马明琦朗读：新时代的交流，抑或断流

江南

朗读：外国语学院英语2102 马明琦推荐教师：贾琳楠 New Age Communication or a Lack of It Koh Soo Ling1 I was at a restaurant recently and while waiting for my plate of grilled fish to arrive, I looked at the other customers who were also waiting for their meals. A 40-something couple sat at table A, a 30-something couple with a child sat at table B, a group of 20-somethings at table C and a courting couple at table D. 2 The 40-something couple, whom I suspected must be husband and wife, had their drinks served. They were both sipping their drinks and reading something off their smartphones.At table B,the 30-something husband was busy talking on his smartphone while his wife tended to their fidgety child. At table C,everyone had a laptop or iPad and was very busy with it.Then at table D,the courting couple were actually looking into each other's eyes and talking and laughing. 3 When my grilled fish arrived, I merrily tucked in and forgot about the other customers. Then, before I got up to leave the restaurant, I decided to take one last look at my neighbours once again. 4 The couple at table A were eating and still reading something off the smartphones. At table B,the husband was still busy talking on his smartphone and eating his fried squid,but his wife was carrying the child and walking up and down the restaurant, probably to calm him down.At table C,everyone was eating,and was reading from their laptop or iPad. Multitasking, I presume. At table D, the courting couple were eating and feeding each other as they had ordered different types of food and probably wanted to taste the great variety served. 5 I enjoyed my fish thoroughly, but I was utterly shocked at how new age communication, or the lack of it, had evolved so far that it had become the norm.Except for table D,what happened to real lifte communication over a good meal? Everyone was actually bodily present,but the mind, heart and soul were in cyberspace. It reminds me that some people prefer to collect as many Facebook friends as possible rather than meet and make friends with real humans in bodily form. I also know people who actually quarrel with cyber pals in forums or engage in cyber extramarital affairs. 6 I remember the days before the Internet became an integral part of our lives. We actually had friends, preferred outdoor activities, phoned and visited each other. I am sure many still do that now, but with the endless stream of computer games and other techno- gizmos, it gets harder to leave the familiar couch, especially now when it is winter. When the days are short and the nights are long, to actually make up your mind to go out in the cold is a battle in itself. 7 I have just come back from an evening lecture on local history.When someone takes the trouble to remind you of the lecture and makes the effort to walk with you to the venue, you can feel the difference. As you walk, with the wind blowing in your face and hands snugly tucked in the pockets, you can share the excitement of going for the lecture. Then after the lecture ends, again with the wind blowing in your face, but this time with hands waving in animated fashion, you can stand united and criticize the presentation by assuming an unfounded authority on the subject matter. 8 That is when you are glad that you have real friends and family who are there with you in totality— with no iPad in between. (504 words) 生词 grill, courting, court, suspect, sip, smartphone, tend, fidgety, laptop, tuck, fried, squid, multitasking, presume, thoroughly, utterly, involved, norm, Cyberspace, remind, prefer, pal, forum, engage, extramarital, integral, techno-,gizmo, battle, venue, snugly, animated, presentation, assume, unfunded, totality ；tend to (do sth.), tuck in, engage in, (a) stream of, take trouble to (do sth.), in between 朗读者马明琦分享英语学习经验 大家好，我是来自外国语学院英语2102班的马明琦，很高兴能在这里跟大家交流和学习。以下是我对英语学习的一些理解和心得： 首先我一直以来都认为“学习无捷径，英文无速成”。在英语学习过程中，积累很重要，尤其是单词的积累，如果说语言学习是一座大楼，那么单词就是最重要的根基。所以我们应该尤其注重单词的学习和记忆。 其次，除了积累之外，英语学习最为重要的就是坚持。在学习的过程中我们一定会碰到很多困难，例如语法学习太枯燥，单词总是记不住等等问题。这个时候只有钻研和坚持，进行量的积累最终才能达到质的飞跃！