area code there seems auspicious
(c) there are a lot of chances to make a great fortune
(d) their products are well received there
14.
The number ___________ is considered unlucky in the U.S.A.
(
C
)
(a) 333
(b) 555
(c) 666
(d) 888
15.The
passage discusses _________ .
( A
)
(a) messages conveyed by numbers in different countries
(b) lucky and unlucky numbers
(c) Miko's strange behavior
(d) the power of superstition
TOP
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