阅读理解。
One of the min challenges facing many countries is how to maintain their identity in the face of globalization
and the growing multi-language trend "One of the main reasons for eco failure in many African countries is the
fact that, with a few important exceptions mother tongue education is not practiced in any of the independent
African states" said NeVille Alexander, Director of the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in south
Africa at the University of Cape Town.
In response to the spread of English and the increased multi-language trends arising from immigration, many
countries have introduced language laws in the last decade. In some, the use of languages other than the national
language is banned in public spaces such as advertising posters. One of the first such legal provisions the 1994
"Toubon law" in France, but the idea has been copied in many countries since then. Such efforts to govern
language use are often dismissed as futile by language experts, who are well aware of the difficulty of controlling
fashions in speech and know from research that language switching among bilinguals is a natural process.
It is especially difficult for native speakers of English to understand the desire to maintain the "purity" of a
language by law. Since the time of Shakespeare, English has continually absorbed foreign words into its own
language. English is one of the most mixed and rapidly changing languages in the world, but that has not been
a barrier to acquiring prestige and power. Another reason for the failure of many native English speakers to
understand the role of state regulation is that it has never been the Anglo-Saxon way of doing things. English
has never had a state-controlled authority for the language, similar, for example, to the Academie Francaise in
France.
The need to protect national languages is, for most western Europeans, a recent phenomenon-especially the
need to ensure that English does not unnecessarily take over too many fields. Public communication, education
and new modes of communication promoted by technology, may be key fields to defend.
1. Neville Alexander believes that _____.[ ]
A. mother-tongue education is not practiced in all African countries
B. lack of mothertongue education can lead to economic failure
C. globalization has led to the rise of multi-language trends
D. globalization has resulted in the economic failure of Africa
2. The underlined word "futile" (in Paragraph 2) most probably means "_____". [ ]
A. useless
B. practical
C. workable
D. unnecessary
3. Why do many English-speaking countries not support the language protection efforts described in the
passage? [ ]
A. They think language protection laws are ineffective.
B. They want their language to spread to other countries.
C. They have a long history of taking words from other languages.
D. It reduces a language's ability to acquire international importance.
4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?[ ]
A. English has taken over fields like public communication and education.
B. Europeans have long realized the need to protect their national languages.
C. Most language experts believe it is important to promote a national language.
D. Many aspects of national culture are threatened by the spread of English.
5. The best title for the passage is _____. [ ]
A. Fighting against the rule of English
B. Globalization and multi-language trends
C. Protecting local languages and identities
D. To maintain the purity of language by law
