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1必修一Unit1Anne’sBestFriendDoyouwantafriendwhomyoucouldtelleverythingto,likeyourdeepestfeelingsandthoughts?Orareyouafraidthatyourfriendwouldlaughatyou,orwouldnotunderstandwhatyouaregoingthrough?AnneFrankwantedthefirstkind,soshemadeherdiaryherbestfriend.AnnelivedinAmsterdamintheNetherlandsduringWorldWarⅡ.HerfamilywasJewishsonearlytwenty-fivemonthsbeforetheywerediscovered.Duringthattimetheonlytruefriendwasherdiary.Shesaid,”Idon’twanttosetdownaseriesoffactsinadiaryasmostpeopledo,butIwantthisdiaryitselftobemyfriend,andIshallcallmyfriendKitty.”NowreadhowshefeltafterbeinginthehidingplacesinceJuly1942.Thursday15thJune,1944DearKitty,Iwonderifit’sbecauseIhaven’tbeenabletobeoutdoorsforsolongthatI’vegrownsocrazyabouteverythingtodowithnature.Icanwellrememberthattherewasatimewhenadeepbluesky,thesongofthebirds,moonlightandflowerscouldneverhavekeptmespellbound.That’schangedsinceIwashere.…Forexample,oneeveningwhenitwassowarm,Istayedawakeonpurposeuntilhalfpasteleveninordertohaveagoodlookatthemoonbymyself.Butasthemoongavefartoomuchlight,Ididn’tdareopenawindow.Anothertimefivemonthsago,Ihappenedtobeupstairsatduskwhenthewindowwasopen.Ididn’tgodownstairsuntilthewindowbadtobeshut.Thedark,rainyevening,thewind,thethunderingcloudsheldmeentirelyintheirpower;itwasthefirsttimeinayearandahalfthatI’dseenthenightfacetoface……Sadly…Iamonlyabletolookatnaturethroughdirtycurtainshangingbeforeverydustywindows.It’snopleasurelookingthroughtheseanylongerbecausenatureisonethingthatreallymustbeexperienced.Yours,Anne2Unit2theRoadtoModernEnglishAttheendofthe16thcentury,aboutfivetosevenmillionpeoplespokeEnglish.NearlyallofthemlivedinEngland.Laterinthenextcentury,peoplefromEnglandmadevoyagestoconquerotherpartsoftheworld,andbecauseofthat,Englishbegantobespokeninmanyothercountries.Today,morepeoplespeakEnglishastheirfirst,secondoraforeignlanguagethaneverbefore.NativeEnglishspeakerscanunderstandeachothereveniftheydon’tspeakthesamekindofEnglish.Lookatthisexample:BritishBetty:Wouldyouliketoseemyflat?AmericanAmy:Yes.I’dliketocomeuptoyouapartment.SowhyhasEnglishchangedovertime?Actuallyalllanguageschangeanddevelopwhenculturesmeetandcommunicatewitheachother.AtfisttheEnglishspokeninEnglandbetweenaboutAD450and1150wasverydifferentfromtheEnglishspokentoday.ItwasbasemoreonGermanthantheEnglishwespeakatpresent.ThengraduallybetweenaboutAD500and1150,EnglishbecamelesslikeGermanbecausethosewhoruledEnglandspokefirstDanishandlaterFrench.ThesenewsettlersenrichedtheEnglishlanguageandespeciallyitsvocabulary.Sobythe1600’sShakespearewasabletomakeuseofawidervocabularythaneverbefore.In1620someBritishsettlersmovedtoAmerica.Laterinthe18thcenturysomeBritishpeopleweretakentoAustraliato.Englishbegantobespokeninbothcountries.Finallybythe19thcenturythelanguagewassettled.AtthattimetwobigchangesinEnglishspellinghappened:firstSamuelJohnsonwrotehisdictionaryandlaterNoahWebsterwroteTheAmericanDictionaryoftheEnglishlanguage.ThelattergaveaseparateidentitytoAmericanEnglishspelling.EnglishnowisalsospokenasaforeignorsecondlanguageinSouthAsia.Forexample,IndiahasaverylargenumberoffluentEnglishspeakersbecauseBritainruledIndiafrom1765to1947.DuringthattimeEnglishbecamethelanguageforgovernmentandeducation.EnglishisalsospokeninSingaporeandMalaysiaandcountriesinAfricasuchasSouthAfrica.TodaythenumberofpeoplelearningEnglishinChinaisincreasingrapidly.Infact,ChinamayhavethelargestnumberofEnglishlearners.WillChineseEnglishdevelopitsownidentity?Onlytimewilltell.3Unit3JourneyDowntheMekongMynameisWangKun.Eversincemiddleschool,mysisterWangWeiandIhavedreamedabouttakingagreatbiketrip.Twoyearsagosheboughtanexpensivemountainbikeandthenshepersuadedmetobuyone.Lastyear,shevisitedourcousins,DaoWeiandYuHangattheircollegeifKunming.TheyareDaiandgrewupinwesternYunnanProvinceneartheLancangRiver,theChinesepartoftheriverthatiscalledtheMekongRiverinothercountries.WangWeisoongottimeinterestedincyclingtoo.Aftergraduatingfromcollege,wefinallygotthechancetotakeabiketrip.Iaskedmysister,“Wherearewegoing?”ItwasmysisterwhofirsthadtheideatocyclealongtheentireMekongRiverfromwhereitbeginstowhereitends.Nowsheisplanningourscheduleforthetrip.Iamfondofmysisterbutshehasoneseriousshortcoming.Shecanbereallystubborn.Althoughshedidn’tknowthebestwayofgettingtoplaces,sheinsistedthatsheorganizethetripproperly.NowIknowthattheproperwayisalwaysherway.Ikeptaskingher,“Whenareweleavingandwhenarewecomingback?”Iaskedherwhethershehadlookedatamapyet.Ofcourseshehadn’t;mysisterdoesn’tcareaboutdetails.SoItoldherthatthesourceoftheMekongisinQinghaiProvince.Shegavemeadeterminedlook--thekindthatsaidshewouldnotchangehermind.WhenItoldherthatourjourneywouldbeginatanaltitudeofmorethan5,000meters,sheseemedtobeexcitedaboutit.WhenItoldhertheairwouldbehardtobreatheanditwouldbeverycold,shesaiditwouldbeaninterestingexperience.Iknowmysisterwell.Onceshehasmadeuphermind,nothingcanchangeit.Finally,Ihadtogivein.Severalmonthsbeforeourtrip,WangWeiandIwenttothelibrary.Wefoundalargeatlaswithgoodmapsthatshoweddetailsofworldgeography.FromtheatlaswecouldseethattheMekongRiverbeginsinaglaciertomo