Questions 16~20 At the beginning of 1613, about two hundred Polish soldiers arrived at a little Russian village. They lost their way in the thick forest and asked for a man to show them the way to town. But no one wanted to help them.
"You will have to go through that forest," said an old man. "The road is on the other side." "Show us the way," cried the enemy officer," or we'll kill every one in the village!"
"I'm old," said the old man. "I may be not able to walk so far."
But to himself he said, "I'll have to show them the way, but if I lead them into the thickest part of the forest, they will die there and I'll help to save my country."
The old man went in front, and two hundred soldiers followed him. For many hours they moved on through the forest.
"Where is the road?" they cried. "We must be near the road by now."
"I'm old," answered the old man. "Perhaps I have lost my way."
"He wants money and give him some gold," said the soldiers. "But if he doesn't show us the way we will kill him."
"We'll soon be on the road now," said the old man when he got the money. "And you will be able to go to the town."
But the trees closed round them and it became darker and darker though it was still the middle of the day. It was even harder to walk on in the heavy snow.
"This cannot be the road," the men said to one another, but they could do nothing but follow those in front.
"So," said the old man when they stopped, "you can neither go farther not turn back. You will be here and you will die here. I will never turn against my country for your gold."
16. The story happened _________.
(A) in Russia
(B) in a city
(C) in Poland
(D) in the soldiers' hometown
17. The soldiers couldn't get to the town ______________.
(A) because the old man was too old to walk
(B) they lost their way in the thick forest
(C) they killed every one in the village
(D) they had to go through that forest
18. At last all the soldiers _____________.
(A) died in the forest
(B) moved on through the forest
(C) followed those in front
(D) turned back to the village
19. It became darker and darker because ______________.
(A) it was going to rain
(B) the trees were thicker and thicker
(C) it was very late
(D) it was not the middle of the day
20. The old man _______.
(A) turned against his country by getting gold
(B) helped to save his country
(C) killed all the soldiers
(D) showed the soldiers back to town
Questions 21~25
There are thousands of different languages in the world. Everyone seems to think that his native language is the most important one, as it is their first language. For many people it is even their only language all their lives. But English is the world's most widely used language.
As a native language, English is spoken by nearly three hundred million people, in the U.S.A.,England,Australia and some other countries.
For people in India and many other countries, English is often necessary for business, education and other activities. So English is the second language there.
As a foreign language,no other language is more widely studied or used than English. We used it to listen to the radio,to read books or to travel. It is also one of the working languages in the United Nations and is more used than the others.