Read a text about the French language. Six sentences have been removed from the text.

Choose from the

sentences A to G the one which fits each gap (21 to 26). There is one extra sentence which you do not need
to use.

1 The French people are a proud bunch. This is especially true when we talk about the French language.
So it must have been hard for them to take a backseat and watch English become the lingua franca of
the 21 st century. But revenge could be on the horizon. The language beloved by Parisian poets, Russian
aristocrats, and pretentious students is set to take back its title when it becomes the world's most
commonly spoken language by the year 2050, according to a study by an international bank.
2 French is currently ranked sixth among world languages, after Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish,
Hindi,
and Arabic. 21________________. The study reports that French will be spoken by 750 million in 2050,
up from 220 million today.
3 Is this possible? Well, it could be. English, today, enjoys an unrivalled global popularity due to its lingua
franca status. Mandarin, on the other hand, has long been regarded as the language of the future. This is
due to the size of China's population and its growing economic status. 22 __________________.
French-speaking populations are growing faster than English- and Mandarin-speaking ones.
4 Besides France and its best-known former colonies, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria, French is spoken in
28 other countries. These countries happen to be some of world's fastest-growing nations. For instance,
in Africa, French is the official schooling language of countries with increasingly high fertility rates like
Mali in the north, and Guinea, Chad, and Democratic Republic of Congo in the sub-Saharan region. A
demographic boom in these African countries could bump the world's percentage of French speakers
from 3% today to 8% by 2050. 23_______________________. This could lead to an expected decline in
the number of English speakers — from 8% to 3% of the world's population. Similarly, for Mandarin, a
drop from 10% to 8% is anticipated.
5 While this sounds like cause for celebration for Francophiles who might cringe at the notion of studying
Mandarin, it's not time to celebrate quite yet. 24___________________. The study labels all the citizens
of the countries where French is the official language as "French speakers," which is not strictly true.
Countries like Belgium, for example, have more than one official language. In some other African
countries, the tongue of the former colonial power is losing ground. 25___________________________.
6 "The number of people who speak French continues to increase. The projections are indeed impressive.
However, they do not take into account the coexistence of languages, which is the reality in many
countries," says Alexandre Wolff from the Observatory of the French Language.
26________________________. Although it might be a good time to dust off your old French
phrasebook, don't say adieu to those Mandarin lessons just yet.
(Adapted from USA Today, 2014)
A But is gaining its speakers quickly.
B French, however, has a demographic advantage.
C Some sceptics think the predictions are overstated.
D By the middle of this century, up to half a billion people could be speaking
French.
E Even in Algeria, a country in Africa, only a third of the population can write in
French.
F Meanwhile, China and many English-speaking countries are likely to
experience a demographic slowdown.
G So while French is on the rise, it may be a while before it can challenge the
hegemony of English or, the growing appeal of Mandarin Chinese.