申論題

IV. Essay writing 40% Directions: Is English truly a universal language, or will it be at some time in the near future?vWrite a well-organized essay of approximately 250 words in response to the question. Read the following passage from the article “English as a Universal language,” and see if you agree with the author’s opinion. Give reasons and examples to support your argument. “English is becoming the world’s first truly universal language. It is the native language of some 400 million people in 12 countries. That is a lot fewer than the 885 million people or so who speak Mandarin Chinese. But another 400 million speak English as a second language. And several hundred million more have some knowledge of English, which has official or semiofficial status in some 60 countries. Although there may be as many people speaking the various dialects of Chinese as there are English speakers, English is certainly more widespread geographically, more genuinely universal than Chinese. And its usage is growing at an extraordinary pace.”