Conversation One

　　W: I’m Avi Arditti, and today we are going to continue our interview with Arthur Schulman. He’s compiled a book of words and definitions set forth by Noah Webster in his 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language. Tell us a little bit about Noah Webster, who he was and how he came about writing his dictionary。

　　M: Well, he did a lot of things. He was a patriot. He was at Yale University when the American revolution broke out, and then he had to leave school for the revolution. He came back and finished his degree there. After the revolution, he was an early newspaperman, a columnist. And then he was a federalist—until his death, I think, but certainly early on, defending the revolution and a great supporter of it。

　　W: And as I understand it, he believed that the nation—the new nation—really needed a national language。

　　M: That’s right. And so he was a considerable educator. In fact, his first books were called—there were three books, all parts of what he called the Grammatical Institute, and the first one was the Speller, which continued in print until well past 1900s. So that book was in print for more than a hundred years。

　　W: Did he have a problem or an issue, that all these different spellings he wanted to…

　　M: Well, early on he, like Ben Franklin, was interested in reforming spelling and really making radical changes so that the written language could be read and sound like the spoken language. But I think everybody gave that up as an impossible job after a while。

　　W: And what was the product that he produced in 1828?

　　M: In 1828 he produced a dictionary of seventy thousand words that he had been working on for well over twenty years—actually, I think more like twenty-five years. And he did that because he felt very strongly that the country needed a dictionary to reflect the language that existed here, which was no longer exactly the same as the language that existed in the home country。

　　W: And what does this dictionary tell us about the American character—who were we as Americans in 1828?

　　M: Well, it tells us a lot about Webster’s character. He was a great moralist. He tells us how to behave. He tells us what’s right. He tells us that we should educate our children. He tells us that slavery is evil。

　　Questions 19 to 21 are based on the conversation you have just heard。

　　19. What do we know about the personal experience of Noah Webster according to the conversation?

　　20. Why did Webster spend over two decades on his dictionary published in 1828?

　　21. What does his dictionary published in 1828 tell us about Webster?

　　Conversation Two

　　M: A friend of mine is studying in the United States who is with a group of Americans and wants to mingle. What kind of advice would you give to him about how to start and go through his day?

　　W: When I don’t know anybody, I will go up to someone or a group of people and say, “Hi, my name is Jeanne Martinet and I don’t know a single soul at this party。” That is really important to throw yourself in a little bit asking for help from other people. It is usually not a bad idea because it usually gives you a warm response。

　　M: But this takes courage and skill。

　　W: It doesn’t, it takes practice. When it happens a couple of times, you will start to lose your fear. You have to remember that nobody is thinking about you, they’re only thinking about themselves. So it’s sort of helpful to remember this to become less self-conscious。

　　M: Sounds great. You know, mixing with people at parties leaves me at a loss for words. Could you offer me some help? Give us some tips—what works?

　　W: Well, what doesn’t work is that you should never walk up to somebody and ask them right away what they do for a living. It’s not only sort of rude, but it’s sort of like “who are you, are you worth my time”?

　　M: Then how shall I open the conversation?

　　W: There’s an opening technique, which works very well if that person has an unusual pair of earrings or tie on. You can walk up to somebody and say “Hey, I really like that pair of earrings”. I think the mistake that people make is they think that the only way to talk to people is to ask them questions。

　　M: Yes. But do you have any suggestions about ending an unpleasant conversation?

　　W: Sure. You can do one of many escape techniques that can help you save face or even get you away from someone that you discover that you don’t want to talk to。