大家學(xué)英文時(shí)都會遇到各種問題，不管是語言方面的或是文化方面的。在此我們匯集了一些滬友提出的、對大家都有價(jià)值的問題：老英和老美性格上有何不同？英文句子該怎么念？為什么go round the bend是“發(fā)瘋”的意思？英語里有沒有一些縮寫的方法？如何選用適合自己的單詞？想知道這些問題的答案嗎，來看美女外教Alison老師的回答吧！

Q: 我想知道英國人和美國人的性格有什么不同？

A: Great questions--it's one that I think about a lot! They are hard questions to answer though. Have you heard the word 'stereotype'? A stereotype is when you say 'general' things about people from a certain country. For example, Chinese people are really good at economics. :) That's a stereotype. Anyway, British people love to make fun of Americans. They might think that Americans share their feelings and emotions too much, or that they talk too much. Americans, stereotypically, are friendlier, smile more, and are more open. Maybe British people might think they are too friendly. In my experience, British people are more reserved and tend to hide their true feelings and opinions more. In my personal experience, British people are harder to make friends with, but maybe that's because I am American. :)

Alison 老師說這個(gè)問題她也思考了很久哈哈！不過這確實(shí)是個(gè)很難回答的問題。大家知不知道stereotype這個(gè)詞？當(dāng)你描述某國人的總體情況時(shí)，你所說的就是一個(gè)stereotype（模式化見解），比方說中國人在經(jīng)濟(jì)上很有造詣（嗯？真的么？？），這就是stereotype?？傊?，英國人很喜歡拿美國人開玩笑，也許他們是覺得美國人表露自己感情表露得太多了，或者覺得美國人講話講得太多。從模式化上來說，美國人更親切、更喜歡微笑，也更加開放?？赡苡擞X得美國人太和藹可親了。根據(jù)Alison老師自己的經(jīng)歷，她認(rèn)為英國人更加保守，更多地隱藏自己的真實(shí)感情和想法，也更難成為朋友。不過Alison老師說了，這說不定是因?yàn)樽约菏敲绹说木壒屎呛莮

Q: 我對單個(gè)單詞的發(fā)音沒什么疑問，但是卻不知道該怎么念句子或者段落等等，Alison老師能給我點(diǎn)建議嗎？

A: It's tricky, you're right--because pronouncing words is very different from pronouncing sentences. Do you have access to audio books? Reading a book while listening to the audio file is a very good way to learn how to phrase sentences. It's the kind of thing that you cannot learn from a textbook. A textbook cannot tell you how to make your sentences sound natural. You have to hear it and then MIMIC it--copy or imitate it. English movies are good for that too--pick one out, turn the English subtitles on and repeat the lines exactly like the actors say them. :) If you find something that works well, share it with everyone!

沒錯，念單詞和念句子有著很大區(qū)別。Alison老師建議大家選擇一些有聲讀物，一邊看書一邊聽音頻是學(xué)習(xí)如何念句子的好方法，你必須先聽再模仿哦。另外原版電影也是有效的途徑，挑選一部電影打開字幕，跟著影片中演員的發(fā)音念臺詞吧~

Q: 在電影《愛麗絲夢游仙境》中，我聽到愛麗絲說"you think I go round the bend"，為什么這句話是說“你認(rèn)為我瘋了”？短語里的bend是什么意思？

A: Round the bend - said of someone who is a little mad

The bend here is the curve always placed in the entrance drive of Victorian mental hospitals to differentiate them from the stately homes of the gentry, which usually had straight drives.

"Round the bend"這個(gè)詞組就是指某人有點(diǎn)瘋癲。維多利亞時(shí)期，精神病院入口處的車道都有一段曲線型路線，這是為了跟紳士們的豪宅進(jìn)行區(qū)分，紳士們的車道通常是筆直的。詞組中的bend正是指這段曲線型路線，這個(gè)短語也因此有了“發(fā)瘋”的含義。

Q: Alison老師，我在做聽力的時(shí)候沒有時(shí)間寫下單詞的完整形式，所以我想知道你有沒有一些縮寫的方法？

A: Hey, good question! The answer is that everyone makes up their own shorthand, because you are the only one who has to understand it!

Here are some common ones though:
government = gov't
international = int'nat'l
corporation = corp
because = b/c
with = w/
average = avg

Alison老師說每個(gè)人都有自己的縮寫方式，因?yàn)橹挥心阕约耗苊靼椎降资鞘裁匆馑悸?，也就是說沒有一套統(tǒng)一的規(guī)定滴~不過Alison老師也提供了幾個(gè)相對比較通用的縮寫形式，大家可以記一記喲！

Q: 我想知道如何選用單詞？英語中有很多單詞所表達(dá)的意思都差不多，到底要用哪個(gè)呢？比如一些大詞和小詞什么的。

A: Hey--it's a great question; thanks for asking. There are a lot of words to choose from when you are expressing how you feel or trying to tell a story in a creative way. In English, everyone sort of has their own vocabulary--by that, I mean that everyone has words that they use a lot. For example, when I leave comments for students on Bulo, I tend to use the words "awesome" and "excellent" a lot. They mean the same thing as "great" or "stellar", but I feel like they best express me and my personality. So I use them. Building an English vocabulary for everyday conversation is all about expressing yourself. So my best advice is to read books and watch movies about characters that are similar to you--or the person you want to be. Listen to the words they use. What are their vocabularies like? What do they say a lot? Start making lists of words that you think express your personality well. Long words tend to express intellect, while short words are easy to understand and sometimes friendlier.

在表達(dá)情感和敘述故事時(shí)總有一堆單詞可以用，但是事實(shí)上每個(gè)人都有自己的詞庫，也就是說，每個(gè)人都有自己用得特別多的單詞。比如說Alison老師在給滬友們留言時(shí)很喜歡用awesome和excellent，它們和great、stellar的意思是相同的，但是Alison就覺得這兩個(gè)詞能最好地表達(dá)她的感情和個(gè)性。為日常會話建立詞庫就是為了展現(xiàn)自己，所以Alison老師建議大家在書籍和電影里找些和自己個(gè)性接近的人物，或者你想要成為的人物，注意他們都說些什么，將你認(rèn)為表達(dá)了你個(gè)性的單詞記錄下來。長單詞體現(xiàn)的是才華，而短小的單詞則更容易被人理解，有時(shí)顯得更親切。