资源描述：
《2018年大学英语四六级必备宝典（精华版）》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在教育资源-天天文库。
1、identity?Onlytimewilltell. STANDARDENGLISHANDDIALECTS WhatisstandardEnglish?IsitspokeninBritain,theUS,Canada,Australia,IndiaandNewZealand?Believeitornot,thereisnosuchthingasstandardEnglish.ManypeoplebelievetheEnglishspokenonTVandtheradioisstandardEng
2、lish.Thisisbecauseintheearlydaysofradio,thosewhoreportedthenewswereexpectedtospeakexcellentEnglish.However,onTVandtheradioyouwillheardifferencesinthewaypeoplespeak. Whenpeopleusewordsandexpressionsdifferentfromthe“standardlanguage”,itiscalledadialect.A
3、mericanEnglishhasmanydialects,especiallytheMidwestern,southern,AfricanAmericanandSpanishdialects.EveninsomepartsoftheUSA,twopeoplefromneighbouringtownsspeakalittledifferently.AmericanEnglishhassomanydialectsbecausepeoplehavecomefromallovertheworld. Geo
4、graphyalsoplaysapartinmakingdialects.SomepeoplewholiveinthemountainsoftheeasternUSAspeakwithanolderkindofEnglishdialect.WhenAmericansmovedfromoneplacetoanother,theytooktheirdialectswiththem.SopeoplefromthemountainsinthesoutheasternUSAspeakwithalmostthe
5、samedialectsaspeopleinthenorthwesternUSA.TheUSAisalargecountryinwhichmanydifferentdialectsarespoken.AlthoughmanyAmericansmovealot,theystillrecognizeandunderstandeachother’sdialects. THEOXFORDENGLISHDICTIONARY YoumaythinkthatEnglishdictionarieshavebee
6、nusedformany,manycenturies.ThespellingofEnglishhasalwaysbeenaproblembutitwasmoreofaprobleminthedaysbeforeadictionary.Thenpeoplecouldspellwordindifferentwayswhichyoumightfinditinteresting.ButitmadereadingEnglishmuchmoredifficult.Sodictionarieswereinvent
7、edtoencourageeverybodytospellthesame.Infact,anEnglishdictionarylikethekindyouusetodaywasn’tmadeuntilthetimeofthelateQingDynasty.Theremendidmostoftheimportantearlyworkondictionaries:SamuelJohnson,NoahWebster,andJamesMurray.Thesemenspentnearlyalloftheirl
8、ivestryingtocollectwordsfortheirdictionaries.Forthem,itwasn’tonlyajob;itwasawonderfuljourneyofdiscovery.ThelargestdictionaryintheworldistheOxfordEnglishDictionary,orOEDforshort.TheideaforthisdictionarycamefromanimportantmeetinginBritain
