华尔街中级英语Lesson 55

-What about your experiences as a teacher? Are there any moments that stand out as being the best?
-The best thing’s I have taught some interesting people including the Minister of Agriculture from Ethiopia. I taught the Iraqi ambassador¹ to London before the Gulf² conflict. I also taught Miss Italy, one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met. I think that the highlights are when a student says “ I never thought I could learn the language.  From the time I was a school child. I was told I wasn’t very good at languages, and you’ve made me feel that it’s possible I can do it.”  That to me is perhaps the greatest satisfaction.

10. –I know from my own experiences of learning foreign languages, what I say usually convulses people with laughter. Is language learning a funny experience?
-Oh, yes.  It involves, with adults, a kind of suspension³ of belief.  You’re having to ask a person who, in their own country, is perhaps a managing director of a company employing 2,000 people, or a brain surgeon or a scientist, suddenly to act out a role as going into a sweet shop and buying a Mars⁴ bar, and speaking relatively⁵ simple English, and mistakes are made.  And they’re amusing⁶ mistakes. but as long as people laugh, you know, you laugh with them rather than laugh at them.  I found humor is a good anecdote⁷ to stress.
-And again, from your point of view, you’ve taught both beginners and advanced. Which do you prefer?

11. –In terms of seeing progress, beginners are, you know, this is a rather worn analogy⁸, are little flowers that you know, that they come there, they can do nothing.  And after just a couple minutes with you, they can say “my name is John Smith.” So I mean, from zero, you’ll see the progress very quickly. But with advanced students it’s much more difficult to see the progress. But in terms of one’s own, using one’s own skills, to follow the range of language that one possesses as a native speaker, advanced students are more satisfying intellectually.
-And looking to the future, do you always see time when people will be wanting to learn English?

12.  –Oh, absolutely, absolutely.  I mean, as the world becomes a kind of global village, a kind of, a kind of materialistic-oriented consumer society, the demand for English will increase. I mean, the fall of the Warsaw Pact⁹ countries and Russian Communism, in my own school, has meant a flood of executives¹⁰ from East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Russia, eager to learn English. It’s rapidly becoming a kind of status symbol. For an educated man or woman, they, it is expected of their culture.  And for themselves, they have a certain command of English. It’s a ???

1 ambassador   

n.大使，特使，（派驻国际组织的）代表

参考例句：

• He took up office as an ambassador for ten years continuously.他连任十年大使。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 suspension   

n.悬挂，悬浮液，暂缓，未决，中止

参考例句：

• The local authorities decided to build a suspension bridge over the river.地方当局决定在这条河上建一座吊桥。
• A four-day suspension was imposed on her.她被勒令停职4天。

4 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 amusing   

adj.有有趣的，好玩的

参考例句：

• The girl was amusing herself with a doll.那女孩在玩洋娃娃自娱。
• He related some amusing stories in his childhood to his children.他向孩子们述说了他少年时代的一些趣事。

7 anecdote   

n.轶事，趣闻，短故事

参考例句：

• He departed from the text to tell an anecdote.他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
• It had never been more than a family anecdote.那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。

8 analogy   

n.类似，相似，类比，类推

参考例句：

• It is not always reliable to argue by analogy.靠类推法论证并不总是可靠的。
• A close analogy with the art of singing can be made.可以用歌唱艺术作类比。

9 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

10 executives   

（公司或机构的）经理( executive的名词复数 )； （统称公司或机构的）行政领导； （政府的）行政部门； [the Executive][美国英语]（美国政府的）行政当局

参考例句：

• They have taken measures to equate the salaries of higher civil servants to those of business executives. 他们采取措施使高级文职人员的工资和企业管理干部的工资相等。
• He disregarded the advice of his executives. 他对主管层的建议置若罔闻。