-1-Unit2Language当今社会,一个人会讲两种、三种语言已不再是什么稀奇的事。但你有没有思考过这样一个问题:世界上到底有多少种语言?读完下面的短文,你会大吃一惊。Whenpeopleareaskedhowmanylanguagestheythinkthereareintheworld,theanswersareverydifferent.OnerandomsamplingofNewYorkers,forinstance,resultedinanswerslike“probablyseveralhundred”.Howeverwechoosetocountthem,though,thisisnotclose.Whenwelookatreferenceworks,wefindestimatesthathaveescalatedovertime.The1911(11th)editionoftheEncyclopediaBritannica,forexample,suggestsafiguresomewherearound1,000,anumberthatclimbssteadilyoverthecourseofthetwentiethcentury.Thatisnotduetoanyincreaseinthenumberoflanguages,butrathertoourincreasedunderstandingofhowmanylanguagesareactuallyspokeninareasthathadpreviouslybeendescribed.Muchpioneeringworkinprovingthelanguagesoftheworldhasbeendonebymissionaryorganizations(suchastheSummerInstituteofLinguistics)withaninterestintranslatingtheChristianBible.Asof1997,atleastaportionoftheBiblehadbeentranslatedinto2,197differentlanguages,stillalongwayshortoffullcoverage.Themostextensivecatalogoftheworld'slanguages,generallytakentobeasauthoritativeasany,isthatoftheEthnologyorganization,whosedetailedclassifiedlistcurrentlyincludes6,809distinctlanguages.[阅读障碍词]1.random随机的,任意的2.sampling抽样3.estimate估计4.escalate上升5.Encyclopedia百科全书6.coverage覆盖范围7.catalog目录[诱思导读]根据短文内容,回答下列问题1.Whydoesthenumberoflanguagesclimbsteadilyoverthecourseofthetwentieth-2-century?Becauseourunderstandingofthenumberoflanguagesincreasesconstantly.2.Whatistheauthoritativenumberoflanguages?6,809.SectionⅠReading(Ⅰ)(Welcometotheunit&Reading)Ⅰ.匹配下列单词的词性及汉语意思()1.occupyA.vt.替换,代替,取代()2.consistB.n.口音,腔调;着重点()3.contributionC.adv.因此,所以()4.replaceD.vt.占领;占用(时间、空间等)()5.entireE.n.过程;进程()6.raiseF.n.区别,差别()7.thereforeG.vi.组成,构成()8.processH.n.贡献,促成因素;捐赠()9.distinctionI.vt.养育,培养;举起;增加,提高;筹募;提及()10.accentJ.adj.完全的,整个的[答案]1-5DGHAJ6-10ICEFBⅡ.选择下列句中词组的汉语意思A.开始使用B.由……构成C.除了D.增加,添加E.担当F.代替,而不是1.Itmaddensmethatshewaschoseninsteadofme.2.Asidefrombeingfunandgoodexercise,swimmingisaveryusefulskill.3.Whendidthetraincomeintouse?4.Shedidn'twanttoworkasaservantforever.5.Theydon'twanttoaddtothegovernment'sburden.6.Iwantmyfirmtobemadeupofexcellentworkers.[答案]1-6FCAEDB-3-EnglishanditshistoryAllthroughhistory,peoplefrommanydifferentcountriesandcultureshavelivedtogetherinBritain.TheEnglishlanguageismadeupofthegrammarandvocabulary(词汇)①thesepeoplebroughttoBritain.ThatiswhyEnglishhassomanydifficultrulesthatconfusepeople.英语及其历史有史以来,在不列颠共同生活着来自许多不同国家和文化背景的人们。英语就是由这些人带到不列颠的语法和词汇构成的。那就是英语有如此多令人困惑不解的规则的原因。[助读讲解]thesepeoplebroughttoBritain是定语从句,修饰先行词thegrammarandvocabulary,关系代词在定语从句中作宾语时可省略。OldEnglishOldEnglishisverydifferentfromtheEnglish②wespeaknowadays(现在,如今).Infact,wewouldnotbeabletounderstanditifweheardittoday.Beforethemiddleofthe5thcentury,peopleinBritainallspokealanguage③calledCeltic.ThentwoGermanicgroupsfromtheEuropeanmainland—theAnglesandtheSaxons—occupiedBritain.OldEnglishconsistedofamixture(混合)oftheirlanguages.(BoththeEnglishlanguageandtheEnglishpeoplearenamedaftertheAngles;thewordAnglewasspeltEngleinOldEnglish.)AsidefromplacenamessuchasLondon,veryfewCelticwordsbecamepartofOldEnglish.Attheendofthe9thcentury,theVikings,④peoplefromNorthernEuropeancountriessuchasDenmarkandNorway,begantomovetoBritain.Theybroughtwiththemtheirlanguages,⑤whichalsomixedwithOldEnglish.Bythe10thcentury,OldEnglishhadbecometheofficial(官方的,正式的)languageofEngland.WhenwespeakEnglishtoday,wesometimesfeelpuzzledaboutwhichwordsorphrases(短语)touse.⑥ThisisbecauseEnglishhasmanywordsandphrasesfromdifferentlanguages,butwithsimilarmeanings.Forexample,thewordsickcamefromaword⑦onceusedbytheAnglesandtheSaxons,⑧whileillcamefromawordonceusedbytheNorwegians.古英语古英语和现在我们说的英语非常不同。事实上,如果今天听到古英语,我们会听不懂。公元5世纪中叶以前,不列颠所有的人都说一种叫凯尔特语的语言。然后,来自欧洲大陆的两个日耳曼部族——盎格鲁人和撒克逊人——占领了不列颠。古英语是由他们的语言混合而成的。(英语及英国人都是由盎格鲁人命名的;Angle这个词在古英语里拼作Engle。)除了像“London”这样的地名外,极少数的凯尔特单词成了古英语的一部分。在9世纪末,来自北-4-欧诸国例如丹麦和挪威的维京人开始向不列颠移居。他们带来了他们的语言,这些语言也与古英语交汇在了一起。到了10世纪,古英语已成为英格兰的官方语言。现在当我们讲英语时,我们有时会对用哪些单词或短语而感到困惑。这是因为英语有着许多来自不同语言的单词和短语,但是这些单词和短语有着相似的意思。比如,“sick”一词就是来自盎格鲁人和撒克逊人曾经用过的一个词,而“ill”则来自曾经被挪威人用过的一个词。[助读讲解]②wespeaknowadays是省略了引导词that/which的定语从句,修饰先行词theEnglish。③过去分词短语calledCeltic作后置定语,修饰alanguage。④peoplefrom...andNorway是theVikings的同位语。⑤whichalsomixedwithOldEnglish是非限制性定语从句,修饰languages。⑥Thisisbecause...“这是因为……”,because引导表语从句,其后接表示原因的句子。其中介词短语fromdifferentlanguages作定语,修饰wordsandphrases。⑦过去分词短语onceusedby...作后置定语,修饰aword。⑧whileillcamefrom...中while为并列连词,意为“而,然而”,表对比。MiddleEnglishMiddleEnglishisthename⑨giventotheEnglishusedfromaroundthe12thtothe15thcenturies.ManythingsplayedapartinthedevelopmentofthisnewtypeofEnglish.ThemostimportantcontributionwasfromtheNormans,aFrenchspeakingpeoplewhodefeated(战胜)Englandandtookcontrolofthecountryin1066.However,theNormanConquestdidnotaffectEnglishasmuchastheAnglesandtheSaxons'victoryabout600yearsearlier,⑩whichledtoOldEnglishreplacingCeltic.⑪EventhoughtheNormansspokeFrenchfortheentire250yearstheyruledEngland,FrenchdidnotreplaceEnglishasthefirstlanguage.Ontheotherhand,theEnglishlanguagedidborrowmanywordsfromFrench.Thisresultedinevenmorewordswithsimila