我前几天刚演讲完,在奥巴马“开学演讲”中截了一段,你也可以试试!或者背一首英语诗也行,像泰戈尔的“生如夏花”,莎士比亚的“十四行诗”.
嗯,再给你几个微段子吧
Americaisamobilesociety.FriendshipsbetweenAmericanscanbecloseandreal,yetdisappearsoonifsituationschange.Neithersidefeelshurtbythis.BothmayexchangeChristmasgreetingsforayearortwo,perhapsafewlettersforawhile—thennomore.Ifthesametwopeoplemeetagainbychance,evenyearslater,theypickupthefriendship.ThiscanbequitedifficultforusChinesetounderstand,becausefriendshipsbetweenusflowermoreslowlybutthenmaybecomelifelongfeelings,extending(延伸)sometimesdeeplyintobothfamilies.
Americansarereadytoreceiveusforeignersattheirhomes,sharetheirholidays,andtheirhomelife.Theywillenjoywelcomingusandbepleasedifweaccepttheirhospitality(好客)easily.
AnotherdifficultpointforusChinesetounderstandAmericansisthatalthoughtheyincludeuswarmlyintheirpersonaleverydaylives,theydon’tshowtheirpolitenesstousifitrequiresagreatdealoftime.Thisisusuallytheoppositeofthepracticeinourcountrywherewemaybegenerouswithourtime.Sometimes,we,ashosts,willappearatairportseveninthemiddleofthenighttomeetafriend.Wemaytakedaysofftoactasguidestoourforeignfriends.TheAmericans,however,expresstheirwelcomeusuallyathomes,buttrulycannotmanagethetimetodoagreatdealwithavisitoroutsidetheirdailyroutine.Theywillprobablyexpectustogetourselvesfromtheairporttoourownhotelbybus.Andtheyexpectthatwewillphonethemfromthere.Oncewearriveattheirhomes,thewelcomewillbefull,warmandreal.Wewillfindourselvestreatedhospitably.
FortheAmericans,itisoftenconsideredmorefriendlytoinviteafriendtotheirhomesthantogotorestaurants,exceptforpurelybusinessmatters.Soaccepttheirhospitalityathome!
Englishisthemostwidelyusedlanguageinthehistoryofourplanet.Oneineverysevenhumanbeingscanspeakit.Morethanhalfoftheworld’sbooksandthreequartersofinternationalmailareinEnglish.Ofalllanguages,Englishhasthelargestvocabulary—perhapsasmanyastwomillionwords.
However,let’sfaceit:Englishisacrazylanguage.Thereisnoegginaneggplant,neitherpinenorappleinapineappleandnohaminahamburger.Sweet-meatsarecandy,whilesweetbreads,whicharen’tsweet,aremeat.
WetakeEnglishforgranted.Butwhenweexploreitsparadoxes(探讨它的矛盾),wefindthatquicksandcanworkslowly,boxingringsaresquare, publicbathroomshavenobathsinthem.
Andwhyisitthatawriterwrites,butfingersdon’tfing,grocersdon’tgroce,andhammersdon’tham?Ifthepluraloftoothisteeth,shouldn’tthepluralofboothbebeeth?Onegoose,twogeese—soonemoose,twomeese?
Howcanaslimchanceandafatchancebethesame,whileawisemanandawiseguyareopposites?Howcanoverlookandoverseebeopposites,whilequitealotandquiteafewarealike?Howcantheweatherbehotashellonedayandcoldashellthenext?
Englishwasinventedbypeople,notcomputers,anditreflects(反映)thecreativityofhumanbeings.That’swhy,whenstarsareout,theyarevisible(能看见的);butwhenthelightsareout,theyareinvisible.Andwhy,whenIwindupmywatch,Istartit;butwhenIwindupthisessay,I end it.