unit3 A place lingering in our memory
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Unit3A Audrey Hepbur n- A true angelin this world奥黛丽·赫本——人间天使Audrey Hepbur n thrill ed audien ces with starri ng rolesin notewo rthyfilmslike Breakf ast at Tiffan y's, Sabrin a, RomanHolida y, My Fair Lady, War and Peace, and Always.奥黛丽·赫本在《蒂凡尼的早餐》、《龙凤配》、《罗马假日》、《窈窕淑女》、《战争与和平》和《直到永远》等出色电影中主演的许多角色让观众为之陶醉。
Despit e her succes s in the film domain, the rolesshe most prefer red portra yingwere not in movies. She was an exempl ary mother to her two sons and a UNICEF (the United Nation s Intern ation al Childr en's Emerge ncy Fund) Ambass adorof Goodwi ll servin g victim s in war-torn countr ies.尽管在电影界获得成功,但她最愿意塑造的角色却并不在影片中,而是做两个儿子的模范母亲和联合国儿童基金会亲善大使,为饱受战争蹂躏的人们服务。
As a younggirl during the Nazi occupa tionof her native Hollan d, Audrey Hepbur n was awareof the brutal ity, death, and destru ctionof war. She was hungry and malnou rishe d, as her family was bankru ptedas a result of the invasi on. Audrey's father abando ned the family, and two of her uncles were takencaptiv e and killed. Audrey was grabbe d off the street by Nazisand placed in line to be sent to a work camp. When the guards glance d away she darted off, barely escapi ng, and huddle d in a cold, foul baseme nt full of rats.作为一名在纳粹占领下的祖国荷兰生活的小女孩,奥黛丽·赫本清楚战争所带来的野蛮、死亡和破坏。
Unit 3Text A Audrey Hepburn — A true angel in this world1 Audrey Hepburn thrilled audiences with starring roles in noteworthy films like Breakfast at Tiffany's, Sabrina, Roman Holiday, My Fair Lady, War and Peace, and Always.2 Despite her success in the film domain, the roles she most preferred portraying were not in movies. She was an exemplary mother to her two sons and a UNICEF (the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) Ambassador of Goodwill serving victims in war-torn countries.3 As a young girl during the Nazi occupation of her native Holland, Audrey Hepburn was aware of the brutality, death, and destruction of war. She was hungry and malnourished, as her family was bankrupted as a result of the invasion. Audrey's father abandoned the family, and two of her uncles were taken captive and killed. Audrey was grabbed off the street by Nazis and placed in line to be sent to a work camp. When the guards glanced away she darted off, barely escaping, and huddled ina cold, foul basement full of rats.4 The little girl who would become the world's most magical actress began as an anonymous refugee confronting life's horrors and fragility firsthand. But she refused to allow her spirit to be afflicted by the desperate reality of her young life. Instead, she transcended those challenges but never forgot what it felt like to suffer, to be hungry, alone and helpless.5 After the war, Audrey and her mother left Holland, arriving in London as poor immigrants. Her dream of becoming a prime dancer drove her into a rigorous schedule at a famous ballet school. Later, she was spotted by a producer and eventually landed a role in the film Roman Holiday starring Gregory Peck, one of Hollywood's top leading men.6 Soon, Audrey was transformed from a malnourished immigrant to an internationally famous movie star. Director Billy Wilder complimented her, saying, "Audrey walked beautifully, she spoke beautifully." Although she won many Academy Awards and other honors for acting, Audrey felt that her most significant work was humanitarian work with those in need, and as the mother to her two sons. She suffered through two divorces and from her memories of the war. Yet, Audrey never let her sadness overcome her or jeopardize her hope for a brighter future. Audrey finally met her soul mate, Robert Wolders, and spent the last 12 years of her life with him.7 Becoming famous never changed Audrey's generous and compassionate character. She felt a deep sense of responsibility to alleviate suffering of those in need, especially children. Friends said Audrey had a complete lack of ego and accepted and appreciated others as they were.8 Though she became very wealthy, she owned only one home in Switzerland. For Audrey it wasa paradise where she could hide from the world with her beloved family, work in her garden and take long walks in nature.9 In 1988, Audrey was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF designed to provide emergency food and healthcare to children suffering the destruction of war or other catastrophes. In that role, her lifelong passion for helping those in need, found its greatest calling.10 She turned down three million dollars to pen her autobiography and instead accepted one dollar a year in the more conscientious role as diplomat for UNICEF. For seven months out of each of her last five years, she and Robby left the peace and beauty in their cozy home to embark on outreach trips into some of the most difficult places on earth. From Bangladesh, Sudan, India, Vietnam, Kenya, Ethiopia, Central and South America, to Somalia, Audrey Hepburn traveled representing UNICEF, making over 50 emotionally draining and physically dangerous missions into bleak destinations to raise world awareness of wars and droughts. Having been a victim of war, she understood the blessing of being the beneficiary of food, clothing, and, most of all, hope.11 Audrey felt it was wicked that billions of children were deprived of simple joys and drowned in overwhelming misery. She believed deeply in the ideology that all people share in the duty to care for those in need. Audrey Hepburn was always ready to lead by example. She said: "When you deny childhood, you deny life." She saw UNICEF's work as an integral, sacred force in people's lives and said of UNICEF's results, "Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist."12 In 1992, Audrey was stricken by cancer. She, Robby and her two sons returned to their home in Switzerland for their last Christmas together.13 Audrey's long-time friend and world-famous French fashion designer, Hubert de Givenchy, spoke to his cherished friend for the last time, just before she died. He said she was "... serene at the end because she knew she had achieved everything with perfection".14 Audrey Hepburn's passion for service was enduring. Even as her life ended at 63 years of age, she remained a gracious woman who perpetually signified simplicity, charity, charm and kindness.15 The majesty of Audrey Hepburn's spirit of social responsibility and dedication lives on in her words: "Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm. As you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others." And "For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."Unit 3Text B A life in filmSteven had to face rejections and obstacles in his film-creating efforts, but his persistence and dedication transformed the obstacles into an alternative route to success.1 At 12 years old, Steven Spielberg was already visiting film shootings at Universal Studios in his office suit, a packed lunch tucked into his briefcase. The young boy tried to immerse himself in film in any way possible. He had been given an administrative job at Universal Studios from a friend of his father's, and every day, even though he didn't have a legitimate security pass, he would try to manipulate his way past the guards and into his personal paradise. Such persistence is hardly surprising from a boy whose lifelong conviction was to "Make sure you are right and go on!" (adopted from a 1954 Disney film).2 When Steven was eight years old, his father gave him a Brownie 8 mm film camera as his birthday present. Steven immediately began collecting footage of family events, and he simulated action scenes with his miniature toy spacecraft, populating his films with his neighborhood friends as actors. People quickly began to recognize his terrific talent, and he won a prize for cinematography for his early westernThe Last Gunfight; years later, he won a national contest for his film Escape to Nowhere. His film Firelight was twice analyzed by a national newspaper and was presented in the city theater as if it were a Hollywood premiere. By the time he was 17 years old, Steven had established himself as a director with the artistic intuition of a man twice his age.3 His achievements are certainly related to the personal obstacles and setbacks he faced from an early age. Steven's family moved often, so that he was constantly trying to find his place in a turbulent environment with new people. Despite his natural intelligence, Steven had a carefree attitude and put little effort into school. He consistently earned only a C average, or lower. Socially, he wasn't athletic or popular, and since his conspicuous interest in film made him seem eccentric, classmates shunned and mocked him.4 His home life was not ideal either, as his father's rigid engineering temperament could not understand his or his mother's artistic personalities. Steven would miss his father when he was gone for long work trips, and then reverted to furiously arguing with him as soon as he returned. Finally, when he was in high school, his parents ended their unhappy marriage with a divorce. The theme of the lack of a father figure consistently infected Steven's films.5 Unfriendly surroundings at home and school made Steven strive even harder to achieve in the film world. He applied to two of the best film schools in the country: the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles. But even with a formidable 10 years of experiences in filmmaking and his friends atUniversal Studios endorsing him, his grades were too poor, and he was flatly turned down at both institutions.6 Unwilling to give up, Steven entered the California State University, where he hoped the program in TV and radio might open his way to Hollywood. Unfortunately, the university was not suited to his experience, and one academician recalled, "Steven knew more about cameras, mounts, and lenses than anyone else in the department. He could teach there." Despite his manifest talent, his low grades sabotaged transfer attempts, forcing real film schools to withhold acceptance.7 Steven contrived to rectify the situation on his own by diverting his attention away from academics. He cleaned his old suit and briefcase and returned to visiting Universal Studios where he had worked as a boy. He discreetly sneaked into any department he could, such as shooting rooms, editing and sound-mixing studios, and he quietly watched until he was discovered and ordered to leave. Introducing himself under the pretext of being either an actor, director, or producer, he would invite people to dinner to make connections and learn as much as he could. Even though he was caught and expelled at least once a day, he always returned to smuggle himself back in again.8 Steven repeatedly tried to prove himself to the Universal executives, while working in a cafeteria to save up money for equipment. He would discretely create scenes and then shoot and re-shoot his movies. He kept upgrading from 8 to 16 and finally 35 mm film before he was allowed a screening. Finally, his film Amblin was given a chance in front of the executives. It was a short, silent film and the plot differed greatly from the sci-fiand combat films that would later predominate Steven's career. Still, the short film was awesome enough to win Steven, only 21 years old, a seven-year contract with Universal Studios.9 After directing smaller TV dramas and low-budget projects, Steven earned the chance to direct his big Hollywood debut: a thriller film starring a shark! Jaws was a box office hit and it made Steven famous. He continued his relationship with Universal Studios to produce the notable moviesE.T., Jurassic Park, and Schindler's List.10 As his first producer said, "It is not by any coincidence that Steven is in his present position." Instead, it is Steven's committed spirit that has strengthened him in standing fast against all rejections, prejudice and skepticism and driven him to keep moving onward.。
Unit3SummarisingFor the sake of clarity, we 1) ___split up_______ the process of listening to music into three hypothetical planes. Firstly, 2) _______the sensuous plane. It is a kind of 3) brainless but attractive state of mind _ engendered by the mere 4) __sound appeal__ of the music. Secondly, 5)the expressive plane_____. It is when we believe each piece of music has a theme, which 6) ____mirrors a different world of feeling____, such as gaiety, sadness. Thirdly, 7) ___the musical plane_____. It is the ability to experience different 8) musical elements___, such as melodies, the rhythms, the harmonies, the tone colors etc. We usually listen to music on all three planes.重点难句1.For lack of a better terminology, one might name these: (1) the sensuous plane, (2) the expressive plane, (3) the sheerly musical plane. (Para 1)由于缺乏更好的术语,我们姑且把它们命名为:(1)感官层次;(2)表现层次;(3)纯音乐层次。
Improve your memory,improve your life提高你的记忆力,改善你的生活1.Have you ever been embarrassed because you forget something important?你有过尴尬因为你忘记了什么重要的东西吗?2.What kinds of things do you have the most trouble remembering? 你们有什么最难记住?1.Mark began to introduce the guest speaker to the audience, but then paused in horror. He had forgotten her name.马克开始介绍嘉宾给观众,然后停在恐怖。
他已经忘了她的名字。
2.Barbara hid her jewelry when she went on vacation. When she came back, she couldn’t remember where she’s put it.巴巴拉把她的首饰时,她去度假。
当她回来的时候,她不记得她在哪里放。
1.Perhaps you have had experiences like these. Most people have.也许你有过这样的经历。
大多数人都有。
And, what’s more, most people have resigned themselves to a life of forgetting. 而且,更重要的是,大多数人不得不接受生活的遗忘。
They are unaware of a simple but important fact:他们没有意识到的一个简单但重要的事实:Memory can be developed. If you will just accept that fact, this book will show you how.记忆是如何形成的。
LESSON 3 MEMORIES OF CHRISTMAS[原文呈现]I still remember the last Christmas Granny spent with us.[1]It began in the middle of November on a cold, windy day.I remember the wind because Granny's grey hair was a mess①when she arrived.That was also the day Granny moved in②.Somehow③,at the time, I didn't know she was sick.Maybe I was too young, maybe she hid it too well, or maybe I was just too excited that Christmas was on the way④.After Granny moved in, she spent most of her time on the brown sofa by the fire⑤.Sometimes she was quiet, but she seemed happy.When I wrote a letter to Father Christmas telling him about the presents I wanted, Granny made an effort to⑥ help me.[2]Her hand was slightly⑦shaky, but she wrote “Father Christmas, the No rth Pole⑧” on the envelope⑨.In December, our excitement grew each day — lights appeared in the streets, Christmas cards arrived, and there was snow everywhere.Granny and I made sugar biscuits, stuffed⑩ the turkey and then I sat on my granny's lap⑪ and we sang Christmas songs.My favourite song was Frosty⑫the Snowman and I loved the bit that went “Thumpetythumpthump, thumpetythumpthump, look at Frosty go!” Granny had patience⑬ to sing it over and over⑭ again.On Christmas Eve⑮, Granny took a seat⑯ by the fire as we put up⑰ the Christmas tree.[3]I hung most of the decorations on the branches⑱.“That's the most beautiful tree I've ever seen,[4]”Granny said.Then she started singing, “Oh, Christmas tree, oh, Christmas tree, you fill my heart with music...”Before bed, Granny and I left a plate⑲ of sugar biscuits out for Father Christmas, and put a stocking at the end of my bed.I remember Granny sitting on my bed and singing softly until I fell asleep.[1]Granny spent with us为定语从句,修饰先行词Christmas,省略了关系代词which/that。
Unit 3 Ships in the DesertShips in the DesertShips in the DesertAL Gore--------------------------------------------------------------------------------I was standing in the sun on the hot steel deck of a fishing ship capable of processing a fifty-ton catch on a good day. But it wasn' t a good day. We were anchored in what used to be the most productive fishing site in all of central Asia, but as I looked out over the bow , the prospects of a good catch looked bleak. Where there should have been gentle blue-green waves lapping against the side of the ship, there was nothing but hot dry sand – as far as I could see in all directions. The other ships of the fleet were also at rest in the sand, scattered in the dunes that stretched all the way to the horizon . Ten year s ago the Aral was the fourth-largest inland sea in the world, comparable to the largest of North America's Great Lakes. Now it is disappearing because the water that used to feed it has been diverted in anill-considered irrigation scheme to grow cotton In the user t. The new shoreline was almost forty kilometers across the sand from where the fishing fleet was now permanently docked. Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Muynak the people were still canning fish – brought not from the Aral Sea but shipped by rail through Siberia from the Pacific Ocean, more than a thousand miles away.My search for the underlying causes of the environmental crisis has led me to travel around the world to examine and study many of these images of destruction. At the very bottom of the earth, high in the Trans-Antarctic Mountains, with the sun glaring at midnight through a hole in the sky, I stood in the unbelievable coldness and talked with a scientist in the late tall of 1988 about the tunnel he was digging through time. Slipping his parka back to reveal a badly burned face that was cracked and peeling, he pointed to the annual layers of ice in a core sample dug from the glacier on which we were standing. He moved his finger back in time to the ice of two decades ago. "Here's where the U. S Congress passed the Clean Air Act, ” he said. At the bottom of the world, two continents away from Washington, D. C., even a small reduction in one country's emissions had changed the amount of pollution found in the remotest end least accessible place on earth.But the most significant change thus far in the earth' s atmosphere is the one that began with the industrial r evolution early in the last century and has picked up speed ever since. Industry meant coal, and later oil, and we began to burn lots of it – bringing rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) , with its ability to trap more heat in the atmosphere and slowly warm the earth. Fewer than a hundred yards from the South Pole, upwind from the ice runway where the ski plane lands and keeps its engines running to prevent the metal parts from freeze-locking together, scientists monitor the air sever al times ever y day to chart the course of that inexorable change. During my visit, I watched one scientist draw the results of that day'smeasurements, pushing the end of a steep line still higher on the graph. He told me how easy it is – there at the end of the earth – to see that this enormous change in the global atmosphere is still picking up speed.Two and a half years later I slept under the midnight sun at the other end of our planet, in a small tent pitched on a twelve-toot-thick slab of ice floating in the frigid Arctic Ocean. After a hearty breakfast, my companions and I traveled by snowmobiles a few miles farther north to a rendezvous point where the ice was thinner – only three and a half feet thick – and a nuclear submarine hovered in the water below. After it crashed through the ice, took on its new passengers, and resubmerged, I talked with scientists who were trying to measure more accurately the thickness of the polar ice cap, which many believe is thinning as a re-suit of global warming. I had just negotiated an agreement between ice scientists and the U. S. Navy to secure the re-lease of previously top secret data from submarine sonar tracks, data that could help them learn what is happening to the north polar cap. Now, I wanted to see the pole it-self, and some eight hours after we met the submarine, we were crashing through that ice, surfacing, and then I was standing in an eerily beautiful snowcape, windswept and sparkling white, with the horizon defined by little hummocks, or "pressure ridges " of ice that are pushed up like tiny mountain ranges when separate sheets collide. But here too, CD, levels are rising just as rapidly, and ultimately temperature will rise with them – indeed, global warming is expected to push temperatures up much more rapidly in the polar regions than in the rest of the world. As the polar air warms, the ice her e will thin; and since the polar cap plays such a crucial role in the world's weather system, the consequences of a thinning cap could be disastrous.Considering such scenarios is not a purely speculative exercise. Six months after I returned from the North Pole, a team of scientists reported dramatic changes in the pattern of ice distribution in the Arctic, and a second team reported a still controversialclaim (which a variety of data now suggest) that, over all, the north polar cap has thinned by 2 per cent in just the last decade. Moreover, scientists established several years ago that in many land areas north of the Arctic Circle, the spring snowmelt now comes earlier every year, and deep in the tundra below, the temperature e of the earth is steadily rising.As it happens, some of the most disturbing images of environmental destruction can be found exactly halfway between the North and South poles – precisely at the equator in Brazil – where billowing clouds of smoke regularly black-en the sky above the immense but now threatened Amazon rain forest. Acre by acre, the rain forest is being burned to create fast pasture for fast-food beef; as I learned when I went there in early 1989, the fires are set earlier and earlier in the dry season now, with more than one Tennessee's worth of rain forest being slashed and burned each year. According to our guide, the biologist Tom Lovejoy, there are more different species of birds in each square mile of the Amazon than exist in all of North America – which means we are silencing thousands of songs we have never even heard.But one doesn't have to travel around the world to wit-ness humankind's assault on the earth. Images that signal the distress of our global environment arenow commonly seen almost anywhere. On some nights, in high northern latitudes, the sky itself offers another ghostly image that signals the loss of ecological balance now in progress. If the sky is clear after sunset -- and it you are watching from a place where pollution hasn't blotted out the night sky altogether -- you can sometimes see a strange kind of cloud high in the sky. This "noctilucent cloud" occasionally appears when the earth is first cloaked in the evening dark-ness; shimmering above us with a translucent whiteness, these clouds seem quite unnatural. And they should: noctilucent clouds have begun to appear more often because of a huge buildup of methane gas in the atmosphere. (Also called natural gas, methane is released from landfills , from coal mines and rice paddies, from billions of termites that swarm through the freshly cut forestland, from the burning of biomass and from a variety of other human activities. ) Even though noctilucent clouds were sometimes seen in the past., all this extra methane carries more water vapor into the upper atmosphere, where it condenses at much higher altitudes to form more clouds that the sun's rays still strike long after sunset has brought the beginning of night to the surface far beneath them.What should we feel toward these ghosts in the sky? Simple wonder or the mix of emotions we feel at the zoo? Perhaps we should feel awe for our own power: just as men "ear tusks from elephants’ heads in such quantity as to threaten the beast with extinction, we are ripping matter from its place in the earth in such volume as to upset the balance between daylight and darkness. In the process, we are once again adding to the threat of global warming, be-cause methane has been one of the fastest-growing green-house gases, and is third only to carbon dioxide and water vapor in total volume, changing the chemistry of the upper atmosphere. But, without even considering that threat, shouldn't it startle us that we have now put these clouds in the evening sky which glisten with a spectral light? Or have our eyes adjusted so completely to the bright lights of civilization that we can't see these clouds for what they are – a physical manifestation of the violent collision between human civilization and the earth?Even though it is sometimes hard to see their meaning, we have by now all witnessed surprising experiences that signal the damage from our assault on the environment --whether it's the new frequency of days when the temperature exceeds 100 degrees, the new speed with which the -un burns our skin, or the new constancy of public debate over what to do with growing mountains of waste. But our response to these signals is puzzling. Why haven't we launched a massive effort to save our environment? To come at the question another way' Why do some images startle us into immediate action and focus our attention or ways to respond effectively? And why do other images, though sometimes equally dramatic, produce instead a Kin. of paralysis, focusing our attention not on ways to respond but rather on some convenient, less painful distraction?Still, there are so many distressing images of environ-mental destruction that sometimes it seems impossible to know how to absorb or comprehend them. Before considering the threats themselves, it may be helpful to classify them and thus begin to organize our thoughts and feelings so that we may be able to respondappropriately.A useful system comes from the military, which frequently places a conflict in one of three different categories, according to the theater in which it takes place. There are "local" skirmishes, "regional" battles, and "strategic" conflicts. This third category is reserved for struggles that can threaten a nation's survival and must be under stood in a global context. Environmental threats can be considered in the same way. For example, most instances of water pollution, air pollution, and illegal waste dumping are essentially local in nature. Problems like acid rain, the contamination ofunder-ground aquifers, and large oil spills are fundamentally regional. In both of these categories, there may be so many similar instances of particular local and regional problems occurring simultaneously all over the world that the patter n appears to be global, but the problems themselves are still not truly strategic because the operation of- the global environment is not affected and the survival of civilization is not at stake.However, a new class of environmental problems does affect the global ecological system, and these threats are fundamentally strategic. The 600 percent increase in the amount of chlorine in the atmosphere during the last forty years has taken place not just in those countries producing the chlorofluorocarbons responsible but in the air above every country, above Antarctica, above the North Pole and the Pacific Ocean – all the way from the surface of the earth to the top of the sky. The increased levels of chlorine disrupt the global process by which the earth regulates the amount of ultraviolet radiation from the sun that is allowed through the atmosphere to the surface; and it we let chlorine levels continue to increase, the radiation levels will al-so increase – to the point that all animal and plant life will face a new threat to their survival.Global warming is also a strategic threat. The concentration of carbon dioxide and other heat-absorbing molecules has increased by almost 25 per cent since World War II, posing a worldwide threat to the earth's ability to regulate the amount of heat from the sun retained in the atmosphere. This increase in heat seriously threatens the global climate equilibrium that determines the pattern of winds, rainfall, surface temperatures, ocean currents, and sea level. These in turn determine the distribution of vegetative and animal life on land and sea and have a great effect on the location and pattern of human societies.In other words, the entire relationship between humankind and the earth has been transformed because our civilization is suddenly capable of affecting the entire global environment, not just a particular area. All of us know that human civilization has usually had a large impact on the environment; to mention just one example, there is evidence that even in prehistoric times, vast areas were sometimes intentionally burned by people in their search for food. And in our own time we have reshaped a large part of the earth's surface with concrete in our cities and carefully tended rice paddies, pastures, wheat fields, and other croplands in the countryside. But these changes, while sometimes appearing to be pervasive , have, until recently, been relatively trivial factors in the global ecological sys-tem. Indeed, until our lifetime, it was always safe to assume that nothing we did or could do would haveany lasting effect on the global environment. But it is precisely that assumption which must now be discarded so that we can think strategically about our new relationship to the environment.Human civilization is now the dominant cause of change in the global environment. Yet we resist this truth and find it hard to imagine that our effect on the earth must now be measured by the same yardstick used to calculate the strength of the moon's pull on the oceans or the force of the wind against the mountains. And it we are now capable of changing something so basic as the relationship between the earth and the sun, surely we must acknowledge a new responsibility to use that power wisely and with appropriate restraint. So far, however, We seem oblivious of the fragility of the earth's natural systems.This century has witnessed dramatic changes in two key factors that define the physical reality of our relation-ship to the earth: a sudden and startling surge in human population, with the addition of one China's worth of people every ten years, and a sudden acceleration of the scientific and technological revolution, which has allowed an almost unimaginable magnification of our power to affect the world around us by burning, cutting, digging, moving, and trans-forming the physical matter that makes up the earth. The surge in population is both a cause of the changed relationship and one of the clearest illustrations of how startling the change has been, especially when viewed in a historical context. From the emergence of modern humans 200 000 years ago until Julius Caesar's time, fewer than 250 million people walked on the face of the earth. When Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World 1500 years later, there were approximately 500 million people on earth. By the time Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the number had doubled again, to 1 billion. By midway through this century, at the end of World War II, the number had risen to just above 2 billion people. In other words, from the beginning of humanity's appearance on earth to 1945, it took more than ten thousand generations to reach a world population of 2 billion people. Now, in the course of one human lifetime -- mine -- the world population will increase from 2 to more than 9 million, and it is already more than halfway there.Like the population explosion, the scientific and technological revolution began to pick up speed slowly during the eighteenth century. And this ongoing revolution has also suddenly accelerated exponentially. For example, it is now an axiom in many fields of science that more new and important discoveries have taken place in the last ten years that. in the entire previous history of science. While no single discover y has had the kind of effect on our relationship to the earth that unclear weapons have had on our relationship to warfare, it is nevertheless true that taken together, they have completely transformed our cumulative ability to exploit the earth for sustenance -- making the consequences, of unrestrained exploitation every bit as unthinkable as the consequences of unrestrained nuclear war.Now that our relationship to the earth has changed so utterly, we have to see that change and understand its implications. Our challenge is to recognize that the startling images of environmental destruction now occurring all over the world have much more in common than their ability to shock and awaken us. They aresymptoms of an underlying problem broader in scope and more serious than any we have ever faced. Global warming, ozone depletion, the loss of living species, deforestation -- they all have a common cause: the new relationship between human civilization and the earth's natural balance. There are actually two aspects to this challenge. The first is to realize that our power to harm the earth can in-deed have global and even permanent effects. The second is to realize that the only way to understand our new role as a co-architect of nature is to see ourselves as part of a complex system that does not operate according to the same simple rules of cause and effect we are used to. The problem is not our effect on the environment so much as our relationship with the environment. As a result, any solution to the problem will require a careful assessment of that relationship as well as the complex interrelationship among factors within civilization and between them and the major natural components of the earth's ecological system.There is only one precedent for this kind of challenge to our thinking, and again it is military. The invention of nuclear weapons and the subsequent development by the Unit-ed States and the Soviet Union of many thousands of strategic nuclear weapons forced a slow and painful recognition that the new power thus acquired forever changed not only the relationship between the two superpowers but also the relationship of humankind to the institution at war-fare itself. The consequences of all-out war between nations armed with nuclear weapons suddenly included the possibility of the destruction of both nations – completely and simultaneously. That sobering realization led to a careful reassessment of every aspect of our mutual relationship to the prospect of such a war. As early as 1946 one strategist concluded that strategic bombing with missiles "may well tear away the veil of illusion that has so long obscured the reality of the change in warfare – from a fight to a process of destruction.”Nevertheless, during the earlier stages of the nuclear arms race, each of the superpower s assumed that its actions would have a simple and direct effect on the thinking of the other. For decades, each new advance in weaponry was deployed by one side for the purpose of inspiring fear in the other. But each such deployment led to an effort by the other to leapfrog the first one with a more advanced deployment of its own. Slowly, it has become apparent that the problem of the nuclear arms r ace is not primarily caused by technology. It is complicated by technology, true; but it arises out of the relationship between the superpowers and is based on an obsolete understanding of what war is all about.The eventual solution to the arms race will be found, not in a new deployment by one side or the other of some ultimate weapon or in a decision by either side to disarm unilaterally , but ratter in new understandings and in a mutual transformation of the relationship itself. This transformation will involve changes in the technology of weaponry and the denial of nuclear technology to rogue states. But the key changes will be in the way we think about the institution of war far e and about the relationship between states.The strategic nature of the threat now posed by human civilization to the global environment and the strategic nature of the threat to human civilization now posedby changes in the global environment present us with a similar set of challenges and false hopes. Some argue that a new ultimate technology, whether nuclear power or genetic engineering, will solve the problem. Others hold that only a drastic reduction of our reliance on technology can improve the conditions of life -- a simplistic notion at best. But the real solution will be found in reinventing and finally healing the relationship between civilization and the earth. This can only be accomplished by undertaking a careful reassessment of all the factors that led to the relatively recent dramatic change in the relationship. The transformation of the way we relate to the earth will of course involve new technologies, but the key changes will involve new ways of thinking about the relationship itself.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------NOTESI) Al Gore: born in 1948 in Washington D. C., U. S. Senator (1984-1992) from the State of Tennessee,and U. S. Vice-President ( l 992-) under President Bill Clinton. He is the author of the book Earth in the Balance from which this piece is taken. 2) Aral Sea: inland sea and the world’s fourth largest lake, c. 26 000 sqmiles, SW Kazakhstan and NW Uzbekhstan, E of the Caspian Sea3) Great Lakes: group of five freshwater lakes, Central North America, between the United States and Canada, largest body of fresh water in the world. From west to east, they are Lake Superior,Lake Michigan,Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario.4) Trans-Antarctic Mountains: mountain chain stretching across Antarctica from Victoria I and to Coats I and; separating the E Antarctic and W Antarctic subcontinents5) Clean Air Act: one of the oldest environmental laws of the U. S., as well as the most far-reaching, the costliest, and the most controversial. It was passed in 1970.6) Washington D. C.: capital of the United States. D. C. (District of Columbia).is added to distinguish it from the State of Washington and 3 other cities in the U. S bearing the sonic name.7) freeze-locking: the metal parts are frozen solid and unable to move freely8)midnight sun: phenomenon in which the sun remains visible in the sky for 24 hours or longer, occurring only in the polar regions9)global warming; The earth is getting warmer. The temperature of the earth's atmosphere and its surface is steadily rising.10) Submarine sonar tracks: the term sonar is an acronym for sound navigation ranging. It is used for communication between submerged submarines or between a submarine and a surface vessel, for locating mines and underwater hazards to navigation, and also as a fathometer, or depth finder.11) greenhouse (effect): process whereby heat is trapped at the surface of the earth by the atmosphere. An increase of man-made pollutants in the atmosphere will lead to a long-term warming of the earth's climate.12) Julius Caesar: (102? B. C -- 44 B. C:. ), Roman statesman and general13) Christopher Columbus: ( 1451-1506), discoverer of America, born Genoa, Italy14) Thomas Jefferson: (17-13-1826 ), 3d President of the UnitedStates(1801-1809), author of the Declaration of Independence.15) Declaration of Independence: full and formal declaration adopted July 4,1776, by representatives of the thirteen colonies in North America announcing the separation of those colonies from Great Britain and making them into the United States16)Ozone depletion: A layer of ozone in the stratosphere prevents most ultraviolet and other high-energy radiation, which is harmful to life, from penetrating to the earth's surface.Some.environmental, scientists fear that certain man-made pollutants, e.g. nitric oxide, CFCs(Chlorofluorocarbons), etc., may interfere with the delicate balance of reactions that maintains the ozone’ s concentration, possibly leading to a drastic depletion of stratospheric ozone. This is now happening in the stratosphere above the polarShips in the Desert 课文讲解/Detailed StudyShips in the Desert--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Detailed Study1. Ships in the Desert [image-7]: Ships anchored in the desert. This is aneye-catching title and it gives an image that people hardly see. When readers read the title, they can’t help wondering why and how.Paragraph 1. typical example of environmental destruction[image-7]2. capable of processing a fifty-ton catch on a good day: having the ability of cleaning and preparing for marketing or canning fifty-tons of fish on a productive day.catch: the amount of something caught; in the sentence it refers to the amount of fish caught e.g. The boat brought back a big catch of fish.3. but as I looked out over the bow, the prospects of a good catch looked bleak:a good catch did not look promising / hopeful.This is obviously an understatement because with sand all around there was no chance of catching fish, to say nothing of catching a lot of fish.bow[audio-1] : the front part of a shipant. sterncompare: bow[audio-2]: v. & n. to bend the upper part of the body forward, as away of showing respect, admitting defeat, etc.bow [audio-3]: n. a weapon for shooting arrowa long thin piece of wood with a tight string fastened along it, used for playing musical instruments that have stringsa knot formed by doubling a string or cord into two curved pieces, and used for decoration in the hair, in tying shoes, etcbleak: a) If a situation is bleak, it is bad, and seems unlikely to improve.e.g. His future looked bleak.bleak prospect; the bleakness of the post war yearsb) If a place is bleak, it looks cold, bare, and unattractivee.g. the bleak coastlinec) When the weather is bleak, it is cold, dull, and unpleasante.g. the bleak wintersd) If someone looks or sounds bleak, they seem depressed, hopeless, or unfriendlye.g. his bleak featuresbleakly adv.e.g. He stared bleakly ahead.“What,” he asked bleakly, “are these?”4. waves lapping against the side of the ship: waves touching the side of the ship gently and makes a soft sound lap can also be used as a noun.e.g. Your lap is the flat area formed by your thighs when you are sitting down. Her youngest child was asleep in her lap.He placed the baby on the woman’s lap.In a race, when you say that a competitor has completed a lap when he or she has gone round the course race.5. as far as I could see in all direction: that extended as far as the eye could see;6. that stretched all the way to the horizon: that extended to the far off place where the sky meet the earth7. comparable: something that is comparable to something else is a) as good as/ as big as/ as important as the other thing; b) similar to the other thinge.g. This dinner is comparable to the best French cooking.Our house is not comparable with yours. Ours is just a small hut while yours is a palace.8. Now it is disappearing because the water that used to feed it has been diverted in an ill-considered irrigation scheme to grow cotton in the dessert: Now it is becoming smaller and smaller because the water that used to flow into the sea has been turned away to irrigate the land created in the desert to grow cotton. The。
人教版高中英语新教材选择性必修一Unit 3课文文本和翻译Sarek National Park--Europe's Hidden Natural Treasure萨勒克国家公园——欧洲隐藏的自然宝藏1A Summer Where the Sun Never Sleeps1 _______________I wake up to the sound of the wind buffeting the cloth of my tent. Even though the sun is brightly shining, telling whether it is morning or night is impossible. I’m above the Arctic Circle, where in summer the sun never sets. Checking my watch, I see that it is 7: 30 a.m. I leave my tent and walk over to the mountain edge. Spreading out before me, branches of the Rapa River flow through the valley below. I’m in the remote far north of Sweden in Sarek National Park, a place with no roads or towns.风噼里啪啦地拍打着我的帐篷,我在这声音中醒来。
即使阳光明媚,也无法分辨是早上还是晚上。
我在北极圈上方,夏天太阳永不落山。
我看了看手表,发现已经是早上7:30。
我离开帐篷,走到山边。
拉帕河的支流在我面前展开,流经下面的山谷。
我身处瑞典北端遥远的萨勒克国家公园,一个既没有道路也没有城镇的地方。
2A Land of Mountain and Ice2 _______________Sarek’s mountains used to be covered by vastsheets of ice. Around 9, 000 years ago, this ice melted, leaving behind about 100 glaciers. Soon after, reindeer began to arrive. Following the reindeer were the Sami people, who made this territory their home. Getting here is quite difficult, so apart from the Sami very few people have ever seen Sarek. In 1909, Sarek was made a national park in order to keep the land in its natural state. Though the Sami are allowed to continue their traditional way of life in the park, no one else can live here, and all new development is banned within park boundaries. At the far side of the valley, an ancient Sami cottage is visible. Close by, there are a few reindeer feeding on grass.萨勒克的山脉曾经被巨大的冰层覆盖。