100 million heroes!

1 Pronunciation
The sound of Z as in armS, blaZe

Pronounce these words in pairs:

Blaze-bate, faze-fate, lends-lent, zip-tip, zeal-teal
Zebras amaze lazy zookeepers.

2 Vocabulary
1. grow up-(pv) - become an adult
2. instead of-(adv) - In place of; as an alternative to.*
3. take for granted-(pv) - assume to be true
4. point out-(pv) - Call attention to
5. chaos-(n) - Disorder and confusion.
6. expect-(v) - To think something will probably happen.
7. foreign-(adj) - From another country.*
8. foreigner-(n) - A citizen of a foreign country.
9. reckon-(v) - To count, plan or calculate.
10. assume-(v) - To act as if or believe something is true without proof or direct knowledge.
11. require-(v) - Need

3 Reading
A lot of students learning English probably think that our language has been especially designed to fool
them. For example, who decided that cow doesn't rhyme with low? Surely it was someone whose idea of
fun was laughing at foreigners as they made pronunciation mistakes. And why was through made to
rhyme with to, too, blue and shoe, which are spelled so differently from each other? Again, it seems that
someone, somewhere, had a weird sense of humor.

Also, have you noticed that the inventors of English words wanted to cause chaos
in restaurants? For example, they obviously hoped that foreign tourists would
order a bear instead of a beer, and a snake instead of a snack.

These days, with more people learning English than ever before, any
foreigner struggling with our strange and frustrating language can at least take comfort from
the fact that he or she is not alone. In fact, in addition to the 300 million native speakers
who have learned English as their first language, the number of peple using English as a
foreing language is 100 million and rising.

Perhaps you could say
surprising. You could
business and trade,
programs in English
main language of that
that the huge number of people learning English is not
point out that English is the language of international
that there are more books, movies and television
than in any other language, or that English is also the
popular invention, the internet.

But stop and think for a minute. Isn't it amazing that so many people have managed to learn English
when they grew up speaking a different language? I don't think it is something we should just take for
granted.
After all, learning a foreign language is difficult and requires hard work, which is probably why so many
native speakers of English never try to do it. Yes, let's be honest, people from English-speaking countries
are usually terrible at foreign languages. We lazily expect everyone else to understand English. Why then
aren't we grateful to the millions of foreigners who speak English so well?

I reckon it is because we still think that foreigners should be able to learn English as easily as we did
when we were kids. We probably assume that it can't be too hard for foreigners to learn a bit of grammar
and a few hundred words.

Well, most foreigners who have learned English don't know fifty thousand words, or every little detail of
grammar, but I think their achievement is still impressive.

The spread of English means that more people in different parts of the world are able to understand and
communicate with each other, which could be a very good thing. But no language can spread without
people working hard and learning to speak it, and that is why we should thank the millions of foreigners
who are learning English. These people are changing the world, even though cow still doesn't rhyme with
low.

4 Comprehension Questions

1. Why does the author suggest that through, too, blue and shoe shouldn't rhyme with each other?

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2. What do a lot of students learning English probably think about the language?

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3. Explain why it is strange that cow doesn't rhyme with low.

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4. How did the inventors of English words hope to cause chaos in restaurants?

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5. What fact can a foreigner struggling with English take comfort from?

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6. How many people in the world speak English as a foreign language?

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7. Why do some people say that's not surprising that such a large number of people are learning English?

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8. What does the author want us to think about?

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9. How good are native English speakers at foreign languages? What do they expect?

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10. Who does the author suggest native English speakers should be grateful to?

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11. What does learning a foreign language require?

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12. What do native English speakers probably assume about learning English?

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13. What does the author reckon native English speakers think about foreigners?

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14. What does the author think about the foreigners achievement?

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15. What does the author think the people learning English are doing?

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16. What does the spread of English mean?

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17. What is the author saying no language can do?

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5 Vocabulary gap-filling
1. The _______________________ came to America and could not speak any English.
2. In New York it found 62.58 % of the population of the slum to be _______________________-born,
whereas for the whole city the percentage of _______________________ers was only 43.23. - J. Riis -
The Battle with the Slum
3. He _______________________ they needed $1000 for their vacation.
4. The cake _______________________ 2 eggs.
5. I _______________________ the train would be on time, but it was late.
6. We _______________________ the plane to land in one hour.
7. Let's meet at the restaurant _______________________ the store.
8. New York is a great city to _______________________ in because there is so much to do.
9. After the war there was no government and the country was in _______________________.

6 Focus on Grammar
A Identify

Notice the difference between the sentences "Carol washed the car" and "The car was washed by Carol. "
The first sentence is about Carol; Carol is the subject and the verb is "washed", the simple past tense.
The second sentence is about the car, the car is the subject and the verb phrase is "was washed", the
passive voice in the past tense.
What is the subject of the sentence(s) below?
1. A lot of students learning English probably think that our language has been especially designed to fool
them.
2. And why was through made to rhyme with to, too, blue and shoe, which are spelled so differently
from each other?

B Practice - Sentence Writing

Write original sentences using the grammar in this exercise.

1. ________________________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________________________

4. ________________________________________________________________________________

5. ________________________________________________________________________________

7 Word Roots and Stems

A Identify

The suffix ly changes an adjective into an adverb, like slowly.

Find the word that ends with -ly in each sentence.

1. We lazily expect everyone else to understand English.

2. I reckon it is because we still think that foreigners should be able to learn English as easily as we did
when we were kids.
3. A lot of students learning English probably think that our language has been especially designed to fool
them.
4. And why was through made to rhyme with to, too, blue and shoe , which are spelled so differently
from each other?
5. For example, they obviously hoped that foreign tourists would order a bear instead of a beer, and a
snake instead of a snack.
6. Yes, let's be honest, people from English-speaking countries are usually terrible at foreign languages.

B Practice

Fill in the blanks below, just as in the models.

absolutely ____________ ________________________________________________

angrily (angry - y + i) + ly He spoke angrily to his enemies.
correctly correct + ly Answer correctly and you could win a million dollars!
easily ____________ ________________________________________________
silently ____________ ________________________________________________
softly ____________ ________________________________________________