大学英语之基础英语综合教程第二册unit4language.docx

大学英语之基础英语综合教程第二册unit4language.docx

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大学英语之基础英语综合教程第二册unit4language

Unit4

CulturalEncounters

SusanBassnett

1WeliveinanageofeasyaccesstotherestoftheCheapflightsmeanthatmillionsofpeopleareabletovisitplacestheirparentscouldonlydreamabout,whiletheInternetenablesustocommunicatewiththeremotestplacesandthetraditionalpostalservicesarenowreferredtoalmostmockinglyas“snailmail.”Whenstudentsgooffbackpacking,theycanemailtheirparentsfromInternetcafesintheHimalayasorfromadesertoasis.Andasformobilephones—theclickingoftextmessagingatanyhourofthedayornighthasbecomefamiliartousall.Everyone,itseems,provided,ofcourse,theycanaffordtodoso,needneverbeoutoftouch.

2Significantlyalso,thisgreatglobalcommunicationsrevolutionisalsolinkedtotheexpansionofEnglish,whichhasnowbecometheleadinginternationallanguage.ConferencesandbusinessmeetingsaroundtheglobeareheldinEnglish,regardlessofwhetheranyonepresentisanativeEnglishspeaker.Englishhassimplybecomethelanguagethatfacilitatescommunication,andformanypeoplelearningEnglishisanessentialsteppingstoneontheroadto

3Sowhy,youmaywonder,wouldanyonehavemisgivingsaboutallthesewonderfuldevelopments,andwhydoestheriseofEnglishasagloballanguagecausefeelingsofuneasinessforsomeofus?

Forthereareindeedproblemswiththecommunicationsrevolution,problemsthatarenotonlyeconomic.Mostfundamentalistheprofoundrelationshipbetweenlanguageandculturethatliesattheheartofsocietyandonethatweoverlookatour

4Differentculturesarenotsimplygroupsofpeoplewholabeltheworlddifferently;languagesgiveusthemeanstoshapeourviewsoftheworldandlanguagesaredifferentfromoneanother.Weexpresswhatweseeandfeelthroughlanguage,andbecauselanguagesaresoclearlyculture-related,4oftenwefindthatwhatwecansayinonelanguagecannotbeexpressedatallinanother.TheEnglishword“homesickness”translatesintoItalianas“nostalgia,”butEnglishhashadtoborrowthatsamewordtodescribeadifferentstateofmind,somethingthatisnotquitehomesicknessandinvolvesakindoflonging.Homesicknessandnostalgiaputtogetherarealmost,butnotquite,thePortuguese“saudade,”anuntranslatablewordthatdescribesastateofmindthatisnotdespair,angst（EnglishborrowedthatfromGerman）,sadnessorregret,buthoverssomewhereinandaroundallthosewords.

5TheearlyBibletranslatorshittheproblemofuntranslatabilityhead-on.HowdoyoutranslatetheimageoftheLambofGodforacultureinwhichsheepdonotexist?

WhatexactlywasthefruitthatEve11pickedintheGardenofEden?

WhatwasthecreaturethatswallowedJonah,giventhatwhalesarenotgiventoswimminginwarm,southernseas?

5Facedwithunsurmountablelinguisticproblems,translatorsnegotiatedtheboundariesbetweenlanguagesandcameupwitha

6Compromisingissomethingthatspeakersofmorethanonelanguageunderstand.Whentherearenowordsinanotherlanguageforwhatyouwanttosay,youmakeadjustmentsandtrytoEnglishandWelshspeakersmakeadjustmentsregardingthecolorspectruminthegrey/green/blue/brownrange,sinceEnglishhasfourwordsandWelshhasthree.Andevenwherewordsdoexist,compromisesstillneedtobemade.Theword“democracy”meanscompletelydifferentthingsindifferentcontexts,andevenawordlike“bread”whichreferstoastaplefooditemmadeofflourmeanstotallydifferentthingstodifferentpeople.TheflatbreadsofCentralAsiaarealongwayawayfromMother’sPridewhiteslicedtoasties,yettheword“bread”hastoserveforboth.

7Inevitably,thespreadofEnglishmeansthatmillionsofpeopleareaddinganotherlanguagetotheirownandarelearninghowtonegotiateculturalandlinguisticdifferences.Thisisanessentialskillintoday’shybridworld,particularlynowwhentheneedforinternationalunderstandinghasrarelybeensoimportant.Butevenasmorepeoplebecomemultilingual,sonativeEnglishspeakersarelosingout,fortheyarebecomingevermoremonolingual,andhenceincreasinglyunawareofthedifferencesbetweenculturesthatlanguagesreveal.Communicatinginanotherlanguageinvolvesnotonlylinguisticskills,buttheabilitytothinkdifferently,toenterintoanotherculture’smentalityandshapelanguageMillionsofpeoplearediscoveringhowtobridgecultures,whiletheEnglish-speakingworldbecomesevermorecomplacentandcutsdownonforeignlanguagelearningprogramsinthemistakenbeliefthatitisenoughtoknowEnglish.

8Worldpeaceinthefuturedependsoninterculturalunderstanding.Thosebestplacedtohelpthatprocessmaynotbetheoneswiththelatesttechnologyandstate-of-the-artmobilephones,butthosewiththeskillstounderstandwhatliesin,underandbeyondthewordsspokeninmanydifferent

Paragraphs1-3

WordsandExpressions

1.accessn.entrance;wayin;meansofenteringortherighttouseorlookatsomething

.Theonlymeansofaccesstothebuildingisalongamuddytrack.

到达那幢楼的唯一途径是沿着那条泥泞的小路前行。

Thesystemhasbeendesignedtogivetheuserquickandeasyaccesstotherequiredinformation.

Derivation:

accessiblea.

2.communicatevi.shareorexchangefeelings,opinions,orinformation,etc.

.Heisashyboywhocan’tcommunicateverywell.

Derivation:

communicationn.

.TheInternetisthebestmeansofcommunicationamongseveralpartnersatdifferentlocations.

communicativea.

3.remotea.distantinspaceortime

.Wecanseeremotestarsthroughatelescope.

Intheremotefuture,manynewchangeswilltakeplace.

TheBeatlescarriedLiverpool’sfametotheremotestcornersoftheearth.

Derivation:

remotenessn.

.Theyfoundtheremotenessofthecountryagreatproblem.

Comparison:

distant,far,remote

distantveryfarawayesp.indistance

.Shecouldhearthedistantsoundoffireworksexploding.

fardescribesomethingthatisnotnear,orthepartofsomethingthatismostdistantfromthecentreorfromyou

.Thestationisn’tfar—wecouldeasilywalkit.

remotedescribeanarea,houseorvillagethatisalongwayfromanytownsorcities

.Helivedinaremotemountainvillage.

Translation:

1.我们很难观察月亮的另一边。

Thefarsideofthemoonisdifficultforustoobserve.

2.邮车每周只到这个偏僻的村庄一次。

Mailcomestothisremotevillageonlyonceaweek.

3.这个朝圣者来自非常远的地方。

Thispilgrimcamefromaverydistantplace.

4.mockinglyad.inawayinwhichsb.orsth.ismadefunof

.Andrienneraisedhereyebrowsmockingly—“What’swrong,mydear?

Don’tyouunderstand?

”

TheboywhowasoncereferredtomockinglyasacountryboyisnowtheCEOofajointventure.

5.regardlessofwithouttakingaccountoforworryingabout

.Iboughtthebook,regardlessofthecost.

尽管价钱挺高，我还是买了这本书。

Thelawrequiresequaltreatmentforall,regardlessofrace,religionorsex.

6.facilitatevt.help;makeeasyoreasier

.Thenewundergroundrailwaywillfacilitatethejourneytotheairport.

Aninterfaceisawindowenvironmentdesignedtofacilitatetheinteractionbetweentheuserandthesystem.

界面是一个窗口环境，其设计是用来促进用户和系统之间的交互作用。

Derivation:

facilitationn.

facilitativea.

7.steppingstoneanyofarowoflargestoneswithaleveltop,whichonewalksontocrossariverorstream;figuratively,awayofimprovementorgainingsuccess

.Forsomepeople,gainingpowerisanessentialsteppingstonetoasuccessfullife.

Temporaryjobscanbeasteppingstoneoutofunemployment.

8.havemisgivingsnotbesure

.Ihavemanymisgivingsabouttakingthejob.

我对是否接受那项工作顾虑重重。

9.fundamentala.basic

.Aknowledgeofeconomicsisfundamentaltoanyunderstandingofthisproblem.

经济学知识对于理解这个问题是至关重要的。

Thereisafundamentaldifferenceinattitudebetweenthesetwopoliticians.

这两位政治家的态度有着根本的区别。

Derivation:

fundamentallyad.

.Idisagreedfundamentallywithwhattheystoodfor.

10.profounda.intense;deep;verystronglyfelt

.Thebookcontainsprofoundinsightintohumanbehavior.

Thedevelopmentwastohaveaprofoundeffectonallourlives.

Derivation:

profoundlyad.

.Iamprofoundlygratefulforthisopportunitytomeetyou.

11.atone’speril（usedwhenadvisingsb.nottodosth.）withthenearcertaintyofmeetinggreatdanger

.Youignorethiswarningatyourperil.

你若忽视这个警告，就得自担风险。

Activity:

Fillineachblankwithasuitablepreposition.

1.Whichcompanieswasshereferring___whenshespokeofcompetingfirms?

（to）

2.Batscommunicate___eachotherbyultrasonicmessages.（with）

3.Citizensmayhavefreeaccess____thelibrary.

（to）

4.Itisrudetomock____others’shortcomings.（at）

5.I’dliketogobacktoteaching,butIam___touchwithmysubjectnow.（outof）

6.Sheisdeterminedtodoregardless____allconsequences.

（of）

7.Foodisessential___life.

（to）

8.Atthetime,manydoctorshadseriousmisgivings____thenewtreatment.（about）

9.Anyclimberwhoneglectsthesesimpleprecautionsdoesso___hisperil.（at）

Sentences

1.Weliveinanageofeasyaccesstotherestoftheworld.（Paragraph1）

Translation:

我们生活在一个可以轻松到达世界其它角落的时代。

2.…formanypeoplelearningEnglishisanessentialsteppingstoneontheroadtosuccess.（Paragraph2）

Explanation:

…formanypeopletheacquisitionofEnglishisbasicallyaspringboardtowardstheirlifetimeachievements.

Asteppingstoneisameansthathelpsyoutoprogresstowardsachievingsomethingespeciallyinyourwork.

.Studentsfromvariousminoritygroupsareintentonusingeducationasasteppingstonetoabetterlife.

3.Mostfundamentalistheprofoundrelationshipbetweenlanguageandculturethatliesattheheartofsocietyandonethatweoverlookatourperil.（Paragr