Unit 2 English around the world
Ⅰ.阅读理解
(2016·江南十校联考)
The number of American students who learned a language other than English decreased by about 100,000 between 2009 and 2017. For many, taking a class in economics might seem more beneficial than a French course. But is it real?
The Chinese dialects combined already have more native speakers than any other language, followed by Hindi and Urdu. English comes next with 527 million native speakers. Arabic is spoken by nearly 100 million more native speakers than Spanish, which has 389 million speakers.
Which languages will dominate the future? Predictions vary, depending on your location and purpose.
You want to make money in growth markets? These will be your languages.
A recent U．K.focused report features languages spoken in the socalled BRIC countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China—that are usually known as the world's biggest emerging economies. Hindi, Bengali, Urdu and Indonesian will control much of the business world by 2050, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian. If you want to get the most money out of your language course, studying one of the languages listed above is probably a safe bet.
You want to speak to as many people as possible? How about Chinese, Spanish or French?
1．Chinese. Although Chinese has three times more native speakers than English, it's still not as evenly spread over the world. Moreover, Chinese is rarely used in sciences and difficult to read and write.
2. Spanish. Spanish makes up for a lack of native speakerscompared with China—by being particularly popular as a second language, taught in schools around the world.
3. French. French has lost grounds in some regions and especially in Europe in the last decades. French, however, could gain influence again if west Africa where it is frequently spoken were to become more politically stable and economically attractive.
文章大意：本文介绍12种语言在世界拥有的人数以及它们的主要地位和作用。
1．How many native speakers of Arabic are there?
A．100 million. B．389 million.
C．489 million. D．527 million.
答案：C 细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句话“Arabic is spoken by nearly 100 million more native speakers than Spanish, which has 389 million speakers.”可知，选C。
2．Those who want to make money in growth market might be
more interested in ________.
A．Spanish, Arabic and Chinese
B．Bengali, Urdu and Indonesian
C．Portuguese, German and French
D．Japanese, Italian and Chinese
答案：B 推理判断题。根据第四段第二句话可知，选B。
3．What do we know about Spanish from the passage?
A．It is learnt mostly by themselves.
B．It's popular as a second language.
C．It is widely spoken by native speakers.
D．It will be spoken most in the business world
答案：B 细节理解题。根据倒数第二段对Spanish的介绍可知，选B。
4．What's the author's attitude towards foreign language learning?
A．Favorable. B．Negative.
C．Doubtful. D．Neutral.
答案：A 作者态度题。通过作者对各种语言的地位和作用的描述可以看出作者持赞同的态度。
Ⅱ.完形填空
(2015·兰州实战考试)
Many students often say that they don't have “enough time” to do all their schoolwork.
My __1__ is often brief, “You have as much time as the president.” I usually carry on a bit about __2__ twentyfour hours in the day for everyone, and suggest that “not enough time” is not an __3__ explanation of __4__ something done.
__5__ in graduate school, I tried to prove to one of my professors __6__ saying that I was working hard. His answer to me was, “That's irrelevant (无关紧要的). __7__ is important is the __8__ of your work.” Since then I have had time to think carefully about the trick (诀窍) of “__9__”， and I have come to some __10__—all relevant to the problem of how much time we have.
If you analyze the matter, you can identify two parts of the problem: There is, __11__， the matter of “time”， which we can think of __12__. Then there is the problem of “work” during that time. But, as my professor suggested, it's not how hard one works __13__ the quality of the product that's important.
That led me to a new idea: the quality of the work. That __14__ is perhaps best explained by a sign I once saw on the wall in someone's office: “Don't work harder. __15__.” There is a lot of sense in that idea.
If you can't get more time, and few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of the work. That means thinking of ways to get more out of __16__ time than we might otherwise get. That should lead us to an analysis of our work habits. Since “work” for students usually means “homework”， the expression “work habits” should be read as “__17__ habits”．
Then, as a smart student, you will __18__ those skills that you use in study, __19__ reading and writing. If you learn to read better and write better, there are big benefits that __20__ in all your studies.
文章大意：本文是一篇议论文。每个人每天拥有的时间都是相同的，那么想把事情做好就要有一定的技巧。作者认为：不要苦干，而要巧干。
1．A.question B．idea
C．reply D．key
答案：C 根据上文的内容可知，此处是对上文很多同学说没有足够的时间做功课这一问题的答复(reply)。
2．A.there being B．there are
C．there be D．there to be
答案：A 介词后面应该用动名词，因此此处用there being的形式。
3．A.strange B．acceptable
C．surprising D．demanding
答案：B 每个人都是一天拥有24小时，因此“没有足够的时间”是一个不可接受的解释。strange“奇怪的”；acceptable“可接受的”；surprising“令人惊奇的”；demanding“苛求的，要求过高的”。
4．A.no getting B．not getting
C．no letting D．not letting
答案：B 此处介词后面应该用动名词，对动名词的否定其前应加not；此处是考查“get sth. done”的结构，因此选not getting。
5．A.Since then B．Just now
C．Ever D．Once
答案：D 此处叙述的是过去发生的事情，因此选Once“曾经”。since then“自从那之后”常与完成时的句子连用；just now“刚才”；ever“在任何时候”，常用于疑问句、否定句、比较结构或带if的句子中。
6．A.by B．in
C．on D．upon
答案：A by表示“通过，以”。
7．A.That B．What
C．Whether D．If
答案：B 重要的是你工作的质量。“__7__ is important”是一个主语从句，主语从句中缺少主语，因此此处用what引导从句。
8．A.quantity B．amount
C．number D．quality
答案：D 参见上题解析，此处应填quality“质量”。quantity“数量”；amount“数额，数量”；number“数字”。13空后的“quality”也是提示。
9．A.hard worker B．honest student
C．busy president D．future graduate
答案：A 根据上文教授的回答可知，此处是说“我”在思考勤奋工作的人的诀窍。hard worker“勤奋工作的人”，符合语境。
10．A.constructions B．contributions
C．conclusions D．concentrations
答案：C 根据破折号后的内容可知，“我”在思考后，得出了一些结论。construction“建造物”；contribution“贡献”；conclusion“结论”；concentration“集中，聚集”。
11．A.of course B．in fact
C．as a result D．as a whole
答案：A 根据上文提到的与时间相关可知，此处是说当然是时间的问题。of course“当然”；in fact“事实上”；as a result“结果”；as a whole“总的来说”。
12．A.if followed B．if fixed
C．as followed D．as fixed
答案：D 我们认为时间是固定的(as...fixed)。此处是think of...as...“认为……是……”。
13．A.so B．but
C．nor D．and
答案：B 正像教授建议的那样，一个人工作那么努力并不重要，重要的是产品的质量。此处考查的是短语“not...but...”的结构，意为“不是……而是……”。
14．A.concept B．sense
C．explanation D．solution
答案：A 根据上文的“我”的新想法可知，应选concept“观念，想法”。sense“意义”；explanation“解释”；solution“解决方法”。
15．A.Work smarter B．Work faster
C．Think twice D．Think aloud
答案：A 根据上文可知，“我”说的是不要苦干，而要巧干。Work smarter“更加聪明地工作”，符合语境。
16．A.a little B．the more
C．the less D．the same
答案：D 那就意味着想办法从同样多的时间里得到更多。
17．A.living B．study
C．thinking D．sleeping
答案：B 既然对于学生来说“工作”通常意味着“家庭作业”，那“工作习惯”就应该被理解为“学习习惯”。
18．A.seek improving B．seek to improve
C．find improving D．find to improve
答案：B 作为一个聪明的学生，你应该努力寻求方法来提高这些在学习上使用的技能。固定结构：seek to do sth.，符合语境。
19．A.chiefly B．briefly
C．actually D．occasionally
答案：A 根据常识可知，在学习上的技能主要是阅读和写作。chiefly“主要地”；briefly“简要地”；actually“事实上”；occasionally“偶尔”。
20．A.are paid B．is paid
C．pays off D．pay off
答案：D 如果你学会了更好地阅读和写作，那么会有极大的好处来回报你学习的各个方面。短语pay off“回报”，符合语境；再根据定语从句的引导词that指代的先行词benefits可知，应选D。
.语法填空
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。
(2015·洛阳统考)
How do learning habits influence learning results? It's useful and necessary to discuss learning habits. There is a famous
__1__(say)“Good habits lead to good endings”， which shows the importance of habits.
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” also __2__(show) a healthy everyday habit helps to build up our body. Thus, good learning habits can help us gain great learning results, high scores and abundant knowledge __3__(include). At first, learning habits form our ways of thinking and attitude __4__ the content of our learning.
__5__(obvious), a good habit can help us to speed up to reach our destinations. As we can see, developing a good habit is so important that I would like to introduce one kind of good learning habits—keeping __6__ learning diary every day. We can start the habit by
__7__(write)a learning summary and remember to record something impressive and meaningful. Keep it in mind, __8__
gradually we can gain this good learning habit and benefit from it.
What's __9__(much), I find out that I still have some bad learning habits __10__ well. I can only concentrate on reading for a short time, and I will conquer this problem by spending more efforts on concentration practice.
I believe that through my efforts, I can gain good learning results by having good habits.
1．______ 2.______ 3.______ 4.______ 5.______
6．______ 7.______ 8.______ 9.______ 10.______
文章大意：学习习惯会影响学习效果，本文就如何养成良好的学习习惯给我们提出了建议。
答案：
1．saying 考查名词。there is a famous saying表示“有一句名言”。
2．shows 考查动词的时态和主谓一致。此处陈述的是客观事实，应用一般现在时；句子的主语为：“An apple a day keeps the doctor away”，谓语动词用单数。
3．included 考查非谓语动词。high scores and abundant knowledge和include之间为动宾关系，故用过去分词作后置定语。
4．to/towards 考查介词。attitude to/towards表示“对……的态度”。
5．Obviously 考查副词。根据语境可知，此处应用副词作状语。
6．a 考查固定搭配。keep a diary“记日记”。
7．writing 考查动名词。by为介词，后接动名词作宾语。
8．and 考查固定句型。这是一个固定句型“祈使句＋and＋陈述句”。
9．more 考查固定词组。what's more表示“而且”。
10．as 考查固定搭配。as well表示“还”。
Ⅳ.短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加，删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号()，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用()划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
(2015·青岛市一模)
English has always been my most favorite subject, so I signed up for the school English speech competition with hesitation. Since I was confident that I would win a prize easy, I didn't
spend much time get myself fully prepared. However, as soon as I stepped on the stage, word
escaped me. As result, my performance couldn't be worse. The unexpected failure brought
myself endless regret and shame. Just then my English teacher came to me and says, “Pride
comes before a fall”. I was deeply touched by her words, that I would treasure forever. Indeed,
the contest was not only a shock to me and a harvest as well.
答案：
English has always been my most favorite subject, so I signed up for the school English speech competition
hesitation. Since I was confident that I would win a prize ， I didn't
spend much time
myself fully prepared. However, as soon as I stepped on the stage,
escaped me. As
result, my performance couldn't be worse. The unexpected failure brought
endless regret and shame. Just then my English teacher came to me and ， “Pride
comes before a fall”. I was deeply touched by her words,
I would treasure forever. Indeed,
the contest was not only a shock to me
a harvest as well.
1．命题立意：考查形容词。
解析：去掉most favorite本身就是最高级含义。
2．命题立意：考查介词。
解析：with→without without hesitation毫不犹豫。
3．命题立意：考查形容词与副词。
解析：easy→easily 修饰动词用副词。
4．命题立意：考查非谓语动词。
解析：get→getting spend time doing sth.花费时间做某事。
5．命题立意：考查名词单复数。
解析：word→words words话，word消息，誓言。
6．命题立意：考查冠词。
解析：result前加a as a result结果，因此。
7．命题立意：考查代词。
解析：myself→me 此处是宾语，而且主要并不是I，所以不用反身代词，而用其宾格形式。
8．命题立意：考查时态。
解析：says→said 由全文时态可知，用一般过去时。
9．命题立意：考查非限制性定语从句。
解析：that→which 非限制性定语从句用which，不用that。
10．命题立意：考查连词。
解析：and→but 由前后句意可知，应是转折关系。