Question

Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden change in pronunciation started, with vowels (元音) being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact (接觸) with many people from around the world. This meant that lots of new vocabulary entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary came out.

Early Modern English and Late Modern English are mostly different in the number of words. Late Modern English has many more words, mainly because of the following two reasons: First, the Industrial Revolution (工業(yè)革命) led to the need for new words. Second, the British Empire covered one quarter of the earth’s surface, and the English language took in foreign words from many countries.

From around 1600, the English colonization (殖民地化) of North America led to American English. Some English pronunciations and words “froze” when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English. Some expressions that are called “American English” are in fact from British expressions. They were kept in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain. Spanish also had an influence (影響) on American English. For example, words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante are from Spanish. They entered English by the people of Spain who settled in the American West. French words and West African words also influenced American English.

Today, American English has a greater influence, because of the USA’s movies, television, popular music, trade and technology.

1.The main difference between Early and Late Modern English lies in _____.

A. vocabulary B. pronunciation

C. spelling D. grammar

2. What helped to increase the vocabulary of Late Modern English?

a. the invention of printing

b. the Industrial Revolution

c. the colonization

d. the contact with other countries

A. a, b, c B. a, c, d

C. a, b, d D. b, c, d

3.From the passage, we can learn the word “canyon” is from _____.

A. American dialect B. African dialect

C. Spanish D. French

Answer 1

1.A

2.D

3.C

【解析】

試題分析：本文主要介紹了英語的一些歷史，印刷術(shù)等的發(fā)明使英語的語法等逐漸確定下來，英國的工業(yè)革命和殖民讓英語增加了很多新的詞匯和收入了很多外來詞匯，西班牙語等對(duì)美式英語發(fā)展影響很大，如今，美式英語影響更廣泛。

1. Modern English and Late Modern English are mostly different in the number of words.可以發(fā)現(xiàn)早期現(xiàn)代英語與晚期現(xiàn)代英語的主要區(qū)別是詞匯。故選A。

2. invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print……可以看出印刷術(shù)的發(fā)明使得書面語流行起來，并未增加英語詞匯。第二自然段講了英國的工業(yè)革命和全球的殖民增加了英語的詞匯。倒數(shù)第二自然段介紹了英語吸收了很多國家的詞匯。故選D。

3. also had an influence (影響) on American English. For example, words like canyon, ranch.可知:西班牙語也影響了美式英語,例如,像canyon, ranch這些詞來自西班牙。故選C。

考點(diǎn)：考查科普文閱讀