1、identity? Only time will tell. STANDARD ENGLISH AND DIALECTS What is standard English? Is it spoken in Britain, the US, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand? Believe it or not, there is no such thing as standard English. Many people believe the English spoken on TV and the radio is standard Engl
2、ish. This is because in the early days of radio, those who reported the news were expected to speak excellent English. However, on TV and the radio you will hear differences in the way people speak. When people use words and expressions different from the “standard language”, it is called a dialect.
3、 American English has many dialects, especially the Midwestern, southern, African American and Spanish dialects. Even in some parts of the USA, two people from neighbouring towns speak a little differently. American English has so many dialects because people have come from all over the world. Geogr
4、aphy also plays a part in making dialects. Some people who live in the mountains of the eastern USA speak with an older kind of English dialect. When Americans moved from one place to another, they took their dialects with them. So people from the mountains in the southeastern USA speak with almost
5、the same dialects as people in the northwestern USA. The USA is a large country in which many different dialects are spoken. Although many Americans move a lot, they still recognize and understand each others dialects. THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY You may think that English dictionaries have been u
6、sed for many, many centuries. The spelling of English has always been a problem but it was more of a problem in the days before a dictionary. Then people could spell word in different ways which you might find it interesting. But it made reading English much more difficult. So dictionaries were inve
7、nted to encourage everybody to spell the same. In fact, an English dictionary like the kind you use today wasnt made until the time of the late Qing Dynasty. There men did most of the important early work on dictionaries: Samuel Johnson, Noah Webster, and James Murray. These men spent nearly all of
8、their lives trying to collect words for their dictionaries. For them, it wasnt only a job; it was a wonderful journey of discovery. The largest dictionary in the world is the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED for short. The idea for this dictionary came from an important meeting in Britain in 1857.
9、Twenty-two years later, Oxford University asked James Murray to be the editor of its new dictionary. Murray had never been to college. At the age of fourteen, he left his village school in Scotland and taught himself while working in a bank. Later he became a great teacher. After Oxford gave him the
10、 job, Murray had a place built in the garden behind his house to do his work. Part of it was one meter underground. In winter it felt like a barn, he had to wear a heavy coat and put his feet in a box to keep warm. Every morning, Murray got out of bed at five oclock and worked several hours before b
11、reakfast. Often he would work by the candle light into the evening. Murray hoped to finish the new dictionary in ten years. But after five years, he was still adding words for the letter A! then others went to work with Murray, including his two daughters. He worked on the dictionary until he was ve
12、ry old. Forty-four years later, in1928, other editors finished it. It included more than 15,000 pages in twelve books. And you thought your dictionary was big! Unit 3 JOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONG PART 1 THE DREAM AND THE PLAN My name is Wang Kun. Ever since middle school, my sister Wang Wei and I have dr
13、eamed about taking a great bike trip. Two years ago she bought an expensive mountain bike and then she persuaded me to buy one. Last year, she visited our cousins, Dao Wei and Yu Hang at their college in Kunming. They are Dai and grew up in western Yunnan Province near the Lancang River, the Chinese
14、 part of the river that is called the Mekong River in other countries. Wang Wei soon got them interested in cycling too. After graduating from college.we finally got the chance to take a bike trip. I asked my sister, “Where are we going?“ It was my sister who first had the idea to cycle along the en
15、tire Mekong River from where it begins to where it ends. Now she is planning our schedule for the trip. I am fond of my sister but she has one serious shortcoming. She can be really stubborn. Although she didnt know the best way of getting to places, she insisted that she organize the trip properly.
16、 Now, I know that the proper way is always her way. I kept asking her, “When are we leaving and when are we coming back?“ I asked her whether she had looked at a map yet. Of course, she hadnt; my sister doesnt care about details. So I told her that the source of the Mekong is in Qinghai Province. Sh
17、e gave me a determined lookthe kind that said she would not change her mind. When I told her that our journey would begin at an altitude of more than 5,000 metres, she seemed to be excited about it. When I told her the air would be hard to breathe and it would be very cold, she said it would be an i
18、nteresting experience. I know my sister well. Once she has made up her mind, nothing can change it. Finally, I had to give in. Several months before our trip,Wang Wei and I went to the library. We found a large atlas with good maps that showed details of world geography. From the atlas we could see
19、that the Mekong River begins in a glacier on a Tibetan mountain. At first the river is small and the water is clear and cold. Then it begins to move quickly. It becomes rapids as it passes through deep valleys, travelling across western Yunnan Province. Sometimes the river becomes a waterfall and en
20、ters wide valleys. We were both surprised to learn that half of the river is in China. After it leaves China and the high altitude,the Mekong becomes wide，brown and warm. As it enters Southeast Asia, its pace slows. It makes wide bends or meanders through low valleys to the plains where rice grows.
21、At last, the river delta enters the South China Sea. PART2 A NIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS Although it was autumn,the snow was already beginning to fall in Tibet.Our legs were so heavy and cold that they felt like blocks of ice.Have you ever seen snowmen ride bicycles?Thats what we looked like! Along the w
22、ay children dressed in long wool coats stopped to look at us.In the late afternoon we found it was so cold that our water bottles froze.However,the lakes shonelike glass in the setting sun and looked wonderful.Wangwei rode in front of me as usual.She is very reliable and I knew I didnt need to encou
23、rage her. To climb the mountains was hard work but as we looked around us, we were surprised by the view. We seemed to be able to see for miles. At one point we were so high that we found ourselves cycling through clouds. Then we began going down the hills. It was great fun especially as it graduall
24、y became much warmer. In the valleys colourful butterflies flew around us and we saw many yaks and sheep eating green grass. At this point we had to change our caps, coats,gloves and trousers for T-shirts and shorts. In the early evening we always stop to make camp.We put up our tent and then we eat
25、. After supper Wang Wei put her head down on her pillow and went to sleep but I stayed awake. At midnight the sky became clearer and the stars grew brighter. It was so quiet. There was almost no windonly the flames of our fire for company. As I lay beneath the stars I thought about how far we had al
26、ready travelled. We will reach Dali in Yunnan Province soon, where our cousins Dao Wei and Yu Hang will join us. We can hardly wait to see them! PART 6 THE END OF OUR JOUNEY Cambodia was in many ways similar to Laos, although it has twice the population. At another inn, we talked with a teacher who
27、told us that half of the people in her country couldnt read or write. Her village couldnt even afford to build a school, so she had to teach outside under a large tent. When we said goodbye, we all felt very lucky to have studied in college.Back on the road, we passed between many hills and forests.
28、 Then we came to the plains and entered Phnom Penh,the capital of Cambodia. In many ways it looked like Vientiane and Ho Chi Minh City; it also had wide streets with trees in rows and old French houses.Unlike Vientiane, ships could travel the Mekong River here.In the center of the city we visited th
29、e palace and a beautiful white elephant. It can only be seen outside the palace on special days. We ate an early supper and went to see a great temple with floors made of sliver. The next morning our group slept late. We were very tired from the long bike ride the day before. Cycling in the hills ha
30、d been diffcuilt.Now our couins had the chance to make jokes about Wangwei and me. Perhaps,they said,they were the strong ones!We had lunch at a nice outdoor cafe,then rode out of the city. Two days later we crossed the border into Vietnam. We began to see many more people,but I wasnt surprised .I r
31、ead in an atlas before our trip that Vietnam has almost seven times the population of Cambodia. We met a farmer who gave us directions and told us that he grows a new rice crop four times every year so he can feed more people.He also told us that the northern part of his country has many mountains a
32、nd it is much cooler than here in the south,where it is flat.Although the flat delta made it easier for us to cycle.we got warm very quickly.So we drank lots of water and ate lots of bananas.Soon the delta separated into nine smaller rivers.Two days later,after we had passed thousands of rice fields
33、,we came to the sea. We were tired but alsoidentity? Only time will tell. STANDARD ENGLISH AND DIALECTS What is standard English? Is it spoken in Britain, the US, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand? Believe it or not, there is no such thing as standard English. Many people believe the English
34、spoken on TV and the radio is standard English. This is because in the early days of radio, those who reported the news were expected to speak excellent English. However, on TV and the radio you will hear differences in the way people speak. When people use words and expressions different from the “
35、standard language”, it is called a dialect. American English has many dialects, especially the Midwestern, southern, African American and Spanish dialects. Even in some parts of the USA, two people from neighbouring towns speak a little differently. American English has so many dialects because peop
36、le have come from all over the world. Geography also plays a part in making dialects. Some people who live in the mountains of the eastern USA speak with an older kind of English dialect. When Americans moved from one place to another, they took their dialects with them. So people from the mountains
37、 in the southeastern USA speak with almost the same dialects as people in the northwestern USA. The USA is a large country in which many different dialects are spoken. Although many Americans move a lot, they still recognize and understand each others dialects. THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY You may
38、think that English dictionaries have been used for many, many centuries. The spelling of English has always been a problem but it was more of a problem in the days before a dictionary. Then people could spell word in different ways which you might find it interesting. But it made reading English muc
39、h more difficult. So dictionaries were invented to encourage everybody to spell the same. In fact, an English dictionary like the kind you use today wasnt made until the time of the late Qing Dynasty. There men did most of the important early work on dictionaries: Samuel Johnson, Noah Webster, and J
40、ames Murray. These men spent nearly all of their lives trying to collect words for their dictionaries. For them, it wasnt only a job; it was a wonderful journey of discovery. The largest dictionary in the world is the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED for short. The idea for this dictionary came fro
41、m an important meeting in Britain in 1857. Twenty-two years later, Oxford University asked James Murray to be the editor of its new dictionary. Murray had never been to college. At the age of fourteen, he left his village school in Scotland and taught himself while working in a bank. Later he became
42、 a great teacher. After Oxford gave him the job, Murray had a place built in the garden behind his house to do his work. Part of it was one meter underground. In winter it felt like a barn, he had to wear a heavy coat and put his feet in a box to keep warm. Every morning, Murray got out of bed at fi
43、ve oclock and worked several hours before breakfast. Often he would work by the candle light into the evening. Murray hoped to finish the new dictionary in ten years. But after five years, he was still adding words for the letter A! then others went to work with Murray, including his two daughters.
44、He worked on the dictionary until he was very old. Forty-four years later, in1928, other editors finished it. It included more than 15,000 pages in twelve books. And you thought your dictionary was big! Unit 3 JOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONG PART 1 THE DREAM AND THE PLAN My name is Wang Kun. Ever since midd
45、le school, my sister Wang Wei and I have dreamed about taking a great bike trip. Two years ago she bought an expensive mountain bike and then she persuaded me to buy one. Last year, she visited our cousins, Dao Wei and Yu Hang at their college in Kunming. They are Dai and grew up in western Yunnan P
46、rovince near the Lancang River, the Chinese part of the river that is called the Mekong River in other countries. Wang Wei soon got them interested in cycling too. After graduating from college.we finally got the chance to take a bike trip. I asked my sister, “Where are we going?“ It was my sister w
47、ho first had the idea to cycle along the entire Mekong River from where it begins to where it ends. Now she is planning our schedule for the trip. I am fond of my sister but she has one serious shortcoming. She can be really stubborn. Although she didnt know the best way of getting to places, she in
48、sisted that she organize the trip properly. Now, I know that the proper way is always her way. I kept asking her, “When are we leaving and when are we coming back?“ I asked her whether she had looked at a map yet. Of course, she hadnt; my sister doesnt care about details. So I told her that the sour
49、ce of the Mekong is in Qinghai Province. She gave me a determined lookthe kind that said she would not change her mind. When I told her that our journey would begin at an altitude of more than 5,000 metres, she seemed to be excited about it. When I told her the air would be hard to breathe and it would be very cold, she said it would be an interesting experience. I know my sister well. Once she has made up her mind, nothing can change it. Finally, I had to give in. Several months before our trip,Wang Wei and I went to the lib
