Iojomf大学英语自学教程电子版教材上册.docx
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Iojomf大学英语自学教程电子版教材上册
生命是永恒不断的创造,因为在它内部蕴含着过剩的精力,它不断流溢,越出时间和空间的界限,它不停地追求,以形形色色的自我表现的形式表现出来。
--泰戈尔
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.Theyalsomakeanesti