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.

    There has been a recent trend in the food service industry toward lower fat content and less salt．This trend，which was started by the medical community（医学界）{#blank#}1{#/blank#} a method of fighting heart disease，has had some unintended side{#blank#}2{#/blank#}（effect） such as overweight and heart disease---the very thing the medical community was trying to fight．

    Fat and salt are very important parts of a diet．They are required{#blank#}3{#/blank#}（process） the food that we eat，to recover from injury and for several other bodily functions．When fat and salt {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（remove） from food，the food tastes as if it is missing something．As{#blank#}5{#/blank#}result，people will eat more food to try to make up for that something missing．Even {#blank#}6{#/blank#}（bad），the amount of fast food that people eat goes up．Fast food{#blank#}7{#/blank#}（be） full of fat and salt； by {#blank#}8{#/blank#} （ eat） more fast food people will get more salt and fat than they need in their diet．

    Having enough fat and salt in your meals will reduce the urge to snack（吃点心） between meals and will improve the taste of your food．However，be {#blank#}9{#/blank#} （care） not to go to extremes．Like anything，it is possible to have too much of both，{#blank#}10{#/blank#} is not good for the health．

    A 14-year-old Chinese boy overcame two of humankind's most dreaded fears—getting stuck in an elevator and getting homework {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(do) in a single night, owing to his calm-witted character.

    Sun Yixiao was on his way up on Tuesday evening after school {#blank#}2{#/blank#}the lift suddenly came to a stop. A moment of panic followed before the {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(teenage) could find a way out.

    Sun said he tried to open the elevator door, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(press) all the buttons in the hope to get the elevator to work again, but it didn't work.

    Without a cell phone at hand, Sun tried yelling to get attention of people outside, but no one responded as time passed by. He slipped a note through the door {#blank#}5{#/blank#}the message "people stuck inside, please ask the property management for help," and hoped someone {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(pick) it up and act on it.

    After exhausting all his options without knowing how long {#blank#}7{#/blank#}would take before someone found him, he took out his textbooks and started to do his homework {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(patient).

    Soon after he finished his duties, Sun heard loud {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(voice) outside. A large crowd including his teachers and other parents had come to the rescue, by which time he {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(trap) in the elevator for over five hours.