24. Read the text again for more detailed information and answer these questions.
Реши задание на изображении
Сверь числа и знаки с фото.
UNIT 2 Reading for Information
An English-speaking World
Language belongs to each of us. Everyone uses words. What is it about language that makes people so curious?² The answer is that there is almost nothing in our lives that is not touched by language. We live in and by language. We all speak and we all listen: so we are all interested in the origin of words, in how they appear and die.
The rise of English is a story of wonderful success. When Julius Caesar [sizə] landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English did not exist. Five hundred years later, in the 5th century, English was already spoken by the people who inhabited Great Britain, but they were not many, and their English was not the language we know today. Nearly a thousand years later, at the end of the 16th century, when William Shakespeare created his works, English was the native language of about 6 million Englishmen. At that time English was not used anywhere else except Great Britain.
Nowadays, four hundred years later, 750 million people all over the world use English, and half of those speak it as a mother tongue.³ Of all the 2700 world languages English is one of the richest. For example, compare English, German and French: English has a vocabulary of about 500000 words, German — 185000 and French — fewer than 100000. At the beginning of the 21st century English is more widely spoken and written than any other language has ever been. It has become the language of the planet, the first truly global language. Three quarters of the world's mail and its telexes and telegrams are in English. More than half of the world's scientific periodicals and eighty per cent of the information in the world's computers are also in English. English is the main language of business. It is the language of sports: the official language of the Olympic Games.
The English language surrounds us like a sea, and like the waters of a deep sea it is full of mysteries. English is and has always been constantly changing. Some words die, some change their meanings and all the time new words appear in the language.
There are several ways to add new words to the language. One of them is by borrowing words from other languages. In modern English there are many words that were borrowed from Latin, French, Spanish, Italian,
² curious [ˈkjʊərɪəs] — любопытный ³ a mother tongue [ˈmʌðə tʌŋ] — родной язык
- Read the text again for more detailed information and answer these questions.
- Is there anything about the language that makes you curious? What is it? 2. Are you interested in the origin of words? What words? 3. Who spoke English two thousand years ago when Julius Caesar landed in Britain? 4. Was the 5th-century English like English today? 5. How many people spoke English in Shakespeare's times? 6. How many people speak English nowadays? 7. Which of the three languages has the most words — English, French or German? Which one has the least words? 8. Do you think it's good to have an international, global language? Why? 9. Why can English be called the language of business and the language of sports? 10. From what languages did English borrow a lot of words? 11. How did the words “potato”, “tomato” and “tobacco” find their way into English? 12. What words came into English from other languages? 13. What else about the history of English would you like to know?
Я понял задание как №24: вопросы на с. 31, а текст №23 — источник для ответов.
- (личный ответ) Yes. The most curious thing for me is how words appear, change their meanings and disappear.
- (личный ответ) Yes, I’m interested in the origin of borrowed words — for example, “potato” and “piano”.
- Nobody spoke English then: when Julius Caesar landed in Britain, English did not exist.
- No. It was not the English we know today, and only a few people spoke it.
- About 6 million people spoke it as their native language.
- 750 million people use English nowadays; about half speak it as a mother tongue.
- English has the most words — about 500,000. French has the fewest — fewer than 100,000. German has 185,000.
- (личный ответ) I think it is good because it makes communication between countries easier. At the same time, native languages should be protected.
- Because English is the main language of business and the official language of the Olympic Games.
- From Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and other languages.
- They came into English through Spanish: the plants were brought from America, their names appeared in Spanish, and then the words passed into English.
- For example, “potato”, “tomato” and “tobacco” came from Spanish, and “piano” from Italian. English also borrowed many words from Latin, French and Dutch.
- (личный ответ) I’d like to know how English pronunciation and spelling changed over the centuries.
Как рассуждать, чтобы решить похожее
- Сначала подчёркивай в вопросе «ключ»: имя, дату, число или слово why.
- В вопросах 3–7 и 9–10 ответ есть прямо в тексте: Caesar → English did not exist; Shakespeare → 6 million; nowadays → 750 million.
- В вопросе 7 сравни числа: \(500\,000 > 185\,000 > 100\,000\). Поэтому English — most, French — least.
- В вопросах с why бери готовую причину из текста: business + Olympic Games; заимствования — Spanish/Italian.
- Вопросы 1, 2, 8 и 13 личные: подойдёт короткое мнение с причиной или примером.
Проверил числа по тексту: 6 million, 750 million, 500 000 / 185 000 / меньше 100 000.
