Language is a marvelous thing. Every language consists of a limited number of sounds, a limited number of ways in which these sounds can be combined to form words and a limited number of rules for combining words into sentences. For example English has about 45 sound patterns and about 30 patterns for combining these sounds into sentences. Yet from these limited quantities of sounds and limited number of rules and patterns for combining the sounds, a speaker of English can produce an unlimited number of sentences that will be understood by other speakers of English.
The above is true of all languages. All languages are systematic. That is, all languages have an internally consistent system of rules for combining sounds into speech that is comprehensible to all those who speak the same language. There is no such thing as a “primitive” language, meaning an incomplete or rule-deficient language. A highly technological culture and a primitive culture each have a systematic, internally consistent language. Both cultures can discuss concrete thing and abstract ideas. Both cultures can use their languages to gossip, to lie, to tell joke ,to tell stories ,to discuss life.
And all human beings of normal hearing and adequate intelligence learn at least one language. Babies who are born deaf and cannot hear language have trouble learning to speak. They can, nevertheless, learn another systematic form of language called sign language. Also, some severely retarded(严重障碍的) children can fail to learn a complete language system. The rest of us, however learn the basics of our first languages by the time we are five years old, with a remarkable achievement.
(1). What three things does every language consist of? ( )(本题2.5分)
A、 Spelling, sound rules, and small and capitalized letters.
B、 Spelling, reading rules, and hearing rules.
C、 Sounds, sentences, and paragraphs and articles.
D、 Sound rules, word-formations, and sentence patterns
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