研究生英语视听说教程单元1概要1.doc

Unit One Language and Culture Part 1 English and Its Origin Task 1 Directions: Listen to the following passage about variations of English. You will hear it three times. During the first reading, you should listen carefully for a general idea of the whole passage. During the second reading, you are required to fill in the missing information by either using the words you have just heard or writing down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read the third time, you can check what you have written. In Great Britain at present the speech of educated persons is known as Received Standard English. A class dialect rather than a regional dialect, it is based on the type of speech cultivated at such schools as Eton and Harrow and at such of the older universities as (1) _________________________. Many English people who speak regional dialects in their childhood (2) ________________________________________________________while attending school and university. Its influence has become even stronger in recent years (3) ________________________________________________as the British Broadcasting Corp. An important development of English outside Great Britain occurred with the colonization of North America. American English may be considered to include the English spoken in Canada, although (4) ____________________________________________________________ and vocabulary. The most distinguishing differences between American English and British English are in pronunciation and vocabulary. (5)_______________________________________________________________________________________. Written American English also has a tendency to be more rigid in matters of grammar and syntax, (6) ______________________________________________________________________. Despite these differences, it is often difficult to determine—apart from context—whether serious literary works have been written in Great Britain or the U.S./Canada—or, for that matter, in Australia,