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The French Battle Against English 英法语言大作战

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The English language is the enemy, or so French trade unions and language pressure groups have come to believe. Enraged by what they see as a linguistic ___1___ of France, they grumble that the spread of English is pushing the French language into a corner. This cuts at the very heart of French culture and pride. The leader of the resistance, Member of Parliament Jacques Myard, views the English language “invasion” as ___2___ modern imperialism.

英语就是敌人，至少法国工会和语言压力团体这样认为。眼见法国遭受语言占领，他们忿忿不平，抱怨英语的盛行正将法语挤向角落，严重伤害法国人的文化与自尊。国会议员杰克．米亚德是抵制英语运动的领导者，他认为英语的「侵略」无异是现代版帝国主义。

The French actually have taken measures against the increased proliferation of English, enacting legislation which limits the ___3___ of time devoted to English pop, rock and rap songs on the radio. However, resisters still complain that English has crept into almost every aspect of life in France: governments, schools, films, music and even “les news.” Words like “le mail” and “l’ internet,” have infiltrated “les businesses” in France, too. A recent study ___4___ that seven percent of French businesses use English as their primary language.

其实法国人已开始采取措施对抗日益扩张的英语，他们施行法案，限制广播电台播放英语流行歌曲、摇滚乐及绕舌歌曲的时间。不过抵制者仍抱怨，英语似乎已悄悄进入法国人的日常生活：政府机关、学校、电影、音乐、甚至是新闻。英文的mail及Internet等字眼也已渗透法国商业圈。最近一份研究下了结论，7%的法国商业界以英语为主要语言。

Myard declares that “it is time for us to react and say to businesses – stop your nonsense! Respect people. Learn French. Learn German, learn Chinese and Arabic, as well as English,” Jean-Loup Cuisiniez, a trade union leader, thinks that both efficiency and safety may be in question when, ___5___, French employees receive instructions in English. “They might not want to confess that they don’t understand the instructions, and that could be very dangerous,” he says. This is especially true ___6___ they work in an industrial factory or a nuclear plant.

米亚德宣称：「此时我们应该采取行动对公司行号说：别乱来！要尊重人民。除了英文之外，也要学法文、德文、中文及阿拉伯文。」工会领袖强恩．卢库仁尼则认为，效率和安全可能会出问题。例如，当法国劳工收到英文指令时，「他们也许不想承认看不懂指令，这是十分危险的事」，库仁尼指出，尤其如果他们是在工厂或核电厂工作。

Some French people have thrown in the towel, however, “I wish that French ___7___ the global language of business,” sighs Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet, CEO of a French Internet company, “because my French is better than my English. But it isn’t. English has become the international language.”

不过有些法国人已经弃械投降。皮耶．寇西斯柯莫瑞塞是一家法国网络公司的执行长，他叹道：「我当然也希望法文是全球共通的商用语言，因为我的法文比英文好得多，只可惜事实并非如此，因为英文已经成为国际语言了。」

−by Amy Gittelson

Vocabulary

单词发音

grumble [ˋgrʌmb!] v. 抱怨，发牢骚

resistance [rɪˋzɪstəns] n. 抵抗，反抗

invasion [ɪnˋveʒən] n. 入侵

take measures 采用措施 to make preparations; to provide means

legislation [͵lɛdʒɪsˋleʃən] n. 法律，法规

infiltrate [ɪnˋfɪltret] v. 使（思想、人员等）渗透

primary [ˋpraɪ͵mɛrɪ] adj. 首要的，主要的

in question 值得怀疑的, 有争论的  not very certain

confess [kənˋfɛs] v. 坦白，供认，承认

throw in the towel 【口】承认失败; 认输  give up in the face of defeat of lacking hope; admit defeat

More Information

单词发音

or so 放在句首有「或者」、「至少」的意思

enrage [ɪnˋredʒ] v. 激怒；使愤怒

linguistic [lɪŋˋgwɪstɪk] adj. 语言的；语言学的

push someone into a corner 逼..到墙角  put someone into a situation where they do not have any choices about what to do

cut [kʌt] v. 伤人感情；刺痛

imperialism [ɪmˋpɪrɪəlɪzəm] n. 帝国主义

proliferation [prə͵lɪfəˋreʃən] n.〔数量〕激增; 扩散

enact [ɪnˋækt] v. 制定（法律）；颁布（法案）

resister [rɪˋzɪstɚ] n. 抵抗者, 反抗者

creep [krip] v. 不知不觉地到来；渐渐产生

nonsense [ˋnɑnsɛns] n. 胡说；胡闹

sigh [saɪ] v. 叹气，叹息

CEO  chief executive officer 首席执行官

no less than 不少于，多达

not less than  至少；不少于

not more than 至多; 不超过

nothing less than  无异于, 完全是, 和…一模一样

preclude [prɪˋklud] v.【文】排除；防止，杜绝

Answer