Unit 8 About Language

1. Unit 8 About Language

2. New words and expressions for Reading One • artificial: Artificial objects, materials, or processes do not occur naturally and are created by human beings, for example using science or technology. • ...a wholefood diet free from artificial additives, colours and flavours... • The city is dotted with small lakes, natural and artificial... • = synthetic ≠ natural

3. Esperanto: Esperanto is an invented language which consists of parts of several European languages, and which was designed to help people from different countries communicate with each other.

4. surf: If you surf the Internet, you spend time finding and looking at things on the Internet. (COMPUTING) • No one knows how many people currently surf the Net.

5. charts: The charts are the official lists that show which CDs have sold the most copies each week. • They topped both the US singles and album charts at the same time. • = hit parade

6. cable: [countable] a plastic or rubber tube containing wires that carry telephone messages, electronic signals, television pictures etc • cables and switches for computers • overhead/underground/undersea cable • overhead power cables

7. identity: The identity of a person or place is the characteristics they have that distinguish them from others. • I wanted a sense of my own identity. • invasion: If you refer to the arrival of a large number of people or things as an invasion, you are emphasizing that they are unpleasant or difficult to deal with. • ...this year’s annual invasion of flies, wasps and ants...

8. ban: To ban something means to state officially that it must not be done, shown, or used. • Canada will ban smoking in all offices later this year. • ...a banned substance. • = prohibit

9. Check Your ComprehensionAnswer the following questions with the information from the text. • 1. What did people originally think was the solution to miscommunication between people of different native languages? They thought a global language, perhaps an artificial one, was the answer to the miscommunication problem.

10. 2. Why is English important to people who need to use the computer at work and to study? English is important to these people because the data are stored in English in many of the world’s computers and they need it to surf the Internet.

11. 3. Why were English words such as Walkman banned in France? Because France wants to protect the French language, so Frenchmen are told to use French words instead.

12. 4. What functions does English have in the entertainment world? English is the language for people in the entertainment world to understand the pop charts and to communicate with each other.

13. 5. What is the author’s attitude towards the future of English? The author is quite optimistic about the bright future of English and hopes it may become the global language.

14. Check Your Vocabulary • 1. The international languages for pilots and air traffic controllers, airspeak, and for policemen, policespeak, have English as their basis. • 2. Because of the influence of Hollywood movies and pop music, many new learners of English have already learned some English.

15. 3. Some countries think that the use of English can damage or call into question their identity as a people or nation. • 4. For people with different first languages, English, as a second language, has enabled them to communicate with each other without difficulty.

16. New words and expressions for Reading Two • acquisition: The acquisition of a skill or a particular type of knowledge is the process of learning it or developing it. • ...language acquisition. • genetically: You use genetic to describe something that is concerned with genetics or with genes. “Genetically” is the adverb form. • Some people are genetically predisposed to diabetes.

17. predispose: If something predisposes you to think or behave in a particular way, it makes it likely that you will think or behave in that way. (FORMAL) 使某人倾向于某种态度（行为或状态）；使预先有意向 • Lack of exercise may predispose an individual to high blood pressure. • There is evidence to suggest that certain factors predispose some individuals to criminal behaviour.

18. mentality: Your mentality is your attitudes and your way of thinking. • ...a criminal mentality... • Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.

19. contentment: Contentment is a feeling of quiet happiness and satisfaction. • I cannot describe the feeling of contentment that was with me at that time. • ≠ discontent

20. imitation: If someone does an imitation of another person, they copy the way they speak or behave, sometimes in order to be funny. • He gave his imitation of Queen Elizabeth’s royal wave（庄严高贵的挥手）... • = impersonation

21. psycholinguistics: The study of the influence of psychological factors on the development, use, and interpretation of language. • 心理语言学：心理因素对语言发展，使用和阐释方面的影响的研究。

22. Check Your Comprehension AAnswer the following questions with the information from the text. • 1. Why did the Linguistic Society of Paris pass a rule against any more theories about the origins of language in 1866? • Because there were many theories about the origin of human speech, yet none of them could solve the mystery. To avoid more confusion or possible speculation, the Linguistic Society of Paris passed the rule.

23. 2. When children are around five years old, can most of them correctly make a passive voice sentence? • No. Most of them don’t know how to structure and form the passive voice.

24. 3. Is the capacity of young children to understand superior to their ability to speak? • Yes. They can understand much more than they can produce.

25. 4. What are the general steps which children often follow when they start to speak a language? • Children begin to babble when they are a few months old. After that, they begin to use a word, then two words or more to express themselves. The process of children’s language formation is a general evolution.

26. New words and expressions for Reading Three • status: The status of something is the importance that people give it. • Those things that can be assessed by external tests are being given unduly high status... • = importance

27. namely: You use namely to introduce detailed information about the subject you are discussing, or a particular aspect of it. • One group of people seems to be forgotten, namely pensioners... • They were hardly aware of the challenge facing them, namely, to re-establish prosperity.

28. Malay: Malay is a language that is spoken in Malaysia and in parts of Indonesia. • Tamil: n. 泰米尔人, 泰米尔语 • ministry: [countable] a government department that is responsible for one of the areas of government work, such as education or health • the Ministry of Agriculture

29. legislation: Legislation consists of a law or laws passed by a government. (FORMAL) • ...a letter calling for legislation to protect women’s rights. • prestige: If a person, a country, or an organization has prestige, they are admired and respected because of the position they hold or the things they have achieved. • It was his responsibility for foreign affairs that gained him international prestige.

30. Mandarin: Mandarin is the official language of China. • modernity: [uncountable] formal the quality of being modern • a conflict between tradition and modernity

31. distinct: If something is distinct from something else of the same type, it is different or separate from it. • Engineering and technology are disciplines distinct from one another and from science... • This book is divided into two distinct parts.

32. oddity: The oddity of something is the fact that it is very strange. • ...the oddities of the Welsh legal system. • = peculiarity

33. syllable: A syllable is a part of a word that contains a single vowel sound and that is pronounced as a unit. So, for example, ’book’ has one syllable, and `reading’ has two syllables. • We children called her Oma, accenting both syllables.

34. contract: When something contracts or when something contracts it, it becomes smaller or shorter. • Blood is only expelled from the heart when it contracts... • New research shows that an excess of meat and salt can contract muscles.

35. acronym: An acronym is a word composed of the first letters of the words in a phrase, especially when this is used as a name. An example of an acronym is NATO which is made up of the first letters of the ’North Atlantic Treaty Organization’.

36. vowel:A vowel is a sound such as the ones represented in writing by the letters ’a’, ’e’ ’i’, ’o’ and ’u’, which you pronounce with your mouth open, allowing the air to flow through it. Compare consonant. • The vowel in words like ’my’ and ’thigh’ is not very difficult.

37. abbreviation: An abbreviation is a short form of a word or phrase, made by leaving out some of the letters or by using only the first letter of each word. • The postal abbreviation for Kansas is KS.

38. confront: If you are confronted with a problem, task, or difficulty, you have to deal with it. • She was confronted with severe money problems... • Ministers underestimated the magnitude of the task confronting them. • = face

39. interjection: In grammar, an interjection is a word or expression which you use to express a strong feeling such as surprise, pain, or horror. • rowdy: When people are rowdy, they are noisy, rough, and likely to cause trouble. • He has complained to the police about rowdy neighbours... • = noisy

40. recount: If you recount a story or event, you tell or describe it to people. (FORMAL) • He then recounted the story of the interview for his first job... • He recounted how heavily armed soldiers forced him from the presidential palace.

41. frantically: adv. 狂暴地, 疯狂似地 • She clutched frantically at Emily’s arm. • curry: Curry is a dish composed of meat and vegetables, or just vegetables, in a sauce containing hot spices. It is usually eaten with rice and is one of the main dishes of India. • ...vegetable curry... • I went for a curry last night.

42. liberally: using or including plenty of something, especially in a generous way • Apply the glue liberally to both surfaces. • dark hair liberally sprinkled with grey

43. sprinkle: If you sprinkle a thing with something such as a liquid or powder, you scatter the liquid or powder over it. • Sprinkle the meat with salt and place in the pan... • Cheese can be sprinkled on egg or vegetable dishes.

44. hint: A hint is a suggestion about something that is made in an indirect way. • The Minister gave a strong hint that the government were thinking of introducing tax concessions for mothers... • I’d dropped a hint about having an exhibition of his work up here...

45. splash: If you splash a liquid somewhere or if it splashes, it hits someone or something and scatters in a lot of small drops. • He closed his eyes tight, and splashed the water on his face... • A little wave, the first of many, splashed in my face... • Beer splashed the carpet... • Lorries rumbled past them, splashing them with filthy water from the potholes in the road...

46. woodbine: n. a kind of plant which produces a special kind of spice 忍冬 • waft: If sounds or smells waft through the air, or if something such as a light wind wafts them, they move gently through the air. • The scent of climbing roses wafts through the window... • A slight breeze rose, wafting the heavy scent of flowers past her.

47. musk: Musk is a substance with a strong smell which is used in making perfume. • preservative: A preservative is a chemical that prevents things from decaying. Some preservatives are added to food, and others are used to treat wood or metal. • Nitrates（硝酸盐）are used as preservatives in food manufacture...

48. Check your comprehension B

49. New words and expressions for Reading Four • interviewee: An interviewee is a person who is being interviewed. • tracksuit: A tracksuit is a loose, warm suit consisting of trousers and a top which people wear to relax and to do exercise. (BRIT; in AM, use sweatsuit) 田径服

50. fast-talk: to persuade, mislead, or obtain with a smooth line of talk • 用花言巧语说服、哄骗或骗得 • fast-talked him out of his money • 用花言巧语骗他的钱 • fast-talked her way into the show • 用花言巧语骗她出洋相