The Queen’s English is now sounding less upper-class, a scientific study of the Queen’s Christmas broadcasts has found. Researchers have studied each of her messages to the Commonwealth countries since 1952 to find out the change in her pronunciation from the noble Upper Received to the Standard Received.
Jonathan Harrington, a professor at Germany’s University of Munich, wanted to discover whether accent changes recorded over the past half century would take place within one person. “As far as I know, there just is nobody else for whom there is this sort of broadcast records,” he said.
He said the noble way of pronouncing vowels(元音) had gradually lost ground as the noble upper-class accent over the past years. “Her accent sounds slightly less noble than it did 50 years ago. But these are very, very small and slow changes that we don’t notice from year to year.”
“We may be able to relate it to changes in the social classes,” he told The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper. “In 1952 she would have been heard saying ‘thet men in the bleck het’. Now it would be ‘that man in the black hat’. Similarly, she would have spoken of ‘the citay’ and’dutay’, rather than ‘citee’ and ‘dutee’, and ‘hame’ rather than ‘home’. In the 1950s she would have been ‘lorst’, but by the 1970s ‘lost’.”
The Queen’s broadcast is a personal message to the Commonwealth countries. Each Christmas, the 10-minute broadcast is put on TV at 3 pm in Britain as many families are recovering from their traditional turkey lunch(传统火鸡午餐).
The results were published(发表) in the Journal of Phonetics.
1.The Queen’s broadcasts were chosen for the study mainly because .
A. she has been Queen for many years
B. she has a less upper-class accent now
C. her speeches have been recorded for 50 years
D. her speeches are familiar to many people
2.Which of the following is an example of a less noble accent in English?
A. “Dutay”. B. “Hame”. C. “Citee”. D. “Lorst”.
3.We may infer from the text that the Journal of Phonetics is a magazine on .
A. Christmas customs B. speech sounds
C.TV broadcasting D. personal messages
4.What is the text mainly about?
A. The changes in a person’s accent.
B. The Queen’s Christmas speeches on TV.
C. The relationship between accents and social classes.
D. The recent development of the English language.
I would like to suggest that for sixty to ninety minutes each evening all television broadcasting in the United States be forbidden by law. Let us take a , reasonable look at what the results might be if such a（an） were accepted.
Families might use the time for a real family hour. Without the distraction（分散注意力） of TV, they might together after dinner and actually talk to one another. It is well known that many of our ----everything in fact, from the generation gap to the high divorce rate to some forms of illness ----are caused at least in part by to communicate. By using the quiet family hour to our problems, we might get to know each other better, and to like each other better. On evenings when such talk is , families could discover more active pastimes(娱乐). Freed from TV and forced to find their own activities, they might take a together to watch the sunset they might take a walk together.
free time and no TV, children and adults might discover reading. There is more entertainment in than in a TV program. report that the generation growing up with television can hardly write an English sentence, at the college level. is often learned from reading. A more literate new generation could be a product of the quiet hour. A different form of reading might also be done it was in the past: reading aloud. The quiet hour could become the story hour. When the ends, the TV networks might be forced to with better shows in order to get us back from our newly- discovered activities.
At first glance, this idea seems radical(激进的). will we spend the time then? The fact is: it has been only twenty-five years since television came to control American free time. Those of us thirty-five and older can childhoods without television. It wasn't that difficult.
1.A. valuable B. pleasant C. serious D. quick
2.A. suggestion B. advice C. opinion D. offer
3.A. get around B. sit around C. meet with D. stand stiff
4.A. misfortunes B. troubles C. affairs D. problems
5.A. physical B. mental C. common D. familiar
6.A. failure B. attempt C. ability D. permission
7.A. comment B. talk C. discuss D. remark
8.A. impossible B. unpleasant C. funny D. unnecessary
9.A. ride B. look C. walk D. rest
10.A. And B. But C. Or D. While
11.A. At B. With C. For D. In
12.A. a good book B. a fine poem C. a quiet hour D. a composition
13.A. Professors B. Scientists C. Educators D. Parents
14.A. yet B. still C. just D. even
15.A. Skill B. Writing C. Speaking D. Listening
16.A. before B. as C. after D. when
17.A. talk B. programme C. performance D. quiet-hour
18.A. come across B. come about C. come out D. come up
19.A. How B. Whether C. What D. If
20.A. remind B. recognize C. remember D. know
Have you bought the same book ________ I referred to yesterday?
A. that B. as C. which D. what
_____ to drive after drinking, some drivers are still trying their luck, which is dangerous.
A. Not reminded B. Reminded not
C. Not having been reminded D. Having reminded not
— That must have been a long trip.
— Yeah, it _____ us a whole week to get there.
A. takes B. had taken C. took D. was taking
“Drive-ins” have large parking lots _____ customers are served in their cars by waitress.
A. who B. when C. which D. where
