首页
登录
职称英语
(1) Under the 1996 constitution, all 11 of South Africa’s official languages "
(1) Under the 1996 constitution, all 11 of South Africa’s official languages "
游客
2023-11-25
54
管理
问题
(1) Under the 1996 constitution, all 11 of South Africa’s official languages "must enjoy equality of esteem and be treated equitably". In practice English, the mother tongue of just 8% of the people, increasingly dominates all the others. Its hegemony may even threaten the long-term survival of the country’s African languages, spoken as the mother tongue of 80% of South Africans, despite the government’s repeated promises to promote and protect indigenous languages and culture.
(2) Under apartheid, there were just two official languages, English and Afrikaans, a variant of Dutch with a dash of French, German, Khoisan (spoken by so-called Bushmen and Hottentots), Malay and Portuguese. Pre-colonial African languages were relegated to the black townships and tribal "homelands". Even there, English was often chosen as the medium of education in preference to the inhabitants’ mother tongues. Black South Africans increasingly rejected Afrikaans as the language of the main oppressor; English was a symbol of advancement and prestige.
(3) Today, 16 years after the advent of black-majority rule, English reigns supreme. Not only is it the medium of business, finance, science and the internet, but also of government, education, broadcasting, the press, advertising, street signs, consumer products and the music industry. For such things Afrikaans is also occasionally used, especially in the Western Cape province, but almost never an African tongue. The country’s Zulu-speaking president, Jacob Zuma, makes all his speeches in English. Parliamentary debates are in English. Even the instructions on bottles of prescription drugs come only in English or Afrikaans.
(4) Yet most black South Africans are not proficient in English. This is because most of their teachers give lessons in a language that is not their own. To give non-English-speaking children a leg-up, the government agreed last year that all pupils should be taught in their mother tongue for at least the first three years of primary school. But outside the rural areas, where one indigenous language prevails, this is neither financially nor logistically feasible.
(5) Some people suggest reducing the number of official languages to a more manageable three: English, Afrikaans and Zulu, the mother tongue of nearly a quarter of South Africans. But non-Zulus would object. Unless brought up on a farm, few whites speak an African language. For the school-leaving exam, proficiency in at least two languages is required. But most native English-speakers opt for Afrikaans, said to be easy to learn, rather than a useful but harder African tongue. At universities African-language departments are closing.
(6) Some effort is being made to protect African languages from this apparently inexorable decline. The Sunday Times, South Africa’s biggest-selling weekend paper, recently launched a Zulu edition. In September the Oxford University Press brought out the first isiZulu-English dictionary in more than 40 years.
(7) Many of the black elite, who send their children to English-speaking private schools or former white state schools, may accept English emerging as the sole national language. Many talk English to their children at home. Fluency in the language of Shakespeare is regarded as a sign of modernity, sophistication and power.
(8) Will South Africa’s black languages suffer the fate of the six languages brought by the country’s first Indian settlers 150 years ago? Maybe so, thinks Rajend Mesthrie at the University of Cape Town. For the first 100-odd years, he says, South Africa’s Indians taught and spoke to their children in their native tongues. But English is now increasingly seen as "the best way forward". Today most young Indians speak only English or are bilingual in English and Afrikaans, though they may continue to chat at home in a kind of pidgin English mixed with Indian and Zulu. [br] The word "hegemony" in the first paragraph means ________.
选项
A、ascendancy
B、ownership
C、influence
D、reputation
答案
A
解析
题干直接给出定位在第1段。第1段的第2句指出英语处于统治地位,第3句说甚至对非洲语的长期存活造成了威胁,因此可以推断hegemony是与“占优势或统治地位”相关的意思。故答案A“优势,支配力量”正确。词意理解题,解题关键在于联系上下文进行理解。第3句是第2句的延续和补充,因此可以根据第2句中的dominates一词进行推断。其余各项明显与dominates不相符,也可以通过排除法选出正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:http://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3217069.html
相关试题推荐
(1)Underthe1996constitution,all11ofSouthAfrica’sofficiallanguages"
(1)Underthe1996constitution,all11ofSouthAfrica’sofficiallanguages"
(1)Underthe1996constitution,all11ofSouthAfrica’sofficiallanguages"
(1)Underthe1996constitution,all11ofSouthAfrica’sofficiallanguages"
(1)Underthe1996constitution,all11ofSouthAfrica’sofficiallanguages"
(1)TheEuropeanUnionhasbeenoperatingin20officiallanguagessinceten
(1)TheEuropeanUnionhasbeenoperatingin20officiallanguagessinceten
IcametoAfricawithonepurpose:Iwantedtoseetheworldoutsidethepe
IcametoAfricawithonepurpose:Iwantedtoseetheworldoutsidethepe
IcametoAfricawithonepurpose:Iwantedtoseetheworldoutsidethepe
随机试题
TimeIfyoucan【T1】______,youcanknowthetimeofday.Butnooneknow
[originaltext]M:Hey,Cathy.Youdidn’tsayevenawordinthelasttenminutes
女,16岁,恒牙列,磨牙中性关系,双侧后牙反,上颌牙列6mm拥挤,下颌牙列拥挤5
朱砂具有的功效是A.养血安神 B.敛补安神 C.养心安神 D.潜阳安神
A.唇形科,表面棕色或微带紫色,节处紫色明显B.唇形科,茎多分枝,略呈方柱形,断
吗啡的镇痛作用最适于A.诊断未明的急腹症 B.分娩止痛 C.颅脑外伤止痛
下列哪项措施可以缓解城市交通供求的空间不均衡?()A.对拥堵路段收费 B.
(2016真题)某储存丙类液体的储罐区共有6座单座容积为1000m3的地上固定顶
人在每一瞬间,将心理活动选择了某些对象而忽略了另一些对象。这一特点指的是注意的(
( )应当会同国务院卫生行政部门,根据大气污染物对公众健康和生态环境的危害和影
最新回复
(
0
)