I.

Read the following text very carefully.

ENGLISH: YOUR KEY TO SUCCESS

1

What difference does speaking English make to your future? Bob Geldof is the Irish
rock singer who started Band Aid. In his autobiography Is That It? he tells how he got
a job in Spain teaching English. The only required qualification in that private language
school was that the teacher should not be able to speak Spanish!

In Eastern Europe at the moment many people who study English after they leave
school find themselves offered very well paid jobs in industry. English has become
essential for marketing, selling, international import and export, and for travelling and
negotiating internationally. Normally, being able to speak and write English well is a
great help to you in obtaining a job and in getting promoted within your work. As a

10 result English gives you success earlier. Understanding English will develop the
English part of your life and give you advantages in jobs and careers.
In qualifications, more and more schools, colleges and universities in many
countries are conducting whole courses in the medium of English, are providing all the
reading material in English and are expecting students written work to be in English.
15 To support this growing trend, these schools are requiring higher and higher standards
of English in the students they accept for these courses.
According to the Welsh linguist David Crystal, there are about 400 million people
who speak English as their first language around the world. Two out of three of those
people are speakers of American English. Apart from countries like Britain, Canada,
20 Australia and the United States, there are about 70 countries, including Nigeria,
Singapore and India, where English is an official language, but not the first language.
There are approximately 500 million people in those countries who can speak English.
There are also people who speak English as a foreign language, because they
learn English at school. It is estimated that there are about 1 billion people learning
25 English. That means the total number of people who speak English is about 1.5 billion,
more than 25 per cent of the worlds population.
Sure; Class out (abridged)

A. Are the following statements true or false? Quote from the text to correct the
false ones.
1. Bob Geldof was fluent in Spanish.
2. In Eastern Europe, people who speak English can get higher salaries.
3. Internationally, English is used for various reasons.

4. British English is more widely spoken than

American English.
B. What do the following words or expressions refer to?
1. his (line 2)
2. they (line 5)
3. those people (line 18, 19)
4. who (line 22)
5. they (line 23)
C. Find synonyms for the following words or expressions.
1. needed
2. getting
3. supplying
4. increasing
5. a general tendency or inclination

D. Answer the following questions according to the text and your own
knowledge.
1. What do people use English for?
2. How important is English to get qualifications?
3. Why is English the most widespread of the worlds languages? Give two
reasons.
II.
E. Complete the text with the words from the box.
stored
international

control
English
conferences
speakers
scientists
communicate
purposes
main

What people use English for

English is used for different _1_. Nowadays, it is the _2_ language of books,
newspapers, airports and air-traffic _3_, international business and academic _4_,
science, technology, diplomacy, sport, _5_ competitions, pop music and advertising.
Over two-thirds of the worlds _6_ read in English. Three quarters of the worlds mail
is written in _7_. Eighty per cent of the worlds electronically _8_ information is in
English. Of the estimated forty million users of the Internet, some eighty per cent _9_ in
English, but this is expected to decrease to forty per cent as _10_ of other languages
get online.

F. Complete the following texts with the correct form of the verbs given.
A: How long _1_ (you/work) there?
B: For three years. I _2_ (leave) last year.
A: _3_ (you/meet) Sarah?
B: Oh, yes, I _4_ (know) her for several months. She _5_ (be) in my dance
class. We _6_ (go) to the same class every Tuesday since January.
A: _7_ (the phone/ring)?
B: Yes, but I _8_ (cook) dinner, so I _9_ (not/answer) it.

A: Why didnt you give him the news?

B: By the time I found out, he
(already/leave).

_10_

G. Rephrase the following sentences, beginning them as suggested.

1. I dont speak English. I cant get the job.
If
2. You will get a higher salary if you speak English.
Unless
3. He didnt go to the interview. He missed the opportunity to work for a big
multinational company.
If
4. You need to practice every day for your English to get better and better.
If
5. Bob Geldof was a native English speaker. He got the job as an English
teacher.
If
III.
H. Write about
statements.

120-140

words

on

ONE

of

these

a) English is the key to a successful future.

b) If youre able to speak English fluently, you will have
the world in your hands.