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UNIT1TEXTTheauthorisnotapreacher,andyethedoesdeliverakindofsermonhere.Whoishisaudience?Interestingly,hisaudienceisyourteachersofAdvancedEnglishasaforeignlanguage.Theauthorseekstohelpthemintheirdifficulttaskofteachingadvancedstudents,theirtaskofleadingtheirstudentstoahigherleverofabilityandfluency.Doesitencourageyoutoknowthatyouarenottheonlyonewhoisstrugglingatthisleveloflanguageacquisition?AKindofSermonbyW.S.FowlerItisprobablyeasierforteachersthanforstudentstoappreciatethereasonswhylearningEnglishseemstobecomeincreasinglydifficultoncethebasicstructuresandpatternsofthelanguagehavebeenunderstood.Studentsarenaturallysurprisedanddisappointedtodiscoverthataprocesswhichoughttobecomesimplerdoesnotappeartodoso.Itmaynotseemmuchconsolationtopointoutthattheteacher,too,becomesfrustratedwhenhiseffortsappeartoproducelessobviousresults.Hefindsthatstudentswhowereeasytoteach,becausetheysucceededinputtingeverythingtheyhadbeentaughtintopractice,hesitatewhenconfrontedwiththevastuntouchedareaofEnglishvocabularyandusagewhichfallsoutsidethescopeofbasictextbooks.Heseesthemstrugglingbecausethelanguagetheythoughttheyknewnowappearstoconsistofabewilderingvarietyofidioms,clichédandacceptedphraseswithdifferentmeaningsindifferentcontexts.ItishardtoconvincethemthattheyarestillmakingprogresstowardsfluencyandthattheirEnglishiscertaintoimprove,giventimeanddedication.Insuchcircumstancesitishardlysurprisingthatsomegiveupindisgust,whileothersstillwaithopefullyfortheteachertogivethemthesameconfidentguidancehewasabletoofferthematfirst.Theteacher,forhispart,frequentlyreducedtotryingtoexplaintheinexplicable,maytakerefugeinquotingproverbstohiscolleaguessuchas:Youcanleadahorsetowaterbutyoucan'twhatyousay.It'sthewaythatyousayit.Hisstudentsmightfeelinclinedtocounterthesewith:ThemoreIlearn,thelessIknow.Ofcoursethisisnottrue.Whatbothstudentsandteachersareexperiencingistherecognitionthatthemorecomplexstructuresoneencountersinalanguagearenotasvitaltomakingoneselfunderstoodandsohavealessimmediatefieldofapplication.Forthesamereason,fromtheteacher'spointoview,selectingwhatshouldbetaughtbecomesamoredifficulttask.Itismucheasiertogetfoodofanykindthantochoosethedishyouwouldmostliketoeatonagivendayfromavastmenu.Definingtheproblemiseasierthanprovidingthesolution.OnecansuggestthatstudentsshouldspendtwoorthreeyearsinanEnglish-speakingcountry,whichamountstowashingone'shandsofthem.Fewstudentshavethetimeorthemoneytodothat.Itisoftensaidthatwidereadingisthetimeorthemoneytodothat.Itisoftensaidthatwidereadingisthebestalternativecourseofactionbutevenhereitisnecessarytomakesomekindofselection.Itisnousetellingstudentstogotothelibraryandpickupthefirstbooktheycomeacross.Myownadvicetothemwouldbe:readwhatyoucanunderstandwithouthavingtolookupwordsinadictionary(butnotwhatyoucanunderstandataglance);readwhatinterestsyou;readwhatyouhavetimefor(magazinesandnewspapersratherthannovelsunlessyoucanreadthewholenovelinaweekorso);readtheEnglishwrittentoday,not200yearsago;readasmuchasyoucanandtrytorememberthewayitwaswrittenratherthanindividualwordsthatpuzzledyou.Andinsteadofread,Icouldjustaswellsaylistento.Myadvicetoteacherswouldbesimilarinaway.IwouldsayIt'snogoodthinkingthatanythingwilldo,orthatalllanguageisuseful.It'snogoodrelyingonstudentstoexpressthemselveswithouttherighttoolsforexpression.It'sstillyourdutytochoosethebestpathtofollownearthetopofthemountainjustasitwastoproposeapracticableshort-cutawayfromthebeatentrackinthefoothills.Andifthepathyouchooseistooovergrowntomakefurtherprogress,thewholepartywillhavetogobackandyouwillhavetochooseanotherroute.Youarestillthepaidguideandexpertandthereisawaytothetopsomewhere.NEWWORDSsermonn.atalkgiveninchurchbyapriest;alongandsolemnpieceofadvice布道；说教consolationn.(apersonorthingthatgives)comfortduringatimeofsadnessanddisappointment安慰untoucheda.nottouched;notdealtwithusagen.(a)generallyacceptedwayofusingalanguage习惯用法scopen.theareawithinthelimitsofaquestion,subject,action,etc.;rangedidiomn.aphrasewhichmeanssomethingdifferentfromthemeaningsoftheseparatewordsfromwhichitisformed习语；成语clichen.anexpressionorideausedsooftenthatithaslostmuchofitsexpressiveforce陈词滥调，陈腐思想contextn.whatcomesbeforeandafter(aword,phrase,statement,etc.),helpingtofixthemeaning（文章的）上下文fluencyn.asmooth,easyflow流利；流畅fluenta.dedicationn.self-sacrificingdevotion献身；忠诚；专心dedicatevt.disgustn.strongfeelingofdislikeordistaste厌恶hopefullyad.inahopefulmanner;ifourhopessucceed怀着希望；但愿guidancen.theactorprocessofguiding;adviceonvocationaloreducationalproblemsgiventostudentsinexplicablea.incapableofbeingexplained无法说明的；费解的refugen.shelterorprotectionfromdangerordistress避难；庇护refugeen.难民quotevt.repeatinspeakingorwriting(thewordsofanotherperson)引用，引述proverbn.abriefpopularsaying谚语respectfullyad.inawayormannerthatshowsrespectrespectfula.grammaticallyad.accordingtotherulesofgrammargrammaticala.ain't(spoken)ashortformofamnot,isnotorarenotcountervt.opposerecognitionn.theactofrecognizing认识；承认immediatea.withnothingbetween;comingatoncegivena.specified,fixed特定的，一定的definevt.explainthemeaningof;state,showordescribeclearl