Study the bar chart and fill the gaps in the sentences with the appropriate modifiers from the box

• More than one modifier is possible.

The 12 most spoken world languages (in millions) 836.2

1. Mandarin Chinese is spoken by... 836 million. at least

2.... 333 million speak Hindi. over

3.Spanish is spoken by... 332 million. nearly

4.The number of native English speakers is... 322 million. about

5.Bengali and Arabic are spoken by... 190 million each. more than

6.Russian is spoken by... 170 million people. around

7.Portuguese has... 160 million speakers. fewer than

8.Japanese is the native language for... 125 million.

9.Then follow German, French and Malay with...100 million speakers.

13. What will be the role of the English language in the twenty-first century? What's your opinion on the following statements? Please comment. Match the statements on the right with the correct statements on the left.

Before the middle of the twenty-first century another language besides English will become the world's main language. English will remain the world's language for international communication. The role of English in personal development will be very important. American English will be the world's standard variety of English. British English will be the dominant variety of English in the world. Many languages will die out during the next century. There will be a rise of spoken English at the expense of written English. The most popular foreign language in the future will be Chinese.

50% of the worlds periodicals are printed in English. May be it will be Chinese, because of the population of China. As far as we know Mandarin Chinese is spoken by more than 836 mln. No doubt. It develops our mind and memory. People can travel abroad. It enlarges knowledge and understanding of the world. It may be because America is the fourth largest country in the world. Why not. If a small nation dies, the language will die out too. May be. Really China is the most populated country in the world and Chinese people are everywhere.

14. Why do you study English? Speak in pairs:

First… Why? I want (’d like)

Second… to study at the university (college)

Then… to communicate with people of the world

Finally… to do business

There is no doubt… to understand films and songs in English

to get a better job

to like the language

to want to live in an English-speaking country

to travel abroad

have to study it at school

it gives a chance to meet new people