Years of research show that when a native English speaker enters a conversation among nonnative speakers, understanding goes down.Communication specialist Heather Hansen tells us that's because the native speaker doesn't know how to do what nonnative speakers do naturally: speak in ways that are understandable to everyone, using simple words and expressions.They unconsciously use unnecessarily confusing vocabulary, which makes language less understandable.
Ting Gong grew up in Shanghai and moved to the U.S.in her 20s. She ran up against this problem of confusing vocabulary at the doctor's one day. "The receptionist(接待员)gave me a form and asked me to write down my complaints,”she said.“I told her that I did not have any complaint，and she looked impatient and then she asked me to write down anything that I could think of.”
“I only realized that‘complaints' here refers to symptoms I have after I spoke to my husband when I got home. At the doctor's I actually wrote down 'the receptionist was not friendly' as one of my complaints."
So what can we do to improve communication between native and nonnative English speakers?
Hansen says the responsibility shouldn't be on nonnative speakers but rather on native English speakers. Take a page out of nonnative speakers' book, says Hansen, by changing your English to be more inclusive.That means no more confusing expressions. Small changes like this might allow native speakers to join in conversations with nonnative speakers.
Joseph Issam Harb, who was raised in the United States and Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates, said,"I am still learning about English from nonnative speakers.
"In emails, I've discovered an expression commonly used by some nonnative speakers 'please do the needful,' "Harb said."For years I have been interested in this expression and its use in formal work environment emails." Discovering it and wondering about the origins of the expression, which means "please do what needs to be done,"has been an enjoyable thing for Harb.
1. What makes communication between native and nonnative speakers less smooth according to Hansen?| A．The speed of native speakers' talk. |
| B．Nonnative speakers' bad pronunciation. |
| C．The difference between speakers' cultures. |
| D．Native speakers' use of confusing expressions. |
| A．She had difficulty expressing herself in English. |
| B．She wanted to get treatment as soon as possible. |
| C．She failed to understand what the receptionist had meant. |
| D．She feared that the receptionist would become impatient. |
| A．Read books by nonnative English writers. |
| B．Join in more nonnative speakers' conversations. |
| C．Make no comment about nonnative speakers' English. |
| D．Use expressions understandable to nonnative speakers. |
| A．It is very interesting. | B．It should be corrected. |
| C．It sounds strange and funny. | D．It can be used in informal situations. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Even a child knows that nodding the head means “Yes”. But some people will probably be puzzled when they first come to India. When they talk to an Indian, he often shakes his head. They might think that the Indian does not like what he said, but on the contrary he is expressing agreement.
The Indians have a habit of shaking their heads slightly when they talk to somebody. It doesn’t mean “No”, but “Yes”.
If a person doesn’t know this, it might cause misunderstanding.
At one time a foreigner in Indian told his driver who was an Indian to take him to his office. The driver shook his head. The foreigner repeated his request and the driver shook his head again. At last, the foreigner shouted angrily, “Drive me to my office at once!” The driver said in a low voice, “Yes, sir,” smiling and shaking his head again at the same time.
1. Generally speaking, nodding the head means , and shaking the head means .| A．Yes; No | B．No; Yes |
| C．Yes; Yes | D．No; No |
| A．the Indian driver had something important to do |
| B．the foreigner promised to give him only a little money |
| C．the driver felt uncomfortable at that time |
| D．in India shaking the head means agreement |
| A．the Indian driver didn’t want to send him to his office |
| B．he misunderstood the meaning of shaking the head m India |
| C．he asked the driver to send him to his office, but the Indian driver didn’t say any words |
| D．the Indian driver asked him for a lot of money |
| A．just the opposite | B．clear difference between two things |
| C．doing what you want to do | D．on the other hand |
【推荐2】When you are learning English, you find it not clever to put an English sentence, word for word, into your own language. Take the sentence “How do you do?” as an example. If you look up each word in the dictionary, one at a time, what is your translation? It must be a wrong sentence in your own language.
Languages do not just have different sounds, they are different in many ways. It’s important to master the rules for word order in the study of English, too. If the speaker puts words in a wrong order, the listener can’t understand the speaker’s sentence easily. Sometimes when the order of words in an English sentence is changed, the meaning of the sentence changes. But sometimes the order is changed, the meaning of the sentence doesn’t change. Let’s see the difference between the two pairs of sentences.
“She only likes apples.”
“Only she likes apples.”
“I have seen the film already.”
“I have already seen the film.”
When you are learning English, you must do your best to get the spirit(实质) of the language and use it as the English speaker does.
1. From the passage we know that _______when we are learning English.| A．we shouldn’t put every word into our own language |
| B．we should look up every word in the dictionary |
| C．we need to put every word into our own language |
| D．we must read word by word |
| A．difficult to understand different sounds |
| B．possible to remember the word order |
| C．important to master the rules in different ways |
| D．easy to master the rules for word order |
| A．is the same as “Only she likes apples.” |
| B．is different from “Only she likes apples.” |
| C．means “She likes fruit except apples.” |
| D．means “She doesn’t like apples.” |
| A．the meaning of an English sentence always changes with the order of the words |
| B．The order of words can never change the meaning of an English sentence |
| C．sometimes different order of words has a different meaning |
| D．if the order of words is different, the meaning of the sentence must be different |
【推荐3】When we say “break a leg”, we don’t actually want people to break their legs. So, why do we say this interesting phrase in the first place? Have you ever stopped to think about the common phrases we use in everyday conversation? People say things like “knock on wood” and “spill the beans” all the time, along with another common idiom “break a leg”.
Its meaning
Here are some examples of how to use it in a sentence:
● “I can’t wait to see you perform tonight — break a leg! ”
● “I hear you have a big presentation at work tomorrow — break a leg.”
Its origin
Now you know the interesting history behind this common idiom. If you’re explaining it to someone else, break a leg!
| A．You can say this phrase to anyone. |
| B．That way, the opposite would happen. |
| C．Have you ever said “break a leg” before? |
| D．The phrase means that someone needs help. |
| E．“Break a leg” is a phrase that means “good luck”. |
| F．The phrase is believed to be rooted in the theatre community. |
| G．Why exactly do we say it and where did the phrase even come from? |
【推荐1】Hundreds of years ago, life was harder than it is today. People didn't have modern machines.
Life today has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. Water pollution has made our rivers and lakes dirty. It kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us talk louder and become angry more easily. Air pollution is the most serious kind of pollution to all living things in the world.
Cars, planes and factories all pollute our air every day. Sometimes the polluted air is so thick that it is like a quilt over a city. This kind of quilt is called smog.
Many countries are making rules to fight against pollution. Factories must now clean their water before it is thrown away, and they mustn't let dirty smoke go into the air.
We need to do many other things. We can put waste things in the dustbin and do not throw them on the ground. We can go to work by bus or with our friends in the same car. If there are fewer people driving, there will be less pollution.
Rules are not enough. Every person must help to fight against pollution.
1. Hundreds of years ago, life was much harder than it is today because_________| A．there were many problems | B．there were too many people |
| C．there were wars now and then | D．there were no modern machines. |
| A．noise pollution | B．water pollution | C．air pollution | D．waste things |
| A．The air. | B．The city. | C．The quilt. | D．The smog. |
| A．clean water after it is thrown away | B．throw waste things in the dustbin |
| C．let dirty smoke go into the air | D．encourage more people to drive to work |
【推荐2】There are 195 countries in the world today and actually none of them have purple on their national flags. Throughout history, purple was never used to represent a kingdom.
So what’s wrong with purple? It’s such a popular color today. The answer is really quite simple. Purple was just far too expensive.
The color purple has been related to royal power and wealth for centuries. Queen Elizabeth I didn’t allow anyone except close members of the royal family to wear it. Purple’s unique position comes from the rarity and high cost of the dye used to produce it. The dye was from a small sea snail that was only found in the Tyre area of the Mediterranean. Over 10,000 snails were needed to create just one gram of Tyrian purple; not to mention lots of work went into producing the dye, which made purple dye so expensive even for some royal families. Third century Roman Emperor Aurelio famously wouldn’t allow his wife to buy a scarf made from purple silk because it cost three times its weight in gold. A single pound of dye cost three pounds of gold, which equals 56,000 dollars today. Therefore, even the richest countries couldn’t spend that much having purple on their flags.
In 1856, 18-year-old English chemist William Henry Perkin by accident created a man-made purple dye while attempting to produce an anti-malaria drug. He noticed that it could be used to dye cloth. He patented the dye and mass-produced it. Therefore everybody could afford it.
Till now, a handful of new national flags have been designed and a few of them have chosen to use purple.
1. Why was color purple expensive in the past?| A．Because only royal families were allowed to wear purple. |
| B．Because it took a long time to get purple dye from snails. |
| C．Because purple was worth as much as its weight in gold. |
| D．Because purple dye used to be uncommon and hard to produce. |
| A．The anti-malaria drug. | B．Snails. |
| C．The man-made purple dye. | D．Tyrian purple. |
| A．A few new national flags have chosen to use purple. |
| B．William Henry Perkin got rich by producing the purple dye. |
| C．Royal families stop using purple because it’s not expensive. |
| D．A single pound of dye cost three pounds of gold. |
| A．No Purple Flags? | B．Purple vs. Gold |
| C．How to Produce Purple Dye? | D．The Birth of Purple Color |
【推荐3】Big Bubbles
We all love bubbles. They float through the air like little glass balls, shining with colors and light. You can make bubbles with dishwashing soap and a paper cup. Soap makes the water stick together in a round shape. The bubbles you blow will be really big!
Here’s what you will need:
• A large bowl • A spoon • 4 cups of water
• 5 tablespoons of dishwashing soap
• A pair of scissors
• A paper cup
Follow these steps(步骤) to make big bubbles:
1. Fill the bowl with the water.
2. Add the dishwashing soap into the water and mix them together.
3. Cut a small hole in the bottom of the paper cup. This is the hole that you will blow through.
4. Dip the top rim of the cup into the soapy water. Slowly lift the cup out of the bowl. There should be a thin “window” of soapy water filling the open space of the cup.
5. Slowly put your mouth up to the hole in the bottom of the cup. Gently blow air through the hole. A big bubble will rise into the air! For a party, you can make a bowl of soapy water and a paper cup bubble-blower for each friend. If your friends do step 4 and 5 again and again, just think of how many bubbles you can make together!
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．People can make bubble-blowers. | B．Bubbles are shining with colors. |
| C．It is easy to make big bubbles. | D．Everyone loves big bubbles. |
| A．Step 1. | B．Step 2. | C．Step 3. | D．Step 4. |
| A．1 and 2. | B．2 and 3. | C．3 and 4. | D．4 and 5. |
