17世纪，英语的标准发音被确定，口音歧视便由此形成。但是随着时代的发展，一场口音变革正在悄悄进行，人们渐渐认为怎么说并不重要，说什么才重要。 You Are What You Speak George Bernard Shaw, once wrote that an English man/woman only has to open their mouths for another English man/woman to hate them. Until recently, this statement may have held some truth. The prejudices we all seem to hold towards people who speak with particular accents and dialects are deep rooted in the British minds. Those speaking English with a Received Pronunciation accent are at the top or the social order; those with a Northern or Southern accent in the middle, and those with a Midlands accent at the bottom. Attitudes towards variations of spoken English in the UK are rooted in prejudices that go back to the seventeenth century, when a standard form of English was chosen from regional(地区的) origins. Before then, no one cared. Standard English, with a Received Pronunciation accent, has generally indicated membership of a financially comfortable, middle class who could afford to educate their children privately. By contrast, speaking with a regional accent more likely indicated a working class background and state education for children. A West Country accent would be associated with being a country bumpkin(乡巴佬) and lack of intelligence; a Cockney(伦敦腔的) accent with slipperiness and dishonesty, a Northern accent with being untrustworthy and a Birmingham or West Midlands accent with stupidity. However, a quiet revolution is taking place. With an increasingly educated population, the old ties between accent and social class are fast coming loose. Regionality in speech may have been something to disguise in the 1960s and 70s, but today’s generation is less likely to do so. The BBC, once a guardian of English pronunciation, has thrown off its role as a gatekeeper of pronunciation. Even the younger generation of the Royal Family have been heard to occasionally glottal stop(声门闭塞音). Who knows, we may fast be approaching an era(时代) where what is said rather than how it is said is heard. Section Ⅰ Warming Up & Reading—Comprehending 重点单词 写作词汇 1.classic adj. 经典的 2.professor n. 教授 3.whistle vi. 吹口哨；发出汽笛声 n. 口哨声；汽笛声 4.thief n. 小偷；贼 5.__classify vt. 把……分类；把……归类 6.remark n. 谈论；言论；评述 vt.& vi. 谈论；评论；说起 7.betray vt. 显露出(本来面目)；背叛 8.outcome n. 结果；效果 9.condemn vt. 谴责；使……注定 10.wallet__n. 皮夹；钱包 11.acquaintance n. 相识；了解；熟人 12.status n. 身份；地位；职位 拓展词汇 13.adaptation n．适应(性)；改编本→adapt v．(使)适应；改编 14.woollen adj.毛纺的；纯毛的→wool n．毛 15.hesitate vi.犹豫；踌躇→hesitation n．犹豫；踌躇 16.uncomfortable adj.不舒服的；不安的；不自在的→uncomfortably adv.不舒服地；不自在地→comfortably adv.舒服地；自在地→comfortable adj.舒服的→comfort n．舒服；安慰vt.安慰；抚慰 17.troublesome adj.带来麻烦的；使人心烦的→trouble n．麻烦 18.fortune n．机会；运气；大笔的钱→fortunate ... ...
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