【课堂新坐标，同步备课参考】2013-2014学年高中英语译林版必修三教师用书Unit2　Language.doc

Unit 2　Language 【美文阅读】 The official UN languages 在目前尚存的数千种语言中，使用人口超过100万的语言有140多种，但使用最为广泛的是联合国的六种官方语言。 The United Nations was founded in 1945 after World War Ⅱ to stop wars between countries，and to provide a platform for dialogue.The headquarters of the United Nations is in New York.There are 193 members now.The official languages of the United Nations are the six languages.They are Arabic，Chinese，English，French，Russian and Spanish. When the UN was founded，five official languages were chosen：English，French，Chinese，Russian and Spanish.Arabic was added in 1973.There languages are used at meetings.They are also used for the dissemination(宣传)of official documents.These six languages are all working languages in the General Assembly(联合国大会)and in the Economic and Social Council.They are also the working languages of the Security Council.The working languages at the UN Secretariat are only English and French. Language Days at the UN In 2010，the UNs Department of Public Information announced an initiative of six“language days”to be observed throughout the year，one for each official language，with the goal of celebrating linguistic diversity(语言的多样性)and learning about the importance of cross-cultural communication.The days and their historical significance are： UN Arabic Language Day：December 18th.It is the date on which the United Nations General Assembly chose Arabic as the sixth official language of the United Nations in 1973. UN Chinese Language Day：April 20th.It is also the day to honor Cang Jie，the ancient Chinese mythical figure who invented Chinese characters. UN English Language Day：April 23rd.The date is traditionally regarded as the death of William Shakespeare. UN French Language Day：March 20th.It is the date of International Francophonie Day(全球法语日)． UN Russian Language Day：June 6th.It is the birthday of Alexander Pushkin. UN Spanish Language Day：October 12th.Its the date of Columbus Day. 【诱思导学】 1．Which two languages are the working languages of the UN Secretariat?