E

    Language is a major problem for the European Union(EU)．The agreement or treaty (条约) which created the organization that eventually became the EU, the Treaty of Rome，stated that each country’s language must be treated equally．The original six countries had only three languages between them：French, German and Dutch . However, there are now 15 countries in the EU, with a total of 12 languages. EU documents must be translated into all these languages，and at official meetings, the speeches must be translated into all the languages by interpreters.

    All this translating is very expensive and time consuming . It is said that nearly half of all employees of the EU are engaged in translating documents and speeches, and nearly half of the EU’s administrative (管理方面的) costs are spent on this task．In the near future it is probable that several more countries, most of them having their own languages, will join the EU, thus making the situation even worse.

    The problem is not just cost：there are practical difficulties as well. With 12 languages，there are 132 possible “translation situations” that might be needed．It is often difficult to find people in the right place at the right time who can translate from (for example) Danish into Greek, or Dutch into Portuguese, at a high professional standard.

    In practice, the problem has been made less severe by the use of English in many contacts between EU officials，since almost all of them speak some English. However, any action to reduce the number of official languages (perhaps to four or five) would be a blow to the pride of the smaller countries. Another commonly suggested solution is to make English the official language for all EU business. However, this is strongly resisted by powerful member countries like France and Germany.

72．What’s the main purpose of this passage?

    A．To give a solution to a problem．

    B．To find out a problem and show how severe it is

    C．To criticize the European Union for inefficiency．

    D．To show that the problem cannot be solved．

73．According to the writer，the use of English in contacts among EU officials has _________.

    A．angered the officials who don’t speak English

    B．increased the number of official languages

    C．reduced the effect of the problem

    D．been supported by powerful member countries

74．The writer mentions “Danish into Greek” as an example of ________.

    A．a situation that might be difficult to deal with

    B．a situation that occurs at times

    C．one of the 12 situations that requires an interpreter

    D．languages easily being interpreted

75．The writer suggests that if the number of official languages were reduced, ________

    A．the EU would not know which official languages to choose

    B．countries whose languages were not used officially would be unhappy

    C．only easy languages would be used officially   

D．the smaller member countries would be pleased

The English language started in Britain in the 5th century . It is a mixed（混合的） language. It was built up when German , and French invaders (侵略者) settled in England and created a common language for communication .

Today, it is the official language of the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Ireland . Many other countries and regions use it for politics and business, for example, India, Pakistan, Nigeria and the Philippines. English is also one of the official languages of Hong Kong .

But global advertising and pop music mean that in most countries you will see or hear some English . Thanks to McDonalds, we all know about “ burgers ”, “ fries ” and “ milkshakes ” . Songs by Madonna , Britney Spears and Celine Dion are in English. We can sing along, even if we do not understand what we are singing !

English is a messy language. Every year, dictionaries include new words that talk about popular culture. For example, computer-related words such as “ blogging ”, “ download ” and “ chatroom ”. Also included are words that teenagers use . Who does not know “ cool ”, “ OK ” and  “ hello ” ?

Other languages also influence English. Many English words come from French. Words like “ cafe ” and expressions like “ C’est la vie ” (that is life) are all part of the English language. German words are also part of English . Words like “ kindergarten ” come from the German language . Recently , British people have become interested in “ yoga ” (瑜伽). But the word comes from an ancient Hindu language in India .

All in all , the English language is full of twists and turns and it is changing all the time . Make sure you keep up with it !

71. The author uses the words “ blogging ” and “ download ” in order to show       .

A. Web is very important               B. he knows a lot

C. he likes surfing the Internet           D. popular culture has an influence on English

72. English borrows words from other languages . Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the text ?

A. French .           B. German .           C. Chinese .          D. Hindu .

73. Which of the following pushes the changes of English according to the passage ?

A. Personal interests .                    B. Global advertising .

C. International travelling .                D. Developments of Britain .

74. Which of the following is NOT true ?

A. English has a history of about 150 years .

B. English is one of the official languages of Hong Kong .

C. English has always been changing .

D. English has borrowed words from other languages .

75. What is the main idea of the passage ?

A. Changing English .                   B. The importance of English .

C. The future of English .                D. The birth of English .

There are a number of languages spoken throughout the world. Every person knows at least one language, which he learns in his childhood and is routinely used for speaking and writing. However, many people are fond of learning two or more languages, so they try to be bilingual, which means that they try to have the knowledge of two or more languages. And being bilingual can bring a person a number of benefits in various aspects. For example:

A person can get cognitive(认知的) benefits from it. The bilingual people have two or more words for each idea and object. Therefore, a bilingual person can develop a creative thinking. The bilinguals are aware of which language should be spoken with which person in a particular situation. So they are more sensitive(敏感的) to the needs of the listener than the people who only use one language: Being bilingual also improves and enriches a person's mental development.

Being bilingual has a positive effect on a person's character. The bilinguals are able to switch between different languages and talk to different people in various languages. It increases a sense of self-esteem( 自尊). Being bilingual creates a powerful link in different people from different countries.

A bilingual education offers better curriculum(课程) results. The bilinguals tend to show a higher performance in examinations and tests. The bilinguals find it quite easy to learn and speak three, four or more languages.

Being bilingual offers potential employment benefits. It offers a wider choice of jobs in various fields. The bilinguals can get a great many career opportunities in transport, tourism, public relations, marketing and sales, banking, translation, law, teaching and so on.

So it can be concluded from the above that we should try our best to learn and master two or more languages.

Title: 71.__________ of being bilingual

English is fast becoming the language of science around the world, but what is its future among everyday speakers? One expert points out that the percentage of native English speakers is declining globally while the languages of other rapidly growing regions are being spoken by increasing numbers of people. But English will continue to remain widespread and important.

　　 However, British language scholar David Graddol says English will probably drop in dominance(主导) by the middle of this century to rank, after Chinese, about equally with Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu. “The number of people speaking English as a first language continues to rise, but it isn’t rising nearly as fast as the numbers of many other languages around the world, simply because the main population group has been largely in the less developed countries where languages other than English have been spoken,” he says.

　　 In a recent article in the journal Science, Mr. Graddol noted that three languages that are not near the top of the list of the most widely spoken now might be there soon. These are Bengali, Tamil, and Malay, spoken in south and Southeast Asia.

　　 David Crystal, the author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, says about 1.5 billion of the world’s six billion people speak it as a second tongue compared to the 400 million native speakers. But another expert on the English language says Mr. Graddol underestimates (低估) the future of its dominance. “Nobody quite knows what’s going to happen because no language has been in this position before. But all the evidence suggests that the English language snowball is rolling down a hill and is getting faster,” he said.

71. In David Graddol’s opinion, English will _______.

　　 A. remain widespread and important　

B. be more important than any other language

　　 C. lose its dominant position　　　　　　

D. die away in the near future

72. The underlined sentence in the last paragraph implies that ______.

　　 A. snowballs will roll down faster than language balls

　　 B. the English language snowball is rolling down faster than any time in the past

　　 C. English language will soon drop in dominance

　　 D. more and more language users will choose English

73. How many experts does the passage mention who express their ideas about the future of English?

　　 A. 2.　　 　 　　 　B. 3.　 　　　　 C. 4.　　 　　　　 D. 5.

74. According to David Graddol, which of the following will possibly be one of the languages that will be most widely spoken?

　　 A. Malay. 　　 B. Arabic. 　　 C. Urdu.　　 　　 D. German.

75. What should be the best title for the passage?

　　 A. English Remaining the Dominant Position

　　 B. The Future of English? Who Knows?

　　 C. Opinions from Different Experts

　　 D. The English Language Snowball Rolling Down

Children who speak English as their first language are now a minority in inner-city London primary schools，official figures show.
Youngsters with foreign mother tongues form a majority at primary schools in 13 out of33 London cities. Across the country，English is a foreign language to more than one in seven primary school youngsters.
The figures from the Department for Children，Schools and Families (DCSF) point to major demographic (人口的) changes over the past few decades，with around a fifth of pupils now coming from ethnic minorities.
There are concerns that school finances are coming under stress from the growing numbers of youngsters requiring help with English. The government has been urged to provide more funding，and give fair treatment to schools with large concentrations of non-English speakers.
In Tower Hamlets almost four out of five youngsters do not have English as their mother tongue. In other areas，including Leicester，Luton and Bradford the proportion approaches 50 percent.
The figures indicate that many recent migrants have settled in London. Sir Andrew Green，Founder and Chairman of Migration Watch UK，says，“These figures confirm the huge impact immigration is having on our society. When government funds are as tight as they are，this is bound to have a negative impact，since children for whom English is a second language need extra tuition (学费).”He adds，“In inner London it's hard to know with whom immigrant chil­dren are supposed to practice English，since the number of immigrant children is much larger than that of local. ”
A spokesman for DCSF stresses that the figures “only indicate the language to which a child was initially exposed at home，regardless of whether he or she comes to speak English fluently later on. It is only a relatively few recent arrivals for whom communication problems are serious”.“We are increasing funding to the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (助学金)to £206 million by 2010，to help bring students weak in English up to speed. We’re also equipping schools to offer effective English as an Additional Language teaching to new arrivals，”he adds
72.A minority of London primary school students speak English as their first language because
      .
A. local children prefer to speak other languages
B. more and more immigrant children are attending school in London
C. children learning English as an additional language need extra tuition
D. English is too difficult a language for primary school children to learn
73.Some people worry about      .
A. the increasing number of adults needing help with English
B. the government taking no measures to help the schools
C. non-English speakers putting school finances under stress
D. London schools not providing adequate service for children in need
74.It can be inferred from the passage that         .
A. most immigrant children make a great effort to learn English
B. the government used to treat non-English speakers unfairly
C. it's not easy to find English speakers for immigrant children in some parts of London to communicate with
D. local children are influenced by immigrant children
75.According to the spokesman for DCSF，the figures indi­cate       .
A. that children will speak English fluently later on
B. that immigration is having a huge impact on English society
C. what the language the children were exposed to first was
D. that funding is increasing to help students weak in English