华南师范大学研究生国际学术交流英语课程期末口语考试参考对话

1.What are the features of academic writing?In what way is academic writing different from ordinary English?

情境：我们是两个学生，在图书馆遇见，寒暄过后聊到一篇论文，开始讨论论文写作方面的经验，当中穿插一下论文写作的特征和与日常英语的区别。

S—Morning!

T—Hi,where are you going?

S—To the library,borrow some books about academic writing,I am working on a paper about my study,but I don’t know how to write a good academic essay exactly.

T—Well,keep faith,I believe you can write an excellent paper.Besides the books,I advise you to read some real academic articles,it can help you understand the formal structure of an essay.

S—That’s true.It’s quite different from the other forms of writing such as literature and fiction, it’s more formal and it has its own format,especially no fiction in it,that’s why all the essays should be based on facts,reasoning and evidences.

T—You’re right!Academic writing is not creative writing,more like a debate,you must use straightforward language to make a clear and direct argument,each of them should be related to the conclusion.

S—Okay,That’s impressive.What else should I pay attention to,I know you have already finished your graduation thesis,do you have some writing skills or tips for me?

T—Well,there are some points need attention when you are writing papers.Essays and reports should be written in the third person singular,do not use contractions in your article;this is the difference with daily writing.

S—Ok,thank you very much.I’ll keep it in my mind.It’s really glad to talk with you,see you. T—Bye!Keep in touch!

2.What is the challenge of writing a good abstract?

情境：讨论摘要写作的各自观点。

T—Long time no see,Are you all right?You look very tired.

S—Yeah,I am fine.Just stayed up late on my paper last night,all I left is the abstract,but it seems harder than I thought it would be.

T—Take it easy.You know the primary purpose of an abstract is to guide readers,a good way to write an abstract is to answer the question:what is the problem,why is it important and what is the main result?That’s all;there is no need to be worried about.

S—you’re right!Professor Z has told us that a good abstract must state the argument clearly in a

few sentences and make others who don’t know the subject will still be able to understand the main idea.Do you know how to shorten an abstract to satisfy such word limit?

T—well,the key is to avoid copying sentences directly from the article.You should read the paper carefully,underline the important places,list the main points and summarize information in a new way;the most important thing is to provide logical connections between them.

S—Okay,That’s impressive.What else should I pay attention to,I know your article was published;do you have some writing skills or tips for me?

T—Well,there are some points need attention when you are writing abstract.You should write it in the third person singular.Also,do not use contractions and make sure all the important matters are included.That’s enough;I believe you can make it.

S—Ok,thank you very much.I’ll keep it in my mind.It’s really glad to talk with you,see you. T—Bye!Keep in touch!

3.What are some challenges when giving a presentation of your research?

S—Hello,are u all right?You look tired.

T—Yeah,I am fine.Just worry about the conference tomorrow,I was invited to give a speech at that time.You know this is my first time to give a presentation on an international conference,I am a little nervous.

S—Really?That’s great.But you need to be relaxed before that,take it as a great opportunity to communicate with others in your research field.I believe you can make it.

T—That is so nice of you,thank you.I know you have attended many important international conferences,do you have any specific advice for me?

S—Well,speaking of the mood,it’s natural for speaker to feel nervous.However,you should learn how to control your feeling.Try to get relaxed by breathing deeply.Remember that nobody is born to be a good speaker.

T—Yeah,you’re right!Maybe I should begin my speech with an anecdote or a joke,that will ease the tension and make me more relaxed.

S—Yes,I think that would be all right.Oh,one more thing to note is the rate of your speech,cut it in half of your normal rate,slow down,make every word clearly and distinctly.In fact,no one will ask you to repeat yourself.This is a basic manner of oral presentation.

T—OK,I’ll keep these in my mind.Speaking of manner,it reminds me that I need to prepare a dark suit and get prepared to my notes in case to keep my eyes on the notes.Anyway,thank you very much.

S—You’re welcome.Good luck!

4.If you are invited to speak at a conference but can not attend how would you turn down the

invitation?

S—Tony,yesterday I got an invitation from the International Conference on Economic and Management,you know I sent a paper to the committee,now they asked me whether I could present a talk at the conference in August10.

T—Wow!Congratulations!I believe you can make it.Besides it’s a great opportunity to meet many famous researchers in your field,that’s awesome!But you seem not that happy,is there anything wrong?

S—Well,I am looking forward to their reply.But the date is not right.I must attend my graduation ceremony on the same day,I don’t think I can make it.

T—I am so sorry to hear that.You just got bad luck,I believe you can get another chance.But before you feel regret,I must warm you that you’d better write a refusal letter as soon as possible.

S—You are absolutely right!I should inform them the situation here,that will allow them to find another solution.Do you know what I should write in a refusal letter,except the apology.

T—In my opinion,the first thing you need to do is expressing thanks for being invited,then telling them the true reasons for declining the invitation,I think closing the letter with good wishes is the suitable way.

S—Ok,I’ll do that right now.It’s so nice of you,I am glad to talk with you,thank you very much.

5.How can you judge whether the text you find on line is reliable?

T:Hi Sophie,what are you doing?

S:I am surfing the Internet,searching for some information about environmental pollution to make my PPT.

T:Talking about searching information online,how can you judge whether the text you find online is reliable?Nowadays people often search information through baidu,but it is only a searching engine,how can we trust the text we found is reliable?

S:Yeah,baidu is just a searching engine,and it only helps you find the websites related to your keyword,you have to find out the useful and reliable information by yourself.

T:And most of the time,the outcome is just the experience of other people,and different people hold different ideas,so you don’t know which one you should trust on.

S:You are totally right,if you need to find information with authority,you need to search in specific website.If you are searching thesis or dissertation,you can check in cnki.

T:Okay,I know.All we need to know is that there’s no shortcut to success,you need to analysis the information you got and then use them.

S:That’s the right attitude towards learning,you can not just copy information from the network to your PPT.You need to select the useful information.

T:Nice talking to you.I know you are going to make a wonderful https://www.360docs.net/doc/c17291317.html,e on!

S:thank you,see you.

6.What is culture shock?What causes culture shock?How to overcome it?

S—Tony,I have a good news to tell you,today I got the offer from my dream college,the University of Chicago.I am so excited to study in a new place.

T—Wow!Congratulations!I am happy for you that your dream comes true.You always study hard,I know it was been hard,but you never gave up.You deserved it!

S—Thank you!In fact,I would never succeed without your help.After hearing the news,actually I was a little afraid and nervous,you know this is my first time to go abroad,I am kind of worrying about the“culture shock”thing.

T—Take it easy.As I know,it is common to experience culture shock when living in a foreign country,especially in a new culture that totally different from your own country,I think the best way is to welcome it,I believe you can adapt very well.

S—Well,you’re right.Although we have different habits,values and customs,I will try my best to get used to it.Besides it’s a good way to learn new things and make new friends.

T—It’s good for you to think like that.Although the culture shock is inevitable,there are some ways to overcome it quickly.Try to communicate with the local people,learn the way they think, that will make you understand why they are different to us.

S—Yes!Keep an open mind,I’ll remember that.Maybe I could introduce them the knowledge of China,increase their interest in Chinese Culture.That will be helpful to the cross-cultural communication.

T—Yeah,wish you good luck in the future.Waiting for you good news from USA!

7.How can you remain true to your own culture while respecting others?And how can you balance the two?

S—Tony,I have a good news to tell you,today I got the offer from my dream college,the University of Chicago.I am so excited to study in a new place.

T—Wow!Congratulations!I am happy for you that your dream comes true.You always study hard,I know it was been hard,but you never gave up.You deserved it!

S—Thank you!In fact,I would never succeed without you help.After hearing the news,actually I was a little afraid and nervous,you know this is my first time to go abroad,I am kind of worry

about whether I can fit their culture.

T—Take it easy.Different people from different country have different habits,values and customs.

I know it is hard to get used to it in a short time,but it is inevitable,the best way is to welcome it, remain true to your own culture and respect others.

S—Well,you’re right.Keep an open mind,try to communicate with the others,learn the way they think,maybe that will made me understood why they are different to us.Besides it’s a good way to learn new thing and make new friends.

T—It’s good for you to think like that.At least,it’s a good way to introduce them the knowledge of China;increase their interest in Chinese Culture.That will be helpful to the cross-cultural communication.

S—Yep!Thank you.It’s so nice of you,I am glad to talk with you.

Question8：What gifts should we avoid giving to American people?

情境：T和S是好朋友，然后Tony下周要去纽约开会，顺便拜访网友，就问Sohpie一些送礼方面的禁忌！

T：Hi,Sophie,next week I’ll fly to New York to attend an international conference.And when the meeting is close,I’ll have the opportunity to meet my net friend who happens to live in New York.

S:Really??What a small world!Is this your first time to meet a foreign net friend?That will be fantastic.

T:Yes.Now I am thinking about choosing a gift for her,do you have any great idea?And do you know what gifts should we avoid giving to American people?

S:Yeah.I once read an article about taboo gifts;it says you should avoid giving presents with even numbers to American friends because Americans reckon even numbers as unlucky numbers.

T:Okay,then what else should I pay attention to?You know that I am choosing a present for a female.May I buy her perfume or cosmetics or something else?

S:You remind me of another taboo,which is“don’t choose perfume,cosmetics or clothes as presents to the one who you don’t know well”.Because you get to know your foreign net friend through the internet and you are not so intimate with her,it is not appropriate to sent her those kinds of gifts.

T:Thank you.Now I know what should be chosen as a gift,I decide to purchase some local special products for her.With your advice,I won’t make any embarrassing thing.

Question9:What should an applicant pay attention to when writing a job application letter in English?

情境：我们是两个学生，在路上遇到，寒暄过后聊起了暑期实习的事情，由此引入主题写求职申请应该注意的事项。

短语；平行结构；零错误

Z:Hello,Tony,how is everything going？You seem very busy those days.

S:Yeah,I have just finished my course assignment.By the way,do you know there will be a job fair this Saturday?

Z:Of course,I have read the poster on the board outside the canteen.You know that summer vacation is coming,so a lot of companies are employing summer interns.

S:I think it is a great opportunity to steel ourselves,so I want to prepare an English application letter for a few foreign companies.Do you have any suggestion?

Z:Yes,I have some tips for you to write an effective application letter.The first tip is using phrases rather than complete sentences.

S:You are right,complete sentences will take up much more space,and the application letter may seem tediously long.

Z:You got that.And the second tip is using parallel structure.To write a strong application letter, you’d better keep the structure of your headings,and sentences consistent throughout your document.The readers will be favorably impressed by the use of parallel structures.

S:Yes,your tips are worth listening.And I know another important aspect when writing an applicant letter,which is trying to be error-free.I should make sure there are no errors in spelling, grammar,and punctuation before sending out my application letter.

Z:Now that you have mastered the most important things about writing an application letter,I believe you can successfully find a satisfactory company.Best wishes for you.

S:Thank you for your tips;I will try my best to grasp this opportunity.

Question10:Discuss with your partner about the importance and functions of cross-cultural communication,especially in the international academic communication.

情境：开学初，S和T碰面寒暄过后讨论起了这学期的英语课，并展开了对跨文化交流和国际学术会议的讨论

S:Hi,Tony,nice to meet you.

T:Hi,Sophie,do you know what we are going to learn this semester’s English

S:Yes,we are going to learn about international academic communication conference.

T:Really??This course can be very practical to our future work.

S:I am quite interested in cross-cultural communication,the way of communicating in one country is not the same with the other countries and it is important to know some values of other culture.

T:That’s interesting.We all know that communication is an important mean of expressing ourselves,so cross-cultural communication must play an important role in establishing a good relationship between two countries.

S:Yes,you’ve learned a lot about cross-culture communication!What other functions of cross-cultural communication do you know?Please share your ideas with me.

T:Cross-culture communication,especially the international academic communication becomes increasingly important these years.To discuss the important issues in the field,to introduce the development of the research work are two functions of international academic communication.

S：Right,international academic communication can also promote the understanding of related disciplines,explore future cooperation possibilities between two counties and provide opportunities for international communication.

T:Now that international academic communication is so important,we should take notes attentively on English class.

Question11:Suppose you are going to act as the speaker in a simulated plenary session,you are not sure how to react to embarrassing questions and how to respond to questions to which you do not know the answers,ask your partner’s opinions since she/he has some experience in this respect.

情境：S将要扮演模拟小组会议的演讲人，但是不知道要如何回答尴尬问题和不知道的问题，为此S向有经验的T请教。

T:Hi Sophie,where are you going?

S:I am going to the library to prepare for the assignment on next Wednesday’s English class.You know that I am going to act as the speaker in a simulated plenary session.

T:I have the experience of being as the speaker in an academic communication meeting hold by the graduate student union,maybe I can offer you some suggestions.

S:That’s really kind of you.I am just wondering who I can turn to for help and suggestion,and then,you just come to my aid.

T:ha-ha,what questions do you have,I can give you some tips!

S:I have prepared my presentation,but I am quite nervous about the question and answer part. What should I pay attention to in this part?

T:well,before answering a specific question directly,you’d better repeat or paraphrase the question,which can benefit both the audience and yourself.It usually occurs that some of the audience might have missed the question.

S:On the other hand,repeating or rephrasing,or clarifying the question gives me a little extra time to check if I have understood the question and to think of an answer.This will make my answer more complete and to the point.Well,what if sometimes the question raised is improper,which might be embarrassing.

T:To these questions you should know how to avoid giving a direct answer.However,you should not keep silent or say something rude to the questioner.

S:Okay,I will keep it in mind.I have another question how to respond to questions which I don’t know the answers

T:If you do not know the answer to a particular question,simply admit that you do not know.Say something like this,“I’m sorry.I don’t happen to know the answer to that question,but I’ll be happy to check into it for you.”

S:Thank you for your suggestions Tony.

T:You are welcome.

Question12:You and your partner are invited to have dinner at your foreign teacher’s home,you two discuss the relevant table manners so as to be polite and be respectful to your teacher and his family.

情境：下周S和T将要去外教家吃饭，S和T正在讨论饭桌上的礼仪。

S：Hi,Tony.A good news.Our English teacher Gorge invited us to celebrate Christmas at his home.The people who present are all from different countries and different cultures,I bet that will be a lot of fun at that night.

T:Wow!That sounds incredible!This is my first time to attend a foreign family dinner.It’s so nice of him to invite us,should we bring some presents for him and his family?Do you have any good idea?

S：Well,in my opinion,there is no need to buy something great or expensive as presents,they prefer the small and useful gifts.Bring some local special products will be suitable.How about the

red tea?

T:You’re right!Tea is a typically Chinese gift,it can show our respect to him.Speaking of the customs,I think we should learn some table manners in case we make any embarrassing thing in this formal dinner.

S：Yeah,there are some rules.The basic is forks on the left and knives on the right,do not make too much noise on the table and no touch of glasses when toasting.In addition,it is polite to finish eating everything on your plate,so don’t take more food than you need.

T:You remind me of another tip,which is never to drink too much.For drinking custom,China is to finish the drink at once,but Westerners usually take only a sip.I think these are enough. Remember that if you're not sure what to do,you can always follow your hosts.

S:Yeah,we could take this dinner just as a chance to learn something about foreign lifestyle.I think Gorge is very willing to teach us.

T:Absolutely!I am looking forward to this experience.

Question13:What do you think are the appropriate and inappropriate topics when you talk with a foreigner?Why?

T：Hi Sophie have you ever talked with a foreigner?

S:Yes,I had several https://www.360docs.net/doc/c17291317.html,st time it was during the World Expo in Shanghai.A foreign friend asked me how to go to the Chinese pavilion.I showed her the way and we talked a lot on the way to the Chinese pavilion.

T:What did you talk about?I always don’t know what to say when I met a foreigner,I felt nervous.

S:Why are you nervous,you should think in this way,you meet a foreigner,and you first say hello to him or her,then you can ask him or her“Can you speak Chinese?”.If the answer is no, you can say“it doesn’t matter because I can speak English!”this will make you feel more confident,because he can’t even speak a little Chinese.

T:That’s really a useful way to be confident when facing a foreigner,thank you for your encouragement,and I want to know what we can talk about with a foreigner?We all know it is fine to talk about the weather with the foreigner,but I don’t think it can always be a good topic. What if I am sitting beside a foreigner on the subway,what can I say?

S:Yeah,“the weather”doesn’t always work.But you can talk about something else,just like,the food,the sport,the internet,and you can also ask some questions about the life in his own country.

T:Well,I have got so many topics,are there any topics which is inappropriate to talk about?

S:Yes,there are some topic you’d better avoid such as something about the foreigner’s privacy, the weight,the age,the income and so on.

T:Thanks a lot,maybe next time when I meet a foreigner,I will be able to communicate with him.情境：

Question14:Suppose you want to write a personal statement,but you have no idea how to do it exactly.Discuss with your partner about the contents,format,organization and tips of writing a proper personal statement.

T:Sophie,I want to write a personal statement,but I have no idea how to do it exactly,could you offer me some tips??

S:Of course,the first thing you need to do is to prepare your materials.

T:You mean copies of documents such as my CV,application letter,and application form?

S:Yes,and make a list of important information,in particular names of the program,research work you have worked on,dates of relevant experiences,the duties involved.

T:Okay,after preparing these materials,what should I do next?

S:Then you need to personalize your personal statement.Tell the admission officer what makes you unique or distinctive,and reflects your commitment and character most vividly.

T:Well,how long should my personal statement be?

S:You’d better limit your personal statement to less than800words.Remember,readers will be assessing the content of your personal statement as well as your ability to communicate effectively and concisely.

T:You are right;a short statement provides too little information while a longer statement is redundant and wordy.What else should I pay attention to?

S:The last tip for you.Revise your personal statement.After you have drafted your statement, turn to one or more professors for detailed suggestions and incorporate them into subsequent drafts.

T:Thanks a lot for your helpful suggestions!

Question15:What are some of the differences between writing a letter in English and writing a letter in Chinese?

情境：S正在给高中时期的外教写一封信，T在图书馆中遇到S，两人讨论起中文信和英文

信的不同之处。

T:Hi,Sophie,what are you doing?

S:Oh,hi,Tony,I am writing a letter to my high school foreign teacher,she now lives in Australia.

T:Are you still keeping in touch with your high school foreign teacher?

S:Yes,I wrote her email regularly,but now I am writing a letter to her because her birthday is coming.

T:Do you know how to write an English letter?It must be very different from Chinese letter!

S:There are many differences between English letters and Chinese letters.To start from the envelope,the address on English envelope begins with house number,followed by the street,town, province,and country.

T:It is just opposite from Chinese address.Is there any difference between the formats of date line?

S:In English letters,the date line is written in the letter head or the next two lines below the author’s address.

T:Is there any difference in the body of the letter？

S:Of course,in English letters every line of the letter begins at the left margin,with a space of one line between paragraphs.

T:Yeah,in Chinese letters,every line of the letter begins with two spaces,and there is no space between paragraphs.

S:You are totally right,and for the complimentary close part,in English letters,it can be put either on the left-hand side or right-hand side of the page,with the first letter capitalized,and followed by a comma.As with the salutation,your complimentary close should reflect your relationship with the recipient.

T:Okay,now I know how to write an English letter.