《大学英语精读4.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《大学英语精读4.docx（91页珍藏版）》请在taowenge.com淘文阁网|工程机械CAD图纸|机械工程制图|CAD装配图下载|SolidWorks_CaTia_CAD_UG_PROE_设计图分享下载上搜索。
1、Unit 1TextTwo co I I ege-age boys, unaware that mak i ng money usua I ly i nvo I ves hard work, are tempted by an advertisement that promises them an easy way to earn a lot of money. The boys soon I earn that if someth i ng seems to good to be true, it probably is.BIG BUCKS THE EASY WAYJohn G. Hubbe
2、lI“You ought to look into this,，z I suggested to our two col Iege-age sons.It might be a way to avoid the indignity of having to ask for money a I I the time.，z I handed them some magaz i nes i n a plastic bag someone bad hung on our doorknob. A message pr inted on the bag offered leisurely, lucrati
3、ve work (Big Bucks the Easy Way!) of del ivering more such bags.，zI don* t mind the indignity,，z the older one answered.“I can Iive with it,“ his brother agreed.“But it pains me,z/ I said,“to f i nd that you both have been panhand I i ng so long that it no longer embarrasses you.”The boys said they
4、would look into the magazine-del ivery thing. Pleased, I left town on a business trip. By midnight I was comfortably settled in a hotel room far from home. The phone rang. It was my wife. She wanted to know how my day had gone.“Great!” I enthused.How was your day?” I inqui red.“Super!” She snapped.J
5、ust super! And its only getting started. Another truck just pulled up out front.”，zAnother truck?”“The third one this evening. The fi rst delivered four thousand Montgomery Wards. The second brought four thousand Sears, Roebucks. I don, t know what this one has, but Im sure it will be four thousand
6、of something. Since you are responsible, I thought you might I ike to know whats happening.What I was being bIamed for, it turned out, was a newspaper strike which made it necessary to hand-deliver the advertising inserts that norma Ily are i ncIuded with the Sunday paper. The company had promised o
7、ur boys $600 for deliver ing these inserts to 4,000 houses by Sunday morning.“Piece of cake!” our older co I Iege son had shouted.“Six hundred bucks!His brother had echoed,“And we can do the job in two hours!，zBoth the Sears and Ward ads are four newspaper-size pages, my wife informed me.There are t
8、hirty-two thousand pages of advertising on our porch. Even as we speak, two big guys are carrying armloads of paper up the walk. What do we do about al I this?”“Just tel I the boys to get busy,“ I instructed.They re col lege men.They1 I I do what they have to do.”At noon the fol lowing day I returne
9、d to the hotel and found an urgent message to te I ephone my w i fe. Her vo i ce was unnatura I I y h i gh and quaver i ng. There had been severa I more truck loads of ad i nserts.They re for department stores, dime stores, drugstores, grocery stores, auto stores and so on. Some are whole magazine s
10、ections. We have hundreds of thousands, maybe millionsf of pages of advertising here! They are crammed waI I-to-wa I I a I I through the house in stacks tai ler than your oldest son. There* s only enough room for peop I e to wa I k in, take one each of the e I even inserts, rolI them together, sI ip
11、 a rubber band around them and slide them into a plastic bag. We have enough plastic bags to supply every takeout restaurant in America!” Her voice kept rising, as if working its way out of the range of the human ear.All this must be delivered by seven of clock Sunday morning.”“Well, you had better
12、get those guys banding and si iding as fast as they can, and Ill talk to you later. Got a lunch date.When I returned, there was another urgent cal I from my wife.“Did you have a nice lunch?” she asked sweet I y. I had had a marve I ous steak, but knew better by now than to say so.“Awful,“ I reported
13、.Some sort of sour fish. EeIr I think.”“Good. Your col lege sons have hired thei r younger brothers and sisters and a couple of neighborhood chi Idren to help for five dollars each. Assembly I ines have been set up. In the Ianguage of dipIomacyt there i s movement.,“Thats encouraging.，z“No, it1 s no
14、t,zz she corrected. s very discouraging. They1 re been as it for hours. Plastic bags have been filled and pi led to the ce i I i ng, but al I this hasnt made a dent, not a dent, i n the s i tuat ion! If s al most as if the inserts keep reproducing themseIves!z，Another thing,“ she cont i nued.Your co
15、l lege sons must I earn that one does not get the best out of empIoyees by threatening them with bodi Iy harm.Obtaining an audience with son NO.1, I snarledv Ill kill you if threaten one of those kids again! Idiot! You should be offer ing a bonus of a dollar every hour to the worker who fills the mo
16、st bags.“But that would cut into our profit,z，he suggested.z，There wont be any profit unless those kids enable you to make al I the del i ver ies on time. If they dont, you two wi I I have to remove al I that paper by yourselves. And there wiI I be no eating or sleeping untiI it is removed.There was
17、 a short, thoughtfuI si lence. Then he said,“Dad, you have just worked a profound change in my persona I ity.，z“Do it!”Yes, sir!”By the fol lowing evening, there was much for my wife to report. The bonus program had worked unti I someone demanded to see the color of cash. Then some act i v i st on t
18、he work force cI a i med that the workers had no business sett Ii ng for $5 and a few compet i t i ve bonuses while the bossed collected hundreds of dollars each. The organizer had declared that al I the workers were entitled to $5 per hour! They would not work another minute untiI the bosses agreed
19、.The strike lasted less than two hours. In mediation, the parties agreed on $2 per hour. Graduallyt the huge stacks began to shrink.As it turned out, the job was comp I eted three hours before Sunday* s 7 a. m. dead I ine. By the time I arrived home, the boys had al ready sett I ed their accounts:$1
20、50 in labor costs,$40 for gasol ine, and a I ike amount for gifts一boxes of candy for saintly neighbors who had volunteered station wagons and help in delivery and dozen roses for thei r mother. This left them with $185 each - about two-thi rds the mini mum wage for the 91 hours they worked. Still, i
21、t was enough”, as one of them put it, to enable them to avoid indignity for quite a whiIe.Al I went we I I for some weeks. Then one Saturday morn i ng my attention was drawn to the odd goings-on of our two youngest sons. They kept carrying carton after carton from var ious corners of the house out t
22、he front door to curbside. I assumed thei r mother had enl isted them to remove junk for a trash pickup. Then I overheard them discussing finances.“Geez, were going to make a lot of money!z/Were going to be rich!”Investigation revealed that they were offer ing “ for sale or rent” our enti re Ii brar
23、y.“No! No!” I cried.You cant sei I our books!z，“Geez, Dadt we thought you were done with them!”“Youre never done with books,“ I tried to explain.“Sure you are. You read them, and you re done with them. Thats it. Then you might as we I I make a I i tt I e money from them. We wanted to avoid the indig
24、nity of having to ask you for”New Words buckn.(si.) U. S. dol I ar plastica.塑料的n.(pl)塑料doorknob 门把手leisurelya. unhurried从容的，慢慢的leisuren. free time空闲时间，闲暇lucrativea. profitable有利的；赚钱的painvt. cause pain topanhandlevi.(AmE) beg. esp. on the streetsdeliveryn. del ivering (of letters, goods, etc.)投递；送交en
25、thusevi. show enthusiasminqui revt. asksupera.(colloq.) wonderful, splendid; exceI I entsnapvt. say (sth.) sharply 厉声说insertn.插页normallyad. in the usual conditions; ordinari ly 通常companyn.公司echovt. say or do what another person says or does; repeat 附和；重复adn.(short for) advertisementinformvt. tell; g
26、ive information 告知porchn.(AmE) veranda 门廊armloadn. as much as one arm or both arms can hold; armfulwalkn. a path special ly arranged or paved for walking 人彳亍道unnaturallyad. in an unnatural way 不自然地quavervi.(of the voice or sound) shake; tremble 颤抖truck loadn. as much or as many as a truck can carryd
27、epartment storen. store selling many different kinds of goods in separate departments 百货公司dimen. coin of U. S. and Canada worth ten centsdime storen.(AmE) a store sei I ing a large var iety of Iow-pr iced articles; var ietystore廉价商品店；小商口店drugstoren.(AmE) a store that sells not only medicine, but als
28、o beauty products,film, magazines, and food 药店，杂货店groceryn. a store that sells food and household suppl ies 食品杂货店section n. part of subdivision of a piece of writing, book, newspaper, etc.; portion （文章等的）段落；节；部分cramvt. f i I I too full; force or press into a smal I space 把塞满；把塞进stackn. an order ly;
29、heap or group of things 一叠（堆、垛等）bandn. flat, thin piece of material 带；带状物vt. tie up with a band 捆扎rubber bandn.橡皮筋takeouta.（餐馆）出售外卖菜的rangen. the distance at which one can see or hear （听觉、视觉等）的范围marvel（I）ousa. wonderfuI; astonishingsteakn.牛排；大块肉（或鱼）片soura.酸的eeln.鳗丽diplomacyn.外交encouraginga.鼓舞人心的dentn
30、. a ho I I ow i n a hard surface made by a b I ow or pressure; initial progress 凹痕，凹坑，初步进展reproducevt. produce the young of (oneself or ones own kind)生殖，繁殖bodiIya. of the human body; physicalharmn. damage or wrong 伤害audiencen. the peopIe gathered in a place to hear or see; a chance to be heard 观众；听众
31、；陈述意见的机会snar Ivt. speak in a harsh voice 咆哮着说bonusn. an extra payment to workers 奖金thoughtfula. give to or indicating thought 沉思的，思考的cashn. money in coins or notes 现金activi stn. a person taking an active part esp. in a pol itical movement 激进分子work forcen. total number of workers empIoyed in a partic
32、ular factory, industry or area工人总数；劳动人口compet itivea.竞争的organizern. person who organizes things 组织者med i at i onn.调解party n. one of the peopIe or sides in an agreement or argument 一方；当事人graduaIlyad. slowly and by degrees.graduaI a.shr i nk (shrank, shrunk)vi. become less or smal I er 减少；变小dead Iinen
33、. fixed I imit of finishing a piece of work 最后期限station wagonn.小型客车，客货两用车mini mum (pl. minima or mini mums)n. the smal lest possible amount, number, etc.最低限度的量、数等mini mum wagen. the lowest wage permitted by law or by agreement for certain work 法定最工资odda. strange; unusuaIgoings-onn. activities, usu.
34、of an undesi rable kindcartonn. a cardboard box for holding goods 纸板箱(或盒)curbsiden. the area of sidewaIk at or near curb (curb:人行道的镶边石)enlistvt. obtain the support and help of; cause to join the armed forces 取得的支持和帮助；征募trashn. waste material to be thrown away; rubbish 垃圾pickupn. a smaI I Iight truck
35、 with an open back used for Iight deliveries 小卡车；轻型货车overhearvt. hear by chance; hear w i thout the know I edge of the speaker (s)无意中听到；偷听到fi nancen. money matters;(used in pl.) money;(science of ) the management of funds财政；钱财；金融geezint.哎呀，呀salen. the act of selling sth.Phrases & Expressionspul I up
36、br ing or come to a stop (使)停下a piece of cake(informal) sth. very easy to doeven asjust at the same moment asknow better thanbe wise or experienced enough not (to do sth.)明事理而不至于be atbe occupied with, be doingmake a dent (in)make less by a very smaI I amount; reduce sI ightIy; make a fi rst step tow
37、ards success (in)减少一点；取得初步进展cut i ntoreduce; decrease 减少have no businesshave no right or reason 无权，没有理由sett Ie foraccept, although not altogether satisfactory (无可奈何地)满足于sett Ie ones account pay what one owes 结帐quite a while a fairly long timedraw (sb.* s) attent i on tomake sb. not i ce, or be aware
38、 offor sale intended to be soldfor rentavaiI able to be rentedbe done withstop doing or using; finish 做完，不再使用may/might/could as we I Iwith equal or better effect 不妨，还不如，最好Proper NamesMontgomery Ward蒙哥马利一沃德百货公司Sears, Roebuck西尔斯一罗百克百货公司Unit 2TextIs there anything we can learn from deer? During the ene
39、rgy crisis” of 1973-1974 the wr iter of this essay was Iiving in northern Minnesota and was abIe to observe how deer survive when winter arr ives. The Iessons he learns about he way deer conserve energy turn out applicable to our everyday Iife.DEER AND THE ENERGY CYCLESome persons say that love make
40、s the wor Id go round. Others of a less romantic and more practical turn of mind say that it isnt love; it* s money. But the truth is that it is energy that makes the wor Id go round. Energy is the currency of the ecological system and I ife becomes possible only when food is converted into energy,
41、which in turn is used to seek more food to grow, to reproduce and to survive. On this cycle al I I ife depends.It is fairly well known that wild animals survive from year to year by eat i ng as much as they can dur ing ti mes of p I enty, the summer and fall, storing the excess, usually in the form
42、of fat, and then using these reserves of fat to survive during the hard times in winter when food is scarce. But it i s probably less we I I known that even with their stored fat, wi Id animals spend less energy to Iive in winter than in summer.A good case in point is the whiter-tai led deer. Like m
43、ost wi Idl ife, deer reproduce, grow, and store fat in the summer and fa I I when there i s plenty of nutritious food avai I able. A physical ly mature f ema I e deer in good condition who has conce i ved in November and given bi rth to two fawns dur ing the end of May or first part of June, must se
44、arch for food for the necessary energy not only to meet her body* s needs but also to produce mi Ik for her fawns. The best milk production occurs at the same time that new plant growth i s avaiI able. This is good timing, because mi Ik production is an energy consuming process - it requi res a lot
45、of food. The cost can not be met unless the region has ample food resources.As the summer progresses and the fawns grow, they become less dependent on thei r mother* s mi Ik and more dependent on growing plants as food sources. The adult males spend the summer growing antlers and gett i ng fat. Both
46、 males and femaIes continue to eat high qua Iity food in the fa I I in order to deposit body fat for the winter. In the case of does and fawns, a great deal of energy is expended either in mi Ik production or in growing, and fat is not accumuIated as quickly as it is in full grown males. Fat reserve
47、s are I ike bank accounts to be drawn on i n the winter when food suppIi es are I imi ted and sometimes difficult to reach because of deep snow.As fa I I turns i nto winter, other changes take place. Fawns I ose the i r spotted coat. Hai r on a I I the deer becomes darker and thicker. The change i n
48、 the ha i r coats i s usua I I y comp I ete by September and max i mum ha i r depths are reached by November or December when the weather becomes cold.But in addition, nature provides a further safeguard to help deer survive the winter-an internal physiological response which lowers thei r metaboIism, or rate of bodi ly functioning, and hence sIows down thei r expe