全新主题大学英语读写译教程44.docx

全新主题大学英语读写译教程44.docx

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全新主题大学英语读写译教程44

UnitFour

OfLanguage

SectionA

Pre-readingQuestions:

1.Whichlanguageisthemostpopularintheworldtoday?

Whydoyouthinkso?

2.WhatdoyouknowaboutthehistoryofEnglish?

3.WhichdoyouthinkismorelikelyforthefutureofEnglish,continuetobetheworldlanguageorfallintodecay?

Bynowyou’veprobablygonethroughmanytestswhichweredesignedtoseehowmuchEnglishyouknow.Nowit’stimetocheckhowmuchyouknowaboutEnglish.

EnglishPresentandFuture

1Itwasobservedbythatremarkabletwelfth-centurychroniclerHenryofHuntingdonthataninterestinthepastwasoneofthedistinguishingcharacteristicsofhumansascomparedwiththeotheranimals.Themediumbywhichspeakersofalanguagecommunicatetheirthoughtsandfeelingstoothers,thetoolwithwhichtheyconducttheirbusinessorthegovernmentofmillionsofpeople,thevehiclebywhichhasbeentransmittedthescience,thephilosophy,thepoetryofthecultureissurelyworthyofstudy.Itisnottobeexpectedthateveryoneshouldbeaphilologistorshouldmasterthetechnicalitiesoflinguisticscience.Butitisreasonabletoassumethataliberallyeducatedpersonshouldknowsomethingofthestructureofhisorherlanguage,itspositionintheworldanditsrelationtoothertongues,thewealthofitsvocabularytogetherwiththesourcesfromwhichthatvocabularyhasbeenandisbeingenriched,andthecomplexrelationshipsamongthemanydifferentvarietiesofspeechthataregatheredunderthesinglenameoftheEnglishlanguage.

2InfluencesatWorkonLanguage

3ThediversityofculturesthatfindexpressioninitisareminderthatthehistoryofEnglishisastoryofculturesincontactduringthepast1,500years.Itunderstatesmatterstosaythatpolitical,economic,andsocialforcesinfluencealanguage.Theseforcesshapethelanguageineveryaspect,mostobviouslyinthenumberandspreadofitsspeakers,andinwhatiscalled“thesociologyoflanguage”,butalsointhemeaningsofwords,intheaccentsofthespokenlanguage,andeveninthestructuresofthegrammar.Thehistoryofalanguageisintimatelyboundupwiththehistoryofthepeopleswhospeakit.

4TheEnglishlanguageoftodayreflectsmanycenturiesofdevelopment.ThepoliticalandsocialeventsthathaveinthecourseofEnglishhistorysoprofoundlyaffectedtheEnglishpeopleintheirnationallifehavegenerallyhadarecognizableeffectontheirlanguage.TheRomanChristianizingofBritainin597broughtEnglandintocontactwithLatincivilizationandmadesignificantadditionstoourvocabulary.TheScandinavianinvasionsresultedinaconsiderablemixtureofthetwopeoplesandtheirlanguages.TheNormanConquestmadeEnglishfortwocenturiesthelanguagemainlyofthelowerclasseswhilethenoblesandthoseassociatedwiththemusedFrenchonalmostalloccasions.AndwhenEnglishoncemoreregainedsupremacyasthelanguageofallelementsofthepopulation,itwasanEnglishgreatlychangedinbothformandvocabularyfromwhatithadbeenin1066.InasimilarwaytheHundredYears’War,theriseofanimportantmiddleclass,theRenaissance,thedevelopmentofEnglandasamaritimepower,theexpansionoftheBritishEmpire,andthegrowthofcommerceandindustry,ofscienceandliterature,have,eachintheirway,contributedtothedevelopmentofthelanguage.

5GrowthandDecay

6Moreover,English,likeallotherlanguages,issubjecttothatconstantgrowthanddecaythatcharacterizeallformsoflife.Itisaconvenientfigureofspeechtospeakoflanguagesaslivingandasdead.Althoughwerarelythinkoflanguageassomethingthatpossesseslifeapartfromthepeoplewhospeakit,aswecanthinkofplantsorofanimals,wecanobserveinspeechsomethingliketheprocessofchangethatcharacterizesthelifeoflivingthings.Whenalanguageceasestochange,wecallitadeadlanguage.ClassicalLatinisadeadlanguagebecauseithasnotchangedfornearly2,000years.Thechangethatisconstantlygoingoninalivinglanguagecanbemosteasilyseeninthevocabulary.Oldwordsdieout,newwordsareadded,andexistingwordschangetheirmeaning.MuchofthevocabularyofOldEnglishhasbeenlost,andthedevelopmentofnewwordstomeetnewconditionsisoneofthemostfamiliarphenomenaofourlanguage.ChangeofmeaningcanbeillustratedfromanypageofShakespeare.NiceinShakespeare’sdaymeantfoolish.Thusitwillbepartofourtasktotracetheinfluencesthatareconstantlyatwork,tendingtoalteralanguagefromagetoageasspokenandwritten,andthathavebroughtaboutsuchanextensivealterationinEnglishastomaketheEnglishlanguageof1000quiteunintelligibletoEnglishspeakersof2000.

7TheImportanceofEnglish

8Innumbersofspeakersaswellasinitsusesforinternationalcommunicationandinotherlessquantifiablemeasures,Englishisoneofthemostimportantlanguagesoftheworld.Spokenbymorethan380millionpeopleintheUnitedKingdom,theUnitedStates,andtheformerBritishEmpire,itisthelargestoftheWesternlanguages.English,however,isnotthemostwidelyusednativelanguageintheworld.Chinese,initseightspokenvarieties,isknownto1.3billionpeopleinChinaalone.SomeoftheEuropeanlanguagesarecomparabletoEnglishinreflectingtheforcesofhistory,especiallywithregardtoEuropeanexpansionsincethesixteenthcentury.Spanish,nextinsizetoEnglish,isspokenbyabout330millionpeople,Portugueseby180million,Russianby175million,Germanby110million,Frenchby80millionnativespeakers（andalargenumberofsecond-languagespeakers）,Italianby65million.

9TheFutureoftheEnglishLanguage

10TheextentandimportanceoftheEnglishlanguagetodaymakeitreasonabletoaskwhetherwecannotspeculateastotheprobablepositionitwilloccupyinthefuture.Itisadmittedlyhazardoustopredictthefutureofnations;thechangesduringthepresentcenturyinthepoliticsandpopulationsofthedevelopingcountrieshaveconfoundedpredictionsoffiftyyearsago.Sincegrowthinalanguageisprimarilyamatterofpopulation,themostimportantquestiontoaskiswhichpopulationsoftheworldwillincreasemostrapidly.Growthofpopulationisdeterminedbythedifferencebetweenthebirthrateandthedeathrateandbyinternationalmigration.ThesinglemostimportantfactaboutcurrenttrendsisthattheThirdWorldcountriesofAfrica,Asia,andLatinAmericahaveexperiencedasharpdropinmortalityduringthetwentiethcenturywithoutacorrespondingdropinthebirthrate.Asaresult,thepopulationoftheseareasisyoungerandgrowingfasterthanthepopulationoftheindustrializedcountriesofEuropeandNorthAmerica.TheeffectofeconomicdevelopmentuponfallinggrowthratesisespeciallyclearinAsia.Chinaisgrowingatamoderaterate,betweenthatofEuropeandsouthernAsia,butwithapopulationinexcessofonebillion,theabsoluteincreasewillbeveryhigh.

11Ifthefutureofalanguageweremerelyamatterofthenumberwhospeakitasafirstlanguage,Englishwouldappeartobeenteringaperiodofdeclineafterfourcenturiesofunprecedentedexpansion.WhatmakesthisprospectunlikelyisthefactthatEnglishiswidelyusedasasecondlanguageandasaforeignlanguagethroughouttheworld.ThenumberofspeakerswhohaveacquiredEnglishasasecondlanguagewithnearnativefluencyisestimatedtobebetween350and400million.IfweaddfirstandsecondlanguagespeakerstothosewhoknowenoughEnglishtouseitmoreorlesseffectivelyasaforeignlanguage,theestimatesforthetotalnumberofspeakersrangebetweenoneandoneandahalfbillion.Insomeofthedevelopingcountriesthatareexperiencingthegreatestgrowth,Englishisoneoftheofficiallanguages,asitisinIndia,Nigeria,andthePhilippines.

12Thecomplexinteractionoftheseforcesdefiesgeneralstatementsofthepresentsituationorspecificprojectionsintothedistantfuture.AmongEuropeanlanguagesitseemslikelythatEnglish,German,andSpanishwillbenefitfromvariousdevelopments.

（1311words）

NewWords

chronicler//n.[C]writerofhistory,esp.inthepast编年史家，年代史编者

philologist//n.[C]expertwhostudieslanguage,esp.initshistoricalandcomparativeaspects语文学家，语言学家；文献学者

technicality//n.[C]detailaboutaparticularsubjectthatisunderstoodonlybyanexpert技术性细节

linguistic▲//a.oflanguageorthestudyoflanguages语言的；语言学的

assume//vt.1taketobetrue假设，假定2undertake（anofficeetc.）承担（职务等）3takeorputon（anaspect,attribute,etc.）呈现出；具有（局面、属性等）

understate//vt.saythatsomethingissmaller,lessimportantorlessseriousthanitreallyis不充分地陈述；淡化

sociology//n.[U]thestudyofsocietyandsocialproblems社会学

conquest//n.[U]1（sing.）processoftakingcontroloflandorpeopleduringawar攻取；占领；征服2processofgainingcontrolofsomethingthroughgreateffort征服；占领

maritime▲//a.connectedwiththeseaorships海的；海事的；海运的

contribute//vi.beoneofthethingsthathelptomakesomethinghappen有助于，促成v.1give（time,money,etc.）towardsacommonpurpose（时间、金钱等）捐献，捐助；奉献2beapartofagrouporanactivityandhelpittobesuccessful（使）（在团体或活动中）出力，起作用

characterize//vt.1beatypicalqualityorfeatureofsomeoneorsomething成为…的特征2（fml.）describesomeoneorsomethingasaparticulartypeofpersonorthing描述…的特征；描绘

unintelligible//a.impossibletounderstand难以理解的，晦涩难懂的

quantifiable//a.capableofbeingmeasuredorexpressedasaquantity能够量化的，能用量表示的

comparable//a.1