研究生英语第四单元

1、研究生英语第四单元 8. But as English spreads, will it be able to maintain its present form? Probably not .But why should it? Every successful effort at standardization seldom succeeds. The schoolmaam has been trying since the Revolution to bring American English to her rules, but it goes on sprouting, and it

2、 will eventually conquer the English of England.schoolmaamn. a female school teacher sproutvi. grow or develop quickly 长出新芽；迅速发展conquervt. gain control over征服 the American Revolution (1775-1783) 但是随着英语的广泛传播，它是否能够保持现在的形式？也许不能。但为什么要保持现在的形式呢？每次使英语规范化的所谓的成功的努力其实很少成功。自从大革命以来，学校女教师一直努力使美式英语遵守语法规则，但是，美式英语仍

3、然在不断发展，最终必将征服英国英语。 9.The guess indeed is rather too easy to be quite sporting. English has been yielding to American for fifty years part, and since the turn of the century it has been yielding at a constantly accelerated rate. The flow of novelties in vocabulary, in idiom, even in pronunciation, is

4、 now overwhelmingly eastward. vt. increase the speed of 加快速度 noveltyn. sth. new, invention; the quality of being new新颖，新鲜感 We seldom borrow an English word or phrase any more, though we used to borrow many; but the English take in our inventions almost as fast as we can launch them. The American mov

5、ie, I suppose, is largely responsible for this change, but there are unquestionably deeper causes too. English is still a bit tight, a bit stiff, more than a little artificial. But American has gone on developing with almost Elizabethan prodigality. All the processes of word-formation that were in o

6、peration in Shakespeares England are still in operation here, and they produce a steady stream of neologisms that he would have relished as joyfully as he relished the novelties actually produced in his time.neologismn. a newly-coinedword,phrase,or expression新词，旧词新义n. extremeabundance;recklesswastef

7、ulness;profuse generosity 丰富，大量；浪费，奢侈relishvt. take pleasure in从中得到乐趣 种种结局很容易猜出，甚至是可以肯定的。在过去的50年里，英语一直屈从于美语。自世纪之交以来，英语屈从于美语的速度不断加快。新词汇、新习语、甚至新发音都以无法抗拒的势力源源不断传入东方。从前我们常常借用英语词或短语，但现在很少这样做。但英语却吸纳我们创造的词，我们创造有多快，其吸纳的速度几乎就有多快。我认为，美国电影固然对这一变化起了很大作用，但毫无疑问，还有更深刻的原因。 英语依然有点太严格、有点僵硬，且过于矫揉造作。但美语逃脱了那场严格的控制，免受此后学

8、校教师清规戒律的影响，因此美语的发展像伊丽莎白时代一样繁荣。所有那些在英国莎士比亚时代应用的构词方法，现在依然在美国用着，新词源源不断的产生。如果莎翁健在，这些新词一定会使他欣喜若狂，就像他所生活的时代产生的新词曾使他欣喜若狂一样。 10.The English, from the Age of Anne onward, have resisted the march of American with a mixture of patriotic watchfulness and moral indignation, albeit with steadily decreasing effect

9、ivenessAnne(1665-1714) was Queenof Great Britain and Ireland(1702-1714) patrioticadj. feeling or expressing love for ones own country 爱国的indignationn. anger aroused by sth. unjust ,mean or unworthy 义愤 自安妮时代以来，英国人就以一种带有爱国者的警惕和义愤的复杂心情，来拒绝美语的进入，尽管效果在日渐下降。 11.The English travelers who began to swarm in

10、America after 1800 gave willing aid in this benign work, and scarcely one of them failed to record his horror over the new American words that he encountered , and the unfamiliar American pronunciation. Captain Basil Hall, who was here in 1827 and 1828, went to the length of making a call upon Noah

11、Webster, then over 70 years of age, to lodge his protest. benignadj. tending to promote well-being, beneficial 善良的 ，好心的；良性的lodge ones protest 提出抗议 “Surely,” he said, “such innovations are to be deprecated.” “I dont know that,” replied Webster stoutly. “If a word becomes universally current in Americ

12、an, why should it not take its station in the language?” “Because,” answered Hall, with a magnificent resort to British complacency, “there are words enough already.”deprecate vt. dxpress disapproval of反对，贬低 adv. forcefully; boldly; determinedly 有力的，坚定地n. feeling of contentment or satisfaction, self-satisfaction自满，自得 1800年以后开始蜂拥来到美国的英国游客也心甘情愿支持这一有益的工作。