雅思阅读真题(Part 2)

The history of the Celtic language

Part 2 · 最近考试:2025.12.6

文章内容(节选)

A 

November 1897, in a field near the village of Coligny in eastern France, a local inhabitant unearthed two strange objects. One was an imposing statue of Mars, the Roman god of war. The other was an ancient bronze tablet. 1.5 metres wide and 1 metre high. It bore numerals in Roman but the words were in Gaulish, a version of the Celtic language spoken by the inhabitants of France before the Roman conquest in the first century BC. The tablet turned out to be one of the most important sources of words from this extinct language.

 

完整文章请进入机考练习查看。

题目与答案

  1. a difference of opinion about where a group of languages originated
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F

    答案:E

    原文定位:Specialists have long debated which country was the homeland of the Indo;Europeans and whether their language was spread by conquest or because its speakers were the first agriculturists methods and tongue were adopted by other populations;

    同义替换:「difference of opinion」↔「have long debated」,「originated」↔「homeland」

  2. a reference to a mythological figure
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F

    答案:A

    原文定位:One was an imposing statue of Mars, the Roman god of war

    同义替换:「mythological figure」↔「the Roman god of war」

  3. an expression of one person's doubt about a particular method of analysing scientific data
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F

    答案:G

    原文定位:She had less confidence in the dating method, she said because language changes in an irregular way based on social factors like the size of the speaker's group and degree of contact with others

    同义替换:「expression of one person's doubt」↔「had less confidence」

  4. an explanation of how one particular Celtic language spread due to the movement of people
    some language experts distrust language trees
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F

    答案:B

    原文定位:In the British Isles, Celtic speakers survived in two main groups. the Goidelic branch of Celtic which includes Irish and Scots Gaelic, and the Brythonic branch, formed mainly of Welsh and Breton, a Celtic tongue carried to Brittany in France by emigrants from Cornwall

    同义替换:「spread」↔「carried to」,「due to the movement of」↔「by emigrants from」

  5. Why some languages experts distrust languages trees
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F

    答案:C

    原文定位:Because languages change so fast, historical linguists have little faith in language trees that go back more than a fey thousand years

    同义替换:「language experts」↔「historical linguists」,「distrust」↔「have little faith in」

  6. An approach commonly used in language research has too narrow a focus.
    • Dr Peter Forster & Dr Alfred Toth
    • Dr Merritt Ruhlen
    • Dr Colin Renfrew
    • Dr April McMahon

    答案:Dr Peter Forster & Dr Alfred Toth

    原文定位:Dr Toth said their method of evaluating groups of languages against each other was similar to historical linguists, many of whom restrict the research to how words only one single language have changed over time

    同义替换:「too narrow a focus」↔「restrict the research to how words only one single language have changed over time」

  7. The number of people who use a language has an effect on the modifications the language undergoes.
    • Dr Peter Forster & Dr Alfred Toth
    • Dr Merritt Ruhlen
    • Dr Colin Renfrew
    • Dr April McMahon

    答案:Dr April McMahon

    原文定位:She had less confidence in the dating method, she said because language changes in an irregular way based on social factors like the size of the speaker's group and degree of contact with others

    同义替换:「The number of people who use a language」↔「the size of the speaker's group」,「has an effect on」↔「based on」,「the modifications the language undergoes」↔「language changes」

  8. The Celtic language has been a distinct language for longer than experts previously thought.
    • Dr Peter Forster & Dr Alfred Toth
    • Dr Merritt Ruhlen
    • Dr Colin Renfrew
    • Dr April McMahon

    答案:Dr Peter Forster & Dr Alfred Toth

    原文定位:They say that Celtic became a language in its own right and entered the British Isles much earlier than supposed

    同义替换:「has been a distinct language」↔「became a language in its own right」,「for longer than experts previously thought」↔「much earlier than supposed」

  9. The use of one family of languages may have become more extensive due to farming practices.
    • Dr Peter Forster & Dr Alfred Toth
    • Dr Merritt Ruhlen
    • Dr Colin Renfrew
    • Dr April McMahon

    答案:Dr Colin Renfrew

    原文定位:Dr Forster, who works with Dr Renfrew, said in an interview that the suggested date 8100 BC for the arrival of Indo;European in Europe does seem to vindicate Renfrew's archaeological idea that the Indo;European languages were spread by farmers;

    同义替换:「may have become more extensive」↔「were spread」

  10. 23 The script on the bronze tablet discovered in Coligny in France was written in a form of Celtic called _____ .

    答案:Gaulish

    原文定位:It bore numerals in Roman but the words were in Gaulish, a version of the Celtic language spoken by the inhabitants of France before the Roman conquest in the first century BC

    同义替换:「written in a form of Celtic」↔「a version of the Celtic language」

  11. 24 After the success of the Roman Empire in conquering many parts of Europe, _____ and its related languages became the predominant languages.

    答案:Latin

    原文定位:Then in the first century BC, the Romans defeated the Celts, both in France and in Britain, so decisively that their language. Latin, and its successor languages displaced Celtic over much of its former territory

    同义替换:「became the predominant languages」↔「displaced Celtic」

  12. 25 _____ among the various versions of the Gaelic language around 3200 BC.

    答案:Divergence

    原文定位:They calculate that the Indo;European language initially fragmented in Europe around 8100 BC, plus or minus 1,900 years, and the divergence between the mainland European and British versions of Gaelic took place in 3200 BC, plus or minus 1,500 years;

    同义替换:「among」↔「between」

  13. 26 For social reasons, developments in languages are _____ .

    答案:irregular

    原文定位:She had less confidence in the dating method, she said because language changes in an irregular way based on social factors like the size of the speaker's group and degree of contact with others

    同义替换:「reasons」↔「factors」,「developments in」↔「changes」

相关雅思阅读真题

去机考系统练习这篇真题 →