浙江大学大英4背诵段落-文本

四级背诵 1.Entertaining HumorWhats Funny? (U1)Para 13, 250 wordsThe joy of laughing at a funny story is universal, probably as old as language itself. But, what is it that makes a story or a joke funny?As one who has enjoyed humor since I first recognized it, Ive made an attempt to explain and discuss humor with students in such diverse cultures as Latin America and China. Ive done some serious thinking about funny stories. It has been a labor of love!Why is it that several students in a class will fall out of their chairs laughing after I tell a joke while the rest of the students look as if Ive just read the weather report? Obviously some people are more sensitive to humor than others. And, we recognize that some people tell jokes very well while others struggle to say something funny. Weve all heard people say, “ I like jokes, but I cant tell one well, and I can never remember them.” Some people have a better sense of humor than others just as some people have more musical talent, mathematical talent, etc. than others. A truly funny person has a joke for every occasion, and when one is told, that triggers an entire string of jokes from that persons memory bank. A humorless person is not likely to be the most popular person in a group. It is reasonable to say that the truly humorous individual is not only well liked, but is often the focus of attention in any gathering.听了一个有趣的故事会发笑、很开心，古今中外都一样。这一现象或许同语言本身一样悠久。那么，到底是什么东西会使一个故事或笑话让人感到滑稽可笑的呢？我是第一次辨识出幽默便喜欢上它的人，因此我曾试图跟学生议论和探讨幽默。这些学生文化差异很大，有来自拉丁美洲的，也有来自中国的。我还认真地思考过一些滑稽有趣的故事。这么做完全是出于自己的喜好。为什么听我讲完一个笑话后，班上有些学生会笑得前仰后合，而其他学生看上去就像刚听我读了天气预报一样呢？显然，有些人对幽默比别人更敏感。而且，我们也发现有的人很善于讲笑话，而有的人要想说一点有趣的事却要费好大的劲。我们都听人说过这样的话：“我喜欢笑话，但我讲不好，也总是记不住。”有些人比别人更有幽默感，就像有些人更具有音乐、数学之类的才能一样。一个真正风趣的人在任何场合都有笑话可讲，而且讲了一个笑话，就会从他记忆里引出一连串的笑话。一个缺乏幽默感的人不可能成为一群人中最受欢迎的人。一个真正有幽默感的人不仅受人喜爱，而且在任何聚会上也往往是人们注意的焦点。这么说是有道理的。2. The Power of a Note (U2)Para 1118, 282 wordsWhat does it take to write letters that lift spirits and warm hearts? Only a willingness to express our appreciation. The most successful practitioners include what I call the four “Ss” of note writing.They are sincere. No one wants false praise.They are usually short. If you cant say what you want to say in three sentences, youre probably straining.They are specific. Complimenting a business colleague by telling him” good speech” is too vague;” great story about Warren Buffets investment strategy” is precise.They are spontaneous. This gives them the freshness and enthusiasm that will linger in the readers mind long afterward.Its difficult to be spontaneous when you have to hunt for letter-writing materials, so I keep paper, envelopes and stamps close at hand, even when I travel. Fancy stationery isnt necessary; its the thought that counts.So, who around you deserves a note of thanks or approval? A neighbor, your librarian, a relative, your mayor, your mate, a teacher, your doctor? You dont need to be poetic. If you need a reason, look for a milestone, the anniversary of a special event you shared, or a birthday or holiday. For the last 25 years, for example Ive prepared an annual Christmas letter for long-distance friends, and I often add a handwritten word of thanks or congratulations. Acknowledging some success or good fortune that has happened during the year seems particularly appropriate considering the spirit of the Christmas season.Be generous with your praise. Superlatives like” greatest,” ”smartest,” ”prettiest” make us all feel good. Even if your praise is a little ahead of reality, remember that expectations are often the parents of dreams fulfilled. 怎样才能写出振奋精神、温暖人心的信呢？只要我们怀有要表示感激之情的心愿。写这种便笺的高手都具有我所谓的“S”技巧。真诚(sincere)。没人要听虚假的赞美。简短(short)。如果不能用三句话表达出你的意思，你很可能过火了，写得太长。具体(specific)。赞扬一位业务伙伴“演讲精彩”太笼统含糊；告诉他“关于沃伦巴菲特的投资策略讲得很精彩”才是一语中的。自然(spontaneous)。这使得便笺充满了生气，洋溢着热情，并使读者的心灵长久地感受这种生气和热情。当你非得到处找写信用品时，写出来的东西就难以自然，因此我总是把纸、信封和邮票放在手边，甚至在旅行时也是如此。信封信笺不需要很花哨，重要的是要表达的思想。那么，你周围又有谁值得你写便笺表示感谢或鼓励呢？一位邻居？为你服务的那位图书馆管理员？一位亲戚？你的市长？你的伙伴？一位教师？你的医生？你不必富有诗意。如果你需要一个写的理由，就找一个生活中的重要事件，例如你们共同参加的某个特殊事件的周年纪念日、生日或者节日。例如，过去的25 年里，我总是为远方的朋友每年准备一张圣诞卡，而且常常在上面亲笔写上一句感谢或祝贺的话。鉴于圣诞节的氛围，就一年来所取得的成功与得到的好运特意表示谢忱似乎是最恰到好处的。不要吝啬你的赞美之言。像“最了不起的”、“最聪明的”、“最漂亮的”这种最高级的表达法使大家都感到高兴。即使你的赞美之词稍稍超前了一点也没关系，记住，梦想的实现往往孕育于期望之中。3. The Case for CreativityEncouraging Children to Think (U4) Para 57, 340 wordsCreativity is not something one is just born with, nor is it necessarily a characteristic of high intelligence. Just because a person is highly intelligent does not mean that he uses it creatively. Creativity is the matter of using the resources one has to produce original ideas that are good for something.Unfortunately, schools have not tended to promote creativity. With strong emphasis on test scores and the development of reading, writing and mathematical skills, many educators sacrifice creativity for correct answers. The result is that children can give back information but cant recognize ways to apply it to new situations. They may know their multiplication tables, for example, but they are unable to apply them to story problems.In some schools, however, educators are recognizing the problem and are developing new approaches to teaching which should encourage creativity in their students. Some teachers are combining the basics with activities where the students must use their imagination. For example, instead of simply asking WHEN Columbus discovered the New World, teachers might ask students to think about what would have happened if his trip had taken him to New York first instead of to the Caribbean area. With that question, students would have to use what they know about Columbus, what they know about New York, and what they know about the Caribbean. Teachers feel that even if the answers seem silly, its OK, that sometimes being silly is an essential step toward creativity. In the classroom as well as at home, children must have the right to have crazy thoughts, experts say. Then it is up to parents and teachers to work with the children to develop those thoughts into workable ideas. The best strategy is to encourage children by asking them questions, meanwhile praising their ideas and new thoughts. Experts say that it is important to create an atmosphere in which there is no risk in being creative-a place where wild ideas are honored and valued, never scorned or dismissed.创造性并非与生俱来，也不一定就是高智慧的特征。一个人智力高并不意味着他必然能创造性地发挥才智。创造性是指能利用已有的资源想出新点子，而这些点子有助于解决某方面的问题。遗憾的是，学校还没有想到要促使学生发挥创造性。许多教育者十分看重考试分数，强调阅读、写作和数学能力，往往因追求正确的答案而牺牲了对创造性的培养。其结果是，孩子们能够反馈所学的知识，却不知道如何灵活地应用知识。比如，他们可能熟记乘法表，却不会用它来解决数学应用题。然而，在有些学校里，教育者们正逐渐认识到这一问题，并致力于研究能启发学生创造性的新的教学方法。一些教师把基础知识和要求学生发挥想象力的活动结合起来。比如，教师不再简单地问学生哥伦布何时发现了新大陆，他们可能让学生思考如果哥伦布首先到达的不是加勒比地区而是纽约，情况会是如何。要回答这一问题，学生必须应用自己掌握的关于哥伦布、纽约和加勒比地区的知识。教师们认为即便学生的回答会很可笑，也毫无关系，这也许是通向创造性的重要一步。专家认为，在课堂以及在家里，必须允许孩子们有些荒唐的念头。家长和教师们则有责任和孩子共同努力，使那些念头成为切实可行的建议。最好的办法是通过提问来鼓励孩子，同时对他们的想法和新点子表示赞赏。专家认为必须创造一个可以自由发挥创造力的氛围，一个尊重和赞赏而不是鄙视或不理会荒诞想法的环境。4. College: An All-forgiving World? (Passage II ) (U7)Para 4end, 230 wordsNeusner believes that in college we are trained to think that“ failure leaves no record” because we can supposedly get away with mistakes easily. I have news for him. If you fail a test, you cant take it again, or the teacher wont erase the grade even if he thinks you will hate him for the rest of your life. If you drop out of a class, next semester you will have to take more courses. If you get low grades, your chances of getting into a fine graduate school are almost none. If your grade-point average is not reasonably high for a number of classes, you just dont get your degree. When midterms and finals come, no one can avoid taking them. When the going gets tough, the tough have to get down to work because, unlike what what Neusner believes, college does not give “ painless” solutions to mistakes( paragraph 1). It is not” an altogether forgiving world,” and by no means have teachers “ pretended not to care” (paragraph 3) when deadlines are not kept or when things arent done at the time they are supposed to be.To me, living in a crowded triple, having a one-day reading period before finals, tons of readings, papers, and midterms due the same week are not exactly my idea of “easy, free, forgiving, attentive, comfortable, interesting, unchallenging fun” (paragraph 6).5. How to Take Your Time (U8)Para 914, 308 wordsEach view of time has advantages and disadvantages. But the costs can be great. When our natural inner rhythms are out of synchronisation with clock time, stress results. Under the tyranny of clock time, Western industrialised society now finds that heart disease and related ills are leading cause of death. However, such “time illnesses” can be treated and prevented by changing the way we think about time, according to Dr.Dossey. He applies simple techniques that you can also use to change and master your own time:1) Unlock your life.Stop wearing a wristwatch. Time becomes much less a concern when we break the habit of looking at clocks or watches.2) Set your own inner sense of time.To illustrate that time is relative, Einstein observed that to a person sitting on a hot stove, two minutes could feel like two hours; to the young man with a pretty girl, two hours could seem like two minutes.3) Tap your bodys power to change time.We all possess an inborn ability to relax. Most people can summon it up merely by dismissing disturbing thoughts and by controlling their breathing-for example, by thinking the world “ one” with each outgoing breath. Within several minutes this can