-
and Country Life in England
There is a big difference between town
life and country life in England. In the country,
everybody
knows everybody else. They
know what time you get up, what time you go to bed
and what you
have for dinner. If you
want help, you will always get it and you will be
glad to help others.
In
a
large
town
like
London,
however,
it
can
sometimes
happen
that
you
have
never
seen
your
next door neighbor and
you do not know his name or anything about him.
People in London are
often very lonely.
This is because people go to different places in
the evenings and at weekends. If
you
walk through the streets in the centre of London
on Sunday, it is like a town without people.
One is sorry for old people living on
their own. They could die in their homes and would
not be
discovered for weeks or even
months.
2.A Change in
Women
’
s Life
The
important change in women
’
s
life-pattern has only recently begun to have its
full effect on
women
’
s economic
position. Even a few years ago most girls left
school at the first opportunity,
and
most of them took a full-time job. However, when
they married, they usually left work at once
and never returned to it. Today the
school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at
school after
that age, and though women
tend to marry
younger,
more
married women stay at
work at least
until
shortly
before
their
first
child
is
born.
Very
many
more
afterwards
return
to
full-
time
or
part-time
work.
Such
changes
have
led
to
a
new
relationship
in
marriage,
with
the
husband
accepting a greater share of the duties
and satisfactions of family life and with both
husband and
wife
sharing
more
equally
in
providing
the
money,
and
running
the
home,
according
to
the
abilities and interests of each of
them.
Useful Words and Expressions:
1. life-
pattern
生活方式
2.
Share
3.A Popular Pastime
of the English People
One of the best
means of understanding the people of any nation is
watching what the do with
their non-
working time.
Most
English
men,
women
and
children
love
growing
things,
especially
flowers.
Visitors
to
England in spring, summer or autumn are
likely to see gardens all they way along the
railway lines.
There are flowers at the
airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well
as in gardens along the
roads. Each
English town has at least one park with
beautifully kept flower beds. Public buildings
of every kind have brilliant window
boxes and sometimes baskets of flowers are hanging
on them.
But what the English enjoy
most is growing things themselves. If it is
impossible to have a garden,
then a
window box or something growing in a pot will do.
Looking at each other
’
s
gardens is a
popular pastime with the
English.
Useful Words and Expressions:
1. window
box:
窗台上的花盆箱
e
消遣，娱乐
Swimming is
my favorite pastime.
h and
American Police Officers
Real policemen, both in Britain and the
U.S., hardly recognize any common points between
their
lives and what they se on
TV
—
if they ever get home in
time.
Some things are almost the same,
of course, but the policemen do not think much of
them much of
them.
The first
difference is that a
policeman
’
s real life deals
with the law. Most of what he learns is the
law. He has to know actually what
actions are against the law and what facts can be
used to prove
them in court. He has to
know nearly as much law as a lawyer, and
what
’
s more, he has to put
it
into practice on his feet, in the
dark and, running down a narrow street after
someone he wants to
talk to.
Little of his time is spent in talking
with beautiful girls or in bravely facing cruel
criminals. He
will
spend
most
of
his
working
life
arranging
millions
of
words
on
thousands
of
forms
about
hundreds of sad, ordinary people who
are guilty--- or not of stupid, unimportant
crimes.
Useful Words and Expressions:
1. think much of
重视，尊重
2. in court
在法庭上
3. criminal
罪犯，犯罪者
4. guilty
犯罪的，有罪的
Space
How much living space does a person
need? What happens when his space needs are not
met?
Scientists are doing experiments
on rats to try to determine the effects of
overcrowded conditions
on man. Recent
studies have shown that the behavior of rats is
greatly affected by space. If rats
have
enough
living
space,
they
eat
well,
sleep
well
and
produce
their
young
well.
But
if
their
living
conditions
become
too
crowded,
their
behavior
and
even
their
health
change
obviously.
They can not
sleep and eat well, and signs of fear and worry
become clear. The more crowded
they
are, and more they tend to bite each other and
even kill each other. Thus, for rats, populations
and violence are directly related. Is
this a natural law for human society as well? Is
enough space
not only satisfactory, but
necessary for human survival? These are
interesting questions.
United Nations
In
1945,
representatives
of
50
nations
met
to
plan
this
organization.
It
was
called
the
United
Nations. After the war, many more
nations joined.
There
are
two
major
parts
of
the
United
Nations.
One
is
called
the
General
Assembly.
In
the
General
Assembly, every member nation is represented and
has an equal vote.
The
second
part
is
called
the
Security
Council.
It
has
representatives
of
just
15
nations.
Five
nations
are
permanent
members:
the
United
States,
Russia,
France,
Britain,
and
China.
The
10
other members are elected
every two years by the General Assembly.
The
major
job
of
the
Security
Council
is
to
keep
peace
in
the
world.
If
necessary,
it
can
send
troops from member
nations to try to stop little wars before they
turn into big ones.
It is hard to get
the nations of the Security Council to agree on
when this is necessary. But they did
vote to try to stop wars.
Useful Words and Expressions:
1. representative
代表
2. General
Assembly
联合国大会
3.
permanent
永久的，持久的
4. Security Council
联合国安全理事会
c
We use plastic wrap to
protect our foods. We put our garbage in plastic
bags or plastic cans. We sit
on plastic
chairs, play with plastic toys, drink from plastic
cups, and wash our hair with shampoo
from plastic bottles!
Plastic does not grow in nature. It is
made by mixing certain things together. We call it
a produced
or
manufactured
material.
Plastic
was
first
made
in
the
1860s
from
plants,
such
as
wood
and
cotton. That plastic was soft and
burned easily.
The first modern
plastics were made in the 1930s. Most clear
plastic starts out as thick, black oil.
That plastic coating inside a pan
begins as natural gas.
Over
the
years,
hundreds
of
different
plastics
have
been
developed.
Some
are
hard
and
strong.
Some are soft and
bendable. Some are clear. Some are many-colored.
There is a plastic for almost
every
need. Scientists continue to experiment with
plastics. They hope to find even ways to use
them!
y of Goods
Are supermarkets designed to persuade
us to buy more?
Fresh
fruit
and
vegetables
are
displayed
near
supermarket
entrances.
This
gives
the
impression
that only healthy
food is sold in the shop. Basic foods that
everyone buys, like sugar and tea, are
not
put
near
each
other.
They
are
kept
in
different
aisles
so
customers
are
taken
past
other
attractive
foods
before
they
find
what
they
want.
In
this
way,
shoppers
are
encouraged
to
buy
products that they do not really need.
Sweets are often placed at
children
’
s eye level at the
checkout. While parents are waiting to pay,
children reach for the sweets and put
them in the trolley.
More
is
bought
from
a
fifteen-foot
display
of
one
type
of
product
than
from
a
ten-foot
one.
Customers also buy more
when shelves are full than when they are half
empty. They do not like to
buy
from
shelves
with
few
products
on
them
because
they
feel
there
is
something
wrong
with
those products that are
there.
Useful Words and Expressions:
1. aisle
走廊，过道
2. trolley
手推车
3. checkout
收款台
Einstein
Albert
Einstein
was
born
in
Germany
in
1879,
His
father
owned
a
factory
that
made
electrical
devices. His
mother enjoyed music and books. His parents were
Jewish but they did not observe
many of
the religion
’
s rules. Albert
was a quite child who spent much of his time
alone. He was
slow to talk and had
difficulty learning to read. When Albert was five
years old, his father gave
him
a
compass.
The
child was
filled
with
wonder
when
he
discovered
that
the
compass
needle
always pointed in the
same direction
—
to be north.
He asked his father and his uncle what caused
the
needle
to
move.
Their
answers
about
magnetism
and
gravity
were
difficult
for
the
boy
to
understand. Yet he spent a lot of time
thinking about them. He said later that he felt
something
hidden had to be behind
things.
Useful expressions and words:
1. device
装置，设备
leave to one
’
s
own devices
听任某人自行其是，允许某人按自己的意愿做事
She left the child to her own devices
for an hour in the afternoon.
她允许孩子在下午有一个小时的自由支配时间。
2. compass
指南针
beyond one
’
s
compass
某人力所不及
catch/fetch/take a
compass
兜圈子，绕道，拐弯抹角
keep sth within compass
把某种事物限制在适当的范围内
speak within compass
谨慎小心地说
within
sb
’
s compass
某人力所能及的
within
the compass of
在??范围内
ism
磁力
e Cars
With the
increase in the general standard of living, some
ordinary Chinese families begin to afford
a car. Yet opinions of the development
of a private car vary from person to person.
It gives a much greater degree of
comfort and mobility. The owner of a car is no
longer forced to
reply on public
transport, and hence no irritation caused by
waiting for buses or taxis. However,
others strongly object to developing
private cars. They maintain that as more and more
cars are
produced and run in the
street, a large volume of poisonous gas will be
given off, polluting the
atmosphere and
causing actual harm to the health of people.
Whether
private
cars
should
be
developed
in
Chicago
is
a
difficult
question
to
answer,
yet
the
desire for the comfort
and independence a private car can bring will not
be eliminated.
11.A Henpecked Husband and His Wife
There was once a large, fat woman who
had a small, thin husband. He had a job in a big
company
and was given his weekly wages
every Friday evening. As soon as he got home on
Fridays, his
wife used to make him give
her all his money, and then she used to give him
back only enough to
buy his lunch in
his company every day.
One day, the
small man came home very excited. He hurried into
the living-room. His wife was
listening
to the radio and eating chocolates there.
“
You will never guess what
happened to me to day,
dear.
”
he said.
He waited for a few seconds and then
added,
“
I won ten thousand
dollars on the lottery!
”
“
That
is
wonderful!
”
said
his
wife
delightedly.
But
then
she
pulled
a
long
face
and
added
angrily,
“
But how
could you afford to buy the
ticket?
”
Useful
Words and Expressions:
1. henpecked
怕老婆的，妻管严的
2.
lottery
彩票
a
great lottery
虚无缥缈的事
3. pull a long face
拉下脸来
have a face
to say that
脸皮厚得竟能讲出这种话
12.A Young
Man
’
s Promise
One
day, a young man was writing a letter to his
girlfriend who lived just a few miles away in a
nearby town. He was telling her how
much he loved her and how wonderful he thought she
was.
The
more
he
wrote
the
more
poetic he became.
Finally
he
said
that
in
order
to
be with
her,
he
would
suffer
the
greatest
difficulties,
he
would
face
the
greatest
dangers
that
anyone
couldn
’
t
imagine.
In fact, to spend
only one minute with her, he would swim across the
widest river, he
would enter the
deepest forest, and he would fight against the
fiercest animals with his bare hands.
He
finished
the
letter,
signed
his
name
and
then
suddenly
remembered
that
he
had
forgotten
to
mention something quite
important. So, in a postscript below his name, he
added:
“
By the way,
I
’
ll be over to see you on
Wednesday night, if it
doesn
’
t
rain.
”
13.A Kind Neighbor
Mr. and
Mrs. Jones
’
apartment was full of luggage,
packages, furniture and boxes. Both of them
were
very
busy
when
they
heard
the
doorbell
ring.
Mrs.
Jones
went
to
open
it
and
she
saw
a
middle-aged
lady outside. The lady said she lived next door.
Mrs. Jones invited her to come in and
apologized because there was no place
for her to sit.
“
Oh,
that
’
s
OK.
”
said the
lady.
“
I just
come to welcome to your new home. As
you know, in some parts of this city, neighbors
are not
friendly at all. They are some
apartment houses where people
don
’
t know any of their
neighbors,
not even the ones next door.
But in this building, everyone is very friendly
with everyone else. We
are a big happy
family. I am sure you will be very happy
here.
”
Mr. and
Mrs. Jones said,
“
But
madam,
we
are
not
new
dwellers
in
this
apartment.
We
’
ve
lived
here
for
two
years.
We
are
moving out
tomorrow.
”
Isn
’
t Our Fault
Mr. and Mrs. Williams got married when
he was twenty-three, and she was twenty. Twenty-
five
years later, they had a big party,
and a photographer came and took some photographs
of them.
Then the photographer gave
Mrs. Williams a card and said,
“
They
’
ll be ready next
Wednesday.
You can get them from
studio.
”
“
No,
”
Mrs. Williams said,
“
please send them to
us.
”
The
photographs arrived a week later, but Mrs.
Williams was not happy when she saw them. She
got into her car and drove to the
photographer
’
s studio. She
went inside and said angrily,
“
You
took some
photographs of me and my husband last week, but
I
’
m not going to pay for
them.
”
“
Oh, why
not?
”
the
photographer asked.
“
Because
my husband looks like a
monkey,
”
Mrs.
Williams said.
“
Well,
”
the photographer
answered,
“
that
isn
’
t our fault. Why
didn
’
t you think of that
before
you married
him?
”
15.A Guide's Answer
In 1861,
the Civil War started in the United States between
the Northern and the Southern states.
The
war
continued
with
great
bitterness
until
1865,
when
the
Northerners
were
victorious.
However,
even
today,
many
Southerners
have
not
forgotten
their
defeat,
or
forgiven
the
Northerners.
A few years
ago, a party of American tourists were going round
one of the battlefields of the Civil
War
with
a guide
who
came
from
one
of
the
Southern
states.
At each
place,
the
guide
told
the
tourists
stirring
stories
about
how
a
few
Southern
soldiers
had
conquered
powerful
forces
of
Northerners there.
At last,
one of the tourists, a lady who came from the
North, stopped the guide and said to him,
“
But surely that
the Northern army must have won at least one
victory in the Civil War?
”
“
Not as long as
I
’
m the guide here,
madam,
”
answered
the Southern guide.
16.A Qualified Pilot
The
captain of a small ship had to go along a rocky
coast, but he was unfamiliar with it, so he tried
to
find
a
qualified
pilot
to
guide
him.
He
went
ashore
in
one
of
the
small
ports,
and
a
local
fisherman pretended that he was a pilot
because he needed some money. The captain took him
on
board and asked him where to steer
the ship.
After half an hour, the
captain began to suspect that the fisherman did
not really know what he
was doing and
where he was going.
“
Are you
sure you are a qualified
pilot?
”
he asked.
“
Oh,
yes,
”
answered
the fisherman.
“
I know every
rock on this part of the
coast.
”
Suddenly
there was a terrible crash from under the ship. At
once the fisherman added,
“
And
that
’
s one of
them.
”
Things React
You
and
all
organisms
live
an
environment.
An
environment
is
made
up
of
everything
that
surrounds an organism. It can include
the air, the water, the soil, and even other
organisms.
An organism responds to
changes in its environment. When an organism
responds to a change, it
reacts in
certain ways. All living things respond in some
way.
Have you ever noticed how plants
and insects respond to light? Plants bend toward
light. Insects
fly toward light.
Living things also respond in other
ways. The leaves on some trees respond to a change
in season.
In autumn, they change
colors and then fall off the branches Animals also
respond to a change in
season.
Squirrels save nuts for the winter. Bears sleep
through the winter in a cave.
You
respond to your environment in many ways, too. You
may shiver if you are cold. What other
ways do you respond to changes in your
environment?
ing Plants
What are the parts of a flower?
Flowers can have male parts and female
parts. The female parts make eggs that become
seeds. The
male parts make pollen.
Pollen is a powdery material that is needed by the
eggs to make seeds. To
make seeds,
pollen and eggs must come together. The wind,
insects, and birds bring pollen to eggs.
Many animals love
flowers
’
bright
colors. They also like a sugary liquid in flowers.
This is called
nectar. While they drink
nectar, pollen rubs off on their bodies. As they
move, some of this pollen
gets
delivered to the female flower parts.
Over time, the female parts turn into
fruits that contain seeds. Animals often eat the
fruits and the
seeds pass through their
bodies as waste. The animals do no know they are
working for the plants
by planting
seeds as they travel to different places!
Useful words and Expressions:
1. flowering
开花的