外研版英语必修5阅读与文化角课文原文.docx

外研版英语必修5阅读与文化角课文原文.docx

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外研版英语必修5阅读与文化角课文原文

外研英语必修5

精读课文与文化角课文

Module1BritishandAmericanEnglish

Words,words,words

BritishandAmericanEnglisharedifferentinmanyways.Thefirstandmostobviouswayisinthevocabulary.TherearehundredsofdifferentwordswhicharenotusedontheothersideoftheAtlantic,orwhichareusedwithadifferentmeaning.Someofthesewordsarewell-known–Americansdriveautomobilesdownfreewaysandfillupwithgas;theBritishdrivecarsalongmotorwaysandfillupwithpetrol.Asatourist,youwillneedtousedtheundergroundinLondonorthesubwayinNewYork,ormaybeyouwillprefertogetaroundthetownbytaxi（British）orcab（American）.

BritishandAmerican

ChipsorFrenchfries?

Butotherwordsandexpressionsarenotsowellknown.Americansuseaflashlight,whilefortheBritish,it’satorch.TheBritishqueueup;Americansstandinline.Sometimesthesamewordahsaslightlydifferentmeaning,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.Butthemessagesis“Don’tworry.”UsersofEnglishwillallbeabletounderstandeachother–wherevertheyare.

TheManWhoMadeSpellingSimple

InEnglishthespellingofwordsdoesnotalwaysrepresentthesound.Sopeoplesay/rait/butspellitright,orwrite,orevenrite.Combinationsofletters（likeough）maybepronouncedinanumberofways.Andsomewordsjustseemtohavetoomanyletters.

ForAmericansthingsarealittlebiteasier,thankstotheworkofNoahWebster,ateacherwhograduatedfromYaleUniversityin1778.asayoungmanhehadfoughtagainsttheBritishintheAmericanWarofindependence,andhefeltthatwrittenEnglishinthenewlyindependentUnitedStatesshouldhaveadistinctive“American”look.

SohebeganhisworkonAmericanEnglish.Hisfirstbook,theElementarySpellingBook,suggestedsimplifyingthespellingofEnglishwords.Thebookwasextremelypopular.Bythe1850sitwassellingonemillioncopiesayear,makingitoneofthemostpopularschoolbooksever.

Manyofthesuggestionswerequicklyadopted.Centerinsteadofcentre,programinsteadofprogramme,andflavorinsteadofflavour.Others,however,suchasremovingsilentletterslikethesinislandorthefinaleinexamine,werenot.

WebsterisbestknownforhisAmericanDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage,whichfirstappeared1828.itintroducedlotsofnewAmericanwords,withinformationabouttheirpronunciationanduse,and,ofcourse,thenewspelling.TheBritishcriticizedthedictionary,butitquicklybecameastandardreferencebookintheStates.Today,Webster’sdictionaryisstillthenumberonedictionaryforAmericanstudents.

Module2AJobWorthDoing

TheHumanTrafficSignal

At3500meters,LaPaz,inBolivia,isthehighestcapitalintheworld.Lifeishardathighaltitude,andthemountainsmakecommunicationsdifficult.Manyroadsareinbadconditionandaccidentsarefrequent.Oneroadinparticular,whichgoesnorthfromLaPaz,isconsideredthemostdangerousroadintheworld.Ononesidethemountainsrisesteeply;ontheothersidethereisasheerdrop,whichinplacesishundredsofmetresdeep.Althoughthereisnotalotoftraffic,onaverage,onevehiclecomesofftheroadeverytwoweeks.Thedropissogreatthatanyoneinsidethevehicleisluckytosurvive.Intheory,theroadcanonlybeusedbytrafficgoinguphillfrom8inthemorning,andbytrafficcomingdownhillfrom3intheafternoon.Butinpractice,fewdriversrespecttherules.

Butthankstooneman,thedeathtollhasfallen.TimoteoApazaisagentle46-year-oldmanwholivesinavillagenearthemostdangerouspartoftheroad,knownlocallyaslacurvadelDiablo（theDevil'sBend）.Timoteohasanunusualjob–heisahumantrafficsignal.Everymorningheclimbsuptothebendwithalargecircularboardinhishand.Theboardisredononesideandgreenontheother.Timoteostandsonthebendanddirectsthetraffic.Whentwovehiclesapproachfromoppositedirectionstheycan'tseeeachother,buttheycanseeTimoteo.Timoteoisavolunteer.Nooneaskedhimtodothejob,andnoonepayshimforit.Sometimesdriversgivehimatip,sothathehasjustenoughmoneytoliveon.Butoftentheyjustpassby,takingthehumantrafficsignalforgranted.

Sowhydoeshedoit?

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

GrowingJobs

Whatsortofjobswillpeoplededoingtenyearsfromnow?

accordingtoasurveypublishedbyanAmericanuniversity,thetenfastestgrowingjobswillberelatedtocomputersandhealth.Theyincludecomputersystemsanalysts,dataanalystsanddatabasemanagers.Buttherewillalsobeariseinthedemandforhealthcareprofessionals.Someofthesewillbenewjobs,suchasbioinformaticians,whocombinecomputerskillswithknowledgeofbiology.Otherswillbemoretraditional.Forexample,morehomecarenurseswillbeneededtolookaftertherapidlyageingpopulation.Butmanyyoungsterswillneedprofessionalcare,too:

14millionAmericanssufferfromspeechorlanguageproblems,andsixmillionofthemareundertheageof18.thenumberofspeechpathologists（whohelppeoplewhohaveproblemsspeaking）isexpectedtodoublebytheyear2012.andsocialworkerswillcontinuetobeindemand.

Ofcoursetherewillbeplentyofothernewjobs,someofwhichweprobablycan’tevenguess.Butforthosewholovetheoutdoorlife,agoodbetcouldbetheleisureindustry.Asmoreandmorecountriesopenuptotourism,moretravelagentswillbeneeded,buttherealdemandwillbeforguidestotakegroupsandevenindividualsonadventureholidays.Forpeopledoingthisjob,commonsense,physicalfitnessandanoutgoingpersonalityarelikelytobemoreimportantthancomputerskills.

Module3AdventureinLiteratureandtheCinema

TheSteamboat

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

"Itlooksasifit'llgoundersoon,"Jimsaid,afteracoupleofminutes.

"Let'sgoandtakealook,"Isaid.

"Idon'twanttoboardasinkingship,"saidJim,butwhenIsuggestedthatwemightfindsomethingusefulontheboat,heagreedtogo.Sowepaddledoverandclimbedontothesteamboat,keepingasquietasmice.T