The number of speakers of English in Shakespeare’s time is estimated(估计) to have been about five million. Today it is estimated that some 260 million people speak it as a native language, mainly in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In addition to the standard varieties of English found in these areas, there are a great many regional and social varieties of the language as well as various levels of usage that are employed both in its spoken and written forms.

In fact, it is impossible to estimate the number of people in the world who have acquired an adequate(足够的) working knowledge of English in addition to their own languages. The purpose for English learning and the situations in which such learning takes place are so varied that it is difficult to explain and still more difficult to judge what forms an adequate working knowledge for each situation.

The main reason for the widespread demand for English is its present-day importance as a world language. Besides serving the indefinite needs of its native speakers, English is a language in which some of important works in science, technology, and other fields are being produced, and not always by native speakers. It is widely used for such purposes as meteorological and airport communications, international conferences, and the spread of information over the radio and television networks of many nations. It is a language of wider communication for a number of developing countries, especially former British colonies. Many of these countries have multilingual populations and need a language for internal communication in such matters as government, commerce, industry, law and education as well as for international communication and for entrance to the scientific and technological developments in the West.

1.What would be the best title for this passage?

2.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

3.According to the passage, what is the main reason for the widespread use of English?

4.What forms an adequate working knowledge of English?

5.What type of developing countries would be most likely to use English?

6.C。细节题。根据文章最后一段倒数第2句可推知此题

Many people who work in London prefer to live outside it, and to go in to their offices or schools every day by train, car or bus, even though this means they have to get up early in the morning and reach home late in the evening. 

One advantage of living outside London is that houses are cheaper. Even a small flat in London without a garden costs quite a lot to rent. With the same money, one can get a little house in the country with a garden of one’s own. 

Then, in the country one can rest from the noise and hurry of the town. Even though one has to get up earlier and spend more time in trains or buses, one can sleep better at night and during weekends and on summer evenings, one can enjoy the fresh, clean air of the country. If one likes gardens, one can spend one’s free time digging, planting, watering and doing the hundred and one other jobs which are needed in a garden. Then, when the flowers and vegetables come up, one has the reward of one who has shared the secret of Nature. 

Some people, however, take no interest in country things: for them, happiness lies in the town, with its cinemas and theatres, beautiful shops and busy streets, dance-halls and restaurants. Such people would feel that their life was not worth living if they had to live it outside London. An occasional walk in one of the parks and a fortnight’s (two weeks) visit to the sea every summer is all the country they want: the rest they are quite prepared to leave to those who are glad to get away from London every night. 

1.Which of the following statements is NOT true? 

2.One can use the same money for ________ to buy a little house with a garden in the country.

3.When the flowers and vegetables in the garden come up, those _______ have the reward of one who has shared the secret of Nature. 

4.People who think happiness lies in the town would feel that _______ if they had to live it outside London. 

5.The underlined word rest in the last paragraph refers to ________.

6.C。推断题。根据其上文：这些人偶尔去公园散散步后去海边度两周假；本句接着说：其余的就留给那些每天晚上喜欢离开伦敦的人，那么，“其余的”显然指“其余的乡村”。从而可推知题

根据短文内容，从下框的A---F选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余项。
Bill，Emy，Ben，Brigitte和Susan五个人想购买杂志。阅读下面六本杂志(A、B、C、D、E和F ) 的介绍，选出符合各人需要的最佳选项。选项中有一项是多余选项。
注意： 该题要求做在答题卡上。选择E，则涂黑A+B, 选择F，则涂黑A+C
【小题1】Bill travels a lot when he was younger．Now that he has stopped his work，he enjoys reading about foreign people，places and customs even if he has already visited that part of the world．
【小题2】 
Emy is a university student studying Italian and Politics．She doesn’t have much time to read anything very detailed but she is looking for something with plenty of news and information．
【小题3】Ben serves as an assistant to the general manager of an American company in Los Angeles．He is very interested in management and the use of high technology．
【小题4】
Up till now Brigitte has never traveled far so this year she has decided to go abroad for the first time．The travel agent suggests that she should read about various countries first before choosing her holiday．
【小题5】Susan likes shopping．She is interested in buying clothes and she needs to be offered advice on clothes．

A．Discover News magazine of science devoted to the wonders and stories of modem science，written for the educated general reader．Published by Disney Magazine Publishing CO．，Discover tells many of the same stories professionals read in Scientific American．A truly delightful family science magazine，each issue brings to light new and newsworthy topics to make dinnertime and water-cooler conversations interesting．

B．World Travel This weekly magazine can bring the world to your home．Have you ever wondered what the Chinese eat for breakfast? Did you know that the Sahara Desert is getting bigger every year? This fascinating magazine，full of color photographs，is your window to the world．

C．Self Published by Conde Nast Publications Inc．，Self is a handbook devoted to women’s overall physical and mental health．Every issue contains usable articles such as “Style Lab”．in which wearable clothes are mixed and matched on non—models and the “Eat—Right Road Map”．with tips on how to eat properly．

D．Foreign Parts

英语自选模块试卷

第一题：阅读理解（分两节，共5小题，每小题2分，满分10分）

阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的要求答题。

From good reading we can get pleasure, companionship, experience, and instruction. A good book may absorb our attention so completely that for the time being we forget our surroundings and even our identity.____1___ It increases our contentment when we are cheerful, and lessens our troubles when we are sad. Whatever our main purpose in reading may be, our contact with good books should never fail to give us enjoyment and satisfaction.

___2____ Whether the characters are taken from real life or purely imaginary, they may become our companions and friends. In the pages of books we can walk with the wise and the good of all lands and all times. The people we meet in books may delight us either because they resemble human friends whom we hold dear or because they present unfamiliar types whom we are glad to welcome as new acquaintances. ___3___ By turning the page we can dismiss them without any fear of hurting their feelings. When human friends desert us, good books are always ready to give us friendship, sympathy, and encouragement.

____4____. Few of us can travel far from home or have a wide range of experiences, but all of us can lead varied lives through the pages of books. Whether we wish to escape from the seemingly dull realities of everyday life or whether we long to visit some far-off place, a book will help us when nothing else can. To travel by book we need no bank account to pay our way; no train or airplane to transport us; no passport to enter the land of our hearts’ desire. Through books we may get the excitement of dangerous adventure without danger. We can climb noble mountains, brave the freeze of an Antarctic winter, or cross the extremely hot sands of the desert, all without hardship. In books we may visit the studios of Hollywood; we may mix with the cheerful crowds of the Paris roads; we may join the picturesque peasants in an Alpine village or the kindly natives on a South Sea island. Indeed, through books the whole world is ours for the asking.

第一节：根据短文内容，从A BCDE中选出最适合放入短文空缺处的选项。选项中有一项是多余选项。

E. Our human friends may sometimes bore us, but the friends we make in books never annoy us.

第二节：根据短文所给的信息，用一个完整的句子回答下面的问题。

5.What can be implied from the underlined sentence in the text?

_______________________________________________________________________

附加题：阅读理解（共5小题；每小题3分，满分15分。把答案涂到答题卡上）
The pen is more powerful than the sword（利剑）. There have been many writers who use their pens to write things that were wrong.  Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of them.
She was born in the U. S. A. in 1811. One of her books not only made her famous but has been described as one that excited the world, and was helpful in causing a civil war and freeing the enslaved race. The civil war was the American Civil War of 1861, in which the Northern States fought the Southern States and finally won.
This book that shook the world was called Uncle Tom's Cabin. There was a time when every English-speaking man, woman, and child had read this novel that did so much to stop slavery. Not many people read it today, but it is still very interesting, if only to show how a warm-hearted writer can arouse people's sympathies. The author herself had neither been to the Southern States nor seen a slave. The Southern Americans were very angry at the book, which they said did not at all represent the true state of affairs, but the Northern Americans were widely excited over it, and were so inspired by it that they were ready to go to war to set the slaves free.
61. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe became famous for__________.
A. one of her books           B. she was a very heartedly person
C. she was a kind wife         D. she worked for the war
62. How old was Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe when her world famous book was published?
A. About sixty years old.      B. Over fifty years old.
C. In her forties.             D. Around twenty years old.
63. What do we learn about Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe from the passage?
A. Before the civil war she had been a slave.
B. Before the civil war she had lived in the north of America.
C. She had a good school education.
D. She was better at writing than swinging a sword.
64. Why could Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe's book cause a civil war in America? Because_______.
A. she disclosed(揭露) the terrible wrongs done to the slaves in the Southern States
B. she wrote so well that the Americans loved her very much
C. the Americans were too excited when they reads the book
D. the Southern Americans hated the book, while the Northern Americans liked it
65. What can we learn from the passage?
A. No war can be won without such a book as Uncle Tom's Cabin.
B. We must understand the importance of literature and art.
C. We needn't use weapons to fight things that are wrong.
D. A writer is more helpful in war than a soldier.