《新大学英语综合教程11》课件-B1U4 Learning a foreign language (2)章节

ReadingAIknowthisforafact,becausewhenIwasgrowingup,mymother’s“limited”Englishlimitedmyperceptionofher.IwasashamedofherEnglish.IbelievedthatherEnglishreflectedthequalityofwhatshehadtosay.Thatis,becausesheexpressedthemimperfectlyherthoughtswereimperfect.AndIhadplentyofempiricalevidencetosupportme:thefactthatpeopleindepartmentstores,atbanks,andatrestaurantsdidnottakeherseriously,didnotgivehergoodservice,pretendednottounderstandher,orevenactedasiftheydidnothearher.2ReadingAMymotherhaslongrealizedthelimitationsofherEnglishaswell.WhenIwasfifteen,sheusedtohavemecallpeopleonthephonetopretendIwasshe.Inthisguise,Iwasforcedtoaskforinformationoreventocomplainandyellatpeoplewhohadbeenrudetoher.OnetimeitwasacalltoherstockbrokerinNewYork.ShehadcashedouthersmallportfolioanditjustsohappenedweweregoingtogotoNewYorkthenextweek.Ihadtogetonthephoneandsayinanadolescentvoicethatwasnotveryconvincing,“ThisisMrs.Tan.”3ReadingAAndmymotherwasstandinginthebackwhisperingloudly,“Whyhedon’tsendmecheck,alreadytwoweekslate.Somadhelietome,losingmemoney.”AndthenIsaidinperfectEnglish,“Yes,I’mgettingratherconcerned.Youhadagreedtosendthechecktwoweeksago,butithasn’tarrived.”45ReadingAThenshebegantotalkmoreloudly.“Whathewant,IcometoNewYorktellhimfrontofhisboss,youcheatingme?”AndIwastryingtocalmherdown,makeherbequiet,whiletellingthestockbroker,“Ican’ttolerateanymoreexcuses.IfIdon’treceivethecheckimmediately,IamgoingtohavetospeaktoyourmanagerwhenI’minNewYorknextweek.”Andsureenough,thefollowingweektherewewereinfrontofthisastonishedstockbroker,andIwassittingtherered-facedandquiet,andmymother,therealMrs.Tan,wasshoutingathisbossinherimpeccablebrokenEnglish.6ReadingAI’vebeenasked,asawriter,whytherearenotmoreAsianAmericansrepresentedinAmericanliterature.WhyaretherefewAsianAmericansenrolledincreativewritingprograms?WhydosomanyChinesestudentsgointoengineering?ThismakesmethinkthatthereareotherAsian-AmericanstudentswhoseEnglishspokeninthehomemightalsobedescribedas“broken”or“limited.”Andperhapstheyalsohaveteacherswhoaresteeringthemawayfromwritingandintomathandscience,whichiswhathappenedtome.7ReadingAFortunately,Ihappentoberebelliousinnatureandenjoythechallengeofdisprovingassumptionsmadeaboutme.IbecameanEnglishmajormyfirstyearincollege,afterbeingenrolledaspre-med.IstartedwritingnonfictionasafreelancertheweekafterIwastoldbymyformerbossthatwritingwasmyworstskillandIshouldhonemytalentstowardaccountmanagement.8ReadingAButitwasn’tuntil1985thatIfinallybegantowritefiction.AndatfirstIwroteusingwhatIthoughttobewittilycraftedsentences,sentencesthatwouldfinallyproveIhadmasteryovertheEnglishlanguage.Here’sanexamplefromthefirstdraftofastorythatlatermadeitswayintoTheJoyLuckClub,butwithoutthisline:“Thatwasmymentalquandaryinitsnascentstate.”Aterribleline,whichIcanbarelypronounce.9ReadingAFortunately,IlaterdecidedIshouldenvisionareaderforthestoriesIwouldwrite.AndthereaderIdecideduponwasmymother,becausethesewerestoriesaboutmothers.Sowiththisreaderinmind,IbegantowritestoriesusingalltheEnglishesIgrewupwith:theEnglishIspoketomymother,whichforlackofabettertermmightbedescribedas“simple”;theEnglishsheusedwithme,whichforlackofabettertermmightbedescribedas“broken”;mytranslationofherChinese,whichcouldcertainlybedescribedas“watereddown”;10ReadingAandwhatIimaginedtobehertranslationofherChineseifshecouldspeakinperfectEnglish,herinternallanguage,andforthatIsoughttopreservetheessence,butneitheranEnglishnoraChinesestructure.Iwantedtocapturewhatlanguageabilitytestscanneverreveal:herintent,herpassion,herimagery,therhythmsofherspeechandthenatureofherthoughts.Apartfromwhatanycritichadtosayaboutmywriting,IknewIhadsucceededwhereitcountedwhenmymotherfinishedreadingmybookandgavemeherverdict:“Soeasytoread.”11ReadingBInasoftware-runworld,what’swantedaremoreengineers.Atleast,sogoestheargumentinarisingnumberofstates,whichhaveembracedafundingmodelforhighereducationthatusestuition“bonuses”tofavorhard-skilleddegreeslikecomputerscienceoverthehumanities.Thetrendisbackedbycountlessthinkpieces.“Macbethdoesnotmakemyprioritylist,”wroteVinodKhosla,aco-founderofSunMicrosystemsandtheauthorofawidelysharedblogpostentitled“IsMajoringinLiberalArtsaMistakeforStudents?”ToWriteBetterCode,ReadVirginiaWoolf1Thetechnologist’sargumentbeginswithasuspicionthattheliberalartsareofdubiousacademicrigor,suitedmostlytodreamers.Asaliberal-artsmajorwhowentontoacareerinsoftware,Icanonlyscratchmyhead.Freshoutofcollegein1993,Isignedonwithalargetechnologyconsultancy.Thefirm’sideawasthatbyhiringacertainlunaticfringeofhumanitiesmajors,itmightcutdownonengineeringgroupthink.Afterasix-weekprogrammingbootcamp,wewerepitchedheadfirstintothedeependofsoftwaredevelopment.2ReadingB3Myfirstprojectcouldhardlyhavebeenworse.We(mostlyengineers,withaspritzingofhumanitiesmajors)wereattachedtoanenormouscellularcarrier.Ourassignmentwastorewriteitsratingandbillingsystem—athingthatrivaledmaritimelawinitscomplexity.Iwasassignedtoateamchargedwithoneofthehairierprogramsinthesystem,whichconcernedthemovementofindividualmobilesubscribersfromone“parent”accountplantoanother.Eachoneofthesemovescausedalotofplanactivationsandterminations,carry.oversorforfeituresofaccumulatedtalkminutes,andlotsofothercausalconditionalsthatwouldaffectthesubscriber’sbill.4ReadingB5Thisprogram,thousandsoflinesofcodelongandgrowingbythehour,waspassedaroundourteamlikeanexquisitecorpse.ThesubscribersandtheirparentaccountswererenderedonourscreensasaseriesofS’sandA’s.Afterwestaredatthesefiguresforweeks,theybegantoinfectourdreams.(OneIstillremember.Iwasababyinavastcrib.Justoverhead,turningslowlyandradiatingmalice,wasanenormousironmobilewhosearmsstrainedundertheweightofcertaincapitalletters.)6ReadingBOurfirstbigbreakcamefromamusicmajor.Apianist,Ithink,whojoinedourteamseveralmonthsintotheproject.Withinamatterofweeks,shehadhituponamethodtomaketheS’sholdontothecorrectattributesevenwhentheirparentAwaschanged.Wehadbeenparalyzed.Theminutewetweakedonebitoflogic,werealizedwe’dfouledupanother.Butourmusicmajormovedfreely.InsteadoffreezingupoverthelogicalpermutationsbehindeachAandS,shefoundthatthesesymbolsputherinthemindofmusicalnotes.Asnotes,theycouldbemadetoworkinconcert.Theycouldbeorchestrated.7ReadingB8Onasubsequentproject,ourproblemwaspointers.Inprogramminglanguage,apointerisanobjectthatreferstosomemastervaluestoredelsewhere.Thismightsoundstraightforward,butpointersarelikeghostsinthesystem.Asinglemisdirectedonecancrashaprogram.Ourpointerwizardwasaphilosophymajorwhohadnotroubleatallwiththeideaofanamed“thing”beingatransientstand-inforsomeotherunseenthing.ForaPlatoman,thiswasmother’smilk.I’veworkedinsoftwareforyearsand,timeandagain,I’veseensomeoneapplytheartstosolveaproblemofsystems.Thereasonforthisissimple.Asapractice,softwaredevelopmentisfarmorecreativethanalgorithmic.9ReadingB1011T