Chapter1Napoleon：FromSchoolboytoEmperor

NapoleonwasaFrenchsoldierwhobecameemperorofFrance.Hewasbornin1769ontheislandofCorsica.Whenhewasonly10yearsold,hisfathersenthimtomilitaryschoolinFrance.N.wasn’taverygoodstudentinmostofhisclasses,butheexcelledinmathematicsandmilitaryscience.Whenhewas16yearsold,hejoinedtheFrencharmy.Inthatyearhebeganthemilitarycareerthatbroughthimfame,power,riches,and,finally,defeat.N.becameageneralintheFrencharmyattheyoungageof24.Severalyearslater,hebecametheemperoroftheFrenchEmpire.N.wasmanythings.Hewas,firstofall,abrilliantmilitaryleader.Hissoldierswerereadytodieforhim.Asaresult,N.wonmany,manymilitaryvictories.AtonetimehecontrolledmostofEurope,butmanycountries,includingEngland,Russia,andAustriafoughtfiercelyagainsthim.Hisdefeat–hisend–camewhenhedecidedtoattackRussia.InthismilitarycampaignagainstRussia,helostmostofhisarmy.ThegreatFrenchconquerordiedalone--desertedbyhisfamilyandfriends–in1821.N.wasonly51yearsoldwhenhedied.

PostlisteningA.TheComprehensionCheck1.RecognizingInformationandCheckingAccuracy1.WhenwasNapoleonborn?(a)2.WhatkindofstudentwasNapoleoninmostofhisclasses?(d)3.WhatdidNapoleon'smilitarycareerbringhim?(d)4.WhendidNapoleonbecomeemperoroftheFrenchEmpire?(d)5.OnereasonthatNapoleonwonmanymilitaryvictorieswasthathissoldierswerereadytofighttothedeathforhim.(T)6.AustriaandRussiafoughtfiercelyagainstNapoleon,butEnglanddidnot.(FEnglandalsofoughtagainsthim.)7.ManyofNapoleon'sfamilyandfriendswerewithhimwhenhedied.(FHediedaloneanddesertedbyhisfamilyandfriends.)8.Napoleondiedbeforehereachedtheageof52.(T)

ListeningFactoid#1ThecauseofNapoleon'sdeathattheageof51ontheislandofSt.Helenaisstillamystery.Thereisnodoubtthataverysickmanatthetimeofhisdeath.Onetheoryaboutthecauseofhisdeathisthathehadstomachcancer.Anothertheoryisthathewasdeliberatelypoisonedbyaservant.Thisthirdtheorysuggeststhathewaspoisoned,butnotbyhisservant.Thisthirdtheorysuggeststhatthathewaspoisoned,accidentallybyfumesfromthewallpaperwereanalyzedandtracesofarsenicwerefoundinit.ArsenicispowerfulpoisonthatwasusedinsomeofthedyesinwallpaperduringthetimethatNapoleonlived.Morethan170yearsafterhisdeath,peoplearestillspeculatingaboutthecauseofhisdeath.ListeningFactoid#2

1.Tenpeoplewhospeakmakemorenoisethan10,000whoaresilent.

2.Inpolitics,stupidityisnotahandicap.

3.

A

man

will

fight

harder

for

his

interests

than

for

his

rights.

4.

Men

of

genius

are

meteors

intended

to

burn

to

light

their

century.

5.

I

know,

when

it

is

necessary,

how

to

leave

the

skin

of

the

lion

to

take

the

skin

of

the

fox.

6.

History

is

the

version

of

past

events

that

people

have

decided

to

agree

upon.

7.

It

is

success

which

makes

great

men.

Chapter

2

Pompeii：Destroyed,

Forgotten,

and

Found

Today

many

people

who

live

in

large

metropolitan

areas

such

as

Paris

and

New

York

leave

the

city

in

the

summer.

They

go

to

the

mountains

or

to

the

seashore

to

escape

the

city

noise

and

heat.

Over

2,000

years

ago,

many

rich

Romans

did

the

same

thing.

They

left

the

city

of

Rome

in

the

summer.

Many

of

these

wealthy

Romans

spent

their

summers

in

the

city

of

Pompeii.

P.

was

a

beautiful

city;

it

was

located

on

the

ocean,

on

the

Bay

of

Naples.

In

the

year

79

C.E.,

a

young

boy

who

later

became

a

very

famous

Roman

historian

was

visiting

his

uncle

in

P..

The

boy’s

name

was

Pliny

the

Younger.

One

day

Pliny

was

looking

up

at

the

sky.

He

saw

a

frightening

sight.

It

was

a

very

large

dark

cloud.

This

black

cloud

rose

high

into

the

sky.

Rock

and

ash

flew

through

the

air.

What

Pliny

saw

was

the

eruption

–

the

explosion

--

of

the

volcano,

Vesuvius.

The

city

of

P.

was

at

the

foot

of

Mt.

V..

When

the

volcano

first

erupted,

many

people

were

able

to

flee

the

city

and

to

escape

death.

In

fact,

18,000

people

escaped

the

terrible

disaster.

Unfortunately,

there

was

not

enough

time

for

everyone

to

escape.

More

than

2,000

people

died.

These

unlucky

people

were

buried

alive

under

the

volcanic

ash.

The

eruption

lasted

for

about

3

days.

When

the

eruption

was

over,

P.

wa

he

air.

Bits

of

stone

poundedagainst

the

plane’s

wings

and

fuselage,

but

the

pilot

kept

control

and

flew

the

plane

to

safety.

Incidentally,

almost

3,000

people

on

the

ground

died

as

a

result

of

the

eruption

of

this

volcano.

Listening

factoid

#2

Pliny

the

Younger

saw

the

eruption

of

Mount

Vesuvius

form

a

distance.

On

the

day

of

the

eruption,

the

boy’s

uncle

Pliny

the

Elder

was

in

command

of

a

Roman

fleet

which

was

not

far

off

the

shore

of

Pompeii.

On

seeing

the

remarkable

eruption

of

Mt.

Vesuvius,

Pliny

the

Elder,

who

was

a

great

naturalist,

sailed

to

shore

to

take

a

look

at

the

eruption

of

the

mountain.

On

his

approach

to

the

shore,

he

was

met

by

a

shower

of

hot

cinders

which

grew

thicker

and

hotter

as

he

advanced.

He

finally

landed

on

the

shore,

and

went

to

a

house

away

form

the

beach.

He

even

went

to

sleep,

but

later

in

the

night,

the

servants

woke

him

up.

By

then,

the

house

had

begun

to

rock

so

violently

that

Pliny

and

everyone

in

his

household

left

the

house

and

went

toward

the

beach

to

escape.

Tying

pillowcases

on

their

heads,

and

using

torches

to

light

the

way,

they

groped

their

way

to

the

beach.

But

it

was

too

late

for

Pliny

the

Elder.

Apparently,

he

became

tired

and

lay

down

on

the

ground

to

rest.

But

when

he

lay

down

on

the

ground,

he

died.

His

death

was

probably

due

to

carbon

dioxide

poisoning.

Since

CO2

is

heavier

than

air,

it

hugs

the

ground

and

makes

it

impossible

to

breathe

when

one

is

close

to

the

ground.

It

is

likely

that

others

in

the

area

also

died

of

carbon

dioxide

poisoning

if

they

lay

down

to

rest

on

the

ground

below

Mt.

Vesuvius.

Chapter4TheInternet:HowitWorks

TheInternetconsistsofmillionsofcomputers,alllinkedtogetherintoagiganticnetwork.NoweverycomputerthatisconnectedtotheInternetispartofthisnetworkandcancommunicatewithanyotherconnectedcomputer.Inordertocommunicatewitheachother,thesecomputersareequippedwithspecialcommunicationsoftware.ToconnecttotheInternet,theuserinstructsthecomputer’scommunicationsoftwaretocontacttheInternetServiceProvider,orISP.NowanInternetServiceProvider,orISP,isacompanythatprovidesInternetservicetoindividuals,organizations,orcompanies,usuallyforamonthlycharge.LocalISPsconnecttolargerISPs,whichinturnconnecttoevenlargerISPs.Ahierarchyofnetworksisformed.Andthishierarchyissomethinglikeapyramid,withlotsofsmallnetworksatthebottom,andfewerbutlargernetworksmovingupthepyramid.But,amazingly,thereisnoonesinglecontrollingnetworkatthetop.Instead,therearedozensofhigh-levelnetworks,whichagreetoconnectwitheachother.ItisthroughthisprocessthateveryoneontheInternetisabletoconnectwitheveryoneelseontheInternet,nomatterwhereheorsheisintheworld.Howdoesinformationthatleavesonecomputertravelthroughallofthesenetworks,andarrivesatitsdestination,anothercomputer,inafractionofasecond?Theprocessdependsonrouters.Nowroutersarespecializedcomputerswhosejobistodirecttheinformationthroughthenetworks.Thedata,orinformation,inane-mailmessage,aWebpage,orafileisfirstbrokendownintotinypackets.Eachofthesepacketshastheaddressofthesenderandofthereceiver,andinformationonhowtoputthepacketsbacktogether.EachofthesepacketsisthensentoffthroughtheInternet.Andwhenapacketreachesarouter,therouterreadsits

destination

address.

And

the

router

then

decides

the

best

route

to

send

the

packet

on

its

way

to

its

destination.

All

the

packets

might

take

the

same

route

or

they

might

go

different

routes.

Finally,

when

all

the

packets

reach

their

destination,

they

are

put

back

into

the

correct

order.

To

help

you

understand

this

process,

I’m

going

to

ask

you

to

think

of

these

packets

of

information

as

electronic

postcards.

Now

imagine

that

you

want

to

send

a

friend

a

book,

but

you

can

send

it

only

as

postcards.

First,

you

would

have

to

cup

up

each

of

the

pages

of

the

book

to

the

size

of

the

postcards.

Next,

you

would

need

to

write

your

address

and

the

address

of

your

friend

on

each

of

these

postcards.

You

would

also

need

to

number

the

postcards

so

that

your

friend

could

put

them

in

the

correct

order

after

he

receives

the

postcards.

After

completing

these

steps,

you

would

put

all

the

postcards

in

the

mail.

You

would

have

no

way

to

know

how

each

postcard

traveled

to

reach

your

friend.

Some

might

go

by

truck

,

some

by

train,

some

by

plane,

some

by

boat.

Some

might

go

by

all

4

ways.

Now

along

the

way,

many

postal

agents

may

look

at

the

addresses

on

the

postcards

in

order

to

decide

the

best

route

to

send

them

off

on

to

reach

their

destination.

The

postcards

would

probably

arrive

at

different

times.

But

finally,

after

all

of

the

postcards

had

arrived,

your

friend

would

be

able

to

put

them

back

in

the

correct

order

and

read

the

book.

Now

this

is

the

same

way

that

information

is

sent

over

the

Internet

using

the

network

of

routers,

but

of

course

it

happens

much,

much

faster!

Postlistening

A.

The

Comprehension

Check

1.

Recognizing

Information

and

Checking

Accuracy

1.

What

is

the

Internet?

(d)

2.

What

is

a

router?

(c)

What

is

carried

on

every

tiny

packet

of

information

that

travels

through

the

Internet?

(d)

4.

What

is

a

router

compared

to

in

the

lecture?

(b)

The

Internet

is

controlled

by

one

gigantic

ISP.

(F

There

is

no

one

controlling

network

at

the

top)

6.

Routers

can

send

the

packets

of

information

in

one

e-mail

massage

over

many

different

routes

to

their

destination.

(T)

7.

The

lecturer

compares

the

tiny

packets

of

information

that

travel

through

the

Internet

to

electronic

postcards.

(T)

Listening

factoid

#1

Jeff

Hancock,

a

scientist

at

Cornell

University,

asked

30

students

to

keep

a

communication

diary

for

a

week.

The

students

wrote

down

the

numbers

of

conversations

they

had

either

face-to-face

or

on

the

telephone

and

the

number

of

e-mail

exchanges

they

had,

both

regular

e-mails

and

instant

messages,

that

lasted

more

than

10

minutes.

They

also

wrote

down

the

number

of

lies

they

had

told

in

each

conversation

or

e-mail

exchange.

When

Jeff

Hancock

analyzed

the

students’

communication

records,

he

found

that

lies

made

up

14

percent

of

e-mails,

21

percent

of

instant

messages,

27

percent

of

face-to-face

conversations,

and

37

percent

of

phone

calls.

His

findings

surprised

some

psychologists,

who

thought

it

would

be

easier

to

lie

in

e-mail

than

in

real-time

conversations.

One

explanation

is

that

people

are

less

likely

to

lie

when

there

will

be

a

record

of

their

lies,

such

as

in

an

e-mail.

Listening

factoid

#2

If

you

have

an

e-mail

account,

you

have

no

doubt

been

spammed.

That

is,

you

have

received

unsolicited

e-mail

from

someone

you

don’t

know,

someone

who

is

usually

trying

to

sell

you

something!

Most

people

say

that

they

hate

spam.

For

many

people,

spam

mail

is

just

a

nuisance,

but

for

businesses

it’s

very

expensive,

as

their

employee

waste

considerable

working

time

going

through

and

deleting

span.

According

to

Message

Labs,

a

company

that

provides

e-mail

security,

76%

of

the

world’s

e-mail

is

spam

and

it

costs

businesses

approximately

$12

billion

dollars

a

year.

According

to

a

survey

by

Commtouch

Software,

another

anti-spam

company,

in

the

last

few

months

the

number

of

spam

attacks

increased

by

43%.

Their

report

predicts

that

within

two

years,

98%

of

all

e-mail

will

be

spam!

Chapter

5

Language:

How

Children

Acquire

Theirs

What

I’d

lie

to

talk

to

you

about

today

is

the

topic

of

child

language

development.

I

know

that

you

all

are

trying

to

develop

a

second

language,

but

for

a

moment,

let’s

think

about

a

related

topic,

and

that

is:

How

children

develop

their

first

language.

What

do

we

know

about

how

babies

develop

their

language

and

communication

ability?

Well,

we

know

babies

are

able

to

communicate

as

soon

as

they

are

born―even

before

they

learn

to

speak

their

first

language.

At

first,

they

communicate

by

crying.

This

crying

lets

their

parents

know

when

they

are

hungry,

or

unhappy,

or

uncomfortable.

However,

they

soon

begin

the

process

of

acquiring

their

language.

The

first

state

of

language

acquisition

begins

just

a

few

weeks

after

birth.

At

this

stage,

babies

start

to

make

cooing

noises

when

they

are

happy.

Then,

around

four

months

of

age

they

begin

to

babble.

Babies

all

over

the

world

begin

to

babble

around

the

same

age,

and

they

all

begin

to

make

the

same

kinds

of

babbling

noises.

Now,

by

the

time

they

are

ten

months

old,

however,

the

babbling

of

babies

from

different

language

backgrounds

sounds

different.

For

example,

the

babbling

of

a

baby

in

a

Chinese-speaking

home

sounds

different

from

the

babbling

of

a

baby

in

an

English-speaking

home.

Babies

begin

a

new

stage

of

language

development

when

they

begin

to

speak

their

first

words.

At

first,

they

invent

their

own

words

for

things.

For

example,

a

baby

in

an

English-speaking

home

may

say

―baba‖

for

the

word

―bottle‖

or

―kiki‖

for

―cat.‖

In

the

next

few

months,

babies

will

acquire

a

lot

of

words.

These

words

are

usually

the

names

of

things

that

are

in

the

baby’s

environment,

words

for

food

or

toys,

for

example.

They

will

begin

to

use

these

words

to

communicate

with

others.

For

example,

if

a

baby

holds

up

an

empty

juice

bottle

and

then

says

―juice,‖

to

his

father,

the

baby

seems

to

be

saying,

―I

want

more

juice,

Daddy‖

or

―May

I

have

more

juice,

Daddy?‖

This

word

―juice‖

is

really

a

one-word

sentence.

Now,

the

next

stage

of

language

acquisition

begins

around

the

age

of

18

months,

when

the

babies

begin

to

say

two-word

sentences.

They

begin

to

use

a

kind

of

grammar

to

put

these

words

together.

The

speech

they

produce

is

called

―telegraphic‖

speech

because

the

babies

omit

all

but

the

most

essential

words.

An

English-speaking

child

might

say

something

like

―Daddy,

up‖

which

actually

could

mean

―Daddy,

pick

me

up,

please.‖

Then,

between

two

and

three

years

of

age,

young

children

begin

to

learn

more

and

more

grammar.

For

example,

they

begin

to

use

the

past

tense

of

verbs.

The

children

begin

to

say

things

such

as

―I

walked

home‖

and

―I

kissed

Mommy.‖

They

also

begin

to

overgeneralize

this

new

grammar

rule

and

make

a

log

of

grammar

mistakes.

For

example,

children

often

say

such

thins

as

―I

goed

to

bed‖

instead

of

―I

went

to

bed,‖

or

―I

eated

ice

cream‖

instead

of

―I

ate

ice

cream.‖

In

other

words,

the

children

have

learned

the

pasttense

rule

for

regular

verbs

such

as

―walk‖

and

―kiss,‖

but

they

haven’t

learned

that

they

cannot

use

this

rule

for

all

verbs.

Some

verbs

like

―eat‖

are

irregular,

and

the

past

tense

forms

for

irregular

verbs

must

be

learned

individually.

Anyway,

these

mistakes

are

normal,

and

the

children

will

soon

learn

to

use

the

past

tense

for

regular

and

irregular

verbs

correctly.

The

children

then

continue

to

learn

other

grammatical

structures

in

the

same

way.

If

we

stop

to

think

about

it,

actually

it’s

quite

amazing

how

quickly

babies

and

children

all

over

the

world

learn

their

language

and

how

similar

the

process

is

for

babies

all

over

the

world.

Do

you

remember

anything

about

how

you

learned

your

first

language

during

the

early

years

of

your

life?

Think

about

the

process

for

a

minute.

What

was

your

first

word?

Was

it

―mama‖

or

maybe

―papa‖?

Now

think

also

about

the

process

of

learning

English

as

a

second

language.

Can

you

remember

the

first

word

you

learned

in

English?

I

doubt

that

it

was

―mama.‖

Now,

think

about

some

of

the

similarities

and

differences

involved

in

the

processes

of

child

and

adult

language

learning.

We’ll

talk

about

some

similarities

and

differences

in

the

first

and

second

language

learning

processes

tomorrow.

See

you

then.

Postlistening

A.

The

Comprehension

Check

1.

Recognizing

Information

and

Checking

Accuracy

1.

At

what

age

do

babies

begin

to

communicate?

(a)

2.

Which

of

the

following

is

an

example

of

―telegraphic‖

speech?

(b)

3.

At

what

age

do

children

begin

to

use

the

past

tense?

(c)

4.

At

four

months

of

age

the

babbling

of

babies

sounds

the

same

all

over

the

world.

(T)

5.

A

baby’s

first

words

are

usually

words

that

he

or

she

inverts.

(T)

6.

A

child

uses

only

vocabulary

and

no

grammar

before

about

two

years

of

age.

(F

He/she

actually

used

a

kind

of

grammar

in

making

two-word

sentences

at

about

18months

of

age.)

7.

Children

probably

say

―I

goed‖

instead

of

―I

went‖

because

they

hear

their

parents

say

this.

(F

Children

say

―I

goed‖

instead

of

―I

went‖

because

they

are

overgeneralizing

the

grammar

rule

for

the

regular

past

tense

verbs

to

the

irregular

verb

―go.‖)

Listening

Factoid

#1

Have

you

ever

wondered

about

what

the

world's

original

language

was?

Or

whether

children

would

begin

to

speak

if

they

never

heard

language?

Well,

more

than

2,500

years

ago,

an

Egyptian

pharaoh

asked

himself

the

same

questions.

He

had

the

idea

that

children

who

didn't

hear

adults

speaking

any

language

would

begin

to

speak

the

world's

"original

language."

So

he

had

two

newborn

babies

of

poor

parents

taken

away

from

them.

He

gave