阅读下面短文,在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。 English is now the first language of about 400 million people, the mother language of 12 countries and the official language of one-fifth of the land area of the world, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} means one {#blank#}2{#/blank#} every seven people in the world speaks English.
More and more people have found it important {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (learn) English well in recent years. In Italy, for example, English is a must for many technical jobs. In China, English is the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (important) foreign language that is learned at school.
The English language has never stopped changing. It always borrows words and phrases from other cultures to enlarge {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (it) vocabulary. {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (actual), modern English is quite different from what {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (use) hundreds of years ago.
English is so widely used that it has become the standard language for {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (communicate) internationally. About 75% of the world's mail {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (be) in English. About 60% of the world's telephone calls are made in English and about 60% of the world's radio programs are broadcast in English. What's more, over half of the world's books and magazines are written in English. In {#blank#}10{#/blank#} word, English is now the world's first language.