选修七Unit 5 Keep it up, Xie Lei再接再厉,谢蕾

选修七Unit 5 Keep it up, Xie Lei再接再厉，谢蕾Chinese student fitting in well中国学生适应能力强 Six months ago Xie Lei said goodbye to her family and friends in China and boarded a plane for London.六个月前，谢蕾告别了她在中国的家人和朋友，登上了前往伦敦的飞机。It was the first time she had ever left her motherland.这是她第一次离开自己的祖国。After getting my visa I was very excited because I had dreamed of this day for so long. “拿到签证后我很激动，因为我很久以前就梦想着能有这么一天，But I was also very nervous as I didnt know what to expect, 但是我又非常紧张，因为我不知道我所期望的是什么。”Xie Lei told me when I saw her waiting in a queue at the student cafeteria between lectures.课间休息时我在学生餐厅碰到正排队的谢蕾，她告诉我说. Xie Lei, who is 21 years old, has come to our university to study for a business qualification.谢蕾今年21岁，来我们大学上学，希望获得工商管理资格证书。She is halfway through the preparation year, which most foreign students complete before applying for a degree course.大多数外籍学生在申请学位课程之前都要学习一年预科，而谢蕾已经读完半年了。Xie Lei highly recommends it.她非常看重预科课程。The preparation course is most beneficial, she said. Studying here is quite different from studying in China, so you need some preparation first.她说：“预科课程非常有益。在这儿学习跟在中国学习是相当不同的。你必须事前做些准备。” Its not just study thats difficult. “困难不仅仅只在学习方面，You have to get used to a whole new way of life, which can take up all your concentration in the beginning,你还必须习惯一种全新的生活方式，在一开始的时候这就会占去你的全部精力，” explained Xie Lei, who had lived all her life in the same city in China.谢蕾解释说。她在中国时一直居住在同一座城市。She told me that she had had to learn almost everything again.她还告诉我，几乎每件事她都得重新学习。Sometimes I felt like a child, she said.她说：“有时候我觉得自己像个小孩似的，I had to learn how to use the phone, how to pay bus fare, and how to ask a shopkeeper for things I didnt know the English for.我得学习如何使用电话，乘公交车时该怎样付款，在商店买东西时如果不知道商品的英文名字时，又怎样问店主。When I got lost and had to ask a passer-by for directions, I didnt always understand.当我迷路不得不向过路人问路时，经常听不懂他们说的话。They dont talk like they do on our listening tapes, she said, laughing.他们说的话不像我们在听力磁带上听到的那样，”谢蕾说着笑了。 Xie Lei lives with a host family who give her lots of good advice. 谢蕾同房东一家人住在一起，他们给了她许多建议。 Although some foreign students live in student accommodation or apartments, some choose to board with English families. 虽然有些外国学生住在学生宿舍或公寓房里，但是有些学生选择寄宿在英国人的家中。Living with host families, in which there may be other college students, gives her the chance to learn more about the new culture. 有的房东家也许会住着其他大学生，跟这样的人家住在一起会给她提供机会，更好地了解新的文化。 When I hear an idiom that I dont understand, I can ask my host family for help, explains Xie Lei. “当我听到我不理解的成语时，我可以向房东家里的人请教，”谢蕾解释说。 Also, when I miss my family, its a great comfort to have a substitute family to be with. “还有，当我想家的时候，房东家就是我家的替身，和他们在一起给了我很大的安慰。” Xie Leis preparation course is helping her to get used to the academic requirements of a Western university. 谢蕾的预科课程帮助她熟悉了西方大学里在学术方面的要求。I remember the first essay I did for my tutor, she told me. 她对我说：“我还记得我交给导师的第一篇论文。I found an article on the Internet that seemed to have exactly the information I needed. 我在网上找到一篇文章，看来跟我所需要的信息恰好一样。 So I made a summary of the article, revised my draft and handed the essay in. 于是我就那篇论文写了一篇小结性的文章，修改了草稿，然后交给了导师。 I thought I would get a really good mark but I got an E. 我原以为我会得到高分的，结果只得了一个E。 I was numb with shock! 我非常吃惊！So I went to my tutor to ask the reason for his revision. 于是去找导师理论，想换个分数。 First of all, he told me, I couldnt write what other people had said without acknowledging them.他告诉我说，首先，我不能把别人的话写下来而不表示感谢。Besides, as far as he was concerned, what other people thought was not the most important thing. 此外，他认为，别人的想法并不是最重要的。He wanted to know what I thought, which confused me because I thought that the author of the article knew far more than I did. 他想要知道的是我所想的是什么。这倒把我弄糊涂了，因为该文作者所知道的比我多得多。 My tutor explained that I should read lots of different texts that contain different opinions and analyse what I read. 导师给我解释说，我得阅读大量的、有关不同观点的文章，并进行分析。 Then, in my essay, I should give my own opinion and explain it by referring to other authors. 然后，在我的论文中，我得表明我自己的观点，并且引用别的作者的观点来说明为什么我相信我的观点。 Finally he even encouraged me to contradict the authors Id read! 最后，他甚至鼓励我反驳我读过的那些作者的观点！ At first I lacked confidence, but now Im beginning to get the idea and my marks have improved. More importantly, I am now a more autonomous learner.起初，我缺乏信心这样做，而现在我开始懂得了，我的分数也已经有所提高了。更重要的是，我现在是一个自主学习者。” Xie Lei told me that she feels much more at home in England now, and what had seemed very strange before now appears quite normal.谢蕾告诉我说，现在她在英国感到自在多了。以前看似很奇怪的事，如今觉得似乎很正常了。Ive just got one more thing to achieve. “我还有一件事要做，I have been so occupied with work that I havent had time for social activities.我一直忙于学习，以至于没有时间去参与社会活动。I think its important to have a balance between study and a social life, so Im going to join a few clubs.我认为在学习与社会生活之间的平衡也是很重要的，所以我打算参加几个俱乐部，Hopefully