Silbo Gomero is an ancient language of whistle that enabled people to communicate across long distances before the invention of the telephone or the computer. It’s now being revived on mountainous Canary Islands and the island of La Gomera, where the usual language is Spanish.
The Canary Islands government is providing funding to help school children on La Gomera to learn this ancient whistling language as part of their heritage. It sounds like birdsongs and was developed thousands of years ago by islanders to enable them to communicate up to two miles across La Gomera’s valleys.
In the past, Silbo Gomero has been passed down from parent to child, but the islanders felt embarrassed at this form of communication when they came into contact with the outside world and modern technology. It started to die out when the telephone arrived and the island open to tourism. However, the government realized what was happening and decided to make sure that it would not be lost. So, since 1999 Silbo Gomero has been part of the school curriculum and now about 3,000 Gomero children spend at least 25 minutes a week learning it. This is enough time for the basics to be learned.
Probably originating in the Atlas Mountains of North Africa, the language was brought to the island by settlers 2,500 years ago. It was adapted to Spanish speech patterns, but uses tones rather than vowels and consonants (辅音). These are whistled at different frequencies (频率) to produce over 4,000 words, making proper conversations possible.
The importance of the language is growing. In 2003 the island held the first International Congress of Whistled Languages. Research is now being carried out in all places to which Gomerans have traditionally emigrated (移居国外) and where forms of the language survive. The Canary government’s Historical Heritage Department hopes to attract outside support so that it will continue.
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following is the reason for the disappearing of Silbo Gomero?| A．The limited vocabulary. |
| B．The arrival of modern technology. |
| C．Gomerans’ traditional emigration. |
| D．Its complex speech patterns. |
| A．It originated in the island of La Gomero. |
| B．It was adapted to English speech pattern. |
| C．It was developed for long-distance communication. |
| D．It has more than 4,000 words made up of vowels and consonants. |
| A．the local government provides financial help |
| B．students spend 25 minutes daily learning it |
| C．the islanders begin to do research where it originated |
| D．the islanders frequently use it to communicate with the outside world |
| A．To call on people to protect cultural heritage. |
| B．To advertise for La Gomera. |
| C．To promote the use of Silbo Gomero. |
| D．To introduce the dying language Silbo Gomero. |
