新视野大学英语读写教程第二版第二册考试段落
Unit 1
A foreig ner's first impressi on of the US is likely to be that every one is in a rush —ofte n un der pressure. City people always appear to be hurry ing to get where they are going, restlessly seek ing atte nti on in a store, or elbow ing others as they try to complete their shopp ing. Racing through daytime meals is part of the pace of life in this country. Working time is considered precious. Others in public eating-places are waiting for you to finish so they, too, can be served and get back to work with in the time allowed. You also find drivers will be abrupt and people will push past you. You will miss smiles, brief con versati ons, and small excha nges with stra ngers. Don't take it pers on ally. This is because people value time highly, and they rese nt some one else "wast ing" it bey ond a certa in appropriate point.
外国人对美国的第一印象很可能是,每个人都匆匆忙忙——常常处于压力之
下。城里人看上去总是在匆匆地赶往他们要去的地方,在商店里他们焦躁不安地
指望店员能马上来为他们服务,或者为了赶快买完东西,用肘来推搡他人。白天吃饭时人们也都匆匆忙忙,这部分地反映出这个国家的生活节奏。人们认为工作
时间是宝贵的。在公共用餐场所,人们都等着别人尽快吃完,以便他们也能及时
用餐,你还会发现司机开车很鲁莽,人们推搡着在你身边过去。你会怀念微笑、简短的交谈以及与陌生人的随意闲聊。不要觉得这是针对你个人的,这是因为人
们都非常珍惜时间,而且也不喜欢他人“浪费”时间到不恰当的地步。
Unit 3
"To start with I must admit that at first I harbored reservations about a mixed marriage, prejudices you might eve n call them. But whe n I met Mark I found him a charm ing and in tellige nt young guy. Any mother would be proud to have him for a son-in-law. So, color has nothing to do with it. Yes, my friends talk. Some even express shock at what you are doing. But they live in a differe nt world. So you see, Mark's color is not the problem. My biggest worry is that you may be marrying Mark for the same wrong reasons that I married your father. When we met I saw him as mybeloved, i ntellige nt, charm ing, and cari ng. It was all so n ew, all so excit ing, and we both thought, on the surface at least, that ours was an ideal marriage with every in dicati on that it would last forever. I realized only later that I did n't know my beloved, your father, very well when we married."
“首先我必须承认,刚开始时我对异族通婚是有保留意见的,也许你甚至可
以把这称为偏见。但是当我见到马克时,我发现他是一个既讨人喜欢又聪明的年
轻人。任何一个母亲都会因为有这样一个女婿而感到脸上有光的。所以,这事跟
肤色没有关系。是的,我的朋友们会说闲话。有些朋友甚至对你所做的事表示震
惊。但他们的生活与我们的不同。因此你要明白,马克的肤色不是问题。我最大的担心是你也许跟我当初嫁给你爸爸一样,为了错误的原因而嫁给马克。当年我和你爸爸相遇时,在我眼中,他可爱、聪明、富有魅力又善解人意。一切都是那么新鲜、那么令人兴奋。而且我们两人都认为,我们的婚姻是理想婚姻,至少表
面上看是如此,而且一切迹象都表明我们的婚姻会天长地久。直到后来我才明白,
在我们结婚时,我并不十分理解我所爱的人你的爸爸。”
Unit 4
Soon after he volunteered for military service, he had received a book from this woman. A letter, which wished him courage and safety, came with the book. He discovered that many of his frie nds, also in the army, had received the ide ntical book from the woma n, Hollis Meyn ell. And while they all got stre ngth from it, and appreciated her support of their cause, Joh n Bla ndford was the only pers on to write Ms. Meynell back. On the day of his departure, to a destination overseas where he would fight in the war, he received her reply. Aboard the cargo ship that was taking him into enemy territory, he stood on the deck and read her letter to him again and aga in.
在他自愿参军后不久,他收到了一本这位女子寄来的书。随书而来的还有一
封信,祝他勇敢和平安。他发现自己很多参军的朋友也收到了这位名叫霍利斯? 梅内尔的女子寄来的同样的书。他们所有的人都从中获得了勇气,也感激她对他们
为之战斗的事业的支持,但只有他给梅内尔女士回了信。在他启程前往海外战场
战斗的那天,他收到了她的回信。站在即将带他进入敌人领地的货船甲板上,他一遍又一遍地读着她的来信。
Unit 5
Whe n I travel to Third World coun tries I see many people like my father and daughter. There are large advertiseme nt sig ns directed at them both: the tough,c on fide nt or fashi on able older man, the beautiful, "worldly" young woma n, bothdragg ing
away .In these poor coun tries, as in America n inner cities and on reservati ons, money that should be spe nt for food goes in stead to the tobaccocompa ni es; over time, people starve themselves of both food and air, effectivelyweake ning and hook ing their childre n, eve ntually killi ng themselves. I read in the newspaper and in my garde ning magaz ine that the ends of cigarettes are so poisonousthat if a baby swallows one, it is likely to die, and that the boiled water froma bunch of them makes an effective in secticide.
我到第三世界国家去旅行时,看到了许多像我父亲和女儿那样的人。到处都
有针对他们这两类人的巨大广告牌,强壮、自信或时髦的成熟男人,以及漂亮、
“世故”的年青女子,都在吞云吐雾。就像在美国的旧城区和印第安人的居留地
上一样,在这些贫困的国家里,那些本应该花在食物上的钱却流进了烟草公司。久而久之,人们不但缺少食物,而且还缺少空气,这样不但大大地损害了孩子们
的体质,还使他们染上了烟瘾,最终还会致他们于死地。我在报纸还有我订阅的
园艺杂志上看到,烟蒂的毒性很强,一个婴儿如果吞下了一个烟蒂,就很有可能
会死去,而沸水加一把烟蒂就成了很有效的杀虫剂。
Unit 6
Naturally, the n ame cha nge did n't cause Debbie/L ynn e's professionalachievement —but it surely helped if only by adding a bit of self-c on fide nee to her
tale nts. Social scie ntists say that what you're called can affect your life.Throughout history, names have not merely identified people but also described them."As his n ame is, so is he." says the Bible, and Webster's Dicti onary in cludes thefollow ing definition of name: "a word or words expressing some quality con sideredcharacteristic or descriptive of a pers on or a thi ng, ofte n express ing approval or disapproval". Note well "approval or disapproval". For better or worse, qualities such as frie ndli ness or reserve, pla inn ess or charm may be suggested by your n ame and con veyed to other people before they eve n meet you.
当然,戴比,或林恩,的职业成就并不是改名带来的,但是这肯定给她带来了好处,虽说改名仅使她对自己的才能增加了一点点自信。社会科学家认为你叫
什么名字会影响你的生活。从古至今,名字不仅被用来识别人,而且也被用来描
述人。《圣经》上说,人如其名。此外,《韦伯斯特大词典》也对名字作了如下的定义,表达某种特点的一个或几个字,这种特点被认为反映了某人或某事的本
质,或描述了某人某事,常表示嘉许或不赞成的意思。请好好注意这几个词,“嘉
许或不赞成”。不管是好是坏,诸如友好或拘谨、相貌平平或漂亮妩媚等特征已经在你的名字中有所暗示,甚至他人在见到你本人之前就已经知道你的这些特征了。
Unit 7
Eliot says researchers have found that stressed people have higher cholesterol levels, among other things. "We've done years of work in showing that excess alarm or stress chemicals can literally burst heart muscle fibers. When that happens it happe ns very quickly, within five minu tes. It creates many short circuits, and that causes crazy heart rhythms. The heart beats like a bag of worms in stead of a pump. And whe n that happe ns, we can't live."
Eliot, 64, suffered a heart attack at age 44. He attributes some of the cause to stress. For years he was a "hot reactor". On the exterior, he was cool, calm and collected,
but on the interior, stress was killing him. He's now doing very well.
埃利奥特说,研究人员已经发现,有压力的人除了其他症状外,胆固醇的含
量也较高。“我们已经做了多年研究,证明过分忧虑或紧张所产生的化学物质的
确会损伤心肌纤维。这种情况发生时往往很快,不到5分钟。它会造成许多短路,
而且这种短路会引起严重的心律不齐。心脏跳起来不像一个泵,而像一只装看蠕
虫的袋子,杂乱而又绵软无力。当这种情况发生时,我们就活不成了。”
现年64岁的埃利奥特,在44岁时曾有过一次心脏病发作,他把那次心脏病
发作的部分原因归于压力。多年来,他一直是一个“热核反应堆式的人”。表面
上,他显得沉着、冷静、泰然自若,但他内心深处的压力使他筋疲力尽。他现在身体状况很好。
Unit 8
While it's true all of us n eed a career, preferably a prosperous on e, it is equally true that our civilizati on has collected an in credible amount of kno wledge in fields far removed from our own. And we are better for our un dersta nding of these other contributions —be they scientific or artistic. It is equally true that, in studying the diverse wisdom of others, we lear n how to thi nk. More importa ntly, perhaps, educati on teaches us to see the conn ecti ons betwee n thin gs, as well as to see bey on dour immediate n eeds.
Weekly we read of unions that went on strike for higher wages, only to drive theiremployer out of bus in ess. No compa ny, no job. How short-sighted in the long run.
虽然我们所有人都确实需要一份工作,最好是一份薪水丰厚的工作。但同样不容争议的事实是,我们的文明已经在我们各自的领域之外积累了巨大的知识财
富。而且正因为我们理解了这些在其他领域的贡献一一不管是科学方面的,还是
艺术方面的一一我们的人生才更完善。同样地,我们在了解他人的智慧的同时,自己也学会了如何去思考。也许更重要的是,教育使我们的视野超越了眼前的需
求,并使我们看到了事物间的联系。我们每周都在报纸上读到这样的消息,工会在为要求更高的工资而罢工,结果却只是使他们的老板破了产。没有了公司,也
就没有了工作岗位。从长远来看,他们的目光是何等地短浅。
Unit 9
After a while, I was give n an assig nment to cover diplomats at various
Africa nembassies. Then, seve n years after I started, I was assig ned by the Sun to coverthe White House. Report ing from the Oval Office was as close to heave n as a jour nalistcould get. I looked forward to see ing the delight on my mother's face whe n I toldher. Con sideri ng the on ward and upward course she had set for me, I should have known better.
不久,我被委派去采访非洲各国驻美大使馆的外交官。工作七年后,《太阳报》派我去白宫采访。对于一个记者来说,能够从椭圆型办公室发回报道已经是
达到职业的顶峰了。当我把这个消息告诉母亲时,我期待看从她的脸上看到喜悦。
但要是我能够考虑到她为我设定的不断向前迈进、向上攀升的人生路线,我就不该有这种期待了。
Her weak praise did n't corresp ond to my achieveme nt. No matter what I did, any accomplishme nt of mine only seemed marginal in her eyes. This would ofte n make mecrazy. She would n ever con gratulate me or make any con cessi on that I was doing greatth in gs. There was always someth ing n egative to be said, eve n whe n Isucceeded.
母亲并没有对我取得的成就予以充分肯定。无论我做什么,我取得的成就在
她看来都是微不足道的。这往往会让我心烦。她从不向我道贺,从不承认我做得
很棒。即使在我成功的时候,她也是说一些否定的话