2021下半年大学英语四级考试模拟试卷（2）

　　Passage One

　　Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

　　Sign has become a scientific hot button.Only in the past 20 years have specialists in language study realized that signed languages are unique—a speech of the hand.They offer a new way to probe how the brain generates and understands language，and throw new light on an old scientific controversy：whether language，complete with grammar，is something that we are born With，or whether it is a learned behavior. The current interest in sign language has roots in the pioneering work of one rebel teacher at Gallaudet University in Washington，D. C.，the world‘s only liberal arts university for deaf people.

　　When Bill Stokoe went to Gallaudet to teach English，the school enrolled him in a course in signing. But Stokoe noticed something odd： among themselves，students signed differently from his classroom teacher.

　　Stokoe had been taught a sort of gestural code，each movement of the hands representing a word in English.At the time，American Sign Language (ASL) was thought to be no more than a form of pidgin English (混杂英语)。But Stokoe believed the “hand talk”his students used looked richer.He wondered：Might deaf people actually：have a genuine language? And could that language be unlike any other on Earth?It was 1955，wheneven deaf people dismissed their signing as“substandard”。 Stokoe‘s idea was academic heresy (异端邪说)。

　　It is 37 years later.Stokoe—now devoting his time to writing and editing books and journals and to producing video materials on ASL and the deaf culture—is having lunch at a cafe near the Gallaudet campus and explaining how he started a revolution. For decades educators fought his idea that signed languages are natural languages like English，French and Japanese.They assumed language must be based on speech，the modulation (调节)of sound.But sign language is based on the movement of hands，the modulation of space.“What I said ”Stokoe explains “is that language is not mouth stuff—it‘s brain stuff.”

　　Choose correct answers to the question：

　　46.The study of sign language is thought to be ________.

　　A.a new way to look at the learning of language

　　B.a challenge to traditional， views on the nature of language

　　C.an approach： to simplifying the grammatical structure of a language

　　D.an attempt to clarify misunderstanding about the origin of language

　　47.The present growing interest in sign language was stimulated by _______.

　　A.a famous scholar in the study of the human brain

　　B.a leading specialist in the study of liberal arts

　　C.an English teacher in a university for the deaf

　　D.some senior experts in American Sign Language

　　48.According to Stokoe， sign language is ________.

　　A.a Substandard language

　　B.a genuine language

　　C.an artificial language

　　D.an international language

　　49.Most educators objected to Stokoe‘s idea because they thought ________.

　　A.sign language was not extensively used even by deaf people

　　B.sign language was too artificial to be widely accepted

　　C.a language should be easy to use and understand

　　D.a language could only exist in the form of speech sounds

　　50.Stokoe‘s argument is based on his belief that ________.

　　A.sign language is as efficient as any other language

　　B.sign language is derived from natural language

　　C.language is a system of meaningful codes

　　D.language is a product of the brain

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

　　Engineering students are supposed to be examples of practicality and rationality，but when it comes to mycollege education I am an idealist and a fool.In high school I wanted to be an electrical engineer and，of course，any sensible student with my aims would have chosen a college with a large engineering department，famous reputation and lots of good labs and research equipment. But that‘s not what I did.

　　I chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts(文科)university that doesn‘t even offer a major in electrical engineering. Obviously，this was not a practical choice;I came here for more noble reasons. I wanted a broad education that would provide me with flexibility and a value system to guide me in my career.I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by interacting with people who weren’t studying science orengineering. My parents，teachers and other adults praised me for such a sensible choice.They told me I was wise and mature beyond my 18 years，and I believed them.

　　I headed off to college sure I was going to have an advantage over those students who went to big engineering “factories” where they didn‘t care if you have values or were flexible. I was going to be a complete engineer：technical genius and sensitive humanist(人文学者)all in one.