模块七 Unit 1阅读材料中英文对照版

均发

30

条。人们在短信中谈论什么呢？尽管这 些短信在当时总是看似重要，但第二天大多

数人并不能真的记得它们。

< br>电话和短信

意在与许多人建立感情关系

。

然而，

这样建立起来的

交情常常是相当浅的。

许多青少年说，

虽然他们有很多朋友，

但事实上 他们却没有最好的朋

友。之所以会这样，

一个原因就是通信技术 的应用

代替

了面对面的交谈。同时，

真 正的关系

往往被牺牲

了，而且，每当电话铃声响起时，个人所拥 有的任何宁静都会被打破。

总的说来

，

阿曼门诺派教徒的

心理健康程度高

于 大多数人。

他们

过着非常平静而稳定的

生活

，

因为他们

看重社区和宁静生活， 并视其高于其他的一切

，特别是新技术。也许他们是

对的。

也许我们应该把所有的电话连同小汽车和电视机一起扔进垃圾箱。

也 许我们应该

使我

们自己摆脱现代技术

， 回到更为简单的时代。

那是什么？??对不起，我得走了。我的电话响了??

M7U1 READING

This article will focus on two drugs that started revolutions in medicine. If

you open up any medicine cupboard or go to any medicine counter in the

world, it is likely that you will find aspirin and penicillin. Both of these

medicines have saved millions of people's lives and have proved beneficial to

mankind since they were invented.

Aspirin

Aspirin was invented in 1897. However, the basic chemical used to make aspirin

can be found in nature. Nearly 3,500 years ago, people chewed on leaves or

drank a kind of tea made from leaves possessing a special chemical to reduce

body pains and fever. About 2,500 years ago, the Greek physician Hippocrates,

father of all doctors, made a juice from a tree bark containing salicylic acid for

the same effect. It was in 1897 that a European chemist called Dr Felix

Hoffmann produced aspirin from this chemical. The first trials of this medicine

took place in 1899, when the company Hoffmann worked for began

distributing the medicine in powder form to physicians to use with patients. A

year later, in 1900, aspirin was sold in shops in the form of tablets. Within a

short time, aspirin became the best-selling medicine in the world for pain relief

Not only has aspirin proved vital for reducing fever and helping stop pain,

but there are also other things that aspirin can help with. Lawrence Craven,

a doctor from the USA, introduced the idea in 1953 that aspirin had the

potential to reduce the risk of heart attacks, because it helped the blood

circulate better. The report was ignored. However, in 1971, Smith and Willis

from the UK proved that aspirin could have that effect, and in 1977 a study

carried out in the USA showed that aspirin could prevent strokes, as well.

Eleven years later, Dr Thun from the USA showed that aspirin could reduce

the risk of some cancers by 40 per cent. In 1999, aspirin was over 100 years

old, and yet there have been more discoveries about how it can help increase

the length of people's lives. In 2003, a Chinese doctor, Dr Yuan Minsheng,

found that aspirin could reduce blood sugar levels and, therefore, help people

with diabetes.

Another drug that has helped increase the standard of people's health is

penicillin, which is considered by many to be one of the most important

medicines in contemporary society. It was discovered by a Scottish scientist

named Alexander Fleming in 1928. He noted that a dish in which he was

trying to grow bacteria for an experiment looked abnormal--there was blue

mould in it. It astonished him to see the bacteria surrounding the mould

dead, which meant that the mould had killed them. Fleming tried this mould

out on another bacterium and found that it killed the bacterium too. He

immediately realized that the mould might have an application in treating

illnesses caused by bacteria. He named the liquid made from the mould

'penicillin'. However, the development of penicillin as a drug faced two

problems. First, he was unable to find a procedure to make penicillin pure

M7U1 READING

enough to work as a medicine. Second, it was difficult to produce penicillin in

the ample quantities needed to be effective. In 1940, two other scientists,

Howard Florey (Australian) and Ernst Chain (German-born English), helped

solve these problems, and managed to make and test the new drug in large

quantities. Since the new drug was needed for World War II, the government

approval process for penicillin was accelerated, and mass production began in

1944. Due to the widespread use of penicillin, many lives were saved during

the war. If penicillin had not been available, many people would have died

from sickness or even small wounds. Penicillin became the greatest drug of

the 20th century, saving millions of lives.

In 1945, the three scientists, Fleming, Florey and Chain, shared the Nobel

Prize in Medicine for their work.

Magic needles: Chinese acupuncture

One of the most famous Chinese medical treatments is the art of 'magic

needles', or Chinese acupuncture. It was developed long ago, perhaps as early

as 2000 BC. There is evidence that acupuncture began during the Stone Age,

when stone tools called bian (

砭

) were used to press areas of the body.

As acupuncture developed, the simple bian stones were replaced by stone

needles. Eventually, metal needles began to appear and took their place. There

were nine different kinds of needles. These included a needle with a head like

an arrow, used for making shallow holes in the surface of the skin; a needle

with a round tip, used for pressing the tissue under the skin; a dull needle,

used for tapping against pressure points; and a needle like a small sword, used

for letting liquid out of body parts which had swollen up. These needles could

be made of different metals, such as gold and silver. Some acupuncturists

today still use gold and silver needles, but the majority use only stainless steel

ones. The main needle now used for acupuncture is fine and sharp. Most of

the others have been replaced by more complex medical instruments. For

example, the needle looking like a sword has been replaced by a sharp knife

that doctors use in operations.

Acupuncture uses stainless steel needles that are put into the skin at certain

points on the body so that a disease can be cured or a health problem solved.

These points are called acupuncture points. When acupuncture was first

practised, there were 365 such points. The number of acupuncture points was

the same as the number of days in a year. However, over the last 2,000 years,

this number has gradually increased to about 2,000. Some acupuncturists

insert needles at or near the body part affected by the disease, while others

select points according to the symptoms that the patient has.

If you go to an acupuncturist, he or she will ask you questions about your

medical history and your way of life. The acupuncturist will look at the colour of

your skin and your tongue, listen to your breathing, and check your pulses.

M7U1 READING

Western medicine only recognizes one pulse which indicates the heartbeat.

However, according to traditional Chinese medicine, there are twelve

different pulses, six on each wrist, and every one of them is connected with a

major body organ or its function. By checking all the pulses, the

acupuncturist can find out which energy channel does not have enough

energy.

Some of the medical problems that can be treated by acupuncture include

severe pains, headaches, injuries, stomach problems and high blood

pressure. Some people have also used acupuncture to treat smokers,

alcoholics and people who are addicted to drugs.

How acupuncture reduces pain is not clear. One theory explaining this

phenomenon suggests that acupuncture blocks pain signals from reaching

the brain. Another theory relates acupuncture to the production of chemicals

in the body which reduce pain. A lot of people now subscribe to these

theories.

As a unique contribution of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture spread

to many other Asian countries, such as Japan, as early as

the 6th century. It was introduced to the West in the 17th

century. Today acupuncture has become popular round the

world, as have other traditional Chinese medicines. The

World Health Organization recommends acupuncture as a

good treatment for over forty medical problems. While

doubts about its safety have faded away, interest continues

to grow.

My name is Zhu Fei and I am speaking in favour of the Internet

I believe that

the Internet has positive effects on our lives. There are two main points which

must be included when we analyse the Internet. The first is its value for people

who are looking for information. The second is our ability to relate to others

through the Intemet.

When people need information, from the news and weather forecasts to travel

packages and academic research, the Internet is now the first source they turn to.

With the touch of a button or the click of a mouse, a student will find abundant

information from the largest libraries and museums in the world at his or her

command. Internet users can communicate with experts on all sorts of topics, and

read articles written by people who are leaders of their fields.

Yet, some people are sceptical. They claim that surfing the Internet is a waste of

time. They make the assumption that children spend too much time chatting and

playing games instead of focusing on their school work. However, a recent survey

conducted in the USA shows that 80 per cent of Intemet users employ it mostly to

search for answers to questions. The second most common use of the Internet, for

79 per cent of Internet users, is to find out information about hobbies. These

statistics prove that gathering information is the primary use for the Internet.

M7U1 READING

Another truly wonderful aspect of the Internet is the way people use it to build

social bonds. One of the greatest benefits of Internet friendships is that they are

based on common interests, rather than appearance or age. Young people from

diverse backgrounds and different countries can form friendships that will last

their entire lives. What is more, people who are disabled and must stay in their

homes can correspond and communicate with others around the globe who have

similar interests. Without the Internet, these people would have fewer avenues to

meet people.

For these reasons, I believe the Internet is a positive tool that helps make our lives

better.

Unit 3

The Internet has negative effects on our lives

My name is Li Lei and I will be speaking against the Internet. In my opinion, the

Internet has negative effects on our lives. The main drawbacks of the Internet I will

address today are that it has too much information that has not been evaluated for

accuracy, and that it is transforming the way people spend their time.

Of course, access to up-to-date, accurate information is an important thing for

anyone who is doing research. One great strength of the Internet is that it

provides information. One great weakness of the Internet, though, is that it is

difficult to know whether the information is true and accurate. The huge

amount of false information on the Internet becomes more of a problem every

day. This is very troublesome because we cannot always tell if the information is

true or not. In 2003, eBay, a famous website where people buy and sell things,

said that 70 per cent of their problems were with people who sold things that

did not exist, or who lied about the products they were selling. Educators

around the world complain that students are handing in papers using false

information they found on the Internet. These problems do not occur as often

when people use traditional reference materials, such as books, newspapers and

magazines.

Another disadvantage of the Internet is the way that it is affecting people's

private lives. Now, instead of spending time together in the evening, some

families spend their time apart because one or more members are using the

computer, or are in a booth at an Internet cafe. In fact, some young people

spend so much time playing computer games on the Internet that they have

become addicted to them. To help solve this problem, a special clinic was

opened in Beijing in 2005.

One unfortunate outcome of Internet use is that it damages people's ability to

live normal lives. One university did a study about the students who had

dropped out, and found that 43 per cent of them were heavy internet users.

This study shows that people who spend too much time on the Internet tend to

withdraw from the people and the world round them.

These are all negative effects the Internet has on our lives. I feel it is important

for us either to limit our use of the Internet, or to learn how to handle the