中国海洋大学大英三summary.doc

U1 A1 Catching CrabsWith the terminal of school life coming, the authors classmates had nothing to do but get their life mapped out. Their ideas about the future vary from person to person.Ambitious as some students were, the majority of them tended to choose a comfortable job and became an ordinary person. Instead of the high flyers with good grades, it was always the quieter, less impressive students who had the next stages of their life mapped out.The author was longing to travel and become a writer. His father who was a lawyer didnt object him but brought him to a lake to chat with him, which surprised him very much.In that morning, his father inspired him through the crabs which could be bothered to escape. He also asked him to figure out what he really want and was really significative to him. And only when he get the answer would he be happy.U1 A2 We are all dyingIn this article, the author brings us some good news and some bad news.The bad news, as the author double-and triple-checked out, is that we are all dying. We are all going to be either coffin dwellers or trampled ash in the rose garden of some local cemetery.The good news is that knowing that we are all budding, crypt-kickers takes away all the uncertainty of life. All that matters is the middle bit and thats down to us.Its typical that we all have the great things were going to do with our life “when the time is right”. The novel that we want to write, the trip to the Grand Canyon weve always planned to take, the West End play we want to direct. Its essential that we should do them now on account of that the time is never quite right. We cant count on tomorrow because tomorrow is just another version of now.When we go to a buffet, they give us a bowl the size of a saucer, life is like that bowl. We can cram as much into that tiny bowl as we can carry but we only have one shot at it. So lets make the best of our short stay.We all have the same amount of minutes. Its just what we do with our time, how we invest it, that determines where our lives may lead. We are all dying and our allotted time is finite, dont be something that you patently do not want to be. And the right time never arrives, why the hell arent we doing all the things we want to do now?U2 A1 SupermanThe year the war began, the author was in the fifth grade at a Grammar School in Winthrop. He can still recall the changing color of those days although 13 years passed.The authors home was on the bay side of town, opposite to an airport. He was always fascinated by the beauteous sceneries out of the window. He always dreamed of flying, dreamed about the Superman. He shared his love for the sheer poetry of flight with his fellow named David.The author, David and Sheldon always played the Superman games together. They had a very good time in campus.In addition, the author found his uncle Frank bore an extraordinary resemblance to Superman incognito.13 years lapsed, he still remember all that details. He did have a dreamlike childhood.U2 A2 Cultural childhoodsAs the famous sentence goes:” The past is a foreign country: They do things differently there.”There are vast differences between contemporary and historical childhoods. Today, children have few responsibilities, their lives are characterized by play not work, school not paid labour, family rather than public life. Today, a four year old who can tie his or her shoes is impressive, however, in colonial times, four-year-old girls can contribute to the family economy.Childhood is a “social construction”. While all societies acknowledge that children are different from adults, how they are different and what expectations are placed on them, change according to the society in which they live.For instance, the Inuit of Canadian Artic treat their children with a great deal of tolerance leniency. In contrast, children on the Pacific island of Tonga are regularly beaten by their parents and older siblings on account of that they are seen as being closer to mad people than adults. The Beng, a small ethnic group in West Africa, believe in a spirit world where children live before they are born. And they may decide to return there if they are not properly looked after. So parents treat young children carefully. In the UK, and the Western world in general, people view children as incompetent and dependent. While the Yanamamo girls are expected to help their mothers from a young age.In general, though people take different attitudes on children, all societies recognize that children are different to adults and have particular qualities and needs. And we should not interfere in or criticize people whose lives and understandings of the world are different to ours.U3 A1 How we listenWhen it comes to listening to music, Id like to say we all listen to music on three planes.The first plane, which is also the simplest way of music listening is to listen for the sheer pleasure of the musical sound without thinking, without considering it in any way. For example, one may go a concert in order to lose himself.The second plane is what the author called expressive one. Music always express itself through its melodies, rhythms, harmonies and tone colors. However, Its typical that people read different meanings into music.The last plane is sheerly musical plane. We do need to admire absolute music on account of that its of great significance. People usually find a psychedelic world through listening to absolute music.To make a summary, we divide music listening into three planes. We simultaneously and without thinking listen on all three planes.U3 A2 The mystery of Girl with a Pearl EarringThe painting Girl with a Peal Earring, which is one of the greatest works of Johannes, Vermeer poses some fascinating questions. Who is the young woman? What is she thinking as she stare out at us etc.Firstly, very little is known about Vermeer. One important information we know is that he married a Catholic girl, who insisted that he convert to Catholicism. It remains a mystery why the girl was painted like this-a portrait tend to sell better at that time.In addition, this painting has been the theme of a novel which imagined her as a poor, but hardworking maid who attracted the painter despite their different backgrounds and class. Then this painting was made in a film. Both the novel and the film attempted to answer some of the mysteries.This wonderful work has been described as the Mona Lisa of the north cause it appears to be a portrait of a girl with an mysterious smile.U4 A1 Work in corporate AmericaCompared with jobs in the past, jobs today are quite different.Firstly, jobs today are absolutely incomprehensible to children. In the past, when questioned “Whats your job?” a father may reply to his children” I fix steam engines” But today he may answer” I sell space” And its typical that even grown people only know about there own jobs, they know little about others jobs.Secondly, today peoples work is to make junk. How to say that? People use machines to process products. Once the products break down, they are likely to be disgored and become junk. So it is with people in glass buildings who are coping with piles of paper. Some people sign in the paper, some people deliver the paper, some people talk about the paper but one day the paper will have to become useless junk. So we say peoples work is something that has to do with making junk.Thus, jobs today are no longer like the past.U4 A2 Our supposedly exciting times are really rather dullWe live in a world of unprecedented, dazzling change. However, our supposedly exciting times are really dull. We do not, in fact, live in very interesting times at all.For example, Tomas Friedman regard globalization as a new “international system”. However, in a historical context, the word is almost entirely meaningless. Roman Empire is a multicultural country. Romans even trade with foreign countries, though we tend to boost of our modernity. There arent many great changes in the last few decades. We do not live in an age of great technological innovation. As a matter of fact, most of the technologies we use everyday-toasters and kettles, planes and trains and automobiles etc-were invented decades ago. The pace of change looks even slower when we compare it with typical expectations only a few decades ago. People in the 1960s imagined that human would be catching. Pan-Am flights to space stations, talking to sentient computers, and living on Moon. In a word, although the baby-boom generation like to brag that they have experienced greater change than any other.U5 A1 Dinner at JoannesJoannes is very famous in America, neither because of its food, which had often been maligned, nor because of its jazz orchestra, which had a guest slot for a well-known movie director, but because of the stellar quality of its sophisticated guests. Josh Lester, who is a black man with highly competent, fancy degree and work experience, was going to Joannes to date with a senator named Jo Rogers on one snowy Christmas Eve. Josh Lester got to Joannes before Rogers. He asked the waiter for his reserved sets but was looked down upon. He finally was leaded to a table close to a bathroom. And what is more annoying is that the head waiter didnt cope with Joshs request on account of that there are many other guests who had higher status. However, when his date, the well-known senator reached and talked with Josh, things completely changed. People in Joannes focused on them. One person even offered to pay their bill but was refused by Rogers. After knowing that Josh was going to be the new deputy campaign manager of Rogers, and may become the Chief of Staff, the lead waiter showed his flattery to Rogers and Josh, and showed his eager that they could be there again. But Rogers said they wont be there any more.U5 A2 I, we, theyA Swedish corporation was approached by a compatriot. An engineer, whom the author called Johannesson was sent to Riyadh where he was introduced to a small Saudi engineering firm on behalf of the corporation. After 6 meetings over a period of two years, the Saudi firm at last made a contract with Johannessons company and the intermediary was not needed on account of that, he was promoted. Soon another engineer took the place of Johannesson. However, a few weeks later, the Saudi firm threatened to conceal the contract because of a minor conflict only if Johannesson become the representative of his corporation again. This story reflected the different concepts of the role of personal relationships in business of the Swedes and the Saudis. For the Swedes, business is done with a company; for the Saudis ,with a person whom one has learned to know and trust.Generally speaking, there are two kinds of societies. The author called the societies in which the interest of the group previous over the interests of the individual collectivist, which refers to the power of the group. In these societies, between the person and the in-group a dependence relationship develops which is both practical and psychological.In addition, a minority of people live in societies in which the interests of the individual prevail over the interests of the group. These societies was called individualist. In these societies, children are expected to leave the parental home as soon as this has been achieved. And after having left home, children tend to reduce the relationships with their parents. In this type of society, a healthy person wont depend on a group practically or psychologically.U6 A1 Last man down: the firemans story11 September 2001 9:59AM. Pitch with about two dozen people-including his 7 companies of firefighters were on the 35th floor of the north tower of the world Trade Center. They were in various stages of exhaustion. They had been at a hard thing for almost an hour. They were all confused. Abruptly, with a noise starting, the building began to tremble. They all froze, having no idea what they should do. At that moment, Pitchs thoughts were all over the place. Every possible worst-case scenario, the rumble struck him still with fear, the sheer volume of it, like a thousand runaway trains speeding towards him.It seemed that there should be no time to think. But Pitch did think about his official carrier, his colleagues, the bagels which he left on the kitchen counter and he thought it must be the biggest fire in both his and his colleagues lives. All these thoughts were landing in his brain in a kind of flashpoint.This story comes from Pitchs book “Last Man Down” which gives the re