Doors and windows can’t keep them out; airport immigration officers can’t stop them and the Internet is a complete reproduction soil. They seem harmless in small doses, but large imports threaten Japan’s very uniqueness, say critics. “They are foreign words and they are infecting the Japanese language”.
“Sometimes I feel like I need a translator to understand my own language, ”says Yoko Fujimura with little anger, a 5-year-old Tokyo restaurant worker.“It’s becoming incomprehensible”.
It’s not only Japan who is on the defensive. Countries around th globe are wet through their hands over the rapid spread of American English. CocaCola,for example, is one of the most recognized terms on Earth.
It is made worse for Japan, however, by its unique writing system. The country writes all imported utterances(言论) except Chinesein a different script called katakana (片假名). It is the only country to keep up such a difference. Katakana takes far more space to write than kanjithe core pictograph (象形文字) characters that the Japanese borrowed from China 1,500 years ago. Because it stands out, readers complain that sentences packed with foreign words start to look like extended strings of lights. As if that weren’t enough, katakana terms tend to get puzzling.
For example, digital camera first appears as degitaru kamera. Then they became the more earpleasing digi kamey. But kamey is also the Japanese word for turtle. “It’s very disappointing not knowing what young people are talking about,” says humorously Minoru Shiratori, a 53yearold bus driver. “Sometimes I can’t tell if they’re discussing cameras or turtles.”
In a bid to stop the flood of katakana, the government has formed a Foreign Words Committee to find suitable Japanese replacements. The committee is slightly different from Frenchstyle language police, which try to support a law that forbids advertising in English. Rather, committee members and traditionalists hope a nonstop campaign of persuasion, gentle criticism and leadership by example can turn the tide.
12.According to the author, the reason why the Japanese is infectd greatly by English is .
A.that nothing can prevent it from entering into Japan
B.that English is the most recognized language in the world
C.that the government has not set up a special administration department to control this trend before it becomes popular in Japan
D.not clearly mentioned in this passage
13.By saying “counties around the globe are wet through their hands over the rapid spread of American English,”the author infers that .
A.even a restaurant worker in Japan may feel the English infection on Japanese
B.the flood of katakana has covered most of countries in the world
C.CocaCola is the most popuar on the earth and this product covers all the global market
D.many other countries are affected greatly by American English
14.According to the author, the last paragraph mainly deals with.
A.how French-style language police has prevented the infection of English
B.how Japanese Foreign Words Committee prevents the infection of foreign words
C.the suitable Japanese replacements
D.why committee members and traditionalists begin to declare a war against the infection of foreign words
15.Which conclusion can be drawn based on the opinions from the Japanese people (in paragraph 2 and 4 of this passage)?
A.The elders strongly advocates replacing the foreign words than young people.
B.All the people dislike speaking the foreign words, such as “digi kamey”.
C.They are so old that it is necessary to give some language assistance by a specialist.
D.People’s work determines the language they speak.
