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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.
According to this article, what is one main reason for the widespread use of English?
选项 A、It was popular during Shakespeare’s time.
B、It is used in former British colonies.
C、It serves the needs of its native speakers.
D、It is a world language that is used for international communication.
答案D
解析 英语之所以得到广泛的使用，原因很多，但是比较四个选择里分别提到的原因：A“(因为)英语在莎士比亚时代就已流行”；B“(因为)英语在前英国殖民地国家得到使用”；C“(因为)英语满足了以英语为母语的人的需要”；D“(因为)英语是一种用于国际交流的世界语言”，显然D“(因为)英语是一种用于国际交流的世界语言”是导致英语在全世界得到广泛使用的主要原因。因此，D是正确答案。
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