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1、EnglishisaCrazyLanguagebyRichardLederer Englishisthemostwidelyspokenlanguageinthehistoryofourplanet,usedinsomewaybyatleastoneoutofeverysevenhumanbeingsaroundtheglobe. Halfoftheworld'sbooksarewritteninEnglish,andthemajorityofinternationaltelephonecallsare
2、madeinEnglish. Sixtypercentoftheworld'sradioprogramsarebeamedinEnglish,andmorethanseventypercentofinternationalmailiswrittenandaddressedinEnglish. Eightypercentofallcomputertexts,includingallwebsites,arestoredinEnglish. Englishhasacquiredthelargestvocabu
3、laryofalltheworld'slanguages,perhapsasmanyastwomillionwords,andhasgeneratedoneofthenoblestbodiesofliteratureintheannalsofthehumanrace. Nonetheless,itisnowtimetofacethefactthatEnglishisacrazylanguage--themostloopyandwiggyofalltongues.Inwhatotherlanguagedopeo
4、pledriveinaparkwayandparkinadriveway? Inwhatotherlanguagedopeopleplayatarecitalandreciteataplay? Whydoesnightfallbutneverbreakanddaybreakbutneverfall? Whyisitthatwhenwetransportsomethingbycar,it'scalledashipment,butwhenwetransportsomethingbyship,it'scall
5、edcargo?Whydoesamangetaherniaandawomanahysterectomy?Whydowepacksuitsinagarmentbagandgarmentsinasuitcase? Whydoprivateseatinthegeneralmessandgeneralseatintheprivatemess?Whydowecallitnewsprintwhenitcontainsnoprintingbutwhenweputprintonit,wecallitanewspaper?
6、Whyarepeoplewhoridemotorcyclescalledbikersandpeoplewhoridebikescalledcyclists? Why--inourcrazylanguage--canyournoserunandyourfeetsmell? Languageisliketheairwebreathe. It'sinvisible,inescapable,indispensable,andwetakeitforgranted. But,whenwetakethetimetos
7、tepbackandlistentothesoundsthatescapefromtheholesinpeople'sfacesandtoexploretheparadoxesandvagariesofEnglish,wefindthathotdogscanbecold,darkroomscanbelit,homeworkcanbedoneinschool,nightmarescantakeplaceinbroaddaylightwhilemorningsicknessanddaydreamingcantak
8、eplaceatnight,tomboysaregirlsandmidwivescanbemen,hours--especiallyhappyhoursandrushhours--oftenlastlongerthansixtyminutes,quicksandworksveryslowly,boxingringsaresquare,silverwareandglassescanbemadeofpl
