美文背诵经典？ 01 The Language of Music A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer writes a work, but no one can hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players have great responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of music needs as long and as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor. Most training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an athlete or a ballet dancer. Singers practice breathing every day, as their vocal chords would be inadequate without controlled muscular support. String players practice moving the fingers of the left hand up and down, while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm—two entirely different movements. Singers and instruments have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are spared this particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner’s responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But they have their own difficulties; the hammers that hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound clear. This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors: they have to learn to know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these sound with fanatical but selfless authority. Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding. Great artists are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing works written in any century. 01 音乐的语言 画家将已完成的作品挂在墙上，每个人都可以观赏到。作曲家写完了一部作品，得由 演奏者将其演奏出来，其他人才能得以欣赏。因为作曲家是如此完全地依赖于职业歌手和职业演奏者，所以职业歌手和职业演奏者肩上的担子可谓不轻。 一名学音乐的学生要想成为一名演奏者，需要经受长期的、严格的训练，就象一名医科的学生要成为一名医生一样。绝大多数的训练是技巧性的。 音乐家们控制肌肉的熟练程度，必须达到与运动员或巴蕾舞演员相当的水平。歌手们每天都练习吊嗓子，因为如果不能有效地控制肌肉的话，他们的声 带将不能满足演唱的要求。弦乐器的演奏者练习的则是在左手的手指上下滑动的同时，用 右手前后拉动琴弓 -- 两个截然不同的动作。歌手和乐器演奏者必须使所有的音符完全相同协调。钢琴家们则不用操这份心，因为每个音符都已在那里等待着他们了。 给钢琴调音是调音师的职责。但调音师们也有他们的难处：他们必须耐心地调理敲击琴弦的音锤，不能让 音锤发出的声音象是打击乐器，而且每个交叠的音都必须要清晰。如何得到乐章清晰的纹理 是学生指挥们所面临的难题：他们必须学会了解音乐中的每一个音及其发音之道。他们还 必须致力于以热忱而又客观的权威去控制这些音符。除非是和音乐方面的知识和悟性结合起来，单纯的技巧没有任何用处。 艺术家之所以伟大在于他们对音乐语言驾轻就熟，以致于可以满怀喜悦地演出写于任何时代的作品。 02 Schooling and Education It is commonly believed in United States that school is where people go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school. The distinction between schooling and education implied by this remark is important. Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling. Education knows no bounds. It can take place anywhere, whether in the shower or in the job, whether in a kitchen or on a tractor. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole universe of informal learning. The agents of education can range from a revered grandparent to the people debating politics on the radio, from a child to a distinguished scientist. Whereas schooling has a certain predictability, education quite often produces surprises. A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions. People are engaged in education from infancy on. Education, then, is a very broad, inclusive term. It is a lifelong process, a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be an integral part of one’s entire life. Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive at school at approximately the same time, take assigned seats, are taught by an adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on. The slices of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the working of government, have usually been limited by the boundaries of the subject being taught. For example, high school students know that there not likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems in their communities or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with. There are definite conditions surrounding the formalized process of schooling. 上学与受教育 在美国，人们通常认为上学是为了受教育。而现在却有人认为孩子们上学打断了他们受教育的过程。这种观念中的上学与受教育之间的区别非常重要。 与上学相比，教育更具开放性，内容更广泛。教育不受任何限制。它可以在任何场合下进行，在淋浴时，在工作时，在厨房里或拖拉机上。 它既包括在学校所受的正规教育，也包括一切非正规教育。传授知识的人可以是德高望重的老者，可以是收音机里进行政治辩论的人们，可以是小孩子， 也可以是知名的科学家。上学读书多少有点可预见性，而教育往往能带来意外的发现。与陌生人的一次随意谈话可能会使人认识到自己对其它宗教其实所知甚少。 人们从幼时起就开始受教育。因此，教育是一个内涵很丰富的词，它自始至终伴随人的一生，早在人们上学之前就开始了。 教育应成为人生命中不可缺少的一部分。然而，上学却是一个特定的形式化了的过程。在不同场合下，它的基本形式大同小异。在全国各地，孩子们几乎在同一 时刻到达学校，坐在指定的座位上，由一位成年人传授知识，使用大致相同的教材，做作业，考试等等。 他们所学的现实生活中的一些片断，如字母表或政府的运作，往往受到科目范围的限制。 例如，高中生们知道，在课堂上他们没法弄清楚他们社区里政治问题的真情，也不会了解到最新潮的电影制片人在做哪些尝试。 学校教育这一形式化的过程是有特定的限制的。 03 The Definition of “Price” Prices determine how resources are to be used. They are also the means by which products and services that are in limited supply are rationed among buyers. The price system of the United States is a complex network composed of the prices of all the products bought and sold in the economy as well as those of a myriad of services, including labor, professional, transportation, and public-utility services. The interrelationships of all these prices make up the “system” of prices. The price of any particular product or service is linked to a broad, complicated system of prices in which everything seems to depend more or less upon everything else. If one were to ask a group of randomly selected individuals to define “price”, many would reply that price is an amount of money paid by the buyer to the seller of a product or service or, in other words that price is the money values of a product or service as agreed upon in a market transaction. This definition is, of course, valid as far as it goes. For a complete understanding of a price in any particular transaction, much more than the amount of money involved must be known. Both the buyer and the seller should be familiar with not only the money amount, but with the amount and quality of the product or service to be exchanged, the time and place at which the exchange will take place and payment will be made, the form of money to be used, the credit terms and discounts that apply to the transaction, guarantees on the product or service, delivery terms, return privileges, and other factors. In other words, both buyer and seller should be fully aware of all the factors that comprise the total “package” being exchanged for the asked-for amount of money in order that they may evaluate a given price. " 价格 " 的定义价格决定资源的使用方式。价格也是有限的产品与服务在买方中的配给手段。 美国的价格系统是复杂的网状系统，包括经济生活中一切产品买卖的价格，也包括名目繁多的各种服务，诸如劳动力、专职人员、交通运输、公共事业等服务的价格。 所有这些价格的内在联系构成了价格系统。任何一种个别产品或服务的价格都与这个庞大而复 杂的系统密切相关，而且或多或少地受到系统中其它成份的制约。如果随机挑选一群人，问 问他们如何定义 " 价格 " ，许多人会回答价格就是根据卖方提供的产品或服务，买方向其付出的钱数。 换句话说，价格就是市场交易中大家认同的产品或服务的货币量。该定义就其本身来说自有其道理。 但要获得对价格在任何一桩交易中的完整认识，就必须考虑到大量 " 非货币 " 因素的影响。买卖双方不但要清楚交易中的钱数，而且要非常熟悉交易物的质量和 数量，交易的时间、地点，采用哪种形式付款，有怎样的缓付和优惠，对交易物的质量保证、交货条款、退赔权利等等。 也就是说，为了能估算索价，买卖双方必须通晓构成交易物价格的通盘细节。 04 Electricity The modern age is an age of electricity. People are so used to electric lights, radio, televisions, and telephones that it is hard to imagine what life would be like without them. When there is a power failure, people grope about in flickering candlelight, cars hesitate in the streets because there are no traffic lights to guide them, and food spoils in silent refrigerators. Yet, people began to understand how electricity works only a little more than two centuries ago. Nature has apparently been experimenting in this field for million of years. Scientists are discovering more and more that the living world may hold many interesting secrets of electricity that could benefit humanity. All living cell send out tiny pulses of electricity. As the heart beats, it sends out pulses of record; they form an electrocardiogram, which a doctor can study to determine how well the heart is working. The brain, too, sends out brain waves of electricity, which can be recorded in an electroencephalogram. The electric currents generated by most living cells are extremely small – often so small that sensitive instruments are needed to record them. But in some animals, certain muscle cells have become so specialized as electrical generators that they do not work as muscle cells at all. When large numbers of these cell are linked together, the effects can be astonishing. The electric eel is an amazing storage battery. It can seed a jolt of as much as eight hundred volts of electricity through the water in which it live. ( An electric house current is only one hundred twenty volts.) As many as four-fifths of all the cells in the electric eel’s body are specialized for generating electricity, and the strength of the shock it can deliver corresponds roughly to length of its body. 电当今时代是电气时代。人们对电灯、收音机、电视和电话早已司空见惯以致很难想象没有它们生活会变成什么样。 当停电时，人们在摇曳不定的烛光下暗中摸索；因没有红绿灯的指示，汽车在道路上迟疑不前；冰箱也停止工作，导致食物变质。人们只是在两个世 纪前一点才开始了解电的使用原理，自然界却显然在这方面经历过了数百万年。科学家不 断发现许多生物世界里可能有益于人类的关于电的有趣秘密。所有生物细胞都会发出微小的电脉冲。 当心脏跳动时，把它发出的脉冲记录下来就成了心电图，这可让医生了解心脏的工作状况。大脑也发出脑电波，这可在脑电图上记录下来。 许多生物细胞发出的电流都是极微小的，小到要用灵敏仪器才能记录和测量。但一些动物的某些肌肉细胞能转化成一个个 发电机 ，以致完全失去肌肉细胞的功能。 这种细胞大量地连接在一起时产生的效果将是非常令人吃惊的。电鳗就是一种令人惊异的 蓄电池 。它可以在水中发出相当于 800 伏特电 压电流 ( 家庭用户的电压只有 120 伏特 ) 。在电鳗的身体里，多至五分之四的细胞都专门用来发电，而且发出的电流的强度大约和它身体的长度成正比。 05 The Beginning of Drama There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The on most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual. The argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world-even the seasonal changes-as unpredictable, and they sought through various means to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which explained or veiled the mysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths, persisted and provided material for art and drama. Those who believe that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used, Furthermore, a suitable site had to be provided for performances and when the entire community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the "acting area" and the "auditorium." In addition, there were performers, and, since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders usually assumed that task. Wearing masks and costumes, they often impersonated other people, animals, or supernatural beings, and mimed the desired effect-success in hunt or battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun-as an actor might. Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities. Another theory traces the theater's origin from the human interest in storytelling. According to this vies tales (about the hunt, war, or other feats) are gradually elaborated, at first through the use of impersonation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person. A closely related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that are imitations of animal movements and sounds. 戏剧的起源关于古希腊戏剧的起源存在着多种理论，其中一个最普遍为人接受的理论假设认为戏剧从仪式演化而来。 这个观点是这样进行论证的：一开始，人类把世界上的自然力量，甚至季节的变化都看成是不可预料的。他们试图通过各种方式去控制这些未知的、 令人恐惧的力量。那些似乎带来了满意结果的手段就被保留下来并且重复直到这些手段固化为不变的仪式，最后产生了能够解释或者掩盖这些仪式神秘性的故事。 随着时间的推移，一些仪式被废弃了，但这些后来被称作神话的故事流传下来并且为艺术和戏剧提供了素材。 认为戏剧从仪式演化而来的人们还认为那些仪式包含了戏剧的基本因素，因为音乐、舞蹈、 面具和服装几乎经常被使用，而且，必须为演出提供一个合适的地点；如果不是整个社区共同参加演出，经常在 " 演出区 " 和 " 观众席 " 之间划分出明显的分界。 另外，仪式中还有演员，而且宗教领袖通常承担演出任务，因为在仪式的执行中避免错误的发生被认为有相当大的重 要性；他们经常带着面具，穿着服装象演员那样扮演其它人、动物或超自然的生灵，用动作 来表演以达到所需要的效果，比如打猎的成功或战斗的胜利、将至的雨、太阳的复活。最后这些戏剧性的表演从宗教活动中分离了出来。 另一个追溯戏剧起源的理论认为它来自人们对叙述故事的兴趣。根据这个观点，故事 ( 关于狩猎、战争或者其它伟绩 ) 是逐渐丰富起来的。 首先通过一个讲解人来运用模仿、表演和对话，然后再由不同的人扮演各自的角色； 另一个与之紧密相关的理论将戏剧的起源追溯至舞蹈，这些舞蹈大体上是有节奏感的和体操式的那一类，或者是对动物动作和声音的模仿。 06 Television Television-----the most pervasive and persuasive of modern technologies, marked by rapid change and growth-is moving into a new era, an era of extraordinary sophistication and versatility, which promises to reshape our lives and our world. It is an electronic revolution of sorts, made possible by the marriage of television and computer technologies. The word "television", derived from its Greek (tele: distant) and Latin (visio: sight) roots, can literally be interpreted as sight from a distance. Very simply put, it works in this way: through a sophisticated system of electronics, television provides the capability of converting an image (focused on a special photoconductive plate within a camera) into electronic impulses, which can be sent through a wire or cable. These impulses, when fed into a receiver (television set), can then be electronically reconstituted into that same image. Television is more than just an electronic system, however. It is a means of expression, as well as a vehicle for communication, and as such becomes a powerful tool for reaching other human beings. The field of television can be divided into two categories determined by its means of transmission. First, there is broadcast television, which reaches the masses through broad-based airwave transmission of television signals. Second, there is nonbroadcast television, which provides for the needs of individuals or specific interest groups through controlled transmission techniques. Traditionally, television has been a medium of the masses. We are most familiar with broadcast television because it has been with us for about thirty-seven years in a form similar to what exists today. During those years, it has been controlled, for the most part, by the broadcast networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, who have been the major purveyors of news, information, and entertainment. These giants of broadcasting have actually shaped not only television but our perception of it as well. We have come to look upon the picture tube as a source of entertainment, placing our role in this dynamic medium as the passive viewer. 电视电视 -- 以快速变化与发展为标志的最普遍、最具有影响力的一项现代技术，正在步入一个极端复杂化与多样化的新时代。 这个时代承诺重新塑造我们的生活和我们的世界。这可以称得上是又一次电子革命，其关键在于电视技术与计算机技术的结合。 " 电视 " 这个词 来源于希腊语词根 (tele ：远 ) 和拉丁语词根 (vision ：景象 ) ，可以从字面上理解为来自远处的景象。 简单说来，电视是以这种方式工作的，通过一个复杂的电子系统，电视能够将一幅 图像 ( 这幅图像被聚焦在一部摄像机内的一块特殊的光导底片上 ) 转换成能经过导线或电缆发送出去的电子脉冲信号。 当这些电子脉冲信号被输入一部接收机 ( 电视机 ) 时，就可以用电子学的方法把脉冲信号重新恢复成同一幅图像。但是，电视不仅仅是一个电子系统，它还 是一种表达工具和传播渠道。因此，电视成了一个对其他人发生影响的强大工具。电视这个领域可以根据其发射方式分为两类。 第一类为广播电视，通过电视信号的宽带无线电波发射展现在大众面前；第二类为非广播电视，使用受控的发射技术来满足个人以及某些特殊 利益群体的需要。电视早已成为大众媒介。我们熟悉广播电视，因为广播电视已经以类似目前的方式存在了大约 37 年。 在那些年头中，电视绝大部分一直由 ABC 、 NBC 、 CBS 这些广播电视公司控制着，这些广播电视公司一直是新闻、信息和娱乐的主要提供者。这些 广播业的巨头实际上不仅塑造了电视，而且也塑造了我们对电视的理解。我们渐渐把显像管看作是娱乐的来源，让自己成为这个生动的媒介的被动观众。 07 Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie, known as the King of Steel, built the steel industry in the United States, and , in the process, became one of the wealthiest men in America. His success resulted in part from his ability to sell the product and in part from his policy of expanding during periods of economic decline, when most of his competitors were reducing their investments. Carnegie believed that individuals should progress through hard work, but he also felt strongly that the wealthy should use their fortunes for the benefit of society. He opposed charity, preferring instead to provide educational opportunities that would allow others to help themselves. "He who dies rich, dies disgraced," he often said. Among his more noteworthy contributions to society are those that bear his name, including the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, which has a library, a museum of fine arts, and a museum of national history. He also founded a school of technology that is now part of Carnegie-Mellon University. Other philanthrophic gifts are the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to promote understanding between nations, the Carnegie Institute of Washington to fund scientific research, and Carnegie Hall to provide a center for the arts. Few Americans have been left untouched by Andrew Carnegie's generosity. His contributions of more than five million dollars established 2,500 libraries in small communities throughout the country and formed the nucleus of the public library system that we all enjoy today. 安德鲁 ? 卡内基被称作钢铁大王的安德鲁 ? 卡内基在美国建立了钢铁工业。在这个过程中，他变成了美国最富有的人之一。 他的成功，部分来自于他销售产品的能力，部分来自于经济萧条时期的扩充策略。在萧条时期，他的多数对手都在缩减投资。卡内基认为个 人应该通过努力工作来获得进展，但他也强烈地感到有钱人应该运用他们的财富来为社会谋取福利。他反对施舍救济，更愿意提供教育机会，使别人自立。 卡内基经常说： " 富有着死去的人死得可耻。 " 他对社会的较重要的贡献都以他的名字命名。这些贡献包括匹兹堡卡内基学校。 这个学校有一个图书馆，一个美术馆和一个国家历史博物馆；他还创立了一所技术学校，这所学校现在是卡内基梅隆大学的一部分；其他的慈善捐赠有为促进国家间了 解的 " 卡内基国际和平基金 " ，为科学研究提供经费的华盛顿卡内基学院以及给各种艺术活动 提供活动中心的卡内基音乐厅。安德鲁 ? 卡内基的慷慨大度几乎影响到每个美国人的生活。由于他超过五百万美元的捐款， 2500 个图书馆得以建立起来，遍布在美国各地的小村镇，形成了我们今天还在享用的公共图书馆系统的核心。 08 American Revolution The American Revolution was not a sudden and violent overturning of the political and social framework, such as later occurred in France and Russia, when both were already independent nations. Significant changes were ushered in, but they were not breathtaking. What happened was accelerated evolution rather than outright revolution. During the conflict itself people went on working and praying, marrying and playing. Most of them were not seriously disturbed by the actual fighting, and many of the more isolated communities scarcely knew that a war was on. America 's War of Independence heralded the birth of three modern nations. One was Canada, which received its first large influx of English-speaking population from the thousands of loyalists who fled there from the United States. Another was Australia, which became a penal colony now that America was no longer available for prisoners and debtors. The third newcomer-the United States-based itself squarely on republican principles. Yet even the political overturn was not so revolutionary as one might suppose. In some states, notably Connecticut and Rhode Island, the war largely ratified a colonial self-rule already existing. British officials, everywhere ousted, were replaced by a home-grown governing class, which promptly sought a local substitute for king and Parliament. 美国革命美国革命其实并不算是一场革命，因为它并未导致完全的和彻底的变化。这 次革命并不是对政治和社会框架的一次突然和猛烈的颠覆，象后来在已经是独立国家的法国和俄国所爆发的革命那样。 革命带来了重大的变化，但并非翻天覆地，所发生的只是进化的加速，而不是一场彻底的革命；在冲突期间，人们仍然上班、做礼拜、结婚、玩耍。多 数人并没有受到实际战斗的严重影响。许多较闭塞的社区对这场战争几乎一无所知。美国独立战争宣布了三个现代国家的诞生，其中一个是加拿大。 加拿大的第一大批讲英语的流入人口来自于成千上万英王的效忠者，这些人从美国逃到了加拿大。另一个国家是澳大利 亚，因为美国不再是容纳罪犯和欠债者的国度了，澳大利亚就变成了一个惩治罪犯的殖民地 ( 注：独立战争前，英国政府将罪犯流放到美国 ) 。第三个国家就是美国，它完全建立在共 和原则基础上。即使政治上的颠覆也不如人们可能想象的那样具有革命性。在一些州，特别是康涅狄格和罗德岛，战争基本上只是承认了已经存在的殖民地的自治。 四处被驱逐的英国官员都被本土的统治阶级所替代，这个统治阶级迅速地以地方权力机关来替代国王和议会。 09 Suburbanization If by "suburb" is meant an urban margin that grows more rapidly than its already developed interior, the process of suburbanization began during the emergence of the industrial city in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Before that period the city was a small highly compact cluster in which people moved about on foot and goods were conveyed by horse and cart. But the early factories built in the 1840's were located along waterways and near railheads at the edges of cities, and housing was needed for the thousands of people drawn by the prospect of employment. In time, the factories were surrounded by proliferating mill towns of apartments and row houses that abutted the older, main cities. As a defense against this encroachment and to enlarge their tax bases, the cities appropriated their industrial neighbors. In 1854, for example, the city of Philadelphia annexed most of Philadelphia County. Similar municipal maneuvers took place in Chicago and in New York. Indeed, most great cities of the United States achieved such status only by incorporating the communities along their borders. With the acceleration of industrial growth came acute urban crowding and accompanying social stress-conditions that began to approach disastrous proportions when, in 1888, the first commercially successful electric traction line was developed. Within a few years the horse-drawn trolleys were retired and electric streetcar networks crisscrossed and connected every major urban area, fostering a wave of suburbanization that transformed the compact industrial city into a dispersed metropolis. This first phase of mass-scale suburbanization was reinforced by the simultaneous emergence of the urban Middle Class, whose desires for homeownership in neighborhoods far from the aging inner city were satisfied by the developers of single-family housing tracts. 郊区的发展如果 " 郊区 " 指的是比已建好的城市内部发展更为迅速的城市边缘地带，那么郊区化可以说始于 1825 年至 1850 年工业化城市出现期间。 在这之前，城市只是高度密集的小聚居群。在其中，人们步行走动，商品靠马车来运送。但是建于 18 世纪三四十年 代的早期工厂位于城边的航道和铁路附近，被工作机会吸引到这里的成千上万的人们需要住房。 渐渐地，在与旧有的主要城区相毗邻的地方，不断涌现出由排房和公寓楼组成的工人 聚居区，包围了工厂。作为对这种侵蚀的自卫，也为了扩大它们收税的地域范围，城市吞并了工业化的临近地带，比如 1854 年费城的城区就兼并了费县的绝大部分地区。相似的城市化也发生在芝加哥和纽约。今天很多美国的大城市其实就是靠吞并它们附近的边缘地区而 变成大都会的。随着工业化的加速发展，城市里出现了严重拥挤和相伴而来的社会压力。当 1888 年第一条商业上成功的电气化铁轨被制造出来时，压力开始接近危机的程度。几年之 内，马车就被废弃了，电车网相互交织连接着各个重要的城区，从而形成了一种郊区化的潮流，即密集的工业城市转变成了分散的都市。 此时城市中产阶级的出现进一步加强了第一波大规模郊区化。这些中产阶级希望在远离老旧城市的地区拥有住宅，单一家庭住宅地区的开发者满足了他们的愿望。 10 Types of Speech Standard usage includes those words and expressions understood, used, and accepted by a majority of the speakers of a language in any situation regardless of the level of formality. As such, these words and expressions are well defined and listed in standard dictionaries. Colloquialisms, on the other hand, are familiar words and idioms that are understood by almost all speakers of a language and used in informal speech or writing, but not considered appropriate for more formal situations. Almost all idiomatic expressions are colloquial language. Slang, however, refers to words and expressions understood by a large number of speakers but not accepted as good, formal usage by the majority. Colloquial expressions and even slang may be found in standard dictionaries but will be so identified. Both colloquial usage and slang are more common in speech than in writing. Colloquial speech often passes into standard speech. Some slang also passes into standard speech, but other slang expressions enjoy momentary popularity followed by obscurity. In some cases, the majority never accepts certain slang phrases but nevertheless retains them in their collective memories. Every generation seems to require its own set of words to describe familiar objects and events. It has been pointed out by a number of linguists that three cultural conditions are necessary for the creation of a large body of slang expressions. First, the introduction and acceptance of new objects and situations in the society; second, a diverse population with a large number of subgroups; third, association among the subgroups and the majority population. Finally, it is worth noting that the terms "standard" "colloquial" and "slang" exist only as abstract labels for scholars who study language. Only a tiny number of the speakers of any language will be aware that they are using colloquial or slang expressions. Most speakers of English will, during appropriate situations, select and use all three types of expressions. 语言的类型标准用法包括那些为使用这种语言的大多数人在任何场合下理解、使用和接受的词和短语，而不论该场合是否正式。 这些词和短语的意义已很确定并被列入了标准词典中。相反，俗语是指那些几乎所有讲这种语言的人都理解并在非正式的口头或书面中 使用，却不适用于更正规的一些场合的词和短语。几乎所有的习惯用语都属于俗语，而俚 语指的是为很多讲这种语言的人理解但大多数人不把它们列入好的、正式用法之内的词和短语；俗语甚至俚语都可能在标准字典中查到，但是字典中会标明它们的性质。 俗语和俚语词汇的应用都是口头较多、笔头较少。俗语用法经常地被接受为标准用法。一些俚语也变 成了标准用法，但另外一些俚语只经历了短暂的流行，而后就被弃之不用了。有时候，多数人从来不接受某些俚语，但是他们把这些俚语保存到集中记忆中。 每一代人似乎都需要独有的一套词汇来描述熟知的物体和事件。很多语言学家指出，大量俚语的形成需要三个 文化条件：第一，对社会中新事物的引入和接受；第二，一个由大量子群构成的多样化人口； 第三，各子群与多数人口之间的联系。最后需要提到的是， " 标准语 " 、 " 俗语 " 和 " 俚语 " 这些术语只是对研究语言的专家才有用的抽象标签。 不论何种语言，只会有很小一部分使用者 能够意识到他们是在使用俗语或俚语。讲英语的多数人能够在适当的场合中选择使用所有这三种语言类型。 11 Archaeology Archaeology is a source of history, not just a bumble auxiliary discipline. Archaeological data are historical documents in their own right, not mere illustrations to written texts, Just as much as any other historian, an archaeologist studies and tries to reconstitute the process that has created the human world in which we live - and us ourselves in so far as we are each creatures of our age and social environment. Archaeological data are all changes in the material world resulting from human action or, more succinctly, the fossilized results of human behavior. The sum total of these constitutes what may be called the archaeological record. This record exhibits certain peculiarities and deficiencies the consequences of which produce a rather superficial contrast between archaeological history and the more familiar kind based upon written records. Not all human behavior fossilizes. The words I utter and you hear as vibrations in the air are certainly human changes in the material world and may be of great historical significance. Yet they leave no sort of trace in the archaeological records unless they are captured by a dictaphone or written down by a clerk. The movement of troops on the battlefield may "change the course of history," but this is equally ephemeral from the archaeologist's standpoint. What is perhaps worse, most organic materials are perishable. Everything made of wood, hide, wool, linen, grass, hair, and similar materials will decay and vanish in dust in a few years or centuries, save under very exceptional conditions. In a relatively brief period the archaeological record is reduce to mere scraps of stone, bone, glass, metal, and earthenware. Still modern archaeology, by applying appropriate techniques and comparative methods, aided by a few lucky finds from peat-bogs, deserts, and frozen soils, is able to fill up a good deal of the gap. 考古学 考古学是历史学的一个来源，而不是地位卑微的辅助学科。考古学资料本身也是一种历史文献，而不仅仅是文字资料的例证。 正象任何一位历史学家那样，考古学家研究调查并尽力去重构一个过程。这个过程创造了我们生活的人类世界，也创造了我们自身，因为 我们都是我们所处的时代和社会环境的产物。考古学的资料就是人类行为所造成的物质变化。更简洁地说，是石化了的人类行为。 这些变化的总和构成了我们所说的考古学记录。这些记录自有其独特和不足之处，因而导致人们对考古历史和更熟悉的文字记载历史进行相 当肤浅的对比。并不是所有的人类行为都留下化石。我说的话，你通过空气振动听见，这 当然是人类造成的物质变化，也可能有重大的历史意义，但这些话在考古学中未留下丝毫痕迹，除非有人用录音机录下来或文书把这些话写了下来。 战场上军队的行动可能 " 改变历史的进程 " ，但从考古学的观点来看，这同样是难以捕捉的；可能更糟的是，多数有机物质会腐烂。 任何由木头、生皮、绒线、亚麻、草、毛发以及相似物质做成的东西除非在一些非常特殊的条件下，几年或几个世纪以后，会在尘土中腐烂并消失。 在短时期内，能留下考古记录的东西也都会退化为石头、骨头、玻璃、金属和陶器的碎片。然而，现代考古学通 过运用适当的技术和比较的方法，在从泥炭、沙漠和冻土中所获得的一些幸运发现的辅助下，能够填充这个空缺的很大部分。 12 Museums From Boston to Los Angeles, from New York City to Chicago to Dallas, museums are either planning, building, or wrapping up wholesale expansion programs. These programs already have radically altered facades and floor plans or are expected to do so in the not-too-distant future. In New York City alone, six major institutions have spread up and out into the air space and neighborhoods around them or are preparing to do so. The reasons for this confluence of activity are complex, but one factor is a consideration everywhere - space. With collections expanding, with the needs and functions of museums changing, empty space has become a very precious commodity. Probably nowhere in the country is this more true than at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which has needed additional space for decades and which received its last significant facelift ten years ago. Because of the space crunch, the Art Museum has become increasingly cautious in considering acquisitions and donations of art, in some cases passing up opportunities to strengthen its collections. Deaccessing - or selling off - works of art has taken on new importance because of the museum's space problems. And increasingly, curators have been forced to juggle gallery space, rotating one masterpiece into public view while another is sent to storage. Despite the clear need for additional gallery and storage space, however," the museum has no plan, no plan to break out of its envelope in the next fifteen years," according to Philadelphia Museum of Art's president. 博物馆从波士顿到洛杉机，从纽约到芝加哥、到达拉斯，所有的博物馆或者正在筹划、建造或 者正在完成大规模的扩建计划。这些计划或者已经根本性地改变了博物馆门面与展厅的设计，或者预期在不久的将来会这样做。 单单在纽约市，六个主要机构或者已经向空中和周围扩展，或者正准备这样做。大家一致行动的原因是复杂多样的，但其中的一个因素是普遍考虑的空间问题。 随着收藏品的增多，也随着博物馆的需要和功能的变化，空间已经变成了一项非常珍贵的商品。在我国，也许没有任何其他地方比费城艺术博物馆更符合这个事实。 这个博物馆几十年来一直需要额外的空间，十年前进行了最后一次重大的翻新。由于空间 紧缺，该艺术博物馆在考虑购买与受赠艺术品已越来越谨慎，有时甚至放弃增强艺术收藏的 机会。由于博物馆的空间问题，将艺术品脱手或者说卖掉已经有了新的重要意义。博物馆 馆长们被迫巧妙轮换利用陈列馆的空间，轮流着把一些艺术杰作向公众展出，而把另一些送 入存储室中。虽然对额外的陈列室和存储室空间需要很明显，但据费城艺术博物馆经理讲： " 博物馆还没有在未来十五年打破这个束缚的计划。 " 13 Skyscrapers and Environment In the late 1960's, many people in North America turned their attention to environmental problems, and new steel-and-glass skyscrapers were widely criticized. Ecologists pointed out that a cluster of tall buildings in a city often overburdens public transportation and parking lot capacities. Skyscrapers are also lavish consumers, and wasters, of electric power. In one recent year, the addition of 17 million square feet of skyscraper office space in New York City raised the peak daily demand for electricity by 120, 000 kilowatts-enough to supply the entire city of Albany, New York, for a day. Glass-walled skyscrapers can be especially wasteful. The heat loss (or gain)through a wall of half-inch plate glass is more than ten times that through a typical masonry wall filled with insulation board. To lessen the strain on heating and air-conditioning equipment, builders of skyscrapers have begun to use double-glazed panels of glass, and reflective glasses coated with silver or gold mirror films that reduce glare as well as heat gain. However, mirror-walled skyscrapers raise the temperature of the surrounding air and affect neighboring buildings. Skyscrapers put a severe strain on a city's sanitation facilities, too. If fully occupied, the two World Trade Center towers in New York City would alone generate 2.25 million gallons of raw sewage each year-as much as a city the size of Stanford, Connecticut , which has a population of more than 109, 000. 摩天大楼与环境 60 年代后期，许多北美人把注意力转向了环境问题，那些崭新的玻璃钢摩天大楼受到了广泛的批评。 生态学家指出，城市中密集的高层建筑经常给公共交通与停车场的承载能力造成过重的负担。摩天大楼还是电能的过度消费者与浪费者。最近的某一年，纽约市摩 天写字楼 1 ， 700 万英尺办公面积的增加使电能的最高日需求量提高了 120 ， 000 千瓦。这 些电能足以供纽约的整个奥尔巴尼市使用一天。玻璃表面的摩天大楼特别地浪费。通过半 英寸的平板玻璃墙壁损失 ( 或增加 ) 的热量是典型的加入绝缘板的石墙所允许的热量损失 ( 或增加 ) 的十倍以上。 为了减轻取暖设备或空调设备的压力，摩天大楼的建造者们已经开始使用双面上釉的玻璃镶板和涂上了金色或银色反光薄膜的反光玻璃，来减少强光照射和热量的 增加；但是，镜面的摩天大楼会提高周围空气的温度并会对附近的建筑物产生影响。摩天大楼也对城市的卫生设施造成了沉重的压力。 单单纽约市的二个世界贸易中心大楼如果完全被占满的话，每年就会产生 2 ， 250 ， 000 加仑的污水。这相当于康涅狄格州的斯坦福市这 样大的城市一年所产生的污水量，而康州的斯坦福市拥有 109 ， 000 人口。 14 A Rare Fossil Record The preservation of embryos and juveniles is a rate occurrence in the fossil record. The tiny, delicate skeletons are usually scattered by scavengers or destroyed by weathering before they can be fossilized. Ichthyosaurs had a higher chance of being preserved than did terrestrial creatures because, as marine animals, they tended to live in environments less subject to erosion. Still, their fossilization required a suite of factors: a slow rate of decay of soft tissues, little scavenging by other animals, a lack of swift currents and waves to jumble and carry away small bones, and fairly rapid burial. Given these factors, some areas have become a treasury of well-preserved ichthyosaur fossils. The deposits at Holzmaden, Germany, present an interesting case for analysis. The ichthyosaur remains are found in black, bituminous marine shales deposited about 190 million years ago. Over the years, thousands of specimens of marine reptiles, fish and invertebrates have been recovered from these rocks. The quality of preservation is outstanding, but what is even more impressive is the number of ichthyosaur fossils containing preserved embryos. Ichthyosaurs with embryos have been reported from 6 different levels of the shale in a small area around Holzmaden, suggesting that a specific site was used by large numbers of ichthyosaurs repeatedly over time. The embryos are quite advanced in their physical development; their paddles, for example, are already well formed. One specimen is even preserved in the birth canal. In addition, the shale contains the remains of many newborns that are between 20 and 30 inches long. Why are there so many pregnant females and young at Holzmaden when they are so rare elsewhere? The quality of preservation is almost unmatched and quarry operations have been carried out carefully with an awareness of the value of the fossils. But these factors do not account for the interesting question of how there came to be such a concentration of pregnant ichthyosaurs in a particular place very close to their time of giving birth. 罕见的化石记录胚胎与幼体被保存下来在化石记录中是少见的事情。微小纤细的骨骼通常在石化前就被食腐肉的动物拆散了，或者被风化作用破坏掉了。 鱼龙比起陆地的动物有更大的几率被保存下来，因为它们作为海洋动物常生活在腐蚀性较小的环境中。但是它 们的石化需要一系列因素：软组织的腐烂速度缓慢，很少被其他动物残食，缺少混杂、冲走小骨头的快速水流和波浪，以及相当快地被掩埋。 当这些因素存在时，某些地区就会变成一个充满保存完好的鱼龙化石的宝库。在德国获尔兹梅登，那儿的沉积物给人们提出了一个有趣的分析案例。 人们在黑色的、含沥青的海洋页岩中发现了约 19 ， 000 年前沉积下来的鱼龙化石。 几年时间内，在这些岩石中取得了数以千计的海洋爬行动物、鱼类以及无脊椎动物的标本。 它们的保存质量非常的好，但更令人称奇的是保存下来的育有胚胎的鱼龙化石数目。在获尔兹梅登附近一个小地区的六个不同的页岩层中分别发现了育有胚胎的鱼龙 化石。这表明大量的鱼龙经年累月重复使用一个特定的地点。那些胚胎已经发育得相当完整了。比如，它们的蹼桨已经完全形成了。 有一个标本甚至被保存在产道中。而且，那块页岩包含着很多在 20 到 30 英寸之间的新生幼体的化石。为什么在其他地方那么稀少的怀 孕雌兽和幼体在获尔兹梅登却那么多呢 ? 因为其保存质量几乎举世无双，采集工作的进行一直是一丝不苟的。 大家都认识到这些化石的价值极其珍贵，但这些因素并不能解释这个有趣的问题：为什么在一个特定的地点会如此集中地出现即将临产的怀孕鱼龙群呢 ? 15 The Nobel Academy For the last 82years, Sweden's Nobel Academy has decided who will receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, thereby determining who will be elevated from the great and the near great to the immortal. But today the Academy is coming under heavy criticism both from the without and from within. Critics contend that the selection of the winners often has less to do with true writing ability than with the peculiar internal politics of the Academy and of Sweden itself. According to Ingmar Bjorksten , the cultural editor for one of the country's two major newspapers, the prize continues to represent "what people call a very Swedish exercise: reflecting Swedish tastes." The Academy has defended itself against such charges of provincialism in its selection by asserting that its physical distance from the great literary capitals of the world actually serves to protect the Academy from outside influences. This may well be true, but critics respond that this very distance may also be responsible for the Academy's inability to perceive accurately authentic trends in the literary world. Regardless of concerns over the selection process, however, it seems that the prize will continue to survive both as an indicator of the literature that we most highly praise, and as an elusive goal that writers seek. If for no other reason, the prize will continue to be desirable for the financial rewards that accompany it; not only is the cash prize itself considerable, but it also dramatically increases sales of an author's books. 诺贝尔委员会 过去的 82 年里，瑞典的诺贝尔委员会决定了谁将获得诺贝尔文学奖，因此也就决定了谁将从伟大或近乎伟大荣升为不朽。 但在今天，该委员会却遭到了评选委员会内外的猛烈批评。批评者们争论说： " 评选获奖者时，起作用更大的不是真实的写作能力，而是该委员 会以及瑞典特有的内部政治。按照瑞典两家主要报纸之一的文化版编辑 IngmarBjorksten 的说法，该文学奖仍然是 " 人们所说的一种非常瑞典式的做为：反映瑞典口味 " 。对于其评选 过程中目光短浅的指责，该委员会辩护说，该委员会与世界几大文学之都相距遥远，实际上使该委员会免受外来的干扰。 这也许是对的，但批评者们反驳说，也正因为相距如此遥远，该委员会才不能准确地把握文学界的真正趋势。尽管对评选程序存在着关注，该文学奖将继 续作为世人最为推崇的文学的标志而存在，并将继续是作家们难以达到却又会不断追逐的目标。 如果不考虑其他因素，而仅仅考虑与之俱来的经济利益，该奖也将继续为人所渴求： 这不仅因为该奖本身就是一笔可观的现金收入，而且该奖还将极大地增加一个作家的著作的销量。 16. the war between Britain and France In the late eighteenth century, battles raged in almost every corner of Europe, as well as in the Middle East, south Africa ,the West Indies, and Latin America. In reality, however, there was only one major war during this time, the war between Britain and France. All other battles were ancillary to this larger conflict, and were often at least partially related to its antagonist’ goals and strategies. France sought total domination of Europe . this goal was obstructed by British independence and Britain’s efforts throughout the continent to thwart Napoleon; through treaties. Britain built coalitions (not dissimilar in concept to today’s NATO) guaranteeing British participation in all major European conflicts. These two antagonists were poorly matched, insofar as they had very unequal strengths; France was predominant on land, Britain at sea. The French knew that, short of defeating the British navy, their only hope of victory was to close all the ports of Europe to British ships. Accordingly, France set out to overcome Britain by extending its military domination from Moscow t Lisbon, from Jutland to Calabria. All of this entailed tremendous risk, because France did not have the military resources to control this much territory and still protect itself and maintain order at home. French strategists calculated that a navy of 150 ships would provide the force necessary to defeat the British navy. Such a force would give France a three-to-two advantage over Britain. This advantage was deemed necessary because of Britain’s superior sea skills and technology because of Britain’s superior sea skills and technology, and also because Britain would be fighting a defensive war, allowing it to win with fewer forces. Napoleon never lost substantial impediment to his control of Europe. As his force neared that goal, Napoleon grew increasingly impatient and began planning an immediate attack. 英法战争 在 18 世纪后期，战争爆发于欧洲大陆的几乎每一个角落，在中东、南非、西印度群岛、拉丁美洲亦都是如此。 然而实际上，在这一时期只有一场主要的战争，那就是英法之间的战争。所有其他战争都服从于这一更大的争端，至少是与这两个对手的目标和战略有某些关联。 法国力图统治整个欧洲，而英国的自主及其力图在整个欧洲大陆挫败拿破仑的种种 努力都是法国实现这一目标的障碍。英国通过条约建立了联盟 ( 和今天北约的概念没有什么不同 ) 以保证英国插手所有欧洲的主要争端。 这两个对头并不是一对好对手，因为他们的力量极不均衡：法兰西在陆地上称王，英格兰则在海上称霸。法国人明白，如果不能击败英 国海军，他们胜利的唯一希望就是让欧洲的所有港口都对英国舰船关闭。于是，法国将其 军事占领从莫斯科延伸到里斯本，从尤特兰延伸到卡拉布里亚，企图以此来**英国。所 有这些行动包含着巨大的风险，因为法国并不具备足够的军事资源，来控制这么多地盘，同时又能保护自己，维持国内的秩序。法国战略家们的算盘是，其海军若拥有 150 艘军舰，则将足以击跨英国海军。这样的武力将使法国对英国具有 3 比 2 的优势。这种优势被认为是 必不可少的，因为英国人具有超群的海上技能和技术，并且打的是一场防御战争，使它能以少胜多。 拿破仑从未忘却他的目标，因为英国是他统治全欧的最后一个重大的障碍。随着他的力量越来越靠近这个目标，拿破仑变得越来越不耐烦起来，开始策划立即攻击。 查看更多2个回答 . 3人已关注
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