新概念英语与时俱进——读报的好处
从2005年春季我才开始认真地读《中国日报》，当时吸引我的是其中"China Scene"的一版，上面有很多"amusing and embarrassing stories"，这些故事中的很多是可以在新东方的课堂上使用的，我总想，我们多年来使用的英语教材都是英语人或者美国人编写的，我们学了十几年英语，只知道叫老外Mr. Johnson或者直呼其名Mark，但是我们却不知道怎么说"某姓陈的居民"（a resident surnamed Chen）；我们中的好些人竟然连Congo或者Madagascar这样的地名和拼写，但是当问到Shaanxi到底是山西还是陕西的时候，我们又有多少人是一脸茫然？
我的好些朋友都劝我不要看《中国日报》，说其中错误太多，而且中国味太浓了。我常辩解或搪塞说，我看得是内容，了解些故事罢了。其实我时常自问，《中国日报》哪里不好？仅仅是语法错误吗？诚然，上面的语法错误和拼写错误是常有的，我给学生讲其中很多文章的时候需要先"润色"一下，否则还真怕误人子弟。但是我觉得，语言不就是为了交流而存在的吗？《中国日报》就充分的起到了这个作用。
我也想，如果一个美国人说《中国日报》中国味浓了些是有情可原的，但是中国土鳖都张口说它中国味浓，那这些土鳖的英语得多好啊？有些朋友跟我说，晓光，你可以尝试在《中国日报》上发稿子啊，我常搪塞说，我再锻炼些时间吧，其实我心里的想法很简单，都不用说离地道英语的距离，就是这中国味浓重的英语我都写不出来呢。
我坚持看报已经快两年了，但是我每天仍然保持拿电子词典看报的习惯，我发现，我看报的时候还是有生词，还是有些句子我会拍案叫绝慨叹自己写不出来。更重要的是，我从中得到了相当多的信息。我现在起码知道周围发生了什么，看《中国日报》的"中式英语"似乎比看娱乐八卦新闻更让我激动。
两年来，我从来没有在邮局订阅过《中国日报》，我常游荡于上海街角寻觅她的踪影，那种期待是多么美好啊！后来我知道了有电子版，而且免费，但在那个上海街角，你依然风雨不误的看见一个寻觅《中国日报》的身影，那还是我。站在地铁车厢里，拥挤的人群中，你看见那个埋头读报的人还是我。
在读报的时候，我会下意识的把读的信息和《新概念英语》联系起来，或许这也是职业病吧。我会把那些和新概念有关的文章摘录下来以备后用，要知道，现在很多人喊《新概念》过时了，我则常问，什么教材不过时呢？从书离开作者的那一刻，那书就过时了。
关键的看你愿不愿意去更新。我现在还记得我从2005年中国日报的20000个小故事、小报道中选出的100多篇在新概念教学中能用上的文章，那种喜悦是难以言表的。所以，我的博客中那些转贴中国日报的补充阅读不是为了敷衍了事，要知道，那是我多少的不眠夜啊？
我不罗嗦了，我今天看报纸的时候看到了这条报道，恰好和《新概念英语》（第三课）第07课Mutilated Ladies有关系，就转载在下面，希望有心的读者也能获得和我一样变态的快感。
European currency mysteriously 'crumbling'
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-11-04 07:03
The European currency may be strong, but its bank notes are most certainly not.
Officials in Germany are investigating the mysterious case of the crumbling currency, as euro bills inexplicably fall apart in the hands of their owners.
About 1,500 bank notes have disintegrated since June, the Bundesbank has now confirmed and there is no logical explanation. Manufacturing faults could not be detected and, if there has been a crime, it has yet to be discovered.
The Bundesbank, German's central bank, said the investigation began after a 20 euro bill first crumbled in Berlin, and hundreds of notes were later found to be affected, ranging in value from 5 to 100 euros. The State Office of Criminal Investigation in Rhineland-Palatinate came to the conclusion that the bills must have come in contact with sulphuric acid.
Bild newspaper said that chemists believed the notes only disintegrate when in contact with hand perspiration. They may have been dredged with a sulphate that becomes sulphuric acid when in contact with moisture, and only then destroys the bills. Thus the bank notes are fine unless they are touched and therefore doomed to uselessness.
The Bundesbank is not sure yet if the chemicals have been deliberately applied or spilt accidentally. But, if it was an accident, it remains a mystery why hundreds of euro bills would have been stored next to large amounts of chemicals. And, if it was a crime, what was the intention? An anti-capitalist coup? An attack launched by eurosceptics? No one has yet claimed responsibility.
President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, has become involved, leaping to the defence of the euro bill.
"It does not put into question in any respect the credibility of the notes in circulation," he insisted. The dissolving notes have so far been discovered only in Germany, where the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation has stepped in to investigate.
In the meantime, there is some hope for those who have literally seen their money disappear before their eyes. Disintegrated bills will be replaced at any branch of the Bundesbank but only as long as more than half of each note is left.
The Guardian
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