Ⅰ. 细品味经典文章
Only a hundred years ago, people seldom travelled far out of their birthplace. Books were very expensive and there were few national newspapers and no radio or television. In fact, most people spent their time talking and listening. Only a very small quantity (量) of reading and writing went on and many people were unable to read or write. For this reason, native dialects (方言) grew up and people spoke the way their parents and grandparents spoke. A woman from Cornwall who travelled just as far as to London would find herself in a place where people spoke what was almost a different language.
Sometimes it is hard to take in just how much things have changed. You are used to owning books and having them around, to reading magazines and newspapers and to a choice of national television and radio programmes. You, and everyone around you, are used to travelling not just in the British islands but all of the world. Modern science has changed our life and distances have been made shorter. It might have taken that Cornwall woman three days to travel to London. Now it takes less than two hours by air, less than four by train and less than six by road.
The result of this is that the language we use is becoming more national and the dialects are dying out. Writing, printing and broadcasting have speeded up this change as one dialect has come to be used by more and more people. This is the dialect called standard English which was first used outside London in the south and east Midlands.
