大学英语精读第二册1-6单元课文原文 精品文档
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The Dinner Party
Mona Gardner
I first heard this tale in India, where it is told as if true — though any
naturalist would know it couldn’t be. Later someone told me that the
story appeared in a magazine shortly before the First World War. That
magazine story, and the person who wrote it, I have never been able to
track down.
The country is India. A colonial official and his wife are giving a large
dinner party. They are seated with their guests — officers and their wives,
and a visiting American naturalist — in their spacious dining room,
which has a bare marble floor, open rafters and wide glass doors opening
onto a veranda.
A spirited discussion springs up between a young girl who says that
women have outgrown the jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse
era and a major who says that they haven’t.
“A woman’s reaction in any crisis,” the major says, “is to scream. And
while a man may feel like it, he has that ounce more of control than a
woman has. And that last ounce is what really counts.”
The American does not join in the argument but watches the other
guests. As he looks, he sees a strange expression come over the face of 精品文档
收集于网络，如有侵权请联系管理员删除 the hostess. She is staring straight ahead, her muscles contracting slightly.
She motions to the native boy standing behind her chair and whispers
something to him. The boy’s eyes widen: he quickly leaves the room.
Of the guests, none except the American notices this or sees the boy
place a bowl of milk on the veranda just outside the open doors.
The American comes to with a start. In India, milk in a bowl means
only one thing — bait for a snake. He realizes there must be a cobra in
the room. He looks up at the rafters — the likeliest place — but they are
bare. Three corners of the room are empty, and in the fourth the servants
are waiting to serve the next course. There is only one place left — under
the table.
His first impulse is to jump back and warn the others, but he knows the
commotion would frighten the cobra into striking. He speaks quickly, the
tone of his voice so commanding that it silences everyone.
“I want to know just what control everyone at this table has. I will
count three hundred — that’s five minutes — and not one of you is to
move a muscle. Those who move will forfeit 50 rupees. Ready!”
The 20 people sit like stone images while he counts. He is saying “...
two hundred and eighty…” when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees the
cobra emerge and make for the bowl of milk. Screams ring out as he
jumps to slam the veranda doors safely shut. 精品文档
收集于网络，如有侵权请联系管理员删除 “You were right, Major!” the host exclaims. “A man has just shown us
an example of perfect self-control.”
“Just a minute,” the American says, turning to his hostess. “Mrs.
Wynnes, how did you know that cobra was in the room?”
A faint smile lights up the woman’s face as she replies: “Because it
was crawling across my foot.”
第二单元
Lessons from Jefferson
Bruce Bliven
1 Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, may be less
famous than George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but most people
remember at least one fact about him: he wrote the Declaration of
Independence.
2 Although Jefferson lived more than 200 years ago, there is much that
we can learn from him today. Many of his ideas are especially interesting
to modern youth. Here are some of the things he said and wrote:
3 Go and see. Jefferson believed that a free man obtains knowledge from
many sources besides books and that personal investigation is important.
When still a young man, he was appointed to a committee to find out
whether the South Branch of the James River was deep enough to be used
by large boats. While the other members of the committee sat in the state 精品文档
收集于网络，如有侵权请联系管理员删除 capitol and studied papers on the subject, Jefferson got into a canoe and
made on-the-spot observations.
4 You can learn from everyone. By birth and by education Jefferson
belonged to the highest social class. Yet, in a day when few noble persons
ever spoke to those of humble origins except to give an order, Jefferson
went out of his way to talk with gardeners, servants, and waiters.
Jefferson once said to the French nobleman, Lafayette, “You must go into
the people’s homes as I have done, look into their cooking pots and eat
their bread. If you will only do this, you may find out why people are
dissatisfied and understand the revolution that is threatening France.”
5 Judge for yourself. Jefferson refused to accept other people’s opinions
without careful thought. “Neither believe nor reject anything,” he wrote
to his nephew, “because any other person has rejected or believed it.
Heaven has given you a mind for judging truth and error. Use it.”
6 Jefferson felt that the people “may safely be trusted to hear everything
true and false, and to form a correct judgment. Were it left to me to
decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or
newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to
prefer the latter.”
7 Do what you believe is right. In a free country there will always be
conflicting ideas, and this is a source of strength. It is conflict and not
unquestioning agreement that keeps freedom alive. Though Jefferson was
