Some facts about English

• There were only 30,000 words in Old English. Modern English has the largest vocabulary in the world — more than 600,000 words.

• There are about 60,000 words in common use.

• About 450-500 words are added to the English vocabulary every year.

• 70 per cent of the English vocabulary are loan words and only 30 per cent of the words are native.

• There are are words from 120 languages in English, including Russian.

• The most frequently used words in written English are: the, of, and, to, a, in, that, is, I, it, for and as.

• The most frequently used word in conversation is I.

• The longest word in the English language is: Pneumonoultamicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (a lung disease).

• The commonest letter is "e".

• More words begin with the letter "s" than any other.

• The most overworked word in English is the word set. It has 126 verbal uses and 58 noun uses.

• The newest letters added to the English alphabet are "j" and "v", which are of post- Shakespearean use.

• The largest English-language dictionary is the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary, with 21,728 pages.

• The commonest English name is Smith. There are about 800,00 people called Smith in England and Wales, and about 1,700,000 in the USA.

(from Speak Out, abridged)

HOT ISSUES

WHAT WILL OUR LIFE BE LIKE?

Can you imagine what our life will be like in the year 2050? What will our cities be like in the future? How will we live and behave? Will medical science win its battle against the terrible illnesses that mankind continues to suffer from?

If things go as researchers plan, by 2050 computers and Internet connections will be in every room in the home, and so will robots!

By 2010 most of us will be working on the move. Your office will be wherever you are. It'll be possible to have a virtual meeting instantly. Simply say to your computer "I want to have a meeting with my team at 11 o'clock" and they'll appear before your eyes on the screen of your wearable computer.

By 2025 we will have cars that drive themselves. By 2040 we could be driving on fully automated highways. Some scientists believe one day there will be flying cars, too.

Our power will come from sources cleaner than coal, oil and gas.

In the near future, progress in technology, electronics and genetic engineering will make it possible to regulate DNA. We'll become healthier and will be able to live longer.

In the next thirty years, we may all know someone who has travelled in space. Space travel is really expensive at the moment, but scientists are trying to find a solution.

"Fly me to the moon" may become a common demand, with package tours to lunar resorts.

By the end of the century we could travel to Mars as easily as we do to New York.

Mars could be the base for space exploration into the outer regions of the solar system and the Earth may even become a quieter planet