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
The rise of English is a remarkable success story. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English d
The rise of English is a remarkable success story. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English d
admin
2010-05-26
35
问题
The rise of English is a remarkable success story. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English did not exist. Five hundred years later, English, incomprehensible to modern ears, was probably spoken by about as few people as currently speak Cherokee (an American Indian language)-and with about as little influence. Nearly a thousand years later, at the end of sixteenth century, when William Shakespeare was in his prime, English was the native speech of between five and seven million English people and it was, in the words of a contemporary, "of small reach, it stretched no further than this island of ours, never not there over all. "
Four hundred years later, the contrast is extraordinary. Between 1600 and the present, in armies, navies, companies, and expeditions, the speakers of English-including Scots, Irish, Welsh, American, and many more-traveled into every corner of the globe, carrying their language and culture with them. Today English is used by at least 750 million people, and barely half of those speak it as a mother tongue. Some estimates have put that figure Closer to one billion. Whatever the total, English at the end of the twentieth century is more widely scattered, more widely spoken and written, than any other language has ever been. It has become the language of the planet, the first truly global language.
The statistics of English are astonishing. Of all the world’s languages, it is arguably the richest in vocabulary. The compendious (简明) Oxford English Dictionary lists about 500,000 words; and a further half million technical and scientific terms remain uncatalogued. About 350 million people use the English vocabulary as a mother tongue: about one tenth of the world’s population, scattered across every continent and surpassed, in numbers, though not in distribution, only by the speakers of the many varieties of Chinese. Three quarters of world’s mail, and its telexes and cables, are in English. So are more than half the world’s technical and scientific periodicals: it is the language of technology from Silicon Valley to Shanghai.
The word "contemporary"(Para.1) most likely means ______.
选项
A、person in modern time
B、a person who studies old English
C、a scholar who studies Shakespeare
D、a person in Shakespeare’s tinie
答案
D
解析
根据上下文猜测 contemporary 意为和莎士比亚同时代的人。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/iDV7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
Asresearcherslearnmoreabouthowchildren’sintelligencedevelops,theyareincreasinglysurprisedbythepowerofparents.T
Thepredictabilityofourmortalityratesissomethingthathaslongpuzzledsocialscientists.Afterall,thereisnonaturalr
GeorgeDanielslivesinLondon.Heisawatchmaker.Hisworkcontinuesthe【B1】______oftheEnglishwatchmakersofthe18thand
TherehavebeensomeattemptsintheUnitedStates,Europe,Australiaoverthepastdecadesto【C1】______governmentstopaypeo
Ifyouweretobeginanewjobtomorrow,youwouldbringwithyousomebasicstrengthsandweaknesses.Successorfailureinyou
Educationisanareaofsociallifeinwhichinformationtechnologyischangingthewaywecommunicate.Today’scollegestudents
Shouldauniversitygraduatewithacomputersciencedegreeseekapositioninalarge,possiblymultinationalcompanyorinas
TravelingonBritishpublictransportcouldbecomeapleasurable,artisticandeducationalexperience,accordingtoareport.Bu
A、Doctorandpatient.B、Husbandandwife.C、Teacherandstudent.D、Touristandguide.B
A、Theyareimpossibletoguide.B、Theymaygoupinflames.D}Theyarecheaplymade.C、Theytendtoleakgas.D、Theyarecheapl
随机试题
《民法典》第122条。请分析:受损失的人不得请求得利人返还获得的利益的主要情形有哪些?
下列指标可在呼吸机面板上直接测定并显示的是
患儿,男,8个月。口腔舌面满布白屑,色白如雪片,白屑周围有红晕,色微红,互相粘连,随拭随生,不易清除。其诊断是
某建筑公司与某单位于5月10日签订了实验楼承建合同,合同约定由于甲方责任造成总工期延误1d,甲方应向乙方补偿1万元;若乙方延误总工期1d应扣除乙方工程款1万元;施工中实际工程量超过计划工程量10%以上时超过部分按原单价的90%计算;双方对施工进度网络计划确
企业银行存款的账面余额与银行对账单余额因未达账项存在差额时,应按照银行存款余额调节表调整银行存款日记账。()
配送需求研究涉及下列哪些方面?()
如果可以,机器人甚至能挽救你的生命。以自动驾驶汽车为例,美国近年来年均车祸致死量高达13000人,自动驾驶汽车至少能够降低因醉酒和走神导致的车祸数量。然而大部分美国人声称,乘坐自动驾驶的交通工具会让他们感觉不适。若此类想法得不到改变,科技的发展必然受阻。事
甲、乙、丙、丁、戊、己、庚七人表演配乐诗朗诵,为了确保表演效果,需要安排朗诵顺序。已知下列条件:①甲要么第一个朗诵,要么最后一个朗诵。②乙和丙之间有三人。③丁和戊之间有三人,且丁先朗诵。④丁在乙之前朗诵。根据上述条件,以下哪项可能为真?
Whichofthefollowingcanreflecttheever-changingethnicstructureofAmerica?WhoplayprofessionalfootballintheUnited
WhytheSuper-RichAren’tLeavingMuchofTheirFortunestoTheirKidsA)WhatdoSting,BillGatesandWarrenBuffetthaveinco
最新回复
(
0
)