河南理工大学外国语学院ModelpaperEstimatesofEnglishSpeakers.PPT

Objectives Main idea of the text: (it can be inferred from the title of the text) Structure of the text History of the development of English Use of rhetoric devices Author’s attitude towards English ( approving, positive, love and proud) Warming-up questions Do you known what are United Nations official languages? United Nations official languages include English、 Chinese、French、Russian、Spanish、Arabic. English is on the crucial status among five official languages, and a large number of governments’ leaders can use English to communicate and negotiate with each other. Do you really like English or not? Why do you study English? What’s the better way to improve your English? Why do foreigners study Chinese? Which is easier to learn English or Chinese? What are the possible futures for both English and Chinese? Cultural Background English is the most widely used language in the history of our planet. One in every seven human beings can speak it. More than half of the word’s books and three quarters of international mail are in English. Of all languages, English has the largest vocabulary– perhaps as many as two million words– and one of the noblest bodies of literature. Nonetheless, let’s face it. English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, neither pine or apple in pineapple and no ham in a hamburger(牛肉汉堡包). English muffins（英国松饼） weren’t invented in England or French fries（炸薯条） in France. Sweetmeats（糖果） are candy, while sweetbreads（牛、羊胸脯肉）, which aren’t sweet, are meat. Sometimes I wonder if all English speakers should be sent to a madhouse. In what other language do people drive on a parkway（驾车专用道） and park in a driveway（车道）? Ship（v.） by truck and send cargo by ship ( n. )? Have noses that run and feet that smell (this refers to what people usually say “have a running nose”, “have smelly feet”.)? You have to marvel (surprise) at the glorious messiness of a language in which your house can burn up (catch fire and flare up) as it burns down