主持人小語：

英語有50萬日用詞匯，另有50萬專業(yè)技術(shù)詞匯，而一個受過本科教育的英語母語使用者其詞匯量才為1萬左右。因此，在閱讀英文材料的過程中時常遇到生詞毫不奇怪。除了利用上下文語境和詞根、詞綴知識猜測詞義以外，學(xué)會查閱英語詞典也是英語學(xué)習(xí)的基本功之一。By the way,the dictionary is the best teacher that is always available.

The Theme Diary本期主題是Storytelling，是根據(jù)教材相關(guān)話題展開的，希望大家借助dictionary等認(rèn)真閱讀，并將答案郵寄至：430079華中師范大學(xué)《中學(xué)生英語》編輯部 小強(qiáng)博士 收，精美的獎品等著你哦！

從本期開始，Live and study abroad開始了，想知道在英語How to make friends嗎，請關(guān)注后面的文章。

Ingredients(材料)

Think of a story you like.What makes it good?Why do you like it?Can you identify（識別）the maincharacters(主要人物),the setting(背景),the plot(故事情節(jié))andtheme(主題)?These are very important ingredients in creating (創(chuàng)作)a story.Part of the plot isan issue(問題)orconflict(矛盾)that needs to beresolved(解決)by the character.As strange as it may seem,it is widely believed that there are onlya handful of(少量的)different conflicts writers use,no matter where or when the stories were written—like making lots of different recipes out of similar ingredients.

Stars

There are many differentmediums（媒）through which to tell stories.Films are probablyamongstthe most popular ways to do this.Directors（導(dǎo)演）have aninfluence（影響）on the story by advising actors how todeliver（表達(dá)）their lines andselecting（選擇）images on which to focus the camera.Comic books and graphic novels have also been hugely popular ways to tell a story since the early 20th century.Even music can tell a story—lots of musicians use stories from their lives or things they have heard about to write the lyrics to their songs.

Ancient（古老）Tales（故事）

In the days before writing and printing,the history andtradition（傳統(tǒng)）of a society were passed on by the telling of stories.Storytellers had a very important place in the community with stories being used toentertain(娛樂),pass on knowledge and maintainmoral values(道德價值).As they were memorized and not written down,the stories could change each time they were told.Cave drawings were also used torecord(記錄)events or help tell stories.Although today we tend to read,watch TV,or go to the cinema to enjoy stories,we still use lots of humaninteraction(人群的互動)to entertain and learn.

Become a Storyteller

Being able to tell stories well is a great skill.Practise using these steps and see how much you can entertain anaudience(觀眾).

1.Learn a family story—talk to family relatives,look at photos and ask questions—there is usually a family member who is a great storyteller.

2.Visualise the story—think about what you can see,hear or smell to help the audience with their own mental picture.

3.Words—either memorise phrases or improvise as you go.

4.Non Verbal—usegestures(手勢),facial expressions(面部表情)andbody language(肢體語言)tohighlight(強(qiáng)調(diào))characters or to createatmosphere(氣氛).

Could you make one of your own experiences into a story and tell it in English?