大学英语精读第5册15课文全文翻译.docx
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大学英语精读第5册15课文全文翻译
大学英语精读第5册和第6册全文课文翻译
AKindofSermon
ItisprobablyeasierforteachersthanforstudentstoappreciatethereasonswhylearningEnglishseemstobecomeincreasinglydifficultoncethebasicstructuresandpatternsofthelanguagehavebeenunderstood.Studentsarenaturallysurprisedanddisappointedtodiscoverthataprocesswhichoughttobecomesimplerdoesnotappeartodoso.
Itmaynotseemmuchconsolationtopointoutthattheteacher,too,becomesfrustratedwhenhiseffortsappeartoproducelessobviousresults.Hefindsthatstudentswhowereeasytoteach,becausetheysucceededinputtingeverythingtheyhadbeentaughtintopractice,hesitatewhenconfrontedwiththevastuntouchedareaofEnglishvocabularyandusagewhichfallsoutsidethescopeofbasictextbooks.Heseesthemstrugglingbecausethelanguagetheythoughttheyknewnowappearstoconsistofabewilderingvarietyofidioms,clichédandacceptedphraseswithdifferentmeaningsindifferentcontexts.ItishardtoconvincethemthattheyarestillmakingprogresstowardsfluencyandthattheirEnglishiscertaintoimprove,giventimeanddedication.
Insuchcircumstancesitishardlysurprisingthatsomegiveupindisgust,whileothersstillwaithopefullyfortheteachertogivethemthesameconfidentguidancehewasabletoofferthematfirst.Theteacher,forhispart,frequentlyreducedtotryingtoexplaintheinexplicable,maytakerefugeinquotingproverbstohiscolleaguessuchas:
"Youcanleadahorsetowaterbutyoucan'tmakehimdrink”or,morerespectfullyiflessgrammatically:
”Itain’twhatyousay,It'sthewaythatyousayit."Hisstudentsmightfeelinclinedtocounterthesewith:
"ThemoreIlearn,thelessIknow."
Ofcoursethisisnottrue.Whatbothstudentsandteachersareexperiencingistherecognitionthatthemorecomplexstructuresoneencountersinalanguagearenotasvitaltomakingoneselfunderstoodandsohavealessimmediatefieldofapplication.Forthesamereason,fromtheteacher'spointofview,selectingwhatshouldbetaughtbecomesamoredifficulttask.Itismucheasiertogetfoodofanykindthantochoosethedishyouwouldmostliketoeatonagivendayfromavastmenu.
Definingtheproblemiseasierthanprovidingthesolution.OnecansuggestthatstudentsshouldspendtwoorthreeyearsinanEnglish-speakingcountry,whichamountstowashingone'shandsofthem.Fewstudentshavethetimeorthemoneytodothat.Itisoftensaidthatwidereadingisthetimeorthemoneytodothat.Itisoftensaidthatwidereadingisthebestalternativecourseofactionbutevenhereitisnecessarytomakesomekindofselection.Itisnousetellingstudentstogotothelibraryandpickupthefirstbooktheycomeacross.Myownadvicetothemwouldbe:
"readwhatyoucanunderstandwithouthavingtolookupwordsinadictionary(butnotwhatyoucanunderstandataglance);readwhatinterestsyou;readwhatyouhavetimefor(magazinesandnewspapersratherthannovelsunlessyoucanreadthewholenovelinaweekorso);readtheEnglishwrittentoday,not200yearsago;readasmuchasyoucanandtrytorememberthewayitwaswrittenratherthanindividualwordsthatpuzzledyou."Andinsteadof"read",Icouldjustaswellsay"listento."
Myadvicetoteacherswouldbesimilarinaway.Iwouldsay"It'snogoodthinkingthatanythingwilldo,orthatalllanguageisuseful.It'snogoodrelyingonstudentstoexpressthemselveswithouttherighttoolsforexpression.It'sstillyourdutytochoosethebestpathtofollownearthetopofthemountainjustasitwastoproposeapracticableshort-cutawayfromthebeatentrackinthefoothills.Andifthepathyouchooseistooovergrowntomakefurtherprogress,thewholepartywillhavetogobackandyouwillhavetochooseanotherroute.Youarestillthepaidguideandexpertandthereisawaytothetopsomewhere."
TheFifthFreedom
MorethanthreecenturiesagoahandfulofpioneerscrossedtheoceantJamestownandPlymouthinsearchoffreedomstheywereunabletofindintheirowncountries,thefreedomsofwestillcherishtoday:
freedomfromwant,freedomfromfear,freedomofspeech,freedomofreligion.Todaythedescendantsoftheearlysettlers,andthosewhohavejoinedthemsince,arefightingtoprotectthesefreedomsathomeandthroughouttheworld.
Andyetthereisafifthfreedom-basictothosefour-thatweareindangeroflosing:
thefreedomtobeone'sbest.St.Exuperydescribesaragged,sensitive-facedArabchild,hauntingthestreetsofaNorthAfricantown,asalostMozart:
hewouldneverbetrainedordeveloped.Washefree?
"Noonegraspedyoubytheshoulderwhiletherewasstilltime;andnoughtwillawakeninyouthesleepingpoetormusicianorastronomerthatpossiblyinhabitedyoufromthebeginning."