外研社必修五课文reading 原文Word文档下载推荐.docx

1、s a torch. The British queue up; Americans stand in line. Sometimes the same word has a slightly different meaning, which can be confusing. Chips, for example, are pieces of hot fried potato in Britain; in the States chips are very thin and are sold in packets. The British call these crisps. The chi

2、ps the British know and love are French fries on the other side of the Atlantic.Have or have got?There are a few differences in grammar, too. The British say Have you got .? while Americans prefer Do you have .? An American might say My friend just arrived, but a British person would say My friend h

3、as just arrived. Prepositions, too, can be different: compare on the team, on the weekend （American） with in the team, at the weekend （British）. The British use prepositions where Americans sometimes omit them （Ill see you Monday; Write me soon!）.Colour or color?The other two areas in which the two

4、varietiesdiffer are spelling and pronunciation. American spelling seems simpler: center, color and program instead of centre, colour and programme. Many factors have influenced American pronunciation since the first settlers arrived four hundred years ago. The accent, which is most similar to Britis

5、h English, can be heard on the East Coast of the US. When the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw made the famous remark that the British and the Americans are two nations divided by a common language, he was obviously thinking about the differences. But are they really so important? After all, there i

6、s probably as much variation of pronunciation within the two countries as between them. A Londoner has more difficulty understanding a Scotsman from Glasgow than understanding a New Yorker.Turn on the TVSome experts believe that the two varieties are moving closer together. For more than a century c

7、ommunications across the Atlantic have developed steadily. Since the 1980s, with satellite TV and the Internet, it has been possible to listen to British and American English at the flick of a switch. This non-stop communication, the experts think, has made it easier for British people and Americans

8、 to understand each other. But it has also led to lots of American words and structures passing into British English, so that some people now believe that British English will disappear.However, if you turn on CNN, the American TV network, you find newsreaders and weather forecasters all speaking wi

9、th different accents American, British, Australian, and even Spanish. One of the best-known faces, Monita Rajpal, was born in Hong Kong, China, and grew up speaking Chinese and Punjabi, as well as English.This international dimension suggests that in the future, there are going to be many Englishes,

10、 not just two main varieties. But the message is Dont worry. Users of English will all be able to understand each other wherever they are.Module 2 The Human Traffic SignalThe roadAt 3,500 metres, La Paz, in Bolivia, is the highest capital in the world. Life is hard at high altitude, and the mountain

11、s make communications difficult. Many roads are in bad condition and accidents are frequent. One road in particular, which goes north from La Paz, is considered the most dangerous road in the world. On one side the mountains rise steeply; on the other side there is a sheerdrop, which in places is hu

12、ndreds of metres deep. Although there is not a lot of traffic, on average, one vehicle comes off the road every two weeks. The drop is so great that anyone inside the vehicle is lucky to survive. In theory, the road can only be used by traffic going uphill from 8 in the morning, and by traffic comin

13、g downhill from 3 in the afternoon. But in practice, few drivers respect the rules.The manBut thanks to one man, the death toll has fallen. Timoteo Apaza is a gentle 46-year-old man who lives in a village near the most dangerous part of the road, known locally as la curva del diablo （the Devils Bend

14、）. Timoteo has an unusual job he is a human traffic signal. Every morning he climbs up to the bend with a large circular board in his hand. The board is red on one side and green on the other. Timoteo stands on the bend and directs the traffic. When two vehicles approach from opposite directions the

15、y cant see each other, but they can see Timoteo. Timoteo is a volunteer. No one asked him to do the job, and no one pays him for it. Sometimes drivers give him a tip, so that he has just enough money to live on. But often they just pass by, taking the human traffic signal for granted.The reason why

16、he does itSo why does he do it? Before he volunteered to direct the traffic, Timoteo had had lots of jobs. He had been a miner and a soldier. Then one day while he was working as a lorry driver he had a closeencounter with death. He was driving a lorry load of bananas when he came off the road at a

17、bend and fell three hundred metres down the mountain. Somehow he survived. He was in hospital for months. Then, a few years later, he was called out in the night to help pull people out of a bus which had crashed at la curva del diablo. This last experience had a profound effect on Timoteo. He reali

18、sed that he was lucky to be alive himself, and felt that it was his mission in life to help others. And so every morning, week in, week out, from dawn to dusk, Timoteo takes up his place on the bend and directs the traffic.Module 3 The SteamboatThere was a big storm after midnight and the rain poure

19、d down. We stayed inside the shelter we had built and let the raft sail down the river. Suddenly, by the light of the lightning, we saw something in the middle of the river. It looked like a house at first, but then we realized it was a steamboat. It had hit a rock and was half in and half out of th

20、e water. We were sailing straight towards it.It looks as if itll go under soon, Jim said, after a couple of minutes.Lets go and take a look, I said.I dont want to board a sinking ship, said Jim, but when I suggested that we might find something useful on the boat, he agreed to go. So we paddled over

21、 and climbed on to the steamboat, keeping as quiet as mice. To our astonishment, there was a light in one of the cabins. Then we heard someone shout, Oh please boys, dont kill me! I wont tell anybody!A mans angry voice answered, Youre lying. You said that last time. Were going to kill you.When he he

22、ard these words, Jim panicked and ran to the raft. But although I was frightened, I also felt very curious, so I put my head round the door. It was quite dark, but I could see a man lying on the floor, tied up with rope. There were two men standing over him. One was short, with a beard. The other wa

23、s tall and had something in his hand that looked like a gun.Ive had enough of you. Im going to shoot you now, this man said. He was obviously the one who had threatened the man on the floor. And it was a gun he had in his hand.No, dont do that, said the short man. s leave him here. The steamboat wil

24、l sink in a couple of hours and hell go down with it.When he heard that, the frightened man on the floor started crying. He sounds as if hes going to die offright! I thought. I have to find a way to save him!I crawled along the deck, found Jim, and told him what I had heard. We must find their boat

25、and take it away, then theyll have to stay here,Jim looked terrified. m not staying here, he said. But I persuaded him to help me, and we found the mens boat tied to the other side of the steamboat. We climbed quietly in and as we paddled away we heard the two men shouting. By then we were a safe di

26、stance away. But now I began to feel bad about what we had done. I didnt want all three men to die.Module 4 The Magic of the MaskThink of carnival, and you think of crowds, costumes, and confusion. The sounds and sights change from one country to another but the excitement is the same everywhere.Car

27、nival comes from two Latin words, meaning no more meat. In Europe, where it began, carnival was followed by forty days without meat, as people prepared for the Christian festival of Easter. People saw Carnival as a last chance to have fun at the end of the winter season. Having fun meant eating, dri

28、nking, and dressing up.The most famous carnival in Europe was in Venice. At the beginning, it lasted for just one day. People ate, drank, and wore masks. As time passed, however, the carnival period was extended, so that it began just after Christmas. For weeks on end people walked round the streets

29、 wearing masks, doing what they wanted without being recognised. Ordinary people could pretend to be rich and important, while famous people could have romantic adventures in secret. Many crimes went unpunished.The government realised that wearing masks had become a problem. Their use was limited by

30、 laws, the first of which dates back to the fourteenth century. Men were not allowed to wear masks at night; and they were not allowed to dress up as women. In later times more laws were passed. People who wore masks could not carry firearms; and no one could enter a church wearing a mask. If they broke the laws, they were put into p