READING 1

The wonderful world of languages

There are more than 5,000 languages in the world. Some of them are spoken by very large numbers of
people – 14 languages are spoken by more than 100 million people. And some are spoken by very
small numbers of people – 300 languages have nearly disappeared, with only a few old people who
speak them. Some languages only have one speaker! Here are some more facts about the world of
languages.

1 Who speaks what?

885 million people speak Mandarin Chinese at home.
375 million people speak Hindi at home.
358 million people speak Spanish at home.
322 million people speak English at home.

2 The longest English word in the Oxford English Dictionary is

‘pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis’.

3 The shortest words in the Oxford English Dictionary are ‘I’ and ‘a’.

4 There are more than 200 artificial languages.

5 All international pilots speak English.

6 90% of e-mails are in English.

7 There are 328 different languages spoken in the USA.

8 English has more words than any other language.

9 The official languages of the United Nations are: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and
Spanish.

10 English is the official language for 1.7 billion people.

1 Read The wonderful world of languages. Mark the sentences True (T), False (F), or Doesn’t say
(?).
Example
The longest word in English has got 45 letters. T

1 English has more words than Spanish.

2 German is an official language at the United Nations.
3 260 million people speak Russian.
4 There are more natural languages than artificial languages.
5 More people speak Hindi at home than speak English at home.
6 300 languages only have one speaker.
7 14 countries have English as an official language.
8 Everybody in the USA speaks English.
9 There are exactly 5,000 languages in the world.
10 Pilots who fly from one country to another all speak English.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2 Complete the information.

1 Number of artificial languages:
2 Percentage of e-mails that are not in English:
3 Number of official UN languages:
4 Number of people who speak Spanish at home:
5 Number of languages in the USA:

1 2 3 4 5
Reading 2

1 Read the e-mail and underline A, B, or C.

Hi Maria
Do you remember me? My name’s Ben Sanders, I’m twenty-nine, and I’m British. I live in a small flat
in north London and I work as a secretary for a big computer company in central London.
I travel to work on the underground, but I often work at home.
I don’t smoke, but I drink a lot of coffee!
What else can I tell you about myself? My family live in Brighton, on the south coast of England. I
have one brother and one sister. My brother works as a waiter and my sister’s a nurse. Their names are
Harry and Liz. My parents are both teachers.
I love sport. I play football and basketball a few times a month and I watch all the best matches on TV.
My favourite food is Mexican. I’m very lucky because my brother works in a Mexican restaurant, so I
eat there when I visit my family. I study Italian in my free time because one day I want to live in Italy.
Please write and tell me about yourself.
Ben
Example
Ben lives with a friend.
A True B False C Doesn’t say
1 Ben works in London.
2 He likes his job.
3 His family don’t live in England.
4 Liz has two brothers.
5 Harry lives with his parents.
6 Ben watches sport on TV.
7 Harry’s restaurant is in London.
8 Ben is Italian.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

2 Read the e-mail again and complete the form.

Name Ben Sanders
1
Age __________
2
Occupation __________
3
Town __________
4
Smokes YES NO
5 6
Sports __________ __________
7
Favourite food __________
LISTENING 1

Listen to Mario talking to the receptionist. Answer the questions:

1. What’s his first name?

2. What’s his surname? _____________________________________________________________

3. Where is he from?________________________________________________________________

4. What does he do? ________________________________________________________________

5. How old is he? ___________________________________________________________________

6. What’s his home address? _________________________________________________________

7. What’s his postcode? _____________________________________________________________

8. What’s his email address? _________________________________________________________

9. What’s his home telephone number? ________________________________________________

10. What’s his mobile phone number? ___________________________________________________

LISTENING 2 (audio track 5)

Listen to a person talking about his job. For questions 1-7 complete the box with T (True) or F (False).

1. He likes working with other people.

2. He wears a uniform.
3. He works 8 hours a day
4. He works on Sundays.
5. He is qualified.
6. He earns lot of money.

1 2 3 4 5 6
 TRANSCRIPTS LISTENING

LISTENING 1

RECEPTIONIST: Hello. Are you a new student?

MARIO: Yes I am.
R: Sit down, then. I am just going to ask you a few questions.
M: OK.
R: Right. What’s your first name?
M: Mario.
R: What’s your surname?
M: Benedetti.
R: Benedetti. How do you spell it?
M: B-E-N-E-D-E-T-T-I.
R: B-E-N-E-D-E-T-I. Ok, where are you from?
M: I’m from Italy, from Rome.
R: Are you a student?
M: Yes, I’m.
R: And how old are you?
M: I’m 20.
R: What’s your address?
M: In Rome?
R: Yes.
M: It’s Via Foro 25.
R: What’s your postcode?
M: Sorry?
R: Is there a postcode? You know a number
M: Ah, yes. It’s Rome 00132
R: 00132, great. What’s your email address?
M: It’s mario.beneditti@hotmail.com
R: And what’s your phone number?
M: My mobile number or my home number in Rome?
R: Both, home and mobile
M: My phone number in Rome is 068405517.
R: 068405517.
M: Yes, and my mobile number is 3482267341
R: 3482267341.That’s great. Thank you Mario. Now come and meet the director of studies we
need to give you a test.

LISTENING 2

Listen to a person talking about his job. For questions 6–10 complete the form.
Well, I work at Highlights, the hairdresser’s and I started here about two years ago. I enjoy my job. I like
working with other people, I like being creative – I love making people look better. I don’t wear a uniform to
work – that’s another advantage. I work every morning and afternoon. It’s an eight-hour day, starting at half
past nine. I don’t usually get a lunch break. I’m free in the evenings, but of course I work on Saturdays –
that’s our busiest day. We’re closed on Sundays. I am qualified: I’ve got five GCSEs and an NVQ in
hairdressing, but I don’t earn much money.

KEY

READING 1

1.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
T F D T F F F D F T
2.

1 2 3 4 5
More than 200 10% 6 358 millions 328

READING 2

1.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
T D F F D T F F
2.

1 29 years old
2 A secretary
3 London
4 No
5 Football
6 Basketball
7 Mexican

LISTENING 1

1. His first name is Mario.

2. His surname is Benedetti.
3. He‘s from Italy, from Rome.
4. He’s a student.
5. He’s 20.
6. His address is Via Foro 25.
7. His postcode is Rome00132.
8. His email address is mario.benedetti@hotmail.com
9. His number is Rome is 068405517
10. His mobile number 3482267341

LISTENING 2

1 2 3 4 5 6
T F T F T F