Have you ever noticed advertisements which say “Learn a foreign language in 6 weeks, or your money back! From the first day your pronunciation will be excellent. Just send…” and so on? Of course, it never happens quite like that. The only language that is easy to learn is one’s mother tongue. And think how much practice that gets! Before the Second World War people usually learnt a foreign language in order to read the literature of the country.

Now speaking a foreign language is what most people want. Every year millions of people start learning one. How do they do it? Some people try at home, with books and records of tapes; some use radio or television programmes; some use computers and network; others go to evening classes. If they use the language only 2 or 3 times a week, learning it will take a long time, like learning a foreign language at school. A few people try to learn a language fast by studying for 6 or more hours a day. It is clearly easier to learn the language in the country where it is spoken.

However, most people cannot afford this, and for many it is not necessary. They need the language in order to do their work better. For example, scientists and doctors chiefly need to be able to read books and reports in the foreign language. Whether the language is learnt quickly or slowly, it is hard work. Machines and good books will help, but they cannot do the student’s work for him.

According to some advertisements, you ______.

A. have to pay your money if you cannot master a foreign language in 6 weeks

B. needn’t pay you money if you cannot learn a foreign language in 6 weeks

C. must pay your money if you cannot master a foreign language in 6 weeks

D. will be paid much money if you cannot learn a foreign language in 6 weeks

Now most people try to learn a foreign language in order to ______.

A. read the literature of the country         B. read books and reports

C. do their work better                   D. go to foreign countries

Learning a foreign language is a hard job ______.

A. only for scientists and doctors          B. only for the students at school

C. for those people at home              D. for most people

They are among the 250, 000 people under the age of 25 who are out of work in the Netherlands, a group that makes up 40 percent of the nation’s unemployed. A storm of anger boils up at the government-sponsored (政府资助的) youth center, even among those who are continuing their studies.

   “We study for jobs that don’t exist,” Nicollets Steggerda, 23, said.

   After thirty years of prosperity, unemployment among 10 member nations of the European Community has reached as much as 11 percent, affecting a total of 12.3 million people, and the number is climbing.

   The bitter disappointment long expressed by British youths is spreading across the Continent. The title of a rock song “No Future” can now be seen written on the brick walls of closed factories in Belgium and France.

    One form of protest(抗议) tends to put the responsibility for a country’s economic troubles on the large numbers of “guest workers” from Third World nations, people welcomed in Western Europe in the years of prosperity.

    Young Europeans, brought up in an extended period of economic success and general stability, seem to be similar to Americans more than they do their own parents. Material enjoyment has given them a sense of expectation, even the right to a standard of living that they see around them.

    “And so we pass the days at the discos, or meet people at the café, and sit and stare,” said Isabella Cault. "There is usually not much conversation. You look for happiness. Sometimes you even find it.”

Unemployment in the Netherlands has affected _______

A. about 0.6 million people           B. 250,000 people

C. 1ess than half of the population       D. one million people

What Nicollete Steggerda said (Para.2) means that ________.

A. what the students learn is more than necessary

B. the students cannot get work after graduation

C. the students’ aim in study is not clear

D. school education is not sufficient

The underlined word ‘‘it” in the last paragraph most probably refers to ________.

A. material enjoyment         B. a sense of expectation

C. a job             D. happiness

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. British youths have pity on the unemployed on the Continent.

B. British youths care about unemployment in France and Belgium.

C. British youths show their disappointment over joblessness.

D. British youths have confidence to find work on the Continent.

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