题目内容
As the English language has changed at a fast speed in this century, so has the use of the English language.
After the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was founded in 1927, the particular style of speech of the BBC announcers was recognized as Standard English or Received Pronunciation (RP) English. Now, most people still consider that the pronunciation and delivery of BBC announcers is the clearest and most understandable spoken English.
English has had a strong relationship with class and social position. However, since the Second World War there has been a clear change of the attitude towards speech snobbery(语言上的优越), and marks of class distinction, such as styles of speech, have been gradually got rid of, especially by the younger generation.
As the need has arisen, new words have been invented or found from other languages and introduced into English. Similarly, old words and expressions have been put aside as their usefulness has become less or the fashions have passed.This also happens to styles and ways of speech which became fashionable at a particular time.
By the end of the 1960s it became clear that it was not necessary to speak Standard English or even correct grammar to become popular, successful and rich. The fashionable speech of the day was no longer the special right of a special class but rather a defiant(不服的)expression of classlessness.
The greatest single influence of the shaping of the English, language in modern times is the American English. Over the past 25 years the English, used by many people, particularly by those in the media, advertising and show business, has become more and more mid-Atlantic in style, delivery and accent.
In the 1970s, fashion favored careless pronunciation and a language full of jargon, slang and “in” words, much of which can’t be understood by the outside world.What is considered modern and fashionable in Britain today is often not the kind of English taught in schools and colleges.
1.Which of the following is NOT true?
A.The use of the English language has not changed much in this century.
B.the BBC announcers speak Standard English.
C.English has no relationship with class and social position now.
D.Young people don’t like the special right of a special class.
2.What does the author imply by saying “there is has been a clear change of the attitude towards speech snobbery (Para 3)?
A.People all speak English like BBC announcers.
B.There is a great change of the attitude about how English should be spoken.
C.Some people still believe their way of speaking is much better than that of others.
D.Most people don’t believe their way of speaking is much better than that of others.
3.According to the author, there was a trend in the US for the young people ____.
A.to speak Standard English.
B.to speak English without class distinction
C.to speak English with class distinction
D.to speak English with grammar mistakes
4.It can be concluded from the passage that ____.
A.Standard English is taught only in school and colleges
B.the young English are defiant because they refuse to speak Standard English.
C.the English language is not influenced by American English in the last 25 years
D.there has been a great change in the English language in this century
ADBD

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Planet English uses the latest in multimedia and information technology to support students who wish to learn English for international communication.
Planet English is an exciting, high-tech, interactive way of learning English. It contains more than 40 hours of video and audio recordings, over 2,500 0riginal graphics, 3,000 interactive screens and 80 different activity types including real time student voice recordings.
For Teachers
Planet English is more than just a computer program. It includes a package of resources to complement any Eng-lish language teaching programme. Teachers can easily integrate Planet English with classroom activities using the detailed Teacher's Manual(手册) and Student Workbooks.
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For Educational Managers
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【小题1】The main purpose of this passage is to .
A.encourage more people to attend the Planet English course in time |
B.promise everyone can learn English well without teachers |
C.call on people who learn or teach English to interact with English speakers |
D.introduce an interactive multimedia software for English learners, teachers and managers |
A.Planet English can support the students who study computer. |
B.Planet English can help the students and their teachers interact. |
C.Planet English makes it possible for students to communicate with speakers from around the world. |
D.Planet English offers only a range of spoken communication for students. |
A.making a map of | B.making a survey of |
C.making a detail planning of | D.establishing a mapping of |
A.is attractive to students because it combines English learning with computer games |
B.is popular with the teachers because they can manage the learning experience with the help of CMS |
C.is designed for the educational managers to evaluate the teaching staff |
D.is provided to students, teachers and managers for free |
A.Interesting. | B.Interactive. | C.Practical. | D.Efficient. |
If you ask people to name the one person who had the greatest effect on the English language, you will get answers like “Shakespeare,” “Samuel Johnson,” and “Webster,” but none of these men had any effect at all compared to a man who didn’t even speak English-William the Conqueror.
Before 1066, in the land we now call Great Britain lived peoples belonging to two major language groups. In the west central region lived the Welsh, who spoke a Celtic language, and in the north lived the Scots, whose language, though not the same as Welsh, was also Celtic. In the rest of the country lived the Saxons, actually a mixture of Anglos, Saxons, and other Germanic and Nordic peoples, who spoke what we now call Anglo-Saxon (or Old English), a Germanic language. If this state of affairs had lasted, English today would be close to German.
But this state of affairs did not last. In l066 the Normans led by William defeated the Saxons and began their rule over England. For about a century, French became the official language of Eng-land while Old English became the language of peasants. As a result, English words of Politics and the law come from French rather than German. In some cases, modern English even shows a distinction (区别) between upper-class French and lower-class Anglo-Saxon in its words. We even have different words for some foods, meat in particular, depending on whether it is still out in the fields or at home ready to be cooked, which shows the fact that the Saxon peasants were doing the farming, while the upper-class Normans were doing most of the eating.
When Americans visit Europe for the first time, they usually find Germany more "foreign" than France because the German they see on signs and advertisements seems much more different from English than French does. Few realize that the English language is actually Germanic in its beginning and that the French influences are all the result of one man's ambition.
1. The two major languages spoken in what is now called Great Britain before l066 were
A.Welsh and Scottish |
B.Nordic and Germanic |
C.Celtic and Old English. |
D.Anglo-Saxon and Germanic |
2. Which of the following groups of words are, by inference, rooted in French?
A.president, Lawyer, beef |
B.president, bread, water |
C.bread, field, sheep |
D.folk, field, cow |
3.Why does France appear less foreign than Germany to Americans on their first visit to Europe?
A.Most advertisements in France appear in English. |
B.They know little of the history of the English language. |
C.Many French words are similar to English ones. |
D.They know French better than German. |
4. What is the subject discussed in the text?
A.The history of Great Britain. |
B.The similarity between English and French. |
C.The rule of England by William the Conqueror. |
D.The French influences on the English language. |