American English and British English
Many students want to know about the differences between American English and British English. How did these differences come about? There is no quick answer to this question.
At first the language in Britain and America was the same. In 1776 America became an independent (独立的) country. After that, the language slowly began to change. For a long time the language in America stayed the same, while the language in England changed. For example, 300 years ago the English talked about “fall” Today, most British people talk about “autumn”, but Americans still talk about “fall”. In the same way Americans still use the expression “I guess” ( meaning “I think”), just as the British did 300 years ago. At the same time, British English and American English started borrowing words from other languages, ending up with different words. For example, the British took “typhoon” from Chinese, while the Americans took “tornado” from Spanish.
In 1828 Noah Webster published the first American dictionary. He wanted to make American English different from British English, so he changed the spelling of many words. That’s why the words colour, centre and traveller are spelt color, center, and traveler in American English. Except for these differences in spelling, written English is more or less the same in both British and American English.
The differences are greater in the spoken language. For example, American say dance [dæns], and in southern England they say [da:ns]. In America they pronounce not [nat]; in southern England they say [nɔt]. However, most of the time people from the two countries do not have any difficulty in understanding each other.
【小题1】When did the language in Britain and American slowly begin to change?| A．After 1828. |
| B．300 years ago. |
| C．After Britain stopped ruling the USA. |
| D．300 years after America became independent. |
| A．Britain and America published different dictionaries |
| B．American English changed but British English stayed the same |
| C．British decided to change the spelling of many American words |
| D．the Americans and British took different words from other countries |
| A．Why English has been a popular language. |
| B．How American and British English have changed. |
| C．How people in two countries understand each other. |
| D．Why Britain and America are two similar countries. |
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【小题1】“Be careful not to scratch the furniture” most probably means “Be careful not to ”.
| A．remove any marks | B．damage its surface |
| C．make any noises | D．change its position |
| A．We scratched some of the dirt away. |
| B．The car’s paintwork is badly scratched. |
| C．The dog kept scratching at the door to go out. |
| D．She scratched at the insect bites on her arm. |
| A．take part in a race |
| B．cancel a prepared activity |
| C．make a living |
| D．make enough money |
| A．had previously well prepared |
| B．was unsatisfied with her German |
| C．knew no German before that |
| D．found few materials available |
“Have a nice day. Next！” This version of the expression is spoken by a salesgirl at the supermarket who is rushing me and my groceries out the door. The words come out in the same tone (腔调) with a fixed procedure.
The expression is one of those behaviors that help people get along with each other. Sometimes it indicates the end of a meeting. As soon as you hear it, you know the meeting is at an end. Sometimes the expression saves us when we don't know what to say. “Oh, you just had a tooth out? I'm terribly sorry, but have a nice day. ”
The expression can be pleasant. If a stranger says “Have a nice day” to you, you may find it heartwarming because someone you don't know has tried to be nice to you.
Although the use of the expression is an insincere, meaningless social custom at times, there is nothing wrong with the sentence except that it is a little uninteresting. The salesgirl, the waitress, the teacher, and all the countless others who speak it without thinking may not really care about my day. But in a strange and comfortable way, it's nice to know they care enough to pretend they care when they really don't care all that much. While the expression may not often be sincere, it is always spoken. The point is that people say it all the time when they like.
【小题1】How does the author understand Maxie's words?
| A．Maxie shows her anxiety to the author. |
| B．Maxie really wishes the author a good day. |
| C．Maxie encourages the author to stay happy. |
| D．Maxie really worries about the author's safety. |
| A．The salesgirl is rude to the customers. |
| B．The salesgirl is bored with her work. |
| C．The salesgirl cares about me. |
| D．The salesgirl says the words as usual. |
| A．as a habit | B．as thanks |
| C．sincerely | D．encouragingly |
Language gives us the power to describe countless actions, properties and relations that compose our experiences, real or imagined. As for how languages were created, scientists found iconicity might play a key role.
People can’t bridge language gap and understand each other without iconicity. When playing a game of charades (猜字谜) , we act out our meaning, using our hands and bodies to describe the sizes and shapes of objects. The key to this process of forming new symbols is the use of iconicity. Not limited to gesturing, iconicity appears in our visual communication too. Traffic signs, food packaging, maps. . . wherever there are people communicating, you will find iconicity.
According to our research, iconicity might also exist in our voices. We organized a contest in which we invited contestants to record a set of sounds to express different meanings. The winner of the contest was determined by how well listeners could guess the intended meanings of the sounds based on a set of written options. Critically, the sounds that contestants submitted couldn’t include actual words or onomatopoeias (拟声词) .
Listeners were remarkably good at interpreting the meanings of the sounds. Yet, all of the contestants and listeners were speakers of English. Thus, it was possible that listeners’ success relied on some cultural knowledge that they shared with the speakers. Did the listeners also understand the speakers from completely different cultural backgrounds?
Later, an Internet survey translated into 25 different languages was carried out. Participants listened to each sound from the English speakers and guessed the meaning by choosing from six written words. Guessing accuracy for the different groups ranged from 74 percent for English speakers to 34 percent for Portuguese speakers. It is far from perfect, but well above the chance rate of eight percent expected by us.
Taken together, these studies show that our capacity for iconic communication has played a critical role. Without this special talent, language would likely never have gotten off the ground.
【小题1】Which of the following can explain “iconicity” ?| A．A skill in foreign language learning. | B．The process of acting out our meanings. |
| C．The connection between form and meaning. | D．A barrier between different language speakers. |
| A．It required sounds containing meanings. | B．Its winners were creative in recordings. |
| C．It aimed to prove iconicity in words. | D．Its entries were familiar to listeners. |
| A．English pronunciations differ. | B．The research has a limitation. |
| C．The cultural gap is narrowing. | D．Listening skills vary in cultures. |
| A．Clarifying the influence of sounds. | B．Proving the necessity of exchanges. |
| C．Uncovering the origin of languages. | D．Identifying the function of gestures. |
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