【正文】 if by train, an empty partment. If they have to share the partment with a stranger, they may travel many miles without starting a conversation. If a conversation does start, personal questions like How old are you? or even What is your name? are not easily asked. Questions like Where did you buy your watch? or What is your salary? are almost impossible. Similarly, conversation in Britain is in general quiet and restrained and loud speech is considered illbred. This unwillingness to muni。 英語泛讀教程 3 (Unit 17 課文 ) ants05 10 Unit 2 1 Text The English Reserve and Politeness It seems to many people that the British are extremely polite and difficult to make friends with. Hopefully the following passage will help you to have a better understanding of the British character. To other Europeans, the best known quality of the British is reserve. A reserved person is one who does not talk very much to strangers, does not show much emotion, and seldom gets excited. It is difficult to get to know a reserved person。今天，英語不僅是美國的，也是加拿大、 澳大利亞、新西蘭、印度、肯尼亞、南非、特立尼達、牙買加等等國家的母語 或官方語言。在莎士比亞去世之前的九或十年，英國已經(jīng)建立了它在美國的第一個殖民地 ——弗吉尼亞。伴隨著英帝國的成長、 交通運輸?shù)陌l(fā)展以及英語民族與世界各地其他民族的不斷交往，英語也在演變。 在莎士比亞時代以后，英語繼續(xù)經(jīng)歷了許多變化。當我們厭惡某事時，我們說它 “蹩腳 ”。當我們認為某事不足為道時，我們會 “一笑置之 ”。 人們將莎士比亞時期的英語視為現(xiàn)代英語的開端，因為除了某些拼寫有所不同以及一些今天我們不再使用的 詞匯外，當時的英語與我們今天所使用的英語非常接近。在這兩位偉 大作家的有生之年以及二人相隔的一百多年間，英語逐漸從中世紀英語的雜亂無序 狀態(tài)中剝離出來。 十字軍東征最后的一場戰(zhàn)爭之后幾百年，杰弗里 ?喬叟出生，那時正是文藝復興的早期。 散失的古希臘、羅馬作家的作品在歐洲被重新發(fā)現(xiàn)，激發(fā)了無數(shù)新的文學、藝術(shù)和科學作品。 重新接觸所有的知識，標志著歐洲一個嶄新的歷史時期 ——著名的文藝復興時期 ——的開始。 歐洲人發(fā)動的十字軍東征以失敗告終。他們沖破穆斯林人的防線，發(fā)動了一系列的戰(zhàn)爭，人們稱之為十字軍東征。公元 638 年穆斯林人占領(lǐng)了耶路撒冷。讓我們先來回顧一下當時經(jīng)歷了哪些變化。 中世紀英語是一種雜然無序的語言。中世紀英語既不是法語，也不是盎格魯 ?撒克遜語，它是兩種語言結(jié)合后形成的一個全 然不同的語言。 于是，英國一度成為兩種語言并存的國家：統(tǒng)治階級使用的法語，仆傭階級、英國人講的是盎格魯 ?撒克遜語或者古英語。英語仍是老百姓的日常用語。不過這一次，英國人沒有像當年的凱爾特和盎格魯 ?撒克遜祖先們那樣聽任外族語言將自己的語言吞噬。 諾曼人將自己的法律、習俗和文學帶到了英國。這 就是英國歷史上著名的諾曼征服。 對中世紀英語產(chǎn)生如此深遠影響的新的外來語就是法語。然而，大約在 900 年前，英格蘭再次遭受侵略，英語泛讀教程 3 (Unit 17 課文 ) ants05 9 另一種截然不同的語言也 被帶到這個國家。在丹麥人入侵以后的 約百 年間，英國人生活在平靜安寧的環(huán)境中。他們的語言與盎格魯 ?撒克遜語結(jié)合在一起，形成了今天我們所說的古英語。侵略英格蘭的斯堪的納維亞人是丹麥人，侵略法國的則是諾曼人。盡管阿爾弗雷德提倡人們 不僅用拉丁文，也用盎格魯 ?撒克遜語讀書、寫作，但大多數(shù)著作仍然是用拉丁文書寫。他設(shè)法將羅馬人撤離英國時遺留下的一些學問研究保留下來。 公元 871899年，在 諸如阿爾弗雷德國王等較為強有力的國王的統(tǒng)治時期，英格蘭各個民族逐漸融合并發(fā)展成為一個民族。 漸漸地，在公元 6世紀至 11世紀，歐洲的封建等級集團發(fā)展成為強大的諸侯王國。教堂是羅馬文明僅存 之物。到公元 476 年，西羅馬便不復存在了。自從盎格魯人和撒克遜人成為英格蘭的統(tǒng)治者，盎格魯 ?撒克遜語便成為最早的英語。他們解救了凱爾特人，實際上也摧毀了羅馬人帶來的文化：包括文學、雕塑、學校和道路。凱爾特人只得向隔 著大海居住在挪威和丹 麥的盎格魯人和撒克遜人求助。到了公元 409 年，羅馬完全喪失了對不列顛的統(tǒng)治權(quán)。除了來自北方的入侵，蒙古人又從東部發(fā)起進攻，穆斯林人也從南部入侵。 在不列顛作為羅馬帝國一部分的四百年間，羅馬日漸勢微，而古代斯堪的納維亞人則日益強大。很早以前 ，盎格魯人和撒克遜人就開始同英格蘭的凱爾特人做生意了。他們中的一些族落成為后來人們熟知的盎格魯人、撒克遜人、朱特人和哥特人。羅馬人給不列顛人帶來了自己先進的文化，他們不僅帶來了藝術(shù)、文學、法律和拉丁語，還創(chuàng)建學校，造房修路， 供養(yǎng)一支軍隊保衛(wèi)自己免遭外來侵略。于是，羅馬人將它借 鑒了過來。羅馬人征服了希臘，并將它劃歸羅馬帝國的版圖。當今藝術(shù)、文學、科學、哲學和政治學的許多思想都源于古代希臘人民的智慧。他們有自己的語言。石器時代的不列顛人驍勇好斗，連年互相發(fā)動戰(zhàn)爭。此外，還有一族叫做皮克特人，但他們不屬于印歐語族。在這個時期，一些印歐人就居住生活在英倫三島上了。據(jù)我們所知，其中最古老的語言是印歐語系。s death, England had established her first American colony, Virginia. Three hundred years later, England no longer had an empire, but the lands which she had conquered still spoke the English language. Today, English is the native or official language of not only the United States but also Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Kenya, South Africa, Trinidad, Jamaica and more － lands on every continent of this pla. (1816 words) 英語泛讀教程 3 (Unit 17 課文 ) ants05 8 譯文： 英語史 我們現(xiàn)在所講的英語曾經(jīng)經(jīng)歷了三個階段：古英語、中世紀英語和現(xiàn)代英語。s writings. When we think something is unimportant we “l(fā)augh it off.” Describing something which is strong and in good condition, we say it is “sound as a bell.” When we are disgusted with something, we say it is “l(fā)ousy.” If you know or use these expressions you are quoting Shakespeare. After Shakespeare39。s death in 1616, the English history and language had entered the modern period. The English of Shakespeare39。s advance knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, geography and medicine. This renewed contact with all the knowledge marks the beginning of a period in Europe known as the Renaissance, which means “rebirth of learning.” The lost works of ancient Greek and Roman writers were rediscovered in Europe, inspiring countless new works of literature, art and science. The Renaissance began in Italy, but eventually the new learning spread north, to France, Germany and England. Geoffrey Chaucer was born some hundred years after the last war of the Crusades, in the early part of the Renaissance. About one hundred fifty years after Chaucer39。 it was a pletely different language bined of both. The change from Old English to Middle English took place gradually over a period of about three hundred years. Middle English was a very disanized language. But in Europe and in the Middle East, many changes were taking place which would have an important effect on the future of the English language. Let39。s efforts to unify England and establish a national language apart from Latin were interrupted by an invasion of yet another group of Norsemen, the Vikings. The Vikings who invaded England were called Danes, and those who invaded France were known as the Normans. Gradually, as all invaders do eventually, the Danes settled down and became peaceful farmers. Their language mixed with AngloSaxon and became what we know as Old English. Old English was established as the language of the land by the tenth century. For the next hundred years or so after the Danish invasions, the English people lived in peace. If they had continued that way the English language today might be quite different from what it is。 ” 2 Home Reading History of English The English language we speak today went through three stages called Old English, Middle English and Modern English. But ages before even Old English came into being, many other languages had to arise and develop. The oldest of these, as far as we know, was the IndoEuropean family of la