第二部分 阅读理解(共两节，满分30分)

第一节（共10小题，每题2分，满分20分）

    阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

                              A

Although the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have English as an official language, the United States does not have an official language. This is why it’s possible to become a US citizen without speaking English. Canada also has French as an official language, though it is mostly spoken in the province of Quebec. Because many of the English speakers who originally lived in Canada came from the US, there is little difference in American and Canadian English. Similarly, Australian English and New Zealand English have few differences, except Australia was originally settled as a penal colony (罪犯流放地) and New Zealand was not. New Zealanders were more attached to the Received Pronunciation of the upper class in England, so their dialect is considered closer to British English. 

British colonialism (殖民主义) has spread English all over the world, and it is still popular in South Africa, India, and Singapore, among other nations. In South Africa, English became an official language, along with Afrikaans and 9 African languages, in the 1996 constitution. However, only 3% of the country’s 30 million people are native English speakers. Twenty percent are descendants (后代) of Dutch farmers who speak Afrikaans, and the rest are native Africans. 

India became independent from Britain in 1947. However, today English and Hindi are the official languages. Indian English is characterized by treating mass nouns as count nouns, frequent use of the “isn’t it?” tag, use of more compounds, and a different use of prepositions. In Singapore, Chinese, Malay and Indian languages all influence the form of English spoken. Everyone is taught English in the school system, but there are a few differences from British English as well. Mass nouns are treated as count nouns, “use to” means usually, and no articles are used before occupations.

21. Why can people become a US citizen without speaking English?

A. They can learn English there. 

B. Different languages are spoken in the US. 

C. The US doesn’t have an official language. 

D. They can speak their own language there. 

22. What do we know about South Africa?

A. English is its only official language. 

B. It has 11 different official languages.  

C. English is becoming less important there. 

D. 20 percent of its population are native English speakers. 

23. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A. The Indians are good at English grammar. 

B. People in Singapore often misuse count nouns.

C. Singaporean English is similar to Indian English.

D. English is a required subject in Singaporean schools.

24. What is the text mainly about?

A. British colonialism.     B. The wide use of English.

C. English around the world.      D. The history of the English language.
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