外刊閱讀(3.25)BABIESCOMEintotheworldseekingoutcomfort,sotheirfirstwordisoften“mama”.Itiseasytosayandreflectsthebondofmotherandchild.Meanwhilethoseleavingthisworldoftenmakeaphilosophicalstatement,revealalong-hiddentruthorevenutterawitticism.“EitherthosecurtainsgoorIdo,”O(jiān)scarWildesupposedlysaidonhisdeathbed.Allthis,includingWilde’squip,isdubious,arguesMichaelErard,anAmericanjournalistwhohaswrittenseveralbooksaboutlanguage.In“ByeByeILoveYou”hedismantlesmanylong-heldbeliefsaboututterancesatboththebeginningandendoflife.Hefindsfirstandlastwordstobesimilarinmanyways—suchashowtheyarecreatedbyexpectantlistenersasmuchasbytheirspeakers.Soundslikemamaanddadaorpaparecurinmanyoftheworld’swordsfor“mother”and“father”.Butaboutasmanyparentalwordslackthesecommonsounds;insomelanguagesthewordfor“mother”featuresrareconsonantsthatchildrenmasteronlylater.“Mama”iswhatMrErardcallsa“culturalfirstword”,fussedoverbythosewhohavelearnedtolookoutforitorevenelicititfromlittleones.Thingsareverydifferentelsewhere.AmongtheBengpeopleofIvoryCoast,ababyisnotsupposedtoutterhisfirstwordtooprecociously.Todosoisabadomen,involvinga“cosmicrebalancing”,andagrandparentmightdieincompensation.AmongspeakersofTayapinPapuaNewGuineababiesareexpectedtobedefiant;peoplelistenoutfor“oki”and“aiata”,meaning“I’mgettingoutofhere”and“stopit”.AsimilarbeliefholdsamongSamoans,forwhom“tae”isexpectedtobemanybabies’firstword,shortfor“aitae”(“eatshit”).Inindustrialisedsocietiesearlylinguisticdevelopmentisbigbusiness.Unusualandvariedearlywordsaremeanttobeasignofagiftedchildwhowillreaptherewardsofbeingbrainylateron.Babybooksencouragingparentstoreportontheirchildren’sfirstwordsmadetheirappearanceinthelate19thcenturyalongwithanincreasinglyprofessional,managerialapproachtoparenting—child-rearingasoptimisation.Rich-worldparentsarethuskeentoelicitspeechfromtheirchildrenasearlyastheycan.MrErardisnotthefirsttopointoutthatindustrialisationhaschangednotonlychildhood,butoldage,too.Medicaladvancesinwealthycountrieshaveledtomoreprotracteddeclinesanddeathsatolderages;inearliercenturies,violence,accidentsandcatastrophicillnessesclaimedmanyyoung,otherwisehealthypeople.Thathashadaneffectonlastwords.Popularculturehasconditionedlovedonestoexpectsomefinaltruthorprofundityinthelastutteranceofthedying.Butmomentsofsuddenlucidity,withclear,meaningfulandmemorablelastwords,areverymuchtheexceptioninthosewhodietoday(andofferreasontobescepticalofmanyofthefamouslastwordscollectedinanthologies).Byfarthemostcommonprocessbywhichpeopledieinthemodernrichworldisaslowbreakdownofphysicalandmentalfaculties,“neurochemicalcommotion”thatgraduallyrobspeopleoftheabilitytosayanythingatall.Indeed,inanotherlinkbetweenfirstandlastwords,MrErardarguesthatdyingpeoplelosetheirverbalfacultiesinawayresemblingthechild’slanguagelearningbutinreverse.Thoughlanguageacquisitioniswellstudied,languageattritionisnot.MrErardiselegiacashedescribesglances,handsqueezesandgestures,andthesometimesupsettingcries,moansanddelirioustalkthatareoftenthefinalcommunicationofthedying.Thisiswhysomecultures—manyHindusandMuslimsamongthem—prepareandpractisedeclarationsforthemomentofdeathlongbeforeitarrives.(Christiansoncedidso,too.)Abookendingwithsomuchdeathmaysoundlikeahardread.Instead,itisabeautifulandevenstrangelycomfortingone,withMrErardasapensive,patientguide.(Heistrainingtobeanend-of-lifedoula.)Theendmustcome;unrealisticexpectationsaboutfinalmessagesneednot.語(yǔ)篇分析文章結(jié)構(gòu)為:段落大意：1.

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1.Whatisthemainideaofthepassage?A.Itexploresthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenbabies'firstwordsanddyingpeople'slastwords.B.ItmainlyintroducesMichaelErard'sbookaboutlanguageacquisitioninbabies.C.Itfocusesontheinfluenceofindustrializationonchildhooddevelopment.D.Ittellsthestoryofhowdifferentculturesviewthefirstwordsofbabies.2.Accordingtothepassage,whatcanbeinferredabout“mama”asababy'sfirstword?A.Itisthefirstwordfor“mother”inalllanguages.B.Itisactuallya“culturalfirstword”influencedbyadults.C.Babiesaroundtheworldalwayssay“mama”first.D.Itisasignofagiftedchildinindustrializedsocieties.3.Whydosomeculturesprepareandpractisedeclarationsforthemomentofdeath?A.Becausetheybelieveinthepoweroffinalwords.B.Becausedyingpeopleusuallyhaveclearandprofoundlastwords.C.Becausedyingpeopleoftenlosetheirverbalfaculties.D.BecausetheywanttofollowthetraditionofChristians.4.Whatistheauthor'sattitudetowardsMichaelErard'sbook“ByeByeILoveYou”?A.Critical.B.Doubtful.C.Positive.D.Indifferent.1.Whatisthemainideaofthepassage?A.Itexploresthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenbabies'firstwordsanddyingpeople'slastwords.B.ItmainlyintroducesMichaelErard'sbookaboutlanguageacquisitioninbabies.C.Itfocusesontheinfluenceofindustrializationonchildhooddevelopment.D.Ittellsthestoryofhowdifferentculturesviewthefirstwordsofbabies.答案：A。文章整體圍繞嬰兒的首詞和臨終者的遺言展開(kāi)，探討二者在諸多方面的相似與不同，A選項(xiàng)符合；B選項(xiàng)只提及了書(shū)關(guān)于嬰兒語(yǔ)言習(xí)得部分，片面；C選項(xiàng)只強(qiáng)調(diào)工業(yè)化對(duì)童年影響，未涵蓋遺言等內(nèi)容；D選項(xiàng)只涉及不同文化對(duì)嬰兒首詞的看法，不全面。2.Accordingtothepassage,whatcanbeinferredabout“mama”asababy'sfirstword?A.Itisthefirstwordfor“mother”inalllanguages.B.Itisactuallya“culturalfirstword”influencedbyadults.C.Babiesaroundtheworldalwayssay“mama”first.D.Itisasignofagiftedchildinindustrializedsocieties.答案：B。文中提到“‘Mama’iswhatMrErardcallsa‘culturalfirstword’,fussedoverbythosewhohavelearnedtolookoutforitorevenelicititfromlittleones”，說(shuō)明“mama”是受成年人影響的“文化首詞”，B正確；A選項(xiàng)“所有語(yǔ)言”過(guò)于絕對(duì)；C選項(xiàng)“總是”錯(cuò)誤；D選項(xiàng)文中未提及“mama”與天才兒童的關(guān)系。3.Whydosomeculturesprepareandpractisedeclarationsforthemomentofdeath?A.Becausetheybelieveinthepoweroffinalwords.B.Becausedyingpeopleusuallyhaveclearandprofoundlastwords.C.Becausedyingpeopleoftenlosetheirverbalfaculties.D.BecausetheywanttofollowthetraditionofChristians.答案：C。從“dyingpeoplelosetheirverbalfaculties...Thisiswhysomecultures...prepareandpractisedeclarationsforthemomentofdeathlongbeforeitarrives”可知，是因?yàn)榇顾乐顺ＪフZ(yǔ)言能力，所以一些文化才提前準(zhǔn)備臨終宣言，C正確；A選項(xiàng)文中未提及相信臨終遺言的力量；B選項(xiàng)與文中臨終清醒留遺言少見(jiàn)不符；D選項(xiàng)不是為了遵循基督徒傳統(tǒng)。4.Whatistheauthor'sattitudetowardsMichaelErard'sbook“ByeByeILoveYou”?A.Critical.B.Doubtful.C.Positive.D.Indifferent.答案：C。根據(jù)“Instead,itisabeautifulandevenstrangelycomfortingone,