名校研究生入学考试真题选1

1、名校研究生入学考试真题选1Chapter One: Linguistics: The Study of LanguageI. 名词解释1. （清华大学2001，中国人民大学2002，武汉大学2003年考题）cultural transmission ( as a defining property of language)考点分析：考查语言“文化传递”特征Answer: While human capacity for language has a genetic basis, the details of any language system are not genetically tra

2、nsmitted, but instead have to be taught and learned. An English speaker and a Chinese speaker are both able to use a language, but they are not mutually intelligible. This shows that language is culturally transmitted. It is passed on from one generation to the next through teaching and learning, ra

3、ther than by instinct. In contrast, animal call systems are genetically transmitted. They are born with the capacity to produce the set of calls peculiar to their species.2. (同济大学2000年考题) descriptive linguistics vs. prescriptive linguistics考点分析：考查描写性语言学和规定性语言学的区别。Answer: A linguistic study is descri

4、ptive if it describes and analyses facts observed; it is prescriptive if it tries to lay down rules for “correct” behavior. Linguistic studies before the 20th century are largely prescriptive whereas modern linguistic is mostly descriptive.II. 判断正误 (T for True and F for False)1. (清华大学2001年考题) When l

5、anguage is used to get information, it serves an informative function.考点分析：考查语言的功能。Answer: F (It serves an interrogative function).2. (东南大学2003年考题) Most animal communication systems lack the primary level of articulation.考点分析：辨别二重性Answer: F (The primary units in these systems cannot be further divid

6、ed into elements. So what they lack is the secondary level of articulation.)3. (大连外国语学院2000年考题) Descriptive linguistics are concerned with how languages work, not with how they can be improved.考点分析：考查描写语法和规定语法的区别。Answer: TIII. 填空题1. （中山大学2003年考题）By saying that “language is arbitrary”, we mean that t

7、here is no logical connection between meaning and _.考点分析：考查任意性的定义。Answer： sounds2. (中山大学2003年考题) The distinction between langue and parole is made by the Swiss linguist F. de Saussure. The distinction between competence and performance is made by the American linguist _.考点分析：考查语言学中的重要人物。Answer: Noam

8、 Chomsky3. (北京第二外国语大学2004年考题) An approach to linguistic study which attempts to lay down rules of correctness as to how language should be used is _考点分析：规定性的概念Answer: prescriptiveIV. 选择题1. （电子科技大学2003年考题）Unlike animal communication system, human language is _.a. stimulus free b. stimulus bound c. un

9、der immediate stimulus controld. stimulated by some occurrence of communal interest考点分析：考查语言移位性特征Answer: a2. （东南大学2000年考题）_has been widely accepted as the forefather of modern linguistics.考点分析：考查现代语言学创始人a. Chomsky b. Saussure c. Bloomfield d. John LyonAnswer: bV. 问答题1. （武汉大学2000， 湖南师范大学2003年考题）Is la

10、nguage productive or not? Why?考点分析：考查语言创造性（又称能产性）的概念及原因Answer: Firstly, language is productive or creative. This means that language users can understand and produce sentences they have never heard before. Secondly, productivity is unique to human language. Most animal communication systems have a l

11、imited repertoire, which is rapidly exhausted, making any novelty impossible. Thirdly, the productivity or creativity of human language originates from its duality. Because of duality, the speaker can combine the basic linguistic units to form an infinite set of sentences. The productivity of langua

12、ge also means its potential to create endless sentences. This is made possible by the recursive nature of language.2. (中山大学2001年考题) Comment on the following statement: “In linguistics, language only means what a person says or said in a given situation”.考点分析：考查“language”一词在语言学中不同层面的含义Answer: This st

13、atement is incorrect. In linguistics, “language” has several layers of meaning: firstly, the whole of a persons language, e.g. Shakespeares language; secondly, a particular variety or level of speech or writing, e.g. scientific language, literary language, colloquial language; thirdly, an abstract s

14、ystem underlying the totality of the speech/writing behavior of a community, e.g. the English language, the Chinese language; lastly, there is an even more abstract sense of “language”, referring to the common features of all human languages that distinguish them from animal communication systems or

15、 any artificial language.3. (浙江大学1998， 东南大学1999，厦门大学2002年考题) Point out there ways in which linguistics differs from traditional grammar.考点分析：考查现代语言学与传统语法研究的区别Answer: firstly, most linguistic analyses today focus on speech rather than writing. Secondly, modern linguistics is mostly descriptive while

16、traditional grammar is largely prescriptive. Thirdly, a third difference is the priority of synchronic description over the traditional diachronic studies.4. (华中科技大学2002年考题) What is the major difference between Saussures distinction between langue and parole and Chomskys distinction between competence and performance?考点分析：考查“语言-言语”与“语言能力-语言运用”的区别。Answer: Saussures langue is social