English may not be a world language forever
While 375 million people around the globe use English as their native language, the number of people using it as a second language has already been well over that figure (数字).
It is said that by the end of 2000, one billion people could use English to communicate with others, including both native speakers and non-native speakers.
“The rise and fall of a language is closely connected with that country’s economic(经济的) strength and development potential (潜力).” Rhodri Jones, the English 2000 manager of the ELT group of the British Council said.
An expert who has given many lectures on the future of English said the economic boots（快速发展）in Asia would raise(提高) the position of the Chinese and Hindi languages. Therefore, the English language is facing a serious problem. Where will English turn in the next fifty years or the century?
The recently introduced book from Britain “Future of English” might give people concerned with their question some enlightenments (启发). The book helps to help English teachers, planners, managers and decision makers with a professional interest in the development of English worldwide.
With the book translated into Chinese and to be published soon, the book might be brought to wider sphere (范围)of people.
“From the book, we learn many facts about the English language, and we may be able to predict (预测) its future after reading it.” said Dorothy Humphrey, who used to be a senior English teacher for the British Council.
60.The reason why some language rises in the world depends on _______ .
A. the population of the country
B. the country’s economic strength in the world
C. the number of the population who use it
D. the country’s economic strength and development potential
61. The book “Future of English” helps to _______ .
A. improve the standard of people’s learning English
B. adds to people’s interest toward English
C. emphasize (强调) the importance in the world
D. make people interested in the development of English worldwide
62. After reading “Future of English” we know _______ .
A. English is the language that the people who speak it is the most in the world
B. English may disappear sooner or later
C. the world is keeping changing all the time
D. what the future of the English language
is
63. The main idea of the passage is _______ .
A. why English has been popular in the world
B. how to improve people’s ability of learning English
C. English has a bright future
D. the usage of English may become less in the world one day
64. According to this passage, English may not be a world language forever because _______
A. more and more people will come to visit China
B. people in the world won’t like English in the future.
C. the economic boots in Asia would raise the position of the Chinese and Hindi languages
D. China and India will be more developed than those English-speaking countries
You probably know you should say “ please” and “thank you ” at restaurants. You probably know the rules of a library. You know you should respect and be nice to your classmates. But do you have music manners?
Keep It Down! You have to notice the volumeof your music. You should not play your music so loud that everyone around you can hear it. Some people might even get angry. Usually, when you play the music loud on an MP3 player, other people can’t hear the words of the song. They just hear a loud sound. Not one wants to listen to this. Very loud music can also be bad for your ears, so even if you are alone when listening to our MP3 player, you shouldn’t have it turned up too high.
Take Them off! You need to know when to turn your MP3 player off and put it away. Libraries and schools don’t allow MP3 players. There are other places, like museums, that don’t have rules, but it would be rude to have your MP3 player on. Sometimes, it just doesn’t make sense to listen to your MP3 player at event. Why would you listen to music at a play, a movie or a sporting event? You would miss what is going on and others would wonder why you even came.
Take One Out! Once in a while it’s okay just to take out one earphone and not other. Imagine you are listening to your MP3 player when someone asks you the way. It would not be rude to take out one earphone, tell him the way, and put back the earphone and continue listening. You can also do this when you order food at a fast-food restaurant or when you answer the telephone and it’s not for you.
It’s Your Choice! There are times when you need to decide what is the best. For example, some people can listen to music on their MP3 Players when reading books, while others think it is disturbing. In cases like this, you need to do what seems right for you.The underlined word “volume” in Paragraph Two probably means.
A. the type of music
B. the amount of a sound
C. the length of a songWe should turn down the music when we are alone because loud music.
A. is not enjoyable
B. makes us tired
C. hurts our earsIf we listen to our MP3 player at a play,.
A. the theater won’t allow it
B. we will miss part of the play
C. others won’t hear the play wellWe can take one earphone out when we.
A. show others the way
B. talk to fiends on the phone
C. watch a sporting eventWhat can be the best title of this passage?
A. Music Lovers B. Music Manners C.MP3 Players
Dou Kou, a Chinese boy, is called “the youngest writer in the world”. He has written three books till now. Dou Kou was born in Jiangsu in 1994. When he was 7 months old, his parents started working in over 30 different cities, such as Xi’an and Shenzhen. This kind of life gave him things to think and write about. When he was 9 months old, he could speak and at the age of one, he could say five to six hundred words. At three, he could look up words in the dictionary. At four, his father taught him how to learn by himself. His parents like reading very much. So does he. At the age of 5, he began writing fairy tales. At the age of 6, he wrote a novel about his life in different cities with his parents. His fairy tales are all from his life. One day, he found many mice in the house. They only ate their food but also hurt his mother’s hand. So he thought, “If we give mice the stomach of cows, they will eat grass and they will be helpful to people.” This was his first fairy tales Change Stomach for Mice. Now he studies well in a middle school. He has written his third book, the novel called Eyes of Children. He says, “I am not different from other children. I just wrote several books.How many books has Dou Kou written?
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five | D．Six |
Thanks to his _____, Dou Kou could write his books.
| A．mother | B．father |
| C．school life | D．life in different cities |
Dou Kou began to use a dictionary _____.
| A．when he wrote fairy tales |
| B．before his father taught him how to learn something |
| C．after he went to school |
| D．after his mother taught him how to learn something |
The underlined(划线的) sentences show us that Dou Kou _____.
| A．is different from other children |
| B．doesn’t tell the truth. |
| C．is the same as other children |
| D．likes his books |
Which is the best title?
| A．Three Books by a child |
| B．How to Write a Fairy Tales |
| C．How Clever the Boy is |
| D．Dou Kou, the Youngest Writer |
For thirty years, Johnson arrived at work at 9A.M. exactly. He never missed a day and was never late.
However, on one particular day, 9A.M. passed without Johnson’s arrival, it caused a sensation (轰动). All workers stopped and wait, and the boss himself looked at his watch and complained.
Finally, exactly at ten, Johnson turned up, clothes dusty and torn, his face hurt and bruised（挫伤）, his glasses bent. He limped painfully to the time clock, struck in with a strong fist, and said, knowing that all eyes were upon him, “I fell and rolled down two flights of stairs in the subway and nearly killed myself.”
But the boss said, “And to roll down two flights of stairs took you a whole hour?”How long did Johnson work in the company?
| A．9 years. | B．10 years. | C．20 years. | D．30 years. |
What did the other workers do when Johnson was late for work?
| A．They were waiting for Johnson. |
| B．They did their work as usual. |
| C．They complained against Johnson. |
| D．They were excited to see Johnson was late. |
What does the boss mean when he said “And to roll down two flights of stairs took you a whole hour?”?
| A．He was worried about Johnson’s health. |
| B．He was glad that Johnson was late for work. |
| C．He was surprised at Johnson’s being late for work. |
| D．He wanted to know more about the reason for Johnson’s being late for work. |
The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for ever . He sent his camera crew（摄制组）out one evening to film the sunset for him .
The next morning he said to the men , “ Have you provided me with that sunset ? ”
“ No , sir . ” the men answered .
The director was angry . “ Why not ? ” he asked .
“ Well , sir , ” one of the men answered . “ we’re on the east coast here , and the sets in the west . We can get you a sunrise over the sea , if necessary , but not a sunset . ”
“ But I want a sunset ! ” the director shouted . “ Go to the airport . take the next flight to the west coast , and get one . ”
But then a young secretary had an idea . “ Why don’t you photograph a sunrise . ” she suggested . “ and then play it backwards ? Then it’ll look like a sunset . ”
The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay（海湾）. Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director . “ Here it is sir . ” they said , and gave it to him . He was very pleased .
They all went into the studio（摄影棚）. “ All right . ” the director explained . “ now our hero and heroine are going to say good-bye . Run the film backwards so that we can see the ‘ sunset behind them . ’ ”
The “ sunset ” began , but after a quarter of a minute , the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop .
The birds in the film were flying backwards . and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach .One evening, the director sent his camera crew out .
| A．to watch a beautiful sunset |
| B．to find an actor and an actress |
| C．to film a sunset scene on the sea |
| D．to meet the audience |
Why did the director want to send his crew to the west coast ?
| A．Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset . |
| B．Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset . |
| C．Because it was his secretary’s suggestion . |
| D．Because he was angry with his crew . |
Which of the following is NOT true ?
| A．The crew had to follow the secretary’s advice . |
| B．If you want to see a sunrise , the east coast is the place to go to . |
| C．The camera crew wasn’t able to film the scene the first day . |
| D．The director ordered his crew to stop filming the “ sunset ” . |
The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because .
| A．it went well with the separation of the hero and the heroine |
| B．when they arrived at the beach it was already in the evening |
| C．it was more moving than a sunrise |
| D．the ocean looked more beautiful at sunset |
After the “ sunset ” began , the director suddenly put his face in his hands .
| A．because he was moved to tears |
| B．as he saw everything in the film moving backwards |
| C．as the sunrise did not look as beautiful as he had imagined |
| D．because he was disappointed with the performance of the hero and heroine |
A lot of teachers hate doodlers(乱写乱画的人)during classes．“Pay attention!”Teachers will often warn doodling students，sure that they must be daydreaming．
However, according to a recent study, doodling while listening to a boring lecture helps concentrate the attention：
Andrade，a psychology professor in England asked participants(参加者)to listen to a boring lecture． Half the participants were told to color in squares and circles freely on a piece of paper while listening to the lecture．The other half weren’t given a task．After it was over, the participants were asked to retell the lecture．
Those given the doodling task(color in squares and circles)remembered 29 percent more information than the non-doodlers．Andrade said．
“If someone is doing a boring task，like listening to a dull conversation，they may start daydream，”said Professor Andrade．
“Daydreaming distracts(使分心)them from the task，resulting in poorer performance．A simple task，like doodling，can stop them from daydreaming without affecting their performance at the task，”he said．
So the next time you’re doodling during a class，and you hear“pay attention”，you can tell the teacher with confidence that you’ve been paying attention to every word．Teachers hate doodlers because they thought．
| A．doodlers are not good at study |
| B．doodlers are doing no task |
| C．doodlers pay no attention in class |
| D．doodlers are not polite to them |
According to the text，it is helpful to doodle when．
| A．a boring lecture is given |
| B．an interesting story is told |
| C．watching a long TV programme |
| D．having a conversation with the teacher |
Professor Andrade thinks．
| A．those given the doodling task can remember less information |
| B．if you have daydream during classes you’ll have a good memory |
| C．daydreaming is better than doodling |
| D．doodling can stop us from daydreaming |