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

Module1BritishandAmericanEnglish之欧侯瑞魂创作

创作时间：

贰零贰壹年柒月贰叁拾日

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.Whentwovehiclesapproachfromoppositedirectionstheycan'tseeeachother,buttheycanseeTimoteo.Timoteoisavolunteer.Nooneaskedhimtodothejob,andnoonepayshimforit.Sometimesdriversgivehimatip,sothathehasjustenoughmoneytoliveon.Butoftentheyjustpassby,takingthehumantrafficsignalforgranted.

Thereasonwhyhedoesit

Sowhydoeshedoit?

Beforehevolunteeredtodirectthetraffic,Timoteohadhadlotsofjobs.Hehadbeenaminerandasoldier.Thenonedaywhilehewasworkingasalorrydriverhehadacloseencounterwithdeath.Hewasdrivingalorryloadofbananaswhenhecameofftheroadatabendandfellthreehundredmetresdownthemountain.Somehowhesurvived.Hewasinhospitalformonths.Then,afewyearslater,hewascalledoutinthenighttohelppullpeopleoutofabuswhichhadcrashedatlacurvadeldiablo.ThislastexperiencehadaprofoundeffectonTimoteo.Herealisedthathewasluckytobealivehimself,andfeltthatitwashismissioninlifetohelpothers.Andsoeverymorning,weekin,weekout,fromdawntodusk,Timoteotakesuphisplaceonthebendanddirectsthetraffic.

Module3TheSteamboat

Therewasabigstormaftermidnightandtherainpoureddown.Westayedinsidetheshelterwehadbuiltandlettheraftsaildowntheriver.Suddenly,bythelightofthelightning,wesawsomethinginthemiddleoftheriver.Itlookedlikeahouseatfirst,butthenwerealizeditwasasteamboat.Ithadhitarockandwashalfinandhalfoutofthewater.Weweresailingstraighttowardsit.

"Itlooksasifit'llgoundersoon,"Jimsaid,afteracoupleofminutes.

"Let'sgoandtakealook,"Isaid.

"Idon'twanttoboardasinkingship,"saidJim,butwhenIsuggestedthatwemightfindsomethingusefulontheboat,heagreedtogo.Sowepaddledoverandclimbedontothesteamboat,keepingasquietasmice.Toourastonishment,therewasalightinoneofthecabins.Thenweheardsomeoneshout,"Ohpleaseboys,don'tkillme!

Iwon'ttellanybody!

"

Aman'sangryvoiceanswered,"You'relying.Yousaidthatlasttime.We'regoingtokillyou."

Whenheheardthesewords,Jimpanickedandrantotheraft.ButalthoughIwasfrightened,Ialsofeltverycurious,soIputmyheadroundthedoor.Itwasquitedark,butIcouldseeamanlyingonthefloor,tiedupwithrope.Thereweretwomenstandingoverhim.Onewasshort,withabeard.Theotherwastallandhadsomethinginhishandthatlookedlikeagun.

"I'vehadenoughofyou.I'mgoingtoshootyounow,"thismansaid.Hewasobviouslytheonewhohadthreatenedthemanonthefloor.Anditwasagunhehadinhishand.

"No,don'tdothat,"saidtheshortman."Let'sleavehimhere.Thesteamboatwillsinkinacoupleofhoursandhe'llgodownwithit."

Whenheheardthat,thefrightenedmanonthefloorstartedcrying."Hesoundsasifhe'sgoingtodieoffright!

"Ithought."Ihavetofindawaytosavehim!

"

Icrawledalongthedeck,foundJim,andtoldhimwhatIhadheard."Wemustfindtheirboatandtakeitaway,thenthey'llhavetostayhere,"Isaid.

Jimlookedterrified."I'mnotstayinghere,"hesaid.ButIpersuadedhimtohelpme,andwefoundthemen'sboattiedtotheothersideofthesteamboat.Weclimbedquietlyinandaswepaddledawayweheardthetwomenshouting.Bythenwewereasafedistanceaway.ButnowIbegantofeelbadaboutwhatwehaddone.Ididn'twantallthreementodie.

Module4TheMagicoftheMask

Thinkofcarnival,andyouthinkofcrowds,costumes,andconfusion.Thesoundsandsightschangefromonecountrytoanotherbuttheexcitementisthesameeverywhere.

"Carnival"comesfromtwoLatinwords,meaning"nomoremeat".InEurope,whereitbegan,carnivalwasfollowedbyfortydayswithoutmeat,aspeoplepreparedfortheChristianfestivalofEaster.PeoplesawCarnivalasalastchancetohavefunattheendofthewinterseason.Havingfunmeanteating,drinking,anddressingup.

ThemostfamouscarnivalinEuropewasinVenice.Atthebeginning,itlastedforjustoneday.Peopleate,drank,andworemasks.Astimepassed,however,thecarnivalperiodwasextended,sothatitbeganjustafterChristmas.Forweeksonendpeoplewalkedroundthestreetswearingmasks,doingwhattheywantedwithoutbeingrecognised.Ordinarypeoplecouldpretendtoberichandimportant,whilefamouspeoplecouldhaveromanticadventuresinsecret.Manycrimeswentunpunished.

Thegovernmentrealisedthatwearingmaskshadbecomeaproblem.Theirusewaslimitedbylaws,thefirstofwhichdatesbacktothefourteenthcentury.Menwerenotallowedtowearmasksatnight;andtheywerenotallowedtodressupaswomen.Inlatertimesmorelawswerepassed.Peoplewhoworemaskscouldnotcarryfirearms;andnoonecouldenterachurchwearingamask.Iftheybrokethelaws,theywereputintop