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大学英语自学教程（上）电子版大学英语自学教程(上)01-A.Howtobeasuccessfullanguagelearner?“Learningalanguageiseasy,evenachildcandoit!”Mostadultswhoarelearningasecondlanguagewoulddisagreewiththisstatement.Forthem,learningalanguageisaverydifficulttask.Theyneedhundredsofhoursofstudyandpractice,andeventhiswillnotguaranteesuccessforeveryadultlanguagelearner.Languagelearningisdifferentfromotherkindsoflearning.Somepeoplewhoareveryintelligentandsuccessfulintheirfieldsfinditdifficulttosucceedinlanguagelearning.Conversely,somepeoplewhoaresuccessfullanguagelearnersfinditdifficulttosucceedinotherfields.Languageteachersoftenofferadvicetolanguagelearners:“Readasmuchasyoucaninthenewlanguage.”“Practicespeakingthelanguageeveryday.”“Livewithpeoplewhospeakthelanguage.”“Don’ttranslate-trytothinkinthenewlanguage.”“Learnasachildwouldlearn;playwiththelanguage.”Butwhatdoesasuccessfullanguagelearnerdo?Languagelearningresearchshowsthatsuccessfullanguagelearnersaresimilarinmanyways.Firstofall,successfullanguagelearnersareindependentlearners.Theydonotdependonthebookortheteacher;theydiscovertheirownwaytolearnthelanguage.Insteadofwaitingfortheteachertoexplain,theytrytofindthepatternsandtherulesforthemselves.Theyaregoodguesserswholookforcluesandformtheirownconclusions.Whentheyguesswrong,theyguessagain.Theytrytolearnfromtheirmistakes.Successfullanguagelearningisactivelearning.Therefore,successfullearnersdonotwaitforachancetousethelanguage;theylookforsuchachance.Theyfindpeoplewhospeakthelanguageandtheyaskthesepeopletocorrectthemwhentheymakeamistake.Theywilltryanythingtocommunicate.Theyarenotafraidtorepeatwhattheyhearortosaystrangethings;theyarewillingtomakemistakesandtryagain.Whencommunicationisdifficult,theycanacceptinformationthatisinexactorincomplete.Itismoreimportantforthemtolearntothinkinthelanguagethantoknowthemeaningofeveryword.1大学英语自学教程（上）电子版Finally,successfullanguagelearnersarelearnerswithapurpose.Theywanttolearnthelanguagebecausetheyareinterestedinthelanguageandthepeoplewhospeakit.Itisnecessaryforthemtolearnthelanguageinordertocommunicatewiththesepeopleandtolearnfromthem.Theyfinditeasytopracticeusingthelanguageregularlybecausetheywanttolearnwithit.Whatkindoflanguagelearnerareyou?Ifyouareasuccessfullanguagelearner,youhaveprobablybeenlearningindependently,actively,andpurposefully.Ontheotherhand,ifyourlanguagelearninghasbeenlessthansuccessful,youmightdowelltotrysomeofthetechniquesoutlinedabove.01-B.LanguageWhenwewanttotellotherpeoplewhatwethink,wecandoitnotonlywiththehelpofwords,butalsoinmanyotherways.Forinstance,wesometimesmoveourheadsupanddownwhenwewanttosayyes”andwemoveourheadsfromsidetosidewhenwewanttosayno.Peoplewhocanneitherhearnorspeak(thatis,deafanddumbpeople)talktoeachotherwiththehelpoftheirfingers.Peoplewhodonotunderstandeachother'slanguagehavetodothesame.Thefollowingstoryshowshowtheysometimesdoit.AnEnglishmanwhocouldnotspeakItalianwasoncetravelinginItaly.Onedayheenteredarestaurantandsatdownatatable.Whenthewaitercame,theEnglishmanopenedhismouth,puthisfingersinit,tookthemoutagainandmovedhislips.Inthiswayhemeanttosay,Bringmesomethingtoeat.Thewaitersoonbroughthimacupoftea.TheEnglishmanshookhisheadandthewaiterunderstoodthathedidn'twanttea,sohetookitawayandbroughthimsomecoffee.TheEnglishman,whowasveryhungrybythistimeandnotatallthirsty,lookedverysad.Heshookhisheadeachtimethewaiterbroughthimsomethingtodrink.Thewaiterbroughthimwine,thenbeer,thensoda-water,butthatwasn’tfood,ofcourse.Hewasjustgoingtoleavetherestaurantwhenanothertravelercamein.Whenthismansawthewaiter,heputhishandsonhisstomach.Thatwasenough:inafewminutestherewasalargeplateofmacaroniandmeatonthetablebeforehim.Asyousee,theprimitivelanguageofsignsisnotalwaysveryclear.Thelanguageofwordsismuchmoreexact.2大学英语自学教程（上）电子版Wordsconsistofsounds,buttherearemanysoundswhichhaveameaningandyetarenotwords.Forexample,wemaysaySh-sh-sh”whenwemeankeepsilent.”Whenbabieslaugh,weknowtheyarehappy,andwhentheycry,weknowtheyareillorsimplywantsomething.Itisthesamewithanimals.Whenadogsays“G-r-r”oracatsaysF-f-f”weknowtheyareangry.Butthesesoundsarenotlanguage.Languageconsistsofwordswhichweputtogetherintosentences.Butanimalscannotdothis:adogcansay“G-r-r”whenhemeansIamangry,”buthecannotsayfirstI”andthenam”andthenangry.”Aparrotcantalklikeaman;itcanrepeatwholesentencesandknowswhattheymean.Wemaysaythataparrottalks,butcannotsaythatitreallyspeaks,becauseitcannotformnewsentencesoutofthewordsitknows.Onlymanhasthepowertodothis.02-A.Taxes,Taxes,andMoreTaxesAmericansoftensaythatthereareonlytwothingsapersoncanbesureofinlife:deathandtaxes,Americansdonothaveacorneronthedeathmarket,butmanypeoplefeelthattheUnitedStatesleadstheworldwiththeworsttaxes.Taxesconsistofthemoneywhichpeoplepaytosupporttheirgovernment.TherearegenerallythreelevelsofgovernmentintheUnitedStates:federal,state,andcity;therefore,therearethreetypesoftaxes.Salariedpeoplewhoearnmorethanafewthousanddollarsmustpayacertainpercentageoftheirsalariestothefederalgovernment.Thepercentagevariesfrompersontoperson.Itdependsontheirsalaries.Thefederalgovernmenthasagraduatedincometax,thatis,