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Practice Listening: Summarize Spoken Text ID: #32881 Short History of English
Instructions
English, as you have already read, is not a pure language. I don't think there really are any pure languages in the world. But English is definitely not a pure language. English, in fact, has borrowed from over 350 languages in its history. So it's a variety of many languages. Some people say it’s like a dog, a mongrel dog, a dog that has been made up of many different dogs. The English language is like that. By looking at the history of the English language we learn about the history of the English people. The two things are closely connected. So, in fact, today we are not only learning about language but we are learning about history. The fact that English has borrowed words from over 350 languages has been viewed differently throughout history. So for example in Shakespeare's time people were very angry about words which were not, they thought, original English words – words which came from other languages, they didn’t like them.
* Summarize in the box below (between 20 and 30 words)

Sample Answer:

The talk not only meticulously outlines the significance of pure languages, but also vividly points out the importance of different dogs and connecting closely. Besides, it provides a brief overview of learning history, followed by borrowing words and viewing differently. To put it simply, coping with vicissitudes and attaining acumen seem to hold one in good stead, as far as broadening their horizons is concerned.
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