首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
(1)Under the 1996 constitution, all 11 of South Africa’s official languages "must enjoy equality of esteem and be treated equita
(1)Under the 1996 constitution, all 11 of South Africa’s official languages "must enjoy equality of esteem and be treated equita
admin
2018-09-19
45
问题
(1)Under the 1996 constitution, all 11 of South Africa’s official languages "must enjoy equality of esteem and be treated equitably". In practice English, the mother tongue of just 8% of the people, increasingly dominates all the others. Its hegemony may even threaten the long-term survival of the country’s African languages, spoken as the mother tongue of 80% of South Africans, despite the government’s repeated promises to promote and protect indigenous languages and culture.
(2)Under apartheid, there were just two official languages, English and Afrikaans, a variant of Dutch with a dash of French, German, Khoisan (spoken by so-called Bushmen and Hottentots), Malay and Portuguese. Pre-colonial African languages were relegated to the black townships and tribal "homelands". Even there, English was often chosen as the medium of education in preference to the inhabitants’ mother tongues. Black South Africans increasingly rejected Afrikaans as the language of the main oppressor; English was a symbol of advancement and prestige.
(3)Today, 16 years after the advent of black-majority rule, English reigns supreme. Not only is it the medium of business, finance, science and the internet, but also of government, education, broadcasting, the press, advertising, street signs, consumer products and the music industry. For such things Afrikaans is also occasionally used, especially in the Western Cape province, but almost never an African tongue. The country’s Zulu-speaking president, Jacob Zuma, makes all his speeches in English. Parliamentary debates are in English. Even the instructions on bottles of prescription drugs come only in English or Afrikaans.
(4)Yet most black South Africans are not proficient in English. This is because most of their teachers give lessons in a language that is not their own. To give non-English-speaking children a leg-up, the government agreed last year that all pupils should be taught in their mother tongue for at least the first three years of primary school. But outside the rural areas, where one indigenous language prevails, this is neither financially nor logistically feasible.
(5)Some people suggest reducing the number of official languages to a more manageable three: English, Afrikaans and Zulu, the mother tongue of nearly a quarter of South Africans. But non-Zulus would object. Unless brought up on a farm, few whites speak an African language. For the school-leaving exam, proficiency in at least two languages is required. But most native English-speakers opt for Afrikaans, said to be easy to learn, rather than a useful but harder African tongue. At universities African-language departments are closing.
(6)Some effort is being made to protect African languages from this apparently inexorable decline. The Sunday Times, South Africa’s biggest-selling weekend paper, recently launched a Zulu edition. In September the Oxford University Press brought out the first isiZulu-English dictionary in more than 40 years.
(7)Many of the black elite, who send their children to English-speaking private schools or former white state schools, may accept English emerging as the sole national language. Many talk English to their children at home. Fluency in the language of Shakespeare is regarded as a sign of modernity, sophistication and power.
(8)Will South Africa’s black languages suffer the fate of the six languages brought by the country’s first Indian settlers 150 years ago? Maybe so, thinks Rajend Mesthrie at the University of Cape Town. For the first 100-odd years, he says, South Africa’s Indians taught and spoke to their children in their native tongues. But English is now increasingly seen as "the best way forward". Today most young Indians speak only English or are bilingual in English and Afrikaans, though they may continue to chat at home in a kind of pidgin English mixed with Indian and Zulu.
The decline of African languages is due to all the following EXCEPT_____.
选项
A、African languages are seldom used officially
B、The leaders use English rather than African languages
C、The dominance of English among the public
D、Most of the Africans are good at English
答案
D
解析
第4段第1句指出虽然南非人大多说英语但并不精通。所以选项D符合题意。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/gmEK777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Forpeoplesufferingfromdepression,theadviceisusuallythesame:seekhelp.Thissimple-soundingdirective,moreover,is【M1
Forpeoplesufferingfromdepression,theadviceisusuallythesame:seekhelp.Thissimple-soundingdirective,moreover,is【M1
Startinginthemid-1990s,majorAmericancitiesbeganaradicaltransformation.Yearsofhighviolentcrimerates,thefts,ro
Thebookisdead.Technologyhaskilledit.Thelibrariesoftheworldaredoomingtobecomemuseums.Americans,however,【M1】___
Thebookisdead.Technologyhaskilledit.Thelibrariesoftheworldaredoomingtobecomemuseums.Americans,however,【M1】___
Arabiclanguageisoneoftheworld’smostwidelyusedlanguages.ItistheofficerlanguageofmanyArabnationsinthe【M1】____
Sometrytoreasonwiththepoliceofficerwhohaspulledthemoverforsomerealorimaginedtrafficoffense.Butwhenlawen
Sometrytoreasonwiththepoliceofficerwhohaspulledthemoverforsomerealorimaginedtrafficoffense.Butwhenlawen
HowtoBuildYourVocabularyEffectivelyVocabularyisthefoundationoflearningalanguage.Withoutit,noneoftheskillscou
随机试题
系统分析阶段的系统调查工作是将企业和组织的________系统作为研究对象,进行详细调查与分析工作。
优先数是进程调度的重要依据一旦确定不能改变。()
Wehavenoideaaboutwhenmenfirstbegantousesalt,butwedoknowthatithasbeenusedinmanydifferentwaysthroughoutt
男性患者,45岁,2年来劳累时胸闷,心悸,含硝酸甘油效果不佳。查体:血压130/80mmHg(17.3/10.7kPa)。心界大,血沉正常,心率80/min,律整,心尖部可闻及S4,胸骨左缘第3~4肋间有收缩期喷射性杂音,肺清,腹部无异常。超声心动图检查示
低压合金钢管安装中,下列不包含在安装工程内容中的为()。
记载宋以前历代典章制度的所谓“三通”是()。
强调学习者的主体作用,强调学习的主动性、社会性和情境性是哪一个理论?()
孔子在中国历史上留下了光辉的文化轨迹,以下关于孔子的说法正确的是()。
"Iamleavingthecountrysoon,"hetolda______convenedgroupofreporters.
Thefastesttransatlanticvoyagebyapacketmentionedbytheauthorwasfrom______.Whichofthefollowingwasmostimportan
最新回复
(
0
)