"What part of the states do you come from?"
"I'm not American. I'm Canadian."
This is a mistake that Europeans often make. Many Americans, too, admit that it takes them a while to tell if it's an American talking or a Canadian. This upsets some Canadians, because they want people to recognize them as Canadians. They want everyone to know that Canada is an independent nation with its own special character.
American English was probably brought to Canada by the Loyalists who fled there during the Revolutionary War(1776--1783), for even as late as 1813, 80% of all British Canadians had come from the USA.
From the very first, Canada was a country with two languages, neither of which influenced the other very much, because the French and British spoke to each other so little. Canadian English has always remained very like American English, and the influence of the Indian and Inuit languages was no GREater than the influence of French. But here are some important words that have found their way via Canadian dictionaries into British dictionaries.
Words: 179
Total Reading Time: ____________
Words per minute: ____________
Notes: upset 使......不安, independent 独立的, Loyalist ,忠于北方者, influence 影响, via 通过
I. True or False:
1. American English was probably brought to Canada during World War I.
2. Indian and Intuit languages had GREat influence to Canadian English.
3. The sentence "I'm not American, I'm Canadian. "just tell people "I" come from Canada.
II. Answer the Questions:
4. What kind of mistake do Europeans often make?
_________________________________________________
5. What is the percentage of all British Canadians were from?
_________________________________________________
III. Multiple Choice:
6. It isn't easy for Europeans even for Americans to tell __________ from __________ .
A. American English; British English
B. Canadian English; American English
C. Canadian English; British English
D. British English; Scottish English
7. The two languages spoken in Canada refer to __________ .
A. British English and American English
B. English and Latin
C. French and English
D. Canadian English and American English
8. With the help of __________ , some American English new words come into British English.
A. the Revolutionary War B. Indian language
C. the Loyalists D. Canadian dictionaries
% Comprehension: __________
参考答案：
1. F。American English was brought to Canada during the Revolutionary War(1776--1783).
2. F。They had little influence to Canadian English.
3. F。"I" want everyone to know that Canada is an independent nation with its own special character．
4．They often mistake Canadians for Americans just by their language．
5．80％ of all British Canadians had come from the USA．
6．B。由文中末段得知。
7．C。同上。
8．D。由最后一句可得知。
