TA的每日心情 | 怒 2023-2-23 11:22 |
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签到天数: 117 天 [LV.6]常住居民II
解元
- 积分
- 1960
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"In 1877 the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli (1835-1910) observed
some markings on the planet Mars which he referred to as canali. This was
mistranslated into English as canals, suggesting man-made structures and
the existence of intelligent life on Mars, instead of channels, which occur
naturally. The idea of canals appealed to the imaginations of scientists and
novelists alike. The astronomer Percival Lowell used it as the basis for his '
scientific observations', recorded in such works as Mars and its Canals
(1908). The novelist H.G. Wells was inspired to write his powerful story
about the invasion of the earth by Martians, The War of the Worlds (1898).
In 1938, a simulated newscast of this novel was broadcast, describing the
Martian invasion of New Jersey, whichreduced millions of listeners to a
state of near panic. The idea of Martians was not exploded till 1965 when
the US spacecraft Mariner 4 sent back close-up pictures of Mars, which
proved conclusively that there were nocanals and no little green men!
The story shows how powerfully mother tongue interference can affect our
understanding of a foreign language, with unpredictable consequences. It
also shows how we have to suppress our own language if we want to
acquire a foreign language. " |
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