大学英语自学教程上册.docx

大学英语自学教程上册.docx

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大学英语自学教程上册

大学英语自学教程（上）

01-A.Howtobeasuccessfullanguagelearner?

“Learningalanguageiseasy,evenachildcandoit!

”

Mostadultswhoarelearningasecondlanguagewoulddisagreewiththisstatement.Forthem,learningalanguageisaverydifficulttask.Theyneedhundredsofhoursofstudyandpractice,andeventhiswillnotguaranteesuccessforeveryadultlanguagelearner.

Languagelearningisdifferentfromotherkindsoflearning.Somepeoplewhoareveryintelligentandsuccessfulintheirfieldsfinditdifficulttosucceedinlanguagelearning.Conversely,somepeoplewhoaresuccessfullanguagelearnersfinditdifficulttosucceedinotherfields.

Languageteachersoftenofferadvicetolanguagelearners:

“Readasmuchasyoucaninthenewlanguage.”“Practicespeakingthelanguageeveryday.”“Livewithpeoplewhospeakthelanguage.”“Don’ttranslate-trytothinkinthenewlanguage.”“Learnasachildwouldlearn;playwiththelanguage.”

Butwhatdoesasuccessfullanguagelearnerdo?

Languagelearningresearchshowsthatsuccessfullanguagelearnersaresimilarinmanyways.

Firstofall,successfullanguagelearnersareindependentlearners.Theydonotdependonthebookortheteacher;theydiscovertheirownwaytolearnthelanguage.Insteadofwaitingfortheteachertoexplain,theytrytofindthepatternsandtherulesforthemselves.Theyaregoodguesserswholookforcluesandformtheirownconclusions.Whentheyguesswrong,theyguessagain.Theytrytolearnfromtheirmistakes.

Successfullanguagelearningisactivelearning.Therefore,successfullearnersdonotwaitforachancetousethelanguage;theylookforsuchachance.Theyfindpeoplewhospeakthelanguageandtheyaskthesepeopletocorrectthemwhentheymakeamistake.Theywilltryanythingtocommunicate.Theyarenotafraidtorepeatwhattheyhearortosaystrangethings;theyarewillingtomakemistakesandtryagain.Whencommunicationisdifficult,theycanacceptinformationthatisinexactorincomplete.Itismoreimportantforthemtolearntothinkinthelanguagethantoknowthemeaningofeveryword.

Finally,successfullanguagelearnersarelearnerswithapurpose.Theywanttolearnthelanguagebecausetheyareinterestedinthelanguageandthepeoplewhospeakit.Itisnecessaryforthemtolearnthelanguageinordertocommunicatewiththesepeopleandtolearnfromthem.Theyfinditeasytopracticeusingthelanguageregularlybecausetheywanttolearnwithit.

Whatkindoflanguagelearnerareyou?

Ifyouareasuccessfullanguagelearner,youhaveprobablybeenlearningindependently,actively,andpurposefully.Ontheotherhand,ifyourlanguagelearninghasbeenlessthansuccessful,youmightdowelltotrysomeofthetechniquesoutlinedabove.

01-B.Language

Whenwewanttotellotherpeoplewhatwethink,wecandoitnotonlywiththehelpofwords,butalsoinmanyotherways.Forinstance,wesometimesmoveourheadsupanddownwhenwewanttosay"yes”andwemoveourheadsfromsidetosidewhenwewanttosay"no."Peoplewhocanneitherhearnorspeak（thatis,deafanddumbpeople）talktoeachotherwiththehelpoftheirfingers.Peoplewhodonotunderstandeachother'slanguagehavetodothesame.Thefollowingstoryshowshowtheysometimesdoit.

AnEnglishmanwhocouldnotspeakItalianwasoncetravelinginItaly.Onedayheenteredarestaurantandsatdownatatable.Whenthewaitercame,theEnglishmanopenedhismouth,puthisfingersinit,tookthemoutagainandmovedhislips.Inthiswayhemeanttosay,"Bringmesomethingtoeat."Thewaitersoonbroughthimacupoftea.TheEnglishmanshookhisheadandthewaiterunderstoodthathedidn'twanttea,sohetookitawayandbroughthimsomecoffee.TheEnglishman,whowasveryhungrybythistimeandnotatallthirsty,lookedverysad.Heshookhisheadeachtimethewaiterbroughthimsomethingtodrink.Thewaiterbroughthimwine,thenbeer,thensoda-water,butthatwasn’tfood,ofcourse.Hewasjustgoingtoleavetherestaurantwhenanothertravelercamein.Whenthismansawthewaiter,heputhishandsonhisstomach.Thatwasenough:

inafewminutestherewasalargeplateofmacaroniandmeatonthetablebeforehim.

Asyousee,theprimitivelanguageofsignsisnotalwaysveryclear.Thelanguageofwordsismuchmoreexact.

Wordsconsistofsounds,buttherearemanysoundswhichhaveameaningandyetarenotwords.Forexample,wemaysay"Sh-sh-sh”whenwemean"keepsilent.”Whenbabieslaugh,weknowtheyarehappy,andwhentheycry,weknowtheyareillorsimplywantsomething.

Itisthesamewithanimals.Whenadogsays“G-r-r”oracatsays"F-f-f”weknowtheyareangry.

Butthesesoundsarenotlanguage.Languageconsistsofwordswhichweputtogetherintosentences.Butanimalscannotdothis:

adogcansay“G-r-r”whenhemeans"Iamangry,”buthecannotsayfirst"I”andthen"am”andthen"angry.”Aparrotcantalklikeaman;itcanrepeatwholesentencesandknowswhattheymean.Wemaysaythataparrottalks,butcannotsaythatitreallyspeaks,becauseitcannotformnewsentencesoutofthewordsitknows.Onlymanhasthepowertodothis.

02-A.Taxes,Taxes,andMoreTaxes

Americansoftensaythatthereareonlytwothingsapersoncanbesureofinlife:

deathandtaxes,Americansdonothaveacorneronthe"death"market,butmanypeoplefeelthattheUnitedStatesleadstheworldwiththeworsttaxes.

Taxesconsistofthemoneywhichpeoplepaytosupporttheirgovernment.TherearegenerallythreelevelsofgovernmentintheUnitedStates:

federal,state,andcity;therefore,therearethreetypesoftaxes.

Salariedpeoplewhoearnmorethanafewthousanddollarsmustpayacertainpercentageoftheirsalariestothefederalgovernment.Thepercentagevariesfrompersontoperson.Itdependsontheirsalaries.Thefederalgovernmenthasagraduatedincometax,thatis,thepercentageofthetax（14to70percent）increasesasaperson'sincomeincreases.Withthehighcostoftaxes,peoplearenotveryhappyonApril15,whenthefederaltaxesaredue.

Thesecondtaxisforthestategovernment:

NewYork,California,NorthDakota,oranyoftheotherforty-sevenstates.Somestateshaveanincometaxsimilartothatofthefederalgovernment.Ofcourse,thepercentageforthestatetaxislower.Otherstateshaveasalestax,whichisapercentagechargedtoanyitemwhichyoubuyinthatstate.Forexample,apersonmightwanttobuyapacketofcigarettesfortwenty-fivecents.Ifthereisasalestaxofeightpercentinthatstate,thenthecostofthecigarettesistwenty-sevencents.Thisfigureincludesthesalestax.Somestatesuseincometaxinadditiontosalestaxtoraisetheirrevenues.Thestatetaxlawsarediverseandconfusing.

Thethirdtaxisforthecity.Thistaxcomesintwoforms:

propertytax（peoplewhoownahomehavetopaytaxesonit）andexcisetax,whichischargedoncarsinacity.Thecitiesusethesefundsforeducation,policeandfiredepartments,publicworksandmunicipalbuildings.

SinceAmericanspaysuchhightaxes,theyoftenfeelthattheyareworkingonedayeachweekjusttopaytheirtaxes.Peoplealwayscomplainabouttaxes.Theyoftenprotestthatthegovernmentusestheirtaxdollarsinthewrongway.Theysaythatitspendstoomuchonuselessandimpracticalprograms.AlthoughAmericanshavedifferentviewsonmanyissues,theytendtoagreeononesubject:

taxesaretoohigh.

02-B.Advertising

Advertisingisonlypartofthetotalsaleseffort,butitisthepartthatattractsthemostattention.Thisisnaturalenoughbecauseadvertisingisdesignedforjustthatpurpose.Innewspapers,inmagazines,inthemail,onradioandtelevision,weconstantlyseeandhearthemessagesforhundredsofdifferentproductsandservices.Forthemostpart,theyarethekindsofthingsthatwecanbepersuadedtobuy–foodanddrinks,carsandtelevisionsets,furnitureandclothing,travelandleisuretimeactivities.

Thesimplestkindofadvertisingistheclassifiedad.Everydaythenewspaperscarryafewpagesoftheseads;inthelargeSundayeditionstheremaybeseveralsectionsofthem.Aclassifiedadisusuallyonlyafewlineslong.Itisreallyanoticeorannouncementthatsomethingisavailable.

Newspapersalsocarryalargeamountofdisplayadvertising.Mostofitisforstoresorforvariousformsofentertainment.Newspapersgenerallyreachanaudienceonlyinalimitedarea.Tobringtheirmessagetoalargeraudience,manywhowanttoputouttheiradsusenationalmagazines.Manyofthetechniquesofmodernadvertisingweredevelopedinmagazineads.Theuseofbrightcolors,attractivepictures,andshortmessagesisallcharacteristicofmagazineads.Themostimportantpurposeistocatchtheeye.Themessageitselfisusuallyshort,oftennomorethanasloganwhichthepublicidentifieswiththeproduct.

Thesametechniqueshavebeencarriedoverintotelevisionadvertising.Voicesandmusichavebeenaddedtocolorandpicturestocatchtheearaswellastheeye.Televisionadsareshort–usuallyonly15,30,or60seconds,buttheyarerepeatedoverandoveragainsothattheaudienceseesandhearsthemmanytimes.Commercialtelevisionhasmixedentertainmentandadvertising.Ifyouwanttheentertainment,youhavetoputupwiththeadvertising-andmillionsofpeoplewanttheentertainment.

Themenandwomeninthesalesdepartmentareresponsibleforthecompany’sadvertising,Theymustdecideontheaudiencetheywanttoreach.Theymustalsodecideonthebestwaytogettheirmessagetotheirparticularaudience.Theyalsomakeanestimateofthecostsbeforemanagementapprovestheplan.Inmostlargecompaniesmanagemen