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