外研版英语必修5阅读与文化角课文原文.docx
《外研版英语必修5阅读与文化角课文原文.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《外研版英语必修5阅读与文化角课文原文.docx(12页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
外研版英语必修5阅读与文化角课文原文
精读课文与文化角课文
Module1BritishandAmericanEnglish
Words,words,words
BritishandAmericanEnglisharedifferentinmanyways.Thefirstandmostobviouswayisinthevocabulary.TherearehundredsofdifferentwordswhicharenotusedontheothersideoftheAtlantic,orwhichareusedwithadifferentmeaning.Someofthesewordsarewell-known–Americansdriveautomobilesdownfreewaysandfillupwithgas;theBritishdrivecarsalongmotorwaysandfillupwithpetrol.Asatourist,youwillneedtousedtheundergroundinLondonorthesubwayinNewYork,ormaybeyouwillprefertogetaroundthetownbytaxi(British)orcab(American).
BritishandAmerican
ChipsorFrenchfries
Butotherwordsandexpressionsarenotsowellknown.Americansuseaflashlight,whilefortheBritish,it’satorch.TheBritishqueueup;Americansstandinline.Sometimesthesamewordahsaslightlydifferentmeaning,whichcanbeconfusing.Chips,forexample,arepiecesofhotfriedpotatoinBritain;intheStateschipsareverythinandaresoldinpackets.TheBritishcallthesecrisps.ThechipstheBritishknowandloveareFrenchfriesontheothersideoftheAtlantic.
Haveorhavegot
Thereareafewdifferencesingrammar,too.TheBritishsayHaveyougot…whileAmericanspreferDoyouhave…AnAmericanmightsayMyfriendjustarrived,butaBritishpersonwouldsayMyfriendhasjustarrived.Prepositions,too,canbedifferent:
compareontheteam,ontheweekend(American)withintheteam,attheweekend(British).TheBritishuseprepositionswhereAmericanssometimesomitthem(I’llseeyouMonday;writemesoon!
)
Colourorcolor
Theothertwoareasinwhichthetwovarietiesdifferarespellingandpronunciation.Americanspellingseemssimpler:
center,colorandprograminsteadofcentre,colourandprogramme.ManyfactorshaveinfluencedAmericanpronunciationsincethefirstsettlersarrivedfourhundredyearsago.Theaccent,whichismostsimilartoBritishEnglish,canbeheardontheEastCoastoftheUS.WhentheIrishwriterGeorgeBernardShawmadethefamousremarkthattheBritishandtheAmericansaretwonationsdividedbyacommonlanguage,hewasobviouslythinkingaboutthedifferences.ButaretheyreallysoimportantAfterall,thereisprobablyasmuchvariationofpronunciationwithinthetwocountriesasbetweenthem.ALondonerhasmoredifficultyunderstandingaScotsmanfromGlasgowthanunderstandingaNewYorker.
TurnontheTV
Someexpertsbelievethatthetwovarietiesaremovingclosertogether.FormorethanacenturycommunicationsacrosstheAtlantichavedevelopedsteadily.Sincethe1980s,withsatelliteTVandtheInternet,ithasbeenpossibletolistentoBritishandAmericanEnglishattheflickofaswitch.Thisnon-stopcommunication,theexpertsthink,hasmadeiteasierforBritishpeopleandAmericanstounderstandeachother.ButithasalsoledtolotsofAmericanwordsandstructurespassingintoBritishEnglish,sothatsomepeoplenowbelievethatBritishEnglishwilldisappear.
However,ifyouturnonCNN,theAmericanTVnetwork,youfindnewsreadersandweatherforecastersallspeakingwithdifferentaccents–American,British,Australian,andevenSpanish.Oneofthebest-knownfaces,MonitaRajpal,wasborninHongKong,China,andgrewupspeakingChineseandPunjabi,aswellasEnglish.
Thisinternationaldimensionsuggeststhatinthefuture,therearegoingtobemany“Englishes”,notjusttwomainvarieties.Butthemessagesis“Don’tworry.”UsersofEnglishwillallbeabletounderstandeachother–wherevertheyare.
TheManWhoMadeSpellingSimple
InEnglishthespellingofwordsdoesnotalwaysrepresentthesound.Sopeoplesay/rait/butspellitright,orwrite,orevenrite.Combinationsofletters(likeough)maybepronouncedinanumberofways.Andsomewordsjustseemtohavetoomanyletters.
ForAmericansthingsarealittlebiteasier,thankstotheworkofNoahWebster,ateacherwhograduatedfromYaleUniversityin1778.asayoungmanhehadfoughtagainsttheBritishintheAmericanWarofindependence,andhefeltthatwrittenEnglishinthenewlyindependentUnitedStatesshouldhaveadistinctive“American”look.
SohebeganhisworkonAmericanEnglish.Hisfirstbook,theElementarySpellingBook,suggestedsimplifyingthespellingofEnglishwords.Thebookwasextremelypopular.Bythe1850sitwassellingonemillioncopiesayear,makingitoneofthemostpopularschoolbooksever.
Manyofthesuggestionswerequicklyadopted.Centerinsteadofcentre,programinsteadofprogramme,andflavorinsteadofflavour.Others,however,suchasremovingsilentletterslikethesinislandorthefinaleinexamine,werenot.
WebsterisbestknownforhisAmericanDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,whichfirstappeared1828.itintroducedlotsofnewAmericanwords,withinformationabouttheirpronunciationanduse,and,ofcourse,thenewspelling.TheBritishcriticizedthedictionary,butitquicklybecameastandardreferencebookintheStates.Today,Webster’sdictionaryisstillthenumberonedictionaryforAmericanstudents.
Module2AJobWorthDoing
TheHumanTrafficSignal
At3500meters,LaPaz,inBolivia,isthehighestcapitalintheworld.Lifeishardathighaltitude,andthemountainsmakecommunicationsdifficult.Manyroadsareinbadconditionandaccidentsarefrequent.Oneroadinparticular,whichgoesnorthfromLaPaz,isconsideredthemostdangerousroadintheworld.Ononesidethemountainsrisesteeply;ontheothersidethereisasheerdrop,whichinplacesishundredsofmetresdeep.Althoughthereisnotalotoftraffic,onaverage,onevehiclecomesofftheroadeverytwoweeks.Thedropissogreatthatanyoneinsidethevehicleisluckytosurvive.Intheory,theroadcanonlybeusedbytrafficgoinguphillfrom8inthemorning,andbytrafficcomingdownhillfrom3intheafternoon.Butinpractice,fewdriversrespecttherules.
Butthankstooneman,thedeathtollhasfallen.TimoteoApazaisagentle46-year-oldmanwholivesinavillagenearthemostdangerouspartoftheroad,knownlocallyaslacurvadelDiablo(theDevil'sBend).Timoteohasanunusualjob–heisahumantrafficsignal.Everymorningheclimbsuptothebendwithalargecircularboardinhishand.Theboardisredononesideandgreenontheother.Timoteostandsonthebendanddirectsthetraffic.Whentwovehiclesapproachfromoppositedirectionstheycan'tseeeachother,buttheycanseeTimoteo.Timoteoisavolunteer.Nooneaskedhimtodothejob,andnoonepayshimforit.Sometimesdriversgivehimatip,sothathehasjustenoughmoneytoliveon.Butoftentheyjustpassby,takingthehumantrafficsignalforgranted.
SowhydoeshedoitBeforehevolunteertodirectthetraffic,Timoteohadhadlotsofjobs.Hehadbeenaminerandasoldier.Thenonedaywhilehewasworkingasalorrydriverhehadacloseencounterwithdeath.Hewasdrivingalorryloadofbananaswhenhecameofftheroadatabendandfellthreehundredmetresdownthemountain.Somehowhesurvived.Hewasinhospitalformonths.Then,afewyearslater,hewascalledoutinthenighttohelppullpeopleoutofabuswhichhadcrashedatlacurvadeldiablo.ThislastexperiencehadaprofoundeffectonTimoteo.Herealisedthathewasluckytobealivehimself,andfeltthatitwashismissioninlifetohelpothers.Andsoeverymorning,weekin,weekout,fromdawntodusk,Timoteotakesuphisplaceonthebendanddirectsthetraffic.
GrowingJobs
WhatsortofjobswillpeoplededoingtenyearsfromnowaccordingtoasurveypublishedbyanAmericanuniversity,thetenfastestgrowingjobswillberelatedtocomputersandhealth.Theyincludecomputersystemsanalysts,dataanalystsanddatabasemanagers.Buttherewillalsobeariseinthedemandforhealthcareprofessionals.Someofthesewillbenewjobs,suchasbioinformaticians,whocombinecomputerskillswithknowledgeofbiology.Otherswillbemoretraditional.Forexample,morehomecarenurseswillbeneededtolookaftertherapidlyageingpopulation.Butmanyyoungsterswillneedprofessionalcare,too:
14millionAmericanssufferfromspeechorlanguageproblems,andsixmillionofthemareundertheageof18.thenumberofspeechpathologists(whohelppeoplewhohaveproblemsspeaking)isexpectedtodoublebytheyear2012.andsocialworkerswillcontinuetobeindemand.
Ofcoursetherewillbeplentyofothernewjobs,someofwhichweprobablycan’tevenguess.Butforthosewholovetheoutdoorlife,agoodbetcouldbetheleisureindustry.Asmoreandmorecountriesopenuptotourism,moretravelagentswillbeneeded,buttherealdemandwillbeforguidestotakegroupsandevenindividualsonadventureholidays.Forpeopledoingthisjob,commonsense,physicalfitnessandanoutgoingpersonalityarelikelytobemoreimportantthancomputerskills.
Module3AdventureinLiteratureandtheCinema
TheSteamboat
Therewasabigstormaftermidnightandtherainpoureddown.Westayedinsidetheshelterwehadbuiltandlettheraftsaildowntheriver.Suddenly,bythelightofthelightning,wesawsomethinginthemiddleoftheriver.Itlookedlikeahouseatfirst,butthenwerealizeditwasasteamboat.Ithadhitarockandwashalfinandhalfoutofthewater.Weweresailingstraighttowardsit.
"Itlooksasifit'llgoundersoon,"Jimsaid,afteracoupleofminutes.
"Let'sgoandtakealook,"Isaid.
"Idon'twanttoboardasinkingship,"saidJim,butwhenIsuggestedthatwemightfindsomethingusefulontheboat,heagreedtogo.Sowepaddledoverandclimbedontothesteamboat,keepingasquietasmice.Toourastonishment