Read the following passage then choose the best answer to each question below.
The first language you learn to speak is called your native language. As a baby, you listened to
your parents or other people speaking and then imitated the sounds you heard. Babies seem to
be born with an ability to learn the language they hear.
Native speakers learn as children to use the right words and arrange them in the right order
without even thinking about it. If English is your native language, you know automatically that “I
going bed” is wrong, but “I am going to bed” is right. If you learn a second language, you have to
memorize its words and learn its rules. That’s why learning a second language can be difficult.
Young children can learn a new language very easily. If they are surrounded by people speaking
a different language, they soon learn to speak it as well as their native language. But as people
grow older, it becomes more difficult to learn new languages. People gradually lose the ability to
learn the grammar and pronounce the sounds of another language. People who learn a new
language as adults usually have a “foreign accent” when they speak it.
Question 20. According to the passage, a native language is _____.
A. a new different language you learn to speak
B. a language you learn to speak as an adult
C. the language you speak with a “foreign accent”
D. the first language you learn to speak
Question 21. The word “them” in paragraph 2 refers to _____.
A. native speakers
B. right words
C. babies
D. children
Question 22. Learning a second language can be difficult because _____.
A. you are surrounded by people speaking a different language
B. you must have a “foreign accent” when you speak it
C. you must remember its vocabulary and learn its grammars
D. few are born with an ability to learn the language you hear
Question 23. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Babies seem to have an ability to learn the language they hear.
B. Young children have considerable difficulty learning a new language.
C. It becomes more difficult to learn a new language a when people grow older.
D. Gradually, people aren't able to learn the grammar of a new language.
Question 24. What can be the best title of the passage?
A. Why Grammar is Important
B. Difficulties in Learning English
C. The Importance of the First Language
D. How We Learn a Language
