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 260 million speak it as a native language. Mainly in the United States, Canada, the Great Britain, Ireland, south African, Australia and New Zealand. In addition to the varieties of English found in these areas, there are great many regional and social varieties of language, as well as various levels of usage that are employed both in its spoken and written forms.
    It is virtually possible to estimate the number of people in the world who acquired adequate work knowledge of English in addition to their own languages. The purpose for which English is learned and the situation 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 produced and not always by native speakers. It is widely used for such purpose as meteorological and airport communications, international conferences, and the spread information over the radio and television networks of many nations for the number of developing countries, especially former British colonies. Many of these countries have multi-lingual populations and need a language for internal communication as well as for international communication and for access to the scientific and technological development in the west.
______ constitutes an adequate working knowledge of English.

选项 A、The ability to read the newspaper
B、Being multi-lingual
C、Being a native speaker
D、It is difficult to assess what

答案D

解析 本题为细节题。相关信息为第2段第2句:“…varied that it is difficult to define and still more difficult to assess what constitutes an adequate working knowledge foreach situation.”
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