Objective Proficiency p 84. Keys and Vocabulary

Ex 1
KEY

The languages are: Chinese, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Greek, Polish, Turkish.

There are about 6,000 languages in the world.


A language dies about every two weeks.

The language spoken more than any other is Chinese

Ex 2
KEY
a. It is a pun (play on words), A "death sentence" is the expression used by a judge to condemn someone to death. The use of the word 'sentence', which is connected with language, also relates to the topic of the article, the death of languages. 


b. He seem ambivalent/ undecided. The last sentence: (Or so they think).

ambivalent (about/towards somebody/something) having or showing both good and bad feelings about somebody/ something. E.g. She seems to feel ambivalent about her new job. He has an ambivalent attitude towards her.

Vocabulary

• Stir: /stɜː(r)/ excitement, anger or shock that is felt by a number of people. Commotion. Sp. Revuelo. E:g. Her resignation caused quite a stir.
• Mourn: /mɔːn/ to feel and show sadness because somebody has died; to feel sad because something no longer exists or is no longer the same. Grieve for. Sp. Llorar, lamentar. E.g. He was still mourning his brother's death.
• Stand for something: To represent; symbolize. Sp. Significar, representar. E.g.  I like to think that our school stands for all that is best in education. 
• Estimate: /ˈestɪmət/ a judgement that you make without having the exact details or figures about the size, amount, cost, etc. of something. Sp. Cálculo. E.g. I can give you a rough estimate of the amount of wood you will need. Official government estimates of traffic growth over the next decade. At least 5000 people were killed, and that's a conservative estimate (= the real figure will be higher).
• Broad: general; not detailed. E.g. the broad outline of a proposal. The negotiators were in broad agreement on the main issues. She's a feminist, in the broadest sense of the word. In broad terms, the paper argues that each country should develop its own policy. Computer viruses fall into three broad categories.
• Strive, strove, striven: to try very hard to achieve something. Sp. Luchar, esforzarse. E.g. We encourage all members to strive for the highest standards. Newspaper editors all strive to be first with a story. She strove to find a solution that was acceptable to all. 
• Folk: /fəʊk/ people from a particular country or region, or who have a particular way of life. E.g. country folk. Townsfolk. Farming folk.