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----Unit1TextAAnimpressiveEnglishlesson一堂难忘的英语课1IfIamtheonlyparentwhostillcorrectshischild'sEnglish,thenperhapsmysonisright.Tohim,Iamatediousoddity:afatherheisobligedtolistentoandamanabsorbedintherulesofgrammar,whichmysonseemsallergicto.如果我是唯一一个还在纠正小孩英语的家长，那么我儿子也许是对的。对他而言，我是一个乏味的怪物：一个他不得不听其教诲的父亲，一个还沉湎于语法规则的人，对此我儿子似乎颇为反感。2IthinkIgotseriousaboutthisonlyrecentlywhenIranintooneofmyformerstudents,freshfromanexcursiontoEurope.Howwasit?Iasked,fullofearnestanticipation.我觉得我是在最近偶遇我以前的一位学生时，才开始对这个问题认真起来的。这个学生刚从欧洲旅游回来。我满怀着诚挚期待问她：“欧洲之行如何？”3Shenoddedthreeorfourtimes,searchedtheheavensfortherightwords,andthenexclaimed,Itwas,like,whoa!她点了三四下头，绞尽脑汁，苦苦寻找恰当的词语，然后惊呼：“真是，哇！”4Andthatwasit.ThecivilizationofGreeceandthegloryofRomanarchitecturewerecapturedinacondensednon-statement.Mystudent'swhoa!wasexceededonlybymyhead-shakingdistress.没了。所有希腊文明和罗马建筑的辉煌居然囊括于一个浓缩的、不完整的语句之中！我的学生以叹，我只能以摇头表达比之更强烈的忧虑。“哇！”来表示她的惊5TherearemanydifferentstoriesaboutthedownturnintheproperuseofEnglish.Surelystudentsshouldbeabletodistinguishbetweentheir/there/they'reorthedistinctivedifferencebetweencomplimentaryandcomplementary.Theyunfairlybearthebulkofthecriticismfortheseknowledgedeficitsbecausethereisasensethattheyshouldknowbetter.关于正确使用英语能力下降的问题，有许多不同的故事。学生的确本应该能够区分诸如their/there/they之’间re的不同，或区别complimentary跟complementary之间显而易见的差异。由于这些知识缺陷，他们承受着大部分不该承受的批评和指责，因为舆论认为他们应该学得更好。6Studentsarenotdumb,buttheyarebeingmisledeverywheretheylookandlisten.Forexample,signsingrocerystorespointthemtothestationary,eventhoughtheactualstationeryitems—pads,albumsandnotebooks—arenotnaileddown.Friendsandlovedonesoftenproclaimthey'vejustatewhen,infact,they'vejusteaten.Therefore,itdoesn'tmakeanysensetocriticizeourstudents.学生并不笨，他们只是被周围所看到和听到的语言误导了。举例来说，杂货店的指示牌会把他们引向处），虽然便笺本、相册、和笔记本等真正的stationery(文具用品)并没有被钉在那儿。朋友和亲人常宣称ate。实际上，他们应该说They’vejusteaten。因此，批评学生不合乎情理。stationary（静止They’vejust7Blameforthescandalofthislanguagedeficitshouldbethrustuponourschools,whichshouldbesettinghighstandardsofEnglishlanguageproficiency.Instead,theyonlyteachalittlegrammarandevenless----advancedvocabulary.Moreover,theyoungerteachersthemselvesevidentlyhavelittleknowledgeofthesevitalstructuresoflanguagebecausetheyalsowentwithoutexposuretothem.Schoolsfailtoadequatelyteachtheessentialframeworkoflanguage,accurategrammarandpropervocabulary,whiletheyshouldtaketheresponsibilityofpushingtheyoungontothepathofcompetentcommunication.对这种缺乏语言功底而引起的负面指责应归咎于我们的学校。学校应对英语熟练程度制定出更高的标准。可相反，学校只教零星的语法，高级词汇更是少之又少。还有就是，学校的年轻教师显然缺乏这些重要的语言结构方面的知识，因为他们过去也没接触过。学校有责任教会年轻人进行有效的语言沟通，可他们并没把语言的基本框架——准确的语法和恰当的词汇——充分地传授给学生。8Sincegrammarisboringtomostoftheyoungstudents,Ithinkthatitmustbehandleddelicately,stepbystep.ThechancecamewhenonedayIwasdrivingwithmyson.Aswesetoutonourtrip,henoticedabirdinjerkyflightandsaid,It'sflyingsounsteady.Icarefullyasked,Myson,howisthebirdflying?What'swrong?DidIsayanythingincorrectly?Hegotlost.----Great!Yousaidincorrectlyinsteadofincorrect.Weuseadverbstodescribeverbs.Therefore,it'sflyingsounsteadilybutnotsounsteady.因为语法对大多数年轻学生而言枯燥且乏味，所以我觉得讲授语法得一步一步、注重技巧地进行。有一天机会来了。我跟儿子开车外出。我们出发时，他看到一只小鸟飞得很不稳，就说：“它飞的不稳。”（It’sflyingsounsteady）.我小心翼翼地问：“儿子，鸟怎么飞?”“有问题吗？我说得不对吗？（DidIsayanythingincorrectly?）”他一头雾水。“太好了，你说的是incorrectly而不是incorrect。我们用副词来描述动词。所以，要用unsteadily来描述鸟飞，而不是unsteady。”9Curiousaboutmycorrection,heaskedmewhatanadverbwas.Slowly,Isaid,It'sawordthattellsyousomethingaboutaverb.Itledtohisaskingmewhataverbwas.Iexplained,Verbsareactionwords;forexample,Daddrivesthetruck.Driveistheverbbecauseit'sthethingDadisdoing.他对我的纠正很好奇，就问我什么是副词。我慢慢解释道：动词。我解释说：“动词是表示行为的词，例如：爸爸开卡车。“副词是用来修饰动词的词。”这又导致了他询问我什么是‘开’是动词，因为它是爸爸在做的事。”10Hebecameattractedtotheideaofactionwords,sowelistedafewmore:fly,swim,dive,run.Then,outofhisowncuriosity,heaskedmeifotherwordshadnamesfortheiruseandfunctions.Thisledtoadiscussionofnouns,adjectives,andarticles.Withinthespanofa10-minutedrive,hehadlearnedfromscratchtothemajorpartsofspeechinasentence.Itwaspainlesslearningandgreatfun!他开始对表示行为的词产生兴趣，所以我们又罗列了几个动词：“飞行”、“游泳”、“跳水”、“跑步”。然后，他又好奇地问我，其他的词有没有说明它们的用法和功能的名称。这就引发了我们对名词、形容词和冠词的讨论。在短短十分钟的驾驶时间内，他从对语法一无所知到学会了句子中主要词语的词性。这是一次毫无痛苦而又非常有趣的学习经历。11Perhaps,languageshouldbelookeduponasaroadmapandavaluablepossession:oftenstudytheroadmap(checkgrammar)andtuneupthecarengine(adjustvocabulary).Learninggrammarandagoodvocabularyisjustlikedrivingwitharoadmapinawell-conditionedcar.也许，语言应该被看成是一张路线图和一件珍品：我们要常常查看路线图（核对语法）和调整汽车的引擎（调节词汇）。学好语法和掌握大量的词汇就好比拿着路线图在车况良好的车里驾驶。12Theroadmapprovidestheframeworkandguidanceyouneedforyourtrip,butitwon'ttellyouexactlywhattreesorflowersyouwillsee,whatkindofpeopleyouwillencounter,orwhattypesoffeelingsyouwillbeexperiencingonyourjourney.Here,thevocabularymakesthejourney'struecolorscomealive!Agoodvocabularyenablesyoutoenjoywhateveryouseeasyoudrivealong.Equippedwithgrammarandagoodvocabulary,youhaveflexibilityandexcellentcontrol.Whiletheroadmapguidesyourjourneytoyourdestination,anexcellentvehiclehelpsyoutofullyenjoyallofthesights,soundsandexperiencesalongtheway.路线图为你的旅行提供所需的基本路线和路途指南，可是它不会告诉你一路上你究竟会看见什么树或什么花，你会遇见什么样的人，或会有什么样的感受。这里，词汇会使你的旅途变得五彩缤纷、栩栩如生。大量的词汇让你享受到开车途中所见的点点滴