A2012级第一学期背诵文选1-6文字材料.doc

大学英语2012-2013学年第一学期学习材料Passage 1 College Pressure I see two kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure. It is easy to look around for rebels- to blame the colleges for charging too much money, the parents for pushing their children too far. But there are no rebels, only victims.The pressure is heavy on students who just want to graduate and get a job. If I were an employer I would rather employ graduates who have this range and curiosity than those who narrowly pursued safe subjects and high grades. I know incalculable students whose inquiring minds cheer me. I like to hear the play of their ideas. I dont know if they are getting A or C, and I dont care. I also like them as people. The country needs them, and they will find satisfying jobs. I tell them to relax. They cant.Nor can I blame them. They live in a brutal economy. Today it is not unusual for a student, even if he works part time at college and full time during the summer, to increase to 5, 000 in loans after graduation. Encouraged at commence merit to go forth into the world, he is already behind as he goes forth. How could he not feel under pressure throughout college to prepare for this day of reckoning? Along with economic pressure goes parental pressure. Inevitably, the two are deeply integrated.Poor students! They are caught in one of the oldest webs of love and duty and guilt. The parents mean well: they are trying to steer their sons and daughters toward a secure future. But the sons and daughters want to major in history or classics or philosophy - subjects with no “practical” value. Wheres the payoff on the humanities? Its not easy to persuade such loving parents that the humanities do indeed pay off. The intellectual faculties developed by studying subjects like history and classics are just the faculties that make creative leaders in business or almost any general field.Luckily for me, most of them got into their field by an indirect route, to their surprise, after many roundabout ways. The students are startled. They can hardly conceive of a career that was not preplanned. They can hardly imagine allowing the hand of God or chance to nudge them down some unforeseen trail. （386 words） 大学生的压力 我发觉今天的大学生有两种压力：经济压力和来自父母的压力。环顾四周，你很容易发现一些叛逆者，他们指责学校收费太高，报怨父母对他们的要求过高。但他们不是叛逆者，而是受害者。 对于那些只想从大学毕业并且找到一个工作的人来说，压力是很大的。如果我是雇主，我宁愿雇佣那些有好奇心的博学之才而不是那些只选一些容易过的且能达高分的课程的学生。我认识无数学生，他们的好奇之心使我兴奋不已。我喜欢听他们阐述自己的观点。我不知道他们得的是A还是C，我不在乎这些。我也同样喜欢他们所散发出来的人性魅力。国家需要他们，他们也会找到自己满意的工作。我告诉他们要放松，但他们做不到。 但我也不能责怪他们，因为他们生活在残酷的经济时代。今天对一个学生来说，即使他在念书时兼职打工，在暑假全职工作，在毕业后欠下5000美元的债务也是很平常的。在毕业典礼上他们被告知即将踏入社会，而事实上，在踏入社会之际他已落后于他人了。为了面对这个清算日，他们在大学生活中怎会感受不到压力呢? 与经济压力同时存在的还有来自父母的压力，这两者不可避免地融合在一起。 可怜的学生们!他们被古老的爱、责任、负疚感所包围。父母们本意是好的,他们正把自己的儿女引向一个安全的未来。但这些孩子却想主修历史、古典文学、哲学这些没有“现实”价值的专业。学人文科学的报偿在何处呢?要说服父母相信人文科学有所报偿并不容易。由学习历史和古典文学所培养出来的能力正是商业及其他一般领域有创造力的领导人所必备的能力。 幸运的是，许多学生几经曲折终于到达他们自己的领域，对此他们感到吃惊。因为他们很难想象可以从事一项未经事先计划的事业，很难想象上帝之手或者机缘能把他们推到未曾预见到的人生轨道上来Passage 2 Work and Pleasure To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real. It is no use starting late in life to say: “I will take an interest in this or that.” Such an attempt only aggravates the strain of mental effort. A man may acquire great knowledge of topics unconnected with his daily work, and yet hardly get any benefit or relief. It is no use doing what you like; you have got to like what you do. Broadly speaking, human being may be divided into three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are worried to death, and those who are bored to death. It is no use offering the manual laborer, tired out with a hard weeks sweat and effort, the chance of playing a game of football or baseball on Saturday afternoon. It is no use inviting the politician or the professional or business man, who has been working or worrying about serious things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the weekend. It may also be said that rational, industrious, useful human beings are divided into two classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure; and secondly, those whose work and pleasure are one. Of these the former are the majority. They have their compensations. The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of sustenance, but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms. But Fortunes favored children belong to the second class. Their life is a natural harmony. For them the working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays when they come are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vacation. Yet to both classes the need of an alternative outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of a diversion of effort, is essential. Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means of banishing it at intervals from their minds. (358 words)工作和娱乐要想真正生活得幸福和平安，一个人至少应 该有两三种业余爱好，而且必须是真正的爱好。到了晚年才开始说“我要培养这个或那个兴趣”是毫无用处的，种这种尝试只会增加精神上的负担。在与自己日常工 作无关的领域中，一个人可以获得渊博的知识，但却很难有所收益或得到放松。做自己喜欢的事是无益的，你得喜欢自己所做的事。广言之，人可以分为三个类别： 劳累而死的人，忧虑而死的人和无聊而死的人。对于那些体力劳动者来说，一周辛苦的工作使他们精疾力竭，因此在周六下午给他们提供踢足球或者打棒球的机会是 没有意义的。对于政界人士，专业人士或者商人来说，他们已经为棘手的事务操劳或者烦恼了六天，因此在周末请他们为琐事劳神同样毫无意义。或者可以这么说，理智的，勤奋的，有用的人可以分为两类：对第一类人而言，工作就是工作，娱乐就是娱乐；对于第二类人而言，工作和娱乐是合二为一的。很大一 部分人属于前者。他们可以得到相应的补偿。在办公室或工厂里长时间的工作，不仅带给他们维持生计的金钱，还带给他们一种渴求娱乐的强烈欲望，哪怕这种娱乐 消遣是以最简单，最淳朴的方式进行的。而第二类人则是命运的宠儿。他们的生活自然而和谐。在他们看来，工作时间永远不够多，每天都是假期；而当正常的假日 到来时，他们总会抱怨自己有趣的休假被强行中断。然而，有一些东西对于这两类人来说都十分必要，那就是变换一下视角，改变一下氛围，尝试做点不同的事情。 事实上，那些把工作看作娱乐的人可能是需要以某种方式将工作不时地驱赶出自己的大脑。Passage 3 How to Be True to YourselfMy grandparents believed you were either honest or you werent. There was no in between.They had a simple motto hanging on heir living-room wall: “Life is like a field of newly fallen snow; where I choose to walk every step will show.” They didnt have to talk about itthey demonstrated the motto by the way they lived. They understood instinctively that integrity means having a personal standard of morality and ethics that does not sell out to selfishness and that is not relative to the situation at hand.Integrity is an inner standard for judging your behavior. Unfortunately, integrity is in short supply todayand getting scarcer. But it is the real bottom line in every area of society. And it is something we must demand of ourselves. A good test for this value is to look at what I call the Integrity Trial, which consists of three key principles: Stand firmly for your convictions in the face of personal pressure.When you know youre right, you cant back down. Always give others credit that is rightfully theirs. Dont be afraid of those who might have a better idea or who might even be smarter than you are. Be honest and open about who you really are. People who lack genuine core values rely on external factorstheir looks or statusin order to feel good about themselves. Inevitably they will do everything they can to preserve this appearance, but they will do very little, to develop their inner value and personal growth. So be yourself. Dont engage in a personal cover-up of areas that are unpleasing in your life. When its tough, do it tough. In other words, face reality and be adult in your responses to lifes challenges. Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others. Integrity means you do what you do because its right and not just fashionable or politically correct. A life of principle, of not giving in to the seductive sirens of easy morality, will always win the day. It will take you forward into the 21st century without having to check your tacks in a rearview mirror. My grandparents taught me that. (370 words)怎样对自己诚实我的爷爷和奶奶认为，你要么是诚实的，要么不是，不可能介于两者之间。在他们起居室的墙上挂着一幅简单易懂的座右铭：“生活好像一片刚刚落满白雪的土地；我走到哪里，我的每一个脚印就会出现在哪里。”他们无需就此加以评说一他们是以身体力行的方式来证实这幅座右铭的。 他们本能的理解是，诚实意味着具备一定的伦理道德标准，既不看风使舵，也不随着眼下的形势而转移。诚实是判断你行为的内在标准。遗憾的是，如今，诚实处在短缺状态甚至越来越稀罕。然而，它却是社会各个领域真正的思想底线，而且是我们必须要求自己严格做到的。检验这种价值标准的一个有效方法是，参看我所指的诚实考验，其中包括三条主要原则：在个人压力面前，要坚定信念。当你知道你做得对的时候，你就不能退缩。对那些值得赞扬的人要常常给予肯定。切莫害怕那些可能有更好主意的或者那些可能比你更聪明的人。真诚、坦率地展示真实的你。那些缺乏真正的基本价值观念的人，为了使自己感觉良好而依靠外在因素-相貌或社会地位。他们势必尽一切可能来保全这种表面形象，却很少会去培养自己内在的价值和注重个人的成长。 因此，要展示你的真面目。不要设法掩盖你生活中令人不快的方方面面。艰难时刻要顽强。换言之，要正视现实。面对生活的挑战，要老成持重，应付有方。 自尊和问心无愧是构成诚实的强有力的成分，是丰富你与他人关系的基础。诚实意味着去做你认为对的事，而不仅仅是为了赶时髦或在政治上不出错。坚持原则，不屈从于持享乐人生观的女妖的诱惑，这样的人生观将战无不胜。它将使你问心无愧地走向21世纪。这是祖父母教导我的。Passage 4 Versatile Man by L. G. AlexanderIt is, perhaps, no accident that many of the outstanding figures of the past were exceptionally versatile men. Right up until comparatively recent times, it was possible for an intelligent person to acquaint himself with almost every branch of knowledge. Thus, men of genius like Leonardo da Vinci or Sir Philip Sidney, engaged in many careers at once as a matter of course. Da Vinci was so busy with his numerous inventions, that he barely found the time to complete his paintings; Sidney, who died in battle when he was only thirty-two years old, was not only a great soldier, but a brilliant scholar and poet as well. Both these men came very near to fulfilling the Renaissance ideal of the universal man, the man who was proficient at everything.Today, we rarely, if ever, hear that a musician has just invented a new type of submarine. Knowledge has become divided and sub-divided into countless, narrowly-defined compartments. The specialist is venerated; the versatile person, far from being admired, is more often regarded with suspicion. The modern world is a world of highly-skilled experts who have had to devote the greater part of their lives to a very limited field of study in order to compete with their fellows.With this high degree of specialization, the frontiers of knowledge are steadily being pushed back more rapidly than ever before. But this has not achieved without considerable cost. The scientist, who outside his own particular subject is little more than a moron, is a modern phenomenon; as is the man of letters who is barely aware of the tremendous strides that have been made in technology. Similarly, specialization has indirectly affected quite ordinary people in every walk of life. Many activities which were once pursued for their own sakes, are often given up in despair: they require techniques, the experts tell us, which take a life-time to master. Why learn to play the piano, when you can listen to the worlds greatest pianists in your own drawing-room?Little by little, we are becoming more and more isolated from each other. It is almost impossible to talk to your neighbor about his job, even if he is engaged in roughly the same work as you are. The Royal Society in Britain includes among its members only the most eminent scientists in the country. Yet it is highly disconcerting to find that even here, as one of its Fellows put it, at a lecture only 10% of the members can understand 50% of what is being said! (358 words)多才多艺的人 LG亚历山大 在过去的时代中，许多杰出人物都异乎寻常地多才多艺，这也许并不是偶然的。就在距今不远的时代，一个聪明人还有可能熟悉知识的几乎每个部门。因此，达芬奇和西德尼这样的天才人物被认为理所当然地要同时从事许多方面的工作。达芬奇搞着他的数目众多的发明，忙得几乎没有时间来完成他的画；三十二岁就战死在沙场的西德尼，不仅是一个勇敢的战士，也是一个才气横溢的学者和诗人。他们几乎成为文艺复兴时期的理想人物“万能的人”，即精通每一件事情的人。 今天，我们不会听说一个音乐家刚刚发明了一种新型的潜水艇，即使听到的话也是极难得的。知识领域被分了又分，分成范围狭窄而互相不通气的无数部门。受人尊敬的是专家；而多面手非但不会被人钦佩，反而常常不为人所信任。当今的世界是一个高度精通业务的“专家”的世界，这些专家都曾经不得不用一生大部分时间研究一个十分狭隘的领域，这样才能和他的同行竞争。随着专业化程度的提高，各门知识的边界正在以前所未有的速度往里收缩。但这种收缩并不是没有付出相当大的代价就做到的。一个科学家离开了他的特殊专题，就不会比一个傻瓜强多少，正象一个文人对科技方面的重大进展几乎一无所知一样，都是现代才有的怪现象。同样，专业化也间接地影响了各行各业中很普通的人。以前仅仅是由于对它们本身感到兴趣而去从事的许多活动，现在常常被绝望地放弃了。专家们告诉我们，从事这些活动所需要的技术，得付出毕生的精力才能掌握。当你能在客厅里欣赏世界上最伟大的钢琴家演奏时，你干吗还要学钢琴呢？渐渐地，我们之间变得越来越互不关心了。你简直不可能同你 的邻居交谈工作上的事，哪怕他的工作和你的相差不多。英国皇家学会的会员只包括全国最优秀的科学家。然而，令人感到不安的情况是，正如它的一个会员所指出的那样，任何一次讲座，只有百分之十的成员能够听懂所讲的百分之五十。 Passage 5 Mirror, Mirror-What do I See?A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror.Mirrors have a very particular function. They reflect the image in front of them. Just as a physical mirror serves as the vehicle to reflection, so do all of the people in our lives.When we see something beautiful such as a flower garden, that garden serves as a reflection. In order to see the beauty in front of us, we must be able to see the beauty inside of ourselves. When we love someone, its a reflection of loving ourselves. When we love someone, its a reflection of loving ourselves. We have often heard things like “I love how I am when Im with that person.” That simply translates into “Im able to love me when I love that other person.” Oftentimes, when we meet someone new, we feel as though we “click”. Sometimes its as if weve known each other for a long time. That feeling can come from sharing similarities.Just as the “mirror” or other person can be a positive reflection, it is more likely that well notice it when it has a negative connotation. For example, its easy to remember times when we have met someone were not particularly crazy about. We may have some criticism in our mind about the person. This is especially true when we get to know someone with whom we would rather spend less time.Frequently, when we dislike qualities in other people, ironically, its usually the mirror thats speaking to us.I began questioning myself further each time I encountered someone that I didnt particularly like. Each time, I asked myself, “What is it about that person that I dont like?” and then “Is there something similar in me?” in every instance, I could see a piece of that quality in me, and sometimes I had to really get very introspective. So what did that mean?It means that just as I can get annoyed or disturbed when I notice that aspect in someone else, I better reexamine my qualities and consider making some changes. Even if Im not willing to make a drastic change, at least I consider how I might modify some of the things that Im doing.At times we meet someone new and feel distant, disconnected, or disgusted. Although we dont want to believe it, and its not easy or desirable to look further, it can be a great learning lesson to figure out what part of the person is being reflected in you. Its simply just another way to create more self-awareness.镜子，镜子，告诉我充满爱意人的生活在充满爱意的世界里，充满敌意的人则生活在充满敌意的世界里。你所遇到的每一个人都是你的镜子。镜子里有一个非常独特的功能，那就是映射出在其前面的影像。就像真正的镜子具有反射功能一样，我们生活中的所有人也都能映射出他人的影子。当我们看到美丽的事物时，例如一座花园，那这花园就起到了反射作用。为了发现我们面前美好的事物，我们必须能发现在自己内在的美。我们爱某个人，也正是我们爱自己的表现。我们经常听到这样的话：“当我和那个人在一起的时候，我爱那时的自己。”这句话也可以简单地说成：“在我爱那个人的同时，我也能爱我自己。”有时，我们遇见一个陌生人，感觉仿佛是一见如故，就好像我们已经相识甚久。这种熟悉感可能来自于彼此身上的共同点。就像“镜子”或他人能映射出我们积极的一面一样，我们更有可能注意到映射出自己消极方面的“镜子”。例如，我们很容易就能记住我们碰到自己不太喜欢的人的时刻。我们可能在心里对那个人有些反感。当我们认识自己不喜欢与之相处的人时，这种情况就更为明显。具有讽刺意味着的是，通常当我们讨厌别人身上的某些特质时，那就说明你其实讨厌自己身上相类似的特质。每次，当我遇到不太喜欢的人时，我就开始进一步质问自己。我会扪心自问：“我不喜欢那个人的哪些方面？”然后还会问：“我是不是有和他相似的地方？”每次，我都能在自己身上看到一些令我厌恶的特质。我有时不得不深刻地反省自己。那这意味着什么呢？这意味着，就像我会对其他人身上令我厌恶的特质感到恼怒或不安一样，我应该更好地重新审视自己的特质，并考虑做一些改变。即使我不想做大的改变，至少我会考虑该如何修正自己正在做的一些事情。我们时常会遇到陌生人，并感到疏远或厌恶。尽管我们不想去相信，不容易也不想去深究，但是弄清楚别人的哪些特质在自己身上有所体现是非常有意义的一课，这