The number of speakers of English in Shakespeare’s time is estimated(估计) to have been about five million. Today it is estimated that some 260 million people speak it as a native language, mainly in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In addition to the standard varieties of English found in these areas, there are a great many regional and social varieties of the language as well as various levels of usage that are employed both in its spoken and written forms.

In fact, it is impossible to estimate the number of people in the world who have acquired an adequate(足够的) working knowledge of English in addition to their own languages. The purpose for English learning and the situations in which such learning takes place are so varied that it is difficult to explain and still more difficult to judge what forms an adequate working knowledge for each situation.

The main reason for the widespread demand for English is its present-day importance as a world language. Besides serving the indefinite needs of its native speakers, English is a language in which some of important works in science, technology, and other fields are being produced, and not always by native speakers. It is widely used for such purposes as meteorological and airport communications, international conferences, and the spread of information over the radio and television networks of many nations. It is a language of wider communication for a number of developing countries, especially former British colonies. Many of these countries have multilingual populations and need a language for internal communication in such matters as government, commerce, industry, law and education as well as for international communication and for entrance to the scientific and technological developments in the West.

1.What would be the best title for this passage?

2.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

3.According to the passage, what is the main reason for the widespread use of English?

4.What forms an adequate working knowledge of English?

5.What type of developing countries would be most likely to use English?

6.C。细节题。根据文章最后一段倒数第2句可推知此题

Many people who work in London prefer to live outside it, and to go in to their offices or schools every day by train, car or bus, even though this means they have to get up early in the morning and reach home late in the evening. 

One advantage of living outside London is that houses are cheaper. Even a small flat in London without a garden costs quite a lot to rent. With the same money, one can get a little house in the country with a garden of one’s own. 

Then, in the country one can rest from the noise and hurry of the town. Even though one has to get up earlier and spend more time in trains or buses, one can sleep better at night and during weekends and on summer evenings, one can enjoy the fresh, clean air of the country. If one likes gardens, one can spend one’s free time digging, planting, watering and doing the hundred and one other jobs which are needed in a garden. Then, when the flowers and vegetables come up, one has the reward of one who has shared the secret of Nature. 

Some people, however, take no interest in country things: for them, happiness lies in the town, with its cinemas and theatres, beautiful shops and busy streets, dance-halls and restaurants. Such people would feel that their life was not worth living if they had to live it outside London. An occasional walk in one of the parks and a fortnight’s (two weeks) visit to the sea every summer is all the country they want: the rest they are quite prepared to leave to those who are glad to get away from London every night. 

1.Which of the following statements is NOT true? 

2.One can use the same money for ________ to buy a little house with a garden in the country.

3.When the flowers and vegetables in the garden come up, those _______ have the reward of one who has shared the secret of Nature. 

4.People who think happiness lies in the town would feel that _______ if they had to live it outside London. 

5.The underlined word rest in the last paragraph refers to ________.

6.C。推断题。根据其上文：这些人偶尔去公园散散步后去海边度两周假；本句接着说：其余的就留给那些每天晚上喜欢离开伦敦的人，那么，“其余的”显然指“其余的乡村”。从而可推知题

When a first-time father saw his newborn son, he immediately noticed the baby's ears obviously standing out from his head. He expressed his concern to the nurse that some children might be made fun of his child. A doctor examined the baby and reassured the new dad that his son was healthy---- the ears presented only a small problem with its appearance.
But the nervous father continued. He wondered if the child might suffer psychological effects of ridicule, or if they should consider plastic surgery(整形手术). The nurse assured him that it was really no problem, and he should just wait to see if the boy grows into his ears.
The father finally felt more optimistic about his child, but now he worried about his wife's reaction to those large ears. She had been delivered by operation, and had not yet seen the child.
“She doesn't take things as easily as I do,” he said to the nurse.
By this time, the new mother was settled in the recovery room and ready to meet her new baby. The nurse went along with the dad to lend some support in case this inexperienced mother became upset about her baby's large ears.
The baby was in a blanket(毛毯) with his head covered for the short trip through the cold air-conditioned corridor. The baby was placed in his mother's arms, who eased the blanket back so that she could look at her child for the first time.
She took one look at her baby's face and looked to her husband and gasped, “Oh, Honey! Look! He has your ears!”
No problem with Mom. She married those ears...and she loves the man to whom they are attached.
The poet Kahlil Gibran said, “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” It's hard to see the ears when you're looking into the light.
【小题1】When the father first saw his baby, he was worried that________.

阅读下列各小题，根据汉语句子，用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子，并将答案写在答题卡上的相应题号后。

1.Finally he reached a lonely island_______________________ from the outside world. (cut)

最后，他来到了一个与外界隔绝的孤岛。

2.It has been proved that ___________________________ helps to protect you against serious illnesses in later life. (eat)

已经得到证实童年时吃蔬菜有助于你在以后生活中抵御重病。

3.The reform of College Entrance Examination will begin with English, whose result is not ____________. (expect)

高考改革将从英语学科开始，其结果也不像预期那样令人满意。

4.I’m so sorry _____________ at such an awkward time, but I really had something urgent to tell you. (call)

我真的很抱歉在这么不合适的时间给你打电话，但我真的有急事告诉你。

5.How can you ask again? I think ____________ at all when I presented the answer to you. (listen)

你怎能还要问？我认为当时我在讲解答案时你根本没听。

6.Never before in his life ______________________ such a great loss, so he almost lost the hope of life. (suffer)

他一生从来没有遭受过如此重大的损失，所以他几乎失去了生活的希望。

小题7】It was ___________________ that he moved out of the remote village and settled down in the big city. (feel)

就是因为他觉得孤单，他才搬出那个偏僻的村庄，在大城市定居下来。

7.Had the natural disaster happened at midnight, it ______________________ much greater damage. (cause)

如果这场自然灾害发生在半夜，它可能会造成更大的灾害。

8.TV can not only keep us_______  throughout the world but also bring us various forms of entertainment. (inform)

电视不仅能让我们了解世界上正在发生的事情，还能给我们带来各种各样的娱乐。

9.If you don't insist on _______________________, you'll never have it.  (go)

如果不坚持去追逐你的梦想，你将永远不会实现梦想。

阅读下列各小题，根据汉语句子，用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子，并将答案写在答题卡上的相应题号后。

1.you pay????????????? by cash or credit card in this store. (matter)

在这家商店，你是用现金还是用信用卡结账都没关系。

2.It rained for three weeks on end, completely _________________.????????????? (ruin)

连续下了三个星期的雨，完全毁了我们的假期。

3.There is no sense ___________________now.Look????????????? forward and????????????? everything will be all right. (upset)??

你现在为这件事苦恼是没有意义的，向前看，一切都会好起来的。

4."They didn’t take measures in time, otherwise the explosions __________________," some experts said. (happen)

“他们没有及时采取措施，否则就不会出现这几次爆炸，”一些专家说。

5.The house was greatly damaged by the truck and we'd better leave things________________________ until the police arrive. (be)

卡车严重损坏了这座房子，我们最好保待原样直到警察到来。

6.Research finds that social network users have more than _________________online as in re­al life. (many)

研究发现社交网络用户在网络上拥有的朋友是现实生活中两倍多。

7.What an annoyance!? Hardly__________________my computer ????????????? when a lot of advertisements came pouring in. (turn)

真烦人！我一打开电脑就有很多广告涌入.

8.Huo Zun said that his dream was_______________________to sing a song at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. (invite)

霍尊说他的梦想是受邀上中央电視台春节联欢晚会唱一首歌。

9.We have launched another man-made satellite,___________________intoday's newspaper. (announce)?????????????

我们发射了另一颗人造卫星，这件事在今天的报纸上被公布了。

10.China is attacked by such a terrible smog _____________________ "nuclear winter". (call)?????????????

中国遭受着被称之为“核冬天”的可怕雾霾的袭击。