第三篇A Debate on the English Language A measure declaring English the national language

A Debate on the English Language

A measure declaring English the national language is under intense debate in the United States. The US Senate passed two declarations last week. One calls English the nation's official language and the other says it is the “common and unifying(统一的)”tongue. But Americans found themselves divided on the issue.

Since people worldwide know that most Americans speak only English, many can't understand why the issue is so controversial(有争议的).

“The discussion is related to fears of immigration issues,” says Dick Tucker, a social scientist at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University. “It's related to a worry about the changing demography(人口统计)of the US. It's a worry about who will continue to have political and economic influence.”

In fact, the notion of protecting the language has been kicked around almost since the nation's founding. John Adams lobbied(游说)in 1780 for the creation of a national academy to correct and improve the English language. But his proposal died, since lawmakers saw it as a royalist(保皇主义者)attempt to define personal behavior.

Since then, the country hasn't had a national language, but the idea of recognizing the special status of English lived on.

The emotions surrounding language resurface(再次浮现)not because people feel comfortable with English. It is more about the discomfort many Americans feel with the new languages, says Walt Wolfram, a professor at North Carolina State University.

“Language is never about language,” he says.

According to the 2000 US Census Bureau report, of 209 million Americans over 18 years old,172 million speak only English at home. About 37 million speak languages other than English. Among them, 6.5 million speak poor English and 3.1 million don't speak English at all.

What are the two declarations concerned with？

A．The status of the English language.

B．The protection of new languages.

C．The rights to speak one's mother tongue.

D．The improvement of the English language.

A Debate on the English Language

A measure declaring English the national language is under intense debate in the United States. The US Senate passed two declarations last week. One calls English the nation's official language and the other says it is the "common and unifying (统一的)" tongue. But Americans found themselves divided on the issue.

Since people worldwide know that most Americans speak only English, many can't understand why the issue is so controversial(有争议的).

"The discussion is related to fears of immigration issues. " says Dick Tucker, a social scientist at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University. "It's related to a worry about the changing demography (人口统计)of the US. It's a worry about who will continue to have political and economic influence.

In fact, the notion of protecting the language has been kicked around almost since the nation's founding. John Adams lobbied(游说) in 1780 for the creation of a national academy to correct and improve the English language. But his proposal died, since lawmakers saw it as a royalist(保皇主义 ) attempt to define personal behavior.

Since then, the country hasn't had a national language, but the idea of recognizing the special status of English lived on.

The emotions surrounding language resurface(再次浮现) not because people feel comfortable with English. It is more about the discomfort many Americans feel with the new languages, says Walt Wolfram, a professor at North Carolina State University.

"Language is never about language. " he says.

According to the 2000 US Census Bureau report, of 209 million Americans over 18 years old, 172 million speak only English at home. About 37 million speak languages other than English. Among them, 6.5 million speak poor English and 3.1 million don't speak English at all.

What are the two declarations concerned with？

A．The status of the English language.

B．The protection of new languages.

C．The rights to speak one's mother tongue.

D．The improvement of the English language.

A Debate on the English Language

A measure declaring English the national language is under intense debate in the United States. The US Senate passed two declarations last week. One calls English the nation's official language and the other says it is the “common and unifying(统一的)”tongue. But Americans found themselves divided on the issue.

Since people worldwide know that most Americans speak only English, many can't understand why the issue is so controversial(有争议的).

“The discussion is related to fears of immigration issues, ”says Dick Tucker, a social scientist at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University. “It's related to a worry about the changing demography(人口统计)of the US. It's a worry about who will continue to have political and economic influence. ”

In fact, the notion of protecting the language has been kicked around almost since the nation's founding. John Adams lobbied(游说)in 1780 for the creation of a national academy to correct and improve the English language. But his proposal died, since lawmakers saw it as a royalist(保皇主义者)attempt to define personal behavior.

Since then, the country hasn't had a national language, but the idea of recognizing the special status of English lived on.

The emotions surrounding language resurface(再次浮现)not because people feel comfortable with English. It is more about the discomfort many Americans feel with the new languages, says Walt Wolfram, a professor at North Carolina State University.

“Language is never about language, ”he says.

According to the 2000 US Census Bureau report, of 209 million Americans over 18 years old, 172 million speak only English at home. About 37 million speak languages other than English. Among them, 6.5 million speak poor English and 3.1 million don't speak English at all.

What are the two declarations concerned with？

A．The status of the English language.

B．The protection of new languages.

C．The rights to speak one's mother tongue.

D．The improvement of the English language.

根据短文的内容，回答下列题目

A Debate on the English Language

A measure declaring English the national language is under intense debate in the United States.

The US Senate passed two declarations last week. One calls English the nation&39;s official language and the other says it is the "common and unifying (统一的) " tongue. But Americans found themselves divided on the issue.

Since people worldwide know that most Americans speak only English, many can&39;t understand why the issue is so controversial (有争议的 ) .

"The discussion is related to fears of immigration issues," says Dick Tucker, a social scientist at Pittsburgh&39;s Carnegie Mellon University. "It&39;s related to a worry about the changing demography (入口统计 ) of the US. It&39;s a worry about who will continue to have political and economic influence."

In fact, the notion of protecting the language has been kicked around almost since the nation&39;s founding. John Adams lobbied (游说) in 1780 for the creation of a national academy to correct and improve the English language. But his proposal died, since lawmakers saw it as a royalist (保皇主义者 ) attempt to define personal behavior.

Since then, the country hasn&39;t had a national language, but the idea of recognizing the special status of English lived on.

The emotions surrounding language resurface (再次浮现)not because people feel comfortable with English. It is more about the discomfort many Americans feel with the new languages, says Walt Wolfram, a professor at North Carolina State University.

"Language is never about language," he says.

According to the 2000 US Census Bureau report, of 209 million Americans over 18 years old,172 million speak only English at home. About 37 million speak languages other than English.

Among them,6.5 million speak poor English and 3.1 million don&39;t speak English at all.

What are the two declarations concerned with？ 查看材料

A.The status of the English language.

B.The protection of new languages.

C.The rights to speak one"s mother tongue.

D.The improvement of the English language.

er intense debate in the United States.The US Senate passed two declarations last week.One calls English the nation’s official language and the other says it is the “common and unifying(统一的)”tongue.But Americans found themselves divided on the issue.

Since people worldwide know that most Americans speak only English,many can’t understand why the issue is so controversial(有争议的).

“The discussion is related to fears of immigration issues,”says Dick Tucker,a social scientist at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University.“It’s related to a worry about the changing demography(人口统计)of the US.It’s a worry about who will continue to have political and economic influence.”

In fact,the notion of protecting the language has been kicked around almost since the nation’s founding.John Adams lobbied(游说)in 1780 for the creation of a national academy to correct and improve the English language.But his proposal died,since lawmakers saw it as a royalist(保皇主义者)attempt to define personal behavior.

Since then,the country hasn’t had a national language,but the idea of recognizing the special status of English lived on.

The emotions surrounding language resurface(再次浮现)not because people feel comfortable with English.It is more about the discomfort many Americans feel with the new languages,says Walt Wolfram,a professor at North Carolina State University.

“Language is never about language,”he says.

According to the 2000 US Census Bureau report,of 209 million Americans over 18 years old,172 million speak only English at home.About 37 million speak languages other than English.Among them,6.5 million speak poor English and 3.1 million don’t speak English at all.

第11题：What are the two declarations concerned with？

A．The status of the English language.

B．The protection of new languages.

C．The rights to speak one’s mother tongue.

D．The improvement of the English language.

下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题。请根据短文内容，为每题确定1个最佳选项。

第一篇

A Debate on the English Language

A measure declaring English the national language is under intense debate in the United States.The US Senate passed two declarations last week.One calls English the nation's official language and the other says it is the "common and unifying（统一的）"tongue.But Americans found themselves divided on the issue.

Since people worldwide know that most Americans speak only English,many can't understand why the issue is so controversial（有争议的）.

"The discussion is related to fears of immigration issues,"says Dick Tucker,a social scientist at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University."It's related to a worry about the changing demography（人口统计）of the US.It's a worry about who will continue to have political and economic influence."

In fact,the notion of protecting the language has been kicked around almost since the nation's founding.John Adams lobbied（游说）in 1780 for the creation of a national academy to correct and improve the English language.But his proposal died,since lawmakers saw it as a royalist（保皇主义者）attempt to define personal behavior.

Since then,the country hasn't had a national language,but the idea of recognizing the special status of English lived on.

The emotions surrounding language resurface（再次浮现）not because people feel comfortable with English.It is more about the discomfort many Americans feel with the new languages,says Walt Wolfram,a professor at North Carolina State University.

"Language is never about language,"he says.

According to the 2000 US Census Bureau report,of 209 million Americans over 18 years old,172 million speak only English at home.About 37 million speak languages other than English.Among them,6.5 million speak poor English and 3.1 million don't speak English at all.

31.What are the two declarations concerned with？

A.The status of the English language.

B.The protection of new languages.

C.The rights to speak one's mother tongue.

D.The improvement of the English language.

What is the trend in the English language that this book emphasizes？

A．The English language is becoming assimilated with other languages.

B．Differences between languages are more and more obvious.

C．The English language is always absorbing words from other languages and turning them into its own.

D．The English language is gradually losing its linguistic vitality.