9. The names below have become common nouns in English. Match the names with the implications they convey.

a Don Quixote	a person who has old-fashioned ideas about honour or unpractical plans to perform noble deeds, help other people, etc.;
Darby and Joan	(often humorous) a typical old married couple, esp. when very happily married;
a Don Juan	a man who is well known for his love affairs with many women, esp. when he deceives them
a Florence Nightingale	a person who looks after someone who is ill; a nurse;
a Jekyll and Hyde	a person who shows two opposing or completely different natures or tendencies in his character or actions;
a Jeremiah	a person who says that future will bring misfortune, destruction and evil
Joe Bloggs	(humorous, coll.) the ordinary or average person;
a Jonah	a person who brings bad luck to the person he is with;
a Judas	a person who is disloyal to another person by revealing him or his secrets to an enemy;
Mr Big	the leader of or the most important person in a group, often the person who is in control but remains unknown;
Mr Clean	a person who is highly trusted or regarded, esp. in comparison with others who have been shown to be dishonest;
Mr Right	the imagined man who will fulfil all a woman's desires and needs as a husband;
a nosy Parker	a person who habitually attempts to find out about other people's private life;
a Philistine	a person whose interests are limited to material or very ordinary matters, and who lacks the ability to enjoy or understand fully music, literature and similar arts;
a Romeo	a young man who is very attractive to women and is noted for his expressions of love;
a Scrooge	a person who spend as little money as possible and who does not take part in activities that other people enjoy;
a doubting Thomas	a person who needs to see actual proof of something before he will believe it; a person who does not easily trust anything;
every Tom, Dick and Harry	everyone and anyone, esp. ordinary people without any special advantages or powers;
a peeping Tom	a man who gets sexual enjoyment from secretly watching women undressing;
a Walter Mitty	a person who, in the course of his very ordinary daily life, has dreams of exciting adventures in which he performs courageous deeds.

The problem for a writer is getting Joe Bloggs to buy his books. The police had caught many of the unimportant criminals, but they were still looking for Mr Big. The most unrealistic thing about romantic fiction is that the heroine always marries Mr Right. As soon as the policeman had left our house that old nosey Parker from across the street came round to ask what he wanted. Several of the country's most respected doctors have stated that smoking cigarettes harms one's health, but there are still many doubting Thomases who are not yet persuaded. As for qualified guides here, there is no legislation for giving them a license, so that any Tom, Dick or Harry can work as a guide. At school she lived in a Walter Mitty world of adventure.

Part 3 Lingua Franca

Unit 1. English in the World

Key

Listening

Tongue-tied in their own language

Guardian Unlimited, November 16, 2000

David Blunkett, Britain's minister for education and employment, has challenged British businesses to use their fluency in English to gain a competitive edge in global trade. But his appeal, delivered to business chiefs in London last month, failed to raise awareness about the difficulties that native speakers can encounter in communicating with people who speak English as their second language.

Mr Blunkett told his audience that by the end of this year 750m people would have English as a second language, and second-language speakers would outnumber first-language speakers for the first time in history. "It makes good economic sense that we use English fluency as a platform to underpin our economic competitiveness and to promote our culture overseas," he said. Mr Blunkett was careful to add that British people should not use this advantage as a reason to stop learning foreign languages.

This point was welcomed by Peter Blackburn, chairman and CEO of the British arm of Nestlé, the European multinational. Mr Blackburn, who is an honorary fellow of the Institute of Linguistics, added: "Business is becoming increasingly international, and British managers need to develop their knowledge of other languages - and, importantly, their understanding of other languages. In business the spoken word is more important than the written word."

Yet Mr Blunkett's speech overlooked¹⁷ the increasing challenges that the spread of English raises for native speakers. Not only will they need to understand how to communicate with people with a lower proficiency in English, they must also adapt their language to suit users of emerging regional varieties of English.

According to Jeremy Comfort of York Associates, a languages and inter-cultural training consultancy in England, the problem for British business starts with the assumption that their English will be understood. "Being fluent doesn't make you a good communicator," he says. "We have to be aware that language can be a tool of communication and also a tool of power. Subconsciously many British business people use it as a tool of power and take advantage in situations where they are working with non-native speakers."

Jean Vangarden, who teaches cross-cultural management at a business school near London, says a common mistake made by native speakers is to assume that the level of second-language speakers is as high as their own. "The other side of this problem", says Mr Vangarden, "is that non-native speakers tend to avoid direct communication. For example, they will use a colleague with a higher level of English than their own as an intermediary with their British business partners, and that kind of indirect communication is not good for business."

However, trainers and business leaders agree that the best ways for British people to increase their awareness of communication problems and achieve business advantage is to learn foreign languages.

"Not to have a second language is to depreciate¹⁸ yourself on a business and social front," says Ruth Lea of the Institute of Directors in London.

10. Now listen to a recording and arrange the ideas listed below in the order as they are presented.

1. British business chiefs underestimate the problems of English-based communication.

2. English is a good tool in economic competitiveness and promotion of own culture.

3. As business becomes increasingly international the command of foreign languages becomes topical.

4. British business people must develop awareness that their partners might be less linguistically proficient.

5. One must make allowance for lower language ability of non-natives and should not take their comprehension for granted.

6. Disregard of different levels of language command bars direct communication.

7. Linguistic awareness is best formed through learning foreign languages.

8. Without a foreign language you become a minor player.

11. Below are twelve headings to match the eleven paragraphs of the text. One heading is odd. Label the paragraphs with appropriate letters corresponding to relevant headings from the list. In the case you are using a library book, make all markings in your notebooks, leaving the textbook intact.

K. Language-culture link;	E. Task for new curriculum;
F. English in East and Southeast Asia;	D. Curriculum of English to reflect regional context;
B. New contender for lingua franca;	A. Standards vs. complexes;
I. Variety for inter-ethnic communication;	L. Social English of new textbooks;
G. "Anglo" culture out of the picture;	J. Reallocation of funds;
H. New challenge for EFL teachers;	Local drive to boost English skills;