2008年专八真题
PART I
SECTION A MINI-LECTURE（6/7）
But a visit to most airports on the globe will show signs not only in the language of that country but also with English, just as many airline announcements broadcast in English too,whatever the language of the country the airport is situated in. So far, English is also the preferred language of air traffic control in many countries and is used widely in sea travel communication.Another factor has something to do with information exchange around the world.As we all know, a great deal of academic discourse around the world takes place in English. It is often a lingua franca of conferences,for example,and many journal articles in fields as diverse as astronomy, trio psychology and geology have English as a kind of default language.The last factor I cite here concerns popular culture.In the western world, at least English is a dominating language in popular culture.