阅读理解

    One of the main 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 economic 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(规定) was the 1994 "Toubon law" in France, and the idea has been copied in many countries since then. Such efforts to govern language use are often considered as futile by language experts, who are well aware of the difficulty in 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 superiority and power. Another reason for the failure of many native English speakers to understand the role of the 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 Academic 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 ways of communication promoted by technology, may be key fields to defend.

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    One day, a boy was playing in a garden. He was running after butterflies and trying to catch them. He was very1to see the colorful flowers, too. Then he saw a frog skipping and2As he ran behind the frog, it went into the pond. A cow was eating grass in the garden. He saw how the cow was3grass. A fly then came there and buzzed over the 4It swung its tail to make the fly move away. The child clapped and 5 

    The boy was enjoying the beauty of nature. He said,＂Nature is6 Its beauty attracts everyone.＂

    When he saw a squirrel, he ran after it and7near the bed of roses. He tried to pick some of the roses, but a thorn 8his finger. It was very painful. The boy started9and ran to his mother who was in the10 

    His mother asked him,＂What is the matter?＂The boy said, ＂The thorn of the rose 11 my finger while I was picking it and now I feel12 pain.＂ His mother said,＂That was your13You should not have tried to pick the flower. The flowers are meant to be14and not to be picked. Besides, natural beauty should never be 15We should help to protect nature.＂The son said,＂I will 16remember what you have just told me, Mom.＂The mother said,＂Let me know what you have 17today.＂ Her son explained,＂We should protect 18living beings, whether animals or19 We should never harm them. We should not harm nature.20we do, it may harm us in the long run, too.＂