Introduction :Read the quotations and answer the questions.

We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except of course, language. ─ Oscar Wilde, (19th century writer)

It doesn’t make much of a difference whether a teacher speaks British or American English. － Dave Sperling(founder of Dave’s ESL Café)

Within a century British and American Englishspeakers will not be able to understand each other. － Henry Sweet (19th century linguist)

America and England are two countries divided by a common language.─ George Bernard Shaw (20th century writer)

1. What is the topic of the quotations? The difference between British and

American English. 2. Whose opinion is the most

optimistic? Dave Sperling.3. Whose opinion is the most

pessimistic? Henry Sweet.

4. Which (if any) do you think are funny? 5. Which is good news for students of English ? 6. Can you guess which quotation are from British people?

Open

number d

Henry Sweet ---- English Oscar wilde ---- Irish George Bernard Shaw ---- Irish Dave Sperling ---- America

American English Mom program theater realize write me

British English • Mum • programme• theatre• realised• write to me

Check the true statements.1. People from Hong Kong can

understand people from Beijing. Open2. People from Shanghai sound the

same as people from Xi’an. Not true

3. Chinese characters can be understood by all speakers of Chinese.

4. American English is very different from British English.

5. People from Britain can’t understand people from America.

True

Not true

Not true

Read the passage and find out ways in which British and American English are different.

♠ Vocabulary

♣ Spelling

♥ Grammar

♦ Pronunciation

Reading

1. There are ____ differences between American and British varieties of English. A. no B. a few C. lots of

Complete the sentences with the correct words or phrases.

2. Americans ____ understand what the British are saying. A. sometimes B. usually C. never

3. There are ___ differences between British and American grammar. A. no B. many C. not many

4. American spelling is __ British spelling. A. the same way B. simpler than C. harder than

5. For a Londoner, an American accent may be easier to understand than ___. A. a Chinese accent B. some British accents C. a CNN newsreader

6. Television and the Internet have made it ___ for the British and Americans to understand each other. A. harder B. easier C. impossible

Read the first paragraph and finish the form.

British Americancars

motorwayspetrol

undergroundtaxi

automobiles

freewaysgassubwaycab

British Americantorchqueue upchips( 薯片 )crisps( 薯条 )

Read the second paragraph and finish the form.

flashlightstand in line

French frieschips

British AmericanHave you got…?My friend has just arrived.in the team

at the weekendwrite to me soon

Read the third paragraph and finish the form.

Do you have…?My friend just arrived.on the teamon the weekend

write me soon

Read the forth paragraph and check the following statements.1. Americans prefer center, color, and program instead of centre, colour and programme.

2. The accent, which is most similar to British English, can be heard on the West Coast of the US.

3. George Bernard Shaw is a famous British writer.

Read the last three paragraphs and complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs.1. Some experts believe that the two

varieties __________ (move) closer together.

are moving

2. For more than a century communications across the Atlantic _____________ (develop) steadily.

3. Users of English ____________ (be able to) understand each other － wherever they are.

have developed will be able to

1. British English and American English are different in many ways. 英式英语和美式英语在很多方面是不同的。

1) be different in… 在……方面不同 They are so different in life style.

Language points

2) in … way (s) 在……方面 It is proved in the following ways: politics,

economy and culture.2. Americans drives automobile down

freeways and fill up with gas. 美国人开车沿高速公路行驶并加满汽油。

fill up 装满 ; 填满 He filled up the bucket with water.

他把水桶装满水

3. Americans use a flashlight, while for the British it’s a torch. 美国人用的是 flashlight( 手电筒 ) 而英国人则用 torch( 手电筒 ) 。

while: 然而 ; 而 ; 而且。此处表对比。 He likes playing basketball, while I

likes listen to music. 他喜欢打篮球 , 而我喜欢听音乐。

4. Prepositions, too, can be different: compare on the end, on the weekend (American) with in the team, at the weekend (British).

介词也不同 : 把美国的 on the team, on the weekend 与英国的 in the team, at the weekend 比较一下。

compare 1) compare A with B 把 A 和 B 进行比较 In today’s class, our teacher compared

Li Bai with Du Fu. 在今天的课堂上我们的老师比较了李白和杜甫。

2) compare A to B 把 A 比作 B Shakespeare compares the world to

status. 莎士比亚把世界比作舞台。

3) compared with/to 与……相比 ( 在句中常作状语 )

Compared with/to many women, she was indeed very famous.

5. The accent, which is most similar to British English, can be heard on the East Coast of the US.

这种对英国英语来讲非常相似的口音可以在美国的东部沿海一带听到。

is similar to 类似于 , 与 ……相似

My new dress is similar to the one you have. 我的新衣服和你的那件相似。

6. After all, there is probably as much variation of pronunciation within the two countries as between them.毕竟 , 两个国家境内的发音的差别可能跟两国之间的发音差别一样多。

1) after all① 毕竟 ; 仍然 : We chose to take a plane after all.

我们仍然选择乘飞机。② 终究 ; 最终 : It has turned out to be a nice day

after all. 天气终于转晴了。

2) as much as 意思是“多达…… , ……之多” , as … as 中间常接形容词或副词原形 , 即 as +adj./adv. +as 。

The cost of the trip is as much as 50,000 yuan. 这次旅行的费用高达 50,000 人民币。

as…as… 在否定句中也可将第一个as 换成 so 。Mike is not so clever as his sister. 迈克不如他姐姐聪明。

7. A Londoner has more difficulty understanding a Scotsman from Glasgow than understanding a New Yorker. 伦敦的居民听懂来自格拉斯哥的苏格兰人 的话要比听懂一个纽约人的话难得多。

have difficulty in doing sth.with sth.

Do you have any difficulty with English? 你英语上有困难吗？The government had great difficulty in persuading people to leave their villages. 政府很难说服人们离开他们的村庄。

干某事有困难

同样的东西，在美国与英国的称呼不一样。以下举一些最常见的例子 :第一个为 :American English 美语 第二个为 :British English 英语 公寓 apartment flat 洗手间 bathroom / restroom toilet 罐头 can   tin 糖果 candy sweets 洋芋片 chips crisps 饼干 cookie biscuit 玉米 corn maize 婴儿床 crib cot 尿布 diaper nappy 电梯 elevator lift

橡皮擦 eraser rubber 一楼 first floor ground floor 手电筒 flashlight torch 薯条 French fries chips 垃圾桶 garbage can dustbin 汽油 gas, gasoline petrol 果酱 jelly jam 生气 mad angry 数学 math maths 餐巾、擦嘴巾 napkin serviette 薯片 potato chips crisp 手提包 purse / pocketbook handbag 足球 soccer football 来回票 roundtrip return 人行道 sidewalk pavement 炉子 stove cooker

卡车 truck lorry 汽车后面的行李箱 trunk boot 假期 vacation holiday• 拼字的差异比较小，以下是一些例子： 第一个为 :American English 美语 第二个为 :British English 英语目录 catalog catalogue 文明 civilization civilisation 颜色 color colour 抵抗 defense defence 草稿 draft draught 最爱 favorite favourite