Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden change in pronunciation started, with vowels (元音) being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact (接触) with many people from around the world. This meant that lots of new vocabulary entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a mon language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary came out.
Early Modern English and Late Modern English are mostly different in the number of words. Late Modern English has many more words, mainly because of the following two reasons: First, the Industrial Revolution (工业革命) led to the need for new words. Second, the British Empire covered one quarter of the earth’s surface, and the English language took in foreign words from many countries.
From around 1600, the English colonization (殖民地化) of North America led to American English. Some English pronunciations and words “froze” when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English. Some expressions that are called “American English” are in fact from British expressions. They were kept in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain. Spanish also had an influence (影响) on American English. For example, words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante are from Spanish. They entered English by the people of Spain who settled in the American West. French words and West African words also influenced American English.
Today, American English has a greater influence, because of the USA’s movies, television, popular music, trade and technology.
【小题1】The main difference between Early and Late Modern English lies in .A．vocabularyB．pronunciationC．spellingD．grammar【小题2】 What helped to increase the vocabulary of Late Modern English?
a. the invention of printing
b. the Industrial Revolution
c. the colonization
d. the contact with other countriesA．a, b, c B．a, c, d C．a, b, d D．b, c, d【小题3】From the passage, we can learn the word “canyon” is from .A．American dialect B．African dialectC．SpanishD．French【小题4】The third paragraph mainly talks about .A．English colonies in North AmericaB．the development of American EnglishC．other languages influence on American EnglishD．the difference between American English and British English【小题5】 The underlined word “froze” can best be replaced by .A．remained unchangedB．disappearedC．improvedD．kept activeA
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(答案→)A
解析：本文着重讲述了在几个不同的国家的英语上存在着很大的差异，并分析了具体的原因。
【小题1】细节题：从第二段的句子：Early Modern English and Late Modern English are mostly different in the number of words.可知早期的英语和现代英语的不同主要是词汇上的，选A
【小题2】细节题：从第二段的句子：First, the Industrial Revolution (工业革命) led to the need for new words. Second, the British Empire covered one quarter of the earth’s surface, and the English language took in foreign words from many countries. 可知现代英语词汇量的增加主要是因为工业化革命，和其他国家的接触，根据第三段的句子：From around 1600, the English colonization (殖民地化) of North America led to American English.可知还有一个原因是殖民化，选D
【小题3】细节题：从第三段的句子：Spanish also had an influence (影响) on American English. For example, words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante are from Spanish. 可知crayon这个单词是来自西班牙语，选C
【小题4】段落大意题：从第三段的句子：From around 1600, the English colonization (殖民地化) of North America led to American English.可知这段讲的是美式英语的发展，选B
【小题5】猜词题：从第三段的句子：In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English. 一些美式英语有点象莎士比亚时期的英语，说明当英语来到这些殖民地的时候就不再变化了，故该词指的是保持原样。选A