More people speak English than any other language except Chinese .English is the main language spoken in the United Kingdom，Ireland，Australia，New Zealand，Canada，the United States and some other countries. Altogether more than 450 million people speak English as their everyday language .Another 100 million or more speak at least some English. Most English words come from old Anglo­ Saxon，French，or Latin words.
Modern English developed through the efforts（努力） of literary(文学的)and political writings .Modern English was influenced by old English，the beginning of the university­ educated people，Shakespeare，the common language found in the middle of present­day England and an effort to show and standardize(使标准化)English.
British English，known as Standard English or Oxford English，underwent changes during the colonization(殖民)of North America and the creation（创建）of the United States .British English words changed into American English words，such as centre to center，metre to meter，theatre to theater and so on.
Until the 18th century，British and American English were very similar with almost no difference .Immigration（移民） to America by other English peoples changed the language by 1700.Noah Webster，author of the first authoritative(权威的)American English dictionary，created many changes.
小题1:Modern English developed through______.A．the efforts of literary writingsB．the efforts of political writingsC．old ChineseD．both A and B小题2:American English changed from______ during the colonization of North America and the creation of the United States.A．British EnglishB．Standard EnglishC．Oxford EnglishD．all of the above小题3:British English was almost similar to American English until the______ century.A．20thB．19thC．18thD．17th小题4:What is the title of the passage?A．Why more people speak EnglishB．What modern English isC．When British and American English had no differenceD．English and its development