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1、Importance?of?context作者：Marion?Wyse????文章來源：21stCenturyOnline,September13,2001????點擊數(shù)：269????更新時間：9/8/2005WHENconversationgetsconfusing,NorthAmericanssay,"Iknowyouthinkyouunderstandwhatyouthoughtyouheardmesay,butI'mnotsureifwhatyouheardwaswhatIreallymeant."Wecanlearnhowtofindoutwhatisgoing
2、onaroundusinoureverydaylives.Butputintoanewenvironment,wedon'tknowwhatcluestolookfor.Thiscanbedisastrousorfunny—butitisalwaysembarrassing.Nobodywantstofeel"leftout"or"clueless."AsIadapttoChina,Ilearnwhyteachingcultureisharderthanteachinglanguage.Languagehasrules.Contextdoesn't.Everywordnee
3、dsacontexttogiveitmeaning.Ifyoudon'tknowthecontext,thewordisnonsense.Youhaveno"clue"whatitmeans.The"clue"isthethreadthatleadsyousafelythroughdanger.IntheGreekmyth,aprincessgavethehero,Theseus,aballofthread.Hetiedittoapillarbeforedescendingintothedepths.Ashewentdownheunwoundthe"clue."Attheb
4、ottomhekilledthemonsterthenfollowedthe"clue"backtothelightwheretheprincessawaitedhim.Aword'scontextisits"clue."AbigEnglishdictionarygivesasentenceforeachmeaningawordhas.Athesaurusgivessimilarwordsfordifferent"shades"ofmeaning.However,that'susuallynotenough.Twoofmystudentfriendswerearguingi
5、nmyhomebeforeourFridayeveningmovie."Thecountrysideisnotthecity,soisn'tatownorvillageeither.Howcanyousayyou'refromthecountrywhenI'vevisitedyourvillage?"onestudentaskedtheother."Ifit'snotcityit'scountry,"theotherinsisted.Finallytheyaskedme:"Whatdoes'country'mean?"Myfavouritewaytoanswerstarts
6、:"Well,itdepends..."Toacityperson,it'struethatanythingnotinthecityisrural,"country."Tome,"country"meanswild,natural,uncultivated,sinceIgrewupnearthat.Toa19thcenturywriterlikeHardy,"countryside"meantsmallvillagefarminglife."Country"alsomeansanationgeographically.Sobothwerepartiallyright.Itd
7、ependsonwhatyoumean.Contextdecides.Thebestwaytolearncontextisfrompeopleinthelanguage'sculture.Sure,liketheheroyou'llstilltripinthedark.ButwithforeignersinalmosteveryChineseuniversityandcommercialcommunity,you'llmakefriendswhocangiveyou"clues"aboutcontext.You'l
