THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Mr. Chairman， adjudicators， ladies and gentlemen，
Good afternoon.
The arrival of the year 1999 has brought with it a near perfect opportunity to take a look back at the last one thousand years， assess man's successes and failures， and look forward with our predictions of the third 1）millennium. Already this afternoon you’ve heard many assessments and you've heard a variety of predictions.
A few hundred years ago to have held an event like this it would have been 2）imperative that we were all fluent in a number of different 3）tongues， for the approach of combating the language barrier was simply to learn many different languages. Of course people back then had an 4）ulterior motive： that was to ensure that different languages held their different societal positions， or as King Charles V of Spain put it， “I speak Spanish to God， Italian to woman， French to men and German to my horse.”
Today our approach is somewhat different. Instead of trying to vastly spread our 5）verbal ability 6）across the board， we've chosen rather to focus it， concentrating on our ability to master one particular language， the English language. Time magazine recently suggested that by the turn of the millennium， English will be the 7）Lingua Franca for one quarter of the world’s population. Already today sixty percent of the world's television and radio broadcasts are produced and delivered in English. Seventy percent of the world’s mail addressed in English. And it is the language of choice for almost every byte of computer data sent across the globe.
But why English？ There are no clear linguistic reasons for its suggested global dominance， certainly the grammar is complicated， the spelling peculiar and the pronunciation 8）eccentric， to say the very least. One would need only look through the dictionary to find the vast list of amusing paradoxes in the English language- 9）quicksand that works slowly， a 10）boxing ring that is in fact square and a 11）guinea pig that's really neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. Doesn’t it seem odd that one can make 12）amends but not one 13）amend. Or 14）go through the 15）annals of history but not one annal. The reason， ladies and gentlemen， is simple. English is strange， but no where near as strange as some of our 16）alternatives.
Perhaps I should give you a few 17）idiomatic examples. In English we say “once in a blue moon.” The Italians choose instead “every death of a Pope.” Yiddish doesn't like our “drop dead，” replacing it rather with the slightly more obscure “you should lie in the earth？” And if you wanted to 18）tell someone off in Spanish our relatively obvious “19）go fly a kite” would be better served by the phrase “go fry 20）asparagus.” English’s primary advantage is that of flexibility. On the one hand it has the largest vocabulary of all modern languages， allowing us， as its users， to say exactly what we want in exactly the words we choose to use. On the other， globalization has insured the introduction of a business English， a sort of 21）trimmed down variety of the language we've all come to know and love.
In a thousand years time， Western clocks will hopefully have ticked onto the year 2999 and we can be assured that scientists， academics and 22）futurists will 23）convene， much like we've done today to look back at the third millennium and offer their predictions for the successes of the forth.
It's impossible to imagine what they might say， impossible to imagine what technology they’ll have available or even which planet they'll hold the meeting on. In fact， quite possibly the only thing we can say for sure is that they’ll be discussing the issues in one common universal language. And that will be the language of the third millennium. And that language without any doubt looks set to be English. Thank you.
主席先生，諸位評判員，女士們，先生們：
下午好。
1999年的到來給我們帶來了一個(gè)回顧過去一千年的好機(jī)會，評價(jià)人類的成與敗，展望第三個(gè)千年的前景。今天下午大家已經(jīng)聽到了許多評價(jià)和不同的展望。
幾百年前，舉辦一次這樣的活動是十分麻煩的，我們得流利地說許多種不同的語言，因?yàn)樵诋?dāng)時(shí)克服語言障礙的辦法就是學(xué)習(xí)多種不同的語言。當(dāng)然，那時(shí)候的人們有一個(gè)心照不宣的觀念：不同的語言顯示著不一樣的社會地位，就如西班牙國王查爾斯五世所說，“我對上帝說西班牙語，對女人說意大利語，對男人說法語，對馬兒說德語?！?BR> 今天我們的做法有些不一樣。我們不用分散精力去學(xué)習(xí)多種語言，而只需集中精力掌握一種特別的語言——英語?！稌r(shí)代》雜志最近說，在世紀(jì)之交，英語將會成為世界四分之一人口的通用語言。今天已經(jīng)有60%的電視和廣播在用英語制作和傳送。70%的信件是用英語寫的。在全球傳送的電腦數(shù)據(jù)中，幾乎每個(gè)字節(jié)用的都是英語。
但為什么偏偏是英語呢？人們很難從語言學(xué)方面為英語在全球的主導(dǎo)地位找一個(gè)原因。但至少我們可以說英語的語法是復(fù)雜的，拼寫是獨(dú)特的，發(fā)音是古怪的。只要翻翻字典，你就能發(fā)現(xiàn)一大串逗人的似非而是的雋語——quicksand反而慢騰騰，boxing ring原來是方的，guinea pig既不是來自幾內(nèi)亞，也不是豬。一個(gè)人可以說“make amends”， 但卻不能說“one amend”，這不是很奇怪嗎？你可以仔細(xì)翻閱一本史冊，但卻不能把“一本史冊”說“one annal”。其中的原因，女士們，先生們，是很簡單的。英語確實(shí)很奇怪，但與其它語言相比，就顯得小巫見大巫了。
也許我該給大家舉幾個(gè)成語例子?！扒лd難逢”用英語我們說“once in a blue moon”，在意大利語中則成了“every death of a Pope”。依地語不喜歡把“猝死”說成“drop dead”，而用更為模糊的“you should lie in the earth”來表達(dá)。如果你想用西班牙語指責(zé)某人“滾開”， 那么是用“go fry asparagus”，而不是相對較直白的英語說法“go fly a kite”。英語的最基本的優(yōu)勢即在于它的靈活性。一方面，它在所有現(xiàn)代語言中詞匯量是的，允許我們這些使用者能用最恰當(dāng)?shù)脑~匯恰如其分地表達(dá)出我們的思想。另一方面，全球化使得商業(yè)英語的出現(xiàn)成為必然，而商業(yè)英語是簡化了的英語，它已成為我們都熟悉并喜愛的語言。
在一千年后，西方的時(shí)鐘將滴答走向2999年，我們也可以肯定，屆時(shí)，科學(xué)家、學(xué)者和未來主義者將匯集在一起，就像我們今天這樣，回顧第三個(gè)千年，并展望第四個(gè)千年的輝煌成就。
我們無法想像得到屆時(shí)他們將說些什么。他們會掌握了什么樣的科技，甚至他們會在哪個(gè)星球上開會，是我們無法想像的。實(shí)際上，我們敢肯定的事情是，他們將用一種共通的世界語言討論事務(wù)。這就是第三個(gè)千年的語言。毫無疑問，這種語言就是英語。謝謝大家。
1、millennium [mi5leniEm] n. 一千年，千年期
2、imperative [im5perEtiv] a. 絕對必要的，迫切的，強(qiáng)制的
3、tongue [tQN] n. 語言，方言
4、ulterior [Ql5tiEriE] a. 日后的，將來的；秘而不宣的
5、verbal [5vE：bEl] a. 字面的，詞語的，口頭的
6、across the board 全部地，包括一切地
7、lingua franca n.（不同民族之間交往或進(jìn)行交易時(shí)用的）混合語；混合方言
8、eccentric [ik5sentrik] a. （人，行為等）古怪，偏執(zhí)
9、quicksand [5kwiksend] n. 沙漏。這里和以下數(shù)句是演講者玩的文字游戲，以說明英語語言的巧妙之處
10、boxing ring n. 拳擊場
11、guinea pig n. 豚鼠，一種產(chǎn)自巴西的嚙齒小動物，約7英寸（約18厘米）長，通常為白色，有黑色或橙色斑點(diǎn)，一般作為寵物飼養(yǎng)，或用于科研實(shí)驗(yàn)；供進(jìn)行醫(yī)學(xué)（或其他科學(xué)）實(shí)驗(yàn)的人或物。Guiea： 幾內(nèi)亞
12、amends [E5mendz] n. （復(fù)數(shù)形式）賠罪，贖罪
13、amend [E5mend] v. 改正，改過自新
14、go through 仔細(xì)檢查，全面考慮
15、annals [5AnElz] n. （復(fù)數(shù)形式）編年史，歷史記載
16、alternative [C：5tE：nEtiv] n. 替換物
17、idiomatic [7idiE5mAtik] a. 符合語言習(xí)慣的，成語的；富于習(xí)語性質(zhì)的
18、tell off 斥責(zé)，責(zé)備
19、go fly a kite [美國俚語] 滾開，走開
20、asparagus [Es5pArEgEs] n. 蘆筍
21、trim [trim] v. 削減，縮減
22、futurist [7fju：tFE5ritist] n. 未來主義者
23、convene [kEn5vi：n] v. 集合
Mr. Chairman， adjudicators， ladies and gentlemen，
Good afternoon.
The arrival of the year 1999 has brought with it a near perfect opportunity to take a look back at the last one thousand years， assess man's successes and failures， and look forward with our predictions of the third 1）millennium. Already this afternoon you’ve heard many assessments and you've heard a variety of predictions.
A few hundred years ago to have held an event like this it would have been 2）imperative that we were all fluent in a number of different 3）tongues， for the approach of combating the language barrier was simply to learn many different languages. Of course people back then had an 4）ulterior motive： that was to ensure that different languages held their different societal positions， or as King Charles V of Spain put it， “I speak Spanish to God， Italian to woman， French to men and German to my horse.”
Today our approach is somewhat different. Instead of trying to vastly spread our 5）verbal ability 6）across the board， we've chosen rather to focus it， concentrating on our ability to master one particular language， the English language. Time magazine recently suggested that by the turn of the millennium， English will be the 7）Lingua Franca for one quarter of the world’s population. Already today sixty percent of the world's television and radio broadcasts are produced and delivered in English. Seventy percent of the world’s mail addressed in English. And it is the language of choice for almost every byte of computer data sent across the globe.
But why English？ There are no clear linguistic reasons for its suggested global dominance， certainly the grammar is complicated， the spelling peculiar and the pronunciation 8）eccentric， to say the very least. One would need only look through the dictionary to find the vast list of amusing paradoxes in the English language- 9）quicksand that works slowly， a 10）boxing ring that is in fact square and a 11）guinea pig that's really neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. Doesn’t it seem odd that one can make 12）amends but not one 13）amend. Or 14）go through the 15）annals of history but not one annal. The reason， ladies and gentlemen， is simple. English is strange， but no where near as strange as some of our 16）alternatives.
Perhaps I should give you a few 17）idiomatic examples. In English we say “once in a blue moon.” The Italians choose instead “every death of a Pope.” Yiddish doesn't like our “drop dead，” replacing it rather with the slightly more obscure “you should lie in the earth？” And if you wanted to 18）tell someone off in Spanish our relatively obvious “19）go fly a kite” would be better served by the phrase “go fry 20）asparagus.” English’s primary advantage is that of flexibility. On the one hand it has the largest vocabulary of all modern languages， allowing us， as its users， to say exactly what we want in exactly the words we choose to use. On the other， globalization has insured the introduction of a business English， a sort of 21）trimmed down variety of the language we've all come to know and love.
In a thousand years time， Western clocks will hopefully have ticked onto the year 2999 and we can be assured that scientists， academics and 22）futurists will 23）convene， much like we've done today to look back at the third millennium and offer their predictions for the successes of the forth.
It's impossible to imagine what they might say， impossible to imagine what technology they’ll have available or even which planet they'll hold the meeting on. In fact， quite possibly the only thing we can say for sure is that they’ll be discussing the issues in one common universal language. And that will be the language of the third millennium. And that language without any doubt looks set to be English. Thank you.
主席先生，諸位評判員，女士們，先生們：
下午好。
1999年的到來給我們帶來了一個(gè)回顧過去一千年的好機(jī)會，評價(jià)人類的成與敗，展望第三個(gè)千年的前景。今天下午大家已經(jīng)聽到了許多評價(jià)和不同的展望。
幾百年前，舉辦一次這樣的活動是十分麻煩的，我們得流利地說許多種不同的語言，因?yàn)樵诋?dāng)時(shí)克服語言障礙的辦法就是學(xué)習(xí)多種不同的語言。當(dāng)然，那時(shí)候的人們有一個(gè)心照不宣的觀念：不同的語言顯示著不一樣的社會地位，就如西班牙國王查爾斯五世所說，“我對上帝說西班牙語，對女人說意大利語，對男人說法語，對馬兒說德語?！?BR> 今天我們的做法有些不一樣。我們不用分散精力去學(xué)習(xí)多種語言，而只需集中精力掌握一種特別的語言——英語?！稌r(shí)代》雜志最近說，在世紀(jì)之交，英語將會成為世界四分之一人口的通用語言。今天已經(jīng)有60%的電視和廣播在用英語制作和傳送。70%的信件是用英語寫的。在全球傳送的電腦數(shù)據(jù)中，幾乎每個(gè)字節(jié)用的都是英語。
但為什么偏偏是英語呢？人們很難從語言學(xué)方面為英語在全球的主導(dǎo)地位找一個(gè)原因。但至少我們可以說英語的語法是復(fù)雜的，拼寫是獨(dú)特的，發(fā)音是古怪的。只要翻翻字典，你就能發(fā)現(xiàn)一大串逗人的似非而是的雋語——quicksand反而慢騰騰，boxing ring原來是方的，guinea pig既不是來自幾內(nèi)亞，也不是豬。一個(gè)人可以說“make amends”， 但卻不能說“one amend”，這不是很奇怪嗎？你可以仔細(xì)翻閱一本史冊，但卻不能把“一本史冊”說“one annal”。其中的原因，女士們，先生們，是很簡單的。英語確實(shí)很奇怪，但與其它語言相比，就顯得小巫見大巫了。
也許我該給大家舉幾個(gè)成語例子?！扒лd難逢”用英語我們說“once in a blue moon”，在意大利語中則成了“every death of a Pope”。依地語不喜歡把“猝死”說成“drop dead”，而用更為模糊的“you should lie in the earth”來表達(dá)。如果你想用西班牙語指責(zé)某人“滾開”， 那么是用“go fry asparagus”，而不是相對較直白的英語說法“go fly a kite”。英語的最基本的優(yōu)勢即在于它的靈活性。一方面，它在所有現(xiàn)代語言中詞匯量是的，允許我們這些使用者能用最恰當(dāng)?shù)脑~匯恰如其分地表達(dá)出我們的思想。另一方面，全球化使得商業(yè)英語的出現(xiàn)成為必然，而商業(yè)英語是簡化了的英語，它已成為我們都熟悉并喜愛的語言。
在一千年后，西方的時(shí)鐘將滴答走向2999年，我們也可以肯定，屆時(shí)，科學(xué)家、學(xué)者和未來主義者將匯集在一起，就像我們今天這樣，回顧第三個(gè)千年，并展望第四個(gè)千年的輝煌成就。
我們無法想像得到屆時(shí)他們將說些什么。他們會掌握了什么樣的科技，甚至他們會在哪個(gè)星球上開會，是我們無法想像的。實(shí)際上，我們敢肯定的事情是，他們將用一種共通的世界語言討論事務(wù)。這就是第三個(gè)千年的語言。毫無疑問，這種語言就是英語。謝謝大家。
1、millennium [mi5leniEm] n. 一千年，千年期
2、imperative [im5perEtiv] a. 絕對必要的，迫切的，強(qiáng)制的
3、tongue [tQN] n. 語言，方言
4、ulterior [Ql5tiEriE] a. 日后的，將來的；秘而不宣的
5、verbal [5vE：bEl] a. 字面的，詞語的，口頭的
6、across the board 全部地，包括一切地
7、lingua franca n.（不同民族之間交往或進(jìn)行交易時(shí)用的）混合語；混合方言
8、eccentric [ik5sentrik] a. （人，行為等）古怪，偏執(zhí)
9、quicksand [5kwiksend] n. 沙漏。這里和以下數(shù)句是演講者玩的文字游戲，以說明英語語言的巧妙之處
10、boxing ring n. 拳擊場
11、guinea pig n. 豚鼠，一種產(chǎn)自巴西的嚙齒小動物，約7英寸（約18厘米）長，通常為白色，有黑色或橙色斑點(diǎn)，一般作為寵物飼養(yǎng)，或用于科研實(shí)驗(yàn)；供進(jìn)行醫(yī)學(xué)（或其他科學(xué)）實(shí)驗(yàn)的人或物。Guiea： 幾內(nèi)亞
12、amends [E5mendz] n. （復(fù)數(shù)形式）賠罪，贖罪
13、amend [E5mend] v. 改正，改過自新
14、go through 仔細(xì)檢查，全面考慮
15、annals [5AnElz] n. （復(fù)數(shù)形式）編年史，歷史記載
16、alternative [C：5tE：nEtiv] n. 替換物
17、idiomatic [7idiE5mAtik] a. 符合語言習(xí)慣的，成語的；富于習(xí)語性質(zhì)的
18、tell off 斥責(zé)，責(zé)備
19、go fly a kite [美國俚語] 滾開，走開
20、asparagus [Es5pArEgEs] n. 蘆筍
21、trim [trim] v. 削減，縮減
22、futurist [7fju：tFE5ritist] n. 未來主義者
23、convene [kEn5vi：n] v. 集合