A
Words pour into the English language all the time.New ones pop up continually in newspapers，television，radio，and recently，the World Wide Web.They are added to the tens of thousands already in existence.An educated native speaker of English—whether from the U．S.，Britain，Australia，or any country where English is the main language of communication—knows at least 30，000，which is only a part of the overall number that exist.Around 20，000 words are learnt by English native speakers by the age of 13.Ideally，students of English need this number of words in order to write or talk about the various topics they might need to discuss.
But which words should people know? This changes constantly as fresh topics become newsworthy，and produce new lexical items (words，groups of words，or words with new meanings)．Students of English need to learn these new additions to the language，and also get an explanation of what they mean.A good way to do this is to consult an online dictionary.But for people who do not have access to the World Wide Web，the lexicographers and publishers of the dictionaries have created this New Words supplement to help students with these new words.
Words come into the language in three major ways.First，they may enter English as loanwords，words taken into English from another language，or sometimes from a regional dialect or another variety of English.English has accepted words from many different languages.Second，new words can be created by word formation，when words are formed by taking existing words，or pieces of words，and putting them together to make new ones (for example，chat room or change management)．Third，new words can come from layering(分层)，when an existing word splits into more than one meaning.This results in polysemy．
1．An educated Australian probably knows ________words to communicate and show their opinions freely.
A．at least 20，000 B．less than 20，000
C．at least 5，000 D．at least 30，000
D 解析：细节理解题。由文章第一段的第四句“An educated native speaker of English—whether from the U．S.，Britain，Australia，or any country where English is the main language of communication—knows at least 30，000，which is only a part of the overall number that exist.”可知。
2．One purpose for students to consult an online dictionary is to________．
A．change words constantly
B．produce lexical items
C．learn the new words
D．find out how dictionaries are written
C 解析：细节理解题。由文章第二段第三、四句可知。
3．We can infer from Paragraph 3 that ________．
A．the English language is rather open
B．words are formed in three ways
C．most English words have just one meaning
D．chat room is a new word from layering
A 解析：推理判断题。第三段介绍了英语增添新词的三种方法，说明英语是开放的。
4．The underlined word “polysemy” refers to ________．
A．words that have more than one meaning
B．words taken into one language from another
C．words formed by taking in existing words
D．words in the online dictionaries
A 解析：词义猜测题。由第三段倒数第二句“Third，new words can come from layering(分层)，when an existing word splits into more than one meaning.”可知。
