新视野大学英语第三版第一册课文原文

Unit 1 Fresh Start

Text A Toward a brighter future for all

Toward a brighter future for all

1 Good afternoon! As president of the university, I am proud to welcome you to this university. Your achievement is thetriumph of years of hard work, both of your own and of your parents and teachers. Here at the university, we pledge to make your educational experience as rewarding as possible.

2 In welcoming you to the university, I am reminded of my own high school graduation and the photograph my mom took of my dad and me. "Posenaturally," Mom instructed us. "Wait!" said Dad, "Let's take a picture of me handing him an alarm clock." The clock woke me up every morning in college. It is still on my office desk.

3 Let me share with you something that you may not expect. You will miss your old routines and your parents' reminders to work hard and attain your best. You may have cried tears of joy to be finally finished with high school, and your parents may have cried tears of joy to be finally finished with doing your laundry! But know this: The future is built on a strong foundation of the past.

4 For you, these next four years will be a time unlike any other. Here you are surrounded by great resources: interesting students from all over the country, a learned and caring faculty, a comprehensive library, great sports facilities, and student organizations covering every possible interest from the arts to science, to community service and so on. You will have the freedom to explore and learn about new subjects. You will learn to get by on very little sleep, meet fascinating people, and pursue new passions. I want to encourage you to make the most of this unique experience, and to use your energy and enthusiasm to reap the benefits of this opportunity.

5 You may feel overwhelmed by the wealth of courses available to you. You will not be able to experience them all, but sample them widely! College offers many things to do and to learn, and each of them offers a different way to see the world. If I could give you only one piece of advice about selecting courses, it would be this: Challenge yourself! Don't assume that you know in advance what fields will interest you the most. Take some courses in fields you've never tried before. You will not only emerge as a more broadly educated person, but you will also stand a better chance of discovering an unsuspected passion that will help to shape your future. A wonderful example of this is the fashion designer, V era Wang, who originally studied art history. Over time, Wang paired her studies in art history with her love of fashion and turned it into a passion for design, which made her a famous designer around the world.

6 Here at the university, it may not always be pleasant to have so many new experiences all at once. In your dorm, the student next door may repeatedly play the one song, which gives you a giant headache! You may be an early bird while your roommate is a night owl! And still, you and your roommate may become best friends. Don't worry if you become a little uncomfortable with some of your new experiences. I promise you that the happy experiences will outweigh the

unpleasant ones. And I promise that virtually all of them will provide you with valuable lessons which will enrich your life. So, with a glow in your eye and a song in your heart, step forward to meet these new experiences!

7 We have confidence that your journey toward self-discovery and your progress toward finding your own passion will yield more than personal advancement. We believe that as you become members of our community of scholars, you will soon come to recognize that with the abundant opportunities for self-enrichment provided by the university, there also come responsibilities. A wise man said: "Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another." You are the inheritors of the hard work of your families and the hard work of many countless others who came before you. They built and transmitted the knowledge you will need to succeed. Now it is your turn. What knowledge will you acquire? What passions will you discover? What will you do to build a strong and prosperous future for the generations that will come after you?

8 We take great pleasure in opening the door to this great step in your journey. We take delight in the many opportunities which you will find, and in the responsibilities that you will carry as citizens of your communities, your country, and the world. Welcome！

Words and Expressions

triumph

n. （尤指苦战后获得的）胜利，成功，成就

pledge

vt. 发誓；作保证

pose

vi. （为照相或画像而）摆姿势

vt. 造成，导致（困难或危险）

routine

n. 例行公事；常规；惯例

a. 常规的；例行的；惯常的

attain

vt. 得到；获得；赢得

foundation

n. 基础

resource

n. 1 资源；2 自然资源

faculty

n. 1 全体教员；2 天赋；能力；本领

comprehensive

a. 综合的；多方面的

facility

n. （为某种目的而提供的）设施，设备

community

n. 1 （同住一地的人所构成的）社区；2 群体；团体

explore

vt. 探讨，研究（主题、思想等）

v. 勘探；探测；考察

fascinating

a. 吸引人的；迷人的；使人神魂颠倒的

pursue

vt. 1 追求；致力于；2 追赶；追逐

passion

n. 1 强烈的爱好；热爱

n. 2 强烈的情感；激情

unique

a. 1 特别的；极不寻常的；极好的；2 不同的；独特的

enthusiasm

n. 热爱；热情；热心

reap

vt. 收获；获得

v. 收割（庄稼）

benefit

n. 好处；益处；裨益

opportunity

n. 机会；时机

overwhelm

vt. （数量大得）使无法对付

available

a. 可获得的；可利用的；现成的

sample

vt. 1 体验；2 对…作抽样检验

n. 样本；样品；货样

assume

vt. 假定；假设；认为

emerge

vi. 1 出现；为……所公认；2 出现；露出

giant

a. 巨大的；特大的

mate

n. 同事；同伴

roommate

n. （尤指大学里的）室友

owl

n. 猫头鹰

virtual

a. 1 几乎相同的；实质上的；2 虚拟的；模拟的

virtually

ad. 1 实际上；几乎；差不多；2 虚拟地；模拟地

enrich

vt. 使丰富；充实；强化

glow

n. 1 （某种）强烈的情感；2 柔和稳定的光

vi. 发出柔和稳定的光

confidence

n. 1 信心；信赖；信任；2 自信心

yield

vt. 1 产生（结果等）；2 出产；产生

vi. 屈从；让步

abundant

a. 大量的；丰富的；充裕的

responsibility

n. 1 （道德、社会）责任，义务；2 责任；3 职责；任务；义务

inherit

vt. 沿袭，秉承（信仰、传统或生活方式）

v. 继承（财产）

inheritor

n. 1 （生活或思想方式的）后继者，继承人；2 遗产继承人

transmit

vt. 传送；传递；传播

acquire

vt. 1 学到，获得（知识、技能）；2 取得；获得；3 购得；得到

prosperous

a. 富裕的；繁荣的；兴旺的

remind sb. of sb./sth.

1 使某人想起某人或某事

2 使某人想起（相似的）人或事

get by

过活；过得去；勉强应付

make the most of sth.

最大限度地利用某物

reap the benefits (of sth.)

得享（某事物的）好处

in advance

预先；提前

stand a chance (of doing sth.)

有（做成某事的）希望

over time

逐渐地；慢慢地

turn (sb./sth.) into sth.

（使某人/某物）变成

all at once

1 同时

2 一下子；突然

take pleasure in (doing) sth.

乐于做某事

open the door to sth.

给…以机会；给…敞开方便之门

take delight in (doing) sth.

以（做）某事为乐

Vera Wang

王薇薇（1949–，著名美籍华裔设计师，被誉为“婚纱女王”）

Text B What we wish

My dear child,

1 You are about top anticipate in the next leg of your journey through life. For us, this part is bittersweet. As you go off to college, exciting new worlds will open up to you. They will inspire and challenge you; you will grow in incredible ways.

2 This is also a moment of sadness. Your departure to college makes it undeniably clear that you are no longer a child. There has been no greater joy than watching you arrive at this moment. You have turned our greatest challenge into our greatest pride. Although we have brought you to this point, it is hard to watch you depart. Remember above all things, we will miss you.

3 College will be the most important time of your life. It is here that you will truly discover what learning is about. You often ask, "Why do I need to know this?" I encourage you to stay inquisitive, but remember this: "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." What you learn is not as important as the fact that you learn. This is the heart of scholarship: moving from teacher-taught to master-inspired, on over to the point where you become a self-learner. So, take each subject seriously, and if something doesn't immediately engage you, don't despair. Embrace it as a challenge. Find a way to make it your own.

4 Of course, you must still take care to sign up for courses which stimulate your passion you’re your intellectual capacity. Don't be bound by what other people think. Steve Jobs said, when you are in college, your passion will create many dots, and later in your life you will connect

them. So, don't worry too much about what job you will have; don't be too practical. If you like French or Korean, study it even if someone else tells you that it's not useful. Enjoy picking your "dots". Be assured that one day, you will find your own meaningful career, and you will connect a beautiful curve through those dots.

5 You know that we always want you to do your best, but don't let the pressure of grades get to you. We care only that you try your very best, and that you learn. It is better that your greatest effort earns a lesser grade than that no effort earns you a decent or higher grade. Grades in the end are simply letters fit to give the vain something to boast about, and the lazy something to fear. You are too good to be either. The reward is not the grade but what you learn.

6 More importantly, make friends and trust others. The friends you make in college can be the best ones you will ever have. During these years, when you move into adulthood, the friends you make in college live closer to you than your family. You will form bonds of friendship that will blossom over many decades. Pick friends who are genuine and sincere. Select a few and become truly close to them. Don't worry about their hobbies, grades, or looks. Instead, trust your instincts when you make new friends. You are a genuine and sincere person; anyone would enjoy your friendship. So be confident, secure, and proactive. If you think you like someone, tell them. You have very little to lose. Don't be afraid to trust. Give others the benefit of the doubt, and don't reduce anyone to stereotypes. Nobody is perfect; as long as others are genuine, trust them and be good to them. They will give back.

7 Remember also that your youth is full of strength and beauty, something that you will not comprehend until it is gone. You must guard and cultivate your strength and beauty. A healthy body and a sound mind are the greatest instruments you will ever possess. Enjoy life. Dance if you feel like it. Don't be afraid of what other people think. But also keep yourself safe and sound. Don't let the range of new experiences take your innocence, health, or curiosity away from you. Treasure your youth and the university experience before you.

8 College is the time when you have: the first taste of independence, the greatest amount of free time, the most flexibility to change, the lowest cost for making mistakes.

9 Approach these years enthusiastically! Make the most of your time. Become the great thinker you were born to be. Let your talents evolve to their fullest potential. Be bold! Experiment! Learn and grow! We are enormously proud that you've made it this far, and we can't wait to see what you will become.

Your father

Unit 2 Loving parents, loving children

Text A A child’s clutter awaits an adult’s return

1 I watch her back her new truck out of the driveway. The vehicle is too large, too

expensive. She'd refused to consider a practical car with good gasefficiency and easy to

park. It's because of me, I think. She bought it to show me that she could.

2 "I'm 18," she'd told me so often that my teeth ached. "I am an adult!"

3 I thought, is that true? Just yesterday you watched some cartoons. What changed between yesterday and today?

4 Today she's gone, off to be an adult far away from me. I'm glad she's gone. It means she made it, and that I'm finally free of 18 years of responsibilities. And yet I wonder if she could take good care of herself.

5 She left a mess. Her bathroom is anembarrassment of damp towels, rusted shavingblades, hair in the sink, and nearly empty tubes oftoothpaste. I bring a box of big black garbage bags upstairs. Eye shadow, face cream, nail polish — all go into the trash. Idump drawers, sweep shelves clear and clean the sink. When I am finished, it is as neat and impersonal as a hotel bathroom.

6 In her bedroom I findmismatched socks under her bed and purple pants on the closet

floor. Desk drawers are filed with school papers, field by year and subject. I catch myself reading through poems and essays, admiring high scores on tests and reading her name, printed or typed neatly in the upper right-hand corner of each paper. I pack the desk contents into a

box. Six months, I think. I will give her six months to collect her belongings, and then I will throw them all away. That is fair. Grown-ups pay for storage.

7 I have to pause at the books. Comic books, teenfiction, romantic novels,historical novels, and textbooks. A lifetime of reading; each bookbeloved. I want to be practical, to stuff them in paper sacks for the used bookstore. But I love books as much as she does, so I stack them onto a single bookshelf to deal with later.

8 I go for her clothes. Dresses, sweaters, and shoes she hasn't worn since seventh grade are placed into garbage bags. I am a plague of locusts emptying the closet. Two piles grow to clumsyheights: one for charity, the other trash.

9 There are more shoes, stuffed animals, large and small posters, hair bands, and pink hair curlers. The job grows larger the longer I am at it. How can one girl collect so much in only 18 years?

10 I stuff the garbage bags until the plastic strains. Ihaul them down the stairs, two bags at a time. Donations to charity go into the trunk of my car; trash goes to the curb. I'm earning myself sweat andsore shoulders.

11 She left the bedroom aridiculous mess, the comforter on the floor, the sheets tossed

aside. Istrip off the comforter, blanket, sheets, and pillows. Once she starts feeding coins into laundry machines, she'll appreciate the years of clean clothes I've provided for free.

12 I will turn her room into a crafts room. Or create the fancy guest room I've always wanted.

13 I turn the bed over. A large brown envelope is marked "DO NOT THROW AW AY." I open it. More papers. I dump the contents onto the floor. There are old family photographs, letters, greeting cards, and love notes from us to her. There are comics clipped from newspapers and magazines. Every single item in this envelope has passed from our hands to hers. These are all things that we gave her. Suddenly, I feel very emotional.

14 "DO NOT THROW AW AY."

15 My kid — my clutter bug— knows me too well. As I read through the cards and notes, I think maybe the truck wasn't such a bad idea, after all. Maybe it helps her to feel less small in a big world.

16 I reverse myself and bring back the garbage bags from the car and the curb. Clothes and shoes go back into the closet. I remake the bed and pile it with stuffed animals. My husband comes home and calls up the stairs.

17 "Just straightening up," I tell him. "Can you find some boxes for her stuff?"

18 He brings up boxes from the basement.

19 "She left a mess," he says.

20 "I don't mind," I reply. Silence.

21 Then he says softly, "She's not coming back." I feel my throat tighten at the sadness in his voice. I try hard to keep back my tears.

22 My little baby, my dependent child, isn't coming back. But someday my daughter, the independent woman, will return home. Tokens of her childhood will await her. So will we, with open arms.

Text B Time slows down

1 "Daddy, let's take a walk."

2 It's an April day in Virginia. He nods, puts his hands on the arms of his wheelchair, whispers something that makes little sense. I try to help him up, but he is too heavy andlimp.

3 "Come for a walk, and then — I've brought you a surprise."

4 The white curtains surge in the breeze.

5 Shivering, he complains it's chilly. "It's cold, I'm tired. Can't we go home now?"

6 Suddenly we're far away in a time long past in part of a harbor I've never seen before. December, Chicago, I'm five, and cold. One glove is lost. My feet are tired. His legs are longer; he strides quickly through melting snow, toward buildings like airplane sheds withimmense doors.

7 This is the most exciting place I have ever been. Suddenly my fatigue is gone. I could walk along here forever, at least until I find out how to get aboardone of the boats.

8 We slow down our pace. Smaller sheds now. A green diner. Smells of fish and smoke. We enter a little hut. Barrels of salty water, string bags ofshellfish, bundles of fish laid out on ice.

9 "Daddy, look at that snake!"

10 "No, that's an eel," says Daddy. "Smoked. We'll take a portion home for supper."

11 "I certainly won't eat that!"

12 "All right," he says, and carries the smelly package. As we walk back, he tells me aboutmigrations of eels to the Sargasso Sea: how eels come down Dalmatian rivers and swim across the Mediterranean and then the whole Atlantic, until they reach the warm Sargasso Sea. Here they lay their eggs, and then the baby eels swim back to the native rivers of their parents.

13 Back at last in the apartment, he unwraps the eel, opens his pocket knife and slices carefully.

14 "I won't eat it," I saysuspiciously.

15 "Try one bite, just for me."

16 "I won't like it."

17 While he hangs up our coats, I test one pinch. Smelly, smoky, and salty.

18 He goes into the kitchen to heat milk for me and tea for himself. I test another pinch. Then another. He returns with the steaming cups.

19 The eel has vanished.

20 Because it is Sunday and I am five, he forgives me. Time slows down and the love flows in —father to daughter and back again.

21 At 19, I fly out to Japan. My father and I climb Mount Fuji. High above the Pacific, and

hours up the slope, we picnic on dried eel, seaweed crackers, and cold rice wrapped in the eel skin. He reaches thepeak first.

22 As the years stretch, we walk along waterways all over the world. With his long stride, he often overtakes me. I've never known anyone with such energy.

23 Some days, time flies with joy all around. Other days, time rots like old fish.

24 Today in the nursing home in Virginia, anticipating his reluctance, I beg boldly and encourage him, "Please, Daddy, just a little walk.You are supposed to exercise."

25 He can't get out of his chair. Not that he often gets up on his own, but once in a while he'll suddenly have a surge of strength. I stoop to lift his feet from the foot restraints, fold back the metal pieces which often scrape his delicate, paper-thin skin. "Come, now you can stand."

26 He grips the walker and struggles forward. Gradually I lift and pull him to his feet. Standing unsteadily, he sways and then gains his balance.

27 "See, you made it! That's wonderful! All right, I'll be right behind you, my hand in the small of your back. Now — forward, march!"

28 He is impatient with the walker as I accompany him to the dining room. I help him to his chair, and hand him a spoon. It slips from his fingers. Pureed tuna is heaped on a plastic plate. I encourage him, sing him old songs, tell stories, but he won't eat. When I lift a spoonful of gray fishy stuff to his mouth, he says politely, "I don't care for any."

29 Nor would I.

30 Then I take the small smelly package covered in white wrapping paper from a plastic bag. He loves presents, and he reaches forward with awkward fingers to try to open it. The smell fills the room.

31 "Look, Daddy, they've been out of it for months, but at last this morning at the fish seller near the Potomac, I found some smoked eel."

32 We unwrap it, and then I take out the Swiss Army Knife my beloved aunt gave me "for safekeeping", and slice the silvery flesh.

33 "What a beautiful picnic," my father beams.

34 He takes a sip of his champagne, and then with steady fingers picks up a slice of eel and downs it easily. Then another, and another, until he eats the whole piece. And again, time slows down and the love flows in — daughter to father and back again.

Unit 3 Digital Campus

Text A College life in the Internet age

1 The college campus, long a place of scholarship and frontiers of new technology, is beingtransformed into a new age of electronics by afleet of laptops, smartphones and connectivity 24 hours a day.

2 On a typical modern-day campus, where every building and most outdoor common areas offer wireless Internet access, one student takes her laptop everywhere. In class, she takes notes with it, sometimes instant-messaging or emailing friends if the professor is less than interesting. In her dorm, she instant-messages her roommate sitting just a few feet away. She is tied to her smartphone, which she even uses to text a friend who lives one floor above her, and which supplies music for walks between classes.

3 Welcome to college life in the 21st century, where students on campus are electronically linked to each other, to professors and to their classwork 24/7 in an ever-flowing river of information and communication. With many schools offering wireless Internet access anywhere on campus, colleges as a group have become the most Internetaccessible spots in the world.

4 Students say they really value their fingertip-access to the boundless amount of information online, and the ability to email professors at 2 a.m. and receive responses the next morning. "I always feel like I have a means of communication —in class and out of class," says oneengineering major.

5 Many are using smartphones, not only to create their own dialectswhen texting, but also to do more serious work, such as practicing foreign languages and analyzingscripts from their theater classes. In a university class on the history of American radio, students use smartphones to record their own radio shows. The course instructor said, "It's adding to students' sense of excitement about the subject." Professors have been encouraged to tape their lectures and post them online. "We realized there might be some potential for a devicethat could get attention and encouragesophisticated thinking," says one leading university director.

6 For mostundergraduates, non-stop Internet connectivity is the fuel of college life. More than just toys, these instruments are powerful tools for the storage and management of virtually every kind of information. And as more people around the world adoptthese instruments, they are becoming indispensable. So, students should use the wonders of the Internet to do homework, review lecture outlines, take part in class discussions and network online with their friends. But in doing so, students must remember to regulate and balance their time. Too much time online can mean too little time in real-life studying or exercising or visiting with friends. Students should not let the Internet world on their computer screens take them away from the real world outside.

7 Colleges began embracing Internet access in the mid-1990s, when many began wiring dorms with high-speed connections. In the past few years, schools have taken the lead by turning their campuses intobubbles of Wi-Fi networks. In fact, a recent study in the US found that information

technology accounted for 5% to 8% of college budgets, up from an estimated 2% to 3% in the mid-1980s.

8 On one campus, students use Wi-Fi to fire off instant messages, review their homeworkassignments, and check their bank balances. Just nine miles down thehighway, another university had been feeling a bit of a technologyinferiority complex. Tocompensate, it spent tens of thousands of dollars to give every one of its incoming freshmen a free Apple iPad.

9 Some universities even require that all students own or lease a laptop. Some say the focus on technology prepares students for a wired world. "You have to keep up with the rest of the world. Students expect high-bandwidth information, and if you can't deliver it, you're at acompetitive disadvantage," states a university president.

10 Other colleges are straining to stand out from their peers. The race to attract students with the most modern networks and the hottest systems has reached fever pitch. Some business majors are receiving free portablecomputers. In an always-connected mode, they can get information anytime and anywhere they need. One university is even giving its freshmen new smartphones to enrich the student experience and prepare them for success in a rapidly changing world.

11 For those who prefer to travel laptop-free, colleges supply several computer labs. And for students who study late into the night, many have set up 24-hour repair shops where students can get their laptops fixed by the next day and receive aloaner in the meantime.

12 Colleges around the world have been replacing their computer systems for the past decade, in large part to provide students with the most advanced free system. The anywhere-anytime access has already yieldedamazing benefits in education. With the widespread application of computer technologies, we are going to produce a generation of problem-solvers and intelligentthinkers, which is indispensable for the future of the world.

Text B Too much of a good thing-a real addiction

1 The college campus, long a place of scholarship and frontiers of new technology, is beingtransformed into a new age of electronics by afleet of laptops, smartphones and connectivity 24 hours a day.

2 On a typical modern-day campus, where every building and most outdoor common areas offer wireless Internet access, one student takes her laptop everywhere. In class, she takes notes with it, sometimes instant-messaging or emailing friends if the professor is less than interesting. In her dorm, she instant-messages her roommate sitting just a few feet away. She is tied to her smartphone, which she even uses to text a friend who lives one floor above her, and which supplies music for walks between classes.

3 Welcome to college life in the 21st century, where students on campus are electronically linked to each other, to professors and to their classwork 24/7 in an ever-flowing river of information and

communication. With many schools offering wireless Internet access anywhere on campus, colleges as a group have become the most Internetaccessible spots in the world.

4 Students say they really value their fingertip-access to the boundless amount of information online, and the ability to email professors at 2 a.m. and receive responses the next morning. "I always feel like I have a means of communication —in class and out of class," says oneengineering major.

5 Many are using smartphones, not only to create their own dialectswhen texting, but also to do more serious work, such as practicing foreign languages and analyzingscripts from their theater classes. In a university class on the history of American radio, students use smartphones to record their own radio shows. The course instructor said, "It's adding to students' sense of excitement about the subject." Professors have been encouraged to tape their lectures and post them online. "We realized there might be some potential for a devicethat could get attention and encouragesophisticated thinking," says one leading university director.

6 For mostundergraduates, non-stop Internet connectivity is the fuel of college life. More than just toys, these instruments are powerful tools for the storage and management of virtually every kind of information. And as more people around the world adoptthese instruments, they are becoming indispensable. So, students should use the wonders of the Internet to do homework, review lecture outlines, take part in class discussions and network online with their friends. But in doing so, students must remember to regulate and balance their time. Too much time online can mean too little time in real-life studying or exercising or visiting with friends. Students should not let the Internet world on their computer screens take them away from the real world outside.

7 Colleges began embracing Internet access in the mid-1990s, when many began wiring dorms with high-speed connections. In the past few years, schools have taken the lead by turning their campuses intobubbles of Wi-Fi networks. In fact, a recent study in the US found that information technology accounted for 5% to 8% of college budgets, up from an estimated 2% to 3% in the mid-1980s.

8 On one campus, students use Wi-Fi to fire off instant messages, review their homeworkassignments, and check their bank balances. Just nine miles down thehighway, another university had been feeling a bit of a technologyinferiority complex. Tocompensate, it spent tens of thousands of dollars to give every one of its incoming freshmen a free Apple iPad.

9 Some universities even require that all students own or lease a laptop. Some say the focus on technology prepares students for a wired world. "You have to keep up with the rest of the world. Students expect high-bandwidth information, and if you can't deliver it, you're at acompetitive disadvantage," states a university president.

10 Other colleges are straining to stand out from their peers. The race to attract students with the most modern networks and the hottest systems has reached fever pitch. Some business majors are

receiving free portablecomputers. In an always-connected mode, they can get information anytime and anywhere they need. One university is even giving its freshmen new smartphones to enrich the student experience and prepare them for success in a rapidly changing world.

11 For those who prefer to travel laptop-free, colleges supply several computer labs. And for students who study late into the night, many have set up 24-hour repair shops where students can get their laptops fixed by the next day and receive aloaner in the meantime.

12 Colleges around the world have been replacing their computer systems for the past decade, in large part to provide students with the most advanced free system. The anywhere-anytime access has already yieldedamazing benefits in education. With the widespread application of computer technologies, we are going to produce a generation of problem-solvers and intelligentthinkers, which is indispensable for the future of the world.

Unit 4 Heroes of our time

Text A Heroes among us

1 Who's a hero these days? In an era of heightened heroism, the word hero has become more common. We use hero to describe bothvictims and survivors of all kinds of difficulties andtragedies. Who are the heroes among us?

2 In the days subsequentto a mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, many described 20-yearold political associate Daniel Hernandez as a hero. During the horrible shooting, he courageously ran through the danger to save the life of one of the victims, his boss and friend, congresswomanGabrielle Giffords. Daniel held her head up so she could breathe and applied pressure to her wounds. He spoke tender words ofsympathy, telling her that he would find her husband and her parents and that everything would be fine. And he never left her side, staying beside her in the ambulance all the way to the hospital.

3 Another hero from the mass shooting in Tucson was Dory Stoddard. Dory gave his life for his wife, Mavy. Dory and his wife had been friends since childhood and when Dory heard shots ring out he immediately fell on top of his wife to shield her from the hail of bullets. At the memorial service, thepriest said: "Dory didn't die a hero; he lived a hero." Long known for hisremarkable spirit and love of humanity, Dory Stoddard died as he had always lived, assisting others.

4 These are civilianheroes, who acted instinctively with courage and grace when caught up in extraordinarycircumstances.

5 But what about firstresponders , whose job is, in the words of the widowof a fallen police officer, to "rush toward danger"?

6 In Toronto, Canada, downtown life stopped when more than 11,000 police and other emergency responders marched solemnly through the streets to honorSergeant Ryan Russell, a 35-year-old "good man and good cop", who believed deeply in his commitmentto protect and serve. Sgt. Russell moved quickly to protect others from harm. He tried to stop a drunk driver in a stolen snowplow with only his police automobile and his goodwill to help others. Sadly, Sgt. Russell was

unable to stop the drunk driver and was killed in the effort.

7 It used to be that the word hero was reserved for those who performed acts of distinct courage beyond the call of duty. A soldier who runs through gunfire to rescue othermilitary personnel is seen as a hero. So are larger-than-life leaders such as Nelson Mandela, who emerged after 27 years ofjail, confined in a solitarychamber. He made the choice not to be bitter, and worked hard as South Africa's first black president to establishharmony and helped society reconcile itsconflicted past.

8 But today, our heroes are average men and women, "everyday heroes" to whom we can relate, people like us.

9 However, while many people honor Sgt. Russell, some people raise this question when they try to make sense of a tragedy like Sgt. Russell's: "Some first responders do not succeed in helping others and they get injured or die in their efforts. Do these people become heroes because of what happens to them as they try to help others — instead of what they actually make happen?"

10 I asked road safetyadvocate Eleanor McMahon whether she thought Sgt. Russell was a hero. Ms. McMahon's late husband, a police officer, was killed by a drunk truck driver in a 2006 off-duty bicycling accident. Through grief and rage, Ms. McMahon founded Share the Road, a cyclingassociation, and worked tirelessly until the government established "Greg's Law", legislationthat gave authority to police to immediately seize the automobiles of drunk drivers caught on the road.

11 Ms. McMahon replied that she thought Sgt. Russell was indeed a hero. "Just imagine, in the middle of an intensesnowstorm this policeman thinks: I've got to stop this snowplow before it hurts others." Ms. McMahon summed up why she considered many police officers to be heroes: "It's natural to be afraid of danger. It's natural for that fear to cause most people to rush toward safety and away from danger. Heroes do just the opposite. They rush toward danger to help those in need."

12 We count on first responders to rush toward danger, especially when itinvolves us or those we love. We expect nothing less. So when one of them dies doing that, we should recognize the heroic action even though we may doubt our own capacity to be heroic ourselves.

13 The inspiring stories of heroes help remind us that ordinary people can do extraordinary things, whether it is in thefulfillment of their duties or as part of everyday life. We honor the fireman, the policeman, and the average citizen by recognizing their heroism. Perhaps, even more importantly, we honor them by working to change the circumstances that led to their death. By honoring them we can be inspired by them. Will we be heroes when circumstances call on us to act heroically? Hopefully, we will!

Pre-reading activities

On a New York City subway, it's hard enough to find someone who'll give up his seat to some

stranger, let alone be willing to give his life for another person.

Fifty-year-old Wesley Austrey was a construction worker. One day he was standing on a subway platform with his two little daughters. Right in front of them stood a man. Suddenly the man slipped off the platform edge and fell to the tracks between the two rails. The headlights of a train appeared. Wesley had to make a quick decision. He jumped onto the tracks. He lay on top of the man, pressing him down in a space roughly a foot deep. There was only one half inch of space between the two men and the train. The train rolled overhead before it stopped and people got them out.

Wesley's children were extremely scared at the sc ene, and Wesley himself was scared too. “I got to talk to him,” later he told news reporters. “Sir, you can't move. I've got two kids up there looking for their father to come back. I don't know you and you don't know me, but listen, don't panic. I'm here to save you.”

The man Wesley saved is 20-year-old Cameron Hollopeter. Except for a few small wounds, Hollopeter was doing fine. Wesley refused medical help because, he said, nothing was wrong. He visited Hollopeter in the hospital before he went to work. “I don't feel like I did something extraordinary; I just saw someone who needed help,” he said. “I did what I felt was right.”

Text B A hero’s aspiration

1 Officer Jonda's pulse quickened. Road conditions were dangerous on that cold, dark wintery night. The fierce storm made it hard to see, but she could tell the car ahead of her was in trouble. It was swaying. It was not swaying violently, and was still barely within the lane, but on the winding road in the fierce November rain, it was enough. Jonda had a sixth sense for accidents and lived in terror of them ever since that awful night so many years ago. She still couldn't abolish the terribleimage of that teenager screaming for help, her help. Help that she had been unable to give as she was driven back by the intense heat of the car fire.

2 Her subsequent report on the incident had dutifully noted the facts, as she had been trained to write them, facts that did not include screams or pain. It was strange to talk about them one way: a string of facts for a police report; and to think about them in another: burning metal and deep tire tracks on the slippery concrete, bits of safety glass likeprimitive crystals reflecting in pools of blood. These were memories Jonda could never really turn off. Sheleaned on her training for support, and these days she never ignored any signs of the next accident. She made a gesture to turn on the patrol car's flashing lights, but her partner, David, beat her to it; he too had sensed the danger. "Let's pull that car over before someone gets hurt," he said.

3 The big car slowed, but not enough to stop at the warning sign as the driverslammed on the brakes. The car slipped off the road into the Dalton River.

4 Jonda quickly brought the police car to a halt and got out. Yelling at David to call for backup help, she slipped down the side of the road to the water's edge.

5 The rain had swelled the river into a ragingmonster. It roared well over its banks, rushing

swiftly with tree limbscaught in the raging current. And halfsubmerged in the currentwas the car. As big as it was, the force of the water had heaved it against a tree, the passenger seat submerged, water rushing over the windshield. "DearLord!" Jonda prayed. "Never again!" This is too much, too familiar, Jonda thought.

6 The driver would not have had time to make it out, Jonda knew. Her flashlight beam barely cut through the heavy rain, but she could still see the trapped driver screaming and banging the window. And the car was filling up with water.

7 "David, I need the window hammer!" Jonda called over her radio and rushed toward the car. By the time she was at the driver door, the water was rushing up to her waist, and unbelievably cold, like her legs had been encased in ice. If she didn't work quickly, she could lose the feeling in her lower body and collapse.

8 Through the window, Jonda saw the woman with water up to her chest. A work badge pinned to her chest identified her as Sandy. And she was old, 65 or 70. She would not last long in the icy water. Her eyes, betraying her intense fear, were locked on Jonda's. "Save me," she screamed.

9 David caught up with Jonda and passed her the window hammer. "Ma'am," she yelled through the window, "I need you to turn away from the glass! I'm going to break through!" The woman turned her head, and Jonda struck. The glass, thick as the old car was big, barelycracked. And with a heavy heart Jonda felt the car heave. The current was loosening it from the tree.

10 Jonda struck again with all her might and this time, mercifully, the window broke into little pieces. Water rushed in and the car heaved again, soon to be carried downstream.

11 The woman tried to speak through her shivering lips. "Tell my grandchildren I love them," she moaned.

12 Jonda leaned in and wrapped her arms around the woman. "We're not going to lose you, Sandy! Put your arms around my neck and hold on! David, grab my waist and pull!"

13 With all her strength in the icy water, Jonda grabbed the slender woman out of her seat and through the broken window, David pulling at her waist. The car heaved one last time, and just as the woman cleared it, it was swallowed by the water.

14 The woman was crying in Jonda's arms. "It's all right, ma'am," Jonda said, tears streaking down her cheeks, unable to let go of the woman. "We didn't lose you! We didn't lose you!" she cried. Stiff and sore, Sandy cried, "Thank you!"

15 Since the accident, the two women have become close friends. "She's a fantastic woman," Sandy says. "She just refused to let me die. I'm forever grateful to her." But Jonda feels she has much to be grateful for too, because finally, she is healed and free of the acute nightmares of her past.

Unit 5 Winning is not everything

Text A Cliff Yong, an unlikely hero

1 Considered one of the toughest marathon events in the world, the 875-kilometer annual Australian race, a route from Sydney to Melbourne, is a harsh test of endurance for the world's top athletes, regardless of their age. The young, super-fit runners train for months before a competition and are under contract to prominent sponsors like Nike and Adidas, who finance them and furnish them with a substantial support mechanism of money and equipment. The contest takes up to seven days to complete and is a challenging test of fitness and strength even for world-class athletes who compete for distinction and a cash prize.

2 On the day of the race in 1983, Cliff Young, a toothless 61-year-old farmer and amateur runner, wearing rubber boots, and much older than the other runners, was in attendance. No one paid any attention to this odd-looking man who might as well have been invisible. The assembled crowd assumed Cliff was there to observe the race. When he asserted his intention to compete, the world-class athletes around him reacted with apparent disbelief and then with disrespect. Obviously, this was some sort of publicity trick.

3 But the press was curious, so as he took his number and moved into the crush of runners in their special, expensive racing gear, the camera focused on him and the assembled reporters shouted question after question at Cliff. They asked: "Who are you?" "What are you doing?"

4 "I'm Cliff Young. I'm from a large farm where we raise sheep outside of Melbourne."

5 They went on, "What makes you think you can run this race? It takes a week to run this race on no more than six hours of sleep a night!"

6 Cliff replied, "I've run sheep for two or three days at a time. This race should only be a couple more days than that. I believe I can do it."

7 Soon, the marathon started and the young athletes left Cliff far behind. The crowds smiled, and some laughed out loud because he didn't even run properly. He had the strangest running style; he appeared to shuffle. As the race progressed along, of course, the attention of the sports commentators and viewers alike was on the athletes at the front of the pack. Imagine everyone's surprise the next morning when the news showed Cliff was still in the race! Not only that, but he had run through the entire night without sleeping. And it seemed that he intended to keep running until he reached the finish line or fell ill or was injured as many viewers now began to fear. They were uneasy and very concerned for his welfare. Many people said and even more people thought: "Surely, someone should stop this insane old man before he really harms himself!"

8 But Cliff had no intention of stopping. Although he was still far behind the world-class athletes, he kept at it. When he got to a major town, he was asked about his plan for the rest of the race. He said he would just keep running, and he did. With every passing hour and every