English Around the World

    There are more than 3,000 languages ____（speak）in the world. Of all these languages, English is the most ____(wide) used. Recent ____(survey) show that more than 500 million people speak English as their mother tongue.

    From its roots in England, the language was spread around the world ____English traders and English governments in new lands. One of these new lands ____(become) the United States of America. The population of the United States is 309 million,____ (make) it the country with the ____large) number of native English speakers.

    About 300 million people speak English as their second language. There are even more people, like some in Europe as well as in China and Japan,____ study English as a foreign language.

    English has become the base language for international business, for the world's airlines and even for the Internet. Whatever language people speak, they need  ____(know) some English if they work in these fields.____ is clear that the English language is becoming more important.