新概念英语第四册课文(33_35)
(2010-01-22 14:59:39)
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Lesson 33
Education
教育
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音,然后回答以下问题。
Why is education democratic in bookless, tribal societies?
Education is one of the key words of our time. A man without an
education, many of us believe, is an unfortunate victim of adverse
circumstances, deprived of one of the greatest twentieth-century
opportunities. Convinced of the importance of education, modern
states 'invest' in institutions of learning to get back 'interest'
in the form of a large group of enlightened young men and women who
are potential leaders. Education, with its cycles of instruction so
carefully worked out, punctuated by textbooks -- those purchasable
wells of wisdom-what would civilization be like without its
benefits?
So much is certain: that we would have doctors and preachers,
lawyers and defendants, marriages and births -- but our spiritual
outlook would be different. We would lay less stress on 'facts and
figures' and more on a good memory, on applied psychology, and on
the capacity of a man to get along with his fellow-citizens. If our
educational system were fashioned after its bookless past we would
have the most democratic form of 'college' imaginable. Among tribal
people all knowledge inherited by tradition is shared by all; it is
taught to every member of the tribe so that in this respect
everybody is equally equipped for life.
It is the ideal condition of the 'equal start' which only our most
progressive forms of modern education try to regain. In primitive
cultures the obligation to seek and to receive the traditional
instruction is binding to all. There are no 'illiterates' -- if the
term can be applied to peoples without a script -- while our own
compulsory school attendance became law in Germany in 1642, in
France in 1806, and in England in 1876, and is still non-existent
in a number of 'civilized' nations. This shows how long it was
before we deemed it necessary to make sure that all our children
could share in the knowledge accumulated by the 'happy few' during
the past centuries.
Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means. All
are entitled to an equal start. There is none of the hurry which,
in our society, often hampers the full development of a growing
personality. There, a child grows up under the ever-present
attention of his parent; therefore the jungles and the savannahs
know of no 'juvenile delinquency'. No necessity of making a living
away from home results in neglect of children, and no father is
confronted with his inability to 'buy' an education for his
child.
JULIUS E. LIPS The Origin of Things
New words and expression_r_r_rs 生词和短语
adverse
adj.
purchasable
adj.可买到的
preacher
n. 传教士
defendant
n. 被告
outlook
n. 视野
capacity
n. 能力
democratic
adj. 民主的
tribal
n. 部落的
tribe
n. 部落
illiterate
n. 文盲
compulsory
adj. 义务的
deem
v. 认为
means
n. 方法,手段,财产,资力
hamper
v. 妨碍
savannah
n. 大草原
juvenile
adj. 青少年
delinquency
n. 犯罪
参考译文
教育是我们这个时代的关键词之一。我们许多人都相信,一个没有受过教育的人,是逆境的牺牲品,被剥夺了20世纪的最优越的机会之一。现代国家深深懂得教育的重要性,对教育机构投资,收回的‘利息’便是培养出大批有知识的男女青年,这些人可能成为未来的栋梁。教育,以其教学周期如此精心地安排,并以教科书
-- 那些可以买到的智慧源泉 -- 予以强化,如果不受其惠,文明将会是个什么样子呢?
至少,这些是可以肯定的:虽然我们还会有医生和牧师、律师和被告、婚姻和生育,但人们的精神面貌将是另一个样子。人们不会重视‘资料和数据’,而靠好记性、实用心理学与同伴相处的能力。如果我们的教育制度仿效没有书籍的古代教育,我们的学院将具有可以想象得出的最民主的形式了。在部落中,通过传统继承的知识为所有人共享,并传授给部落中的每一个成员。从这个意义上讲,人人受到的有关生活本领的教育是相等的。
这就是我们最进步的现代教育试图恢复的“平等起步”的理想状况。在原始文化中,寻求和接受传统教育的义务对全民都有约束力。因而没有“文盲”(如果这个字眼儿可以用于没有文字的民族的话)。而我们的义务教育成为法律在德国是在1642年,在法国是在1806年,在英国是在1876年。今天,在许多“文明”国家里,义务教育迄今尚未实行。这说明,经过了多么漫长的时间之后,我们才认识到,有必要确保我们的孩子享有多少个世纪以来由‘少数幸运者’所积累起来的知识。
荒凉地区的教育不是钱的问题,所有的人都享有平等起步的权利。那里没有我们今天社会中的匆忙生活,而匆忙的生活常常妨碍个性的全面发展。荒凉地区的孩子无时无刻不在父母关怀下成长。因此,丛林和荒凉地区不知道什么叫“青少年犯罪”。人们没有必要离家谋生,所以不会产生孩子无人管的问题,也不存在父亲无力为孩子支付教育费用而犯难的问题
Lesson 34
Adolescence
青春期
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音,然后回答以下问题。
What do adolescents respect in parents?
Parents are often upset when their children praise the homes of
their friends and regard it as a slur on their own cooking, or
cleaning, or furniture, and often are foolish enough to let the
adolescents see that they are annoyed. They may even accuse them of
disloyalty, or make some spiteful remark about the friends'
parents. Such loss of dignity and descent into childish behaviour
on the part to their parents about the place or people they visit.
Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is
so secretive and never tells them anything, but they seldom realize
that they have brought this on themselves.
Disillusionment with the parents, however good and adequate they
may be both as parents and as individuals, is to some degree
inevitable. Most children have such a high ideal of their parents,
unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory, that it can
hardly hope to stand up to a realistic uation. Parents would be
greatly surprised and deeply touched if they hope to stand up to a
realistic uation. Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply
touched if they realized how much belief their children usually
have in their character and infallibility, and how much this faith
means to a child. If parents were prepared for this adolescent
reaction, and realized that it was a sign that the child was
growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and
independent judgment, they would not be so hurt, and therefore
would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and
resisting it.
The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, always respects a
parent who admits that he is wrong, or ignorant, or even that he
has been unfair or unjust. What the child cannot forgive is the
parent's refusal to admit these charges if the child knows them to
be true.
Victorian parents believed that they kept their dignity by
retreating behind an unreasoning authoritarian attitude; in fact
they did nothing of the kind, but children were then too cowed to
let them know how they really felt. Today we tend to go to the
other extreme, but on the whole this is a healthier attitude both
for the child and the parent. It is always wiser and safer to face
up to reality, however painful it may be at the moment.
DOTID OFLUM Journey Through Adolescence
New words and expression_r_r_rs 生词和短语
adolescence
n.
slur
n. 青春期
adolescent
n. 底毁
disloyalty
n. 青少年(12-18岁)
spiteful
adj. 恶意的,怀恨的
disillusionment
n. 幻灭感
uation
n. 评价
infallibility
n. 一贯正确
resent
v. 怨恨
sincerity
n. 诚挚
victorian
adj. 维多利亚式的
retreat
v. 后退
unreasoning
adj. 不凭理智的
authoritarian
adj. 专制的
cow
v. 吓唬
参考译文
当家长听到孩子赞扬自己朋友的家时,总感到不安,认为孩子在嫌弃自家的饭菜、卫生、或家具,而且愚蠢地让孩子看出自己的烦恼。他们甚至责备孩子不忠,或者讲些小朋友家长的坏话。家长这种有失身份和孩子气的作法使青春期的孩子大为震惊,决心以后不再向父母讲述去过的地方和见过的人。不要很久,家长就会抱怨孩子守口如瓶,什么事也不告诉他们,殊不知这是他们自找的。
不管家长的人品有多么好,作为父母有多么合格,孩子们对家长幻想的破灭在某种程度上是不可避免的。除非父母自身不能令人满意,大多数孩子对父母估价过高,以致这种估价很难指望经受住现实的考验。如果家长意识到孩子们通常是多么相信家长的品行和绝对正确,意识到孩子们的这种信念会对孩子产生多么大的影响,那么家长会大为吃惊和深受感动的。如果家长对青少年的这种反应有思想准备,并且意识到这象征着孩子们正在成熟和正在发展宝贵的观察力、独立判断力,那么他们就不会那样伤心,也就不会由于怨恨和抵触这种反应,而把孩子推到自己的对立面去。
青少年酷爱真诚,对于能够承认错误或无知、甚至承认自己做得不分平或不公正的父母,他们总是尊敬的,孩子们所不能原谅的是:父母错了,孩子们也看出来了,可是做父母的还不肯承认。
维多利亚时代的父母认为,他们可靠无理的权威气派来维护自己的尊严,实际上那是根本不行的。孩子们只不过被吓得不敢让父母知道自己的想法罢了。虽然现在我们倾向于走向另一个极端,但总地来看,孩子和家长双方态度都比较端正。遇事采取面对现实的态度总是比较明智和稳妥的,尽管会有暂时的痛苦
Space odyssey
太空探索
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音,然后回答以下问题。
When will it be possible for us to think seriously about colonising Mars?
The Moon is likely to become the industrial hub of the Solar System, supplying the rocket fuels fro its ships, easily obtainable from the lunar rocks in the from of liquid oxygen. The reason lies in its gravity. Because the Moon has only an eightieth of the Earth's mass, it requires 97 per cent less energy to travel the quarter of a million miles from the Moon to Earth-orbit than the 200 mile-journey from Earth's surface into orbit!
This may sound fantastic, but it is easily calculated. To escape from the Earth in a rocket, one must travel at seven miles per second. The comparable speed from the Moon is only 1.5 miles per second. Because the gravity on the Moon's surface is only a sixth of Earth's (remember how easily the Apollo astronauts bounded along), it takes much less energy to accelerate to that 1.5 miles per second than it does on Earth. Moon-dwellers will be able to fly in space at only three per cent of the cost of similar journeys by their terrestrial dwellers will be able to fly in space at only three per cent of the cost of similar journeys by their terrestrial cousins.
Arthur C. Clark once suggested a revolutionary idea passes through three phases:
1 'It's impossible -- don't waste my time.'
2 'It's possible, but not worth doing.'
3 'I said it was a good idea all along.'
The idea of colonising Mars -- a world 160 times more distant time the Moon -- will move decisively from the second phase to the third, when a significant number of people are living permanently in space. Mars has an extraordinary fascination for would-be voyagers. America, Russia and Europe are filled with enthusiasts -- many of them serious and senior scientists -- who dream of sending people to it. Their aim is understandable. It is the one world in the Solar System that is most like the Earth. It is a world of red sandy deserts (hence its name -- the Red Planet), cloudless skies, savage sandstorms, chasms wider than the Grand Canyon and at least one mountain more than twice as tall as Everest. It seems ideal for settlement.
7 DAYS, February 19, 1989
New words and expression_r_r_rs 生词和短语
hub
n. (活动的)中心
lunar
adj. 月球的
oxygen
n. 氧气
Apollo
n. 阿波罗
accelerate
v. 加速
terrestrial
adj. 地球的
permanently
adv. 永远地
fascination
n. 魅力
senior
adj. 资历深的,年长的
chasm
n. 断层,裂口
canyon
n. 峡谷
参考译文
月球很可能成为太阳系的工业中心。从月球上的岩石中很容易提炼出液态氧,作为航天飞船的燃料。其原因在于月球的重力。因为月球的重只有地球的1/8,因此,从月球到地球的25万英里所消耗的能量要比从地球表面进入地球轨道的200英里所耗能量少97%。
这点听起来令人难以置信,但却很容易计算出来。要乘坐一枚火箭飞离地球,火箭的速度要达到每秒7英里,而从月球出发的相应速度史是每秒1.5英里。由于月球表面的重力仅是地球表面的1/6 -- 还记得阿波罗飞船中的宇航员累松地跳跃 -- 在月球上加速到每秒1.5英里比在地球上所用能源要少得多。月球居民在太空遨游的费用仅是地球上朋友飞越同样路所需费用的3%。
亚瑟.C.克拉克曾提议,一种创新的想法要经过以下3个阶段:
1 “根本不可能,不要浪费我的时间。”
2 “可能,但不值得做。”
3 “我一直说这是个好想法。”
如果有相当数量的人永久性地住在太空,征服火星的计划 -- 一个比月球远160倍的星球 -- 就可以明确地从第2阶段进入第3阶段。火星对未来的星际旅客说有着特殊的魅力。美国、俄罗斯和欧洲都有许多热心此项事业的人 -- 其中的不少是认真和资深的科学家,他们一直梦想着把人送上火星。他们的目标是可以理解的。火星是太阳系里与地球最接近的一颗行星。这是一个红色沙漠的世界(因而得名:红色行星),无云的天空,凶猛的沙暴,比大峡谷还宽的裂缝,起码有一座山有珠穆朗玛峰的近两倍高。看起来,它很合适居住。