1、爱思英语学习网爱思英语 - 中国最受欢迎的英语学习网站 - http:/ 1TEXTThe author is not a preacher, and yet he does deliver a kind of sermon here. Who is his audience? Interestingly, his audience is your teachers of Advanced English as a foreign language. The author seeks to help them in their difficult task of teaching advanc
2、ed students, their task of leading their students to a higher lever of ability and fluency.Does it encourage you to know that you are not the only one who is struggling at this level of language acquisition?A Kind of Sermonby W.S.FowlerIt is probably easier for teachers than for students to apprecia
3、te the reasons why learning English seems to become increasingly difficult once the basic structures and patterns of the language have been understood. Students are naturally surprised and disappointed to discover that a process which ought to become simpler does not appear to do so.It may not seem
4、much consolation to point out that the teacher, too, becomes frustrated when his efforts appear to produce less obvious results. He finds that students who were easy to teach, because they succeeded in putting everything they had been taught into practice, hesitate when confronted with the vast unto
5、uched area of English vocabulary and usage which falls outside the scope of basic textbooks. He sees them struggling because the language they thought they knew now appears to consist of a bewildering variety of idioms, clichd and accepted phrases with different meanings in different contexts. It is
6、 hard to convince them that they are still making progress towards fluency and that their English is certain to improve, given time and dedication.In such circumstances it is hardly surprising that some give up in disgust, while others still wait hopefully for the teacher to give them the same confi
7、dent guidance he was able to offer them at first. The teacher, for his part, frequently reduced to trying to explain the inexplicable, may take refuge in quoting proverbs to his colleagues such as: “You can lead a horse to water but you cant what you say. Its the way that you say it.“ His students m
8、ight feel inclined to counter these with: “The more I learn, the less I know.“Of course this is not true. What both students and teachers are experiencing is the recognition that the more complex structures one encounters in a language are not as vital to making oneself understood and so have a less
9、 immediate field of application. For the same reason, from the teachers point o view, selecting 爱思英语学习网爱思英语 - 中国最受欢迎的英语学习网站 - http:/ should be taught becomes a more difficult task. It is much easier to get food of any kind than to choose the dish you would most like to eat on a given day from a vast
10、 menu.Defining the problem is easier than providing the solution. One can suggest that students should spend two or three years in an English-speaking country, which amounts to washing ones hands of them. Few students have the time or the money to do that. It is often said that wide reading is the t
11、ime or the money to do that. It is often said that wide reading is the best alternative course of action but even here it is necessary to make some kind of selection. It is no use telling students to go to the library and pick up the first book they come across. My own advice to them would be: “read
12、 what you can understand without having to look up words in a dictionary (but not what you can understand at a glance); read what interests you; read what you have time for (magazines and newspapers rather than novels unless you can read the whole novel in a week or so); read the English written tod
13、ay, not 200 years ago; read as much as you can and try to remember the way it was written rather than individual words that puzzled you.“ And instead of “read“, I could just as well say “listen to.“My advice to teachers would be similar in a way. I would say “Its no good thinking that anything will
14、do, or that all language is useful. Its no good relying on students to express themselves without the right tools for expression. Its still your duty to choose the best path to follow near the top of the mountain just as it was to propose a practicable short-cut away from the beaten track in the foo
15、thills. And if the path you choose is too overgrown to make further progress, the whole party will have to go back and you will have to choose another route. You are still the paid guide and expert and there is a way to the top somewhere.“NEW WORDSsermonn. a talk given in church by a priest; a long
16、and solemn piece of advice 布道；说教consolationn. (a person or thing that gives) comfort during a time of sadness and disappointment 安慰untoucheda. not touched; not dealt with usagen. (a) generally accepted way of using a language 习惯用法scopen. the area within the limits of a question, subject, action, etc
17、.; rangedidiomn. a phrase which means something different from the meanings of the separate words from which it is formed 习语；成语cliche 爱思英语学习网爱思英语 - 中国最受欢迎的英语学习网站 - http:/ an expression or idea used so often that it has lost much of its expressive force 陈词滥调，陈腐思想contextn. what comes before and after
18、(a word, phrase, statement, etc.), helping to fix the meaning （文章的）上下文fluencyn. a smooth, easy flow 流利；流畅fluenta. dedicationn. self-sacrificing devotion 献身；忠诚；专心dedicatevt. disgustn. strong feeling of dislike or distaste 厌恶hopefullyad. in a hopeful manner; if our hopes succeed 怀着希望；但愿guidancen. the
19、act or process of guiding; advice on vocational or educational problems given to students inexplicablea. incapable of being explained 无法说明的；费解的 refugen. shelter or protection from danger or distress 避难；庇护refugeen. 难民quotevt. repeat in speaking or writing (the words of another person) 引用，引述proverbn.
20、a brief popular saying 谚语respectfullyad. in a way or manner that shows respect respectful a. grammaticallyad. according to the rules of grammargrammaticala. aint(spoken) a short form of “am not“, “is not“ or “are not“countervt. opposerecognitionn. the act of recognizing 认识；承认爱思英语学习网爱思英语 - 中国最受欢迎的英语学
21、习网站 - http:/ with nothing between; coming at oncegiven a. specified, fixed 特定的，一定的definevt. explain the meaning of; state, show or describe clearly 给.下定义;界定selectionn. the act of selecting noveln. a long story in prose about either imaginary or historical peoplerelyvi. be dependent, countpracticable
22、a. capable of being done, put into practice or accomplished; feasibleshortcutn. a route more direct than that usu. taken; a quicker way of doing sth. 捷径beatena. much walked on or traveled (路) 踏平的；人们常走的overgrowna. covered with plants growing uncontrolledPHRASES carry out confront withbring face to fa
23、ce with; force to deal with or accept the truth ofgive upstop attempting sth.; admit defeatfor ones partas far as one is concernedreduce to bring or force (sb.) to (esp. a weaker or less favorable state)take refuge infind shelter of protection in wash ones hands ofhave no more to do with; refuse to
24、be responsible for come acrossmeet, find, or discover by chancelook up find (information) in a bookat a glancewith (information) in a bookno good / not much good 爱思英语学习网爱思英语 - 中国最受欢迎的英语学习网站 - http:/ or badnot any goodrely ontrust; have confidence in; depend onPROPER NAMESW.S.FowlerW.S.福勒UNIT 2TEXTBe
25、ginning with the earliest pioneers, Americans have always highly valued their freedoms, and fought hard to protect them. And yet, the author points out that there is a basic freedom which Americans are in danger of losing.What is this endangered freedom? For what reasons could freedom-loving America
26、ns possibly let this freedom slip away? And what-steps can they take to protect it - their fifth freedom?The Fifth Freedomby Seymour St . JohnMore than three centuries ago a handful of pioneers crossed the ocean t Jamestown and Plymouth in search of freedoms they were unable to find in their own cou
27、ntries, the freedoms of we still cherish today: freedom from want, freedom from fear, freedom of speech, freedom of religion. Today the descendants of the early settlers, and those who have joined them since, are fighting to protect these freedoms at home and throughout the world.And yet there is a
28、fifth freedom - basic to those four - that we are in danger of losing: the freedom to be ones best. St. Exupery describes a ragged, sensitive-faced Arab child, haunting the streets of a North African town, as a lost Mozart: he would never be trained or developed. Was he free? “No one grasped you by
29、the shoulder while there was still time; and nought will awaken in you the sleeping poet or musician or astronomer that possibly inhabited you from the beginning.“ The freedom to be ones best is the chance for the development of each person to his highest power.How is it that we in America have begu
30、n to lose this freedom, and how can we regain it for our nations youth? I believe it has started slipping away from us because of three misunderstandings.First, the misunderstanding of the meaning of democracy. The principal of a great Philadelphia high school is driven to cry for help in combating
31、the notion that it is undemocratic to run a special program of studies for outstanding boys and girls. Again, when a good independent school in Memphis recently closed, 爱思英语学习网爱思英语 - 中国最受欢迎的英语学习网站 - http:/ thoughtful citizens urged that it be taken over by the public school system and used for boys
32、and girls of high ability, what it have entrance requirements and give an advanced program of studies to superior students who were interested and able to take it. The proposal was rejected because it was undemocratic! Thus, courses are geared to the middle of the class. The good student is unchalle
33、nged, bored. The loafer receives his passing grade. And the lack of an outstanding course for the outstanding student, the lack of a standard which a boy or girl must meet, passes for democracy.The second misunderstanding concerns what makes for happiness. The aims of our present-day culture are avo
34、wedly ease and material well-being: shorter hours; a shorter week; more return for less accomplishment; more softsoap excuses and fewer honest, realistic demands. In our schools this is reflected by the vanishing hickory stick and the emerging psychiatrist. The hickory stick had its faults, and the
35、psychiatrist has his strengths. But hickory stick had its faults, and the psychiatrist has his strengths. But the trend is clear. Tout comprendre cest tout pardoner (To understand everything is to excuse everything). Do we really believe that our softening standards bring happiness? Is it our sound
36、and considered judgment that the tougher subjects of the classics and mathematics should be thrown aside, as suggested by some educators, for doll-playing? Small wonder that Charles Malik, Lebanese delegate at the U.N., writes: “There is in the West“ (in the United States) “a general weakening of mo
37、ral fiber. (Our) leadership does not seem to be adequate to the unprecedented challenges of the age.“The last misunderstanding is in the area of values. Here are some of the most influential tenets of teacher education over the past fifty years: there is no eternal truth; there is no absolute moral
38、law; there is no God. Yet all of history has taught us that the denial of these ultimates, the placement of man or state at the core of the universe, results in a paralyzing mass selfishness; and the first signs of it are already frighteningly evident.Arnold Toynbee has said that all progress, all d
39、evelopment come from challenge and a consequent response. Without challenge there is no response, no development, no freedom. So first we owe to our children the most demanding, challenging curriculum that is within their capabilities. Michelangelo did not learn to paint by spending his time doodlin
40、g. Mozart was not an accomplished pianist at the age of eight as the result or spending his days in front of a television set. Like Eve Curie, like Helen Keller, they responded to the challenge of their lives by a disciplined training: and they gained a new freedom.The second opportunity we can give
41、 our boys and girls is the right to failure. “Freedom is not only a privilege, it is a test,“ writes De Nouy. What kind of a test is it, what kind of freedom where no one can fail? The day is past when the United States can afford to give high school diplomas to all who sit through four years of ins
42、truction, regardless of whether any visible results can be discerned. We live in a narrowed world where we must be alert, awake to realism; and realism demands a standard which either must be met or result in failure. These 爱思英语学习网爱思英语 - 中国最受欢迎的英语学习网站 - http:/ hard words, but they are brutally true.
43、 If we deprive our children of the right to fail we deprive them of their knowledge of the world as it is.Finally, we can expose our children to the best values we have found. By relating our lives to the evidences of the ages, by judging our philosophy in the light of values that history has proven
44、 truest, perhaps we shall be able to produce that “ringing message, full of content and truth, satisfying the mind, appealing to the heart, firing the will, a message on which one can stake his whole life.“ This is the message that could mean joy and strength and leadership - freedom as opposed to s
45、erfdom.NEW WORDScherishvt. care for tenderly; keep alive 爱护，珍爱；抱有，怀有religionn. 宗教settlern. a person who has settled in a newly developed country; colonist 移民；殖民者sensitivea. quick to receive impressions; easily hurt or offended 敏感的sensitive-faceda. having a sensitive faceArabn., a. 阿拉伯人（的） ；阿拉伯的haunt
46、vt. visit oftenlosta. not used, won, or claimed; ruined or destroyed physically or morallygraspvt. seize firmly with the hand(s) or arm(s); understand with the mind 抓住，抱住；理解，掌握noughtn. (old use or lit) nothing; zeroawakenvt. arouse from sleep; make activemusiciann. a composer or performer of musicin
47、habit vt. live or dwell in regainvt. gain or get again; get backdemocracyn. government by the people, esp. rule by the majority爱思英语学习网爱思英语 - 中国最受欢迎的英语学习网站 - http:/ head of a schoolcombatvt. n. fight; strugglenotionn. idea; belief; opinionundemocratica. not democratic; not in accordance with the prin
48、ciples of democracyindependenta. not subject to control or rule by another; not depending on others for supportindependent schoola private school, not controlled by the publicurgevt. present, advocate or demand earnestly; push or driveloafern. a person who spends time idly 游手好闲的人lack n. not have; ha
49、ve less than enough of avowedlyad. as declared openly or frankly softsoapa. 姑息的，软言相劝的realistica. having or showing an inclination to face facts and to deal with them sensibly practicalhickory n. 山核桃（木）hickory stick 山核桃木做的教鞭classics n. the language and literature of ancient Greece and Romedolln. a small-scale figure of a human being, used as a childs playthingLebanese n., a. 黎巴嫩人（的） ；黎巴嫩的delegaten. a person sent with p
