《全新版大学英语第一册综合教程练习答案及课文译文》

《全新版大学英语第一册综合教程练习答案及课文译文》 Appendix I Key to Exercises (Units 1-8) Unit 1 Part I Pre-reading Task Script for the recording: Have you ever heard of the pop singer, John Lennon? Here he is singing a song he wrote for his son. It's called Beautiful Boy. Close your eyes Have no rear The monster s tone He's on the run and your daddy's here Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy Before you go to sleep Say a little prayer 1 John Lennon (1940-1980): First became famous as a singer and guitarist in the Beatles, a British rock group, writing many of their most successful hits. Later he left the group, but continued to be popular as a singer and songwriter. 66 - Appendix I Every day in every way It's getting better and better Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy Out on the ocean sailing away I can hardly wait To see you come of age But I guess we?ll both just have to be patient „Cause it's a long way to go A bard row to hoe Yes it's a long way to go But in the meantime Before you cross the street Take my band Life is what happens to you While you're busy making other plans Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy Before you go to sleep Say a little prayer Every day in every way It's getting better and better 1 A hard row to hoe: To hoe is to use a special farming tool, a hoe, to clear small weeds and break up the surface of the soil. The row referred to is a row of plants. Appendix I - $9 - Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy Darling, darling, darling Darling Sean You've just heard John Lennon singing a lullaby to his son Sean. A lullaby is a song we sing to help babies to go to sleep. So he tells Sean "Close your eyes, have no fear, your Daddy's here." Then he looks into the future. He sees his son setting out on life's adventure: Out on the ocean sailing away And he can hardly wait to see his son grow up, to reach eighteen when he comes of age and celebrates becoming an adult. But he knows they'll both have to be patient Cause it'a long way to go A hard row to hoe Growing up can be difficult. At times it can, as we say, be a hard row to hoe. It's a phrase we use to describe any difficult task. But if growing up is sometimes hard, it is also full of surprises. Things happen when we least expect them: Lire is what happens to you While you're busy making other plans I think you'll find the stories you are going to read in this unit show that John Lennon was right: growing up can be quite an adventure, full of the unexpected. As for John Lennon, sadly he never did live to see his son grow up and come of age, for John was shot dead by a madman in New York while Sean was still only five years old. - 90 - Appendix I Part II Text A Text organization l. Paragraphs Headings 1 Baker's feelings about English courses 2 Baker's impression of his new English teacher 3 A topic that attracts Baker's attention 4 Vivid memories the title brought back 5 Baker's sudden desire to write about that topic 6 Anticipating punishment 7 Mr. Fleagle's announcement 8 Classmates' response to the essay 9 What Baker discovered 2. Parts Paragraphs Main Ideas Part i Paras 1-2 Baker was bored by everything associated with English courses, including essay writing. Part II Paras 3-5 Baker found himself attracted by one particular topic and wrote about it for his own joy. Part III Paras 6-9 The experience of writing the essay helped him discover his talent for writing and realize what he wished to do in life. Appendix I - 91 - Vocabulary I. 1. 1) arguments 2) put ... down 3) sequence 4) rigid 5) tedious 6) hold back 7) reputation 8) distribute 9) off and on 10) vivid 11) associate ... with 12) congratulations 13) finally 14) turn in/turn out 15) tackle 2. 1) George hasbeen assigned to the newspaper's Paris office. 2) There is a possibility that his wish to become a writer will come true. 3) She had a clear image of how she would look in twenty years' time. 4) When the officer gave the command the soldiers opened fire. 5) As long as people keep buying bikes we'll keep turning them out. 3. 1) Mr. Green is very dull as a lecturer. He's rigid and old fashioned, and doesn't seem to have the faintest idea of how to inspire. I always get bored with / by his lectures. 2) Alan's essays are long and tedious to read. What's more, his arguments are often based on out of date ideas. 3) I was pleasantly surprised at my ability to compose an essay that the professor chose to read to the class. It was without doubt one of the happiest moments in my school career, but I did my best to avoid showing pleasure. When the professor offered me his congratulations, however, I could hardly hold back a smile. II. Synonyms in Context 1. composed 2. severe 3. agony 4. extraordinary 5. recall 6. command 7. was violating 8. anticipate III. Collocation 1. at 2. for 3. of 4. with 5. as 6. about 7. to 8. in, in - 92 - Appendix I 9. from 10. on/upon Structure 1. 1) Russell Baker is reported to live today with his wife in Virginia. 2) They are said to be building another bridge across the river. 3) Only a few students in Mr. Parker's composition class are said to have really captured the essence of the essay. 4) Those love poems were believed to have been composed by an English poet of the sixteenth century. 2. 1) as you suggested 2) as I told you to ? 3) exactly as I was 4) as you have described them to me Comprehensive Exercises I. Cloze (A) 2.1. hold back congratulatio3. tedious ns 5. recall 4. scanned 7. arguments 6. vivid 9. turn out/turn in 8. off and on (B) 10. career 2. after 1. that 4. kids/children 3. black 6. for/of 5. at 8. So 7. different 1she 9. On 0. 1assignment/b11. answer 2. ook 1proved 13. wrong 4. 1myself 15. Thus 6. II. Translation Susan lost her legs because of / in a car accident. For a time, she didn't know how to face Appendix I - 93 - up to the fact that she would never ( be able to) walk again. One day, while scanning (through ) books, a true story caught her eye/she was attracted by a true story. It gave a vivid description of how a disabled girl became a writer. Greatly inspired. Susan made up her mind to read as much as she could, and what's more, she wanted to write stories about her own childhood. Susan began to feel that she, too, would finally be able to lead a useful life. Part III TextB Comprehension Check l.b 2. a 3. c 4. c 5.b 6. c Translation (参见 Appendix HI) Language Practice 1. on purpose 2. in advance 3. comprises 4. adjusting to 5. assumed 6. think up 7. generally 8. clashes 9. represent 10. evil 11. voluntary 12. in the 13. motioned meantime 14. 15. decent appeal Part IV Theme-related Language Learning Tasks Model paper A memorable Experience On the morning of the college entrance test I rode a bike to the school where I would take the - 94 - Appendix I examination. Less than halfway between my house and the school, disaster struck. My bike hit a nail and the front tyre went flat. I pushed the bike along the streets, looking for a repair shop. Minutes passed but still there was none to be found. When I looked at my watch, I went wild with worry: there were only fifteen minutes left before the examination began, and the nearest bus stop was a long way off. Not knowing what to do, I stood still by the side of the road, tears welling up in my eyes. Then a car pulled in and I heard a voice asking what the matter was. When he heard my story, the driver offered me a lift. Thank to his kindness, I arrived just in time. And so here I am today. ( 157 words) Unit 2 Part I Pre-reading Task Script for the recording: Just what are friends for? To have fun with, of course, to share in the good times. Yet most people would say that a real friend is more than just a fair weather friend. A fair weather friend? A fair weather friend is someone who's happy to stay with you when things are going well but leaves as soon as trouble arrives, while a good friend, a true friend, is one who'll stand by you when you find yourself in difficulties. That's certainly what the American pop singer Dionne Warwick thinks. As she tells her friend ... you can always count on me, For sure, that's what friends are for, For good times, an bad times, I? 11 be on your side forevermore. But she sings it better than I can say it. So let's listen to her as she sings her song That's What Friends Are For. Appendix I - 95 - That's What Friends Are For Dionne Warwick And I never thought I'd reel this way And as far as I'm concerned I'm glad I got the chance to say That I do believe I love you And if I should ever go away, Well, then close your eyes and try, To feel the way we do today, / And then if you can remember, Keep smiling, keep shining, Knowing you can always count on me, For sure, that's what friends are for, For good times> and had times, I'll he on your side forevermore, That's what friends are for. Well, you came and opened me And now there's so much more I see And so by the way, I thank you And then for the times we're apart, Well, then close your eyes and know These words are coming from my heart And then it you can remember, Keep smiling, keep shining, Knowing you can always count on me, For sure, that's what friends are for, For good times, and had times, I'll he on your side forevermore, That' s what friends are for, Keep smiling, keep shining, Knowing you can always count on me, For sure that's what friends are for, For good times, and had times, I'll he on your side forevermore, - 9t? - Appendix I That's what mends are tor, Keep smiling, keep shining, Knowing you can always count on me, For sure, that's what friends are tor. For good times, and bad times, I'll be on your side forevermore, That' s what friends are for. Part II Text A Points for Discussion 1. a) He sounded as if he had a cold or something. b) "Thanks," I said, "but I don't want to read your mail. That's pretty personal." c) ... the first sentence reminded me of myself: "I've been meaning to write for some time, but I've always postponed it." d) It then went on to say that he often thought about the good times they had had together when they both lived in the same neighborhood. e) He shook his head: "Time." f) "This is a good part here," I said. "Where it says, your friendship over the years has meant an awful lot to me, more than I can say because I'm not good at saying things like that." I found myself nodding in agreement. "That must have made you feel good, didn't it?" g) "I know I'd like to receive a letter like that from my oldest friend." lext Organization 1. 1) The story begins with the cab driver reading a letter. 2) The letter Tom wrote to his friend Ed. 3) Their conversation was centered on the lifelong friendship between the driver and Old Ed. 4) The author got to learn more about their friendship by reading the letter himself. 2. Parts Paragraphs Main Ideas Part One Paras 1-20 From a conversation with the cab driver the author learned how much he regretted failing to keep up correspondence Appendix I - 97 - with his old friend Ed. Part Two Paras 21-35 Reading the letter by himself, the author learned more about the lifelong friendship between the driver and Old Ed. Part Three Para 36 The driver's experience urged the author to reach for his pen. Vocabulary 2) available I. 1. 1) absolutely 4) are 3) every now and then urging/urged 5) destination 6) know ... by 7) mostly heart 9) right away 8) hangs out 11) or something 10) reunion 13) went by 12) 15) keep in touch practically 14) 2. 1) It seemed that his failure in the examination was still on his mind. going ahead 2) He was completely choked up by the sight of his team losing in the final minutes of the game. 3) She was so lost in study that she forgot to have dinner. 4) Something has come up and I am afraid I won't be able to accomplish the project on time. 5) The cost of equipping the new hospital was estimated at $2 million. 3. 1) A couple of flights at Pudong Airport were postponed this morning because of the awful weather. It is estimated that over one thousand passengers were held up. 2) My professor assigned me some reference books on computers to read. Unfortunately they are not available in our school library. I am kind of worried about it. 3) Michael is not much of a teacher. He often skips from one subject to another so it is difficult for his students to follow him. Besides he just lets them go ahead with exercises without making sure they have understood what they are expected to do. II. Collocation 1. to 2. for 3. at 4. from 5. in * 6. to 7. on 8. with - 9$ - Appendix I III. Usage 1. more or less 2. kind of/sort of 3. Something 4. kind of/sort of 5. more or less 6. or something Structure 1. 1) may/might as well watch 2) may/might as well pour out 3) may/might as well walk 4) may/might as well buy 2. 1) She looks as if she is worried about it. 2) It smells as if it is fresh. 3) It sounds as if it is Chinese. 4) It feels as if it is made of silk. Comprehensive Exercises I. Cloze (A) 2. awful 1. choked up 4. 3. practically neighborhood 5. correspondence 6. available 7. destination 8. reunion 9. Mostly 10. 11. absolutely postponing (B) 1. how 3. but 2. himself 5. to 4. So 7. reply/answer 6. long 9. asking 8. from 11.touch 10. when 13. pieces 12. for 15. check 14. go 16. out Appendix I - 99 - II. Translation It is not easy to keep in touch with friends when they are far away. This is certainly true in my case. It has been a couple of years since I left my old neighborhood and all the friends I had there. I've been meaning to write to them but something or other comes up and I just don't seem to find the time. Now I have kind of lost touch with them. They are always on my mind, however, and I think I will certainly make an effort to keep up correspondence with them in future. Part III Text B Comprehension Check l.d 2. 3. b 4. a d 6. 5. d c 7. d Translation (参见 Appendix III) language Practice 1. stuff 2. uneasy 4. highlight 3. dragging 6. despair 5. get rid of 8.soaked 7. was 10. in good peering/peered 9. shape swung 12. rescue 11. extent 14. let... down 13. draw on 15. Worse still - 100 - Appendix I Part IV Theme-related Language Learning Tasks Model paper Old Friend, I've been meaning to write for some time, but I've always postponed it. You know what I'm like, always putting things off till tomorrow. And writing was never my strong point. But looking out the window just now at the kids playing outside reminded me of when we were their age. All sorts of memories, like the time Tim Shea broke the window, the Halloween that we tied Old Mr. Parker's gate, and when Mrs. Culver used to keep us after school, came flooding back. What a great time we spent hanging out together. Come to think of it, time was just about all we did have to spend in those days. But time flies. I began the letter with "Old Friend" because that's what we've become over the years—old friends. And there aren't many of us left. Which makes those who are all the more precious. You in particular. Your friendship over the years has meant an awful lot to me, more than I can say because I'm not good at saying things like that. Anyway, we've been out of touch for far too long. So I thought you'd like to know that I was thinking of you. We really must try to get together soon. Why not come to visit? You know you're always welcome. Your Old Friend, Tom PS If you see Tim Shea remind him he never did replace that ball of mine he broke the window with! (245 words) Appendix I - 101 - Unit 3 Part I Pre-reading Task Script for the recording: This unit begins with an article on science. Before you read it, let me tell you something about its author, Stephen Hawking. Hawking is perhaps the most well-known scientist since Einstein. Like Einstein his work tackles the big questions, questions such as How did the universe begin? Why is the universe the way it is? and How will it end? He is now working on what is sometimes known as the 'theory of everything.' Among other things, this promises to explain what caused the Big Bang that started the universe. But it is not simply the power of Hawking's mind that has led to his fame. For what many people find most striking about him is the contrast between the strength of his mind and the weakness of his body. For for many years Hawking has suffered from an illness that has left him unable to move and to speak normally. Born in England in 1942, Hawking had a normal childhood, and it was not until he was a student at university that his illness started to affect him. Hospital tests showed he was suffering from a disease that weakens control over the muscles. The disease gets worse with time and there is no known cure. But Hawking did not lose heart. As he says, "although there was a cloud hanging over my future, I found, to my surprise, that I was enjoying life more than before. I began to make progress with my research, and I got engaged to a girl called Jane Wilde. That engagement changed my life. It gave me something to live for." Hawking started research at Cambridge and went on to hold the same post that another great scientist, Newton, once held. Over the years his condition has worsened, but even when he finally lost the ability to speak, he managed to get round the problem. He now uses a computer that enables him to select words which are then turned into speech. "The only trouble," the English scientist says, "is that it gives me an American accent!" - 102 - Appendix I Part II Text A Text Organization 1. Parts Paragraphs Main Ideas Part One Paras 1-3 To make informed decisions about change, the public needs a basic understanding of science. Part Two Paras 4-6 What can be done to educate the public about science. Part Three Para 7 With an informed public, human civilization will survive. 2. 1) The importance of the teaching of science in schools. 2) The role mass media can play, especially what television can do. Vocabulary 1 • 2) brief inquired 3) 1) 4) cut...off in terms of 5) 6) anyway tend 7) 8) moreover precise 9) 10) in the grasped 11form of ) sufficient 1312)) 15convey initiative ) 2 1) in two minds 14) fit into 2) Winning the match today has ensured their team a place in 3) the Cup Final. Susan was not informed of the reasons why 4) she was dismissed. These computer games entertain as well 5) as educate the learner. No living thing can do without air and 31) water. The election is likely to be held in June. . The film's appeal lies in not only the entertainment it provides to the audience but also the questions it raises about the possible contact between human beings and alien civilizations. 2) The decision on the new project is made on the basis of scientific study. The project is Appendix I - 103 - likely to succeed despite the fact that we do not have sufficient funds at the moment. 3) True it is hard to make accurate predictions (预言), but the steady growth of the information industry ensures that this line of products will be highly profitable. II. Prefixation 1. regained 2. 3. undecide undersupplied 4. d disabled 5. Good bad modern ancient Rich poor forget remember Dry wet go come Agree differ young old Attack defend simple difficult Colored colorless like v., n. dislike Long short likely unlikely Early late trust distrust precondition 7. 6. mispronouncforesight ed 8. enrich III. Antonyms 2) accepted 2. 1)majority 3) increased 4) 5) local weaknesses 7) wrong 6) late 8) false Structure 1) My income is now twice as much as I used to earn two years ago. 2) I am wearing only half as much as I usually do because of the warm weather. 3) If you had spent half as much time on your studies as your elder sister did, you could have made the honor roll. 4) I could eat/could have eaten as much again if the doctor had not told me to go on a diet. 1) As is shown by the growth rate of GDP in the last two decades, China's reform and open policy is a great success. 2) As is predicted by some newspapers, there will be a substantial cut in tax on imported cars in - 104 - Appendix 1 the coming year. 3) As is proved by the records, China's human rights situation has been steadily improving over the years. 4) The failure of the joint venture was not, as was assumed by outsiders, because of lack of capital, but because of poor management. Comprehensive Exercises I. Cloze (A) 1. attitude 2. highly 3. informed 4. bring... about 5. rate 6. sufficient 7. put across 8. proportion 9. Hence 10. ensure 11. audience (B) 1. which 2. how 3. Besides 4. that/which 5. discoveries 6. Another 7. through 8. other 9. an 10. affect 11. imagine/tell 12. may 13. supply 14. around 15. make 16. live II. Translation It is hard to imagine how our forefathers could do without so many conveniences that modern technology has brought about. Back then only a small proportion of the population enjoyed some comforts. The majority didn't even have sufficient food, not to speak of/let alone the privilege of being educated. However, many people blame modern technology for the problems it has created. They want to slow down the rate of progress. But no one can put the clock back. The best we can do is to make informed decisions as to the direction in which technology is to develop. 105 Appendi x I Part III TextB Comprehension Check 2. b l.d 4. c 3. 6. a a 5. c 7. b Translation (参见 Appendix III) Language Practice 2. frustrating 1. outcome 4. Failure 3. yield 6. 5. worn down conclusions 7. amount 8. 9. proposed professional 11. Somehow 10. 13. process evaluating 15. 12. bulk challenges 14. step by step Part IV Theme-related Language Learning Tasks Model paper How Science Changes Our Lives Science has certainly changed our lives, bringing benefits to some and hardships to others. Computers, for example, have provided some with the comfort of working from home while at the same time throwing others out of work as their jobs are automated. In the future changes are likely to be even much greater as science reaches out to shape life itself. New organisms (有机 体) are already being engineered. New genetically modified crops promise benefits from higher yields and less use of harmful chemicals. But once again we cannot be sure that science will only change our lives for the better. The possibility remains that some modern Frankenstein may carelessly or deliberately let loose a new and - 106- Appendix I dangerous form of life. However, we should have sufficient faith in the good sense of the public to believe that we could prevent this from happening. (146 words) Unit 4 Part I Pre-reading Task Script for the recording: What you are about to hear is an interview with Dr Lee Hertz, the director of a scientific laboratory in Stanford University, California. InterviewWhat does the expression the American Dream mean to you? er: Dr. I guess in one way it's the dream of my grandparents. They Hertz: turned their backs on poverty in Poland and set out with high hopes for a new life Interviewin America. er: Dr. So the American Dream means getting out of poverty? Hertz: Then it did. However, when they got to America, they realized that the dream wasn't going to happen, that the streets were not paved with gold and they had Interviewto struggle to make a living. So the dream became the chance er: Dr. for their children Hertz: to succeed. Through? Through hard work and giving their kids an education. They Interviewthought that through er: Dr. education their children would have the choice of doing what Hertz: they wanted. That Interviewbasically life could be what you made it. er: Dr. And do you believe that? Hertz: Well, America does give some people the opportunity to be what they want to be. Why just some people? Isn't the American Dream an idea everyone can believe in? Interview er: Yes, but only because our government wants us to believe it. You could say that the American Dream has been used to support the capitalist system. It keeps most of the population working and spending their money. How? 107- Appendi x I Well, all the time TV shows that the dream of a good life can be Dr. Hertz: reached through money. Advertising tells you to buy and buy so that finally you will get there and the dream will come true. So you're saying it's the dream that makes the system work? Interview Yes, because people become gripped by the need to move up er: Dr. in the world, they have to reach the top. They are never Hertz: satisfied with what they have. The American Dream is at the end of the rainbow. It's not simply about having enough money to buy the things you need. It's about reaching the level of all the other people who have the money to buy more than you can afford. The American Dream may be in your head, but to find it you have to reach into your pocket. Part II Text A Text Organization Parts Paragraphs Main Ideas Part One Paras 1-29 With determination, and with help from Mr. Crawford, Tony achieved his dream of owning his own farm. Part Two Paras 30-33 Tony's career set the author thinking about why and to what extent he had been successful. Main Events 1) Tony worked as a help at Mr. Crawford's house. 2) Tony got a job clearing snow at Mr. Crawford's factory. 3) Tony learned to become a skilled worker. 4) Tony bought a house with Mr. Crawford's help. 5) Tony bought a farm and sent for his family in Italy. Vocabulary 2) I. 1.1) wreck balance 3) 4) approachin g handle - 106 - Appendix 1 5) discard 6) have worked out 7) Above all 8) passed away 9) diet 10) do with 11) confidence 12) cleaned up 13) property 14) weekly 15) amuse 2. 1) Efforts to look for survivors were abandoned after it had been/was determined that all people in the sunken ship had died. 2) I was amazed that Bob left a well-paid job to travel around the world. 3) Her request for a loan has been turned down by many a bank as her business is small and she could provide no guarantee. 4) The home network system on display was found to be very helpful in freeing people from trivial housework. 5) Nothing will weaken our determination to modernize our country in the shortest possible time. 3.1) You can spend hours wandering around the department stores, leisurely inspecting the items for sale, or hunting for some antiques along the sidewalks, where you'll most likely be amazed by the variety of things on display. 2) The local government encourages laid-off workers to learn another trade and become skilled workers. Besides, it has done a lot to help solve their financial troubles by creating reemployment opportunities and by providing business startup loans. 3) For years, the farmer had built up a reputation for kindness by calling on his needy neighbors and trying to be helpful. He was very much respected in the neighborhood and hundreds attended his funeral when he passed away. II. Confusable Words 1. 1) personal 2) personnel 2. 1) sometime 3) some time 2) Sometimes 4) sometime III. Euphemism l.d 2. e 3. h 4. c 5.g 6. a 7. b 8.f Appendix 1 - 109 Structure 1.1) Every day, the kids came home from school dusty and hungry. 2) The newly-appointed director walked to his office cheerful and confident. 3) Ben hurried home, anxious to watch the football league game on TV. 4) Jenny opened the door quietly, afraid of waking the baby up. 2, 1) "... snow pretty soon," Correction: "... it's going to snow pretty soon," 2) "When winter come, you give me job clearing snow at the factory." Correction: "When winter comes, please give me the job of clearing snow at the factory." 3) "I like a buy a house." Correction: "I'd like to buy a house." 4) "Mr. Craw, I sell my house!" Correction: "Mr. Crawford, I've sold my house!" 5) "Mr. Craw, I buy a farm." Correction: "Mr. Crawford, I've bought a farm." Comprehensive Exercises I. Cloze (A) 1. create 2. sponsored 3. amazed 4. determinat ion 5. away 6. capacity 7. loan 8. character 9. hunting 10. send for (B) 1. with 2. until 3. in 4. or 5. kids/children 6. up 7. dream 8. more 9. for 10. open 11. house 12. don't 13. and 14. you -110- Appendix I II. Translation After graduating from college, Tony decided to start his own business. At the beginning, many a bank turned down his request for a loan. But he was not a bit discouraged, and continued to call on one banker after another seeking help. Impressed by his determination and optimism, one banker finally agreed to loan him the money. Now he has become a wealthy businessman. Talking about his amazing achievement, Tony puts great emphasis on the importance of creating. rather than waiting for opportunities. Part III Text B Comprehension Check 2. l.a c 4. 3. c d 5. a 6. d Translation (参见Appendix III) Language Practice 1. appointed 2. divorced 3. hardship 4. have come up 5. fulfill with 7. take 6. opportunity advantage of 8. be 9. was threatening motivated 10. Assure 11. afterward 12. sacrifice 13. 14. soared surroundings 15. obtain Appendix I -111- Part IV Theme-related Language Learning Tasks Model paper My Sister Liz Some people are born lucky, some are not. And I believe my sister Liz falls into the first category. She has a beautiful smile which makes her popular among friends. When she does something bad, she smiles her smile and my parents are no longer angry. She eats a lot and never seems to get any fatter. Her favorite food is hamburger, French fries, and ice cream. She does not study hard but always gets good grades. After school she does her homework in five minutes while watching television at the same time. Once she went to a party until very late, completely forgetting about an important exam the next day. For the first time she became quite worried. Early the next morning, however, an unexpected snowstorm forced the school to cancel class that day, and of course the exam was cancelled along with classes. Liz is just that sort of lucky person. (152 words) Unit 5 Part I Pre-reading Task Script for the recording: Everywhere the whole world over people have always felt that music and romance go together. As Shakespeare said, music is the food of love. And so, as we have two love stories for you to read, what better way to start than with a love song? Here, then, is Martina McBride singing to her Valentine. Valentine Martina McBride Ii there were no words No way to speak I would, still near you -112- Appendix I Ii there were no tears No way to reel inside I'd still reel for you And even ii the sun refused to shine Even if romance ran out or rhyme You would still have my heart until the end or time You're all I need, my love, my \fclentine All of my life I nave teen waiting for you All you give to me You've opened my eyes And shown me how to love unselfishly I've dreamed of this a thousand times before But in my dreams I couldn't love you more I will give you my heart Until the end of time You're all I need, my love, my Valentine And even if the sun refused to shine Even if romance ran out of rhyme You would still have my heart until the end of time Cause all I need is you, my Valentine You're all I need, my love, my Valentine PART II Text A Text Organization 1. 1) Para 2 His interest in her had begun twelve months before in a Florida library. 2) Para 7 I'll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened. 3) Para 16 It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom. Appendix I -118- Parts ParagraphMain Ideas s Part Two Paras 2-6 How John Blanchard had fallen in love with Miss Maynell. Part Paras 7-15 Miss Maynell put Blanchard to a test. Three Part Four Paras It was wise of Miss Maynell to give such a test. 16-17 Vocabulary fertile 2) reflected i. 1.1 straightens 4) identify 3 overseas 6) scheduled, 5 slim scheduled 7 sustained 8) split 9 grateful 10) glow 11 more than a little 12) delicate 13 keen 14) thrust 15 The extent of the human body's response to a drug depends on the 2. amount taken. 1 Mary stopped corresponding with Henry after the death of her mother. 2 A radio transmitter is best located at an isolated place far from cities. 3 I was so absorbed in the game on TV that I didn't hear Martin come in. 4 The rough surface of the basketball helps players grip the ball. 5 During the 1880s, several black colleges were founded in the U.S. to 3. 1 broaden educational opportunities for black students and help them make their way in the 2 world. Joy Warren was grateful to the five rescuers for saving her three 3 children from the sinking car in response to her cry for help. "The food at this hotel disgusts me. Why not dine at the restaurant across the street?" "Well, we haven't reserved a table, but we'll take a chance on its not being full." II. Usage 2. 1) alike / 1. 1) frightened similar 2) 2) afraid / frightened similar 3. 1) 4. 1) alive sleeping -114- Appendix I 2) living 2) asleep III. Word Family 1.1) disappointed 2. 1) attractive 2) disappointment 2) attract 3) disappointing 3) attraction 4) disappoint 4) attractively 5) disappointingly 5) unattractively 6) disappointing 6) unattractive Structure 1. 1) Europa is one of Jupiter's four bright satellites, all named after characters in Greek mythology. 2) The woman stood over there, her graying hair pinned up under a worn hat. 3) The tourist bus rolled south, the fields it passed green with newly planted rice. 4) The principal stormed into the noisy classroom, his face black with anger. 2. 1) Please sit down for a moment, and I'll tell the manager you're here. 2) Drop a stone into a smooth lake, and the surface will be covered with circular waves moving outward from the center. 3) Bring the flowers into a warm room, and they'll soon open. 4) Arrive late once more, and you're fired. Comprehensive Exercises I. Cloze (A) 2) gripped 1) identifying 4) scheduled 3) margins 6) overseas 5) corresponding 8) hesitated 7) more than a 1made my little 0) way 1going my 9) grateful 2 way 2) thought 11) response (B) 1) before 4) ring 3) 6) She believed/thought 5) Nor/Neither 8) letter 10) the 12) could 14) with 16) table 7) did 9) that/it 11) Jenny/she 13) and 15) had 17) but II. Translation Not rich himself, Uncle Li never hesitates to help others. Previous to / Before his retirement, through Project Hope he located the addresses of two country kids who grew up in poor families but had a keen desire to study . From then on he sent them money regularly. Later the two made their way to college, and even got a chance to study overseas. They often thought of Uncle Li and kept corresponding with him. Whenever he read their letters, Uncle Li's face would broaden into a smile. He felt this to be the most sensible investment in his life. Part III Text B Comprehension Check 2. l.b c 4. 3.d b 6. 5. c d Translation (参见Appendix III) Language 7. hope for Practice 9. erect 1. identity 11. for sure 3. came across 5. goodness 2. are forbidden 4. make out 6. relief 8. other than 10. clue(s) 12. is coming to an end - 11 6 - Appendix I 13. knots 14. exchange 15. match up to Part IV Theme-related Language Learning Tasks Model paper A Memorable Meeting It all took place in Lancaster one evening long ago. I had been looking for somewhere to learn Aikido, a Japanese form of self-defence. So one night I found myself entering a church hall where I had heard lessons took place. It was empty apart from a small frail-looking old man. He wore a workman's overall and I guessed he was the caretaker of the hall. We got chatting and I asked if this was where the Aikido club met. "Oh, yes," he replied, smiling. "They'll be along later." And, sure enough, the members soon started to arrive. As they got changed, none, I noticed, wore the traditional black belt of the teacher. Who was it to be? Then he appeared. It was the same man I had earlier mistaken for the caretaker. Before long he was throwing around opponents twice his size with ease despite his age and slight build. Over the years he taught me many lessons, but I shall never forget that first one —appearances are deceptive! (171 words) Unit 6 Part I Pre-reading Task Script for the recording: You might have heard of the American pop singer Michael Jackson. You're about to listen to him singing a song. Its title is Ben. Who's Ben? Listen to the song and see if you can guess. Appendix I -117- Ben, the two or us need look no more We both round what we were looking for With a friend to call my own I'll never be alone And you, my friend, will see You've got a friend in me (you „ve got a friend in me) Ben, you're always running here and there You reel you're not wanted anywhere If you ever look behind And don't like what you find There's one thing you should know You've got a place to go (you've got a place to go) I used to say "I" and "me" Now it s us , now it s we I used to say "I" and "me" Now it s "us", now it's "we Ben, most people would turn you away I don't listen to a word they say They don t see you as I do I wish they would try to I'm sure they'd think again If they had a friend like Ben (a friend)Like Ben (like Ben)Like Ben So, who is Ben? Did you guess? It's an easy question if you've ever had a dog. For then you'll know how they always seem to be able to understand just how we feel, whether it's happy or sad. And if they don't really understand every word we say, it often seems as if they do. It's no surprise, then, that we talk about the dog as man's best friend. Michael Jackson clearly felt that way about Ben. But do animals really think and feel the way we do? What do you think? - 11 & - Appendix I Part II Text A Text Organization 1. Eugene Linden wants to tell the reader that animals do have, at least, some limited intelligence, and the personal experiences of those who are in close contact with animals are more convincing evidence than that any experiments can provide. 2. Subheadings Main Ideas Let's Make a Deal Some animals are intelligent enough to know how to bargain with people. Tale of a Whale Animals like whales can assess a situation and act accordingly. Primate Shell Game Animals sometimes can be tricky. Vocabulary I. 1.1) maintaining 2) intelligent 4) has expanded 3) go (very) far 6)In the interest(s) 5) make a deal of 7) wiped out 8) surrounding 9) convince 10) figure out 11) encountered 12) has 13) assessed cooperated 15) envy 14) (had) 2. 1) There used to be a long / long-running controversy over whether the book switched should be published or not. 2) Kate felt relieved after her first meeting with Tom had gone smoothly. 3) Something suddenly went wrong with my computer when I was in the middle of writing the essay. 4) It's a miracle that she survived the air crash when it brought about 109 deaths. Appendix I - 119 - 5) She is determined not to give in until they give her a pay rise. 3. 1) It is obvious that Sherman never thought Melati was so intelligent that she would deceive her. 2) Scientists have undertaken various kinds of original research projects to explore animal intelligence, but they still can't reach an agreement on whether it exists or not. 3) Lots of evidence convinced us/them/me/him/her that the lost ancient tunnel must have run right underneath the city, extending to the seashore. II. Confusable Words 2. first, first 1. firstly 3. At 4. first First/Firstly 5. first 6. First 7. at first 8. first III. Usage Phrases In the phrase, the attributive noun 1. animal indicates: whose intelligence 2. zoo keeper where 3. eye contact through what 4. money supply of what 5. killer whale what kind 6. baby whale how old 7. family of what member what kind/ 8. sea turtle where Structure 1. 1) Scott arrived at the South Pole on January 18th, only to find that someone had got there before him. 2) They spent a lot of time negotiating for a pay increase, only to get fired. 3) I got to the theater only to find that I had left the ticket at home. 4) I went to this St. Valentine's party to have some fun only to discover that everyone there was my mother's age. 2. 1) Why pay so much for such a coat? You could have it at half of the price in the supermarket near our house. 2) The central heating system seems to have gone wrong. Why not call the repairman to check it? - 1 20 - Appendix I 3) Why argue with him any more? He's made up his mind not to undertake this task. 4) "I called and left a message for him several times but he never called back." "Why not try his mobile phone, then? " Comprehensive Exercises I. Cloze (A) 1. emergency 2. evidence 3. original 4. sizing up 5. negotiates 6. reveal 7. intelligent 8. make a deal 9. dominant 10. in their interest(s) 11. deceiving 12. controversy 13. judgment 14. explore (B) 1. or 2. How 3. from 4. However 5. behavior 6. when 7. doesn't 8. example 9. But 10. attention 11. Another 12. that 13. a 14. every 15. associate 16. when 17. food 18. Learning II. Translation When I was young I developed a keen interest in animals. So I often visited the zoo in my home town. There what attracted me most was a couple of tigers, especially the male. They were kept in a huge iron cage at first, but later was released from it and put in a place called Tiger Hill. The hill was separated from the visitors by a very wide and deep ditch. What's more, it was also surrounded by a high iron fence along the ditch. Twenty years later, I revisited the zoo and was relieved to find the Tiger Hill was still there but greatly extended. Moving around now were six tigers, old and young, instead of two! Appendix I - 121 - Part III Text B Comprehension Check 2. l.b d 3.d 4. 5. c b 6. Translation a (参见Appendix III) Language Practice 1. purchase 2. took to 3. display 4. rejected 5. shed light on 6. magnificent 7. typical 8. Nevertheless 9. alarmed 10. 11. pulled himself together exhibited/displaye 13. cautious d 12. indicate 15. accompany 14. observing Part IV Theme-related Language Learning Tasks Model paper Animal Intelligence as I See It Are animals intelligent? It's a difficult question to decide. Take the case of my dog, Sam. Whenever he does something wrong, eats the chocolates we left on the table, for example, Sam will hide. He clearly knows he has done wrong and is likely to get shouted at for it. Usually we find him hiding under one of the beds. Unfortunately, being a rather large dog, he can never fit all of him under, and so you can see the back half of him sticking out. Now, is he stupid enough to think "I can't see you, so you can't see me"? Or is he smart enough to be thinking, "I know you know I know you can see me. Isn't that funny?" _ - 122 - Appendix I That his tail is always wagging at such moments leads me to suspect the latter explanation is nearer the truth. (149 words) Unit 7 Part I Pre-reading Task Script for the recording: What does courage mean? It's difficult to explain but easy to recognize. One sure test is how one behaves in an emergency. I have a poem I'd like to read to you about this . It starts with a boy asking his father what courage means. It ends with his father being able to give him a clear answer after he has seen courage in action. The poem is called, quite simply, Courage Author unknown One day my son asked me, Dad? What does courage 9i-em9r!T VI mean: At first I simply answered, No fear or certain things. Then in that same instant, I looked across the street, I saw my neighbors running, And jumped up from my seat. As I ran out the front door, I saw what had torn their lives, The house that they had built and loved, Appendix I - 128 Was turning before my eyes. We quickly called the firemen, And the minutes seemed like years, Then they came from everywhere, To battle our biggest fears. They swiftly set up their weapons, And clad their armor in a flash, Then they faced the dragon, A monster of fire and ash. They boldly rushed into the flames, To face the devil and pick a fight, Risking the very life they held, For another on that night. No one was trapped inside that home, But a life may still be at stake, For they have seen many homes lost, And many hearts break. So once again they tight their enemy, A war they can never win, for if they win the battle, The devil runs to burn again. But while the devil was in that house, They walked into his lair, Facing his evil Talons, With water and a stare. They saved my neighbor's home, And the houses all around, They then cleaned their weapons, - 124 - Appendix I Letting their armor fall to the ground. It wasn't until the morning, That I realized what all had taken place, When I went into the house, I saw the scar or the devil's race. That is when I turned to my son, And answered his question again, Now a wiser man I said, When you think or courage, son, Think always or the firemen. Part II Text A Text Organization i. Parts ParagraphMain Ideas s Part One Paras 1-13 While Kate was putting the groceries away and her two sons were heading for the railroad, a train was approaching. Part Two Paras Anthony prevented a horrible railroad accident and 14-33 saved the lives of the Pritchard children at the risk of his own. Part Paras Anthony and the Pritchards became great friends. Three 34-35 2. Scenes Paragraphs Main Events Scene 1 Paras 14-27 Anthony jumped from the train, covered Todd, reached out with one arm to grab Scott and pull him clear of the track. Then he pushed downward on the two children with all his strength. Appendix I - 125 - Scene 2 Paras 28-33 Anthony got Kate to call the police and ambulance. In the meantime, he was holding Scott for fear that any movement could worsen the internal injuries he might have. Vocabulary I. 1.1) nearby 2) signaled 3) resumed 4) spotted 5) instant 6) exploded 7) swaying 8) messing around 9) leaped 10) grabbed 11) loose 12) horror 13) punched 14) calculate 15) clear of 2. 1) The comet is visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy ball in the western sky. 2) Application papers may be sent via e-mail. 3) The city government feeds and shelters the homeless children. 4) He was warned by his brothers to keep clear of the street gang. 5) I'd like to draw your attention to the fact that the students' enthusiasm about the project has cooled down. 3. 1) He struggled with the big rock lying in the middle of the road, lifted it with all his strength. and got it out of the way just before the train flashed by with a full load of freight. 2) Sam fell off the horse, injuring his back, twisting his left arm and scraping his knee. Fortunately, the back injury was not serious, and he recovered in two weeks. After the incident. Sam never dared to mess around with the horses on the farm again. 3) The driver pulled on the brake the instant he saw two kids jumping up and down on the road. But he knew that the car would not stop in time. In an effort to keep the car from injuring the kids, he swung left, and the car crashed into a big tree before coming to a stop. II. Usage 1. The sound of the engine became thunderous. 2. He exploded: "Why didn't you tell me earlier!" 3. The fireman sprang through the window into the room. 4. He froze when he faced the audience. 5. He stared at me in shock. - 126 - Appendix I 6. Every morning, the policeman on duty will see thousands of cars flash by. 7. The plane crashed into the mountainside, killing all aboard. III. Word Formation 2. highly 1. 4. violation possibility 6. 3. neighborhoamazement od 5. widened 8. 7. determinatifulfillment on Structure 1. 1) making 2) to kill 4) to think 3) to ask 6) being 5) spending spoken 8) 7) to pay practicing 2. 1) With Christmas only a week away 2) With his physical condition improving day by day 3) With our GDP growing steadily 4) With all the shops closed Comprehensive 9. house Exercises I. Cloze (A) 1. incident 3. instant 5. horror 7. grab 9. loose 11. all my strength 13. punched (B) 1. had 3. with 5. for 7. with 2. leaping 4. spotted 6. calculating 8. clear of 10.reach out 12.scraped 14. internal 2. when 4. before 6. herself 8. on 10. other/older Appendix I - 127 - 11. too 12. and 14. to 13. spe16. out ak 18. wha15. t com 20. like e 17. Whe n 19. of II. Translation The instant the professor entered the classroom, the words on the blackboard "Welcome Back Professor" drew his attention. He had been injured in a car accident, and had had several operations in a nearby hospital. The doctor calculated his chances of survival to be no more than 10%. Now, not only had he recovered from his injury, but he was also able to resume teaching. Every student felt excited at the sight of him, and minutes passed before the class cooled down. TextB Part Comprehension Check 2. 1. a b 4. 3. c d 6. 5. d a 7. b Translation 9. press(#JSL ure Appendix III) 11.sn apped Language Practice 13. 1. plunged pray 3. squeeze 15. up 5. hang on to 7. presence 2. wrapped 4. shivering 6. collapsed 8. conceal 10. crushed 12. trapped 14. nowhere - 128 - Appendix I Part IV Theme-related Language Learning Tasks Model paper A Near Thing One afternoon when I was nine, I arrived home from school and found my younger brother lying in bed. "How come you are home so early?" I asked, knowing that he usually would mess around a bit after school. "I feel sick. I have a headache," he said. I could leave him in bed and wait until mom and dad came home from work. But I remembered hearing people say that there was an epidemic in the city. The disease developed rapidly and could cause damage to one's brain if not treated timely. "What if my brother has caught the disease?" I asked myself. I decided not to leave it to chance. So I called a taxi to take us to a nearby hospital. An hour later, my brother was sleeping in the isolation ward. The doctors there told my parents that if my brother had arrived at the hospital two hours later, the disease might have seriously dam aged his brain. (162 words) Unit 8 Part I Pre-reading Task Script for the recording : Like to hear a funny story? I've got a good one about a teacher, a riddle, and a little boy. "It's time to see how clearly you can think," the teacher said to his class."Now, listen carefully, and think about what I'm saying. I'm thinking of a person who has the same mother and father as I have. But this person is not my brother and not my sister. Who is it?" The kids in the class knitted their brows, scratched their heads, and otherwise showed how hard they were thinking. But no one came up with the right answer. When everyone in the class had given up, the teacher announced, "The person is me." Little Geoffrey beamed at learning the answer. "That's a good one," he said to himself. "I'll Appendix I - 129 - have to try that on Mom and Dad." At dinner that night, little Geoffrey repeated the riddle to his parents. "I'm thinking of a person who has the same mother and father as I have," he said. "But this person isn't my brother and isn't my sister. Who is it ? " His parents knitted their brows, scratched their heads, and otherwise pretended that they were thinking hard. Then they both said,"I give up. Who is it ?" "It's my teacher," Geoffrey said. PART II Text A Text Organization Main Ideas Parts Paragraphs Part One Paras 1-10 Teenagers' idleness and ignorance will produce serious effects on all concerned and society as a whole. Part Two Paras 11-24 Kevin 1990 comes to realize in his dream how greatly lack of education costs his forebears, himself, his children and the society they live in, and how important it is to study hard. 2. Part One EffectCause s All people will be seriously affected. A Teenagers' modern industrial state will stop intellectual functioning. laziness and ignorance Part Two Effects Cause . Kevin 1990, his forebears (with the Lack of education exception of his intellectual father), and his children lead - 1 30 - Appendix I a poor, miserable life. America is on the decline. There is no law and order in the country. American children have no chance to receive a good education. Businesses in America are owned by wealthy Europeans and Asians. Vocabulary 2) idle 1.1) drive home 4) searched ... 3) is functioning for 5) scared 6) handful 7) luxury 8) ability 9) woke up 10) slice 11) miracle 12) has broken 13) was jammed down 14) 15) humble faculties 2. 1) The cost of electricity is likely to be seriously affected by the rise in gas prices. 2) There has been a decline in the number of people borrowing from public libraries, but book sales are rising. 3) They made a suggestion at the meeting that an assistant be appointed to help Mr. Green. 4) The local history group was astonished when they heard of/to hear of a plan to build an office building right next to the castle. 5) They had run out of water by the time they got to the camp. 3.1) Highly complex in design, the engines cost too much to produce. We simply can't compete with other companies unless we improve our engine design and reduce the cost of production. 2) Philip was very upset to find it so hard to make a living by writing in the new country. He swore that he would give up his writing career and try some other job. To his delight, he was/became much better off when he switched to teaching, and even had adequate money /means for a new car. 3) The other day my friend John and I paid a visit to the museum of fine arts in our city. The museum had recently acquired several original paintings by an American woman artist. Ignorant of art, I turned to John and asked how her works struck him. John replied that for him, her paintings/ works summed up the restless spirit of America. -131 Appen dix II. 1. The young man made $ 5 an hour in his summer job. 2. What made you change your mind? 3. I'm sure Jason will make a good lawyer. 4. The vet put something down the dog's throat to make it vomit. 5. The story makes interesting reading. 6. Five and five make ten. 7. On foot they can only make about 20 miles a day. 8. I don't think she'll ever really make it to the top. III. 1. 1) developing 2) develo3) development p 5) developing, 4)developed develo2. 1) amazed p 3) amazingly 5) amazement 2) amaze s 4) amazin g Structure 1. 1) With the help of a bank loan 2) Without first-hand knowledge of the Middle East 3) With support from the trade union 4) Without trying hard to build up a large vocabulary 2. 1) While I admit that there are problems 2) while reading the newspaper 3) while Jane is ready in ten minutes 4) While she is a likeable girl Comprehensive Exercises I. Cloze (A) 2. complex 4. 1. decline make a living by 3. idle 6. affect 8. 5. accumulated faculties 10. 7. function compete 9. ignorance - 1 82 - Appendix I 11. wake up (B) 1. half 2. ever 3. during 4. when 5. from 6. enou gh 7. Since 8. and 9. marrying 10about . 11. none 12fire . 13. whom 14writin . g 15. if 16sound . II. Translation This morning I heard an interesting piece of news over my portable radio: A man of 36 and his son of 10 attend the same class competing with each other for high marks. The story goes/It's like this: The man, Li Wei by name, was too idle to learn anything when young. With little education, with no useful skills, he could hardly earn an adequate living wage. His life experiences drove home to him the point that he had to acquire knowledge before he was able to accumulate wealth. So Li Wei swore that he would go to school with his son, determined to learn. Part III Text B Comprehension Check l.d 2. b 3. b 4. c 5. b 6. a Translation (参见Appendix III) Language Practice 2. 1. solve benefits 3. proceed 4. confuse Appendix I - 1 S3 5. What if 6. focus 7. claims 8. at hand 9. in the first place 10. competent 11. essential 12. ultimate 13. concentrate on 14. Effective 15. contribute Part IV Theme-related Language Learning Tasks Model paper The Use of Computers in Schools There are numerous benefits that flow from the use of computers in schools. Interest in a subject can be stimulated by sound and visual illustrations superior to "chalk-and-talk" alone and students are given easy access to a wealth of reference material. Internet access offers the chance to communicate with other students around the world. Programmed learning tailored to the speed of individual students can be adopted. Computer skills such as programming can be developed. There is, however, a negative side. There is the danger that computers encourage "cut-and-paste" copying without a real understanding of what is being said. Also, for many purposes traditional teacher-centred classrooms remain more effective than time spent working alone. And, of course, computers always offer the temptation to play games rather than getting down to difficult learning tasks. On balance, however, the advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages. (146 words) Appendix 2 Chinese Translations of Texts A (Units 1-8) 参考译文 第一单元 成长 课文A 我们写作时常常被告诫，脑子里要有读者，笔者所云一定要符合读者的口味和兴趣。但有一位读者特别不该忘记。你能猜出是谁吗?当拉塞尔?贝克找到这个问题的答案时，他自己和别人都感到大为惊讶。 为自己而写 拉塞尔?田克 从孩提时代，我还住在贝尔维尔时，我的脑子里就断断续续地转着当作家的念头，但直等到我高中三年级，这—一想法才有了实现的可能。在这之前，我对所有跟英文课沾边的事都感到腻味。我觉得英文语法枯燥难懂。我痛恨那些长而乏味的段落写作，老师读着受累，我写着痛苦。 弗利格尔先生接我们的高三英文课时，我就准备着在这门最最单调乏味的课上再熬上沉闷的一年。弗利格尔先生在学生中以其说话干巴和激励学生无术而出名。据说他拘谨刻板，完全落后于时代。我看他有六七十岁了，古板之极。他戴着古板的毫无装饰的眼镜，微微卷曲的头发剪得笔齐，梳得纹丝不乱。他身穿古板的套装，白衬衣领扣外的领带打得——丝不苟。他救着古板的尖下巴，古板的直鼻梁，说起话来—?本正经，字斟句酌，彬彬有礼，活脱脱一个橱稽的老古董。 我作好准备，打算在弗利格尔先生的班上一无所获地混上—?年，不少日子过去了，还真率出所料。后半学期我们学写随笔小品文。弗利格尔先生发下一张家庭作业纸，出了不少题供我们选择。像“暑假二三事”那样傻乎乎的题目倒是一个也没有，但绝大多数—样乏味。我把作文题带回家，——直没写，直到要交作业的前一天晚上。我躺在沙发上，最终不得不面对这一讨厌的功课，便从笔记本里抽出作文题目单粗粗—看。我的目光落在“吃意大利细面条的艺术”这个题目上。 … 这个题目在我脑海里唤起了一连串不同寻常的图像。贝尔维尔之夜的清晰的回忆如潮水一般涌来，当时，我们大家——起围坐在晚餐桌旁——艾伦舅舅、我母亲、查理舅舅、多丽丝、哈尔舅舅——帕特舅妈晚饭做的是意大利细面条。那时意大利细面条还是很少听说的异国食品。多丽丝和我都还从来没吃过，在座的大人也是经验不足，没有—个吃起来得心应手的。艾伦舅舅家诙谐有趣的场景全都重现在我的脑海中，我回想起来，当晚我们笑作—团，争论着该如何地把面条从盘子上送到嘴里才算合乎礼仪。 突然我就想描述那…切，描述当时那种温馨美好的气氛，但我把它写下来仅仅是想白得其乐，而不是为弗利格尔先生而写。那是我想重新捕捉并珍藏在心中的一个时刻。我想重温那个夜晚的愉快。然而，照我希望的那样去写，就会违反我在学校里学的正式作文的种种法则弗利格尔先生也肯定会打它—个不及格。没关系。等我为自己写好了之后，我可以再为弗利格尔先生写点什么别的东西。 等我写完时已是半夜时分，再没时间为弗利格尔先生写——篇循规蹈矩、像模像样的文章了。第二天上午，我别无选择，只好把我为自己而写的贝尔维尔晚餐的故事交了上去。两天后弗利格尔先生发还批改过的作文，他把别人的都发了，?就是没有我的。我正准备着遵命—放学就去弗利格尔先生那儿挨训，却看见他从桌上拿起我的作文，敲了敲桌子让大家注意听。 “好了，孩子们，”他说。“我要给你们念一篇小品文。文章的题目是:吃意大利细面条的艺术。” 于是他开始念了。是我写的!他给全班大声念我写的文章。更不可思议的是，全班同学都在听着他念，而且听得很专心。有人笑出声来，接着全班都笑了，不是轻蔑嘲弄，而是乐乎乎地开怀大笑。就连弗利格尔先生也停顿了两三次，好抑制他那丝拘谨的微笑。 我尽力不流露出得意的心情，但是看到我写的文章竟然能使别人大笑，我真是心花怒放。就在十——年级，可谓是最后的时刻，我找到了一个今生想做的事。这是我整个求学生涯中最幸福的——刻。弗利格尔先生念完后说道:“瞧，孩子们，这就是小品文，懂了没有。这才是一知道吗——这才是小品文的精髓，知道了没有。祝贺你，贝克先生。”他这番话使我沉浸 在十全十美的幸福之中。 第二单元 友谊 课文A 老朋友天各一方，你心有何感?你是否努力保持联系?有时候写信的事很容易会一拖再拖，总以为明天有的是时间。然而，正如这则故事所表明的，有时我们拖得太晚了。也许读一读这个故事会让你提起笔来。 出租车司机拥有的就剩一封信 福斯特?韩克洛 他准是完全沉浸在所读的东西里了，因为我不得不敲挡风玻璃来引起他的注意。 他总算抬头看我了。“你出车吗?”我问道。他点点头，当我坐进后座时，他抱歉地说:“对不起，我在读一封信。”听上去他像是得了感冒什么的。 “我不着急，”我对他说。“你接着把信读完吧。” 他摇了摇头。“我已经读了好几遍了。我想我都能背出来了。” “家书抵万金啊，”我说。“至少对我来说是这样，因为我老是在外旅行。”我估量他有六七十岁了，便猜测说:“是孩子还是孙子写宋的?” “不是家里人，”他回答说。“不过，”他接着说，“想起来，也可以算是一家人了。埃德老伙计是我最老的朋友了。实际上，过去我俩总是以„老朋友?相称的——就是说，当我俩相见时。我这人就是不大会写东西。” “我看大家写信都不那么勤快，”我说。“我自己笔头就很懒。我看，你认识他挺久了吧?” “差不多认识了一辈子了。我俩小时候就一起玩，所以我俩的友谊确实很长了。” “一起上的学?” ( “都一起上到高中呢。事实上，我俩从小学到高中都在一个班里。” “保持这么长久友谊的人可真不多见啊，”我说。 “其实呢，”司机接着说，“近25到30年来，我跟他一年只见一两次面，因为我从原来住的老街坊搬了出来，联系自然就少了，虽说你一直放在心上。他在的时候可真是个大好人。” “你刚才说他„在的时候?。你是说——?” 他点了点头。“前两个星期过世啦。” “真遗憾，”我说。“失去朋友真不是个滋味，失去个真正的老朋友更让人受不了。” 他开着车，没有接话儿。我们沉默了几分钟，可我知道他还在想着老埃德。他又开口时，与其说是跟我说话，还不如说是自言自语:“我真该一直保持联系。真的，”他重复道，“我真该—直保持联系。” “是明，”我表示赞同，“我们都该与老朋友保持更多的联系。不过总是有事情冒出来，好像就是抽不出空来。” 他耸了耸肩。“我们过去总能抽出空来，”他说。“信里还提到呢。”他把信递给我。“你看看吧。” “谢谢你，”我说，“不过我不想读你的信。这纯属私事。” 司机耸，一耸肩。“老埃德人都死了。没什么私事不私事了。念吧，”他催促说。 信是用铅笔写的。称呼写着“老朋友”，而开头第一句话让我想到自己。“早就想写信了，可就是——拖再拖。”信里接着写道，他常常回想从前两人住在一个街坊时的快乐时光。信里提到些事，可能对司机很重要，比如“那次蒂姆?谢打破窗子，那年万圣节前夕，我们把老帕克先生的大门拴了起来，还有卡尔弗太太老是在放学后把咱俩留下训斥的那阵子”。 “你们俩准是在一起度过了不少时光，”我对他说。 “就跟信里写的那样，”他回答说，“我俩在那个时候能花的只有时间。”他摇头叹道:“时间吓可。” 信里接下来的那段我觉得有点凄凉:“信的开头我写着„老朋友?，因为这么多年来，我们这对老朋友渐渐都老了。我们这些人当中留下的也不多了。” “你要知道，”我对他说，“信里说我们这些人当中留下的不多了，说得一点不错。比如说，每次我去参加老同学聚会，来的人总是越来越少。” “时间不饶人啊，”司机说。 “你们俩以前在一起工作吗?”我问他。 “不，不过没成家时我俩总在一起闲荡。后来，两人都成了家，就不时相互串门。可最近这二三十年来，主要就是寄寄圣诞卡了。当然，我俩都总在卡上写几句——通常是关于各自家里的情况，不是吗，孩子们在干些什么，谁搬到哪儿，添了个小孙子，都是这类事——可一直都没正儿八经地写过信什么的。” “这一处写得好，”我说。“这里写道:„你多年的友谊对我非常重要，远比我能说出来的重要得多，因为我不擅长说这样的话。，，，我颔首称是。“这话准让你听着开心，是吧?” 司机说了句什么，可我没听明白，因为他似乎哽噎得厉害。于是我接着说:“我也真想收到这样一封老朋友的来信。” 我们快到目的地了，于是我跳到最后一段。“因此我想你一定想知道我惦记着你。”信末署名:“老朋友汤姆”。 我们在我的旅店前停下，我把信递了回去。“很高兴能和你聊聊，”我将衣箱从车上提下时说。汤姆,信的署名是汤姆, “我节的你朋友叫埃德，”我说。“为什么他署名汤姆呢,” “这封信不是汤姆写给我的，”他解释说。“我是汤姆。这是我在得知他去世前写给他的信。所以我一直没寄出。” 他神情有点悲伤，似乎想看清远处什么东西。“我想我真该早些写这封信。” 我进了旅馆房间之后，没有马上打开箱包。首先我得写封信——而且要寄出去。 第三单元 理解科学 课文A 霍金教授认为使每个人都了解科学是干什么的非常重要。在这篇文章中，他对其中的缘由作了解释。 公众科学观 斯蒂芬.霍金 无论我们是否愿意，我们生活的世界在过去一百年间已经变化了许多，而且在未来的一百年里可能变化更多。有人想中止这种种变化，回到那个他们认为更纯洁更朴素的时代。但正如历史所表明的，过去并非那么美妙。过去对享有特权的少数 人不算太糟，但即便他们也:无从享受现代医疗，而生育对妇女来说风险极大。对占人口大多数的民众而言，生活是艰难、残忍而又短暂的。 不管怎样，即使有人想这么做，他也无法将时钟拨回到早先的时代。知识与技术不可能说忘就忘了。也没有人能阻止未来的进一步发展。即使所有用于研究的政府资金都被取消(现政府最擅此事)，竞争的力量仍将继续带来技术的发展。更何况，没有人能阻止探究求索之士去思索基础学科，无论他们是否会为此得到酬劳。唯一能阻止进一步发展的办法或许是一个压制任何新事物的全球政府，但人类的进取心与创造力如此旺盛，即便这个政府也不会成功。它所能做到的只是延缓变化的速度。 如果我们承认，我们无法阻止科学技术改变我们的世界，我们至少可以努力确保科技带来的变化方向正确。在——个民主社会里，这意味着公众需要对科学有—个基本的了解，从而可以作出明达的决定，而不是把决定留给专家去作。目前，公众对科学存有矛盾之心。公众期望科技新发展带来的生活水准的稳定提高能继续，但又怀疑科学，因为他们不懂科学。那个在实验室里设法制造弗兰肯斯泰因的疯狂的科学家的卡通人物清楚地体现了公众的这种怀疑。这也是人们之所以支持各种绿色组织的—个重要因素。但公众同时也对科学深感兴趣，尤其是对天文学，诸如《夜空》之类的电视连续剧观众不少以及科幻小说读者甚多就是明证。 怎么样才能利用这种兴趣，向公众提供所需要的科学知识，以便其在酸雨、温室效应、核武器以及基因工程等问题上作出明达的决定呢?显然，必须把基础建立在学校课程上。但在学校里，科学往往被教得枯燥乏味。孩子们死记硬背应付考试，他们看刁;出科学与他们的周围世界的联系。更有甚者，科学常常是用公式来教的。虽然公式是阐述数学概念的——种简单而精确的方式，它们却使大多数人望而生畏。前不久我写了—“本通俗读物，当时有人告诫我说，我每使用个公式就会使销量减半。我只使用了—个公式，即爱因斯坦那个著名的公式，E=mc2:。如果;用这个公式的话，也许我能多卖出—倍的书。 私学家和工程师倾向于用公式阐述观点，因为他们需要知道量的精确值。但对我们其余的人来说，对科学概念有个质的认识就已足够，这可以用文字和图表来表述，大可不必使用公式。 人们在学校学到的科学知识可以提供—个基本的框架。但如今科学进步的速度如此之快，个人离开学校或大学后新的发展层出不穷。我在学校从未学过分子生物学或晶体管，但基因工程和计算机是极有可能改变我们未来生活的两项发展。有关科学的通俗读物和杂志文章能帮助人们了解新发展，但即使是最畅销的科普读物也只有—部分人阅读。只有电视能赢得真:广大的观众。电视上有些相当优秀的科学节目，但其他的节目把科学奇迹简单地作为魔术播出，既不加以说明，也展现它们与科学观念的整体框架的关系。电视科学节目的制片人应该认识到，他们负有教育民众的重任，而不仅仅是为他们提供娱乐。 当今世界充满危险，因此就有了那个令人毛骨悚然的玩笑，说我们尚未受到外星文明造访的原因在于:但凡文明发展到我们目前的程度，它们往往就自我毁灭了。然而我对公众的明智充满信心，因而相信，我们将证明这一说法是错误的。 第四单元 美国梦 课文A 美国梦对不同的人有不同的意义。但对许多人，尤其是对移民而言，它意味着改善自己生活的机会。对于他们，美国梦的含义就是才能与勤劳能让你从小木屋走向白宫。托尼?特里韦索诺并没有爬到那么高，但他成功地使自己的梦想成真 托尼?特里韦索诺的美国梦 弗雷德里克?c?克罗弗德 他来自意大利罗马以南某地一个满地石子的农庄。他什么时候怎么到美国的，我不清楚。不过，有天晚上，我看到他站在我家车库后面的车道上。他身高五英尺七、八左右，人很瘦。 “我割你的草坪，”他说。他那结结巴巴的英语很难听懂。 我问他叫什么名字。“托尼?特里韦索诺，”他回答说。“我割你的草坪。”我对托尼讲，本人雇不起园丁。 “我割你的草坪，”他又说道，随后便走开了。我走进屋子，心里有点不快。没错，眼下这大萧条的日子是不好过，可我怎么能把一个上门求助的人就这么打发走呢? 等我第二天晚上下班回到家，草坪已修整过了，花园除了草，人行道也清扫过了。我便问太太是怎么回事。 “有个人把割草机从汽车库里推出来就在院子里忙活起来，”她回答说。“我还以为是你雇他来的。” ? 我就把前晚的事跟她说了。我俩都觉得奇怪，他怎么没提出要工钱。 接下来的两天挺忙?，我把托尼的事给忘了。我们在尽力重整业务，要让一部分工人回厂里来。但在星期五，回家略微早了些，我又在汽车库后面看到了托尼。我对他干的活夸奖了几句。 “我割你的草坪，”他说。 我设法凑了一小笔微薄的周薪，就这样托尼每天清扫院子，有什么零活，他都干了。我太太说，但凡有重物要搬或有什么要修理的，他挺派得上用场。 夏去秋来，凉风阵阵。“克罗先生，快下雪了，”有天晚上托尼跟我说。“等冬天到了，你让我在厂里干扫雪的活。” 啊，对这种执着与期盼，你又能怎样呢?自然，托尼得到了厂里的那份活儿。 几个月过去了。我让人事部门送上一份。他们说托尼干得挺棒。 一天我在汽车库后面我们以前见面的地方看到了托尼。“我想学徒，”他说。 ， 我们有个挺不错的培训工人的徒工学校。可我怀疑托尼是否有能力学会看图纸、用千分尺，是否胜任做精密加工工作。尽管如此，可我怎么能拒绝他呢? 托尼减了薪水当了徒工。几个月之后，我收到报告，他已从徒工学校毕业，成了熟练磨工。他学会了在千分尺上辨识一百万分之一英寸，会用镶嵌着金刚石的工具制作砂轮。我和太太都挺高兴，觉得他的事总算有了个令人满意的结局。 一两年过去了，我在托尼惯常等我的地方又看到了他。我们聊起了他的工作，接着我问他有什么要求。 “克罗先生，”他说，“我想买房。”在小镇边上，他看到有房出售，完全是幢破房。 我去见——?位当银行家的朋友。“人品贷款你干不干?”我问。“不干，”他说。“我们承担 不起。没门。” “哎，等等，”我应道。“有个人干活勤勉，人品端正，这一点我担保。他有个好工作。眼下，你从你那块地上—分钱也得不到。那块地空在那儿要好多年呢。至少他会付你利息嘛。” 那位银行家勉强开了两干美金抵押贷款，没要托尼首付就把房子给了他。托尼乐不可支。从那以后，只要我家附近有什么被人扔弃的零星杂物，坏了的屏风啦，五金器具啦，包装纸板啦，托尼都要收起来拿回家，看他这个样子真是有意思。 约摸过了两年，我在我们见面的老地方又看到了托尼。他身子似乎挺直了些，人也见胖了，样子挺自信。 “克罗先生，我卖房子!”他得意地说。“我得了八千美金。” 我非常吃惊。“可是，托尼，没了房子你住哪儿呢?” “克罗先生，我买农庄。” 我们坐下聊了起来。托尼告诉我说，拥有一个农庄是他的梦想。他喜欢番茄，辣椒以及意大利菜肴中相当重要的其它各种蔬菜。(他把在意大利的妻子和儿子女儿都接来了。他在小镇周边到处找，终于找到一处没人要的一小块地产，有一幢房，还有间小棚。他正在把家搬到农庄去。 又过了一些时候，在一个星期日的下午托尼来了，他穿戴得整整齐齐。和他一起来的还有另一位意大利人。他告诉我，他说服了儿时的，伙伴前来美国。托尼为他作经济担保。他眼里露出顽皮的神情，对我说，他俩来到他经营的小农庄时，他的朋友惊奇地站住说，“托尼，你是个百万富翁啦!” 后来，在战争期间，公司里传出了一个消息。托尼去世了。 我让公司的人去他家看看，确保各项事宜都得到妥善安置。他们看到农场上长着绿油油的蔬菜，小屋布置得舒适温馨，院子里有一辆拖拉机，还有一辆不错的汽车。孩子受过教育都工作了，托尼身前没有分文欠债。 托尼去世后，我一直想着他的经历。他的形象在我心目中越来越高大。最后，我觉得他就和美国那些最大的实业家一样高大、自豪。 他们都通过同样的途径，本着同样的价值观和原则获得了成功:远见、执着、自制、乐观、自尊，以及最重要的，正直。 托尼不是从最低——级阶梯往上爬的，他是从地下室往上爬的。托尼的事业很小，那些最大的实业家的事业很大。但究其实两者的资产负债表完全一样。惟——的不同是你把小数点点在什么地方。 ( 托尼•特里韦索诺来到美国寻求美国梦。但他没有找到什么美国梦——他为自己创造了个美国梦。他的全部拥有是天宝贵的二十四小时，而他—刻也没有浪费。 第五单元 爱情 课文A 一个你从没有见过的人给你寄来一封信或打来一个电话，而你不知不觉地想象着这个人是个什么样儿，赋予这个隐秘的声音一张面孔。这事儿你干得来吗?有时候是很容易搞错的。 爱情故事 道络?贝尔 约翰?布兰查德从长凳上站起身来，整了整军装，留意着格兰德中央车站进出的人群。 他在寻找一位姑娘，一位佩带玫瑰的姑娘。他知其心，但不知其貌。十二个月前，在佛罗里达州的一个图书馆，他对她产生了兴趣。他从书架上取下一本书，很快便被吸引住了，不是被书的内容，而是被铅笔写的眉批。柔和的笔迹显示出其人多思善虑的心灵和富有洞察力的头脑。 在书的前页，他找到了前一位拥有人的姓名，霍利斯?梅奈尔小姐。他花了…—番工夫和努力，找到了她的地址。她住在纽约市。他给她写了一封信介绍自己，并请她回复。第二天他被运往海外，参加第二次世界大战。 在接下来的一年当中，两人通过信件来往增进了了解。每——封信都如—颗种子撒入肥沃的心灵之土。浪漫的爱情之花就要绽开。布兰查德提出要一张照片，可她拒绝了。她解释道:如果你对我的感情是真实的，是诚心诚意的，那我的相貌如何并不重要。设想我美丽动人。我将会——直深感不安，惟恐你只是因为我的容貌就贸然与我相爱，而这种爱情令我憎恶。设想本人相貌平平(你得承认，这种可能 性更大)。那我一直会担心，你和我保持通信仅仅是出于孤独寂寞，无人交谈。不，别索要照片。等你到了纽约，你会见到我，到时你可再作定夺。且记，见面后我俩都可以自由决定中止关系或继续交往——无论你怎么选择……” 他从欧洲回国的日子终于到了。他们安排了两人的第一次见面——晚上七点，纽约格兰德中央车站。 “你会认出我的，”她写道，“我会在衣襟上戴一朵红玫瑰。”于是，晚上七点，他候在车站，寻找——位过去一年里在自己生活中占据了如此特殊地位的姑娘，…—位素未谋面，但其文字伴随着他、始终支撑着他精神的姑娘。 且让布兰查德先生告诉你接下来发生的事吧: 一位年轻的姑娘向我走来，她身材颀长纤细。一头卷曲的金发披在秀美的耳后;眼睛碧蓝，如花似玉。她的双唇和下颌线条柔和，却又柔中见刚，她身穿浅绿色套装，犹如春天一般生气盎然。 我朝她走去，完全忘了去看她有没有戴玫瑰花。 我走过去时，她双唇绽开撩人的微笑。“和我同路吗，水兵?”她小声问道。我情不自禁，再向她走近一步。可就在这时，我看到了霍利斯?梅奈尔。她差不多就站在姑娘的正后面，早已年过四十，灰白的头发用卡子向上别着，头上带着一顶旧帽子。 她体态臃肿，粗圆的脚髁上套着一双低跟鞋。 穿着绿色套装的姑娘快步走开了。我觉得自己好像被分成了两半，一方面热切地想去追赶她，但另一方面我又渴望那一位以其心灵真诚陪伴我并成为我的精神支柱的女人。 她站在那儿，苍白的圆脸显得温柔理智，灰色的眼睛透出热情善良。我没有迟疑。 我手里紧握着那本小小的让她辨认我的蓝色羊皮面旧书。这不会是爱情，但将是某种珍贵的、或许比爱情更美妙的东西，一种我曾经感激，并将永远感激的友情。 我挺胸站立，敬了个礼，并举起手中的书奸让那位女士看。不过在我开口说话的时候，失望的痛苦几乎使我哽咽。“我是约翰?布兰查德中尉，想必您就是梅奈尔小姐。很高兴您来见我。可否请您赏光吃饭?” 妇女的脸上绽开了笑容。“我不知道是怎么回事，孩子，”她回答说，“可是刚才走过去的 那位穿绿色套装的姑娘，她央求我把这支玫瑰插在衣服上。她还说，要是你请我吃饭的话;我I 就告诉你，她就在街对面那个大饭店里等你。她说这是一种考验!” 梅奈尔小姐的智慧不难理解，也令人称奇。心灵的本质是从其对不美的事物的态度中反，习 映出来的。 “告诉我你所爱者是谁，”何赛写道，“我就知道你是什么样的人。” 第六单元 动物智能 课文A 温饱，睡眠,它们的思维可能要比这深刻得多。 动物到底想些什么 尤金?林登 多年来，我写了大量关于动物智能实验、以及围绕这些实验所产生的争议的文章。动物真的有思想，即我们所说的意识吗?在考虑是否会有比教动物人类手势语的实验更好的方式探索动物智能时，我悟出了现在看来是显而易见的一点:如果动物能思维，它们会在能为自己所用的时候，而不是在科学家让它们思维的时候作出最佳思维。 于是我开始与兽医、动物研究人员以及动物园饲养员交谈。他们大都不研究动物智能，但他们每天都碰到或碰刁;到动物智能。他们讲述的故事开启了我相信是研究动物智能的一扇新的窗口:即动物在对付樊笼生活和地球上的主宰物种一人类——时所表现的高超的思维技技能。 让我们做笔交易 请考虑这一情况:哥伦布动物园的一位动物保护主义者查伦?延德里觉察到一头叫做科洛的雌性大猩猩在玩弄一件可疑的物品。延德里走过去，给了科洛一些花生，却被翻了个白眼。意识到这是在讨价还价，延德里加大了筹码，又给了一片菠萝。这时候，科洛一边望着延德里，一边摊开手，露出了一根钥匙链。 见不是危险或珍贵物品，延德里松了一口气，把菠萝给了考勒。科洛真是个精明的还价者，它把钥匙链拉断，给了延德里一段，或许在算计着，要是每一小段都能换片菠萝，我干嘛要全都给她, 如果动物能在以物换物中显示技能，又何尝不会在使用钱币中再露一手?在田纳西大学人类学家琳?迈尔斯进行的一项手势语研究中，有头名叫夏特克的猩猩就这么做了。夏特克悟出，如果它干些诸如清理房间的事，他就能挣些硬币，好用来买好吃的，还可以坐迈尔斯的车外出兜风。但这头猩猩对钱币的理解似乎远远超出了简单的交易。迈尔斯一开始用塑料片充当硬币，而夏特克竟认定，它可以把塑料片拗成两片，以此扩大钱币供应量。而当迈尔斯改用金属片时，夏特克找到了一些锡箔，试图复制。 迈尔斯还试图教会夏特克一些好习惯，诸如节俭和与人分享。当我在它目前居住的亚特兰大动物园见到这头猩猩时，我果然见到它与人分享的一例，足以令任何人羡慕。迈尔斯给了夏特克——些葡萄，要求它与人分享，它很快吃完了所有的葡萄。随后，它似乎是想起了迈尔斯要它与人分享，便把梗儿递给了迈尔斯。 鲸鱼的故事 动物为什么会愿意与人合作?行为主义者会说，动物认识到合作于已有利时就会这么做。这没有错，但我觉得这一解释尚不充分。 动物行为顾问盖尔?劳尔说起过她了解的一头虎鲸奥基。“在我照管过的动物当中，它是最聪明的，”她说。“它会审时度势，再根据自己的判断采取行动。” 比如有次它救了一个家族成员。奥基的配偶科基生幼鲸时，那条幼鲸一开始情况不妙，饲养员把幼鲸用担架抬出水糟，实施紧急护理。他们把幼鲸送回水槽时，出了事情。当工人把担架停在高出水面几英尺处的时候，幼鲸开始呕吐。饲养员担心它会窒息，但他们无法接近幼鲸提供帮助。 奥基显然看出了问题，它游到担架下，让其中一人站在它头上。这种事从来没有训练它做过。然后，奥基用尾部保持平衡，让饲养员接近，并松开了那条420磅重的幼鲸，以便让它滑入水中，获得帮助。 ? 灵长目动物的骗术 有时动物的智能可以从其欺骗的企图中得以证明。西雅图伍德兰公园动物园饲养员海伦?休曼回忆道，一天她从喂食窗口给猩猩梅拉蒂扔了个桔子。梅拉蒂没有移动身体去接，而是眼睛直视休曼，伸出手来。休曼以为桔子准是滚到一边拿不到了，就又给了它一个。可当梅 拉蒂走开时，休曼却注意到原来那只桔子就藏在它另—只手里。 猩猩园的头领托温目睹了这个把戏。第二天，这头雄猩猩也是眼睛盯着休曼，装作没有接到桔子。“你肯定没拿到吗?”休曼问道。它仍直视着她，同时把手伸了出来。她让步了，又给了它—?个，随后却看见它把桔子藏在脚下。 智能究竟是什么?如果生命就是讲物种的生存——而智能是为了生存——那么我们根本无法与大脑只有豌豆大刁、的海龟相提并论，海龟早在人类出现很久之前便已存在，并经历了使恐龙灭绝的重大灾难而生存下来。尽管如此，想到除了我们人类，尚有其它物种，即便它们的视野比我们还狭小，却也能退后一步，清醒地审视周围的世界，不由人深感宽慰。 第七单元 突发事件 课文A 初看上去像是一个旧盒子或破衣裳。可紧接着他们就明白过来到底是什么了。 “铁轨上有孩子!” 左克?墨菲 1989年5月1日，星期一，新泽西州的拉姆齐上午天气宜人。凯特?普里查德俯身站在车尾行李箱前，费力地收拾着刚买回家的一袋袋食品杂货。她听到远处火车的鸣笛声。联合铁路公司的火车经过的地方离普里查德家不到三百英尺，可在后院与铁轨之间没有栅栏，只有一排长得密密的树木。然而，她的两个儿子，三岁半的托德和十八个月的斯科特，就在近旁私家车道上玩耍。 “就呆在这儿，”凯特说。“妈妈去把食品放好，然后我们进屋吃午饭，好吗?” “好!”托德一面说，一面竖起大拇指，做着他以前看他父亲做的这个手势。 “好!”斯科特随声应和，试着模仿他哥哥的样子。 他们望着母亲提着几个袋袋走进屋子。 凯特关好冰箱门匆匆走出屋来。还好。两个孩子正在原地玩耍。 当她从车后行李箱里又提出几个袋袋时，凯特听见有一列火车疾驶而过——是特快客车，她根据车速判断。她又将几个袋袋拿进屋去。 火车的声音显然把两个孩子的注意吸引到铁轨上。两人穿过那排树木，爬上笔陡的路基，跪在地上玩了起来。 往西几千英尺处，一辆货车缓缓地朝两个孩子驶宋。头顶上的灯向司机里奇?坎普纳发出信号，指示前面那辆客车已经开走，他们可以每小时40英里的正常速度继续运行。司机调整了加速器，转身面对列车员安东尼?法尔佐。安东尼中等身材，长得结结实实，现年35岁，已经为联合铁路公司干了差不多十六、七年。 “你周末都干点啥，安东尼?” “唉，不干什么。大多是瞎混——看点儿电视，然后睡觉。还能干什么?” 坎普纳笑了。“嘿，你最好悠着点，安东尼——你都快成派对狂了。” 两人哈哈大笑。就在他们大笑的时候，正以21英里的时速运行的机车开始加速。 里奇和安东尼在同——瞬间发现火车前方有什么东西。 “那前面是什么?”司机问道。安东尼没回答。他日不转睛盯着前方看，试图辨识前方铁 轨上那怪形怪状的东西。是盒子?还是旧衣裳? 猛然间，两个人都明白过来那是什么东西。里奇用尽全力猛地紧急刹车，并拉响了汽笛。 汽笛嘶鸣，与此同时安东尼大声嚷道:“铁轨上有孩子!” 安东尼冲出驾驶室，跳到车轮上方六英尺处一条狭窄人行踏板上，接着跑到摇摆的火车头前。他疾速攀下铁梯，停在梯子最后一级上，离他脚下飞速掠过的铁路路基有两英尺。 现在，他可以清楚地看到两个孩子，他们正坐在铁轨旁边。安东尼拼命挥手示意，并大声喊叫:“走开!走开!” 他心里计算着火车的减速速度，痛苦地哼了一声。我们绝对不可能及时停车的。 托德和斯科特正玩得起劲，没听到火车的声音。最后，当火车轰隆隆驶近时，斯科特抬头—看，惊呆了。 尽管火车在减速，安东尼知道车速仍比他奔跑的速度快。所以，他强迫自己等待，等到离孩子足够近的时候，他再一跃而下一把将他们抓住。在孩子与火车头前的犁雪机锋利的雪铲只有约十英尺的时候，安东尼从梯子上纵身向前一跃。他落在铁轨旁拳头大小的散石上，使尽力气才保持住平衡。他跨出两大步，几乎就要够着两个孩子了。两个孩子吓坏了，目瞪口呆地望着他。安东尼纵身跃起，朝他们扑去。 火车汽笛不停地嘶鸣，凯特?普里查德听着就像是被铁锤猛击了一下。“孩子!”她一声惊叫，冲出屋门。两个孩子不见了! 铁道，她心想。我得去铁道那儿! 安东尼身子砸下地时，他一边护着托德，一边伸出一只手臂去抓斯科特，好把他拉离铁轨。但火车压了过来。安东尼只见雪铲的黑色钢刃击中幼孩的下巴，将他的头往后一推，铲子从他脸上括过。顿时，鲜血从孩子额头溅出。 车身猛撞安东尼工作服的后背，把尼龙布都撕破了。但安东尼还是把斯科特完全拉到了自己身下。 他死了，安东尼心想。他毛骨悚然，一阵恶心。他的脸紧贴在石子上，使尽力气将两个孩子往下压，火车就从他们上面驶过，离他们只有几英寸。 凯特奔到停下的火车前，首先看到的便是托德。她的大儿子失去控制，在那儿乱蹦乱跳，大声哭喊。但凯特看出他没受伤。她抓过他紧紧抱住。随后她看见第三节车厢下一动不动躺着一个人。只见这人身子下面斯科特的脑袋上黑糊糊一片血污。凯特冲过去。“斯科特!”她尖声叫道。 安东尼扭转身子面对着她。“女士，”他对她说，声音很镇静。“回家去。叫警察和救护车来。”凯特没听进他的话，伸着手要抱孩子。安东尼又开口了，口气严厉了许多，“夫人，听着!回家打电话叫警察——叫救护车，快!” 凯特飞奔回家，打了电话，又通过寻呼机找到她丈夫加里。 第一辆警车到达时，安东尼仍然紧抱着年幼的斯科特。列车员从孩子的哭声知道他还活着，但斯科特可能有内伤，稍一动弹就有可能加重伤势。因此安东尼坚持让急救人员先对孩子进行检查，然后才放手。真是奇迹，斯科特伤势不重，只需缝十三针。 雪铲与地面之间只有十四英寸。记者后来问安东尼他在冒生命危险救孩子之前有否犹豫。“没有，”他回答道。“我当时所想到的就是那两个孩子前头还有整个 人生，如果我不采取行动，他们必死无疑。我决不能让这样的悲剧发生。” 事故发生后不久，安东尼去普里查德家探望。他还记得他用双臂抱住托德和斯科特并将两人举起的情景。“这让我想起当时在火车底下我护着他们的情景。再一次抱住他们的感觉是奇特的——也是美妙的。” 普里查德夫妇说，自从第一次来探望之后，安东尼几乎成了他们家庭的一员。他们还说，现在有道栅栏把他们的街坊与铁轨隔开了。 第八单元 解决一个教育问题 课文A 本杰明. 斯坦编了一个故事，以使美国青年彻底认识他们必须改变对教育的态度。读一读这个故事，看看你是否认为它对我们大家同样也有教育意义。 关于懒散少年的语言故事 本杰明.斯坦 去年一个秋日，我文件夹用完了，便去杂货店买。我拿了一大把文件夹搁在柜台上，问一个十几岁的售货员多少钱。“不知道，”她回答说。“反正单价12美分。” 我数了数文件夹。“二十三个，单价12美分，总共2.76美金，不含税，”我说。 “你心算的,”她惊奇地问道。“你怎么会算出来的,” “靠魔力，”我说。 “真的,”她问。 略受教育的成年人没有谁不会为这样的经历难过。虽然我们的孩子似乎比以往任何时候都要温厚和气，他们却如此无知——对自己的无知状况也如此无知——以至使我感到可怕。在我最近任教的一所私立大学，一个六十人的四年级班上，没有一个学生写短文时不犯拼写错误。没有一个学生例外。 更有甚者，他们对这种种的无知却毫不在乎，实在令人不寒而栗。一位朋友的聪明但却很懒散的十六岁儿子在解释他为什么不想上加州洛杉矶分校时说的话是对这种态度的高度概括。“我不想去那儿跟亚洲人竞争，”他说。“他们用功，什么都知道。” 其实，无论他是否愿意，这位年轻人都将不得不去跟亚洲人竞争。他不能永远躺在先辈积累的经济、物质与人力资本上。用不了多久，他懒于用脑的结果将严重影响他的生活方式，也将影响我们其他所有的人。一个现代工业化国家无法靠一支懒散、无知的劳动大军运行。飞机会坠落。计算机会出故障。汽车会抛锚。 为使这样的美国青年彻底认识到这…?点，我的愚见是:拍一—部电影，或电视连续剧，生动地描述我们国家的今天如何来之不易——而要丧失这—?切又何其容易。下面我奉献一篇寓言故事。 故事开始时，我们的主人公凯文?汉利1990，一名十七岁的高三学生，正坐在自己房间里，心情痛苦。他父母—千定要他准备欧洲史考试。而他则想去买一副激光唱片随身听的耳机。他被迫要读的书——《各国的财富》——让他打瞌睡。 凯文进入梦乡，时值1835年，他是他本人的曾太祖父，十七岁，是爱尔兰克雷郡的——个农民。他住在小小的陋室里，睡在一头猪旁。他老是挨饿，总是要找吃的。他最大的心愿是学会读书写字，以便找一个职员的工作。有了固定的工资，他就能养活自己，贴补家用。但汉利的贫穷使他无从享受上学这样的奢侈。没有教育，没有钱，他无能为力。他惟一的希望寄托在孩子身上。如果他们能接受教育，他们就会生活得好一些。 我们的寓言故事快速展开。现在凯文?汉利1990成了他自己的曾祖父，凯文?汉利1928。他也是十七岁，在匹兹堡一家钢铁厂工作。他的父亲从爱尔兰来到美国，参加过纽约地铁的修建。凯文?汉利1928比自己的父亲和祖父境遇好多了。 他能读书写字。他的工资比先辈在爱尔兰时的收入高多了。 接下来凯文?汉利1990梦见自己成了他自己的祖父凯文?汉利1945。他正在硫黄岛与死敌日本军队作战。他总是又热又饿又害怕。一天晚上他在散兵坑里与一个朋友讲自己为什么在那儿作战:“这样我的儿子、孙子就能生活在和平安全的环境里。等我回国了，我要勤奋工作，让儿子上大学，这样他就可以干脑力活,L，而不是靠卖苦力生活。” 接着凯文?汉利1990成了他自己的父亲凯文?汉利1966。他终日用功，这样就可以上大学，进法学院。他住在漂亮的房子里。他—…生在和平环境中过着富裕的生活。他对女朋友说，等他有了儿子，他不会像他父亲逼他那样逼自己的儿子整天读书。 就在这时，凯文?汉利1990被自己的梦惊醒了。他离开了爱尔兰，离开了那家钢铁厂，离开了硫黄岛，不由松了口气。他又睡着了。 他接着做梦，这次成了他自己的儿子凯文?汉利2020。枪声日夜不停。他那整个一代人忘却了过去为什么要有法律，因此现在没有法律了。人们丝毫不关心政治，政府不为工人阶级提供服务。 凯文2020的父亲，自然就是凯文1990本人，在日本人开的一家工厂当清洁工。凯文2020在一家专为有钱的欧洲人和亚洲人开的酒店里当行李工。公共教育到六年级为止。美国人早就不再要求自己的孩子接受良好的教育。 凯文1990最后梦见的是他自己的孙子。凯文2050没有有用的技能。日本制造的机器包揽了所有复杂的工作，没有什么体力活可做。没有受过教育，没有受过训练，他挣不到足够的钱养活自己。他住在贫民窟，没有暖气，没有卫生设备，无法不受四邻干扰，靠搜捡破烂度日。 总之，他的生活就像凯文?汉利1835在爱尔兰时一模一样。可是有一天，凯文?汉利2050与一位研究美国衰亡史的来访日本人类学家交上了朋友。那人跟凯文解释说，如果一个人没有钱，教育能提供积累金融资本所必需的人力资本。勤奋、教育、节俭、纪律能成就一切。“我们就是这样从一百多年前你们打败我们的战争废墟中站起来的。” “美国在战争中打败日本?”凯文2050问道。他惊讶之极。这听起来就像说巴西在1990年打败美国一样不可思议。凯文2050发誓，如果他有孩子的话，他一定要让他们工作、上学、学习并约束自己。“能凭自己的脑力，而不是靠偷窃为生，”他说，“那将会是个奇迹。” 凯文1990醒了过来，身旁放着他的那本《各国的财富》他打开书，跳入眼帘的第一句话就是:“一个不能恰当运用人类智力的人极可能比懦夫更可鄙。” 凯文的父亲走了进来。“好了，儿子，”他说。“咱们去看耳机吧。” “抱歉了，爸爸，”凯文1990说。“我得看书学习了。” Appendix? Chinese Translations of Text B (Units 1-8) 参考译文 第一单元 成长 课文B 夏天打工时，作者常常替巴卢先生修剪草坪。惟一的问题是，巴卢先生似乎从来没钱支付工钱。然而，他实际上所给予的却远比工钱珍贵。 夏日阅读 迈克尔?多里斯 十四岁那年，我在暑假里替人修剪草坪挣些钱，不出几个星期，我就有了不少客户。客 户们种植的花卉我得记住不能剪去，他们会将东西遗落在草地上或故意插在地里，通过这些 我逐渐认识了他们。我对大多数客户了解至深，事先就能知道他们会抱怨些什么，哪些特别 的要求不能掉以轻心。(1)而且，我从邻居偏爱的付款方式中了解到了一点他们的情况:有的按干的活儿给钱，有的按月支付——或者有的压根儿不付钱。 巴卢先生属于最后一类，而且他总有理由。有一天他兑不开一张五十元的钞票，又有一 天他支票用完了，还有一天我上门时他干脆就溜出去了。撇开钱这档子事，他倒也还是个挺 不错的老头，每次看见我，老远就挥手或脱帽致意。我猜他退休金不多，可能出过工伤，整不了自己的园子。没错，我全都记着帐，可我对这点钱并没太在意。(2)也就是剪剪草，何况巴卢先生住宅外面的那一点草坪修剪起来花不了多少时间。 到了一年中最热的七月中旬，一天傍晚前，我走过他家，他开了门，示意我进去。门厅里凉凉的，帘子遮去了阳光，过了一会儿我的眼睛才适应室内的暗淡光线。 “我欠你工钱，”巴卢先生开口道，“不过……” 我想省得他费神找新的借口了， 就说，“没事。别放在心上。” “银行把我的账弄错了，”他没理我的碴儿，接着说。“一两天里就会改过来。在这当儿，我想你不妨挑——两本书作为我的首付款。” 他朝墙那边指了指，我这才发现到处都堆着书。就跟图书馆一样，只不过没有分门别类罢了。 “别着急，”巴卢先生鼓动说。“读也好，借也好，留着也行。找你喜欢的。你平常都爱读什么书啊?” “我不知道。”我的确不知道。我通常是弄到什么就读什么，从药房里买到的平装书，图书馆里借得到的书、杂志，到麦片包装盒背面的说明，还有连环漫画，什么都看。有意识地找出一本特别的书来读对我是件新鲜事，不过我觉得这主意挺不错——于是我开始在书堆中翻找起来。 “这么多书你都读过啊?” “这不算多，”巴卢先生说。“这根本不算多，只不过是我自己的藏书，都是值得再读——遍的。” “那就替我找一本吧。” 他眉一抬，头一侧，望着我，就像是在给我量体裁衣似的。过了片刻，他略—“点头，便在一堆书中搜寻，然后递给我一本暗红色封面的精装本，挺厚的。 “《最后的正义》，”我念道。“安德烈?施瓦兹巴特著。是讲什么的?” “你来告诉我，”他说。“下个星期。” 晚饭后我坐在室外一张不舒服的餐椅里打开了书。(3)读了几页，院子就消息了，夏夜也消失了;我一下子就进入了二战期间纳粹对犹太人的大屠杀这一令人 悲痛的惨剧中，进入了以一个正派人物为代表的善与恶之间非同寻常的冲突中。书译自法文，译文优美朴素，令人不忍释手。天色终于暗了下来，我回到室内，读了一个通宵。 时至三—卜年后的今天，我仍清晰地记得当时的经历。那是我初次有心地接触世界文学，我被一部小说所能包含的集聚的力量深深震撼。但我缺乏足够的词汇表达我的情感，因此，第二个星期，当巴卢先生问我“怎么样”时，我只回答说:“书真好。” “那就留着吧，”他说。“要不要我再介绍一本?” 我点点头，拿到了一本平装本的玛格丽特?米德的《萨摩亚人的成年》。 长话短说，无论当年还是次年，巴卢先生分文未付我替他割草的工钱，但我在达特默思大学教了十五年的人类学。(4)盛夏阅读不是我原先认为的仅仅借以消磨时光的娱乐，不是躺在吊床上无忧无虑、打开书本就什么都忘掉的一种消遣(虽然自从那个夏天以来我曾多次以这种方式自娱自乐)。一本书，如果在恰当的时候，恰当的季节，在日常事务的间歇中出现在你的面前，就会改变你此后的人生道路。 第二单元 友谊 课文B 如果我不能挺住的话，我的朋友就会死在那里，老猎手比尔?麦金托什一次又一次地告诫自己。 决不抛弃朋友 吉姆?赫奇森 “下午去看足球赛吗?”比尔?麦金托什问59岁的罗伊斯?韦丁。他们两人正在澳大利亚的虹镇尤里卡饭店喝啤酒。罗伊斯摇摇头。“我答应我妈给我家的一块地烧荒。” 比尔瘦削而结实，79岁，但看上去远没有那么老。他望着外面的炎热空气。——阵轻风自北向南吹，这条件最适宜烧荒了。不过比尔对罗伊斯独自干这活不放心。这个农夫有条腿不好，行走很费劲。 两人曾一起从一个农场走到另一个农场寻些活儿干，迄今已是30年的好朋友了。如今比尔独自一人住在镇东12英里处，靠打狐狸和野兔勉强过活。他两个星期一次前来小镇购物，会会帮着经管自家的农场的罗伊斯。“我帮你一把，”比尔说。 两人坐着罗伊斯的车动身了。没多一会儿他们就颠簸在一条沙土路上，朝一块面积120公顷、杂草丛生的田地开去。“火是除去这玩意儿的惟一办法，”比尔说。他们用根50英尺长的链条把一个旧轮胎绑在牵引杆上。比尔在轮胎上浇透汽油，划根火柴一点，便跳进车里。 两人从农田的南边缓缓开车逆风而行，所过之处留下一条燃着的草带。开到地当中，车猛地朝前——颠，没等察觉，就陷进了一个被草遮着的沙堆。 微风突然转向，朝两人身后吹来，而且越吹越强。火仗风势，烧得炽热，一条火带顿时就变成——道火墙，直扑两人而来。“咱们快离开这儿!”罗伊斯说道。 他拼命想把车倒出沙堆。可车轮在软沙里越转陷得越深。 火顿时就扑到两人身上。比尔推开车门，却听得一声巨响，油箱爆炸了，车子飞离地面三英尺，他自己则被抛到空中。车子摔回地面后，罗伊斯发现自己被方向盘卡住，动弹不得。这时，车座和车顶也都烧着了。 比尔躺在跌落的地方，摔得气都喘不过来。他的衬衣前襟、短裤、光裸的手臂和双腿都浸在燃烧着的汽油里。接着汽车着火了，见此情景他惊坐起来。“罗 伊斯!”他边喊边挣扎着站起身来，向汽车冲去。 他拉开车门，在烟雾中抓住罗伊斯的手臂。“我给卡住了，”罗伊斯说。“你快走!” (1)火舌舔着比尔的双臂、脸和双腿，但他紧紧地抓住罗伊斯不放。“我不会把你丢弃在这儿的，”他知道。 比尔两个脚跟扎在沙堆里，拼命用力拉。突然他仰面倒下，罗伊斯被拉出了汽车。他—把将罗伊斯拉开，便赶紧赤手去扑灭罗伊斯身上以及自己腿上、手臂上的火。 罗伊斯看着又一次爆炸把汽车震得直晃，车—下子被火苗吞噬。“要不是比尔把我拉出来，我这会儿就烧成灰了，”他暗想。他低头…—看，身上伤势之严重令他大为惊讶。他腹部及左臀严重烧伤。更糟糕的是，手指被烧得完全变了形。 比尔仰天躺在地上，也—样被烧得不成样子。前臂以及手和腿上，一块块烧得焦黑的皮肉挂了下来。 比尔朝自己的朋友望去，看出罗伊斯满脸绝望，便说:“我去叫人。你顶住。”罗伊斯点了点头，可当他看着比尔穿过焦黑的田地缓缓走开时，真不知道这位朋友怎么去走那几乎整整两英里的路，还要跨越三道栅栏。 (2)一辈子与居住在澳大利亚灌木地带的那些刚强的硬汉一起生活的人生经历，将两条准则永久地铭刻在比尔的心头:无论多么艰难，决不泄气，决不抛弃朋友。此时此刻，他每迈出一步，浑身上下便针扎似地疼，他完全是靠这两种品质支撑着。(3)如果我不能挺住的话，罗伊斯就会死在那里，比尔一次又一次地告诫自己。 “那条狗怎么啦?”罗伊斯的老母维基?韦了说着朝窗外望去。听到身后响动，她吓了一跳，转身一看，比尔正倚靠在门上。 “天哪，出了什么事?”她惊问道，赶紧扶住正沿着门框瘫坐下去的比尔。 “我们遭火烧了，”他低声道，几乎说不出话来。“快去叫人。”维基扶比尔坐下，用湿毛巾敷在他身上以减轻烧伤的疼痛，随后便拿起了电话。 他们坐上汽车前往霍舍姆的医院，在长达一个半小时的颠簸的路途中，两位伤者只字未提自己的伤痛。“咱们真该去看足球赛，”罗伊斯开口说道，想让自己和朋友振作一下精神。比尔也轻轻——笑。 不久，比尔在镇公所被授予勇敢奖章，以表彰其勇救他人的壮举。(4)但真正最令比尔激动的时刻是火灾放生六个月之后，刚刚出院的罗伊斯走进尤里卡饭店，请他喝啤酒。 “咱们赢了，”两人举杯时，罗伊斯说道。“为生死之交干杯。” 第三单元 理解科学 课文B 科学发现成为新闻时，很少如新闻标题所显示的那么简单。新闻标题通常只字不提科学发现背后的长年努力。新闻报道也很少帮助我们认识，科学绝少提供最终的、经得住挑战的答案。 如何理解科学 大卫?H?利维 新药灭癌 厄尔，尼诺现象将带来毁灭———则警告 2028年10月26日下午6:30:世界末日的最后期限? 这些标题于今年见诸报端时，这类新闻便成为全世界的话题——既掺有乐观又带来混乱的话题。想象—F这些新闻为成千上万与癌症抗争的人们所带来的希望。这些新闻是否意味着这些人再也不用为癌症担忧呢?还是说我们所有的人都得为来自外层空间的大祸，或者更近—点，为厄尔?尼诺现象造成的灾难而忧心忡忡呢? 不幸的是，科学并非这般运作。科学极少提供最终的答案。与癌症搏斗的人们或厄尔?尼诺现象的受害者也许会觉得这太令人沮丧，但事实是，大自然并不轻易袒露其奥秘。科学研究是一步——步进行的，首先要有—个构想，然后用实验检验这个构想，人们希望其结果能成为知识的——种积累。 科学并非…—组无可置疑的结果，而是认识我们周围世界的…—种方法。其实际进程是缓慢的。(1)正如我们很多人在学校里所学的那样，科学方法是一个渐进的过程，这个过程始于某个目的，或某个有待解决或回答的问题。这包括一组材料，一套必须遵循的操作步骤，一系列有待进行的观察，最后是有待得出的结论。医学上，有人提出一种新药可能医治或控制某种疾病时，先是在随意挑选的大量人群中进行试验，然后将这部分人群的用药反应与另——组随意挑选的未用此药的人群的情况进行比较。两组人群的种种反应被一——，仔细比较，从而对新药的疗效作出鉴定。所有这些过程需要时间——以及耐心。 成为新闻热点的当然是结果，而非长年默默无闻的努力，而长年默默无闻的努力正是绝大多数科学探索的特点。在实验有了结论，或观察结束之后，其结果仍将受到严格的检测。结果送交发表时，会由一组科学家的同行审阅。如果成果相当重要，那在专业杂志上发表或会议—上宣读该实验报告之前，将会举行新闻发布会，向世人宣布。 世人也许会认为宣布结果标志整个过程的结束，其实不然。发表成果实际上是种挑战:“本人所作结论在此。请证其谬!”(2)别的研究人员会试图重复这一实验，实验成功的次数越多，其结果就越有可能是可靠的。爱因斯坦说得对:“再多的实验也永远不能证明我正确，而一项实验随时就能证明我错误。” 1996年8月，美国国家航天和航空局宣布在南极洲发现了——颗来自火星的陨石，其中可能包含着其他星球存在古老生命的证据。(3)正如克林顿总统那天所说，发现亿万年前火星上可能存在生命这件事，有可能是我们时代最伟大的发现之—。 当兴奋和激动慢慢平息，首批论文发表之后，其他研究人员开始研究取自同颗陨石的样本。(4)有些人得出结论说，这些“生命的证据”大多来自南极冰的污染，或者说那块石头里根本就没有有机物。 这是某些新闻报道所鼓噪的科学的失败吗? 不!这正是科学研究以其应有的方式进行的—个范例。科学家经过多年研究发布成果，其成果再由其他科学家加以检验。我们就是这样增进知识的。正如爬山，我们费力爬上三英尺，又掉下去两英尺。这是个充满失望与挫折的过程，但不管怎样，我们—直往前迈进。 第四单元 美国梦 课文B 他长大成人后，手术刀成为他的职业工具。但他年轻时，小刀几乎使他所有的梦想破灭。 本?卡森:一个创造奇迹的人 克里斯托弗?菲利普斯 本.仁森望着底特律市西南高中1988届的毕业班学生。那天是毕业典礼日。?仁森36岁，是—位杰出的脑外科医生，施行需要小心处理的挽救生命的手术。然而，19年前，他就毕业于这同…所市中心贫民区的学校。他——切记忆犹新——记得这是底特律市一个最贫穷的也是暴力犯罪最严重的街坊，记得那种压抑的环境。他知道这260名学生当中的许多人对未来有一种绝望感。 (1)几个星期以来，他一直苦苦思索，如何才能让这些毕业生相信，他们也能克服似乎难以战胜的困难获取成功，他们也能创造奇迹。此刻，他正起身作贵宾演讲，他举起了双手。“看到吗?”他问学生。“我过去并非总是用我的手作外科手术。在我比你们还年轻—点的时候，常常两于挥舞小刀恐吓别人。我甚至曾经试图杀人。” 学生们难以置信地瞪大了眼睛。 本和哥哥柯蒂斯就在这所学校附近一幢拥挤的公寓大楼里长大。母亲索妮娅13岁结婚，在本8岁时离了婚。她同时干两份，有时甚至三份低报酬的活儿。她想让:两个儿:子过上好日子，拼命地鼓励他俩。但两个孩子刚上学时都学得—团糟，尤其是本。 索妮娅知道本很聪明。他只不过是缺乏动力。“从现在开始，”有天下午她说道，“你们星期只能看两次电视。每星期你们至少得读两本书，要给我写读书报告，我好知道你们真的是读了。” ( 起初，本痛恨读书。后来，渐渐地，他发现了一个充满机会的崭新世界。(2)没多久，他母亲认真审阅读书报告。“写得不错，本尼，”她会对满面笑容的儿子说。她没有告诉本或柯蒂斯的是，她只上过三年学，根本不会读书。 “妈妈，”—天本说道，“等我长大了，我要当医生。” 索妮娅.卜森微微—笑，知道本准是刚读了一本有关医生的书。“心想事成，”她深信不疑地对他说。 有了目标，年轻的本的功课从全班最差跃升至榜首。他的老师都非常惊讶。但是有一件事，本似乎不能克服，那就是他的火爆脾气。(3)他满腔愤怒——对死去的父亲愤怒，对母亲承受的艰辛愤怒，对自己所目睹的身边所有荒废的人生愤怒。 —天下午，在放学回家的路—上，14岁的本跟—个朋友争了起来。本拔出—把野营用小刀 朝那个男孩捅去。钢制刀身扎在男孩的金属带扣上喀嚓——声折断了。本的朋友逃走了。 本站在那儿，呆住了。“我差点儿杀了人!”他默默地说。他当机立断。如果真的还想要 实现自己的医生梦，救死扶伤，他首先必须医治好自己的恶习。他决不再让自己的脾气失控。 1969年，本以全班第三名的成绩从西南高中毕业，并获得耶鲁大学全额奖学金。耶鲁本科毕业后，他获得奖学金去密歇根大学医学院学习。这是他职业生涯的起点，并使他在33岁时便被任命为约翰斯?霍普金斯医院高级脑外科医师。来自世界各地的外科医生都来向他咨询。 1987年4月， —位德国医生带着连体双胎、新生婴儿帕特里克和本杰明?拜恩德的病历前宋找本。两个男婴有各自的大脑，但在连接两人的后脑部，两人共用血管。孪生婴儿的母亲拒绝牺牲—个孩子挽救另—个孩子。医生们束手无策。在许多病例中，连体双胎在后脑部分割时，一个孩子存活，另一个则无法存活，或者将遭受严重脑力损伤。 卡森提出了—个使两个孩子都有最佳存活机会的:停止两人心脏搏动，完全停止:供血，直到两人被安全分离后再恢复血液循环。 整个手术花了22小时，投入了—个70人的医疗组。停上了两个婴儿的心脏搏动和供血后，卡森只有一个小时的时间宋分离业已损伤的血管。他娴熟快速地施 行手术，将各种手术器械轻轻地切入两个婴儿的大脑深处。供血停止后二十分钟，他动了最后一刀。随后，他与医疗组合作，将用四?卜分钟时间重建被切开的血管，缝合帕特里克的头。另一组医务人员将对本杰明施行同样的手术。 就在一小时时限将到之时，两个孩:广被完全分离，两张手术台被分别推开。 疲倦不堪却又满心欢喜的?卡森医生来到等候室。“你想先看哪个孩子呢?”他问孩?:子的母亲。 底特律市西南高中的学生们静坐着，听本?卡森讲述自己从一个愤怒的街头打手成长为国际知名的脑外科医生的人生旅程。“重要的是要明白人生的道路多种多样，”—卡森医生告诫他们道。“成为一位脑外科医生是完全可能的。但你并不—定要当外科医生。机会无处不在。但你得要肯去利用。(4)要有雄心壮志～没有人生来就是失败者。如果你觉得自己会成功——于是发奋努力——你就会成功～” 本?卡森停顿片刻，朝坐在前排的母亲望去。 “我要为我取得的所有成功感谢我的母亲，”卡森最后说。 西南高中毕业班学生全体起立，鼓掌足足持续了五分钟。泪水从本?卡森的双眸涌出。 后来，索妮娅?卡森深情地搂住儿子。“真的没错，本尼，”她说。“心想事成。你已经做成了!” 第五单元 爱情 课文B 他迟疑着。是任由他俩各自追怀旧梦还是冒昧贸然将两人唤醒? 钱包 阿诺德?法恩 —年前的今天，我在街上发现一个钱包。(1)钱包里面有封信，看上去已经随身携带很多年了。信上署的时间是1924年。信封已经破损了，我所能辨认得出的只有寄信人的地址。我小心翼翼地打开信，希望能找到些有关钱包主人身份的线索。 信的署名是汉纳，是写给一个叫迈克尔的人的。她写道，她不能再见他了，因为她母亲不允许。她将永远爱他，不过她觉得两人最好还是不再见面。 信写得很动人。(2)但是除了迈克尔这个名字以外，没有其他任何能确定信件所有人身份的线索。 寄信人地址就在附近，于是我就打了个电话。我问有没有人知道一个叫汉纳的，对方告诉我说:“噢，当然!这房子是我们前些时从她那儿买的。现在她住在养老院。” 他们告诉我养老院的名字，我给院长打了电话。(3)我解释了一下情况。他邀请我去走一趟。我到达时，他正在跟门卫聊天。寒暄之后，院长带我到大楼三楼汉纳住的房间。 那是位和蔼可亲的银发老妇人，面带热情的微笑，充满活力。我跟她说了捡到钱包一事，并取出那封信。她一看就认了出来。“小伙子，”她说，“这封信是我跟迈克尔伪最后一次联系。我再也没有听到过他的消息。”她转过头，沉思了片刻，接着说道:“那时我非常爱他。当时我十六岁，我母亲认为我还太年轻，与迈克尔见见面也不行。他真是一表人才。” 就在这时，有人叫院长出去，只剩下我们俩。“没错，他叫迈克尔?戈尔德斯坦，”她又开口道。“要是你能找到他，请代我向他问好。告诉他，我仍常常想他。 告诉他……”她迟疑片刻，深深地吸了一口气，接着说:“我仍爱着他。知道吗……”她含泪笑道。“我一直没结婚。我想没人能比得上迈克尔。” 这时院长回来了。我向汉纳致谢后便告辞了。到了楼下，在前大门值班的门卫看到我便 问:“运气怎么样?老太太帮上什么忙没有?” 我告诉他，她提供了一些线索。“不过我得把这事搁一搁了。为了找这个钱包的主人，我都差不多搭上一整天了。” 我取出钱包，给门卫看。 门卫一见便说:(4)“嗨～等一下。那是戈尔德斯坦先生的钱包。这钱包到哪儿我都能认出来。戈尔德斯坦先生老是丢钱包。” “戈尔德斯坦先生是谁?”我追问道，手都发颤了。 “他是住在八楼的一个老头。这肯定是迈克尔?戈尔德斯坦的钱包。你愿意的话我带你上去见他。” 我们在戈尔德斯坦先生的房间里见到了他，门卫问他有没有遗失钱包。 戈尔德斯坦先生伸手一摸后裤袋，发现口袋是空的，便说道:“噢，我的天哪。钱包不见了。” “这是你的吗?”我说着把钱包递了过去。 他一见便如释重负似地笑道，“是的是的，就是这个。多谢你了。” “不客气，”我回答说。“不过我得告诉你一件事。我读过里面的信了。” 他脸上的笑容消失了。“你读过信了?” “我不仅读过信，我还知道汉纳在哪里。” 他脸色唰一下子变得灰白。 “汉纳?你知道她在哪里?她好吗?还像以前那么漂亮吗?” ( 门卫望着我，示意我别再说了。 我迟疑着。 “说呀，请快说!”他恳求道。 “她很好……就像你当初认识她时一样漂亮，”我温言道。 “你能告诉我她在哪里吗?”他抓住我的手问道。“你肯定知道些情况……当时我那么爱那位姑娘，因此，这封信一来，我的生活似乎就全完了。我一直没结婚。我想我会一直爱她。噢，她那么漂……那么甜蜜，”他暗自笑了起来。 “迈克尔，”我说，“跟我来。” 我们三人乘电梯到了三楼。汉纳正独自坐着看电视。 “汉纳，”门卫轻声道。“你认识这个人吗?” 她扶了扶眼镜，望了片刻，什么也没说。 “汉纳，我是迈克尔。你还记得我吗?” “迈克尔?真难以相信!迈克尔?是你!迈克尔!” 他缓步走到她身边。迈克尔搂着她的腰，她也紧紧拥抱他，轻声道:“迈克尔……我亲爱的迈克尔……” 两人在沙发上坐下，手拉着手，交谈起来。他们有六十年的衷肠要倾诉。我和门卫退了出去，我俩都流了泪。 三个星期之后，我接到院长的电话。“请你来参加一个婚礼。迈克尔和汉纳最终将用街同心～知道吗，他们两人同在这幢楼里住了好多年了，却从没见过面;或是见过面，相互没认出来。” 婚礼上，汉纳穿着一袭浅褐色的礼服，显得仪态万方。迈克尔身穿藏青色西服，站得笔挺，就像士兵一样。养老院给了两人一个特别安排的房间。要是你想看一看79岁高龄的新娘与一个81岁高龄的信两如何像少男少女一般如漆似胶，就来看看这一对吧。 第六单元 动物智能 课文B 动物也有情,这些令人注目的故事表明它们也许就是如此，不妨读后自作判断。 动物也有情, 杰弗里. M. 马森 苏珊. 麦卡锡 人类相信自己懂得什么是爱情，并高度珍视它。然而，许多动物行为研究者在谈及动物是否体验爱情时都非常谨慎，他们喜欢说动物表现的不是“真正的情爱”，而仅仅是受各自遗传因子的支配。 情况果真如此简单吗,如何解释那些终生相伴直至死亡的动物呢,进化论生物学家常说，配对是保障足够的亲本照顾的一种方式，但实际情况是否如此，并不总是很清楚。有的动物不在生儿育女的时候依然相伴。而且它们在配偶死后表现出悲哀或是一种失落感。 研究鹅的行为特点的康拉德. 洛伦茨讲述了一个典型的例子。厄杜的配偶苏珊娜. 伊丽莎白被一头狐狸咬死了。它默默地守着横躺在窝巢里被吃掉一半的尸体。在接下来的日子里，它垂着头，目光也变得迷惘。由于它无心抵抗其它鹅的攻击，它在鹅群里的地位急剧下降。一年过去了。最后阿杜重振精神，另找了一个伴。 动物会戏剧性地相爱。据洛伦茨观察，幼时相知，而后分开，嗣后又重逢的两头鹅最可能„堕入情网?。(1)他将此比作一位男士遇见一位女士，男士惊讶地发现此人正是自己过去常常看见、身着校服东奔西跑的那个女孩，于是爱上了他，并娶她为妻。根据鹦鹉研究专家 苏?埃森的观察，有些鹦鹉常常会一见钟情。 本能或许促使动物相爱，但本能并不叫它们去爱谁。埃森为了替——只雄鹦鹉找只配偶，买了只羽毛漂亮的雌性幼鹦鹉，并让两只鹦鹉相识。令埃森失望的是，“那只雄鸟表现得就好像雌鸟根本就不在房间里似的。” 几个月之后，有人给了埃森——只形象极其可怕、年纪较大的雌鸟。“它脖子以下就没有一根羽毛，”她说。“她的爪子都扭曲了。眼圈处还有皱纹。可那只雄鸟却认定此鸟乃其一生挚爱。”两只鸟很快就双飞双宿，最终还孵出了幼鸟。 (2)动物园的饲养员知道，许多种动物不会随便就与同类动物交配，他们对此一筹莫展。克利大兰动物园的…?头大猩猩蒂米不肯与介绍给它的两头雌性大猩猩交配。而当它遇见一头名叫凯特的大猩猩时，彼此一见钟情。考虑到凯特年纪太大不能生育，饲养员决定把蒂米送往另一个动物园，在那儿它或许有机会顺利交配。 动物园园长在为该动物园将两头大猩猩分开的决定作辩护时说:“当人们将人类的情感赋予动物时，本人深感厌恶。我们不能将它们视为某种了不起的人:它们仪仪是动物。人们在说动物有感情时，他们就逾越了现实的鸿沟。”简?古多尔的研究工作使人们对黑猩猩的情感生活有所了解，但她在其著作中也写道:(3)“我无法想象黑猩猩之间会产生一种可以与最真挚、最深沉的人类之爱相比的情感，如温柔、呵护、容忍和心灵快乐。然而，一对对动物相互倾注的忠诚之中却有爱的明证。鹅、天鹅以及鸳鸯都是忠于婚姻的象征;野外生物学家告诉我们，实际生活就是如此。常常被看作象征狡猾的北美郊狼也是完美的忠诚的象征，因为，自们也都白头偕老。观察表明，它们在性成熟之前就开始成双成对，相互倾情。 在他的北美郊狼研究文章中，霍普?赖登谈到可以看到成对的北美郊狼依偎在一起、共同捕捉老鼠、煞费苦心地表露情意。赖登描述了两只北美郊狼交配的情景。交配后雌狼用爪子拍打雄狼，舔它的脸。然后双双依偎而睡。这与浪漫的爱情颇为相似。无论人类的男欢女爱与动物雌雄相悦之间有多少区别，两者的本质常常是—致的。 一头被不同种类的动物抚养长大的动物长大后常常会对那种动物中的一员表现出情感。加文?马克斯韦尔谈到—头叫做蒂比的水獭。它是由?—位居住在苏格兰沿海一个岛上、借助拐杖出行的人饲养大的。此人患重病之后，便将蒂比带到马克斯韦尔处，托付他照顾。不久后他便去世了。 蒂比经常要逃到邻近的村子去看看。它在村里找到—个使用拐杖的男子。它试图在他屋檐下做窝，可那人把它赶走了。 过了一段时间，蒂比又失踪了。——天，马克斯韦尔接到一个电话，那人对—头行为怪异，甚至想跟他进屋的水獭感到惊恐不安。“你不会是使用拐杖的吧?”马克斯韦尔问道。 “是呀，”他回答说，声音里露出惊讶，“可你究竟是怎么知道的呢?” (4)虽然科学界普通不接受动物间存在爱的看法，但是疑问并未消除。因为这些故事表明有些动物可能体验着和我们人类及其相似的快乐、爱情和悲伤。 第七单元 突发事件 课文B 中国常常遭受洪水之害。但是中国并不是惟一的洪水受害国。其它国家的人也 不得不学会接受洪水为害的可能性:他们家门口那条平静的大河也许有一天会漫溢出来，把他们卷走，并彻底改变他们的生活。 夜晚，河水漫溢 威廉?亨德利克斯 丹?迪克斯特勒站在十一岁的女儿詹妮弗身旁，长长的手臂挽住她的肩膀，两人从瓜达卢佩河畔的小木屋里望着大雨如注的茫茫夜色。 (1)雨已经下了差不多一整天乐，南得克萨斯河的河水猛涨，溢出了堤岸。不过看来不用担心。小木屋搭建在高出这一洪水泛滥地几英尺的柱子上。 “看来最糟糕的情况已经过去了，詹，”晚上十点钟光景，迪克斯特勒说。“咱们睡觉吧。”然而詹睡不着。她信赖爸爸，可还是忍不住回想起那些洪水肆虐的电视画面，人们紧抓着树顶，又冷又湿。辗转不眠几个小时之后，她去卫生间。她踩在地毯上，发现地毯湿了。 她停了下来，聚精会神地听着。那是什么声音?奇怪——像是湍流的声音。 正是湍流!而且就在屋子正下面奔涌。她冲到父亲的床边。“爸爸，爸爸，”她一面大声叫喊，一面拼命摇晃他。“醒醒。家里进水了!” 迪克斯特勒光着脚，只穿着短衣裤，走到门口，打开了门。眼前的景象顿时使他睡意全消。他们那条叫达奇斯的狗就站在门外，四条腿浸在六英寸深的水里。(2)这意味着河水已溢出河岸，泛滥到四百英尺之外，淹没了大路——他们脱逃的惟一途径。 他们被困住了。 冰凉的河水拍打他的脚髁。迪克斯特勒急忙把狗拉进木屋，使劲关上门。随后他抓过两 件救生衣。“穿上这个，宝贝，”他对詹妮弗说。 迪克斯特勒朝四周打量了一下。浑浊的河水顺着四壁护墙板一点点上升。“咱们怎么办?”詹问道，她声音在颤抖。 “咱们不会有事的，”迪克斯特勒回答说，尽力掩饰住自己的焦虑。“咱们到楼上去。” 他们攀上梯子般的楼梯，爬到起居间上面的阁楼。在上面，他们听见洪水在往下面的房间涌涨，并慢慢接近他们。窗子在水的压力之下爆裂。电视机被冲着撞上了墙壁。 突然，整个屋子像遇上地震似地摇晃着。接着木屋先是猛地朝上一掀，然 后又摔下去几英尺。我的天哪，迪克斯特勒心想。咱们是在水里漂了。 从窗子望出去，他们看到自己在移动，屋子正被河水冲着走。(3)迪克斯特勒害怕木屋下沉会把他们一起拉到水底，于是决定离开木屋。他双臂紧紧搂着女儿，纵身跳进冰冷的水中。 木屋就在两人身后，在黑夜中紧追不舍。迪克斯特勒还没来得及避开，就被冲到—棵被淹没的树上。刹那间，木屋在河水巨大冲力的推动下，把他死死挤压在树上。他肋骨被压断。左腿喀嚓一声折了。他失声惨叫。 紧接着他的脑子失去了控制。迪克斯特勒只觉得自己是在远处遥望着自己。他看到自己和詹沉到了河底。他对自己的平静感到惊讶。“对不起，宝贝，”他说。“真对不起。”接着他就什么也不知道了。 他失去知觉时，屋子移动了一下，松开了他，打着旋漂离了他们。詹妮弗发觉自己顺水漂流而下，身边是不省人事的父亲。“不要死，爸爸!”她叫道。“千万别死!” 或许是小女儿的声音唤回了迪克斯特勒的意识。他轻轻捏了捏詹的手，她的心猛地——跳。 惨淡的月光下，迪克斯特勒——此刻清醒了些——看到缠在树顶上的一些垃圾形成的孤岛。他忍着伤痛，挣扎着逆流而上游了过去。詹爬到那一小堆木头上，把父亲从湍急的水流中拉起。他疼得倒了下去，浑身哆嗦，透不过气来。 他们还远远谈不上安全，詹对此很清楚。那堆垃圾随时可能漂散开来，把他们重新抛入水中。她真想蜷伏在父亲的怀里，可这只会增加他的伤痛。她明白，此刻，得靠她来救爸爸了。 就在这时，她惊讶地发现不知从哪儿现出一个身影。“达奇斯!”她高声喊道，他们的狗浑身湿透，这时爬了上来与他们呆在一起。有狗在，詹感到宽慰了不少。 夜里，每过几分钟詹就要查看一下父亲。“想一些会使人暖和的东西，”她对父亲说，“比如咖啡、火炉。”她为他唱歌，还为他祷告。 清晨来临，但仍无救援人员的踪影。他们痛苦地捱过一小时又一小时。上午十时左右有架飞机几乎就从头顶上飞过，却没有减速。一两个小时之后又有一架飞机飞过。后来，傍晚时分又有第三架飞机飞过。(4)每次詹都跳起来挥舞手臂并大声呼喊，而每次飞机都从地平线上消失，令她沮丧不已。 日光渐渐消退，詹意识到他们有可能要在这个孤岛上冉捱—个漫长而寒冷的夜晚。父亲会顶不住的。要是没有父亲，她知道自己也恐怕活不成。她—想到这儿，就觉得没了希望。“他们不来找我们了，”她绝望地哭出声宋。“我们要死了。” 就在这时，—个声音划破黑暗从远处山坡上传了过来。“嗨!那儿有人吗?” 詹跳了起来。她大声回应道:“喂!喂!” “我们去叫人，”那声音说道。“顶住。” 詹跪在父亲身边，揉着他的背，好让他暖和些。“咱俩一起顶住，”她对父亲说。 半夜，一条小船终于在夜色中慢慢划到了他俩跟前。在小木屋被洪水从地基拔起卷走后十八个小时，詹、她父亲以及他们的狗达奇斯被从孤岛救至安全处。他们的小木屋再也未见踪影。 第八单元 解决一个教育问题 课文B 你认为学数学时使用计算器好吗,如果你认为好，也许这篇文章会改变你的看法。 扔了计算器 黛安. 亨萨克 看着又一个学生，这次是个九年级学生，费劲地解一道需要运用简单的乘法运算的高级数学题，我暗自叹气。他苦苦地心算着5*6，眼巴巴地望着我桌头那个可望不可及的计算器，最后凭空猜测了一个答案:35。 课堂上使用计算器越来越多，这令我惊讶。我辅导的学生常常告诉我，他们的老师允许无限制地使用这一工具。全国数学教师协会积极鼓励使用计算器。最近我参加了一个数学研讨会，会上一位教师随口说，教师已不再不愿意让学生在课堂上使用计算器了。目前“人人” 都认识到了计算器的重要性，她说。(1)我听到教育机构谈论学校里使用这些工具的好处，听到越多，对于算术有困难的初、高中生需要家庭教师辅导几何、代数…事，我就越觉得不足为怪了。由寸:改行教书前我曾当过六年电气工程师，因此常常建议学生将来从事技术或科学:工作，但看到越来越多的孩子缺乏基本的数学运算技能，我不由深感失望。 教育工作者有诸多理由为使用计算器辩解，但每每都忽略了我们教数学的首要理由。数学能培养智力。我是说，学生能学会逻辑地、理性地思维，学会根据已知信息找到所需信息，进而变得既会运算又善于思维。这类技能是通过数学和科学课程传授的，对青少年 成长为善于思考的、有才?智的社会成员有着重要意义。 有教师争辩道，计算器使学生集中精力解题，而不为繁琐的运算拖累。(2)计算器并不能方便学生确定解数学题的方法。相反，计算器只会鼓励他乱试加减乘除的各种组合，而不考虑哪种纠合更加适当。我的一些小学生看某道应用题立刻就猜测加法是正确的运算方法。当我建议他们不依赖计算器用加法解题时，他们往往在继续运算前先思考一番。如果手里没有计算器，学生更有可能停下宋先对问题思考一番，以减少运算工作。学会用有效的方法解决复杂的问题是必要的，不仅学数学如此，在生活中也一样。 一位中学教师曾对我洗“学生刁;会运算长除法又怎么样?给他个计算器，他就有办法了。”我不敢苟同。我不知道，从什么时候起，背诵和反复解题在教育界变得如此不受重视。没有大脑中储存的大量信息，我们如何相互交流?更不用说创新出主意了。 数学要讲有哪些规则，更要讲这些规则为什么成立。不会做长除法的学生显然小理解长除法所依据的原理。真小理解了所以然常常使得死记硬背毫无必要，因为学生白己就能 算出这些规则。我的那些把乘法表看作——串不相关数字的学生在数学上的困难远比那些懂 得乘法只是连加的学生多得多。计算器妨碍学生认识数学中这类自然结构和美。 学会心算的学生能把注意力集中到如何解题上，然后轻而易举地完成实际运算。他对答案该是个什么样儿心里也更有数，因为经验使他把握了“数字感”，或者说数字间的关系。 一个伴着计算器长大的学生既要对付解题策略又要对付实际运算。三年级时借助计算器算出9 X 4的孩子到了高中仍在借助计算器做同样的运算。届时他们还得应付代数。(3)因为他们在孩提时代对数字计算从未感到过轻松，当他们试图攻读代数这一广义数学时就会处于极其不利的地位。允许广泛使用计算器会使孩子的智力发展停滞不前。如果我们不让学生做那些计算器能代劳的简单的运算，又怎么能期待他们去解决计算器解决不了的更为复杂的问题呢? 学生自己进行数学运算所获得的收益远比依赖计算器多。我辅导过孩子做学业能力倾向测试的模拟，他们一坐下就拿计算器算。如果他们对手头的题目略加思考，就很可 能不需要倚靠拐杖就能找到…—种更简单的解题方法。我还观察到学生错把12+32当作112 +32输入计算器，对算出的明显错误的答案连眼都不眨—下。毕竟，他们用的是计算器，所以，一定没错。 教育家们还声称，计算器如此便宜而又普遍，学生必须学会熟练使用。新的数学教材有整节整节关于用计算器解题的内容。大多数人，包括年幼的孩子们，用大约五分钟就能掌握计算器的基本功能。计算器在学校之外的社会中的确有其地位，在高等数学课堂上也有一定的作用，但它们很难算得上是教育工具。 不少老师以及学生坚持认为，“我们为什么不能用计算器?计算器永远就在身边，我们在实际生活中根本不会做长除法运算。”这或许是事实。大多数数学运算也都如此。我们当中没有多少人会出于实际需要而计算圆的周长或求解一项二次方程的因子。但那并非数学教学的惟一目的。(4)我们为培养思维和训练而教数学，这两者都能扩展思维，增强学生为社会作贡献的能力:这是教育的终极目的。