It is true that Americans and Englishmen speak the English language in different ways. But it is also true that an American and an Englishman can talk together freely and easily. The differences in the way they speak are interesting but they are not important. Far from dividing them, the English language brings them closer together. So Americans and Englishmen know that a language which two peoples use together builds a bridge, not a wall, between them.
_________ Radio, television, the telephone, the mobile phone, the airplane, and other things of modern science have made the world smaller. Quick communication is more necessary than ever before.
Around the world today, more and more people are learning English as a means (方式) of communication. They come from every country, and they come from every walk of life. Among them are farmers, students, teachers, scientists, officials (官员) and artists—in fact, all kinds of people.
English, second only to Chinese for the number of people who speak it and second to no other for the number of people who are lea learning it, is a language that anyone, and everyone, can use 10 communicate. It is a world language. And it is a modern language, a language equal to (胜任) the needs of today and tomorrow. Those are two of the reasons it is used to widely around the world.
