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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 homogenizing forces of globalization.
    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.
    For many endangered languages, the line between revival and death is extremely thin. Language is remarkably resilient, however. It is not just a tool for communicating, but also a powerful way of separating different groups, or of demonstrating group identity. Many indigenous communities have shown that it is possible to live in the modern world while reclaiming their unique identities through language.
Minority languages can be best preserved in________.
选项 A、an increasingly interconnected world
B、maintaining small numbers of speakers
C、relatively isolated language communities
D、following the tradition of the 20th century
答案C
解析 根据题干关键词best preserved，答案线索可以定位到第一段，本题问的是：在什么情况下，小语种可以得到最佳保护? 根据第一段第二句话，联系日益密切的现代世界使小语种族群在相对独立的环境中(in relative isolation)的生存变得更加艰难，而这种环境是语言维系及语言保护(language maintenance and preservation)的关键因素(a key factor)。因此，小语种在相对独立的环境中更容易得到维系和保护。选项C中的isolated是原文中isolation的形容词形式，表达相同含义，是正确选项。选项A属于正反混淆，因为第二句话强调联系日益密切的(The increasingly interconnected)现代世界使小语种族群更难(much more difficult)在相对独立的环境中生存(live)。选项B属于无中生有，第一段第一句话提到很多只有少数人使用的(small numbers of speakers)语言留存了若干个世纪，这句话中少数使用者只是对小语种的一个客观描述，并没有提到可以通过保护使用者进而保护小语种。选项D也是无中生有，第一句话指出：二十世纪以前(Prior to the 20th century)，很多只有少数人使用的语言留存了(survived)若干个世纪(for centuries)。这句话并没有说要遵循(follow)20世纪的传统 (tradition)才能保存语言。第一段：小语种濒临生存危机。
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