English isnt the most spoken language in the world in terms of the number of

native speakers there are many more Chinese speakers than native English
speakers but Chinese is spoken little outside of Chinese communities, so English is
the most widespread language in the world. Its difcult to estimate eactly how
many English speakers there are, but according to one estimate there are more than
!"# million native English speakers and more than $## million speakers of English as
a second language %a language used in everyday life, but it is not the native
language& or foreign language %a language studied but not used much in everyday
life&.
'owever, the importance of English is not (ust in how many people speak it
but in what it is used for. English is the ma(or language of news and information in
the world %three )uarters of all tele messages and telegrams are sent in English,
*#+ of computer data is processed and stored in English, much satellite
communication is in English, more than half of the newspapers published in the
world are published in English&. Its the language of international business,
diplomacy, ,cience and the professions. It is the language that an Iranian
businessman and a -apanese businessman are probable to use to communicate.
English is also the language of many international organi.ations, its fre)uently the
language of international conferences, and it is the language of international
athletics. It is the language of maritime communication and international air trafc
control, and it is used even for internal air trafc control in countries where its not a
native language. Its the most important language for international travel much of
the information countries give about themselves outside their borders is in English,
it is spoken in large hotels and tourist attractions, at airports, and in shops that
tourists fre)uent. Even in countries where few people speak English on the street,
people who work with tourists generally speak English.
/opular culture has played an important part in spreading English. 0merican
and 1ritish popular music is listened all over the world. 0merican 2lms are watched
in almost every country. 1ooks in English are available even in countries where few
people actually use English. 3ne reason that students give for learning English is to
understand these songs, movies and books.
0. 0re the sentences true %4& or false %5&6 Correct the false ones.
7. English is the ofcial language of around 8"# million people.
9. 4here are more people speaking English than :andarin Chinese.
!. ;ess than "#+ of the worlds newspapers are published in English.
$. 1usinessmen from di<erent countries use English to communicate with each
other.

". /opular culture hasnt helped to epand the English language in the world.
1. 0nswer the )uestions.
7. 0ccording to the tet, why are students usually interested in studying English6