自考英语本科高级英语上下册课后短文翻译.docx

1Rock music began in America in the late 1950s . It was not only a new musical form , but a forum for the American youth to express their ideas of the world and life . In this forum , the stars sang out the attitudes of the youth towards civil rights , war and peace ,the disaffection of their society , and a range of emotions between love and hate . Allin all , in this forum , the American youth redefined the beliefs and feelings of their society . The typical representatives of the early rock music were Elvis Presley , singer and poet Bob Dylan , the Bealtles , the rolling Stones and so on . They were the culture heroes whom the young people worshipped . 2The American young people in 1960s were a generation of rebellion . They found that the affluent American society was filled with poverty , injustice and gypocrisy . They didnt trust the adult world that didnt belong to them and refused to take their beliefs and values . Many young people took active part in the struggle which protested against poverty , racial discrimination and Vietnam War . Some young people even tried to overthrow this world by armed revolution. Many other young took passive ways to show their disaffections . They took drugs , refused to take any responsibilities and lived a parasitic way of life . Or they escaped to the frontiers and lived a primitive way of life . 3 Mathilda had been ill for three days . Her mother had given her some medicine, but it didnt do any good . So they had to ask the doctor to come . There had been a number of cases of diphtheria in Mathildas school and two of them had been dead . When the doctor arrived at Olsons home , he wanted to examine Mthildas throat first . But no matter how he coaxed ,She wouldnt open her mouth . So the doctor had to get the tongue depressor into her mouth . But Mathilda reduced it to splinters . In order to protect Mathilda herself and other children , the doctor had to make sure whether she had diphtheria or not , so that he could treat her in time . Letting Mathilda s father hold her wrists he tried his best to open her mouth and found she really had diphtheria. This story made us can think such a question that something in life cant only depend on self willingness . Under some circumstances , certain force seems necessary . 4 The need for laws on euthanasia cant be dodged for much longer . Euthanasia is a taboo in most countries . In these countries doctors can only practise it secretly . But it is openly practiced in some countries , such as Holland . Right now more and more countries are going over the arguments about legalizing euthanasia . When a patient suffers from illness for a long time and there is no hope of curing it , why do we let him polong the throes ?Why cant we practise euthanasia to stop the throes ?But if we legalize euthanasia , there will be a danger Someone may use it for killing . All in all , euthanasia is question we cant dodge . 5The American women made great contributions to the nations development , but they received different forms of prejudices because of their sex . In politics , they did all the tedious details that made the differene between victory and defeat on election day and seldom had the chance to reach a better position , while the men reaped the rewards . In economy , most women did the lower-paying and dead end jobs and they were paid less than the men for the same job . Many American people didnt admit it was prejudice against women . They said it was only a different division of labour in society . Even many women were content with their roles as second-class citizens . So the author said it was a long painful struggle for the women to get real equality .6When I knew Magpie got a scholarship of a California University and could go to the Fine Arts School to study , I was very pleased for him . I knew he wanted to become a poet all the time. I also knew he had a good talent . It was a very good chance for him . So I went back to Crow Creek to tell him about the good news and let him fill out some papers . But I didnt find him at his home . His wife said they had not been together for a while and only heard he was in Chamberlain . Then I went for Salina and asked her to help me find Magpie . Salina said Magpie had changed a lot since he was taken into prison . She thought he was not interested in going to the university of white people . But I said Magpie had a right to know this news and make the decision whether to go or not by himself . She agreed and took me to his good friend , Elgie . But when I could really see Magpie at last , he had been shot by the police . 7Miss Brill was an English who lived in a coastal city in France . She was old and poor . She would go to the park on every Sunday afternoon . She always sat on the same bench , listening people around her talk , or watching other peoples lives in front of her . She suddenly had a feeling on that Sunday afternoon . She felt the life was like a play and she was one part of the community . She had a part in the performance . At this time , the feeling of loneliness began to escape her . But just at this time she heard a couple of young people talk about her with contempt . Even the young man asked her to leave in a low voice . The short feeling of happiness disappeared . she went home with a broken heart . 8Man created language . It was mans way of communicating with his fellow man . The difference between oral and written language was that oral language could take the human voice to infuse it with the shades of deeper meaning . Flowers was nearly singing when she read A Tale of Two Cities . It sounded beautiful . Her reading made me realize the wonder of language. Mrs. Flowers gave me novels and poems . I learned value of life from these books and realized how beautiful the language of literature works was . Man created language . It was mans way of communicating with his fellow man . The difference between oral and written language was that oral language could take the human voice to infuse it with the shades of deeper meaning . Flowers was nearly singing when she read A Tale of Two Cities . It sounded beautiful . Her reading made me realize the wonder of language. Mrs. Flowers gave me novels and poems . I learned value of life from these books and realized how beautiful the language of literature works was . 9People have a short attention span . So in order to capture the viewers attention , television must provide constant stimulation through variety , novelty , action and movement . The result of doing so is that news is too brief and results in inefficient communication . Many news programs are like “ machine gunning with scraps “and fight coherence of mind.The appeal to the short attention span will decivilize as well. To avoid complexity means to give up thinking . The “ functionally illiterates “ among adult Americans are continually increasing . They even do not know how to answer the want ad. Or understand the instructions on a medicine bottle . At least television should be responsible for part of it . 10One night , two German military officers were murdered by Frenchmen . The next day , a German officer declared to thirty French prisoners , “ My order is that one man in every ten shall be selected and shot tomorrow . That is to say , three of you thirty people will die tomorrow . We are indifferent as to which three . You can choose for yourselves .”The prisoners had a heated discussion about who should die. Someone said the old people should go first . This was the way of nature . Some people said the unmarried should go first because they had no responsibilities . At last , all consented to drawing lots to decide which three went to die . A rich lawyer unfortunately got the death draw . He said , “ I ll give a hundred thousand francs to anyone who will die for me . “11 Some people will fall asleep as soon as their heads touch the pillows . Some people cant go to sleep although they have been lying in bed several hours . The more he wants to go to sleep , the more wakeful he is . I belong to the latter . When I write an essay , I feel an overpowering desire for sleep . But when I go to bed , I can do anything but sleep . I can compose grand symphonies , paint magnificent pictures and write good essays . The artificial ways of inducing sleep are legion , but they are of no avail . When I cant go to sleep at night , I imagine a dialogue with a friend till I either laugh or fall asleep . I find this is a good way to go to sleep .12As a very small child , I made up my mind to become a writer in future . When I become a writer , what I have most wanted to do is to make political writing into a work of art . The opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is wrong . Writing is exposing lies , protecting truth and also an aesthetic experience . Animal Farm was the book in which I tried to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole . Writing should serve the society and the public . This is the principle I must follow . I f a writer lacks political purpose , he will only write some purple passages , even some humbug . 13The first thing Russell thinks is the most ordinary function of work , namely the relief o ftedium. He thinks even the dullest work is less painful than idleness to most people . Then he talks about how the work can provide the people with opportunities for their ambitions. Man, as a member of the society , hopes that he can procure more and more social achievements . He points out that most women are so unfortunate that they can not work outside their homes . They are deprived of this chance . It seems that different kinds of work give people satisfaction to different degrees . Russell studies the concerning two chief elements , that is the exercise of skill and construction .When he analyzes the latter , Russell finds an opportunity to express his profound hatred to the war and social violence . 14John F. Kerry was a discharged veteran from Vietnam War and took part in the investigation held in Detroit in December in 1970 . He thought the purpose for the veterans to attend the investigation was not only to confess their war crimes in order to purge their souls . It was not the individual but the American government that should have been responsible for the war crimes . He hoped to arouse the sense of responsibility of American people by this text . He criticized that the mass of people in America literally didnt give a damn and pointed out that the policy of the American government was hypocritical. He revealed the veterans miserable conditions after they came back : racial discrimination ,drug taking , unemployment , no good medical care , etc. In the end he told the readers that members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War would march on Washington to the Capitol . Their most important demand was that the government set a date for withdrawl of troops from Vietnam, otherwise , they would camp and stay there and wont move . 15The author first pointed out that American and European women expended a large sum of money on cosmetics in order to make them look younger and more beautiful . Unlike the people of 19th century , they didnt think that only women who were not virtuous could use cosmetics . But the author worried that women only paid attention to their appearances and ignored the necessity to overcome the ugliness of their hearts . He thought the people would be really beautiful only when the human beings had an opportunity to live harmoniously . But the author did not think the objective could be realized . 16The three interviewers hid the truth of the firm to McDeere and only told him that the firm mainly did tax work . The clients of the firm were all big corporations , banks and wealthy people . Although the firm was not large in size and only consisted of forty one lawyers , the salaries an all other benefits of the members were incredibly high . For the first year , McDeere could receive a base salary of eighty thousand dollars , plus bonuses , a low interest mortgage and a luxurious car . If he worked hard , he would become a partner in ten years . If he put in ten more years , he could be a millionaire .All these were very appealing to Mcdeere . He agreed to accept this job without hesitation . But he could not imagine that he mistakenly went into a lawyer firm which was controlled by a black organization and specialized in illegal activities . 1Its not easy to work in a big company . There is strict hierarchy in the company , and if you hope to be successful and get promotion , you have to obey directions and disciplines in addition to bear heavy pressure of work and work hard . Every day you are under rigid supervision and live in panic . If what you do is a job which will not provide you any chance to get promotion and for some reasons you have no way to find another job , you will be bored with it and feel dull . You will be in despair , lose ambition and working motivation , and finally become a mediocre . 2Eveline agreed to marry Frank an Irish sailor who lived in Buenos Ayres . They got to know each other when Frank just came back Dublin to spend his holidays . They would go to Buenos Ayres by boat that night . The boat was going to leave in a few hours , but she was still in doubt whether it was wise or not to go to such a distant country with Frank . Although she didnt like the job in the store , and her father didnt treat her well , it was the only life that she was familiar with , after all . Besides , Eveline had promised to her mother that she would keep the home together as long as she could before her mother died . But the vision of the miserable life of her mother made her feel horrible . She would live a happy life with Frank .But she changed her mind before boarding the boat . The boat left with Frank . Everybody dreamed of happy life , but one must have courage to realize his dream . 3Television has much more advantages than newspapers . When watching TV, we use our eyes as well as ears ; we can see the words and picture on the screen , and listen to the language and music as well . TV news broadcasting is quicker than that of newspapers . But television lives on commercial advertising to an even greater extent than newspapers . Profits drive television to cater to the lowest instinct of man . There are violence and sex in entertainment programmes of American television . Very often , television coverage of news is superficial and inadequate . There are a lot of problems in American newspapers too . the most prominent problem is that newspapers distort fact , and attack the countries ,people and the social systems which Americans do not like . 4The life circle includes birth , being old , and death . Death is an unavoidable end for everybody . Aging is the neglected period of human life circle . Death happens within a few seconds while aging is a long period which means illness , poverty , and loneliness advertisements and travel folders show relaxed , happy , well-dressed older people enjoying recreation,travel and their grandchildren . But all these can not be enjoyed by the poor elder . They have to struggle to survive in old age . Many old people struggle to exist in an inhospitable world . There are more and more old people in the world now , and the government of every country is beginning to pay attention to the problems of old people . 5Mrs . Wright was a town girl before she married John Wright and lived in his farm . She used to be a lively girl who liked singing . But during the thirty years living together with Wright , she totally changed . Wright was miserly and never paid attention to his wifes needs . There was no joy in their house , and even the neighbours were reluctant to call at their house . One winter morning , Mr. Hale , their neighbour , found that Wright was strangled on his bed .Mrs Wright said that she didnt know who killed her husband . Her behaviour was very queer . She didnt call the police , but just sat in the rocker rocking back and forth in the kitchen . The policemen arrested her . Next morning , county sheriff and county attorney took Hale back to the farm to investigate who had killed Wright . 6The county sheriff and county attorney couldnt find out any sign of anyone having come from the outside , and they were sure that Wright had been killed by his wife . In order to make juries believe the story , they had to find out Mrs . Wrights motive for killing her husband , but they failed . While they were busy investigating ,the two women sitting in the kitchen found a dead canary which was wrapped up in a piece of silk lying in a box . The canary had been wrung to death . The two women could imagine what kind of life Mrs . Wright had spent while living with Wright in this house . They didnt want the box containing the dead canary to be seen by sheriff and county attorney . In order to protect Mrs . Wright , they hid the box . 7Ace was in a plight . He lost the job and was afraid to see his wife .Evey had to work as a saleswoman because Ace could not earn enough money to support the family . She was always very tired after working a whole day . She always had no time to cook dinner . now he was sacked , so he was worried that Evey would be mad . Ace s mother took care of their daughter Bonnie for them . Evey always took Bonnie back , but Ace went to take Bonnie that day . Aces mother was glad that Ace lost the job , for she thought Ace should have a better job . Evey was not very angry with Ace this time , but did Ace get rid of the plight ?8Why are so many people overweight in the United States ? Most people may say that there are two reasons . One is that American food is ta