Part II Reading Comprehension Passage I Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:
The rise of English is a remarkable success story. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English did not exist. Five hundred years later, English, incomprehensible to modern ears, was probably spoken by about as few people as currently speak Cherokee (an American Indian language) -- and with about as little influence. Nearly a thousand years later, at the end of sixteenth century, when William Shakespeare was in his prime, English was the native speech of between five and seven million English people and it was, in the words of a contemporary, "of small reach, it stretched no further than this island of ours, never not there over all."
Four hundred years later, the contrast is extraordinary. Between 1600 and the present, in armies, navies, companies, and expeditions, the speakers of English -- including Scots, Irish, Welsh, American, and many more -- traveled into every corner of the globe, carrying their language and culture with them. Today English is used by at least 750 million people, and barely half of as a mother tongue. Some estimates have put that figure closer to one billion. Whatever the total, English at the end of the twentieth century is more widely scattered, more widely spoken and written, than any other language has ever been. It has become the language of the planet, the first truly global language.
The statistics of English astonishing. Of all the world's languages, it is arguably the richest in vocabulary. The compendious (简明) Oxford English Dictionary lists about 500,000 words; and a further half million technical and scientific terms remain uncatalogued. About 350 million people use the English vocabulary as a mother tongue: about one-tenth of the world's population, scattered across every continent and surpassed, in numbers, though not in distribution, only by the speakers of the many varieties of Chinese. Three-quarters of world's mail, and its telexes and cables, are in English. So are more than half the world's technical and scientific periodicals: it is the language of technology from to Shanghai.
21. According to the first paragraph, about 1500 years ago English was ______. A. similar to Cherokee spoken by Indian today B. entirely different from the English today C. beginning to exert influence over the world D. spoken only by five to seven million English people
22. The word "contemporary" (Para. 1) most likely means ______. A. a popular saying B. a person who studies modern English C. a scholar who studies Shakespeare D. a person in Shakespeare's time
23. By saying "the contrast is extraordinary", the author really refers to the fact that ______. A. English is used everywhere in the globe. B. native speakers of English have reached the number of at least 750 million C. there might be one billion native speakers of English D. many other nations have accepted the English language as their mother tongue.
24. Statistics show that English has a vocabulary of about ______. A. 500,000 words B. 685,000 words C. 785,000 words D. 1,000,000 words
25. The passage shows that the author takes pride in all the following EXCEPT ______. A. English has the largest number of native speakers in the world B. English is the most widely distributed language in the world C. English is probably the richest in vocabulary D. English is the most widely spoken and written language in the world
as a mother tongue. Some estimates have put that figure closer to one billion. Whatever the total, English at the end of the twentieth century is more widely scattered, more widely spoken and written, than any other language has ever been. It has become the language of the planet, the first truly global language.
to Shanghai.
