Question

[Dương Minh]

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

In our connected globalized world, the languages which dominate communications and business, Mandarin, Hindi, English, Spanish and Russian amongst others, are placing small languages spoken in remote places under increasing pressure. Fewer and fewer people speak languages such as Liki, Taushiro and Dumi as their children shift away from the language of their ancestors towards languages which promise education, success and the chance of a better life. While to many parents, this may appear a reasonable choice, giving their offspring the opportunity to achieve the sort of prosperity they see on television, the children themselves often lose touch with their roots. However, in many places the more reasonable option of bilingualism, where children learn to speak both a local and a national language, is being promoted. This gives hope that many endangered languages will survive, allowing people to combine their links to local tradition with access to wider world culture.

While individuals are free to choose if they wish to speak a minority language, national governments should be under no obligation to provide education in an economically unproductive language, especially in times of budget constraints. It is generally accepted that national languages unite and help to create wealth while minority regional languages divide. Furthermore, governments have a duty to ensure that young people can fulfil their full potential, meaning that state education must provide them with the ability to speak and work in their national language and so equip them to participate responsibly in national affairs. People whose language competence does not extend beyond the use of a regional tongue have limited prospects. This means that while many people may feel a sentimental attachment to their local language, their government’s position should be one of benign neglect, allowing people to speak the language, but not acting to prevent its eventual disappearance.

Many PhD students studying minority languages lack the resources to develop their language skills, with the result that they have to rely on interpreters and translators to communicate with speakers of the language they are studying. This has a detrimental effect on the quality of their research. At the same time, they have to struggle against the frequently expressed opinion that minority languages serve no useful purpose and should be allowed to die a natural death. Such a view fails to take into account the fact that a unique body of knowledge and culture, built up over thousands of years, is contained in a language and that language extinction and species extinction are different facets of the same process. They are part of an impending global catastrophe which is beginning to look unavoidable.

(Adapted from Complete Advanced by Guy Brook – Hart and Simon Haines)

What can be inferred from the sentence “their government’s position should be one of benign neglect” in paragraph 2?

A.People who are not members of the government will be allowed to speak their local languages.

B.It’s better to allow these minority languages to die naturally by neglecting them.

C.The government does not appreciate the importance of minority languages.

D.The local people will be neglected if they use their ancestors’ languages.

Answer 1

[Nguyen Hoang Hai]

Đáp án B

Có thể suy ra điều gì từ câu “their government’s position should be one of benign neglect” trong đoạn 2?

A.Những người không phải là thành viên của chính phủ sẽ được phép nói ngôn ngữ của địa phương họ.

B.Tốt hơn là nên để các ngôn ngữ thiểu số này bị đào thải một cách tự nhiên bằng cách phớt lờ chúng.

C.Chính phủ không coi trọng tầm quan trọng của các ngôn ngữ thiểu số.

D.Người dân địa phương sẽ bị phớt lờ nếu họ sử dụng ngôn ngữ của tổ tiên họ.

Căn cứ vào thông tin đoạn 2:

This means that while many people may feel a sentimental attachment to their local language, their government’s position should be one of benign neglect, allowing people to speak the language, but not acting to prevent its eventual disappearance. (Điều này có nghĩa rằng trong khi nhiều người cảm thấy khá gắn kết với ngôn ngữ địa phương họ, thì thái độ của chính phủ nên là nhẹ nhàng phớt lờ, vẫn cho phép họ nói ngôn ngữ đó, nhưng lại không làm gì để bảo tồn nó khỏi sự biến mất dần dần).

Như vậy, thái độ nhẹ nhàng phớt lờ, không hề bảo tồn các ngôn ngữ thiểu số là cách để cho nó bị đào thải một cách tự nhiên.