1、1Unit 1 Text AHow Difficult Is English? 英语有多难Like the national push for Asian literacy （n.有文化，有教养，有读写能力） in Australia，就如澳大利亚在全国推行学亚洲语言一样，there has been foreign languages fervor in China，中国也掀起一股外语热，with English on top of the list. 在这股热潮中，英语高居榜首。English is not only taught at schools，colleges and unive
2、rsities，but also at evening classes，on radio and TV不仅各级学校教英语，夜校、电台、电视台也都设有英语课程。Parents hire private tutors for their school children；父母为学龄的孩子聘请英语家教， adult English learners would sacrifice the weekend at an English corner in a public park practicing their spoken English with people of the same intere
3、st and determination. 成年英语学习者会牺牲周末休息日，到公园参加英语角，与志趣相投的英语学习者练习口语。Is English such a difficult language that it really demands people to invest a large amount of time and energy before it is mastered ? 英语真的有这么难，需要人们投入大量的时间和精力才能掌握吗? The answer，if I am asked to offer，is undoubtedly，yes如果我被问及这个问题，那么毫无疑问，我的
4、答案是：是的。From my personal experience, 从我个人的经验来看， I think learning English means far more than learning its pronunciation，its grammatical rules ，its words，etc英语学习不仅仅是学习英语发音、语法规则、词汇等，It involves learning everything about the countries where it is used and the people who use it它包括学习与使用该语言的国家和民族有关的所有内容。Wi
5、thout such a complete understanding of the language, 对英语没有这样全面的理解，the English a foreigner speaks will inevitably sound strange or even unintelligible though there is not anything wrong with his pronunciation，sentence structure and the words he uses即使发音、句子结构、措辞毫无错误，一个外国人所讲的英语也难免听起来稀奇古怪甚至难以理解。The soci
6、al customs and habits of the English-speaking people contribute a lot to the difficulty a foreigner has in learning it讲英语民族者的社会风俗习惯增加了外国人学习英语的难度。Take the Chinese English learners for example以学英语的中国人为例，“ Hello “and “Good morning“ may sound a little bit simple to Chinese people“你好“和“ 早上好“是非常简单的。It is
7、totally beyond the understanding of a Chinese English learner that native English speakers would be annoyed when theyre addressed “Where are you going?“，which is a commonly used addressing among the Chinese“你去哪儿?“ 是中国人常用的问候语，若英语母语者被问及“你去哪儿?“，他们会因此感到不悦，这一点让中国的英语学习者大为不解。Is there anything wrong with th
8、e English sentence structure ? 这个英语句子结构不对吗? Of course not当然不是。It takes quite some time for a Chinese English learner to understand the western concept of privacy being violated in this address. 学英语的中国人得费点儿时间才能理解这一问候语侵犯了西方人的隐私。By the same token，同样，“Have you eaten?“(which is another addressing term th
9、e Chinese people usually use)will sound to native English speakers that the Chinese are so hospitable that they invite people to meals off-handedly. 英语母语者听到“你吃了吗?“(中国人常用的另外一个问候语) ，会觉得中国人非常好客，会在事先毫无准备的情况下请人吃饭。Meanwhile，the Chinese would be shocked to hear，“Oh ，its very nice of youWhen?“， if the addre
10、ssee happens to have a craving for Chinese cooking and has not had his dinner yet.如果听话者此刻正希望品尝一下中国美食，又碰巧没有吃饭，他会回答“太好了，什么时候?“，中国人为此也会大吃一惊。“We can say we are going to have chicken for dinnerWhy cant we say pig，bull or sheep for 2dinner instead of pork，beef or mutton?“ Chinese English learners may rais
11、e such questions中国的英语学习者可能会这样问：“我们可以说吃鸡，为什么不能说吃猪、吃牛、吃羊，而要说吃猪肉、牛肉、羊肉呢?“Figuring out the reasons for the peculiar English vocabulary is no easy task for Chinese English learners对学习英语的中国人来说，为这些特殊的英语词汇找出理由并非易事。But the problem is that memorizing English words mechanically would be devastating and ineffic
12、ient if they did not know what had happened in British history问题在于如果不懂英国历史，死记硬背英语单词毫无效率。Thus learning English(and other languages as well)involves learning the history of the countries where it is spoken所以说，学英语( 其他语言亦如此)还包括学习使用该语言国家的历史知识。 A task of this kind is more difficult for Chinese English lea
13、rners than for people who speak a western language other than English because Chinese has nothing in common with the alphabetic English and China had little contact with the Western world in modern history学习英语的中国人要做到这一点比其他非英语国家的西方人要困难得多，因为汉字和英语这种拼音文字毫无共同之处，并且中国和西方世界在近代史上很少接触。Consequently，所以，the back
14、ground knowledge of English fascinates large numbers of interested and determined English learners in China but at the same time disheartens quite a few在中国，英语背景知识既吸引了大量英语爱好者，也使许多人丧失信心。The Western and Oriental values are found to be in confrontation in learning English英语学习中，东西方的价值观念是相互冲突的。Native Engl
15、ish speakers may complain about Chinese confusion when using “he“ and “she“，for the two words sound the same ，though ，different in written forms in Chinese英语母语的人会混淆汉语中“他“她“的用法，因为这两个字尽管字形不同，读音却相同，他们因此常常抱怨。As a result，some native English speakers conclude that the Chinese are unable to tell the differ
16、ence between the two sexes结果有些英语母语的人得出结论，认为中国人不区分两种性别。But native English speakers are more gender blind than the Chinese when they mention their cousins但是在涉及表亲的时候，英语母语的人更是混淆性别。The confusion caused by the confrontation of Western and Chinese values，东西方价值观的冲突造成的语言上的混淆，to a certain extent，affects the C
17、hinese English learners comprehension of what heshe reads and hears在一定程度上影响学习英语的中国人对自己所读或所听到的内容的理解。Only by developing an understanding and tolerance（忍受） of different cultural values can a Chinese English learner reach the goal of communicating with native English speakers学习英语的中国人只有增加不同文化价值观之间的理解和宽容，
18、才能达到与英语母语者交流的目标。A Chinese English learner could not have a good command of Eng1ish unless he overcomes the cultural barriers(not all，of course!)in learning English学习英语的中国人，只有在学习英语的过程中克服文化障碍(当然不可能是克服全部文化障碍 !)才能很好地掌握英语。Many Chinese translate what they think about in Chinese into English when they talk
19、 or write很多中国人说话或写作的时候，将自己汉语思维的内容翻译成英语，This kind of English inevitably affects the fluency and flow of speech，the amount of information conveyed，and，above all， the quality of communication这势必会影响英语表达的流畅、传达的信息量，最重要的是，影响交流的质量。The above is， not wholly，how difficult English is尽管不完全，以上就是学习英语的困难。Some nativ
20、e speakers might have said， “You foreigners dont use good English! “ at the time a foreigner fails to understand what he is saying英语母语者被外国人误解的时候可能会说：“你们外国人不懂地道的英语!“Why should l?“I would protest，我要反驳：“ 我们为什么要懂?3“thoughStill ， I have to keep asking myself：Is it possible for a foreigner to command Engl
21、ish?尽管，直到现在，我还要问：一个外国人可能精通英语吗?Text BLearning a Language 学 语 言Most students would like to know how to learn a language more easily. 大部分学生都想知道如何能够轻松地学好一门语言，Most linguists and language teachers would also like to know this大部分语言学家和语言教师也想弄清楚这个问题。Linguists are working on this problem in two ways语言学家从两个方面研
22、究这个问题。First，they are trying to understand how children learn to speak and understand their native language. 一方面，他们致力于弄清楚儿童是如何学会母语、理解母语的。They are also trying to learn how people learn a second language另一方面致力于研究人是如何学习第二语言的。Linguists are not sure how children learn to speak语言学家并不确定儿童是如何学说话的。Some lingui
23、sts think that children are born with an ability to learn and use a language一些语言学家认为儿童生来就有学习和使用语言的能力。 This does not mean that they come into the world knowing their native language. 这并不是指一个人的母语是与生俱来的； It means that， along with many other things，they are born with the ability to learn their native la
24、nguage.而是指一个人生来具有学习其母语的能力，这种能力与人在其他方面表现出来的能力是相同的。With just a little exposure to the language，孩子只要与要学习的语言有一定接触，and a little help from their parents，they are able to learn to speak在父母的些许帮助下就能够学会说话。Another group of linguists does not think this is correct另外一派语言学家则对此持有异议。This second group of linguists t
25、hinks that children learn to use a 1anguage from their parents持反对意见的语言学家认为儿童是跟着父母学会使用语言的。They believe that parents teach their children to produce sounds and words in their language他们认为父母首先教孩子发声、吐字。When children know some words，their parents will begin to teach them to say sentences当孩子掌握一定词汇以后，父母就开始
26、教他们如何组织句子。These linguists do not think that parents teach their children in the same way that adults are taught a second language但是他们认为，父母教孩子的方式不同于教成年人学习第二语言的方法。Instead，相反，parents probably teach their children by talking to them and correcting their use of 1anguage. 父母是通过与孩子交谈并纠正他们的语言错误来教孩子说话的。These
27、 linguists feel that children learn their language mainly from the environment . 这一派语言学家认为，儿童主要通过语言环境学会使用语言的。 In this case，这种情况下，the environment is their family and their home. 语言环境是家庭和生活环境。 As you see，可以看出，the first group of linguists disagrees第一派语言学家对此并不赞同。There are some other theories about how c
28、hildren learn a language关于儿童如何学习语言还有一些其他理论。 Many people are studying the process of language learning by childrenThis work is being done in many countries许多国家中有很多人正着手研究儿童学习语言的过程。Linguists are not the only people who are interested in this processMany psychologists， doctors， and parents are also inte
29、restedPeople who teach foreign languages are interested, too不仅语言学家，许多心理学家、医生和父母都对儿童的语言学习过程感兴趣。外语教师也对这一过程很感兴趣。Foreign language teachers are interested in how children learn to speak their native language for a very important reason外语教师对儿童如何学说母语感兴趣，有其很重要的原因。If they 4knew how children learn their nativ
30、e language，他们如果知道儿童如何学习母语， perhaps they would have an easy way to teach adults，as well as children, a second language就可能找到一种简便的方法教儿童和成年人学习第二语言。This is a very interesting idea这是一种非常有意思的想法。Some foreign language teachers believe that adults learn a second language the same way children learn their nati
31、ve language . 有些外语教师认为成年人学习第二语言的过程和儿童学习母语的过程是相同的。These teachers try to make their students learning similar to that of children这部分外语教师模仿儿童学习语言的过程组织教学：These teachers speak only the foreign language in the classroom课堂上只讲外语，They will not talk to students in the native language不与学生讲母语。They try to expose
32、 them to as much of the spoken foreign language as possibleThey do not teach them any rules for using the language他们使学生尽可能多地接触所学外语的口语形式，不教学生语言使用的规则。Most parents dont teach their children rules for language usage，either. They simply tell them how to say something correctlyForeign language teachers us
33、ing this spoken language method do the same thing. 外语教师采用这种口语教法是因为大多数父母在教孩子说话的时候也不教孩子语言使用规则，而只是告诉孩子怎样讲话是正确的。For some students，对一些学生来说，this method is successful这种方法是成功的，They learn to speak quickly and easily他们能够轻而易举地、很快地学会所学的语言。They seem to enjoy using the language，他们似乎很喜欢去用所学的语言，and they do not pay
34、much attention to whether they use exactly the right rules for what they say并不很在意是否使用了正确的语言规则。Some students, however，cannot learn a language this way Linguists are trying to find another way to teach them a language另外一些学生则不适合这种方法，语言学家着手寻找一种适合他们的教学方法。A second method，the rule-learning method，sometimes
35、 works better with these students另外一种方法-语言规则学习法-更适合这部分学生。Some linguists believe that learning a foreign language is different from learning to speak ones native language一些语言学家认为学习外语不同于学习母语。They feel that students must learn the rules for using the language by memorizing them and must practice saying
36、 things in the language and using the rules correctly学生必须通过记忆来学习语言使用规则，必须练习使用这种语言，练习正确地使用这些规则。These linguists try to teach students the rules of the language they want to learn语言教师首先教学生要学的语法规则，Then they give them many sentences in the language to say over and over again再给学生一些例句让他们反复练习，The students a
37、re encouraged to make up new sentences，using the rules that they have learned and the words that they know同时鼓励学生使用所学过的语法规则和他们所掌握的词造句。Some students are very successful with this second, rule-learning method一些学生使用这种语法规则学习法效果非常好，They learn the language quite quickly and can use it well.他们学得很快，用得也好。They
38、 know the rules for using the language and can speak the language and understand it，too他们掌握了语言使用规则，能够使用所学的语言，也能够理解别人的话。For many students, this is the best way to learn a foreign language对一些学生来说，这是学外语最好的方法。For some students, both of these methods may work.对另外一些学生来说，两种方法都行之有效。Sometimes teachers use a
39、combination of these methods in class，有时候，老师在课堂上将两种方法结合起来用，hoping that everyone will be able to learn the language with one method or the other.目的是让每个学生都能受益。Some people can go to a country and “pick up“ the language simply from hearing it and trying to communicate in it有些人能够到国外通过倾听，与人交流等手段自然而然的学会那个国
40、家的语言。 These people are 5rare但这毕竟是少数人。Most people try to learn a language by taking classes and studying it in some way.大多数人还是通过课堂或者其他方式来学语言的。Most teachers will try different ways to help students learn a language quickly and easily大多数老师也通过不同的教法来帮助学生轻松快速的学会一门语言。Linguists and psychologists are trying
41、to understand how people learn and use a language语言学家和心理学家正致力于弄清楚人是如何学会并使用语言的。Perhaps language learning will be easier when they have a clear understanding of how people learn and use a language也许在解决了这个问题之后，语言学习会变得容易一些。Unit2Text A Caught Between Two Cultures夹在两种文化之间I was born and raised in Hong Kong
42、. 我是土生土长的香港人。 For the past six years Ive been living in the United States六年来一直生活在美国，I work as a salesgirl in a large department store. 是一家大百货商店的女售货员。 Right now Im going through a difficult period of my life which is hard for me to talk about目前我正经历人生中一段痛苦，自己也很难讲述。A few months ago I went to Hong Kong
43、for a visit几个月前，我回香港探亲，It was the first time Id gone back there since coming to the United States这也是我到美国后第一次回家探亲。I was eager to see my parents，my brothers and sisters，and my friends我期待着见到我的父母、兄弟姐妹和我的朋友。I really got a shock when I arrived到达时，我确实大吃一惊。Hong Kong was not the same city that I left six yea
44、rs ago香港已经不是六年前我离开时的那座城市了。 Things had changed so much that I didnt recognize parts of it这儿发生了巨大的变化，一些地方都认不出来了。My elementary school was gone我读书的那所小学已经不复存在。The houses on the street where I used to live had been torn down and replaced by office buildings曾经住过的那条街上的房子已被拆掉，代之而起的是办公大楼。The shock from the ph
45、ysical changes in the city，however，was nothing compared to the confusion and hurt I soon began to feel in my parents home但是，我到了父母亲家里不久，就发现了一些令我想不通的问题，情感上也受到了挫伤。与之相比，香港外观上的变化给我的震惊算不得什么。My family greeted me warmly when I arrived我的家人热情地迎接我回家。While my mother was busy preparing a special dinner in my hon
46、or，我母亲特意忙着准备了一顿饭为我接风，the rest of the family eagerly asked me questions about my life in the United States家里其余的人迫不及待地问我在美国的生活。I felt happy that day and for a couple of days after，那天和之后的几天我都非常高兴。 but then I began to feel that something was wrong但是不久我就开始感觉到事情有些不对劲儿。I noticed that my family，especially m
47、y mother, would sometimes glance at me in a strange way when I was speaking我注意到，在我讲话的时候，我的家人，尤其是我母亲，会以一种奇怪的目光看我。They gradually became less warm and friendly toward me，渐渐地，大家对我疏远起来，不像开始时那么热情、友好了。and I became uncomfortable and confused as to（至于） why they were behaving that way.我感到不舒服，弄不明白他们为什么这样对待我。I
48、decided to talk to my mother我决定和母亲谈一谈。 She asked me， “Have you forgotten your Chinese way ?” 她问我：“你忘了中国的规矩了吗?”I asked her what she meant我问她指的是什么。She said “Youve forgotten the place of women in a Chinese home她回答说：“你忘6了中国家庭里女人的地位了。You talk when you should remain silent应该保持沉默的时候，你却在讲话。You speak on matt
49、ers that are of concern only to men你就那些只与男人有关的事情发表见解。You speak openly of your inner feelings and desires你直言不讳你的内心感受和愿望，Thats not the way of a Chinese woman这不是中国女人的做法。 We keep our thoughts and feelings to ourselves ”我们的想法和感情都不说出来。 ”As my mother spoke，听着母亲这样讲，I realized what had happened to me我意识到了是怎么回事。American including American women，美国人，包括美国女性， are much freer in expressing their thoughts and feelings都非常自由地表达自己的思想和感情。Also American women feel as free as men to speak or gi
