牛津版 高中英语 电子课本 模块三 M3U2
ReadingA Read the article quickly and answer these questions What is the article about? What are the three kinds of English discussed in the article? In what way is English still changing?B The pages below are from a book about the history of different languages. Read about how English developed and why it has some strange rules. English and its historyAll through history, people from many different countries and cultures have lived together in Britain. The English language is made up of the grammar and vocabulary these people brought to Britain. That is why English has so many difficult rules that confuse people.Old English is very different from the English we speak nowadays. In fact, we would not be able to understand it if we heard it today. Before the middle of the 5th century, people in Britain all spoke a language called Celtic. Then two Germanic group from the European mainland-the Angles and the Saxons-occupied Britain. Old English consisted of a mixture of their language.(Both the English language and the English people are named after the Angles; the world Angle was spelt Engle in Old English). Aside from place names such as London, very few Celtic words became part of Old English. At the end of the 9th century, the Vikings, people from Northern European countries such as Denmark and Norway, began to move to Britain. They brought with them their language, which also mixed with Old English. By the 10th century, Old English had become the official language of England.When we speak English today, we sometimes feel puzzled about which words or phrases to use. This is because English has many words and phrases from different languages, but with similar meanings. For example, the word sick came from a word once used by the Angles and the Saxons, while ill came from a word once used by the Norwegians. Middle English Middle English is the name given to the English used from around the 12th to the 15th centuries. Many things played a part in the development of this new type of English. The most important contribution was from the Normans, a French speaking people who defeated England and took control of the country in 1066. However, the Norman Conquest did not affect English as much as the Angles and the Saxons victory about 600 years earlier, which led to Old English replacing Celtic. Even though the Normans spoke French for the entire 250 years they ruled England, French did not replace English as the first language. On the other hand, the English language did borrow many words from French. This resulted in even more words with similar meanings, such as answer (from Old English) and reply (from Old French). It is interesting to learn how the words for animals and meat developed. After the Norman Conquest, many English people worked as servants who raised animals. Therefore, the words we use for most animals raised for food, such as cow, sheep, and pig, came from Old English. However, the words for the meat of these animals, which was served to the Normans, came from Old French : beef, mutton, pork, and bacon.Old French made other contributions to Middle English as well. In Old English, the Germanic way of making words plural was used. For example, they said housen instead of house, and shoen instead of shoes. After the Normans took control, they began using French way of making plurals, adding an s to house and shoe. Only a few words kept their Germanic plural forms, such as man/men and child/children.After the Norman Conquest, high-class people spoke French while common people spoke English. However, by the latter half of the 14th century, English had come into widespread use among all classes in England. In 1399, Henry IV became King of England. His mother tongue was English, and he used English for all official events. Modern English Modern English appeared during the Renaissance in the 16th century. Because of this, Modern English includes many Latin and Greek words. Pronunciation also went through huge changes during this period. Of course, this was not the end of the changes in the English language. The question of whether English will keep on changing in the future is easy to answer. It is certain that this process will continue, and people will keep inventing new words and new ways of saying things.Reading strategy : reading a history articleWhat you have read is a typical history article. When you read a history article, you will notice dates and years in the text, e.g. the 5th centuryand 1066. Recognizing these details will help you understand the order of events and how pieces of information relate to the rest of the text. Next time you read a history article, it is a good idea to make a time chart, listening important information, such as times, places and events in the article. Project Designing a booklet Writing is an important part of language. The way a writt