Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

Approximately 350 million people speak English as their first (1) _______. About the same number use it (2) _______ a second language. It is the language (3) _______ aviation, international sport and world trade. 75% of the world's mail is in English, 60% of the world's radio stations broadcast in English, and more than half of the world's newspapers are (4) _______ in English. It is an official language in 44 countries. In (5) _______ others, it is the language of business, commerce and technology. There are many varieties of English, but Scottish, Australian, Indian and Jamaican speakers of English, in spite of the differences in pronunciation, structure and vocabulary, would recognize that they are all speaking the same basic language.