English is one of the worlds most widely spoken languages. This is partly because it was

the language of the British Empire. The empire once controlled so much of the world when it was said【M1】______ that the Sun never set on the British Empire. England, the birthplace of English, takes on most of the island【M2】______ of Great Britain. It is one of the four land that form. the United【M3】______ Kingdom. The English that people speak there today is quite differed from the English that was spoken long ago. If you were【M4】______ read a book by Geoffrey Chaucer, one of the early writers of【M5】______ English, someone would have to explain it to you what many【M6】______ words mean. England has product many famous writers since Chaucer.【M7】______ They include such poets as John Milton and Percy Bysshe Shelley and such novelists as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. England is also known for its theater. That art has remained important since the time of playwright William Shakespeare some 400 years ago. Englands Oxford and Cambridge are two of the oldest universities in the world. The country s contributions of classical and folk【M8】______ music, as well as to rock and roll, are also important. Its not hard【M9】______ to imagine what rock would be like if there hadnt been English performers such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and David Bowie. The English also discovered two of the world s most【M10】______ popular sports: football(known as "soccer" in the United States) and cricket.

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