The number of speakers of English in Shakespeare’s time is estimated(估计) 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(足够的) 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 present-day 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.

1.What would be the best title for this passage?

2.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

3.According to the passage, what is the main reason for the widespread use of English?

4.What forms an adequate working knowledge of English?

5.What type of developing countries would be most likely to use English?

6.C。细节题。根据文章最后一段倒数第2句可推知此题

阅读下面短文，根据第1至第3小题的具体要求，简要回答问题。

A long time ago，Milton S．Hershey，the creator of the popular chocolate bars，was dipped in warm chocolate．I know all about it．My grandfather was there!

At nineteen，Hershey established a candy business in Philadelphia．Although it failed，he tried again in several other cities and succeeded with Crystal A Caramels．But Hershey was not content．He began experimenting with chocolate and managed to sell his first chocolate bars in 1900．They were an instant success．In 1903，Hershey built a factory．

Hershey was usually pleasant and kind and enjoyed a good joke．However，in his chocolate factory，he held high standards for all the workers．He was both respected and feared．His anger would burst out when things didn't go as he'd expected，and workers were fired for mistakes．

My grandfather began working in the factory as a young man．His job was to push the vats（大桶）of warm chocolate to a storage area．To do this，he had to push the heavy vats up a ramp（斜坡）and across the walkway．One day，Hershey was walking backward on the walkway while my grandfather was pushing a vat of chocolate up the ramp．Bump．Clunk．Ker-plop! Hershey fell backward into the vat．Everyone else held their breath and ran up to pull him out．Grandfather froze in fear．Was he going to lose his job?

Hershey stood stiffly with his hands on his hips．Color rose in his face．He said something in a low voice．Then he smiled．“It's not your fault，son，” he said．“I need to watch where I’m going．” He put some chocolate in his mouth．“Mmm，that's good，” he said．Everyone laughed．The tour continued，with Hershey dripping chocolate as he went．And Grandfather kept his job．

1．What did Grandfather do in Hershey's factory? （回答词数不超过12个）

2．Why didn’t Hershey fire Grandfather? （回答词数不超过10个）

3．What does the incident show us about Hershey? （回答词数不超过15个）

阅读下面短文，根据第1至第5小题的具体要求，简要回答问题。

Motherhood may make women smarter and may help prevent dementia（痴呆） in old age by bathing the brain in protective hormones , U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s（早老痴呆症）. University of Richmond psychology professor Craig Kinsley believes his findings will translate into humans.

“Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy（怀孕） are protecting the brain, including estrogen（雌激素）, which we know has many neuroprotective （保护神经的） effects,” Kinsley said.  

“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,” he added in a telephone interview. “They go through pregnancy and hormonal changes.”

Kinsley said he hoped public health officials and researchers will look to see if having had children protects a woman from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related brain decline.

“When people think about pregnancy, they think about what happens to babies and the mother from the neck down,” said Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando, Florida.

“They do not realize that hormones are washing on the brain. If you look at female animals who have never gone through pregnancy, they act differently toward young. But if she goes through pregnancy, she will sacrifice her life for her infant—that is a great change in her behavior that showed in genetic alterations（改变） to the brain.”

1．What can protect the brain of a woman according to the passage? （回答词数不超过4个）

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2．How do scientists know “Motherhood may make women smarter”? （回答词数不超过8个）

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3．“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals.” What does the sentence suggest? （回答词数不超过13个）

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4．What is the main idea of this passage? （回答词数不超过10个）

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