Question

Who taught you to speak English? Your parents, while you were a child? Your teacher at school? Perhaps even the BBC as a grown-up. Whoever it was, somehow you have developed an understanding of what is rapidly becoming a truly global language.

There are now about 376 million people who speak English as their first language, and about the same number who have learnt it in addition to their mother tongue. There are said to be one billion people learning English now and about 80% of the information on the Internet is in English.

Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? Should we celebrate the fact that more and more of us can communicate, using a common language, across countries and cultures? Or should we worry about the dangers of “ mono-culturalism”, a world in which we all speak the same language, eat the same food and listen to the same music?

Does it matter if an increasing number of people speak the same language? I would have thought the other way around(相反) although I have never accepted the argument that if only we all understood each other better, there would be fewer wars. Ask the people of India ( where many of them speak at least some English) and Pakistan( the same situation with India) ...

If we all speak English, will we then all start eating McDonalds burgers? Surely not. If English becomes more dominant(占主导地位的), it will kill other languages? I doubt it. When I travel in Africa or Asia, I am always surprised by how many people can speak not only their own language but often one or more other related languages, as well as English and perhaps some French or German as well.

When we discussed this on Talking Point a couple of years ago, we received a wonderfully poetic email from a listener in Ireland. “The English language is a beautiful language. Maybe it’s like a rose,” he said. “But who would ever want their garden just full of roses?”

Well, I love roses, and I think they make a beautiful addition to any garden. But the way I see it, just by planting a few roses, you don’t necessarily need to pull out everything else. If more and more people want to plant English roses, that’s fine by me.

1.By saying “ Ask the people of India... and Pakistan” ( in Paragraph 4) , the author is trying to show that_______.

A. speaking the same language doesn’t necessarily bring peace

B. wars can destroy the relationship between two countries

C. English doesn’t kill other languages

D. English is widely used in the world

2.What does “garden” in the last two paragraphs stand for（代表）?

A. Language. B. Family. C. The world. D. The universe.

3.The author would probably agree that_________.

A. it’s very hard to plant many kinds of flowers in a garden

B. it’s good for people from other countries to learn English

C. more and more people like to plant roses in their gardens

D. English is easier to learn than other languages

4.This passage is mainly about________.

A. why English has become a global language

B. how many people in the world speak English

C. how people in the world learn English as a foreign language

D. whether we need to worry about English being a world language

 

Answer 1

1.A

2.C

3.B

4.D

【解析】

试题分析：全文在讲英语的重要性，提出了有些人人担心英语会成为世界单一的语言，对此以花园来比喻，提出多种语言共存的必要性，鼓励人们多学英语

1.A 细节理解题。根据第四段提到although I have never accepted the argument that if only we all understood each other better, there would be fewer wars.可知作者以印度和巴基斯坦为例说明彼此间的了解并不能减少战争，故选A。

2.C 猜测词意。最后两段作者提出没有人会让他们的花园仅仅种植玫瑰，他想表达的意思是不能所有的国家都使用同一种语言，这里的roses指单一语言，因此garden指世界，故选C项。

3.B 主旨意图。在最后一段提到But the way I see it, just by planting a few roses, you don’t necessarily need to pull out everything else. If more and more people want to plant English roses, that’s fine by me.作者用花来比喻语言由此看出，作者认为别的国家的人学英语是好的，故选B项。

4.D 主旨大意。全文在讲英语的重要性，提出了有些人人担心英语会成为世界单一的语言，对此以花园来比喻，提出多种语言共存的必要性，鼓励人们多学英语，故选D项。

考点：文化类阅读。