【题文】Language changes all the time. New words and phrases appear and develop. The words and pronunciations used by young people in the UK can be very different to those used by adults. Living in a multicultural (多元文化的) society has an effect on language, especially on young people, whose friends are often from a mix of backgrounds. TV and music also have big influence on the language of the young. Often UK singers sing in American accents (口音) without realizing.
Young British people use lots of language that you usually can’t find in most dictionaries. These informal words and expressions are known as ‘slang’. It is not possible to make a complete list of modern British slang. By the time the list was finished, it would be out of date! New words come and go like fashions. However, here are a few examples:
Safe, sorted, sound, cool or wicked all mean “That’s good” or “I understand”.
Instead of using different tag questions like … isn’t it?, can’t you? or don’t they?, people use innit.
Instead of saying very, really or completely, people use well.
Whatever means I don’t care.
‘He’s fine’ or ‘He’s fit’ both mean ‘He’s good-looking’. Fine and fit can describe a boy or a girl.
Not everybody uses slang and not everybody likes it. A school in Sheffield, in the north of England, recently stopped its pupils using slang words such as hiya (hello), cheers and ta (both mean thank you). The head teacher says that if young people learn to speak ‘correctly’ this will help them get a place at university and a good job.
When British people use language like this, it’s no surprise that some students say they can’t understand native (本土的) speakers. But perhaps learners don’t need to worry about communicating with native speakers so much. Research shows that most of the English spoken in the world today is spoken between non-native speakers of the language. In fact, when we think about “International English”, there is no such thing as a native or non-native speaker.
【小题1】In the UK, you can find little slang in
.
| A．pop songs | B．TV programmes |
| C．most dictionaries | D．young people’s language |
【小题2】The writer uses the example of a school in Sheffield to support that
.
| A．slang is out of date |
| B．slang is changing quickly |
| C．slang words can be used easily |
| D．some people don’t like slang |
【小题3】Which slang can be used in the following dialogue?
—But the teacher says we can’t leave until we’ve finished.
—
. I’m going.
| A．Sound | B．Fine | C．Cheers | D．Whatever |
【小题4】If you want to learn more about the subject of the passage, you can search the Internet with the key words “
”.
| A．British people | B．English slang |
| C．language changes | D．English cultures |
【小题5】This passage would most likely be found in a book of
.
| A．novel | B．culture |
| C．travel | D．History |
