问题详情

English has never been the only language in use over the British Isles , andit certainly is not now! Welsh is still used in Wales. Some Welsh people stillspeak it as their mother tongue , and it is widely taught in Welsh schools. Somepeople 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 someindustrial cities , though not generally in Britain , you find groups of peoplewho speak Polish , and other groups speaking the languages of the Indiansubcontinent. A survey of North London schools in the early 1980' s found thatnearly 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 thetime. Standard English , that is , written English , is in use throughoutBritain. Spoken English , however , sounds very different in different parts ofthe 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 whenhe hears that person speak! That is 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 hat most people who have lived for a long time in Britaincan tell a number of things about the people as soon as they speak! Usually wecannot tell the speaker' s address

, but we can guess the part of the country where the person comes from. Wecan 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 orthe West of England , you may find them hard to understand. Unless youunderstand what is going on your confidence in your ability to use the languagemay 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 languagesbesides English at home ()

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

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