Are minority languages harmful?

Ques&ons
Please answer the following ques2ons. Your answers do not have to be in complete
sentences unless otherwise specified.

1. How do many linguists feel about “language loss” (line 3)? Give evidence from the
text to support your answer.

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

2. Why is the word “encourage” (line 5) in italic?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

3. What does the writer quoted in the second paragraph consider to be “an
extraordinary amount of sen2mental rubbish”?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

4. According to the writer quoted in the second paragraph, which two of the following
may have contributed to languages becoming ex2nct?

a. They could not evolve.

b. They were spoken in socie2es that were dying out.

c. They were limited in what they could communicate.

They expressed things that were harmful to the socie2es they
d.
were spoken in.
They were spoken in socie2es that were not intellectually,
e.
culturally or socially dynamic

5. In paragraphs 1-2, find one word which has a meaning similar to “hamper”.

____________________
6. “You might as well learn Klingon” (line 14) as learn what?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

7. What does the writer quoted in paragraph 4 believe is the main problem with having
too many languages?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

8. What does “it” (line 26) refer to?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

9. What does the writer imply by using the phrase “so it is claimed” (line 37)?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

10. The text is not complete. What might the writer proceed to write about following
the last paragraph shown?

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________