大學(xué)英語(yǔ)自學(xué)教程(上冊(cè)) unit 01 怎樣成為一名成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者

　　01-A. How to be a successful language learner?

　　“Learning a language is easy, even a child can do it!”

　　Most adults who are learning a second language would disagree with this statement. For them, learning a language is a very difficult task. They need hundreds of hours of study and practice, and even this will not guarantee success for every adult language learner.

　　Language learning is different from other kinds of learning. Some people who are very intelligent and successful in their fields find it difficult to succeed in language learning. Conversely, some people who are successful language learners find it difficult to succeed in other fields.

　　Language teachers often offer advice to language learners: “Read as much as you can in the new language.”“ Practice speaking the language every day. ”“Live with people who speak the language.”“Don’t translate-try to think in the new language.”“ Learn as a child would learn; play with the language.”

　　But what does a successful language learner do? Language learning research shows that successful language learners are similar in many ways.

　　First of all, successful language learners are independent learners. They do not depend on the book or the teacher; they discover their own way to learn the language. Instead of waiting for the teacher to explain, they try to find the patterns and the rules for themselves. They are good guessers who look for clues and form their own conclusions. When they guess wrong, they guess again. They try to learn from their mistakes.

　　Successful language learning is active learning. Therefore, successful learners do not wait for a chance to use the language; they look for such a chance. They find people who speak the language and they ask these people to correct them when they make a mistake. They will try anything to communicate. They are not afraid to repeat what they hear or to say strange things; they are willing to make mistakes and try again. When communication is difficult, they can accept information that is inexact or incomplete. It is more important for them to learn to think in the language than to know the meaning of every word.

　　Finally, successful language learners are learners with a purpose. They want to learn the language because they are interested in the language and the people who speak it. It is necessary for them to learn the language in order to communicate with these people and to learn from them. They find it easy to practice using the language regularly because they want to learn with it.

　　What kind of language learner are you? If you are a successful language learner, you have probably been learning independently, actively, and purposefully. On the other hand, if your language learning has been less than successful, you might do well to try some of the techniques outlined above.

　　【課文譯文】

　　怎樣成為一名成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者

　　“學(xué)習(xí)一門語(yǔ)言很容易，即使小孩也能做得到。”

　　大多數(shù)正在學(xué)習(xí)第二語(yǔ)言的成年人會(huì)不同意這種說(shuō)法。對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)，學(xué)習(xí)一門語(yǔ)言是非常困難的事情。他們需要數(shù)百小時(shí)的學(xué)習(xí)與練習(xí)，即使這樣也不能保證每個(gè)成年語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者都能學(xué)好。

　　語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)不同于其他學(xué)習(xí)。許多人很聰明，在自己的領(lǐng)域很成功，但他們發(fā)現(xiàn)很難學(xué)好一門語(yǔ)言。相反，一些人學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言很成功，但卻發(fā)現(xiàn)很難在其他領(lǐng)域有所成就。

　　語(yǔ)言教師常常向語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者提出建議：“要用新的語(yǔ)言盡量多閱讀”，“每天練習(xí)說(shuō)這種語(yǔ)言”，“與說(shuō)這種語(yǔ)言的人住在一起”，“不要翻譯——盡量用這種新的語(yǔ)言去思考”，“要像孩子學(xué)語(yǔ)言一樣去學(xué)習(xí)新語(yǔ)言”，“放松地去學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言。”

　　然而，成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者是怎樣做的呢?語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)研究表明，成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者在許多方面都有相似之處。

　　首先，成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者獨(dú)立學(xué)習(xí)。他們不依賴書本和老師，而且能找到自己學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言的方法。他們不是等待老師來(lái)解釋，而是自己盡力去找到語(yǔ)言的句式和規(guī)則。他們尋找線索并由自己得出結(jié)論，從而做出正確的猜測(cè)。如果猜錯(cuò)，他們就再猜一遍。他們都努力從錯(cuò)誤中學(xué)習(xí)。

　　成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)是一種主動(dòng)的學(xué)習(xí)。因此，成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者不是坐等時(shí)機(jī)而是主動(dòng)尋找機(jī)會(huì)來(lái)使用語(yǔ)言。他們找到(說(shuō))這種語(yǔ)言的人進(jìn)行練習(xí)，出錯(cuò)時(shí)請(qǐng)這些人糾正。他們不失時(shí)機(jī)地進(jìn)行交流，不怕重復(fù)所聽(tīng)到的話，也不怕說(shuō)出離奇的話，他們不在乎出錯(cuò)，并樂(lè)于反復(fù)嘗試。當(dāng)交流困難時(shí)，他們可以接受不確切或不完整的信息。對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)，更重要的是學(xué)習(xí)用這種語(yǔ)言思考，而不是知道每個(gè)詞的意思。

　　最后，成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者學(xué)習(xí)目的明確。他們想學(xué)習(xí)一門語(yǔ)言是因?yàn)樗麄儗?duì)這門語(yǔ)言以及說(shuō)這種語(yǔ)言的人感興趣。他們有必要學(xué)習(xí)這門語(yǔ)言去和那些人交流并向他們學(xué)習(xí)。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)經(jīng)常練習(xí)使用這種語(yǔ)言很容易，因?yàn)樗麄兿肜眠@種語(yǔ)言來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)。

　　你是什么樣的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者?如果你是一位成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者，那么你大概一直在獨(dú)立地、主動(dòng)地、目的明確地學(xué)習(xí)。另一方面,如果你的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)一直不太成功,你不妨試試上面提到的一些技巧。

大學(xué)英語(yǔ)自學(xué)教程(上冊(cè)) unit 02 稅、稅、還是稅

　　02-A. Taxes, Taxes, and More Taxes

　　Americans often say that there are only two things a person can be sure of in life: death and taxes, Americans do not have a corner on the "death" market, but many people feel that the United States leads the world with the worst taxes.

　　Taxes consist of the money which people pay to support their government. There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal, state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes.

　　Salaried people who earn more than a few thousand dollars must pay a certain percentage of their salaries to the federal government. The percentage varies from person to person. It depends on their salaries. The federal government has a graduated income tax, that is, the percentage of the tax (14 to 70 percent) increases as a person's income increases. With the high cost of taxes, people are not very happy on April 15, when the federal taxes are due.

　　The second tax is for the state government: New York, California, North Dakota, or any of the other forty-seven states. Some states have an income tax similar to that of the federal government. Of course, the percentage for the state tax is lower. Other states have a sales tax, which is a percentage charged to any item which you buy in that state. For example, a person might want to buy a packet of cigarettes for twenty-five cents. If there is a sales tax of eight percent in that state, then the cost of the cigarettes is twenty-seven cents. This figure includes the sales tax. Some states use income tax in addition to sales tax to raise their revenues. The state tax laws are diverse and confusing.

　　The third tax is for the city. This tax comes in two forms: property tax (people who own a home have to pay taxes on it) and excise tax, which is charged on cars in a city. The cities use these funds for education, police and fire departments, public works and municipal buildings.

　　Since Americans pay such high taxes, they often feel that they are working one day each week just to pay their taxes. People always complain about taxes. They often protest that the government uses their tax dollars in the wrong way. They say that it spends too much on useless and impractical programs. Although Americans have different views on many issues, they tend to agree on one subject: taxes are too high.

　　【課文譯文】

　　稅、稅、還是稅

　　美國(guó)人常說(shuō)，人的一生有兩件事可以肯定會(huì)發(fā)生：死亡和稅收。美國(guó)人并不壟斷死亡市場(chǎng)，但許多人卻感到美國(guó)以最重的賦稅領(lǐng)先于世界。

　　稅指人們?yōu)橹С终U納的資金。在美國(guó)通常有三級(jí)政府：聯(lián)邦政府，州政府及市政府，因此就存在三種稅。

　　收入超過(guò)幾千元的工薪人士必須向聯(lián)邦政府繳納一定比率的稅金。這一比率因人而異，取決于各人的工資數(shù)。聯(lián)邦政府實(shí)行累進(jìn)收入所得稅制，也就是說(shuō)，稅率(14%～70%)隨個(gè)人收入的增加而增加，由于高額稅收，人們?cè)?月15日很不愉快，因?yàn)檫@一天是繳納稅款的日子。

　　第二種稅是繳納給州政府的，這些州包括紐約，加利福尼亞，北達(dá)科他以及其他47個(gè)州中的.任何一個(gè)。一些州的收入所得稅的收取辦法同聯(lián)邦政府的相似，當(dāng)然其稅率要低一些。一些州設(shè)有銷售稅，即對(duì)你在該州所購(gòu)買的任何商品所收的一定比率的稅金。比如，某人想買一包25美分的煙。如果該州收取8%的銷售稅，那么買這包煙要花27美分，這一錢數(shù)就包括銷售稅。一些州利用收入所得稅外加銷售稅的辦法來(lái)提高稅收，各州的稅收法規(guī)五花八門，令人費(fèi)解。

　　第三種稅是向市政府繳納的。這種稅有兩種：一種是財(cái)產(chǎn)稅(擁有房屋的人都必須交稅)，另一種是本國(guó)消費(fèi)稅，即對(duì)城市汽車所征收的稅金。城市將這些資金用于教育、警察和消防部門、公共設(shè)施及市政建設(shè)。

　　由于美國(guó)人須付高額稅金，所以他們經(jīng)常感到每周有一天純粹是在為繳稅而工作。人們總是在抱怨稅收太高。他們常常抗議政府濫用他們的稅金。他們說(shuō)政府將太多的錢花在無(wú)用且不符合實(shí)際的項(xiàng)目上了。盡管美國(guó)人在很多問(wèn)題上有不同的看法，但他們?cè)谝粋€(gè)話題上的意見(jiàn)總是一致的：稅收太高。