LANGUAGES: WHY ENGLISH?

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/jay_walker_on_the_world_s_english_mania.html

You are going to listen to Jay Walker explaining why two billion people around the world are trying to learn English.

A. Listen the the audio and complete the text with numbers.

By law, Chinese students start learning English when they are in grade (1) ______. In the Gaokao test in China, students do a test that lasts for (2) ______ full days! A student preparing for this test often studies for (3) ______ hours a day. They do this for (4) ______ years. English accounts for (5) ______ per cent of the final grade. (6) ______ secondary students in China have done this test.
 

B. Listen again and decide whether these statements are true or false.
1.Two billion people around the world are trying to learn English.
2. This year China will  ecome the biggest English-speaking country in the world.
3. Chinese people mostly learn English because they want to travel to English speaking countries.
4. A student’s score in the Gaokao test does not affect her future.
5. The speaker thinks English is like a tsunami that wipes out other languages.
6. English is currently the world’s first language.