English as a Foreign Language

　 Who taught you to speak English? Your parents, while you were a young child? Your teachers 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（文化）？Or should we worry about the dangers of ‘mono-centralism’, 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? On the contrary（相反），I would have thought－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.

67．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

68．What does “garden” in the last two paragraphs stand for?

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

69．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

70．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

   It is true that a smile means the same thing in any language. So does laughter or crying. There are also a number of clear similarities in the way different animals show the same feeling. Dogs, tigers and humans, for example, often show their teeth when they are angry. This is probably because such behavior patterns are inherited (遗传) rather than learned.

　　Fear is another emotion that is shown in much the same way all over the world. In Chinese and in English literature, a phrase like “he went pale and begin to tremble (颤抖)”suggests that the man is either very afraid or he has just got a very big shock. However, “he opened his eyes wide” is used to suggest anger in Chinese whereas in English it means surprise. In Chinese surprise can be described in a phrase like “they stretched out（伸出）their tongues”! Sticking out your tongue in English is an insulting（侮辱）or expresses disgust.

　　Even in the same culture, people differ in ability to understand and express feelings. Experiments in America have shown that women are usually better than men at recognizing fear, anger, love and happiness on people’s faces. Disgust, contempt (蔑视) and suffering seem to be the most difficult emotions for people everywhere either to recognize or to express. Other studies show that older people usually find it easier to recognize or understand body language than younger people do. And psychologists (心理学家) such as E.G. Beier have also shown that some people often give the completely impression of how they feel. For example, they try to show love but in fact communicate dislike. Or when they want to show interest, they give the impression that they don’t care. This can happen even among close friends and members of the same family. In other words, what we think we are communicating through language, voice, face and body movements may be the exact opposite of what for people understand.

According to the passage, even in different cultures the most easily recognized emotion is    .

       A．anger       B．dislike      C．happiness  D．surprise

Experiments show that easier understanding of words and gestures has something to do with your           .

       A．age and sex             B．love and cultural differences

       C．impressions about the speaker D．emotional state

When we communicate with people,        .

       A．we know exactly what they mean while they express their emotions

       B．we sometimes misunderstand each other

       C．we usually mislead them by expressing the opposite of our feeling

       D．it seems much mere difficult to understand body language than language

Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

       A．When we communicate our real emotions, we many cause misunderstanding to others.

       B．Different people in different cultures may have different ways to understand one gesture.

       C．Some people are likely to hide their real feelings and express them in the opposite way.

       D．What we say does always mean the same thing as the gestures we make.

The underlined word “disgust” in Paragraph 2 probably means “     ” in this passage.

       A．strong dislike   B．friendliness      C．love  D．sickness

    It is true that a smile means the same thing in any language. So does laughter or crying. There are also a number of clear similarities in the way different animals show the same feeling. Dogs, tigers and humans, for example, often show their teeth when they are angry. This is probably because such behavior patterns are inherited (遗传) rather than learned.
　　Fear is another emotion that is shown in much the same way all over the world. In Chinese and in English literature, a phrase like “he went pale and begin to tremble (颤抖)”suggests that the man is either very afraid or he has just got a very big shock. However, “he opened his eyes wide” is used to suggest anger in Chinese whereas in English it means surprise. In Chinese surprise can be described in a phrase like “they stretched out（伸出）their tongues”! Sticking out your tongue in English is an insulting（侮辱）or expresses disgust.
　　Even in the same culture, people differ in ability to understand and express feelings. Experiments in America have shown that women are usually better than men at recognizing fear, anger, love and happiness on people’s faces. Disgust, contempt (蔑视) and suffering seem to be the most difficult emotions for people everywhere either to recognize or to express. Other studies show that older people usually find it easier to recognize or understand body language than younger people do. And psychologists (心理学家) such as E.G. Beier have also shown that some people often give the completely impression of how they feel. For example, they try to show love but in fact communicate dislike. Or when they want to show interest, they give the impression that they don’t care. This can happen even among close friends and members of the same family. In other words, what we think we are communicating through language, voice, face and body movements may be the exact opposite of what for people understand.
71．According to the passage, even in different cultures the most easily recognized emotion is    .
A．anger       B．dislike      C．happiness  D．surprise
72．Experiments show that easier understanding of words and gestures has something to do with your           .
A．age and sex             B．love and cultural differences
C．impressions about the speaker D．emotional state
73．When we communicate with people,        .
A．we know exactly what they mean while they express their emotions
B．we sometimes misunderstand each other
C．we usually mislead them by expressing the opposite of our feeling
D．it seems much mere difficult to understand body language than language
74．Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A．When we communicate our real emotions, we many cause misunderstanding to others.
B．Different people in different cultures may have different ways to understand one gesture.
C．Some people are likely to hide their real feelings and express them in the opposite way.
D．What we say does always mean the same thing as the gestures we make.
75．The underlined word “disgust” in Paragraph 2 probably means “     ” in this passage.
A．strong dislike   B．friendliness      C．love  D．sickness

What is your body language saying to your children? What is their body language telling you? I had the honor of hearing Jan Hargrave speak the other day. She is one of four body language experts in the US. Jan Hargrave says we lie with the right side of our brains, so it is our left hand that gives us away. A person touching his nose, pulling at his ear or rubbing his eye with his left hand might be lying to you. Also, a person who, in any way, crosses any fingers might just be lying. That, she says, is a holdover(遗留物) from childhood, when we crossed our fingers to signal that we didn’t mean what we were saying. When children squint(眨) their eyes, move their body away from you, or can’t seem to make good eye contact, you may need to ask for a little more clarification.
But just as important, children learn early how to read our body language when they are conversing(交谈) with us. Here are some acceptance signals to let them know you are interested when they are talking to you. Lean(倾斜) towards them. Make good eye contact and smile. Open your arms. Let your hands relax with the palms(手掌) showing: an open, upward palm always show acceptance. If your legs are crossed, make sure you are not crossing them away from your child. These are important because they signal to your child that you are focused on them and are accepting and welcoming them into your world.
By paying attention, we can open those lines of important communication with our children and we can see the truth more clearly. I think it would be a mistake to use these tools to lie, but we need to be aware of the signals we are giving so we can show people that they really do matter to us.
【小题1】According to Jan Hargrave, we can tell whether a person is lying by _______.