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¡¡¡¡Section ¢ò Reading Comprehension

¡¡¡¡Part A

¡¡¡¡Directions:

¡¡¡¡Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)

¡¡¡¡Text 1

¡¡¡¡Half the world¬ðs population will be speaking or learning English by 2015,researchers say. Two billion people are expected to start learning English within a decade and three billion will speak it, says a British Council estimate.

¡¡¡¡Other languages, such as French, risk becoming the casualties of this ¡°linguistic globalization¡±. But the boom will be over by 2050 and the Englishª²language teaching industry will have become a victim of its own success, says David Graddol, author of the report, The Future of English.

¡¡¡¡Mr. Graddol¬ðs research was based on a computer model developed to estimate demand for Englishª²language teaching around the world. The lecturer, who has worked in education and language studies at the Open University for the past 25 years, said the model charted likely student numbers through to 2050.

¡¡¡¡It was compiled by looking at various estimates from the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) on education provision, demographic projections, government education policies and international student mobility figures. The impact of educational innovations and other developments affecting the world population including the Chinese government¬ðs policy of one baby per family were also factored in.

¡¡¡¡Based on its findings, Mr. Graddol has predicted that the world is about to be hit by a tidal wave of English. ¡°Many governments, especially in countries which have relatively recently gained independence, are introducing the teaching of English under a utilitarian banner.¡±

¡¡¡¡¡°But English predominates in the business world, and for such countries to be able to compete for work, including lucrative (profitable) outsourcing contracts, English is being pushed heavily from kindergarten on.¡±

¡¡¡¡The potential bonanza (source of wealth) on offer from outsourcing means even maths and science are being taught in English at secondary schools in Malaysia. But demand for English teaching would drop as children progress through academia, and more universities across the world choose to teach in the language.

¡¡¡¡Mr. Graddol also estimated that the boom would be over by 2050.¡°Englishª²language students will be down from two billion to 500 million then,¡± he said,¡°Increasingly, as English spread across the globe, more people will become bilingual, even multiª²lingual and such skills are highly prized in business. But Britain has not got the best reputation for learning other languages.¡±

¡¡¡¡The report also showed that English was not the only language spreading, and the world, far from being dominated by English, was to become more multi-lingual. Mr. Graddol said,¡°Chinese, Arabic and Spanish are all popular, and likely to be languages of the future.¡±

¡¡¡¡21. It is estimated that in a decade English will be

¡¡¡¡[A] actively studied by over 200 million people.

¡¡¡¡[B] freely spoken by global English learners.

¡¡¡¡[C] popular with over 80% of world inhabitants.

¡¡¡¡[D] really mastered by 50% of people worldwide.

¡¡¡¡22. According to the text, ¡°linguistic globalization¡± will

¡¡¡¡[A] eliminate French from the globe.

¡¡¡¡[B] defeat other European languages.

¡¡¡¡[C] fail all languages except English.

¡¡¡¡[D] make English the biggest winner.

¡¡¡¡23. David Graddol predicts that the thriving period of English will

¡¡¡¡[A] terminate within half a century.

¡¡¡¡[B] climax in the middle of the century.

¡¡¡¡[C] endure for no less than five decades.

¡¡¡¡[D] quit till the beginning of the 2050s.

¡¡¡¡24. The report ¡°The Future of English¡± factored in all of the following EXCEPT

¡¡¡¡[A] the educational condition and policy.

¡¡¡¡[B] the directions and designs of Unesco.

¡¡¡¡[C] the statistics about population.

¡¡¡¡[D] the movements of overseas students.

¡¡¡¡35. The writer of the report deems that outsourcing is to

¡¡¡¡[A] result in the increase of English subjects.

¡¡¡¡[B] lead to the drop of interest in English study.

¡¡¡¡[C] account for the further spread of English.

¡¡¡¡[D] bring about transition in college curricula.