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完整版外研社必修五课文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.Timoteostandsonthebendanddirectsthetraffic.Whentwov