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  3. How did English Become a Global Language? (1)The rise of English is a remarkable tale as Professor David Crystal reminds us

How did English Become a Global Language? (1)The rise of English is a remarkable tale as Professor David Crystal reminds us

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问题                 How did English Become a Global Language?
     (1)The rise of English is a remarkable tale as Professor David Crystal reminds us in his attractive book.
     (2)When Julius Caesar landed in Britain more than 2, 000 years ago, English did not exist. Five hundred years later, English, virtually incomprehensible to modern eras, was probably spoken by about as few people as currently speak Cherokee, the language of a small North American Indian tribe—and with little influence. About 1, 000 years later, at the end of the 16th century, and after the Norman Conquest, the Reformation and the arrival of commercial printing technology, English was the native speech of between 5 million and 7 million people. And yet now look at it. As the second millennium approaches, English is more widely scattered, more widely spoken and written than any other language has ever been. In the title of the book, it has become a truly global language. According to Crystal, about 2.09 billion people, well over one-third of the world’ s population are routinely exposed to it.
     (3)As he rightly points out, what is impressive about this staggering figure is:" Not so much the grand total but the speed with which expansion has taken place since the 1950s. In 1950, the case for English as a world language would have been no more than plausible. Fifty years on and the case is virtually won. "
     (4)So what happened?
     (5)Someone once said that a language is a dialect with an army and a navy. In other words, when the British navy set out to conquer the world, is set out an "army" of English speakers. As the British Empire spread throughout the world, English became the basis of law, commerce and education. The British Empire was succeeded by another(the American), which shared virtually the same linguistic heritage. American English, which has become the rocket-fuel of the English language, has magically found its way into areas undreamed of 40, let alone 400 years ago.
     (6)The most valuable part of Crystal’ s study is the section devoted to a speedy analysis of the cultural basis of this global reach, notably the influence of broadcasting, press, advertising, popular music and film. He is also up-to-date and informative in his identification of the World-Wide-Web as a powerful enhancer of American cultural and linguistic dominance.
     (7)What does the future hold? To this question, Crystal proposes the recognition of a new form of English—WSSE(World Standard Spoken English)—which almost by definition rules out the possibility that English would fragment into mutually unintelligible language as Latin once did. "English, in some shape or form, will find itself in the service of the world community forever, " Crystal writes.
A. The Future of English
B. The Speed of the Spread of English
C. The Role Played by Culture and the Net
D. The Role Played by Military Expansion
E. The Role Played by Education
F. The 2, 000 Years of English
Paragraph(3):
选项
答案B
解析 本段比较短小，很容易提取出关键的句子信息。从As he rightly points out，what isimpressive about this staggering figure is：“Not so much the grand total but the speed with which ex—pansion has taken place since the 1950s．”中可以找到“speed”。
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