英语泛读教程1

1、,Jack London杰克.伦敦,A famous American writer Born on January 12, 1876 in California. His family was very poor, and Jack had to leave school to make money. He worked hard in many different jobs. Later, Jack returned to school. But didnt stay long. In the year 1897, he went to Alaska to find gold. Inste

2、ad of getting much gold, he found ideas for his books and stories. He went back home and began to write. His writing were warmly welcomed and he became rich and famous when he was under thirty . But Jack London was not a happy man. In poor health. He took his own life in 1916. He was then only forty

3、 years old.,About Jack,Jack believed in self-struggle, and strove very hard to be the strong of life, because he learnt the law of the nature ,the strong conquered the weak. He also held very active and enthusiastic attitude toward life. The following quotation may fully illustrate what he was . Jac

4、k I would rather be ashes than dust. I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than that it should be stifled by dry-rot . I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow , than a sleepy and permanent planet . The proper function of man is to LIVE. I s

5、hall not waste my days trying to prolong them . I shall use my time .,死后，我宁愿是一堆骨灰而不是化为尘土。我宁愿是一颗闪亮的火星投入熊熊燃烧的火焰，而不愿在死灰中窒息。我宁愿是华美的流星，让每一颗粒子都绽放光芒，而不是做沉沉闷闷的，不停绕行的行星。生活应是人的本分。我不会为延长生命而活着，我为生活而活。,Translation 热爱生命,The call of the wild野性的呼唤By Jack London,The Call Of The Wild,Although it is a short story abou

6、t a dog, Buck, it vividly depicts the life in the primitive North where people rushed for gold and fortune. Buck, used to belong to a judge, was kidnapped and sold to North. Then he became a member of a dog-team pulling a sled (雪橇). In the days of pulling a snow-sled, he learned to conform to the la

7、w of nature and obey the master. Finally, he found a basic instinct hidden inside him, which enabled himself to survive the tough environment. This is the call of the wild.,The Call of the Wild,Plot Summary,故事 发展,在一个法官的家里过着养尊处优的生活 被法官那贪婪的助手给拐卖到一个训练狗拉雪橇的人手里 到严寒的阿拉斯加岛上 拉雪橇 受尽了皮 肉和精神的双重折磨 渐渐适应了没有人性的生活

8、打败了他的对手，当 上 了领头军 换了主人，受尽鞭打。仁慈的桑顿带着他离开了 桑顿被土著居民打死，暴怒的巴克为了给主人报仇咬死了许多人 野性在向他呼唤，他加入了狼群，走向了那本属于他的野性,Buck, the main character, is a Saint Bernard and Scotch Shepherd cross, which gives him the appearance of an exceptionally large dog that looks similar to a wolf. Buck leads a comfortable life as the pet o

9、f Judge Miller in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley of Northern California. Judge Millers gardeners assistant, Manuel, along with a friend, abducts the dog and sells him to a trainer of sled dogs, which were in great demand due to the discovery of “a yellow metal” in the frozen lands of the Yukon, A

10、laska. Slowly introduced to the brutality of his new life, Buck is forced to survive and adapt to conditions in Alaska and the Yukon. He works pulling sleds with other dogs, learns to steal food, and engages in power struggle with other dogs for the lead position in the sled team. He becomes the lea

11、der of the sled team after defeating his enemy Spitz in a battle.,More Details,He then is exchanged to a mail carrier. He changes hands to a trio of （三人组成的）incompetent (不称职的)owners, and is nearly starved and beaten to death. Eventually acquired by a kind and loving owner, John Thornton. When Thornto

12、n is killed by “Yeehat” native Americans, Buck goes into a beastly（很，极） rage and kills several members of the native tribe. Buck returns to the wild and becomes the alpha male of a wolf pack he met a few days before the death of Thornton. Of the world Buck enters, Jack writes the salient thing of th

13、is other world seemed fearful. It is a world of dream that Buck enters, when he becomes something of a legend, The Ghost Dog.,Major Themes,Survival of the Fittest Jack London believed in Herbert Spencers theory of survival of the fittest, which means basically that an organism or group that is bette

14、r suited to an environment will have a better chance for survival than an animal or group that is less suited. In other words, Spencer suggested that learning did not play a great role in the survival of a species. More often it had to do with luck - a major environmental change would suddenly make

15、one group of organisms better off than it had been before, and they would therefore live longer and reproduce more. London clearly makes use of the idea of survival of the fittest in The Call of the Wild. By chance, Bucks environment undergoes a tremendous change - he is kidnapped and taken from a s

16、un-kissed, easy existence to the wilds of the Klondike. Buck survives because he was genetically more suited to that environment than many of the other dogs who were there. He did not need to learn much of anything - the instincts for survival were handed down by his ancestors - a more poetic versio

17、n of genetic inheritance. London takes the idea even more literally than is necessary. If Buck had remained in Santa Clara, he would not have passed on his genetic traits, for there were no suitable mates available to him. At the end of The Call of the Wild it reads that the years were not many when

18、 the Yeehats noted a change in the breed of timber wolves; for some were seen with splashes of brown on head and muzzle, and with a rift of white centered down the chest. Buck has had many children, children who will inherit from Buck all of the experience and fitness of their ancestors.,The power o

19、f Instinct This theme also relates to Londons interest in Charles Darwins and Herbert Spensers work. For the first time there was a scientific theory, which suggested that human beings as well as animals have natural instincts which are merely things passed down through the genetic code. In The Call

20、 of the Wild, London dwells a great deal on animal instinct, for Bucks ability to listen to his instinct both makes him more and more powerful and draws him more and more deeply towards the wild. When Buck leads the team into John Thorntons camp, he does not consciously know why he does not get up.

21、He is as capable of continuing as the other dogs, and he has no desire to be killed. Instead, he unconsciously sensed that the snow and ice under his feet were getting weaker and weaker. His instincts told him to go no further, and he obeyed them, saving his life. One of the unique features of Londo

22、ns novel is that he also writes about human instincts. Men like Francois, Perrault, John Thornton and his partners have shaken off the trappings of civilization, and London implies that this change allows them better access to their instincts. Consequently, they thrive on the trail, making it throug

23、h multiple dangerous incidents because they trust their impulsive reactions. In contrast, Hal, Mercedes and Charles possess instincts, like all human beings, but they are so suffused with the notions of civilized life that they are unable to access them. London emphasizes the value of instincts, and

24、 he certainly presents their reassertion as a positive feature of a more natural, wilder lifestyle.,Loyalty Power Companionship The joy of labor The Virtue of Humanity,He did not steal for joy of it, but because of the clamor of his stomach. He did not rob openly , but stole secretly and cunningly , out of respect for club and fang. In short ,the things he did were done because it was easier to de them than not to do them.,Some Vivid Sentences,他偷东西不是为了从中得到乐趣，而是因为肚子太饿。他不明目张胆地去抢，而是耍点小手腕去偷，这是考虑到木棒和利齿所致。简言之，他之所以这么做是因为做比不做更容易些。,Thus, as token of what a puppet thing life is, the an