英美文化阅读理解专项：美国英语和英国英语- 高考英语常考英美文化阅读专练

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'fiʃəl]人造的,人为的colony殖民地◆BriefIntroduction:英语是世界上五分之一人口的母语或者官方语言，学英语的人比学任何其它语言的人都多，在许多国家大学的教材是英文版的，甚至英语不是母语的国家的许多大学用英语授课。英语成了国际语言，为什么呢？在19世纪中期的法语是国际语言，后来英国强大了，在17世纪的时候在北美和印度进行殖民统治，到20世纪的时候已经到亚洲、非洲和南太平洋地区。殖民地的人不得不学英语，后来美国强大起来，学英语的人就更多了。英语是一种好的语言吗？词汇量大、语法简单，但是拼写困难。从1880年起，人们就造了50多种语言，没有人把这些作为母语，甚至每一种能够流行开来。有些人不想学习英语，可它目前应该是一种国际语言。◆Exercises:从所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。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.选C。细节理解题。根据第5段的叙述可以找到A、B、D项，每提到发音问题。故选C。2.选B。推理判断题。根据最后一段的最后一句Somepeopledon'twanttostudyEnglish,butitistheinternationallanguage.可以看出不管你是否想学英语，它是国际语言，这是事实，暗示“不管你是否愿意学，英语是国际语言，这是事实”。故选B。3.选C。细节理解题。根据第二段的第一句MorepeoplestudyEnglishthananyotherlanguage.52.LanguagesinAmerica美国语言面面观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'liŋgwəl]懂三国语言的Bilingual[bai'liŋgwəl]懂两国语言的census['sensəs]普查curriculum[kə'rikjuləm](课程)region['ri:dʒən]地区Vietnamese['vjetnə'mi:z]Polish波兰语flavor['fleivə]风味diversity[dai'və:siti]多样性restrictionism[ri'strikʃənizm]限制主义immersion[i'mə:ʃən]浸入(专心)commitment[kə'mitmənt]使命◆BriefIntroduction:能说三种语言的人，我们可以称之为“三语人”；能讲两种语言的称之为“双语人”；那么，只会一种语言的人呢？美国人。对于许多国家的人而言，会说两三种语言是件很平常的事儿。然而，美国人却觉得没必要学习外语，主要原因在于他们的母语——英语是世界上广泛通用的语言。另外，居住于美国大陆内地的人很少与其它语言族群接触，因此外语能力对于他们更显得无关紧要。实际上，作为一块“移民之地”，美国一直拥有许多来自不同国籍、说不同语言的人群。1990年的一项调查显示，十分之一强的美国人是“双语人”。此外，美国的许多中学生、大学生，甚至小学生在校的学科都必须加修一门外语。在一些主要的大都市的社区中，当地的移民还保留着他们自己的文化传统和语言。有些当地人平时只讲母语就够了，不需要劳神地学英语。在一些外来民族的后裔社区里，由于外语的广泛使用，甚至会使来访者有身置异国的感觉。虽然不少美国人欢迎这种语言与文化的多元化，但也有些人已开始担心英语会受到威胁。自1980年代以来，一部分人主张通过立法讲英语定为法定语言并限制其它语言的使用，但同时有些团体反对这种“语言限制主义”。无论英语是否是美国的官方语言，它仍是“广泛沟通的语言”。在美国，几乎每个人都了解，若想要出人头地，必须精通英语。为此，在拥有大批新进移民的一些大都市，都设有双语教学课程，在用移民们的母语教授某些科目的同时，帮助学生提高英语水平。◆Exercises:从所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。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.选D。细节理解题。根据第二段内容可知大多美国人认为他们所说的英语是世界上广泛通用的语言，因而没有必要学习外语，由此应选D项。2.选C。具体信息题。第三段提到1990年的对美国人所使用的语言的一项调查，其中的一句话——“Thatmeansthatslightlymorethanoneoutof10Americanscouldbeconsideredbilingual”可以帮助我们得出此题答案。3.选A。段落大意题。第四段主要谈到美国的某些地区的移民依然保留着他们自己的语言和文化，因此答案是A。4.选B。推理判断题。由倒数第二段开头推断出造成美国人担心英语会受到威胁的主要原因正是美国社会里语言与文化的多元化。5.选A。细节推断题。根据最后一段中的句子“NearlyeveryonerecognizestheneedtostudyEnglishinordertodowellinAmerica.”推断出正确答案是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开始发生于…；溜进…predict预测opposite相反的link联系linguistically[liŋ'gwistikli]语言上culturally文化上的◆BriefIntroduction:美国和英国使用的虽然都是英语，但是差别是存在的。首先美国人和英国人在问候语的使用上不一样，再者使用have的用法也不一样，而且单词拼写的也有许多不同。曾经有人预测说英国英语和美国英语最终会成为各自独立的语言，但是相反的情况出现了。两个国家的关系如此密切，结果他们的语言和文化上的联系也就更密切了，他