湖南宁乡县 2017 高考英语阅读理解一轮校本题（三）阅读理解。阅读下列短文, 从给的四个选项 (A、B、C 和 D) 中, 选出最佳选项。English as a Foreign LanguageWho taught you to speak English? Your parents, while you were a young child? Your teachers at school? Perhaps even the BBC as a grown-up. Whoever itwas, somehow you have developed an understanding of what is rapidly becoming a truly global language.There are now about 376 million people who speak English as their first language, and about the same numberwho have learnt it in addition to their mother tongue. There are said to be one billion people learning English now and about 80% of the information on the Internet is in English.Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? Should we celebrate the fact that more and more of us can communicate, using a common language, across countries and cultures? Or should we worry about the dangers of“mono-culturalism”, a world in which we all speak the same language, eat the same food and listen to the same music?Does it matter if an increasing number of people speak the same language? On the contrary, I would have thought-although I have never accepted the argument that if only we all understood each other better, there would be fewer wars. Ask the people of India(where many of them speak at least some English)and Pakistan(the same situation with India). . .If we all speak English, will we then all start eating McDonalds burgers? Surely not. If English becomes more dominant(占主导地位的), will it kill other languages? I doubt it. When I travel in Africa or Asia, I am always surprised by how many people can speak not only their own language but often one or more other related languages, as well as English and perhaps some French or German as well.When we discussed this on TalkingPointa couple of years ago, we received a wonderfully poetic email from a listener in Ireland. “The English language is a beautiful language. Maybe its like a rose, ”he said. “But who would ever want their garden just full of rose? ”Well, I love roses, and I think they make a beautiful addition to any garden. But the way I see it, just by planting a few roses, you dont necessarily need to pull out everything else. If more and more people want to plant English roses, thats fine by me.1【文章大意】作者以独特的视角分析了英语的发展前景和人们的种种顾虑。越来越多的人会讲英语是好事吗? 战乱会因此而减少吗? 将来人们会只讲一种语言, 吃同样的食物, 听同样的音乐吗? 作者借用一位爱尔兰听众的邮件说: 英语好比玫瑰花, 它很漂亮, 但是我们不能因为它漂亮就把花园全种上玫瑰花, 也不能把其他花草都拔掉。1. How many people learn English as their second language?A. About 80%.B. About 376 million.C. About one million.D. We dont know.【解析】选 B。细节理解题。从第二段第一句话可知, 把英语当作第二语言的人的数量是 about 376 million。故选 B。2. What does“garden”in the last two paragraphs stand for?A. Language.B. Family.C. The world.D. The Earth.【解析】选 C。词义猜测题。因为这两段中 rose 用来指代 English, 所以 garden 自然是指代 the world。故选 C。3. The author would probably agree that .A. its very hard to plant many kinds of flowers in a gardenB. its good for people from other countries to learn EnglishC. more and more people like to plant roses in their gardensD. English is easier to learn than other languages【解析】选 B。作者意图题。根据全文内容, 尤其最后一句 If more and more people want to plant English roses, thats fine by me. 可以了解作者的态度倾向。故选 B。4. This passage is mainly about .A. why English has become a global languageB. how many people in the world speak EnglishC. how people in the world learn English as a foreign languageD. whether we need to worry about English being a world language【解析】选 D。主旨大意题。通过理解全文内容以及作者的观点, 我们可以知道人们大可不必顾虑英语作为世界语言的前景问题。故选 D。2阅读下列短文，从每题所给的 A、B、C 和 D 四个选项中，选出最佳选项。【2014 高考英语一模试题】There lived a king who liked art. One day an artist offered to paint the most beautiful picture in the world on the wall of his palace.So he king said, All right, you may work on one of the walls in the new hall. Just then, another artist said, Please allow me to work on the opposite wall. I shall make exactly what that man will make on the opposite wall. Moreover, I shall do so without looking at his work. I would even request you to have a thick curtain put up between the two walls so the either of us cannot see the other. Everyone in the kings court, including the king and the first artist was surprised. So the king decided to give the man a chance.The following day, a thick curtain was put into place and both the artists got to work. The first artist brought in a regular supply of paint, oil and water. But the second one would come with a cloth and a bucket of water every day.A month later the first artist said that his work was completed and invited the king to come.So the king sent the message to the second artist, saying he was coming to see their works that evening.After seeing the first artists wall, the king was very impressed with the painting and gave him a huge sum of money as a reward. He then asked for the curtain to be opened up.The same painting was seen on the opposite wall too! It was ex