Read the two paragraphs below and fill each blank with a suitable word from the box.
| status global speech change second tongue settlers operate openness flexibility expansion simplicity |
English is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is the first language, or mother (19) ……………………of around 400 million people living in Britain, Ireland, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa, and it is spoken as a (20) ……………………language by millions more. English is learned by many more people worldwide as a foreign language. English has become a(n) (21) ……………………language, or international language, used by people who speak different native languages to communicate with each other. English has achieved the (22) ……………………of a world language over a long period of time, and for various historical and cultural reasons. In the 17th century English was spread by (23) ……………………going from Britain to America, and in the 18th and 19th centuries by the (24) ……………………of the British Empire.
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English is the language which has the largest vocabulary, with approximately 500,000 words and 300,000 technical terms. One of the basic characteristics of English is the (25) ……………………of form. Many English words have been simplified over centuries. Many English words do not (26) …………………… according to parts of speech. Another basic characteristic of English is the (27) ……………………. English has become a flexible language in which the same word can (28) ……………………as many parts of (29) ……………………. The (30) ……………………of vocabulary is another basic characteristic of English. English has many borrowed words, derivatives, and compounds.
