One of the main challenges that many countries face is how to maintain their identity in the face of globalization and the growing multilanguage trend. "One of the main reasons for economic failure in many African countries is the fact that,with a few important excep?tions,mother tongue education is not practised in any of the independent African states."said Neville Alexander,director of the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa at the University of Cape Town.

In response to the spread of English and the increased multilanguage trends arising from immigration,many countries have introduced language laws in the last decade. In some,the use of languages other than the national language is banned in public spaces such as advertising posters. One of the first such legal provisions was the "Toubon Law" in France in 1994,and the idea has been copied in many coun?tries since then. Such efforts to govern language use are often considered as futile by language experts,who are well aware of the difficulty in controlling fashions in speech and know from research that language switching among bilinguaLs is a natu?ral process.

It is especially difficult for native speakers of English to understand the desire to maintain the "purity" of a language by law. Since the time of Shakespeare,Eng?lish has continually absorbed foreign words into its own language. English is one of the most mixed and rapidly changing languages in the world,but that has not been a barrier to acquiring superiority and power. Another reason for the failure of many native English speakers to understand the role of the state regulation is that it has never been the Anglo-Saxon way of doing things. English has never had a statecon?trolled authority for the language,similar,for example,to the Academic Francaise in France.

The need to protect national languages is,for most western Europeans,a re?cent phenomenon―especially the need to ensure that English does not necessarily take over too many fields. Public communication,education and new ways of communi?cation promoted by technology may be key fields to defend.

5. Neville Alexander believes that         .

   A. mother tongue education is not practised in all African countries

   B. globalization has resulted in the economic failure of Africa

   C. globalization has led to the rise of multilanguage trend

   D. lack of mother tongue education can lead to economic failure

6. The underlined word "futile" in Paragraph 2 most probably means "         ”.

   A. workable   B. practical   C. useless   D. unnecessary

7. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

   A. English has taken over fields like public communication and education.

   B. Many aspects of national culture are threatened by the spread of English.

   C. Most language experts believe it is important to promote a national language.

   D. Europeans have long realized the need to protect a national language.

8. What would be the best title for the passage?

   A. Fighting against the rule of English

   B. Protecting local languages and identities

   C. Globalization and multilanguage trend

   D. To maintain the purity of language by law

A Seeing a volcano erupt is a wonderful experience,and you can really feel the heat by climbing to the summit of Pacaya for a closeup view. There are guided tours every?day up this highly active volcano from Antigua,giving travellers a chance to see Mother Nature at her most power.

Pacaya is an easy drive from Antigua,a beautiful city with many colourful houses along its old streets that are turned into artworks during its Holy Week festival. No matter when you come to Antigua,you won't miss the Pacayatour companies.

But climbing Pacaya is no easy job. It is 2 ,560 metres high,and reaching the summit takes two to three hours of seemingly one-step-forward and two-step-back move?ments. As you climb,you hear the dull sounds of erup?tions high above. Steaming,hot remains from recent eruptions begin to line the path as you near the active summit:the McKenney Cone (火山锥) .Just as though you were going to walk over to the edge of the cone,the road turns to the left and up to the relative safety of the old,inactive summit.

Many tours are timed so that you arrive at the cone of the volcano in plenty of time for sunset and the full contrast between the erupting red lava and the darkening sky. On a good day the view from the summit is extremely exciting. The active mouth boils,sending the red lava over its sides,and once in a while shoots hot streams up to 100 metres into the air. There is a strong bad smell in the air even if you take care to be upwind of the cone. As evening turns deeper into the night,the burning lava quietly falls down the side of the vo卜cano. For you,too,it is time to get down.

16. What is the main purpose of this passage?

   A. To attract tourists to Pacaya.

   B. To describe the beauty of Pacaya.

   C. To introduce guided tours to Pacaya.

   D. To explain the power of nature at Pacaya.

17. Antigua is a city         .

   A. where people can enjoy cultural festivals

   B. where the daring Pacaya tour starts

   C. that gives a closeup view of Pacaya

   D. that is famous for its tour companies

18. Climbing to the McKenney Cone,people will         .

   A. walk directly to the active summit

   B. hear the continuous loud noise from above

   C. make greater efforts than to other summits

   D. see a path lined with remains of earlier eruptions

19. Many tours are timed for people to         .

   A. get down the mountain in time when night falls

   B. avoid the smell from the upwind direction of the cone

   C. enjoy the fantastic eruption against the darkening sky

   D. appreciate the scenery of the 2 ,560-metre-high mountain

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