(完整版)口语话题参考答案(unit1).doc

Unit 1 口语话题参考答案

p.5

5.1) What are you learning at the moment? Do you enjoy learning it? Why?

I’m learning yoga at the moment. I enjoy learning it very much because it helps improve my flexibility, strength and balance.

2) What ’sthe most difficult thing you ’ve ever learned? Why? The most difficult thing for me is learning to drive. I didn ’texpect learning to drive to be so complicated and so difficult.

It was so intimidating

that whenever I was behind the wheel I

became nervous. I was overwhelmed with all the things I was asked to do at the same time. I felt so bad when my coach kept yelling at me and saying that I was terrible. I nearly gave up halfway. Anyhow, I kept on practicing and got my driver ’slicense at last.

3) What do you enjoy learning most? Why?

I enjoy learning how to use new technology, esp. computer technology. I ’ve learned to use the computer to complete home assignments, make digital newspapers, burn CDs, and edit and print digital photos, etc. I’m passionate about learning new technology, mainly because new technology makes my life convenient and comfortable.

P.5

1. 1) What difficulties have you encountered while learning English?

I encountered some difficulties while learning English. First of all, I had a limited vocabulary, and sometimes I found it hard to express my ideas in English. Secondly, I had difficulty understanding authentic listening materials, esp. when native speakers speak very fast. 2) What advice did you receive as to how to deal with these difficulties?

I was advised to carry around a notebook with me so that I could memorize new words whenever I was free. I was also advised to watch English movies with English subtitles to improve my listening skills.

3) How did you finally overcome these difficulties?

I found the best way to increase my vocabulary was to learn new words within a context. I read a lot of English newspapers and magazines. When I came across new words and expressions, I looked them up in a dictionary, and wrote down the new words and their meanings and examples in a notebook. Then I recited these words and examples, and went over them again and again. In this way, I managed to increase my vocabulary very quickly.

To improve my listening skills, I tried to listen to the news, listen to podcasts, and watch English television and movies as much as possible. When I had difficulty understanding the materials, I tried to find the transcript so

that I could listen and read at the same time, which helped me

I also tried to repeat what

I heard while listening,

match the words with their pronunciations.

which helped improve not only my listening skills but also my spoken English. p. 9

4. 1) What do you think of the view “Intelligence must be bred, not trained ”? I think the view “Intelligence

must be bred, not trained ”is biased. This view states that

According to this

intelligence is determined by a person’s genes and psychological attributes.

nature view of intelligence, children born to intelligent parents end up intelligent themselves whereas

children who are not born from intelligent parents do not. Another view of intelligence,

the nurture view states that all humans are born as a “blank slate”and that intelligence is formed from personal experience and developed through education and exposure to the world. In line with this view, raising children in an intellectually-stimulating environment will make them more intelligent, and children of well-to-do families are at an advantage compared to children born with low-income families. The nature versus nurture debate of intelligence has been going on for many years. Now research has shown that bother nature and nurture play a role in intelligence. So I think the view “Intelligence must be bred, not trained ”is one-sided. 2) In your opinion, what factors affect intelligence?

I think intelligence is determined by genes and environmental factors such as nutrition, education, family background, living standards, parenting style, etc.

3) How does your intelligence change as you get older? Why?

I think my intelligence grows progressively as I get older. Since I was very young, I have interacted with the natural environment and various kinds of people around me, gaining a lot of first-hand experience from nature and society. When I became old enough to read, I began to read a vast variety of books, accumulating a large amount of knowledge on diverse subjects. In this way, my intelligence gradually grows, and I believe I ll’be more intelligent and wiser as time passes by.

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1. Among the three learning/teaching methods: learning by listening, starting young, homeschooling, which method is the best/worst?

The method we enjoy most is homeschooling because children enjoy the freedom of choosing which subjects they want to study and choosing to work when they feel like it. And we believe a relaxing and intellectually-stimulating environment is beneficial for the physical and mental development of children.

The method we dislike most is starting young because the children have to practice for hours every day and give a performance once a week. We think children at such a young age should not be forced to experience such a stressful life in a competitive environment, which may have potential harmful effects on their future development.