英语学习闲谈之一

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英语学习闲谈之一

雪绒花

许国璋

* 学英语就要无法无天，要天不怕地不怕。

* 学外语，要眼尖，耳明，嘴勤，手快。只要多读，多记，多讲，多写，自有水到渠成之日。

* 学习外语，从事语言学研究的人不要把自己圈在只读洋文的狭小天地里，一定要具备良好的国学基础。

* 光学几句干巴巴的英文不行....不要总是把阅读的目的放在提高英文上，阅读首先是吸收知识，吸收知识的过程中自然而然就吸收了语言。

胡壮麟

* 我认为学好英语在一般情况下可用如下规则描述：“动因+兴趣“---决心---持之以恒----见效。

* 既要珍惜课堂教学和老师指导的学习机会，也要抓住“习得”英语的机会，后者指学会自己主动听广播听录音，看电视看录像，读书报读小说，与操英语者用口语和书面语交流。

* 模仿英美人的语音语调，但不必一味追求洋腔洋调，重点应放在发音正确，吐字清楚，表达自然。大胆张口，有时不免背诵，以至自说自话。

* 阅读时对那些不影响全句全篇大意的新词，多查词典，了解其意义和用法。

* 做任何事都要掌握其规律，学英语也一样，因此，看一两部浅易的语法书何乐而不为
？

王佐良

* 通过文化来学习语言，语言也会学得更好。

* 语言之有魅力，风格之值得研究，主要是因为后面有一个大的精神世界：但这两者又必须艺术地融合在一起，因此语言表达力同思想洞察力又是互相促进的。

* 文体，风格的研究是有实际用途的，它可以使我们更深入地观察英语的性能，看到英语的长处，短处，以及我们在学习英语时应该特别注意或警惕的地方。因为英语一方面不难使用，一方面又在不小心或过分小心的使用者面前布满了陷阱。

周珏良

* 对于翻译的步骤我有以下看法；（1）。先逐字逐句译出，不要少掉什么东西，不避免某些翻译腔。（2）。抛开原文，只看译文，依原文风格（简练，沉郁，俏皮等）修改译文文字。这时会发现好多问题，往往是上下文呼应联系问题和整体风格问题。（3）。再对原文，看看走了意思没有。（4）。放几天甚至几星期后再看。这时对原文的记忆已经模糊了。在上述第二阶段修改文字时曾因为原文还大都记得，觉得还顺当的许多地方，现在都通不过了，需要再修改文字。这时往往要加些字或减些字才能使意思清楚。经过这一次修改，一般说译文就可以拿出去了。

* 要理解一国的文化就要读些历史，文学，包括诗和散文作品。我国古时儿童入私塾读书，开始读《三字经》，〈〈千字文〉〉，〈〈百家姓〉〉，此外还要读〈〈千家诗〉〉或〈〈唐诗三百首〉〉，也就是要蒙童及早地接触我国传统文化的意思。我们读点英诗，目的与此类似。

何其莘

* 用英文思维是许多英语学习者都希望达到的一种境界，因为这是用英语流畅地表达思想的基础。对于一个生活在非英语环境中的中国学生来说，要做到部分或全部用英文来思考确有很大难度，但也不是可望而不可及。从自己学习英语的经历中，我体会到坚持大量阅读是实现这一目标最有效的途径之一。

* 首先要选好难易程度适中的原文书籍：一般以每页（大32开）不超过八个生词为宜。其次是阅读方法：要像读中文小说那样快速浏览，不默读，不查字典，更不通过翻译来理解原文的意思。遇见不认识的生词，要根据上下文来推测。第三是要坚持天天都读，而且要给自己规定每天必须完成的阅读任务。只要坚持下去，几个月，半年之后，肯定会看到成效。

胡文仲

* 学习英语无捷径。要想学好英语只有大量实践，多听多读多说多写。不要被商业广告所误导。

* 对于初中级英语学习者我特别推荐英语简易读物，读的材料要浅易，故事性要强，读的速度尽可能快一些，读的越多越好。这是学好英语屡试不爽的一个好办法。

* 说英语一不要怕犯错误，二不要怕别人笑话。要争取一切机会讲英语，和外国人讲，和同学讲，和同事讲，实在没办法的时候和自己讲。例如，可以把自己想说的话录下来，然后再放出来自己听。

* 要多用词典，多用英语词典。如果读词典读的津津有味，就说明学英语已经上路了。

* 英语具有较好的基础以后，通读（注意不是略读或跳读）一本浅易的英语语法书会使你有一种豁然开朗的感觉。

丁往道

* 要注重写的练习。强调听和说，听，说领先，是对的；经常阅读，大量阅读，也是必要的。但对于排在“四会”末尾的“写”，千万不要认为它可有可无。“写”在学英语的过程中有其特别重要和不可替代的作用。只要是写一篇短文，就得思考内容和观点，组织材料，安排层次，斟酌词句，这是极好的锻炼。而且写对语言的正确性和表达的准确性的要求比口语要高些，因为可以考虑和修改。这对提高语言质量十分有益。

* 要关心中国文化。中国人都应关心中国文化，主修英语或别的外语的朋友们更要注意对中国文化的学习和钻研，因为在外语上用很多时间，可能会忽略中国文化的学习，结果是对所学语言国家的情况和文化特点知道得多，而对中国的文化特点知道得反而少。中国文化源远流长，有很多宝贵的成份，我们应该珍视这份遗产，努力予以发扬光大。

张中载

* 学语言光听不说，光读不写，是学不好的。现在，有不少学生只知戴着耳机听英语，埋头读英语书，却不开口朗读，背诵名篇，名段，不开口练着说英语，也不动手做笔头练习，写英语文章。只有语言的“输入”（通过听，读吸收语言），却无语言的“输出”（通过口头和笔头表达思想，应用学到的语言），是学不好语言的。

* 学语言同学文化分不开。通过语言学英语国家的文化，通过文化学语言要听读题材广泛的书籍和文章（历史，文学，传记，科技，经济，政治，军事等），在提高语言水平的同时增长各种知识，并学到另一种文化的精华。

梅仁毅

* 要学好英语，就要对语言本身及语言所传达的各种文化信息感兴趣。当你读到或听到别人用简洁的英语表达深奥的思想时，兴奋不已，立即记住，这就表明你已对语言产生了兴趣。没有这种兴趣，难以在语言学习中登堂入室。

* 学习英语从一开始就要重视语音，语调。发音，语调，重音，停顿，不求完美，但要基本正确。否则，将影响听力及口语，从而是语言失去交流的功能。

* 简易读物对打好基础极有用，要多读。 一是数量要多，至少读四十本。二是要重复读，选出十至十五本，读三遍，读到许多问题印在脑子中。设想一下，别人能用一千五百到两千词汇写出几十本书来，如果我们能把这些表达方式掌握住，能够表达多少内容
！

* 在基础阶段后期，或高年级，要努力背诵名篇，比如说，背50-100篇。无论从语言还是内容来说，这都是精华。背熟了，对了解西方文化，对研究文字的运用都有好处。

吴冰

* 学习外语和学习任何知识一样，是不能投机取巧的。首先要有刻苦的精神和持之以恒的决心。

* 语言是有声的，因此一开始就要把语音的基础打好。发音正确，别人才能听懂你的话，同时也便于你通过“听”来学习新的知识。

* 我们常说的“英语基本功”包括听、说、读、写这四个相关的方面，学习时要尽量平衡发展，如果其中一项过差，会从总体上影响外语水平的提高。如今仅电视一个渠道就有许多“听”的节目，可“读”的书更多。至于“说”和“写”完全可以自己练习。没有人对话，可以采用英语思维的办法跟自己说。“写”这可以通过记日记来提高，一天记一件事，可以写“听”到或“读”到过的，这样就复习了从“听”和“读”中获取的语言知识。

* 学习外语“懂得了”不等于“掌握了”。如对中国人来说，理解she和he二字并不难，但用起来却每每出错，因此要常练、多练、反复练。

* 语言是与文化紧密联系的，不了解英语国家的历史和文化，即便能说英语，在交流中也难免产生误解和其它困难。

* 学英语除了肯下功夫外，还要动脑筋总结英语特点，比较英语和汉语的“同”和“异”。看到了“同”有助于提高学习效率，不过，需要注意学习和掌握的还是“异”的部分。

* 要想学好英语，得不怕麻烦勤查外国人为初学者编写的单语词典，因为使用双语词典时，大多数人常图方便只看中文，而英语解释不但更加准确，而且通过看英语解释还能复习常用词汇和表达法，可谓“一箭双雕”。

陈琳

* 在没有语言环境的情况下，外语是不可能“习得”的（但作为一种教学手段，必须尽量创造习得环境），只能“学得”。必须下艰苦的功夫。我一向主张要“背”。不仅儿童，成人更加要背。且看郑板桥在《自叙》中所说：“人咸谓板桥读书善记，不只非善记，乃善诵耳。板桥每读一书，必千万遍。舟中，马上，被底，或当食忘匕著，或对客不听其语，并自忘其所语，皆记书默诵也。书有弗记者乎？”一代大师尚且如此，何况我辈凡人，更何况他背的大概不是外语。

* 一般学习外语的，都知道有所谓“精读”和“泛读”。殊不知，在听、说和写这其他三“会”上，也都要作精和泛的工作。说的啰唆些：要有精听和泛听、精说和泛说、精写和泛写。精泛两种功夫相辅相成，缺一不可。

* 学习语言，在读、听、说、写四会中，固可因工作的需要而有所侧重，但最好还是能全面掌握。英国16世纪思想家培根曾说：“读书使人充实，交谈使人机敏，写记使人精确”（这里交谈包括听和说）。可以看出，学会读、听、说、写一种语言，不仅是掌握语言能力以作为工具的问题，更加关系到一个人素质的培养。

刘承沛

* 学英语的成败，在很大程度上取决于我们接触了多少英语和什么样的英语。阅读的语言材料最容易得到，因此我们应该多读书，读各种有用的书，好书。

* 朗读和听写是学外语最有效的训练方法，基础阶段必须坚持。千万不能因为现行各种英语测试不考这两项而放弃。

* 不要小看世界名著的英文简写本。基础阶段读它三，四十本才会体会到学英文究竟是怎么一回事。

* 及早学会用英-英词典。这是因为英汉词典多半不解释词义，只给对等词，而两种语言的词汇并不是可以完全对等的。

危东亚

* 学习英语，就是要学习英语特有的表达方式。吕叔湘先生说过，英语是英语，汉语是汉语。这个提法相当尖锐，意思是告诫中国学生，要分清英语与汉语的表达方式，不要把二者混同起来。林语堂先生也一再强调过英文的表现法，并饶有风趣的说，在英文里只有“花闻香”，没有“花香”。

* 改革开放以来，学习英语的人越来越多，学习的客观条件也在不断改善。但是，学习的人在主观上还存在一个问题，就是不够自觉注意英语特有的表达方式，结果自己所掌握的英语质量不高，或可说毛病不少。

* 大家都说要学“地道”的英语。所谓地道英语就是英语特有的表达方式。从这个角度看来，地道英语并不是什么玄远的东西，在我们日常接触的英语里就有，在许多课文里就有，在不少录音里就有，就等我们去发现，去学习。

* 然而，要发现和学到地道英语，也就是英语特有的表达方式，不是一下就做得到的。首先，要学会分辨什么是英语特有的表达方式。对于我们中国人来说，英语作为一门外国语，其中必然有许多难点和特点。这些难点和特点理应受到重视，但是说来奇怪，中
国学生往往忽略过去，不予重视。

* 这个现象主要是由于缺乏正确指导。正确指导可以来自两方面：一是教师，二是参考书籍。对广大自学英语的人来说，借助参考书籍尤其重要。参考书籍，如词典、语法书、用法书以及讲作文修辞的书，都会告诉我们在学习和使用英语时应当注意什么。我们如果把从参考书籍学到的知识应用到听说读写实践中去，常作英汉对比，日积月累，最终就不但能辨别出而且能掌握住英语特有的表达方式。

高厚坤

* 一般人查词典为了弄懂词的意义，而有些人却把字典当作有趣、消闲的读物。据多位作者所述，钱钟书先生就是这样一位读者。他把重的拿不动的大辞典挨着字母逐条细读；他在漫长的旅途上手捧一本别人认为“索然寡味”的英文字典，怡然自得的读了一个月；他在去英国的轮船上以约翰逊博士的《英文词典》伴随，深得其中的乐趣，自称趣味之深，有不足外人道者。我想如果我们有这种精神钻研一本英文词典，我们在许多方面都会有很大的长进。

* 林语堂曾眷恋《简明牛津辞典》和《袖珍牛津辞典》，称之为“枕中秘”。他认为这两本词典对词的取舍是根据读者的需要，同时又把词当做活的材料，举出实例，十分有用。其实，随着辞典编撰学的发展，几十年来好的英文词典层出不穷，尤以供母语为非英语的读者用的学习词典（learner's dictionary）不断出现为最。例如《牛津高级现代英语词典》、《朗文当代英语词典》、《钱伯斯大众英语学习词典》、《柯林斯精选英语词典》等等---释义深入浅出（“朗文”释义所用词汇约2，000个），例证精当深度，语法简明扼要，辨析饶有情趣。对英语学习者来说，其实用性已超出了林语堂的枕中秘。你不妨取其一二当作读物，读到不忍释卷。，甚至须臾不可离，那么语言也就学到手了。其中“柯林斯”最浅近，“牛津”、“朗文”有双解本。

熊德倪

* 学习英语（或任何一门外语）没有任何捷径可徒，老想找捷径的人是永远学不好的，要想学好必须定下心来打一场持久战。

* 不要忙于“对口”（学专业英语）。如果基础没有打好，甚至英语还没有入门想学好专业英语是绝对不可能的。

* 我总喜欢把学习英语比作一场围攻战。被围攻的是你脑子里的母语，攻打这个堡垒的是英语大军。你指挥军队攻破一道又一道防线，直至拿下你头脑中这个顽强堡垒---母语。

* 学英语每人都有自己的特点和方法，但有一点是共同的，那就是每个人都必须要有大量的实践，都必须在听说读写方面下苦功夫。

* 要从阅读中学到好的，地道的英语，我们不防读细一点甚至对好的句子、段落加以背诵。但阅读不应该只限于写一些漂亮句子，更重要的是得到知识，不仅是专业知识，而且是广泛的人文知识，这是学好英语的关键所在。

* 在50年代初我提出要“read for information.”因为当时材料少得可怜。现在摆在我们面前的是一个广阔的阅读天地，因此我提出要“read for pleasure.”当你达到这个境界，你会发现你的一切问题都迎刃而解，再也不会为“如何学好英语”这个问题而苦恼。

秦秀白

* 好学生都不是在课堂上由老师“教”出来，而是靠老师在课堂内外“导”出来的。就学习英语而言，不要把“宝”都押在课堂教学上，而要靠自学。We live in and by language.要学会在生活中学英语。生活的范围有多大，你的英语学习天地就有多么宽广。诚然，你周围的语言环境是汉语，但你完全可以自己创造虚拟的“英语世界”。常问问自己：这层意思或这个事物用英语该怎么表达？在这种场合或情景下，“老外”会说些什么话？带着这类问题去读书，去请教他人，就能“立竿见影”。有了这种意识，你就会发现：你走到哪里都可以学英语，一辈子都在学英语。

* 要读大量的英文小说。就英语学习而言，一部英文小说其实就是英语建构的一个“虚拟世界”。那里有人，有人的心灵和人与人之间关系的揭示，有人与自然、与社会的冲突和调和。走进一部英文小说，你实际上就已经“生活”在一个“英语世界”里了，还愁没有东西可学？经典作品要读，写得好的当代通俗小说也要读，因为后者的语言更新鲜，更有时代感。

陶洁

* 学习英语跟做任何学问一样，没有捷径可走，不下苦功夫是不行的。

* 学习英语首先要打好基础。从语音语调做起，多听录音多模仿，一定会有收益。学习语言有一个积累过程，在听、说、写、读四项基本技能中，阅读是关键。应该大量阅读简写本文学名著和其他简易读物，培养对英语的感性认识，了解英语社会的文化背景知识。如果把自己感兴趣的文章或诗歌或名篇背下来，那对以后写地道的英语会有很大的好处。

* 学习英语是为了使用。在大量阅读的基础上，要想方设法使用自己学到的东西。最简便的方法是使用英语复述自己感兴趣的阅读材料和用英语写日记。这两种办法可以促使我们在阅读时有意识的寻找我们想用的语言素材和表达方式，而长期坚持的结果会提高我们理解原文的能力和用英语正确表达思想的能力。

黄源深

* 大量阅读对英语学习至关重要，没有大量阅读很难学好英语。现今学生的一个通病是阅读量太小，拘泥于短文章上的“精耕细作”，产生不了语感，因而口笔语都缺少外国味。多读文学作品和外国报刊不失为一剂良药。

* 写作最能使人感到英语学习上的不足，最能提高对语言的敏感性和吸收能力。好的作文是（学生）写出来的，不是（老师）改出来的，多写才能出文章。写作在开始时往往是苦事，一不坚持就会放弃，因而需要毅力。写作应辅以大量阅读，写作中出现的错误能通过阅读自我纠正。

* 英美人都反对背字典，因而对说本族语的人来说，良好的语言环境和大量的阅读足以使英语词汇得到多次重复，直到被掌握。而我国的英语学习者情况就不同了，生活在汉语语言环境里，英语的阅读量往往不足，难以在自然的语境中通过重复掌握该掌握的全部词汇。因此中国学生的词汇量往往偏小， 对听、说、读、写造成很大障碍。我主张有一定基础的学生（如大三学生）不妨背一背词典，细水长流，不要贪多，贵在坚持。背的同时要不忘阅读，使背过的词汇在阅读中得以巩固。掌握的词汇一多，学习者便有豁然开朗的感觉。


　　

雪绒花

我觉得背单词要背得好，要背得快，最基本的原则是脑子不断地想单词，让单词不断地从你脑子里过，你看书看10遍，还不如脑子过一遍

。要 做到单词在你脑子里过的次数比你在书本上过的次数多得多，要做到完全抛开书本，不依赖书本，不拿书的时候也在想单词、在背单词。


要尽量 在单词被忘记之前在脑子里过一遍，这样，它留给你的印象要深得多，就算以后再忘记，也很容易记起来。当时，虽然很多单词我只看

过不足60、70遍，但它在我脑子里过的次数远远超过了200遍。在排队时、洗碗时，我有时不断地问自己：我刚才学了什么单词？刚才老师讲了

什么单词。我今天类比学了什么单词？它们是什么关系？记不起来时就马上翻看。有时走路时，我看到树的枝条，我会想，刚才我学的嫩枝是什

么？我记得有时睡梦中我也在想单词，醒来后还能清清楚楚的说出来。当然，也不能太入魔，否则就睡不好觉。

b、背单词时还要注意在单词之

间建立联系。当然，刚开始时可能能建立的联系很少，但要注意培养这种意识，争取一串串地背单词，看见一个，就能想起一串。比如，同义的

单词一块儿记，反义的，形似的，分类的，词根的、背单词一段时间之后，就应该看到该单词，想一想以前学过什么同义的，如果只有印象而想

不起来，最好在一个笔记本上记一笔，下次碰到该单词时，特别注意。比如，背单词一段时间后，你应该问自己：我一共学了多少关于衣服的词

？哦，有garment, scarf, apparel,tuxedo….,如果你只记得中文意思，想不起英文，下次就要特别注意了。或者你看到holograph的时候是

能想起homograph?虽然有些书给你整理了一些联系，可我觉得自己总结的才会印象最深。这样，单词之间建立联系后，不拿书本的时候你也能利

用这些联系不断地想单词，当某一个单词记不起来时，可就要注意了。我当时看后面的单词时，就不断地想前面学过的单词中有那些类似的，或意思相反的，把有联系的单词的页数写在单词旁，每当看到这个单词时，总想起和它有关的单词，想不起时再根据页数翻看。如果有印象而想不起来，就在笔记本上记一笔，下次补上。我实际上按一章一章的顺序背的遍数远不及按联系跳跃着背的次数多。
c、背单词时不要在一个单词上花的时间太多，根本不用超过一分钟，象扫描般一掠而过。只是重复的次数要多，特别在脑子里重复的次数要比在书本上重复的次数多得多。其他方法还有听录音带，背单词软件等等。不时翻一翻别的单词书也挺有用，因为有新鲜感。最好先背红宝书，其他的补充、预测的单词用处不是太大。

新马泰

要背文章，不要背单词

雪绒花

01 The Language of Music
　　
　　A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer writes a work, but no one can hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players have great responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of music needs as long and as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor. Most training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an athlete or a ballet dancer. Singers practice breathing every day, as their vocal chords would be inadequate without controlled muscular support. String players practice moving the fingers of the left hand up and down, while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm—two entirely different movements.
　　
　　Singers and instruments have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are spared this particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner’s responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But they have their own difficulties; the hammers that hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound clear.
　　
　　This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors: they have to learn to know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these sound with fanatical but selfless authority.
　　
　　Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding. Great artists are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing works written in any century.

雪绒花

02 Schooling and Education
　　
　　It is commonly believed in United States that school is where people go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school. The distinction between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.
　　
　　Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling. Education knows no bounds. It can take place anywhere, whether in the shower or in the job, whether in a kitchen or on a tractor. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole universe of informal learning. The agents of education can range from a revered grandparent to the people debating politics on the radio, from a child to a distinguished scientist. Whereas schooling has a certain predictability, education quite often produces surprises. A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions. People are engaged in education from infancy on. Education, then, is a very broad, inclusive term. It is a lifelong process, a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be an integral part of one’s entire life.
　　
　　Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive at school at approximately the same time, take assigned seats, are taught by an adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on. The slices of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the working of government, have usually been limited by the boundaries of the subject being taught. For example, high school students know that there not likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems in their communities or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with. There are definite conditions surrounding the formalized process of schooling.

雪绒花

03 The Definition of “Price”
　　
　　Prices determine how resources are to be used. They are also the means by which products and services that are in limited supply are rationed among buyers. The price system of the United States is a complex network composed of the prices of all the products bought and sold in the economy as well as those of a myriad of services, including labor, professional, transportation, and public-utility services. The interrelationships of all these prices make up the “system” of prices. The price of any particular product or service is linked to a broad, complicated system of prices in which everything seems to depend more or less upon everything else.
　　
　　If one were to ask a group of randomly selected individuals to define “price”, many would reply that price is an amount of money paid by the buyer to the seller of a product or service or, in other words that price is the money values of a product or service as agreed upon in a market transaction. This definition is, of course, valid as far as it goes. For a complete understanding of a price in any particular transaction, much more than the amount of money involved must be known. Both the buyer and the seller should be familiar with not only the money amount, but with the amount and quality of the product or service to be exchanged, the time and place at which the exchange will take place and payment will be made, the form of money to be used, the credit terms and discounts that apply to the transaction, guarantees on the product or service, delivery terms, return privileges, and other factors. In other words, both buyer and seller should be fully aware of all the factors that comprise the total “package” being exchanged for the asked-for amount of money in order that they may evaluate a given price.

雪绒花

04 Electricity
　　
　　The modern age is an age of electricity. People are so used to electric lights, radio, televisions, and telephones that it is hard to imagine what life would be like without them. When there is a power failure, people grope about in flickering candlelight, cars hesitate in the streets because there are no traffic lights to guide them, and food spoils in silent refrigerators.
　　
　　Yet, people began to understand how electricity works only a little more than two centuries ago. Nature has apparently been experimenting in this field for million of years. Scientists are discovering more and more that the living world may hold many interesting secrets of electricity that could benefit humanity.
　　
　　All living cell send out tiny pulses of electricity. As the heart beats, it sends out pulses of record; they form an electrocardiogram, which a doctor can study to determine how well the heart is working. The brain, too, sends out brain waves of electricity, which can be recorded in an electroencephalogram. The electric currents generated by most living cells are extremely small – often so small that sensitive instruments are needed to record them. But in some animals, certain muscle cells have become so specialized as electrical generators that they do not work as muscle cells at all. When large numbers of these cell are linked together, the effects can be astonishing.
　　
　　The electric eel is an amazing storage battery. It can seed a jolt of as much as eight hundred volts of electricity through the water in which it live. ( An electric house current is only one hundred twenty volts.) As many as four-fifths of all the cells in the electric eel’s body are specialized for generating electricity, and the strength of the shock it can deliver corresponds roughly to length of its body.

雪绒花

05 The Beginning of Drama
　　
　　There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The on most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual. The argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world-even the seasonal changes-as unpredictable, and they sought through various means to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which explained or veiled the mysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths, persisted and provided material for art and drama.
　　
　　Those who believe that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used, Furthermore, a suitable site had to be provided for performances and when the entire community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the “acting area“ and the “auditorium.“ In addition, there were performers, and, since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders usually assumed that task. Wearing masks and costumes, they often impersonated other people, animals, or supernatural beings, and mimed the desired effect-success in hunt or battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun-as an actor might. Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities.
　　
　　Another theory traces the theater’s origin from the human interest in storytelling. According to this vies tales (about the hunt, war, or other feats) are gradually elaborated, at first through the use of impersonation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person. A closely related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that are imitations of animal movements and sounds.

雪绒花

06 Television
　　
　　Television-----the most pervasive and persuasive of modern technologies, marked by rapid change and growth-is moving into a new era, an era of extraordinary sophistication and versatility, which promises to reshape our lives and our world. It is an electronic revolution of sorts, made possible by the marriage of television and computer technologies.
　　
　　The word “television“, derived from its Greek (tele: distant) and Latin (visio: sight) roots, can literally be interpreted as sight from a distance. Very simply put, it works in this way: through a sophisticated system of electronics, television provides the capability of converting an image (focused on a special photoconductive plate within a camera) into electronic impulses, which can be sent through a wire or cable. These impulses, when fed into a receiver (television set), can then be electronically reconstituted into that same image.
　　
　　Television is more than just an electronic system, however. It is a means of expression, as well as a vehicle for communication, and as such becomes a powerful tool for reaching other human beings.
　　
　　The field of television can be divided into two categories determined by its means of transmission. First, there is broadcast television, which reaches the masses through broad-based airwave transmission of television signals. Second, there is nonbroadcast television, which provides for the needs of individuals or specific interest groups through controlled transmission techniques.
　　
　　Traditionally, television has been a medium of the masses. We are most familiar with broadcast television because it has been with us for about thirty-seven years in a form similar to what exists today. During those years, it has been controlled, for the most part, by the broadcast networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, who have been the major purveyors of news, information, and entertainment. These giants of broadcasting have actually shaped not only television but our perception of it as well. We have come to look upon the picture tube as a source of entertainment, placing our role in this dynamic medium as the passive viewer.