大一考试必看新编大学英语课文内容

The Gift of Life

1.The bombs landed in the small village. Nobody knows what these bombs were supposed to hit during the terrible Vietnam War, but they landed in a small orphanage run by a missionary group.

[2]The missionaries and one or two children were killed, and several children were wounded, including one young girl, about 8 years old, who suffered wounds to her legs.

[3]A couple of hours later, medical help arrived. The medical help was a young American Navy doctor and an equally young Navy nurse. They quickly found one young girl to be very badly injured, and it was clear that without immediate action, she would die from loss of blood and shock.

[4]They saw that she had to have blood, but their limited supplies did not include plasma, so

a matching blood type was required. A quick blood typing showed that neither American had the correct blood type. Several of the uninjured orphans did.

[5] The doctor spoke a little Vietnamese, and the nurse spoke a little high-school French. The children spoke no English but some French. Using what little common language they could find, together with a lot of sign language, they tried to explain to these frightened children that unless they could give some blood to their little friend she would certainly die. Then they asked if anyone would be willing to give blood to help.

[6] Their request was met with wide-eyed silence. Their little patient's life hung in the balance. Yet they could only get the blood if one of these frightened children would agree to give it. After several long moments, a little hand slowly went up, dropped back down, and a moment later went up again.

[7] "Oh, thank you," the nurse said in French. "What is your name?"

[8] "Heng," came the reply.

[9] Heng was quickly laid on a bed, his arm cleaned with alcohol, and the needle inserted into his arm. Through all of this Heng lay stiff and silent.

[10] After a moment, he let out a long sob, quickly covering his face with his free hand.

[11] "Is it hurting, Heng?" the doctor asked.

[12] Heng shook his head silently, but after a few moments another sob escaped, and again he tried to cover up his crying. Again the doctor asked him if the needle in his arm was hurting, and again Heng shook his head.

[13] But now his occasional sob turned to a steady, silent crying, his eyes held tightly shut, his fist in his mouth trying to stop his sobs.

[14] The medical team now was very worried because the needle should not have been hurting their tiny patient. Something was obviously very wrong. At this point, a Vietnamese nurse arrived to help, and seeing the little one's tears, spoke rapidly in Vietnamese, listened to his reply, and quickly answered him again. Moving over to pat his head as she talked, her voice was gentle and kind.

[15] After a moment, the little boy stopped crying, opened his eyes, and looked questioningly at the Vietnamese nurse. When she nodded, a look of great relief spread over his face.

[16] Looking up, the Vietnamese nurse said quietly to the Americans, "He thought he was dying. He misunderstood you. He thought you had asked him to give all his blood so the little girl could live."

[17] "But why would he be willing to do that?" asked the Navy nurse.

[18] The Vietnamese nurse repeated the question to the little boy, who answered simply, "She's my friend."

[19] Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for a friend. (595 words)

Love Thy Neighbor

by Andy Rooney

[1] It seems to me that neighbors are going out of style in America. The friend next door from whom you borrowed four eggs or a ladder has moved, and the people in there now are strangers.

[2] Some of the old ideas about neighbors are probably silly, and it may be just as wellthat our relations with our neighbors are changing. The religious teaching to "Love Thy Neighbor" was probably a poor translation of what must have originally been "Respect Thy Neighbor".Love doesn't exist just because we want it to.

[3] Fewer than half the people in the United States live in the same house they lived in five years ago, so there's no reason to love the people who live next door to you just because they happened to buy a house next door to yours. The only thing neighbors have in common to begin with is being close, and unless something more develops, th atisn’t reason enoughto be best friends. It sometimes happens, but the chancesare very small that your neighbors will

be your choice as friends. Or that you will be theirs, either.

[4] The best relationship with neighbors is one of friendly distance. You say hello, you sometimes talk if you see them in the yard, you discuss problems and you help each other when help is needed. The bushes or the fence between you is not a cold shoulder, but a clear boundary. We all like clearly defined boundaries for ourselves.

[5] If neighbors have changed, neighborhoods have not. They still have the same parts. If you live in a real neighborhood you can be sure most of the following people will be found there:

－One family with more children than they can take care of.

－A dogthat gets into garbage cans.

－One big, beautiful home with a family so rich that they really aren't part of the neighborhood.

－A bad child who steals or sets fire to things, although no one has ever been able to prove it.

－People who leave their Christmas lights up until March.

－Someone who doesn't cut their grass more than twice a summer.

－Someone who cuts their grass twice a week and one of the times always seems to be Sunday morning at 7:30.

－A family that never seems to turn off any lights in the house.

－A teenager who plays the radio too loud in the summer with the windows open.

－Someone who leaves their barking dog out until 11:30 most nights.

－One mystery couple. They come and go but hardly anyone ever sees them and no one knows what they do.

－A couple that has loud parties all the time with guests that take an hour to leave once they get outside and start shouting good-bye to each other.

－Someone who doesn't pull the shades.

[6] It is easier to have a longing about a past neighborhood than about a past community, but a community is probably a better unit. A neighborhood is just a group of people who live close together, but a community is a group of people who put aside their own concerns to get

some important things done for a larger group. (529 words)

We All Need Friends

by Melinda Marshall

[1] Having good old friends is a good thing, but making new ones can be even better. No matter what age we are, all of us appreciate the support and help which friends give us. The help may be for only a small thing, or it may be for something that could save our life. The size of the help or support is not really the most important thing, but the fact of having friends is very important.

[2] I've just made a new friend, Joan. She's not just another person I can talk with or wave to as we pass one another on the street, but a good friend. She is someone who will go out with me for lunch, or drop by my home for a cup of tea. She is someone who will listen and make me feel understood the next time I may feel sad or worried for no apparent reason.

[3] This is no small matter for me. I barely have enough time or energy to keep up with my old friends, let alonemake new ones. But, as I grow older -- and I am now 35 years old -- it is important to me to have a safety net of friends. Holes keep opening up in the net as old friends move away. I've got to spend the energy now to include new friends.

[4] Making friends is a lot like dating after a terrible breakup. You hesitate and drag your feet because you can't believe you have to start over again. But when you do, it's not half as hard as you thought it would be, and it's twice as rewarding as you might have hoped.

[5] For example, I almost didn't meet Joan who is now one of my best friends. We were at the city swimming pool, waiting for our 5-year-old sons to finish their swimming lessons. Joan was reading a book that I had read for my book club, and I wanted to say something, but didn't. It was almost as if I'd lost the ability to say hello.

[6] In the locker room we were together again as our sons got dressed and ready to go home.

I said, mostly to her back, "What do you think of Amy Tan's writing?" She turned around, and like a teenager, I blushed. "Oh," she said, "I'm really enjoying The Bonesetter's Daughter. I read Joy Luck Club, and she's been my favoritewriter since then."

[7] We talked after the next two lessons, compared our reading lists, and chased our sons out of the dressing room again. By the fifth swimming lesson, we arranged to spend a day together shopping in the city. That's pretty wild, don't you think for a person of my age?

[8] I didn't always choose my friends. For years, I let fate choose them for me. A new job, a new city, an expensive apartment made me be friends with people I'd never have said hello to otherwise. But, as I grew older I grew impatient with some of my friends, and I decided that accidental relationships don't always survive changes in life. Those types of friends don't often help you during life's difficult times when you really need help.

[9] We can be ourselves with our friends, and that is a wonderful thing; too precious a gift to deny other friends. It really doesn't take that much time, or that much effort to share the gift of making friends. (573 words)

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Special Delivery

[1] Arriving at the airport, I discovered that my brother's flight had been delayed for an hour. Usually when I wait around the airport to meet a flight, I pass the time by watching planes land and take off, but that evening I had a bad headache. I thought the noise of jet engines might make it worse, so I decided to walk around inside the airport for a while.

[2] As I was walking by the shops, I happened to see a display of flight bags, which reminded me of my briefcase. I realized that I was not carrying it now. Quickly I tried to remember where I might have left it. Knowing that I had not stopped anywhere since I left the airline ticket counter, I concluded I must have put it down there. I hurried back to get it, but my briefcase was nowhere in sight. At first I was sure that somebody had just walked off with it, but then I realized there was a chance that whoever found it might have turned it in at the counter, I waited in line for my turn at the counter and then I described the briefcase and asked if by any chance it had been turned in. The agent shook his head. Then I glanced over his shoulder at the conveyor belt that was moving baggage from the check-in counter down to the loading area and I shouted, "There it is!" But just as the agent turned to look, the briefcase reached the end of the conveyor belt and vanished from view .

[3] "Did you see your briefcase?" the agent asked.

[4] "Yes!" I exclaimed. "It just went through that opening over there. How can I get it back now?"

[5] "That's no problem," replied the agent. "Just give me your baggage claim check and I think we can catch it before it's loaded on a flight."

[6] "But I don't have a claim check!" I replied. "I didn't check it! I'm not going anywhere.

I'm just here to meet a flight." Calming myself down a bit, I explained what had happened and suggested that the bag had probably been turned in at the counter where one of the agents had checked it with other baggage and placed it on the conveyor belt.

[7] The agent told me that the only way he could find it would be to have a claim form with a description of what the briefcase looked like. By the time I filled out the form and the agent called down to the baggage area, the briefcase had already been loaded on one of the flights, but they didn't know which one. The agent took my phone number and promised they would call as soon as they found the briefcase. Even though I lived in Sioux City, which was an hour-and-a-half drive away, they would deliver it to my address as soon as they got it back.

[8] My brother's flight arrived and, after getting his suitcases, we headed for my car in the parking lot. During the drive home I told him all about the briefcase. When we got home and were unloading the car, I could hardly believe my eyes when my brother took a briefcase out of the car. The briefcase I thought I had lost had never been taken into the airport! It had been on the floor in the back seat. I realized that at that moment the airline people were checking each piece of baggage on their Denver, St. Louis and Chicago flights, looking for my briefcase. The thought of having to call and tell them I had found it in my car was painful.

[9] As we walked in the house the telephone was ringing. Answering it, I was shocked when an airline worker said, "We have good news for you! We found your briefcase in Denver. It should be here by eleven o'clock and will be delivered to you shortly after midnight." ( 657 words)

Memory and the Human Brain

[1]Is it possible to know exactly how memory works in humans and other intelligent animals? Some people believe that it never will be. But some scientists, who are studying the function of the brain and its relationship to memory, do not share this view.

[2]It is now well known that memory, like other brain functions, is located in specific parts of the brain in humans. These parts may be identified and their location in the brain may be established. They work together in both short-term and long-term memory. Although scientists have not yet fully studied the brain, much progress has been made. One day the mind will be described fully both in biological and mental terms.

[3]Some people claim that they can recall things which happened many years ago. Have you ever had the same experience? The fact is, these long-term memories are very accurate in detail and can be compared to a movie in the brain. Once we start the movie going, we

experience the entire memory. This movie in the mind (brain) is the reason why we have a sense of self. We know who we are and we know that we exist.

[4]Try to think of something like a long poem, a joke, or a song you learned in early elementary school. If you remember it, you can often repeat the entire poem or song in quite accurate detail. You will often remember the reason why you were asked to learn this poem or song. It may have been for a show to which families were invited, or it may have been a pleasant holiday meeting where your parents asked you to tell them what you had learned.

[5]However, sometimes you cannot even remember the details of things that are part of your short-term memory. This happens when you are required to remember many things, and especially if you do not feel well, or if you are not well rested.

[6]All of us have "learned" facts which we thought would help us do well on an exam in school. But often, when we tried to recall the facts, we could not, or we could think of only a little of what we thought we had learned.

[7]Have you ever experienced anything like this: you were to call a good friend, but you couldn't recall the telephone number? You were shopping in the grocery store for your mother, but you couldn't remember exactly what you were expected to get for her. Even when things have been learned well in our memory, we find that we cannot recall them when we need them. It may be that ten minutes later, or the next day, our memory will tell us what these things were, but it is true that the memory is not always perfect. Of course it is possible to train ourselves to remember things better. This usually involves repeating the facts to ourselves, or even writing them a few times until they are easily remembered.

[8]Memory allows us to remember facts, see them in the light of new information, and make decisions that are important to us. It would be nice if it were always perfect, and it will be nice when we know even more about how memory works on a biological and mental basis. ( 548 words)

The Benefits of Forgetting

[1]We have all wished, at some time or other, for a perfect memory. We want to be able to remember things in exact detail. It's too bad that we forget so much that we have learned in school and at home. How can we make a realistic opinion of ourselves if our recall of the past is neither accurate nor complete?

[2]Yet a perfect memory is not always as good as one might suppose. There was the story about a Russian journalist, S. He could remember long lists of numbers and words and many pages of a telephone book after seeing them for only a few seconds. He could repeat these lists both forward and backward, even after many years had passed. He also

remembered the conditions under which he had first learned the material.

[3]S. used various memory "tricks" to help his memory. Many of these tricks involved forming mental pictures. But you shouldn't envy him, for he had a serious problem: he could not forget. Those mental pictures kept coming to his mind. They distracted him and made it difficult for him to concentrate. At times he even had trouble holding a simple conversation because the other person's words would make him recall memories of other things. In fact, he was described as rather dull. At last, S. was unable to work at his job. He supported himself by traveling from place to place as a "memory expert", showing off his abilities for people. There have been other examples of people with this sort of memory problem. They come from many different countries and use many different languages.

[4]Perhaps you still think a perfect memory would be a good thing to have. Imagine, then, for a moment, what it would be like to remember everything. Each time you recalled the past, you would remember not only the jewels of experience but the worthless stones as well. Remembering might take hours instead of moments. The confusion in your mind might grow beyond your ability to organize it well. With a perfect memory, you might also remember things that may be best forgotten. Would you really want to recall every angry quarrel, every mistake you've made, every painful moment of your life? How would total recall affect your relationships with family and friends? Could it be that the success of a close relationship depends on a certain amount of forgetting? Could it be that self-confidence and optimism are only possible if we lock some bad memories in a back drawer of memory, and stop thinking about them? If you keep all these things in mind, you can understand why a perfect memory is not the best type of memory to have.

[5]Like remembering, a certain degree of forgetting helps us to lead a normal life. Where is the line between helpful forgetting and harmful forgetting? If you had the choice, what would you choose to remember more clearly, and what would you allow to disappear from your memory? Think about it. ( 503 words)

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Communication Without Words

[1)When you learn a foreign language you must learn more than just the vocabulary and the grammar. To communicate successfully in speech, you must also learn the nonverbal language, or "body language," of that culture. "Body language" is a term used to describe facial expressions, gestures, and other movements of the body that send messages. This means of communication is so important that we may actually say more with our movements than we do with words.

[2] Speaking a foreign language is sometimes difficult because we may not understand the nonverbal signals of another culture, or they may mean something very different from what they mean in our own culture. For example, nodding the head up and down is a gesture that

communicates a different message in different parts of the world. In North America, it means "I agree." In the Middle East, nodding the head down means "I agree" and up means "I disagree." In a conversation among Japanese, it often simply means "I am listening." One Japanese student in the United States learned the difference the hard way. While speaking with a salesman, the student nodded his head politely to show that he was paying attention. The next day the salesman brought a new washing machine to the student's apartment.

[3]Eye contact is also very meaningful, but it, too, can mean different things in different countries. In some Spanish-speaking countries, children show respect to an older person by not looking directly into the person's eyes during a conversation. In other countries, looking into a person's eyes is expected. For example, if you don't do it in the United States, people may think that you are afraid, embarrassed, or angry.

[4] In many places in the world there are two basic gestures that are used to tell someone to come closer. In Asia, the sign is a wave of the hand while curling the fingers downward, the same way some North Americans wave good-bye to children. North Americans make almost the same gesture to tell someone to come closer, but they curl their fingers upward. Visitors to other countries must be aware of the difference or they may send the wrong message.

[5] Although we rarely think about it, the distance that we stand from someone during a conversation is also an important part of communication. Generally, North Americans prefer more space than do Latin Americans and people from the Middle East. At an international meeting a pair of diplomats may move slowly across a room as one of them tries to increase the personal conversation distance and the other tries to decrease it. The person who prefers more distance usually loses the fight when he finds himself with his back against the wall.

[6] Although we spend many years learning how to speak a foreign language, misunderstandings can occur unless we also know the nonverbal language and the correct behavior of that culture. We are not really prepared to communicate in a foreign language unless we know whether to shake hands or bow, when to sit and stand, and how to behave in unfamiliar situations. Perhaps a fifth skill ought to be added to the four traditional communication skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening: cultural awareness. ( 535 words)

Learn How to Listen

[1] Bad listening habits can hurt you a lot in your daily life. Much of your success, both in your work and social life, is related to how you listen. A number of major industries and more than twenty leading colleges have become very concerned about our bad listening habits. They have set up "listening clinics" and courses to find out what is wrong—and what to do about it!

[2] My own experience as a teacher in one of these clinics has taught me that many people who seem to be listening miss important points. Therefore, they draw wrong conclusions from what is said. That is a serious problem when you consider our attitudes toward other people and success on the job.

[3] What are the faulty hearing habits that hurt us in so many ways? Here are some of the more common ones I've observed in a close study of my many clinic students.

[4] Our minds won't wait. Our thoughts can race along from four to ten times faster than most people speak. So while we are waiting to hear someone's words, our thoughts tend to wander. And sometimes they remain away too long.

[5] We think we know already. We're so sure we know what the speaker is going to say that we listen with just "half an ear."

[6] We're looking, not listening. How often in introductions has a name failed to stick because your mind was on the way someone looked or acted? For the same reason, and far more often than you may think, other information fails to come through.

[7] We are busy listeners. We try to listen while giving part of our attention to a newspaper, or a radio or TV program. Outside noises also bid for a share of our attention. No wonder we don't really "hear."

[8] These are some of the common listening faults. Fortunately, with little effort, you can correct any of them. I suggest these three ways to help make you a better listener.

[9] Learn to concentrate. It's an important part of listening. Practice such games as "Take 2, plus 3, minus 5, plus 4, times 2, minus 6—what's the answer?" Similar exercises are used in listening-training courses.

[10] Cut out distractions. Resolve to put aside the newspaper and stop half-listening to a radio or TV program when someone is trying to talk to you.

[11] Repeat instructions. Practice repeating instructions and directions correctly. Unless you can do so, you obviously will not be able to carry them out properly.

[12] Good listening isn't easy. Hearing, understanding, and remembering take a great deal of energy. It is hard to listen properly and do anything else at the same time. But good listening pays off.

[13] If you recognize and correct any listening faults that may be hurting you, good things may happen. You may listen your way to closer friendships and better relations with your family. You may also get larger paychecks and be more successful in life. ( 492 words)

How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere

[1] The ability to talk well is one of the greatest pleasures in life and can bring with it some of life's greatest rewards. It is not always easy. But the more you work at it, the easier it will become. There are six basic things to keep in mind if you wish to be able to talk to anyone, anytime, anywhere.

[2] First of all, you don't have to be quotable. Most of the time, people are not expecting deep words of wisdom from you. They will not be waiting to record what you say. Therefore, just open your mouth and start talking. Hopefully it will be interesting enough for people to listen.

[3] Secondly, the right attitude—the will to talk—is essential to becoming a better talker. Try to be enthusiastic about talking with people. They will respond positively to your enthusiasm and you will find that you really do become enthusiastic. On the other hand, it is easy for others to notice if you have no enthusiasm for talking with them, and they, in turn, will respond negatively.

[4] A third point to remember is that you should take turns. Careful listening makes you a better talker. Also good follow-up questions are the mark of a good conversationalist. One way everyone learns is by listening. The more you learn, the better prepared you are to be a good conversationalist.

[5] A fourth essential point is that you should try to broaden your horizons. The best conversationalists are able to talk about issues and experiences beyond their daily lives. You can expand your world through travel, but you can also do it without leaving your own home. Of course, you can learn from reading. However, an essential thing to remember is that people with backgrounds different from your own can broaden your conversational material and your thinking.

[6] A fifth point to remember is that you should not keep your conversation too serious for too long. A sense of humor is helpful and you can lighten a conversation by sometimes telling a joke about yourself.

[7] Last, you should be genuine when in conversation with others. You should be as open and honest with your conversation partners as you would want them to be with you. You should be willing to reveal what your background is and what your likes and dislikes are. That is an essential part of the "give-and-take" of conversation, part of getting to know people, and their getting to know you. Just be honest about yourself, and you won't go wrong.

[8] Whether you're talking to one person or many, the rules are the same. It's all about making a connection. Show empathy, enthusiasm and a willingness to listen, and you can't help becoming a master of talk. ( 460 words)

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Fresh Start

[1] I first began to wonder what I was doing on a college campus when my parents drove off, leaving me standing pitifully in a parking lot. I decided I wanted nothing more than to find my way safely to my dorm room. It seemed that everyone on campus was watching me. My plan was to keep my ears open and my mouth shut and I hoped no one would notice I was a freshman.

[2] The next morning I found my first class and marched in. Once I was in the room, however, another problem awaited me. Where to sit? After much hesitation I chose a seat in the first row and to the side.

[3] "Welcome to Biology 101," the professor began. Oh, God, I had thought it was a literature class. A cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck. I groped for my schedule and checked the room number. I was in the right room but the wrong building.

[4] So now what? Get up and leave in the middle of the lecture? Wouldn't the professor be angry? I knew everyone would stare. Forget it. I settled into my chair and tried to look as serious as a biology major might be.

[5] After class I felt a little hungry, and I hurried to the cafeteria. I piled my tray with sandwiches and was heading for the seat when I accidentally stepped in a large puddle of ketchup. My food tray tipped and I lost my balance. As my rear end met the floor, I saw my entire life pass before my eyes; it ended with my first day of college classes.

[6] In the seconds after my fall I thought how nice it would be if no one had noticed. But as all the students in the cafeteria came to their feet, cheering and clapping, I knew they had not only noticed, they were determined that I would never forget it.

[7] For the next three days I dined alone on nothing more than shame, and some junk food from a machine placed outside my room. On the fourth day I thought I needed some real food badly. Perhaps three days was long enough for the campus population [N] to have forgotten me. So off to the cafeteria I went.

[8] I made my way through the food line and tiptoed to a table. Suddenly I heard a crash that sounded familiar. I looked up to find that another poor soul had met the same fate as I had. My heart went out to him as people began to cheer and clap as they had for me. He got up, hands held high above his head in a victory clasp, grinning from ear to ear. I expected