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1、UnitFourOfLanguageSectionAPre-readingquestionsQuestions:1.Whichlanguageisthemostpopularintheworldcurrentlytoday?Why?Whydoyouthinkso?2.WhatdoyouknowaboutthehistoryofEnglishlanguage?3.WhichdoyouthinkismorelikelyforthefutureofEnglish,continuetobetheworldlanguageor
2、fallintodecay?Bynowyou’veprobablygonethroughmanytestswhichweredesignedtoseehowmuchEnglishyouknow.Nowit’stimetocheckhowmuchyouknowaboutEnglish.EnglishPresentandFuture1Itwasobservedbythatremarkabletwelfth-centurychroniclerHenryofHuntingdonthataninterestinthepastw
3、asoneofthedistinguishingcharacteristicsofhumansascomparedwiththeotheranimals.Themediumbywhichspeakersofalanguagecommunicatetheirthoughtsandfeelingstoothers,thetoolwithwhichtheyconducttheirbusinessorthegovernmentofmillionsofpeople,thevehiclebywhichhasbeentransmi
4、ttedthescience,thephilosophy,thepoetryofthecultureissurelyworthyofstudy.Itisnottobeexpectedthateveryoneshouldbeaphilologistorshouldmasterthetechnicalitiesoflinguisticscience.Butit42isreasonabletoassumethataliberallyeducatedpersonshouldknowsomethingofthestructur
5、eofhisorherlanguage,itspositionintheworldanditsrelationtoothertongues,thewealthofitsvocabularytogetherwiththesourcesfromwhichthatvocabularyhasbeenandisbeingenriched,andthecomplexrelationshipsamongthemanydifferentvarietiesofspeechthataregatheredunderthesinglenam
6、eoftheEnglishlanguage.2InfluencesatWorkonLanguage3ThediversityofculturesthatfindexpressioninitisareminderthatthehistoryofEnglishisastoryofculturesincontactduringthepast1,500years.Itunderstatesmatterstosaythatpolitical,economic,andsocialforcesinfluencealanguage.
7、Theseforcesshapethelanguageineveryaspect,mostobviouslyinthenumberandspreadofitsspeakers,andinwhatiscalled“thesociologyoflanguage”,butalsointhemeaningsofwords,intheaccentsofthespokenlanguage,andeveninthestructuresofthegrammar.Thehistoryofalanguageisintimatelybou
8、ndupwiththehistoryofthepeopleswhospeakit.4TheEnglishlanguageoftodayreflectsmanycenturiesofdevelopment.ThepoliticalandsocialeventsthathaveinthecourseofEnglishhistorysoprofoun
