学英语一个很重要的目的是学习如何使用英语向其他人介绍身边发生的事情,用英语描述自己的生活,但有时候要做到这一点并不容易,因为不少热点事件会涉及到一些专有说法,而这部分语言知识是我们平时比较少接触到的。对此,我们可以多阅读一些与中国有关的英语材料,比如China Daily
China Daily创刊于1981年,是中国第一份国家级英文日报。它的定位是作为中国了解世界以及世界了解中国的重要窗口,面对的人群主要是在华外国人,有英文阅读能力的中国读者以及海外读者。同时,它也是唯一有效进入国际主流社会、国外媒体转载率最高的中国报纸。
对于希望通过英文了解中国,学习用英文介绍中国的人来说,阅读China Daily会是一个很好的选择。
China Daily目前主要有以下几个栏目:
China: 主要报道国内热点新闻。
World: 国际新闻报道,很多文章是驻外记者所写,这一栏目有时候也会引用路透社以及其他外媒的报道。
Business: 国内外商业和科技报道,从这个栏目中可以了解到一些最新的科技趋势对应的英文说法。
Sports:这一栏目主要是体育新闻报道,这些报道中往往会包含一些比较专业的体育名词,对这一块比较感兴趣的同学可以关注。
Lifestyle:这一栏目比较有意思,它包括时尚、明星、人物、美食以及健康等几个子栏目,文章题材非常贴近我们的日常生活。推荐重点关注。
Culture:这一栏目的文章主要与文化相关,包括艺术、音乐、节日介绍、文化遗产介绍以及书评等。大学四六级以及考研经常会涉及到与中国文化相关的翻译以及作文题,而这一栏目能够给我们提供不少实用素材。比如最近该栏目上有一篇介绍中秋节的文章:Culture Insider: Things you need to know about Mid-Autumn Festival
这一段介绍中秋来源的文字有不少值得学习的地方:
Mid-Autumn Festival’s legend concerns Houyi, an archer, who saved the earth by shooting down nine of the suns. He became a tyrant and stole an elixir from a goddess, but his beautiful wife, Change’e, drank it to save the people from her husband’s forever tyrannical rule.
After drinking it, she found herself floating, grabbed a rabbit to keep her company and then flew to the moon. When the local people heard this, they arranged incense tables to worship the goddess Chang’e, praying for happiness and safety. Since then, worshipping and appreciating the moon during Mid-Autumn festival has become popular.
Travel:这是一个旅游栏目,我们可以在上面找到很多介绍中国各个地区和城市的文章。比如下面这篇Into the melting pot 就是一名外国游客写的关于上海的游记,文笔很漂亮:
Be itfromthe mouths of foreigners who have lived here for a few years or from stories on travel websites, oneof the most common qualities that people list about Shanghai is the infectious energy thatcourses throughthe city.
For some, this energy is defined by the way of life – Shanghai is a city that never sleeps. In the day, the streetsare always bustling withpeople from all over the world. After all, the city has long been China’s most cosmopolitan city, having been the epicenter of trade and cultural exchange between Chinese and foreigners since the city was forced to open its door to the world in 1843 after the First Opium War (1840-42).
节选的这两段中可以学习的地方有很多,比如Be it…引导的举例句型,course的小词活用等。完整原文可见:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201811/10/WS5be64f1ea310eff303287cf5.html
Opinion:这是《中国日报》的社评专栏,上面会发表针对近期热点事件的评论。很多评论文章从考场作文的角度来看都是高分议论文,我们从中可以学到很多实用的论证句型。比如最近网站上有一篇关于电竞的评论:As with all things, moderation is key in gaming: To the point
文章里面有这样的句子:
The new regulation, widely cheered by many adults online and off, will ban minors from playing online games entirely between Monday and Thursday. The move reflects a longstanding concern about the impact of excessive gaming on the young, and represents an effort to protect the physical and mental health of minors.
我们可以从第二句中学到一个句型:XX reflects a longstanding concern about…and represents an effort to…
比如我们可以说:
(1) The new environmental law reflects a longstanding concern about the impact of air pollution on city dwellers, and represents an effort to protect the health of the public.
(2)The three-child policy reflects a longstanding concern about the impact of population ageing, and represents the government’s effort to maintain China’s advantage in human labor.
China Daily无论从语言质量还是题材上可以学习的地方都非常多,可以作为我们了解中国并学习如何用英语介绍中国的一个平台。感兴趣的同学可以将它作为泛读材料使用,每天坚持读几篇文章,日积月累相信会有很大进步。
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原文始发于微信公众号(英文悦读):China Daily哪些栏目值得重点阅读?