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Module 1 British and American English

Words， words， words
British and American English are different in many ways. The first and most obvious way is in the vocabulary。 There are hundreds of different words which are not used on the other side of the Atlantic, or which are used with a different meaning. Some of these words are well—known – Americans drive automobiles down freeways and fill up with gas； the British drive cars along motorways and fill up with petrol。 As a tourist， you will need to used the underground in London or the subway in New York, or maybe you will prefer to get around the town by taxi (British） or cab (American）。
British and American
Chips or French fries?
But other words and expressions are not so well known. Americans use a flashlight, while for the British, it’s a torch。 The British queue up； Americans stand in line。 Sometimes the same word ahs a slightly different meaning, which can be confusing. Chips， for example, are pieces of hot fried potato in Britain； in the States chips are very thin and are sold in packets. The British call these crisps. The chips the British know and love are French fries on the other side of the Atlantic。
Have or have got？
There are a few differences in grammar, too。 The British say Have you got…？ while Americans prefer Do you have…? An American might say My friend just arrived， but a British person would say My friend has just arrived。 Prepositions, too, can be different： compare on the team， on the weekend （American) with in the team， at the weekend （British）. The British use prepositions where Americans sometimes omit them (I'll see you Monday; write me soon！)
Colour or color？
The other two areas in which the two varieties differ are spelling and pronunciation。 American spelling seems simpler： center, color and program instead of centre， colour and programme。 Many factors have influenced American pronunciation since the first settlers arrived four hundred years ago. The accent， which is most similar to British English, can be heard on the East Coast of the US。 When the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw made the famous remark that the British and the Americans are two nations divided by a common language, he was obviously thinking about the differences。 But are they really so important？ After all, there is probably as much variation of pronunciation within the two countries as between them. A Londoner has more difficulty understanding a Scotsman from Glasgow than understanding a New Yorker。
Turn on the TV
Some experts believe that the two varieties are moving closer together. For more than a century communications across the Atlantic have developed steadily. Since the 1980s, with satellite TV and the Internet， it has been possible to listen to British and American English at the flick of a switch. This non-stop communication， the experts think, has made it easier for British people and Americans to understand each other. But it has also led to lots of American words and structures passing into British English, so that some people now believe that British English will disappear.
However, if you turn on CNN， the American TV network, you find newsreaders and weather forecasters all speaking with different accents – American， British， Australian， and even Spanish。 One of the best-known faces, Monita Rajpal， was born in Hong Kong， China, and grew up speaking Chinese and Punjabi, as well as English.
This international dimension suggests that in the future, there are going to be many “Englishes”, not just two main varieties。 But the messages is “Don’t worry。” Users of English will all be able to understand each other – wherever they are.

The Man Who Made Spelling Simple
In English the spelling of words does not always represent the sound. So people say /rait/ but spell it right, or write, or even rite。 Combinations of letters (like ough） may be pronounced in a number of ways。 And some words just seem to have too many letters.
For Americans things are a little bit easier, thanks to the work of Noah Webster， a teacher who graduated from Yale University in 1778。 as a young man he had fought against the British in the American War of independence， and he felt that written English in the newly independent United States should have a distinctive “American" look。
So he began his work on American English. His first book， the Elementary Spelling Book, suggested simplifying the spelling of English words。 The book was extremely popular. By the 1850s it was selling one million copies a year, making it one of the most popular school books ever.
Many of the suggestions were quickly adopted. Center instead of centre, program instead of programme， and flavor instead of flavour。 Others， however, such as removing silent letters like the s in island or the final e in examine， were not.
Webster is best known for his American Dictionary of the English Language, which first appeared 1828. it introduced lots of new American words， with information about their pronunciation and use， and, of course, the new spelling. The British criticized the dictionary， but it quickly became a standard reference book in the States。 Today， Webster’s dictionary is still the number one dictionary for American students。

Module 2 A Job Worth Doing

The Human Traffic Signal
At 3500 meters, La Paz, in Bolivia， is the highest capital in the world. Life is hard at high altitude， and the mountains make communications difficult。 Many roads are in bad condition and accidents are frequent. One road in particular， which goes north from La Paz, is considered the most dangerous road in the world。 On one side the mountains rise steeply； on the other side there is a sheer drop， which in places is hundreds of metres deep. Although there is not a lot of traffic, on average， one vehicle comes off the road every two weeks。 The drop is so great that anyone inside the vehicle is lucky to survive. In theory, the road can only be used by traffic going uphill from 8 in the morning， and by traffic coming downhill from 3 in the afternoon. But in practice， few drivers respect the rules.
But thanks to one man， the death toll has fallen. Timoteo Apaza is a gentle 46—year-old man who lives in a village near the most dangerous part of the road, known locally as la curva del Diablo （the Devil's Bend)。 Timoteo has an unusual job – he is a human traffic signal。 Every morning he climbs up to the bend with a large circular board in his hand. The board is red on one side and green on the other. Timoteo stands on the bend and directs the traffic. When two vehicles approach from opposite directions they can’t see each other， but they can see Timoteo。 Timoteo is a volunteer。 No one asked him to do the job， and no one pays him for it. Sometimes drivers give him a tip, so that he has just enough money to live on。 But often they just pass by， taking the human traffic signal for granted.
So why does he do it? Before he volunteer to direct the traffic, Timoteo had had lots of jobs. He had been a miner and a soldier. Then one day while he was working as a lorry driver he had a close encounter with death. He was driving a lorry load of bananas when he came off the road at a bend and fell three hundred metres down the mountain. Somehow he survived. He was in hospital for months. Then, a few years later， he was called out in the night to help pull people out of a bus which had crashed at la curva del diablo。 This last experience had a profound effect on Timoteo. He realised that he was lucky to be alive himself, and felt that it was his mission in life to help others. And so every morning， week in, week out， from dawn to dusk, Timoteo takes up his place on the bend and directs the traffic.

Growing Jobs
What sort of jobs will people de doing ten years from now? according to a survey published by an American university， the ten fastest growing jobs will be related to computers and health。 They include computer systems analysts, data analysts and database managers。 But there will also be a rise in the demand for health care professionals。 Some of these will be new jobs， such as bioinformaticians， who combine computer skills with knowledge of biology。 Others will be more traditional. For example， more home care nurses will be needed to look after the rapidly ageing population. But many youngsters will need professional care， too: 14 million Americans suffer from speech or language problems, and six million of them are under the age of 18. the number of speech pathologists (who help people who have problems speaking） is expected to double by the year 2012. and social workers will continue to be in demand。
Of course there will be plenty of other new jobs, some of which we probably can't even guess. But for those who love the outdoor life， a good bet could be the leisure industry. As more and more countries open up to tourism， more travel agents will be needed, but the real demand will be for guides to take groups and even individuals on adventure holidays. For people doing this job， common sense， physical fitness and an outgoing personality are likely to be more important than computer skills。

Module 3 Adventure in Literature and the Cinema

The Steamboat
There was a big storm after midnight and the rain poured down。 We stayed inside the shelter we had built and let the raft sail down the river. Suddenly， by the light of the lightning, we saw something in the middle of the river. It looked like a house at first， but then we realized it was a steamboat。 It had hit a rock and was half in and half out of the water. We were sailing straight towards it.
”It looks as if it'll go under soon," Jim said, after a couple of minutes.
”Let’s go and take a look，” I said.
”I don’t want to board a sinking ship，” said Jim， but when I suggested that we might find something useful on the boat， he agreed to go。 So we paddled over and climbed on to the steamboat, keeping as quiet as mice. To our astonishment, there was a light in one of the cabins. Then we heard someone shout， ”Oh please boys， don’t kill me！ I won’t tell anybody！"
A man’s angry voice answered, "You're lying。 You said that last time。 We’re going to kill you。"
When he heard these words， Jim panicked and ran to the raft。 But although I was frightened， I also felt very curious， so I put my head round the door。 It was quite dark, but I could see a man lying on the floor， tied up with rope. There were two men standing over him. One was short， with a beard. The other was tall and had something in his hand that looked like a gun。
’I’ve had enough of you。 I’m going to shoot you now，" this man said。 He was obviously the one who had threatened the man on the floor。 And it was a gun he had in his hand。
"No, don't do that，” said the short man. ”Let’s leave him here。 The steamboat will sink in a couple of hours and he'll go down with it."
When he heard that， the frightened man on the floor started crying。 ”He sounds as if he’s going to die of fright!" I thought. ”I have to find a way to save him!”
I crawled along the deck， found Jim， and told him what I had heard. ”We must find their boat and take it away， then they'll have to stay here，” I said.
Jim looked terrified. "I’m not staying here，” he said. But I persuaded him to help me， and we found the men’s boat tied to the other side of the steamboat. We climbed quietly in and as we paddled away we heard the two men shouting. By then we were a safe distance away. But now I began to feel bad about what we had done。 I didn’t want all three men to die。

The Life of Mark Twain
Often the lives of writers resemble the lives fo the characters they create. Mark Twain， who wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer， was no exception. To start with， the author's name， Mark Twain, is itself an invention, or “pen name". Twain’s real name was Samuel Clemens。 “Mark Twain”, which means “watermark two”, was a call used by sailors on the Mississippi to warn shipmates that they were coming into shallow water。
Like Huck， Mark Twain led an adventurous life。 He left school early, and as an adolescent, determined to make his fortune in South America， set off from his home in Hannibal， Missouri, for New Orleans。 He wanted to take a boat to the Amazon， where he thought he could get rich quickly。 He arrived in New Orleans without a penny in his pocket only to find that there were no boats for South America。 Forced to change his plans, he worked for several years as a pilot on a steamboat， taking passengers up and down the Mississippi, the great river which flows from the north of the US near the Canadian border， down to the Gulf of Mexico.
Later he became a journalist and began writing stories about life on the river。 Twain’s vivid and often amusing descriptions of life on the river quickly became popular, and established the reputation he still enjoys today as one of America’s greatest writers。\

Module 4 Carnival

The Magic of the Mask
Think of carnival, and you think of crowds， costumes， and confusion. The sounds and sights change from one country to another but the excitement is the same everywhere.
“Carnival” comes from two Latin words, meaning “no more meat". In Europe， where it began, carnival was followed by forty days without meat， as people prepared for the Christian festival of Easter. People saw Carnival as a last chance to have fun at the end of the winter season。 Having fun meant eating， drinking, and dressing up。
The most famous carnival in Europe was in Venice. At the beginning, it lasted for just one day. People ate, drank, and wore masks。 As time passed, however, the carnival period was extended， so that it began just after Christmas。 For weeks on end people walked round the streets wearing masks, doing what they wanted without being recognised. Ordinary people could pretend to be rich and important， while famous people could have romantic adventures in secret. Many crimes went unpunished.
The government realised that wearing masks had become a problem。 Their use was limited by laws， the first of which dates back to the fourteenth century. Men were not allowed to wear masks at night; and they were not allowed to dress up as women. In later times more laws were passed. People who wore masks could not carry firearms； and no one could enter a church wearing a mask。 If they broke the laws, they were put into prison for up to two years. Finally, when Venice became part of the Austrian empire， at the end of the eighteenth century, masks were banned completely， and carnival became just a memory.
But in the late 1970s the tradition was revived by students。 They began making masks and organising parties， and threw bits of brightly coloured paper (called coriandoli) at tourists. The town council realised that carnival was good for business, and the f