英语百科全书内容

primary-english-encyclopedia / 初级英语百科全书A 的第一页： AbbreviationSee also acronym, apostrophe and ellipsisThis is the shortened or contracted form of aword or phrase. Frequently used abbreviations orcontractions include don’t (do not), can’t (cannot) and haven’t (have not). Children needcareful teaching about the difference betweenpossessive apostrophes and those used to indicatecontraction. Sometimes the abbreviationbecomes a word in its own right, for examplepub, plane or fridge, and in these cases the apostrophehas been dropped. Other abbreviationsare acronyms like SAT (standard assessment test)and NATE (the National Association for theTeaching of English). Useful abbreviations ofLatin terms include: e.g. for example (exempligratia); i.e. that is (id est); etc. and so on (etcetera); N.B. note especially (nota bene). Thebest account of ‘abbreviation’ known to me is inMcArthur’s Oxford Companion.McArthur, Tom (1992) The Oxford Companion to theEnglish Language Oxford: Oxford University Press.Abstract nounSee also clause, grammar, noun, parts of speech,sentenceThis is a noun which names a state or condition(melancholy), a quality (mercy), a concept(feudalism) or an action (favouritism). Suchnouns are ‘abstract’ because you cannot perceivethe phenomena they denote with your senses.AccentSee also language variety, speaking and listeningThis is the aspect of language variation to do withpronunciation. All spoken language, includingstandard English, is spoken with an accent.Pronunciation varies according to a speaker’sgeographical and social origin. For example, Icome from the north of England and pronounce‘bath’ and ‘path’ with a short ‘a’ while myhusband, a southerner, pronounces them with along ‘a’. People speaking in a second or additionallanguage often have a distinctive accent.‘Received’ pronunciation refers to the accenthistorically associated with BBC announcers(although regional accents are heard increasingly)and the well educated. But language is dynamicand pronunciation like other aspects – dialectand vocabulary – changes with each generationof users and many well-educated people speakwith a regional accent and are proud to do so.AcronymSee also abbreviationAn acronym is made up of the initial letters of arelated sequence of words and pronounced as oneword. Examples include NATE (National Associationfor the Teaching of English) and UKLA(United Kingdom Literacy Association).AcrosticSee also poetry, verseThis describes a poem or puzzle where the firstletter of each line, read sequentially down thepage, spells out a word or phrase. In a doubleacrostic, the first and last letters of each line spellout a word or phrase.AdjectiveSee also adjectival clause, grammar, parts of speechAdjectives are words that modify nouns orpronouns or complement verbs.

《不列颠百科全书》自1768-1771年问世以来，经过定期更新修订，已有二百多年历史。该书素以学术性强，权威性高著称。《简明不列颠百科全书》 的条目除中国部分外，主要是根据最新英文版《不列颠百科全书》编译而成。全书十卷，第一卷至第九卷是正文及附录，第十卷为索引。共收条目71000余条，附有图片5000幅左右，内容包括社会科学、自然科学、工程技术、文学艺术等各学科的概述和专名、术语、人物、团体、机构等的介绍，侧重西方的文化、科技成就和当代知识。《简明不列颠百科全书》的条目编排特点：1.条目按汉语拼音字母顺序排列。第一字同音时按四声顺序排，同音同调时按笔画笔顺排，第一字完全相同时按第二字,余类推。2.人、地、物的译名相同时，按原文字母顺序排列，先人名，后地名，再物名。3.以拉丁字母开头的条目，排在各该字母的开头；以希腊字母开头的，按其习惯发音，排在汉语拼音的相应位置。4.外文字母的大小写和拼音，根据原书。5.西方人物只译姓，后附原文全名；日本、朝鲜、越南等东方国家的，译全名。其它条目名称全译。6.外国人名采取“名从主人，约定俗成”、数名通用时从众的原则。7.外国地名根据中国地名委员会审定的《外国地名汉字译写通则》统一。8.本书第十卷有条目标题，汉字笔画索引，外文与汉文对照索引，方便使用。