首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
It was said by Sir George Bernard Shaw that "England and America are two countries separated by the same language. " My first pe
It was said by Sir George Bernard Shaw that "England and America are two countries separated by the same language. " My first pe
admin
2012-12-01
36
问题
It was said by Sir George Bernard Shaw that "England and America are two countries separated by the same language. " My first personal experience of this was when I worked as a camp counsellor for two months in 2000 in s Summer Camp run by the Boy Scouts of America, as part of an international leader exchange scheme. Before I went, all the participants in the scheme were given a short list of words that are in common use in the UK which Americium would either be confused by or would even offend them. I memorized the words and thought "I’ll cope".
When I finally arrived in the States three months later, I realized that perhaps a lifetime of watching American television was not adequate preparation for appreciating and coping with the differences between American and British speech. In the first hour of arriving at the camp I was exposed to High School American English, Black American English and American English spoken by Joe Public, all very different to each other. Needless to say, I did cope in the end. The Americans I met were very welcoming and helpful, and I found they were patient with me when I made a social faux pas when I used an inappropriate word or phrase.
Upon my return I began to wonder whether anyone had documented the differences between American and British English. I found several books on the subject but often these were written in a dry and academic way. I felt that I could do better and use my sense of humor and personal experiences to help people from both sides of Atlantic to communicate more effectively when they meet.
My research into the subject led me to several conclusions.
Firstly, American English and British English are covering thanks to increased transatlantic travel and the media. The movement of slang words is mostly eastwards, though a few words from the UK have been adopted by the Ivy league fraternities. This convergent trend is a recent one dating from the emergence of Hollywood as the predominant film making center in the world and also from the Second World War when large numbers of American GIs were stationed in the UK. This trend was consolidated by the advent of television. Before then, it was thought that American English and British English would diverge as the two languages evolved. In 1789, Noah Webster, in whose name American dictionaries are still published to this day, stated that: "Numerous local causes, such as a new country, new associations of people, new combinations of ideas in the arts and some intercourse with tribes wholly unknown in Europe will introduce new words into the American tongue. " He was right, but his next statement has since been proved to be incorrect. "These causes will produce in the course of time a language in North America as different from the modern Dutch, Danish and Swedish are from the German or from one another. "
Secondly, there are some generalizations that can be made about American and British English which can reveal the nature of the two nations and their peoples. British speech tends to be less general, and directed more, in nuances of meaning, attendant murmurings and pauses, carries a wealth of shared assumptions and attitudes. In other words, the British are preoccupied with their social status within society and speak and act accordingly to fit into the social class they aspire to. This is particularly evident when talking to someone from "the middle class" when he points out that he is "upper middle class" rather than "middle class" or "lower middle class". American speech tends to be influenced by the over-heated language of much of the media, which is designed to attach an impression of exciting activity to passive, if sometimes insignificant events. Yet, curiously, really violent activity aad life-changing events are hidden in blind antiseptic tones that serve to disguise the reality. British people tend to understatement whereas Americans towards hyperbole. A Briton might respond to a suggestion with a word such as "Terrific!" only if he is expressing rapturous enthusiasm, whereas an American might use the word merely to signify polite assent.
Thirdly, The American language had less regard than the British for grammatical form, and will happily bulldoze its way across distinctions rather than steer a path between them. American English will casually use one form of a word for another, for example turning nouns into verbs or verbs and nouns into adjectives.
I do hope what I have said will be of some help for the people on both sides of the Atlantic when they meet and communicate.
Which part in Noah Webster’s statement is believed to be INCORRECT according to the author?
选项
A、American English will develop its own words.
B、American English will develop into a language different from any European language.
C、American English will be completely different from British English and become a new language.
D、North America will have a new language different from modern Dutch, Danish, Swedish and German.
答案
C
解析
本题答案很容易在原文中找到相关信息点.难度在于对该句原文的理解。这里涉及比较句型“as…as…”的省略形式。该句译为“这些原因将使北美大陆上产生一种与今后的英国语言不同的语言,这二者间的差异将与现代荷兰语、丹麦语、瑞典语同德语之间或这几种语言相互问的差异一样大”。选项A、B、D都是对原文的错误理解。详细分析可见难句分析2。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/YxaO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
AmericanTranscendentalismattachesgreatimportanceto______.
ThenameHeathcliffprobablyappearsin______.
IntroductiontoEnglishSynonymsEnglishhasthelargestvocabularyandthemostsynonymsofalllanguagesintheworld.This
IntroductiontoEnglishSynonymsEnglishhasthelargestvocabularyandthemostsynonymsofalllanguagesintheworld.This
DanielDefoewasfamousforhisnovel______whichisoftencelebratedasthefirstnovelinEnglishliterature.
A、Parentsarenotasgoodastheyusedtobe.B、Morepeoplearegettingremarriedafterdivorce.C、Therearemoreone-parentor
Threeweeksago,astorywepublishedputusinthemiddleofacontroversy.Itwashardlythefirsttimethathashappened,but
ItwasadaythatMichaelEisnerwouldundoubtedlyliketoforget.SittinginaLosAngeleswitnessboxforfourhourslastweek
CharleyFoleycallsintotheMaterMisericordiaHospitaltovisithiswife."Howareyoufeeling?"heasks,sittingattheb
有些男人还在怀念昔日以男子为中心的年代。那时,他们下了班回家,热腾腾的晚餐已摆好在桌上,妻子儿女围上来问寒问暖;家中大事小事多由自己作主,因为男人作为一家之主承担了全家经济生活的来源。妇女走出家门就业后,男人的供养职责相对减小,在家庭的地位也变得不像从前那
随机试题
简述组织工作的步骤。
二尖瓣狭窄可引起左心室_______、左心房_______、肺_______。
血浆半衰期
反铲挖掘机是土方开挖中常用的一种机械,适用于()类土。
在()之后,需要通过编制详细的实施性施工成本计划把目标成本层层分解,落实到施工过程的每个环节,有效地进行成本控制。
下列关于车辆购置税的纳税期限错误的是( )。
有关广告监督管理的表述正确的是()。
下列属于扬州剪纸集代表作的是()。
要了解一件艺术品、一个艺术家,必须正确地设想他们所属的时代精神和风俗概况。要解读玛格丽特.米切尔的《飘》,我们应了解的重大历史事件是()。
A、Childrenagedbelow5.B、Childrenagedfrom5to14.C、Childrenagedfrom15to19.D、Childrenagedover19.C事实细节题。短文中明确提到,年龄
最新回复
(
0
)