English Language Learning _2002_1

英语专家如是说 n Americans in Italy Seek Food, Not Ruins 美景如何美食 n Brain Reacts Differently to Faces Based on Race 人脑的种族歧视 n Primed to Survive 质数化生存 n Witches Upset by Broomstick Style 骑扫把的正确方法 n Archaeologist Wins Tomb Raider Apology 纯属巧合 n Use of Word 'Widow' Banned in Records 为寡者讳 n Bureaucracy to Cut Out Jargon on Forms 革除官腔 n One in 3 Britons Lies in Job Applications? 居不易，编简历 the brave new world 缤纷世界 n Long March 's Peak: China's Admission to WTO n Iron Woman of Japan Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka under the spotlight 聚光灯下 n Money and Love n We Have Planted More Than a Garden n Moment of Protest n Learning in the Southern Land tales of life 人生广角 n Downsizing in Vogue n Cyberphobics n Digital Mobile Phones modern times 摩登时代 n On Pleasure classic prose 经典文选 n Crazy World （1） corner of literature 文学角 n Finding Forrester cinematic story 银屏览胜 n Eternity n X-Sports popular interests 流行趣味 n the United Nations speaking of which 非常知识 n I Am Not the Fashionable Type translation workshop 汉玉精雕 页码，1/1英语学习 2003-6-27http://www.beiwaionline.com/englishstudy/jan/index.htm 《英语学习》系列读物新鲜出炉！ 《英语学习·40年精选丛》出版 ● 第一期 ● 第二期 ● 第三期 ● 第四期 n Topic: Air Force One 空军一号 n Lessons of the Foreign Land 珍惜拥有 n Clever Monkey 听了老人言…… n The Four Steps in Essay Writing - College Writing Skills with Readings n A Day's Wait n 你问我答 n Light My Fire speaking of which 非常知识 easy readings 轻松读物 learning aid 教与学 practice in writing 习作园 页码，1/1英语学习 2003-6-27http://www.beiwaionline.com/englishstudy/index.htm 英语专家如是说--钱 青 1932年生于南京。1953年毕业于江苏师大（现苏州大学），1957年入北京外国语学院英语系副博士研究生班， 1984年获得美国芝加哥大学哲学博士学位。1958年起在北京外国语学院英语系任教。现为北京外国语大学英语学院教 授、博士生导师，任全国美国文学研究会副会长，国际大学英语教授协会会员。 主要著作有《英语会话手册》、《当代英文散文选读》（与吴景荣、丁往道合编）、《美国文学名著精选》（主 编）、《英美文学工具书》、《美国六十年代的实验小说》、《当代美国探索性小说的小说技巧》等书籍和文 章。 如何才能从仅仅掌握简单的日常生活英语提高到能表达思想，语言自然流畅，能看懂原著并就一般话题展开 对话？最初阶段要提高较容易，已达到较高水平而进一步提高也不难，最难的是由初级阶段过渡到能读文字不太难的 原著。这时，上精读课就很有必要，因为通过精读可以认识许多英语语法和词汇现象，从而加深对英语语言的了解。 但光靠精读接触的英语是不够的。在国内学外语环境不够理想的情况下，主要应靠阅读简易读物来弥补不足。阅读简 易读物是吸收新语言现象的最好途径，这些读物中生词较少，不用费很大精力查字典，注意力可以集中在内容和文字 的表达方法上，因此可以读得快，读得多。这样，一些基本语法和词汇现象可以反复接触。例如，反复见到虚拟语气 的例子或过去完成时的使用会使学生加深对其正确使用的印象。同样，反复见到各种日常生活中常用的习惯用语、动 词搭配等，有助于我们进一步了解在什么情况下使用，而不至于把英汉词汇机械地对应起来，认为任何时候出现这个 中文词就必须用那个英文词表达。犯这种错误的人不可能说出和写出自然流利的英文。 阅读简易读物能给我们提供英语句子的最基本成分，学会简单自如的表达方法。例如give in（屈服、让步、递 交），give out（分布、公布、发出），give away（捐赠、送掉），give back（归还），give up（放弃、终 止），give yourself up（投降）。这些动词短语都可以用范围更窄的外来词表达，例如give away作为"捐赠"可用 donate; give yourself up作为"投降"可用surrender; give out作为"散发"可用distribute等。用词同语法一样， 都是英语句子的基本组成部分。掌握了这些，即便词汇量不大，表达能力仍可较强。读简易读物，反复见到一些常用 词汇和语法现象便于我们学习一些基本语言现象，例如语法、词汇搭配，又便于巩固已学过的知识使其成为技巧。就 像认识人一样：我们只见过一次的人往往认不出脸，叫不出名字，语言现象也不是见了一次就会认识使用。但在不同 上下文中反复见到的语言现象就容易熟悉，进而逐步掌握。 应当看哪些读物提高最快？最好读一些没有专业词汇、文字较简单，篇幅较短、内容有吸引力的作品。这样容易 看得快看得多，给自己树立信心。可以读简写的英美文学经典著作，例如《傲慢与偏见》、《简爱》等。最好是选英 国朗文出版社组织编写的读物，因为这套读物编写得很科学，文章难度适中，词汇的选用也是经过精心编排的。他们 把小说中大篇幅的描写都删掉了，因为这个时期学这些无用。除此以外，可以选一些文字简单的短篇散文或短篇小 说，最好是20世纪的，以免词汇和句子结构太老化。内容最好是关于日常生活的，不要专业题材的，这类文章在《读 者文摘》中常能找到。还可以读一些短篇的传记或旅行见闻性质的文章，甚至一些较浅的对话较多的世界侦探小说名 著，如阿加莎·克里斯蒂的作品。要避开专业词汇较多、描写太细的作品。通过阅读这些书和文章不仅能学到语言而 且还能了解英美国家的风俗习惯和文化背景知识。 页码，1/1英语学习 2003-6-27http://www.beiwaionline.com/englishstudy/jan/prelude.htm Americans in Italy Seek Food, Not Ruins 美景如何美食 More and more Americans are visiting Italy not to see the sites of ancient Rome but to taste the delights of the rest of the country, according to a new survey. Not only are long waits under the hot summer sun to get into sites such as the Colosseum turning visitors away, but the attractions of good wine, pasta and Parmesan cheese are drawing people to other, lesser-known destinations. A little over a quarter of those surveyed said they were choosing alternative locations because they wanted to get to know Italian cuisine better. Another 21 percent said it was much more relaxing to be in the countryside eating wholesome Italian food after leaving stressful jobs and unhealthy diets in the United States. And 17 percent said they were following in the footsteps of their Hollywood heroes. For years, Hollywood stars have enjoyed low-key vacations at quiet but luxurious villas in rural Italy, and it appears the trend is rubbing off on Americans. Americans are realizing that the Mediterranean diet is the best way to stay in shape and that courses in Italian cooking are better for handling stress than visiting a psychologist,* a statement accompanying the survey said. 根据新近的一项调查结果，越来越多的美国人去意大利不是为了参观古罗马遗址，而是为了品尝这个国家其他地方的 美食。一方面，参观圆形大剧场之类的地方往往需要在炎炎夏日排队苦等，这让游客们望而却步；另一方面，美酒、 面点和帕尔马干酪也吸引人们去往其他一些不太出名的地方。1/4强的受访者说他们选择其他旅游点是为了更好体验 意大利的烹调风味。另有21%的人认为抛开紧张的工作和不健康的美国食谱，在乡间品味有益健康的意大利食品实在 是一件十分惬意的事情。还有17%的人则说他们是在追随好莱坞英雄们的脚步。好莱坞的明星们一直以来都喜欢在意 大利乡间安静而豪华的别墅里享受低调的假期，看来这一时尚已经对美国人产生了影响。调查随附的一份声明中 说："美国人已经认识到地中海地区的饮食是保持体形的最好办法，而去上意式烹饪课程比看心理医生更能缓解压 力。" Remarks：旅游真谛只在轻松愉快的心境，是玩出好心情还是吃出好心情并不重要。 页码，1/1英语学习 2003-6-27http://www.beiwaionline.com/englishstudy/jan/world_01.htm Brain Reacts Differently to Faces Based on Race 人脑的种族歧视 People have been found to remember faces of their own race better than they remember faces of other races. Now researchers have uncovered the changes in the brain that underlie that phenomenon. Dr. Jennifer L. Eberhardt and colleagues from Stanford University asked 19 men-9 black and 10 white - to look at pictures of faces of people from both races while they monitored participants* brain activity with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The investigators found that when the study participants looked at faces matching their own race, a specific area of the brain it up* on the MRI. But when they looked at pictures of faces of another race, the brain area did not activate to the same degree, according to the report in the Nature Neuroscience. The part of the brain is called the fusiform region. It is an area that is activated when someone looks at a face, but not while they look at other objects or even other parts of the body. It is also activated when a person looks at an object about which they are an expert,* Eberhardt explained, noting that a bird watcher fusiform region might be activated if he looks at a bird. 人们对同种族人的面孔记得比其他种族人的面孔要牢是一个已知的事实。现在科学家们已经发现了这一现象背后的大 脑变化。斯坦福大学的珍妮弗· L·爱伯哈德博士和她的同事让19名男子--9个黑人和10个白人--观看来自这两个种 族的人脸图片，同时用磁共振成像仪（MRI）监测其脑部活动。据发表于《自然神经科学》上的所载，研究者们 发现当受试者看到自己种族的人脸时，MRI显示其大脑中的一个特殊区域"亮"了起来。而当受试者看到其他种族的人 脸时，这一区域的反应就不是同样强烈。该区域被称为"纺锤状区"。 爱伯哈德解释道："这一区域只有当人们看到人 脸时才会被激活，而在看到其他事物甚至是身体其他部分时都没有反应。当人们看到某种他非常了解的事物时，这一 区域也会有反应。"她举例说，当鸟类观察者看到一只鸟时，他的"纺锤状区"就会有反应。 Remarks：不懂得察言观色的人们应该反躬自省：是不是自己的"纺锤状区"有什么问题？ 页码，1/1英语学习 2003-6-27http://www.beiwaionline.com/englishstudy/jan/world_02.htm Primed to Survive 质数化生存 Cicadas, those tubby brown bugs that spend most of their lives underground, emerge from dormancy every 7, 13, or 17 years-all prime numbers. Physicists Eric Goles of the University of Chile and Mario Markus of the Max Planck Institute in Germany sensed an evolutionary logic behind this pattern. To prove it, the researchers designed a computer model of how cicadas interact with their predators. In the simulation, predator and prey follow randomly assigned life-cycle durations. If the cicadas appear when many predators are waiting, their population drops; if the cicadas arise when few predators are around, they flourish. Eventually the cycles settled into the most beneficial pattern, and sure enough, the periods were prime numbers. Because of their metabolic demands, predators cannot remain dormant for many years. It's better for the predator's life cycle to be a small, even number because then they most often have the same peak year as their prey,* says a physicist on the German team. That explains why there are no even-cycle cicadas. For the cicada, 12 years is bad because predators on 2-, 3-, 6-, and 12-year cycles would eat them,* he says. But 13 (as with 7 and 17) offers safety in numbers because it is divisible only by itself and 1. 蝉一生中的大部分时间都在地下度过，这些圆滚滚的褐色虫子结束休眠来到地面的间隔期是7年，13年或是17年- -都是质数。智利大学的物理学家埃里克·科尔斯和德国马克斯·普朗克学院的马里奥·马库斯感到这种数字模型背 后存在着某种进化逻辑。为了证明这一点，研究者们了一个关于蝉与其天敌之间互动关系的计算机模型。在这个 模型中，天敌和猎物按照随机设定的生命周期活动。如果蝉出来的时候有许多天敌环伺在侧，其数量就会下降；而如 果它们在天敌很少的时候出来就可以大量繁衍。最终，蝉的生命周期以一个最有利的模式固定下来，这个数字果然是 质数。由于新陈代谢的需要，天敌们无法长时间地休眠。德国小组的一位物理学家说?quot;对蝉的天敌来说，生命周 期最好是一个小的偶数，这样它们最有可能和猎物一同进入高峰年。"这也解释了为什么没有生命周期为偶数的蝉。 他说："对蝉来说，12年无疑是不妙的周期，那样的话周期是2、3、6和12年的天敌都有机会捕食它们。"不过13（以 及7和17）是安全的数字，因为它只能被它本身和1整除。 Remarks：我们把蝉叫做"知了"多少带点讽刺的意思，但是看起来它们还是知道一些东西的。 页码，1/1英语学习 2003-6-27http://www.beiwaionline.com/englishstudy/jan/world_03.htm Witches Upset by Broomstick Style 骑扫把的正确方法 Hollywood studio Warner Bros* has had a spell cast on it for showing apprentice wizard Harry Potter riding his broomstick with the brush part at the back. Kevin Carlyon, a high priest of British White Witches, said broomsticks should be ridden the other way round, and has wished for the film to do badly at the box office until the studio admits it got it wrong. Warner Bros claims the film is an accurate portrayal of things that happen in witchcraft, yet woodcuts from the 16th and 17th centuries show broomsticks being ridden with the brush part in the front,* said Carlyon, It's a common mistake -even the sixties TV series Bewitched* showed broomsticks being ridden backwards, but this is not correct,* he said. Carlyon knows first hand the proper way to ride a broomstick -he said he had three, though all were grounded at the moment. The CAA (Britain's Civil Aviation Authority) won't give me permission to fly,* he said. *Bros：brothers的略写。 由于把魔法学生哈里·波特骑扫把的方式拍成是帚头朝后，好莱坞电影制片公司华纳兄弟公司受到了诅咒。英国 白巫会的高级牧师凯文·卡尔扬宣称扫把应该反过来骑，并诅咒这部电影票房惨淡，直至该公司承认错误。 "华纳公 司声称这部影片精确描绘了魔法世界里的事物，可是16及17世纪的木版画显示骑扫把的方式是帚头朝前。"卡尔扬 说，"这是一个常见错误--在60年代的电视系列剧《着魔》中帚头也是朝后的，不过这并不正确。"卡尔扬有关于骑扫 把的正确方式的亲身体验--据他说他有3把扫把，尽管它们此刻都在地上呆着。他说："CAA（英国民航管理局）不会 允许我（骑扫把）飞行。” Remarks：扫把的方向问题和猪八戒的钉耙所用的材料问题一样没有什么讨论价值，其意义在于增加而非减少电 影票房。 页码，1/1英语学习 2003-6-27http://www.beiwaionline.com/englishstudy/jan/world_04.htm Archaeologist Wins Tomb Raider Apology 纯属巧合 The makers of popular computer game Tomb Raider issued a public apology to a French archaeologist who was miffed that a character appearing alongside cyber heroine Lara Croft seemed to resemble himself. In a statement published in a French daily, Eidos Interactive Ltd said any likeness between Jean-Yves Empereur and the archaeologist Jean-Yves in version four of its adventure game was purely coincidental. Empereur, famous for discovering the remains of the Pharos lighthouse - one of the seven wonders of the ancient world-near the Egyptian city of Alexandria, objected to the character of the same name and profession in Tomb Raider Four, which is partly played out in Egypt. The British computer games maker and its French distributor said Tomb Raider Four would continue to be sold in its present state for technical reasons, but that no such character would appear in any of its games in the future. Tomb Raider is one of the most popular computer games around the world, having sold almost 25 million copies since 1996. Version five, which does not include the Jean-Yves character, has been on sale since the start of 2000 and was turned into a Hollywood film starring Angelina Jolie as the intrepid Lara Croft. 流行电脑游戏《古墓丽影》的制造商向一位恼怒的法国考古学家公开致歉，因为游戏中与网络女英雄劳拉·克罗 夫特一同出现的一个角色似乎是以他为蓝本。爱多思互动公司在发表于法国一家日报上的声明中说，其冒险游戏第4 版中的考古学家让-伊夫斯与让-伊夫斯·恩佩如之间的任何雷同纯属巧合。恩佩如以发现古代世界七大奇迹之一的法 罗斯灯塔遗迹闻名，该遗迹位于埃及亚历山大城附近。他对《古墓丽影Ⅳ》中的一个角色提出了抗议，这个角色与他 名字相同，职业相同，而且出现的场景有一部分就是在埃及。这家英国电脑游戏制造商及其法国分销商说，由于技术 原因，《古墓丽影Ⅳ》将照原样继续出售，但此类角色不会再在该公司以后推出的任何游戏中出现。《古墓丽影》是 世界上最风靡的电脑游戏之一，自1996年来累计销量已达2500万。没有让-伊夫斯的第5版游戏已在2000年初面市，并 被改编成好莱坞电影，由影星安吉丽娜·朱莉饰演无畏的劳拉·克罗夫特。 Remarks：看了这条消息，我忽然有点想去买《古墓丽影》游戏了--你说怪不怪？ 页码，1/1英语学习 2003-6-27http://www.beiwaionline.com/englishstudy/jan/world_05.htm Use of Word 'Widow' Banned in Records 为寡者讳 Authorities in the strife-torn Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir* have banned the use of the word widow* in official records, saying the word added to the women's depression. Kashmiri human rights groups say at least 10,000 women have been widowed in separatist violence since a rebellion broke out in the Himalayan region at the end of 1989.Agreeing with the instructions of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the government has ordered that all government offices use the expression wife of late* in place of widow* in official records,* a government statement said. At a time when she is already grief-stricken, referring to her with such unpleasant usage adds to her depression and creates a psychological crisis in her.* Nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state where authorities say more than 30,000 people have been killed in more than 11 years. Separatists put the toll closer to 80,000. Separatist violence in Kashmir has soared since India-Pakistan summit aimed at resolving their dispute over Kashmir failed to produce any concrete results. *Jammu and Kashmir：查谟和克什米尔地区，简称克什米尔。 在饱受争端之苦的印控查谟和克什米尔邦，当局已经下令禁止在官方记录中使用"寡妇"一词，理由是这个词加深 了妇女的痛苦。克什米尔人权组织说，自从1989年底喜马拉雅地区发生叛乱以来，至少有1万名妇女在分离主义者暴 动中失去了丈夫。"遵照全国人权委员会的指示，政府已经下令所有政府部门在官方记录中使用'已故者妻子'字样代 替'寡妇'一词，"一份政府报告称。"在她已经痛苦不堪的时候，给她冠以这样令人不快的称呼无异于雪上加霜，而且 会给她带来心理危机。"印控查谟和克什米尔是印度惟一一个穆斯林占多数的邦，那里有将近12个军事组织在反抗新 德里政府的统治。当局称11年来已有超过3万人被杀，而据分离主义者所说这个数字是将近8万。旨在解决克什米尔争 端的印巴峰会无疾而终，之后该地区的分离主义暴动就愈演愈烈。 Remarks：想法很体贴，却有画饼充饥的味道，还是设法解决争端实现和平更实在。 页码，1/1英语学习 2003-6-27http://www.beiwaionline.com/englishstudy/jan/world_06.htm Bureaucracy to Cut Out Jargon on Forms 革除官腔 France's state administration is notorious for its use of jargon, and according to a report in daily newspaper Le Monde, a large majority of the country's population is unable to decipher official documents. The newly-created Orientation Committee for the Simplification of Administrative Language began work in last July to promote the translation of standard forms, used in areas such as social security and taxation, into plain French. Some of the 1,600 most-used forms, documents and letters will be rewritten, slashing through jargon and archaic language to make them clearer. The main mission of language is to be able to say something to someone and to be understood,* Josette Rey-Debove, a linguistic expert, told Le Monde. Rey-Debove is one of the many specialists, civil servants and members of the public who have been called up to undertake the mammoth task. By last autumn, six of the most common French administrative forms have been translated into plain French. By this year, editing tools will also be available, including software and a dictionary to translate complex jargon into laymans terms. 法国的行政部门素有好用术语的狼籍声名。据《世界日报》报道，大多数法国民众无法"破译"官方文件。新成立 的官方用语简化指导委员会从去年7月份开始运转，旨在推进把社会保险及税收等领域使用的标准表格改写成通俗法 语的工作。1600种最常用的表格、文件和信函中有一部分将被重写，去除其中的术语和过时古语以使它们明白易懂。 语言学专家约瑟特·雷-迪波夫对《世界日报》说："语言的主要功能就是把意思传达给他人并使他人能够理解。"雷- 迪波夫是应召担负这项艰巨任务的众多专家、公务员和公众代表中的一员。到去年秋季，法国最常用的6种行政事务 表格已经被改写成通俗的法语。有关的编辑工具将于今年问世，包括能将晦涩的术语译成日常语言的软件和一部辞 典。 Remarks：其实百姓们看不看得懂关系不大，反正解释权也不在他们手里。 页码，1/1英语学习 2003-6-27http://www.beiwaionline.com/englishstudy/jan/world_07.htm One in 3 Britons Lies in Job Applications? 居不易，编简历 One in three Britons lies in their job applications, according to a survey by pollsters MORI. The lies vary from relatively harmless claims about leisure activities to lying about career histories and criminal records, the poll showed. It said 18 percent of those who admitted lying on their CVs* said they thought it was necessary to exaggerate because employers expected them to do so. One-third of managers questioned for the poll admitted to relying on gut instinct rather than going through the time-consuming procedure of checking applicants' backgrounds. Three percent of those who lied in job applications said it was about their criminal records-all of them men. The survey found that men and those aged under 34 were most likely to be untruthful when applying for work. More than one-third of male workers said they had lied, compared with a quarter of women workers. The survey covered 1,042 workers and 345 managers. *CV：拉丁文curriculum vitae 的缩写，意为简历、履历。 根据民意测验机构MORI的调查，1/3的英国人在求职简历里撒谎。其中既有关于闲暇活动的相对无伤大雅的假 话，也有关于工作经历和犯罪纪录的谎言。调查显示承认编造简历的人中有18%认为夸大是必要的，因为雇主们希望 他们如此。而受访的管理人员中有1/3承认自己是依靠直觉来选择员工，而不是花费大量时间去了解申请人的背景。 3%的说谎者--皆为男性--说他们的谎言与犯罪纪录有关。调查还发现男性及34岁以下的人是最有可能在申请工作时撒 谎的人。超过1/3的男性员工承认撒过谎，而在女性员工中这一比例只有1/4。此次调查涉及了1042名工人和345名管 理人员。 Remarks：不料英国绅士也出此下策，看来真的是"仓廪实而民知礼义。" 页码，1/1英语学习 2003-6-27http://www.beiwaionline.com/englishstudy/jan/world_08.htm Long March 's Peak: China's Admission to WTO World trade ministers admitted China to their global club on 10 November 2001, finally opening a potential market of 1.3 billion people. China's membership was unanimously ratified by the 142-nation WTO at a meeting in the emirate of Qatar. 1The vote makes the country of 1.3 billion consumers the WTO's largest member and provides a boost to the group as it struggles to expand trade. "The accession of China into the WTO puts the 'world' into the World Trade Organization," said French Finance Minister Laurent Fabius. The move gives foreign companies, from banks to movie studios, a wider opening in the world's most populous market. Even companies from Tyson Foods of the United States, the world's biggest chicken processor, to Allianz AG, Europe's second-largest insurer, are among those likely to see business expand as China fulfils pledges to tear down trade and investment barriers. 2 China's participation in the WTO was assured in September, when the US and European Union set aside differences over American International Group's access to the insurance market and Mexico agreed to limit punitive tariffs on Chinese goods. 3 For China, stronger competition from foreign companies threatens to force unprofitable companies out of business and cost thousands of jobs, a difficulty acknowledged in Doha by Chinese Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng. "This will inevitably exert a widespread and far-reaching impact on China's economy and on the world economy in the new century," Shi said. China ended a quest that began in 1986 to have its market of 1.3 billion people opened to the world trading system with unanimous approval by the more than 140 nations gathered in a pyramid-shaped meeting center facing Qatar's glittering seas. "After 15 years of difficult negotiations, we finally came to this historical moment," China's Foreign Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng said. The United States, which for years stalled Beijing's membership by linking it to improvement in its human rights record before relenting in 1999, 4 immediately welcomed China's entry as a move that would strengthen the WTO and boost China's development. "I believe that as this century unfolds and people look back on this day, they will conclude that in admitting China to the WTO we took a decisive step in shaping a global economic and commercial system," US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said. Chinese officials dismissed fears that it would fail to comply. "China's market is open to the outside. As long as the market is open to the outside, the more economic growth we have and the better for the world," Beijing's top trade negotiator Long Yongtu told reporters. The working group made up of the WTO's 142 members, which has been discussing China's accession for the past 15 years, approved the agreement based on which China will liberalize its trade regime and open its doors to foreign investment. China's admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will have a major impact on international trade a