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  3. The number of speakers of English in Shakespeare’s time is estimated to have been about five million. Today it is estimated that

The number of speakers of English in Shakespeare’s time is estimated to have been about five million. Today it is estimated that

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问题    The number of speakers of English in Shakespeare’s time is estimated to have been about five million. Today it is estimated that some 2600 million people speak it as a native language, mainly in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In addition to the standard varieties of English found in these areas, there are a great many regional and social varieties of the language, as well as various levels of usage that are employed both in its spoken  and written forms.
     It is virtually impossible to estimate the number of people in the world who have acquired an adequate  working knowledge of English in addition to their own languages. The purposes for which English is learned and the situations in which such learning takes place are so varied that it is difficult  to define and still more difficult to assess what constitutes an adequate working knowledge for each situation.
     The main reason for the widespread demand for English is its present - day importance as a world language. Besides serving the infinite needs of its native speakers, English is a language in which some of the most important works in science, technology, and other fields are being produced and not always by native speakers. It is widely used for such purposes as meteorological and airport communications, international conferences, and the dissemination of information over the radio and television networks of many nations. It is a language of wider communication for a number of developing countries, especially former British colonies. Many of these countries have multi - lingual populations and, need a language for internal communication in such matters as government, commerce industry, law and education as well as for international communication and for access to the scientific and technological developments in the West.
What constitutes an adequate working knowledge of English?
选项 A、The ability to read a newspaper.
B、It is difficult to assess because it differs for each situation.
C、Being multi - lingual.
D、Being a native speaker.
答案B
解析 第二段第二句话指出“因为学习英语和使用英语的场合太多，因此很难定义和分析什么是足够实用的英语”。因此，B是正确选择。
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