研究生英语阅读教程(基础级第二版)-课文及课后习题答案翻译.doc

Lesso?n1 READI?NG SELEC?TION A World? Engli?sh: A Bless?ing or a Curse?? Unive?rsal langu?age By Tom McArt?hur [1] In the year 2000, the langu?age schol?ar Glanv?ille Price?, a Welsh?man, made the follo?wing asser?tion as edito?r of the book Langu?ages in Brita?in and Irela?nd: For Engli?sh is a kille?r. It is Engli?sh that has kille?d off Cumbr?ic, Corni?sh, Norn and Manx. There? are still? parts? of these? islan?ds where? sizea?ble commu?nitie?s speak? langu?ages that were there? befor?e Engli?sh. Yet Engli?sh is every?where? in every?day use and under?stood? by all or virtu?ally all, const?ituti?ng such a threa?t to the three? remai?ning Celti?c langu?ages, Irish?, Scott?ish Gaeli?c, and Welsh?... that their? long-term futur?e must be consi?dered?... very great?ly at risk. (p 141) Some years? earli?er, in 1992, Rober?t Phill?ipson?, Engli?sh acade?mic who curre?ntly works? in Denma?rk, publi?shed with Oxfor?d a book entit?led Lingu?istic? Imper?ialis?m. In it, he argue?d that the major? Engli?sh-speak?ing count?ries, the world?wide Engli?sh-langu?age teach?ing indus?try, and notab?ly the Briti?sh Counc?il pursu?e polic?ies of lingu?istic? aggra?ndise?ment. He also assoc?iated? such polic?ies with a preju?dice which? he calls? lingu?icism? (a condi?tion paral?lel to(equal? to/ simil?ar to) racis?m and sexis?m). As Phill?ipson? sees it, leadi?ng insti?tutio?ns and indiv?idual?s withi?n the predo?minan?tly white? Engli?sh-speak?ing world?, have [by desig?n(=delib?erate?) or defau?lt(=mista?ke)] encou?raged? or at least? toler?ated—and certa?inly have not oppos?ed—the hegem?onic sprea?d of Engli?sh, a sprea?d which? began? some three? centu?ries ago as econo?mic and colon?ial expan?sion. [2] Phill?ipson? himse?lf worke?d for some years? for the Briti?sh Counc?il, and he is not alone? among? Anglo?phone? acade?mics who have sough?t to point? up the dange?rs of Engli?sh as a world? langu?age. The inter?natio?naliz?ation? of Engli?sh has in the last few decad?es been