It is widely accepted that English is the global language of modern times. About three decades ago,French was recognized as the language of diplomacy（外交）,and German was considered the language of science and technology.English now dominates（主导）not only as

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English and English Community
1. There is no denying that English is a useful language.The people who speak English today make up the largest speech community in the world with the exception of speakers of Chinese. Originally they were small tribes of people from northern Europe who settled in England.Their languages became more and more similar to each other. Finally,the language had enough uni-formity to be used by all speakers in England.The people were united into a speech community through their shared language.
2. A speech community is similar to other kinds of communities.The people who make up the community share a common language .Often they live side by side,as they do in a neighborhood, a village,or a city.More often they form a whole country.National boundaries,however,are not always the same as the boundaries of a speech community.A speech community is any group of people who speak the same language no matter where they happen to live.
3. We may say that anyone who speaks English belongs to the English speech community.For convenience,we may classify the speakers into two groups:one in which the speakers use English as their native language,the other in which the speakers learn English as a second language for the purpose of education,commerce,and so on.
4. English serves as an alternative language in several areas of public activity for many nations of the world which employ it as an international second language .English has been adopted as the language of air traffic,commerce,as well as international diplomacy .Moreover,English is the language of the majority of published materials in the world so that education has come to rely heavily on an understanding of English.
5. Learning a second language extends one's vision and expands the mind.The history and litera- ture of a second language record the real and fictional lives of people and their culture;a knowl- edge of them adds to our ability to understand and to feel as they feel .Learning English as a sec- ond language provides another means of communication through which the window of the entire English speech community becomes a part of our heritage.

The idea of the national boundaries is often different from_____.
A:.that of a speech community
B: can a speech community be formed
C: in order to learn English better
D: for the sake of simplicity
E: has played an important role in the field of education
F: is widely used in several areas of public activity

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Washoe Learned American Sign Language

1.An animal that influenced scientific thought has died.A chimpanzee named Washoe and born in Africa died of natural causes late last month at the age of 42 at a research center in the American state of Washington.Washoe had become known in the scientific community arid around the world for her ability to use American sign language.She was said to be the first non-human to learn a human language.Her skills also led to debate about primates and their ability to understand language.
2.Research scientists Allen and Beatrix Gardner began teaching Washoe sign language in 1966.In 1969,the Gardners described Washoe's progress in a scientific report.The people who experimented with Washoe said she grew to understand about 250 words.For example,Washoe made signs to communicate when it was time to eat. She could request foods like apples and bananas.She also asked questions like,"Who is coming to play?"Once the news about Washoe spread,many language scientists began studies of their own into this new and exciting area of research.The whole direction of primate research changed.
3. However,critics argued Washoe only learned to repeat sign language movements from watching her teachers.They said she had never developed true language skills.Even now there are some researchers who suggest that primates learn sign language only by memory,and perform the signs only for prizes.Yet Washoe's keepers disagree.Roger Fouts is a former student of the Gardners.He took Washoe to a research center in Ellensburg,Washington.There,Washoe taught sign language to three younger chimpanzees,which are still alive.
4.Scientists like private researcher Jane Goodall believe Washoe provided new information about the mental workings of chimpanzees.Today,there are not as many scientists studying language skills with chimps.Part of the reason is that this kind of research takes a very long time.
5.Debate continues about chimps' understanding of human communication.Yet,one thing is sure一Washoe changed popular ideas about the possibilities of animal intelligence.

Paragraph 2________
A:Reason Why Not Many Scientists Carry out This Research Nowadays.
B:Report about Washoe's Progress in Learning Sign Language.
C:General Information about Washoe.
D:The Gardeners' Contributions Recognized.
E:Debate on Chimps' Intelligence.
F: Washoe's Love for Three Young Chimps.

The last time she was recruiting for her export-sales team,Sarah Grain hired a Lithuanian who speaks Russian,Polish and German.Her two previous hires for Eriez Magnetics,which makes in-dustrial equipment in South Wales,were an Italian who also speaks French,and a Venezuelan who speaks Spanish and Portuguese.All of them speak fluent English."There were no British applicants who had the requisite language skills,"she says.Ms Grain's conclusion is not unusual for a British company.In 2012 a European Commission survey tested the foreign-language proficiency of 54,000 students aged 14 and 15,in 14 nations.Sweden came top,with 82qo of pupils reaching an"independent"or"advanced independent"standard.The average for all 14 states was 42%.England came bottom,with just 9%.Part of the explanation is that many people's second language is English,while many Britons continue to believe that,as native speakers,they do not need to bother with foreign languages.They may be right-in tenns of commurucation.But it means that,not only are they missing out on much cultural interaction,they may also be harming their own job prospects.they have not been helped by the educational policies of successive govemments.In 2004 Tony Blair's hbour govemment abolished the requirement to learn a language after the age of 14,causing the numbers taking a language CCSE exam at 16 to fall by half in state schools over the next seven years.Concerned about this rapid decline,the coalition govemment brought in a new performance indicator called the English Baccalaureate,or EBacc,in 2011.A modern language was one of its five core disciplines.Language teachers-an embattled breed-rejoiced.The number of students ente-ring a GCSE language exam in 2013,the first year the changes took effect,rose by 20%.Now,however,those gains could be lost,as the govemment has seemingly loosened the re-quirement.From 2016,under a new initiative called Progress 8,it has extended the number of core subjects to eight,appearing to make learning a language voluntary.This has pleased some teachers,who felt the EBacc was too narrow,but linguists are shocking.The decline of languages at GCSE has inevitably had an effect higher up the academic food chain.Though the number of those studying languages to A Level will increase thanks to the GCSE cohort of 2013-2014,it is likely to fall back again.French and German are half as popular as they were 20 years ago.The number of universities offering language degrees has fallen,too:by 50%for Cerman and 40%for French since 1998.The number offering Spanish has also fallen.Degrees in other languages,such as Chinese and Arabic,are becoming more popular,but they are still rare.The economy and the labour market bear the consequences.In 2012 the British Chambers of Commerce found,in a survey of 8,000 BriLish companies,that 96%had no foreign-language speakers.First-lime exporters cited language as a barrier to entering intemational markets.Though Britain makes up 12%of the population of the EU,less than 5qo of EU civil servants in Brussels are British.Not enough Bricons can fulfil the language requirement of being able to work in French or Cerman.And even if monoglot Brits can get jobs at multinationals,claims Richard Hardie,non-executive chairman of the British arm of UBS,a bank,"the chances of getting to the top if you only have English are much lower than before".

Tony Blair held that

A.most British candidates lacked language skills
B.native speakers didn't need to learn foreign languages
C.mastering only one language would be less competitive
D.English had lost its predominance as a foreign language
E.a majority of British firms had no foreign-language speakers.
F.the requirement for students to learn foreign language was unnecessary.
G.students'foreign-language proficiency differed greatly among countries.

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English and English Community
1. There is no denying that English is a useful language.The people who speak English today make up the largest speech community in the world with the exception of speakers of Chinese. Originally they were small tribes of people from northern Europe who settled in England.Their languages became more and more similar to each other. Finally,the language had enough uni-formity to be used by all speakers in England.The people were united into a speech community through their shared language.
2. A speech community is similar to other kinds of communities.The people who make up the community share a common language .Often they live side by side,as they do in a neighborhood, a village,or a city.More often they form a whole country.National boundaries,however,are not always the same as the boundaries of a speech community.A speech community is any group of people who speak the same language no matter where they happen to live.
3. We may say that anyone who speaks English belongs to the English speech community.For convenience,we may classify the speakers into two groups:one in which the speakers use English as their native language,the other in which the speakers learn English as a second language for the purpose of education,commerce,and so on.
4. English serves as an alternative language in several areas of public activity for many nations of the world which employ it as an international second language .English has been adopted as the language of air traffic,commerce,as well as international diplomacy .Moreover,English is the language of the majority of published materials in the world so that education has come to rely heavily on an understanding of English.
5. Learning a second language extends one's vision and expands the mind.The history and litera- ture of a second language record the real and fictional lives of people and their culture;a knowl- edge of them adds to our ability to understand and to feel as they feel .Learning English as a sec- ond language provides another means of communication through which the window of the entire English speech community becomes a part of our heritage.

Only through the shared language______.
A:.that of a speech community
B: can a speech community be formed
C: in order to learn English better
D: for the sake of simplicity
E: has played an important role in the field of education
F: is widely used in several areas of public activity