当代应用研究生英语读写教程上Unit4课文+翻译.docVIP

Unit 4 THE FUTURE OF ENGLISH 01 In the middle of the sixteenth century, English was spoken by between four and five millions of people, and stood fifth among the European languages, with French, German, Italian, and Spanish ahead of it in that order, and Russian following. Two hundred years later, Italian had dropped behind but Russian had gone ahead, so that English was still in fifth place. By the end of the Eighteenth Century English began to move forward, and by the middle of the nineteenth it had forced its way into first place. Today it is so far in the lead that it is probably spoken