大学英语自学教程电子版教材上册.docx
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大学英语自学教程电子版教材上册
大学英语自学教程电子版教材上册
大学英语自学教程(上)
01-A.Howtobeasuccessfullanguagelearner?
―Learningalanguageiseasy,evenachildcandoit!
‖
Mostadultswhoarelearningasecondlanguagewoulddisagreewiththisstatement.Forthem,learningalanguageisaverydifficulttask.Theyneedhundredsofhoursofstudyandpractice,andeventhiswillnotguaranteesuccessforeveryadultlanguagelearner.
Languagelearningisdifferentfromotherkindsoflearning.Somepeoplewhoareveryintelligentandsuccessfulintheirfieldsfinditdifficulttosucceedinlanguagelearning.Conversely,somepeoplewhoaresuccessfullanguagelearnersfinditdifficulttosucceedinotherfields.
Languageteachersoftenofferadvicetolanguagelearners:
“Readasmuchasyoucan
inthenewlanguage.”“Practicespeakingthelanguageeveryday.”“Livewithpeoplewho
speakthelanguage.”“Don‘ttranslate-trytothinkinthenewlanguage.”“Learnasachild
wouldlearn;playwiththelanguage.”
Butwhatdoesasuccessfullanguagelearnerdo?
Languagelearningresearchshowsthatsuccessfullanguagelearnersaresimilarinmanyways.
Firstofall,successfullanguagelearnersareindependentlearners.Theydonotdependonthebookortheteacher;theydiscovertheirownwaytolearnthelanguage.Insteadofwaitingfortheteachertoexplain,theytrytofindthepatternsandtherulesforthemselves.Theyaregoodguesserswholookforcluesandformtheirownconclusions.Whentheyguesswrong,theyguessagain.Theytrytolearnfromtheirmistakes.
Successfullanguagelearningisactivelearning.Therefore,successfullearnersdonotwaitforachancetousethelanguage;theylookforsuchachance.Theyfindpeoplewho
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speakthelanguageandtheyaskthesepeopletocorrectthemwhentheymakeamistake.Theywilltryanythingtocommunicate.Theyarenotafraidtorepeatwhattheyhearortosaystrangethings;theyarewillingtomakemistakesandtryagain.Whencommunicationisdifficult,theycanacceptinformationthatisinexactorincomplete.Itismoreimportantforthemtolearntothinkinthelanguagethantoknowthemeaningofeveryword.
Finally,successfullanguagelearnersarelearnerswithapurpose.Theywanttolearnthelanguagebecausetheyareinterestedinthelanguageandthepeoplewhospeakit.Itisnecessaryforthemtolearnthelanguageinordertocommunicatewiththesepeopleandtolearnfromthem.Theyfinditeasytopracticeusingthelanguageregularlybecausetheywanttolearnwithit.
Whatkindoflanguagelearnerareyou?
Ifyouareasuccessfullanguagelearner,youhaveprobablybeenlearningindependently,actively,andpurposefully.Ontheotherhand,ifyourlanguagelearninghasbeenlessthansuccessful,youmightdowelltotrysomeofthetechniquesoutlinedabove.
01-B.Language
Whenwewanttotellotherpeoplewhatwethink,wecandoitnotonlywiththehelp
ofwords,butalsoinmanyotherways.Forinstance,wesometimesmoveourheadsupanddownwhenwewanttosay"yes‖andwemoveourheadsfromsidetosidewhenwewantto
say"no."Peoplewhocanneitherhearnorspeak(thatis,deafanddumbpeople)talktoeachotherwiththehelpoftheirfingers.Peoplewhodonotunderstandeachother'slanguagehavetodothesame.Thefollowingstoryshowshowtheysometimesdoit.
AnEnglishmanwhocouldnotspeakItalianwasoncetravelinginItaly.Onedayhe
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enteredarestaurantandsatdownatatable.Whenthewaitercame,theEnglishmanopenedhismouth,puthisfingersinit,tookthemoutagainandmovedhislips.Inthiswayhemeanttosay,"Bringmesomethingtoeat."Thewaitersoonbroughthimacupoftea.TheEnglishmanshookhisheadandthewaiterunderstoodthathedidn'twanttea,sohetookitawayandbroughthimsomecoffee.TheEnglishman,whowasveryhungrybythistimeandnotatallthirsty,lookedverysad.Heshookhisheadeachtimethewaiterbroughthimsomethingtodrink.Thewaiterbroughthimwine,thenbeer,thensoda-water,butthatwasn‘t
food,ofcourse.Hewasjustgoingtoleavetherestaurantwhenanothertravelercamein.Whenthismansawthewaiter,heputhishandsonhisstomach.Thatwasenough:
inafewminutestherewasalargeplateofmacaroniandmeatonthetablebeforehim.
Asyousee,theprimitivelanguageofsignsisnotalwaysveryclear.Thelanguageofwordsismuchmoreexact.
Wordsconsistofsounds,buttherearemanysoundswhichhaveameaningandyetarenotwords.Forexample,wemaysay"Sh-sh-sh‖whenwemean"keepsilent.‖When
babieslaugh,weknowtheyarehappy,andwhentheycry,weknowtheyareillorsimplywantsomething.
Itisthesamewithanimals.Whenadogsays―G-r-r‖oracatsays"F-f-f‖weknow
theyareangry.
Butthesesoundsarenotlanguage.Languageconsistsofwordswhichweputtogetherintosentences.Butanimalscannotdothis:
adogcansay―G-r-r‖whenhemeans"Iam
angry,‖buthecannotsayfirst"I‖andthen"am‖andthen"angry.‖Aparrotcantalklikeaman;itcanrepeatwholesentencesandknowswhattheymean.Wemaysaythataparrottalks,butcannotsaythatitreallyspeaks,becauseitcannotformnewsentencesoutofthewordsitknows.Onlymanhasthepowertodothis.
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02-A.Taxes,Taxes,andMoreTaxes
Americansoftensaythatthereareonlytwothingsapersoncanbesureofinlife:
deathandtaxes,Americansdonothaveacorneronthe"death"market,butmanypeople
feelthattheUnitedStatesleadstheworldwiththeworsttaxes.
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,publicworksandmunicipal
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buildings.
SinceAmericanspaysuchhightaxes,theyoftenfeelthattheyareworkingonedayeachweekjusttopaytheirtaxes.Peoplealwayscomplainabouttaxes.Theyoftenprotestthatthegovernmentusestheirtaxdollarsinthewrongway.Theysaythatitspendstoomuchonuselessandimpracticalprograms.AlthoughAmericanshavedifferentviewsonmanyissues,theytendtoagreeononesubject:
taxesaretoohigh.
02-B.Advertising
Advertisingisonlypartofthetotalsaleseffort,butitisthepartthatattractsthemostattention.Thisisnaturalenoughbecauseadvertisingisdesignedforjustthatpurpose.Innewspapers,inmagazines,inthemail,onradioandtelevision,weconstantlyseeandhearthemessagesforhundredsofdifferentproductsandservices.Forthemostpart,theyarethe
kindsofthingsthatwecanbepersuadedtobuy–foodanddrinks,carsandtelevisionsets,
furnitureandclothing,travelandleisuretimeactivities.
Thesimplestkindofadvertisingistheclassifiedad.Everydaythenewspaperscarryafewpagesoftheseads;inthelargeSundayeditionstheremaybeseveralsectionsofthem.Aclassifiedadisusuallyonlyafewlineslong.Itisreallyanoticeorannouncementthatsomethingisavailable.
Newspapersalsocarryalargeamountofdisplayadvertising.Mostofitisforstoresorforvariousformsofentertainment.Newspapersgenerallyreachanaudienceonlyinalimitedarea.Tobringtheirmessagetoalargeraudience,manywhowanttoputouttheirads
usenationalmagazines.Manyofthetechniquesofmodernadvertisingweredevelopedinmagazineads.Theuseofbrightcolors,attractivepictures,andshortmessagesisallcharacteristicofmagazineads.Themostimportantpurposeistocatchtheeye.Themessage
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itselfisusuallyshort,oftennomorethanasloganwhichthepublicidentifieswiththe
product.
Thesametechniqueshavebeencarriedoverintotelevisionadvertising.Voicesand
musichavebeenaddedtocolorandpicturestocatchtheearaswellastheeye.Televisionadsareshort–usuallyonly15,30,or60seconds,buttheyarerepeatedoverandoveragainsothattheaudienceseesandhearsthemmanytimes.Commercialtelevisionhasmixedentertainmentandadvertising.Ifyouwanttheentertainment,youhavetoputupwiththe
advertising-andmillionsofpeoplewanttheentertainment.
Themenandwomeninthesalesdepartmentareresponsibleforthecompany‘sadvertising,Theymustdecideontheaudiencetheywanttoreach.Theymustalsodecideonthebestwaytogettheirmessagetotheirparticularaudience.Th