PARAGRAPH 5A YEAR OF LANGUAGES BEGINS IN DECEMBER.B WHY PEOPLE DON'...

5. Paragraph 5

A Year of languages begins in December.

B Why people don't learn foreign languages.

C EU initiative to teach language.

Paragraph 1. ………

The British are the European Union's worst linguists while the citizens of Luxembourg are

the best, according to an EU poll published Monday.

Paragraph 2. ………

Almost two-thirds of Britons know no language apart from their mother tongue, the

highest figure recorded in the 15 EU countries in the European Commission's

"Eurobarometer'' survey. That compares to just 2.2 percent in Luxembourg, 12.3 percent of

Danes and an EU average of 47.3 percent of people who speak no other language but their

own, the poll of 16,000 EU citizens said.

Paragraph 3. ………..

But British travelers to Europe need not worry. English is the most common second

language in the EU, spoken by 41 percent of the bloc's citizens. In Denmark, Sweden and

the Netherlands, at least 78 percent of people speak English as a second language.

Paragraph 4. ……….

Although 47 percent of EU citizens know only their mother tongue, there is wide

agreement that speaking a foreign language is a good thing. Across the EU, 72 percent of

those polled believe foreign language skills are useful, 71 percent said everyone should

know one foreign language and 69 percent said everyone should speak English.

Paragraph 5. ………

The reasons given why people do not learn languages were lack of time, lack of motivation

and the cost of language lessons. The poll conducted in December, marks the launch of the

European Year of Languages, an EU initiative to promote language learning.

PART D: WRITING

Use the underlined words to complete the second sentences in such a way that their

meaning original meanings are unchanged: (20m)