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Unit7,LearningaboutEnglish.,PartIPre-ReadingTaskListentotherecordingtwoorthreetimesandthenthinkoverthefollowingquestions:1.Whatisthepassageabout?2.WhatsyourimpressionoftheEnglishlanguage?3.Canyougiveoneortwoexamplestoillustrate（说明）themessinessoftheEnglishlanguage?4.Canyouguesswhatthetextsinthisunitaregoingtobeabout?,Thefollowingwordsintherecordingmaybenewtoyou:eggplantn.茄子pineapplen.菠萝hamburgern.汉堡牛肉饼，汉堡包,PartIITextASomelanguagesresisttheintroductionofnewwords.Others,likeEnglish,seemtowelcomethem.RobertMacNeillooksatthehistoryofEnglishandcomestotheconclusionthatitstoleranceforchangerepresentsdeeplyrootedideasoffreedom.THEGLORIOUSMESSINESSOFENGLISHRobertMacNeilThestoryofourEnglishlanguageistypicallyoneofmassivestealingfromotherlanguages.ThatiswhyEnglishtodayhasanestimatedvocabularyofoveronemillionwords,whileothermajorlanguageshavefarfewer,French,forexample,hasonlyabout75,000words,andthatincludesEnglishexpressionslikesnackbarandhitparade.TheFrench,however,donotlikeborrowingforeignwordsbecausetheythinkitcorruptstheirlanguage.ThegovernmenttriestobanwordsfromEnglishanddeclaresthatwalkmanisnotdesirable;sotheyinventaword,balladeur,whichFrenchkidsaresupposedtosayinsteadbuttheydont.,WalkmanisfascinatingbecauseitisntevenEnglish.Strictlyspeaking,itwasinventedbytheJapanesemanufacturerswhoputtwosimpleEnglishwordstogethertonametheirproduct.Thatdoesntbotherus,butitdoesbothertheFrench.SuchisthegloriousmessinessofEnglish.Thathappytolerance,thatwillingnesstoacceptwordsfromanywhere,explainstherichnessofEnglishandwhyithasbecome,toaveryrealextent,thefirsttrulygloballanguage.,HowdidthelanguageofasmallislandoffthecoastofEuropebecomethelanguageoftheplanetmorewidelyspokenandwrittenthananyotherhaseverbeen?ThehistoryofEnglishispresentinthefirstwordsachildlearnsaboutidentity(I,me,you);possession(mine,yours);thebody(eye,nose,mouth);size(tall,short);andnecessities(food,water).ThesewordsallcomefromOldEnglishorAnglo-SaxonEnglish,thecoreofourlanguage.Usuallyshortanddirect,thesearewordswestillusetodayforthethingsthatreallymattertous.GreatspeakersoftenuseOldEnglishtoarouseouremotions.Forexample,duringWorldWarII,WinstonChurchillmadethisspeech,stirringthecourageofhispeopleagainstHitlersarmiespositionedtocrosstheEnglishChannel:Weshallfightonthebeaches,weshallfightonthelandinggrounds,weshallfightinthefieldsandinthestreets,weshallfightinthehills.Weshallneversurrender.VirtuallyeveryoneofthosewordscamefromOldEnglish,exceptthelastsurrender,whichcamefromNormanFrench.Churchillcouldhavesaid,Weshallnevergivein,butitisoneofthelovelyandpowerfulopportunitiesofEnglishthatawritercanmix,foreffect,differentwordsfromdifferentbackgrounds.Yetthereissomethingdirecttotheheartthatspeakstousfromtheearliestwordsinourlanguage.,WhenJuliusCaesarinvadedBritainin55B.C.,Englishdidnotexist.TheCelts,whoinhabitedtheland,spokelanguagesthatsurvivetodaymainlyasWelsh.Wherethoselanguagescamefromisstillamystery,butthereisatheory.TwocenturiesagoanEnglishjudgeinIndianoticedthatseveralwordsinSanskritcloselyresembledsomewordsinGreekandLatin.Asystematicstudyrevealedthatmanymodernlanguagesdescendedfromacommonparentlanguage,losttousbecausenothingwaswrittendown.Identifyingsimilarwords,linguistshavecomeupwithwhattheycallanIndo-Europeanparentlanguage,spokenuntil3500to2000B.C.Thesepeoplehadcommonwordsforsnow,beeandwolfbutnowordforsea.Sosomescholarsassumetheylivedsomewhereinnorth-centralEurope,whereitwascold.Travelingeast,someestablishedthelanguagesofIndiaandPakistan,andothersdriftedwesttowardthegentlerclimatesofEurope,SomewhomadetheearliestmovewestwardbecameknownastheCelts,whomCaesarsarmiesfoundin,NewwordscamewiththeGermanictribestheAngles,theSaxons,etc.thatslippedacrosstheNorthSeatosettleinBritaininthe5thcentury.TogethertheyformedwhatwecallAnglo-Saxonsociety.TheAnglo-Saxonspassedontoustheirfarmingvocabulary,includingsheep,ox,earth,wood,fieldandwork.Theymusthavealsoenjoyedthemselvesbecausetheygaveusthewordlaughter.ThenextbiginfluenceonEnglishwasChristianity.ItenrichedtheAnglo-Saxonvocabularywithsome400to500wordsfromGreekandLatin,includingangel,discipleandmartyr.ThenintothisrelativelypeacefullandcametheVikingsfromScandinavia.TheyalsobroughttoEnglishmanywordsthatbeginwithsk,likeskyandskirt.ButOldNorseandEnglishbothsurvived,andsoyoucanrearachild(English)orraiseachild(Norse).Othersuchpairssurvive:wishandwant,craftandskill,hideandskin.EachsuchadditiongaveEnglishmorerichness,morevariety.Anotherfloodofnewvocabularyoccurredin1066,whentheNormansconqueredEngland.Thecountrynowhadthreelanguages:Frenchforthenobles,LatinforthechurchesandEnglishforthecommonpeople.Withthreelanguagescompeting,thereweresometimesdifferenttermsforthesamething.Forexample,Anglo-Saxonshadthewordkingly,butaftertheNormans,royalandsovereignenteredthelanguageasalternatives.,TheextraordinarythingwasthatFrenchdidnotreplaceEnglish.OverthreecenturiesEnglishgraduallyswallowedFrench,andbytheendofthe15thcenturywhathaddevelopedwasamodified,greatlyenrichedlanguageMiddleEnglishwithabout10,000borrowedFrenchwords.Around1476WilliamCaxtonsetupaprintingpressinEnglandandstartedacommunicationsrevolution.PrintingbroughtintoEnglishthewealthofnewthinkingthatsprangfromtheEuropeanRenaissance.TranslationsofGreekandRomanclassicswerepouredontotheprintedpage,andwiththemthousandsofLatinwordslikecapsuleandhabitual,andGreekwordslikecatastropheandthermometer.TodaywestillborrowfromLatinandGreektonamenewinventions,likevideo,televisionandcyberspace.AssettlerslandedinNorthAmericaandestablishedtheUnitedStates,EnglishfounditselfwithtwosourcesAmericanandBritish.ScholarsinBritainworriedthatthelanguagewasoutofcontrol,andsomewantedtosetupanacademytodecidewhichwordswereproperandwhichwerenot.Fortunatelytheirideahasneverbeenputintopractice.Thattoleranceforchangealsorepresentsdeeplyrootedideasoffreedom.DanishscholarOttoJespersenwrotein1905,TheEnglishlanguagewouldnothavebeenwhatitisiftheEnglishhadnotbeenforcenturiesgreatrespectersofthelibertiesofeachindividualandifeverybodyhadnotbeenfreetostrikeoutnewpathsforhimself.,Ilikethatidea.ConsiderthatthesameculturalsoilproducingtheEnglishlanguagealsonourishedthegreatprinciplesoffreedomandrightsofmaninthemodernworld.ThefirstshootssprangupinEngland,andtheygrewstrongerinAmerica.TheEnglish-speakingpeopleshavedefeatedalleffortstobuildfencesaroundtheirlanguage.Indeed,theEnglishlanguageisnotthespecialpreserveofgrammarians,languagepolice,teachers,writersortheintellectualelite.Englishis,andalwayshasbeen,thetongueofthecommonman.(1155words)NewWordsandExpressionsmessinessn.杂乱状况messya.massivea.largeinscale,amount,ordegree大量的，大规模的,vocabularyn.词汇（量）snackn.asmallmeal快餐，点心,Britain.snackbar快餐柜，小吃店paraden.游行；阅兵队列hitparadeaweeklylistingofthecurrentbest-sellingpoprecords流行唱片目录corruptvt.causeerrorstoappearin;causetoactdishonestlyinreturnforpersonalgains讹用，使（语言）变得不标准；腐蚀，贿赂banvt.forbid(sth.)officially禁止，取缔walkmann.asmallcassetteplayer随身听strictlyspeaking严格地讲,inventvt.发明inventionn.fascinatinga.ofgreatinterestorattraction迷人的，有极大吸引力的manufacturern.制造商productn.产品tolerancen.容忍，宽容；忍耐toa(veryreal,certain,etc.)extenttothedegreespecified在（极大，某种）程度上necessityn.必需品；必要（性）,Anglo-Saxonn.盎格鲁萨克逊人arousevt.provoke(aparticularfeelingorattitude)唤起，激起channeln.海峡；渠道；频道surrenderv.givein投降virtuallyad.forthemostpart,almost差不多，几乎invadevt.enterwitharmedforces侵入，侵略Celtn.凯尔特人,inhabitvt.livein(aplace)居住于Welsha.,n.威尔士语（的），威尔士人的,mysteryn.神秘的事物Sanskritn.梵语resemblevt.belikeorsimilarto与相似Greekn.希腊语Latinn.拉丁语systematica.doneaccordingtoasystem有系统的,descendedown(fromasource);godown起源于；下来linguistn.apersonwhostudieslanguages语言学家,Indo-Europeana.印欧语系的wolfn.狼scholarn.学者establishvt.causetobe,setup建立，确立driftvi.moveorgosomewhereinaslowcasualway漂泊,climaten.(anareaoraregionwith)aregularpatternofweatherconditions气候（区）Germanica.日耳曼（人）的，日耳曼语的，德国（人）的,triben.部落pass(sth.)onto(sb.)handorgive(sth.)to(sb.)将传给influencen.影响Christianityn.基督教Christiana.基督教的n.基督教徒,disciple,n.信徒，门徒martyrn.殉难者，烈士Norsen.（古）斯堪的纳维亚语additionn.apersonorthingadded增加的人（或物）Normann.,a.诺曼人（的），诺曼语（的），诺曼文化的conquerv.takepossessionandcontrolbyforce;defeat征服kinglya.国王（般）的royala.国王或女王的；皇家的,sovereigna.(ofpower)withoutlimit,highest;(ofanation)fullyindependent拥有最高统治权的，至高无上的；拥有主权的alternativen.oneoftwoormorepossibilities供选择的东西modifyvt.changeslightly修改，更改enrichvt.makerichorricher;improve使富裕，使丰富Renaissancen.（欧洲14-16世纪的）文艺复兴translationn.译本，译文；翻译Romana.古罗马的，拉丁语的,classicn.aworkofartrecognizedashavinglastingvalue经典作品capsulen.密封小容器；胶囊；航天舱habituala.doneasahabit,regular,usual惯常的catastrophen.asuddengreatdisaster大灾难thermometern.温度计videon.,a.录像（的）,cyberspacen.thenotionalenvironmentinwhichcommunicationovercomputernetworksoccurs网络空间，虚拟空间independenta.notcontrolledbyotherpeopleorthings独立的，自主的sourcen.源，来源outofcontrol失去控制，不受约束academyn.学会，学院，研究院fortunatelyad.bygoodluck幸运地，幸亏putintopractice将付诸实施,Danisha.丹麦（人）的，丹麦语的libertyn.freedom自由strikeoutcreate,produce创造，开创culturala.oforinvolvingculture文化的nourishvt.滋养，培育preserven.独占的地区或范围；禁猎地vt.keepfromharm,damage,etc.,protect;save保护，保存grammariann.语法学家,intellectualn.,a.知识分子（的）eliten.thegroupregardedasthebest（总称）出类拔萃的人，精英ProperNamesRobertMacNeil罗伯特麦克尼尔WinstonChurchill温斯顿丘吉尔（18741965，英国政治家、首相）Hitler希特勒（18891945，纳粹德国元首）JuliusCaesar尤利乌斯凯撒（10044BC，古罗马将军、政治家）Britain英国,India印度Pakistan巴基斯坦Viking（810世纪时劫掠欧洲西北海岸的）北欧海盗Scandinavia斯堪的纳维亚England英格兰WilliamCaxton威廉卡克斯顿（英国印刷商、翻译家）OttoJespersen奥托叶斯柏森（18601943）LanguagesenseEnhancement1.Readaloudparagraphs17-19andlearnbyheart.2.Readaloudthefollowingpoem:,LanguagesCarlSandburyTherearenohandlesuponalanguageWherebymentakeholdofitAndmarkitwithsignsforitsremembrance.Itisariver,thislanguage,OnceinathousandyearsBreakinganewcourseChangingitswaytotheocean.ItisamountaineffluviaMovingtovalleysAndfromnationtonationCrossingbordersandmixing.,3.Readthefollowingquotations.Learnthembyheartifyoucan.Youmightneedtolookupnewwordsinadictionary.TheEnglishlanguageistheseawhichreceivestributariesfromeveryregionunderheaven.RalphWaldoEmersonLanguageoughttobethejointcreationofpoetsandmanualworkers.GeorqeOrwellEnglandandAmericaaretwocountriesseparatedbythesamelanguage.GeorqeBernardShaw,4.Readthefollowingjokeandseeifyoucantellwhatcausedthemisunderstandingofthetechnicianswordsbythewoman.Youmightneedtolookupnewwordsinadictionary.Anofficetechniciangotacallfromauser.Theusertoldthetechnicianthathercomputerwasnotworking.Shedescribedtheproblemandthetechnicianconcludedthatthecomputerneededtobebroughtinandserviced.HetoldhertoUnplugthepowercordandbringituphereandIwillfixit.Aboutfifteenminuteslatersheshowedupathisdoorwiththepowercordinherhand.,
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