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 off 1066. Until the 1600s, English was, for the most part, spoken only in England and had not expanded even as far as Wales, Scotland, or Ireland. However, during the course of the next two century, 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 airport, 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.

In the first paragraph, the word "emerged" is closest in meaning to ...........

Câu hỏi liên quan

• The first paragraph of the passage implies that insects benefit from the color-coded communication system because __________

• What is the passage primarily about?

• The word "others" in paragraph 3 refers to ................

ZUNIA12

• The phrase "two decades" in line 1 refers to a period of ...........

• According to the passage, which of the following factors might spoil the tourists’ fun at Mediterranean resorts and beaches?

• What can be the best title of the reading passage?

• The word "succeeding" is closest to ______.

• The word "means" in the passage most closely means ........

• The word “bounds” in line 5 is closest in meaning to ......

• The word "adjoining" in bold in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to .............

• In the first paragraph, Bradstreet, Warren, and Adams are mentioned to show that ...........

• Which of the following threatens the countryside in Britain?

•  In line 3, the words pays heed to are closest in meaning to ………………...

• The word "it" in paragraph 7 refers to ______.

• What do pads help the players to protect?

• According to the reading passage, why did Joseph Pulitzer invent the Pulitzer Prize?

• The first songs of the Beatles were ................

• The author’s purpose of writing this passage is to_______.

• Which of the following is NOT true?

• What does the author mean by staring that, "At interpersonal levels, tone may reflect ideas and feelings over and above the words chosen" ?