高中英语必修一unit2 课文.docVIP

The Road to Modern English At the end of the 16th century, about five to seven million people spoke English. （End : in the end =finally ,at last最后） （by the end of 到。。。为止（常与完成时连用） 16世纪末期大约有5百万到7百万人说英语。 Nearly all of them lived in England. 几乎所有这些人都生活在英格兰。 Later in the next century, people from England made voyages to conquer other parts of the world and because of that, English began to be spoken in many other countries. 后来，在17世纪英国人开始航海征服了世界其它地区，于是，许多别的国家开始说英语了。 Today，more people speak English as their first ,second or a foreign language than ever before .如今说英语的人比以往任何时候都多，他们有的是作为第一语言来说，有的是作为第二语言或外语。 Native English speakers can understand each other even if they don’t speak the same kind of English. 以英语作为母语的人，即使他们所讲的语言不尽相同，也可以互相交流。 Look at this example:请看以下例子： British Betty: Would you like to see my flat ? American Amy: Yes, I’d like to come up to your apartment. 英国人贝蒂：“请到我的公寓（flat）里来看看，好吗？ 美国人艾米：“好的。我很乐意到你的公寓（apartment）去。” So why has English changed over time? （over time =as time goes by 随时间推移） 那么，英语在一段时间里为什么会起变化呢？ Actually all languages change and develop when cultures meet and communicate with each other. 事实上，当不同的文化互相交流渗透时，所有的语言都会有所发展、有所变化。 At first the English spoken in England between about AD 450 and 1150 was different from the English spoken today. 首先，在公元450年到1150年间，人们所说的英语跟今天所说的英语就很不一样。 It was based more on German than the English we speak at present. 当时的英语更多地是以德语为基础的，而现代英语不是。 Then gradually between about AD 800 and 1150, English became less like German because those who ruled England spoke first Danish and later French. 然后，渐渐地，大约在公元800年到1150期间，英语不那么像德语了，因为那时的英国的统治者起初讲丹麦语后来讲法语。 These new settlers enriched the English language and especially its vocabulary. 这些新的定居者大大丰富了英语语言，特别是在词汇方面。 So by the 1600’s Shakespeare was able to make use of a wider vocabulary than ever before. 所以到17世纪，莎士比亚所用的词汇量比以前任何时期都大。 In 1620 some British settlers moved to America. 在1620年，一些英国人搬迁到美洲定居。 Later in the 18th century some British people were taken to Australia, too. 后来，到了18世纪，