Unit1textA1.LikethenationalpushforAsianliteracyinAustralia,therehasbeenforeignlanguagefervorinChina,withEnglishontopofthelist.Englishisnotonlytaughtatschool,collegeanduniversities,butalsoateveningclasses,onradioandTV.Parentshireprivatetutorsfortheirschoolchildren;adultEnglishlearnerswouldsacrificetheweekendatanEnglishcornerinapublicparkpracticingtheirspokenEnglishwithpeopleofthesameinterestanddetermination.IsEnglishsuchadifficultlanguagethatitreallydemandspeopletoinvestalargeamountoftimeandenergybeforeitismastered?Theanswer,ifIamaskedtooffer,isundoubtedly,yes.2.Frommypersonalexperience,IthinklearningEnglishmeansfarmorethanlearningitspronunciation,itsgrammaticalrules,itswords,etc.itinvolveslearningeverythingaboutthecountrieswhereitisusedandthepeoplewhouseit.Withoutsuchacompleteunderstandingofthelanguage,theEnglishaforeignerspeakerswillinevitablysoundstrangeorevenunintelligiblethoughthereisnotanythingwrongwithhispronunciation,sentencestructureandthewordsheuses.3.ThesocialcustomsandhabitsoftheEnglish-speakingpeoplecontributealottothedifficultyaforeignerhasinlearningit.TaketheChineseEnglishlearnerforexample."Hello“and"Goodmorning“maysoundalittlebitsimpletoChinesepeople.ItistotallybeyondtheunderstandingofaChineseEnglishlearnerthatthenativeEnglishspeakerswouldbeannoyedwhenthey'readdressed“Whereareyougoing?",whichisacommonlyusedaddressingamongtheChinese.IttakesquitesometimeforaChineseEnglishlearnertounderstandthewesternconceptofprivacybeingviolatedinthisaddress.Bythesametoken,“Haveyoueaten?“willsoundtonativeEnglishspeakersthattheChinesearesohospitablethattheyinvitepeopletomealsoff-handedly.Meanwhile,theChinesewouldbeshockedtohear,“Oh,it'sveryniceofyou.When?“IftheaddresseehappenstohaveacravingforChinesecookingandhasnothadhisdinneryet.4."Wecansaywearegoingtohavechickenfordinner,whycan'twesaypig,bullorsheepfordinnerinsteadofpork,beeformutton?“ChineseEnglishlearnermayraisesuchquestions.FiguringoutthereasonsforthepeculiarEnglishvocabularyisnoeasytaskforChineseEnglishlearners.Bu