题目内容：

根据短文内容，用括号内所给动词的适当形式填空，必要时可加助动词或情态动词。

English was once spoken only by people in a part of Britain. But during the twentieth century, it 1. (become) a world language. It is used by speakers of many different languages to communicate with each other.

Although it 2. (call) a “world language”, most of the people on the earth do not speak English as either their first or second language. However, hundreds of millions of people use it, and hundreds of millions are learning it. Because so many people learn and use English, it may be hard 3.(imagine) that one day English may not be the world’s leading (最重要的) language.

There were other important languages in the past that 4. (lose) their importance. In Europe, Latin (拉丁语) was used as a common language for many centuries before people stopped 5.(use) it. French was once a language known by all well-educated people, and was more popular than English. But since the nineteenth century, English 6. (take) the place of French and has become more popular.

Today, many people who want to learn a new language 7. (learn) Chinese, Spanish or Arabic (阿拉伯语). It may be that one day another language will be used across the world instead of English.