1 Learning English in a New Environment
I was a little shy about talking to people when I first
arrived in America ， but I had a strong desire to broaden my
horizons and meet new people ． Once I gathered the courage to
start conversations with people ， I found how easy it was to
make new friends ．
Every day ， I heard enough new English expressions to make my
head spin ． I found that when I was honest and asked about the
meanings of unfamiliar expressions ， Americans were very
helpful and took pains to explain them to me ．
Native speakers of English tend to speak very fast ， and at
first I was just stunned and looked at them with a dazed
expression on my face ． I solved that problem by asking people
to speak more slowly ．

broaden ? 开阔，拓宽
horizon ? 眼界，视野
courage? 勇气
spin? 晕头转向
take pains to explain 煞费苦心地解释
tend to speak 倾向于说
stunned ? 惊愕地
dazed 茫然地

在新的环境中学习英语

第一次到美国，与人说话时我总有些害羞，但是我非常渴望能够开阔视野，结识新朋友。当我鼓起勇气开始与人交谈，我发现原来结交新朋友是多么容易的事啊。
每天耳边出现的繁多的新英语表达法把我弄得晕头转向。我发现当我诚实地向美国人询问那些不熟悉的说法的意思时，他们非常乐于助人，并煞费苦心地向我解释。
以英语为母语的人说话一般很快，一开始我只能惊愕地一脸茫然地看着他们。我让他们说得慢一些，这样我就解决了这个问题。