Unit 4 Money Talks
Section 1 Lead-in
Activity 1 How do banks work?
1. Do you know how banks make money? First have a discussion with your partners and describe briefly about the way banks make money. The following are some possibly involved words.
deposit 存款
savings account储蓄帐户
interest rate利息率
loan贷款
margin / difference 差额
2. Now listen carefully and do the compound dictation.
This is financial adviser Patrick Munro talking about, “How do banks work?” Banks are designed as community service organizations; however they are private businesses and they’re designed to make a profit. What banks do is they take in what’s called deposits. In other words when you have a paycheck and take it to the bank for safety purposes, you can deposit that money with the bank. The bank will pay you an interest rate, lower on a savings account, even lower on a checking account. But they have now got the deposit in their portfolio (投资组合).
What they will then do is turn around and lend money out at a higher interest rate through things such as mortgages (抵押), credit cards, car loans and various other financial instruments that are debt related. Banks work on what's called a margin. So what they pay you, for instance two percent on your cash accounts, and lend out and auto loan at seven percent, the bank will make the difference, which is five percent. So banks can become very profitable in a short period of time. This is Patrick Munro talking about how do banks work.
Activity 2
Share your favorite money quotes and use examples or personal experience to support your choice.Example
1. Money is the root of all evil.
2. Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
3. Whoever said money can’t buy happiness didn’t know where to go shopping.
Suggested answer:
1. Money is the root of all evil.
→Money is behind the crimes & wrong-doings in the world, for example, bank robberies and murders with a financial motive
2.Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
→taking care of your spending & saving money
If you are careful about small details, e.g.small amounts of money, the larger amounts of money will not need much attention (they will look after themselves)
3. Whoever said money can’t buy happiness didn’t know where to go shopping.
→If you know where to go shopping, you can, in fact, buy happiness.
You have to search for the right place. But it seems that many people do not know where this is. Activity 3 Bank credit rating
Do the quiz on P50 to find whether you are a good customer to banks.
Mostly (a)s: Medium You’ve probably never been inside a bank in your life, but sooner or later you’ll have to – and they’ll be looking to try and make you change your lifestyle. A word of advice, though, don’t believe everything they tell you!
Mostly (b)s: Low You’re a cautious customer, but you’re a practical person too. The banks won’t make a lot of money out of you!
Mostly (c)s: High You’re just the sort of customer the banks are looking for. They like people who spend money without thinking about the consequences! You are welcomed to use their credit card. Activity 4 Introduction of credit cards
Listen to a recording & complete the summary.
A credit card allows you to 1) charge something immediately and then pay for the bill for at a 2) later date. Once a credit card has been issued, you can make purchases within the prescribed credit 3) limit . A credit card with a limit of $100.00 enables you to pay for up to 4) $100.00 worth of items. Every month, you will receive credit card 5) statements that lists the charges you have made. You have to pay your bill in full by the 6) due date. Otherwise, you have to pay 7) interest or a 8) finance charge. Script
Credit cards are an important part of American life. Whether we have a positive or negative image of credit cards, they are an inescapable part of our finances, either now or in the future.
A credit card can be used to "charge" things like clothes, tapes or CDs, dinner at a restaurant, or maybe a hotel room while you're on vacation. When you charge something, you are agreeing now and paying for it later.
Credit cards come with a "limit". Let's say your credit card has a limit of $100.00. That means you charge up to $100.00 worth of items on your card. You will get a statement in the mail each month that lists the charges you have made. You will also have to make a payment that you have a balance owing.
When you charge something on a credit card, you not only will have to pay for what you bought, but you will also have to pay interest, or a finance charge, if you don't pay your bill in full by the due date. The finance charge is your extra cost for having something now and paying for it later. The interest rate on a credit card can be 15% or even higher. If, however, you pay your bill in full every month by the due date, you do not have to pay interest.
Activity 5 Views on credit cards
Watch a video clip and discuss the questions in groups.
1.What are the advantages of having a credit card?
2. What sort of customers do the credit card companies hate?
3. What are good customers for credit card companies?
4. How do credit card companies make profits?
5. What are the dangers of having a credit card?
Suggested answer:
1.What are the advantages of having a credit card?
You can pay for goods and services without using cash or a cheque which means that you only need to carry one card around with you.
You can spend more than you have.
2. Which sort of customers do the credit card companies hate?
people who pay off their bills on time
3. What are good customers for credit card companies?
people who don’t pay off their credit card debts
4. How do credit card companies make profits?
charging interest rates
5. What are the dangers of having a credit card?
Improper use can damage credit rating
Higher risk for impulsive buying and overspending
Debt trap when used unwisely
Expensive way to borrow due to high interest rates
Less to spend in the future due to paying off purchases from past
Possible hidden fees & surcharges
Privacy is an increasing concern
Identity theft easier
Section 2 Passage Learning
1. Text organization
Part 1 (Para.1~22): Three stories of credit cards.
Part 2 (Para.23~24): Credit card traps set by banks.
Part 3 (Para.25~27): Solutions to the credit card traps.
2. Comprehending the text, answering the questions.
1. Why did the author desire to apply for a gold card?
2. Which sort of customers do credit card companies want?
3. How do credit card companies lure poor students into applying for a credit card?
4. What did Kelly have to pay when she went over the limit on her overdraft?
5. Why was Kelly recorded as a bad credit risk? How did it affect her life?
Suggested answers:
1. Why did the author desire to apply for a gold card?
It was a status symbol, which made her feel good with herself and desirable to others.
2. Which sort of customers do credit card companies want?
People who are likely to spend more money than they have.
3. How do credit card companies lure poor students into applying for a credit card?
unrealistic interest rates/low interests.
4. What did Kelly have to pay when she went over the limit on her overdraft?
She had to pay for the overdraft and high monthly interest on the overspend of the overdraft.
5. Why was Kelly recorded as a bad credit risk? How did it affect her life?
She was unable to pay bank charges, credit card debts and interest, so she was recorded as a bad credit risk. It prevented her from getting a student loan, therefore, she had to drop out of the university.
3. Understanding writer’s attitude
The writer uses a number of techniques and stylistic features to critical effect.
●irony
●humour
●anecdotes
●rhetorical questions
●mixing formal and colloquial language
●making asides (comments in brackets on her own account as it develops).
For example:
1. I have a confession.
Has the writer done something seriously wrong?
→NO. It makes an interesting and ironic beginning.
The author is about to reveal a personal statement, which draws the reader into the passage.
The confession is actually about something small and quite trivial.
The writer uses the story of this experience to raise serious issues about credit cards and banks. 2. How did she do this? How could this be? I knew I earned more than her, my car was newer, and my house was smarter. How did she get to appear more flash than me?
What effect does the series of questions have?
→rhetorical questions
To share the writer’s feelings with us
To emphasize how the writer was surprised & puzzled by the high-status gold card of her friend.
3. She has a student loan of ￡3,000, like most of her friends, and a small allowance from her poor mother (ha!) for transport, books, living expenses.
Ha! is an aside which indicates a laugh. What is the laugh for?
→a mocking or ironic laugh
I’m poor but still have money to give my daughter an allowance.
4. She hugged me (never usually does that) an d then said, “Mum, I need to talk to you.”
Why does the writer add the detail in brackets?
→making asides(旁白，独白)
How the daughter is being unusually nice to her mother.She wants to make a special request.
The daughter is going to raise a serious matter.
4. Text evaluation
Work in groups and discuss the questions, each group with one question only.
1) How have credit cards changed people’s attitude to money?
2) Is it immoral to encourage people to spend money that they don’t have?
3) If companies or businesses get into debt by overspending, should they be helped by the state?
4) Should schools teach children about money management?
5) Would the world be able to function without banks? If so, would it be a better place to live in? Suggested answers:
1) How have credit cards changed people’s attitude to money?
easy to buy things or pay for services without handling money
easy to lose track of what you are spending
more casual & carefree attitudes to money
spend more
a credit limit which allows an overdraft
encourage some people to get into debt when they cannot afford to do so.
2) Is it immoral to encourage people to spend money that they don’t have?
Yes, it is immoral because the credit card system invites people to get into debt
make the effort to help people who later get into financial difficulty instead of simply punishing them with high interest rates
try their best to pay off their debts as soon as possible
3) If companies or businesses get into debt by overspending, should they be helped by the state?
2 issues: ①how the help will be given and what conditions are made to the companies;
②which companies will receive help—there have to be publicized criteria about which
companies are considered to be vital for society.
4) Should schools teach children about money management?
an essential topic
bring together different aspects of money management to create a focus for children
●financial calculations
●setting goals, planning in steps & making decisions
●ethics and morality in money management
●relating money management to family life and personals, & household budgets
5) Would the world be able to function without banks? If so, would it be a better place to live in?
The present world can’t really function without them but it would be a happier place if banks gave priority to trust, security and public benefits.
3. Summary
Summarise the text by filling the blanks.
Today, we are caught in the credit crunch because banks set traps which appeal to 1) our vanity and greed and sometimes to our basic need for survival .
The banks give a false sense of superiority to people with 2) exclusive gold credit cards
in hard. They target people who are prone to 3)impulse-buying, and 4) potentially bad credit risks, tempted to 5) spend more than they have, and liable to 6) fall behind with repayments. They lure impoverished students with 7)unrealistic interest rates.
They charge people who go over the limit the exorbitant interest but omit to tell them the interest paid is not for the debt, but for 8) the overspend of the overdraft. By attracting us with their 9)endless publicity for loans of money, the banks earn money.
So how to get ourselves out of the traps? Lay out all of your credit cards in a line, take a large pair of scissors and cut them into small pieces. Then the banks have no 10) potential to tempt money away from you.
4. Difficult sentences
1) My credit card was a fairly pathetic--- whereas hers was a very exclusive gold one. (Para 1) Question: How did the writer feel?
She felt inferior and wanted a gold credit card too.
我的信用卡太寒酸了，是不显示身份地位的深蓝色卡，而她的信用卡则是高级的金卡。
2) They target people who are prone to impulse-buying-- liable to fall behind with repayments. (Para 7)
他们的目标客户是那些随时有购物刷卡的冲动、有潜在信用风险、经不住诱惑超支消费、经常延期还款的人。
3) After I’d hauled her back into the house... and so on. (Para 12)
What does subject to mean?
Here subject to indicates a likelihood that sth will happen.
我费了好大劲儿才把她从外面拽了回来。原来她的银行来信告诉她说：她可以申请一张试用期为三个月的、能够低息贷款的信用卡，只要满足要求······如此云云。
4) Naturally, there was a lengthy correspondence --- her debts began to rise more than ￡200 above the agreed limit on her overdraft of ￡1,500. (Para 14)
What does she went into the red mean?
It means she has spent more money than she has on her bank account.
通过书信同银行交涉的时间相当长，而未能及时支付帐户资金使得她欠了银行的债，欠款额超过了透支额度（1,500 英镑）200 多英镑。
5) And here we are today, caught in the credit crunch, -- attracting us with endless publicity for loans of money which even they didn’t have! (Para 24)
这就是我们现在的处。随着世界经济一落千丈，我们都处在信贷危机之中。所有这一切都是因为邪恶的银行家通过大量广告推销他们压根就不存在的贷款来吸引我们，给我们设圈套。
5. Language Points
1.对······感到很满意feel contented by
2.莫大的羞耻abject shame
3.付清信用卡欠款pay off credit debts
4.信用等级高have a good credit rating
5.从打击中回过神来recover from the shock
6.随时有购物刷卡的冲动be prone to impulse-buying
7.超支消费spend more than they have
8.超低利率unrealistic interest rates
9.担当保证人act as a guarantee
10.事情是这样的······It transpired that…
11.访问帐户资金access funds in sb’s current
12.欠债go into the red
13.超支go over the limit
14.事情越来越糟Things go from bad to worse.
15.消费节制有度have great restraint with one’s spending
16.生活节俭be economical about one’s lifestyle
17.继续完成大学学业have another go at university
18.设下陷阱set traps
19. 把······排成一排lay out sth in a line
20.从······身上骗钱tempt money away from
6. Debating
Form a group of four to debate the topic: it is necessary to get a student credit card.
7. Listening
Listen to a recording and find out the advantages and disadvantages of getting a student card as well as the advice.
A student credit card? Is it right for me, and can it help me pay for expenses online such as online courses, music, language-learning materials, or even a degree?
Actually, the answer might be yes or no, depending on your circumstances. Of course, probably the best advice is to save up and then make purchases with cash. Unfortunately, different online services often require a credit card. Here are some ideas to getting a credit card. First of all, obtaining a student credit card is becoming easier, and many companies are offering such cards to students in this growing market. From a student's perspective, it allows a person to pay for things online that only can be purchased on credit. Furthermore, it can help students build a good credit history that is often needed later for bigger purchases like a car or home.
In spite of these advantages, students have to be careful because interest rates on such cards are often higher and have higher penalties if you fail to pay on time. Furthermore, students may spend well beyond their means and end up in debt that they can't pay off.
Perhaps a happy medium is for students to get a debit card that has a credit limit, and money for purchases is just deducted from existing funds from a student's account. Thus, it operates like a checking account, and when the student's spending reaches the credit limit, they can't continue to spend.
Before you decide to get a student credit card, look carefully at the agreement terms for each company and compare the advantages and disadvantages of each. Searching the Internet for such offers will give you a good start on what to look for in a company.
Section 3 Assignments
Instructions
Compulsory Work:
1. Learn all the new words and expressions of this unit (Vocabulary Handbook).
2. Complete Ex. 3-7 on P52-5
3.
3. Read the passage in “Active reading (2)” after class and finish Ex. 3-6 on P57-58.
4. Read the passage in “Reading across cultures” after class and finish Ex. 1 on P62.
5. Finish “Language in Use” on P60-61.
Optional Work:
1. Reading and interpreting: Understanding writer’s attitude. (P54)
2. Guided writing: Giving advice (P63).
Section 4 Unit Project
Directions: Write an article on the title of “Banking and money in China: a visitor’s guide” for about 400 words according to the following outline.
Outline:
?description of Chinese coins and banknotes
?practical information about banks, eg opening hours
?instructions about how to open a bank account
?overview of main features of banking system
?note on the availability of ATM machines
?advice for travellers in difficulty, eg lost credit cards
Keep in mind while writing:
?Keep the information short and practical.
?Make sure it’s up to date.
?Give plenty of friendly advice.
?Anticipate problems: Include tips about things visitors might find difficult. Evaluation criteria:
Language: 40%
Contents: 60%
7 Translate the paragraphs into Chinese. If you ask me, real life is not all it’s cracked up to be. Twelve years at school and three years at university, teachers banging on about opportunities in the big wide world beyond our sheltered life as students, and what do I find? Try as I might to stay cheerful, all I ever get is hassle, sometimes with people (especially boys, god, when will they grow up?), but mostly with money. It’s just so expensive out here! Everyone wants a slice off you. The Inland Revenue wants to deduct income tax, the bank manager wants repayments on my student loan, the landlord wants the rent, gas, water, electricity and my mobile bills keep coming in, and all that’s before I’ve had anything to eat. And then some bright spark calls me out of the blue, asking if I’m interested in buying a pension. At this rate, I won’t even last till the end of the year, let alone till I’m 60.（?翻译时可以根据上下文增译，即增加原文暗含了但没有直接表达出来的意思。如最后一句译文加了“领养老金”，点出了与上一句的关联。）依我看，现实生活与人们想象的不一样。我们上了12年的中、小学，又上了3年的大学，这期间老师们一直在没完没了地谈论在安宁的学生生活之外那个广阔天地里的各种机会，可我遇到的又是什么呢？ 无论我怎么想保持心情愉快，麻烦事总是接踵而来：有时是跟人争吵（尤其是跟男孩，天哪！他们什么时候才能长大？），但通常是为钱发愁。这个地方什么东西都很贵！人人都想从我身上拿点钱去：国税局要收个人所得税，银行经理要我偿清学生贷款，房东催我交房租、燃气费、水费、电费，手机账单也不断地寄来。所有这些还没算上吃饭的钱。更可气的是，不知从哪里冒出一个自作聪明的家伙冷不丁地给我打电话，问我要不要买养老金。照这样下去，我连今年都活不过去了，更别提活到60岁领养老金了。 6 Translate the paragraph into Chinese. Indubitably the vast majority of books overlap one another. Few indeed are those which give the impression of originality, either in style or in content. Rare are the unique books – less than 50, perhaps, out of the whole storehouse of literature. In one of his recent autobiographical novels, Blaise Cendrars points out that Rémy de Gourmont, because of his knowledge and awareness of this repetitive quality in books, was able to select and read all that is worthwhile in the entire realm of literature. Cendrars himself – who would suspect it? – is a prodigious reader. He reads most authors in their original tongue. Not only that, but when he likes an author he reads every last book the man has written, as well as his letters and all the books that have been written about him. In our day his case is almost unparalleled, I imagine. For, not only has he read widely and deeply, but he has himself written a great many books. All on the side, as it were. For, if he is anything, Cendrars, he is a man of action, an adventurer and explorer, a man who has known how to “waste” his time royally. He is, in a sense, the Julius Caesar of literature. （几处倒装句应灵活处理，以体现原文语气。every last book the man has written 等于all the books he has written。注意这段话的逻辑关系。If he is anything, he is a man of…一句中的if 从句起强调作用，说明他不是一个书生或思想家，而是一个行动家。此处需灵活翻译。） 不容置疑的是，大多数书都互相重复，在文体或内容上让人感到具有独创性的书实在是少之又少。在整个文学库藏中，或许只有极少数作品——不到50本——是独具一格的。在最近出版的一部自传体小说中，布莱斯·桑德拉尔指出，雷米·德·古尔蒙之所以能够选择并通读文学领域中一切值得读的书籍，就是因为他知识渊博，了解书的这种重复性。没有人会怀疑桑德拉尔本人就是一个博览群书的人，他阅读了大部分独具个性的作家的作品。不仅如此，一旦他喜欢上一个作家，就会阅读这个人写的每一本书，包括他的书信以及所有有关他的书籍。我猜想，在当
Unit 1 The idea of becoming a writer had come to me off and on since my childhood in Belleville, but it wasn't until my third year in high school that the possibility took hold. Until then I'd been bored by everything associated with English courses. I found English grammar dull and difficult. I hated the assignments to turn out long, lifeless paragraphs that were agony for teachers to read and for me to write. When our class was assigned to Mr. Fleagle for third-year English I anticipated another cheerless year in that most tedious of subjects. Mr. Fleagle had a reputation among students for dullness and inability to inspire. He was said to be very formal, rigid and hopelessly out of date. To me he looked to be sixty or seventy and excessively prim. He wore primly severe eyeglasses, his wavy hair was primly cut and primly combed. He wore prim suits with neckties set primly against the collar buttons of his white shirts. He had a primly pointed jaw, a primly straight nose, and a prim manner of speaking that was so correct, so gentlemanly,
Unit1 reading2 if you ask me This is an informal and personalized account of an economic graduate who gets a job in a pub for a year and then has an opportunity to be successful (a lucky break). Since her family can’t support her to further study, she has to work. She has financial problems and feels lonely. She tells her troubles to Tony, a regular customer of the pub, who talks to some friends and gets her a loan to set up a business. With this help she has her master’s degree and her own company. however, unluckliy,Tony is disabled after an accident and needs the repayment of the loan to adapt his house for his disability. She pay back Tony’s help, and Tony thinks that investing in people gives the best return you can ever hope for. Unit2 reading1 Reading is a life-changing activity. It helps us enter a new world and liberate us from the real world we come from; it stimulates our emotions and allows us enjoy and celebrate the variety and difference from books; it aids us to get out of confusion in a material world and to discover the real meaning of the life. Simply put, books are supremely influential in the way we live. Homerun book might be the answer for the book that everyone should read. It describes the first reading experience that
新标准大学英语综合教程4第二版unit1-6课文翻译及课后翻译
英语翻译 Unit one Nine to five passage1 大学毕业找工作的第一要义：别躺在沙发上做梦 今年夏天，超过65 万的大学生毕业离校，其中有许多人根本不知道怎么找工作。在当今金融危机的背景下，做父母的该如何激励他们？ 1 七月，你看着英俊的21岁的儿子穿上学士袍，戴上四方帽，骄傲地握着大学荣誉学位证书，拍毕业照。这时，记忆中每年支付几千英镑，好让儿子吃好、并能偶尔参加聚会的记忆开始消退。但现在，你又不得不再考虑钱的问题。 2 等到暑假快要结束，全国各地的学生正在为新学期做准备的时候，你却发现大学毕业的儿子还歪躺在沙发上看电视。除此之外，他只是偶尔发发短信，浏览社交网站Facebook，或者去酒吧喝酒。这位属于“千禧一代”的年轻人一夜之间变成了“抱怨一代”的成员。他能找到工作吗？ 3 这就是成千上万家庭所面临的状况：今年夏天，超过65万的大学生毕业，在当今金融危机的背景下，他们中的大多数人不知道自己下一步该做什么。父母只会唠叨，而儿女们则毫无缘由地变成了叛逆者。他们知道自己该找份工作，但却不知道如何去找。 4 来自米德尔塞克斯郡的杰克·古德温今年夏天从诺丁汉大学政治学系毕业，获得二级一等荣誉学士学位。他走进大学就业服务中心，但又径直走了出来，因为他看见很多人在那里排长队。跟他一起住的另外5个男孩子也都跟他一样，进去又出来了。找工作的压力不大，虽然他所认识的大多数女生都有更明确的计划。 5 他说：“我申请政治学研究工作，但被拒绝了。他们给的年薪是1.8万镑，交完房租后所剩无几，也就够买一罐豆子，可他们还要有工作经历或硕士学位的人。然后我又申请参加快速晋升人才培养计划，并通过了笔试。但在面试时，他们说我‘太冷漠’了，谈吐‘太像专家政治论者’。我觉得自己不可能那样，但我显然就是那样的。” 6 打那以后，他整个夏天都在“隐身”。他能够轻松地复述出电视剧《交通警察》中的若干片段。他白天看电视的时间太长，已经到了影响健康的地步。跟朋友谈起自己漫无目标的日子时，他才发现他们的处境和自己一样。其中一位朋友在父母的逼迫下去超市上货，其余的则都是朝九晚五地“无所事事”，晚上则去酒吧喝酒打发时间。要么，干脆就在酒吧工作？这样还可以挣些酒钱。“我不想在酒吧工作。我上的是综合学校，我拼命读书才考上了一所好大学。到了大学，我又埋头苦读，才取得一个好学位。可现在我却跟那些没上过大学的做无聊的酒吧侍应的朋友处在同一个水平线上。我觉得自己好像兜了一圈，又回到了原来的起点。” 7 他的母亲杰奎琳·古德温替他辩护。她坚持认为她的儿子已经尽力找工作了。但由于她自己中学毕业后一直都在工作，所以她和她的丈夫发现，建议儿子如何继续找工作是件很棘手的事情。她说：“我一直都不得不工作。而现在的年轻人很难做到这一点，因为如果你有了学位，学位就会为你提供新的机会，至少你自己会这么想。” 8 虽然目前她对儿子的态度还比较温和，但是她心里很清楚，去南美度三星期的假之后，他的休假就该结束了。他可能还得付房租，并分担家庭开支。 9 她说：“在某个时候孩子们总要长大成人。我们已经帮他交了大学的学费，
Unit 1 Personal Qualities I. Teaching aims and demands 1. Understand the background knowledge 2. Learn about the new words and phrases 3. Grasp the main idea and structure of the text 4. Conduct a series of reading, listening, speaking and writing activities II. Teaching importance and difficulties 1.Background information 2.The usage of some new words and phrases 3.Some sentence patterns difficult to understand III. Teaching methods A combination of traditional teaching methods with the communicative approach will be adopted. Special attention should be paid to classroom interaction. More encouragement is needed and more guidance will be given to them in their extracurricular study. Use the multimedia device where necessary. IV. Teaching procedure a. Warming-up Activities 1.Duty Report Have a brainstorming about words to describe personal qualities https://www.doczj.com/doc/9f5888352.html,rmation related to the text 1) Cross-cultural communication The key to effective cross-cultural communication is knowledge. First, it is essential that people understand the potential problems of cross-cultural communication, and make a conscious effort to overcome these problems. Second, it is important to assume that one’s efforts will not always be successful, and adjust one’s behavior appropriately. For example, one should always assume that there is a significant possibility that cultural differences are causing communication problems, and be willing to be patient and forgiving, rather than hostile and aggressive, if problems develop. One should respond slowly and carefully in cross-cultural exchanges, not jumping to the conclusion that you know what is being thought and said. Active listening can sometimes be used to check this out–by repeating what one thinks he or she heard, one can confirm that one understands the communication accurately. If words are used differently between languages or cultural groups, however, even active listening can overlook misunderstandings. 2) Personal qualities Personal qualities are personal characteristics of an individual. They are what make up one's personality. They help a person get along in a new situation. For example, dependability and patience are qualities that employers would like a good worker to have. Other qualities employers value are: honesty, assertiveness, flexibility, problem solving, friendliness, intelligence, leadership, enthusiasm, and a good sense of humor.Most employers want people who are dependable and who get along with others. Though skills are important, an employer will select new employees based
Para1 An artist who seeks fame is like a dogchasing his own tail who, when he captures it, does not know what else to do but to continue chasing it.The cruelty of success is that it often leads those who seek such success to participate in their own destruction. 艺术家追求成名，如同狗自逐其尾，一旦追到手，除了继续追逐不知还能做些什么。成功之残酷正在于它常常让那些追逐成功者自寻毁灭。 "Don't quit your day job!" is advice frequently given by understandably pessimistic family members and friends to a budding artist who is trying hard to succeed. The conquest of fame is difficult at best, and many end up emotionally if not financially bankrupt. Still, impure motives such as the desire for worshipping fans and praise from peers may spur the artist on. The lure of drowning in fame's imperial glory is not easily resisted. 对一名正努力追求成功并刚刚崭露头角的艺术家，其亲朋常常会建议“正经的饭碗不能丢！”他们的担心不无道理。追求出人头地，最乐观地说也困难重重，许多人到最后即使不是穷困潦倒，也是几近精神崩溃。 Fame's spotlight can be hotter than a tropical jungle－a fraud is quickly exposed, and the pressure of so much attention is too much for most to endure.It takes you out of yourself: You must be what the public thinks you are, not what you really are or could be. The performer, like the politician, must often please his or her audiences by saying things he or she does not mean or fully believe. Curiously enough, it is those who fail that reap the greatest reward: freedom! They enjoy the freedom to express themselves in unique and original ways without fear of losing the support of fans. Failed artists may find comfort in knowing that many great artists never found fame until well after they had passed away or in knowing that they did not sell out. They may justify their failure by convincing themselves their genius is too sophisticated for contemporary audiences. Unit2 He was an immensely talented man, determined to a degree unusual even in the ranks of Hollywood stars. His huge fame gave him the freedom—and, more importantly, the money—to be his own master. He already had the urge to explore and extend a talent he discovered in himself as he went along. "It can't be me. Is that possible? How extraordinary," is how he greeted the first sight of himself as the Tramp on the screen. But that shock rousedhis imagination.Chaplin didn't have his jokes written into a script in advance; he was the kind of comic who used his physical senses to invent his art as he went along. Lifeless objects especially helped Chaplin make "contact" with himself as an artist. He turned them into other kinds of objects. Thus, a broken alarm clock in the movie The Pawnbroker became a "sick" patient undergoing surgery; boots were boiled in his film The Gold Rush and their soles eaten with salt and pepper like prime cuts of fish (the nails being removed like fish bones). This physical transformation, plus the skill with which he executed it again and again, is surely the secret of Chaplin's great comedy. He also had a deep need to be loved—and a corresponding fear of being betrayed. The two were hard to combine and sometimes—as in his early marriages—the collision between them resulted in disaster. Yet even this painfully-bought self-knowledge found its way into his comic creations. The Tramp never loses his faith in the flower girl who'll be waiting to walk into the sunset with him; while the other side of Chaplin makes Monsieur Verdoux, the French wife killer, into a symbol of hatred for women.
New Horizon College English (Book 4)
I. Warm-up activities 1.Background information Chrysler Corporation (A) The Chrysler Corporation, founded in 1924, used to be one of the three largest American automobile manufacturers whose brands include both passenger and commercial vehicles such as Chrysler, Jeep? and Dodge. The two other largest American automobile manufacturers are General Motors and Ford. Chrysler Corporation (B) In addition to auto making, Chrysler is also engaged in financial services, providing loan services (mostly) to car buyers. In 1998 it merged with Daimler-Benz AG (of Germany) (best known for its Mercedes-Benz brand name) to become part of the DaimlerChrysler Corporation, which is jointly owned by European, U.S. and other international investors. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (A) A U.S. government agency, whose mission is to protect investors and maintain the integrity of the securities markets. The Commission was set up by the U.S. Congress in 1933 in response to “Black Monday”, the Great Stock Market Crash in 1929. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (B) Its purpose was to restore investor confidence in the U.S. capital markets by providing more structure and government oversight. It is based on the concept that all investors, whether large institutions or private individuals, should have access to certain basic facts about an investment prior to buying it. To achieve this, the SEC requires public companies to disclose meaningful financial and other information to the public, which provides a common pool of knowledge for all investors to use to judge for themselves if a company’s securities are a good investment. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (C) It is believed that only through the steady flow of timely, comprehensive and accurate information can people make sound investment decisions. At present the SEC is comprised of five presidentially-appointed Commissioners, four Divisions and 18 Offices, with a total of about 3,100 staff. The International Chamber of Commerce (A) The aim of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), founded in 1919, is to serve world business by promoting trade and investment, open markets for goods and services, and the free flow of capital. The International Chamber of Commerce (B) Its activities cover a broad spectrum, from arbitration and dispute resolution to making the case for open trade and the market economy system, business self-regulation, fighting corruption or combating commercial crime. The ICC is made of a World Council (its governing body) and individual national committees and groups. Individual companies, corporations, professional associations as well as individuals can also join the ICC as individual members. 2.Questions and answers 1)-Why do business students study professional ethics? People feel that bribery is increasing throughout the world. One day, business students will grow into managers of all ranks and in all fields. If they should offer or take bribes in their positions, corruption and unfair competition would result. In that case, normal economic order would be ruined, and people in business circles would have no commonly agreed principles to follow. To
Who Is Great? Michael Ryan As a young boy, Albert Einstein did so poorly in school that teachers thought he was slow. The young Napoleon Bonaparte was just one of hundreds of artillery lieutenants in the French Army. And the teenage George Washington, with little formal education, was being trained not as a soldier but as a land surveyor. Despite their unspectacular beginnings, each would go on to carve a place for himself in history. What was it that enabled them to become great? Were they born with something special? Or did their greatness have more to do with timing, devotion and, perhaps, an uncompromising personality? For decades, scientists have been asking such questions. And, in the past few years, they have found evidence to help explain why some people rise above, while others—similarly talented, perhaps—are left behind. Their findings could have implications for us all. Who is great? Defining who is great depends on how one measures success. But there are some criteria. "Someone who has made a lasting contribution to human civilization is great," said Dean Keith Simonton, a professor of psychology at the University of California at Davis and author of the 1994 book Greatness: Who Makes History and Why. But he added a word of caution: "Sometimes great people don't make it into the history books. A lot of women achieved great things or were influential but went unrecognized." In writing his book, Simonton combined historical knowledge about great figures with recent findings in genetics, psychiatry and the social sciences. The great figures he focused on include men and women who have won Nobel Prizes, led great nations or won wars, composed symphonies that have endured for centuries, or revolutionized science, philosophy, politics or the arts. Though he doesn't have a formula to define how or why certain people rise above (too many factors are involved), he has come up with a few common characteristics. A "never surrender" attitude. If great achievers share anything, said
危险!书可能会改变你的人生 1 刘易斯?卡罗尔书中的爱丽丝不小心掉进了兔子洞里，但她在那里发现了一个神奇的仙境。当我们打开一本书时，我们也会像爱丽丝那样走进一个全新的世界。我们能从一个年长者的角度，或通过一个孩子的眼睛来观察生活；我们可以周游世界，遍访现实生活中从没想过要访问的国家和文化；我们可以体验未曾经历过的事情，这些事情也许令人困惑，也许引人入胜；可能是不愉快的，也可能是令人痛苦的，但无论如何都至少能把我们从现实世界中解放出来。 2 英国诗人威廉?柯珀（1731—1800）说：“变化是生活的调味品，它让生活变得有滋有味。”虽然他没有说在什么地方以及怎样才能找到变化，但我们知道他说得对。我们知道我们生活在一个充满变化与差异的世界里，我们知道人们的生活各不相同，过日子的方式也不尽相同，人们做不同的工作，有不同的信仰，持不同的观点，有不同的风俗习惯，操不同的语言。通常，我们不知道这些差异的大小，但一旦发生了不平常的事情并引起了我们的注意，这种变化或差异与其说是机会，毋宁说是威胁。 3 读书让我们能够安全地享受和庆贺这种变化与差异，并为我们提供成长的机会。在家里安详平和的环境中与他人的生活互动，这是阅读小说才享有的特权。我们甚至感觉到——哪怕只是在一瞬间——我们和其他文化读者的共同点或许要多于我们和家门口随便碰到的一个人的共同点。我们学会把目光移出我们周围的环境，投向天边，去领略一下异域风光。 4 如果我们怀疑读书是否能给我们力量的话，我们就应该自己去一趟当地的图书馆或书店，或者，如果我们足够幸运的话，可以读一读家里书架上的书。我们会惊奇于古今小说的标题所创造出来的壮观景象：约翰?斯坦贝克的《愤怒的葡萄》、约翰?欧文的《第四只手》、亚历山大?索尔仁尼琴的《癌病房》、欧内斯特?海明威的《丧钟为谁而鸣》、格雷厄姆?格林的《哈瓦那特派员》、奥黛丽?尼芬格的《时间旅行者的妻子》、保罗?托迪的《到也门钓鲑鱼》。一旦开始阅读，我们就应该思考一下我们在书中读到的别样人生。 5 每一本书都有自己的语言、方言、词汇和语法。我们不见得总能理解其中的每一个字、每一句话，但不管我们是痴迷其中，还是觉得被排斥在外，我们的情感被调动起来了。尽管在地理上有一定的距离，但其他民族、其他文化未必就离我们那么遥远。在书里我们可能遇见生活在不同气候、有不同信仰、属于不同种族的人。即便是住在同一条街上的邻居，我们也可能对其一无所知，而只能通过阅读结识。