Unit2Language当今社会，一个人会讲两、三种语言已不再是什么稀奇的事。但你有没有思考过这样一个问题：世界上到底有多少种语言？读完下面的短文，会让你大吃一惊。Whenpeopleareaskedhowmanylanguagestheythinkthereareintheworld,theanswersvaryquiteabit.Onerandom(随意的)samplingofNewYorkers,forinstance,resultedinanswerslike“probablyseveralhundred”．Howeverwechoosetocountthem,though,thisisnotclose.Whenwelookatreferenceworks,wefindestimates(估计)thathaveescalated(上升)overtime.The1911(11th)editionoftheEncyclopediaBritannica(大英百科全书),forexample,impliesafiguresomewherearound1，000,anumberthatclimbssteadilyoverthecourseofthetwentiethcentury.Thatisnotduetoanyincreaseinthenumberoflanguages,butrathertoourincreasedunderstandingofhowmanylanguagesareactuallyspokeninareasthathadpreviouslybeenunderdescribed.Muchpioneeringworkinprovingthelanguagesoftheworldhasbeendonebymissionary(传教的)organizations(suchastheSummerInstituteofLinguistics)withaninterestintranslatingtheChristianBible(圣经)．Asof1997,atleastaportionoftheBiblehadbeentranslatedinto2，197differentlanguages,stillalongwayshortoffullcoverage.Themostextensivecatalog(目录)oftheworld’slanguages,generallytakentobeasauthoritative(权威的)asany,isthatoftheEthnology(人类学)organization,whosedetailedclassifiedlistcurrentlyincludes6，809distinctlanguages.SectionⅠWelcometotheunit&Reading—WarmingUp1．defeatvt.击败，战胜2．replacevt.替换，代替，取代3．raisevt.养育，培养；举起；增加，提高；筹募；提及4．thereforeadv.因此，所以5．processn.过程；进程6．distinctionn.区别，差别7．accentn.口音，腔调；着重点8．occupyvt.占领；占用(时间、空间等)→occupationn．职业；占有；消遣；居住9．mixturen．混合，混合体→mixv．混合；掺入；合成；融合10．officialadj.官方的，正式的→officiallyadv.官方地；正式地；公务上→officern．官员；高级职员；警官；军官11．contributionn．贡献，促成因素；捐赠→contributevt.捐助；投稿12．entireadj.完全的，整个的→entirelyadv.完全地；全部地1．be_made_up_of/consist_of由……组成(构成)2．name_after以……命名3．aside_from除……之外4．make_contributions_to对……做出贡献5．take_control_of控制，取得对……的控制6．lead_to导致7．replace...with...用……替代……8．mother_tongue母语，本国语9．go_through经历10．keep_on持续1．why引导的表语从句Thatiswhy_English_has_so_many_difficult_rules(为什么英语有这么多很难的规则)thatconfusepeople.2．eventhough引导让步状语从句Even_though_the_Normans_spoke_French(尽管诺曼人讲法语)fortheentire250yearstheyruledEngland,FrenchdidnotreplaceEnglishasthefirstlanguage.3．do/did强调谓语动词Ontheotherhand,theEnglishlanguagedid_borrow(的确借用了)manywordsfromFrench.4．while连接两个并列成分AftertheNormanConquest,highclasspeoplespokeFrenchwhile(然而)commonpeoplespokeEnglish.5．whether引导宾语从句Thequestionofwhether_English_will_keep_on_changing(英语是否会继续变化)inthefutureiseasytoanswer.Readthetextcarefullyandchoosethebestanswer.1．Celticwas________．A．spokenbyGermansinthemiddleof5thcenturyB．oneofthetwoGermanictribeswhoinvadedBritainC．thelanguageusedinBritainbeforethemiddleofthe5thcenturyD．calledOldEnglish2．OldEnglishconsistedofdifferentlanguagesusedbydifferentpeople.WhichofthefollowingisNOTmentionedinthetext?A．TheAnglesandtheSaxons.B．TheVikings.C．French.D．Celtic.3．WhichlanguagehadanimportanteffectontheEnglishlanguageduringMiddleEnglishperiod?A．German.B．French.C．Latin.D．Greek.4．Fromthetext,wecanlearnthat______...
