英语听力—环球英语 580 Listener Mail 107

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹'s listener mail program. I'm Joshua Leo.
Voice 2
And I'm Robin² Basselin. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Our first email today comes from Nhat Minh in Vietnam. He wrote about the program, "Beauty and Perfection³: Wabi Sabi." In that program, we discussed the Japanese idea of wabi sabi. It is a way of seeing beauty in simplicity⁴ and imperfection, including the beauty of nature. And it is much more!
Nhat Minh wrote about his ideas of wabi sabi in his life:
Voice 3
"I think that everyone can see and feel "wabi-sabi" every day, if he can take a short time to live for himself. For example, watching the sun rise in the early morning, or listening to birds' songs, or watching small insects looking for food."
"There are many ideas in life which limit our ability to feel and enjoy beauty. For example, many people think that costly⁵ clothes are beautiful. They think that these clothes will make them beautiful. But this is not true. Beauty in clothes comes from how they are combined together. That "how" comes from a person's own style, his sense of color and feelings."
Voice 1
Thank you for sharing your ideas about wabi sabi. It is truly an idea that all of us can use in our lives!
Voice 2
In the last month, listeners have also had a lot to say on our website. They shared comments on our five love language series, Flying Help, Women Taxi Drivers, and many other programs.
Voice 1
One of the most popular discussions⁷ was on "Crazy English". Li Yang teaches English in China. But he uses a very unusual method of teaching⁸! The classes are very large – they include thousands of people. And everyone shouts words together. They also use physical movements to go with the words. So does this unusual method work? Some people say yes, and some people say no. But you agreed that it is very interesting! It sounds like many people want to try it.
Voice 2
Chanmonchan was one of the people who wanted to try this method. He wrote,
Voice 4
"This is a great subject for me because I am always thinking about how to speak, read and write like a native speaker. I will be trying this method for several months. After that, I will tell you how this method affected⁹ me."
Voice 1
Luong Vu wrote,
Voice 5
"This is a great method to learn English. Try this to get a strong, confident voice."
Voice 1
Have you gone to Li Yang's classes, Luong Vu? We would be interested to hear more!
Voice 2
Adriana wrote,
Voice 6
"I think Li Yang's method is good. When I sing in English, I do not sing softly¹⁰. I sing very high, and I leave some words in my mind. That is important to increase my vocabulary - the number of words that I know. I will try to use this method."
Voice 1
Singing is another great way to remember words, and gain a strong voice. Thank you for this idea Adriana!
Voice 2
Thanks to everyone who wrote about this subject. If any of you try "Crazy English", write to us and tell us if it worked!
Voice 1
On our discussion⁶ forum¹¹, listeners discussed two similiar subjects. Adin started a discussion about learning¹² by making mistakes. He had some excellent ideas about learning! Adin wrote,
Voice 7
"We know that learning a second language requires a lot of sacrifices. But if we do, the language will also do a lot for us, like building strength among our friends. People offer thousands of theories on how to master English. But many of us feel that it is hard to use these theories. Many people get discouraged, and finally surrender¹³.
"What ever we write, we are improving even with only a few new words. The vocabulary develops day by day, and we are getting better every day.
"There are lots of forums¹⁴ we can open, or explore on the internet. The more we say or write, the better we are. Do not ever worry to make mistakes, because those mistakes make us learn."
Voice 2
Thank you for these ideas Adin! Making mistakes is a part of learning. When we have a problem, we learn to solve it. The best way to learn a new language is by USING it – speaking, writing and listening. Every teaching method shows us this. When you use a language more, then you know it better!
Voice 1
Namcuahiem had a different idea, which was also very good:
Voice 8
"It is true that learning from mistakes helps us a lot, not just in learning a language, but in our lives too. But we should not make mistakes in English. When we make a mistake, we create a bad habit - a wrong way of doing things. When we repeat it, it becomes stronger. After several times, the habit becomes fixed¹⁵. We start to make that mistake all the time in English. And you know, it is really hard to change a bad habit like this."
Voice 2
Thank you for your comments, Namcuahiem. It is true that repeating mistakes can make them stronger in our minds. This kind of bad habit is difficult to change. But everyone makes mistakes sometimes, even native speakers! So it is important to make mistakes - but then to learn from them. As you say, this idea can teach us in our lives too. Thank you to everyone who wrote in on these discussions!
Voice 1
Finally, Babak wrote us an email from Iran. He asked,
Voice 9
"I want to know the meaning of this phrase: from all of us at Spotlight, goodbye."
Voice 2
This is a good question. We often say this phrase at the end of a program. It means that the whole Spotlight team says goodbye – even the people who are not speaking in this program. This includes all of the Spotlight writers and producers – the greeting is from all of us!
Voice 1
So from all of us at Spotlight, goodbye! We hope you will join us again next time.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

3 perfection   

n.尽善尽美，无比精确

参考例句：

• Their works reach to a great height of perfection.他们的作品到了极完美的境地。
• The picture wants something of perfection.这幅画还有些不够完美。

4 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

5 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

6 discussion   

n.讨论，谈论；论述

参考例句：

• It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
• After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨，和平协议渐渐有了眉目。

7 discussions   

n.讨论( discussion的名词复数 )；商讨；详述；论述

参考例句：

• Discussions are held on an informal basis within the department. 讨论限于在本部门内非正式地进行。
• Her specialist input to the discussions has been very useful. 她在这些讨论中提供的专家建议很有助益。

8 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 softly   

adv.柔和地，静静地，温柔地

参考例句：

• He speaks too softly for her to hear.他讲话声音太轻，她听不见。
• She breathed her advice softly.她低声劝告。

11 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

12 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

13 surrender   

v.投降，自首；屈服；交出，放弃

参考例句：

• He preferred to die rather than surrender to the enemy.他宁死也不愿向敌人投降。
• Liu Hulan would rather die than surrender before the enemy.刘胡兰在敌人面前宁死不屈。

14 forums   

讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭

参考例句：

• A few of the forums were being closely monitored by the administrators. 有些论坛被管理员严密监控。
• It can cast a dark cloud over these forums. 它将是的论坛上空布满乌云。

15 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。