新世纪大学英语课文翻译1样稿.docx

新世纪大学英语课文翻译
第一册
Unit 1 A Language Teacher’s Personal Opinion
Will Pidcroft
一名语言老师个人见解
Every day I see advertisements in the newspaper and on the buses claiming that it is easy to learn English. According to these advertisements, with very little effort on the student’s part, he will be able to speak the language fluently in three months or even ten days. There is often a reference to Shakespeare or Charles Dickens to encourage him even more. When I see advertisements like this, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. If it were as easy to learn English as they say, I would have to look for another job, because very few qualified teachers would be needed. But a large number of people must believe these ridiculous claims, or else the advertisements would not appear.
我天天全部会在报纸上、公共汽车上看到多种广告，声称轻轻松松就能学好英语。这些广告号称，学生无须费什么力气，要说一口流利英语只需短短3个月，甚至10天就行。广告还常常提到威廉·莎士比亚和查尔斯·狄更斯等英语文学大师名号来增强吸引力。每当看到诸如这类广告时，我真是哭笑不得：假如学英语真像这些广告所说那么轻松，我恐怕得另谋出路了，因为不需要那么多合格英语老师了。不过肯定有很多人相信这些可笑噱头，不然话这些广告也不可能出现。

It is natural for students to be attracted to methods that will teach them as quickly and efficiently and cheaply as possible. But it is difficult for anyone to explain in simple language why one method is better than another, and it is no use pretending that anyone has discovered a perfect way of teaching English in every possible situation. Some experts even argue that there are many good methods of teaching a language as there are good teachers, because every teacher is an individual with his own personality. No doubt this is true to a certain extent, but it is not very helpful to students.
学生们喜爱实惠速成学习方法也在情理之中，但要用浅显易懂语言去解释为何某一方法比另一方法更有效并不是一件简单事，而且也无需装模作样地声称有什么人已经找到了一个万能适合全部学习环境教学方法。部分教授甚至认为，有多少个好老师就有多少种好教学方法，因为每一个老师全部有其本身特点。这种说法无疑是有几分道理，但对学生来说不是很有帮助。
For a long time people believed that the only way to learn a language was to spend a great deal of time in a country where it was spoken. Of course it is clear that students who go to England to learn English have a great advan