English around

the world English around

the world

Unit 2

Using language (2)

Look at the world map in the text

and identify the places shown on it.

What language is spoken as a first language in each of the places marked?

Listen and answer the questions.

1. Where does the first speaker come

from?

2. How many islands does the third speaker’s country have?

3. According to the fourth speaker, what do people coming from all over Asia do in his country?

South Asia.

More than 7,000.

Do business.

Listen again and say what these countries have in common.

They all speak English; they were all non-English speakers before being conquered or colonized by English-speaking peoples.

Do you often use dictionaries?

Do you know how a dictionary is made?

Do you know about Samuel Johnson,

Noah Webster and James Murray?

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Samuel Johnson was an

English author who made

lasting contributions to

English literature.

After nine years of work,

Johnson's Dictionary of the

English Language was

published in 1755; it had a

far-reaching effect on

Modern English.

Noah Webster(1758-1843)

Noah Webster was an American lexicographer, textbook author, spelling reformer, word enthusiast, and editor. In the USA, his name has become synonymous with dictionaries, especially the modern Merriam-Webster dictionary that was first published in 1828 as An American Dictionary of the English Language.

James Murray(1837-1915)

James Augustus Henry

Murray was a Scottish

lexicographer and

philologist. He was the

primary editor of the

Oxford English

Dictionary from 1879

until his death.

Notes on James Murray’s life

Country

Education

Job

Who worked on it?

Date of completion

Other information

Read the passage, and then fill in the following form.

Scotland

no formal education; taught himself

worked in a bank before beginning to compile the CEO

1982

first edition took 44 years to complete

At first just Murray; later his two daughters; finished by other editors after his death.

Most important task

Its difficulties:

1.Worked in a shed in his garden and behind his house

2.Very cold as it was one metre underground

3.No heating; he had to wear a coat and put his feet in a box to keep warm

Qualities needed:

hard work, interest in the job,

patience.

Language points1.… but it was more of a problem in the days before a dictionary.

more of 在这里意为“更大程度上；更多地是… ”，后面一般跟 than... ，也可以省略 than 的部分。这句话里在 dictionary 后省略了 than today 。

What he told us was more of an illusion than a reality.

2. … or OED for short.

for short 简称，缩写 My name is Alexander, “Al” for short.

USA is short for the United States of America. You can write USA for short.

short for 是 ... 的缩略 / 简称

for short 是一个短语 , 位置一般在简写的词后面 , 可以独立使用；而 short for 是形容词和介词的搭配，它必须跟在 be 动词或连系动词后面。

Do you usually practise your English listening? What do you do to improve it? Share your ideas with others.

Listen and write down the main idea.

Wang Ting and Chen Peng are discussing how they improve their English listening outside class.

Listen and answer the questions.

1.What is Wang Ting going to do this weekend?

2.What does Wang Ting think about listening to English songs?

3.Did Cheng Peng often watch English films? Does he watch them now?

She is going to buy some CDs to improve her English.

She likes to listen to English songs to learn idiomatic English expressions.

Yes, he used to but he doesn’t watch them now as he thinks they’re too hard without Chinese subtitles.

4. What does Chen Peng like watching on CCTV 9?

5. What does Wang Ting ask Chen Peng to do?

He likes listening to Chinese people and reading the English subtitles.

She asks him to listen to native speakers more often.

6. What does Chen Peng’s teacher say about learning English? What does she mean?

The teacher asks him to learn “little and often”. She means that he should do a little extra listening every day to make the best improvement.

1. Finish the writing task in

workbook.

2. Review the whole unit.