新视界大学英语综合教程

1、,Watch the video clip about Michael Phelps learning Chinese, supposed you are his teacher, try to find out his problem and give some suggestion.,Warming up,Warming up, Match the scripts with the languages.,Answer: 1 (a) 2 (c) 3 (e) 4 (b) 5 (f) 6 (d),Warming up, Work in pairs and discuss the question

2、s.,Which of the languages in Activity 1 do you think would be the easiest to learn? Why? Which do you think would be the most difficult? What is the easiest thing about learning English? 4 What is the most difficult thing about learning English?,Warming up, Work in pairs and discuss the questions.,1

3、 Why would speakers of English want to learn Chinese? 2 What difficulties do you think they might have? 3 What might they find easy? 4 How many characters do you think a foreigner needs to know to be able to read Chinese? 5 Do you think Chinese grammar is more or less difficult than English grammar?

4、,Now read the passage and compare your answers with the writers.,Skimming,Browse the passage within 8 minutes to get a rough idea about it. Answer the questions of Activity 2 and 3 on page 137.,Task,Skimming, Match the facts with the correct numbers.,Answer: (d) 2 (c) 3 (h) 4 (b) 5 (g) 6 (a) 7 (e) 8

5、 (f),(a) about seven (b) no more than 20 (c) 40 (d) over 500 (e) about 480 (f) about 2,200 (g) about 5,000 (h) 1.3 billion,Now work in pairs and discuss which fact you find most surprising, and why.,Skimming, Answer the questions.,1 Why is the writer learning Chinese? What is going to happen to Engl

6、ish in the future? What makes learning Chinese difficult for English speakers?,For her work in Beijing.,English will decline as a world language.,Having to learn thousands of characters, and the tone system.,Skimming,Why does the writer say that her teacher makes things difficult? 5 How does Chinese

7、 differ from English in its representation of meaning?,She does not adequately understand her students difficulties in learning Chinese.,In written form, a word / character primarily represents a meaning in Chinese, but in English a series of sounds.,Lessons to be learnt,译文,Digging,1 Ive been spendi

8、ng several years learning Chinese for my work here in Beijing, so the latest news that theres to be a new campaign to introduce the language into US schools, and a recent report estimating that over 500 schools in the UK are teaching it prompts me to tell you something which you may not want to hear

9、: Learning Chinese is really, really tough.,Background information,Digging,2 After Canada and Mexico, China is the US biggest trading partner. UK exports to China are expected to multiply by four times by the end of the decade, and its government wants every school, college and university to be twin

10、ned with an equivalent institution in China. With the importance of English as an international language set to decline over the next 40 years, its not surprising that this fall is matched by a rise of interest in learning Chinese.,译文,Digging,3 Chinese culture is one of the great wonders of the worl

11、d. Its philosophy, art, food and literature show both delicate appeal and humanity in equal measure.,译文,Digging,4 But I have to say that if learning is a journey, its sometimes hard to keep your eye on your destination when there are so many other sights to see which slow you down on the path toward

12、s fluency. And no one said it would be an endurance test.,译文,Digging,5 Youve heard of the Long March? Well, that was a stroll in the park, compared to what its like to learn Chinese.,译文,Digging,6 So, if 1.3 billion Chinese dont have a problem with their own language, why do dumb foreigners like me f

13、ind it so hard to learn?,译文,Digging,7 First of all, learning thousands of characters is a chore, and theres nothing for it but to learn them by heart. Even using a dictionary has its own set of problems. For example, how do you look up the meaning of a character? Ive spent hours trying to match what

14、 I think is the radical with the list in the middle of my Chinese-English dictionary, then hunting down the character matched with its pinyin (Roman alphabet) equivalent, then turning to the dictionary entry itself, and looking for the character and eliminating all those with wrong meanings until I

15、find the right one. It takes a lot of patience, it can be very disappointing, and my disgraceful strike rate is scarcely 20 characters an hour.,译文,Digging,8 Language experts estimate that you “only” need to learn about 5,000 characters to have a working knowledge of Chinese. (I just love that “only”

16、!) They also say its desirable to see and revise a character about seven times in different contexts in order to retain it and use it productively. 9 So you do the maths.,译文,Digging,10 Learning Chinese is already tough, but learning with an unqualified teacher makes it even more difficult. In our fi

17、rst lesson, we learnt our first Chinese character 家. Our teacher told us that Chinese people are able to see the original representation of meaning in the character. She drew it on the whiteboard. It means home. Good. She then explained that its meant to illustrate a pig under a roof. Thats good too

18、. Then she asked, “Can you see the pig?” 11 No?,译文,Digging,12 “There it is, cant you see?” she enquired. 13 I see no pig. 14 “And can you see the roof?” 15 Well, I suppose so, but only if I had lost my glasses or, possibly, was drunk. But to please my teacher I said, yes I can see the roof, just a b

19、it of a blur, thats all. 16 “Thats the pig under the roof. That means home!” said my teacher, in a voice celebrating the glory of Chinese.,Digging,17 Have I finished with the bad news? 18 Not yet. The tone system means that a single character can have different meanings according to the tone used to

20、 pronounce it. What are the odds I call my mother a horse? And its easy to misunderstand and be misunderstood, and even worse if you travel around the country, as the tones can vary from province to province.,Digging,19 So is there any good news? 20 Well, I concede that grammar is easier to crack th

21、an most European languages. There are no verb tenses to manipulate, no singular and plurals, no relative clauses. (Confusingly, theres also no difference in pronunciation of the character for he and she. For me, its a fairly basic distinction, but maybe Im being Ms Picky.),Digging,21 But back in cla

22、ss again, I noticed that by the words in the vocabulary list there is a part of speech marked, noun, adjective, verb. When I look back at my vocabulary notes, I see that some words can function as nouns and as verbs, and others such as guo, ba or le are called particles, but dont have an obvious fun

23、ction. They have meaning, and without them the meaning of the sentence is changed, but it seems strange to use a system invented to analyze European languages. Does this compound all the difficulties?,Digging,22 Similarly, I begin to wonder how Chinese can express complex concepts. Take one characte

24、r and it has a denotational meaning, which you can usually find in a dictionary. Combine this character with another and you create a concept which is new and different. Combine them with more characters and you further develop this concept.,Digging,23 Is this so different from English? Well, yes, b

25、ecause by this time, you need to interpret the combination of characters to understand what it means. It doesnt mean the sum of its isolated, denotational meanings, but the sum of its connotational (or implicit) meanings!,Digging,24 But everyone who uses the language has to agree on the connotations

26、 of each of the characters, and if they dont, then surely theres a risk of being vague or of a lack of precision or faulty grammar. So how does Chinese express complex and precise concepts?,Digging,25 What compensates for all the difficulties is that learning Chinese is like playing chess or doing t

27、he crossword. Its totally absorbing, and its not the right word, but how else can I say it? I enjoy myself. Its not just a gradual process of language acquisition, it inspires ongoing questions about the meaning of communication and the power of language. Its a very beautiful, deeply inspiring, and

28、thrilling challenge. I have to keep going, as the journey will fascinate me as much as the arrival at my destination.,Digging,26 But how long will it take? 27 Some statistics suggest that an educated English speaker needs 1,300 hours to achieve a proficiency corresponding to an educated native speak

29、er of Chinese, while it would only take about 480 hours to achieve a comparable level in French or Spanish. Others reckon that 1,300 hours isnt sufficient, and that its closer to 2,200 hours.,Digging,28 Thats quite a few lessons to be learnt. 29 Michael Phelps, the great Olympic champion swimmer at

30、the Beijing Olympic Games, is learning Chinese too. During an interview in 2008, he made a famous declaration Ill never forget. “Its easier to win eight gold medals at the Olympic Games than it is to learn Chinese.” 30 Hes not making it up. Hes right. ,Main idea of the text,1. and its government wan

31、ts every school, college and university to be twinned with an equivalent institution in China. (Line 5, Para 2),be twinned with an equivalent institution in China: to sign an agreement with a “sister” organization in China for joint activities,Difficult sentences,Difficult sentences,2. Well, that wa

32、s a stroll in the park, compared to what its like to learn Chinese. (Line 1, Para 5),a stroll in the park: an idiom meaning something which is easy to do,Difficult sentences,3. and my disgraceful strike rate is scarcely 20 characters an hour. (Line 14, Para 7),strike rate: one of the statistics used

33、 in the sport baseball / cricket. Here it is used metaphorically to mean success rate.,Difficult sentences,4. (I just love that “only” !) (Line 3, Para 8),The expression is used sarcastically of anything one wants to scream about. Here it is the implication in only that learning 5,000 characters is

34、a simple task.,Difficult sentences,5. So you do the maths. (Para 9),The expression “do the math” here means to work it out.,Difficult sentences,6. For me, its a fairly basic distinction, but maybe Im being Ms Picky. (Line 6, Para 20),Here Ms Picky refers to a difficult fussy person.,Difficult senten

35、ces,7. Does this compound all the difficulties? (Line 11, Para 21),Does this make the difficulties worse?,prompt,释义,vt. to make someone decide to do something 促使，导致,例句,The decision prompted steel workers to strike.,这个决定促使钢铁工人下决心罢工。,翻译,Words,例句,News of the scandal prompted the investigation.,关于这件丑闻的新

36、闻报道促使对此事展开调查。,翻译,释义,vi. to increase by a large amount 大量增加,Words,例句,Dont let your troubles multiply , just take them one by one.,别让问题堆积如山，一个一个着手解决。,翻译,例句,The spirits of love and gratitude multiply when they are shared.,爱和感恩之心在与他人一起分享时会成倍增长。,翻译,multiply,释义1,v. (BrE) (AmE review) to read and learn inf

37、ormation that you have studied in order to prepare for an examination 复习,Words,例句,Id better skip the party and stay at home to revise.,我最好还是不去参加这个聚会，留在家里温习功课。,翻译,例句,Have you revised the work we did last term?,你复习我们上学期学的内容了吗？,翻译,revise,释义2,vt. to change something because of new information or ideas 改

38、变，修正,Words,例句,The plan was revised and the fee lowered to 600.,计划作了修改，费用降至600美元。,翻译,例子,He soon came to revise his opinion of the profession.,他很快就改变了对这个职业的看法。,翻译,revise,释义,v. (also inquire) to ask someone for information about something 询问，打听,Words,例句,I am writing to inquire about subscribing to your

39、 magazine.,我写此信是为了询问贵杂志订阅事宜。,翻译,例句,I inquired as to whether I could park for free before going to that shopping mall.,我去商场之间询问过是否可以免费停车。,翻译,enquire,释义1,n. U great beauty 壮丽，绚丽；辉煌,例句,The designs reflect the glories of French fashion.,这些设计反映出了法国时装的辉煌。,翻译,Words,例句,翻译,The sun emerged from behind the clo

40、uds in all its glory.,太阳从云层后钻出，光芒四射。,glory,释义2,n. U admiration and praise that you get because you have done something impressive 荣誉，光荣,例句,翻译,Words,例句,Becoming a Supreme Court judge was the crowning glory of her legal career.,翻译,成为最高法院法官是她法律职业生涯中的最高荣耀。,At 19 he won glory as an Olympic champion.,他19岁

41、的时候就获得了奥林匹克冠军的荣誉。,glory,释义,n. (pl) the chance of something happening (某事发生的)机会，可能性,例句,The odds of getting hit by a falling satellite are very small.,被坠落的卫星砸中的可能性是极小的。,翻译,Words,例句,翻译,What are the odds of finding a parking space right outside the door?,在门口就能找到停车位的可能性有多大？,odds,释义1,vt. to solve a compli

42、cated problem or find the answer to a mystery 解决，破解，破译,例句,He has finally cracked the system after years of painstaking research.,经过多年的努力研究，他终于找到了破解这个系统的办法。,翻译,Words,crack,释义2,vt. to damage something so that a line or long narrow hole appears on its surface, but it does not break into pieces 使裂开，使破裂,

43、例句,A gas main had cracked under my neighbours garage and gas had seeped into our homes.,邻居车库下面的煤气总管裂开了，煤气渗入了我们家。,翻译,Words,例句,A strong earthquake cracked buildings in northwest China.,一场强地震把中国西北部的建筑物震裂了。,翻译,crack,释义1,vt. to skillfully handle, control, or use something （熟练地）控制，操作，使用,例句,The technology

44、uses a pen to manipulate a computer.,这项技术使用一支笔来操作电脑。,翻译,Words,manipulate,例句,Players manipulate characters on the screen using a joystick.,玩游戏者利用一根操纵杆来操纵屏幕上的人物。,翻译,释义2,vt. to inluence someone or control something in a clever or dishonest way （以巧妙或不诚实的方式）影响，操纵，摆布,例句,He is a very difficult character. H

45、e manipulates people.,他是个极难对付的角色，总是把人玩弄于股掌之间。,翻译,Words,例句,Students were outraged that someone could use their newspaper to manipulate them.,翻译,学生们因有人能利用他们的报纸来操纵他们而被激怒了。,manipulate,释义,vt. to make a problem or diicult situation worse 加大（困难）；加重,Phrases,例句,翻译,Additional bloodshed and loss of life will o

46、nly compound the tragedy.,额外的流血和牺牲只会加重这场悲剧。,例句,翻译,The problem is compounded by the medical system here.,这儿的医疗体制使问题进一步恶化。,compound,释义,例句,翻译,利维的声明可以被看作是含蓄的认罪。,Levys statement could be understood as an implicit admission of guilt.,Phrases,例句,翻译,This is seen as an implicit warning not to continue with m

47、ilitary action.,这被视为一个停止军事行动的含蓄警告。,implicit,释义,例句,翻译,为了弥补过去受到的歧视，更多的妇女将被提升。,More women will be promoted in order to compensate for discrimination in the past.,Phrases,例句,翻译,To ease financial difficulties, farmers could be compensated for their loss of subsidies.,为了缓解经济困难，农场主们损失的补贴会得到补偿。,compensate,释

48、义,例句,翻译,我们看到劳动条件正在逐步改善。,Were seeing gradual improvement in labor conditions.,Phrases,例句,翻译,Over the past year, her friends have noticed gradual changes in her behavior.,过去一年来，朋友们注意到她的举止逐渐发生了变化。,gradual,释义,例句,翻译,Phrases,例句,翻译,sufficient,绝大部分卧室只用床头照明是不够的。,Bedside lighting alone is not sufficient for m

49、ost bedrooms.,There was not sufficient evidence to secure a conviction.,没有足够的证据来定罪。,释义,例句,翻译,Phrases,hunt down,Those criminals who do not come forward should be hunted down.,对于那些不肯自首的罪犯应予缉拿归案。,例句,翻译,Last December they hunted down and killed one of the gangsters.,去年12月他们追捕到其中一名匪徒并将其击毙。,释义,例句,翻译,Phras

50、es,Not having a good excuse for being late, she made up one.,迟到没借口，她就信口胡编了一个。,make up,例句,翻译,He made up a story for not turning up on time.,他因为没准时出现而编造了一个理由。,1 因为工作原因，我已经在北京学习汉语好几年了。有最新消息说要进行一项在美国学校推广汉语的活动，而且，最近的一份报告称在英国有500多所学校有汉语教学。这促使我想给你讲讲可能你不希望听到的事：学习中文真的很难，很难。,Translation,原文,应该学习的一课,2 中国是继加拿大和墨

51、西哥之后的美国的第三大贸易伙伴。英国对中国的出口额预计十年后将增长四倍，所以英国政府希望英国的每所学校、学院和大学都要和中国相应的院校建立合作关系。未来40年，随着英语作为国际语言的重要性逐渐减弱，人们学习汉语的兴趣不断高涨也就不足为奇了。,Translation,原文,3 中国文化是世界上的一个伟大奇迹。中国的哲学、艺术、饮食和文学既引人入胜，又颇具人文精神。,Translation,原文,4 但我不得不说，如果说学习是一次旅行的话，你有时很难做到紧紧盯住目的地，因为沿途有如此多的其他景色可以欣赏，这会使你在通往娴熟的道路上放慢脚步。没有人说过这是对耐力的一次考验。,Translation,

52、原文,5 你听说过长征吗？长征和学汉语比起来，简直就像是在公园里散步。,Translation,原文,6 那么，如果13亿中国人学习他们自己的语言没有问题，为什么像我这样傻乎乎的外国人会觉得汉语这么难学呢？,Translation,原文,7 首先，学习几千个汉字是件苦差事，只能用心去记，没有其他方法。甚至查字典时也会碰到一堆问题。比如，你如何查找一个汉字的意思？首先，我得确定这个字的偏旁部首，然后在汉英字典中间的部首表中找到匹配的偏旁，然后按其汉语拼音（罗马字母）查找对 应的汉字，再进入词典的条目去查找那个汉字，通过排除所有意思不相符的汉字，我才能最终找到正确的那个字，而这已经花了我几个小时的

53、时间。查字典需要极大的耐心，可能会令人非常沮丧。说起来很丢人，我每小时只能勉强查20个汉字。,Translation,原文,8 语言专家估计你“只要”掌握大约五千个汉字，就足以应付工作需要了。（我太喜欢“只要”这个词了！）他们还说，在不同的语境中看到和复习一个汉字七次，你就可以记住、并灵活运用这个字了。 9 要花多少时间，你自己算吧。,Translation,原文,10 学习中文本身已经很难了，跟一个不称职的老师学就更加困难了。第一节课上，我们学的第一个汉字是“家”。老师告诉我们，中国人能够看出一个汉字所代表的最原始的象形意义。她把“家”这个字写在白板上。它的意思是家。好。然后她解释说，这个字

54、表示的是一头猪在屋顶下。这也还好。接下来，她问道： “你们看到猪了吗？” 11 看不到？,Translation,原文,12 “就在那儿，看不到吗？”她问道。 13 我根本看不到猪。 14 “那你们看到屋顶了吗？” 15 好吧，我想只有当我丢了眼镜或是喝醉了时才能看到。但为了让老师满意，我说，是的，我能看到屋顶，只是有点儿模糊罢了。 16“屋顶下有头猪。意思就是家！”老师的声音中满含对汉语言文字的自豪感。,Translation,原文,17 学习汉语的麻烦事儿就这些吗？ 18 还不止这些。根据汉语的声调体系，一个汉字根据其声调的不同可以有不同的意思。那么，我把“妈”称为“马”的概率有多大？而且

55、，这也很容易误解别人和被别人误解。如果你在中国各地旅行的话，情况会更糟糕，因为同一个汉字每个省的声调都各不相同。,Translation,19 那么，学习汉语有什么让人高兴的事儿吗？ 20 好吧，我承认汉语语法比大多数欧洲语言的语法更容易攻克。学习汉语不用掌握动词时态，没有单数和复数的区别，也没有关系从句。（令人困惑的是，“他”和“她”这两个字的发音也没有区别。对我来说，这是一个基本的区别，但也许是我太挑剔了。）,Translation,21 再回到课堂上，我注意到词汇表里的词旁都有词性标注，如名词、形容词、动词。当我查看我的词汇笔记时，我看到有些词既可以用作名词，又可以用作动词，而另一些词如

56、“过”、“吧”或“了”等被称作助词，没有明显的句法功能。这些词本身有意义，而且如果 没有它们的话，句子的意思就会发生改变。但用分析欧洲语言的那套方法来分析汉语似乎又很奇怪。这是不是使汉语学习难上加难呢？,Translation,22 我同样也想知道汉语是如何表达复杂概念的。比如，一个汉字有外延意义，你通常可以在词典中查到这个字的外延意义。把这个汉字与另一个汉字结合起来就形成一个新的不同的概念。把这两个字与更多的字连用，那么就又进一步扩展了这一概念。,Translation,23 这与英语大不相同吗？哦，是的，因为到这时，你只有理解了组合起来的这些汉字的内涵意义才能明白整个词组的含义。其含义并不

57、是各个孤立的字的外延意义的总和，而是其内涵意义（或隐含之意）的总和！,Translation,24 但所有使用汉语的人要就每个汉字的内涵意义达成一致意见，否则的话肯定会导致表达时意思含糊、表达不准确或语法错误。那么，汉语如何表达复杂而精确的概念呢？,Translation,25 虽然学习汉语有很多困难，但也有乐趣。学习汉语就像下象棋或做填字游戏，着实让人着迷，并且这里我用词不准确，但我还能如何表达呢？我乐在其中。学习汉语不仅仅是语言习得的一个渐进过程，它也不断地激发人们去思考沟通的意义和语言的力量。这是一项极其美妙、极其激励人心和令人兴奋的挑战。旅程和终点都令我神往，使我不得不坚持下去。,Tr

58、anslation,26 但这需要多久？ 27 有统计数据表明，一个受过良好教育的以英语为母语的人需要1,300小时才能达到一个受过良好教育的中国人的汉语水平。而如果学习法语或西班牙语的话，要达到同等语言水平只需大概480小时。还有人认为1,300小时还不够，需要差不多2,200小时。,Translation,28 这可要学习不少的课程。 29 著名的北京奥运会游泳冠军麦克尔菲尔普斯也在学习汉语。2008年在接受采访时，他说了一句名言，我永远都不会忘记，他说：“学习汉语比赢得八枚奥运金牌还难。” 30 他不是瞎说。他说的没错。,Translation,Background informatio

59、n,With Chinas increased role in the world, people outside China are showing a new interest in learning Chinese and more and more courses are on offer in schools, colleges and from private language institutes. As Chinese is typologically a very different sort of language to the main European languages, learners have a number of problems which they are not used to from learning other languages closer to home.,Background information,The passage is a rather humorous article by