All languages change over time, but some change at a faster rate than others. 1. The most important factors are the number of people who speak a language, where they live and whether they move around, the importance of the language for world trade and communication, and changes in technology.
2. However, today English is the most widely used language in the world. English is spoken by about 350 million people as a first language in countries such as Great Britain, the United States. In addition, about a billion more people speak English as a second language.
English started to take over French as an international language during the period of British colonialism (殖民主义) when the English ruled many countries in Africa and Asia. 3. The colonial period came to an end at the same time that several other changes occurred. For example, the U.S. started to play a greater part in global affairs and the international economy. 
New means of communication technology such as television and the Internet spread English worldwide. 4. In addition, they could use the Internet for information, business, or e-mail communication, all in English. Just as the use of English spread, other languages changed English by contact or by new inventions and technology.
In contrast, Icelandic is a language that has changed very slowly. Icelandic speakers today can understand poetry written in a slightly different dialect over 1,000 years ago! Why has Icelandic changed so slowly? The main reason is the isolated (孤立的) location of the island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. 5. Compared to England, Iceland had no history of colonialism. Iceland’s small population has not played a major role in international trade or communication. Today, most Icelanders speak English in addition to their native language. With outside influences, Icelandic is changing more rapidly now.
A. People everywhere could watch the news or sports events in English.
B. These changes have a great influence on the development of society.
C. Isolation meant that for hundreds of years, Icelanders had little contact with speakers of other languages.
D. What are some of the factors that influence how quickly a language changes?
E. The language communication brings about the communication of technology.
F. In the past, other languages such as Latin or French were more important than English.
G. English was the primary means of communication in these colonies.
It is good to get in touch with your inner child from time to time，and obviously some people are willing to pay big money for the chance to do so in a proper environment．A Brooklyn-based adult preschool is charging customers between $333 and $999 for the chance to act like a kid again．
At Preschool Mastermind in New York adults get to participate in show—and—tell，arts—and—crafts such as finger paint，games like musical chairs and even take naps．The month-long course also has class picture day where the adults are expected to have a field trip and a parent day．
30-year-old Michelle Joni Lapidos，the brain behind the adult preschool，studied childhood education and has always wanted to be a preschool teacher．She’s always on the lookout for new ways to get people in touch with the freedom of childhood．A friend encouraged her to start the mastermind course instead．
According to Candice，her blogger friend，Preschool Mastermind gives adults a chance to relearn and master the things that they failed to understand as children．“I realized all the significances of what we learn in preschool，”said founder Michelle Joni，“People come here and get in touch with their inner child．It’s magical．We are bringing ourselves back to another place，another time with ourselves when we are more believing in ourselves，more confident and ready to take on the world.”
“One person’s here because they want to learn not to be so serious．”Michelle said．“Another's here to learn to be more confident.” She explained that most of the classes were planned．However，Joni added that while the planned activities were fun，it was often the spontaneous(自发的)moments that attracted students．“It’s the things you don’t plan for，the sharing between friends and learning from each other.’’
1.What is the purpose of Preschool Mastermind?
A. To give adults a chance to return to childhood．
B. To help parents understand their children better．
C. To provide practical training courses for teachers．
D. To introduce some ways of playing with children．
2.What is mainly discussed about Preschool Mastermind in Paragraph 2 ?
A. Its customers． B. Its activities．
C. Its environment． D. Its schedule.
3.According to Candice，people come to this program to________.
A. enjoy freedom of thinking B. realize their childhood dreams
C. discover their inner abilities D. figure out childhood puzzles
4.What do we know about Michelle Joni?
A. She used to be a preschool teacher．
B. She likes to make plans in advance．
C. She founded Preschool Mastermind．
D. She gained confidence by sharing．
With the development of science and technology, new inventions, especially new electronic products, have made people’s lives easy and convenient. But as the saying puts: A coin has two sides.
One day, I was walking in the park with a friend and his cell phone rang, interrupting our conversation. There we were, walking and talking on a beautiful sunny day and…I became invisible, absent from the conversation.
The telephone used to connect you to the absent. Now it makes people sitting next to you feel absent. Why is it that the more connected we get, the more disconnected I feel? Every advance in communications technology is a tragedy to the closeness of human interaction. With email and instant messaging over the Internet, we can now communicate without seeing or talking to one another. With voice mail, you can conduct entire conversations without ever reaching anyone. If my mom has a question, I just leave the answer on her machine.
As almost every contact we can imagine between human beings gets automated, the alienation(疏远) index goes up. You can't even call a person to get the phone number of another person any more. Directory assistance is almost always fully automated.
Pumping petrol at the station? Why say good morning to the attendant when you can swipe(刷)your credit card at the pump and save yourself the bother of human contact?
Making a deposit at the bank? Why talk to a teller who might live in the neighborhood when you can just insert your card into ATM?
Pretty soon you won’t have the burden of making eye contact at the grocery shop. Some supermarket chains are using a self-scanner so you can check yourself out, avoiding those check-out people who look at you and ask how you are doing.
I am not against modern technology. I own a cell phone, an ATM card, a voice mail system, and an email account. Giving them up isn't wise…they're a great help to us. It's some of their possible consequences that make me feel uneasy.
More and more, I find myself hiding behind e-mail to do a job meant for conversation. Or being relieved that voice mail picked up a call because I didn't really have time to talk. The communications industry devoted to helping me keep in touch is making me lonelier.
So I've put myself on technology restriction: no instant messaging, with people who live near me，no cell phoning in the presence of friends, no letting the voice mail pick up when I'm at home.
1.Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
A. The Advance of Communications Technology
B. The Consequences of Modern Technology
C. The Process of Communications Revolution[
D. The Automation of Modern Communications
2.Paragraphs 5 to 7 are listed as examples, which show that the use of modern communications is___________.
A. encouraging B. disappointing
C. satisfying D. embarrassing
3.The passage implies that _______________.
A. modern technology is bridging the people
B. modern technology is separating the people
C. modern technology is developing too rapidly
D. modern technology is interrupting our lives
4.What does the writer think to do with the modern technology?
A. We may use them no matter what others are doing.
B. We can throw them away and return to the ancient.
C. We can be far away from them forever.
D. We can use them less and communicate with the people around us.
假定你是李华。过去三年一直利用业余时间打工，你想在高考后去一家国际书店(Global Books)兼职。请给书店经理Ms Jenkins写一份英文短信。
要点包括：
1. 有客户服务经验；
2. 有很强的语言、人际交流和组织技能；
3. 希望通过在Global Books的工作掌握更多技能。
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已写好。
Dear Ms Jenkins，
I would like to apply for the bookshop assistant position with Global Books.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
I would love the opportunity to discuss my application with you in further detail, and look forward to hearing from you.
Your sincerely,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同学们交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10 处语言错误，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：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，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。
Last week, I had a argument with my best friend. All of us went home with anger, After finishing dinner, I began to do my homework. Sudden, my stomach hurt badly. My parents took me the hospital immediately. The doctor said I eat unclean food and I needed to stay in the hospital for two days, that made me feel worse and worried about my lessons. To my surprised, my best friend came to see me. She was so worried about me and helped me about my lessons. We understood it each other better and were back together. Now I have realized
that friendship is very importance to me.
When I was driving after school on Monday on 1. ( I ) way home, I saw a wallet on top of a white car just as the driver turned into the main road. The wallet 2. (fall) from the car and I sounded the horn（喇叭）twice but he didn't hear. So, I picked it up and checked 3. wallet to see if I could get any phone number 4. (call). I found and called two 5.(number) but I was told they were wrong number.
6.(late), I found an ID card and used the address to find his home, which is a 15-minute drive. When 7. (arrive) there, I saw his wife and the first thing she asked was 8. I found a wallet. I started smiling and said yes. The lady was really 9. (happily) and called her husband. After I gave the wallet to him, he saw everything was inside. The couple offered me 20 yuan for gas 10. I refused it.
