2010-1997八级改错真题.doc

1. 2010年真题 So far as we can tell, all human languages are equally complete and perfect as instruments of com- munication: that is, every language appears to be well 1 ___ equipped as any other to say the things their speakers 2 ___ want to say. There may or may not be appropriate to talk 3 ___ about primitive peoples or cultures, but that is another matter. Certainly, not all groups of people are equally competent in nuclear physics or psychology or the cul- tivation of rice. Whereas this is not the fault of their 4 ___ language. The Eskimos, it is said, can speak about snow with further more precision and subtlety than we 5 ___ can in English, but this is not because the Eskimo lan- guage (one of those sometimes miscalled primitive) is inherently more precise and subtle than English. This example does not come to light a defect in 6 ___ English, a show of unexpected primitiveness. The position is simply and obviously that the Eskimos and the English live in similar environments. 7 ___ The English language will be just as rich in terms 8 ___ for different kinds of snow if the environments in which English was habitually used made such distinc- tion as important. 9 __ Similarly, we have no reason to doubt that the Es- kimo language could be as precise and subtle on the subject of motor manufacture or cricket if these topics formed the part of the Eskimos life. 10 __ 2. 2009年真题 The previous section has shown how quickly a rhyme passes from one school child to the next and illustrates the further difference between school lore 1 __________ and nursery lore. In nursery lore a verse, learnt in early childhood, is not usually passed on again when 2 _____