Many people believe that English is an easy language．Indeed, the author of a popular book on the history of English says that English “… has a grammar of great  1 ”． But if you have read the  2  articles in this series, it will be clear that I have a  3 opinion． My intention  4, not always so seriously, that English is in fact full of difficulties to the non-native speakers．The biggest book of English grammar contains 1800 pages and 5   3 kilos, which doesn’t necessarily prove that English grammar is  6 , but it  7 , undoubtedly, show that there is a lot of  8 !

So is English easy or not? Actually, English can be said to be difficult 9  we can point to many other languages that are  10．But English, like every language, is a hugely complex system  11  many aspects（方面）．It may be that some aspects of the language system are easier in English but  12  aspects are more difficult．For example, English spelling is more difficult than German spelling, but on the other hand adjectives are easier to use in English because they do not 13  their endings as they do in  14

And it seems that some languages are easier at the beginning but get 15  harder,    16  for other languages the opposite is true．I remember struggling terribly in my first few years of learning German to  17  terms with the interaction of articles（冠词）, case（格）and word order．However, once I had mastered this aspect of grammar,  18 else seemed very difficult in learning German．  19， I have the feeling that English gets more and more difficult  20  the learner advances．

1． A． difficulty               B． complexity            C． simplicity              D． difference

2． A． first few                B． few first                C． a few first          D． first a few

3． A． similar                   B． complex                C． public               D． different

4． A． has been to show   B． has been shown    C． has shown            D． shows

5． A． is weighed             B． are weighed           C． weighs                  D． weigh

6． A． easy                      B． difficult                 C． useful                   D． useless

7． A． did                        B． does                      C． has                       D． have

8． A． it                          B． them                     C． that                      D． those

9． A． only if                   B． if only                   C． even if                  D． as if

10． A． more difficult       B． more complex        C． easier                    D． closer

11． A．consisted of        B．being consisted of    C． consists of            D． consisting of

12． A． another                B． the other                C． others                   D． other

13． A． change                B． learn                     C． use                       D． spell

14． A． Germany          B． German             C． German language   D． the Germans

15． A． eventually            B． progressively         C． previously             D． finally

16． A． when                   B．as                           C． while                    D． since

17． A． come to               B． come up                C． come through        D． come into

18． A． anything              B． something             C． everything             D． nothing

19． A． On the other hand B．On the contrary      C． On average            D． On the whole

20． A． farther                 B． the farther             C． further             D． the further