英美文化閱讀理解專項：美國英語和英國英語- 高考英語常考英美文化閱讀專練

51.InternationalLanguage---EnglishEnglishisthenativeorofficiallanguageofone-fifthoftheworld.ItisspokeninNorthAmerica,GreatBritain,Australia,andNewZealand.InSouthAfricaandIndiaitisoneoftheofficiallanguages.MorepeoplestudyEnglishthananyotherlanguage.Inmanycountries,thetextbooksinuniversitiesareinEnglish.ManyuniversityclassesaretaughtinEnglisheventhoughthenativelanguageisnotEnglish.Englishisthelanguageofinternationalcommunication.Itisthelanguageofinternationalbusiness,research,andscience.Morethanthree-fourthsoftheworld'smailiswritteninEnglish.MorethanhalfofthescientificresearcharticlesareinEnglish.MostotherlanguageshaveborrowedmanyEnglishwords.WhydidEnglishbecometheinternationallanguage?Inthemiddleofthe19thcentury,Frenchwastheinternationallanguage.ThenBritainbecameverypowerfulintheworld.EnglandstartedcoloniesinNorthAmericaandIndiainthe17thcentury.By1900EnglandalsohadcoloniesinotherpartsofAsia,AfricaandtheSouthPacific.ThepeopleinthecolonieshadtouseEnglish.SlowlyitbecamemoreimportantthanFrenchinternationally.AftertheSecondWorldWar,theUnitedStatesbecameverypowerful,andevenmorepeoplebegantolearnEnglish.IsEnglishagoodinternationallanguage?Ithasmorewordsthananyotherlanguage.Thegrammarissimplerthanintheothermajorlanguages.However,Englishspellingisdifficult.ForeignersallhavetroublespellingEnglish.Sodonativespeakers.Since1880,peoplehaveinventedoverfiftyartificial(notnatural)languages.Noonespeaksthemasanativelanguage.However,noneofthemhaseverbecomepopular.Somepeopledon'twanttostudyEnglish,butitistheinternationallanguage.(292words)Exercise:◆Helper:SouthPacific南太平洋artificial[ɑ:ti'fi??l]人造的,人為的colony殖民地◆BriefIntroduction:英語是世界上五分之一人口的母語或者官方語言，學英語的人比學任何其它語言的人都多，在許多國家大學的教材是英文版的，甚至英語不是母語的國家的許多大學用英語授課。英語成了國際語言，為什么呢？在19世紀中期的法語是國際語言，后來英國強大了，在17世紀的時候在北美和印度進行殖民統(tǒng)治，到20世紀的時候已經到亞洲、非洲和南太平洋地區(qū)。殖民地的人不得不學英語，后來美國強大起來，學英語的人就更多了。英語是一種好的語言嗎？詞匯量大、語法簡單，但是拼寫困難。從1880年起，人們就造了50多種語言，沒有人把這些作為母語，甚至每一種能夠流行開來。有些人不想學習英語，可它目前應該是一種國際語言。◆Exercises:從所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中選出最佳答案。1.WhichofthefollowingisNOTmentioned?A.TheEnglishgrammarissimpleB.Ithasagreatvocabulary.C.Itspronunciationsoundspleasant.D.Itisdifficulttospellcorrectly.2.Theauthorconcludesthat_________A.itisnecessarytoinventanewlanguageB.EnglishistheinternationallanguagewhetheryoulikeitornotC.EnglishismuchbetterthanotherlanguagesD.Englishshouldbespokenallovertheworld3.WhichofthefollowingisTRUE?A.AlluniversityclassesaretaughtinEnglishwherethenativelanguageisnotEnglish.B.Inmostcountries,thetextbooksinuniversitiesareinEnglish.C.ThenumberofthepeoplewhostudyEnglishisgreaterthanthosewhostudyanyotherlanguage.D.Morethanthree-fourthsofthescientificresearcharticlesareinEnglish.◆KeysandExplanations:1-3CBC1.選C。細節(jié)理解題。根據第5段的敘述可以找到A、B、D項，每提到發(fā)音問題。故選C。2.選B。推理判斷題。根據最后一段的最后一句Somepeopledon'twanttostudyEnglish,butitistheinternationallanguage.可以看出不管你是否想學英語，它是國際語言，這是事實，暗示“不管你是否愿意學，英語是國際語言，這是事實”。故選B。3.選C。細節(jié)理解題。根據第二段的第一句MorepeoplestudyEnglishthananyotherlanguage.52.LanguagesinAmerica美國語言面面觀Whatdoyoucallsomeonewhospeaksthreelanguages?Trilingual.Whatdoyoucallsomeonewhospeakstwolanguages?Bilingual.Whatdoyoucallsomeonewhospeaksonelanguage?AnAmerican.Topeopleinmanycountries,beingbilingualoreventrilingualisawayoflife.ButsincethemothertongueofmostAmericansisEnglish,alanguagewidelyspokenaroundtheworld,theyoftendon'tfeeltheyneedtolearnaforeignlanguage.Moreover(besides),peoplewholiveintheheartlandofAmericahavelittlecontactwithotherlanguagespeakers.Actually,though,this"landofimmigrants"hasalwayshadpeopleofmanydifferentnationalitiesandlanguages.The1990censusshowedthatalmost14%ofAmericansspokeanon-Englishlanguageathome.Yetonly3%ofthemspokeEnglish"notwell"or"notatall."Thatmeansthatslightlymorethanoneoutof10Americanscouldbeconsideredbilingual.Besidesthat,manyhighschoolandcollegestudentsandevensomeelementaryschoolstudentsarerequiredtotakeaforeignlanguageasapartoftheircurriculum.InadditiontoSpanish,GermanandFrench,moreandmorestudentsarechoosingEasternEuropeanandAsianlanguages.Atsomeplaces,especiallyinmajorbigcitiesimmigrantshavekeptupthelanguageandcultureoftheirown.Somenativescangetalongquitewellwiththeirnativelanguage,withouthavingtobotherlearningEnglish.RegionssuchassouthernFloridaandtheSouthwesthavemanySpanish-speakingneighborhoods.Infact,Spanishspeakers----numberingover17millionmakeupthelargestnon-EnglishlanguagegroupinAmerica.ButChinese,Vietnamese,Italian,PolishandmanyothergroupsaddtothelanguageflavorofAmerica.Foreignlanguagesaresocommonlyusedinsomeethnicneighborhoodsthatvisitorsmightthinktheyareinanothercountry!AlthoughsomeAmericanswelcomethislinguisticandculturaldiversity,othershavebeguntofearthattheEnglishlanguageisbeingthreatened.Sincethe1980s,someorganizationshavesoughttoestablishEnglishasthe"officiallanguage"andrestricttheuseofnon-Englishlanguages.However,somegroupsobjecttosuch"languagerestrictionism".WhetherornotEnglishistheofficiallanguageoftheUnitedStates,itremainsthe"languageofwidercommunication."NearlyeveryonerecognizestheneedtostudyEnglishinordertodowellinAmerica.TohelpthosewhowanttoimprovetheirEnglish,EnglishasaSecondLanguage(ESL)classescomeup.CitieswithlargenumbersofrecentimmigrantsoftensetupbilingualeducationprogramstoteachstudentscertainsubjectsintheirnativelanguagewhiletheyimprovetheirEnglish.Languageeducatorsoftenhavestronganddifferentviewsastowhichcanhelplearnersachievebetterresults:abilingualapproach,anESLapproachorevenapureimmersion("sinkorswim")approach.However,alltheseteachersshareacommoncommitment:tohelpstudentsdowellinEnglish.(471words)◆Helper:trilingual[trai'li?gw?l]懂三國語言的Bilingual[bai'li?gw?l]懂兩國語言的census['sens?s]普查curriculum[k?'rikjul?m](課程)region['ri:d??n]地區(qū)Vietnamese['vjetn?'mi:z]Polish波蘭語flavor['fleiv?]風味diversity[dai'v?:siti]多樣性restrictionism[ri'strik??nizm]限制主義immersion[i'm?:??n]浸入(專心)commitment[k?'mitm?nt]使命◆BriefIntroduction:能說三種語言的人，我們可以稱之為“三語人”；能講兩種語言的稱之為“雙語人”；那么，只會一種語言的人呢？美國人。對于許多國家的人而言，會說兩三種語言是件很平常的事兒。然而，美國人卻覺得沒必要學習外語，主要原因在于他們的母語——英語是世界上廣泛通用的語言。另外，居住于美國大陸內地的人很少與其它語言族群接觸，因此外語能力對于他們更顯得無關緊要。實際上，作為一塊“移民之地”，美國一直擁有許多來自不同國籍、說不同語言的人群。1990年的一項調查顯示，十分之一強的美國人是“雙語人”。此外，美國的許多中學生、大學生，甚至小學生在校的學科都必須加修一門外語。在一些主要的大都市的社區(qū)中，當地的移民還保留著他們自己的文化傳統(tǒng)和語言。有些當地人平時只講母語就夠了，不需要勞神地學英語。在一些外來民族的后裔社區(qū)里，由于外語的廣泛使用，甚至會使來訪者有身置異國的感覺。雖然不少美國人歡迎這種語言與文化的多元化，但也有些人已開始擔心英語會受到威脅。自1980年代以來，一部分人主張通過立法講英語定為法定語言并限制其它語言的使用，但同時有些團體反對這種“語言限制主義”。無論英語是否是美國的官方語言，它仍是“廣泛溝通的語言”。在美國，幾乎每個人都了解，若想要出人頭地，必須精通英語。為此，在擁有大批新進移民的一些大都市，都設有雙語教學課程，在用移民們的母語教授某些科目的同時，幫助學生提高英語水平。◆Exercises:從所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中選出最佳答案。1.MostAmericansdon’tthinktheyneedtolearnaforeignlanguagebecause_____________.A.AmericaisoneofthemostpowerfulcountriesintheworldB.theydon’tliketohavecontactwithotherlanguagespeakersC.beingbilingualortrilingualisnotawayoftheirlifeD.theirnativelanguage,English,iswidelyspokenallovertheworld2.Accordingtothe1990census,_________ofAmericanscouldspeakatleasttwolanguages.A.alittlemorethan17%B.about3%C.alittlemorethan10%D.lessthan10%3.Whatisthemainideaofparagraph4?A.SomeimmigrantshavekeptuptheirownlanguageandcultureincertainplacesofAmerica.B.SomenativesinAmericacan’tgetalongquitewellwithEnglish.C.Spanishspeakersmakeupthelargestnon-EnglishlanguagegroupinAmerica.D.ManyforeignlanguagegroupsaddtothelanguageflavorofAmerica.4.Itis____________thatmakessomeAmericansfearthattheEnglishlanguageisbeingthreatened.A.thearrivalofnewimmigrantsB.thelinguisticandculturaldiversityC.thecurriculumwhichinvolvesforeignlanguagesD.Americans’thecurriculuminvolvingforeignlanguages5.Wecanlearnfromthelastparagraphthat___________________________.A.LearningEnglishwellhelpsapersongainsuccessinAmerica.B.EnglishasasecondlanguageclasseshavebenefitedmanypeopleinAmerica.C.BilingualeducationprogramshasbeensetupbythegovernmenttoteachrecentimmigrantsinAmerica.D.ThebilingualapproachhasbeenprovedtobethebestlanguageteachingapproachinAmerica.◆KeysandExplanations:1-5DCABA1.選D。細節(jié)理解題。根據第二段內容可知大多美國人認為他們所說的英語是世界上廣泛通用的語言，因而沒有必要學習外語，由此應選D項。2.選C。具體信息題。第三段提到1990年的對美國人所使用的語言的一項調查，其中的一句話——“Thatmeansthatslightlymorethanoneoutof10Americanscouldbeconsideredbilingual”可以幫助我們得出此題答案。3.選A。段落大意題。第四段主要談到美國的某些地區(qū)的移民依然保留著他們自己的語言和文化，因此答案是A。4.選B。推理判斷題。由倒數第二段開頭推斷出造成美國人擔心英語會受到威脅的主要原因正是美國社會里語言與文化的多元化。5.選A。細節(jié)推斷題。根據最后一段中的句子“NearlyeveryonerecognizestheneedtostudyEnglishinordertodowellinAmerica.”推斷出正確答案是A。53.BrEandAmEAmericanandBritishpeopleusedifferentgreetings.IntheUSAthemostpopulargreetingis,"Hi".InBritainitis"Hello!”or"Howareyou?"."Hi!”iscreepingintotheBritish,too.Whentheyareintroducedtosomeone,theAmericanssay,"Gladtoknowyou."TheBritishsay,"Howdoyoudo?"or"Pleasedtomeetyou."WhenAmericanssay"Good--bye",theynearlyalwaysadd,"Haveagoodday."or"Haveagoodtrip."etc.tofriendsorstrangers.TheBritisharealreadybeginningtouse"Haveagoodday."TheBritishusuallyuse"got"inthesenseof"have".TheAmericanshardlyeverdo.Forexample:AmE:Doyouhaveacarroom,etc.?Yes,Ido.BrE:Haveyougotacar,room,etc?Yes,Ihave.ThereareanumberofdifferencesbetweenAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglishinthespellingofwords,e.g.check(US)/cheque(UK).ManyAmericanwordsendin"or",e.g.honor,labor.ManyverbsinAmericanEnglishendwith"ize"or"izing"forms,e.g.organize,realizing.SuchwordsarespeltinBrEwith"iseor"ising",e.g.organise,realising.InAmericanEnglish,"practice"isusedbothfortheverbandnoun.InBrE.theverbisspelt"practise",andthenoun"practice".InAmericanEnglish,onewrites,"traveler",whileinBritishEnglish,onewrites"traveller".ItwasoncepredictedthatBritishandAmericanEnglishwouldbecomeseparatelanguagesfinally.Buttheoppositehashappened.Thelinksbetweenthetwocountriesaresostrongthatlinguisticallyandprobablyculturallytoo,theyareclosertogetherthanever.(290words)◆Helper:creep[kri:p]into開始發(fā)生于…；溜進…predict預測opposite相反的link聯系linguistically[li?'gwistikli]語言上culturally文化上的◆BriefIntroduction:美國和英國使用的雖然都是英語，但是差別是存在的。首先美國人和英國人在問候語的使用上不一樣，再者使用have的用法也不一樣，而且單詞拼寫的也有許多不同。曾經有人預測說英國英語和美國英語最終會成為各自獨立的語言，但是相反的情況出現了。兩個國家的關系如此密切，結果他們的語言和文化上的聯系也就更密切了，他