普通高中课程标准实验教科书 英语必修1 Unit 2 English around t

            STANDARD ENGLISH AND DIALECTS²

         What is standard English? Is it spoken in Britain, the US, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand? Believe it or not, there is no such thing as standard English. Many people believe the English spoken on TV and the radio is standard English. This is because in the early days of radio, those who reported the news were expected to speak excellent English. However, on TV and the radio you will hear differences in the way people speak.
 
         Geography also plays a part in making dialects. Some people who live in the mountains of the eastern USA speak with an older kind of English dialect¹. When Americans moved from one place to another, they took their dialects with them. So people from the mountains in the southeastern USA speak with almost the same dialect as people in the northwestern USA. The USA is a large country in which many different dialects are spoken. Although many Americans move a lot, they still recognize and understand each other's dialects.
 
         When people use words and expressions different from the "standard language", it is called a dialect. American English has many dialects, especially the midwestern, southern, African American and Spanish dialects. Even in some parts of the USA, two people from neighbouring towns speak a little differently. American English has so many dialects because people have come from all over the world

1 dialect   

n.方言，土语，地方话

参考例句：

• He wrote a play in a local dialect.他用当地方言写了一个剧本。
• They began to speak rapidly in dialect.他们开始叽里呱啦地说起地方话来。

2 dialects   

方言，土语( dialect的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He can speak several dialects. 他会说好几种方言。
• The region became a hodgepodge of languages and dialects, some from the east, some from the south and some from other countries entirely. 这个地区成为语言和方言的大杂烩，有些来自东部，有些来自南部，而有些完全是来自别的国家。