「1」という言葉すらない言語がある。アマゾンのピダハン語と「数」の実験

Q1. What is the passage mainly about?

1. AA language without exact number words
2. BA new kind of balloon
3. CHow to travel in the Amazon
4. DWhy people forget their friends' names

第2文で「ぴったりの数を表す言葉がない言語」を紹介し、その話し手の実験が続くので A。

Q2. How many adults took part in the 2008 test?

1. A2
2. B8
3. C14
4. D20

scientists asked 14 adults とあるので C。

Q3. What does "hidden" mean in the passage?

1. AMade bigger
2. BPut where people cannot see it
3. CCounted many times
4. DGiven as a present

hide（隠す）の過去分詞で「見えないところに置かれた」。糸巻きのすぐ横に置ける場合と対比されているので B。

Q1. What did the MIT team find about the word hói?

1. AIt always meant exactly one.
2. BIt was used for different amounts depending on how the question was set up.
3. CIt meant "ten" in every test.
4. DNobody in the village used it.

増やすときは1つ、減らすときは6つにまで使われた（the same word was used for as many as six）とあるので B。

Q2. How did the adults do when they lined up balloons right next to the spools?

1. AMost of them failed.
2. BOnly one of them could do it.
3. CThirteen of the fourteen made no mistakes.
4. DThey refused to take part.

13 of 14 adults made no mistakes とあるので C。

Q3. What does the writer suggest about number words?

1. AThey are needed to understand that two rows match.
2. BThey help people keep track of amounts in memory.
3. CThey exist in every language in the world.
4. DThey make people worse at matching.

最終文で number words may be a tool for remembering amounts と述べているので B。横に並べる課題は数の言葉がなくてもできたので A は誤り。

Q1. Why did the team conclude that Pirahã has no word for an exact quantity?

1. ABecause speakers refused to describe the spools
2. BBecause the same word covered very different amounts in the two versions of the task
3. CBecause the language has only one word in total
4. DBecause Gordon told them so

hói が足すときは1つ、取り除くときは6つにまで使われた、という結果から結論している。よって B。

Q2. According to the passage, what did the follow-up study with English speakers show?

1. AEnglish speakers never make errors with numbers.
2. BEnglish speakers made errors like the Pirahã when they could not use number words in their heads.
3. CEnglish speakers learned the word hói quickly.
4. DEnglish speakers were worse than the Pirahã at side-by-side matching.

English speakers made similar errors when verbal interference kept them from using number words とあるので B。

Q3. What can be inferred about the research on Pirahã?

1. AAll researchers agree on every point.
2. BOnly one experiment has ever been done.
3. CResearchers disagree about some results and about Everett's explanation.
4. DThe Pirahã cannot understand any task.

The story has its disputes 以降で、ゴードンの結果との食い違いと、エヴェレットの説への2009年の反論が紹介されているので C。