When one looks back upon the fifteen hundred years that are the life span of the English language, he should be able to notice a number of significant truths. The history of our language has always been a history of constant change—at times a slow, almost imperceptible change, at other times a violent collision between two languages. Our language has always been a living growing organism, it has never been static. Another significant truth that emerges from such a study is that language at all times has been the possession not of one class or group but of many. 『At one extreme it has been the property of the common, ignorant folk, who have used it in the daily business of their living, much as they have used their animals or the kitchen pots and pans.』① At the other extreme it has been the treasure of those who have respected it as an instrument and a sign of civilization, and who have struggled by writing it down to give it some permanence, order, dignity, and if possible, a little beauty.
As we consider our changing language, we should note here two developments that are of special and immediate importance to us. One is that since the time of the Anglo-Saxons there has been an almost complete reversal of the different devices for showing the relationship of words in a sentence. Anglo-Saxon (old English) was a language of many inflections. Modern English has few inflections. We must now depend largely on word order and function words to convey the meanings that the older language did by means of changes in the forms of words. Function words, you should understand, are words such as prepositions, conjunctions, and a few others that are used primarily to show relationships among other words. A few inflections, however, have survived. And when some word inflections come into conflict with word order, there may be trouble for the users of the language, as we shall see later when we turn our attention to such maters as WHO or WHOM and ME or I. The second fact we must consider is that as language itself changes, our attitudes toward language forms change also. 『The eighteenth century, for example, produced from various sources a tendency to fix the language into patterns not always set in and grew, until at the present time there is a strong tendency to restudy and re-evaluate language practices in terms of the ways in which people speak and write.』②
1.In contrast to the earlier linguists, modern linguists tend to .
A. attempt to continue the standardization of the language
B. evaluate language practices in terms of current speech rather than standards or proper patterns
C. be more concerned about the improvement of the language than its analysis or history
D. be more aware of the rules of the language usage
2.Choose the appropriate meaning for the word “inflection” used in line 4 of paragraph 2.
A. Changes in the forms of words.
B. Changes in sentence structures.
C. Changes in spelling rules.
D. Words that have similar meanings.
3.Which of the following statements is not mentioned in the passage? A. It is generally believed that the year 1500 can be set as the beginning of the modern English language.
B. Some other languages had great influence on the English language at some stages of its development.
C. The English language has been and still in a state of relatively constant change.
D. Many classes or groups have contributed to the development of the English language.
4. The author of these paragraphs is probably a(an) .
A. historian B. philosopher C. anthropologist D. linguist
5.Which of the following can be best used as the title of the passage? A. The history of the English language.
B. Our changing attitude towards the English language.
C. Our changing language.
D. Some characteristics of modern English.
Vocabulary
1. span n. 跨度，范圍，一段時間，期間
2. imperceptible adj. 感覺不到的，覺察不到的，極細微的
3. organism n. 生物體，有機體
4. possession n. 擁有，占有，領(lǐng)土，領(lǐng)地
5. ignorant adj. 無知的 6. folk n. 人們，民族
7. permanence n. 永久，持久
8. Anglo-Saxons n. 盎格魯—撒克遜語，盎格魯—撒克遜人，地道的 英國人
9. reversal n. 顛倒，反向，逆轉(zhuǎn) 10. inflection n. 詞尾變化
11. preposition n. 前置詞，介詞
12. conjunction n. 聯(lián)合，關(guān)聯(lián)，連接詞
13. in terms of 根據(jù)，按照，用……的話，在……方面
長難句解析
�、佟窘馕觥俊皐ho”引導(dǎo)非限制性定語從句，修飾“the common, ignorant folk”。“much as”引導(dǎo)狀語從句�！発itchen pots and pans”意為“鍋碗瓢盆”�！ 咀g文】一方面它是那些普通人甚至無知民眾的財產(chǎn)，他們每天都像使喚他們的牲畜和鍋碗瓢盆一樣用著語言。
�、凇窘馕觥� 此句為一個復(fù)合倒裝句�！皍ntil”引導(dǎo)一個并列句，前一句的主語是“a tendency”，“to fix the language into patterns not always set in and grew”作“tendency”的定語，第二句的主語也是“a tendency”，
“to”后面的句子作“tendency”的定語，“in which”引導(dǎo)的定語從句修飾“ways”。 【譯文】例如在18世紀(jì)一種產(chǎn)生于各種來源的趨勢把語言固定在一個不常使用和不利于語言發(fā)展的模式中，而到了當(dāng)今，主流是要反復(fù)研究、評價人們說話、寫作中的語言實踐。
答案與詳解
【短文大意】本文主要講述英語演變過程的一些特點，指出了古英語與現(xiàn)代英語的不同，以及語言學(xué)家對待語言形式的態(tài)度的變化。
1.B細節(jié)題。根據(jù)題干回原文中定位，閱讀文章時注意首末段及各段開頭的句子，這往往都是考點所在。這篇文章講的主要是英語語言演變的一些特點，指出了古英語與現(xiàn)代英語的不同，以及語言學(xué)家態(tài)度的轉(zhuǎn)變。本題問的正是現(xiàn)代語言學(xué)家與早期語言學(xué)家不同的傾向。根據(jù)文章末尾The eighteenth century, for example, produced from various sources a tendency to fix the language into patterns not always set in and grew, until at the present time there is a strong tendency to restudy and re-evaluate language practices in terms of the ways in which people speak and write. 現(xiàn)代語言學(xué)家傾向于根據(jù)人們說和寫的方式評價語言實踐，而不是像早期的語言學(xué)家根據(jù)一定的模式評價語言。選項B符合文章的意思。
2.A詞匯題。要根據(jù)上下文的信息判斷單詞的意思。文章在第二段中間再次提到inflection時說，A few inflections, however, have survived. 后面文章又舉了WHO/WHOM和ME/I為例說明inflection，這是一篇關(guān)于語言學(xué)的文章，從例子可以看出inflection的意思應(yīng)該是“單詞的變形”，選項A正確。
3.A細節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章的內(nèi)容，選項A“普遍認為1500年是現(xiàn)代英語的起點”在文章中沒有提及，故為正確答案。文章第二句說The history of our language has always been a history of constant change - at times a slow, almost imperceptible change, at other times a violent collision between two languages. 我們語言的歷史是一個不斷變化的歷史——在一些時間里緩慢得幾乎難以察覺，在另一些時間里則是兩種語言的激烈碰撞。由此可以推斷一些其他的語言對英語的發(fā)展有重大影響，選項B符合文章的意思。
4.D詞匯題。此題考查考生的推測能力和詞匯量，文章講述的是英國語言演進的具體細節(jié)，最適當(dāng)?shù)拇鸢笐?yīng)該是D。作者很可能是一位語言學(xué)家。A答案(歷史學(xué)家)和C答案(人類學(xué)家)也可以有點迷惑性。B答案(哲學(xué)家)是最不符合的。
5.C主旨題。本文從各個方面談及英語作為一種語言的發(fā)展變化，但并不是講述英語的歷史。所以選項A不對，選項C作為文章的題目最為貼切。選項B只是文章闡述的一個方面，不夠全面。文章是在談到英語的不斷變化的時候談到了現(xiàn)代英語的一些特點，所以選項D也失之于片面。
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