高中必修一 · 第 6 课
世界上的语言 Languages Around the World
世界上有七千多种语言。为什么汉字能传承千年？为什么英语如此流行？一堂语言课开启了四个少年的探索之旅。
📖 20 个单词📄 376词长文📝 5+12 题
1本课单词
2课文精读：世界上的语言 (Languages Around the World · 约376词)
世界上有七千多种语言。为什么汉字能传承千年？为什么英语如此流行？一堂语言课开启了四个少年的探索之旅。 读课文，先自己理解，再点 🔊 听朗读。
Languages Around the World
The bell rang, but the classroom was unusually quiet. Cozy had written one sentence on the board: 'A language is the road map of a culture.' 'Today we are going to talk about languages,' he said. 'Lily, you are learning Chinese. Tell us the reason why you chose it.' Lily smiled. 'Because Chinese characters are like little pictures. The character for 'home' even has a roof over a pig — that is where people kept their animals in ancient times!'
上课铃响了，教室里却异常安静。Cozy 老师在黑板上写了一句话：“语言是文化的地图。”他说：“今天我们来讲讲语言。Lily，你在学中文。告诉我们你选择中文的原因吧。”Lily 笑了：“因为汉字就像一幅幅小图画。‘家’字上面甚至有个屋顶，下面是一头猪——那是古人养牲口的地方！”
'Exactly,' Cozy nodded. 'Now, do you remember the day when we first met? You could not say a word in Chinese, but today you speak like a local.' He turned to the map on the wall. 'This is the place where the Silk Road began. Along this road, merchants exchanged not only silk and tea, but also words. Every language is a system that carries the history of the people who speak it.'
“正是如此，”Cozy 点点头，“还记得我们初次见面的那天吗？你一句中文都不会说，但今天你说起话来像当地人一样。”他转向墙上的地图：“这就是丝绸之路的起点。沿着这条路，商人们不仅交换丝绸和茶叶，也交换词语。每一种语言都是一个系统，承载着使用者的历史。”
Li Lei raised his hand. 'There is a reason why English is so widely used,' he said. 'My father works in a foreign company. He told me that English connects people from different countries in business, science and travel. It is the official language of many international meetings.' Han Mei added, 'But I love the way Chinese changes. The same character can have various meanings in different situations — that is the aspect of our language I find most fascinating.'
李雷举手说：“英语如此普及是有原因的。我爸爸在一家外企工作。他告诉我，英语把不同国家的人在商务、科学和旅行中联系起来，是许多国际会议的官方语言。”韩梅补充道：“但我喜欢汉语的变化方式。同一个字在不同情境下可以有各种各样的意思——这是我们的语言最让我着迷的一个方面。”
Cozy then introduced a famous linguist, Professor Wang, who had studied minority languages for thirty years. 'The time when Professor Wang started his work was difficult,' Cozy explained. 'Many small languages had no written system. He spent years in mountain villages, listening and recording, so that those languages would not disappear. Thanks to people like him, we still have a wonderful variety of languages in the world today.'
随后 Cozy 介绍了一位著名的语言学家王教授，他研究少数民族语言长达三十年。“王教授刚开始这项工作时很艰难，”Cozy 解释说，“许多小语言没有文字系统。他在山村待了多年，倾听、记录，让这些语言不至于消失。多亏了像他这样的人，今天我们这个世界上仍然保留着丰富多彩的语言。”
At the end of the class, Lily wrote a thank-you note in Chinese for the first time. 'This is the first note where I have written every character by hand,' she said proudly. Jack laughed. 'And this is the first time when I have ever wanted to learn a third language!' Cozy smiled at his students. 'Remember, the reason why we learn languages is simple: every new language opens a new window to the world.'
下课时，Lily 第一次用中文写了一张感谢卡。“这是第一张我用手一笔一画写出每个字的卡片，”她自豪地说。Jack 笑了：“这也是我第一次想学第三门语言！”Cozy 老师对学生们微笑：“记住，我们学语言的原因很简单：每学会一门新语言，就为世界打开一扇新窗户。”
📖 读后理解（0/5）
1. Why does Lily think Chinese characters are interesting?
2. What did merchants exchange along the Silk Road?
3. Why is English widely used according to Li Lei?
4. What did Professor Wang do for minority languages?
5. What is the main idea of the passage?
3语法小课堂：定语从句：关系副词 when / where / why
关系副词 when / where
先行词（时间/地点）+ when / where + 从句
when 修饰表示时间的先行词（day, time, year, moment）：Do you remember the day when we first met? （你还记得我们初次见面的那一天吗？）
where 修饰表示地点的先行词（place, city, school, room）：This is the place where the Silk Road began. （这就是丝绸之路的起点。）
when / where 可替换为介词 + which：the day when we met = the day on which we met；the place where we met = the place in which we met。
⚠️ 关系副词在从句中作状语；若从句缺主语或宾语，则要用关系代词 that / which / who。
关系副词 why
先行词 reason + why + 从句（why = for which）
why 修饰先行词 reason：Tell me the reason why you chose Chinese. （告诉我你选择中文的原因。）
the reason why ... is that ...（表语从句不用 because）：The reason why I like it is that it is interesting. （我喜欢它的原因是它有趣。）
why 可省略：That is the reason (why) he was late. （那就是他迟到的原因。）
⚠️ 先行词是 reason 时，从句不缺成分用 why；缺主语或宾语时用 that / which（the reason that he gave 他给出的理由）。
👨🏫Cozy 老师说：高中语法重在「在语境中理解」——多读课文里的例句，语法自然就活了。
4课后练习（0/12）
1. Do you remember the day ___ we first met?
2. This is the place ___ the Silk Road began.
3. Tell me the reason ___ you chose Chinese.
4. The reason why he was late ___ that he missed the bus.
5. The time ___ he started his work was difficult.
6. This is the school ___ I studied for three years.
7. A ___ is a small picture or sign that stands for something.
8. English is the ___ language of many international meetings.
9. The same character can have ___ meanings in different situations.
10. Which sentence uses 'where' correctly?
11. Translate: 这就是我学中文的原因。
12. A language is a ___ that carries the history of its people.