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

According to the passage, approximately how many non-native users of English are there in the world today?

Câu hỏi liên quan

• Why did people name Cambridge the “city of Cambridge”?

• The word “them” in the second paragraph refers to ________.

• According to the passage, approximately how many non-native users of English are there in the world today?

ZUNIA12

• Why was painting inside the Lascaux complex a difficult task?

• How many orchid seeds are typically pollinated at one time?

• It can be inferred from the passage that the principal cause of California’s population surge between 1940 and 1950 was ..........

• Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word “tuck”?

• What does the word "trilogy" in the first paragraph mean?

• The author of this passage is most likely __________________ .

• The word “these” I the first paragraph refers to .............

• The word “Conversely” is OPPOSITE meaning to ...............

• According to the passage, the depression of the 1930's caused which of the following?

• The author states that the reason that infants need to avoid certain foods related to allergies has to do with the infant's ___________ .

• We sometimes think of writing as more real than speech because ..............

• The word “they” in line 17 refers to ......

• Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as full-time university students?

• What is the purpose of the passage?

• The “labellum” (line 7) is most comparable to .........

• The passage implies that Melville stayed in Tahiti because ...........

• The word "them" refers to __________