【正文】 它可能成為人們了解世界、開啟機遇大門、擴展思路、接納新思想的一種工具。然而，這并不意味著如許多人所擔(dān)心的那樣，英語正在或?qū)〈渌Z言。 18 English has been an international language for only 50 years. If the pattern follows the previous language trends, we still have about 100 years before a new language dominates the world. However, this does not mean that English is replacing or will replace other languages as many fear. Instead, it may supplement or coexist with languages by allowing strangers to municate across language boundaries. It may bee one tool that opens windows to the world, unlocks doors to opportunities, and expands our minds to new ideas. 英語成為國際語言至今僅有50年。 17 (4)While languages such as English, German, and French have been international languages because of their governments39。 16 Universities using English as the medium of instruction will expand and rapidly create a generation of middleclass professionals. Economic development will only increase the middle class, a group that is more likely to learn and use English in jobs. 用英語講課的大學(xué)將會增多，并迅速造就一代中產(chǎn)階級專業(yè)人員。 15 Because of these shifts in loyalties, more languages may disappear. Those remaining will rapidly get more native speakers. This includes English. 由于語言使用上的這些變動，更多的語言可能會消失。這種改換過程緩慢，難以預(yù)測。這可能產(chǎn)生出一個英語和西班牙語共存的雙語地區(qū)。少數(shù)幾種語言倒是有可能與之分庭抗禮——各有其特殊的影響地域。 13 There is no reason to believe that any one other language will appear within the next 50 years to replace English. However, it is possible that English will not remain unchallenged in the 21st century. Rather, a small number of languages may share in importance each with a special area of influence. For example, Spanish is rising because of expanding trade and the increase of the Latino population in the United States. This could create a bilingual EnglishSpanish region. 沒有理由相信在未來50年內(nèi)會出現(xiàn)任何其他一種語言取代英語。相反，它是一種全球通用的媒介。英語及其使用將有所變化，將反映出它與其他語言交往的新模式，以及變化中的人際交往需求。因此，沒有先例來幫助我們預(yù)測，當一種語言取得真正的國際性地位之后會發(fā)生什么情況。 10 However, the future is unpredictable. There has never been a language so widely spread or spoken by so many people as English. So, there are no examples to help us predict what happens to a language when it achieves genuine world status. 然而，英語的未來無從預(yù)測。但在其多樣性里存在一個統(tǒng)一的語法和一套核心詞匯。9 Finally, no English language central authority guards the standards of the language, therefore, many dialects have developed: American, British, Canadian, Indian, and Australian, to name a few. There is no standard pronunciation. But within this diversity is a unity of grammar and one set of core vocabulary. Thus, each country that speaks the language can introduce aspects of its own culture into the usage and vocabulary. 最后一點是，由于沒有英語語言中央權(quán)威機構(gòu)維護英語標準，因此形成了許多方言：美國英語、英國英語、加拿大英語、印度英語和澳大利亞英語，就是眾多的方言中的幾種。它從西班牙語和法語、希伯來語和阿拉伯語、印地－烏爾都語和孟加拉語、馬來語和漢語，以及西非和波利尼西亞等各種語言中曾經(jīng)借用過并繼續(xù)借用各種詞匯。 8 English, like many languages, uses a phonetic alphabet and fairly basic grammar. But most importantly, it has a large and extensive vocabulary, of which about 80% is foreign. It has borrowed and continues to borrow words from Spanish and French, Hebrew and Arabic, HindiUrdu and Bengali, Malay and Chinese, as well as languages from West Africa and Polynesia. This language characteristic makes it unique in history. 英語像許多語言一樣使用語音字母以及比較基本的語法。借助于計算機的通訊交際正在彌合英語口語與書面語之間的距離。信息革命不再受地域與國界的限制，正在重新界定我們的世界。 7 Today, the information age has replaced the industrial age and has pressed time and distance. This is transforming world economies from industrial production to informationbased goods and services. Ignoring geography and borders, the information revolution is redefining our world. In less than 20 years, information processing, once limited to the printed work, has given way to puters and the Internet. Computeraided munica