扩展英语词汇Unit 1-1

Unit 1 Roots About “Hearing”, “Seeing”“Saying” and “Doing”

Lecture 1

Roots About “Hearing” and “Seeing”

1. W arming-up 课程准备

This unit begins with famous sayings of two great thinkers in China: Xunzi and Confucius. The two lectures in this unit will dwell on the roots respectively related to the meanings of hear, see,say/speak and do/act. Lecture 1 starts with a famous saying by Xunzi: Hearing is better than not hearing (荀子曰不闻不若闻之) and shows us the importance of being open-minded and getting ready to hear what others have to say.

The first lecture focuses on the roots “audi/audit”which means “hear”and the root “vid/vis” which means “see”.

2. W ords to W atch 词汇锦囊

Root “audi/audit” and the words: audio, audience, audition, auditorium, audible

声音的；音频的

e.g. My computer has an audio output. And I need an audio cable to send the audio

files to you.

2) audience

听众; 倾听

e.g. I hope one day that she will be able to perform before a great audience.

3) audition

试听,试音

e.g. My niece was admitted to the Juilliard School of Music in America. But before

that she was asked to attend an audition

4) auditorium

礼堂,讲堂

e.g. I hope one day that she will be able to perform before a great audience perhaps

even in the Auditorium Parco Della Musica.

5) audible

听得见的

e.g. The audio-visual equipment there is magnificent that even in the farthest seat the

music is still audible.

derivative: inaudible

Root “vis/vid” and the words: visual, visible, visibility, visualize

6) visual

视觉的

e.g. audio-visual equipment视听设备

7) visible

看得见的,可见的

e.g. The planet Mars will be visible to the naked eye throughout next week.

8) visibility

可看性能见度

e.g. The visibility downtown today is really poor.

看不见的

e.g. It is evident that we do have to do something to improve the hazy weather, Otherwise the sea might become something invisible.

10) visualize

想象, 设想

e.g. I can not visualize a life without beautiful scenery around me.

3. Cultural Notes 文化采撷

1) Xunzi

Xun Kuang, also widely known as Xunzi, was a Chinese Confucian philosopher who lived during the Warring States period and contributed to the Hundred Schools of Thought. A book known as the Xunzi is traditionally attributed to him. Xunzi’s doctrines were influential in forming the official state doctrines of the Han dynasty, but his influence waned during the Tang dynasty relative to that of Mencius. He discusses figures ranging from Confucius, Mencius, and Zhuangzhi, to Linguists Mozi, Hui Shi and Gongsun Long and “Legalists”Shen Buhai and Shen Dao. Xunzi mentions Laozi as a figure for the first time in early Chinese history, and makes use of Taoist terminology, though rejecting their doctrine.

Xunzi believed that people are born with a conflicting mixture of desires that if allowed unfettered, would lead to disaster. It is only through the imposition of li and fa that these desires can be well channeled. Therefore, he valued moralization and education so much that the very first chapter of Xunzi was named “Encouraging Learning”. (https:///wiki/Xun_Kuang#Views)

2) The Juilliard School

The Juilliard School located in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New Y ork City, is a performing arts conservatory established in 1905. It is informally referred to as Juilliard. The school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading music schools, with some of the most prestigious arts programs. In 2016, QS Quacquarelli Symonds ranked it as the world’s