Earthquakes are the most (23) natural disasters, (24) usually hit without any warning, result in a great loss of life and an enormous demolition of buildings. Additionally, they may cause devastating landslides or (25) gigantic tidal waves which, in fact, are colossal walls of water smashing into seashores with such force that they are capable (26) destroying coastal cities. However, the vast majority of fatalities and serious injuries come about when buildings collapse.
Most frequently, the earthquake lasts 30 to 60 seconds, so usually there is no time to escape once the shaking starts. The savage forces of an earthquake trigger off a complex chain reaction in the building's structure when it is shaken, lifted, pushed or pulled. A building's height, its shape and construction materials are the most significant factors (27) about the survival and collapse of the structure and, consequently, about the life or death of its inhabitants.

Over the past 600 years, English has grown from a language of a few speakers to become the dominant language of international communication. English as we know it today emerged around 1350, after having incorporated many elements of French that were introduced following the Norman invasion of 1066. Until the 1600s, English was, for the most part, spoken only in England and had not extended even as far as Wales, Scotland, or Ireland. However, during the course of the next two centuries, English began to spread around the globe as a result of exploration, trade (including slave trade), colonization, and missionary work. Thus, small enclaves of English speakers became established and grew in various parts of the world. As these communities proliferated, English gradually became the primary language of international business, banking and diplomacy.
Currently, about 80 percent of the information stored on computer systems worldwide is English. Two- thirds of the world’s science writing is in English, and English is the main language of technology, advertising, media, international airports, and air traffic controllers. Today there are more than 700 million English users in the world, and over half of these are nonnative speakers, constituting the largest number of normative users than any other language in the world.