2012专四听力

Dictation

Talk

Survival of English Language

Ⅰ. Introduction

—(1) show(s) how English survived

Ⅱ. Five periods of its survival

1) 410 CE to the mid-8th century

—(2) mercenaries coming and spreading their language among the Britons

—center of (3): York in Northumbia

2) Mid-8th century to 899

—The Danes replaced the Anglo-Saxons to rule Northumbia, but were

(4) by Alfred of Wessex.

—Alfred’s (5) enabled most of the existing laws and literary works to be in English.

3) 959 to 1066

—England was divided into (6) and English speaking areas.

—Canute became ruler of a united kingdom.

—Center was moved to London.

—Edward succeeded Canute and English gave way to (7)

4) 1080 to the 17th century

—Written English (8) before the advent of “Provision of Oxford”.

—(9) English appeared in the 17th century.

5) 1837 to today

—English was used widely as a result of (10).

对话1

1. [A] Illustration of lies in marriage. [B] Ways to recognize lies in marriage.

[C] Classification of lies in marriage. [D] Advice on a successful marriage.

2. [A] We intentionally do so. [B] No one tells us how to live in truth.

[C] We are afraid to lose the one we love. [D] No one permits us to know CHIT real self.

3. [A] What we’re good at.[B] What we’re bad at.

[C] What works for us or not. [D] What age we are in.

4. [A] It helps future couples know themselves better.

[B] It helps people recognize lies in marriage.

[C] It helps people build a good life and marriage.

[D] It helps married couples save their marriage.

5. [A] Disgusted. [B] Hateful. [C] Objective. [D] Subjective.

Conversation Two

6. [A] They are too busy working.

[B] They aren’t aware of the importance of slee p.

[C] They have some health problems.

[D] They don’t think sleep can influence health.

7. [A] To sleep at any time in a day as long as one wishes.

[B] To sleep at the time when one plans to sleep.

[C] To sleep at a very early time at night.

[D] To sleep at a very late time at night.

8. [A] Putting sleep ahead of any other things.

[B] Preventing having caffeine after breakfast.

[C] Making the bedroom comfortable.

[D] Preventing taking a long nap in the day.

9. [A] As long as you sleep no more than an hour

[B] As long as you sleep one and half hours.

[C] As long as you sleep two hours.

[D] As long as you sleep two and half hours.

10. [A] Differentiation of problem sleepers.

[B] Advice for the insomnious people.

[C] Necessity of having a good sleep.

[D] Different sleep habits of people.

Eco-tourism

Nowadays，many of us try to live in a way / that would damage the environment as little as possible. / And we want to take these attitudes on holiday with us. / This is why alternative forms of tourism are becoming popular in the world. / Most people agree that these new forms of tourism should do the following. / First, they should conserve the wildlife and culture of the area. / Second, they should benefit the local people. / Third，they should make a profit without destroying natural resources, / and finally they should provide an experience that tourists want to pay for.

Survival of the English Language

Good morning. Death is a common fate of unwritten languages. (1) But written records of the languages spoken on the island of Britain show us how the English language became the language of the island how it survived. We now turn to those written records.

There are five critical periods in the survival of the English language.

1) 410 CE to the mid-eighth century

Early in the fifth century, Rome recalled its legions and told the Britons to defend themselves.

(2) Rich, unprotected, and attacked from all sides, King Vortigern on the East coast invited Germanic mercenaries: cross the channel to defend him against his enemies within and without. These mercenaries, mostly Ami and Saxon clans of Germanic peoples, called their language “englisc” (pronounced “anglish”).

The language of the Germanic mercenaries became the language of the conquered area. (3) From the seventh through the mid-eighth centuries York in Northumbria, famed for its schools and for its literary productions was the center of the English-speaking world.

2) Mid-eighth century to 899

By the mid 700’s, the Anglo-Saxons were on the receiving end of slaughter and ruined by Danish (4) Eventually, Alfred forced the Danes back. Danish Northumbria submitted to Alfred in 886.

(5) Due to Alfred’s education programs，most of the existing laws，poems, songs and stories were m West Saxon dialect of his Wessex. Alfred died in 899.

3) 959 to 1066

In 959, King Edgar, the great-grandson of Alfred, ruled both Danes and Saxons in England.