Unit 1
十年之前,南希做了许许多多美国人梦寐以求的事。她辞去了经理职位,在邻近地区开了一家家用器材商店。像南希这样的人作出这种决定主要是出于改善生活质量的愿望。
然而,经营小本生意绝非易事。在失去稳定的收入后,南希不得不削减日常开支。有时候她甚至没有钱支付她所需要的种种保险的费用。有一次她连电话费也付不起,只得向她的父母亲借钱幸运的是,通过自己的努力,她已经度过了最困难的时期。她决心继续追求她所向往的更加美好的生活。
A decade ago, Nancy did what so many Americans dream about. She quit an executive position and opened a household device store in her neighborhood. People like Nancy made the decision primarily for the improvement in the quality of their lives.
But, to run a business on a small scale is by no means an easy job. Without her steady income, Nancy had to cut back on her daily expenses. Sometimes she did not even have the money to pay the premiums for the various kinds of insurance she needed.
Fortunately, through her own hard work, she has now got through the most difficult time. She is determined to continue pursuing her vision of a better life.
Unit3
人们几乎无法将蓄意行窃的盗贼拒之门外。所能做的只是设法阻拦他片刻,从而使其暴露在巡警面前。常识告诉我们,光照是犯罪行为的障碍物。家门口必须安装一盏灯,并在晚间开着。如果你碰巧是最晚一个回家,别只关门而不上锁。如果你决定购买精密的电子报警系统,别忘了索要报警器标志,并把它们贴在窗户和门上。
It is almost impossible to keep a determined burglar out. All you can do is discourage him for a few minutes, thus exposing him to police patrols. Common sense tells us that lighting is a barrier to criminal activity. A light should be fixed in the doorway and switched on at night. Make sure / Assure yourself that you don't leave the door on the latch if you happen to be the last to come in. If you decide to buy a sophisticated electronic alarm system, be sure to ask for its signs and put them up on both windows and doors. In addition you may have it hooked up to a police station.
Unit 5
在感恩节的气氛中,乔治沉浸于阅读他父亲留给他的日记。他的父亲在连续两次完成环球旅行后在海上去世。这份日记使他回忆起自己与父亲一起度过的每一刻以及父亲为他所做的许多具体事情。乔治的父亲过去经常向他强调必须经历各种艰难困苦去追求卓越。即使今天,他依然记得父亲如何引用“懂得感激是高尚者的标志”这句伊索名
言来教导他把懂得感激放在最重要的位置。
Amid the atmosphere of Thanksgiving George was immersed in the diary left to him by his father, who died at sea after he completed two successive trips around the world. The diary brought back every moment George had spent with his father and many of the specific things his father did on his behalf. George’s father used to impress on him the need to undergo all kinds of hardship in quest of excellence. Even today, George still remembers how his father would quote Aesop’s famous saying “Gratitude is the sign of noble souls” and tell him to accord the greatest importance to it.
Unit 6
我们到处都能看到“抢眼”的青年艺术家。他们要么一年四季穿着破旧的牛仔裤;要么大冬天也打赤脚;要么饮酒过度;要么就是抱着创作一部杰作的幻想,实际上并不做任何创作的事。其实,他们中的很多人只不过是为了看上去像名艺术家,或为了同其他的艺术家保持一致才这么做的。他们忘了,只有通过不懈努力才能获得成功。
Here and there we see young artists who stand out from other people. They may be in worn-out jeans all the year round, or walk barefoot / in bare feet even in winter, or drink to excess, or cling to the fancy of creating a masterpiece without actually doing any creative work. In fact, many of them act like this just to look the part, or to be in tune with other
artists. They have forgotten that only through persistent effort can one achieve success.
Unit 7
汤姆生来跛足,有一条腿不管用。他很小的时候起就懂得,除非他努力摆脱自身的局限,他是无力谋生的;而除非他能独立谋生,他就不可能得到他人的尊敬。这是他要赢得做人的尊严必须付出的代价。
汤姆申请过许多工作,都遭到拒绝,最后他找到一份为必胜客送比萨饼的工作。后来他又到一个没有人想去的推销区做一家运动服装公司的销售代表。现在,他在他的家乡拥有一家颇为盈利的零售商店,还雇用了好几个人为他工作。
Tom was born a cripple, with one of his lower limbs useless. Early in his childhood, he learned that unless he so exerted himself as to rise above his limitations, he could not earn a living, and unless he succeeded in making a living on his own, he could not win/gain the respect of others. That was the price he had to pay for his dignity as a human being.
Tom applied for numerous jobs, only to be turned down, before he finally got one as a delivery boy for a Pizza Hut. He then worked as a sales representative for a sportswear company in a territory no one else would want. Today he owns a fairly
profitable retail shop in his hometown, and hires several people to work for him.
Unit 8
1997年,苏格兰一组科学家的克隆实验使多利羊得以诞生。自那时以来,有关克隆人的激烈争论一直进行着。这一有争论的问题的焦点聚集在此项技术的伦理与社会含义上:此项技术会对人类生育、抚养孩子以及人的个性等的真正意义带来什么影响。
大多数科学家坚决反对繁殖性克隆,支持旨在治疗疾病的治疗性克隆。其理由是,治疗性的克隆技术不牵扯任何对人的生命的威胁,实际上还能为人们提供极大的缓解痛苦的可能。他们相信有适当的政策和监管以确保治疗性克隆被安全地使用,我们都能从这一过程中受益。
Dolly the sheep resulted from a cloning experiment by a group of Scottish scientists in 1997. A fierce debate on human cloning has ever since been going on. This contentious issue has focused on ethical and social implications of the technology: what the technology might do to the very meaning of human reproduction, child rearing, individuality, et cetera.
The majority of scientists are adamantly opposed to reproductive cloning and support therapeutic cloning for treating diseases. The reason is that therapeutic cloning does not involve any type of risk to human life
and actually provides tremendous potential for the relief of suffering in human beings. Scientists believe that with politics and monitoring in place to ensure that therapeutic cloning is used safely, we can all benefit from this procedure.