Read the following text about English as a means of international communication.

A GLOBAL LANGUAGE – English has become a global language thanks to its establishment as a mother tongue in all continents of the world. The English language mainly owes its dominant status in the world to two factors. The first is the export of the language, which began in the 17th century, with the first settlement in North America. The second was the great growth of population in the United States, which was assisted by massive immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries.

LEARNING ENGLISH ALMOST 24 HOURS A DAY – Nowadays, more and more people around the world are learning English as a second language and the way that they study it is changing. In some countries, English immersion schools have been built to create all-English environments for English learners. In these ‘English communities’, learners do all their school subjects and everyday activities, such as ordering food at the canteen, in English.

A CHANGING LANGUAGE – However, these new English speakers are not only learning the English language but they are also changing it. There are hundreds of types of English in the world today, such as ‘Singlish’, a mix of English, Malay, Mandarin, etc., or ‘Hinglish’, the Indian mix of English and Hindi. New words are being invented every day all over the world due to the free admissions of words from other languages and the easy creation of compounds and derivatives.

* What do they mean?

21. establishment (n):    ………………………………………………………………………………………………

22. dominant (a):      ………………………………………………………………………………………………

23. settlement (n):     ………………………………………………………………………………………………

24. immersion (n):     ………………………………………………………………………………………………

                                         ………………………………………………………………………………………………

25. derivatives (n):       ………………………………………………………………………………………………

26. What has given the English language dominance in the world today?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

27. What was the great growth of population the United States in the 19th and 20th century assisted by?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

28. What do English learners do in English immersion schools?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

29. What is Hinglish? 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

30. How are new English words being invented every day all over the world?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Read the following text about English as a means of international communication.

A GLOBAL LANGUAGE – English has become a global language thanks to its establishment as a mother tongue in all continents of the world. The English language mainly owes its dominant status in the world to two factors. The first is the export of the language, which began in the 17th century, with the first settlement in North America. The second was the great growth of population in the United States, which was assisted by massive immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries.

LEARNING ENGLISH ALMOST 24 HOURS A DAY – Nowadays, more and more people around the world are learning English as a second language and the way that they study it is changing. In some countries, English immersion schools have been built to create all-English environments for English learners. In these ‘English communities’, learners do all their school subjects and everyday activities, such as ordering food at the canteen, in English.

A CHANGING LANGUAGE – However, these new English speakers are not only learning the English language but they are also changing it. There are hundreds of types of English in the world today, such as ‘Singlish’, a mix of English, Malay, Mandarin, etc., or ‘Hinglish’, the Indian mix of English and Hindi. New words are being invented every day all over the world due to the free admissions of words from other languages and the easy creation of compounds and derivatives.

* What do they mean?

21. establishment (n):    ………………………………………………………………………………………………

22. dominant (a):      ………………………………………………………………………………………………

23. settlement (n):     ………………………………………………………………………………………………

24. immersion (n):     ………………………………………………………………………………………………

                                         ………………………………………………………………………………………………

25. derivatives (n):       ………………………………………………………………………………………………

26. What has given the English language dominance in the world today?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………27. What was the great growth of population the United States in the 19th and 20th century assisted by?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………28. What do English learners do in English immersion schools?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………29. What is Hinglish? 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………30. How are new English words being invented every day all over the world?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

True or False

Today,when English is one of the major languages in the world, it requires an effort of the imagination to realize that this is relatively recent thing-that in Shakespeare's time,for example,only a few million people spoke,and the language was not thought to be very important by the other nations of Europe,and was unknown to the rest of the world.

English has become a world language because of its establishment as a mother tongue outside England,in all the continents of the world. This exporting of English began in the seventeenth century,with the first settlements in the United States,assisted by massive immigration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,that has given the English language its present standing in the world.

1. English was spoken by a few million people in Shakespeare's time.......

2. It is considered as a mother language outside England.......

3. English was spoken in North America in the seventeenth century.........

4. Most of the immigration in the USA do not speak English.............

Read the text and choose the answer A, B, C or D according to the text.

Over the past 600 years, English has grown from a language of few speakers to become the dominant language of international communication. English as we know it today emerged around 1350, after having incorporated many elements of French that were introduced following the Norman invasion of 1030. Until the 1600s, English was, for the most part, spoken only in England and had not attended even as far as Wales, Scotland, or Ireland. However, during the course of the next two centuries, English began to spread around the globe as a result of exploration, trade (including slave trade), colonization, and missionary work. Thus, small enclaves of English speakers became established and grew in various parts of the world. As these communities proliferated, English gradually became the primary language of international business, banking, and diplomacy. Currently, about 80 percent of the information stored on computer systems Worldwide is in English. Two-thirds of the world’s science writing is in English, and English is the main language of technology, advertising, media, international airports, and air traffic controllers. Today there are more than 700 million English Users in the world, and over half of these are non-native speakers, constituting the largest number of non-native users than any other language in the world.

According to the passage, all of the following contributed to the spread of English around the world EXCEPT

A. the slave trade

B. the Norman invasion

C. missionaries

D. colonization

Read the text and choose the answer A, B, C or D according to the text.

Over the past 600 years, English has grown from a language of few speakers to become the dominant language of international communication. English as we know it today emerged around 1350, after having incorporated many elements of French that were introduced following the Norman invasion of 1030. Until the 1600s, English was, for the most part, spoken only in England and had not attended even as far as Wales, Scotland, or Ireland. However, during the course of the next two centuries, English began to spread around the globe as a result of exploration, trade (including slave trade), colonization, and missionary work. Thus, small enclaves of English speakers became established and grew in various parts of the world. As these communities proliferated, English gradually became the primary language of international business, banking, and diplomacy. Currently, about 80 percent of the information stored on computer systems Worldwide is in English. Two-thirds of the world’s science writing is in English, and English is the main language of technology, advertising, media, international airports, and air traffic controllers. Today there are more than 700 million English Users in the world, and over half of these are non-native speakers, constituting the largest number of non-native users than any other language in the world.

According to the passage, all of the following contributed to the spread of English around the world EXCEPT

A. the slave trade

B. the Norman invasion

C. missionaries

D. colonization

III. Read the following passage and then answer the questions below it.

In the world today there are 5,000 to 6,000 living languages, of which English is the most widely used. As a mother tongue, it ranks second only to Chinese, which is little used outside China.

English is the most international of languages. It is used as the language of aviation, international sport and pop music. Sixty percent of the world’s radio stations broadcast in English, and more than half of the world’s scientific papers are printed in English.

It is true that a great number of people are involved in the use of English. To people in Africa, Asia, and South America, English is an important foreign language to master. In most countries in the world, the English language is used as the language of business, commerce, and technology. English is now an effective medium of international communication. However, it is the written English which is not systematically phonetic, that causes difficulties to non-native speakers.

1. Which language is used as the language of aviation, international sport and pop music?

__________________________________________________

2. Why is English an important foreign language used in many countries?

__________________________________________________

3. What difficulties may learners of English be confronted with? Why?

__________________________________________________

4. Name three countries in which English is spoken as a first language.

__________________________________________________

5. As a mother tongue, why does English rank second only to Chinese?

__________________________________________________

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42.

    Over the past 600 years, English has grown from a language of few speakers to become the dominant language of international communication. English as we know it today emerged around 1350, after having incorporated many elements of French that were introduced following the Norman invasion of 1066. Until the 1600s, English was, for the most part, spoken only in England and had not extended even as far as two centuries, English began to spread around the globe as a result of exploration, trade (including slave trade), colonization, and missionary work. Thus, small enclaves of English speakers became established and grew in various parts of the world. As these communities proliferated, English gradually became the primary language of international business, banking and diplomacy.

   Currently, about 80 percent of the information stored on computer systems worldwide is English. Two thirds of the world’s science writing is in English, and English is the main language of technology, advertising, media, international airports, and air traffic controllers. Today there are more than 700 million English users in the world, and over half of these are nonnative speakers, constituting the largest number of non-native users than any other language in the world..

Question: According to the passage, all of the following contributed to the spread of English around the world _________

A. the slave trade

B. the Norman invasion

C. missionaries

D. colonization

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase for each of the blanks.

Language is considered a significant (31)_________ of communication in international relations. People in modern world have no longer been bound to their own countries. Moreover, in keeping (32)________ with speedy scientific developments nowadays, they must widen their (33)_________ relations with those highly developed nations in other parts of the world, owning to the fact that no one is able to (34)_________ with any natives in the world, it is necessary for people to choose to learn a foreign language as a word-wide common means of communication (35)______ their own mother tongue or native language. That is why English has been chosen by most people to be a foreign language to master. More and more people use English and the number of those who lean English as a foreign language has been increasing so rapidly that it has outnumbered that of any other.

Question 31

A. equipment

B. means

C. method

D. way

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase for each of the blanks.

Language is considered a significant (31)_________ of communication in international relations. People in modern world have no longer been bound to their own countries. Moreover, in keeping (32)________ with speedy scientific developments nowadays, they must widen their (33)_________ relations with those highly developed nations in other parts of the world, owning to the fact that no one is able to (34)_________ with any natives in the world, it is necessary for people to choose to learn a foreign language as a word-wide common means of communication (35)______ their own mother tongue or native language. That is why English has been chosen by most people to be a foreign language to master. More and more people use English and the number of those who lean English as a foreign language has been increasing so rapidly that it has outnumbered that of any other.

Question 33

A. cooperative

B. conflicting

C. hostile

D. diplomatic