2014年4月托福考试模拟试卷及答案(第一套)_第6页

　“tomato,” and “missile.” The most obvious and distinctive feature of Canadian speech is probably its vowel sound, the diphthong “ou.” In Canada, “out” is pronounced like “oat” in nearby U.S. accents. There are other identifying features of Canadian vowels;for example, “cot” is pronounced the same as “caught” and “collar”, the same as “caller.”

　　An important characteristic of the vocabulary of Canadian English is the use of many words and phrases originating in Canada itself, such as “kerosene” and “chesterfield” (“sofa”). Several words are borrowed from North American Indian languages, for example, “kayak,” “caribou,” “parka,” and “skookum” (“strong”). The name of the country itself has an Indian origin;the Iroquois word “kanata” originally meant “village.” A number of terms for ice hockey— “face-off,” “blue-line,” and “puck”—have become part of World Standard English.

　　Some features of Canadian English seem to be unique and are often deliberately identified with Canadian speakers in such contexts as dramatic and literary characterizations. Among the original Canadian idioms, perhaps the most famous is the almost universal use of “eh?” as a tag question, as in “That’s a good movie, eh?” “Eh” is also used as a filler during a narrative, as in “I’m walking home from work, eh, and I’m thinking about dinner. I finally get home, eh, and the refrigerator is empty.”

　　The traditional view holds that there are no dialects in Canadian English and that Canadians cannot tell where other Canadians are from just by listening to them. The linguists of today disagree with this view. While there is a greater degree of homogeneity in Canadian English compared with American English, several dialect areas do exist across Canada. Linguists have identified distinct dialects for the Maritime Provinces, Newfoundland, the Ottawa Valley,southern Ontario, the Prairie Provinces, the Arctic North, and the West.

　　Glossary：

　　diphthong：a speech sound that begins with one vowel and changes to another vowel

　　25. The word homogeneity in paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to

　　accent

　　change

　　creativity

　　sameness

　　26. Look at the four squares, A, B, C, andD, which indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. Where would the sentence best fit?

　　Thus, “out” rhymes with “boat,” so the phrase “out and about in a boat” sounds like “oat and aboat in a boat” to American ears.

　　There is no distinctive Canadian grammar. The differences are mainly in pronunciation, vocabulary, and idioms. Canadian pronunciation reflects the experience of a people struggling for national identity against two strong influences. About 75 percent of Canadians use the British “zed” rather than the American “zee” for the name of the last letter of the alphabet. On the other hand,75 percent of Canadians use the American pronunciation of “schedule,” “tomato,” and “missile.” A The most obvious and distinctive feature of Canadian speech is probably its vowel sound, the diphthong ou. B In Canada, “out” is pronounced like “oat” in nearby U.S. accents. C There are other identifying features of Canadian vowels; for example, “cot” is pronounced the same as “caught” and “collar” the same as “caller.” D