PASSAGE 8 Radio and Television There are few homes in Britain today that do not have either a radio or television set. Both of them have become an essential part of our life， keeping us informed of the news of the day， instructing us in many field of interest， and entertaining us with singing， dancing and acting. Marconi， the Italian inventor who gave us the radio， probably didn t realize what effects his great invention would have on the world in the years to come. Radio has， perhaps， had as much influence on the world as any other communications device. Events of universal interest can be reported to the entire globe a few seconds after they happen. Explorers in remote areas， ships at sea， even astronauts circling the earth are able to keep in touch with civilization by means of radio. Television is another major instrument of communication， permitting us to see as well as to hear the performer. Since its appearance， TV has had a tremendous effect on the daily life of people everywhere. Improvements of all kinds are constantly being made in television so that reception will be as close to perfect as possible. Perhaps the most recent advancement of significance has been “Telstar”。 The specially-equipped space capsule， orbiting the globe， make it possible for the entire world to be closer than ever before. Now a family in Manchester can watch on TV a football match in France ， a ski tournament in Norway， or a parade in Japan as these events are actually happening. 练习： 1. Paragraph 1____________. 2. Paragraph 2____________. 3. Paragraph 4____________. A） The popularity radio and TV in Britain B） The invention of the radio C） The latest development of TV D） The importance of the radio 4. In today s world radio and TV have become ___________. 5. People make constant efforts to improve __________. 6. A telstar is a satellite that _____________. 7. With the help of the telsar， events can be reported to listeners and viewers and almost _____. A） at the same time as they occur B） a basic necessity of life C） sends out signals all the time D） travels around the globe E） the reception of their TV sets Keys： A D C B E D A PASSAGE 9 How did English Become a Global Language 1.The rise of English is a remarkable tale as Professor David Crystal reminds us in his attractive，short book “English has a Global language.” 2. It is certainly quite a theme. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain more than 2，000 years ago， English did not exist. Five hundred years later， English， virtually incomprehensible to modern ears， was probably spoken by about as few people as currently speak Cherokee， the language of a small North American Indian tribe-and with little influence. About 1，000 years later， at the end of the 16th century， and after the Norman Conquest， the Reformation and the arrival of commercial printing technology， English was the native speech of between 5 million and 7 million people. And yet now look at it. As the second millennium approaches， English is more widely scattered， more widely spoken and written than any other language has never been. In the title of the book， it has become a truly global language. According to David Crystal， about 2.09 billion people， well over one-third of the world s population are routinely exposed to it. 3. As he rightly points out， what is impressive about this staggering figure is： “not so much the grand total but the speed with which expansion has taken place since the 1950 s. In 1950， the case for English as a world language would have been no more than plausible. Fifty years on and the case is virtually won. ” 4. So what happened？ 5. Someone once said that a language is a dialect with an army and a navy. In other words， when the British navy set out to conquer the world， is set out an “army” of English speakers. As the British empire spread throughout the world， English became the basis of law， commerce and education. The British empire was succeed by another（the American）， which shared virtually the same linguistic heritage. American English， which has become the rocket-fuel of the English language， has magically found its way into areas undreamed of 40， let alone 400 years ago.