__1__ the end of the 16^th century English was only spoken by people from England. They were the native _2___(speak). Today, __3__ largest number of people speaking English may be in China because a lot of Chinese people learn and speak English __4__ their foreign language.

Old English ___5___(sound) more or less like German for it was based on German, _6___ modern English sounds more like French than German because England once ___7__(rule) by the French.

Two people had great effects __8__ the English changes. One was Shakespeare, __9___ enlarged the English vocabulary and the other was Noah Webster, who wrote a dictionary. The dictionary gave American English ___10___ own identity.