The following text is from a linguistics article.
Language documentation has become increasingly urgent as thousands of languages face extinction. When a language dies, unique knowledge systems—classifications of plants, animals, kinship relations—disappear with it. Digital technologies enable more comprehensive recording than ever before, capturing not just vocabulary and grammar but conversational dynamics and contextual usage. Yet documentation raises ethical questions about ownership, access, and the relationship between researchers and communities.
What is the main purpose of the text?
To provide step-by-step instructions for documenting endangered languages
To explain the importance of language documentation and its complexities
To compare linguistic diversity across different continents
To argue that all endangered languages can be successfully preserved
Correct Answer: B
Choice B is the best answer. The text explains urgency (language extinction), notes technological capabilities, and raises ethical complexities.
- Evidence: The text notes urgency: "increasingly urgent as thousands of languages face extinction." It notes tech: "Digital technologies enable more comprehensive recording." It raises ethics: "Yet documentation raises ethical questions."
- Reasoning: The passage outlines a problem, a tool to solve it, and the new problems that tool creates.
- Conclusion: The purpose is to explain importance and complexities.
đź’ˇ Strategy: Summarize: Save languages! + Use Tech! + But be careful!
Choice A is incorrect because no instructions are provided. Choice C is incorrect because continents aren't compared. Choice D is incorrect because preservation isn't guaranteed.