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  3. Few disciplines axe so strongly associated with a single figure: Einstein in physics and Freud in psychology, perhaps. But Noam

Few disciplines axe so strongly associated with a single figure: Einstein in physics and Freud in psychology, perhaps. But Noam

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问题    Few disciplines axe so strongly associated with a single figure: Einstein in physics and Freud in psychology, perhaps. But Noam Chomsky is the man who revolutionised linguistics. Over the past 60 years, Mr. Chomsky has repeatedly stripped down his theory. He has focused ever more narrowly on the features of language that he reckons are unique to humans. All this has led to a remarkable little book, which claims to explain the evolution of human language.
   Other biologists, linguists and psychologists have probed the same question and have reached little consensus. 【F1】But there is even less consensus around the world’s most eminent linguist’s idea: that a single genetic mutation created an ability called "Merge", in a single human whom Mr. Chomsky has called "Prometheus". That mutation was so advantageous that it survived and thrived, producing today’s 7,000 languages. But the vast differences among the world’s languages, Mr. Chomsky argues, are mere differences in "externalisation". The key is Merge.
   But what is it? 【F2】Merge simply says that two mental objects can be merged into a bigger one, and mental operations can be performed on that as if it were a single one. 【F3】The can be merged with cat to give a noun phrase, which other grammar rules can operate on as if it were a bare noun like water. So can the and hat. Once there, you can further merge, making the cat in the hat. And so on.
   Why would this be of any use? Whom did Prometheus talk to? Nobody, at least not using Merge. But Merge-enabled language, according to Mr. Chomsky, did not evolve for talking at all. Rather, it let Prometheus take simple concepts and combine them in sentence-like ways in his own head. The resulting complex thoughts gave him a survival advantage. Only later, as Merge came to work with the vocal and hearing organs, did human language emerge.
   Many scholars find this to be somewhere between insufficient, improbable and absurd. The emergence of a single mutation that gives such a big advantage is belittled by biologists as a "hopeful monster" theory; most evolution is gradual, operating on many genes, not one. 【F4】Some ability like Merge may exist, but this does not explain why some words may merge and others don’t, much less why the world’s languages merge so differently.
   Mr. Chomsky is unlikely to end up like Freud, whose lasting influence has been on the humanities. 【F5】His career is more likely to end up like Einstein’s—at least in the sense that his best and most influential work came early on.
【F1】
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答案然而，对于全世界最著名语言学家的理论产生的分歧则更大——一个被乔姆斯基称之为“普罗米修斯”的人，在一次单一基因的突变中拥有了“合并”的能力。
解析 ①本句为较复杂的复合句，包含一个同位语从句和一个定语从句；句首的But表明本句与前一句存在转折关系，可用“然而”译出。②主句为there be句型，主句中的around the world’s most eminent linguist’s idea作后置定语修饰consensus，说明是关于哪方面的consensus。③冒号后为idea的同位语从句，解释说明idea具体内容的作用；此句中called“Merge”作an ability的后置定语，修饰an ability；逗号后的内容是同位语从句中的状语，其中包含由whom引导的定语从句，修饰先行词a single human；此定语从句的谓语为call sb．sth．结构，意为“称某人为……”。
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