大学英语自学教程上

1、大学英语自学教程（上）01-A.Howtobeasuccessfullanguagelearner?Learningalanguageiseasy,evenachildcandoit!Mostadultswhoarelearningasecondlanguagewoulddisagreewiththisstatement.Forthem,learningalanguageisaverydifficulttask.Theyneedhundredsofhoursofstudyandpractice,andeventhiswillnotguaranteesuccessforeveryadultlan

2、guagelearner.Languagelearningisdifferentfromotherkindsoflearning.Somepeoplewhoareveryintelligentandsuccessfulintheirfieldsfinditdifficulttosucceedinlanguagelearning.Conversely,somepeoplewhoaresuccessfullanguagelearnersfinditdifficulttosucceedinotherfields.Languageteachersoftenofferadvicetolanguagele

3、arners:“Readasmuchasyoucaninthenewlanguacje.Practicespeakingthelanguageeveryday.”“Livewithpeoplewhospeakthelanguage："Don'ttranslaterytothinkinthenewlanguage.”"Learnasachildwouldlearn;playwiththelanguage.Butwhatdoesasuccessfullanguagelearnerdo?Languagelearningresearchshowsthatsuccessful

4、languagelearnersaresimilarinmanyways.Firstofall,successfullanguagelearnersareindependentlearners.Theydonotdependonthebookortheteacher;theydiscovertheirownwaytolearnthelanguage.Insteadofwaitingfortheteachertoexplain,theytrytofindthepatternsandtherulesforthemselves.Theyaregoodguesserswholookforcluesan

5、dformtheirownconclusions.Whentheyguesswrong,theyguessagain.Theytrytolearnfromtheirmistakes.Successfullanguagelearningisactivelearning.Therefore,successfullearnersdonotwaitforachancetousethelanguage;theylookforsuchachance.Theyfindpeoplewhospeakthelanguageandtheyaskthesepeopletocorrectthemwhentheymake

6、amistake.Theywilltryanythingtocommunicate.Theyarenotafraidtorepeatwhattheyhearortosaystrangethings;theyarewillingtomakemistakesandtryagain.Whencommunicationisdifficult,theycanacceptinformationthatisinexactorincomplete.Itismoreimportantforthemtolearntothinkinthelanguagethantoknowthemeaningofeveryword

7、.Finally,successfullanguagelearnersarelearnerswithapurpose.Theywanttolearnthelanguagebecausetheyareinterestedinthelanguageandthepeoplewhospeakit.Itisnecessaryforthemtolearnthelanguageinordertocommunicatewiththesepeopleandtolearnfromthem.Theyfinditeasytopracticeusingthelanguageregularlybecausetheywan

8、ttolearnwithit.Whatkindoflanguagelearnerareyou?Ifyouareasuccessfullanguagelearner,youhaveprobablybeenlearningindependently,actively,andpurposefully.Ontheotherhand,ifyourlanguagelearninghasbeenlessthansuccessful,youmightdowelltotrysomeofthetechniquesoutlinedabove.01-B._Language_Whenwewanttotellotherp

9、eoplewhatwethink,wecandoitnotonlywiththehelpofwords,butalsoinmanyotherways.Forinstance,wesometimesmoveourheadsupanddownwhenwewanttosay"yes"andwemoveourheamssidetosidewhenwewanttosay"no."Peoplewhocanneitherhearnorspeak(thatis,deafanddumbpeople)talktoeachotherwiththehelpoftheirfing

10、ers.Peoplewhodonotunderstandeachother'slanguagehavetodothesame.Thefollowingstoryshowshowtheysometimesdoit.AnEnglishmanwhocouldnotspeakItalianwasoncetravelinginItaly.Onedayheenteredarestaurantandsatdownatatable.Whenthewaitercame,theEnglishmanopenedhismouth,puthisfingersinit,tookthemoutagainandmov

11、edhislips.Inthiswayhemeanttosay,"Bringmesomethingtoeat."Thewaitersoonbroughthimacupoftea.TheEnglishmanshookhisheadandthewaiterunderstoodthathedidn'twanttea,sohetookitawayandbroughthimsomecoffee.TheEnglishman,whowasveryhungrybythistimeandnotatallthirsty,lookedverysad.Heshookhisheadeacht

12、imethewaiterbroughthimsomethingtodrink.Thewaiterbroughthimwine,thenbeer,thensoda-water,butthatwasn'Hood,ofcourse.Hewasjustgoingtoleavetherestaurantwhenanothertravelercamein.Whenthismansawthewaiter,heputhishandsonhisstomach.Thatwasenough:inafewminutestherewasalargeplateofmacaroniandmeatonthetable

13、beforehim.Asyousee,theprimitivelanguageofsignsisnotalwaysveryclear.ThelanguageofwordsismuchmoreexactWordsconsistofsounds,buttherearemanysoundswhichhaveameaningandyetarenotwords.Forexample,wemaysay"Sh-sh-sh"whenwemean"keepsilent.Whenbabieslaugh,weknowtheyarehappy,andwhentheycry,weknowt

14、heyare川orsimplywantsomething.Itisthesamewithanimals.Whenadogsays"Gr-r”oracatsays"F-f-f”weknowtheyareangry.Butthesesoundsarenotlanguage.Languageconsistsofwordswhichweputtogetherintosentences.Butanimalscannotdothis:adogcansay-r-rG"whenhemeans"Iamangry,"buthecannotsayfirst"

15、;I"andthen"am"andthen"angry.”Aparrotcantalklikeitcanrepeatwholesentencesandknowswhattheymean.Wemaysaythataparrottalks,butcannotsaythatitreallyspeaks,becauseitcannotformnewsentencesoutofthewordsitknows.Onlymanhasthepowertodothis.02-A.Taxes,Taxes,andMoreTaxesAmericansoftensaythatth

16、ereareonlytwothingsapersoncanbesureofinlife:deathandtaxes,Americansdonothaveacorneronthe"death"market,butmanypeoplefeelthattheUnitedStatesleadstheworldwiththeworsttaxes.Taxesconsistofthemoneywhichpeoplepaytosupporttheirgovernment.TherearegenerallythreelevelsofgovernmentintheUnitedStates:fe

17、deral,state,andcity;therefore,therearethreetypesoftaxes.Salariedpeoplewhoearnmorethanafewthousanddollarsmustpayacertainpercentageoftheirsalariestothefederalgovernment.Thepercentagevariesfrompersontoperson.Itdependsontheirsalaries.Thefederalgovernmenthasagraduatedincometax,thatis,thepercentageoftheta

18、x(14to70percent)increasesasaperson'sincomeincreases.Withthehighcostoftaxes,peoplearenotveryhappyonApril15,whenthefederaltaxesaredue.Thesecondtaxisforthestategovernment:NewYork,California,NorthDakota,oranyoftheotherforty-sevenstates.Somestateshaveanincometaxsimilartothatofthefederalgovernment.Ofc

19、ourse,thepercentageforthestatetaxislower.Otherstateshaveasalestax,whichisapercentagechargedtoanyitemwhichyoubuyinthatstate.Forexample,apersonmightwanttobuyapacketofcigarettesfortwenty-fivecents.Ifthereisasalestaxofeightpercentinthatstate,thenthecostofthecigarettesistwenty-sevencents.Thisfigureinclud

20、esthesalestax.Somestatesuseincometaxinadditiontosalestaxtoraisetheirrevenues.Thestatetaxlawsarediverseandconfusing.Thethirdtaxisforthecity.Thistaxcomesintwoforms:propertytax(peoplewhoownahomehavetopaytaxesonit)andexcisetax,whichischargedoncarsinacity.Thecitiesusethesefundsforeducation,policeandfired

21、epartments,publicworksandmunicipalbuildings.SinceAmericanspaysuchhightaxes,theyoftenfeelthattheyareworkingonedayeachweekjusttopaytheirtaxes.Peoplealwayscomplainabouttaxes.Theyoftenprotestthatthegovernmentusestheirtaxdollarsinthewrongway.Theysaythatitspendstoomuchonuselessandimpracticalprograms.Altho

22、ughAmericanshavedifferentviewsonmanyissues,theytendtoagreeononesubject:taxesaretoohigh.02-B._AdvertisingAdvertisingisonlypartofthetotalsaleseffort,butitisthepartthatattractsthemostattention.Thisisnaturalenoughbecauseadvertisingisdesignedforjustthatpurpose.Innewspapers,inmagazines,inthemail,onradioan

23、dtelevision,weconstantlyseeandhearthemessagesforhundredsofdifferentproductsandservices.Forthemostpart,theyarethekindsofthingsthatwecanbepersuadedtobuy-foodanddrinks,carsandtelevisionsets,furnitureandclothing,travelandleisuretimeactivities.Thesimplestkindofadvertisingistheclassifiedad.Everydaythenews

24、paperscarryafewpagesoftheseads;inthelargeSundayeditionstheremaybeseveralsectionsofthem.Aclassifiedadisusuallyonlyafewlineslong.Itisreallyanoticeorannouncementthatsomethingisavailable.Newspapersalsocarryalargeamountofdisplayadvertising.Mostofitisforstoresorforvariousformsofentertainment.Newspapersgen

25、erallyreachanaudienceonlyinalimitedarea.Tobringtheirmessagetoalargeraudience,manywhowanttoputouttheiradsusenationalmagazines.Manyofthetechniquesofmodernadvertisingweredevelopedinmagazineads.Theuseofbrightcolors,attractivepictures,andshortmessagesisallcharacteristicofmagazineads.Themostimportantpurpo

26、seistocatchtheeye.Themessageitselfisusuallyshort,oftennomorethanasloganwhichthepublicidentifieswiththeproduct.Thesametechniqueshavebeencarriedoverintotelevisionadvertising.Voicesandmusichavebeenaddedtocolorandpicturestocatchtheearaswellastheeye.Televisionadsareshort-usuallyonly15,30,or60seconds,butt

27、heyarerepeatedoverandoveragainsothattheaudienceseesandhearsthemmanytimes.Commercialtelevisionhasmixedentertainmentandadvertising.Ifyouwanttheentertainment,youhavetoputupwiththeadvertising-andmillionsofpeoplewanttheentertainment.Themenandwomeninthesalesdepartmentareresponsibleforthecompany,asdvertisi

28、ng,Theymustdecideontheaudiencetheywanttoreach.Theymustalsodecideonthebestwaytogettheirmessagetotheirparticularaudience.Theyalsomakeanestimateofthecostsbeforemanagementapprovestheplan.Inmostlargecompaniesmanagementisdirectlyinvolvedinplanningtheadvertising.03-A._The_Atlantic.OceanTheAtlanticOceanison

29、eoftheoceansthatseparatetheOldWorldfromtheNew.ForcenturiesitkepttheAmericasfrombeingdiscoveredbythepeopleofEurope.ManywrongideasabouttheAtlanticmadeearlysailorsunwillingtosailfaroutintoit.Oneideawasthatitreachedoutto"theedgeoftheworld."Sailorswereafraidthattheymightsailrightofftheearth.Ano

30、therideawasthatattheequatortheoceanwouldbeboilinghot.TheAtlanticOceanisonlyhalfasbigasthePacific,butitisstillverylarge.Itismorethan4,000miles(6,000km)widewhereColumbuscrossedit.Evenatitsnarrowestitisabout2,000miles(3,200km)wide.ThisnarrowestplaceisbetweenthebulgeofsouthAmericaandthebulgeofAfrica.Two

31、thingsmaketheAtlanticOceanratherunusual.Forsolargeanoceanithasveryfewislands.Also,itistheworld'ssaltiestocean.ThereissomuchwaterintheAtlanticthatitishardtoimaginehowmuchthereis.Butsupposenomorerainfellintoitandnomorewaterwasbroughttoitbyrivers.Itwouldtaketheoceanabout4,000yearstodryup.Ontheavera

32、gethewaterisalittlemorethantwomiles(3.2km)deep,butinplacesitismuchdeeper.ThedeepestspotisnearPuertoRico.This"deep"30,246feet-almostsixmiles(9.6km).OneofthelongestmountainrangesoftheworldrisestheflooroftheAtlantic.Thismountainrangerunsnorthandsouthdownthemiddleoftheocean.Thetopsofafewofthem

33、ountainsreachupabovetheseaandmakeislands.TheAzoresarethetopsofpeaksinthemid-Atlanticmountainrange.SeveralhundredmileseastwardfromFloridathereisapartoftheoceancalledtheSargassoSea.Herethewaterisquiet,forthereislittlewind.Inthedaysofsailingvesselsthecrewwereafraidtheywouldbebecalmedhere.Sometimestheyw

34、ere.Oceancurrentsaresometimecalled"riversinthesea."Oneofthese"river"intheAtlanticiscalledtheGulfStream.Itisacurrentofwarmwater.AnotheristheLabradorCurrent-coldwatercomingdownfromtheArctic.Oceancurrentsaffecttheclimatesofthelandsnearwhichtheyflow.TheAtlanticfurnishesmuchfoodforthe

35、peopleonitsshores.Oneofitsmostfamousfishingregions,theGrandBanks,isnearNewfoundland.TodaytheAtlanticisagreathighway.Itisnot,however,alwaysasmoothandsafeone.Stormssweepacrossitandpileupgreatwaves.IcebergsfloatdownfromtheFarNorthacrossthepathsofships.Wenowhavesuchfastwaysoftravelingthatthisbigoceansee

36、mstohavegrownsmaller.Columbussailedformorethantwomonthstocrossit.Afastmodernsteamshipcanmakethetripinlessthanfourdays.AirplanesflyfromNewYorktoLondoninonlyeighthoursandfromSouthAmericatoAfricainfour!03-B.TheJMoon_Wefindthatthemoonisabout239,000miles(384,551km)awayfromtheearth,and,towithinafewthousan

37、dmiles,itsdistancealwaysremainsthesame.Yetaverylittleobservationshowsthatthemoonisnotstandingstill.Itsdistancefromtheearthremainsthesame,butitsdirectioncontinuallychanges.Wefindthatitistravelinginacircle-orverynearlyacircle-roundtheearth,goingcompletelyroundonceamonth,or,moreexactly,onceevery271/3da

38、ys.Itisournearestneighbourinspace,andlikeourselvesitiskepttiedtotheearthbytheearth'sgravitationalpull.Exceptforthesun,themoonlooksthebiggestobjectinthesky.Actuallyitisoneofthesmallest,andonlylooksbigbecauseitissoneartous.Itsdiameterisonly2,160miles(3,389km),oralittlemorethanaquarterofthediameter

39、oftheearth.Onceamonth,or,moreexactly,onceevery291/2days,atthetimewecall"fullmoon,"itswholedisclooksbright.Atothertimesonlypartofitappearsbright,andwealwaysfindthatthisisthepartwhichfacestowardsthesun,whilethepartfacingawayfromthesunappearsdark.Artistscouldmaketheirpicturesbetteriftheykepti

40、nmind-onlythosepartsofthemoonwhicharelightedupbythesunarebright.Thisshowsthatthemoongivesnolightofitsown.Itmerelyreflectsthelightofthesun,likeahugemirrorhunginthesky.Yetthedarkpartofthemoonssurfaceisnotabsolutelyblack;generallyitisjustlightenoughforustobeabletoseeitsoutline,sothatwespeakofseeing&quo

41、t;theoldmooninthenewmoon'sarms."Thelightbywhichweseetheoldmoondoesnotcomefromthesun,butfromtheearth.weknowswellhowthesurfaceoftheseaorofsnow,orevenofawetroad,mayreflectuncomfortablymuchofthesun'slightontoourfaces.Inthesamewaythesurfaceofthewholeearthreflectsenoughofthesun'slightonto

42、thefaceofthemoonforustobeabletoseethepartsofitwhichwouldotherwisebedark.Iftherewereanyinhabitantsofthemoon,theywouldseeourearthreflectingthelightofthesun,againlikeahugemirrorhunginthesky.Theywouldspeakofearthlightjustaswespeakofmoonlight"Theoldmooninthenewmoon'sarms"isnothingbutthatpar

43、tofthemoon'ssurfaceonwhichitisnight,lightedupbyearthlight.Inthesameway,thelunarinhabitantswouldoccasionallyseepartofourearthinfullsunlight,andtherestlightedonlybymoonlight;theymightcallthis"theoldearthinthenewearth'sarms.”04-Amproving.Your MemoryPsychologicalresearchhasfocusedonanumbero

44、fbasicprinciplesthathelpmemory:meaningfulness,organization,association,andvisualization.Itisusefultoknowhowtheseprincipleswork.Meaningfulnessaffectsmemoryatalllevels.Informationthatdoesnotmakeanysensetoyouisdifficulttoremember.Thereareseveralwaysinwhichwecanmakematerialmoremeaningful.Manypeople,fori

45、nstance,learnarhymetohelpthemremember.Doyouknowtherhyme“ThirtydayshasSeptember,April,June,andNovember？”Ithelpsmanypeoplerememberwhichmonthsoftheyearhave30days.Organizationalsomakesadifferenceinourabilitytoremember.Howusefulwouldalibrarybeifthebookswerekeptinrandomorder?Materialthatisorganizedisbette

46、rrememberedthanjumbledinformation.Oneexampleoforganizationischunking.Chunkingconsistsofgroupingseparatebitsofinformation.Forexample,thenumber4671363ismoreeasilyrememberedifitischunkedas467,13,63.Categorizingisanothermeansoforganization.Supposeyouareaskedtorememberthefollowinglistofwords:man,bench,do

47、g,desk,woman,horse,child,cat,chair.Manypeoplewillgroupthewordsintosimilarcategoriesandrememberthemasfollows:man,woman,child;cat,dog,horse;bench,chair,desk.Needlesstosay,thesecondlistcanberememberedmoreeasilythanthefirstone.Associationreferstotakingthematerialwewanttorememberandrelatingittosomethingw

48、erememberaccurately.Inmemorizinganumber,youmighttrytoassociateitwithfamiliarnumbersorevents.Forexample,theheightofMountFujiinJapan-12,389feet-mightberememberedusingthefollowingassociations:12isthenumberofmonthsintheyear,and389isthenumberofdaysinayear(365)addedtothenumberofmonthstwice(24).Thelastprin

49、cipleisvisualization.Researchhasshownstrikingimprovementsinmanytypesofmemorytaskswhenpeopleareaskedtovisualizetheitemstoberemembered.Inonestudy,subjectsinonegroupwereaskedtolearnsomewordsusingimagery,whilethesecondgroupusedrepetitiontolearnthewords.Thoseusingimageryremembered80to90percentofthewords,

50、comparedwith30to40percentofthewordsforthosewhomemorizedbyrepetition.Thusforminganintegratedimagewithalltheinformationplacedinasinglementalpicturecanhelpustopreserveamemory.04-B.Short-term.MemoryTherearetwokindsofmemory:shore-termandlong-term.Informationinlong-termmemorycanberecalledatalatertimewheni

51、tisneeded.Theinformationmaybekeptfordaysorweeks.Sometimesinformationinthelong-termmemoryishardtoremember.Studentstakingexamoftenhavethisexperience.Incontrast,informationinshore-termmemoryiskeptforonlyafewseconds,usuallybyrepeatingtheinformationoverandover.Forexample,youlookupanumberinthetelephoneboo

52、k,andbeforeyoudial,yourepeatthenumberoverandover.Ifsomeoneinterruptsyou,youwillprobablyforgetthenumber.Inlaboratorystudies,subjectsareunabletorememberthreelettersaftereighteensecondsiftheyarenotallowedtorepeattheletterstothemselves.Psychologistsstudymemoryandlearningwithbothanimalandhumansubjects.Th

53、etwoexperimentshereshowhowshort-termmemoryhasbeenstudied.Dr.Hunterstudiedshort-termmemoryinrats.Heusedaspecialapparatuswhichhadacagefortheratandthreedoors,Therewasalightineachdoor.Firsttheratwasplacedintheclosedcage.Next,oneofthelightswasturnedonandthenoff.Therewasfoodfortheratonlyatthisdoor.Afterth

54、elightwasturnedoff,therathadtowaitashorttimebeforeitwasreleasedfromitscage.Then,ifitwenttothecorrectdoor,itwasrewardedwiththefoodthatwasthere.Hunterdidthisexperimentmanytimes.Healwaysturnedonthelightsinarandomorder.Therathadtowaitdifferentintervalsbeforeitwasreleasedfromthecage.Hunterfoundthatifther

55、athadtowaitmorethantenseconds,itcouldnotrememberthecorrectdoor.Hunter'sresultsshowthatratshaveashort-termmemoryofabouttenseconds.Later,Dr.HenningstudiedhowstudentswhoarelearningEnglishasasecondlanguageremembervocabulary.Thesubjectsinhisexperimentwere75studentsattheUniversityofCaliforniainLosAnge

56、les.TheyrepresentedalllevelsofabilityinEnglish;beginning,intermediate,advanced,andnative-speakingstudents.Tobegin,thesubjectslistenedtoarecordingofanativespeakerreadingaparagraphinEnglish.Followingtherecording,thesubjectstooka15-questiontesttoseewhichwordstheyremembered.Eachquestionhadfourchoices.Th

57、esubjectshadtocirclethewordtheyhadheardintherecording.Someofthequestionshadfourchoicesthatsoundalike.Forexample,weather,whether,wither,andwetterarefourwordsthatsoundalike.Someofthequestionshadfourchoicesthathavethesamemeaning.Method,way,manner,andsystemwouldbefourwordswiththesamemeaning.Someofthemha

58、dfourunrelatedchoices.Forinstance,weather,method,love,andresultcouldbeusedasfourunrelatedwords.Finallythesubjectstookalanguageproficiencytest.HenningfoundthatstudentswithalowerproficiencyinEnglishmademoreoftheirmistakesonwordsthatsoundalike;studentswithahigherproficiencymademoreoftheirmistakesonword

59、sthathavethesamemeaning.Henning'sresultssuggestthatbeginniingsstudeholdthesoundofwordsintheirshort-termmemory,whileadvancedstudentsholdthemeaningofwordsintheirshort-termmemory.05-A_Fallacies.about_FoodManyprimitivepeoplesbelievedthatbyeatingananimaltheycouldgetsomeofthegoodqualitiesofthatanimalf

60、orthemselves.Theythought,forexample,thateatingdeerwouldmakethemrunasfastasthedeer.Somesavagetribesbelievedthateatingenemiesthathadshownbraveryinbattlewouldmakethembrave.Man-eatingmayhavestartedbecausepeoplewereeagertobecomeasstrongandbraveastheirenemies.Amongcivilizedpeopleitwasoncethoughtthatgingerrootbysomemagicalpowercouldimprovethememory.Eggswerethoughttomakethev