11'People have traveled ever since they first appeared on the earth. In primitive times they did not travel for pleasure but to find new places where their herds could feed, or to escape from hostile neighbors, or to find more favorable climates. They traveled on foot. Their journeys were long, tiring, and often dangerous. They protected themselves with simple weapons, such as wooden sticks or stone clubs, and by lighting fires at night and, above all, by keeping together.
Being intelligent and creative, they soon discovered easier ways of traveling. They rode on the backs of their domesticated animals; they hollowed out tree trunks and, by using bits of wood as paddles, were able to travel across water.
Later they traveled, not from necessity, but for the joy and excitement of seeing and experiencing new things. This is still the main reason why we travel today.
Traveling, of course, has now become a highly organized business. There are cars and splendid highways, express trains, huge ships and jet airplanes, and all of them provide us with comforts and security. This sounds wonderful. But there are difficulties. alf you want to go abroad, you need a passport and visa, tickets, luggage, and a hundred and one other things. If you lose any of them, your journey may be ruined.
As for myself, I prefer doing my traveling from an armchair. I like imagining all those journeys that, despite human creativeness, one has never made and will never make. I like to think, for example, that I have arrived in the world by stork. I like to travel faster than time and have a look at the year 2020, or go back into the past and talk to famous people. I also like to travel like a shell across ocean floors where I can explore the wrecks of ships and see curious fish that people never have seen.
12 There are many reasons for nations to declare an official language. "Many developing nations have so many languages spoken within their borders that they must pick one to be the official language to avoid dealing with five, ten, or more languages on an official level. Some countries declare an indigenous language to be official in order to preserve the language's heritage. A world language such as English or French is often chosen as the official language of a developing country, even though it may not be the native language of any of the people in that country. Making a world language official in a country makes it easier for that country to participate in the world economy.
'However, there are some people who fear that making a world language like English an official language can have serious effects, both politically and socially. On the political side, they claim that making English the official language sets a precedent of placing English above all other languages. This opens the door for laws abolishing bilingual ballots, which is likely to prevent citizens who are not comfortable with English from participating in the political process. On the social side, opponents of official English argue that making English the official langage degrades all non-English languages and gives people the feeling that their prejudices are justified.