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  3. Prior to the 20th century, many languages with small numbers of speakers survived for centuries. The increasingly interconnected

Prior to the 20th century, many languages with small numbers of speakers survived for centuries. The increasingly interconnected

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问题     Prior to the 20th century, many languages with small numbers of speakers survived for centuries. The increasingly interconnected modern world makes it much more difficult for small language communities to live in relative isolation, a key factor in language maintenance and preservation.
    It remains to be seen whether the world can maintain its linguistic and cultural diversity in the centuries ahead. Many powerful forces appear to work against it: population growth, which pushes migrant populations into the world’s last isolated locations; mass tourism; global telecommunications and mass media; and the spread of gigantic global corporations. All of these forces appear to signify a future in which the language of advertising, popular culture, and consumer products become similar. Already English and a few other major tongues have emerged as global languages of commerce and communication. For many of the world’s peoples, learning one of these languages is viewed as the key to education, economic opportunity, and a better way of life.
    Only about 3,000 languages now in use are expected to survive the coming century. Are most of the rest doomed in the century after that? Whether most of these languages survive will probably depend on how strongly cultural groups wish to keep their identity alive through a native language. To do so will require an emphasis on bilingualism(mastery of two languages). Bilingual speakers could use their own language in smaller spheres — at home, among friends, in community settings — and a global language at work, in dealings with government, and in commercial spheres. In this way, many small languages could sustain their cultural and linguistic integrity alongside global languages, rather than yield to the homogenising(同化的)forces of globalisation.
    Ironically, the trend of technological innovation that has threatened minority languages could also help save them. For example, some experts predict that computer software translation tools will one day permit minority language speakers to browse the Internet using their native tongues. Linguists are currently using computer-aided learning tools to teach a variety of threatened languages.
Computer technology is helpful for preserving minority languages in that it_____.
选项 A、facilitates the learning and using of those languages
B、raises public awareness of saving those languages
C、makes it easier for linguists to study those languages
D、presents those languages before everyone
答案A
解析 根据题干中的computer将本题出处定位于第4段。该段指出，科技革新的趋势在威胁小语种的存在的同时也能够help save them，并以computer software translation tools(电脑翻译软件)为例进行说明。通过该例子可知，电脑翻译软件将来有一天能够允许说小语种语言的人使用自己的语言浏览因特网，这就表明computer software translation tools对minority languages具有促进作用，A)表述的正是此意，故为答案。
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