A Canadian's Language Problems

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7.

1. There were both British English speakers and American ones in the del­
egation.

2. The government has produced a number of reports on violence on tele­
vision, the most recent one only six months ago.

3. Help yourself to some apples.

4. Is this your umbrella? - No, mine's the big black one.

5. I want a stamp for my letter. I must go and buy one.

6. If you haven't got enough money, I can lend you some.

7. They say his recent films are very successful, but I haven't seen them
yet.

8. You've got an excellent secretary in your office. We've got one too, but
she doesn't speak any foreign languages.

9. Your garden is so nice. We've got one too, but it is very small.
10. If you are making a cup of coffee, could you make one for me?

11. " Look! Isn't that house beautiful! " " Which one? The tall one? " " No, the
one next to the tall one".

12. " Let's have a snack in a cafe today! " " Good idea! I know one round the
corner. It is very nice."

13. " We haven't got any milk." " Ok! I'll buy some on the way home."

14. Have you read all the articles in today's paper? There are a few very
interesting ones.

15. My friend isn't a lawyer. He is a businessman and a very successful one.

16. Have you read his recent publications yet? They are very interesting.

8.

1. He was invited to a few parties last month, but he didn't go to any of them.

2. He was invited to two parties last week, but he didn't go to either of
them.

3. There were a lot of e-mails this morning but none of them were (was)
important.

4. I asked two people the way to the station but neither of them could
help me.

5. Neither of her parents is English. Her mother is Welsh and her father
is Scottish.

6. We tried to book a room in a few hotels but none of them had any
rooms available.

7. We can meet on Tuesday or Thursday. Would either of these days be
convenient for you?

8. I couldn't answer any of the questions they asked me.

9. We took a few photos but none of them were (was) any good.
10. He showed me two photos, but neither of them was very good.

10.

The most common form of English used by the British ruling class is that originating from southeast England (the area around the capital, London, and the ancient English university towns of Oxford and Cambridge). This form of the language is known as «Received Standard», and its accent is called Received Pronunciation (RP), which is improperly regarded by many people outside the UK as 'the British accent'. Earlier it was held as better than other accents and referred to as the King's (or Queen's) English, and then «BBC English». Originally, this was the form of English used by radio and television. However, there is now much more tolerance of variation than there was in the past; for several decades other accents have been accepted and are frequently heard, although stereotypes about the BBC persist. English spoken with a mild Scottish accent has a reputation for being especially easy to understand. Moreover, only approximately two percent of Britons speak RP, and it has evolved quite markedly over the last 40 years.

Keys

Even in the south east there are significantly different accents; the local inner east London accent called Cockney is strikingly different from RP and can be difficult for outsiders to understand.

There is a new form of accent called Estuary English that has been gaining prominence in recent decades: it has some features of Received Pronunciation and some of Cockney. In London itself, the broad local accent is still changing, partly influenced by Caribbean speech. Londoners speak with a mixture of these accents, depending on class, age, upbringing, education and so on.

12.