test2English round the world

Cloze Test

At the beginning of the world, all the people lived in one place. As time went by, that part of the earth became very __1__ , and many families began to move away, looking for a new __2__ .

Many of them moved into a country. There they found that the soil could be made into bricks, which made it __3__ for them to build houses to live in. Then they wanted to __4__ a great city and rule everyone around them. They said, "Let’s build a great tower, and the top of it will __5__ the sky. Then we will __6__ , and never be scattered (分散) over the earth." So they began to build a great tower out of bricks. However, God did not wish the people of the earth to __7__ close together. He knew that __8__ they all lived together, the world would become crowded and not be __9__ to live any more. So while they were building the great tower, God made their speech __10__ . Before this all people had the same __11__ , but now suddenly they could not __12__ one another. The members of one family could not understand those of __13__ family. So they scattered to the __14__ and to the south, to the east and to the west, and the earth became covered with people. They lived in many lands and spoke many languages. __15__ the tower stayed forever unfinished. The city they had built was afterward known as Babylon, and the tower as the Tower of Babel.

1. A. crowded B. interesting C. warm D. rich

2. A. life B. friend C. food D. fun

3. A. free B. easy C. slow D. hard

4. A. buy B. send C. share D. build

5. A. hold B. keep C. reach D. leave

6. A. break down B. stay together C. keep away D. end up

7. A. live B. follow C. sleep D. work

8. A. unless B. though C. if D. how

9. A. bored B. suitable C. lonely D. friendly

10. A. stop B. pass C. move D. change

11. A. language B. name C. purpose D. hobby

12. A. hear B. understand C. like D. meet

13. A. another B. each C. both D. either

14. A. land B. right C. earth D. north

15. A. As B. But C. So D. Or

Grammar

Every day, 340 million people speak it. One billion people __16__ (learn) it and it is said that by 2050, half of the world’s population will be using it. The language of English started in Britain in the 5th century. It is a mixed language. It was built up when German, Scandinavian (斯堪的纳维亚的) and French invaders (侵略者) settled in England and made a common language for communication.

Today, it is the __17__(office) language of the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Ireland as well as many islands in the Caribbean (加勒比海). Many __18__ countries and regions use it __19__ politics and business, for example, India, Pakistan, Nigeria and the Philippines. English is also one of the official languages of Hong Kong.

English is a messy (杂乱的) language. Every year, dictionaries include new words that talk about popular cultures, for example, computer-related words such as "blogging", "download" and