English Around the World

    There are more than 3,000 languages {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（speak）in the world. Of all these languages, English is the most {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(wide) used. Recent {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(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 {#blank#}4{#/blank#}English traders and English governments in new lands. One of these new lands {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(become) the United States of America. The population of the United States is 309 million,{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (make) it the country with the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}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,{#blank#}8{#/blank#} 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  {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(know) some English if they work in these fields.{#blank#}10{#/blank#} is clear that the English language is becoming more important.

    On September 11, 2001, Omar Eduardo Rivera, a blind computer technician (技术员), was working on the 71st floor of the World Trade Center with his guide dog {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (name) Dorado. When the hijacked (被劫持的) plane hit the tower, Rivera knew {#blank#}2{#/blank#} would take him a long time to escape from the building, but he wanted his lovely dog to have a chance {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (get) out so he set him free in the crowded stairwell. "I thought I was lost forever—the noise and the heat were {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (terrify) —but I had to give him the chance of escape. So I touched his head, gave him a push and ordered him to go," Rivera said.

    The dog {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (immediate) disappeared into the crowd, but a few {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (minute) later Rivera felt the dog feeling his legs. Dorado came right back to his side and a co-worker {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (bring) by him as well. Then Dorado and the selfless co-worker {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (help) Rivera climb down 70 flights of stairs, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} took nearly an hour. No sooner had they escaped from the building {#blank#}10{#/blank#} it fell down completely, and Rivera says he owes his life to his faithful dog.

    According to an announcement by Sergey Kravtsov, Russian vice minister of education and science, Sputnik news reported, Russia's national college entrance exam will include Mandarin as {#blank#}1{#/blank#}elective foreign language starting from 2019. Chinese will become the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (five) elective test item for the Unified State Exam in addition to English, German, French and Spanish.

    The number of Chinese learners in Russia {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (rise) quickly in the past decade, according to a survey {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (carry) out by a linguistic research center in Russia. Approaches {#blank#}5{#/blank#}learning Chinese vary from person to person, with more and more people {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(choose) university courses in Russia.

    The three-hour-long Chinese test will quiz students on {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (they) listening, reading, and writing abilities and a fourth section will examine students on grammar, vocabulary and Chinese {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (character). Some parts in the exam are even a little bit difficult for native Chinese speakers. Insiders from the Russia education industry confirmed those {#blank#}9{#/blank#}are with relevant professional background and Mandarin proficiency(精通) are more competitive in job application.

    According to the Office of Chinese Language Council International, some 100 million people, excluding native speakers, use Chinese {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (global).

    One Sunday morning in August I went to a local music festival. I left it early because I had an appointment{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(late) that day. My friends walked me to the bus stop and waited with me{#blank#}2{#/blank#} the bus arrived. I got on the bus and found a seat near the back，and then I noticed a man{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(sit) at the front. He {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(pretend) that a tiger toy was real and giving it a voice. He must be{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(mental) disabled.

    Behind him were other people to {#blank#}6{#/blank#} he was trying to talk，but after some minutes {#blank#}7{#/blank#} walked away and sat near me，looking annoyed.

    I didn't want to be laughed at for talking to him but I didn't like leaving him {#blank#}8{#/blank#} his own either.

    After a while I rose from my seat and walked to the front of the bus. I sat next to the man and introduced myself. We had {#blank#}9{#/blank#} amazing conversation. He got off the bus before me and I felt very happy the rest of the way home.

    I'm glad I made the choice. It made {#blank#}10{#/blank#} of us feel good.

Yangshuo, China

    It was raining lightly when I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (arrive) in Yangshuo just before dawn. But I didn't care. A few hours {#blank#}2{#/blank#} I'd been at home in Hong Kong, with {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (it) choking smog. Here, the air was clean and fresh, even with the rain.

    I'd skipped nearby Guilin, a dream place for tourists seeking the limestone mountain tops and dark waters of the Li River {#blank#}4{#/blank#} are pictured by artists in so many Chinese {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (painting). Instead, I'd headed straight for Yangshuo. For those who fly to Guilin, it's only an hour away {#blank#}6{#/blank#} car and offers all the scenery of the better known city.

    Yangshuo {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (be) really beautiful. A study of travelers {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (conduct) by the website Trip Advisor names Yangshuo as one of the top 10 destinations in the world. And the town is fast becoming a popular weekend destination for people in Asia. Abercrombie &.Kent, a travel company in Hong Kong, says it {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (regular) arranges quick getaways here for people {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(live) in Shanghai and Hong Kong.