00015自学考试英语二第一课

Unit1

Thepoweroflanguage

Afamousquote

Languageisthedressofthought.——SamuelJohnson

SamuelJohnson(1709-1784),Britishmanofletters,oneofthe

mostoutstandingfiguresofthe18thcenturyinEngland.He

madelastingcontributionstoEnglishliteratureasapoet,

essayist,moralist,literarycritic,biographer,editorand

lexicographer.Johnsonhasbeendescribedas“arguablythemost

distinguishedmanoflettersinEnglishhistory”.

SpeakingActivity

MakingSuggestions

Sampledialogue

Readthefollowingconversation.Payattentiontohowthe

speakersmakesuggestions.

Steve:Hi,Jenny,wouldyouliketodosomethingwithmethis

weekend?

Jenny:Sure.Whatshallwedo?

Steve:Idon’tknow.Doyouhaveanyideas?

Jenny:Whydon’tweseeafilm?

Steve:Thatsoundsgoodtome.Whichfilmshallwesee?

Jenny:Let’sseeActionMan4.

Steve:I’drathernot.Idon’tlikeviolentfilms.Howabout

goingtoMadDoctorBrown?Ihearit’squiteafunny

film.

Jenny:OK.Let’sgoseethat.Whenisiton?

Steve:It’sat8o’clockattheRex.Shallwehaveabitetoeat

beforethefilm?

Jenny:Sure,thatsoundsgreat.Whataboutgoingtothatnew

ItalianrestaurantMichetti’s?

Steve:Greatidea!Let’smeetthereatsix.

Jenny:OK.I’llseeyouatMichetti’satsix.Bye.

Steve:Bye.

Guidedpractice

Directions:Giveyourfriendssomesuggestionsonaplace

whereyoucanspendyourvacation.Useyourowninformation.

Youmayusethefollowingtipstohelpyou.

Wouldyouliketo…?

Shallwego…?

Let’sgo…?

Whydon’twe(you)go…?

How(What)aboutgoing…?

That’sagoodidea.

Goodsuggestion.

Thanksfortheadvice.

TestA

Pre-readingQuestions

1.Doyouusuallychallengetheideaanauthorrepresents?What

doyouthinkisactivereading?

2.whatsuggestionsdoyouexpecttheauthorwillgiveon

readingcritically?

CriticalReading

Criticalreadingappliestonon-fictionwritinginwhichthe

authorputsforthapositionorseekstomakeastatement.

Criticalreadingisactivereading.Itinvolvesmorethanjust

understandingwhatanauthorissaying.Criticalreading

involvesquestioningandevaluatingwhattheauthorissaying,

andformingyourownopinionsaboutwhattheauthorissaying.

Herearethethingsyoushoulddotobeacriticalreader.

Considerthecontextofwhatiswritten.Youmaybe

readingsomethingthatwaswrittenbyanauthorfromadifferent

culturalcontextthanyours.Or,youmaybereadingsomething

writtensometimeagoinadifferenttimecontextthanyours.In

eithercase,youmustrecognizeandtakeintoaccountany

differencesbetweenyourvaluesandattitudesandthose

representedbytheauthor.

Questionassertionsmadebytheauthor.Don’taccept

whatiswrittenatfacevalue.Beforeacceptingwhatiswritten,

becertainthattheauthorprovidessufficientsupportforany

assertionsmade.Lookforfacts,examples,andstatisticsthat

providesupport.Also,looktoseeiftheauthorhasintegratedthe

workofauthorities.

Comparewhatiswrittenwithotherwrittenworkon

thesubject.Looktoseethatwhatiswrittenisconsistentwith

whatothershavewrittenaboutthesubject.Ifthereare

inconsistencies,carefullyevaluatethesupporttheauthor

providesfortheinconsistencies.

Analyzeassumptionsmadebytheauthor.Assumptions

arewhatevertheauthormustbelieveistrueinordertomake

assertion.Inmanycases,theauthor’sassumptionsarenot

directlystated.Thismeansyoumustreadcarefullyinorderto

identifyanyassumptions.Onceyouidentifyanassumption,you

mustdecidewhetherornottheassumptionisvalid..

Evaluatethesourcestheauthoruses.Indoingthis,be

certainthatthesourcesarecredible.Forexample,Einsteinisa

crediblesourceiftheauthoriswritingaboutlandmark

achievementsinphysics.Alsobecertainthatthesourcesare

relevant.Einsteinisnotarelevantsourcewhenthesubjectis

poetry.Finally,iftheauthoriswritingaboutasubjectinits

currentstate,besurethatthesourcesarecurrent.Forexample,

studiesdonebyEinsteinintheearly20thcenturymaynotbe

appropriateifthewriterisdiscussingthecurrentstateof

knowledgeinphysics.

Identifyanypossibleauthorbias.Awrittendiscussionof

Americanpoliticswilllikelylookconsiderablydifferent

dependingonwhetherthewriterisaDemocratoraRepublican.

Whatiswrittenmayverywellreflectinabiasedposition.You

needtotakethispossiblebiasintoaccountwhenreadingwhat

theauthorhaswritten.Thatis,takewhatiswrittenwith“agrain

ofsalt.”

Bybeingacriticalreader,youwillbecomebetterinformed

andmaychangeyourviewsasappropriate.

TextB

Pre-readingquestions

1.Arethereanywordsthatmakeyoufeelconfidentor

diffident?

2.Doyoubelievethatlanguagecaninfluencepeople’sthought?

Givesomeexamples.

Thelanguageofconfidence

Thelanguageweuseprogramsourbrains.Masteringour

languagegivesusagreatdegreeofmasteryoverourlivesand

ourdestinies.Itisimportanttousethelanguageinthebestway

possibleinordertodramaticallyimproveourqualityoflife.

Eventhesmallestofwordscanhavethedeepesteffectonour

subconsciousmind,whichislikeachild,anditdoesn’treally

understandthedifferencebetweenwhatreallyhappensandwhat

youimagine.Itiseagertopleaseandwillingtocarryoutany

commandsthatyougiveit----whetheryoudothisknowinglyor

notisentirelyuptoyou.

“Try”

Itisasmallwordyetithasanamazingimpactuponus.If

someonesays,“I’lltrytodothat”youknowthattheyarenot

goingtobeputtingtheirwholeheartintoit,andmaynoteven

doitatall.Howoftendoyouusethewordtrywhentalking

aboutthethingsthatmattertoyou?Doyousay“I’lltrytobe

moreconfident”or“I’lltrytodothat”or“I’lltrytocall”?

Thinkaboutsomethingthatyouwouldliketoachieve,and

sayittoyourselfintwodifferentways.Firstlysay,“I’lltry

to…”andnoticehowyoufeel.Nextsay,“Iwilldo…”andsee

howyoufeel.

Thelattermakesyoufeelbetterthanthefirstone,doesn’tit?

Itgivesyouasenseofdetermination,afeelingthatitwillbe

done.Listentothepeoplearoundyouandwhentheysaythey

willtrynoticeifitgetsdoneornot.Eliminatethewordtryfrom

yourdictionaryandseehowyourlifeimproves.

“Can’t”

Thisisanothersmallwordwithabigimpact.It

disempowersus,makesusfeelweakandhelpless,anddamages

ourself-esteem.Itlimitsourinfiniteabilities