首页
登录
职称英语
CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI of Bologna was a saint who was said to speak 72 language
CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI of Bologna was a saint who was said to speak 72 language
游客
2025-03-27
5
管理
问题
CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI of Bologna was a saint who was said to speak 72 languages. No one was certain of the true figure, but it was a lot. Visitors flocked from all corners of Europe to test him and came away stunned. Two condemned prisoners were due to be executed, but no one knew their language to hear their confession. Mezzofanti learned it in a night, heard their sins the next morning and saved them from hell.
Or so the legend goes. In Babel No More, Michael Erard has written the first serious book about the people who master vast numbers of languages. A journalist with some linguistics training, Mr. Erard is not a
hyperpolyglot
himself, but he approaches his topic with both wonder and a healthy dash of skepticism.
To find out whether anyone could really learn so many languages, Mr. Erard set out to find modern Mezzofantis. The people he meets are certainly interesting. One man with a mental age of nine has a vast memory for foreign words and the use of grammatical endings, but he cannot seem to break free of English word-order. Ken Hale, who was a linguist at MIT and died in 2001, was said to have learned 50 languages. Professional linguists still swear by his talent. But he insisted he spoke only three and could merely "talk" in others. Mr. Erard says that true hyperpolyglottery begins at about 11 languages, and that while legends abound, tried and tested exemplars are few.
Hyperpolyglots are likely to be introverted, which may come as a surprise to some. Hale’s son always said that, in his father’s case, languages were a cloak for a shy man. Emil Krebs, a German diplomat who was also credited with knowing dozens of languages, was rude in all of them. He once refused to speak to his wife for several months because she told him to put on a winter coat.
At the end of his story, however, Erard finds a surprise in Mezzofanti’s archive: flashcards. Stacks of them in twelve tongues. The world’s most celebrated hyperpolyglot relied on the same tools given to first-year language-learners today. The conclusion? Hyperpolyglots may begin with talent, but they aren’t geniuses. They simply enjoy tasks that are tedious to normal people. The talent and enjoyment drive a virtuous cycle that pushes them to feats others simply shake their heads at. [br] Mr. Erard’s efforts to find the modern Mezzofantis______.
选项
A、seem to pay off
B、are a waste of time
C、are not very fruitful
D、will not end in vain
答案
C
解析
第三段最后一句说Erard认为真正的多语言者至少应该会11种语言,现在的情况是传言很多,但已经证实的却寥寥无几。说明Erard寻找多语言者的努力并没有太多的成果。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/4014212.html
相关试题推荐
CARDINALMEZZOFANTIofBolognawasasaintwhowassaidtospeak72language
CARDINALMEZZOFANTIofBolognawasasaintwhowassaidtospeak72language
CARDINALMEZZOFANTIofBolognawasasaintwhowassaidtospeak72language
Humanlanguagecanimpartdetailedinformationaboutmattersnotdirectly______
WilliamTyndale,thefirstpersontoprintanEnglishlanguageNewTestament,le
Thefundamentalreasonwhypeopleingeneraldonotspeakforeignlanguagesvery
Languagelearningbeginswithlistening.Individualchildrenvarygreatlyin
Thelanguageexpertsbelievethattheageforlearningaforeignlanguageis6y
TomasteraforeignlanguagelikeFrenchrequireshardwork,soyou______study
______evidencethatlanguageacquiringabilitymustbestimulated.A、ItbeingB、
随机试题
[originaltext]W:Ijustmadeupaquartoforangejuicethismorning,andnowI
[originaltext]Jetlag,causedbytravelingbetweentimezones,isbecoming
TheEnglishlanguageexistsinaconditionofeverlastingdanger,itsAmeri
传播途径主要经蚊虫传播的疾病包括:A.麻疹 B.流脑 C.乙脑 D.登革热
具有良好的低温性能,可作为低温材料,常温下具有极好的抗蚀性能,在大气、海水、硝酸
8个月婴儿,高热、咳嗽7天,气促3天,今日抽搐2次。已接种卡介苗。查体:T39℃
关于延安精神的主要内容,下列说法正确的是()A.延安精神在中国的革命和建设中
A.地气上为云,天气下为雨,雨出地气,云出天气 B.动极者镇之以静 C.阴在
要把深入学习贯彻习近平总书记关于力戒形式主义官僚主义的重要论述和网络强国的重要思
岩层风化壳中季节性存在的水属于()。A.包气带水 B.潜水 C.承压水
最新回复
(
0
)