外研版英语必修5阅读与文化角课文原文.docx

1、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Module 1 British and American EnglishWords, words, wordsBritish and American English are different in many ways. The first and most obvious way is in the vocabulary. There are hundreds of different words which are not used on the other side of the Atlantic, or whi

2、ch are used with a different meaning. Some of these words are well-known Americans drive automobiles down freeways and fill up with gas; the British drive cars along motorways and fill up with petrol. As a tourist, you will need to used the underground in London or the subway in New York, or maybe y

3、ou will prefer to get around the town by taxi (British) or cab (American).British and AmericanChips or French fries?But other words and expressions are not so well known. Americans use a flashlight, while for the British, its a torch. The British queue up; Americans stand in line. Sometimes the same

4、 word ahs 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 chips the British know and love are French fries on the other side of the Atlan

5、tic.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 has just arrived. Prepositions, too, can be different: compare on the team, on th

6、e 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 varieties differ are spelling and pronunciation. American spelling seems simpler:

7、 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 British English, can be heard on the East Coast of the US. When the Irish writer Georg

8、e 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 is probably as much variation of pronunciation within the two countries as betwee

9、n 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 communications across the Atlantic have developed steadily. Since the 1980s, with

10、 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 to understand each other. But it has also led to lots of American words and str

11、uctures 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 with different accents American, British, Australian, and even Spanish. One of th

12、e 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”, not just two main varieties. But the messages is “Dont worry.” Users of Eng

13、lish will all be able to understand each other wherever they are.The Man Who Made Spelling SimpleIn English the spelling of words does not always represent the sound. So people say /rait/ but spell it right, or write, or even rite. Combinations of letters (like ough) may be pronounced in a number of

14、 ways. And some words just seem to have too many letters. For Americans things are a little bit easier, thanks to the work of Noah Webster, a teacher who graduated from Yale University in 1778. as a young man he had fought against the British in the American War of independence, and he felt that wri

15、tten English in the newly independent United States should have a distinctive “American” look. So he began his work on American English. His first book, the Elementary Spelling Book, suggested simplifying the spelling of English words. The book was extremely popular. By the 1850s it was selling one

16、million copies a year, making it one of the most popular school books ever. Many of the suggestions were quickly adopted. Center instead of centre, program instead of programme, and flavor instead of flavour. Others, however, such as removing silent letters like the s in island or the final e in exa

17、mine, were not. Webster is best known for his American Dictionary of the English Language, which first appeared 1828. it introduced lots of new American words, with information about their pronunciation and use, and, of course, the new spelling. The British criticized the dictionary, but it quickly

18、became a standard reference book in the States. Today, Websters dictionary is still the number one dictionary for American students.Module 2 A Job Worth DoingThe Human Traffic SignalAt 3500 meters, La Paz, in Bolivia, is the highest capital in the world. Life is hard at high altitude, and the mounta

19、ins 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 sheer drop, which in places is

20、 hundreds 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 co

21、ming downhill from 3 in the afternoon. But in practice, few drivers respect the rules. But 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).

22、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 they c

23、ant 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. So why does he do

24、 it? Before he volunteer 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 close encounter with death. He was driving a lorry load of bananas when he came off the road at a bend and fell three hundred

25、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 realised that he was lucky to be

26、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.Growing JobsWhat sort of jobs will people de doing ten years from now? according to a survey published by

27、 an American university, the ten fastest growing jobs will be related to computers and health. They include computer systems analysts, data analysts and database managers. But there will also be a rise in the demand for health care professionals. Some of these will be new jobs, such as bioinformatic

28、ians, who combine computer skills with knowledge of biology. Others will be more traditional. For example, more home care nurses will be needed to look after the rapidly ageing population. But many youngsters will need professional care, too: 14 million Americans suffer from speech or language probl

29、ems, and six million of them are under the age of 18. the number of speech pathologists (who help people who have problems speaking) is expected to double by the year 2012. and social workers will continue to be in demand. Of course there will be plenty of other new jobs, some of which we probably c

30、ant even guess. But for those who love the outdoor life, a good bet could be the leisure industry. As more and more countries open up to tourism, more travel agents will be needed, but the real demand will be for guides to take groups and even individuals on adventure holidays. For people doing this

31、 job, common sense, physical fitness and an outgoing personality are likely to be more important than computer skills.Module 3 Adventure in Literature and the CinemaThe SteamboatThere was a big storm after midnight and the rain poured down. We stayed inside the shelter we had built and let the raft

32、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 the 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 and climbed on to the steamboat, keeping as quiet as mice. T