Giải bởi Vietjack
Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each of the questions
The languages spoken by early Europeans are still shrouded in mystery. There is no linguistic continuity between the languages of Old Europe (a term sometimes used for Europe between 7,000 and 3,000 B.C.) and the languages of the modern world, and we cannot yet translate the Old European script. Scholars have deciphered other ancient languages, such as Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian, which used the cuneiform script, because of the fortuitous discovery of bilingual inscriptions. When cuneiform tablets were first discovered in the 18th century, scholars could not decipher them. Then inscriptions found in Iran at the end of the 18th century provided a link: these inscriptions were written in cuneiform and in two other ancient languages, Old Persian and New Elamite – languages that had already been deciphered. It took several decades, but scholars eventually translated the ancient cuneiform script via the more familiar Old Persian language.
Similarly, the hieroglyphic writing of the Egyptians remained a mystery until French troops unearthed the famous Rosetta stone in the late 18th century. The stone carried the same message written in ancient Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Egyptian hieratic, a simplified form of hieroglyphs. The Rosetta stone thwarted scholars’ efforts for several decades until the early 19th century when several key hieroglyphic phrases were decoded using the Greek inscriptions. Unfortunately, we have no Old European Rosetta stone to chart correspondences between Old European script and the languages that replaced it.
The incursions of Indo-European tribes into Old Europe from the late 5th to the early 3rd millennia B.C. caused a linguistic and cultural discontinuity. These incursions disrupted the Old European sedentary farming lifestyle that had existed for 3,000 years. As the Indo-Europeans encroached on Old Europe from the east, the continent underwent upheavals. These severely affected the Balkans, where the Old European cultures abundantly employed script. The Old European way of life deteriorated rapidly, although pockets of Old European cultural remained for several millennia. The new peoples spoke completely different languages belonging to the Indo-European linguistic family. The Old European language or languages, and the script used to write them, declined and eventually vanished.
What is the main topic of the passage?
Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each of the questions
Industrialization came to the United State after 1790 as North American entrepreneurs increased productivity by reorganizing work and building factories. These innovations in manufacturing boosted output and living standards to an unprecedented extent; the average per capita wealth increased by nearly 1 percent per year – 30 percent over the course of a generation. Goods that had once been luxury items became part of everyday life.
The impressive gain in output stemmed primarily from the way in which workers made goods, since the 1790's, North American entrepreneurs – even without technological improvements – had broadened the scope of the outwork system that mace manufacturing more efficient by distributing materials to a succession of workers who each performed a single step of the production process. For example, during the 1820's and 1830's the shoe industry greatly expanded the scale and extend of me outwork system. Tens of thousands of rural women, paid according to the amount they produced, fabricated the "uppers" of shoes, which were bound to the soles by wage-earning journeymen shoemakers in dozens of Massachusetts towns, whereas previously journeymen would have made the enduring shoe. This system of production made the employer a powerful "shoe boss" and eroded workers' control over the pace and conditions of labor. However, it also dramatically increased the output of shoes while cutting their price.
For tasks that were not suited to the outwork system, entrepreneurs created an even more important new organization, the modem factory, which used power-driven machines and assembly-line techniques to turn out large quantities of well-made goods. As early as 1782 the prolific Delaware inventor Oliver Evans had built a highly automated, laborsaving flour mill driven by water power. His machinery lifted the grain to the top of the mill, cleaned it as it fell into containers known as hoppers, ground the grain into flour, and then conveyed the flour back to the top of the mill to allow it to cool as it descended into barrels. Subsequently, manufacturers made use of new improved stationary steam engines to power their mills. This new technology enabled them to build factories in the nation's largest cities, taking advantage of urban concentrations of inexpensive labor, good transportation networks, and eager customers.
What is the passage mainly about?
Read the following passage and choose the correct word for each of the blanks
A recent issue of a language learning magazine has consulted a number of experts in the (71) _______ of second language acquisition. Their advice may prove invaluable for those (72)_____ a language course. One suggestion is that you (73) ______ whether you are likely to be successful at learning a language. Did you enjoy studying languages at school, for example? Do you have enough time to learn a language? The major (74) _____ will be your own time and effort. If proof of your level of proficiency is important you must make sure that the course on offer leads to a (75)_____ qualification. Also, be realistic in your (76)______. If you don't set achievable aims you are more likely to give up. Do not be deceived (77)______ thinking that the most expensive courses are the best. (78) ______ around to get the best possible value for money. You should also bear in mind that the quicker you learn a language the more quickly you forget it. Sandra Miller, a French teacher, tried to teach herself German by enrolling on a (79) ______course. Already fluent in four languages and with a sound knowledge of teaching methodology her chances of making progress were high. Three years on she remembers very little. She feels her biggest mistake was not to follow (80) ______ her first experience. "I should have consolidated what I'd learn by continuing to study, even if it were by myself."
