Question

    The United States of America is mainly an English-speaking country. The majority of the population speak English as their native language. Besides，education，social activities，etc. are conducted in English. Across but for the most part，Americans speak one common language. This language is sometimes called American English.

However，not everyone in the USA is a native speaker of English. Most immigrants (移民)are speakers of other languages. There are hundreds of communities around the USA where English is not the most commonly used languages. Chinese，Italian，German，Greek，Spanish and French are all spoken in various communities in the USA. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language after English.It is widely spoken in New York and across the southern part of the country. For speakers of other languages，learning English is important，but teaching people to speak English as a second language was given little attention. Non-English speakers were expected to “pick up ” the language by meeting with others in public. Recently，this has changed.

Today，most large public schools and community colleges have ESL(English as a Second Language )programs; American English teachers feel that English students should learn the language the way they will use it. Therefore，ESL programs offer different English lessons to different students. Some programs teach students to communicate in English in public. Other programs teach the kind of English people who will need for their jobs. American ESL instructional methods do not lay emphasis on grammar or translation，but on the importance of communication. The goal is to get the English learners to learn by using the language.

1.In the past the non-English immigrants___________.

A. didn’t know how to learn English B. found that English was not important

C. learned English through books D. paid special attention to teaching English

2.__________ is the most widely used language except English in the US.

A. ESL B. French

C. Spanish D. Chinese

3.The phrase “pick up” in the second paragraph means “__________”.

A. try to master B. repeat again and again

C. go to school sometimes D. learn without studying or taking lessons

Answer

1.A

2.C

3.D

【解析】

本文属于说明文，文章主要讲了在美国的大部分地区，英语是最广泛被使用的语言。在过去的日子里，非英国移民没有很多学习英语的机会。现在，建立了美国ESL项目。美国ESL项目认为学习英语最重要的是使用这门语言。

1.推理判断题。根据倒数第二段For speakers of other languages, learning English is important, but teaching people to speak English as a second language was given little attention. Non-English speakers were expected to pick up the language by meeting with others in public.可知，过去，对于说其他语言的人，教他们说英语很少受到关注。由此推知在过去的日子里，非英国移民没有很多学习英语的机会，因此人们不知道如何学英语，故选A。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language after English.可知，在美国，西班牙语是仅次于英语的语言，故选C。

3.词义猜测题。Non-English speakers were expected to pick up the language by meeting with others in public.这句话的意思是非英语的说话者被期待在公共场合和别人见面的时候，自己学会这门语言，根据本句by meeting with others in public.可知，通过在公共场所与其他人交流的方式，来学习语言。“pick up”的意思是“学会”，A. to lift up举起；B. to recover恢复；C. to collect收集；D. to learn学会，故选D。