Right, everyone, let’s make a start. Over the past few sessions, we’ve been considering the reasons why some world languages are in decline, and today I’m going to introduce another factor that affects languages, and the speakers of those languages, and that’s technology and, in particular, digital technology. In order to illustrate its effect, I’m going to focus on the Icelandic language, which is spoken by around 321,000 people 【Q31】, most of whom live in Iceland – an island in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The problem for this language is not the number of speakers – even though this number is small. Nor is it about losing words to other languages, such as English. In fact, the vocabulary of Icelandic is continually increasing 【Q32】 because when speakers need a new word for something, they tend to create one, rather than borrowing from another language. All this makes Icelandic quite a special language – it’s changed very little in the past millennium, yet it can handle twenty-first-century concepts related to the use of computers and digital technology. Take, for example, the word for web browser … this is vafri in Icelandic, which comes from the verb ‘to wander’. I can’t think of a more appropriate term because that’s exactly what you do mentally when you browse the internet. Then there’s an Icelandic word for podcast – which is too hard to pronounce 【Q33】! And so on.
Icelandic, then, is alive and growing, but – and it’s a big but – young Icelanders spend a great deal of time in the digital world and this world is predominantly English. Think about smartphones. They didn’t even exist until comparatively recently, but today young people use them all the time 【Q34】 to read books, watch TV or films, play games, listen to music, and so on. Obviously, this is a good thing in many respects because it promotes their bilingual skills, but the extent of the influence of English in the virtual world is staggering and it’s all happening really fast. 【Q35】
For their parents and grandparents, the change is less concerning because they already have their native-speaker skills in Icelandic. But for young speakers – well, the outcome is a little troubling. For example, teachers have found that playground conversations in Icelandic secondary schools can be conducted entirely in English 【Q36】, while teachers of much younger children have reported situations where their classes find it easier to say what is in a picture using English, rather than Icelandic 【Q37】. The very real and worrying consequence of all this is that the young generation in Iceland is at risk of losing its mother tongue.
Of course, this is happening to other European languages too, but while internet companies might be willing to offer, say, French options in their systems, it’s much harder for them to justify the expense of doing the same for a language that has a population the size of a French town, such as Nice. The other drawback of Icelandic is the grammar, which is significantly more complex than in most languages. At the moment, the tech giants are simply not interested in tackling this. 【Q38】
So, what is the Icelandic government doing about this? Well, large sums of money are being allocated to a language technology fund that it is hoped will lead to the development of Icelandic sourced apps and other social media and digital systems, but clearly this is going to be an uphill struggle.
On the positive side, they know that Icelandic is still the official language of education and government. It has survived for well over a thousand years and the experts predict that its future in this nation state is sound and will continue to be so. However, there’s no doubt that it’s becoming an inevitable second choice in young people’s lives.
This raises important questions. When you consider how much of the past is tied up in a language, will young Icelanders lose their sense of their own identity 【Q39】? Another issue that concerns the government of Iceland is this. If children are learning two languages through different routes, neither of which they are fully fluent in, will they be able to express themselves properly? 【Q40】
Complete the notes below.
Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
听前预测：定位词为 speakers；提示词为 approximately、speakers，此处应填数词。
题目解析：本题定位词替换为 spoken by，随后出现数字 321,000，较易定位。本题难点在于对大数字的反应速度，注意预判数量级，练习大数字的熟读和速记。
听前预测：提示词为 a、is growing，此处应填辅音开头的单数可数名词。
题目解析：本题与上题题干连续出现，可能在录音中较快出现。注意上题找到数字后捕捉 与 growing 有关的名词。听到 small 和 losing 搭配的名词都不符合题干要求，随后听到 In fact，提示后续为强调信息，听到“vocabulary … increasing”，其中 increasing 对应题干中的 growing，因此答案为 vocabulary。
听前预测：定位词为 computer、web browser；提示词为 such as、and，此处应填与 web browser 并列的名词，且和电脑相关。
题目解析：本题定位词原词出现后，听到一堆模糊的信息，但重复提到与 internet 有关的表达，说明是具象化扩展题干 web browser。耐心听，随后听到 Then，提示新信息开始，并对应题干中的 and，随后强调 word for podcast，podcast 符合题干要求。雅思听力填空题中，题干中的并列关系在录音中经常进行信息具象化扩展：单一概念可以扩展为冗长的细节表达，因此要注意逻辑衔接，以及按照题干要求判断答案。
听前预测：定位词为 Younger speakers、digital technology；提示词为 such as，此处应填与数码技术有关的名词。
题目解析：在录音中，定位词分别换为 young Icelanders、in the digital world，随后听到的 smartphones 属于数码技术有关的名词，符合题干要求。
听前预测：提示词为 are becoming，此处应填名词或形容词。
题目解析：本题无明显定位词，且与上题题干连续出现，较难。听到 and so on 说明上题信息结束。接下来听到能够搭配题干 becoming，且与小标题 Younger speakers 有关的信息为 bilingual，最后听到 happening really fast 对应题干中的 very quickly，进一步确认答案。
听前预测：定位词为 English、school；提示词为 in the，此处应填名词。
题目解析：本题定位词原词出现，但出现在答案 playground 之后。听力组合题做题的关键是通过逻辑、对话、题干内容切分连续的题目，然后判断听到的信息是否符合题干语义、语法的搭配。听到 teachers，表明开始讲与 school 有关的新内容。 捕捉与题干要求有关的名词，有且仅有 playground。
听前预测：提示词为 content of a、English than Icelandic，此处应填单数可数名词。
题目解析：本题无明显定位词，且与上题题干连续出现，较难。听到 while，开始对比，注意抓听符合题干要求的信息“younger children … find it easier … a picture using English”，其中 find it easier 对应题干中的 better，且只有 picture 一词在语法和语义上能够与 content 搭配使用，随后听到的 English rather than Icelandic 对应题干，进一步确认答案。
听前预测：定位词为 internet companies；提示词为 and、complicated、is，此处应填不可数或单数可数名词。
题目解析：定位词原词出现后，听到 other drawback，呼应并列连词 and，随后听到强调信息 grammar，符合题干要求的名词形式，先记录，继续听到 complex 对应题干中的 complicated，进一步确认答案。
听前预测：定位词为 young Icelanders；提示词为 worried、lose their，此处应填名词，且与负面信息有关。
题目解析：38 和 39 题题干间隔较长，等听到 raise important questions，提示 39 题有关的内容开始。题干中的 lose 原词出现，与 identity 搭配。注意不要盯着题干结构做题填写 sense。sense of identity 意为“身份认同感”，将 sense 代入题干，语义表达不清。而 lose their identity 意为“失去（民族）身份认同”，信息完整，因此 答案为 identity。
听前预测：定位词为 children；提示词为 worried、not being，此处应填形容词。
题目解析：本题与上题题干连续出现，可能在录音中答案会较快出现。听到逻辑信息 Another issue，提示新内容展开。定位词原词出现后，听到负向信息 neither，与之有关的 fluent 符合题干要求。
