高一英语听力练习思维导图

THE ROAD TO MODERN ENGLISH

At the end of the 16th century, about five to seven million people spoke1 English. Nearly all of them lived in England. Later in the next century, people from England made voyages to conquer2 other parts of the world and because of that, English began to be spoken in many other countries. Today, more people speak English as their first, second or a foreign language than ever before.

Native English speakers can understand each other even if they don't speak the same kind of English. Look at this example:

British Betty: Would you like to see my flat?

American Amy: Yes. I'd like to come up to your apartment.

So why has English changed over time? Actually all languages change and develop when cultures meet and communicate with each other. At first the English spoken in England between about AD 450 and 1150 was very different from the English spoken today. It was based more on German than the English we speak at present. Then gradually between about AD 800 and 1150, English became less like German because those who ruled England spoke first Danish and later French. These new settlers enriched3 the English language and especially its vocabulary. So by the 1600's Shakespeare was able to make use of a wider vocabulary than ever before. In 1620 some British settlers moved to America. Later in the 18th century some British people were taken to Australia too. English began to be spoken in both countries.

Finally by the 19th century the language was settled. At that time two big changes in English spelling happened: first Samuel Johnson wrote his dictionary and later Noah Webster wrote The American Dictionary of the English Language. The latter gave a separate identity4 to American English spelling.

English now is also spoken as a foreign or second language in South Asia. For example, India has a very large number of fluent English speakers because Britain ruled India from 1765 to 1947. During that time English became the language for government and education. English is also spoken in Singaporeand Malaysiaand countries in Africa such as South Africa. Today the number of people learning5 English in China is increasing rapidly. In fact, China may have the largest number of English learners. Will Chinese English develop its own identity? Only time will tell.

ANNE'S BEST FRIEND

Do you want a friend whom you could tell everything to, like your deepest feelings and thoughts? Or are you afraid that your friend would laugh at you, or would not understand what you are going through? Anne Frank1 wanted the first kind, so she made her diary her best friend.

Anne lived in Amsterdam in the Netherlands during World War II. Her family was Jewish2 so they had to hide or they would be caught by the German Nazis3. She and her family hid away for nearly twenty-five months before they were discovered. During that time the only true friend was her diary. She said, "I don't want to set down a series4 of facts in a diary as most people do, but I want this diary itself to be my friend, and I shall call my friend Kitty." Now read how she felt after being in the hiding place since July 1942.

An Israeli archeologist in Jerusalem believes a ceramic shard found in the ruins of an ancient town bears the oldest Hebrew inscription ever discovered.

The site overlooks the Elah Valley, said to be the scene of the slingshot showdown between David and the Philistine giant Goliath.

The five lines of faded characters have yet to be deciphered, but the finding indicates that a powerful Israelite Kingdom existed at the time of the Old Testament’s King David.

"This is the oldest Hebrew inscription ever found. It is three thousand years old from the time of King David , first found in archeological excavations this summer at Hirbet Qeiyafa."

Carbon-14 analysis of burnt olive pits found in the same layer of the site dated the shard to between 1000 and 975 B.C., the same time as David’s rule in Jerusalem. History's best known Hebrew text, the Dead Sea scrolls were written 850 years later.

Other scholars, however, are hesitant to embrace Garfinkel's interpretation of the find, debating whether the Bible's account of events and geography is meant to be taken literally. There is also doubt that the text is Hebrew and not a related language spoken in the area at that time. Some scholars and archeologists argue that the Bible's account of David's time inflates his importance and that of his kingdom and is essentially myth, perhaps rooted in ashred of fact.

Modern Zionism has traditionally seen archaeology as a way of strengthening the Jewish claim to Israel. So if Garfinkel's claim is supported, it would bolster the case for the Bible's accuracy, indicating that the settlement was probably inhabited by Israelites.

高一英语听力练习相关文章：