It is said that by the end of 2000, one billion people could use English to communicate with others, including both native speakers and non-native speakers.

“The rise and fall of a language is closely connected with that country’s economic(经济的) strength and development potential (潜力).” Rhodri Jones, the English 2000 manager of the ELT group of the British Council said.

An expert who has given many lectures on the future of English said the economic booms（快速发展）in Asia would raise(提高) the position of the Chinese and Hindi languages. Therefore, the English language is facing a serious problem. Where will English turn in the next fifty years or the century?

The recently introduced book from Britain “Future of English” might give people concerned with their question some enlightenments (启发). The book intends to help English teachers, planners, managers and decision makers with a professional interest in the development of English worldwide.

With the book translated into Chinese and to be published soon, the book might be brought to wider sphere (范围)of people.

“From the book, we learn many facts about the English language, and we may be able to predict (预测) its future after reading it.” said Dorothy Humphrey, who used to be a senior English teacher for the British Council.

1. The book “Future of English” helps to _______.

A.  improve the standard of people’s English

B.  adds to people’s interest in learning English

C.  emphasize (强调) the importance of learning

D.  make people interested in the development of English worldwide

2. The main idea of the passage is _______.

A.　　  why English has been popular in the world

B.　　  how to improve people’s ability of learning English

C.　　  English has a bright future

D.　　 the usage of English may become less in the world one day

3. According to this passage, English may not be a world language forever because _______.

A.　　  more and more people will come to visit China

B.　　  people in the world won’t like English in the future.

C.　　  the economic booms in Asia would raise the position of the Chinese and Hindi languages

D.　　 China and India will be more developed than those English-speaking countries

　　Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal（信号）. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.

　　Different cultures emphasize（强调）the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in “small talk”, usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job. In many European countries--like the UK or France--people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or cafes rather than at the office.

　　Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand. I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled. After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.

　　Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.

　　People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment（多元文化环境）will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.

(1)In some countries, eating together at restaurants may make it easier for people to _______.

[　　]

A．develop closer relations

B．share the same culture

C．get to know each other

D．keep each other company

(2)The author mentions his experience in Thailand to show that _______.

[　　]

A．the English prefer to make long speeches

B．too many words are of no use

C．people from Thailand are quiet and shy by nature

D．even talk and silence can be culturally different

(3)According to the text, how can people from different cultures understand each other better?

[　　]

A．By sharing different ways of life.

B．By accepting different habits.

C．By recognizing different values.

D．By speaking each other’s languages.

(4)What would be the best title for the text?

[　　]

A．Multicultural Environment

B．Cross-Cultural Differences

C．How to Understand Each Other

D．How to Build Up a Relationship

While 375 million people around the globe use English as their native language, the number of people using it as a second language has already been well over that figure (数字).

It is said that by the end of 2000, one billion people could use English to communicate with others, including both native speakers and non-native speakers.

“The rise and fall of a language is closely connected with that country’s economic(经济的) strength and development potential (潜力).” Rhodri Jones, the English 2000 manager of the ELT group of the British Council said.

An expert who has given many lectures on the future of English said the economic booms（快速发展）in Asia would raise(提高) the position of the Chinese and Hindi languages. Therefore, the English language is facing a serious problem. Where will English turn in the next fifty years or the century?

The recently introduced book from Britain “Future of English” might give people concerned with their question some enlightenments (启发). The book intends to help English teachers, planners, managers and decision makers with a professional interest in the development of English worldwide.

With the book translated into Chinese and to be published soon, the book might be brought to wider sphere (范围)of people.

“From the book, we learn many facts about the English language, and we may be able to predict (预测) its future after reading it.” said Dorothy Humphrey, who used to be a senior English teacher for the British Council.

1. The book “Future of English” helps to _______.

A.  improve the standard of people’s English

B.  adds to people’s interest in learning English

C.  emphasize (强调) the importance of learning

D.  make people interested in the development of English worldwide

2. The main idea of the passage is _______.

A.　　  why English has been popular in the world

B.　　  how to improve people’s ability of learning English

C.　　  English has a bright future

D.　　 the usage of English may become less in the world one day

3. According to this passage, English may not be a world language forever because _______.

A.　　  more and more people will come to visit China

B.　　  people in the world won’t like English in the future.

C.　　  the economic booms in Asia would raise the position of the Chinese and Hindi languages

D.　　 China and India will be more developed than those English-speaking countries

B
I’m a pig, and my son is a rabbit. I have snakes for daughters, and my wife, believe it or not, is a dragon! Do I live in a zoo? No, of course not! I am talking about Chinese zodiac signs. Depending on the year of your birth, each person has an animal for a sign. That’s why I am a pig and my wife is a dragon. If you, like me, were born in the year of the pig, then you are brave, thoughtful and loyal. The year of the pig is filled with good fortune.
　　Now let’s take a closer look at this interesting animal.
　　Pigs were first raised by man about 9,000 years ago, and are still a very common farm animal in many parts of the world. We don’t just use pigs for their meat — almost every part of the animal is used. The hair is used for artists’ brushes. The fat is used to make floor wax, rubber and plastics.
　Pigs have also been important in the world of entertainment. In 1995 the film ‘Babe’ starred a loveable talking pig as its main character. The film won an Oscar and was nominated for 6 more. In England you can even go to watch pig racing. A farmer, Rob Shepherd, has been raising money for charity by holding pig races on his farm. The events have been very successful. People don’t just want to eat pigs, it seems!
　Pigs also play an important role in the English language. For example, if someone says that he will travel to the sun one day, you can say “pigs might fly!” to him. Hungry? Well then, you can “pig out” and eat lots of food. And what if someone rescues you? Well, you can say that they “saved your bacon”.
44. The writer wrote the first paragraph in a ______ tone.
　　A. sad　　　　　　B. confused 　   　C. serious　　　　 D. humorous
45. We may know from the passage that ______.
　　A. people in England like pigs more than other animals
　　B. pigs are more useful than ordinary people imagine
　　C. pigs are the first animals raised by man
　　D. more people don’t want to eat pigs now
46. The underlined sentence “pigs might fly!” in the fifth paragraph means “______”.
　　A. What you have just said is impossible
　　B. Pigs are great animals
　　C. I don’t understand your words
　　D. I can’t agree with you more
47. Which diagram shows the structure of the passage?
　　　　　　　　
　　　　　A 　　　　　　　　B 　　　　　　　C　　　　　　　　　 D

Miss Gorgers taught physics in a New York school. Last month she explained to one of her classes about sound, and she decided to test them to see how successful she had been in her explanation. She said to them, “Now I have a brother in Los Angeles. If I was calling him on the phone and at the same time you were 75 feet away, listening to me from the street, which of you would hear what I said earlier, my brother or you and for what reason?”

Tom at once answered, “Your brother. Because electricity travels faster than sound waves.” “That’s very good.” Miss Gorgers answered, but then one of the girls raised her hand, and Miss Gorgers said, “Yes? Kate.”

“I disagree. Your brother would hear you earlier because when it’s 11 o’clock here and it’s only 8 o’clock in Los Angeles.” Kate said.

1.

 Miss Gorgers was teaching her class         .

A. how to telephone     B. about electricity   C. about time zone   D. about sound

2.

Miss Gorgers raised this question because she wanted to know whether         .

A. it was easy to phone to Los Angeles

B. her student could hear her from 75 feet away

C. her students had understood her lesson 

D. sound waves were slower than electricity

3.

Kate thought Tom was wrong because         .

A. clocks in Los Angeles showed a different time from those in New York

B. electricity was slower than sound waves

C. Tom was not good at physics at all

D. Tom’s answer had nothing to do with sound waves

4.

Whose answer do you think is correct according to the laws of physics?

A. Tom’s.   　 　 B. Kate’s.        C. Both A and B. 　  　D. Neither A nor B.