The British empire became the global superpower of the 19th century. And the world speaks English, not French.

大英帝国成了十九世纪的全球超级大国，现在全球都在说英语，而不是法语。

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The British empire carried English to all those countries on which the sun never set; American economic and cultural clout ensured English's dominance after the British empire had faded.

大英帝国将英语带到了那么多的国度——在这些国家，太阳永远不会落下；在大英帝国没落之后，美国的经济和文化影响力确保了英语的统治地位。

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However, English is spoken as a native or second language in a large number of other countries which were once colonies of the British Empire.

然而，英语在其它许多曾经是大英帝国殖民地的国家中也被当作本国语或第二语言使用。

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In particular it survived the onslaught of the product of English mills backed by British firepower in those days of Empire.

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