英语作文关于语言是世界的一扇窗户

English is without a doubt the actual universal language.It is the world's second largest native language,the official language in 70 countries,and English-speaking countries are responsible for about 40% of world's total GNP.

English is also becoming a gateway into the more economically developed world.A person from Mexico who speaks fluent English can use this ability as a kind of social passport into English speaking countries,especially America the land of opportunity,

English can be at least understood almost everywhere among scholars and educated people,as it is the world media language,and the language of cinema,TV,pop music and the computer world.All over the planet people know many English words,their pronunciation and meaning.

English,the universal language,is the simplest and easiest natural language in the world,even though that simplicity and easiness weren't the reasons that lead English to that condition.

哪位朋友能给些英语介绍希特勒的文章啊

Adolf Hitler

Synopsis

Adolf Hitler, a chari**atic, Austrian-born demagogue, rose to power in Germany during the 1920s and early 1930s at a time of social, political, and economic upheaval. Failing to take power by force in 1923, he eventually won power by democratic means. Once in power, he eliminated all opposition and launched an ambitious program of world domination and elimination of the Jews, paralleling ideas he advanced in his book, Mein Kampf. His "1,000 Year Reich" barely lasted 12 years and he died a broken and defeated man.

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

Students will learn:

1. Facts about Hitler's life and the historical events which occurred during that time.

2. Hitler's view of history, his theory of race, and his political goals.

3. Hitler's use of anti-Semiti** to advance his career and to consolidate power.

4. How a political leader was able to manipulate the political system in a democracy and obtain autocratic power.

CHAPTER CONTENT

Hitler's Early Life

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, the fourth child of Alois Schickelgruber and Klara Hitler in the Austrian town of Braunau. Two of his siblings died from diphtheria when they were children, and one died shortly after birth. Alois was a customs official, illegitimate by birth, who was described by his housemaid as a "very strict but comfortable" man. Young Adolf was showered with love and affection by his mother.

When Adolf was three years old, the family moved to Passau, along the Inn River on the German side of the border. A brother, Edmond, was born two years later. The family moved once more in 1895 to the farm community of Hafeld, 30 miles southwest of Linz. Another sister, Paula, was born in 1896, the sixth of the union, supplemented by a half brother and half sister from one of his father's two previous marriages.

Following another family move, Adolf lived for six months across from a large Benedictine monastery. The monastery's coat of arms' most salient feature was a swastika. As a youngster, Adolf's dream was to enter the priesthood. While there is anecdotal evidence that Adolf's father regularly beat him during his childhood, it was not unusual for discipline to be enforced in that way during that period.

By 1900, Hitler's talents as an artist surfaced. He did well enough in school to be eligible for either the university preparatory "gymnasium" or the technical/scientific Realschule. Because the latter had a course in drawing, Adolf accepted his father's decision to enroll him in the Realschule. He did not do well there.

Adolf's father died in 1903 after suffering a pleural hemorrhage. Adolf himself suffered from lung infections, and he quit school at the age of 16, partially the result of ill health and partially the result of poor school work.

In 1906, Adolf was permitted to visit Vienna, but he was unable to gain admission to a prestigious art school. His mother developed terminal breast cancer and was treated by Dr. Edward Bloch, a Jewish doctor who served the poor. After an operation and excruciatingly painful and expensive treatments with a dangerous drug, she died on December 21, 1907.

Hitler spent six years in Vienna, living on a **all legacy from his father and an orphan's pension. Virtually penniless by 1909, he wandered Vienna as a transient, sleeping in bars, flophouses, and shelters for the homeless, including, ironically, those financed by Jewish philanthropists. It was during this period that he developed his prejudices about Jews, his interest in politics, and debating skills. According to John Toland's biography, Adolf Hitler, two of his closest friends at this time were Jewish, and he admired Jewish art dealers and Jewish operatic performers and producers. However, Vienna was a center of anti-Semiti**, and the media's portrayal of Jews as scapegoats with stereotyped attributes did not escape Hitler's fascination.

In May 1913, Hitler, seeking to avoid military service, left Vienna for Munich, the capital of Bavaria, following a windfall received from an aunt who was dying. In January, the police came to his door bearing a draft notice from the Austrian government. The document threatened a year in prison and a fine if he was found guilty of leaving his native land with the intent of evading conscription. Hitler was arrested on the spot and taken to the Austrian Consulate. Upon reporting to Salzburg for duty, he was found "unfit...too weak...and unable to bear arms."

Hitler's World War I Service

When World War I was touched off by the assassination by a Serb of the heir to the Austrian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Hitler's passions against foreigners, particularly Slavs, were inflamed. He was caught up in the patrioti** of the time, and submitted a petition to enlist in the Bavarian army.

After less than two months of training, Hitler's regiment saw its first combat near Ypres, against the British and Belgians. Hitler narrowly escaped death in battle several times, and was eventually awarded two Iron Crosses for bravery. He rose to the rank of lance corporal but no further. In October 1916, he was wounded by an enemy shell and evacuated to a Berlin area hospital. After recovering, and serving a total of four years in the trenches, he was temporarily blinded by a mustard gas attack in Belgium in October 1918.

Communist-inspired insurrections shook Germany while Hitler was recovering from his injuries. Some Jews were leaders of these abortive revolutions, and this inspired hatred of Jews as well as Communists. On November 9th, the Kaiser abdicated and the Socialists gained control of the government. Anarchy was more the rule in the cities.

Free Corps

The Free Corps was a paramilitary organization composed of vigilante war veterans who banded together to fight the growing Communist insurgency which was taking over Germany. The Free Corps crushed this insurgency. Its members formed the nucleus of the Nazi "brown-shirts" (S.A.) which served as the Nazi party's army.

Weimar Republic

With the loss of the war, the German monarchy came to an end and a republic was proclaimed. A constitution was written providing for a President with broad political and military power and a parliamentary democracy. A national election was held to elect 423 deputies to the National Assembly. The centrist parties swept to victory. The result was what is known as the Weimar Republic. On June 28, 1919, the German government ratified the Treaty of Versailles. Under the terms of the treaty which ended hostilities in the War, Germany had to pay reparations for all civilian damages caused by the war. Germany also lost her colonies and large portions of German territory. A 30-mile strip on the right bank of the Rhine was demilitarized. Limits were placed on German armaments and military strength. The terms of the treaty were humiliating to most Germans, and condemnation of its terms undermined the government and served as a rallying cry for those who like Hitler believed Germany was ultimately destined for greatness.

German Worker's Party

Soon after the war, Hitler was recruited to join a military intelligence unit, and was assigned to keep tabs on the German Worker's Party. At the time, it was comprised of only a handful of members. It was disorganized and had no program, but its members expressed a right-wing doctrine consonant with Hitler's. He saw this party as a vehicle to reach his political ends. His blossoming hatred of the Jews became part of the organization's political platform. Hitler built up the party, converting it from a de facto discussion group to an actual political party. Advertising for the party's meetings appeared in anti-Semitic newspapers. The turning point of Hitler's me**erizing oratorical career occurred at one such meeting held on October 16, 1919. Hitler's emotional delivery of an impromptu speech captivated his audience. Through word of mouth, donations poured into the party's coffers, and subsequent mass meetings attracted hundreds of Germans eager to hear the young, forceful and hypnotic leader.

With the assistance of party staff, Hitler drafted a party program consisting of twenty-five points. This platform was presented at a public meeting on February 24, 1920, with over 2,000 eager participants. After hecklers were forcibly removed by Hitler supporters armed with rubber truncheons and whips, Hitler electrified the audience with his masterful demagoguery. Jews were the principal target of his diatribe. Among the 25 points were revoking the Versailles Treaty, confiscating war profits, expropriating land without compensation for use by the state, revoking civil rights for Jews, and expelling those Jews who had emigrated into Germany after the war began.

The following day, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were published in the local anti-Semitic newspaper. The false, but alarming accusations reinforced Hitler's anti-Semiti**. Soon after, treatment of the Jews was a major theme of Hitler's orations, and the increasing scapegoating of the Jews for inflation, political instability, unemployment, and the humiliation in the war, found a willing audience. Jews were tied to "internationali**" by Hitler. The name of the party was changed to the National Socialist German Worker's party, and the red flag with the swastika was adopted as the party symbol. A local newspaper which appealed to anti-Semites was on the verge of bankruptcy, and Hitler raised funds to purchase it for the party.

In January 1923, French and Belgian troops marched into Germany to settle a reparations dispute. Germans resented this occupation, which also had an adverse effect on the economy. Hitler's party benefited by the reaction to this development, and exploited it by holding mass protest rallies despite a ban on such rallies by the local police.

The Nazi party began drawing thousands of new members, many of whom were victims of hyper-inflation and found comfort in blaming the Jews for this trouble. The price of an egg, for example, had inflated to 30 million times its original price in just 10 years. Economic upheaval generally breeds political upheaval, and Germany in the 1920s was no exception.

The Munich Putsch

The Bavarian government defied the Weimar Republic, accusing it of being too far left. Hitler endorsed the fall of the Weimar Republic, and declared at a public rally on October 30, 1923 that he was prepared to march on Berlin to rid the government of the Communists and the Jews. On November 8, 1923, Hitler held a rally at a Munich beer hall and proclaimed a revolution. The following day, he led 2,000 armed "brown-shirts" in an attempt to take over the Bavarian government. This putsch was resisted and put down by the police, after more than a dozen were killed in the fighting. Hitler suffered a broken and dislocated arm in the melee, was arrested, and was imprisoned at Land**erg. He received a five-year sentence.

Mein Kampf

Hitler served only nine months of his five-year term. While in prison, he wrote the first volume of Mein Kampf. It was partly an autobiographical book (although filled with glorified inaccuracies, self-serving half-truths and outright revisioni**) which also detailed his views on the future of the German people. There were several targets of the vicious diatribes in the book, such as democrats, Communists, and internationalists. But he reserved the brunt of his vituperation for the Jews, whom he portrayed as responsible for all of the problems and evils of the world, particularly democracy, Communi**, and internationali**, as well as Germany's defeat in the War. Jews were the German nation's true enemy, he wrote. They had no culture of their own, he asserted, but perverted existing cultures such as Germany's with their parasiti**. As such, they were not a race, but an anti-race.

"[The Jews'] ultimate goal is the denaturalization, the promiscuous bastardization of other peoples, the lowering of the racial level of the highest peoples as well as the domination of his racial mishmash through the extirpation of the folkish intelligentsia and its replacement by the members of his own people," he wrote. On the contrary, the German people were of the highest racial purity and those destined to be the master race according to Hitler. To maintain that purity, it was necessary to avoid intermarriage with subhuman races such as Jews and Slavs.

Germany could stop the Jews from conquering the world only by eliminating them. By doing so, Germany could also find Lebensraum, living space, without which the superior German culture would decay. This living space, Hitler continued, would come from conquering Russia (which was under the control of Jewish Marxists, he believed) and the Slavic countries. This empire would be launched after democracy was eliminated and a "FÅhrer" called upon to rebuild the German Reich.

A second volume of Mein Kampf was published in 1927. It included a history of the Nazi party to that time and its program, as well as a primer on how to obtain and retain political power, how to use propaganda and terrori**, and how to build a political organization.

While Mein Kampf was crudely written and filled with embarrassing tangents and ramblings, it struck a responsive chord among its target those Germans who believed it was their destiny to dominate the world. The book sold over five million copies by the start of World War II.

Hitler's Rise to Power

Once released from prison, Hitler decided to seize power constitutionally rather than by force of arms. Using demagogic oratory, Hitler spoke to scores of mass audiences, calling for the German people to resist the yoke of Jews and Communists, and to create a new empire which would rule the world for 1,000 years.

Hitler's Nazi party captured 18% of the popular vote in the 1930 elections. In 1932, Hitler ran for President and won 30% of the vote, forcing the eventual victor, Paul von Hindenburg, into a runoff election. A political deal was made to make Hitler chancellor in exchange for his political support. He was appointed to that office in January 1933.

Upon the death of Hindenburg in August 1934, Hitler was the consensus successor. With an improving economy, Hitler claimed credit and consolidated his position as a dictator, having succeeded in eliminating challenges from other political parties and government institutions. The German industrial machine was built up in preparation for war. By 1937, he was comfortable enough to put his master plan, as outlined in Mein Kampf, into effect. Calling his top military aides together at the "FÅhrer Conference" in November 1937, he outlined his plans for world domination. Those who objected to the plan were di**issed.

Hitler Launches the War

Hitler ordered the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland in 1938. Hitler's army invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, sparking France and England to declare war on Germany. A Blitzkrieg (lightning war) of German tanks and infantry swept through most of Western Europe as nation after nation fell to the German war machine.

In 1941, Hitler ignored a non-aggression pact he had signed with the Soviet Union in August 1939. Several early victories after the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, were reversed with crushing defeats at Moscow (December 1941) and Stalingrad (winter, 1942-43). The United States entered the war in December 1941. By 1944, the Allies invaded occupied Europe at Normandy Beach on the French coast, German cities were being destroyed by bombing, and Italy, Germany's major ally under the leadership of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, had fallen.

Hitler's Last Days

Several attempts were made on Hitler's life during the war, but none was successful. As the war appeared to be inevitably lost and his hand-picked lieutenants, seeing the futility, defied his orders, he killed himself on April 30, 1945. His long-term mistress and new bride, Eva Braun, joined him in *******. By that time, one of his chief objectives was achieved with the annihilation of two-thirds of European Jewry.

VOCABULARY

Anarchy - The absence of government or law in a society.

Demagogue - A person who gains power through impassioned public appeals to the emotions and prejudices of a group by speaking or writing. Free Corps - A paramilitary organization of German World War I veterans who organized to oppose Communist insurgency.

Fuhrer - A leader, especially one exercising the absolute power of a tyrant. Hitler's title as leader of the Nazi party, and Chief of the German state.

Imperiali** - A foreign policy which includes the taking of territory by force or coercion.

Lebensraum (Living Space) - A German term indicating the Germans' imperialistic designs on Europe. It also refers to the additional territory deemed necessary to the nation for its economic well-being.

Mein Kampf - "My Struggle" in German. A book written by Hitler while in prison which became the standard work of Nazi political doctrine.

Nazi** - The abbreviation for National Socialist German Worker's Party. The fascist dictatorship under Adolf Hitler in Germany from 1933-1945.

Paramilitary - Describing an organization which operates in the style of an army, but in an unofficial capacity, and often in secret, such as the S.A. Putsch - A revolt or uprising.

Reparations - Payments made by a defeated country to the victors to make amends for losses suffered.

S.A. - The Sturmabteilung (Stormtroopers), also known as the "brown-shirts." It was the Nazi paramilitary arm under the command of Ernst Rîhm. It was active in the Nazi battle for the streets against members of other German political parties and was notorious for its violent and terroristic methods.

Swastika - An ancient symbol in the form of a twisted cross which was adopted by the Nazi party as its logo in the 1920s.

Third Reich - The Third Empire. It refers to Hitler's name for his German Empire as a successor to the 1st Empire of the Roman Emperors (First Reich) and the Empire of Bi**arck in 19th century Germany (Second Reich).

Weimar Republic - The German democratic government from 1919-1934 formed after Germany's defeat in World War I. Its capital was located in Berlin.

The importance of learning english

I'm delighted to have this opportunity to join you to discuss a subject in which I personally have a great interest: the learning of foreign languages - and I hope you won't mind if the German Ambassador also says something about the importance of German as a foreign language in Britain.

Some of you will perhaps know that I have often publicly expressed my opinions on the subject of Germany's image and the teaching of German and also of history in this country. I'm quite sure that the language learning issue also has a political dimension with implications for our bilateral relationship and for Germany's image in Britain.

I. We need and want Britain as a strong partner in the EU

During this last year, political relations between our two countries have undergone a test - for reasons I'm sure I don't need to go into here. Our governments have had different views , but thanks to the good personal relationship between Prime Minister Blair and Chancellor Schröder, these differences have remained well in perspective. I don't now want to discuss the last few months, but the future.

What are the tasks that face us? At the global level, obviously since 9/11 the problem of terrori** stands out, alongside major themes such as maintaining peace, international trade, energy supply, environmental protection and human rights. In all these and more, Europe must become an effective player on the world stage and a strong and significant partner for the US.

For this, Britain is - to put it quite simply - indispensable. Britain has a quite special historical and political experience, a healthy sceptici** and a helpful instinct for pragmatic solutions. We therefore believe that Britain must be an integral part of a successful Europe, and try to ensure that it is involved in every area. That is not always easy. Too often, a healthy sceptici** is equated with eurosceptici**. To me, eurosceptici** is a contradiction in itself, as Britain is a part of Europe and embodies some of the best European qualities. A key question for the British government is whether it can best deploy its political weight inside or on the margins of the EU.

II. British educational and foreign language policy

"English is not enough"; "Young people from the UK are at a growing disadvantage in the recruitment market", "The UK desperately needs more language teachers".

Those, Ladies and Gentlemen, are not my own statements. They are in fact the conclusions of the Nuffield Languages Inquiry of the year 2000 under the chairmanship of Sir Trevor MacDonald and Sir John Boyd. It is a regrettable fact that for many years, after a strong period in the 1980s, the major foreign languages, French and German, have been in continuous and sometimes dramatic decline in British schools and universities.

Britain faces the great task of changing this trend. It is absolutely in this country's interest that British young people, now and in the future, should be competent in foreign languages . In January 2002 the House of Lords debated the value of foreign language learning. All the speakers agreed that in a globalised world characterised by international links and intercultural connections, linguistic skills and international experience are crucial for employment and career. International skills should have a major part in every young person's school curriculum.

In the meantime the Government has responded. In 2002, it presented its Language Strategy, which sets out the framework for reforms in language teaching. Secretary of State Charles Clarke has several times indicated in conversation with me that this area is a priority of his work. I am no expert on education and cannot assess the reform process in detail - nor would I want to.

However, just a few days ago the Government's own interim report (Language Trends 2003, by CILT) noted a further significant decline in foreign language teaching. Probably the main reason at this moment is that the ending of compulsory language learning between ages 14 and 16 is already having serious effects. This issue - whether language teaching should be compulsory teaching - is actually probably the greatest cultural difference between foreign language teaching here and in Germany. In Germany, foreign languages are compulsory from the first school year. In Britain, language learning seems to be more on a voluntary basis and priority is given to other curricular requirements. But that's an approach which comes in for a lot of critici**, including in Britain itself.

However, there are also a great many promising developments: for example, the requirement for primary schools to offer foreign languages from 2012 and the creation of Specialist Language Colleges. But at the broadest and deepest level, it's probably also necessary for society as a whole to recognise the value of foreign languages and to create an atmosphere and an environment in which language learning is seen as vitally important.

III. Reasons for learning a language

Why should we learn a foreign language? After all, the whole world speaks English! Ladies and Gentlemen, there's some truth in this argument - but only some! Allow me to give an example from the area which I can perhaps judge best: diplomacy. British diplomats generally have an excellent reputation as extremely professional and efficient. And that specifically includes language skills. Before they're posted to a new country, British diplomats are trained in its language, sometimes for up to a year.

Why do they do that? When you come to a new post, you can only really make full use of your professionali** and efficiency in your host country's language. You can't just rely on English. So having a foreign language in addition to English is vital - as indeed it is in so many other professions.

Educational reasons

Learning a foreign language at the earliest possible age, and by that I mean from between 4 and 5 years old - that is, at nursery and primary school - opens up a whole new dimension for children: it greatly benefits their reading and writing in their own language; there's evidence that, like musical education, it contributes significantly to the development of individual intelligence; and concretely it improves overall results at school.

Cultural reasons

A new language opens up a whole new culture. A foreign language gives us access to another culture, and our lives take on a new dimension. The great German poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, said in 1827: "Whoever is not acquainted with foreign languages knows nothing of his own." Seen like that, learning a language is almost comparable to a journey of discovery - and if we remember the great explorers and the 18th century gentleman's grand tour, you might almost call it a British invention.

Conversely, to lose a language is to lose a whole culture. This realisation has led to determined efforts to preserve minority languages, including, for example, in Britain, with the renaissance of the Welsh and Gaelic languages. There are similar widespread efforts in Britain to promote community languages, for example by providing application forms in Urdu or other languages. It is a fundamental truth that cultures define themselves through languages.

Personality

By learning a new language, you gain new horizons, but at the same time you reinforce your own identity, and therefore also your self-confidence. A foreign language can contribute to a stronger personality. Apparently foreign languages are even an essential quality of a lover. In Shakespeare's great comedy "Twelfth Night" we hear a gentleman being praised: He plays the viol-de-gamboys, speaks 3 or 4 languages and hath all the good gifts of nature.

Economic reasons

The typical profile expected from future business leaders fully reflects the demands of the globalised world. British language graduates find a good job more easily than others. Knowledge of German in particular improves one's chances on the job market. Many German companies abroad, and many foreign companies in Germany and companies with close links to German-speaking countries look for employees with language skills.

In spite of all the current economic difficulties in Germany, we are now, thanks to the Government's reform policies, well on the way to overcoming our economic weakness. Germany is still the most important trading partner for almost all the European countries and many countries outside Europe. A person who speaks German will be able to communicate better with business partners in the world's third-biggest economy and one of the foremost exporting countries.

Political reasons

Politically, a positive approach in Britain to language learning would have benefits on two different levels. Firstly, it would help to enable Germany to be seen more as a whole rather than just isolated aspects, and to break down a residual antipathy or at least ignorance and indifference. That's of course our number one aim. And secondly, it would help to ensure that Britain does not remain apart in Europe. In my view, it cannot be in Britain's interests to isolate itself politically or culturally.

IV. Reasons for learning German

Let me finally answer one last question: which is actually the most important language for British young people to learn? After long and careful consideration, I've come to the absolutely honest and objective conclusion that it has to be German (Vorsicht Ironie!)

I know that almost all of you speak a little German. Vorsprung durch Technik, Kindergarten, Oktoberfest and so on. And I'd rather not mention all those words from a certain period of our history that some people here never seem to get enough of. But there really seriously are good reasons for learning German.

Importance for communication in Europe

Over 100 million Europeans speak German as their native language. German is spoken not only in Germany, but also in Austria and in large parts of Switzerland. After English, German is the most spoken language in the European Union. In the new member countries of the European Union in central and eastern Europe, above all in Poland, which stands out with its population of over 50 million, German plays an important part both culturally and economically.

German as a language of culture

If you know German, you have access to one of the great European cultures in the original. German is the language of Goethe, Mozart, Bach and Beethoven, and of Thomas Mann and Günter Grass - but also of Michael Schumacher and of the film "Goodbye Lenin", which in the last few months has been the most successful non-English language film. Each year there are 60,000 new publications in the German book market - that's 18% of all the books published each year in the world. That puts Germany at third place among the world's book producers.

Germany as a country of culture

Germany is a highly attractive country for travel, with a great variety of natural beauty, from Bavaria to the lakes and coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. (And by the way, there's no problem getting a towel onto a German beach!)

Germany also has a great cultural heritage, from the Middle Ages to the modern period. In Wittenberg you can visit the house of the great reformer Martin Luther. Germany has a vast number of theatres, choirs and symphony orchestras, in Munich, Cologne, Bamberg and elsewhere. Germany has produced great contributions to art and architecture, from Romantici** through Bauhaus and the classical modern period to some of the most interesting developments in modern art, such as Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter or Sigmar Polke, who can be seen at this very moment in a superb and very popular exhibition at Tate Modern in London.

V. Conclusion

If language skills are to improve here in Britain, everyone needs to play their part:

parents - must recognise the importance of foreign languages, encourage their children to take an interest and demand that schools give their children the opportunity to benefit from all that languages have to offer;

teachers - I'd like to thank them for all their dedicated work under sometimes difficult conditions, and encourage them to keep it up;

universities - should promote language departments wherever possible, even under difficult financial circumstances;

Government, Local Education Authorities and Schools - must give language learning a firm place in school life and enable as many pupils as possible to benefit from the opportunities it creates. In my personal view, this is also a matter of social justice, because languages facilitate social mobility;

lastly, the general public and the media - should recognise the value of language learning for future generations and support it accordingly.

新视野大学英语(第三版)第二册课后翻译答案及原文？

Unit 1

原文：English is known as a world language, regularly used by many nations whose English is not their first language. Like other languages, English has changed greatly. The history of the English language can be divided into three main periods: Old English, Middle English and Modern English. The English language started with the invasion of Britain by three Germanic tribes during the 5th century AD, and they contributed greatly to the formation of the English language. During the medieval and early modern periods, the influence of English spread throughout the British Isles, and from the early 17th century its influence began to be felt throughout the world. The processes of European exploration and colonization for several centuries led to significant change in English. Today, American English is particularly influential, due to the popularity of American cinema, television, music, trade and technology, including the Internet.

翻译：人们普遍认为英语是一种世界语言，经常被许多不以英语为第一语言的国家使用。与其他语言一样，英语也发生了很大的变化。英语的历史可以分为三个主要阶段：古英语，中古英语和现代英语。英语起源于公元5世纪，当时三个日耳曼部落入侵英国，他们对英语语言的形成起了很大的作用。在中世纪和现代社会初期，英语的影响遍及不列颠群岛。从17世纪初，它的影响力开始在世界各地显现。欧洲几百年的探险和殖民过程导致了英语的重大变化。今天，由于美国电影、电视、音乐、贸易和技术、包括互联网的大受欢迎，美国英语的影响力尤其显著。

原文：中国书法（calligraphy）是一门独特的艺术，是世界上独一无二的艺术瑰宝。中国书法艺术的形成、发展与汉文字的产生与演进存在着密不可分的关系。汉字在漫长的演变发展过程中，一方面起着交流思想、继承文化的重要作用，另一方面它本身又形成了一种独特的艺术。书法能够通过作品把书法家个人的生活感受、学识、修养、个性等折射出来，所以，通常有"字如其人"的说法。中国书法不仅是中华民族的文化瑰宝，而且在世界文化艺术宝库中独放异彩。

翻译：Chinese calligraphy is a unique art and the unique art treasure in the world. The formation and development of the Chinese calligraphy is closely related to the emergence and evolution of Chinese characters. In this long evolutionary process, Chinese characters have not only played an important role in exchanging ideas and tran**itting culture but also developed into a unique art form. Calligraphic works well reflect calligraphers' personal feelings, knowledge, self-cultivation, personality, and so forth, thus there is an expression that "seeing the calligrapher's handwriting is like seeing the person". As one of the treasures of Chinese culture, Chinese calligraphy shines splendidly in the world's treasure house of culture and art.

Unit 2

原文：A MOOC (massive open online course) is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. MOOCs are a recent development in distance education and have now become a surging trend in higher education. These classes are aimed at expanding a university's reach from thousands of tuition-paying students who live in town, to millions of students around the world. In addition to traditional course materials, MOOCs provide interactive user forums to support interactions between students and professors. MOOCs can encourage communication among participants who bring a variety of viewpoints, knowledge, and skills to the course; inspire people to "try on" subjects that they wouldn't otherwise pursue or even try on education itself; provide multiple ways to engage with course material, encouraging multimodal (多模式的) learning that can address the needs of learners with a variety of learning styles; and inspire better teaching and use of technologies for face-to-face courses.

翻译：慕课是一种网络课程，它旨在通过网络实现广泛参与和开放接入。慕课是远程教育迈出的最新一步，现已在高等教育领域迅速引领潮流。通过这些课程，大学可以扩大影响的范围，从影响成千上万住在城里付学费的学生，扩展到惠及全球上百万的学生。除了拥有传统的课程资料，慕课还给使用者提供互动论坛，支持学生和讲师之间的交流。慕课能够促进参与者之间的交流，使得多种观点、知识和技能涌现到课堂上来；它鼓励人们尝试之前不可能尝试的课程，甚至是尝试新的教育方式；它提供多种学习课程资料的方式，鼓励多模式学习，以各种学习风格满足学习者的需求；另外，慕课促进教学的改善，使技术在面对面授课中得以更好地应用。

原文：近年来，随着互联网技术的发展，我国的数字化教育资源建设取得了巨大的成就。很多高校建立了自己的数字化学习平台，数字化教学在教育中发挥着越来越大的作用。和传统教学方式相比，数字化教学方式有很大的优势。一方面，数字化教学使教学资源得以全球共享；另一方面，它拓展了学习者的学习时间和空间，人们可以随时随地通过互联网进入数字化的虚拟学校学习。这使得人类从接受一次性教育走向终身学习成为可能。

翻译：In recent years, with the development of Internet technology, the construction of digital education resources of our country has made great achievements. Many universities have set up their own digital learning platforms, and digital teaching is playing an increasingly important role in education. Compared with the traditional way of teaching, the digital way has a lot of advantages. On one hand, digital teaching makes global sharing of teaching resources possible; on the other hand, it expands the learner's study time and space to learn, allowing people to get access to the digital virtual schools through the Internet anytime and anywhere. These advantages make it possible for people to shift from one-time learning to lifelong learning.

Unit 3

原文：As an important part of the American culture value system, "individuali**" is admired by most American people. Americans view the family as a group whose primary purpose is to advance the happiness of individual members. In contrast to many other cultures, the primary responsibility of the American family member is not to advance the family as a group, either socially or economically. What would be best for the family is not usually considered to be as important as what would be best for the individual. With freedom comes the responsibility to care for oneself, for it is the freedom of choice that carries with it the responsibility: to accept the consequences of the choices. Many Americans give their children a lot of freedom because they want them to be independent and self-reliant. Along with the American emphasis on individual freedom, the belief in equality between parents and children also has had a strong effect on the family.

翻译：作为美国文化价值体系的一个重要组成部分，"个人主义"受到大多数美国人的推崇。美国人认为家庭作为一个群体，其主要目的是促进家庭各成员的幸福。与许多其他文化相比，美国家庭成员的主要职责，不是在社会上或经济上提高整个家庭的地位。人们通常认为，什么是对个人最好的要比什么是对家庭最好的更为重要。与自由相伴而来的是照顾自己的责任，因为所选择的自由承载了责任，即必须接受自己的选择所带来的后果。许多美国人给他们的孩子很多的自由，因为他们希望孩子们能够独立和自力更生。在美国人强调个人自由的同时，父母与孩子间平等的信念也对美国家庭产生了巨大的影响。

原文：孝道（filial piety）是中国古代社会的基本道德规范（code of ethics）。中国人把孝视为人格之本、家庭和睦之本、国家安康之本。由于孝道是儒家伦理思想的核心，它成了中国社会千百年来维系家庭关系的道德准则。它毫无疑问是中华民族的一种传统美德。孝道文化是一个复合概念，内容丰富，涉及面广。它既有文化理念，又有制度礼仪（institutional etiquette）。一般来说，它指社会要求子女对父母应尽的义务，包括尊敬、关爱、赡养老人等等。孝道是古老的"东方文明"之根本。

翻译：Filial piety is the basic code of ethics in ancient Chinese society. Chinese people consider filial piety as the essence of a person's integrity, family harmony, and the nation's well-being. With filial piety being the core of Confucian ethics, it has been the moral standard for the Chinese society to maintain the family relationship for thousands of years. It's undoubtedly a traditional Chinese virtue. The culture of filial piety is a complex concept, rich in content and wide in range. It includes not only cultural ideas but also institutional etiquettes. Generally speaking, it refers to the obligation of children to their parents required by the society, including respect, care, support for the elderly and so forth. Filial piety is fundamental to the ancient "Oriental civilization".

Unit 4

原文：Valentine's Day on February 14 is celebrated in various American and European countries. It is a holiday of love and romance usually by exchanging valentines or love tokens between lovers. There are different origins regarding the festival. One legend goes that the Romans put a priest named Saint Valentine into prison for refusing to believe in the Roman gods. On February 14, Valentine was put to death not only because he was Christian, but also because he had cured the jailer's daughter of blindness. The night before he was executed he wrote her a farewell letter signed "From your Valentine". Later, February 14 became a holiday for people to show affection for their loved ones. Today, people celebrate Valentine's Day in different ways, sending greeting cards and flowers, giving chocolate or other gifts, or joining in romantic dinners. The holiday has now become popular all over the world. In China the festival is also becoming increasingly popular with young people.

翻译：美洲和欧洲各国都会庆祝2月14日的情人节。这是一个充满爱情和浪漫的节日，恋人之间通常都会交换情人卡和爱情信物。关于这个节日的起源有着不同的说法。一个传说是罗马人把一个叫圣瓦伦丁的神父关进了监狱，因为他拒绝相信罗马神。2月14日那天，瓦伦丁被处死，不仅因为他是**徒，而且因为他曾治愈了一位监狱看守双目失明的女儿。他在被处死的前一天晚上给她写了一封署名“你的瓦伦丁”的告别信。后来，2月14日就成了一个人们可以为他们的情人展示感情的节日。现在，人们以不同的方式庆祝情人节，他们发送贺卡、鲜花，赠送巧克力或其他礼品，或共进浪漫的晚餐。现在这个节日已流行世界各地。在中国，这个节日也正越来越受年轻人的欢迎。

原文：农历七月初七是中国的七夕节 (Qixi Festival)，是中国传统节日中最具浪漫色彩的一个节日。一些大的商家每年都举办不同的活动，年轻人也送礼物给他们的情人。因此，七夕节被认为是中国的“情人节”(Valentine's Day)。七夕节来自牛郎与织女（Cowherd and Weaving Maid）的传说。相传，每年的这个夜晚，天上的织女都会与牛郎相会。所以，在七夕的夜晚，人们可以看到牛郎织女在银河 （the Milky Way）相会。姑娘们也会在这一天晚上向天上的织女乞求智慧，以获得美满姻缘。但随着时代的变迁，这些活动正在消失，唯有标志着忠贞爱情的牛郎织女的传说一直流传民间。

翻译：July 7th on the Chinese calendar is Chinese Qixi Festival, the most romantic of all the traditional Chinese holidays. Every year, some big businesses organize various activities, and young people send gifts to their lovers. As a result, the Qixi Festival is considered to be Chinese "Valentine's Day". The Qixi Festival is derived from the legend of Cowherd and Weaving Maid. The legend holds that on this particular night every year the Weaving Maid in heaven meets with Cowherd. So, people can see Cowherd and Weaving Maid meeting in the Milky Way on the night of Qixi. On this night, girls would also beg Weaving Maid for some wisdom for a happy marriage. But, with the changing of times, these activities are diminishing. All that remains is the legend of Cowherd and Weaving Maid, a sign of faithful love, continuously circulated among the folk.