1、Unit 11.我們都覺得在校時間不多了,以后再也不會有這樣的學習機會了,所以都下定決心不再虛度光陰。當然,下一年四五月份的期末考試最為重要。我們誰都不想考全班倒數第一,那也太丟人了,因此同學們之間的競爭壓力特別大。以前每天下午五點以后,圖書館就空無一人了,現在卻要等到天快亮時才會有空座,小伙子們熬夜熬出了眼袋,他們臉色蒼白,睡眼惺忪,卻很自豪,好像這些都是表彰他們勤奮好學的獎章。2.明天行嗎?明天只是個謊言;根本就沒有什么明天,只有一張我們常常無法兌現的期票。明天甚至壓根兒就不存在。你早上醒來時又是另一個今天了,同樣的規則又可以全部套用。明天只是現在的另一種說法,是一塊空地,除非我們開始在那

2、里播種,否則它永遠都是空地。你的時間會流逝(時間就在我們說話的當下嘀嗒嘀塔地走著,每分鐘順時針走60 秒,如果你不能很好地利用它,它會走得更快些,而你沒有取得任何成就來證明它的存在,唯獨留下遺憾,留下一面后視鏡,上面寫滿了“本可以做”、“本應該做”、“本來會做”的事情。1 Students differ about whether they should have their future mapped out when they are still at university. Some think they should have a definite goal and detailed

3、plan, so as to brace themselves for any challenges, whereas some others think they dont have to think much about the future, because future is full of uncertainties.2 After a very careful check-up, the scientist was told he had got a fatal disease. Although he knew that his life was ticking away, in

4、stead of complaining about the fate, the scientist decided to make the best of the remaining days, and speed up the research project he and his colleagues initiated, and have a shot at completing it ahead of schedule.Unit 21我的飛行夢像達利的風景畫那么真實可信,以致于自己常常會在一陣驚嚇中醒來,好像伊卡羅斯那樣從空中摔下來,雖然發現自己剛好掉到軟軟的床上,但也被嚇得喘不過氣

5、來。當超人開始侵入我的夢鄉,并教給我飛行的技巧之后,我每夜的太空冒險便開始了。超人身著耀眼的藍色衣服,肩披隨風颼颼作響的斗篷,經常從我身邊呼嘯而過。他長得太像我的舅舅弗蘭克了,舅舅那會兒正跟媽媽和我住在一起。當超人的斗篷神奇地旋轉時,我好像能聽見上百只海鷗的振翅聲,上千架飛機的馬達轟鳴聲。2相反,根據海倫·莫頓的研究,太平洋島國湯加的兒童經常挨父母和哥哥姐姐的打。人們認為兒童和成年人相比更像瘋子,因為他們缺乏被大家看重的社會能力(湯加人稱之為poto。小孩子經常因為笨手笨腳而挨罵,他們連摔跤都會被嘲笑、呵斥,甚至被打。人們認為兒童很頑皮,都是因為淘氣他們才哭鬧,或者要東西吃。在大人看

6、來,三至五歲的兒童尤其任性,因此他們打這個年齡段的孩子也打得最狠。父母們相信,只有靠訓導和體罰才能使孩子獲得社會能力,所以他們用一種在外人看來非常嚴厲的方式對待孩子。1At the railway station, an old man told me his experience in the Liberation War, the fighting stories of which were of great fascination to me. Then he got up on the train and it roared past me. But the stories were

7、so real and definite that I greatly marvelled at the courageous deeds of those war heroes.2 Effective environmental policy might bring about a good environment, as well as reducing energy consumption. Looking back on the recent development of this region, we find, to our pleasant surprise, that litt

8、le exception has been taken to the environmental policy of the local government, and the policy has also raised the environmental awareness of the local residents and prompted them to save energy as possible as they could.Unit 31可能的話,你不妨聽聽巴赫的平均律鋼琴曲集中的48個賦格主題。依次地、一個個地聽聽其中的每一個主題,你很快就會意識到每個主題都反映了一個不同的情

9、感世界,你很快也會意識到你越覺得某個主題美妙,就越難找到令你完全滿意的字眼來描述它。是的,你當然知道那個主題是歡快的還是悲傷的。換句話說,你能夠在腦海中勾勒出那個主題的情感框架。那么就更仔細地聽一下這個悲傷的主題吧,要明確悲傷的性質。是悲觀厭世的悲傷,還是無可奈何的悲傷?是時運不濟的悲傷,還是強顏歡笑的悲傷?2 我們對戴珍珠耳環的少女的了解比對維梅爾的其他作品都少。實際上,這種無法解釋的背景資料的缺失甚至會使得該畫更受歡迎。正因為如此神秘,這幅畫先是成了一部小說的主題,而后又被一部電影所采納。它們都試圖揭開有關這幅畫的一些謎題,其中一個是:女孩那雙睜得大大的眼睛,以及那一絲神秘的微笑,到底是天

10、真還是誘惑?像小說或電影這類媒介更適合作出回答。1 As the wedding ceremony was approaching, Susan had become quite anxious. Sh e could not pin down what exactly was troubling her. After a long talk with her close friend Kate, she realized that, although she was 28 years old, she was not emotionally mature enough to be ready

11、 for marriage and she was not sure whether the marriage wo uld guarantee her a happy family life.2 She knew that Chinese students had a way of shying away from revealing their feelings or opinions, due not merely to their lack of confidence in spoken English, but to their belief in the virtue of mod

12、esty. So she specially conceived a couple of simple topics and encouraged them in the discussion, in order that they might become more confident and closer with each other.Unit 41即使是那些從事市場研究工作的成年人也難很想象公關部的人每天都在做些什么。一名普通的系統分析師肯定不知道空間推銷員在店里都干些什么,就好像空間推銷員對分析系統的工具也一竅不通一樣。2不管怎么說,這就是那耳熟能詳的套話。可是,讓我們有這種論調的正

13、是緣自我們對新奇事物的過度迷戀,對深層次歷史模式的無知,以及我們的狂妄自大。為了證明相比于先輩們的優越性,我們夸耀說自己生活在一個前所未有的變革期。但是,有一個很好的例子可以用來證明,實際上我們并沒有生活在多么有趣的時代。1 We couldnt make of their proposal at all, because it was no easy job for us to come to grips with their perspective. It was a safe bet that we were as much baffled about their way of thin

14、king as they were about ours. I think we need to arrange a meeting to clear up misunderstandings and to remove communication barriers.2 From a biography written by one of his former colleagues who had worked with him for more than two decades, it is not difficult to conclude that what he represented

15、 was nothing if not the elite class of the country in the wake of World War II, who were rather conservative in terms of religious and political views.Unit 51喬希打了個冷戰,他打開手里的紙條核對了一下地址。之前他沒來過喬安妮餐廳,但對于它的鼎鼎大名卻早有耳聞,倒不是因為這里的飯菜有多美味,其實這里的菜品屢遭惡評,也不是因為這里的爵士管弦樂隊有一位知名電影導演客串吹小號,而是因為這里匯集了有頭有臉的賓客,可以說是星光璀璨,他們中有政客、外交

16、家、電影明星、載入名人堂的體育明星、記者、作家、搖滾明星、諾貝爾獎得主等等總之,這里的每一位客人都是這座權力之城里的一個人物。2 在這個真實的故事里,瑞典人和沙特人對人際關系在商業中的作用有著不同的理解。對瑞典人來說,他們是在和一個公司做生意;但對沙特人來說,他們是在和一個他們了解并且信任的人做生意。只要他們對某個人還不夠了解,就會讓一位雙方都認識并信任的中間人或介紹人在場,這樣做會比較方便。這兩種文化的差異源于人類社會的一個根本問題:即個人角色與集體角色的問題。1 This young man liked reading detective stories. After finished r

17、eading Holmes stories, he thought he had known the detectives skills inside out and started to investigate a case of robbery. After a few weeks of close investigation, he tracked down three suspects, who turned out to be abroad when the robbery took place.2 In this book, we do find some differences

18、between the two cultures. But instead of dwelling on the differences, the author presents lengthy discussions on things they have in common, of which their loyalty to work are most thoroughly touched upon.Unit 61我想起我們消防員平常總互相打趣說:“在大火中見吧。”或者是“我們肯定會在大火中碰面的。”我不知道這種說法是怎么來的,或者我自己是從什么時候開始說起這種話來的,但這就是我們的暗語

19、。意思是不管這場火有多大,以后在別處還會有比這更大的。我們能安然無恙地度過這場火,也會安然無恙地度過下一場火。遇到一場大火時,我總是這么說,也總聽別人這么說,可現在,我呆在這兒,想著自己再也不會說這樣的話了,也不會再聽到別人這么說了,因為再也不會有比這更大的火了。這會是我們大家一輩子都在說的那場大火,如果以前就在這一個個令人膽戰心驚的瞬間之前我沒有認識到這一點的話,現在這渾厚的、不祥的響聲印證了這一點。2作為聯合國人權委員會的首任主席,羅斯福監督了世界人權宣言歷時兩年的起草和通過的全過程。此外, 她和蘇聯代表的交鋒讓一位共和黨人從椅子上朝前探過身來,說出了下面一番話因為怕被當成是民主黨的支持者

20、,他不愿意透露自己的姓名“如果你想知道我對羅斯福夫人的看法,那我會說她真是了不起! 羅斯福夫人有一種獨特的能力,能讓其他國家的代表清楚地了解我們的立場。要用平常的語言來評價她高超的外交手腕,一時間還真不知道該怎么說。”1 People are quite puzzled about the fact that he has stuck with the same job for 30 years when most people of his age have changed at least four or five jobs. Maybe for him there is no point

21、 in changing jobs for a higher pay or for the thrill of experiencing something new. The only thing that matters, in his point of view, is stability.2 Most members of the association believe that they need to lobby as hard as possible to make sure that the plan will be approved by the government. Its

22、 essential to win over some of the naysayers among the policy makers. Tough though it will be, they have made up their mind to make utmost effortsUnit 71司機不趕時間的時候碰到的紅燈其實和趕時間的時候一樣多;只是如果時間不緊急,紅燈帶來的不便要小得多。認為紅燈出現的次數比綠燈多其實是一種錯覺。產生這種錯覺的原因很簡單,因為司機有更多的時間去想紅燈,而綠燈的時候,車子幾秒鐘之內就疾馳而過了這其實和在暢通的公路上開車沒有任何區別而紅燈卻迫使司機改變

23、行為,一小會兒的時間里要強迫自己努力一下,承受點壓力,還要失去一兩分鐘的自由。所以紅燈會深深地印在司機的腦海里,而綠燈轉瞬間就被拋到腦后了。2 人人都能學會唱歌嗎?在撰寫我最新出版的唱著歌的尼安德特人一書時,這個問題就一直縈繞在我的心頭。我做的研究讓我相信音樂才能是深深植根于人類基因中的,從進化史的角度來說,它比人類的口頭語言都要古老得多。可是我本人一唱起歌來不是跑調,就是跟不上節奏。朋友們和學術同僚們都說,那都是因為我小時候對音樂失去了興趣,只要上幾節音樂課,我一定能放聲歌唱。也許他們是對的。記得小時候,音樂老師們讓我在全班同學面前獨“唱”,讓我覺得很丟臉。所以后來一有機會,我就躲開音樂,3

24、5 年來從來沒有參加過任何音樂活動。說不定學一學我也能唱得不錯。1 The media doubt the claim that the two consecutive tragedies were independent of each other, and are dissatisfied with the fact that the President was not responsive immediately. When it comes to his competence in running the government, the media have long lost the

25、ir trust, if only he could do well in his subsequent term.2 Keep remembering that do not humiliate your child because they dont gain good grades, as their memory of the humiliation will haunt them for a long time, turn them off from learning at an early age and prevent them from gaining positive att

26、itudes towards life. The development of children can be sustained only when parents identify the strengths in their children and encourage them from time to time.Unit 81在國際婦女節那一天, 蘇聯的婦女們沐浴在男性所給予的愛意和感激之中。因為這一天是假日,早上她們不用去上班,可以懶洋洋地躺在床上。而她們的丈夫們則要為全家人做早飯,雖然嘴里罵罵咧咧的,還弄得鍋碗瓢盆叮當亂響;到了十點,丈夫頗為自豪地把煎得焦糊糊、皺巴巴的雞蛋端到妻子跟前。盤子邊上還放著一束鮮花,一份小禮物,可能是一瓶香水或者一雙褲襪,妻子會高興得大叫起來,激動好一會兒,直到孩子們怒氣沖沖地跑過來,小臉漲得通紅,鬧著要媽媽給他們做一頓像樣的早餐。2不管是好是壞, 世界在過去二十多年間所經歷的變化可能比過去兩百年間所經歷的還要多。為了讓彼此間聯系得更緊密,營造出一個真正的地球村,我們消耗了更多的資源,燒掉了更多的能源,造成了更多的污染,滅殺了更多的