English and English Community

    1 There is no denying that¹ English is a useful language. The people who speak English today make up the largest speech community in the world with the exception of speakers of Chinese. Originally they were small tribes of people from northern Europe who settled in England. Their languages became more and more similar to each other. Finally, the language had enough uniformity² to be used by all speakers inEngland. The people were united into a speech community through their shared language.

    2 A speech community is similar to other kinds of communities. The people who make up the community share a common language. Often they live side by side, as they do in a neighborhood, a village, or a city. More often they form a whole country. National boundaries, however, are not always the same as the boundaries of a speech community. A speech community is any group of people who speak the same language no matter where they happen to live.

    3 We may say that anyone who speaks English belongs to the English speech community. For convenience³, we may classify the speakers into two groups: one in which the speakers use English as their native language, the other in which the speakers learn English as a second language for the purpose of education, commerce, and so on.

    4 English serves as an alternative language in several areas of public activity for the many nations of the world which employ it as an international second language.⁴ English has been adopted as the language of air traffic, commerce, as well as international diplomacy. Moreover, English is the language of the majority of published materials in the world so that education has come to rely heavily on an understanding of English.

    5 Learning a second language extends one"s vision and expands the mind. The history and literature of a second language record the real and fictional lives of people and their culture;⁵ a knowledge of them adds to our ability to understand and to feel as they feel. Learning English as a second language provides another means of communication through which the window of the entire English speech community becomes a part of our heritage.

词汇：

originally /ə"ridʒinəli/ adv．就起源而论；起初

boundary /"baundəri/ n．边界；界限

fictional /"fikʃənəl/ adj．小说的，虚构的

uniformity /,ju: ni"fɔ:miti/ n．统一性

alternative /ɔl"tə: nətiv / adj．选择的，替代的

heritage / "heritidʒ/ n．遗产；继承物

注释：

1. There is no denying that…：毫无疑问……

2. uniformity：一致性。uniformity是uniform的名词形式。全句译为：最终，这种语言具有足够的统一性，致使所有在英格兰居住的人都能使用。

3. for convenience：意为“为了……方便起见”

4. English serves as an alternative language in several areas of public activity for the many nations of the world which employ it as an international second language．对世界上许多在国际交往中把英语作为第二语言的国家来说，英语是在公共活动的几个领域中可供选用的语言之一。

B can a speech community be formed

C in order to learn English better

D for the sake of simplicity

E has played an important role in the field of education

Only through the shared language_________.

A:A B:B C:C D:D E:E F:F

What our society suffers from most today is the absence of consensus about what it and life in it ought to be; such consensus cannot be gained from society’s present stage, or from fantasies about what it ought to be. For that the present is too close and too diversified, and the future too uncertain, to make believable claims about it. A consensus in the present hence can be achieved only through a shared understanding of the past, as Homer’s epics informed those who lived centuries later What it meant to be Greek, and by what images and ideals they were to live their lives and organize their societies.
Most societies derive consensus from a long history, a language all their own, a common religion, common ancestry. The myths by which they live are based on all of these. But the United States is a country of immigrants, coming from a great variety of nations. Lately, it has been emphasized that an asocial, narcissistic personality has become characteristic of Americans, and that it is this type of personality that makes for the lack of well-being, because it prevents us from achieving consensus that would counteract a tendency to withdraw into private worlds. In this study of narcissism, Christopher Lash says that modern man, "tortured by self-consciousness, turns to new therapies not to free himself of his personal worries hut to find meaning and purpose in life, to find something to live for". There is widespread distress because national morale has declined, and we have lost an earlier sense of national vision and purpose.
Contrary to rigid religions or political beliefs, as are found in totalitarian societies, our culture is one of the great individual differences, at least in principle and in theory; but this leads to disunity, even chaos. Americans believe in the value of diversity, but just because ours is a society based on individual diversity, it needs consensus about some dominating ideas more than societies based on uniform origin of their citizens. Hence, if we are to have consensus, it must be based on a myth--a vision about a common experience, a conquest that made us Americans, as the myth about the conquest of Troy formed the Greeks. Only a common myth can offer relief from the fear that life is without meaning or purpose. Myths permit us to examine our place in the world by comparing it to a shared idea. Myths are shared fantasies that form the tie that binds the individual to other members of his group. Such myths help to ward off feelings of isolations, guilt, anxiety, and purposelessness--in short, they combat isolation and the breakdown of social standards and values.
Americans may find themselves in a society characterized by

A:extreme stress. B:worry and suffering. C:shared beliefs. D:void and isolation.

What our society suffers from most today is the absence of consensus about what it and life in it ought to be; such consensus cannot be gained from society’s present stage, or from fantasies about what it ought to be. For that the present is too close and too diversified, and the future too uncertain, to make believable claims about it. A consensus in the present hence can be achieved only through a shared understanding of the past, as Homer’s epics informed those who lived centuries later what it meant to be Greek, and by what images and ideals they were to live their lives and organize their societies.
Most societies derive consensus from a long history, a language all their own, a common religion, common ancestry. The myths by which they live are based on all of these. But the United States is a country of immigrants, coming from a great variety of nations. Lately, it has been emphasized that an asocial, narcissistic personality has become characteristic of Americans, and that it is this type of personality that makes for the lack of well-being, because it prevents us from achieving consensus that would counteract a tendency to withdraw into private worlds. In this study of narcissism, Christopher Lash says that modern man, "tortured by self-consciousness, turns to new therapies not to free himself of his personal worries but to find meaning and purpose in life, to find something to live for". There is widespread distress because national morale has declined, and we have lost an earlier sense of national vision and purpose.
Contrary to rigid religions or political beliefs, as are found in totalitarian societies, our culture is one of the great individual differences, at least in principle and in theory; but this leads to disunity, even chaos. Americans believe in the value of diversity, but just because ours is a society based on individual diversity, it needs consensus about some dominating ideas more than societies based on uniform origin of their citizens. Hence, if we are to have consensus, it must be based on a myth--a vision about a common experience, a conquest that made us Americans, as the myth about the conquest of Troy formed the Greeks. Only a common myth can offer relief from the fear that life is without meaning or purpose. Myths permit us to examine our place in the world by comparing it to a shared idea. Myths are shared fantasies that form the tie. that binds the individual to other members of his group. Such myths help to ward off feelings of isolations, guilt, anxiety, and purposelessness--in short, they combat isolation and the breakdown of social standards and values.
Americans may find themselves in a society characterized by

A:extreme stress. B:worry and suffering. C:shared beliefs. D:void and isolation.

What our society suffers from most today is the absence of consensus about what it and life in it ought to be; such consensus cannot be gained from society’s present stage, or from fantasies about what it ought to be. For that the present is too close and too diversified, and the future too uncertain, to make believable claims about it. A consensus in the present hence can be achieved only through a shared understanding of the past, as Homer’s epics informed those who lived centuries later What it meant to be Greek, and by what images and ideals they were to live their lives and organize their societies.
Most societies derive consensus from a long history, a language all their own, a common religion, common ancestry. The myths by which they live are based on all of these. But the United States is a country of immigrants, coming from a great variety of nations. Lately, it has been emphasized that an asocial, narcissistic personality has become characteristic of Americans, and that it is this type of personality that makes for the lack of well-being, because it prevents us from achieving consensus that would counteract a tendency to withdraw into private worlds. In this study of narcissism, Christopher Lash says that modern man, "tortured by self-consciousness, turns to new therapies not to free himself of his personal worries hut to find meaning and purpose in life, to find something to live for". There is widespread distress because national morale has declined, and we have lost an earlier sense of national vision and purpose.
Contrary to rigid religions or political beliefs, as are found in totalitarian societies, our culture is one of the great individual differences, at least in principle and in theory; but this leads to disunity, even chaos. Americans believe in the value of diversity, but just because ours is a society based on individual diversity, it needs consensus about some dominating ideas more than societies based on uniform origin of their citizens. Hence, if we are to have consensus, it must be based on a myth--a vision about a common experience, a conquest that made us Americans, as the myth about the conquest of Troy formed the Greeks. Only a common myth can offer relief from the fear that life is without meaning or purpose. Myths permit us to examine our place in the world by comparing it to a shared idea. Myths are shared fantasies that form the tie that binds the individual to other members of his group. Such myths help to ward off feelings of isolations, guilt, anxiety, and purposelessness--in short, they combat isolation and the breakdown of social standards and values

A:extreme stress. B:worry and suffering. C:shared beliefs. D:void and isolation.

Passage One
Guglielmo Marconi was born in Italy in 1874. He studied in Bologna and since his childhood, he showed great interest in physics and electricity. Basing his studies on Hertz’s findings, Marconi concluded that the electromagnetic waves could transmit messages, so he conducted his research in that direction.
As Marconi did not get any financial incentives from the Italian government, he moved to England where he got funds for his research.
In 1897, Marconi was able to communicate via radio through the Brisiol Channel. In 1901, he transmitted long-wave radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, Marconi was already recognized as a great name in science and technology.
In ,1909, he shared the Nobel Prize in physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun, a German physicist, who worked on wireless telegraphy and cathode rays.
Marconi died in 1937.

A:was given to Marconi and his compatriot Braun B:was given to Marconi and his partner Braun C:was shared by Marconi and Braun D:was shared by a German scientist and an American scientist

Passage One
Guglielmo Marconi was born in Italy in 1874. He studied in Bologna and since his childhood, he showed great interest in physics and electricity. Basing his studies on Hertz’s findings, Marconi concluded that the electromagnetic waves could transmit messages, so he conducted his research in that direction.
As Marconi did not get any financial incentives from the Italian government, he moved to England where he got funds for his research.
In 1897, Marconi was able to communicate via radio through the Brisiol Channel. In 1901, he transmitted long-wave radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, Marconi was already recognized as a great name in science and technology.
In ,1909, he shared the Nobel Prize in physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun, a German physicist, who worked on wireless telegraphy and cathode rays.
Marconi died in 1937.

A:was given to Marconi and his compatriot Braun B:was given to Marconi and his partner Braun C:was shared by Marconi and Braun D:was shared by a German scientist and an American scientist

Ⅳ Reading Comprehension Directions: There are five reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by five questions. For each question there are four suggested answers marked A, B,- C and D. Choose one best answer and blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet. Passage One Guglielmo Marconi was born in Italy in 1874. He studied in Bologna and since his childhood, he showed great interest in physics and electricity. Basing his studies on Hertz’s findings, Marconi concluded that the electromagnetic waves could transmit messages, so he conducted his research in that direction. As Marconi did not get any financial incentives from the Italian government, he moved to England where he got funds for his research. In 1897, Marconi was able to communicate via radio through the Brisiol Channel. In 1901, he transmitted long-wave radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, Marconi was already recognized as a great name in science and technology. In ,1909, he shared the Nobel Prize in physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun, a German physicist, who worked on wireless telegraphy and cathode rays. Marconi died in 1937.

A:was given to Marconi and his compatriot Braun B:was given to Marconi and his partner Braun C:was shared by Marconi and Braun D:was shared by a German scientist and an American scientist