P: Yes, well, anyway, English also has the largest vocabulary. Often there are words for the same thing, one that is Anglo-Saxon and one from the French---like “Buy” which is Anglo-Saxon and “purchase” which is from the French. The French word often has more prestige. I: Anglo-Saxon？
P: That?s the word for Old English. The Norman Conquest in 1066 brought the French language to Britain and helped English evolve into the language it is today. I: I see. Is there anything else particularly difficult about English?
P: Well, the idioms in informal English pose a problem for some students. I: Informal English？
P：As with any language, there are different varieties: slang, colloquial, formal, written, as well as different dialects---British, American, and Canadian English. I: And how is Canadian English different from American and British?
P: Well, Canadian English is closer to American in pronunciation and idiom. Some of our words and our spellings do reflect British usage, however. We wouldn?t use the British term “lorry” for truck, but we have kept the “o-u-r” spellings in words such as “honour” and “colour”.
I: This has been very interesting, Professor. I?m afraid we?re out of time. It has been a pleasure talking to you. P: Thank you.
I: We have been talking to Professor Lingo of Chimo University.
Part III A1 A2
Part 2-----B
(What makes a good or bad student?) Vocabulary
1. peep: to look at something quickly and secretly 2. invariably: always
3. stick one?s neck out: to take a risk; say or do something that may fail 4. off one?s own bat: through one?s own efforts ; without being told to 5. alternative: other ; available in place of something else 6. strategy: skill in planning or managing any affair well Key to the Exercise
A good student: make mistake / every new thing / the language / Working outside the classroom
A bad student: Passive / the teacher / stick his neck out / more likely to be right than himself
Part III University life
University Life ( I )
I. Diverse student population
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A. Age
B. Socioeconomic backgrounds C. Racial and ethnic minorities D. Foreign student population
II. Undergraduate school A. Course syllabus
1. Number of classes per semester: 5
2. Class time per week. 15 hrs ( + 2 or 3 for lab) 3. Class size
a. Introductory class: + 100 b. Discussion group: 15 -- 20 c. Language class: much smaller
4. Teacher-student relationship: informal, friendly
5. Assignments: reading + other work
6. Preparing hours for class: 2 -- 3 hrs: 1 hr
Tapescript:
Today I'd like to give you some idea about how life at an American university or college might be different from the way it is in your country. To be sure, the student body on a U. S. campus is a pretty diverse group of people. First of all, you will find students of all ages. Although most students start college at around the age of 18, you will see students in their 30s and 40s and even occasionally in their 60s and 70s. Students on a U. S. campus come from a wide variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. Many students work at least part-time, and some of them work full-time. Some of the students live in dormitories on campus, some have their own apartments usually with other students, and others live at home. Some colleges and universities have a very diverse student population with many racial and ethnic minorities. Some schools have a fairly large foreign student population. So you can see that one meets all kinds of people on a U.S. college or university campus. Now that you have some general idea of differences in the student body population, I'd like to talk a few minutes about what I think an average student is and then discuss with you what a typical class might be like.
Let's begin my talking about an average student entering his or her freshman year. Of course, such a person never really exists, but still it's convenient to talk about an \prepared American students are when they enter a university. Actually, at very select schools the students are usually very well prepared, but at less selective schools, they may not be as well prepared as students in your country are. Schools in the States simply admit a lot more students than is usual in most other countries. Also, most young American university students have not traveled in other countries and are not very well-versed in international matters and do not know a lot about people from
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other countries. Foreign students usually find them friendly but not very well-informed about .their countries or cultures.
What kind of academic experiences will this so-called \The average undergraduate student takes five classes a semester and is in class about 15 hours a week. If he or she takes a class that has a laboratory, this will require two or three more hours. Many introductory undergraduate classes are given in large lectures of 100 or more students. However, many of these classes will have small discussion groups of 15 to 20 students that meet once a week. In these smaller groups, a teaching assistant will lead a discussion to help clarify points in the lectures. Other kinds of classes -for example, language classes -- will be much smaller so that students can practice language. In general, American professors are informal and friendly with their students, and, as much as possible, they expect and invite participation in the form of discussion. A large amount of reading and other work is often assigned to be done outside class, and students are expected to take full responsibility for completing these assignments and asking questions in class about those areas they don't understand. As a rule of thumb, students spend two to three hours preparing for each hour they spend in class. American professors often encourage their students to visit them during office hours, especially if the students are having problems in the class.
B. University Life (II)
II. Undergraduate school A. Course syllabus
B. Student academic obligations 1. Assignments 2. Examinations 3. Paper 4. Quizzes
C. Attendance policies -- regular attendance III. Graduate school
A. Students: highly qualified and highly motivated B. Much more independent work C. Seminars
1. Reading widely on topics
2. Preparing for thorough discussion
D. Working independently in some area of interest and making presentations E. Writing a research paper
Tapescript:
Let's move on now to discuss student obligations in a typical American class. These obligations are usually set down in the course syllabus. A syllabus is generally handed out to students on the first or second class meeting. A good syllabus will give
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the students a course outline that mentions all the topics to be covered in class. It will also contain all the assignments and the dates they should be completed by. An average university course of one semester might have three examinations or two examinations and a paper. The dates of the examinations and what the examinations will cover should be on the syllabus. If a paper is required, the date it is due should also be on the syllabus. The professor may also decide that he or she will be giving quizzes during the semester, either announced or unannounced. For students coming from a system where there is one examination in each subject at the end of the year, all this testing can be a little surprising at first. Oh, by the way, maybe this would be a good place for me to mention the issue of attendance. Another real difference in our system is our attendance policies. Perhaps you come from a system where attendance is optional. Generally speaking, American professors expect regular attendance and may even grade you down if you are absent a lot. All this information should be on your syllabus, along with the professor's office number and office hours.
I have only a couple of minutes left, and I'd like to use them to talk about how graduate school is somewhat different from undergraduate school. Of course, it's much more difficult to enter graduate school, and most students are highly qualified and highly motivated. Students in graduate school are expected to do much more independent work than those in undergraduate school, with regularly scheduled exams, etc., some classes will be conducted as seminars. In a seminar class, there may be no exams, but students are expected to read rather widely on topics and be prepared for thorough discussion of them in class. Another possibility in graduate classes is that in addition to readings done by all students, each student may also be expected to work independently in some area of interest and later make a presentation that summarizes what he or she has learned. Usually each student then goes on to write a paper on what he or she has researched to turn in to the professor for a grade.
I hope that today's lecture has given you some idea about student life on an American campus and that you have noticed some differences between our system and yours. B. Tapescript:
A: Well what I wanted to ask really was… you?re a teacher, been teaching for some years now, erm, what would you say, how would you describe a good student or a bad student, you know, sort of things they do or don?t do in the classroom?
B: Erm, well, a good student is usually one who?s not afraid to make mistakes, I?d say.
A: Uh huh.
B: And he?s, er , eager to experiment with every new thing that he learns, whether it be a structure or a function or a new word, erm, he immediately starts trying to use it.
A: Yeah, all right.
B: And he?s interested in the mistakes he makes, he?s not afraid to make them. A: So he?s not simply interested in having it corrected and moving on?
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B: No, no, no. He, he plays with the language. A bad student, on the other hand, will perhaps say “OK I?ve done this chapter I know this,” without trying to experiment at all, without really testing himself. A: Ahha, ahha.
B: He?s usually passive, he won?t speak up much in the classroom. He?ll very rarely ask you why this and why not something else…
A: Just sort of accepts what you give him and doesn?t do anything more with it. B: That?s right and in a test he?s the one person who?s likely to suddenly realize that, er yes, he wasn?t too sure about that after all. A: Yeah.
B: And peep over at the er…at his neighbor?s paper. A: Oh，yes, an alternative learning strategy.
B: Right, and he invariably decides that the other person is more likely to be right than himself. I think that?s the result of , er, this sort of unwillingness to make mistakes and stick his neck out.
A: Mm, right, yeah. Er, anything else? B: Er…
A: That characterizes the good or bad learner?
B: Er, mm, the bad learner is, wait a minute er, the good learner is erm, well, I think he?ll do more off his own bat as well, he won?t rely entirely on the teacher. A: Mm hm.
B: He?ll read, he?ll read books.]
A: Mm, so work outside the classroom as well as in it. B: Yes, yeah. A: Yeah, yeah.
B: Students who make most progress are first of all those who experiment and secondly those who read books.
Part IV A University Campus A. Key:
Look at the map. At the bottom of the page, find the gate(1).Now locate the Administration Building(16). It is between the riverand the lake, close to the Main Road. The building behind theAdministration is the Auditorium(15). Where is the Library(4)?It's on the right-hand side of the Main Road, close to the river.Across the Main Road from the Library, the building by the riveris the Education Department(5). The first building on the left-handside of the Main Road is the Geography Department(7). The Philosophy Department(6) is between the Education and the Geography. The building at the end of the Main Road is the Mathematics Department(12). On its left is the Physics Department (11) and on its right, near the lake, is the Chemistry Department(13). Another building behind the lake is the Clinic (14). The Chinese Department (10) is facing the lake, across the Main Road. The building between the Chinese Department and the river is the foreign Languages
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