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.

Answer

1.B

2.B

3.C

【解析】

文章大意：短文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。

1.细节理解题。根据文中第二段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些调查显示，62%的英国人只会说英语可知，大部分的英国人只会说英语，故答案为B。

2.细节理解题。根据文中最后一段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.可知，英国政府找到了两种办法来提高语言学习，故答案B。

3.细节理解题。根据文中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.通过数字可知，其他欧洲国家人跟英国人说英语不一样多，故A错误；根据文中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.可知，他们中许多人14岁放弃，而不是任何的英国学生直到14岁才放弃学外语，B错误；根据文中Because they think it's more difficult to get good marks in languages than in other subjects such as science or history.可知，英国学生比起学外语，他们更喜欢学科学和历史，故C正确；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.可知，对于英国学生来说不学外语是很通常的，故D错误，故答案为C。