变化中的英语课程期末复习指导和考核说明

变化中的英语课程期末复习指导和考核说明“变化中的英语”是开放教育本科英语专业的必修课程之一。本课程的目的是使学生了解英语的历史及其演变过程，认识英语作为国际通用语的地位和作用，进一步提高运用英语进行交际的能力。课程的重点是提高学生对英语发展变化规律的认识，同时继续培养学生听、说、读、写的能力。

一、复习重点

本课程复习范围为《变化中的英语》教材的8个单元。八个单元的主要复习内容如下：第一单元Changing English in a Changing World

世界在变，英语在变

复习内容：语言，尤其是英语的变化。介绍英国英语的社会方言及地区方言；介绍用于讨论语言的专门词汇。

复习目标：解释语言变化的原因；识别语言变化的性质；界定英语变体的概念。

第二单元English in the Past

英语的过去

复习内容：从古英语到标准英语。介绍英语与日耳曼语族的关系；标准英语与其他英语变体的关系；解释不同语言之间的结构差异。

复习目标：了解什么是标准英语；指出英语与日耳曼语族的关系；了解有关英语的历史对英语学习的重要性。

第三单元The Spread of English beyond Britain

英语走出不列颠

复习内容：英语向英国境外的扩张。介绍“新世界”英语；介绍大英帝国英语；大英帝国衰落时期的英语；当今世界中的英语。

复习目标：说明英语作为国际通用语言的成因；能够举出一些把英语作为唯一语言及作为官方语言的国家。

第四单元Social Varieties of English

英语的社会变体

复习内容：英语的社会变体。介绍社会地位、职业、性别、种族差别所造成的语言差异及其影响；介绍正式与非正式英语的差别。

复习目标：区别有关语言描述的主观性及客观性；根据标准英语和地区方言判断讲话人的社会地位；意识到掌握更多语体对成功交流的重要性。

第五单元Trade within and across Language Barriers

本土及跨语言贸易

复习内容：跨语言贸易中的英语。介绍pidgin 语、creole 语、lingua franca语及其产生原因；介绍英语的创造性；传真英语对国际贸易运作的重要性。

复习目标：能举例说明英语的创造性；能够初步写出传真英语；在讨论中能说明英语在国际贸易中作为主要语言的重要性。

第六单元Changing English since the Second World War

第二次世界大战以后的英语变化

复习内容：科技与信息时代的英语。介绍英语作为世界科技语言、空中交通语言的特殊地位及其在世界娱乐业和信息高速公路中的地位。

复习目标：认识和解释科技英语的重要性；能举例说明英语在信息时代应用的广泛性。

第七单元Emerging Englishes: a Focus of ?Debate

新生英语：一个论辩的焦点

复习内容：英语变体与新生英语。介绍以下概念：内圈英语、外圈英语和扩展圈英语。

复习目标：了解Quirk 和Kachru论辩的主要论点；能够表述自己对该问题的看法。

第八单元English in a Shrinking World

在日益收缩的世界中的英语

复习内容：对于英语全球化现象的反思。介绍英语的全球化现象与地区发展不平衡的关系；介绍英语与其他语种的关系；英语的全球化与英语教学。

复习目标：总结学习本课程的收获；就英语当前及未来发展中你认为最感兴趣的问题发表自己的看法。

二、考核说明

1．考核对象

中央广播电视大学本科开放教育英语专业学生。

2．考核方式

本课程考核包括两部分：形成性考核和课程终结考试。课程总成绩采用百分制，形成性考核占20%，课程终结考试占80%。

1）形成性考核：包括完成平时作业、参与面授辅导和各项教学活动的情况以及学生对学习过程的自我监控情况。本课程的形成性考核按照本课程“形成性考核及学习档案”的具体要求执行。

2）课程终结考试：包括口试和笔试两部分，分别占课程总成绩的15% 和65%。口试和笔试都由中央电大统一命题，在同一时间全国统考。

（1）口试：主要测试考生就与课程相关的指定话题进行有准备的整段发言的能力。口试时，考生进入备考场后，抽取一套考题。每套考题包括一个讲话题目和有关提示。抽得考题后考生准备5分钟，然后进入考场，就指定的题目进行连续发言，时间4分钟。主考教师从发言的内容、组织、语音、语法、词汇五个方面评分。考试时间为10分钟，包括准备时间5分钟，出入考场和发言时间合计5分钟。口试成绩满分为100分。

（2）笔试：形式为闭卷，笔答，满分为100分。试卷包括三部分，第一部分为知识，40分；第二部分为阅读，40分；第三部分为简述，20分。考试时间总共为90分钟。3．命题依据

本课程终结考试的命题依据是中央广播电视大学开放教育本科英语专业教学计划、课程教学大纲以及《变化中的英语》教材。

4．评价目标

本课程考试重点考查学生使用较正式语体进行交际的能力以及有关英语的历史和文化知识。学生应能够掌握在比较正式场合进行口头和书面交际的技能，能够熟练地阅读和撰写较正式语体的文章。

5．命题原则

根据教材所涵盖的有关知识内容、交际功能以及与教材难度相当的口头和书面语言材料命题，涉及教材的内容不少于50%。

6．课程终结考试试题结构

7．考试要求

本课程终结考试为闭卷考试，考生不得携带任何形式的参考资料和工具书。

8．样题（见所附样题）

变化中的英语笔试样题

Information for the examinees:

This examination consists of 3 parts. They are:

Part I: Knowledge Test (40 points)

Part II: Reading Test (40 points)

Part III: Writing Test (20 points)

The total marks for this examination are 100 points. Time allowed for completing this examination is 90 minutes.

There will be no extra time to transfer answers to the Answer Sheet;

therefore, you should write ALL your answers on the Answer Sheet as you

do each task.

Part I Knowledge Test ( 40 points)

Section 1 Choose the best answer according to what you have learned in this course. (20%)

1. Languages and dialects are valued differently and used differently for _______ reasons.

A. historical

B. regional

C. social

D. linguistic

2. Dialects refer to _________.

A. different ways of speaking the same language

B. different written systems

C. different grammatical structures

D. different languages spoken in one place

3. Britain was an imperial power for about_______ .

A. 80 years

B. 1 century

C. 2 centuries

D. 3 centuries

4. The languages of Anglos, Saxons, and Jutes were ______________.

A. the same in structure and vocabulary

B. different in structure and vocabulary, and unrelated

C. different in structure and vocabulary, but related

D. similar in structure but quite different in vocabulary

5. The languages of the present-day world ______________.

A. are entirely different from each other

B. can be grouped in larger or smaller families

C. belong to one or two larger families

D. belong to a single family

6. Within the Indo-European family, English belongs to the Germanic group, which also includes ______________.

A. Russian and Polish

B. Spanish and French

C. Flemish and Dutch

D. Italian and Portuguese

7. England was conquered and ruled by the Romans ______________.

A. from 1st century BC to 5th century AD

B. from 9th to 12th century AD

C. from 10th to 13th Century AD

D. from 15th to 19th century AD

8. During the later part of the 11th century AD, England was ruled by ______________.

A. Latin-speaking Romans

B. French-speaking Normans

C. Spanish-speaking Castilians

Dutch-speakers from Holland

9. Standard English began as a variety belonging to _______________.

A. the North of England

B. the North East of England

C. South of England

D. South East England

10. The most commonly used language of international deals between Asian and other countries is ________.

A. Chinese

B. English

C. Creole

D. Japanese

Section 2 True or False (20%)

Decide the following statements to be True (T) or False (F) according to what you have learned from the course.

11. The term inter-language is used for languages of learners who have only partial control of a language.

12. There are differences in spelling in American and British English, and the differences are quite large in number out of the total English vocabulary.

13. Latin and Sanskrit are dead languages.

14. Local varieties of English are not so difficult to learn as Standard English because students can feel that the language they are learning belongs to their own country and culture.

15. When they say all languages are equal, they mean all languages are well developed.

16. Spanish, French and Portuguese are descendents of Latin.

17. R.P. is the abbreviation in common use to stand for Right Pronunciation.

18. Contemporary English has evolved from earlier varieties.

19. When a teacher is doing Prescriptive teaching, he usually teaches the four skills.

20. When a teacher is doing Descriptive teaching, he usually teaches about the structure and history of the language.

Part II Reading Test (40 points)

Passage 1 （Questions 21 – 25）

Read the following passage, and decide whether the statements are T (True) or F (False). Write your answers against the numbers on your Answer Sheet.

When students of English are advanced enough to read authentic texts, that is stories, articles, and even books, not written especially for them, but intended for a wide international readership, they are sometimes surprised to find how similar are the written materials produced in England, in America, in India, in Africa or in New Zealand. Such a reader can often read many pages without being at all aware what part of the English-speaking world the writer comes from, or where the work was published. Until he looks inside the front cover he may be quite unsure whether the publisher is based in London or Cape Town, New York or Singapore.

As a rule there is a clue, sooner or later --- perhaps the name of a plant or an animal found only in a few parts of the world. Or the reader may notice a word like faucet, or sidewalk, or vest --- and know that these are American-English terms for what British English calls tap, or pavement, or waistcoat. Written English, much more than the varieties of spoken English, is standardized. It is not entirely the same throughout the English-speaking world, but it is similar. The differences are quite superficial. For many practical purposes they can be disregarded most of the time. Standard English (as this standardized written English is called) is

an advantage to the international user. Once he or she has a good reading knowledge, then printed English from all over the world on almost every topic you can imagine is within reach.

21. Readers may feel that the author is obviously biased against British English.

22. It is clearly stated in the first paragraph that readers will find surprising similarity in written English in different parts of the English-speaking world.

23. The author mentions several English-speaking countries or regions in the first paragraph to exemplify wide use of English.

24. In the author’s opinion, there is invariably something in a passage that betrays where it is written.

25. Readers may find the tone of the whole passage is impersonal.

Passage 2 (Questions 26--30)

Reading the following passage, and answer the questions after the passage.

Storage and retrieval of information is immensely important. English is not the only language in use, but it dominates, to such a degree that anyone who wants to make use of databases is seriously disadvantaged by not knowing it. There is yet another good reason for wanting to study English. E-mail can be sent in any language, but it is reckoned that about 85 % of the world’s e-mail is exchanged

in English. English dominates the World Wide Web. The importance of English, and so of teaching and learning English, has been immensely increased by developments in Information Technology.

We may see this change just as we have, in the last twenty years, seen so many changes. Notice that what follows is not fact --- it is guesswork.Sometimes, though, it is important to do a little peering into the near future. Can you think of an important activity that needs the storage of very large quantities of information, and very speedy access to it? Of course you can! That is just what you do, every time you translate from Chinese to English and back again. For at least thirty years, there has been intensive work on computer translation. At present no computer can translate nearly as well as a competent bilingual person can. Even the best computer translations are stiff and unnatural with many mistakes --- often mistakes of a sort that seem very ridiculous to a competent user of the language.

But, just suppose within a few years computer translations improved sufficiently for a speaker to address a multilingual audience in his mother tongue, and for that audience to hear it without noticeable delay, in another language. Suppose you could call me in London using your mother tongue, and I could hear you in mine. After a few minutes, you call a business associate in Tokyo, and again, you use your mother tongue and he hears you in his. Technological developments like theses might make English significantly less important as an international language than it is at present. When you look at processes of change, it is important to recognize that we are at just one point in that process. The present state of things will change too--- perhaps within quite a short time.

26. What is the best topic for this passage?

A. Computer translations-- Not a Dream

B. Computer Technology in the Near Future

C. Computerlisation and the study of English

D. Storage and Retrieval of Information

27 . English is _________ used in the World Wide Web at present.

A. exclusively

B. overwhelmingly

C. increasingly

D. often

28. What is mentioned about the improved computer translation is based on _________.

A. fact

B. illusion

C. groundless guess

D. reasonable imagination

29. The author seems _________ the quality of the present computer translation.

A. dissatisfied with

B. pleased with

C. surprised at

D. angry at

30. It can be felt that the author is _________ the future of computer translation.

A. pessimistic about

B. optimistic about

C. indifferent to

D. unsure of

Passage 3 (Questions 31-35)

Reading the following passage, and answer the questions after the passage.

I am beginning to feel the pressure of work. None of the courses are as simple as they appear to be. There are a lot of reference books to consult and you consider yourself lucky if you manage to get half of them from the library. Most copies seem to be permanently lent out. The reading rooms are always crowded and you have to get there early in order to find a place.

The biggest headache is our dormitory. Though there are desks for us to work at, nobody ever works there. For one thing, the room is so crowded that there is little room, and it is so dark that we need the electric light even in daytime. The worst is the human element--- there are always those who don’t want to work and won’t let others work either.

Perhaps it’s only a reaction a gainst my early excitement. But anyway I am often overcome by low spirits. Sometimes I even think I am wasting my time here and wish I had not come here at all. But of course I know they are only passing moods caused by my disillusionment. I find some of the teachers just hopeless and totally irresponsible. All they are interested in is to earn more extra money considering their low salaries and the rising prices. But surely they shouldn’t let us suffer as a result.

But despite all this, college life is opening up for me a new vista that brings as much excitement as enlightenment. Here we can talk about anything under the sun.

I had always thought myself well read and my classmates at school had looked up to me for my wide “general knowledge”. But now I’v e come to realize how ignorant

I really am.

31. The passage is most probably written by _________.

A. a student who complains about everything at college

B. a student who is rebellious against school rules

C. an angry freshman who feels indignant about the teachers

D. a disillusioned freshman who is still confident of future study

32. By saying “ you consider yourself lucky if you manage to get half of them from the library” , the author means that _________.

A. he finds it impossible to get as many books as he expects

B. there are always as many books as he needs in the library

C. half of the books there seem to be permanently lent out

D. half of the books are more than enough for his study

33. What annoys the author most in the dormitory is _________.

A. insufficiency of desks there

B. limited space for each student

C. dim light in the room

D. his roommates he can not stand

34. Reading the passage we can feel the author _________ .

A. is too indignant about the things at the college to have any confidence in future study

B. is psychologically sound with a clear mind though regretful and disappointed

C. feels even prouder of his wide “ general knowledge”

D. feels sad to find he is actually ignorant

35. The autho r’s general impression about the college can be summarized as ________.

A. disappointment and the disillusionment after early excitement

B. more disillusionment and disappointment than enlightment and excitement

C. enlightment and excitement despite early disillusionment

D. more enlightment and excitement than disillusionment and disappointment

Passage 4 (Questions 36-40)

Reading the following passage, and decide whether the statements are T (True) or F (False). Write your answers against the numbers on your Answer Sheet.

English has never been the only language in use over the British Isles, and it certainly is not now! Welsh is still used in Wales. Some Welsh people still speak it as their mother tongue, and it is widely taught in Welsh schools. Some people in Scotland and in Ireland still use a language that is related to Welsh. It is called Gaelic. These languages have a long history in these islands –longer than the history of English. In addition, people from overseas have settled in England quite recently during this century. In some industrial cities, thought not generally in Britain, you find groups of people who speak Polish, and other groups speaking the languages of the Indian subcontinent. A survey of North London schools

in the e arly 1980’s found that nearly a third of the children spoke a language other than English at home.

The majority of the 55 million people living in England use English all the time. Standard English, that is, written English, is in use throughout Britain. Spoken English, however, sounds very different in different parts of the country. There is a story, a play, by the famous writer George Bernard Shaw, about a Professor of English Language who can tell you someone’s address when he hears that person speak! That is an exaggeration of course. Not even a Professor, who has studied the sounds of English all his life, can really do that. However, it is true that most people who have lived for a long time in Britain can tell a number of things about the people as soon as they speak! Usually we cannot tell the speaker’s address, but we can guess the part of the country where the person comes from. We can tell how well educated he or she is too! If an international user of English, like anyone of you here, happens to meet speakers from, say, the North or the West of England, you may find them hard to understand. Unless you understand what is going on your confidence in your ability to use the language may be badly shaken.

36. Gaelic is related to Welsh.

37. Welsh is not taught in schools anymore.

38. One third of the 55 million people in England speak other languages besides English at home.

39. Written English is in use throughout Britain but spoken English sounds different in different parts of the country.

40. Most people who have lived for a long time in Britain can tell how well educated a person is by the way she/she speaks.

Part III Writing Test (20 % )

Write short notes according to what you have learned in the course. (10 points for each one)

1. English has many varieties. Please list 5 varieties.

2．What is the position of English in a shrinking world? What are the historical reasons for its present position?