【正文】 Unit 1 Short conversation 1. W: I saw an ad on the Inter about online language studies. M: Me too. I saw an ad for, Click Here for Language Learning. Q: What do the man and the woman have in mon? 2. M: You have to be 18 years old to enter some online language classes. W: Really? I had no idea that there was a minimum age required for some classes. Q: What did the woman NOT know about online language classes before? 3. M: Unlike regular classes, online classes can be taken at your home. W: That39。s exactly why I decided to begin studying online! Q: Why did the woman decide to study online? 4. W: I keep on making new friends as I study online. M: So do I! There are so many people online, and I want to meet them all! Q: What is one benefit of studying online? 5. M: My online teacher asked the class for suggestions to make the class better. W: That39。s great! I always like it when a teacher does that. Q: What did the man39。s teacher want to do? 6. M: I had no idea that online language learning could be so effective! W: It sure has helped me practice my language skills! Q: What is it about online language learning that surprised the man? 7. M: My classmates and I help each other solve homework problems online. W: It sounds like you39。re using the Inter in a useful way. Q: What does the man do online? 8. M: Online learning is ideal for anyone who doesn39。t have time to travel to school. W: Yes, but it also has its own challenges. Q: What does the woman have to say about online learning? 9. M: Virtual classrooms are changing how students study! W: They sure are! And I, for one, am very excited about it. Q: According to the man, what is happening to students because of virtual classrooms? 10. M: What advice did your professor give you? W: He said that taking an online class would help me learn. Q: What did the woman39。s professor suggest? Long conversation W: How39。s your new online class, Bill? Is it everything you had hoped for? M: It39。s everything and more, Susan. You should give it a try! W: Oh, really? What39。s the best thing about it? M: In an online class, you talk with others over the Inter. Since they are not right next to you, they don39。t bother you so much. W: That sounds great! I took a class with someone who would make me feel small whenever I made a mistake. He would tell me how stupid I was and intimidate me so that I never wanted to participate. M: Not a problem in the virtual classroom. How would you like to sign up? I think that you could start on the third of next month. W: I don39。t know, Bill. You know all those problems about having difficult people in the classroom? M: Yeah? W: We don39。t really have them anymore since you left. Passage The first requirement for my online language class was to meet in an online forum. I entered the forum early and saw students appear on the screen one after another. Strangely enough, when it was time to begin, the teacher still hadn39。t shown up. However, we began sharing information and talking about the new class. Unlike me, all of the other students were new to the online class. I told them about my experiences and my thoughts. Then I noticed something. There were 27 people in the forum. This was strange because I know there were only 26 people in the class. Hey, I wrote, which one of you is the teacher? The teacher made herself known at last. She said that she wanted to get our honest opinions about the online class. Also, she wanted to have a little fun with us. Humor will be important in my class, she said. Homework Long conversation M: All right, everyone. Good work. That39。s all for today39。s class. Does anyone have any questions? W: Excuse me, Professor. I have a question. I39。m worried about my English skills. I get good marks on tests, but I don39。t feel that I39。m learning a lot. M: Not exactly a question is it, Winnie? But it39。s a good concern. Many advanced English learners have a large passive vocabulary, but they worry about their active vocabulary. They can understand many difficult English words when reading or listening, but they don39。t use most of them when speaking or writing in English. They feel this is a problem. They would like to use all the difficult words that they know. W: Do you think that I use too few words? M: That39。s not what I39。m saying at all. Actually, I39。m saying the opposite thing. W: I39。m afraid I don39。t understand. M: In your native language, there are also thousands of words that you understand but you don39。t use. So your active vocabulary in your native language is much smaller than your passive vocabulary. And I guess that you are not worried about that. W: No, I39。m not. But I would like to use the new words that I learn in my English classes. How else am I going to remember them? M: Now that39。s a very good question. W: I was hoping that you had an answer to this question. M: Winnie, you don39。t need to worry about using too few English words. As your needs for different things grow, you will be able to use your new words more and more. I think you39。d be surprised by how much you know.