原文内容：

　　Learning English in a New Environment

　　I was a little shyabout talking to people when I first arrived in America, but I had a strongdesire to broaden my horizons and meet new people , Once I gathered the courageto start conversations with people ,I found how easy it was to make newfriends.

　　Every day ,  I heard enough new English expressions to makemy head spin .I found that when I was honest and asked about the meanings ofunfamiliar1 expressions. Americans were very helpful and took pains to explainthem to me.

　　Native speakers ofEnglish tend to speak very fast , and at first I was just stunned2 and lookedat them with a dazed expression on my face .I solved that problem by askingpeople to speak more slowly.

　　单词：

　　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

　　中文翻译：

　　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