英语竞赛演讲-全世界的通用语言.doc

演讲稿 英语竞赛演讲:全世界的通用语言 thearrivaloftheyear1999hasbroughtwithanearperfectopportunitytotakealookbackatthelastonethousandyears,assessmanssuccessesandfailures,andlookforwardwithourpredictionsofthethirdmillennium.alreadythisafternoonyouveheardmanyassessmentsandyouveheardavarietyofpredictions.avarietysovast,rangingfromlewiscarolsdepictionofcelebratorylife,totheirishcelebrationofdeath.sovastavarietythatitsdifficulttofindanymongroundamongstthecontestantsheretoday.perhapstheonlythingthatweallshareisthatweareindeeddiscussingmillennia,theoldandthenewandtheturnofthemillennium,andwerealldiscussingitinthesamelanguage.afewhundredyearsagotohaveheldaneventlikethisitwouldhavebeenimperativethatwewereallfluentinanumberofdifferenttongues,fortheapproachofcombatingthelanguagebarrierwassimplytolearnmanydifferentlanguages.ofcoursepeoplebackthenhadanulteriormotive:thatwastoensurethatdifferentlanguagesheldtheirdifferentsocietiesorpositions,oraskingcharlesvofspainputit,“ispeakspanishtogod,italiantowomen,frenchtomenandgermantomyhorse.”todayourapproachissomewhatdifferent.insteadoftryingtovastlyspreadourverbalabilityacrosstheboard,wevechosenrathertofocusit,concentratingonourabilitytomasteroneparticularlanguage,theenglishlanguage.timemagazinerecentlysuggestedthatbytheturnofthemillennium,englishwillbethelinguafrancaforonequarteroftheworldspopulation.alreadytodaysixtypercentsoftheworldstelevisionandradiobroadcastsareproducedanddeliveredinenglish.seventypercentsoftheworldsmailaddressedinenglish.anditisthelanguageofchoiceforalmosteverybiteofputerdatasentacrosstheglobe.butwhyenglish?therearenoclearlinguisticreasonsforitssuggestedglobaldominance,certainlythegrammarisplicated,thespellingpeculiarandthepronunciationeccentric,tosaytheveryleast.onewouldneedonlylookthroughthedictionarytofindthevastlistofamusingparadoxesintheenglishlanguage?quicksandthatworksslowly,aboxingringthatisinfactsquareandaguineapigthatsreallyneitherfromguineanorisitapig.dothroughtheannalsofhistorybutnotoneannal.thereason,ladiesandgentlemen,issimple.englishisstrange,butnowherenearasstrangeassomeofouralternatives.perhapsishouldgiveyouafewidiomaticexamples.inenglishwesay“onceinabluemoon”.theitalianchooseinstead“everydeathofapope”.irishdoesntlikeour“dropdead”,replacingitratherwiththeslightlymoreobscure“youshouldlieintheearth.”andifyouwantedtotellsomeoneoffinspanishourrelativelyobvious“goflyakite”wouldbebetterservedbythephrase“gofryasparagus”.englishsprimaryadvantageisthatofflexibility.ontheonehandithasthelargestvocabularyofallmodernlanguages,allowingus,asitsusers,tosayexactlywhatwewantinexactlythewordswechoosetouse.ontheother,globalizationhasinsuredtheintroductionofabusinessenglish,asortoftrimmeddownvarietyofthelanguagewevealletoknowandlove.itsinterestingtoknowthatthesimplelistofjusttenwords,wordslike“a”,“and”,“have”and“the”,binedtoformonequarterofallthoseeverusedinmodernmunication.perhapstherealtestis:willtheglobaladoptionofenglishasamasterlanguageinsuretheeradicationofanymisunderstandingsthathappentoday?theanswerisnotassimple.russellhovenonceasked:“howmanypeoplespeakthesamelanguageevenwhentheyspeakthesamelanguage?”butonecanonlyhopethatouronlyaimandouronlychanceofinsuringthatwemunicateeffectivelywitheachotheristomakesurethatwedospeakoneuniversallanguage.inathousandyearstimewesternclockswillhopefullyhavetickedontotheyear2999andwecanbeassuredthatscientists,academicsandfuturistswillconvene,muchlikewevedonetodaytolookbackatthethirdmilleniumandoffertheirpredictionsforthesuccessesoftheforth.itsimpossibletoimaginewhattheymightsay,impossibletoimaginewhattechnologytheyllhaveavailableorevenwhichplanettheyllholdthemeetingon.infact,quitepossi