[文化教育型阅读理解(一)](限时:25分钟)(一)ThenumberofspeakersofEnglishinShakespeare'stimeisestimatedtohavebeenaboutfivemillion
Todayitisestimatedthatsome260millionpeoplespeakitasanativelanguage,mainlyintheUnitedStates,Canada,GreatBritain,Ireland,SouthAfrica,AustraliaandNewZealand
InadditiontothestandardvarietiesofEnglishfoundintheseareas,thereareagreatmanyregionalandsocialvarietiesofthelanguageaswellasvariouslevelsofusagethatareemployedbothinitsspokenandwrittenforms
Infact,itisimpossibletoestimatethenumberofpeopleintheworldwhohaveacquiredanadequateworkingknowledgeofEnglishinadditiontotheirownlanguages
ThepurposeforEnglishlearningandthesituationsinwhichsuchlearningtakesplacearesovariedthatitisdifficulttoexplainandstillmoredifficulttojudgewhatformsanadequateworkingknowledgeforeachsituation
Themainreaso