Thought groups 意群
Many non-native english-speakers fail to use thought groups when they speak English
很多非英語母語的人，當他們說英語時，無法意群
For many people this causes their speech to sound too fast for American listeners to understand
對於許多人而言，這導致他們的說話聽起來太快，美國人的聽者無法理解
And Americans cannot hear key stress words which convey the meaning
美國人聽不到傳達意義的關鍵重音字
For example nobody would read a sentence in the following way
例如，沒有人會以下列方式唸句子
I prefer to wait until the last minute to turn my paper in so that I can have the maximum amount of time to make corrections to the content and to find any grammatical errors
我寧願等到最後一分鐘才交我的論文，如此我可以有最多的時間來修改內容並找出任何語法上的錯誤
When Americans speak, they divide longer sentences into phrases called
thought groups
當美國人說話時，他們會將較長的句子分成片語，即所謂的意群
Within each thought group the content words are emphasized giving special stress to the focus word
在每個意群中，內容字被強調，給焦點字特別的重讀
After the focus word there is a brief pause before the next thought group begins
焦點字之後，下一個意群開始之前會暫停一下
For example, the above sentence should be read as
例如，上面的句子應該被唸成
I prefer to wait until the last minute to turn my paper in so that I can have the maximum amount of time to make corrections to the content and to find any grammatical errors
我寧願等到最後一分鐘才交的論文打開，如此我可以有最多的時間來修改內容並找到任何語法上的錯誤
There are no solid rules for dividing longer sentences into thought groups
將較長的句子分成意群是沒有固定的規則
It really depends on the idea that you are trying to convey and your breathing patterns
這實際上取決於你想要傳達的想法和你的呼吸模式
In this lesson, we have collected some useful guidelines
在本課中，我們收集了一些有用的指南
Number one, the punctuation tells us where to pause ie commas, periods, semicolons, colons, parentheses
第一個，標點符號告訴我們在哪裡暫停，即逗號，句號，分號，冒號，括號
In the example below a slash equals a pause, a double slash means you should pause longer than a single slash
在下面的例子中，單斜線等於暫停，雙斜線表示你應該比單斜線暫停更長時間
When I was a boy I liked fishing now I am a young man I like travelling
小時候我喜歡釣魚，現在我喜歡旅行
Number two, grammar units also helped us to form thought groups
第二個，語法單位也幫助我們去形成意群
Noun phrases, article plus adjective plus noun, a beautiful woman and her little dog entered the meeting room
名詞片語，冠詞加形容詞加名詞，一個美麗的女人和她的小狗進入會議室
Verb phrase, verb plus adverb, ran quickly, verb + object, drink the beer, auxiliary verbs + main verb, have been cooked prepositional phrase, with my family
動詞片語，動詞加副詞，快跑，動詞+受詞，喝啤酒，助動詞+主動詞，已煮熟，介詞片語，與我家人
In the following paragraph you will see how the thought groups are formed when speaking cultural differences
在下一段中，你將看到意群是如何組成的，在談到文化差異時
In your country is it considered polite to listen quietly to other people without any change of expression on the face
在你的國家，沒有任何表情的變化，靜靜地聆聽其他人，會被認為是禮貌的嗎？
If this is the style you have learned perhaps you should watch two North Americans talking
如果這是你學到的風格，也許你應該看兩個北美人說話
Notice how the person who is listening will have frequent changes of expression
注意，在化頁聽的人將如何會當改變表達方式
The listener may also make short remarks while the other person is talking
在另一個人說話時，聽者也可以發些短評
These may be one word like really or they may just be a sound like ah huh or mmm
這些可能是一個詞如really，或者它們可能只是一個聲音如ah. Huh或mmm
This is how North American listeners show that they are listening in a friendly way
這就是北美聽者如何表現出他們正在友好地傾聽
That is why North American listeners get uneasy when a listener is completely silent and shows no change of expression
這就是為什麼當聽者完全安靜，且沒有任何表情變化北美聽者感到不安的原因
In the American style of conversation, an unmoving face means that the listener is unfriendly or perhaps even angry
在美式的談話中，一個不動的面孔意味著聽者不友好或甚至可能是生氣
In this exercise, you will listen to a short speech of President Barack Obama
在這個練習中，你將聽取美國總統巴拉克奧巴馬的簡短講話
Try to identify the short pauses between thought groups within a sentence and the longer pauses between sentences that made during his talk
試著去找出句子中意群之間的短暫停頓，以及在他的談話中，句子之間較長的暫停
Tonight, I’d like to update the American people on the international effort that we have led in Libya what we’ve done – what we plan to do, and why this matters to us
今晚，我想向美國人民介紹有關國際上的努力，即我們在利比亞領導了我們已做的事情，我們計畫做的事情，以及為什麼這對我們很重要
I want to begin by paying tribute to our men and women in uniform who ,once again, have acted with courage, professionalism and patriotism
首先，我要向穿著制服的男女們致敬，他們再次表現出勇敢的專業精神和愛國主義
They have moved with incredible speed and strength
他們以驚人的速度和力量前進
Because of them and our dedicated diplomats, a coalition has been forged and countless lives have been saved
因為他們和我們的專職外交官，一個聯盟已經被製造出來，無數人的生命得到了拯救
Meanwhile, as we speak, our troops are supporting our ally Japan, leaving Iraq to its people, stopping the Taliban’s momentum in Afghanistan, and going after al-qaeda all across the globe
與此同時，在我們發言時，我們的部隊正在支持我們的盟友日本，將伊拉克留給人民，阻止塔利班在阿富汗的勢頭，並在全球範圍內追捕基地組織
As commander-in-chief I’m grateful to our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and to their families, and I know all Americans share in that sentiment
作為總司令，我很感謝我們的士兵，水手，飛行員，海軍陸戰隊，海岸警衛隊員，及他們的家人，我知道所有美國人都有這種情緒。
For generations, the United States of America has played a unique role as an anchor of global security and as an advocate for human freedom.
幾代人以來，美國做為全球安全的支柱扮演了一個獨特的角色，作為人類自由的倡導者，
Mindful of the risks and costs of military action we are naturally reluctant to use force to solve the world’s many challenges
牢記軍事行動的風險和代價，我們自然不願意用武力解決世界的許多挑戰
But when our interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act
但是當我們的利益和價值觀受到威脅時，我們有責任採取行動
That’s what’s happened in Libya over the course of these last six weeks
這是過去六周在利比亞發生的事情
Libya sits directly between Tunisia and Egypt – two nations that inspire the world when their people rose up to take control of their own destiny
利比亞直接坐落在突尼西亞和埃及兩個國家之間，當他們的人民起來掌制自己的命運時，這兩個國家激勵了世界
For more than four decades, the Libyan people have been ruled by a tyrant – Muammar Gaddafi
四十多年來，利比亞人民一直受到暴君穆阿邁爾·卡扎菲的統治
He has denied his people freedom, exploited their wealth, murdered opponents at home and abroad, and terrorized innocent people around the world – including Americans who were killed by Libyan agents
他一直否定他的人民自由，被剝削他們的財富，謀殺國內外的反對者，和恐嚇世界上無辜人，包括被利比亞特工殺害的美國人
Last month, Gaddafi’s grip of fear appeared to give way to the promise of freedom
上個月，卡扎菲對恐懼的控制似乎被自由的承諾所取代
In cities and towns across the country, Libyans took to the streets to claim their basic human rights
在全國各地的城鎮，利比亞人走上街頭要求他們的基本人權
As one Libyan said “For the first time we finally have hope that our nightmare of 40 years will soon be over”
正如一位利比亞人說的那樣，我們第一次終於希望我們40年的噩夢很快就會結束