张汉熙高级英语Paraphrase.doc

Lesson1 Pub talk and the King’s English And it is an activity only of humans. And conversation is an activity which is found only among human beings． Conversation is not for making a point. Conversation is not for persuading others to accept our idea or point of view． In fact, the best conversationalists are those who are prepared to lose. In fact a person who really enjoys and is skilled at conversation will not argue to win or force others to accept his point of view． Bar friends are not deeply involved in each others lives. People who meet each other for a drink in the bar of a pub are not intimate friends for they are not deeply absorbed or engrossed in each other’s lives． It could still go ignorantly on. The conversation could go on without anybody knowing who was right or wrong． They are cattle in the fields, but we sit down to beef (boeuf). These animals are called cattle when they are alive and feeding in the fields；but when we sit down at the table to eat．we call their meat beef． The new ruling class had built a cultural barrier against him by building their French against his own language. The new ruling class by using French instead of English made it difficult for the English to accept or absorb the culture of the rulers． English had come royally into its own. The English language received proper recognition and was used by the King once more． The phrase has always been used a little pejoratively and even facetiously by the lower classes. The phrase，the King’s English，has always been used disrespectfully and jokingly by the lower classes． The working people very often make fun of the proper and formal language of the educated people． The rebellion against a cultural dominance is still there. There still exists in the working people，as in the early Saxon peasants，a spirit of opposition to the cultural authority of the ruling class． There is always a great danger, as Carlyle put it, that words will harden into things for us. There is always a great danger