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
19
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] The passage is most likely a part of______.
选项
A、a news report
B、a science fiction
C、a research paper
D、a book review
答案
D
解析
参见文章介绍。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/4014214.html
相关试题推荐
CARDINALMEZZOFANTIofBolognawasasaintwhowassaidtospeak72language
CARDINALMEZZOFANTIofBolognawasasaintwhowassaidtospeak72language
CARDINALMEZZOFANTIofBolognawasasaintwhowassaidtospeak72language
CARDINALMEZZOFANTIofBolognawasasaintwhowassaidtospeak72language
CARDINALMEZZOFANTIofBolognawasasaintwhowassaidtospeak72language
ChineseauthorsofSCIpapersareusuallyaskedtohavethelanguage______byan
Languagelearningbeginswithlistening.Individualchildrenvarygreatlyin
Languagelearningbeginswithlistening.Individualchildrenvarygreatlyin
Languagelearningbeginswithlistening.Individualchildrenvarygreatlyin
______evidencethatlanguageacquiringabilitymustbestimulated.A、ItbeingB、
随机试题
Wearegoingonthe______thattheworkwillhefinishedtomorrow.A、schemeB、as
A.30.80 B.30.12 C.38.80 D.38.12
下列不属于通信系统的是( )。A.生产管理通信设备 B.载波通信 C.电波
雕塑是城市的一张名片,优秀的雕塑能雕琢出历史与文化,人心与情怀,更能传达出所在城
套利的主要方法包括() Ⅰ.期现套利 Ⅱ.跨期套利 Ⅲ.跨商品套利
闻及开瓣音提示的是()A.二尖瓣轻、中度狭窄,瓣膜弹性和活动性较好 B.
根据材料,如果2010年该企业税负增长率维持在2009年的水平上,2010年的税
投资项目决策分析与评价的基本要求包括贯彻落实科学发展观、资料数据准确可靠和()
男性,45岁。主诉3个月前当他过度弯腰工作时背部有塌下的感觉,以后胸椎中至下段棘
某建设工程总造价为3500万元。建设方与施工方在合同中约定:无论何种原因,延误工
最新回复
(
0
)