-
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
contents
Unit 1
TEXT A
What is a
decision
TEXT B
Secrets of success at an
interview
语法
AS
的用法
TEXT A
Black
holes
Unit 2
Unit 3
Unit 4
Unit 5
Unit 6
Unit 7
Unit 8
TEXT B
Worlds within worlds
TEXT A
Euthanasia:for and against
TEXT B
Advantage
unfair
语法
TEXT A
Slavery on our
doorstep
TEXT B
Return of the chain gang
TEXT A
The new music
TEXT B
Different types of
composers
语法
TEXT A
Improving industrial
efficiency through robotics
TEXT B
Predicting
earthquakes
TEXT
A
Leisure and
leadership
TEXT B
The time message
语法
TEXT A
Jet lag: prevention and cure
1
TEXT B
Controlling your
concentration
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
Unit 9
TEXT A
Aging in European countries
TEXT B
Children
’
s self-
esteem
语法
The campaign
for election
Unit 10
TEXT A
TEXT B
The American two-party
system
Sacrificed to science
Unit 11
TEXT A
TEXT B
Let
’
s stop
keeping pets
语法
Let your mind
wander
Unit 12
TEXT A
TEXT B
To
sleep ,perchance to dream
语法
Work , labor , and play
Unit 13
TEXT A
TEXT B
The
workman
’
s
compensation
语法
The
teacher
’
s last shocking
lesson
Unit 14
TEXT A
TEXT B
The seeds of wrath
语法
The computer and the poet
Unit 15
TEXT A
TEXT B
Changes to come in U.S
.education
语法
2
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
大学英语自学教程（下）
01-A.
What Is a Decision?
A decision is a
choice made from among alternative courses of
action that are available.
The purpose
of making a decision is to establish and achieve
organizational goals and objectives.
The
reason
for
making
a
decision
is
that
a
problem
exists,
goals
or
objectives
are
wrong,
or
something is standing in the way of
accomplishing them.
Thus
the
decision-making
process
is
fundamental
to
management.
Almost
everything
a
manager does involves decisions,
indeed, some suggest that the management process
is decision
making. Although managers
cannot predict the future, many of their decisions
require that they
consider possible
future events. Often managers must make a best
guess at what the future will
be
and
try
to
leave
as
little
as
possible
to
chance,
hut
since
uncertainty
is
always
there,
risk
accompanies decisions.
Sometimes the consequences of a poor decision are
slight; at other times
they are
serious.
Choice is the opportunity to
select among alternatives. If there is no choice,
there is no
decision
to be
made.
Decision
making
is
the
process of
choosing,
and
many
decisions
have a
broad
range
of
choice.
For
example,
a
student
may
be
able
to
choose
among
a
number
of
different courses in
order to implement the decision to obtain a
college degree. For managers,
every
decision
has
constraints
based
on
policies,
procedures,
laws,
precedents,
and
the
like.
These
constraints exist at all levels of the
organization.
Alternatives are the
possible courses of action from which choices can
be made. If there
are
no
alternatives,
there
is
no
choice
and,
therefore,
no
decision.
If
no
alternatives
are
seen,
often
it means that a thorough job of examining the
problems has not been done. For example,
managers
sometimes
treat
problems
in
an
either/or
fashion;
this
is
their
way
of
simplifying
complex
problems. But the tendency to simplify blinds them
to other alternatives.
At
the
managerial
level,
decision
making
includes
limiting
alternatives
as
well
as
identifying them, and the range is from
highly limited to practically unlimited.
Decision makers must have some way of
determining which of several alternatives is best
--
that
is,
which
contributes
the
most
to
the
achievement
of
organizational
goals.
An
太好
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
organizational
goal
is
an
end
or
a
state
of
affairs
the
organization
seeks
to
reach.
Because
individuals (and organizations)
frequently have different ideas about how to
attain the goals, the
best choice may
depend on who makes the decision. Frequently,
departments or units within an
organization make decisions that are
good for them individually but that are less than
optimal for
the larger organization.
Called suboptimization, this is a trade-off that
increases the advantages
to one unit or
function but decreases the advantages to another
unit or function. For example, the
marketing
manager
may
argue
effectively
for
an
increased
advertising
budget.
In
the
larger
scheme
of
things,
however,
increased
funding
for
research
to
improve
the
products
might
be
more beneficial to the organization.
These trade-offs occur because there
are many objectives that organizations wish to
attain
simultaneously.
Some
of
these
objectives
are
more
important
than
others,
but
the
order
and
degree
of
importance
often
vary
from
person
to
person
and
from
department
to
department.
Different managers define the same
problem in different terms. When presented with a
common
case, sales managers tend to see
sales problems, production managers see production
problems,
and so on.
The
ordering and importance of multiple objectives is
also based, in part, on the values of
the decision maker. Such values are
personal; they are hard to understand, even by the
individual,
because they are so dynamic
and complex. In many business situations different
people's values
about
acceptable
degrees
of
risk
and
profitability
cause
disagreement
about
the
correctness
of
decisions.
People often assume that a decision is
an isolated phenomenon. But from a systems point
of
view,
problems
have
multiple
causes,
and
decisions
have
intended
and
unintended
consequences.
An
organization
is
an
ongoing
entity,
and
a
decision
made
today
may
have
consequences far into the future. Thus
the skilled manager looks toward the future
consequences
of current decisions.
-B. Secrets of Success at
an Interview
The subject of
today's talk is interviews.
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
The key words here are preparation and
confidence, which will carry you far.
Do your homework first.
Find
out all you can about the job you are applying for
and the organization you hope to
work
for.
Many of the employers I
interviewed made the same criticism of candidates.
no idea what the day to day work of the
job brings about. They have vague notions of
the company's prospects’ or of 'serving
the com
munity', but have never taken
the trouble to find
out the actual
tasks they will be required to do.”
Do not let this be said of you. It
shows an unattractive indifference to your
employer and
to your job.
Take
the
time
to
put
yourself
into
the
interviewer's
place.
He
wants
somebody
who
is
hard-
working with a pleasant personality and a real
interest in the job.
Anything that you
find out about the prospective employer can be
used to your advantage
during the
interview to show that you have bothered to master
some facts about the people who
you
hope to work for.
Write down (and
remember) the questions you want to ask the
interviewer(s) so that you
are not
speechless when they invite your questions. Make
sure that holidays and pay are not the
first things you ask about. If all your
questions have been answered during the interview,
reply:
Do
not
be
afraid
to
ask
for
clarification
of
something
that
has
been
said
during
the
interview if you want to be sure what
was implied, but do be polite.
Just
before
you
go
to
the
interview,
look
again
at
the
original
advertisement
that
you
answered,
any
correspondence
from
your
prospective
employer,
photocopies
of
your
letter
of
application or
application form and your resume.
Then
you will remember what you said and what they
want. This is very important if you
have
applied
for
many
jobs
in
a
short
time
as
it
is
easy
to
become
confused
and
give
an
impression of
inefficiency.
Make
sure
you
know
where
and
when
you
have
to
report
for
the
interview.
Go
to
the
building (but not inside
the office) a day or two before, if necessary, to
find out how long the
journey takes and
where exactly the place is.
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
Aim to arrive five or ten minutes early
for the actual interview, then you will have a
little
time in hand and you will not
panic if you are delayed. You start at a
disadvantage if you arrive
worried and
ten minutes late.
Dress in clean, neat,
conservative clothes. Now is NOT the time to
experiment with the
punk look or
(girls) to wear low-cut dresses with miniskirts.
Make sure that your shoes, hands
and
hair (and teeth) are clean and neat.
Have the letter inviting you for an
interview ready to show in case there is any
difficulty
in communication.
You
may
find
yourself
facing
one
interviewer
or
a
panel.
The
latter
is
far
more
intimidating, but do not let it worry
you too much. The interviewer will probably have a
table in
front of him/her. Do not put
your things or arms on it.
If
you
have
a
bag
or
a
case,
put
it
on
the
floor
beside
your
chair.
Do
not
clutch
it
nervously or, worse still, drop it,
spilling everything.
Shake hands if the
interviewer offers his hand first. There is little
likelihood that a panel
of five wants
to go though the process of all shaking hands with
you in turn. So you do not be
upset if
no one offers.
Shake
hands
firmly
--
a
weak
hand
suggests a
weak
personality,
and
a
crushing grip
is
obviously
painful.
Do
not
drop
the
hand
as
soon
as
yours
has
touched
it
as
this
will
seem
to
show you do not like the other person.
Speak
politely
and
naturally
even
if
you
are
feeling
shy.
Think
before
you
answer
any
questions.
If
you
cannot
understand,
ask:
you
mind
rephrasing
the
question,
please?
The
question will
then be repeated in different words.
If
you are not definitely accepted or turned down on
the spot, ask:
hear the results of this
interview?
If you do receive a letter
offering you the job, you must reply by letter
(keep a photocopy)
as soon as possible.
Good luck!
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
02-A. Black Holes
What is a black hole? Well, it's
difficult to answer this question, since the terms
we would
normally
use
to
describe
a
scientific
phenomenon
are
inadequate
here.
Astronomers
and
scientists think that a
black hole is a region of space (not a thing )
into which matter has fallen
and from
which nothing can escape ?not even light. So we
can't see a black hole. A black hole
exerts a strong gravitational pull and
yet it has no matter. It is only space -- or so we
think. How
can this happen?
The theory is that some stars explode
when their density increases to a particular
point;
they
collapse
and
sometimes
a
supernova
occurs.
From
earth,
a
supernova
looks
like
a
very
bright
light
in
the
sky
which
shines
even
in
the
daytime.
Supernovae
were
reported
by
astronomers
in
the
seventeenth
and
eighteenth
centuries.
Some
people
think
that
the
Star
of
Bethlehem could have been a supernova.
The collapse of a star may produce a White Dwarf
or a
neutron star -- a star, whose
matter is so dense that it continually shrinks by
the force of its own
gravity. But if
the star is very large (much bigger than our sun)
this process of shrinking may be
so
intense that a black hole results. Imagine the
earth reduced to the size of a marble, but still
having the same mass and a stronger
gravitational pull, and you have some idea of the
force of a
black hole. Any
matter near the black hole is sucked
in. It
is impossible to say what
happens
inside a black hole. Scientists
have called the boundary area around the hole the
We
know
nothing
about
events
which
happen
once
objects
pass
this
boundary.
But
in
theory,
matter must behave
very differently inside the hole.
For
example, if a man fell into a black hole, he would
think that he reached the center of it
very quickly. However an observer at
the event horizon would think that the man never
reached
the center at all. Our space
and time laws don't seem to apply to objects in
the area of a black
hole.
Einstein's
relativity
theory
is
the
only
one
which
can
explain
such
phenomena.
Einstein
claimed that matter and energy are
interchangeable, so that there is no
There are no constants at all, and
measurements of time and space depend on the
position of the
observer.
They
are
relative.
We
do
not
yet
fully
understand
the
implications
of
the
relativity
theory;
but
it
is
interesting
that
Einstein's
theory
provided
a
basis
for
the
idea
of
black
holes
7
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
before
astronomers
started
to
find
some
evidence
for
their
existence.
It
is
only
recently
that
astronomers
have
begun
specific
research
into
black
holes.
In
August
1977,
a
satellite
was
launched to gather data about the 10
million black holes which are thought to be in the
Milky
Way. And astronomers are planning
a new observatory to study the individual
exploding stars
believed to be black
holes,
The
most
convincing
evidence
of
black
holes
comes
frown
research
into
binary
star
systems. Binary stars, as their name
suggests, are twin stars whose position in space
affects each
other. In some binary
systems, astronomers have shown that there is an
invisible companion star,
a
the one which we can see is
being
pulled
towards
the
companion
star.
Could
this
invisible
star,
which
exerts
such
a
great
force, be
a black hole? Astronomers have evidence of a few
other stars too, which might have
black
holes as companions.
The
story
of
black
holes
is just
beginning.
Speculations
about
them.
are
endless.
There
might be a massive black hole at the
center of our galaxy swallowing up stars at a very
rapid rate.
Mankind
may
one
day
meet
this
fate.
On
the
other
hand,
scientists
have
suggested
that
very
advanced technology
could one day make use of the energy of black
holes for mankind. These
speculations
sound
like
science
fiction.
But
the
theory
of
black
holes
in
space
is
accepted
by
many
serious
scientists
and
astronomers.
They
show
us
a
world
which
operates
in
a
totally
different way from
our own and they question our most basic
experience of space and time.
02-B. Worlds within Worlds
First of all let us consider the earth
(that is to say, the world) as a planet revolving
round
the sun. The earth is one of nine
planets which move in orbit round the sun. These
nine planets,
together
with
the
sun,
make
up
what
is
called
our
solar
system.
How
this
wonderful
system
started
and
what
kept
it
working
with
such
wonderful
accuracy
is
largely
a
mystery
but
astronomers
tell
us
that
it
is
only
one
of
millions
of
similar
systems
in
space,
and
one
of
the
smallest.
The
stars
which
we
see
glittering
in
the
sky
on
a
dark
and
cloudless
night
are
almost
8
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
certainly the suns of other solar
systems more or less like our own, but they are so
far away in
space that it is unlikely
that we shall ever get to know very much about
them. About our own
solar system,
however, we are learning more every day.
Before the American and Russian
astronauts made their thrilling journeys into
outer space
it was difficult for us to
realise what our earth looked like from hundreds
of thousands of miles
away,
but
the
photographs
which
the
astronauts
were
able
to
take
show
us
the
earth
in
space
looking not very
different from what the moon looks like when we
look at it from the earth. The
earth
is, however, very different from the moon, which
the American astronauts have found to be
without life or vegetation, whereas our
earth is very much alive in every respect. The
moon, by
the way, is called a satellite
because it goes round our earth as well as round
the sun. In other
words, it goes round
the sun with our earth.
The surface of
our earth is covered by masses of land and larger
areas of water. Let us
consider the
water areas first. The total water area is about
three times as large as the land area.
The very large separate areas of water
are called
the lesser areas
are called
In most of the
oceans and seas some of the water is found to be
flowing in a particular
direction --
that is to say, from one part towards another part
of the ocean or sea concerned. The
water
which
is
flowing
in
this
manner
is
said
to
be
moving
as
a
There
are
many
thousands of currents
in the waters of the oceans and seas, but only
certain of the stronger and
better
marked
currents
are
specially
named
and
of
great
importance.
These
currents
are
important
because
they
affect
the
climate
of
the
land
areas
close
to
where
they
flow
and
also
because they carry large quantities of
microscopic animal and vegetable life which forms
a large
part of the food for fishes.
The nature and characteristics of the
surface of the land areas of the earth vary a
great deal
from area to area and from
place to place. The surface of some
areas consists largely of high
mountains and deep valleys whilst, in
other areas, most of the surface consists of
plains. If one
made a journey over the
Continents one would find every kind of surface
including mountain
ranges,
plains, plateaux, deserts,
tropical
forestlands
and
empty
areas
covered
permanently
by
ice and snow.
When thinking and learning about the
world we should not forget that our world is the
home of a very great many different
people -- peoples with different coloured skins,
living very
9
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
different
lives
and
having
very
different
ideas
about
a
great
many
important
things
such
as
religion, government, education and
social behaviour.
The circumstances
under which different people live make a great
difference between the
way in which
they live and the way in which we live, and it
ought to be our business to try to
understand those different
circumstances so that we can better understand
people of other lands.
Above
all,
we
should
avoid
deciding
what
we
think
about
people
different
from
ourselves
without first
having learned a great deal about them and the
kind of lives they have to live. It is
true to say that the more we learn
about other people, the better we understand their
ideas and, as
a rule, the better we
like those people themselves.
03-A. Euthanasia: For and
Against
We
mustn't
delay
any
longer ...
swallowing
is
difficult ...
and
breathing,
that's
also
difficult. Those muscles
are
weakening too ... we mustn't delay any
longer.”
These were the
words of Dutchman Cees van Wendel de Joode asking
his doctor to help
him die. Affected
with a serious disease, van Wendel was no longer
able to speak clearly and he
knew there
was no hope of recovery and that his condition was
rapidly deteriorating.
Van Wendel's
last three months of life before being given a
final, lethal injection by his
doctor
were filmed and first shown on television last
year in the Netherlands. The programme
has since been bought by 20 countries
and each time it is shown, it starts a nationwide
debate on
the subject.
The
Netherlands is the only country in Europe which
permits euthanasia, although it is
not
technically
legal
there.
However,
doctors
who
carry
out
euthanasia
under
strict
guidelines
introduced
by
the
Dutch
Parliament
two
years
ago
are
usually
not
prosecuted.
The
guidelines
demand that the
patient is experiencing extreme suffering, that
there is no chance of a cure, and
that
the patient has made repeated requests for
euthanasia. In addition to this, a second doctor
must
confirm
that
these
criteria
have
been
met
and
the
death
must
be
reported
to
the
police
department.
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
Should doctors be allowed to take the
lives of others? Dr. Wilfred van Oijen, Cees van
Wendel's doctor, explains how he looks
at the question:
case,
killing
is
the
worst
thing
I
can
imagine.
But
that's
entirely
different
from
my
work
as
a
doctor. I care for people and I try to
ensure that they don't suffer too much. That's a
very different
thing.”
Many people, though, are totally
against the practice of euthanasia. Dr. Andrew
Ferguson,
Chairman of the organisation
Healthcare Opposed to Euthanasia, says that
of euthanasia cases, what the patient
is actually asking for is something else. They may
want a
health professional to open up
communication for them with their loved ones or
family -- there's
nearly always another
question behind the
qu
estion.”
Britain also has a strong tradition of
hospices -- special hospitals which care only for
the
dying and their special needs.
Cicely Saunders, President of the National Hospice
Council and a
founder member of the
hospice movement, argues that euthanasia doesn't
take into account that
there
are
ways
of
caring
for
the
dying.
She
is
also
concerned
that
allowing
euthanasia
would
undermine
the
need
for
care
and
consideration
of
a
wide
range
of
people:
very
easy
in
society
now
for
the
elderly,
the
disabled
and
the
dependent
to
feel
that
they
are
burdens,
and
therefore that they ought to opt out. I
think that anything that legally allows the
shortening of life
does make those
people more vulnerable.”
Many find this prohibition of an
individual's right to die paternalistic. Although
they agree
that
life
is
important
and
should
be
respected,
they
feel
that
the
quality
of
life
should
not
be
ignored. Dr. van Oijen believes that
people have the fundamental right to choose for
themselves
if
they
want
to
die:
those
people
who
oppose
euthanasia
are
telling
me
is
that
dying
people
haven't the right. And that when people are very
ill, we are all afraid of their death. But
there are situations where death is a
friend. And in those cases, why not?
But
van Wendel's death was
both moving and sensitive. His doctor was clearly
a family friend; his
wife
had
only
her
husband's
interests
at
heart.
Some,
however,
would
argue
that
it
would
be
dangerous
to
use
this
particular
example
to
support
the
case
for
euthanasia.
Not
all
patients
would receive such a high level of
individual care and attention.
11
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
03-B. Advantage Unfair
According
to
the
writer
Walter
Ellis,
author of
a
book
called
the Oxbridge Conspiracy,
Britain is still dominated by the old-
boy network: it isn't what you know that matters,
but who
you
know.
He
claims
that
at
Oxford
and
Cambridge
Universities
(Oxbridge
for
short)
a
few
select people start on an escalator
ride which, over the years, carries them to the
tops of British
privilege and power.
His research revealed that the top professions all
continue to be dominated,
if not 90 per
cent, then 60 or 65 per cent, by Oxbridge
graduates.
And yet, says Ellis,
Oxbridge graduates make up only two per cent of
the total number of
students
who
graduate
from
Britain's
universities.
Other
researches
also
seem
to
support
his
belief that Oxbridge graduates start
with an unfair advantage in the employment market.
In the
law, a recently published report
showed that out of 26 senior judges appointed to
the High Court
last year, all of them
went to private schools and 21 of them went to
Oxbridge.
But can this be said to
amount to a conspiracy? Not according to Dr. John
Rae, a former
headmaster of one of
Britain's leading private schools, Westminster:
now
gone.
Some
time
ago
--
in
the
60s
and
before
?entry
to
Oxford
and
Cambridge
was
not
entirely on merit. Now,
there's absolutely no question in any objective
observer's mind that, entry
to Oxford
and Cambridge is fiercely
competitive.
However,
many
would
disagree
with
this.
For,
although
over
three-quarters
of
British
pupils
are
educated
in
state
schools,
over
half
the
students
that
go
to
Oxbridge
have
been
to
private,
or
schools.
Is
this
because
pupils
from
Britain's
private
schools
are
more
intelligent than those from state
schools, or are they simply better prepared?
On average, about $$ 5,000 a year is
spent on each private school pupil, more than
twice
the amount spent on state school
pupils. So how can the state schools be expected
to compete
with the private schools
when they have far fewer resources? And how can
they prepare their
pupils for the
special entrance exam to Oxford University, which
requires extra preparation, and
for
which many public school pupils traditionally stay
at school and do an additional term?
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
Until
recently,
many
blamed
Oxford
for
this
bias
because
of
the
university's
special
entrance
exam
(Cambridge
abolished
its
entrance
exam
in
1986).
But
last
February,
Oxford
University decided to abolish the exam
to encourage more state school applicants. From
autumn
1996, Oxford University
applicants, like applicants to other universities,
will be judged only on
their A level
results and on their performance at interviews,
although some departments might
still
set special tests.
However, some argue
that there's nothing wrong in having elite places
of learning, and
that by their very
nature, these places should not be easily
accessible. Most countries are run by
an elite and have centres of academic
excellence from which the elite are recruited.
Walter Ellis
accepts that this is true:
provide this elite through a
much broader base. In America you've got the Ivy
League, centred
on
Harvard
and
Yale,
with
Princeton
and
Stanford
and
others.
But
again,
those
universities
together -- the
elite universities -- are about ten or fifteen in
number, and are being pushed along
from
behind by other great universities like, for
example, Chicago and Berkeley. So you don't
have just this narrow concentration of
two universities providing a constantly
replicating elit
e.”
When it comes to Oxford and Cambridge
being elitist because of the number of private
school pupils they accept, Professor
Stone of Oxford University argues that there is a
simple fact
he and his associates
cannot ignore:
place for
remedial education. It's not what Oxford is there
to do.”
However, since
academic excellence does appear to be related to
the amount of
money
spent
per pupil, this does seem to imply that Prime
Minister John Major's vision of Britain as a
classless society is still a long way
off. And it may be worth remembering that while
John Major
didn't himself go to
Oxbridge, most of his ministers did.
04-A. Slavery on Our Doorstep
There are estimated to be more than
20,000 overseas domestic servants working in
Britain
13
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(the exact figure is not known because
the Home Office, the Government department that
deals
with this, does not keep
statistics). Usually, they have been brought over
by foreign businessmen,
diplomats
or
Britons
returning
from
abroad.
Of
these
20,000,
just
under
2,000
are
being
exploited
and
abused
by
their
employers,
according
to
a
London-based
campaigning
group
which helps overseas
servants working in Britain.
The abuse
can take several forms. Often the domestics are
not allowed to go out, and they
do not
receive any payment. They can be physically,
sexually and psychologically abused. And
they can have their passports removed,
making leaving or
The
sad
condition
of
women
working
as
domestics
around
the
world
received
much
media
attention
earlier
this
year
in
several
highly
publicised
cases.
In
one
of
them,
a
Filipino
maid was executed in Singapore after
being convicted of murder, despite protests from
various
quarters
that
her
guilt
had
not
been
adequately
established.
Groups
like
Anti-
Slavery
International say other, less
dramatic, cases are equally
deserving of attention, such as that of
Lydia Garcia, a Filipino maid working
in London:
I was supposed to
be paid $$ 120 but I never received that amount.
They always threatened that
they would
send me back to my country.”
Then there is the case of Kumari from
Sri Lanka. The main breadwinner in her family, she
used to work for a very low wage at a
tea factory in Sri Lanka. Because she found it
difficult to
feed her four children,
she accepted a job working as a domestic in
London. She says she felt
like a
prisoner at the London house where she worked:
on a shelf with a spad0 of
only three feet above me. I wasn't allowed to talk
to anybody. I wasn't
even allowed to
open the window. My employers always threatened to
report me to the Home
Office or the
police.”
At
the
end
of
1994
the
British
Government
introduced
new
measures
to
help
protect
domestic workers from abuse by their
employers. This included increasing the minimum
age of
employees to 18, getting
employees to read and, understand an advice
leaflet, getting employers
to agree to
provide adequate maintenance and conditions, and
to put in writing the main terms
and
conditions of the job (of which the employees
should see a copy).
14
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
However, many people doubt whether this
will successfully reduce the incidence of abuse.
For
the
main
problem
facing
overseas
maids
and
domestics
who
try
to
complain
about
cruel
living
and
working
conditions
is
that
they
do
not
have
independent
immigrant
status
and
so
cannot change employer. (They are
allowed in the United Kingdom under a special
concession
in the immigration rules
which allows foreigners to bring domestic staff
with them.) So if they
do complain,
they risk being deported.
Allowing
domestic
workers
the
freedom
to
seek
the
same
type
of
work
but
with
a
different
employer,
if
they
so
choose,
is
what
groups
like
Anti-
Slavery
International
are
campaigning
the
Government
for.
It
is,
they
say,
the
right
to
change
employers
which
distinguishes employment from slavery.
04-B. Return of The Chain Gang
Eyewitnesses say it was a scene
straight out of a black and white movie from the
1950s.
As the sun rose over the fields
of Huntsville, Alabama, in the American South, the
convicts got
down
from
the
trucks
that
had
brought
them
there.
Watched
over
by
guards
with
guns,
they
raised
their
legs
in
unison
and
made
their
way
to
the
edge
of
the
highway,
Interstate
65.
The
BBC's Washington
correspondent Clare Bolderson was there and she
sent this report:
five, were
shackled together in leg irons joined by an eight-
foot chain. The prisoners will work
for
up to 90 days on the gang: they'll clear ditches
of weeds and mend fences along Alabama's
main roads. While they are working on
the gang, they
抣
l also live
in some of the harshest prison
conditions in the United States.
There'll be no televisions or phone calls; many
other day-to-day
privileges will be
denied.”
The authorities in
Alabama say there is a lot of support for the re-
introduction of chain
gangs in the
State after a gap of 30 years (the last gangs were
abolished in Georgia in the early
1960s).
Many
people
believe
it
is
an
effective
way
to
get
criminals
to
pay
back
their
debt
to
society.
The
prisoners stay shackled when they use toilets.
They reacted sharply to the treatment
they are given:
15
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
Prisoner one:
now.
Prisoner two:
Prisoner three:
Six out of every ten prisoners in
chains are black, which is why the chain gangs
call up
images of slavery in centuries
gone by, when black people were brought from
Africa in leg irons
and made to work in
plantations owned by white men. Not surprisingly,
although three-quarters
of the white
population of Alabama supports chain gangs, only a
small number of black people
do. Don
Claxton, spokesman for the State Government of
Alabama, insists that the system is not
racist:
that's
going to help save the people of Alabama tax money
because they don't have to pay as
many
officers to work on the highways. And it's going
to help clean up our highways and it's
going to help c
lean up the
State.”
However,
the
re-introduction
of
these
measures
has
caused
a
great
deal
of
strong
disagreement.
Human
rights
organizations
say
that
putting
prisoners
in
chains
is
not
only
inhumane but also
ineffective. Alvin Bronstein, member of the Civil
Liberties Union, says that
study
after
study
has
shown
that
you
cannot
prevent
people
from
committing
crimes
by
punishment or the threat
of punishment:
hostile,
so
that
when
they
get
out
of
prison,
they
will
increase
the
level
of
their
criminal
behaviour.”
Civil
liberties groups say that chaining people together
doesn't solve the causes of crime,
such
as
poverty
or
disaffection
within
society.
What
it
does
is
punish
prisoners
for
the
ills
of
society.
They say the practice takes the United States back
to the Middle Ages, and that it is a
shame
to
American
society.
But
that
抯
not
an
argument
likely
to
win
favour
among
many
people in the Deep South of the United
States. Alabama's experiment is to be widened to
include
more
prisoners,
and
other
States,
such as Arkansas
and
Arizona,
will
very
probably
introduce
their own chain
gang schemes.
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
05-A. The New Music
The
new
music
was
built
out
of
materials
already
in
existence:
blues,
rock'n'roll,
folk
music. But although the
forms remained, something completely new and
original was made out
of these older
elements -- more original, perhaps, than even the
new musicians themselves yet
realize.
The
transformation
took
place
in
1966--1967.
Up
to
that
time,
the
blues
had
been
an
essentially black medium.
Rock'n'roll, a blues derivative, was rhythmic
dance music. Folk music,
old and
modern, was popular among college students. The
three forms remained musically and
culturally
distinct,
and even
as
late
as
1965,
none of
them
were
expressing
any
radically
new
states of consciousness. Blues
expressed black soul; rock was the beat of
youthful energy; and
folk music
expressed anti-war sentiments as well as love and
hope.
In 1966 -- 1967 there was
spontaneous transformation. In the United States,
it originated
with youthful rock groups
playing in San Francisco. In England, it was led
by the Beatles, who
were already
established as an extremely fine and highly
individual rock group. What happened,
as well as it can be put into words,
was this. First, the separate musical traditions
were brought
together.
Bob
Dylan
and
the
Jefferson
Airplane
played
folk
rock,
folk
ideas
with a
rock beat.
White rock groups
began experimenting with the blues. Of course,
white musicians had always
played the
blues, but essentially as
imitators of
the Negro style; now it began to be the white
bands’
own
music.
And
all of
the
groups
moved
towards
a
broader
eclecticism
and
synthesis.
They freely took
over elements from jazz, from American country
music, and as time went on
from even
more diverse sources. What developed was a music
readily taking on various forms
and
capable of an almost limitless range of
expression.
The second thing that
happened was that all the musical groups began
using the full range
of electric
instruments and the technology of electronic
amplifiers. The electric guitar was an old
instrument,
but
the
new
electronic
effects
were
altogether
different
--
so
different
that
a
new
listener
in
1967
might
well
feel
that
there
had
never
been
any
sounds
like
that
in
the
world
before. Electronics
did, in fact, make possible sounds that no
instrument up to that time could
produce.
And
in
studio
recordings,
new
techniques
made
possible
effects
that
not
even
an
electronic band could produce live.
Electronic amplifiers also made possible a
fantastic increase
in
volume,
the
music
becoming
as
loud
and
penetrating
as
the
human
ear
could
stand,
and
17
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
thereby achieving a
now
audiences of total participants, feeling the music
in all of their senses and all of their bones.
Third, the music becomes a multi-media
experience; a part of a total environment. The
walls of the ballrooms were covered
with changing patterns of light, the beginning of
the new art
of
the
light
show.
And
the
audience
did
not
sit,
it
danced.
With
records
at
home,
listeners
imitated these
lighting effects as best they could, and
heightened the whole experience by using
drugs. Often music was played out of
doors, where nature provided the environment.
05-B. Different Types of
Composers
I
can
see
three
different
types
of
composers
in
musical
history,
each
of
whom
creates
music in a somewhat
different fashion.
The
type
that
has
fired
public
imagination
most
is
that
of
the
spontaneously
inspired
composer -- the Franz Schubert type, in
other words. All composers are inspired, of
course, but
this type is more
spontaneously inspired. Music simply wells out of
him. He can't get it down on
paper fast
enough. You can almost
tell this type
of composer by his fruitful output. In certain
months, Schubert wrote a song a day.
Hugo Wolf did the same.
In a sense, men
of this kind begin not so much with a musical
theme as with a completed
composition.
They invariably work best in the shorter forms.
It
is
much easier
to improvise a
song than it is to
improvise a symphony. It isn't easy to be inspired
in that spontaneous way for
long
periods at a stretch. Even Schubert was more
successful in handling the shorter forms of
music. The spontaneously inspired man
is only one type of composer, with his own
limitations.
Beethoven belongs to the
second type -- the constructive type, one might
call it. This type
serves as an example
of my theory of the creative process in music
better than any other, because
in this
case the composer really does begin with a musical
theme. In Beethoven's case there is no
doubt about it, for we have the
notebooks in which he put the themes down. We can
see from his
notebooks how he worked
over his themes -- how he would not let them be
until they were as
perfect
as
he
could
make
them.
Beethoven
was
not
a
spontaneously
inspired
composer
in
the
Schubert
sense at all. He was the type that begins with a
theme; makes it a preliminary idea; and
18
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
upon that composes a musical work, day
after day, in painstaking fashion. Most composers
since
Beethoven's day belong to this
second type.
The third type of composer
I can only call, for lack of a better name, the
traditionalist type.
Men like
Palestrina and Bach belong in this category. They
both are characteristic of the kind of
composer who is born in a particular
period of musical history, when a certain musical
style is
about
to
reach
its
fullest
development.
It
is
a
question
at
such
a
time
of
creating
music
in
a
well-known and accepted style and doing
it in a way that is better than anyone has done it
before
you.
The
traditionalist type of composer begins with a
pattern rather than with a theme. The
creative act with Palestrina is not the
thematic conception so much as the personal
treatment of a
well-established
pattern.
And
even
Bach,
who
composed
forty-eight
of
the
most
various
and
inspired themes in his
Well
Tempered Clavichord,
knew in advance
the general formal mold that
they were
to fill. It goes without saying that we are not
living in a traditionalist period nowadays.
One
might
add,
for
the
sake
of
completeness,
a
fourth type
of
composer
--
the
pioneer
type: men like
Gesualdo in the seventeenth century, Moussorgsky
and Berlioz in the nineteenth,
Debussy
and Edgar Varese in the twentieth. It is difficult
to summarize the composing methods
of
so diversified a group. One can safely say that
their approach to composition is the opposite
of
the
traditionalist
type.
They
clearly
oppose
conventional
solutions
of
musical
problems.
Inmany ways, their attitude
is experimental ?they seek to add new
harmonies, new sonorities,
new formal
principles. The pioneer type was the
characteristic one at the turn of the seventeenth
century and also at the beginning of
the twentieth century, but it is much less evident
today.
06-A. Improving
Industrial Efficiency through Robotics
Robots, becoming increasingly prevalent
in factories and industrial plants throughout the
developed
world,
are
programmed
and
engineered
to
perform
industrial
tasks
without
human
intervention
.
Most
of
today's
robots
are
employed
in
the
automotive
industry,
where
they
are
programmed to take over such jobs as
welding and spray painting automobile and truck
bodies.
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They
also
load
and
unload
hot,
heavy
metal
forms
used
in
machines
casting
automobile
and
truck frames.
Robots, already taking over human tasks
in the automotive field, are beginning to be seen,
although to a lesser degree, in other
industries as well. There they build electric
motors, small
appliances,
pocket
calculators,
and
even
watches.
The
robots
used
in
nuclear
power
plants
handle the
radioactive materials, preventing human personnel
from being exposed to radiation.
These
are the robots responsible for the reduction in
job-related injuries in this new industry.
What makes a robot a robot and not just
another kind of automatic machine? Robots differ
from
automatic
machines
in
that
after
completion
of
one
specific
task,
they
can
be
reprogrammed by a computer to do
another one. As an example, a robot doing spot
welding one
month can be reprogrammed
and switched to spray painting the next. Automatic
machines, on
the other hand, are
not
capable of
many
different uses; they are built to perform only one
task.
The next generation of robots
will be able to see
objects
,
will have a
sense
of touch,
and
will make
critical
decisions.
Engineers skilled in microelectronics and computer
technology are
developing artificial
vision for robots. With the ability to
one
specific
class
of
objects
out
of
a
stack
of
different
kinds
of
materials.
One
robot
vision
system uses electronic
digital cameras
containing
many rows of light-sensitive materials. When
light from an object such as a machine
part strikes the camera, the sensitive materials
measure
the intensity of light and
convert the light rays into a range of numbers.
The numbers are part of
a grayscale
system in which brightness is measured in a range
of values. One scale ranges from 0
to
15, and another from 0 to 255. The 0 is
represented
by black. The
highest number is white.
The
numbers
in
between
represent
different
shades
of
gray.
The
computer
then
makes
the
calculations
and
converts
the
numbers
into
a
picture
that
shows
an
image
of
the
object
in
question. It is not yet
known whether robots will one day have vision as
good as human vision.
Technicians
believe they will, but only after years of
development.
Engineers working on other
advances are designing and experimenting with new
types of
metal
hands
and
fingers,
giving
robots
a
sense
of
touch.
Other
engineers
are
writing
new
programs
allowing
robots
to
make
decisions
such
as
whether.
to
discard
defective
parts
in
finished
products. To do this, the robot will also have to
be capable of identifying those defective
parts.
20
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
These future robots, assembled with a
sense of touch and the ability to see and make
decisions,
will have plenty of work to
do. They can be used to explore for
minerals
on the
ocean
floor or in
deep areas of mines too dangerous for
humans to enter. They will work as gas station
attendants,
firemen, housekeepers, and
security personnel. Anyone wanting to understand
the industry of the
future will have to
know about robotics.
06-B.
Predicting Earthquakes
Can earthquakes
be predicted? Scientists are working on programs
to predict where and
when an earthquake
will occur. They hope to develop an early warning
system that can be used
to forecast
earthquakes so that lives can be saved.
Earthquakes are the most dangerous and
deadly of all natural events. They occur in many
parts of the world. Giant earthquakes
have been recorded in Iran, China, Guatemala,
Chile, India,
and
Alaska.
Two
of
the
biggest
earthquakes
that
were
ever
recorded
took
place
in
China
and
Alaska.
These
earthquakes
measured
about
8.5
on
the
Richter
Scale.
The
Richter
Scale
was
devised
by
Charles
Richter
in
1935,
and
compares
the
energy
level
of
earthquakes.
An
earthquake that measures a 2 on the
scale can be felt hut causes little damage. One
that measures
4.5
on
the
scale
can
cause
slight
damage,
and
an
earthquake
that
has
a
reading of
over
7
can
cause
major damage. It is important to note that a
reading of 4 indicates an earthquake ten times
as strong as one with a reading of ists
want to be able to predict those earthquakes that
have a reading of over 4 on the Richter
Scale.
How do earthquakes occur?
Earthquakes are caused by the shifting of rocks
along cracks,
or
faults,
in
the
earth's
crust.
The
fault
is
produced
when
rocks
near
each
other
are
pulled
in
different directions. The
best-known fault in North America is the San
Andreasfault in the state
of California
in the United States.
The nations that
are actively involved in earthquake prediction
programs include Japan,
China, Russia,
and the United States. These countries have set up
seismic networks in areas of
their
countries
where
earthquakes
are
known
to
occur.
These
networks
are
on
the
alert
for
warning
signs
that
show
the
weakening
of
rock
layers
that
can
precede
an
earthquake.
Many
21
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
kinds of seismic instruments are used
by the networks to monitor the movements of the
earth's
crust. The scientists also
check water in deep wells. They watch for changes
in the water level
and temperature that
are associated with movement along faults.
Scientists in China, Russia, and the
United States measure radon in ground water. Radon
is a gas that comes from the
radioactive decay of radium in rocks. The gas
flows through the
ground and dissolves
in underground streams and wells. Scientists
speculate that the amount of
radon
increases in the ground when rocks layers shift,
exposing new rock, and thus more radon.
Chinese and Russian scientists have
reported that in places where stress is building
up, the radon
levels of the water build
up too. When the radon levels of the water subside
and drop back to
normal
readings,
an
earthquake
may
occur.
United
States
scientists
have
also
placed
radon
monitoring stations in
earthquake zones, particularly California.
However, all the scientists agree
that
more data is necessary to prove that radon levels
in water are associated with the possible
birth of an earthquake.
Earthquake prediction is still a young
science. Everyone agrees that earthquakes cannot
be
predicted
with
any
reliability.
Scientists
have
only
a
partial
understanding
of
the
physical
processes that cause earthquakes. Much
more research has to be done. New and more up-to-
date
methods have to be found for
collecting earthquake data and analyzing it.
However, scientists
have had some
success in predicting earthquakes. Several small
earthquakes were predicted in
New York
State, in the eastern part of the United States.
Chinese scientists predicted a major one
in Haicheng in 1975, and Russian
scientists predicted a major one in Garm in 1978.
While this is
a small start, it is
still a beginning.
07-A. Leisure and
Leadership
Observations
and
research
findings
indicate
that
people
in
advanced
industrial
societies
are
increasingly
concerned
with
opportunities
for leisure
and what they can do in their leisure time. The
importance people attach to
paid holiday
s and the rapid
development of
services
for
mass
entertainment
and
recreation
are
signs
of
this
increasing
concern .
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
The term
environment,
health,
employment,
food,
family
life,
friends,
education,
material
possessions,
leisure and
recreation, and so on. Generally speaking, the
quality of life, especially as seen by
the
individual
,
is
meaningfu
l
in
terms
of
the
degree
to
which
these
various
areas
of
life
are
available or provide
sa
tisfaction to the individual.
As activity carried out as one thinks
fit during one's spare time, leisure has the
following
functions: relaxation,
recreation and entertainment, and personal
development. The importance
of
thesevaries according to the nature of one's job
and one's life-style.
Thus
,
people who need to
exert
much
energy
in
their
work
will
find
relaxation
most
desirable
in
leisure.
Those
with
a
better
education and in
professional
occupations
may tend more to seek
recreation and personal
development
(e.g., cultivation of skills and
hobbies
) in leisure.
The
specific
use
of
leisure
varies
from
individual
to
individual.
Even
the
same
leisure
activity may be used differently by
different individuals. Thus, the following are
possible uses of
television watching, a
popular leisure activity: a change of experience
to provide
the stress and strain of
work; to learn
more about what is
happening in one's environment; to
provide an
opportunity
for
understanding oneself by comparing other
people
抯
life
experiences
as portrayed in the
programmes
.
In an
urban
society in which
highly structured, fast-paced and stressful work
looms large
in life, experiences of a
different nature, be it television watching or
bird-watching, can lead to a
self-
renewal and a more
Since
leisure
is
basically
self-determined,
one
is
able
to
take
to
one's
interests
and
preferences and get
involved in an activity in ways that will bring
enjoyment and satisfaction.
Our likes
and dislikes, tastes and preferences that underlie
our choices of such activities
as
reading
books,
going
to
the
cinema,
camping, or
certain
cultural
pursuits,
are
all
related
to
social
contexts
and learning
experiences. We acquire interests in a variety of
things and subjects
from
our
families,
schools,
jobs,
and
the
mass
media.
Basically,
such
attitudes
amount
to
a
recognition
that leisure is
an important area of life and a belief that
leisure can and should be put
to good
use.
Professional workers
in
recreation services, too, will find that to impart
positive leisure
attitudes to the
general public is
essential
for motivating them to use their leisure in
creative and
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
satisfying
ways.
Hence
,
it
can
be
argued
that
the
people
with
whom
we
come
into
contact
in
these
various
contexts
are
all
likely
to
have
exerted
some
influence
in
shaping
our
attitudes,
interests and
even skills relevant to how we handle leisure.
Influence
of this kind is a
form of
leadership.
Parents,
teachers
in
schools,
work
associates
and
communicators
in
or
using
the
mass
media are all capable
of
arousing
our
potential
interests. For
example, the degree to which and
the
ways in which a school encourages participation in
games, sports and
cultural
pursuits are
likely to
contribute
to the shaping of
leisure attitudes on the part of the students.
Schools
usually
set
as
their
educational
objective
the
attainment
of
a
balanced
development of the person. The more
seriously this is sought, the more likely positive
attitudes
towards leisure as well as
academic
work
will be encouraged.
07-B. The Time Message
You
may
have
been
exposed
to
this
idea
before,
but
this
time
try
to
hear.
There
is
a
message that is trying to reach you,
and it is important that it get through loud and
clear. The
message?
Time
management!
Time is elusive and tricky.
It is the easiest thing in the world to waste --
the most difficult
to control. When you
look ahead, it may appear you have more than you
need. Yet it has a way
of slipping
through your fingers like quicksand. You may
suddenly find that there is no way to
stretch the little time
you
have left to cover all
your
obligations.
For example, as a
beginning
student looking ahead to a
full term you may feel that you have an oversupply
of time on your
hands. But toward the
end of the term you may panic because time is
running out. The answer?
Control!
Time is dangerous. If you don't control
it, it will control you. If you don't make it work
for
you, it will work against you. You
must become the master of time, not the servant.
Study hard and play hard is an old
proverb, but it still makes sense. You have plenty
of
time for classes, study, work, and
play if you use your time properly. It is not how
much time
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
you allocate for study that counts but
how much you learn when you do study.
Too
much
wasted
time
is
bad
medicine.
The
more
time
you
waste,
the
easier
it
is
to
continue wasting time. Soon, doing
nothing becomes a habit you can't break. It
becomes a drug.
When this happens, you
lose your feeling of accomplishment and you fall
by the wayside. A full
schedule is a
good schedule.
Some students refuse to
hear the time message. They refuse to accept the
fact that college
life demands some
degree of time control. There is no escape. So
what's the next step? If you
seriously
wish to get the time message, this passage will
give it to you. Remember ?it will not
only improve your grades but also free
you to enjoy college life more.
Message
1. Time is valuable -- control it from the
beginning.
Time is today, not tomorrow
or next week. Start your plan at the beginning of
the term
and readjust it with each new
project. Thus you can spread your work time around
a little.
Message 2. Get the notebook
habit.
Go and buy a pocket-size
notebook. There are many varieties of these
special notebooks.
Select the one you
like best. Use it to schedule your study time each
day. You can also use it to
note
important dates, appointments, addresses, and
telephone numbers. Keep it with you at all
times.
Message 3. Prepare a
weekly study schedule.
The main purpose
of the notebook is to help you prepare a weekly
study schedule. Once
prepared, follow
the same pattern every week with
minor
adjustments. Sunday is an excellent
day
to make up your schedule for the following week.
Write in your class schedule first. Add
your work hours, if any. Then write in
the hours each day you feel you must allocate for
study.
Keep it simple.
Message 4. Be realistic.
When you plan time for these things, be
realistic. Don't underestimate. Overestimate, if
possible, so that emergencies thatarise
don't hang you up. Otherwise your entire routine
may get
thrown off balance while you
devote night and day to crash efforts. Message
5.
Make study time
fit the course.
How much
study time you schedule for each classroom hour
depends on tour factors:(l)
your
ability, (2) the difficulty of the class, (3) the
grades you hope to achieve, and (4) how well
25
大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
you use your study time. One thing,
however, is certain: you should schedule a minimum
of one
hour of study for each classroom
hour. In many cases, more will be required.
Message 6. Keep your schedule flexible.
A
good
schedule
must
have
a
little
give
so
that
special
projects
can
be
taken
care
of
properly.
Think
out
and
prepare
your
schedule
each
week
and
do
not
become
a
slave
to
an
inflexible pattern.
Adjust it as you deem necessary.
Message 7. Study first ?fun later.
You will enjoy your fun time more after
you have completed your study responsibilities.
So,
where
possible,
schedule
your
study
hours
in
advance
of
fun
activities.
This
is
a
sound
principle to follow,
so keep it in mind as you prepare your first
schedule.
Message S. Study some each
class day.
Some concentrated study each
day is better than many study hours one day and
nothing
the next. As you work out your
individual schedule, attempt to include a minimum
of two study
hours each day. This will
not only keep the study habit alive but also keep
you up to date on your
class
assignments and projects.
Few beginning
freshmen can control their time effectively
without a written schedule, so
why kid
yourself into thinking you don't need one? You do.
Later on, when you have had more
experience and you have the time-
control habit, you may be able to operate without
it. Of course
the schedule is only the
first step. Once you have it prepared, you must
stick with it and follow it
faithfully.
You must push away the many temptations that are
always present or your schedule is
useless. Your schedule will give you
control only if you make it work.
08-A. Jet Lag: Prevention and Cure
The problem of Jet Lag
is
one every
international
traveller comes across at some
time.
But do you have to suffer? Understand
what it is, and how a careful
diet
can minimize its worst
effects, and your flights will be less
stressful(
压力
).
The effects of rapid travel on the body
are actually far more disturbing than we realize.
Jet
Lag is not a
psychological
consequence
of having to
readjust
to a different time
zone. It is due to
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
changes in the body's physiological
regulatory mechanisms, specifically the hormonal
systems,
in a different environment.
Confused? So was John Foster Dulles,
the American Secretary of State, when he flew to
Egypt to conduct negotiations on the
Aswan Dam. He later blamed his poor judgement on
Jet
Lag.
The effects can be
used to advantage, too. President Johnson once
conducted an important
meeting
in
Guam
and
kept
the
entire
proceedings
at
Washington
DC
time.
The
White
House
working
personnel
were
as
fresh
as
paint,
while
the
locals,
in
this
case,
were
jet-lagged.
Essentially, they had been
instantaneously transported to America.
Now that we understand what Jet Lag is,
we can go some way to overcoming it. A great
number of the body's events are
scheduled to occur at a certain time of day.
Naturally these have
to be regulated,
and there are two regulatory systems which
interact.
One
timing
system
comes
from
the
evidence
of
our
senses
and
stomachs,
and
the
periodicity
we
experience
when
living
in
a
particular
time
zone.
The
other
belongs
in
our
internal clocks (the major one of which
may be physically located in a part of the brain
called the
suprachiasmatic nucleus)
which, left alone, would tie the body to a 25 hour
-- yes, 25 -- rhythm.
Normally the two
timers are in step, and the external cues tend to
regularise the internal clocks
to the
more convenient 24 hour period.
If,
however, you move the whole body to a time zone
which is four hours different, the
two
clocks will be out of step, like two alarm clocks
which are normally set together, but which
have been reset a few hours apart.
Whereas the two clocks would normally sound their
alarms
together, now they ring at
different times. Similarly, the body can he set
for evening while the
sun is rising.
In
time
the
physiological
system
will
reset
itself,
but
it
does
take
time.
One
easily
monitored rhythm is palm sweating. A
man flown to a time zone different by 10 hours
will take
eight days to readjust his
palm sweat. Blood pressure, which is also
rhythmical, takes four days
to
readjust.
One reason for this
discrepancy is that different bodily events are
controlled by different
factors. The
hormone cortisol, which controls salt and water
excretion, is made in the morning,
wherever the body is. But the growth
hormone is released during sleep, whenever in the
day that
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
sleep
occurs.
Normally
these
two
hormones
are
separated
by
seven
or
eight
hours,
but
if
the
body arrives at a
destination in the early morning (local) and goes
to sleep as soon as possible,
the two
hormones will be released simultaneously.
What can we do about it? It is not
feasible to wait four days until the body is used
to the
new
time
zone.
Fortunately
there
is
a
short
cut.
It
relies
on
two
things
--
the
power
of
the
stomach to regulate the timing of other
events, and the pharmacological actions of coffee.
The basic assumptions are:
Coffee
delays
the
body
clock
in
the
morning,
and
advances
it
at
night.
Coffee
at
mid-afternoon is neutral.
Protein in meals stimulates
wakefulness, while carbohydrates promote sleep.
Putting food into an empty stomach
helps synchronize the body clock.
08-B. Coetrolling Your Concentration
CONCENTRATION IS CENTERINC YOUR
ATTENTION
Psychologically defined,
concentration is the process of centering one's
attention over a
period
of
time.
In
practical
application,
however,
concentration
is
not
as
simple
to
deal
successfully with as the definition may
imply. For this reason, it is helpful to keep the
following
points in mind.
Your attention span varies
Even
with
the
greatest
effort,
oar
span
of
attention
fluctuates.
You
can
demonstrate
for
yourself this fluctuation of attention.
In a quiet room, place a watch so that it can just
scarcely be
heard. Listen carefully and
notice how the ticking increases in apparent
intensity, fades to a point
where it
cannot be heard, and then increases again. This
phenomenon reveals how our span of
attention fluctuates, for the intensity
of the ticking i s actually constant.
You pay attention to one thing at m
time
Evidence
to
date
indicates
that
you
attend
to
one
idea at
a
time.
It
is
possible
for
your
attention
to
shift
so
rapidly
that
it
seems
that
you
attend
to
several
concepts
at
once.
But
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大学英语自学教程（下）电子版
apparently this is only an illusion. In
high concentration the shift from the focus of
attention is of
short duration and
relatively infrequent.
An illustration
of periods of high, moderate, and low attention
High attention has long
periods of attending and short distraction
periods. In low attention
the periods
of attending are short and the distraction periods
long. In moderate attention there is
a
mixture of the extremes. Thus it is easy to see
that it is highly unlikely that the student who
has
most of his attention centered on
fancying at large will be able to recall even the
major points of
a lecture.
Lack of concentration is a symptom, not
the cause, of difficulty. When a student says
can't
concentrate
what
he
is
really
saying
is,
can't
attend
to
the
task
at
hand
because
my
distractors are too
strong.
DISTRACTORS ARE OF TWO SORTS
--PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL
A
distractor is anything which causes attention to
vary from a central focal point. In the
study situation distractors may be
thought of as either psychological or physical in
nature. Both
types
of
distractors
must
be
understood
before
the
student
can
attempt
to
remedy
his
lack
of
concentration.
Emotions are
the most powerful distractors
The angry
man forgets the pain of injury the fearful man
finds it difficult to enjoy pleasure
and the tense or anxious person may
react violently to the smallest of matters. In the
student's
life there are many
psychological pressures and tensions which block
effective productivity. The
fears
about
making
the
grade,
the
doubts
of
the
friendliness
of
a
friend’s
behaviour
and
the
pressures
of
limited
finances
--
these
are
only
a
few
of
the
emotional
forces
which
affect
the
student.
Emotional
reaction
varies
greatly
from
person
to
person.
Some
persons
gain
goal
and
direction
from
their
tensions
and
actually
do
better
because
of
them.
Others
fall
apart
under
pressure, while a fewpeople do well
despite the pressure.
Physical
distractors are always present and rarely
understood
Our environment
is much more important to how we feel and react
than we often think.
Particularly is
this true of the effect of physical distractors on
mental tasks. One research report
29