单选题 English is what matters. It has displaced rivals to become the language of diplomacy, of business, of science, of the Internet and of world culture. Many more people speak Chinese—but even they, in vast numbers, are trying to learn English. So how did it happen, and why?
Take the beginnings of bilingualism(两种语言 ) in India, for example, which has promoted the growth of the biggest English-speaking middle class in the new Anglosphere. That stems from a proposal by an English historian, Thomas Macaulay, in 1835, to train a new class of English speakers: 'A class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinion, in morals, and in intellect.' At a stroke, notes Mr. McCrum, English became the 'Ianguage of government, education and advancement, at once a symbol of imperial rule as well as of self-improvement'. India's English-speaking middle class is now one of the engines of that country's development and a big asset in the race to catch up with China.
Bit by bit, English displaced French from diplomacy and German from science. The reason for this was America's rise and the lasting bonds created by the British Empire. But the elastic(灵活的), forgiving nature of the language itself was another. English allows plenty of sub-variants, from Singlish in Singapore to Estglish in Estonia: the main words are familiar, but plenty of new ones dot the lexicon, along with distinctive grammar and syntax.
English as spoken by non-natives, however, is different. Listen to a South Korean businessman negotiating with a Pole in English and you will hear the difference: the language is curt, emphatic, stripped-down. Yet within spoken 'Globish', as Mr. McCrum neatly names it, hierarchies(等级) are developing. Those who can make jokes in Globish have an advantage over those who can't.
The big shift is towards a universally useful written Globish. Spellchecking and translation software mean that anyone can communicate in comprehensible written English. The English of e-mail, Twitter(一个社交网络和微博服务网站) and text messaging is becoming far more mutually comprehensible than spoken English, which is undermined by differences in pronunciation, politeness and emphasis. Mr. McCrum aptly names the new language 'an avenue for all thoughts'.

单选题 According to the first paragraph, what does 'English is what matters' suggest? ______

A、 English is spoken by most of the people in the world.
B、 More and more Chinese begin to learn English.
C、 English has become the universal language in many fields.
D、 English has won the triumph over other languages.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】根据题干中的the first paragraph将答案定位到文章第一段。本题问的是文章第一句话说明了什么。文章第一句话表明观点，即英语很重要，接下来第二句话对这一观点进行了具体论述，即英语已经取代了竞争对手，成为外交、商务、科学、互联网及世界文化的语言，C项所说的“英语已在很多领域成为世界语言”与这一意思一致，故为正确答案。文中明确提到世界上说汉语的人口更多，所以A项“世界上说英语的人占大多数”明显不正确。文中虽然提到越来越多的中国人正努力学英语，但这并不是“英语很重要”的原因，故排除B。D项错在没有说出英语很重要的原因，属于隔靴搔痒。 [参考译文] 英语很重要。它已经取代了竞争对手，成为外交、商务、科学、互联网及世界文化的语言。说汉语的人更多，但就连这么多说汉语的人也在努力学习英语，那么，这种情况是怎么发生的?原因又是什么呢? 举个例子：印度人开始讲两种语言，促进了新英语文化圈中人数最多的说英语的中产阶级的增长。这源于英国历史学家托马斯·麦考利于1835年提出的培养一个说英语的新阶级的建议：“一个有着印度人的血统与肤色，但同时又有着英国人的品位、见解、道德观念及才智的阶级。”麦克拉姆先生指出，英语一下子成了“政府、教育和发展的语言，同时也成了自我完善以及帝国统治的象征”。说英语的中产阶级现在是印度发展的动力之一，同时在赶超中国的竞赛中也是中流砥柱。渐渐地，英语取代了法语在外交界及德语在科学界的地位。其原因是美国的崛起以及大英帝国所建立的持久联系。但该语言本身灵活、包容的性质是另一个原因。英语允许从新加坡英语到爱沙尼亚英语等许多变体的存在，在这些变体中，主要的词汇是相似的，但又有许多新词遍布其中，语法和句法也各具特色。但是，母语非英语的人说的英语则是不同的。听一个韩国商人与一个波兰人用英语谈判时，你就会发现差异：他们的语言简短突兀、语气强硬，而且不加任何修饰。然而，在“全球英语”(这一巧妙的说法由麦克拉姆先生命名)的口语中，正在渐渐形成等级。能用“全球英语”开玩笑的人优于那些不能的人。目前大的变化趋势是形成一个全球适用的书面“全球英语”。拼写检查和翻译软件意味着任何人都能通过可以理解的书面英语进行交流。口头英语由于发音、礼貌性用法和强调语气的差异而支离破碎，与之相比，电子邮件、Twitter和短信英语则变得更易于相互理解。麦克拉姆先生将这种新语言恰当地称为“表达所有想法的途径”。

单选题 What does Paragraph 2 say about India's middle class? ______

A、 English should become the only language for India's middle class.
B、 India's middle class learned the English way of living and thinking.
C、 Although India's middle class learnt English, they were still Indians.
D、 India's middle class dominated the political world of this country.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】根据题干中的Paragraph Two及India's middle class可将答案定位到文章第二段。本题问的是，由第二段可知下列关于印度中产阶级的说法中哪一项是正确的。考生需要先理解文章第二段是如何描述印度的中产阶级的，再判断选项的正误。第二段第二句话提到了印度中产阶级的来历：历史学家托马斯·麦考利建议培养一个说英语的新阶级，“一个有着印度人的血统与肤色，但同时又有着英国人的品位、见解、道德观念及才智的阶级。”由此可见，印度的中产阶级不但学习了英语，也学会了英国人的生活方式和思维方式，故B项正确。文中虽然提到印度的中产阶级要学英语，但并没有说他们应该只说英语，故A项错误。C项“虽然印度的中产阶级学了英语，但他们仍是印度人”从常识来说是正确的，但这并不是文章第二段表述的内容，故排除。D项文中未提及，也可排除。

单选题 Why did English displace French in diplomatic field and German in scientific field? ______

A、 English-speaking countries held greater power in the world.
B、 English was a changeable language.
C、 America and the British Empire held a strong bond.
D、 English's tolerant towards its sub-variants.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】根据题干中的French in diplomatic field和German in scientific feld将答案定位到文章第三段。本题问的是为什么英语在外交领域取代了法语，在科学领域取代了德语。这是一道因果题，解答这类问题，考生要找到定位点前后的because，so, therefore, as a result, reason等词，这些词前后的句子往往是答案所在。文中the reason for this was…之后给出了其中的一个原因：美国的崛起以及大英帝国所建立的持久联系，接着这句之后的But the elastic, forgiving nature of the language itself was another又给出了另一个原因，即英语既灵活又有包容性。包容性具体指代的内容，在下文中给出了解释：英语允许许多变体的存在。结合选项可知，只有D项正确。D项中的tolerant与原文中的forgiving是同义替换。A项错在文中并没有提到“说英语的国家在世界上更强大”。B项说“英语是一种多变的语言”，这个信息文中也未提及，故排除。考生很容易错选C，将其当成文章所给的第一个原因，但文中说的并不是“美国和大英帝国联系紧密”，故该选项也不正确。

单选题 What's the spoken Globish according to the passage? ______

A、 It is the English spoken by people from different countries.
B、 It is a new-invented language spoken all over the world.
C、 It is a universal language different from English.
D、 It is the English developing into hierarchies.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】根据题干中的spoken Globish将答案定位到文章第四段。本题问的是根据文章内容，spoken Globish指什么。文章第四段第三句提到了spoken Globish，考生如果注意到Globish一词是由global和English两个词合成的，很容易就会猜到这个词指“全球英语”，进而选出答案A。而且，由于第三句提到的spoken Globish是由前一句中韩国人和波兰人说的英语总结而来的，所以即使没有看出Globish一词的构成，也可以得出答案。B项和C项明显与原文不符。D项中的developing和hierarchies两个词在第四段倒数第二句中都出现了，但是将Globish定义为“形成等级的英语”显然是不正确的，故排除。

单选题 What's the written Globish's advantage over the spoken one? ______

A、 The written one is more convenient.
B、 The written one belongs to the higher class.
C、 The written one is more fractured.
D、 The written one is better for mutual understanding.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】根据题干中的the written Globish将答案定位到文章最后一段。本题问的是与“全球英语”口语相比，书面“全球英语”有什么优势。文章最后一段倒数第二句指出，英语口语由于发音、礼貌性用法和强调语气的差异而支离破碎，与之相比，电子邮件、Twitter和短信英语则变得更易于相互理解。由此可知，书面英语的优势就在于人们可以更好地相互理解，故D项正确。A、C两项文中均未提及，故排除。B项中的more fractured是口语的特点，不是书面语的，也可排除。