There are about fifteen hundred languages in the world.

But ___1___ a few of them are very ___2___. English is one of these. Many, many people use it, not only in England and the U. S. A, but in other parts of the world. About 200, 000, 000 speak it as their own language. It is difficult to say how many people are learning it as a ___3___ language. Many millions are ___4___ to do so.

Is it easy or difficult to learn English? Different people may have different ___5___. Have you ever ___6___ the ads of this kind in the newspapers or magazines?

“Learn English in six month, or your ___7___ back ...” “Easy and funny? Our records and tapes ___8___ you master your English in a month. ___9___ the first day your ___10___ will be excellent. Just send ...” Of course, it never ___11___ quite like this.

The only language that seems easy to learn is the mother tongue. We should ___12___ that we all learned our own language well when we were ___13___. If we could learn English in the same way, it would not seem so difficult. ___14___ what a small child does. He listens to what people say. He tries what he hears. When he is using the language, talking in it, and ___15___ in it all the time, just imagine how much ___16___ that gets!

So it is ___17___ to say that learning English is easy, because a good command of English ___18___ upon a lot of practice. And practice needs great effort and ___19___ much time. Good teachers, records, tapes, books, and dictionaries will ___20___. But they cannot do the student’s work for him.

1. A. not 　　　　　 B. quite　 　　　　 C. only 　　　　　　 D. very

2. A. difficult 　　　 B. important　 　　 C. necessary 　　 D. easy

3. A. native 　　　 B. foreign 　　　　 C. useful　 　　　　 D. mother

4. A. learning　 　　　 B. enjoying 　　 C. trying　 　　　　 D. liking

5. A. questions　　　 B. problems　 　　 C. ideas 　　　　 D. answers

6. A. found　 　　　 B. watched 　　　　 C. noticed 　　　　 D. known

7. A. knowledge 　 B. time 　　　　 C. money 　　　　 D. English

8. A. make 　　　 B. help 　　　　 C. let　 　　　　　　 D. allow

9. A. From 　　　 B. On　 　　　　　　 C. Since 　　　　 D. After

10. A. spelling 　　　 B. grammar 　　 C. English 　　　　 D. pronunciation

11. A. happened 　 B. know 　　　　 C. seemed　 　　　　 D. felt

12. A. know　 　　　 B. remember 　　 C. understand　 　　 D. think

13. A. students 　　　 B. children 　　　　 C. babies　 　　　　 D. grown-ups

14. A. Imagine　 　　　 B. Mind 　　　　 C. Do 　　　　　　 D. Think of

15. A. using 　　　 B. thinking 　　 C. trying　 　　　　 D. practicing

16. A. time　 　　　 B. money　 　　　　 C. language 　　　　 D. practice

17. A. hard　 　　　 B. easy 　　　　 C. funny 　　　　 D. silly

18. A. depends　 　　　 B. tries　 　　　　 C. has　 　　　　　　 D. takes

19. A. uses　 　　　 B. takes　 　　　　 C. gets 　　　　　　 D. costs

20. A. do 　　　　　 B. work 　　　　 C. help 　　　　　　 D. master

I would like to share with you a story of the monkey. In Thompson’s The Outline of Science there is a story about a scientist who ___1___ several chimpanzees and monkeys in order to ___2___ animal psychology. He took a glass bottle, ___3___ its cork (瓶塞) and put two peanuts inside the bottle. Needless to say, the peanuts dropped to the bottom of the bottle and were easily seen from the ___4___. He then passed the bottle to a monkey, who shook it __5____ for a long while and was ___6___ able to get the peanuts when they __7___ fell out. The scientist then put some peanuts into the bottle again ___8___ he had done before and showed the monkey that it only needed __9____ the bottle upside down for the peanuts to drop out. ___10___ the monkey always ignored his ___11___. Each time it just shook the bottle frantically, with great __12____ but without necessarily achieving __13____ result.