研究生英语阅读教程(基础级2版)课文及翻译
活中无处不在。所有的人或几乎所有的人都懂英语。英语对现存的凯尔特语——爱尔兰语、苏格兰盖尔语及威尔士语的威胁是如此之大，它们的未来岌岌可危。
2. He also associated such policies with a prejudice which he calls linguisticism (a condition parallel to racism and sexism). As Phillipson sees it, leading institutions and individuals within the predominantly "white" English-speaking world, have (by design or default) encouraged or at least tolerated—and certainly have not opposed—the hegemonic spread of English, a spread which began some three centuries ago as economic and colonial expansion.
同时，他认为这些政策和他称之为语言歧视（和种族歧视、性别歧视的情况类似）的偏见密切相关。在菲利普森看来，在以白人英语为主导的世界，最重要的机构和个人（有意或无意地）鼓励或者至少是容忍了（肯定没有反对）英语霸权主义式的传播。这种传播始于三个世纪之前的经济及殖民扩张。
3. By and large, we now view them as more or less benign, and often talk with admiration and appreciation about the cultures associated with them and what they have given to the world. And it is fairly safe to do this, because none of them now poses much of a threat.
总的来说，我们现在或多或少地把这些语言看作有利的语言。在谈到与之相关的文化及其为世界所做的贡献时，我们常怀有崇敬与赞赏，而且这样做也没有太大的风险，因为这些语言现在已不会构成什么威胁。
4. Yet many people see English as a blessing. Let me leave aside here the obvious advantages possessed by any world language, such as a large communicative network, a strong literary and media complex, and a powerful cultural and educational apparatus.
然而，许多人把英语看成是一件幸事。在此，我暂且不谈任何世界语言所具有的明显优势，例如广泛的通信网，强大的文化传媒体系，及强有力的文化教育机构。
5. English-speaking South Africans of British descent were not particularly strong in opposing the apartheid regime, and the black opposition, whose members had many languages, was at first weak and disorganized.
讲英语的南非英国后裔并不强烈反对种族隔离政权，而黑人反对力量，其成员讲多种语言，在初期软弱无力且缺乏组织。
6. Such symbolism suggests that the users of the world's lingua franca should seek to benefit as fully as possible from the blessing and as far as possible avoid invoking the curse.
这一象征表明这种世界通用语的使用者应充分发掘这一幸事为我们带来的好处,同时尽能避免招来灾难。
V. Oral Practice and Discussion
1. Why did Glanville Price say that English is a killer?
Because it has caused extinction of lots of small languages, such as Cumbric, Cornish, Norn and Manx, and it also threatens the existence of remaining Celtic languages.
2. According to McArthur, in what way is English different from other "world languages"?
Generally people view “world languages”, such as Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit as more or less benign, and often talk with admiration and appreciation about the cultures associated with them and what they have given to the world. And the author believes it is fairly safe to do this, because none of these languages now poses much of a threat. English, however, is another case. It is probably too close for us to be able to analyze and judge it as dispassionately as we may now discuss the influence of Classical Chinese on East Asia or of Classical Latin on Western Europe. We