La Gomera is the only place in the world which has a whistle （口哨）language. We do not know how and why it began because we do not know the complete history of the island. But we can certainly imagine the reasons for the beginning of the whistle language. There are many deep valleys on the island. A person on one side of a valley can not easily shout to a person on the other side. But he can whistle and be heard. Some of the best whistlers can be heard from four miles away and the record is seven miles.
The people who live on the island usually have good teeth, and this helps them to whistle well. They must also have good ears so that they can hear other whistlers.
We can understand why the whistle language continues. It is very useful on the island, and quite easy to learn. When somebody is hurt or ill, the whistle language takes the place of telephone. If the sick person is quite far away from the town, people pass the message from one to another. A boy guarding cattle on a hillside whistles to a man fishing from his boat. The last one is able to describe the trouble fully and exactly to the doctor in town. People help one another in the same way when a car breaks down or a cow is lost.
The whistle language is hundreds of years old, and probably it will continue to live on for hundreds of years more. Radio and TV often kill the special ways of speaking in different parts of a country. But on La Gomera you are nobody if you cannot whistle. Perhaps soon after TV arrives on the island, people there will be whistling the news and other facts and opinions.
小题1:If a person on La Gomera is ill,______.
| A．others will phone the doctor in town |
| B．people will take him to town by carriage |
| C．his family will take him to the hospital |
| D．the whistle language will help pass the message to the doctor |
小题2:La Gomera is special because ______.
| A．many visitors go there every year |
| B．no visitors have ever been there |
| C．people there have special ears to hear whistles |
| D．people there use the whistle language to communicate with each other |
小题3:Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．It is not easy for a person to live on La Gomera if he cannot whistle. |
| B．The whistle language can only be found on La Gomera. |
| C．The whistle language has been used for hundreds of years on the island, but will not be used any longer. |
| D．The record shows that one best whistler can be heard others seven miles away. |
小题4:Which of the following will be the best title of this passage?
| A．The Secret Language | B．Do You Know the Whistle Language? |
| C．The Life of Islanders | D．La Gomera一a Mystery |