备战2020年高考英语一轮精品复习Unit2 English around the world练习

必修一 Unit 2 English around the world练习

Ⅰ.阅读理解

A

If you were to travel back in time to the tenth century, you probably wouldn't be able to understand a sentence that anyone said to you.They'd be speaking Old English. Talking to a tenth-century Englishman, you'd probably only be able to understand a few words like “a” or “the”. Only about one-sixth of today's English words have an Old English root (词根), with the rest having foreign influences.

Gradually Old English turned into the Middle English that Chaucer wrote in — but still the official language of England was French! It was only in 1362, during Chaucer's lifetime, that English was used at the opening of Parliament (议会) for the first time. During the same year a law called the “Statute of Pleading” was passed, making English the official language in Parliament. In 1399, King Henry IV became the first king of England after the Norman Conquest whose mother tongue was English.

English was still a language of low status (地位) — especially when it came to writing poetry (诗歌). During the 14th century, the Italians and French were creative. Great poets like Dante were writing in totally new ways. But English had no such great writers. This was where Chaucer made a difference. He took the language of the man in the street and turned it into many famous works, such as The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer proved poetry written in English could be every bit as good as books in French.

Of course, the English language has continued to change since Chaucer's day. For example, Shakespeare's English is quite different from Chaucer's. And it is still changing now. Until just a few years ago, “C U L8R” (see you later) was just a set of letters and numbers, but now most people know what it means!

语篇解读：本文是说明文。文章主要讲述了英语语言从古英语到现代英语的变迁。 1．What happened during Chaucer's lifetime? A．Old English began to turn into the Middle English. B．English's status was greatly improved. C．English was used only in parliament. D．English kings usually spoke English.

解析：选B 推理判断题。根据第二段中的“It was only in 1362 ... making English the official language in Parliament.”可知，在乔叟时代，英语的地位得到显著提高。

2．Why was Chaucer so great? A．He first used formal English to write. B．He had a big influence on poets like Dante. C．He was a pioneer in writing English poems. D．He encouraged people to read books in French.

解析：选C 推理判断题。根据第三段中的“This was where Chaucer made a difference ... as good as books in French.”可知，乔叟是用英语创作诗歌的先驱。

3．Why did the author give the example of Shakespeare's English? A．To explain English is always changing. B．To explain how the Middle English changed.

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C．To show Shakespeare's English is unusual. D．To show how people respond to new words.

解析：选A 推理判断题。最后一段主题句是首句“the English language has continued to change”，作者举这个例子是为了说明英语一直在变化。

4．How is the text developed? A．By space. C．By importance.

B．By comparison. D．By time.

解析：选D 推理判断题。分析全文结构及文中的1362、1399、now可知，本文是按照时间顺序展开的。

B

English has surely become the global language. Whenever we turn on the news to find out what's happening in East Asia, or Africa, or anywhere, people are being interviewed and telling us about it in English.

If people look at the facts about the amazing reach of the English language, many would be surprised.English is used in over 90 countries as an official or semi-official language. English is the working language of many international institutes (研究所) as well as of most international research scientists. It is also the language that Indian parents and black parents wish their children to learn. It is believed that over one billion people worldwide are now learning English.

One of the most important causes of the spread of English around the world is that Europeans are willing to accept it as their language. English is spreading from northern Europe to the south and is now the second language in countries such as Sweden, Norway, Netherlands and Denmark. If one visits any of them, it would seem that almost everyone there can talk in English.

Recently, a report said that at the beginning of 2001, English was the most widely known foreign language with 43% of Europeans saying they spoke it. The report also said that with over % of the population speaking English, Sweden now has the highest percentage of English speakers. What's more, English is the language rated as most useful to know, and over 77% of Europeans who do not speak English as their first language consider it useful.

语篇解读：本文是说明文，主要讲述了英语在世界上的广泛使用。 5．By writing this passage, the writer mainly wants to tell us ________. A．why so many people speak English around the world B．that English has become a language spoken all over the world C．about the development of English in Europe D．something about the English-speaking countries

解析：选B 主旨大意题。根据本文的第一句“English has surely become the global language.”以及后文的具体描述可知，作者主要想告诉我们，英语是目前世界的通用语言。

6．According to the passage, what has played an important role in spreading English around the world? A．That governments have asked their people to learn it in school. B．That English is the most beautiful language in the world. C．That Europeans are willing to accept English as their language. D．That people have to use English in their work.

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解析：选C 细节理解题。根据第三段的“One of the most important causes of the spread of English around the world is that Europeans are willing to accept it as their language.”可知C正确。

7．What does the underlined word “rated” in the last paragraph mean? A．Stood. C．Considered.

B．Agreed. D．Argued.

解析：选C 词义猜测题。根据语境以及最后一句的“consider it useful”可知，rate在这里意为“认为；看作”。 8．What can we learn from the passage?

A．Black parents don't want their children to learn English. B．English is used in over 90 countries as an official language. C．Not all international research scientists speak English at work. D．English has become the most important language in Sweden.

解析：选C 细节理解题。根据第二段的“English is the working language ...as well as of most international research scientists.”可知，并不是所有的国际研究科学人员工作时都使用英语。 II.语法填空

The __9__ (express) “keeping up with the Joneses” was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He began earning $125 a week at the age of 23, __10__ was a lot of money in those days. He and his wife moved to a very __11__ (wealth) neighborhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went __12__ (ride) every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand also hired a servant and gave big __13__ (party) for their new neighbors.

It was like a race, __14__ the race ended when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to __15__ apartment in New York City.

Momand looked around him and noticed that many people did all they could __16__ (keep) up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He called it “keeping up with the Joneses” because “Jones” is a very common name in the United States.He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories.The stories __17__ (sell) well and gradually “keeping up with the Joneses” became an idiom __18__ (common) used by many people.

语篇解读：本文是一篇说明文。在英语中，keeping up with the Joneses意为“与他人攀比”。本文讲述了这个表达的由来。

9．expression 考查名词。空格中所填单词在句中作主语，需用express的名词形式。“keeping up with the Joneses”为expression的同位语。

10．which 考查定语从句。此处为关系代词which引导的非性定语从句，which指代先行词$125 a week，并在从句中作主语。

11．wealthy 考查形容词。空格中所填单词在句中作定语，修饰名词neighborhood，故用wealth的形容词形式。

12．riding 考查固定搭配。go riding意思是“去骑马”。

13．parties 考查名词复数。此处party意为“派对”，是可数名词。因为big前没有冠词，所以party需用复数形式。

14．but 考查连词。句意：这就像是一场赛跑，但是这场赛跑最终以Momand 夫妇不再能够负担起这种

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新生活方式而结束。本空前后两句为转折关系，故用but。

15．an 考查冠词。这里泛指纽约市的一家公寓，故用不定冠词an。 16．to keep 考查非谓语动词。此处为动词不定式作目的状语。

17．sold 考查动词的时态和语态。这里是描述过去的事，用一般过去时。sell well意思是“畅销”，无被动语态。

18．commonly 考查副词。空格中所填单词在句中修饰动词used, 需用common的副词形式commonly。 Ⅲ.书面表达

假设你是某国际学校的学生会李华，你校拟举办主题为“英语学习”的讲座。请你根据所给要点，代表学生会用英语以短文形式写一则海报。

要点如下：

时间：下周二下午2：00～4：00 地点：学校礼堂 内容：1.英语学习经验与方法介绍； 2．著名教授John作报告；

3．就英语学习中的困惑，现场答疑。 注意：1.词数100左右；

2．海报应含所有信息，可适当增加细节。 参考词汇：讲座lecture 参考范文：

A Lecture on English Learning

Want to improve your English? Come and join us!

A lecture on “English learning” is to be held in our school hall from 2：00 to 4：00 next Tuesday afternoon. The famous professor Mr. John will make a speech on how to learn English well easily. The lecturer will share his learning experience with us. In addition, he will introduce some advanced methods of learning English. After the lecture, you can ask him for advice on any problems you have while learning English. His answers will be surely mean a lot to you.

You'll learn a great deal from this lecture! The Students' Union

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