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1、1Unit One Language and CulturePart 1 English and Its OriginTask 3Directions: Listen to the following passage about characteristics of English. The passage will be read only once. After listening, choose the best answer from the four suggested choices marked A, B, C, and D to each of the questions yo
2、u hear. Part 1 English and Its Origin Task 3English language is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is used as either a primary or secondary language in many countries. English has a larger vocabulary than any other language. There are more than 600,000 words in the largest dictionaries
3、 of the English language. Some English words have been passed on from generation to generation expressing basic ideas and feelings. Later, many words were borrowed from other languages, including Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Latin, and Spanish. For example, algebra is from Arabic, fashion
4、 from French, piano from Italian, and canyon from Spanish. A number of English words were formed by combining other words. Words can also be shortened to form new words.Pronunciation and spelling in English sometimes seem illogical or inconsistent. Many words are spelled similarly though pronounced
5、differently. Examples include cough, though, and through. Other words, such as blue, crew, to, too, and shoe, have similar pronunciations but are spelled differently. Many of these variations show changes that occurred during the development of English. The spelling of some words remained the same t
6、hrough the centuries, though their pronunciation changed. Grammar is the set of principles used to create sentences. These principles define the elements used to assemble sentences and the relationships between the elements. The elements include parts of speech and inflections. Some modern scholars
7、divide the parts of speech into two categories, content words and function words. Content words are the main parts of speech-nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives-and carry the basic vocabulary meanings. Function words express relationships between content words in a sentence. They show the grammati
8、cal, or structural, meanings of the sentence and are also called structure classes. Function words include articles, prepositions, pronouns, and conjunctions. English has fewer inflections than most other European languages. An inflection is a variation of the form of a word that gives the word a di
9、fferent meaning or function. An English noun has only two inflections, the plural and the possessive. Inflections are used to change the tense and number of a verb or the case of a pronoun. Inflections can change adjectives to the comparative or the superlative-for example, big, bigger, biggest. Que
10、stions:1. According to the largest dictionaries, approximately how many words are there in the English language?2. Many English words were borrowed from other languages. From which language was the word Piano borrowed ?3. Why do English pronunciation and spelling sometimes seem illogical or inconsis
11、tent?24. Which of the following parts of speech does not belong to the category of content words?5. What is the function of content words, according to this passage?6. How many inflections does an English noun have?1. A. 60,000 B. 600,000 C. 6,000,000 D. 60,000,0002. A. Latin B. French C. German D.
12、Italian 3. A. Because many English words were borrowed from other languages.B. Because many English words were formed by combining other words. C. Because many English words are spelled similarly but pronounced differently, or vice versa. D. Because the pronunciation of some words remained the same,
13、 though their spellingchanged. 4. A. Pronouns B. Nouns C. Verbs D. Adverbs5. A. They are used to express relationships between function words in a sentence.B. They are used to show the structural meanings of the sentence.C. They are used to carry the basic vocabulary meanings. D. They are used to in
14、dicate variations of words.6. A. One B. Two C. Three D. Four Part 2 Language and Language LearningTask 3There are many important reasons for learning a foreign language. Among them are the following: (1) Learning a foreign language increases your range of communication. For example, if you speak onl
15、y English, you can communicate with over 400 million other speakers. If you also learn Spanish, you could speak to any of the 371 million Spanish-speaking people in Latin America, Spain, and other parts of the world. (2) A foreign language can help you add to your knowledge of your own language. For
16、 example, by studying Latin, you can improve your understanding of many of the thousands of English words that have Latin root. (3) Learning a foreign language helps you add to your general stock of information. A foreign language can be a key that unlocks new fields of knowledge. If you learn German you will be able to read books that are written in German on almost any subject you may wish to s
