题文
Just as the English language has changed quickly in the previous century, so has the use of it.After the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was founded in 1927, the particular style of speech of the BBC announcers was recognized as standard English or Received Pronunciation (RP) English. Now, most people still consider that the pronunciation and delivery of BBC announcers is the clearest and most understandable spoken English.
English has had a strong relationship with classes and social positions. However, since the Second World War there has been a clear change of attitude towards speech snobbery(自我优越感), and marks of class distinction(区别) such as styles of speech have been gradually diminishing, especially in the younger generation.
By the end of the 1960s, it had become clear that it was not necessary to speak standard English or even correct grammar to become popular, successful and rich. The fashionable speech of the day was no longer the special right of a special class but rather a defiant(反抗的) expression of classlessness.
The greatest single influence of the shaping of the English language in modern times is the American English. Over the last 25 years the English used by many people, particularly by those in the media, advertising and show business, has become more and more mid-Atlantic in style, delivery and accent.
In the 1970s, fashion favored careless pronunciation and a language full of jargon, slang and “in” words, a great quantity of which couldn’t be understood by the outside world. What is considered modern and fashionable in Britain today is often not the kind of English taught in schools and colleges.
小题1:Which of the following is NOT true?A．The use of the English language has not changed much in the previous century.B．BBC announcers speak standard English.C．English has no relationship with classes and social positions now.D．Young people don’t like class distinction.小题2:What does the author imply by saying “there has been a clear change of attitude towards speech snobbery”?A．Everyone speaks English as the BBC announcers do.B．There has been a great change of attitudes towards the status of English.C．Most people don’t believe the way of speaking by BBC announcers is much better than that of other people.D．It is necessary to speak standard English with correct grammar.小题3:According to the author, there was a trend in the US for young people ________.A．to speak standard EnglishB．to speak English with grammatical mistakesC．to speak old EnglishD．to speak English without class distinction小题4:It can be concluded from the passage that________.A．standard English is taught only in schools and collegesB．there has been a great change in the English language in the previous centuryC．the English language has not been influenced by the American English in the last 25 yearsD．young people are defiant because they refuse to speak standard English 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:A
小题2:C
小题3:D
小题4:B
解析
文章说明在上一世纪英语语言的变化，在60年代很明确已没有了阶级区分。 现代英语受到的最大的影响来自美国英语。在70年代，俚语，还有术语很少被外界理解了。
小题1:细节题，由第一段Just as the English language has changed quickly in the previous century可知选A。
小题2:推理题，由第四段的描述可知很多人都不认为BBC的语言不再是最好的语言了。故选C。
小题3:细节题，由marks of class distinction(区别) such as styles of speech have been gradually diminishing, especially in the younger generation.可知年轻人说英语没有阶级区分。
小题4:推理题，由Just as the English language has changed quickly in the previous century, so has the use of it.可知英语语言有很大的改变。
点评：这是一篇说明文，主要考查细节和推理问题，先通读全文了解大意，然后根据设问再仔细阅读与问题相关的内容，再进行选择。主要考查考生的阅读理解能力。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“Just as the English .....”主要考查你对 [政治经济类阅读 ]考点的理解。政治经济类阅读
政治经济类文章的概念：
要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。
如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：
【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干：
根据英语中五种基本句型结构，把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来，其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干，句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句：
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，在理解时，如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解，然后把大意拼凑起来，整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句：
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成，句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词，只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系，再把各层分句的意思加以连贯，整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词：
如果一个句子看完，一点句意的感觉也没有，下下策就是抓住句中的关键词，通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。
