Unit 2 English around the World
课文填空稿
The Road to Modern English
At the end of the 16th century, about five to seven million people speak English. ________________________ (几乎所有这些人)lived in England. In the next century, ____________________________________________(英国人开始向世界各地迁移) so English ___________________________ (开始被说)in many other countries. Today, more people speak English as their first, second or foreign language_________________(相比以住任何时候). China may have the largest n________ of English speakers.
Native English speakers can understand each other even if they don’t speak the same kind of English. _________, they may not be able to understand everything. For example, a British person may say to her friends, “Would you please come up to my flat for a visit?” One of her American friends may then ask her, “Come up where?” Her Canadian friend might explain, “She _________ we should come up to her apartment.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________ （那么英语在一段落时间在里为什么会起变化呢？当不同文化沟通的时，所有语言都会发生变化）. The English spoken between about 450 and 1150 _________ __________________（不同）the English __________ (speak) today. Actually, _________________________( 当时的英语更多的是以德语为为基础) than ___________ (现今的，现代的) English. Then from about 1150 to 1500, English changed even more. It became less like German, and more like French because _________________________________ ____________________________ （定语从句：那时的英国统治者）spoke French. ___________________________________________(它变得接近你们今天正在学的这种语言). In the 1600’s, Shakespeare ______________ (使用) a wider vocabulary than ever before, one big change in English usage happened ________ (连接词) Noah Webster wrote the American Dictionary of the English Language, ________ (give) American English its own identity. Later, when some British people went to Australia, English began to be spoken there. Now Australian English has its own _______.
English is also spoken as a foreign or second language in South Asia. India has a very large number of English speakers. ________________（那是因为）Britain ruled India from 1765 to 1947. During that time, English became the language for g___________ and education. English is also spoken in many other countries of Africa and Asia, such as South Africa, Singapore and Malaysia. In China, English has been used in Hong Kong since about 1842. ______________________________________________________________（目前在中国学习英语的人数正在迅猛增长）. Will Chinese English become one of the world Englishes? Only time will tell.
The Road to Modern English
At the end of the 16th century, about five to seven million people speak English. Nearly all of them lived in England. In the next century, people from England started moving to other parts of the world, so English began to be spoken in many other countries. Today, more people speak English as their first, second or foreign language than ever before. China may have the largest number of English speakers.
Native English speakers can understand each other even if they don’t speak the same kind of English. However, they may not be able to understand everything. For example, a British person may say to her friends, “Would you please come up to my flat for a visit?” One of her American friends may then ask her, “Come up where?” Her Canadian friend might explain, “She means we should come up to her apartment.”
So why has English changed over time? All language changes when cultures communicate with one another. The English spoken between about 450 and 1150 was very different from the English spoken today. Actually, it was based more on German than present day English. Then from about 1150 to 1500 English change even more. It became less like German, and more like French because those who ruled England at that time spoke French. It became closer to the language you are learning now. In the 1600’s, Shakespeare made use of a wider vocabulary than ever before, one big change in English usage happened Noah Webster wrote the American Dictionary of the Engl
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