Question

    As an English person, I can speak three languages — English, German and French, so do you think the British people are very good language learners? The fact is that they aren’t.

Some statistics (数据) from the survey done by the European Commission (欧盟委员会) showed that 62% of the British people only speak English. 38% speak at least one foreign language and 18% speak two or more. Compared with the British people, 56% of the people in other European countries speak at least one foreign language and 28% speak two or more. From this you can see that the British people are famous for not speaking foreign languages and that they are not good language learners in Europe.

And the survey also showed that English is the most widely-spoken foreign language. Many European people can have a conversation in English. That’s why many people don’t think it is necessary to learn a foreign language.

In Britain, students aren’t required to learn a foreign language. That means learning a foreign language is only a choice at school. In British schools it’s common for children to start learning a foreign language at 11 and many of them give it up at 14. So why don’t students continue learning foreign languages at school? Because they think it’s more difficult to get good marks in languages than in other subjects such as science or history.

To solve this situation, the British government is looking for different ways to improve language learning at school. One way is to start learning it at a much younger age. Another one is to give school children more choices.

1.What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?

A.The people in England are good at learning languages.

B.Most of British people only speak English.

C.British people are known for speaking foreign languages.

D.Most of British people want to learn more than one language.

2.How many ways will the British government use to improve language learning?

A.One. B.Two. C.Three. D.Four.

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A.People in other European countries speak English as much as British people.

B.One British student can’t give up learning a foreign language until 14.

C.Students in Britain prefer to learn science or history rather than learn a foreign language.

D.It’s unusual for British students not to learn a foreign language.

4.What does the passage mainly want to tell us?

A.Young English learners. B.Schools in the UK.

C.Speaking English. D.Foreign language learning in the UK.

Answer

1.B

2.B

3.C

4.D

【解析】

这是一篇日常生活类阅读，主要介绍英国人在语言方面学习的情况，我们都知道英语是使用最广泛的外语，因此英国人对于学外语没有什么热度和兴趣，而且比其它学科要难，为了解决这种情况，英国政府正在寻找不同的方法来改善学校的语言学习。改变英国人学习外语的态度可能是一项艰巨的任务，但政府决定试一试！

1.细节理解题。句意：我们从前两段可以知道什么？A.英格兰人擅长学习语言。B.大多数英国人只会说英语。C.英国人以说外语而闻名。D.大多数英国人想要学习多种语言。原文Some statistics (数据) from the survey done by the European Commission (欧盟委员会) showed that 62% of the British people only speak English（欧盟委员会进行的一项调查显示，有62％的英国人只会说英语）说明选项B正确，其他选项无依据，故选B。

2.细节理解题。句意：英国政府将用多少种方法来改善语言学习？A.一。B.二。C.三。D.四。原文To solve this situation, the British government is looking for different ways to improve language learning at school. One way is to start learning it at a much younger age. Another one is to give school children more choices.（为解决这一问题，英国政府正在寻找不同的方法来改善学校的语言学习。 一种方法是在更年少的时候开始学习。另一种是为学生提供更多选择。）说明将采用两种方法，故选B。

3.细节理解题。句意：根据这篇文章，以下哪一项是正确的？A.其他欧洲国家的人和英国人一样讲英语。B.一名英国学生直到14岁才放弃学习外语。C.英国学生更喜欢学习科学或历史，而不是学习外语。D.英国学生不学习外语是不寻常的。原文Because they think it’s more difficult to get good marks in languages than in other subjects such as science or history.（因为他们认为在语言中获得好成绩比在科学或历史等其他科目中更难。）说明英国学生更喜欢学习科学或历史，而不是学习外语，其他选项无依据，故选C。

4.主旨大意题。句意：这篇文章主要想告诉我们什么？A.年轻的英语学习者。B.英国的学校。C.说英语。D.英国的外语学习。这篇文章主要介绍英国人在语言方面学习的情况，我们都知道英语是使用最广泛的外语，因此英国人对于学外语没有什么热度和兴趣，而且比其它学科要难，为了解决这种情况，英国政府正在寻找不同的方法来改善学校的语言学习，说明文章主要想告诉我们英国的外语学习情况，故选D。