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97 % Населения мира предпочитают английский язык для международного общения

В последнем издании справочника ООН были опубликованы данные о том, на каком языке, по мнению стран-членов Организации объединенных наций, должна быть написана вся корреспонденция, поступающая в их миссии в Нью-Йорке. Из трех предложенных языков – французского, английского и испанского – подавляющее большинство (120 стран) выбрали английский, около 40 государств предпочло французский и всего порядка 20 – испанский.

Английский предпочитают большинство европейцев, за исключением франкоговорящих Бельгии, Люксембурга, а также Румынии и Албании; арабские государства, кроме Ливана, Туниса, Марокко и Алжира; все португалоговорящие страны, включая Бразилию, а также Россия и все бывшие советские республики. Английский выбрали также Индия, Китай и даже традиционно франкоговорящий Вьетнам. Все это, по мнению специалистов, ставит под угрозу существование французского языка как второго языка международной дипломатии.

Таким образом, исходя из данных ООН, в пересчете на население государств, 97 % населения мира (или, по крайней мере, его образованной части) считает английский основным языком для контактов в рамках международного сообщества.

Text 8 the language of business

(Upper-intermediate)

I. Pre-reading task

Learn the following words.

lure to (v) promote (v)

massacre (v) curse (n) brutalize (v)

II. Read the text and write questions for these answers.

a) 80% What proportion of information stored in the world's computers is in English?

b)Three-quarters ______________________________________________

c)45% ______________________________________________________

d)60% ______________________________________________________

e)£1billion ___________________________________________________

f)Over 800mln ________________________________________________

g) Over one billion ____________________________________________

h) Over 1,000 _________________________________________________

i) 13,000 ____________________________________________________

Here is a firm prediction for the year ahead. The impossible English language will be massacred, struggled with, cursed and brutalised by more students next year than ever before. It is the lingua franca of business to an extent not imaginable even a decade ago. Three-quarters, of the world's mail, telexes and cables are in English; English is the medium of 80% of all information stored in the world's computers; 45% of scientific publications are in English. And each of these figures is growing.

English is now the official language of a number of international companies. Unilever, Philips, Olivetti and France's Total require English of their middle and top level managers. IVECO, an Italian truck maker, and Cap Gemini Sogeti, one of Europe's largest soft-ware producers, both use English as their house language.

The EFTA organisation has English as its official language despite the fact that none of its six member countries uses it as a native language. The EC, by contrast, so complicates its affairs by using all nine official languages that 60% of its administrative budget goes on translation and interpretation, despite the fact that most of its staff speak English or French.

The teaching of English as a foreign language is a major (£1 billion) business in Britain; it is as large as that again in continental Europe and twice as large in both America and Asia. It is growing by 10% a year. Over 800mln people now speak English worldwide - one-fifth of the world's population. By 2000 the number will have climbed to over one billion.

The first foreign language the Japanese learn is English. Every Japanese child who finishes secondary school will have had an average of eight years of English language instruction for a total of over 1,000 hours. There are over 700 English language training schools in Tokyo alone; as many as there are in all of England. A further 13,000 Japanese students undertake courses, many of which emphasise language as well as technical skills, in America. Managers in Japanese firms are sometimes promoted for their English rather than for their business skills. The shortage of Japanese managers able to speak other European languages is far greater; this is a major factor in luring Japanese firms to Britain rather than anywhere else in the EC.

(From The Economist)

III. Comprehension check

Choose the statements which reflect the writer’s point of view.

a) Learners have difficulty learning English __

b) The EC could save money on translation and interpretation __

  1. In Japan English is rated less highly than business skills

  2. More Japanese speak English than other European languages: this is good for British business __

IV. Vocabulary focus. Idioms: rule