21 English in the World

Some people say that the English language no longer belongs to the English,
and it belongs to the world. It is estimated that the number of people who use
English exceeds 750 million. Among these, about 350 million are native
speakers, while the rest use it as an official language. If we add to this
number the people who have acquired the language to some extent, the total is
close to one billion.
English plays an increasingly important role in the world as a medium for
conducting international business and diplomacy, as well as in science and
medicine, the Internet, air and sea communications, international sports
events, radio and TV programs, pop songs and movies.

estimate 估计
exceed 超过
native 本族的，本国的
official 官方的
acquire 掌握
to some extent 达到某种程度
billion 千万
increasingly 越来越多地
medium 工具，手段
conduct 实行，执行
international 国际的
diplomacy 外交
medicine 医药
communication 通信
event 事件

世界上的英语
有人说英语已不再属于英国人了，它属于全世界。据估计，使用英语的人超过七亿五千万，其中大约有三亿五千万是以英语为母语的人，而其余的人将英语作为官方语言使用。如果我们再加上已经掌握英语到一定程度的人，这个总数将接近十亿。

英语，作为进行国际业务和外交的工具，在世界上起着越来越重要的作用。它还在科学、医药、互联网、空中及海洋通信、国际体育赛事、电台电视节目、流行歌曲及电影中发挥着越来越重要的作用