Therearenowabout376millionpeoplewhospeakEnglishastheirfirstlanguageandaboutthesamenumberwhohavelearntitinadditiontotheirmothertongue.TherearesaidtobeonemillionpeoplelearningEnglishnowandabout80%of

　　Therearenowabout376millionpeoplewhospeakEnglishastheirfirstlanguageandaboutthesamenumberwhohavelearntitinadditiontotheirmothertongue.TherearesaidtobeonemillionpeoplelearningEnglishnowandabout80%oftheinformationontheInternetisinEnglish.

　　Isthisagoodthingorabadthing?Shouldwecelebratethefactthatmoreandmoreofuscancommunicateusingacommonlanguageacrosscountriesandcultures?Orshouldweworryaboutdangersof“non-culturalism”aworldinwhichweallspeakthesamelanguageeatthesamefoodandlistentothesamemusic?

　　Doesitmatterifanincreasingnumberofpeoplespeakthesamelanguage?NotnecessarilyIhaveneveragreedthatifonlyweallunderstoodeachotherbettertherewouldbefewerwars.AskthepeopleofIndiawheremanyofthemspeakatleastsomeEnglishandPakistanthesamesituationwithIndia…

　　IfweallspeakEnglishwillwethenallstarteatingMcDonald’sburgers?Surelynot.IfEnglishbecomesmoredominant(控制)willitkillotherlanguages?Idoubtit.WhenItravelinAfricaorAsiaIamalwayssurprisedbyhowmanypeoplecanspeaknotonlytheirownlanguagebutoftenoneormoreotherrelatedlanguagesaswellasEnglishandperhapsmoreFrenchorGermanaswell.

　　WhenwediscussedthisonTalkingPointacoupleofyearsagowereceivedawonderfullypoetice-mailfromalistenerinIreland.“TheEnglishlanguageisabeautifullanguage.Maybeit’slikearose”hesaid.“Butwhowouldeverwanttheirgardenjustfullofroses?”

　　WellIloverosesandIthinktheymakeabeautifuladditiontoanygarden.ButthewayIseeitjustbyplantingafewrosesyoudon’tnecessarilyneedtopullouteverythingelse.IfmoreandmorepeoplewanttoplantEnglishrosesthat’llbefinebyme.

　　41.Bysaying“AskthepeopleofIndia…andPakistan…”(inParagraph3)theauthoristryingtoshowthat______.

　　A.speakingthesamelanguagedoesn’tnecessarilybringpeace

　　B.warscandestroytherelationshipbetweentwocountries

　　C.Englishdoesn’tkillotherlanguages

　　D.Englishiswidelyusedintheworld

　　42.Whatdoes“rose”inthelastparagraphstandfor?

　　A.Theworld B.Akindofflower C.Alanguage D.Theearth

　　43.Thispassageismainlyabout____