第一篇：幾篇優美的背誦英文文章

幾篇優美的背誦英文文章

第一篇：

A Grain of Sand

一粒沙子

William Blake/ 威廉.布萊克

To see a world in a grain of sand，And a heaven in a wild fllower，Hold infinity in the palm of your hand，And eternity in an hour.從一粒沙子看到一個世界，從一朵野花看到一個天堂，把握在你手心里的就是無限，永恒也就消融于一個時辰。

第二篇：

Love Your Life

熱愛生活

Henry David Thoreau/ 享利.大衛.梭羅

However mean your life is,meet it and live it;do not shun it and call it hard names.It is not so bad as you are.It looks poorest when you are richest.The fault-finder will find faults in paradise.Love your life,poor as it is.You may perhaps have some pleasant,thrilling,glorious hourss,even in a poor-house.The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's abode;the snow melts before its door as early in the spring.I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there,and have as cheering thoughts,as in a palace.The town's poor seem to me often to live the most independent lives of any.May be they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving.Most think that they are above being supported by the town;but it often happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means.which should be more

disreputable.Cultivate poverty like a garden herb,like sage.Do not trouble yourself much to get new things,whether clothes or friends,Turn the old,return to them.Things do not change;we change.Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.不論你的生活如何卑 *，你要面對它生活，不要躲避它，更別用惡言咒罵它。它不像你那樣壞。你最富有的時候，倒是看似最窮。愛找缺點的人就是到天堂里也能找到缺點。你要愛你的生活，盡管它貧窮。甚至在一個濟貧院里，你也還有愉快、高興、光榮的時候。夕陽反射在濟貧院的窗上，像身在富戶人家窗上一樣光亮；在那門前，積雪同在早春融化。我只看到，一個從容的人，在哪里也像在皇宮中一樣，生活得心滿意足而富有愉快的思想。城鎮中的窮人，我看，倒往往是過著最獨立不羈的生活。也許因為他們很偉大，所以受之無愧。大多數人以為他們是超然的，不 * 城鎮來支援他們；可是事實上他們是往往利用了不正當的手段來對付生活，他們是毫不超脫的，毋寧是不體面的。視貧窮如園中之花而像圣人一樣耕植它吧！不要找新的花樣，無論是新的朋友或新的衣服，來麻煩你自己。找舊的，回到那里去。萬物不變，是我們在變。你的衣服可以賣掉，但要保留你的思想。

第三篇：

The pure.the bright,the beautiful, 一切純潔的,輝煌的,美麗的，That stirred our hearts in youth, 強烈地震撼著我們年輕的心靈的, The impulses to wordless prayer, 推動著我們做無言的禱告的 , The dreams of love and truth;讓我們夢想著愛與真理的

;The longing after something's lost, 在失去后為之感到珍惜的 , The spirit's yearning cry, 使靈魂深切地呼喊著的 , The striving after better hopesThese things can never die.這些美好不會消逝。

The timid hand stretched forth to aid 羞怯地伸出援助的手，A brother in his need, 在你的弟兄需要的時候，A kindly word in grief's dark hour 傷慟、困難的時候，一句親切的話

That proves a friend indeed;就足以證明朋友的真心；

The plea for mercy softly breathed, 輕聲地乞求憐憫，When justice threatens nigh, 在審判臨近的時候，The sorrow of a contrite heart-懊悔的心有一種傷感

--These things shall never die.這些美好不會消逝。

Let nothing pass for every hand 在人間傳遞溫情

Must find some work to do;盡你所能地去做；

Lose not a chance to waken love-別錯失去了喚醒愛的良機

-----Be firm,and just ,and true;為人要堅定，正直，忠誠；

So shall a light that cannot fade 因此上方照耀著你的那道光芒

Beam on thee from on high.就不會消失。

And angel voices say to thee---你將聽到天使的聲音在說

-----These things shall never die.這些美好不會消逝。

第五篇

The life I desired

我所追求的生活

That must be the story of innumerable couples,and the pattern of life of life it offers has a homely grace.It reminds you of a placid rivulet,meandering smoohtly through green pastures and shaded by pleasant trees,till at last it falls into the vasty sea;but the sea is so calm,so silent,so infifferent,that you are troubled suddently by a vague uneasiness.Perhaps it is only by a kink in my nature,strong in me even in those days,that i felt in such an existence,the share of the great majority,something a miss.I recognized its social value.I saw its ordered happiness,but a fever in my blood asked for a wilder course.There seemed to me something alarming in such easy delights.In my heart was desire to live more dangerously.I was not unprepared for jagged rocks and treacherous,shoals it I could only have change-change and the exicitement of unforeseen.這一定是世間無數對夫妻的生活寫照，這種生活模式給人一種天倫之美。它使人想起一條平靜的溪流，蜿蜒暢游過綠茵的草場，濃蔭遮蔽，最后注入煙波浩渺的汪洋大海；但是大海太過平靜，太過沉默，太過不動聲色，你會突然感到莫名的不安。也許這只是我自己的一種怪誕想法，在那樣的時代，這想法對我影響很深：我覺得這像大多數人一樣的生活，似乎欠缺了一點兒什么。我承認這種生活有社會價值，我也看到了它那井然有序的幸福，但我血液里的沖動卻渴望一種更桀驁不馴的旅程．這樣的安逸中好像有一種叫我驚懼不安的東西．我的心渴望一種更加驚險的生活。只要生活中還能有變遷———以及不可知的刺激，我愿意踏上怪石嶙峋的山崖，奔赴暗礁滿布的海灘。

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrown.Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same.And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should even come back.I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference 未 選 擇 的 路

（美）弗羅斯特

黃色的樹林里分出兩條路，可惜我不能同時去涉足，我在那路口久久佇立，我向著一條路極目望去，直到它消失在叢林深處。

但我卻選了另外一條路，它荒草萋萋，十分幽寂，顯得更誘人、更美麗，雖然在這兩條小路上，都很少留下旅人的足跡，雖然那天清晨落葉滿地，兩條路都未經腳印污染。呵，留下一條路等改日再見！但我知道路徑延綿無盡頭，恐怕我難以再回返。

也許多少年后在某個地方，我將輕聲嘆息把往事回顧，一片樹林里分出兩條路，而我選了人跡更少的一條，從此決定了我一生的道路。

《假如生活欺騙了你》英文版

If by life you were deceived, Don't be dismal, don't be wild!In the day of grief, be mild Merry days will come, believe.Heart is living in tomorrow;Present is dejected here;In a moment, passes sorrow;That which passes will be dear

第二篇：新概念優美英文背誦短文50篇

Unit1:The Language of Music A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall, and everyone can see it.A composer writes a work, but no one can hear it until it is performed.Professional singers and players have great responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them.A student of music needs as long and as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor.Most training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an athlete or a ballet dancer.Singers practice breathing every day, as their vocal chords would be inadequate without controlled muscular support.String players practice moving the fingers of the left hand up and down, while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm—two entirely different movements.Singers and instruments have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune.Pianists are spared this particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner’s responsibility to tune the instrument for them.But they have their own difficulties;the hammers that hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound clear.This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors: they have to learn to know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these sound with fanatical but selfless authority.Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding.Great artists are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing works written in any century.Unit2:Schooling and Education It is commonly believed in United States that school is where people go to get an education.Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school.The distinction between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling.Education knows no bounds.It can take place anywhere, whether in the shower or in the job, whether in a kitchen or on a tractor.It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole universe of informal learning.The agents of education can range from a revered grandparent to the people debating politics on the radio, from a child to a distinguished scientist.Whereas schooling has a certain predictability, education quite often produces surprises.A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions.People are engaged in education from infancy on.Education, then, is a very broad, inclusive term.It is a lifelong process, a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be an integral part of one’s entire life.Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next.Throughout a country, children arrive at school at approximately the same time, take assigned seats, are taught by an adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on.The slices of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the working of government, have usually been limited by the boundaries of the subject being taught.For example, high school students know that there not likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems in their communities or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with.There are definite conditions surrounding the formalized process of schooling.2

Unit3:The Defini tion of Price Prices determine how resources are to be used.They are also the means by which products and services that are in limited supply are rationed among buyers.The price system of the United States is a complex network composed of the prices of all the products bought and sold in the economy as well as those of a myriad of services, including labor, professional, transportation, and public-utility services.The interrelationships of all these prices make up the ―system‖ of prices.The price of any particular product or service is linked to a broad, complicated system of prices in which everything seems to depend more or less upon everything else.If one were to ask a group of randomly selected individuals to define ―price‖, many would reply that price is an amount of money paid by the buyer to the seller of a product or service or, in other words that price is the money values of a product or service as agreed upon in a market transaction.This definition is, of course, valid as far as it goes.For a complete understanding of a price in any particular transaction, much more than the amount of money involved must be known.Both the buyer and the seller should be familiar with not only the money amount, but with the amount and quality of the product or service to be exchanged, the time and place at which the exchange will take place and payment will be made, the form of money to be used, the credit terms and discounts that apply to the transaction, guarantees on the product or service, delivery terms, return privileges, and other factors.In other words, both buyer and seller should be fully aware of all the factors that comprise the total ―package‖ being exchanged for the asked-for amount of money in order that they may evaluate a given price.Unit4:Electricity The modern age is an age of electricity.People are so used to electric lights, radio, televisions, and telephones that it is hard to imagine what life would be like without them.When there is a power failure, people grope about in flickering candlelight, cars hesitate in the streets because there are no traffic lights to guide them, and food spoils in silent refrigerators.Yet, people began to understand how electricity works only a little more than two centuries ago.Nature has apparently been experimenting in this field for million of years.Scientists are discovering more and more that the living world may hold many interesting secrets of electricity that could benefit humanity.All living cell send out tiny pulses of electricity.As the heart beats, it sends out pulses of record;they form an electrocardiogram, which a doctor can study to determine how well the heart is working.The brain, too, sends out brain waves of electricity, which can be recorded in an electroencephalogram.The electric currents generated by most living cells are extremely small – often so small that sensitive instruments are needed to record them.But in some animals, certain muscle cells have become so specialized as electrical generators that they do not work as muscle cells at all.When large numbers of these cell are linked together, the effects can be astonishing.The electric eel is an amazing storage battery.It can seed a jolt of as much as eight hundred volts of electricity through the water in which it live.(An electric house current is only one hundred twenty volts.)As many as four-fifths of all the cells in the electric eel’s body are specialized for generating electricity, and the strength of the shock it can deliver corresponds roughly to length of its body.4

Unit5:The Beginning of Drama There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece.The on most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual.The argument for this view goes as follows.In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world-even the seasonal changes-as unpredictable, and they sought through various means to control these unknown and feared powers.Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals.Eventually stories arose which explained or veiled the mysteries of the rites.As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths, persisted and provided material for art and drama.Those who believe that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used, Furthermore, a suitable site had to be provided for performances and when the entire community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the “acting area” and the “auditorium.” In addition, there were performers, and, since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders usually assumed that task.Wearing masks and costumes, they often impersonated other people, animals, or supernatural beings, and mimed the desired effect-success in hunt or battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun-as an actor might.Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities.Another theory traces the theater's origin from the human interest in storytelling.According to this vies tales(about the hunt, war, or other feats)are gradually elaborated, at first through the use of impersonation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person.A closely related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that are imitations of animal movements and sounds.5

Unit6:Television Television-----the most pervasive and persuasive of modern technologies, marked by rapid change and growth-is moving into a new era, an era of extraordinary sophistication and versatility, which promises to reshape our lives and our world.It is an electronic revolution of sorts, made possible by the marriage of television and computer technologies.The word “television”, derived from its Greek(tele: distant)and Latin(visi sight)roots, can literally be interpreted as sight from a distance.Very simply put, it works in this way: through a sophisticated system of electronics, television provides the capability of converting an image(focused on a special photoconductive plate within a camera)into electronic impulses, which can be sent through a wire or cable.These impulses, when fed into a receiver(television set), can then be electronically reconstituted into that same image.Television is more than just an electronic system, however.It is a means of expression, as well as a vehicle for communication, and as such becomes a powerful tool for reaching other human beings.The field of television can be divided into two categories determined by its means of transmission.First, there is broadcast television, which reaches the masses through broad-based airwave transmission of television signals.Second, there is nonbroadcast television, which provides for the needs of individuals or specific interest groups through controlled transmission techniques.Traditionally, television has been a medium of the masses.We are most familiar with broadcast television because it has been with us for about thirty-seven years in a form similar to what exists today.During those years, it has been controlled, for the most part, by the broadcast networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, who have been the major purveyors of news, information, and entertainment.These giants of broadcasting have actually shaped not only television but our perception of it as well.We have come to look upon the picture tube as a source of entertainment, placing our role in this dynamic medium as the passive viewer.6

Unit7:Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie, known as the King of Steel, built the steel industry in the United States, and , in the process, became one of the wealthiest men in America.His success resulted in part from his ability to sell the product and in part from his policy of expanding during periods of economic decline, when most of his competitors were reducing their investments.Carnegie believed that individuals should progress through hard work, but he also felt strongly that the wealthy should use their fortunes for the benefit of society.He opposed charity, preferring instead to provide educational opportunities that would allow others to help themselves.“He who dies rich, dies disgraced,” he often said.Among his more noteworthy contributions to society are those that bear his name, including the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, which has a library, a museum of fine arts, and a museum of national history.He also founded a school of technology that is now part of Carnegie-Mellon University.Other philanthrophic gifts are the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to promote understanding between nations, the Carnegie Institute of Washington to fund scientific research, and Carnegie Hall to provide a center for the arts.Few Americans have been left untouched by Andrew Carnegie's generosity.His contributions of more than five million dollars established 2,500 libraries in small communities throughout the country and formed the nucleus of the public library system that we all enjoy today.7

Unit8:American Revolution The American Revolution was not a sudden and violent overturning of the political and social framework, such as later occurred in France and Russia, when both were already independent nations.Significant changes were ushered in, but they were not breathtaking.What happened was accelerated evolution rather than outright revolution.During the conflict itself people went on working and praying, marrying and playing.Most of them were not seriously disturbed by the actual fighting, and many of the more isolated communities scarcely knew that a war was on.America's War of Independence heralded the birth of three modern nations.One was Canada, which received its first large influx of English-speaking population from the thousands of loyalists who fled there from the United States.Another was Australia, which became a penal colony now that America was no longer available for prisoners and debtors.The third newcomer-the United States-based itself squarely on republican principles.Yet even the political overturn was not so revolutionary as one might suppose.In some states, notably Connecticut and Rhode Island, the war largely ratified a colonial self-rule already existing.British officials, everywhere ousted, were replaced by a home-grown governing class, which promptly sought a local substitute for king and Parliament.8

Unit9:Suburbanization If by “suburb” is meant an urban margin that grows more rapidly than its already developed interior, the process of suburbanization began during the emergence of the industrial city in the second quarter of the nineteenth century.Before that period the city was a small highly compact cluster in which people moved about on foot and goods were conveyed by horse and cart.But the early factories built in the 1840's were located along waterways and near railheads at the edges of cities, and housing was needed for the thousands of people drawn by the prospect of employment.In time, the factories were surrounded by proliferating mill towns of apartments and row houses that abutted the older, main cities.As a defense against this encroachment and to enlarge their tax bases, the cities appropriated their industrial neighbors.In 1854, for example, the city of Philadelphia annexed most of Philadelphia County.Similar municipal maneuvers took place in Chicago and in New York.Indeed, most great cities of the United States achieved such status only by incorporating the communities along their borders.With the acceleration of industrial growth came acute urban crowding and accompanying social stress-conditions that began to approach disastrous proportions when, in 1888, the first commercially successful electric traction line was developed.Within a few years the horse-drawn trolleys were retired and electric streetcar networks crisscrossed and connected every major urban area, fostering a wave of suburbanization that transformed the compact industrial city into a dispersed metropolis.This first phase of mass-scale suburbanization was reinforced by the simultaneous emergence of the urban Middle Class, whose desires for homeownership in neighborhoods far from the aging inner city were satisfied by the developers of single-family housing tracts.9

Unit10:Types of Speech Standard usage includes those words and expressions understood, used, and accepted by a majority of the speakers of a language in any situation regardless of the level of formality.As such, these words and expressions are well defined and listed in standard dictionaries.Colloquialisms, on the other hand, are familiar words and idioms that are understood by almost all speakers of a language and used in informal speech or writing, but not considered appropriate for more formal situations.Almost all idiomatic expressions are colloquial language.Slang, however, refers to words and expressions understood by a large number of speakers but not accepted as good, formal usage by the majority.Colloquial expressions and even slang may be found in standard dictionaries but will be so identified.Both colloquial usage and slang are more common in speech than in writing.Colloquial speech often passes into standard speech.Some slang also passes into standard speech, but other slang expressions enjoy momentary popularity followed by obscurity.In some cases, the majority never accepts certain slang phrases but nevertheless retains them in their collective memories.Every generation seems to require its own set of words to describe familiar objects and events.It has been pointed out by a number of linguists that three cultural conditions are necessary for the creation of a large body of slang expressions.First, the introduction and acceptance of new objects and situations in the society;second, a diverse population with a large number of subgroups;third, association among the subgroups and the majority population.Finally, it is worth noting that the terms “standard” “colloquial” and “slang” exist only as abstract labels for scholars who study language.Only a tiny number of the speakers of any language will be aware that they are using colloquial or slang expressions.Most speakers of English will, during appropriate situations, select and use all three types of expressions.10

Unit12:Museums From Boston to Los Angeles, from New York City to Chicago to Dallas, museums are either planning, building, or wrapping up wholesale expansion programs.These programs already have radically altered facades and floor plans or are expected to do so in the not-too-distant future.In New York City alone, six major institutions have spread up and out into the air space and neighborhoods around them or are preparing to do so.The reasons for this confluence of activity are complex, but one factor is a consideration everywhereor selling off-works of art has taken on new importance because of the museum's space problems.And increasingly, curators have been forced to juggle gallery space, rotating one masterpiece into public view while another is sent to storage.Despite the clear need for additional gallery and storage space, however,“ the museum has no plan, no plan to break out of its envelope in the next fifteen years,” according to Philadelphia Museum of Art's president.11

Unit14:A Rare Fossil Record The preservation of embryos and juveniles is a rate occurrence in the fossil record.The tiny, delicate skeletons are usually scattered by scavengers or destroyed by weathering before they can be fossilized.Ichthyosaurs had a higher chance of being preserved than did terrestrial creatures because, as marine animals, they tended to live in environments less subject to erosion.Still, their fossilization required a suite of factors: a slow rate of decay of soft tissues, little scavenging by other animals, a lack of swift currents and waves to jumble and carry away small bones, and fairly rapid burial.Given these factors, some areas have become a treasury of well-preserved ichthyosaur fossils.The deposits at Holzmaden, Germany, present an interesting case for analysis.The ichthyosaur remains are found in black, bituminous marine shales deposited about 190 million years ago.Over the years, thousands of specimens of marine reptiles, fish and invertebrates have been recovered from these rocks.The quality of preservation is outstanding, but what is even more impressive is the number of ichthyosaur fossils containing preserved embryos.Ichthyosaurs with embryos have been reported from 6 different levels of the shale in a small area around Holzmaden, suggesting that a specific site was used by large numbers of ichthyosaurs repeatedly over time.The embryos are quite advanced in their physical development;their paddles, for example, are already well formed.One specimen is even preserved in the birth canal.In addition, the shale contains the remains of many newborns that are between 20 and 30 inches long.Why are there so many pregnant females and young at Holzmaden when they are so rare elsewhere The quality of preservation is almost unmatched and quarry operations have been carried out carefully with an awareness of the value of the fossils.But these factors do not account for the interesting question of how there came to be such a concentration of pregnant ichthyosaurs in a particular place very close to their time of giving birth.12

Unit15:The Nobel Academy For the last 82years, Sweden's Nobel Academy has decided who will receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, thereby determining who will be elevated from the great and the near great to the immortal.But today the Academy is coming under heavy criticism both from the without and from within.Critics contend that the selection of the winners often has less to do with true writing ability than with the peculiar internal politics of the Academy and of Sweden itself.According to Ingmar Bjorksten , the cultural editor for one of the country's two major newspapers, the prize continues to represent “what people call a very Swedish exercise: reflecting Swedish tastes.”

The Academy has defended itself against such charges of provincialism in its selection by asserting that its physical distance from the great literary capitals of the world actually serves to protect the Academy from outside influences.This may well be true, but critics respond that this very distance may also be responsible for the Academy's inability to perceive accurately authentic trends in the literary world.Regardless of concerns over the selection process, however, it seems that the prize will continue to survive both as an indicator of the literature that we most highly praise, and as an elusive goal that writers seek.If for no other reason, the prize will continue to be desirable for the financial rewards that accompany it;not only is the cash prize itself considerable, but it also dramatically increases sales of an author's books.13 Unit16:The War between Britain and France In the late eighteenth century, battles raged in almost every corner of Europe, as well as in the Middle East, south Africa ,the West Indies, and Latin America.In reality, however, there was only one major war during this time, the war between Britain and France.All other battles were ancillary to this larger conflict, and were often at least partially related to its antagonist’ goals and strategies.France sought total domination of Europe.this goal was obstructed by British independence and Britain’s efforts throughout the continent to thwart Napoleon;through treaties.Britain built coalitions(not dissimilar in concept to today’s NATO)guaranteeing British participation in all major European conflicts.These two antagonists were poorly matched, insofar as they had very unequal strengths;France was predominant on land, Britain at sea.The French knew that, short of defeating the British navy, their only hope of victory was to close all the ports of Europe to British ships.Accordingly, France set out to overcome Britain by extending its military domination from Moscow t Lisbon, from Jutland to Calabria.All of this entailed tremendous risk, because France did not have the military resources to control this much territory and still protect itself and maintain order at home.French strategists calculated that a navy of 150 ships would provide the force necessary to defeat the British navy.Such a force would give France a three-to-two advantage over Britain.This advantage was deemed necessary because of Britain’s superior sea skills and technology because of Britain’s superior sea skills and technology, and also because Britain would be fighting a defensive war, allowing it to win with fewer forces.Napoleon never lost substantial impediment to his control of Europe.As his force neared that goal, Napoleon grew increasingly impatient and began planning an immediate attack.14

Unit17:Evolution of Sleep Sleep is very ancient.In the electroencephalographic sense we share it with all the primates and almost all the other mammals and birds: it may extend back as far as the reptiles.There is some evidence that the two types of sleep, dreaming and dreamless, depend on the life-style of the animal, and that predators are statistically much more likely to dream than prey, which are in turn much more likely to experience dreamless sleep.In dream sleep, the animal is powerfully immobilized and remarkably unresponsive to external stimuli.Dreamless sleep is much shallower, and we have all witnessed cats or dogs cocking their ears to a sound when apparently fast asleep.The fact that deep dream sleep is rare among pray today seems clearly to be a product of natural selection, and it makes sense that today, when sleep is highly evolved, the stupid animals are less frequently immobilized by deep sleep than the smart ones.But why should they sleep deeply at all Why should a state of such deep immobilization ever have evolved Perhaps one useful hint about the original function of sleep is to be found in the fact that dolphins and whales and aquatic mammals in genera seem to sleep very little.There is, by and large, no place to hide in the ocean.Could it be that, rather than increasing an animal’s vulnerability, the University of Florida and Ray Meddis of London University have suggested this to be the case.It is conceivable that animals who are too stupid to be quite on their own initiative are, during periods of high risk, immobilized by the implacable arm of sleep.The point seems particularly clear for the young of predatory animals.This is an interesting notion and probably at least partly true.15

Unit18:Modern American Universities Before the 1850’s, the United States had a number of small colleges, most of them dating from colonial days.They were small, church connected institutions whose primary concern was to shape the moral character of their students.Throughout Europe, institutions of higher learning had developed, bearing the ancient name of university.In German university was concerned primarily with creating and spreading knowledge, not morals.Between mid-century and the end of the 1800’s, more than nine thousand young Americans, dissatisfied with their training at home, went to Germany for advanced study.Some of them return to become presidents of venerable colleges-----Harvard, Yale, Columbia---and transform them into modern universities.The new presidents broke all ties with the churches and brought in a new kind of faculty.Professors were hired for their knowledge of a subject, not because they were of the proper faith and had a strong arm for disciplining students.The new principle was that a university was to create knowledge as well as pass it on, and this called for a faculty composed of teacher-scholars.Drilling and learning by rote were replaced by the German method of lecturing, in which the professor’s own research was presented in class.Graduate training leading to the Ph.D., an ancient German degree signifying the highest level of advanced scholarly attainment, was introduced.With the establishment of the seminar system, graduate student learned to question, analyze, and conduct their own research.At the same time, the new university greatly expanded in size and course offerings, breaking completely out of the old, constricted curriculum of mathematics, classics, rhetoric, and music.The president of Harvard pioneered the elective system, by which students were able to choose their own course of study.The notion of major fields of study emerged.The new goal was to make the university relevant to the real pursuits of the world.Paying close heed to the practical needs of society, the new universities trained men and women to work at its tasks, with engineering students being the most characteristic of the new regime.Students were also trained as economists, architects, agriculturalists, social welfare workers, and teachers.18現代美國大學

19世紀50年代以前美國有一些小的學院，大多數成立于殖民時期。它們是與教會掛鉤的小機構，主要目的是培養學生的道德品行。當時在歐洲各地，高等教育機構已經發展起來，用的是一個古老的名稱--大學。

德國已經發展出一種不同類型的大學。德國大學關心的主要是創造知識和傳播知識，而不是道德教育。從世紀中葉到世紀末，有9000多名美國青年因不滿國內所受的教育而赴德深造。他們中的一些人回國后成為一些知名學府--哈佛、耶魯、哥倫比亞的校長并且把這些學府轉變成了現代意義的大學。

新校長們斷絕了和教會的關系，聘請了新型的教職員，聘用教授根據的是他們在學科方面的知識，而不是正確的信仰和約束學生的強硬手段。

新的原則是大學既要傳播知識也要創造知識。這就需要由學者型老師組成教工隊伍。靠死記硬背和做練習來學習的方法變為德國式的講解方法。德 國式的講解就是由教授講授自己的研究課題。通過研究生性質的學習可以獲得表明最高學術造詣的古老的德國學位--博士學位。

隨著討論課制度的建立，研究生們學會了提問、分析以及開展他們自己的研究。同時，新式大學學校規模和課程設臵完全突破了過去那種只

有數學、經典著作、美學和音樂的狹窄課程表。哈佛大學的校長率先推出選課制度，這樣學生們就能選擇自己的專業。主修領域的概念也出現了。新的目標是使大學對實際社會更有用。

密切關注著社會上的實際需求，新的大學著意培養學生解決問題的能力。工程系學生成為新式教育體制下最典型的學生。學生們還被培訓成為經濟學家、建筑師、農學家、社會工作人員以及教師。

Unit19:Children s Numerical Skills people appear to born to compute.The numerical skills of children develop so early and so inexorably that it is easy to imagine an internal clock of mathematical maturity guiding their growth.Not long after learning to walk and talk, they can set the table with impress accuracy---one knife, one spoon, one fork, for each of the five chairs.Soon they are capable of nothing that they have placed five knives, spoons and forks on the table and, a bit later, that this amounts to fifteen pieces of silverware.Having thus mastered addition, they move on to subtraction.It seems almost reasonable to expect that if a child were secluded on a desert island at birth and retrieved seven years later, he or she could enter a second enter a second-grade mathematics class without any serious problems of intellectual adjustment.Of course, the truth is not so simple.This century, the work of cognitive psychologists has illuminated the subtle forms of daily learning on which intellectual progress depends.Children were observed as they slowly grasped-----or, as the case might be, bumped into-----concepts that adults take for quantity is unchanged as water pours from a short glass into a tall thin one.Psychologists have since demonstrated that young children, asked to count the pencils in a pile, readily report the number of blue or red pencils, but must be coaxed into finding the total.Such studies have suggested that the rudiments of mathematics are mastered gradually, and with effort.They have also suggested that the very concept of abstract numbers------the idea of a oneness，a twoness, a threeness that applies to any class of objects and is a prerequisite for doing anything more mathematically demanding than setting a table-----is itself far from innate 18

19兒童的數學能力

人似乎生來就會計算。孩子們使用數字的技能發展得如此之早和如此必然，很容易讓人想象有一個內在的精確而成熟的數字鐘在指導他們的成長。

孩子們在學會走路和說話后不久，就能以令人驚嘆的準確布臵桌子--五把椅子前面分別擺上一把刀、一個湯匙、一把叉子。很快地，他們就能知道他們已在桌面上擺放了五把刀、五個湯匙、五把叉子。沒有多久，他們就又能知道這些東西加起來總共是15把銀餐具。

如此這般地掌握了加法之后，他們又轉向減法。有一種設想幾乎順理成章，那就是，即使一個孩子一出生就被隔絕到荒島

上，七年后返回世間，也能直接上小學二年級的數學課，而不會碰到任何智力調整方面的大麻煩。當然，事實并沒有這么簡單。

本世紀認知心理學家的工作已經揭示了智力發展所依賴的日常學習的微妙形式。他們觀察到孩子們緩慢掌握那些成年人認為理所當然的概念的

過程，或者是孩子們偶然遇到這些概念的過程。他們也觀察到孩子們拒絕承認某些常識的情況。比如：

孩子們拒絕承認當水從短而粗的瓶中倒入細而長的瓶子中時，水的數量沒有變化。心理學家們而后又展示一個例子，即：讓孩子們數一堆鉛筆時，他們能順利地報出藍鉛筆或紅鉛筆的數目，但卻需誘導才能報出總的數目。此類研究表明：數學基礎是經過逐漸努力后掌握的。

他們還表示抽象的數字概念，如可表示任何一類物品并且是在做比擺桌子有更高數學要求的任何事時都必備的一、二、三意識，遠遠不是天生就具備的。

Unit20:The History Significance of American Revolution The ways of history are so intricate and the motivations of human actions so complex that it is always hazardous to attempt to represent events covering a number of years, a multiplicity of persons, and distant localities as the expression of one intellectual or social movement;yet the historical process which culminated in the ascent of Thomas Jefferson to the presidency can be regarded as the outstanding example not only of the birth of a new way of life but of nationalism as a new way of life.The American Revolution represents the link between the seventeenth century, in which modern England became conscious of itself, and the awakening of modern Europe at the end of the eighteenth century.It may seem strange that the march of history should have had to cross the Atlantic Ocean, but only in the North American colonies could a struggle for civic liberty lead also to the foundation of a new nation.Here, in the popular rising against a ―tyrannical‖ government, the fruits were more than the securing of a freer constitution.They included the growth of a nation born in liberty by the will of the people, not from the roots of common descent, a geographic entity, or the ambitions of king or dynasty.With the American nation, for the first time, a nation was born, not in the dim past of history but before the eyes of the whole world.20

20美國革命的歷史意義

歷史的進程是如此錯綜復雜，人類行為的動機是如此令人費解，以至于想把那些時間跨度大，涉及人數多，空間范圍廣的事件描述成為一個智者或一場社會運動的表現的企圖是危險的。

然而以托馬斯?杰弗遜登上總統寶座為高潮的那一段歷史過程可以被視為一個特殊的例子。

在這段歷史時期里不僅誕生了新的生活方式，而且民族主義成為了一種新的生活方式。美國獨立戰爭成為聯結17世紀現代英格蘭的自我意識和18世紀末現代歐洲的覺醒的紐帶。歷史的行程需要跨越大西洋，這看起來似乎有些奇怪，但卻只有在北美殖民地為民權和自由的斗爭才能導致新國家的建立。

這里，反對“暴政”的民眾起義的成果不僅是獲得一個包含更多自由的憲法，還包括了一個依照人民的意愿誕生在自由中的國家的成長。這個國家不是基于血緣、地理、君主或王朝的野心。由于有了美國，第一次一個國家的誕生不是發生在歷史模糊的過去，而是在全世界人們的眼前。

Unit21:The Origin of Sports When did sport begin If sport is, in essence, play, the claim might be made that sport is much older than humankind, for , as we all have observed, the beasts play.Dogs and cats wrestle and play ball games.Fishes and birds dance.The apes have simple, pleasurable games.Frolicking infants, school children playing tag, and adult arm wrestlers are demonstrating strong, transgenerational and transspecies bonds with the universe of animals – past, present, and future.Young animals, particularly, tumble, chase, run wrestle, mock, imitate, and laugh(or so it seems)to the point of delighted exhaustion.Their play, and ours, appears to serve no other purpose than to give pleasure to the players, and apparently, to remove us temporarily from the anguish of life in earnest.Some philosophers have claimed that our playfulness is the most noble part of our basic nature.In their generous conceptions, play harmlessly and experimentally permits us to put our creative forces, fantasy, and imagination into action.Play is release from the tedious battles against scarcity and decline which are the incessant, and inevitable, tragedies of life.This is a grand conception that excites and provokes.The holders of this view claim that the origins of our highest accomplishments----liturgy, literature, and law----can be traced to a play impulse which, paradoxically, we see most purely enjoyed by young beasts and children.Our sports, in this rather happy, nonfatalistic view of human nature, are more splendid creations of the nondatable, transspecies play impulse.22

21體育的起源

體育運動開始于何時如果體育運動的本質就是游戲的話，我們就可以宣稱體育運動比人類古老，因為正如我們所觀察到的，野獸也進行嬉戲。狗和貓會扭抱玩球，魚和鳥翩翩起舞，猿類會進行一些簡單的、愉快的游戲。雀躍的幼兒，捉迷藏的學童和成年摔跤者展示出人與動物界的有力的跨越世代與物種的永恒的聯系--特別是幼獸，它們翻筋斗、追逐、奔跑、扭打、模仿、嬉笑(或者看起來是)，直到愉快地精疲力盡。他們的玩耍，同我們的一樣，似乎并沒有別的目的而只是給游戲者以愉悅，暫時把我們從嚴肅生活的痛苦中拉出來。一些哲學家稱我們的嬉戲是我們本質中最崇高的部分。

依他們這些隨意性很大的見解，游戲無害而且實驗性地允許我們的創造力、幻想和想象發揮作用。游戲讓人們從永不間斷亦不可避免的生活悲劇-與乏匱和衰退進行的枯燥抗爭中得到一種解脫。這是一個令人興奮、給人啟發的偉大見解。這種見解的持有者宣稱，我們的最高成就如宗教典禮、文學、法律的起源可以追溯到游戲的沖動。但令人不解的是我們看到只有幼獸和小孩子才最純粹地享受著這種沖動。從這種比較豁達和非宿命的人性觀來看，我們的運動是超時代、跨物種的輝煌的創造。

Unit22:Collectibles Collectibles have been a part of almost every culture since ancient times.Whereas some objects have been collected for their usefulness, others have been selected for their aesthetic beauty alone.In the United States, the kinds of collectibles currently popular range from traditional objects such as stamps, coins, rare books, and art to more recent items of interest like dolls, bottles, baseball cards, and comic books.Interest in collectibles has increased enormously during the past decade, in part because some collectibles have demonstrated their value as investments.Especially during cycles of high inflation, investors try to purchase tangibles that will at least retain their current market values.In general, the most traditional collectibles will be sought because they have preserved their value over the years, there is an organized auction market for them, and they are most easily sold in the event that cash is needed.Some examples of the most stable collectibles are old masters, Chinese ceramics, stamps, coins, rare books, antique jewelry, silver, porcelain, art by well-known artists, autographs, and period furniture.Other items of more recent interest include old photograph records, old magazines, post cards, baseball cards, art glass, dolls, classic cars, old bottles, and comic books.These relatively new kinds of collectibles may actually appreciate faster as short-term investments, but may not hold their value as long-term investments.Once a collectible has had its initial play, it appreciates at a fairly steady rate, supported by an increasing number of enthusiastic collectors competing for the limited supply of collectibles that become increasingly more difficult to locate.24

Unit23:Ford Although Henry Ford’s name is closely associated with the concept of mass production, he should receive equal credit for introducing labor practices as early as 1913 that would be considered advanced even by today’s standards.Safety measures were improved, and the work day was reduced to eight hours, compared with the ten-or twelve-hour day common at the time.In order to accommodate the shorter work day, the entire factory was converted from two to three shifts.In addition, sick leaves as well as improved medical care for those injured on the job were instituted.The Ford Motor Company was one of the first factories to develop a technical school to train specialized skilled laborers and an English language school for immigrants.Some efforts were even made to hire the handicapped and provide jobs for former convicts.The most widely acclaimed innovation was the five-dollar-a-day minimum wage that was offered in order to recruit and retain the best mechanics and to discourage the growth of labor unions.Ford explained the new wage policy in terms of efficiency and profit sharing.He also mentioned the fact that his employees would be able to purchase the automobiles that they produced – in effect creating a market for the product.In order to qualify for the minimum wage, an employee had to establish a decent home and demonstrate good personal habits, including sobriety, thriftiness, industriousness, and dependability.Although some criticism was directed at Ford for involving himself too much in the personal lives of his employees, there can be no doubt that, at a time when immigrants were being taken advantage of in frightful ways, Henry Ford was helping many people to establish themselves in America.25

23亨利?福特

盡管亨利?福特的名字和大生產的概念相連，但他在勞工保護上得到同樣的贊譽，因為他早在1913年便實行了用今天的標準來衡量依然是先進的標準。安全措施得到改進，日工作時間從當時普遍的10或12小時減少到8小時。為了適應更短的日工作時間，整個工廠從雙班變成了三班。而且，病假和改善了的工傷醫療得以制度化。福特汽車公司是最早建立技術學校來培訓專門技工和為移民開設英語學校的工廠之一。公司甚至為雇傭殘疾人和有前科的人而作出了一些努力。最受廣泛稱贊的革新是實行五美元一天的最低工資。其目的是招收和留住那些最好的技工并阻礙工會的發展。

福特從效率和利潤分享的角度來解釋這項新的工資政策。他也提到這樣一個事實，他的員工可以買他們生產的汽車--這實際上是為其產品另開辟了一個市場。為了夠資格得到最低工資，員工必須建立一個得體的家庭并顯示出良好的個人習慣，包括節制、儉省、勤勉和可靠。雖然有人批評福特過多地干涉 了員工的私人生活，但毫無疑問，在移民們被用惡劣的方式剝削的時代，亨利?福特卻幫助了許多人在美國扎下根來。

Unit25:Movie Music Accustomed though we are to speaking of the films made before 1927 as ―silent‖, the film has never been, in the full sense of the word, silent.From the very beginning, music was regarded as an indispensable accompaniment;when the Lumiere films were shown at the first public film exhibition in the United States in February 1896, they were accompanied by piano improvisations on popular tunes.At first, the music played bore no special relationship to the films;an accompaniment of any kind was sufficient.Within a very short time, however, the incongruity of playing lively music to a solemn film became apparent, and film pianists began to take some care in matching their pieces to the mood of the film.As movie theaters grew in number and importance, a violinist, and perhaps a cellist, would be added to the pianist in certain cases, and in the larger movie theaters small orchestras were formed.For a number of years the selection of music for each film program rested entirely in the hands of the conductor or leader of the orchestra, and very often the principal qualification for holding such a position was not skill or taste so much as the ownership of a large personal library of musical pieces.Since the conductor seldom saw the films until the night before they were to be shown(if indeed, the conductor was lucky enough to see them then), the musical arrangement was normally improvised in the greatest hurry.To help meet this difficulty, film distributing companies started the practice of publishing suggestions for musical accompaniments.In 1909, for example, the Edison Company began issuing with their films such indications of mood as ― pleasant‖, ―sad‖, ―lively‖.The suggestions became more explicit, and so emerged the musical cue sheet containing indications of mood, the titles of suitable pieces of music, and precise directions to show where one piece led into the next.Certain films had music especially composed for them.The most famous of these early special scores was that composed and arranged for D.W Griffith’s film Birth of a Nation, which was released in 1915.27 電影插曲

盡管我們習慣于將1927年以前的電影稱為“無聲電影”，但是就無聲這個詞完整的意義上來說，電影從未真正的無聲過，從最初開始音樂就被視為必不可少的伴奏。當盧米埃爾的電影在1896年2月美國首屆影片公映展覽上放映的時候，影片便用當時的流行曲臨場鋼琴伴奏。最初，這些音樂伴奏與電影沒有什么特別的關系，用什么曲子伴奏都行。但在很短的時間內，為一部莊重的影片演奏快活的音樂所產生的不協調感變得顯而易見，因此鋼琴家們開始注意將自己的作品與影片的情調結合起來。

隨著影劇院在數量上與重要性上的不斷增長，在一些場合，除了鋼琴師外，還要加上小提琴師，或許還有一位大提琴師。較大的影劇院里還組成了小型的管弦樂隊。在很長的時間內，為各部影片選擇配樂完全掌握在樂隊指揮或隊長手中，而通常把持這種職位的資格不是技巧或鑒賞品味，而是擁有一個大的音樂作品的個人收藏。因為直到電影上映的前一天晚上樂隊指揮才能看到影片(如果這個指揮真正有幸能夠看到影片的話)，音樂安排通常是在非常匆忙的情況下臨場進行的。為了解決以上的困難，電影發行公司開辦了為音樂伴奏印制提示單的業務。例如1909年愛迪生公司開始將一些諸如“喜悅的”、“悲傷的”、“活潑的”之類表明影片情調特征的提示與影片一起發行。

這些提示逐漸變得更加具體，并且出現了包括影片情調說明、適用樂曲名稱和樂曲轉換點等內容的配樂說明單。某些影片擁有專門為其創作的音樂。這些早期特創樂譜中最著名的便是為D.W.格雷夫斯1915年上映的影片《一個國家的誕生》所創作的音樂。

Note: 美國通俗音樂分類： 1.Jazz;1)traditional jazz----a)blues, 代表人物：Billy Holiday b)ragtime(切分樂曲): 代表人物：Scott Joplin c)New Orleans jazz(= Dixieland jazz)eg: Louis Armstron d)swing eg: Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, etc.e)bop(=bebop, rebop)eg: Lester Young, Charlie Parker etc.28 2)modern jazz------a)cool jazz(=progressive jazz)高雅爵士樂。Eg: Kenny G.b)third-stream jazz.Eg: Charles Mingus, John Lewis.c)main stream jazz.d)avant-garde jazz.e)soul jazz.Eg: Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald

f)Latin jazz.2.gospel music 福音音樂，主要源于Nero spirituals.Eg.Dolly Parker, Mahalia Jackson 3.Country and Western music.Eg.John Denver, Tammy Wynette, Kenny Rogers, etc.4.Rock music-----------a)rock and roll eg: Elvis Prestley(US), the Beatles(UK.)

b)folk rock Eg: Bob Dylon, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Lionel Riche etc.c)punk rock

d)acid rock

e)rock jazz eg: M.J.McLaughlin

f)Jurassic rock 5.Music for easy listening(i.e.light music)29 Unit26:International Business and Cross-cultural Communication The increase in international business and in foreign investment has created a need for executives with knowledge of foreign languages and skills in cross-cultural communication.Americans, however, have not been well trained in either area and, consequently, have not enjoyed the same level of success in negotiation in an international arena as have their foreign counterparts.Negotiating is the process of communicating back and forth for the purpose of reaching an agreement.It involves persuasion and compromise, but in order to participate in either one, the negotiators must understand the ways in which people are persuaded and how compromise is reached within the culture of the negotiation.In many international business negotiations abroad, Americans are perceived as wealthy and impersonal.It often appears to the foreign negotiator that the American represents a large multi-million-dollar corporation that can afford to pay the price without bargaining further.The American negotiator’s role becomes that of an impersonal purveyor of information and cash.In studies of American negotiators abroad, several traits have been identified that may serve to confirm this stereotypical perception, while undermining the negotiator’s position.Two traits in particular that cause cross-cultural misunderstanding are directness and impatience on the part of the American negotiator.Furthermore, American negotiators often insist on realizing short-term goals.Foreign negotiators, on the other hand, may value the relationship established between negotiators and may be willing to invest time in it for long-term benefits.In order to solidify the relationship, they may opt for indirect interactions without regard for the time involved in getting to know the other negotiator.30

國際商業和跨文化交流

國際貿易和海外投資的增加產生了對具有外語知識和跨文化交流技巧的經理的需求。然而，美國人在這兩方面未得到良好的訓練，因此沒有在國際談判中象他們的外國對手一樣成功。談判是為了達成協議而反復交流的過程。它包括說服和妥協。

但是為了去進行說服和妥協，談判者必須懂得在談判的文化中怎樣說服人和怎樣達成妥協。在國外的國際商務談判中，美國人被視為富有和不帶個人情感。在外國談判者看來，似乎美國人代表著一個龐大的擁有數百萬資財的大企業，不用進一步地討價還價就能出得起價錢。

美國談判者的角色變成了一個沒有個人感情的信息及現金的供應者。對在國外的美國談判者的研究中，我們找出了損害談判者能力的幾個特點，或許證實這個已成定式的看法。尤其引起跨文化誤解的兩個特點是美國談判者的直截了當和缺乏耐心。此外，美國談判者經常堅持實現短期目標，而外國的談判者會珍視建立談判者之間的聯系并愿意為長期利益投入時間。

為了鞏固這種聯系，他們會選擇非直接的交流而不計較投入用于了解對方的時間。明顯地，價值觀的不同和理解上的差異影響了談判的結果和談判者的成功與否。美國人要在國際商務談判中扮演更為有效的角色，他們就必須投入更多的努力提高跨文化的理解力。

Unit27:Scientific Theories In science, a theory is a reasonable explanation of observed events that are related.A theory often involves an imaginary model that helps scientists picture the way an observed event could be produced.A good example of this is found in the kinetic molecular theory, in which gases are pictured as being made up of many small particles that are in constant motion.A useful theory, in addition to explaining past observations, helps to predict events that have not as yet been observed.After a theory has been publicized, scientists design experiments to test the theory.If observations confirm the scientist’s predictions, the theory is supported.If observations do not confirm the predictions, the scientists must search further.There may be a fault in the experiment, or the theory may have to be revised or rejected.Science involves imagination and creative thinking as well as collecting information and performing experiments.Facts by themselves are not science.As the mathematician Jules Henri Poincare said, ―Science is built with facts just as a house is built with bricks, but a collection of facts cannot be called science any more than a pile of bricks can be called a house.‖

Most scientists start an investigation by finding out what other scientists have learned about a particular problem.After known facts have been gathered, the scientist comes to the part of the investigation that requires considerable imagination.Possible solutions to the problem are formulated.These possible solutions are called hypotheses.In a way, any hypothesis is a leap into the unknown.It extends the scientist’s thinking beyond the known facts.The scientist plans experiments, performs calculations, and makes observations to test hypotheses.Without hypothesis, further investigation lacks purpose and direction.When hypotheses are confirmed, they are incorporated into theories.32

科學理論

在科學中，理論是對所觀察到的相關事件的合理解釋。理論通常包含一個虛構的模型，這個模型幫助科學家構想所觀察到的事件是如何發生的。分子運動理論便是我們能找到的一個很好的例子。在這個理論中，氣體被描繪成由許多不斷運動的小顆粒組成。一個有用的理論，除了能夠解釋過去的觀測，還有助于預測那些未被觀測到的事件。一個理論公開后，科學家們設計實驗來檢驗這個理論。如果觀察證實了科學家的預言，這個理論則得到了驗證。如果觀察不能證實科學家的預言，科學家就必須進一步的研究。或許是實驗存在錯誤，或許是這個理論必須被修改或拋棄。

科學家除了收集信息和操作實驗外還需要想象能力和創/造性思維。事實本身并不是科學。正如數學家喬斯亨利波恩克爾所說：“科學建立在事實之上，就像房子用磚砌成一樣。但事實的收集不能被稱作科學，就像一堆磚不能被叫作房子一樣。

”多數科學家通過找出別的科學家在一個特定問題上的所知來開始研究。在收集了已知事實之后，科學家開始了研究中需要相當想像力的部分。他們爾后擬訂對這個問題的可行的解決方法。這些可行的解決方式被稱為假設。

在某種意義上，任何假設都是向未知的跳躍。它使科學家的思維超越已知事實。科學家計劃實驗、計算、觀測以檢驗假定。若沒有假設，進一步的研究便缺乏目的和方向。當假設被證實了，就成為理論的一部分。

Unit28:Changing Roles of Public Education One of the most important social developments that helped to make possible a shift in thinking about the role of public education was the effect of the baby boom of the 1950's and 1960's on the schools.In the 1920's, but especially in the Depression conditions of the 1930's, the United States experienced a declining birth rate---every thousand women aged fifteen to forty-four gave birth to about 118 live children in 1920, 89.2 in 1930, 75.8 in 1936, and 80 in 1940.With the growing prosperity brought on by the Second World War and the economic boom that followed it young people married and established households earlier and began to raise larger families than had their predecessors during the Depression.Birth rates rose to 102 per thousand in 1946,106.2 in 1950, and 118 in 1955.Although economics was probably the most important determinant, it is not the only explanation for the baby boom.The increased value placed on the idea of the family also helps to explain this rise in birth rates.The baby boomers began streaming into the first grade by the mid 1940's and became a flood by 1950.The public school system suddenly found itself overtaxed.While the number of schoolchildren rose because of wartime and postwar conditions, these same conditions made the schools even less prepared to cope with the food.The wartime economy meant that few new schools were built between 1940 and 1945.Moreover, during the war and in the boom times that followed, large numbers of teachers left their profession for better-paying jobs elsewhere in the economy.Therefore in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the baby boom hit an antiquated and inadequate school system.Consequently, the ― custodial rhetoric‖ of the 1930’s and early 1940’s no longer made sense that is, keeping youths aged sixteen and older out of the labor market by keeping them in school could no longer be a high priority for an institution unable to find space and staff to teach younger children aged five to sixteen.With the baby boom, the focus of educators and of laymen interested in education inevitably turned toward the lower grades and back to basic academic skills and discipline.The system no longer had much interest in offering nontraditional, new, and extra services to older youths.34 公共教育的角色變化一項重要的、有可能促使人們對公共教育的角色的看法發生轉變的社會發展是本世紀五六十年代的生育高峰對學校的影響。在20年代，尤其是在30年代后的大蕭條中，美國經歷了一次出生率的下降--1920年每千名年齡在15歲至45歲的婦女生下大約118個存活嬰兒，1930年89.2個，1936年75.8個，1940年80個。隨著二戰帶來的持續繁榮以及隨之而來的經濟增長，年輕人比大蕭條中的同齡人更早地結婚成家，而且比前輩養育更大的家庭。1946年出生率上升到102%，1950年達106%，1955年達118%。對于生育高峰，經濟有可能是最重要的決定因素，但它并不是唯一的解釋。不斷受到重視的家庭觀念也有助于解釋出生率的上升。到40年代中期為止，這些生育高峰出生的孩子們開始源源不斷地進入小學一年級。到了1950年，就形成了一股洪流。公共教育系統突然感到不堪重負了。由于戰時和戰后的狀況，使得學齡兒童人數增加，這些狀況使得學校面對這股洪流更加措手不及。戰時經濟意味著在1940年到1950年間幾乎沒有建立新學校。而且，在戰時和隨后的經濟增長時期，大量的教師離開崗位去別處從事報酬更為優厚的工作。

因此，在五六十年代，生育高峰沖擊著陳舊而不完備的學校體系。這樣一來，30年代以及40年代早期，“監護理論”就不再有意義了。也就是說，通過使16歲以上的年輕人留在學校不進入勞動力市場的做法再也不是教育機構的優先考慮了。因為教育機構不再能找到場地和教師來教育那些更小的5-16歲的孩子。隨著生育高峰，教育者和圈外人士對教育的興趣和焦點，不可避免地轉向了更低的年級和基礎的學術技能和學科上。這個系統不再有濃厚的興趣給較年長的年輕人提供非傳統的新式的和額外的服務。

Unit29:Telecommuting Telecommuting--substituting the computer for the trip to the job----has been hailed as a solution to all kinds of problems related to office work.For workers it promises freedom from the office, less time wasted in traffic, and help with child-care conflicts.For management, telecommuting helps keep high performers on board, minimizes tardiness and absenteeism by eliminating commutes, allows periods of solitude for high-concentration tasks, and provides scheduling flexibility.In some areas, such as Southern California and Seattle, Washington, local governments are encouraging companies to start telecommuting programs in order to reduce rush-hour congestion and improve air quality.But these benefits do not come easily.Making a telecommuting program work requires careful planning and an understanding of the differences between telecommuting realities and popular images.Many workers are seduced by rosy illusions of life as a telecommuter.A computer programmer from New York City moves to the tranquil Adirondack Mountains and stays in contact with her office via computer.A manager comes in to his office three days a week and works at home the other two.An accountant stays home to care for her sick child;she hooks up her telephone modern connections and does office work between calls to the doctor.These are powerful images, but they are a limited reflection of reality.Telecommuting workers soon learn that it is almost impossible to concentrate on work and care for a young child at the same time.Before a certain age, young children cannot recognize, much less respect, the necessary boundaries between work and family.Additional child support is necessary if the parent is to get any work done.Management too must separate the myth from the reality.Although the media has paid a great deal of attention to telecommuting in most cases it is the employee’s situation, not the availability of technology that precipitates a telecommuting arrangement.That is partly why, despite the widespread press coverage, the number of companies with work-at-home programs or policy guidelines remains small.36

電子交通

電子交通--用電腦取代上班的往返--作為對各種各樣的辦公室工作問題的解決辦法已受到了歡迎。

對工作者來說，它承諾不受辦公室的約束，更少的時間浪費在交通上和有助于解決照看小孩的矛盾。對管理者來說，電子交通有助于挽留高效率的工作者，通過省去辦公室與家之間的來回往返，大大減少工作拖拉和曠工，給予管理者獨處的時間來完成需要高度集中精神的任務，為管理者提供靈活的時間安排。在一些地區，如南加利福尼亞和西雅圖、華盛頓，地方政府鼓勵公司開始電子交通計劃以減少交通高峰時的塞車和提高空氣質量。

但這些益處也來之不易。要使電子交通成功需要仔細的計劃并且理解電子交通的現實狀況和流行的想象之間的區別。許多工作者被電子交通的美好幻想所迷惑。一位電腦程序設計員從紐約市搬到了寧靜的阿第倫達克山，用電腦保持與她辦公室之間的聯系。一位經理一周三天到辦公室，其他兩天在家工作；一位會計師在家照顧她生病的孩子，接通電話調制解調器的接頭，在同醫生通話之余完成辦公室工作。

這些是很有震撼力的情景，但也是對現實有限的反映。電子交通者很快發現在同一時間專注工作和照看小孩幾乎是不可能的。在某個年齡之前，小孩子不可能意識到，更不可能尊重工作與家庭之間的界限。如果家長要完成工作，就必須另外照看小孩。

管理階層必須把現實同神話分開。雖然傳媒對電子交通投入了極大的關注，但在很大程度上，是員工的實際情況而不是技術的可能性促成電子交通的安排。這就是為什么盡管有廣泛的報導，具有在家工作項目或行動綱領的公司數目依然很少的部分原因。

Unit30:The origin of Refrigerators By the mid-nineteenth century, the term ―icebox‖ had entered the American language, but ice was still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the United States.The ice trade grew with the growth of cities.Ice was used in hotels, taverns, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers in fresh meat, fresh fish, and butter.After the Civil War(1861-1865),as ice was used to refrigerate freight cars, it also came into household use.Even before 1880,half of the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to families for their own use.This had become possible because a new household convenience, the icebox, a precursor of the modern refrigerator, had been invented.Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose.In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of the physics of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary.The commonsense notion that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was the melting of the ice that performed the cooling.Nevertheless, early efforts to economize ice included wrapping up the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its job.Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate balance of insulation and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.But as early as 1803, and ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right track.He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of Georgetown was the market center.When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pass up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium price for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks.One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool.38

冰箱的由來

直到19世紀中期，“冰箱”這個名詞才進入了美國語言，但冰僅僅只是開始影響美國普通市民的飲食。冰的買賣隨著城市的發展而發展。冰被用在旅館、酒館、醫院以及被一些有眼光的城市商人用于肉、魚和黃油的保鮮。內戰(1861-1865)之后，冰被用于冷藏貨車，同時也進入了民用。甚至在1880年前，半數在紐約、費城和巴爾的摩銷售的冰，三分之一在波士頓和芝加哥銷售的冰進入家庭使用，因為一種新的家庭設備，冰箱，即現代冰箱的前身，被發明了。

制造一臺有效率的冰箱不像我們想象的那么簡單。19世紀早期，關于對冷藏科學至關重要的熱物理知識是很淺陋的。認為最好的冰箱應該防止冰的融化這樣一個普遍的觀點顯然是錯誤的，因為正是冰的融化起了制冷作用。早期為節省冰的努力，包括用毯子把冰包起來，使得冰不能發揮它的作用。直到近19世紀末，發明家們才成功地找到有效率的冰箱所需要的精確的隔熱和循環的精確平衡。

但早在1803年，一位有發明天才的馬里蘭農場主，托馬斯莫爾，找到了正確方法。他擁有一個農場，離華盛頓約20英里，那里的喬治鎮村莊是集市中心。當他用自己設計的冰箱運送黃油去市場時，他發現顧客們會走過裝在競爭者桶里那些迅速融化的黃油而給他比市價更高的價格買他仍然新鮮堅硬，整齊地切成一磅一塊的黃油。莫爾說他的冰箱的一個好處是使得農民們不必在夜里上路去市場以保持他們產品的低溫。

Unit31:British Columbia British Columbia is the third largest Canadian provinces, both in area and population.It is nearly 1.5 times as large as Texas, and extends 800 miles(1,280km)north from the United States border.It includes Canada’s entire west coast and the islands just off the coast.Most of British Columbia is mountainous, with long rugged ranges running north and south.Even the coastal islands are the remains of a mountain range that existed thousands of years ago.During the last Ice Age, this range was scoured by glaciers until most of it was beneath the sea.Its peaks now show as islands scattered along the coast.The southwestern coastal region has a humid mild marine climate.Sea winds that blow inland from the west are warmed by a current of warm water that flows through the Pacific Ocean.As a result, winter temperatures average above freezing and summers are mild.These warm western winds also carry moisture from the ocean.Inland from the coast, the winds from the Pacific meet the mountain barriers of the coastal ranges and the Rocky Mountains.As they rise to cross the mountains, the winds are cooled, and their moisture begins to fall as rain.On some of the western slopes almost 200 inches(500cm)of rain fall each year.More than half of British Columbia is heavily forested.On mountain slopes that receive plentiful rainfall, huge Douglas firs rise in towering columns.These forest giants often grow to be as much as 300 feet(90m)tall, with diameters up to 10 feet(3m).More lumber is produced from these trees than from any other kind of tree in North America.Hemlock, red cedar, and balsam fir are among the other trees found in British Columbia.40

英屬哥倫比亞

英屬哥倫比亞是加拿大的第三大省，無論是面積還是人口都是如此。它幾乎是德克薩斯的1.5倍，從美國邊境一直向北延伸了800英里(1，280公里)。它包括了加拿大整個西海岸及附近島嶼。

大部分英屬哥倫比亞多山巒。綿長而粗獷的山脈貫通南北。甚至那些沿海的島嶼都是那些存在于千萬年前的山脈的遺跡。在上一個冰河時期，這些山脈被冰河沖刷侵蝕，直到大部分山脈被淹沒在海中。它們的峰頂顯現為沿著海岸散布的島嶼。

西南海岸地區有著潮濕溫和的海洋性氣候。從太平洋來的溫暖的洋流使得從西吹過內陸的海風變得溫暖。因此這兒冬天平均氣溫在零上而且夏天也不會酷熱。這些溫暖的西風同樣也從海洋帶來了濕氣。來自太平洋的、從海岸向內陸的風遇到海岸山脈和落基山脈這些山脈屏障。當氣流升高跨越這些山脈時，風的溫度就降低了，風中的水分形成降雨。在一些朝西山坡區域每年大約有200英寸(500厘米)的降水。

大部分英屬哥倫比亞密布著森林。在有充足降水的斜坡，巨大的道格拉斯樅樹高聳入云。這些森林巨人常常長到高達300英尺(90米)，直徑粗達10英尺(3米)。這些樹產出了比北美其他任何樹都多的木材。鐵杉、紅香椿、香脂冷杉樅都是發現于英屬哥倫比亞的其它樹種。

Unit32:Botany Botany, the study of plants, occupies a peculiar position in the history of human knowledge.For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest of insights.It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but form what we can observe of pre-industrial societies that still exist a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient.This is logical.Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things even for other plants.They have always been enormously important to the welfare of people not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, dyes, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes.Tribes living today in the jungles of the Amazon recognize literally hundreds of plants and know many properties of each.To them, botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of ― knowledge‖ at all.Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows.Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid.When our Neolithic ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer yields the next season the first great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken.Grains were discovered and from them flowed the marvel of agriculture: cultivated crops.From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild-and the accumulated knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and intimacy with plants in the wild would begin to fade away.42

植物學

植物學，即對植物的研究，在人類知識的歷史中占據了特殊的地位。這是人類幾千年來超越模糊的認知而真正有所了解的領域之一。我們今天不可能知道新石器時代的祖先們對植物到底了解多少，但我們在至今仍存在的前工業化社會觀察到：人類對植物及其特性的詳細了解應該是非常古老的。這是理所當然的。植物是其他生物甚至其他植物食物金字塔的基礎。它們對人們的生活至關重要，不僅在食物上，而且在衣物、武器、工具、染料、藥物、住所和許許多多其他的用途上。至今仍生活在亞馬遜河叢林中的部落確實能夠辨識幾百種植物并知道每一種的許多特性。對他們來說，植物學沒有專門的名稱，甚至可能根本未被認為是一種專門知識。

不幸的是，工業化的程度越高，我們距直接與植物接觸就越遠，我們的植物學知識的增加也就越微不足道。然而每個人在不知不覺中擁有大量的植物學知識，很少有人認不出玫瑰、蘋果或蘭花。大約一萬年前居住在中東的新時代的祖先們發現某些草能被收獲，它們的種子下一季耕種會收獲更多時，人類就邁出了人和植物之間的新關系第一大步。谷子被發現后，農業的奇跡從此誕生：這就是可栽培的谷物。從那時起，人類越來越依賴少數可控制的作物生存，而不再是從眾多的野生種類中這里獲取一點，那里獲取一點。這樣在千萬年中對于野生植物的經驗和密切聯系中積累起來的知識就開始消失了。

Unit33:Plankton

Scattered through the seas of the world are billions of tons of small plants and animals called plankton.Most of these plants and animals are too small for the human eye to see.They drift about lazily with the currents, providing a basic food for many larger animals.Plankton has been described as the equivalent of the grasses that grow on the dry land continents, and the comparison is an appropriate one.In potential food value, however, plankton far outweighs that of the land grasses.One scientist has estimated that while grasses of the world produce about 49 billion tons of valuable carbohydrates each year, the sea’s plankton generates more than twice as much.Despite its enormous food potential, little effect was made until recently to farm plankton as we farm grasses on land.Now marine scientists have at last begun to study this possibility, especially as the sea’s resources loom even more important as a means of feeding an expanding world population.No one yet has seriously suggested that ― plankton-burgers‖ may soon become popular around the world.As a possible farmed supplementary food source, however, plankton is gaining considerable interest among marine scientists.One type of plankton that seems to have great harvest possibilities is a tiny shrimp-like creature called krill.Growing to two or three inches long, krill provides the major food for the great blue whale, the largest animal to ever inhabit the Earth.Realizing that this whale may grow to 100 feet and weigh 150 tons at maturity, it is not surprising that each one devours more than one ton of krill daily.44

浮游生物

浮游生物數十億噸的被稱為“浮游生物”的小動物、植物散布在世界的海洋中。這些小的動、植物大多太小而難以被人眼看到。它們隨波逐流，為許多較大的動物提供了基本的食物。

浮游生物曾被描述為生長在大陸陸地上的各種草類的海洋對應物。這種比喻是恰當的。然而就潛在的食物價值而言，浮游生物遠勝于草類。一位科學家曾經估計，世界上的草類每年生產大約490億噸有用的碳水化合物，而海洋里的浮游生物每年生產的碳水化合物多于此數的兩倍。

盡管浮游生物具備巨大的食物潛能，但直到最近人們還很少象種植草類那樣付出努力養殖浮游生物。現在，海洋科學家們至少已開始研究這種可能性。全球人口不斷擴張，海洋資源作為食品的重要性日益突出。

現在還沒有人認真說過“浮游生物漢堡”會很快在世界上流行起來。然而，作為一種可能養殖的補充性食物資源，浮游生物正引起了海洋科學家們相當大的興趣。

一種似乎具有很大收獲可能性的微小的蝦狀浮游生物被稱為鱗蝦。鱗蝦長至2～3英寸長時即成為地球上曾居住過的最大動物--藍鯨的主要食物。成熟的藍鯨可以達到100英尺長，150噸重，所以每頭鯨每天吞食1噸多的鱗蝦一點也不讓人吃驚。

Unit34:Raising Oysters In the oysters were raised in much the same way as dirt farmers raised tomatoes-by transplanting them.First, farmers selected the oyster bed, cleared the bottom of old shells and other debris, then scattered clean shells about.Next, they ‖planted‖ fertilized oyster eggs, which within two or three weeks hatched into larvae.The larvae drifted until they attached themselves to the clean shells on the bottom.There they remained and in time grew into baby oysters called seed or spat.The spat grew larger by drawing in seawater from which they derived microscopic particles of food.Before long, farmers gathered the baby oysters, transplanted them once more into another body of water to fatten them up.Until recently the supply of wild oysters and those crudely farmed were more than enough to satisfy people’s needs.But today the delectable seafood is no longer available in abundance.The problem has become so serious that some oyster beds have vanished entirely.Fortunately, as far back as the early 1900’s marine biologists realized that if new measures were not taken, oysters would become extinct or at best a luxury food.So they set up well-equipped hatcheries and went to work.But they did not have the proper equipment or the skill to handle the eggs.They did not know when, what, and how to feed the larvae.And they knew little about the predators that attack and eat baby oysters by the millions.They failed, but they doggedly kept at it.Finally, in the 1940’s a significant breakthrough was made.The marine biologists discovered that by raising the temperature of the water, they could induce oysters to spawn not only in the summer but also in the fall, winter, and spring.Later they developed a technique for feeding the larvae and rearing them to spat.Going still further, they succeeded in breeding new strains that were resistant to diseases, grew faster and larger, and flourished in water of different salinities and temperatures.In addition, the cultivated oysters tasted better!46

飼養牡蠣

過去人們飼養牡蠣的方式很大程度上類似于田地里的農夫種植蕃茄--通過移植來飼養它們。首先，農夫選好牡蠣苗床，清除底部的舊殼和其它雜物，然后四處撒播干凈的殼。接著，他們“栽種”已受精的牡蠣卵。這些卵在2～3周內會孵化成幼貝。幼貝一直漂流直到粘在苗床底部干凈的殼上為止。它們會呆在那兒并逐漸長成小牡蠣。我們稱之為種子或貝苗。貝苗吸進海水中的微小生物作為食物從而越長越大。不久之后，農夫將這些小牡蠣收集起來，把它們移種進其他的水域加快其生長，然后再次將它們移種進另外的水域以使其肥壯起來。

直到最近，野生的以及人工飼養的牡蠣完全能夠滿足人們的需要。但是今天這種可口的海味已不再大量存在。這個問題已經變得如此嚴重以至于一些牡蠣苗床已完全消失。幸運的是，早在20世紀初期海洋生物學家們就意識到如果不采取新的措施，牡蠣將會滅絕或至少會變為一種奢侈的食品。因此他們建造了裝備良好的孵卵場所并開始工作。但是他們尚沒有適當的裝臵或技術來處理牡蠣卵。他們不知道何時、用什么以及如何喂養幼貝。他們對捕食數百萬幼小牡蠣的動物天敵也所知無幾。他們失敗了，但他們頑強地堅持了下來。終于，在20世紀40年代，一個重要的突破性的進展產生了。

海洋生物學家發現，升高水溫能夠誘導牡蠣不僅在夏季也在秋季、冬季和春季里產卵。后來他們發展了一項技術來喂養幼貝至其長成貝苗。他們進一步成功地培養出了新的品種，可以抵抗疾病、長得更快、更大并且在不同的鹽度和溫度的水中都能茁壯生長。此外，這些培殖出的牡蠣口感更佳!

U 47

nit35:Oil Refining An important new industry, oil refining, grew after the Civil war.Crude oil, or petroleum – a dark, thick ooze from the earth – had been known for hundreds of years, but little use had ever been made of it.In the 1850’s Samuel M.Kier, a manufacturer in western Pennsylvania, began collecting the oil from local seepages and refining it into kerosene.Refining, like smelting, is a process of removing impurities from a raw material.Kerosene was used to light lamps.It was a cheap substitute for whale oil, which was becoming harder to get.Soon there was a large demand for kerosene.People began to search for new supplies of petroleum.The first oil well was drilled by E.L.Drake, a retired railroad conductor.In 1859 he began drilling in Titusville, Pennsylvania.The whole venture seemed so impractical and foolish that onlookers called it ― Drake’s Folly‖.But when he had drilled down about 70 feet(21 meters), Drake struck oil.His well began to yield 20 barrels of crude oil a day.News of Drake’s success brought oil prospectors to the scene.By the early 1860’s these wildcatters were drilling for ― black gold‖ all over western Pennsylvania.The boom rivaled the California gold rush of 1848 in its excitement and Wild West atmosphere.And it brought far more wealth to the prospectors than any gold rush.Crude oil could be refined into many products.For some years kerosene continued to be the principal one.It was sold in grocery stores and door-to-door.In the 1880’s refiners learned how to make other petroleum products such as waxes and lubricating oils.Petroleum was not then used to make gasoline or heating oil.48

煉油

一種重要的新興工業--煉油業在國內戰爭后成長起來。未加工的石油，或原油--一種深色的地下的稠漿--數百年來一直為大眾所知，但是人們卻很少使用過它。在十九世紀五十年代，薩繆爾M科爾，賓西法尼亞西部的一位制造商，開始從當地的溢出物中收集石油并將它煉成煤油。與冶煉礦石一樣，石油提煉是一個從未加工的原料中除去雜質的過程。

煤油被用來點燈。它是鯨油的一種便宜的替代品，而鯨油正變得越來越難以獲得。不久就產生了對煤油的大量需求。人們開始尋找新的石油供應。

第一口油井為EL瑞克，一個退休的火車檢票員所鉆得。1859年他開始在賓西法尼亞的泰特斯維爾鉆井。整個的這項冒險事業看起來是如此不現實和愚蠢以致旁觀者稱之為“鴨子的蠢行”。(譯者注：Drake'sFolly,drake在這里意含雙關，即指瑞克的名字，又指該詞的本義即鴨子。)但當瑞克往下鉆至70英尺(21米)的時候，他發現了石油。他的油井從此每天生產20桶原油。

瑞克成功的消息將石油勘探者們吸引到現場。截止到19世紀60年代早期，這些冒險者為尋找“黑色的金子”鉆探遍了整個賓西法尼亞西部。這項繁榮的事業在刺激性和粗獷的西部氣氛上可與1848年的加州淘金熱相媲美，而且它為勘探者帶來了遠超過淘金潮的財富。

原油能被提煉成許多產品。多年以來煤油一直是主要的一種產品。它在雜貨店中出售由人挨戶推銷。19世紀八十九十年代煉油者們懂得了生產其它石油產品，如蠟和潤滑油。那時石油還沒有被用來制造汽油或采暖裝臵用油。

Unit36:Plate Tectonics and Sea-floor Spreading The theory of plate tectonics describes the motions of the lithosphere, the comparatively rigid outer layer of the Earth that includes all the crust and part of the underlying mantle.The lithosphere(n.[地]巖石圈)is divided into a few dozen plates of various sizes and shapes, in general the plates are in motion with respect to one another.A mid-ocean ridge is a boundary between plates where new lithospheric material is injected from below.As the plates diverge from a mid-ocean ridge they slide on a more yielding layer at the base of the lithosphere.Since the size of the Earth is essentially constant, new lithosphere can be created at the mid-ocean ridges only if an equal amount of lithospheric material is consumed elsewhere.The site of this destruction is another kind of plate boundary: a subduction zone.There one plate dives under the edge of another and is reincorporated into the mantle.Both kinds of plate boundary are associated with fault systems, earthquakes and volcanism, but the kinds of geologic activity observed at the two boundaries are quite different.The idea of sea-floor spreading actually preceded the theory of plate tectonics.In its original version, in the early 1960’s, it described the creation and destruction of the ocean floor, but it did not specify rigid lithospheric plates.The hypothesis was substantiated soon afterward by the discovery that periodic reversals of the Earth’s magnetic field are recorded in the oceanic crust.As magma rises under the mid-ocean ridge, ferromagnetic minerals in the magma become magnetized in the direction of the magma become magnetized in the direction of the geomagnetic field.When the magma cools and solidifies, the direction and the polarity of the field are preserved in the magnetized volcanic rock.Reversals of the field give rise to a series of magnetic stripes running parallel to the axis of the rift.The oceanic crust thus serves as a magnetic tape recording of the history of the geomagnetic field that can be dated independently;the width of the stripes indicates the rate of the sea-floor spreading.50

第三篇：幾篇優美的背誦英文文章(二)

Time Is Money “Time is money.” This saying means that time is very valuable.But time is more valuable than money.The money we have lost can be gained again, but the time we have wasted cannot be regained.Moreover, sometimes persons can exist without money, but nothing can be done without time, just as no one can live without air.Despite being so valuable, time is often neglected by men.Since time is an invisible thing, men often waste their time unconsciously（無意地）.Without anything to do, they may gossip from morning till night.Man can live only at most to about 100 years.It seems fairly long, but in fact it is rather short.We often say “How quickly time flies!” How many things can a man accomplish in such a short period? Hence we should use the valuable time properly to do our work.We will race with it.We will study and work hard.Never waste a little bit of it.Try to Be a Good Student Perhaps it is the dream of everyone to be a good student at school, but quite a few students feel at a loss on how to make it.In my opinion it is rather easy if you can act on the following points.First of all, make full use of your time and work hard.Don’t put off till tomorrow what should be done today, as time past will never come back.The fast developing society requires adequate knowledge, which presses us to spare no efforts to study.Of course, your hard work will be rewarded one day.Secondly, use your own head and present your point of view.Credulous（輕信的）attitude will only make you take anything for granted.With your own judgment you will be able to tell right from wrong and set up your own theory.Thirdly, set aside enough time for relaxation, entertainment, etc.don’t ignore the harm of all work and no play.Proper sports will build up your body and improve the efficiency of your studying.To be a good student is easier said than done, for it needs a student’s consistent efforts.But nothing is difficult to a man if he puts his heart into it.Natural Resources Nature has provided us with many kinds of resources.Almost everything we use in our everyday life comes from Nature.The food we eat, the water we drink, the clothes we wear, the concrete and bricks to build our houses, the materials to make bikes we ride, etc.all come originally from Nature.People have been making use of these natural supplies for thousands of years.With the development of technology and the increase of the population, the amount and range of materials taken has increased.It is estimated that this tread will continue in the years to come.However, natural resources are not in exhaustible.Some resources are already nearly used up.For example, the end of the world’s fuel is already within sight.Such an essential daily item as water is in short supply in many parts of the world.We can no longer thoughtlessly use the many resources provided by Nature.We must learn to conserve what remains.We Have Only One World When industries grow, pollution also grows.Today the problem of environment has become more and more important.The world population is rising so quickly that the world has become too crowded.We are using up our natural resources too quickly and at the same time we are polluting our environment with dangerous chemicals.If we don’t take action immediately, then we will destroy our only world.Man has made great progress in environment protection.Government of many countries has established laws to protect the forest and sea resource and to stop the environmental pollution.Still more measures should be taken to solve the problem.First, we should start by educating the public about the hazards of pollution.The government on its part should also design stricter laws.This is not only for our own generation but also for the future generation to come.It is necessary to protect our nature environment.We must begin now to protect our only world.Make the Best Use of Our Land It is the land that has been providing us with everything we need for centuries.In other words, almost everything we use daily comes from the land directly or indirectly.The food, clothes, houses, even the books and furniture are all supplied by the land.But the limited land is decreasing at a surprising speed.With the expanding of the cities, the development of the industry and over population, lots of large pieces of good farmland are being turned into residential areas with many houses and apartment buildings, or industrial areas, or warehouses.Therefore some measures must be taken to stop the abusing of our farmland.On the other hand, we should let everyone realize the danger of being short of land.And also we should educate them how to make better use of our land.Health

It is said that we do not properly value a thing until we have lost it.It is only when a friend dies that we find out how much he was to us.So it is with health.When we are young and strong and have good health, we think little about it.It seems natural to us to be always well, and we cannot imagine what it is like to be ill.Wo we are often careless about our health, and without thinking we spoil our health by bad habits and doing silly things.It is only when we have our good health that we find that it was one of God’s best gifts to us.Health is our most important possession.We should do our best to maintain it.Good health is necessary to happiness and success.People who are in poor health are often pessimistic or depressed.As a rule, bad health means misery and failure.How can we keep our health? Only by knowing and carefully obeying the laws of health.A happy man is a healthy man, and only the healthy man can live a happy life.The desire for good health is universal.Everyone who loves life understands how important health is.First, good health is the guarantee for enjoying life.The only desire of a patient is always to live an ordinary and healthy life.Second, good health establishes a firm foundation for your ambition of the career.Without it, any lofty aspiration turns to be a daydream.Then how to keep fit? Everyone has his own answers to this question, while I think three principal suggestions should be followed.The first one is that a scientific diet should be adopted, which offers the necessities for your body.The second one is that physical exercises must be persisted, especially for the indoor people.The last, but not the least, is that the cheerful mood should be kept.In order to keep fit, I force myself to keep away from the “junk food”, although it usually tastes good, I even form a good habit of doing morning exercises.And the beautiful music and good books always cheer me up.Sports and Games Sports and games do a lot of good to our health.They can make us strong, prevent us from getting too fat, and keep healthy and fit.Especially they can be of great value to people who work with their brains most of the day, for sports and games give people valuable practice in exercising the body.What’s more, they make our life richer and more colourful.If we do not have a strong body, we will find it hard to do whatever we want.So persons of all ages enjoy watching and taking part in various kinds of sports-track and fields, swimming, skating, football, volleyball and basketball, etc.Sports and games are also very useful in character training.They demand not only physical skills and strength but also courage, endurance, discipline and usually teamwork.For boys and girls, what is learned in the playground often has a deep effect on their character.If each of them learns to work for his team and not for himself on the football field, he will later find it natural to work for the good of his country instead of only for his own benefit.A healthy citizen makes a strong country.Let’s all take part in sports and games.Smoking It is well known that smoking does harm to the health.Today, so many people still keep smoking, which has drawn wide attention of the society.Smoking has so many disadvantages but no advantages at all.First, the cigarettes with nicotine in them do great harm to the health.Such diseases as pneumonia, lung cancer may be caused or partly caused by them.Furthermore, the bad effects of cigarettes cost the smokers lots of money, which could be spent on other meaningful things.Thirdly, the accidents of fire all over the world every year are mostly caused by the still-burning butts(end).The government has formulated the regulation of no smoking in public places.Yet its result is not so satisfactory.From my point of view, it needs the common efforts of the society.Not only the nonsmokers but the smokers should cooperate on this matter.My Views on Large Modern Cities Since every coin has two sides, living in large modern cities offers us many advantages, simultaneously causes many troubles.Better education and better jobs are easy to get, and better medical care is convenient to receive in large modern cities.People are usually well informed due to the advanced media, such as television, newspaper and net PC.Large modern cities also provide varied entertainment for the city-dwellers.The public places like cinema, bar, disco-ball are everywhere.On the other hand, large modern cities are too big to control, so the traffic jams and traffic accidents often happen, and the social security is a headache problem.And city-dwellers have to face the housing problem.Usually a house is too expensive for the salary earning class to buy and the rent is also high.Moreover, noise and pollution in large cities bring harm to people’s health.Live in the City or in the Country Where do you like to live, in the city or in the country? Most cities are centers of economy, trade, transportation or culture.With the development of economy and society, more and more people have flooded into the cities, which make the scale of the cities larger and larger.Surely, it is very convenient for shopping, education, business and so on.But it also has many disadvantages: the large population makes it crowded in each corner of the city;the big factories, too many cars, buses and trucks pollute the clean air;too much noise can make people mad.To live in the city, one even can’t get enough room for living.To live in the country is another thing.You can breathe the fresh air cheerfully, own a spacious house with a big backyard, and relax yourself in quietness.But when you want to go shopping, or take your child to school, perhaps you will complain about its inconvenient transportation, its remoteness…I am an ordinary person.I am always longing for the peaceful idyllic（田園詩般的）

life of the countryside.

第四篇：適合高中生背誦的優美英語文章

適合高中生背誦的優美英語文章

A Chinese philosopher, Feng Youlan, once said China is an old country with a new life.To us, that means this country with a long, long history is on its course of modernization.I am encouraged every time I think of it.I do believe China really has a bright future, if it seeks this opportunity to continue building a road to the world.I see the future as a huge project in which I can play an important role.China needs more and better roads to the rest of the world.I feel needed.I feel inspired.I'm ready.---Excerpt from Li Shu's speech

(全國英語演講比賽第二屆冠軍:李舒,四川大學,1997年)

What happened to this beautiful valley in Australia should also happen to our Yellow River and, in fact, it is happening.I have seen farmers planting trees on mountains along the Yellow River.I have seen them climb the mountain tops with seeding on their shoulders because they had no machinery.I have seen them pour on trees the water they carried up in buckets from miles down the valley.These farmers are quietly nourishing our Yellow River, just as the river has nourished them.---Excerpt from Cai Li's speech(全國英語演講比賽第四屆冠軍:蔡力,南京大學,1999年)

The first and foremost thing is to let people fall in love with the city at first sight, attracting them by its unique image.What image does Beijing intend to create for itself once it has the opportunity to host the 2008 Olympics? It is known to all that the Beijing Municipal Government has already set the theme for the future games: New Beijing, Great Olympics.For me, the 2008 Olympics will be a great green Olympics illuminated with two more special colors, yellow and red.---Excerpt from Qi Yue's speech

(全國英語演講比賽第六屆冠軍:戚悅,北京語言文化大學,2001年)The Force of Habits

Habits, whether good or bad, are gradually formed.The more we do a thing, the more we tend to like doing it;and if we do not continue to do it, we feel uncomfortable.This is called the force of habits, and the force of habits should be fought against.This applies even to such good things as work or rest.Some people form a bad habit of working too much, and others of idling too much.Bad habits, once formed, are difficult to get rid of.The wise man always remembers to check any bad habit.He warns himself “I am now becoming idle” or “I like too many sweets” or “I smoke too much”.And then adds, “I will get myself out of this bad habit at once.”

The Way to Achieve Success

Many people say that they owe much of it to the cultivation of certain good habits in early life.In forming good habits, I think we should pay attention to four things, that is honesty, industry, enthusiasm and thrift.“Honesty is the best policy.” This is a proverb to which we must pay attention.There are so

many temptations in society that through a little carelessness we may go astray.But when we are honest, people will not be dishonest to us.Industry gives every man and woman, every boy and girl, proper work to do.To do nothing is going to ruin oneself.Enthusiasm is a great force.One’s soul will expand if one devotes oneself to a noble cause.The difficulties in our way are tremendous, but what can we not accomplish, if with enthusiasm?

There are many proverbs, which set forth the advantages of thrift.Since we live in the world in which money is a very powerful thing, we should always try to save a portion of our earnings for future use.These are the four things to which we must pay attention.It is only by this way that we can achieve success.TV---A Blessing or a Curse?

As TV enters more and more families, people begin to wonder about its advantages and disadvantages.Some believe it is a blessing, others hold that it is a curse to society.TV, as a mass media, can bring to people new information on economies, culture, arts, and many other fields.People can enjoy their favorite programs at home.In some countries, some TV stations provide such programs as looking for dangerous criminals and lost children, helping to find an ideal lover, and others which are quite beneficial to society, some TV stations provide various useful seminars for people of various ages and social status.But on the other hand, TV may exert bad influence on people.Some programs are full of violence.As a result, people, especially juveniles, are led to commit crimes.An increasing number of people are so indulged in TV programs that some even neglect their duties.In my opinion, the attitude towards TV all depends on oneself.People should choose those programs, which are useful, and can bring to them the sense of beauty.On Test and Test Taking

The purpose of a test is to check how much we students have learned about a subject.It not only helps make our newly acquired knowledge permanent, but also enables us to find out what needs to spend more time improving.But some students do not deal with test correctly.Some of them are afraid of failing in a test.They cheat even at the risk of being caught on exams.Though cheating might give one “better grades”, it adds nothing to one’s knowledge.This dishonest behavior will do one more harm than good.I think that we go to college in order to have our further studies, and prepare us to be qualified for the future job.Therefore, we should take a correct attitude towards test.As long as we study diligently and review our lessons regularly, we are sure to be used to serve its real purpose.The Dictionary

The dictionary is a living teacher.Whenever you come across a new word, just consult it and you will get a clear definition.Every student, whether attending school or self-taught, should always have a dictionary at hand.As a study aid, it is convenient, inexpensive and almost omniscient(all-knowing).Language skills will develop with your constant use of various dictionaries.The more you use

them, the more familiar you will become with them.Sooner or later, you will be quite skilled in finding the page, scanning the entries and locating the exact meanings of the new words.But you should have one thing in mind.As a language student, you can never become too much attached to dictionaries;basic language skills do not come from dictionaries, but from your practice.Expose yourself to the language by listening, speaking, reading and writing more, and that is the only way to the mastery of a language.On Learning

Learning is one’s own business, which cannot rely on others.As we know, learning is a process of accumulating knowledge.It is one’s life-long task, which cannot be accomplished in one move.A successful learner is an independent one who has both an indomitable(unyielding)will and amazing endurance.He will try to discover his own way of learning.Instead of waiting for the teacher’s help, he will make efforts to create favorable conditions on his own initiative.It will certainly be of great help, if there is good environment, sufficient books and equipment, as well as instructions from teacher and beneficial friends.But even if one has got all these favorable conditions, one cannot be sure to succeed in learning.So the most important factor in learning consists in one’s own effort.To learn is rather a painstaking and persevering business.Many a man is a failure because he cannot bear such indispensable hardships.Unremitting(never stopping)efforts can compensate for the lack of talents and thus enable one to get considerable progress in learning.Is Failure a Bad Thing?

Failure is a common occurrence(happening)in our daily life.Whatever we do, there are always two possible results: success or failure.Although everyone wants to succeed in what he tries, sometimes failure can’t be avoided.Different people hold different attitudes towards failure.When faced with it, some can stand up to it, draw a useful lesson from it and try their best to fulfill what they are determined to do.Others, however, lose heart and give in.They do nothing but complain about themselves and objective conditions.As a popular saying goes, “Failure teaches success.” In my opinion, what really counts is not the failure itself, but the proper attitude we should take after it.I trust that as long as we keep to what is right and correct what is wrong, that is to say, learn a lesson from failure, we will be certain to succeed.So I am of the opinion that failure is not a bad thing.

第五篇：幾篇優美的值得背誦的英文文章

第一篇：A Grain of Sand 一粒沙子

William Blake/威廉.布萊克

To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild fllower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.從一粒沙子看到一個世界，從一朵野花看到一個天堂，把握在你手心里的就是無限，永恒也就消融于一個時辰。

第二篇：Love Your Life

熱愛生活

Henry David Thoreau/享利.大衛.梭羅

However mean your life is,meet it and live it;do not shun it and call it hard names.It is not so bad as you are.It looks poorest when you are richest.The fault-finder will find faults in paradise.Love your life,poor as it is.You may perhaps have some pleasant,thrilling,glorious hourss,even in a poor-house.The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's abode;the snow melts before its door as early in the spring.I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there,and have as cheering thoughts,as in a palace.The town's poor seem to me often to live the most independent lives of any.May be they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving.Most think that they are above being supported by the town;but it often happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means.which should be more disreputable.Cultivate poverty like a garden herb,like sage.Do not trouble yourself much to get new things,whether clothes or friends,Turn the old,return to them.Things do not change;we change.Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.不論你的生活如何卑*，你要面對它生活，不要躲避它，更別用惡言咒罵它。它不像你那樣壞。你最富有的時候，倒是看似最窮。愛找缺點的人就是到天堂里也能找到缺點。你要愛你的生活，盡管它貧窮。甚至在一個濟貧院里，你也還有愉快、高興、光榮的時候。夕陽反射在濟貧院的窗上，像身在富戶人家窗上一樣光亮；在那門前，積雪同在早春融化。我只看到，一個從容的人，在哪里也像在皇宮中一樣，生活得心滿意足而富有愉快的思想。城鎮中的窮人，我看，倒往往是過著最獨立不羈的生活。也許因為他們很偉大，所以受之無愧。大多數人以為他們是超然的，不靠城鎮來支援他們；可是事實上他們是往往利用了不正當的手段來對付生活，他們是毫不超脫的，毋寧是不體面的。視貧窮如園中之花而像圣人一樣耕植它吧！不要找新的花樣，無論是新的朋友或新的衣服，來麻煩你自己。找舊的，回到那里去。萬物不變，是我們在變。你的衣服可以賣掉，但要保留你的思想。第三篇：

The pure.the bright,the beautiful, 一切純潔的,輝煌的,美麗的, That stirred our hearts in youth, 強烈地震撼著我們年輕的心靈的, The impulses to wordless prayer, 推動著我們做無言的禱告的, The dreams of love and&nbs;truth;讓我們夢想著愛與真理的;The longing after something's lost, 在失去后為之感到珍惜的, The spirit's yearning cry, 使靈魂深切地呼喊著的，The striving after better hopes-為了更美好的夢想而奮斗著的-These things can never die.這些美好不會消逝。

The timid hand stretched forth to aid 羞怯地伸出援助的手，A brother in his need, 在你的弟兄需要的時候，A kindly word in grief's dark hour 傷慟、困難的時候，一句親切的話

That proves a friend indeed;就足以證明朋友的真心；

The plea for mercy softly breathed, 輕聲地乞求憐憫，When justice threatens nigh, 在審判臨近的時候，The sorrow of a contrite heart-懊悔的心有一種傷感--These things shall never die.這些美好不會消逝。

Let nothing pass for every hand 在人間傳遞溫情

Must find some work to do;盡你所能地去做；

Lose not a chance to waken love-別錯失去了喚醒愛的良機-----Be firm,and just ,and true;為人要堅定，正直，忠誠；

So shall a light that cannot fade 因此上方照耀著你的那道光芒

Beam on thee from on high.就不會消失。

And angel ***s say to thee---你將聽到天使的聲音在說-----These things shall never die.這些美好不會消逝。

第四篇

The life I desired 我所追求的生活

That must be the story of innumerable couples,and the pattern of lifeof life it offers has a homely grace.It reminds you of a placid rivulet,meandering smoohtly through green pastures and shaded by pleasant trees,till at last it falls into the vasty sea;but the sea is so calm,so silent,so infifferent,that you are troubled suddently by a vague uneasiness.Perhaps it is only by a kink in my nature,strong in me even in those days,that i felt in such an existence,the share of the great majority,something amiss.I recognized its social value.I saw its ordered happiness,but a fever in my blood asked for a wilder course.There seemed to me something alarming in such easy delights.In my heart was desire to live more dangerously.I was not unprepared for jagged rocks and treacherous,shoals it I could only have change-change and the exicitement of unforeseen.這一定是世間無數對夫妻的生活寫照，這種生活模式給人一種天倫之美。它使人想起一條平靜的溪流，蜿蜒暢游過綠茵的草場，濃蔭遮蔽，最后注入煙波浩渺的汪洋大海；但是大海太過平靜，太過沉默，太過不動聲色，你會突然感到莫名的不安。也許這只是我自己的一種怪誕想法，在那樣的時代，這想法對我影響很深：我覺得這像大多數人一樣的生活，似乎欠缺了一點兒什么。我承認這種生活有社會價值，我也看到了它那井然有序的幸福，但我血液里的沖動卻渴望一種更桀驁不馴的旅程〃這樣的安逸中好像有一種叫我驚懼不安的東西〃我的心渴望一種更加驚險的生活。只要生活中還能有變遷———以及不可知的刺激，我愿意踏上怪石嶙峋的山崖，奔赴暗礁滿布的海灘。