The number of speakers of English in Shakespeare's time is estimated 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 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 presentday 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. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Some 260 million people in the world have an adequate working knowledge of English. |
| B．There are some 260 million native speakers of English in the world. |
| C．It is almost impossible to estimate the number of people with an adequate working knowledge of English. |
| D．People learn English for a variety of reasons. |
According to the passage, what is the main reason for the widespread use of English?
| A．It was popular during Shakespeare's time. |
| B．It is used in former British colonies. |
| C．It serves the needs of its native speakers. |
| D．It is a world language that is used for international communication. |
What forms an adequate working knowledge of English?
| A．The ability to read a newspaper. |
| B．It is difficult to judge because it differs for each situation. |
| C．Being a multilingual. |
| D．Being a native speaker. |
What type of developing countries would be most likely to use English?
| A．Those geographically close to the United States. |
| B．Those interested in the culture of the United States. |
| C．Former colonies of Great Britain. |
| D．Countries where international conferences are held. |
A large number of women in Western European countries wish that they were born men. The number is said as high as 60% in West Germany.
“Women often wish that they had the same chance as men have, and believe it is still men’s world,” said Dr James Holden, one of the scientists who did the study.
Anne Harper has a very good job for an international oil company. She also believes in “Women’ s Liberation(解放)”.
“I don’t wish that I were a man,” she says, “and I don’t think many women do. But I do wish that people would stop looking down upon us women. At work, for example, we often do the work that men do but get paid less. There are still a lot of jobs that are usually the best ones and open only to men. If you’re a man, you have a much better chance of leading an exciting life. How many women pilots are there ... or engineers or scientists?”What can we learn from the first paragraph?
| A．60% Western European women wish that they were born men. |
| B．Most women in Western European countries wish that their babies were all boys. |
| C．60% women in West Germany wish that they were born men. |
| D．60% Western European women who wish that they were born men are from West Germany. |
“It is still men’s world.” means “______.”
| A．There’re more men than women in the world |
| B．There’re more men scientists or engineers than women scientists or engineers in the world |
| C．Women cannot live without men |
| D．Women have not been given the same chance as men |
Anne Harper considers that women should ______.
| A．be really liberated | B．live a better life than men |
| C．be well paid | D．get better jobs than men |
Anne Harper doesn’t wish that she were a man because she ______.
| A．has got a very good job |
| B．believes in “Women’s Liberation” |
| C．does the work that a man can’t do |
| D．isn’t looked down upon by anyone |
Students who date (约会）in middle school have significantly worse study skills, are four times more likely to drop out of school and report twice as much alcohol and tobacco use than their single classmates, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
"Romantic relationships are a trademark of adolescence, but very few studies have examined how adolescents differ in the development of these relationships," said Pamela Orpinas, study author and professor in the College of Public Health and head of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior.
Orpinas followed a group of 624 students over a seven-year period from 6th to 12th grade.
Each year, the group of students completed a survey indicating whether they had dated and reported the frequency of different behaviors, including the use of drugs and alcohol. Their teachers completed questionnaires (调查表）about the students* academic efforts. He found some students never or hardly ever reported dating from middle to high school, and these students had consistently the best study skills according to their teachers. Other students dated infrequently in middle school but increased the frequency of dating in high school.
"At all points in time, teachers rated the students who reported the lowest frequency of dating as having the best study skills and the students with the highest dating as having the worst study skills,” according to the journal article. Study skills refer to behaviors that lead to academic success such as doing work for extra credit，being well organized, finishing homework, working hard and reading assigned chapters.
"Dating a classmate may have the same emotional complications of dating a co-worker," Orpinas said, "when the couple break up. they have to continue to see each other in class and perhaps witness the ex-partner dating someone else. It is reasonable to think this could be linked to depression and divert (转移）attention from studying.”
Dating should not be considered a ceremony of growth in middle school，”Orpinas concluded.When doing his study, Orpinas_____.
| A．followed a group of students of 6th and 12th grade |
| B．completed a survey and a report each year |
| C．completed questionnaires about the students’ academic efforts |
| D．found that the students’ study skills have connection with their frequency of dating |
Study skills may include the following behaviors and qualities Except_____
| A．being diligent | B．being well organized |
| C．being kind and helpful | D．finishing assigned schoolwork |
What can possibly happen to the school couples after they break up?
| A．They don’t want to see each other any longer. |
| B．Their attention to studying will be affected. |
| C．They will miss their ex-partners sometimes |
| D．They will think it’s reasonable to get depressed. |
Orpinas’attitude towards dating in middle school is_____
| A．supportive | B．positive | C．negative | D．indifferent |
Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and moved to New York City when she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing many letters asking for admission(录取) to medical schools, she was finally accepted by a doctor in Philadelphia. She was so determined that she taught in school and gave music lessons to get money for the cost of schooling.
In 1849, after graduation from medical school. she decided to further her education in Paris. She wanted to be a surgeon(外科医师) , but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.
Upon returning to the United States, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides being the first woman physician and founding her own hospital , she also set up the first medical school for women.Why couldn’t Elizabeth Blackwell realize her dream of becoming a surgeon?
| A．She couldn’t get admitted to medical school |
| B．She decided to further her education in Paris |
| C．A serious eye problem stopped her |
| D．It was difficult for her to start a practice in the United States |
What main obstacle(障碍) almost destroyed Elizabeth’s chances for becoming for a doctor?
| A．She was a woman. |
| B．She wrote too many letters. |
| C．She couldn’t graduate from medical school. |
| D．She couldn’t set up her hospital. |
According to the passage, all of the following are “firsts” in the life of Elizabeth Blacekwell,except that she ______.
| A．became the first woman physician |
| B．was the first woman doctor |
| C．and several other women founded the first hospital for women and children |
| D．set up the first medical school for women |
Eilzabeth Blackwell spent most of her lift in _______.
| A．England | B．Paris | C．the United States | D．New York City |
Check out all the new releases (发布) in the next four weeks.
Wednesday 16 march
Chalet Girl (12A )Watch the Trailer (预告片)
A British comedy about a girl who decides to give up her job at a fried chicken fast food place to try out being a chalet (木屋) girl in the Alps. Starring Bill Nighy and Ed Westwick.
Friday 18 March
Submarine (15)
A comedy following a teenager who wants to lose his virginity and stop his father from leaving his mother. Directed by Richard Ayoade.
Friday 25 March
Country Strong (12A) Watch the Trailer
Rising country music songwriter (Garrett Hedlund) falls in love with a fallen star (Gwyneth Paltrow), and together they plan his rising and her comeback.
A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures (3D) (U)
A sea turtle who was hatched in 1959 spends the next 50 years travelling the world as it changes through global warming.
Friday 1 April
Killing Bono (15) Watch the Trailer
Two brothers attempt to become global rock stars but can only look on as old school friends U2 become the biggest hand in the world.
Passenger Side (D)
Two brothers spend the day driving around Los Angeles county looking for the meaning of their lives, or cheap street drugs, depending on whom you believe.
Friday 8 April
The Silent House
A horror movie based on a true story about a small house in a village in Uruguay which holds some dark secrets
Rio (3D) Watch the trailer
An animated film about a domesticated (家养的) macaw (金刚鹦鹉) from Minnesota who sets off on an adventure.If you like seeing the 3D films, you can choose to see ______.
| A．The Silent House and Rio | B．Submarine and Passenger Side |
| C．A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures and Rio | D．Killing Bono and Country Strong |
If you want to see a horrible film, you can see _______.
| A．The Silent House | B．Country Strong | C．Killing Bono | D．Rio |
Which of the following films is a love film?
| A．A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures | B．Passenger Side |
| C．Killing Bono | D．Country strong |
The common point of all the films is that ______.
| A．they are all set in Britain | B．they will all be released in March |
| C．they are all new films | D．they are all produced in Hollywood |
“Your honor(法官大人)！Let me say a few words for myself. What they have told you is just not true. I was not trying to kill anyone, and it was hardly possible to try to kill three strong young men at the same time. I didn't have anything to tell people that night and was quite alone. I didn't know them and needn't hate them. I was attacked by them, and I knocked one of them down. It's true, but I was made to do it, or I might be killed by them. I did this not because I hated the white men as they said. I just had to do so. While I was beaten in the dark street by the three men, a policeman came, caught me and took me here. I know why I was beaten. I have just moved into a house next to these three white men. I have felt that I am not welcome and I have tried to be quiet. I think, as an American, I have the right to choose where to live. I am guilty. What makes me guilty is my color opposite to theirs and I can't enjoy justice(公正). Yes, I'm not guilty. This is all I want to say. Thank you, your honor.”Why did he speak for himself?
| A．He wanted to live in the house next to the whites. |
| B．He wanted to have the right to choose where to live. |
| C．He wanted to show he was not guilty. |
| D．He wanted to show he didn't hate the whites. |
The speaker was caught because________.
| A．the policeman wanted to save him |
| B．he was black and was fighting with the whites |
| C．he killed the three men in a dark street |
| D．he lived in a house next to the whites |
What's the right order of the story?
a. The speaker said something for himself.
b. The three men said something.
c. The speaker knocked down one of the three men.
d. The speaker was beaten by the three men.
e. He was caught by the policeman.
f. The speaker moved into a house near the whites.
| A．abfdce | B．bafcde | C．fdceba | D．fcdeab |