外研社必修五课文reading原文.docx

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外研社必修五课文reading原文

外研社必修五课文reading-原文

Module1BritishandAmericanEnglish

Words,words,words

BritishandAmericanEnglisharedifferentinmanyways.Thefirstandmostobviouswayisinthevocabulary.TherearehundredsofdifferentwordswhicharenotusedontheothersideoftheAtlantic,orwhichareusedwithadifferentmeaning.Someofthesewordsarewellknown—Americansdriveautomobilesdownfreewaysandfillupwithgas;theBritishdrivecarsalongmotorwaysandfillupwithpetrol.Asatourist,youwillneedtousetheundergroundinLondonorthesubwayinNewYork,ormaybeyouwillprefertogetaroundthetownbytaxi（British）orcab（American）.

ChipsorFrenchfries?

Butotherwordsandexpressionsarenotsowellknown.Americansuseaflashlight,whilefortheBritish,it'satorch.TheBritishqueueup;Americansstandinline.Sometimesthesamewordhasaslightlydifferentmeaning,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.Butaretheyreallysoimportant?

Afterall,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.Butthemessageis"Don'tworry."UsersofEnglishwillallbeabletounderstandeachother—wherevertheyare.

Module2TheHumanTrafficSignal

Theroad

At3,500metres,LaPaz,inBolivia,isthehighestcapitalintheworld.Lifeishardathighaltitude,andthemountainsmakecommunicationsdifficult.Manyroadsareinbadconditionandaccidentsarefrequent.Oneroadinparticular,whichgoesnorthfromLaPaz,isconsideredthemostdangerousroadintheworld.Ononesidethemountainsrisesteeply;ontheothersidethereisasheerdrop,whichinplacesishundredsofmetresdeep.Althoughthereisnotalotoftraffic,onaverage,onevehiclecomesofftheroadeverytwoweeks.Thedropissogreatthatanyoneinsidethevehicleisluckytosurvive.Intheory,theroadcanonlybeusedbytrafficgoinguphillfrom8inthemorning,andbytrafficcomingdownhillfrom3intheafternoon.Butinpractice,fewdriversrespecttherules.

Theman

Butthankstooneman,thedeathtollhasfallen.TimoteoApazaisagentle46-year-oldmanwholivesinavillagenearthemostdangerouspartoftheroad,knownlocallyaslacurvadeldiablo（theDevil'sBend）.Timoteohasanunusualjob—heisahumantrafficsignal.Everymorningheclimbsuptothebendwithalargecircularboardinhishand.Theboardisredononesideandgreenontheother.Timoteostandsonthebendanddirectsthetr