Thenumber of speakers of English in Shakespeare′s time is estima

Thenumber of speakers of English in Shakespeare′s time is estimated to have beenabout five million.Today it is estimated that some 260 million people speak itas a(an)21?language,mainlyin the United States,Canada,Great Britain,Ireland,South Africa,Australiaand New Zealand.In addition to the standard varieties of English found inthese areas,22?are a greatmany regional and social varieties of the language as well as?23?levels of usage that are employedboth in its spoken and written forms. In fact,it is?24?to estimate the numberof people in the world who have acquired an adequate working knowledge ofEnglish in addition to their own languages.The?25?for English learningand the situations in which such learning takes place are so varied that itis 26 to explain and still moredifficult to judge?27?forms an adequateworking knowledge for each situation. The main reason forthe widespread?28?for English is its present dayimportance as a world language.Besides 29 the indefinite needs of its nativespeakers,English is a language in which some of important works inscience,technology,and other?30 are beingproduced,and not always by native speakers.It is widely used for 31 purposes as meteorological(气象的)and airport communications,international conferences,and the?32?of information over the radio andtelevision networks of many?33.It is a language of widercommunication for a number of developing countries,specially former Britishcolonies.Many of these countries have multilingual?34.and need a language for internalcommunication in such matters as government,commerce,industry,,law and 35 as well as for internationalcommunication and for entrance to the scientific and techno-logicaldevelopments in the West. 第30题答案是（ ）
A、areas
B、courses
C、races
D、fields
【正确答案】：D
【题目解析】：在第30题的语境中，句子表达的是“English is a language in which some of important works in science, technology, and other ___ are being produced”，这里的关键词是“works”，它通常用来指代在某个领域或方面的作品或成就。因此，我们需要找到一个能够与“works”搭配，且符合上下文的选项。 A选项“areas”表示区域或范围，通常不与“works”直接搭配，更多是用来描述某个领域或主题的范围，所以不适合。 B选项“courses”表示课程或路线，也不符合上下文中“works”的语境。 C选项“races”表示种族或竞赛，与“works”的意思相去甚远，显然不是正确答案。 D选项“fields”表示领域或方面，与“works”搭配得当，且符合上下文中描述英语在科学、技术等领域中的作品或成就的语境。 因此，正确答案是D，“fields”。