[解析]
(1)推理判断题。根据文章第一段"Merry Christmas from the Family",a country song by Robert Earl Keen,tells the tale of a festive get﹣together.Many listeners will recognize the chaos(混乱) the singer describes;even more than that,they will definitely identify with his struggle to recall how he is related to the various guests. "Fred and Rita drove from Harlingen," Mr.Keen sings, "Can't remember how I'm kin (有亲属关系的) to them."(罗伯特•厄尔•基恩创作的乡村歌曲《来自家庭的圣诞快乐》讲述了一个节日聚会的故事。许多听众会认出歌手描述的混乱;更重要的是,他们肯定会认同他努力回忆自己与各种客人的关系。"弗雷德和丽塔从哈林根开车过来,"基恩唱道,"不记得我是他们的亲戚了。")可知作者通过举例说明一个共同的经历来引出本文的主题。故答案为C。
(2)推理判断题。根据文章第三段Take "brother" and "sister" for instance.Societies that value age﹣order highly often have different terms for older brother,older sister,younger brother and younger sister.These are ge,jie,di and mei in Chinese or ani,ane,ototo,imoto in Japanese.(以"哥哥"和"姐姐"为例。高度重视年龄顺序的社会通常对哥哥、姐姐、弟弟和妹妹有不同的称呼。这些是中文的格、杰、迪和梅,或日文的阿尼、阿内、奥托、伊莫托。)可知作者举了汉语和日语的例子来和英语做对比。故答案为B。
(3)猜测词义题。根据文章第四段Chinese even requires the speakers to remember whether a relative is older or younger than they are,whether relatives of their parents are older or younger than they,and so on.There are many armchair theories about the relationship between language and culture that do not hold up to careful examination(汉语甚至要求说话者记住一个亲戚是否比他们年长或年轻,他们父母的亲戚是否比他们年长或年轻,等等。有许多关于语言和文化之间关系的____,经不起仔细的检验)可知划线词的意思是"毫无根据的假设"。A.Baseless assumptions.毫无根据的假设;B.Detailed descriptions.详细描述;C.Contradictory thoughts.矛盾的想法;D.Convincing explanations.令人信服的解释。故答案为A。
(4)推理判断题。根据文章最后一段The focus that some cultures put on labelling every possible relation with a distinct term does not mean that those who lack those terms do not pay attention to family networks.Every English﹣speaking family seems to have at least one member who can sort out the complicated relations and tell you that Henry Ford was a great﹣great﹣great uncle.But each family also has members who couldn't care less,waving a hand and saying "uncle" or "cousin".(一些文化把重点放在用一个独特的术语标记每一个可能的关系上,这并不意味着那些缺乏这些术语的人不关注家庭网络。每个说英语的家庭似乎至少有一个成员能够理清错综复杂的关系,并告诉你亨利•福特是一位曾曾曾曾祖父。但每个家庭也有毫不在乎的成员,挥挥手,说"叔叔"或"表哥"。)可知作者想在最后一段表达说英语的人也重视家庭网络。故答案为B。