The first broadcast of VOA Special English was on October 19th, 1959．VOA officials wanted a program to communicate with people learning English around the world．They wanted a way for people to get to know the language and, at the same time, learn about the United States and world events．
In 1959, the director of the Voice of America was Henry Loomis．In his job, he traveled around the world．He found that people of all ages wanted to learn English．He wondered if VOA could help．He asked his program manager, Barry Zorthian, to create a broadcast tool that would provide information to listeners who had a limited knowledge of English．Mr．Zorthian gathered a small team of young people to develop a list of words to be used in the broadcasts．
Forty－seven years ago, on October 19th, listeners heard the first Special English broadcast．Paul Parks read a ten－minute news program slowly and carefully．He read at a speed that is about one－third slower than other VOA English broadcasts．He read so that each word could be clearly understood by listeners on their shortwave radios．The sentences were short．And the words used were limited to the most common English words．Special English was an experiment．There was no model for such a broadcast in slow－speed English using simple words．Would anyone listen to such a program? Would they like it?
Some American experts said the broadcasts would not be successful．But foreign listeners disagreed．They thought it was excellent．In later years, Special English added both short and long feature programs to its broadcasts．Special English soon became one of the most popular programs on VOA．It still is．
(1)
The purpose of VOA Special English is to ________．
[ ]
A．
inform people of the latest news
B．
help people traveling around the world
C．
encourage people to live in the United States
D．
help listeners with a limited knowledge of English
(2)
What did Henry Loomis ask the VOA program manager to do?
[ ]
A．
To create a program to provide information for English beginners．
B．
To find a way to communicate with people learning English．
C．
To develop a list of words to be used in the broadcasts．
D．
To gather a small group of young people to broadcast English programs．
(3)
What was the attitude of foreign listeners towards the broadcasts?
[ ]
A．
They wondered whether the broadcasts would not be successful．
B．
They were sure the broadcasts would not be successful．
C．
They thought the broadcasts were a success．
D．
They refused to listen to the programs．
(4)
What does the passage mainly tell us?
[ ]
A．
How VOA Special English was started．
B．
What VOA Special English deals with．
C．
Why people like listening to VOA Special English．
D．
Who thought of the idea of broadcasting Special English
