-
Unit 1
An impressive English
lesson
1 If
I
am
the
only
parent
who
still
corrects
his
child's
English,
then
perhaps
my
son
is
right. To
him,
I
am
a tedious oddity:
a
father
he
is
obliged to
listen
to
and
a
man absorbed in the rules of grammar,
which my son seems allergic to.
2 I
think I got serious about this only recently when
I ran into one of my former students,
fresh from an excursion to Europe.
3 She
nodded
three
or
four
times,
searched
the
heavens
for
the
right
words,
and
then exclaimed,
4 And
that
was
it. The civilization of
Greece
and
the
glory
of
Roman
architecture were captured in
a
condensed non-statement. My
student's
was exceeded only by my
head-shaking distress.
5 There are many
different stories about the downturn in the proper
use of English. Surely
students
should
be
able
to distinguish
between
their
/
there
/
they're
or
the
distinctive difference
between
complimentary
and
complementary
. They
unfairly
bear
the
bulk of the criticism for these
knowledge deficits because
there is a
sense
that they
should know
better.
6 Students are not dumb, but
they are being misled everywhere they look and
listen. For
example,
signs
in grocery stores
point
them
to
the
stationary
,
even
though
the
actual
stationery
items
—
pads, albums and
notebooks
—
are
not
nailed
down. Friends
and loved ones
often proclaim they've just
ate
when, in fact, they've
just
eaten
. Therefore,
it doesn't make any sense to criticize
our students.
7 Blame for the scandal
of this language deficit should be thrust upon our
schools, which
should be setting high
standards of English language proficiency.
Instead, they only teach
a
little
grammar
and
even
less
advanced
vocabulary.
Moreover,
the
younger
teachers
themselves
evidently have little knowledge of these vital
structures of language because
they
also went without exposure to them. Schools fail
to adequately teach
the
essential
framework of
language, accurate grammar and proper vocabulary,
while they should take
the
responsibility of pushing the young onto the path
of competent communication.
8 Since
grammar is boring to most of the young students, I
think that it must be handled
delicately, step by step. The chance
came when one day I was driving with my son. As we
set
out
on
our
trip,
he
noticed
a
bird
in jerky flight
and
said,
flying
so
unsteady.
carefully
asked,
son,
how
is
the
bird
flying?
wrong?
Did
I
say
anything
incorrectly?
incorrectly
instead of
incorrect
.
We use adverbs
to describe verbs.
Therefore, it's flying so
unsteadily
but not so
unsteady
.
9
Curious about my correction, he asked me what an
adverb was. Slowly, I said,
word that
tells you something about a
verb.
explained,
Drive
is the verb
because it's the thing Dad is
doing.
10 He became attracted to the
idea of action words, so we listed a few more:
fly, swim,
dive,
run
. Then, out of his own curiosity, he
asked me if other words had names for their
use and functions. This led to a
discussion of nouns, adjectives, and articles.
Within the
span of a 10-minute drive,
he had learned from scratch to the major parts of
speech in a
sentence. It was painless
learning and great fun!
11 Perhaps,
language should be looked upon as a road map and a
valuable possession:
often
study
the
road
map
(check
grammar)
and tune up
the
car
engine
(adjust vocabulary). Learning grammar
and a good vocabulary is
just like
driving with a
road map in a well-
conditioned car.
12 The road map
provides the framework and guidance you need for
your trip, but it won't
tell you
exactly what trees or flowers you will see, what
kind of people you will encounter,
or
what types of feelings you will be experiencing on
your journey. Here, the vocabulary
makes
the
journey's
true
colors
come
alive! A
good
vocabulary
enables
you
to
enjoy
whatever you see as you drive along.
Equipped with grammar and a good vocabulary, you
have
flexibility
and
excellent
control. While
the
road
map
guides
your
journey
to
your
destination,
an
excellent
vehicle
helps
you
to
fully
enjoy
all
of
the
sights,
sounds
and
experiences along the
way.
13 Effective, precise, and
beneficial communication depends upon grammar and
a good
vocabulary, the two essential
assets for students, but they are not being taught
in schools.
14 Just this morning, my
son and I were eating breakfast when I attempted
to add milk to
my tea.
15
my!
said,
swelling
with
pride
toward
my
son,
a
grammatically
perfect
sentence. You used
were
instead of
was
.
16
17 I was, like, whoa!
Translation
一堂难忘的英语课
1
如果我是唯一一个还在纠正小孩英语的家长，那么我儿子也许是对的。
对他而言，我是
一个乏味的怪物：
一个他不
得不听其教诲的父亲，
一个还沉湎于语法规则的人，
对此我儿子
似乎颇为反感。
2
我觉得我是在最近偶遇我以前的一位学生时，才开始对这个问题认真起来的。这个学生
< br>刚从欧洲旅游回来。我满怀着诚挚期待问她：
“
欧洲之行
如何？
”
3
她点了三四下头，绞尽脑汁，苦苦寻找恰当的词语，然后惊呼：
“
真是，哇！
”
4
没了。
所有希腊文明和罗马建筑的辉
煌居然囊括于一个浓缩的、不完整的语句之中！
我
的学生以
“
哇！
”
来表示她的惊叹，我只能以摇头表达比之更强烈的忧虑。
5
关于正确使用英语能力下降的问题，有许多不同的故事。
学生的确本应该能够区分诸如
their/there/they'
re
之间的不同，或区别
complimentary
跟
complementary
之间显而易见
的
差异。
由于这些知识缺陷，他们承
受着大部分不该承受的批评和指责，因为舆论认为他们
应该学得更好。
< br>
6
学生并不笨，他们只是被周围所看到和听到的语言误导了。
<
/p>
举例来说，杂货店的指示牌
会把他们引向
stationary
（静止处），虽然便笺本、相册、和笔记本等真正的
stationery
（文
具用品）并没有被钉在那
儿。朋友和亲人常宣称
They've
just
ate
。实际上，他们应该说
They've just
eaten
。
因此，批评学生不合乎情理。
7 <
/p>
对这种缺乏语言功底而引起的负面指责应归咎于我们的学校。学校应对英语熟练程度制
定出更高的标准。
可相反，学校只教零星
的语法，高级词汇更是少之又少。还有就是，学
校的年轻教师显然缺乏这些重要的语言结
构方面的知识，因为他们过去也没接触过。
学校
有责任教会年轻人进行有效的语言沟通，
可他们并没把语言的基本框架
——
准确的语法和恰
当的词汇
——
充分地传授给学生。
8
因为语法对大多数年轻学生而言枯燥且乏味，所以我觉得讲授语法得一步一步、注重技<
/p>
巧地进行。
有一天机会来了。我跟儿子开车外出。
我们出发时，他看到一只小鸟飞得很不
稳，
就说：
“
它飞的不稳。
”
（
It's flying so
unsteady.
）
我小心翼翼地
问：
“
儿子，
鸟怎么飞
?”
“
有
< br>问题吗？我说得不对吗？（
Did I say anything
incorrectly?
）
”
他一头雾水。
“
太好了，
你
说的是
incorrectly
而不
是
incorrect
。我们用副词来描述动词。所以，要用<
/p>
unsteadily
来描
述鸟飞
，而不是
unsteady
。
”
9
< br>他对我的纠正很好奇，
就问我什么是副词。
我慢慢解释道：
“
副词是用来修饰动词的词。
”
这
又导致了他询问我什么是动词。
<
/p>
我解释说：
“
动词是表示行为的词，例如
：爸爸开卡车。
‘
开
’
是动词，因为它是爸爸在做的事。
”
10
他开始对表示行为的词产生兴趣，
所以我们又罗列了几个动词：
“
飞行
”
、
“
游泳
”
、
“
跳水
”<
/p>
、
“
跑步
”
。
然后，他又好奇地问我，其他的词有没
有说明它们的用法和功能的名称。
这就引
发了我们对名词、形容词和冠词的讨论。
在短短十分钟的
驾驶时间内，他从对语法一无所
知到学会了句子中主要词语的词性。
这是一次毫无痛苦而又非常有趣的学习经历。
11
也许，语言应该被看成是一张路线图和一件珍品：我们要
常常查看路线图（核对语法）
和调整汽车的引擎（调节词汇）
。
学好语法和掌握大量的词汇就好比拿着路线图在车况良好
的车里驾驶。
12
路线图为你的旅行提供所需的基本路线和路途指南，可是它不会告诉你一路上你究竟会
看见什么树或什么花，你会遇见什么样的人，或会有什么样的感受。
这里，词汇会使你的
旅途变得五彩缤纷、栩栩如生。
大量的词汇让你享受到开车途中所见的点点滴滴。
借助语
法和丰富的词汇，你就有了灵活性，掌控自如。
路线图会把你带到目的地，而一台好车却
能让你完全陶醉
于旅途的所有景色、声音及经历之中。
13
对学生来说，有效、准确且富有成效的沟通技能取决于语法和词汇这两大有利条件，可
< br>是学校并没有教他们这些。
14
就在今天早上，我跟儿子吃早饭时，我想把牛奶加入我的茶里。
“
爸爸，
”
他说，
“
如果
我是你的话，我不会这样
做。牛奶会变酸。
（
If I were you, I
wouldn't do that. It's
sour.
）
”
15
“
哦，上帝！
< br>”
我满怀着无比的骄傲说道，
“
这是一句语法完全正确的句子。你用了
were
而不是
was
。
”
16 “
我知道，我知道，
< br>”
他愉悦地舒了口气，
“
这是虚
拟语气！
”
17
< br>这下轮到我
“
哇！
”
了。
Unit 2
The humanities: Out of date?
1 When the going gets tough, the tough
take accounting. When the job market worsens,
many
students calculate they
can't
major
in
English
or
history. They
have
to
study
something that boosts their prospects
of landing a job.
2 The
data
show
that
as
students
have
increasingly
shouldered
the
ever-rising
cost
of
tuition,
they have defected from the study of the
humanities and toward applied science
and
is
more
and
more
seen
as
a
means
for
economic
betterment
rather
than
a
means
for
human betterment. This
is a trend that is likely to persist and even
accelerate.
3 Over
the
next
few
years,
as
labor
markets
struggle,
the
humanities
will
probably
continue
their
long
slide
in succession. There
already
has
been
a
nearly
50
percent
decline
in
the
portion
of liberal arts
majors
over
the
past
generation,
and
it
is logical
to
think that the trend is bound to
continue or even accelerate. Once the dominant
pillars of
university
life,
the
humanities
now
play
little
roles
when
students
take
their
college
tours. These days, labs are more vivid
and compelling than libraries.
4 Here,
please allow me to stand up for and promote the
true value that the humanities
add to
people's lives. Since ancient times, people have
speculated about the mystery of
those
inner forces that drive some people to greatness
and others to self-destruction. This
inner
drive
has
been
called
many
things
over
the
centuries. The
famous
psychologist, Sigmund
Freud,
called
it
the
mind
or,
more
familiarly,
5 From
the
beginning
of
time,
this
inner
aspect
of
our
being,
this
drive
that
can
be
constructive
or destructive,
has
captured
our
imagination. The
stories
of
this
amazing
struggle have formed the basis of
cultures the world over. Historians, architects,
authors,
philosophers and
artists
have
captured
the
words,
images
and
meanings
of
this
inner
struggle in the form
of story, music, myth, painting, architecture,
sculpture, landscape and
traditions.
These men and women developed artistic
these
aspirations
and
also
educate
generations. This fertile body
of
work
from
ancient
times, the very
foundation of civilization, forms the basis of
study of the humanities.
6 Studying the
humanities improves our ability to read and write.
No matter what we do in
life, we will
have a huge advantage if we can read complex ideas
and understand their
meaning. We will
have a bright career if we are the person in the
office who can write a
clear and
elegant analysis of those ideas!
7
Studying
the
humanities
makes
us
familiar
with
the
language
of
emotion
and
the
creative process. In an
information economy, many people have the ability
to produce a
useful product such as a
new MP3 player. Yet, very few people have the
ability to create a
spectacular brand:
the
iPod. Most
importantly,
studying
the
humanities invests us
with
great insight and
self-awareness, there by releasing our
creative
energy and
talent
in
a
positive and
constructive manner.
8 Perhaps the best
argument in favor of the humanities is the scope
of possibilities that
are widely open
to us. Did you know that James Cameron, world-
famous director of the
movie,
Titanic
,
graduated
with
a
degree
in
the
humanities? So
did Sally
Ride,
the
first
woman in space. So did actors Bruce
Lee, Gwyneth Paltrow, Renee Zellweger and Matt
Damon. Dr. Harold
Varmus,
who
won
a
Nobel
Prize
for
Medicine,
studied
the
humanities. Even Michael
Eisner,
Chairman
of
the
Disney
Company,
majored
in
the
humanities. Famous people who studied
the humanities make a long list indeed. It's easy
to
see
that
the
humanities
can
prepare
us
for
many
different
careers
and
jobs
we
can undertake,
whether
medicine,
business,
science
or
entertainment. If
we
study
only
mathematics,
it's
likely
we
will
be
a candidate only
for
jobs
as
a
mathematician. If
we
include
studying the
humanities, we
can make breakthroughs on many barriers and
are
limited only by our
effort and imagination.
9 Of
course,
nowadays,
if
we
study
the
humanities
alone,
we
are
liable to
miss
many
opportunities. Each one of us needs to
become as technically and professionally skilled
as
possible
to
help
meet
the
needs
of
modern
life. In
fact,
increasingly
a
pairing
of
technical
knowledge
and
inner
insight
is
seen
as
the
ideal
in
the establishment of
a
career. If I were the Dean of
Admissions at a medical school and two people
applied to our
school, both having the
required basic scientific courses, one a
philosophy major and the
other solely a
pre-med student, the philosophy applicant would be
chosen.
10 In summary, the humanities
help to create well-rounded human beings with
insight and
understanding
of
the
passions,
hopes
and
dreams
common
to
all
humanity. The
humanities,
the ancient timeless reservoir of knowledge, teach
us to see things differently
and
broaden
our horizons. They
are as
useful and
relevant
in
our modern age
as they
have
always
been.
Doesn't
it
make
sense
to
spend
some
time
in
the
company
of
the
humanities,
our outstanding and
remarkable
treasure
of
knowledge? Who
knows
how
famous
YOU might become!
Translation
人文学科：过时了吗？
1
当形势变得困难时，强者会去选学会计。
当就业市场恶化时，许多学生估算着他们不能
再主修英语或历史。他们得学一些能改
善他们就业前景的东西。
2
数据显
示，随着学生肩负的学费不断增加，他们已从学习人文学科转向他们相信有益于
将来就业
的应用科学和
“
硬
”
< br>技能。
换言之，
大学教育越来
越被看成是改善经济而不是提升人
类自身的手段。
这种趋势可能会持续，甚至有加快之势。
3
在未来几年内，由于劳动力市场的不景气，人文学科可能会
继续其长期低迷的态势。
在
上一代大
学生中，主修文科的学生数跌幅已近
50%
。这种趋势会持续、
甚至加速的想法是
合情合理的。
人文
学科曾是大学生活的重要支柱，而今在学生们的大学游中却只是一个小
点缀。现在，实验
室要比图书馆更栩栩如生、受人青睐。
4
< br>在这儿，请允许我为人文学科给人们的生活所增添的真实价值进行支持和宣传。
自古以
来，
人们一直在思索人类自身具
有什么神奇的内力使一些人变得崇高伟大，
而使另一些人走
向自
我毁灭。
几个世纪以来，这股内力被称作很多东西。
< br>著名的心理学家西格蒙德
·
弗洛伊
德称之为
“
潜意识
”
，或更为人熟知的
“
本能
”<
/p>
。
5
从一开
始，
人类这股可以是建设性也可以是毁灭性的内在驱动力，
就令
我们心驰神往。
这
些惊人的、充满内
心挣扎的故事形成了世界文化的基础。
历史学家、建筑师、作
家、哲学
家和艺术家们以故事、音乐、神话、绘画、建筑、雕刻、风景画和传统的形式，
捕捉到了这
些撞击心灵的文字、
形象及内涵。
< br>
这些男男女女创造出了具有艺术性的
“
语言
”
，
帮助我们了
解人类的这些强烈愿望，并用以教育一代又一代人。
< br>从古时起开始的这些充满想象的大量
作品，正是文明的底蕴，它奠定了人文研究的
基础。
6
学习人文学科会提高我们的阅读和写作能力。
无论我们这一生中从事什么职业，如果我
们能读懂复杂的思想并理解它们的内涵
，我们都会受益匪浅。
如果我们是在办公室里能对
这些思想写出既明确又简洁的分析的人，我们会有光明的职业前景。
7
学习人文学科会让我们熟悉表达情感的语言及进行创造的过程。
在信息经济中，很多人
都有能力创造出一个如新的
MP3
播放器那样的有用产品。
< br>然而，
仅有很少的人具有能力创
造出一个如
iPod
那样的精彩品牌。
最重要的是，
学习人文学科使我们具有伟大的洞察力和
自我意
识，从而以积极和建设性的方式来发挥我们的创造力和才艺。
8
也许，支持人文学科的最好论点是，人文学科为我们提供了
广阔的机会。
你知道世界闻
名的电影
《泰坦尼克号》的导演詹姆斯
·
卡梅隆拿的是人文学科的学位吗
？第一个登上太空
的女宇航员萨利
·
赖
德拿的也是人文学科的学位。
还有电影演员李小龙、格温妮丝
·
帕特洛、
蕾妮
·
齐薇格及马特
·
达蒙，也都如此。
获诺贝尔医学奖的哈罗德
·
瓦慕斯博士也学过人文学
科。
甚至迪士尼公司的总裁迈克尔
·
艾斯纳也主修人文学科
。
学习人文学科的有名人士确实
可以
列出一长串。
显而易见，人文学能为我们从事许多不同的职业
做准备，不管是医学、
商务、科学或娱乐。
如果我们仅学习数学，我们很可能只能申请数学家之类的工作。
如果
我们还学了人文学科，那我们就能突破许多障碍，只要我们
愿意付出努力，敢于想象。
9
当然，在当下，如果我们单学人文学科，可能会失去很多机会。
我们每个人都需要尽可
能变得技能化、职业化，以满足现代生活
的需要。
事实上，技术知识和内在洞察力的结合
越来越被看成是建立职业生涯的理想搭配。
如果我
是某个医学院的招生部主任，有两个人
同时申请我们学校，
这两
个人都学过基础的科学课程，
一个主修哲学，
另一个仅是医学院
的
预科生，我会选择那位哲学专业的申请者。
10
总之，
人文学科帮助造就全面发
展的人，
这些人具有洞察力，
并理解全人类共有的激情、
希望和理想。
人文学科，这个古老、永恒的
知识储蓄库，教我们如何以不同的方式看待事
物，同时也拓宽我们的视野。
在现代社会中，人文学科一如既往地同生活息息相关，也发
挥着重要作用。
我们在学习中花一些时间与人文学科
——
我们杰出、非凡的知识宝藏
——<
/p>
相伴，这难道不是明智的吗？
谁知道你将来会变得多有名气呢！
Unit 5
Spend or save
—
The student's dilemma
1 Do you feel as confused and
manipulated as I do with this question,
should
I
save?
think
that
the
messages
we
get
from
our
environment
seem
to defy common
sense
and contradict each
other.
The
government
tells
us
to
spend
or
we'll never get out of
the recession. At the same time, they tell us that
unless we save
more,
our
country
is
in
grave danger. Banks
offer
higher
interest
rates
so
we
increase
savings. Then the
same banks send us credit card offers so we can
spend more.
2 Here's
another
familiar
example:
If
we
don't
pay
our
credit
card
bill
on
time,
we
get
demanding, nasty emails
from
the
credit
card
company
saying
something
like:
failure to pay is
unacceptable. Pay immediately or you'll be in
trouble!
we pay, we get a follow-up
email in a charming tone telling us how valuable a
customer
we
are
and
encouraging
us
to resume spending.
Which depiction is
correct:
a
failing
consumer
in
trouble
or
a
valued
customer? The gap
between
these
two
messages
is
enormous.
3 The paradox is
that
every
day
we
get
two
sets
of
messages
at odds with
each
other. One is the
other
we
could
call
an
which urges us,
hard
and
save. Suspend your desires. Avoid
luxuries. Control your appetite for more than you
truly
need.
from
political
figures
referring
to
values
work,
family
loyalty,
and
the
capacity
to postpone desires are core American values that
have made our country great.
4 But the
opposite message, advertising's permissive
message, is inescapable. Though
sometimes disguised, the messages are
everywhere we look: on TV, in movies on printed
media
and
road
signs,
in
stores,
and
on
busses,
trains
and
subways. Advertisements
invade our daily lives. We are
constantly surrounded
by the
message
to
spend,
spend,
spend. Someone recently said,
in your bed asleep!
5 It's
been calculated that by the age of 18, the average
American will have seen 600,000
ads;
by
the
age
of
40,
the
total
is
almost
one
million. Each
advertisement
is
doing
its utmost to
influence our diverse buying decisions, from the
breakfast cereal we eat to
which cruise
line we will use for our vacation. There is no
shortage of ideas and things to
buy!
Now, of course, we don't remember exactly what the
products were, but the essential
message
is cemented into
our
consciousness,
good
to
satisfy
your
desires.
You
should
have
what
you
want.
You
deserve
the
best.
So,
you
should
buy
it
—
now!
famous advertisement
said it perfectly,
makes
me
feel
good.
I
derive pleasure
from
nice
things
and
feel
nourished by
them.
I
used
to
put
things
off.
Not
anymore.
Today
I'll
buy
new
ski
equipment,
look
at
new
compact cars, and buy that camera I've always
wanted. I live my dreams today, not
tomorrow.
6 What happens as
we take in these contradictory but explicit
messages? What are the
psychological
and
social
consequences
of
this
campaign
to
control
our
spending
habits? On
one
hand,
we
want
more
things
because
we
want
to
satisfy
our
material
appetite. Most of
us derive pleasure
from treating
ourselves. On
the
other hand, a
little
voice inside us echoes those upright
messages:
let
your
attention
get scattered.
Postpone
your
desires.
Don't
fall
into
debt.
Wait! Retain control over your own
life. It will make you stronger.
7
Anyway, many of the skills you need as a
successful student can
be
applied
to
your
finances. Consider
your
financial well-being as
a
key ingredient of
your
university
education as
money worries are extremely stressful and
distracting. They can make you
feel
terrible
and hinder your
ability
to
focus
on
your
prime
objective:
successfully
completing your education.
8
How
can
you
be
a
smart
and
educated
consumer? Many
schools,
community
organizations,
and
even
some
banks
offer
financial
literacy
classes. Consider
consulting with your school's financial aid office
or seek input from your
parents or
other respected adults in setting up a budget. An
additional option is finding a
partner
to
help
you
stay
on
track
and
find
pleasure
in
the administration of
your
own
financial affairs. Most importantly, if
you find yourself getting into financial trouble,
don't let
your ego get in your way;
urgently get help with tackling your problem
before it spins out
of control and
lands you in legal troubles.
9 All this
will help you become an educated consumer and
saver. As you learn to balance
spending
and saving, you will become the captain of your
own ship, steering your life in a
successful and productive direction
through the choppy waters.
Translation
花钱还是存钱，学生进退维谷
1 <
/p>
你是不是跟我一样对
“
我应该花钱还是存
钱
”
这个问题感到困惑，
且有被操纵的
感觉？
我觉
得我们从生活的环境里所
获得的信息似乎是有违常识、互相矛盾的。
政府告诉我们要花
钱，
否则我们将永远走不出衰退；与此同时，
他们又告诉我们，
除非我们节省更多的钱，否则我
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