April 20 is "Chinese Language Day". The UN 1____ celebrated it on Nov. 12, 2010. And then they decided to choose guyu — one of the 24 solar terms of the traditional Chinese calendar that 2____ around April 20 — the date of Chinese Language Day. Guyu is held 3____ Cang Jie, who is believed to be the inventor of Chinese characters. He is a very important person in ancient China.
The Chinese language has a long history. It has 4____ other languages in Asia like Latin has done to languages in the West. We find something similar in the Japanese, Thai and Korean languages similar to Chinese. With this 5____, will the Chinese language have a surprising future?
Now, about 1 billion people speak Chinese in the world — far more than any other language speakers. Chinese people are found 6____, traveling and doing business all over the world. Also, China is the world's second largest economy. As we all know, world languages with 7____ economies. The UK and France used to be superpowers in the world, so 8____ and French are widely spoken. As China develops, more and more people want to learn about Chinese history and culture. Science and technology in China have 9____ in the past few years, making Chinese much more popular. Few will 10____ become an international language in the near future.
( ) 1. A. first B. next C. finally
( ) 2. A. moves B. starts C. changes
( ) 3. A. for fear of B. in memory of C. under control of
( ) 4. A. shaped B. created C. printed
( ) 5. A. birth B. change C. history
( ) 6. A. trading B. sleeping C. studying
( ) 7. A. powerful B. growing C. modern
( ) 8. A. Chinese B. Spanish C. English
( ) 9. A. tried B. increased C. progressed
( ) 10. A. partly B. certainly C. surprisingly