Read the passage and fill in the blanks with the suitable words.

The English language is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is usedas either first or second language .................... (1) many countries.

During the 16^th century, only about two million people spoke English. All .................... (2) them lived in what is now the United Kingdom. Over the centuries,as a result of various historical events, English has spread throughout .................... (3)world. Today, about 400 million people speak English as their native .................... (4). Most of them live in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, NewZealand, South Africa, .................... (5) the Unites States.

About 100 million people, chiefly living in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and inmany African .................... (6), speak English in addition to their own language. Anadditional 200 million people in the world probably know .................... (7) leastsome English. English is really an international language.