首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
It was said by Sir George Bernard Shaw that "England and America are two countries separated by the same language." My first per
It was said by Sir George Bernard Shaw that "England and America are two countries separated by the same language." My first per
admin
2013-08-05
44
问题
It was said by Sir George Bernard Shaw that "England and America are two countries separated by the same language." My first personal experience of this was when I worked as a camp counselor for two months in 2000 in Summer Camp run by the Boy Scouts of America, as part of an international leader exchange scheme. Before I went, all the participants in the scheme were given a short list of words that are in common use in the UK which Americans would either be confused by or would even offend them. I memorized the words and thought"I’ll cope".
When I finally arrived in the States three months later, I realized that perhaps a lifetime of watching American television was not adequate preparation for appreciating and coping with the differences between American and British speech. In the first hour of arriving at the camp I was exposed to High School American English, Black American English and American English spoken by Joe Public, all every different to each other. Needless to say, I did cope in the end. The Americans I met were very welcoming and helpful, and I found they were patient with me when I made a social faux pas when I used an inappropriate word or phrase.
Upon my return I began to wonder whether anyone had documented the differences between American and British English. I found several books on the subject but often these were written in a dry and academic way. I felt that I could do better and use my sense of humor and personal experiences to help people from both sides of Atlantic to communicate more effectively when they meet.
My research into the subject led me to several conclusions.
Firstly, American English and British English are covering, thanks to increased transatlantic travel and the media The movement of slang words is mostly eastwards, though a few words from the UK have been adopted by the Ivy League fraternities. This convergent trend is a recent one dating from the emergence of Hollywood as the predominant film making center in the world and also from the Second World War when large numbers of American GIs were stationed in the UK. This trend was consolidated by the advent of television. Before then, it was thought that American English and British English would diverge as the two languages evolved. In 1789, Noah Webster stated that: "Numerous local causes, such as a new country, new associations of people, new combinations of ideas in the arts and some intercourse with tribes wholly unknown in Europe will introduce new words into the American tongue." He was right, but his next statement has since been proved to be incorrect. "These causes will produce in the course of time a language in North America as different from the modern Dutch, Danish and Swedish are from the German or from one another."
Webster had underrated the amount of social intercourse between England and her former colony. Even before Webster had started to compile his dictionary, words and expressions from the America had already infiltrated the British language, for example "canoe" and "hatchet".
Secondly, there are some generalizations that can be made about American and British English which can reveal the nature of the two nations and their peoples. British speech tends to be less general, and directed more, in nuances of meaning, attendant murmurings and pauses, carries a wealth of shared assumptions and attitudes. In other words, the British are preoccupied with their social status within society and speak and act accordingly to fit into the social class they aspire to. This is particularly evident when talking to someone from "the middle class" when he points out that he is "upper middle class" rather than "middle class" or "lower middle class". John Major (the former UK Prime Minister) may have said that we are now living in a "classless society" but the class system still prevails. At that moment both he and the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Blair, were talking about capturing the "middle England", "middle class vote" as the key to winning the next general election. American speech tends to be influenced by the over-heated language of much of the media, which is designed to attach an impression of exciting activity to passive, if sometimes insignificant events. Yet, curiously, really violent activity and life-changing events are hidden in blind antiseptic tones that serve to disguise the reality. Two examples come readily to mind—the US Military with their "friendly fire" and "collateral damages" and the business world with their "downsizing". British people tend to understatement whereas Americans towards hyperbole. A Briton might respond to a suggestion with a word such as "Terrific! " only if he is expressing rapturous enthusiasm, whereas an American might use the word merely to signify polite assent.
Thirdly, The American language has less regard than the British for grammatical form, and will happily bulldoze its way across distinctions rather than steer a path between them. American English will casually use one form of a word for another, for example turning nouns into verbs or verbs and nouns into adjectives.
The author decided to write about the differences between American and British English to
选项
A、support the statement of Bernard Shaw.
B、describe his personal experiences.
C、show his sense of humor.
D、help people’s communication.
答案
D
解析
第3段提到,有关这个主题的书都比较枯燥学术,作者觉得自己能用幽默感和亲身经历帮助人们更好的沟通,因此答案为D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/1pRYFFFM
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Askedwhatjobtheywouldtakeiftheycouldhaveany,peopleunleashtheirimaginationsanddreamofexoticplaces,powerfulpo
Whatmaterialswerenotusedforroadsurfacesduringthelastcentury?
ItwassaidbySirGeorgeBernardShawthat"EnglandandAmericaaretwocountriesseparatedbythesamelanguage."Myfirstpe
SouthKoreanLaw-makersplannedforanAsiawidecoalitionagainst______.
People’sattitudetowarddrugsvariesfrompersontoperson.Someregarditas(1)_____miraculous;othersthinkofthemasdang
TheCivilWarwasoverwhenGeneralLeeandhisConfederateArmysurrenderedafterthefalloftheircapital______.
TheEnglishRenaissanceTheEnglishRenaissancedatesfromthelate15thandearly16thcenturiestotheearly17thcentury.The
TheMoralizationSwitchThestartingpointforappreciatingthatthereisadistinctivepartofourpsychologyformorality
______istheoldestandlargestAustralianparty,whichwasformedin1901.
HomerHomer:oneofthegreatest(1)______poets.famousfortwoepicpoems:relatedwith(2)______WarI.Illiad:A.describesth
随机试题
电渣焊熔渣的作用不包括()。
螺杆泵的工作过程本质上也就是密封腔室不断形成、推移和再形成的过程。()
人力资源视角下的梦幻医药集团梦幻医药集团是一家民营企业,从2000年建厂以来,在短短10年时间,企业就从原来仅有l0余人的小作坊发展成为一个拥有2000余名员工、年销售额达6亿多元的、现代化制药集团。伴随着制药行业的竞争加剧,企业面临的人力资源管理方面的
静脉肾盂造影显示肾盂内充盈缺损可能为
A.氟哌啶醇B.舒必利C.利培酮D.奥氮平E.氯氮平抗胆碱能作用及镇静作用小,主要不良反应为头晕、激越、失眠等
男性,24岁。近日恶心呕吐,厌油腻,查体:巩膜黄染,肝大肋下2cm,质软,边缘整齐,表面光滑,轻度压痛。该患者最可能的诊断是
下列表述中,何种情形下甲可以取得受让物的所有权?()
设供给状况不变,需求状况由于其他因素变化而发生变化,当需求增加时,表现为需求曲线从原来位置向上方移动,从而引起均衡数量增加,均衡价格下降。()
2012年1月1日,甲公司采用分期收款方式向乙公司销售一套大型设备,合同约定的销售价格为1200万元(不含增值税),分4次于每年12月31日等额收取。该大型设备成本为1000万元。假定该销售商品符合收入确认条件,同期银行贷款年利率为5%,(P/A,5%
Discoveriesinscienceandtechnologyarethoughtby"untaughtminds"tocomeinblindingflashesorastheresultofdramatica
最新回复
(
0
)