Reading
5
10
15
20
25
30
8
1
a. Do you ever need to surf the Internet for study/
work purposes? Which language do you tend to
use?
b. Look at the following sentences and decide
whether you think they are true or false.
1
Approximately 75% of web pages on the Internet
are in English.
2
5% of the world’s population speak English well.
3
Chinese languages are more widely spoken than
English.
4
Most people prefer to use English when shopping
online.
2
Read the article and choose the most suitable
sentence (A-G) for each gap (1-6). There is one extra
sentence which is not needed. Which words helped
you decide?
Read the text through and think of what kind of
information is missing.
Read the list of missing sentences. Cross out the
one used in the example.
Fit the sentences into the gaps.
Remember to look for clues such as reference
words (it, that, he)
Check your answers and read the text through to
see if it makes sense. Remember that there is one
sentence you do not need to use.
STRATEGY POINT
Now read quickly through lines 10-25 of the article
to check your answers.
As both Asian and European markets use the Internet more
and more to conduct business, there will be an increasing
need for more language choices for the different markets.
What do you think is the world’s most widely spoken
language? Most people are under the impression that it is
English as this is the language that is used most frequently on
the Internet. If this were true, it would, of course, bring
enormous benefits for both worldwide communications and
understanding, although it could also become a threat to
cultural diversity. And English certainly does seem to be
everywhere, from films to pop music and TV, and from
business to science and other fields.
It comes as quite a surprise then that even though around
75% of the pages on the Web are in English, this is the
mother tongue of only 5% of the world’s population.
This means that a relatively small number of the
world’s population could communicate well in English. Also,
the numbers of people who can speak English is nowhere
near as high as it is for other languages such as Chinese or
Spanish.
So with more and more people accessing the Internet
nowadays, including many businesses wanting to conduct e-
business, the position of English is beginning to change.
As businesses in these regions increase their use of
the Internet it has become apparent to many of them that
people would rather buy things online if they can order in
their own language. It has also been pointed out that many
people see the use of English as a threat to cultural diversity.
As a result, companies wanting to reach world markets are
now beginning to realise they will have to translate their
websites for their various customers. However, creating a
multilingual website is not an easy task. Companies wishing
to translate their sites for different markets face both
2
1
c. In pairs, look at the title of the article and the
introduction to the text. Discuss what you think
the text might be about.
A
They may also have to change their way of doing
business to suit certain customers.
B
The reason for this is that, quite simply, the quality is
not good enough for professional use.
C
One reason for this is that both Europe and Asia have
become growth areas for the Web.
D
But one thing which is certain is that a growth in the
use of the Internet is
guaranteed
.
E
They are more likely to have the flexibility to be able
to adapt quickly to changes.
F
What is more, the number of
proficient
speakers of
the language is only slightly higher.
G
Most companies cannot afford to translate their sites
into English.
