At the time when the United States split off from Britain,

there were proposals independence should be linguistically 【M1】________

acknowledged by the use of a different language from that of

Britain. There was even one proposal that Americans should adopt

Hebrew. In the end, like everyone knows, the two countries 【M2】________

adopted the eminently practical and satisfactory solution of

carrying on with the same language as before. For nearly two

hundred years now, they have shown to the world that 【M3】________

independence and national identity can be complete with 【M4】________

sacrificing the enormous mutual advantages of a common

language.

Like religion, language is clearly a powerful unifying and

dividing force. As we have seen, moreover, there is nothing about 【M5】________

language as such that makes linguistic identity conterminous with

national identity. “If he speaks French, he is by no means

necessary a Frenchman.” French is not the private property of 【M6】________

Frenchmen, and still less is English the private property of

Englishmen. Yet many of us still half-consciously feel that anyone 【M7】________

other than an Englishman uses English, we have a special right to

criticise his use because he has been privileged to deal something 【M8】________

which is in the Englishman’s gift. We feel that he must necessarily

look to us for a “standard”, because it is “his” language. 【M9】________

It is high time that such naive notions about English are 【M10】________

firmly stopped. They do not even remotely correspond to linguistic

realities and they can do nothing but harm to the cause of human

relationships and international harmony.

English serves as a functional alternative language in several

areas of public activity for the many nations of the world which

use it an international second language. Because of its 【M1】________

geographically widespread use, and because of the much number 【M2】________

of people who speak it, it has been adapted as the language of 【M3】________

aviation and air traffic. English has continued as one of the

important languages of commerce, as the sphere of political and

economic influence of the English-spoken nations has extended far 【M4】________

beyond their own bounds. The use of English in international 【M5】________

diplomacy is strengthened by its acceptance as one of the official

languages of the United Nations. But as a final example, English is 【M6】________

the language of the most majority of published materials in the 【M7】________

world, so that education, especially specialized higher education,

has come to rely very heavily in an understanding of English. In no 【M8】________

sense English replace the cultural heritage and emotional ties of 【M9】________

the first language, but for many speakers throughout the world, it

provides a means of communicating with people of similar training

and interests which would otherwise not be able to comprehend 【M10】________

them.

Every September, the price of a flight from China to a major

American metropolis like Boston or New York soars. In addition to

the usual stream of business managers and tourists shuffling between

the two countries is the annual inflow of young Chinese, girls in

ponytails and boys in sneakers, headed to their American colleges. 【M1】________

Backpacks hiked up on their shoulders and suitcases rolling behind,

they carry transparent plastic folders with neat arranged sheets and 【M2】________

pamphlets showing their first destination on the new soil.

In the past decade, China witnessed an explosion in the number 【M3】________

of citizens studying abroad, a 21st-century manifestation of a

deep-rooted Confucius value that emphasizes on education. Even 【M4】________

before they enter high school, children of middle class families from

cities across China start to see liuxue—studying abroad—the default 【M5】________

choice. They devote hours of their class time to prepare for American 【M6】________

standardized exams from the SAT and GRE to the International

English Language Testing System, often scoring in the top quartile.

In 2010, nearly 130,000 Chinese students studied in the U.S., a 30

percent increase from the year before. After surpassed India, China is 【M7】________

now America’s top source of international students.

Lee jumped on the wagon himself in a September of 2005, 【M8】________

traveling to far-away Massachusetts for the last two years of high

school. After the initiative elation of reaching his long-strived-for 【M9】________

goal cooled and he figured out his way around the language barrier,

he realized that there were smaller hurdles than language for a 【M10】________

Chinese student in America.