Oral Workshop: Discussion Lesson34-35 ;
Lesson 34 ;
Isn't It Good to Speak a Foreign Language? ;
Text A ;
"You really are a lucky dog." ;
Many people assume that admission into the Institute of Foreign Trade ;
means not only a farewell to "unemployment", ;
but also a hearty handshake with affluence. ;
They say,and I quote,"As soon as you graduate, ;
you will have a hair chance to go abroad. ;
You may fly round the world,see exciting things and exotic places ;
and feel as happy as a lark and as proud as peacock." ;
I didn't know what to think when I first came to this institute.Happy? ;
Yes,happy that I had been admitted by ;
this splendid institute of higher learning. ;
I started to dream about ;
the many things I had so excitedly heard from those who like to dream. ;
I fancied myself posted to one of our commercial offices overseas, ;
working in carpeted offices with air-conditioning, ;
and delightful social activities and parties in the evenings. ;
"What would you like,tea or coffee?" ;
I would answer with a nod,"Brazilian coffee with Danish milk please." ;
And trying to make conversation. I would say, ;
"What lovely Mediterranean weather we are having!" ;
Sometimes,however, I felt a bit uneasy. ;
Comfort is not the only thing in life, you know. ;
I do care about what people may think of me, ;
particularly those "scholarly" people who might turn up their noses ;
at the mere mention of the word"trade" and frown at me, ;
taking me for a little money-grubbing, vulgar merchant. ;
Well,a year at this institute has taught me a great many things.First, ;
it is not at all easy to be trained for the foreign trade service. ;
Like the students of all other institutes,you must work hard, ;
be straight in all your dealings, ;
staunchly patriotic, loyal and 100% reliable. ;
You must get a good command of two foreign languages and Chinese, ;
and try in every way to broaden the range and scope of your knowledge, ;
which you may have to draw upon in your future work- history,geography, ;
culture and so on and so forth. ;
Let me cite one or two examples to show how important it is ;
to know the customs and culture of different countries. ;
Once,one of our corporations wanted ;
to sell washing machines to Arab countries. ;
In an advertisement to promote sales, ;
strategy demands diagrams instead of written instructions. ;
Dirty clothes went into the machine in the first diagram, ;
a thorough washing was illustrated in the third.Simple and clear. ;
But the result was disastrous.Arabic is written from right to left. ;
How can this corporation expect to promote sales with ;
dirty clothes as a result of the new machine? ;
Another example concerns trade-marks. ;
One of the best batteries produced in China is ;
the "White Elephant" battery.In English, however, ;
"White Elephant" means an object that is useless, ;
overpriced and utterly undesirable. ;
Do you think English -speaking people would be inclined to make a large ;
purchase of this "White Elephant"? ;
Second,I've come to learn that the life of a foreign trade worker ;
is not exactly what most people think it is. ;
A good foreign trade worker is one who is dedicated to his work. ;
He must have a strong sense of duty ;
and be fully aware that a slight mistake may bring colossal losses ;
to the country both politically and economically. ;
My uncle,for instance,happens to be a foreign trade worker. ;
Since he is very busy,my aunt has to do nearly all the housework. ;
He is often disturbed in his sleep because of the heavy responsibility. ;
Sometimes,he goes to dinner parties four times a week, or even twice a day, ;
but his duties as a translator prevent him from partaking in these banquets. ;
I've seen many of his colleagues burning the candle at both ends. ;
They seldom go to theatres. ;
They seldom go to concerts and they can't even afford time ;
to watch a football match which they're very much interested in. ;
They always think of the interests of the people and the country, ;
without a single thought for themselves.So,think of the tasks, ;
think of the responsibility. ;
Shame on those who only think of their personal comfort, of going abroad, ;
drinking toasts and coming back loaded with foreign made articles. ;
Last,but not least, I've come to learn that foreign trade ;
plays a substantial role in our national economy. ;
This is done by acquiring from abroad the equipment ;
and technical know how necessary for our modernization drive and by pushing ;
the sales of our exports which form he material basis of our imports. ;
There are so many new fields to open up and so many new things to be learned ;
Four or five years is not enough.It requires more than one's lifetime. ;
As a student of foreign trade,I feel that my future job is ;
just as significant and necessary as many other occupations ;
like the geologists' conquering the deserts, ;
the scientists' tapping the ocean, ;
and the astronauts' exploring the outer space. ;
Instead of going abroad,I may be asked to sit at my desk all my life, ;
collecting data, translating or interpreting.Then, "Am I a lucky dog?" ;
Yes.I am lucky that I've become a student of foreign trade. ;
Lucky that I'm conscious of the responsibility of ;
a business woman of New China. ;
Lucky that I have acquired an initial ability to serve my country ;
and my people heart and soul. ;
Text B ;
MATTHEW:Chris,why is it that there are so many different languages, ;
and that in Europe certainly if you travel more than a hundred miles, ;
you're likely to find people speaking ;
a completely different language to your own? ;
CHRIS:Well,it's true to say that there are er... ;
hundreds and hundreds of different languages. ;
It's perhaps um... however,more interesting and more ;
informative to say that there are several ifferent groups of languages er... ;
Most European languages,with the exception of I think Finnish and er... ;
Basque and... Hungarian I believe, ;
belong to the Indo-European group of languages,um... ;
I'm got very sure myself of the... ;
the actual details of the history of these languages, ;
but you can be very sure that er... most of these languages, ;
say Latin and Greek and our own language and er...German and er... ;
French and... all the others,are connected. ;
The reason why you can travel from one village to another in Switzerland and ;
er... from one area to another in England and find different dialects, ;
if not different languages spoken, is that um... ;
several hundred years ago communication was by word of mouth. ;
Word of mouth meant that people had to move; ;
if people were to move they needed roads and there were no roads. ;
MATTHEW:Do you see any chance for a universal language like Esperanto? ;
CHRIS:Not for an artificial er... language, ;
no... I suppose the Roman Catholic Church used Latin, but Latin had a ... ;
a particular religious asis and this is probably why it was therefore chosen ;
I don't see very much chance for Esperanto; ;
I think it's an awfully good idea ;
but I don't believe that language works like that. ;
I think people will probably er... ;
work towards the most convenient language to use. ;
They will not set out to learn a new language. ;
It seems to me that er...either English, Russian or Chinese, perhaps Japanese, ;
will be the language of the future er... My bet's on English. ;
MATTHEW:Maggie,why do you think it is that ;
so few English people speak a second language? ;
MAGGIE:I think when you learn a language at school... ;
it tends to be rather a dead occupation, ;
and it's very difficult to stimulate ny interest among school children. ;
But when you actually go to the country and spend say a month in... ;
in an exchange visit when you're a schoolgirl,or a schoolboy um... ;
then you suddenly become more interested because you... ;
you want to communicate with people when you're actually abroad, ;
and it's not safe to rely on the fact that most people speak English ;
when um... in foreign countries. ;
Mm ... I think English people traditionally thought that... ;
that foreigners always spoke English,and a lot of foreigners do, ;
but there are people that you meet in the street ;
or you want to take a bus somewhere, ;
then you find that you need to speak the language ;
and it's very unnerving to be in a situation ;
where you can't communicate with people ;
when you do want to travel around. ;
MATTHEW:Have you ever been abroad and learnt er... ;
a language in the country? ;
MAGGIE:Yes,well then I was a secretary I er... ;
went and lived in Geneva for two years, ;
and I learnt French at school but I... I really didn't speak it at all. ;
I knew it theoreti- cally but I wasn't able to communicate with people. ;
But I was in a situation where if I didn't speak French, ;
then I would not have been able to do my shopping and buy food, ;
and so I picked the language up and I made friends with French people... ;
Swiss French people, and I found that if I wanted to communi- cate with all... ;
all the people that I met,then I had to learn French, ;
and I think it's the best method of lear- ning because you're in the situation. ;
It's very hard at times-- ;
you can sit through dinner parties and not understand what... ;
what's going on and you think everybody thinks you're stupid ;
because you can't communicate with them,but it's... ;
it's the hard way but I think it's the best way to learn. ;
MATTHEW:Elfriede,you come from Austria and yet ;
you've been living in England now for the last three years. ;
Has having to learn and speak another language created great problems? ;
ELFRIEDE:Um... At the beginning,yes, ;
it was rather difficult for me to get the right job... um. ;
After you're lived here for one or two years ;
you get to know the system and then that's quite good. ;
You know how to use libraries and oh... you get to know where to um... ;
call in emergencies; um... you get to know...er... ;
trying to get a radio and understand the radio and all the... ;
programmes they have...um and when they're on and the little stories. ;
MATTHEW:What about English humour on the radio? ;
ELFRIEDE:Um... I think that takes a very very long time to understand ;
and I'm sorry to say that I haven't managed et to understand it completely, ;
but er...I find it very interesting to speak other languages um... ;
because English people have different er... ;
have a different mentality, ;
and have a very different character and a different temperament ;
and it is fascinating for me to talk to them um... ;
and also for myself to be able to express myself in a different language ;
and so communicate with them. ;
Additional Information ;
Sometimes,I can't help thinking how magic languages are. ;
They are like bridges joining islands--connecting people's minds. ;
Now,whenever I am in the classroom. ;
at lectures or practising English or French, ;
I often think of my experiences at the llth Asian Games ;
held in Beijing last autumn.I was assigned interpreter ;
to the sports delegation from The Maldives, ;
a small island country in the Indian Ocean. ;
When I met the delegation at the Beijing Airport ;
I was greatly surprised to find they all spoke English fluently. ;
We were so excited when we realized that we were talking ;
to each other in a language that was not native to any of us. ;
During the Games,one of "My" delegation,Shijiao, ;
developed some eye trouble. ;
The Games Village doctor thought it was infectious ;
and said he should go to the infectious diseasses hospital, ;
and I was asked to take him. ;
A Sikh from the Indian delegation went with us. ;
He was suspected of having hepatitis. ;
At the hospital I helped the doctor and nurse get Shijiao settled down. ;
The next day,the hospital called to say that Shijiao's ;
eye trouble was not serious ;
and there was no need for him to stay in hospital. ;
So I immediately went to fetch him out. ;
We were about to leave the hospital when a nurse hurried over to me. ;
"Are you the interpreter?" she asked. ;
"Yes," "Could you please help us. ;
The Indian patient you brought in with you yesterday,you know, ;
we can't communicate with him.Nobody in the hospital speaks English." ;
"All right.Let's see if I can be of help." ;
Shijiao and I followed her to the Sikh's ward. ;
Three doctors and nurses were around his bed, ;
trying to get through to him with gestures and a few English words. ;
They were very relieved to see me. I asked the Indian, "Can I help you?" ;
But he replied in a language I had never heard before. "English!English! ;
Don't you speak English?"I asked. ;
It seemed he knew the word 'English', for he shook his head. ;
I didn't know what to do now.It was beyond me. ;
Then Shijiao started speaking in a strange language. ;
It was so funny.How come?The native tongue in The Maldives is Devehi, ;
certainly not a language in India. ;
Shijiao turned to me and said,"My parents came from India. ;
I speak a little Hindi."That was great.The examination started ;
The doctors told me in Chinese what they wanted to know. ;
I translated it into English.Shijiao told the patient in Hindi ;
Then Sikh answered in Hindi.Shijiao told me in English, ;
and I put it into Chinese for the doctors. ;
The examination took a full hour. ;
The doctors and the patient were very happy, ;
for at last they could communicate with each other. ;
When all the questioning was over, ;
the doctor who seemed to be in charge ook my hand and ;
Shijiao's hand and said in Chinese. ;
"Thank you very much."Then the patient smiled at me and said."Tan Kiu." ;
(Thank you)It was such an exciting and stimulating experience. ;
I felt how good it was to be an interpreter. ;
Lesson 35 ;
Never Give up the Hope of Living Text A ;
In this recorded conversation with a friend, ;
Alison Willson described her reactions ;
to the news that she was going to die of cancer. ;
The conversation took place five months before her death. ;
Firstly,I told myself,"The thing has happened. ;
However much you fuss,and scream,and yell,it's not going to change." ;
I realised I'd got to discipline myself. ;
Another thing was, I remembered the vicar of a church I used to go to ;
saying that this kind of thing was often ;
much harder for the relatives than for the patient. ;
So here was scope for me to do something positive. ;
Thirdly,just before I left the hospital, ;
I came across two young women in their thirties, ;
both with small children and both with cancer. ;
I thought,well,what am I worrying about, ;
because my children are grown up and independent. ;
If I can get this right for myself and make some sort of peace with it, ;
then the people who love me will also accept it ;
and this needn't be too bad a time.Of course,it wasn't as simple as that. ;
When I came out of hospital I found I was getting it wrong with ;
quite a lot of people, ;
because they didn't look at it the same way as I did. ;
And again,I think if you're going to die around the age of 50, ;
far more people are involved than if you're dying when you're really old. ;
You know,it's fairly threatening to people of your own age, ;
they see you in the middle of a fairly busy life suddenly stopping- ;
and they find it unacceptable. ;
This business again of getting them to give me permission to die... ;
Several of my friends still feel very angry and bitter about it and ;
just won't accept it. ;
In consequence they tell me I shouldn't accept it. ;
I get all these stories about these heroic people ;
who have organ after organ removed and say,I'm not going to die; ;
I'm going to live; and they go on,year after year. ;
It makes me feel I'm being terribly feeble. ;
I feel rather guilty,as if what they're saying is, well, ;
you're not trying hard enough.I can't really see what else I could be doing. ;
I'm very confused about all this. ;
I don't quite understand what I ought to do. ;
Well,I suppose one could be a Chichester ;
and rush across the Atlantic in a boat. ;
But you know,really, I'm too tired for that. ;
I think what I want to say to people is that ;
if you're in this situation it isn't nearly as bad as people who ;
try and put themselves in your position think it is. ;
For one thing,other people come to it cold, ;
whereas I've been doing my homework on it for the last two years. ;
I've got used to the idea and have ;
come to the point of acceptance gradually. ;
The other thing is that they're feeling well and vigorous, ;
with lots of things they're in the middle of doing. ;
But I am actually getting very tired and don't feel very well. ;
The fact that I can't drive my car ;
and am generally having to cut down my activities ;
isn't as bad for me as they think it is. I try to get his through to people, ;
and it seems to release their anxiety a bit. ;
My friends are beginning to accept what is happening ;
and come along with me.It's been a time for thinking about relationships ;
and sorting out those which weren't very satisfactory. ;
Also,to a large extent,the pressure is off and you're going to die, ;
you don't really have to do much. ;
It's rather a relief if you're not feeling well. ;
I've been very happy these last six months. ;
I used to think that if you knew you were dying ;
there would be a great black pall over everything, ;
and nothing could be of any value.But it isn't like that. ;
In some ways,even, you get increased appreciation of things. ;
Colours are brighter and little pleasures mean more. ;
You almost get another dimension. ;
I feel that if I hadn't understood what was happening, and ;
come to terms with it,this would have been lost. ;
So if you asked me whether I would rather have a coronary or ;
what I've got,I would rather have this because I've had all this good time. ;
And I feel sad because other people might have it,but miss it- ;
because they aren't allowed to come to terms with what's going to happen, ;
or don't feel able to,and this is such a waste. ;
Text B ;
Wang Jinghui is a lecturer in China Textile University in Shanghai. ;
Now,at the age of fifty-three,he is about to leave this world. ;
In July last year, ;
he was diagnosed as to be suffering from cancer in the esophagus. ;
The doctor told him that there might still be a slight chance for him ;
if he got operated on at once,as the cancer was already in an advanced stage ;
The news greatly alarmed Wang ;
and his daughter who had accompanied him to the hospital. ;
Naturally they wanted to have an operation at once as ;
there was not a moment to be lost. ;
"But all our wards are full at the moment," the doctor told them. ;
"How long do we have to wait then?"the daughter asked. ;
"At least two months.We have a long waiting list." ;
Back at home,the daughter was at her wit's end. ;
Five years earlier, her mother had died of cancer. ;
It was her father then who had looked after everything- ;
her mother's operation,then the funeral. ;
And after her mother's death,it was her father who looked after ;
her and her younger sister, ;
and had seen them through school, and then college for her. ;
She had just graduated and her younger sister was still at school. ;
How could they do without their father? ;
No,their father must not die. ;
She lost no time and spared no efforts in finding a hospital for her father. ;
She went everywhere and asked everybody -friends,relatives, acquaintances ;
anyone who might know of a way to, ;
or have connections with a hospital. ;
A few days later one of her former schoolmates came with the heartening news ;
that one of her friends had a relative ;
who could pull strings with a certain big hospital. ;
And to this friend's friend's relative made his appearance. ;
He proved to be very helpful and enthusiastic, ;
and promised to see the whole thing through. ;
But he constantly dropped hints to Wang's daughter about the ;
"going price" for "road-paving" to a hospital. ;
At the hospital things went as smoothly as he had promised. ;
Wang's daughter had handed him three hundred yuan, ;
and soon he had everything arranged- ;
consultation for Wang and registration for living in. ;
He informed them that there would be a vacant bed the following Monday. ;
They went home full of hope. ;
He,the man who had arranged everything for them,began to lay down his cards. ;
"The going price is two thousand and five hundred yuan. But don't worry," ;
he hastened to add when he saw the alarm in father and daughter's faces. ;
"I've managed to bring it down to the bottom line- ;
one thousand two hundred.But you have to get it ready soon. ;
I have to satisfy the registration office,the surgeon- in-charge, ;
the operating doctor and his assistant, ;
the two anaesthetists- not a single one could be left out." ;
What else could they do?In order to cure her father, ;
the daughter went about and managed to scrape together 500 yuan ;
which she handed to the man just before her father went to live in. ;
As arranged Wang entered the hospital on Monday,July 16. ;
But more than a week went by and nobody seemed to bother about him, ;
and nothing was mentioned about his operation. ;
Both father and daughter were worried about this endless waiting ;
and she approached the man again,to see if he could speed things up. ;
"An operating doctor has yet to be found." ;
She understood what that meant,and as she was almost worried to death, ;
she gritted her teeth and produced another four hundred yuan. ;
Apparently the man meant what he said ;
when he mentioned one thousand two hundred as the bottom line. ;
On July 28.Wan finally was wheeled into the operation theatre. ;
But he was not kept there for long. ;
The doctor opened up his chest and found that cancer had reached ;
such a stage as to make an operation impossible. ;
So merciless was the hand of fate! ;
When a reporter from Xinmin Evening went to see Wang early this year, ;
she found an emaciated man lying in bed,obviously nearing his last. ;
He could hardly produce a coherent sentence,but he kept repeating: ;
"We've been robbed of one thousand two hundred yuan... Now we are penniless... ;
what is going to happen to my two girls? ;
..."The daughter said:"What happened to us was far from unique. ;
It has become quite a common practice for patients to ;
pay through their noses in order to live in. ;
All the same I want our story to be told, ;
not that I have any illusions about getting our money back". ;
Additional Information ;
Not long ago,an unusual wedding was held in Beijing's Yuyuantan Park. ;
Both the bride and bridegroom suffered from cancer ;
but had made surprising improvement with the aid of qigong, ;
a traditional Chinese healing system ;
that relies heavily on breathing exercises. ;
It is also through qigong that the young couple met and fell in love. ;
The 28-year-old Guo Chengpei ;
was formerly a top player on the Beijing table tennis team. ;
But after participating in the First Pyongyang ;
International Table Tennis Invitational Tournament in Sepember 1981, ;
he felt his health declining and he could hardly talk. ;
After an examination he was diagnosed as having lung cancer, ;
which is usually fatal.He had to stop training and undergo treatment. ;
Because Guo's cancer had spread to his lymph nodes,it was inoperable. ;
The tradiation treatment he received helped little. ;
His doctor predicted that despite his youth, ;
Guo had only three months to live. However, ;
being trained as a table tennis player for 12 years,he had an unyielding will ;
and an optimistic attitude,and he did not give up hope. ;
One of hs friends suggested that he practise qigong, ;
which is credited with prolonging many cancer patients' lives. ;
This strengthened his will to surmount the disease. ;
He took his friend's advice to practise Guo Lin qigong ;
(a combination of moving and breathing)every day. ;
Getting up at 2:45 a.m.he took the night shuttle bus to Ditan Park ;
and started his routine at 3:40 a.m. He practised for more than five hours ;
His father and uncles took turns accompanying him. ;
With his strong will and indomitable perseverance, ;
he has kept practising igong for seven and a half years, ;
in all kinds of weather.A check -up in 1987 ;
showed that the lung cancer's spread to the lymph nodes had disappeared ;
and the tumour was reduced in size. ;
His weight has increased from 60 to 85 kilograms. ;
He has become fitter and his general health has improved. ;
His 26-year-old bride,Chen Yamei, ;
became ill with thymoma in September 1985. ;
"When I was told that I had cancer, I felt the future looked so dark ;
and miserable that I was in despair,"she said. ;
In December that year,she had an operation. ;
Afterwards she received chemical and radioactive treatments. ;
but little effect could be seen. ;
The cancer began to spread to the lymph nodes and bones. ;
While she was hospitalized she often saw patients around her die. ;
She was terribly frightened and she felt on the brink of death herself. ;
In June 1986,she heard that qigong could help cure cancer. ;
Though she didn't completely believe it, ;
she saw a glimmer of hope and decided to try it. ;
She also went to Ditan Park to learn qigong ;
and was assigned to the class that was instructed by Guo Chengpei. ;
"Everyone in my qigong class looks vigorous and energetic, ;
"Chen said."There is no sign that they have had the deadly disease. ;
It gives me confidence and courage to live on." ;
She often sought advice from Guo and he always helped her patiently ;
and enthusiastically They shared experiences ;
and encouraged each other. ;
At last love blossomed in the young couple's hearts. ;
After three years of constant qigong practice,Chen's condition is stable. ;
Now she says she has a better appetite and sleeps more soundly. ;
"Curing cancer through qigong had a scientific basis," Guo said. ;
"The growth of cancer cells is restrained when one breathes ;
plenty of oxygen. After one properly practises qigong for quite a long time, ;
he is able to greatly enlarge his respiratory capacity. ;
This is good for cancer patients." Drawing on his own experience, ;
Guo thinks that combinations of qigong,Western medicine ;
and traditional Chinese medicine are the best way to conquer cancer. ;
And he said a wholesome psychological outlook ;
is the most important thing. ;
"Everyone suffering from cancer should think like this: ;
Even if the survival rate in cancer is only 0.1 percent, ;
I am the 0.1 per cent,"Guo said. ;
"Those who can get better the fastest are those who are strong in spirit." ;
The couple hope that all cancer patients love life ;
and never lose their hope of living. ;