How many languages are there in the world? There are about fifteen hundred. English is one of them. It is used not only in England and America, but also in some other parts of the world.

　　What is the best way to learn a language well? We could learn our language well when we were children. If we could learn a second language in the same way, we would not feel so difficult. Let's think of what a small child does:he listens to what people say, and he tries to copy what he hears. When he wants something,he has to ask for it. He is using the language, talking in it and thinking in it all the time. If a second language is used all the time, it will soon be learned.

　　It is also important to remember that we learn our own language by hearing people speak it, not by seeing what they write. We copy what we hear. In school, you learn to read and write as well as to hear and speak, but it is best to learn all the new words through the ears then say them and you can read them, spell them and write them later.

　　You should remember that listening and speaking come first and then reading and writing follow.

(1) There are about ________ languages in the world.

[　　]

A．15

B．150

C．1 500

D．15 100

(2) We can find people speaking English in ________.

[　　]

A．England	B．America
C．many other countries	D．A,B and C

(3) We all learned our own language well ________.

[　　]

A．after we go to school	B．at school
C．from our parents	D．when we were children

(4) Children learn a language by ________.

[　　]

A．thinking it	B．trying to copy what they hear
C．asking for something	D．listening, speaking and using it

(5) We'll feel the language easier to learn if ________ all the time.

[　　]

A．we use it	B．we think in it
C．we talk in it	D．we write in it

In many places of the world, there are four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. In the US, there are only   31  : football, basketball and baseball. Almost in every season, Americans have a ball game. If you want to know what season it is, just look at   32     people are playing.

For Americans, sports are very important. Students   33   to play many sports at school. They take  34   classes, join the school teams, and even talk about sports news. Thousands of sports fans   35   expensive tickets to watch their   36   teams and players play games. Some fans sit in front of the TV set, and watch the exciting games at home. Some sports stars   37   make lots of money through the games.

    We can say sports are one of the   38   languages (語(yǔ)言). You may know some   39   super stars like Michael Jordan and Yao Ming. Next time if you want to talk with American friends, try to talk about   40   . It really helps.

31. A. one           B. two         C. three       D. four

32. A. what         B. where    C. when      D. how

33. A. dream       B. want       C. learn       D. choose

34. A. English    B. Maths    C. Music    D.PE

35. A. pay           B. get          C. take        D. keep

36. A. special      B. popular     C. favourite    D. important

37. A. must         B. can         C. need       D. should

38. A. school      B. team       C. Internet    D. world

39. A. basketball    B. football     C. volleyball   D. baseball

40. A. fans          B. sports    C.TV news  D. stars

There are more than 3000 languages in the world today, but only about ten are major languages of the world. Among them English is the most popular.
More than 350 million people speak English as their first language. Major English-speaking countries are Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. Another 400 million speak it as a second language. No one knows how many people speak English as a foreign language. They usually learn English as a school subject instead of learning it from their parents. Chinese is the only language with more speakers than English. This is because of the large population of China.
English is the language for a better understanding between peoples of the world. It is also the language for business and science. Nearly half of the business deals in Europe are done in English, and more than half of the science magazines are in English. English is widely used in the world’s computer network. And children should begin with English when they learn how to use computers. Through the English language peoples of different countries are able to work together and make things even better.
【小題1】English is the most popular language in the world because __________.

A．it has the largest number of speakers	B．it is widely used
C．it is an international language	D．it is a language for world use

【小題2】The world’s computer network takes English as ________.

A．its only language

B．one of the main languages

C．a(chǎn) school subject

D．a(chǎn) foreign language

【小題3】If you wnt to learn how to use computers, you should _________.

A．speak English well first	B．work together with foreigners
C．learn English first	D．make things better

【小題4】If you know English, you’ll be able to _________.

A．do everything better than before

B．understand what people from different countries say

C．read nearly all the science magazines in the world

D．read many science magazines in the world

【小題5】The main difference between first language and second language is _________.
A.first language is important             B.first language is learned from parents
C.second language is learned at school     D.Both C and D.