Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter-gatherers, small, tightly knit (联系)groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other.Some language experts believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000 languages between them.

Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centuries, trade, industrialization, the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation and better communications in the past few decades, all have caused many languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.zxxk

At present, the world has about 6,800 languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven. The general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages, often spoken by many people, while hot, wet zones have lots, often spoken by small numbers. Europe has only around 200 languages; the Americas about 1,000; Africa 2 400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800. The median number (中位数)of speakers is a mere 6,000, which means that half the world’s languages are spoken by fewer people than that.

Already well over 400 of the total of, 6,800 languages are close to extinction(消亡), with only a few elderly speakers left. Pick, at random, Busuu in Cameroon (eight remaining speakers),Chiapaneco in Mexico(150), Lipan Apache in the United States(two or three)or Wadjigu in Australia (one, with a question-mark): none of these seems to have much chance of survival.

In the depths of the French Guianese rainforest，there still remain unusual groups of indigenous（土著的） people．Surprisingly，these people live largely by their own laws and their own social customs．And yet，people in this area are in fact French citizens because it has been a colony（殖民地） of the French Republic since 1946．In theory，they should live by the French law is often ignored or unknown，thus making them into an interesting area of “lawlessness” in the world．

The lives of these people have finally been recorded thanks to the effects of a Frenchman from Paris called Gin．Gin spent five months in early 2015 exploring the most remote corners of this area，which sits on the edge of the Amazon rainforest，with half its population of only 250，000living in its capital，Cayenne．

“I have a special love for the French Guianese people．I have worked there on and off for almost ten years，”says Gin．“I’ve been able to keep firm friendships with them．Thus I have been allowed to gain access to their living environment．I don’t see it as a lawless land．But rather I see it as an area of freedom．”

“I wanted to show the audience a photographic record touching upon the uncivilized life，”continues Gin．“I prefer to work in black and white，which allows me to show different specific worlds more clearly．”

His black﹣and﹣white pictures present a world almost lost in time．These pictures show people seemingly pushed into a world that they were unprepared for．These local citizens now have to balance their traditional self﹣supporting hunting lifestyle with the lifestyle offered by the modern French Republic，which brings with it not only necessary state welfare，but also alcoholism，betrayal and even suicide．

Why does the author feel surprised about the indigenous people in French Guiana？

Gin introduced the special world of the indigenous Guianese as 　　．

What is Gin’s attitude towards the lives of the indigenous Guianese？

What does the underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refer to？

If you are a fruit grower﹣or would like to become one﹣take advantage of Apple Day to see what’s around．It’s called Apple Day but in practice it’s more like Apple Month．The day itself is on October 21，but since it has caught on，events now spread out over most of October around Britain．

Visiting an apple event is a good chance to see，and often taste，a wide variety of apples．To people who are used to the limited choice of apples such as Golden Delicious and Royal Gala in supermarkets，it can be quite an eye opener to see the range of classical apples still in existence，such as Decio which was grown by the Romans．Although it doesn’t taste of anything special，it’s still worth a try，as is the knobbly（多疙瘩的） Cat’s Head which is more of a curiosity than anything else．

There are also varieties developed to suit specific local conditions．One of the very best varieties for eating quality is Orleans Reinette，but you’ll need a warm，sheltered place with perfect soil to grow it，so it’s a pipe dream for most apple lovers who fall for it．

At the events，you can meet expert growers and discuss which ones will best suit your conditions，and because these are family affairs，children are well catered for with apple﹣themed fun and games．

Apple Days are being held at all sorts of places with an interest in fruit，including stately gardens and commercial orchards（果园）．If you want to have a real orchard experience，try visiting the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale，near Faversham in Kent．

What can people do at the apple events？

What can we learn about Decio？

What does the underlined phrase “a pipe dream” in Paragraph 3 mean？

What is the author’s purpose in writing the text？

Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating among people，just as some traditional Chinese and Thai persons do．Therefore，when a person from one of these cultures is speaking and suddenly stops，what may be implied（暗示） is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said before continuing．In these cultures，silence is a call for reflection．

Other cultures may use silence in other ways，particularly when dealing with conflicts among people or in relationships of people with different amounts of power．For example，Russian，French，and Spanish persons may use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic under discussion．However，Mexicans may use silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him or her．In still another use，persons in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect，particularly to an elder or a person in authority．

Nurses and other care﹣givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the personal anxiety their patients may be experiencing．Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural construction of silence so that a patient’s silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily．A nurse who understands the healing（治愈） value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients from their own and from other cultures．