【正文】 Unit 1 Text AHow Difficult Is English? 英語有多難Like the national push for Asian literacy （，有教養(yǎng)，有讀寫能力） in Australia，there has been foreign languages fervor in China，with English on top of the list. 就如澳大利亞在全國推行學(xué)亞洲語言一樣，中國也掀起一股外語熱，在這股熱潮中，英語高居榜首。English is not only taught at schools，colleges and universities，but also at evening classes，on radio and TV．不僅各級學(xué)校教英語，夜校、電臺、電視臺也都設(shè)有英語課程。Parents hire private tutors for their school children；adult English learners would sacrifice the weekend at an English corner in a public park practicing their spoken English with peop1e of the same interest and determination.父母為學(xué)齡的孩子聘請英語家教，成年英語學(xué)習(xí)者會犧牲周末休息日，到公園參加英語角，與志趣相投的英語學(xué)習(xí)者練習(xí)口語。Is English such a difficult language that it really demands people to invest a large amount of time and energy before it is mastered ? 英語真的有這么難，需要人們投入大量的時間和精力才能掌握嗎? The answer，if I am asked to offer，is undoubtedly，yes．如果我被問及這個問題，那么毫無疑問，我的答案是：是的。From my personal experience, I think learning English means far more than learning its pronunciation，its grammatical rules，its words，etc．從我個人的經(jīng)驗來看，英語學(xué)習(xí)不僅僅是學(xué)習(xí)英語發(fā)音、語法規(guī)則、詞匯等，It involves learning everything about the countries where it is used and the people who use it．它包括學(xué)習(xí)與使用該語言的國家和民族有關(guān)的所有內(nèi)容。Without such a plete understanding of the language, the English a foreigner speaks will inevitably sound strange or even unintelligible though there is not anything wrong with his pronunciation，sentence structure and the words he uses．對英語沒有這樣全面的理解，即使發(fā)音、句子結(jié)構(gòu)、措辭毫無錯誤，一個外國人所講的英語也難免聽起來稀奇古怪甚至難以理解。The social customs and habits of the Englishspeaking people contribute a lot to the difficulty a foreigner has in learning it．講英語民族者的社會風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣增加了外國人學(xué)習(xí)英語的難度。Take the Chinese English learners for example．以學(xué)英語的中國人為例， Hello and Good morning may sound a little bit simple to Chinese people．你好和早上好是非常簡單的。It is totally beyond the understanding of a Chinese English learner that native English speakers would be annoyed when they39。re addressed Where are you going?，which is a monly used addressing among the Chinese．你去哪兒?是中國人常用的問候語，若英語母語者被問及你去哪兒?，他們會因此感到不悅，這一點讓中國的英語學(xué)習(xí)者大為不解。Is there anything wrong with the English sentence structure ? Of course not． 這個英語句子結(jié)構(gòu)不對嗎? 當(dāng)然不是。It takes quite some time for a Chinese English learner to understand the western concept of privacy being violated in this address. 學(xué)英語的中國人得費點兒時間才能理解這一問候語侵犯了西方人的隱私。By the same token，Have you eaten?(which is another addressing term the Chinese people usually use)will sound to native English speakers that the Chinese are so hospitable that they invite people to meals offhandedly. 同樣，英語母語者聽到你吃了嗎?(中國人常用的另外一個問候語)，會覺得中國人非常好客，會在事先毫無準(zhǔn)備的情況下請人吃飯。Meanwhile，the Chinese would be shocked to hear，Oh，it39。s very nice of you．When?， if the addressee happens to have a craving for Chinese cooking and has not had his dinner yet.如果聽話者此刻正希望品嘗一下中國美食，又碰巧沒有吃飯，他會回答太好了，什么時候?，中國人為此也會大吃一驚。We can say we are going to have chicken for dinner．Why can39。t we say pig，bull or sheep for dinner instead of pork，beef or mutton? Chinese English learners may raise such questions．中國的英語學(xué)習(xí)者可能會這樣問：我們可以說吃雞，為什么不能說吃豬、吃牛、吃羊，而要說吃豬肉、牛肉、羊肉呢?Figuring out the reasons for the peculiar English vocabulary is no easy task for Chinese English learners．對學(xué)習(xí)英語的中國人來說，為這些特殊的英語詞匯找出理由并非易事。But the problem is that memorizing English words mechanically would be devastating and inefficient if they did not know what had happened in British history．問題在于如果不懂英國歷史，死記硬背英語單詞毫無效率。Thus learning English(and other languages as well)involves learning the history of the countries where it is spoken．所以說，學(xué)英語(其他語言亦如此)還包括學(xué)習(xí)使用該語言國家的歷史知識。A task of this kind is more difficult for Chinese English learners than for people who speak a western language other than English because Chinese has nothing in mon with the alphabetic English and China had little contact with the Western world in modern history．學(xué)習(xí)英語的中國人要做到這一點比其他非英語國家的西方人要困難得多，因為漢字和英語這種拼音文字毫無共同之處，并且中國和西方世界在近代史上很少接觸。Consequently，the background knowledge of English fascinates large numbers of interested and determined English learners in China but at the same time disheartens quite a few．所以，在中國，英語背景知識既吸引了大量英語愛好者，也使許多人喪失信心。The Western and Oriental values are found to be in confrontation in learning English．英語學(xué)習(xí)中，東西方的價值觀念是相互沖突的。Native English speakers may plain about Chinese confusion when using he and she，for the two words sound the same，though，different in written forms in Chinese．英語母語的人會混淆漢語中他她的用法，因為這兩個字盡管字形不同，讀音卻相同，他們因此常常抱怨。As a result，some native English speakers conclude that the Chinese are unable to tell the difference between the two sexes．結(jié)果有些英語母語的人得出結(jié)論，認為中國人不區(qū)分兩種性別。But native English speakers are more gender blind than the Chinese when they mention their cousins．但是在涉及表親的時候，英語母語的人更是混淆性別。The confusion caused by the confrontation of Western and Chinese values，to a certain extent，affects the Chinese English learner39。s prehension of what he／she reads and hears．東西方價值觀的沖突造成的語言上的混淆，在一定程度上影響學(xué)習(xí)英語的中國人對自己所讀或所聽到的內(nèi)容的理解。Only by developing an understanding and tolerance（忍受） of different cultural values can a Chinese English learner reach the goal of municating with native English speakers．學(xué)習(xí)英語的中國人只有增加不同文化價值觀之間的理解和寬容，才能達到與英語母語者交流的目標(biāo)。A Chinese English learner could not have a good mand of Eng1ish unless he overes the cultural barriers(not all，of course!)in learning English．學(xué)習(xí)英語的中國人，只有在學(xué)習(xí)英語的過程中克服文化障礙才能很好地掌握英語。(當(dāng)然不可能是克服全部文化障礙!)Many Chinese translate what they think about in Chinese into English when they talk or write．很多中國人說話或?qū)懽鞯臅r候，將自己漢語思維的內(nèi)容翻譯成英語，This kind of English inevitably affects the fluency and flow of speech，the amount of information conveyed，and，above all，the quality of munication．這勢必會影響英語表達的流暢、傳達的信息量，最重要的是，影響交流的質(zhì)量。The above is，not wholly，how difficult English is．盡管不完全，以上就是學(xué)習(xí)英語的困難。Some native speakers might have said， You foreigners don39。t use good English! at the time a foreigner fails to understand what he is saying．英語母語者被外國人誤解的時候可能會說：你們外國人不懂地道的英語!Why should l?1 would protest，th