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Готовые ответы для экзамена по английскому языку, написанные весьма легким для запоминания языком.
American English
English is the second most spoken language in the world after Chinese. It is the language of science, aviation, computing, diplomacy and tourism. It is listed as the official or co-official language of over 45 countries and is spoken in the countries where it has no official status.
English is an Anglo-Frisian language brought to Britain in the 5th c by Germanic settlers from various parts of Germany.
Some varieties of American English are closer to the English of Shakespeare than modern Standard English (“English English” or as it is often called “British English”) is.
The American also served as the route of introduction
for many native American words into the English language. Most often,
these were place names like Mississippi, Roanoke, and Iowa. Indian-sounding
names like Idaho were sometimes created
that had no native-American roots. But, names for other things besides
places were also common. Raccoon, tomato, canoe
Spanish has also been great influence on American
English. Armadillo, mustang, canyon, ra
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States.
The use of English in the United States was a result of English colonization. The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in North America in the 17th century. Since then, American English has been influenced by the languages of the Native American population, the languages of European and non-European colonists, immigrants and neighbors, and the languages of slaves from West Africa.
Borrowed words in English
Borrowings-the term is used to denote the process of adopting words from other languages and also the result of this process. Completely assimilated borrowings are active in word formation. Borrowing can also be called loanwords. The vocabulary of the English language is consists of two layers - the native stock of words and the borrowed stock of words. In fact native words comprise only 30% of the total number of words in the English vocabulary. In any dictionary some 80% of the entries are borrowed. The majority are likely to come from Latin, and of those more than half will come through French. The vocabulary has grown from the 50,000 to 60,000 words in Old English to the tremendous number of entries-650,000 to 750,000.
Latin borrowings:
A most important role in the history of the English language was played by the introduction of Christianity. It gave a strong impulse to the growth of culture and learning. Monasteries were founded all over the country with monastic schools attached. Religious services and teaching were conducted in Latin. The introduction of Christianity added another wave of Latin and some Greek words. These borrowings are usually called classical borrowings. Latin: alter, cross, dean; Greek: church, angel, devil.
Latin and Greek borrowings appeared in English during the Middle English period due to the Great Revival of Learning. These are mostly scientific words because Latin was the language of science at the time. For ex.: memorandum, minimum, maximum, veto etc.
Classical borrowings continue to appear in Modern English as well. Mostly they are words formed with the help of Latin and Greek morphemes. There are quite a lot of them in medicine (appendicitis, aspirin), in chemistry (acid, valency, alkali), in technique (engine, antenna, biplane, airdrome), in politics (socialism, militarism), names of sciences (zoology, physics). In philology most of terms are of Greek origin (homonym, archaism, lexicography).
French borrowings:
The largest group of borrowings are French borrowings. Most of them came into English during the Norman Conquest. French influenced not only the vocabulary of English but also it’s spelling. E.g.: lunch, dinner, appetite, luxury, advocate, army, war, sentence, empire, etc.
Italian borrowings:
Cultural and trade relations between Italy and England brought many Italian words into English. Mostly Italian is famous by its influence in music and in all Indo-European languages musical terms were borrowed from Italian: alto, baritone, basso, tenor, falsetto, solo, duet, trio, quartet, quintet, opera, operetta, libretto, piano, violin.
There were constant contacts between England and Russia and they borrowed words from one language into the other. Among early Russian borrowings there are mainly words connected with trade relations, such as: rouble, copeck, pood, sterlet, vodka, sable, and also words relating to nature, such as: taiga, tundra, steppe etc.
There is also a large group of Russian borrowings which came into English through Russian literature of the 19-th century, such as : Narodnik, moujik, duma, zemstvo. volost, ukase etc.
Chinese borrowings:
Differences between British English and American English
These two varieties of the English language are very similar to each other. Many people believe that they are the same language with only some differences in grammar, spelling and vocabulary. Differences in pronunciation are sometimes very noticeable, but most American and British speakers can understand each other without much difficulty.
These differences emerged during the isolation of America from Great Britain in the 18th century. People of many nationalities came to America and they brought their native traditions and languages with them. The Americans produced a new vocabulary which reflected the life of people. Differences between the two languages are rapidly disappearing nowadays. Modern British English is strongly influenced by American English. A lot of Americanisms from the language of advertizing, journalism, technology, rock music and show business, have come into everyday speech of British people, and not only British. Such ‘made in the USA words as “teenager” “superpower”, “know how”, “video”, “body building”, and great deal of others are well-known all over the world.
it can be said that American English has the more economical and phonetic spelling. Unnecessary letters are left out and words are spelled how they sound. An obvious example is the letter u in words such as color, neighbor, honor etc. Compare also the AE words traveling, jewelry and program with their BE travelling, jewellery and programme.
Pronunciation differences
Noticeable among differences in pronunciation are the following:
ballet - BrE [‘baelei] AmE [bae'lei], cafe BrE [‘kaefei] AmE [kae'fei].
Vocabulary differences
As for differences in vocabulary, they can be divided into two main groups. The first group contains the same words with different meanings: BrE mad = crazy, AmE mad, = angry. The second group includes different words which are used for the same idea: BrE lorry = AmE truck, BrE lift = AmE elevator, BrE autumn = AmE fall, etc.
Differences in verb forms
British English and American English grammar are mostly in agreement; there are however some interesting variations. For example there are differences in certain verb forms. For the verb “to dream", Americans would use the past tense dreamed while the British would use dreamt in past tense. The same applies to "learned" and "learnt". In AE the past tense of fit is fit; in BE it is fitted.
Differences in the use of Prepositions
There are also a few differences between British and American English in the use of prepositions. For example: While the British would play in a team, Americans would play on a team. Another example: While the British would go out at the weekend, Americans would go out on the weekend.
Usage
Americans are likely to say the number 453 as four hundred fifty three, whereas in Britain it would almost always be said four hundred and fifty three. And so on!
English in your future profession
I’m a student of Oriental studies of Kazakh National University
named after al-Farabi, taking a course of Chinese language. My future
profession is philologist of Chinese language. After graduation of university
I can be staff assistant, translator or teacher. Whatever profession
I chose, it would connect with English, because English is international
language. English is spoken in most parts of the world, for example
in Great Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and in many
more countries. Moreover in African states English serves as main form
of communication.
English is, after the Chinese one, the language that most people speak
in and it is the most popular second language and foreign language pupils
learn in school.
Nowadays almost 80% of the world-wide-web s pages are now written in
English. In this context the English language is a killer language that
wipes out smaller languages.
Number of people who can use English well will continue to grow. American popular music and films will continue to be fashionable, and English will still be the language of science, communications technology, international business, education at universities, and television news. English will continue to change, but it will not lose its importance in the world.
In the process of work I will meet different people who speak different languages. But I’m sure that each of them can speak English. Knowledge of two languages: English and Chinese will provide me good position and give me more opportunities. Especially it can be effective in staff assistant’s and translator’s work. Besides, in our days all technical novelties and equipment have instructions in English language. Even if I get job in Chinese company, I’ll have to speak English for intermingling with foreign partners. My future job founded on translates. Besides terminology I must well own colloquial English for the comfort conversation with people. English is language of business, economy, technique, politics and mass media. It’s a language of international communication. So, as a good professional, I have to improve my English to perfection. Of course, English is not my basic language of study. But I study it equally with Chinese in an order to be a literate and highly sought specialist.
English Today. English as a global language.
The developments in science in the last 200 years have led to hundreds of thousands of new words and expressions for new ideas, machines, materials, plants, animals, stars, diseases, and medicines. Many of these words and expressions are used only by scientists, but others have become part of ordinary English. We know that if we have bronchitis (this word first appeared in writing in 1814) we can take antibiotics (1944) and we know that our genes (1911) come to us from our parents in our DNA (1944). We argue about whether we should use pesticides (1934) in farming, or nuclear energy (1945) to make electricity.
The use of English in different parts of the world and easier and faster communication have together resulted in the appearance of thousands of other new words. Most of them - about 65 per cent - have/been made by putting two old words together, for example: fingerprint (1859), airport (1919), and street-wise (1965). The world of computers has introduced many of this type: online (1950), user-friendly (1977) and download (1980). Some new words have been made from Latin and Greek; for example, photograph (1839), helicopter (1872), aeroplane (1874) and video (1958). Others are old words that have been given new meanings.
About 5 per cent of new words have come from foreign languages, like disco (1964) from French, and pizza (1935) from Italian. Beginnings or endings have been added to make new words: disinformation (1955) is false information; touchy-feely (1972) describes people who express their feelings too openly. Sometimes both a beginning and an ending have been added: for example, unputdownable (1947) describes a book which is so interesting that you cannot stop reading it. Some words have been shortened: photo (1860) for photograph, plane (1908) for aeroplane, and TV (1948) for television. Only a very few new words have not been made from other words. Two examples are nylon (1938) to describe a man-made material, and flip-flop (1970), a type of shoe that makes a noise as you walk.
The Oxford English Dictionary contains all English words since 1150, even those that are no longer used. It shows, with examples, when each word was first used in writing and how the meaning of a word has changed over the centuries. Finding all this information was a very big job that took 44 years.
The biggest technological development in recent years is, of course, the Internet. People can now communicate in writing on their websites, through e-mail, on message boards, and in chat rooms. The Internet has had a number of effects on English. Firstly, new words have been made to describe the Internet itself and its activities; for example, cyberspace (1982), e-mail (1982), website (1993), and blog (1999). Or new meanings have been given to old words; for example, link (1951), chat (1985), virtual (1987), and surf'(1992).
Secondly, people have developed a new informal way of writing in chat rooms and on message boards. Many users shorten a lot of words, using just single letters or numbers. Many use their own spellings, or spellings that are often used in chat rooms. Some people also use smiles (little pictures of faces with different expressions) to show how they feel. They also use groups of letters for some expressions. For example: lol means laughing out loud; btw means by the way; bbl means be back later. People also use similar language when they send messages by phone. For example: thx 4 ur msg. How r u? (Thanks for your message. How are you?)
After learning the rules of written English at school, many people are now enjoying playing with language: breaking the old rules and making new ones.
Nowadays almost 80% of the world-wide-web s pages are now written in English. In this context the English language is a killer language that wipes out smaller languages.
The latest industrial development demands an international language which everyone is able to understand. It seems that English will become this world language. Other European languages like Spanish, French and Portuguese during colonialism has wiped out Native's languages in South America and Africa just as well as English has caused the loss of languages in North America and Australia. A global tongue will always function as a killer language.
Number of people who can use English well will continue to grow. American popular music and films will continue to be fashionable, and English will still be the language of science, communications technology, international business, education at universities, and television news. English will continue to change, but it will not lose its importance in the world. But Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic may become other world languages, as the numbers of people who speak these languages continue to grow, and the countries where they are spoken become richer. There are now more users of the internet who do not speak English as a first language than those who do.
In education, international students may go to countries that are nearby: for example, more Asian students may go to china. English may also lose its importance and popularity in the world of films and music.
If English remains a world language, some governments may try to stop its use in their own countries. They may fear that the use of English will endanger their own languages and customs.
It seems probable that as English is used internationally more and more, the need for a standard grammar and vocabulary, standard spelling rules, and some standard pronunciation will remain. Perhaps a new simpler kind of 'world Standard English' will develop from the regional varieties, one which all users can easily use and understand. If a sound is hard for people to make, and words can be understood without it, then it could disappear. For example th is difficult for many speakers, and does not have to be pronounced as or id/, so this sound could change.
Other languages will probably continue to cross into English at great speed. The next step in the history of the English language is hard to see clearly because it depends on many things: changes in business, science, technology, and numbers of people.
Formal & informal English
In everyday conversation
we do not have to follow the rules of grammar as carefully as we would
in a formal address or a business letter. If we adhere too closely to
formal rules of grammar in an informal situation, we may come across
as being stuffy and unnatural. It is like wearing a tuxedo or a formal
gown to an ordinary business meeting. Formal English follows rules of
grammar very strictly. Sentences tend to be longer and more complex.
It tends to be used in professional and business situations. It is also
better organized and thought out.
Informal English on the
other hand is generally used with friends and family.
The difference between formal and informal English is not a difference between correct and incorrect, but a difference of what is known as register. There are many registers: technical, academic, mathematical, scientific, etc.
Native speakers use either formal or informal language without thinking about it. Basically informal English is used when speaking the language, but more formal English is used when people are writing English
Formal English
Formal English is used in polite conversation with strangers in formal situations as well as in formal and business correspondence. Formal English is very correct and follows grammar rules very strictly. Its vocabulary is quite complicated.
Standard English
Standard English is used by the majority of native speakers in formal and informal situations with strangers, coworkers, friends and family in both speech and writing. It is the language of general use. Standard English is polite, friendly, and correct in grammar, pronunciation, and the choice of words.
Informal English
Informal English (everyday, conversational, colloquial English) is close to Standard English and is used by the majority of native speakers in informal situations with coworkers, friends and family, mostly in oral communication. It is the ordinary, everyday language of literate people in conversation. Grammar and vocabulary are simpler, and a lot of everyday idioms are used.
Slang
History of Chinese language
Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Chinese is tonal language. There are roughly 70,000 Chinese characters and phonetic sounds. An average person has to know about 3,000 characters to be able to read the newspaper. In secondary schools the number of characters taught is 5,000.
The Chinese, or Han, people, the majority ethnic group of China, including both the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. More than 1 billion people, approximately 95 percent speak Chinese, the rest are the non-Chinese languages such as Tibetan, Mongolian, Lolo, Miao, and Tai spoken by minorities.
Chinese is derived from picture writing. The building blocks of the system are several hundred pictographs for such basic words as man, horse, and axe. Phonetic romanization known as Pinyin ("spelling") has had official standing in the People's Republic of China, where it is used for telegrams and in primary education. The official phonetic system of romanizing Chinese is pinyin. Pinyin means "phonetic transcription.
Written Chinese is uniform throughout China, but the spoken language varies from region to region. The Beijing dialect is the official dialect and is taught in schools throughout China. It is known as putonghua or as Mandarin outside China. The pitches or "tones" present a problem for novice speakers.
A single sound can represent more than 100 different written characters. Putonghua , the national dialect has four tones. The Cantonese dialect has the most, with nine. In the four tones of putonghua , the word "ma":
The first tone (flat) "ma" in means "mother."
The second tone (rising) "ma" can mean "numb" or
"hemp."
The third tone "ma" the voice dips and then rises, means "horse."
The fourth tone "ma" starts high and falls abruptly, means
"to scold."
Chinese literature
Chinese literature is approximately based on Chinese culture, Chinese characters, Chinese philosophy and Chinese history. Sima Qian wrote Historical Records that is a major history of China from before the Shang Dynasty until the Han Dynasty. Cai Lun (50–121) of the imperial court is said to be the first person in the world to create writing paper, and this was important for written communication at the end of the empire.
Li Bai (701–762) was one of the greatest romantic poets of ancient China. He wrote at least a thousand poems on a variety of subjects from political matters to natural scenery.
Du Fu (712-770 AD) also wrote more than a thousand poems. His poems reflect the hard realities of war, dying people living next to rich rulers. Poetry is still read and appreciated by modern Chinese people.
The Mongols attacked the Tang Dynasty, and they formed the biggest empire in the history of the earth until then. In China, the Mongols established the very rich Yuan Dynasty. theaters with human actors was a favorite form of entertainment. Yuan Empire wasn’t ruled by Chinese, it was an era the operatic style of the shadow puppet dramas that entertained the courts influenced the development of the operatic theater style of the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan “Zaju” style of opera was similar to their shadow plays.