新标准大学英语4课文summary

U1 AR2This is an in formal and pers on alized acco unt of an econo mic graduate who gets a job in a pub for a year and the n has an opport unity 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 Ionely. She tells her troubles to Tony,a regular customer of the pub, who talks to some frie nds and gets her a loa n to set up a bus in ess. With this help she has her master' s degree and her own compa ny. The situati on, however, is reversed: Tony is disabled after an accide nt and n eeds the repayme nt of the loa n to adapt his house for his disability.U2 AR1Reading 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 emoti ons 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 in flue ntial in the way we live.Homer un book might be the an swer for the book that every one should read. It describes the first readi ng experie nce that in duces such pleasure and satisfaction that you cannot put it down and it may rangefrom the classics to the most rece nt. Every one is looki ng for their own homer un books. And what is yours?U2 AR2Henry Miller depicts the struggle waged to obta in books whe n he was young, and then introduces the reason that makes a book live —that is, the passi on ate recomme ndati on of one reader to ano ther. I n his eyes, books are one of the few possessions men cherished deeply, but if you lend it to others, it makes friends for you. He continues to suggest that the vast majority of books overlap what others say, so read as little as possible. He then advises such a way to test his suggestion— that is, leave a book alone, but thi nk as inten sely as possible and if you decide to read, observe with what extraord inary acume n you tackle it and realize that very little of the books is really new to you.U3 AR1No history of fashion in the years 1960 to 2010 can overlook or un derestimate two con sta nt factors: jea ns and hemli nes.Jeans evolved from the work clothes in the Californian gold rush in the mid-19th century to a symbol of youth, new ideas, rebellion and individuality with its expansion to Europe and Asia in late 1950s.Then the hippie movement of the mid-1960s and early 1970s and thepunk period had impact on the desig n of jea ns.In the mid-1980s, denim rema ined popular with the young. But the late 1980s saw jeans not at all what Levi Strauss originally intended while from 2000, desig ner jea ns gained huge popularity.While jeans came to be popular on the worldwide scale, hemlines have a more peculiar significanee (with only a few indicator) as an exceptions of economy, i.e., as the stock market rises, so do hemlines, and when it falls, so do they.The 1960s witnessed the miniskirt by Mary Quant whereas the mid-1980s saw knee-length skirts - the economy was unstable.Gradually hemli nes started to rise aga in... un til the world stock market crash in 1987. The n in Jan uary 2000 the New York tech nology stock market collapsed. As usual, so did hemlines. But merely one year later, the stock market began to recover, and the micro miniskirt returned. Hemlines were higher than they had been for many years.But from 2007, hemli nes were no Ion ger followi ng the stock market.In con clusi on, the con sta nt factors over 1960s and 2010 are denim and hemli nes and the greatest in flue nces have bee n a 19th-ce ntury Californian clothes manufacturer and a young designer in the swinging Lon don of the 1960s.U4 AR1 Today, we are caught in the credit crunch because banks settraps which appeal to our vanity and greed and sometimes to our basic n eed for survival.The banks give a false sense of superiority to people with exclusive gold credit cards in hard. They target people who are prone to impulse-buying , and potentially bad credit risks, tempted to spend more than they have, and liable to fall behind with repayments. They lure impoverished stude nts with un realistic in terest 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 the overspe nd of the overdraft. By attract ing us with their en dless publicity for loa ns of mon ey, the banks ear n mon ey.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. The n the banks have no pote ntial to tempt money away from you.U4 AR2What' s the key to Wedded bliss? Money matters. Marriage at its core is a financial union. To preserve their marital assets and their union, couples had better share similar outlooks on money matters or, at the very least, find some middle ground. Otherwise, money will be a huge factor in breaki ng up marriages.However, not every one is lucky to get married to a finan cial twin. Tobecome more compatible with their significant other and ultimately more prosperous, couples need follow these guidelines: talking and shari ng goals; running a home like a bus in ess, that is, making a budget and keep ing track of earnin gs, expe nses and debts, making big financial decisions and setting goals together; being supportive of careers; enjoying, but with in reas on; Using a mediator while hav ing strong yet diverge nt opinions. Maintaining some finan cial in depe ndence; spending time and money together as a kind of investment in marriage.U5 AR1Researchershave found that men gossip as much as wome n and men spend much more time talking about themselves. However, men don' t admit they gossip, in stead they defi ne it as “ excha nging in formatio n” . The reas on why female gossip actually sounds like gossip is that there seem to be three principal factors involved. Firstly, the tone rule. Women adopt a tone which is high and quick, or sometimes a stage whisper, but always highly animated, while men gossip in the same flat, unemotional manner as any other piece of information.Secondly, the detail rule. For women, a detailed speculation about possible motives, causes and outcomes is crucial. However, men find allthis detail boring, irrelevant and unmanly. Thirdly, the feedback rule. Female liste ners are required to be at least as ani mated and en thusiastic as speakers. However, men who respond in such a manner would be con sidered in appropriately girly, or eve n disturb in gly effemin ate. For them, a suitable expletive is better to convey their surprise.U5 AR2Wome n con sta ntly have to make choices about dress and appeara nee, and even the way they sign their names, which lead people to make judgments about them. A woman without a particular hair style is considered careless about how she looks and can be disqualified for many positions. Tight or revealing clothes send a message that the wearer wants to be attractive and that she is still available. Light make-up calls atte nti on to the wearer as some one who tries to be attractive without being alluring. A woman who takes her husband' s sur name announ ces to the world that she is married and also that she is traditional and may be less herself. However, men do not have to make the same choices.U6 AR1Churchill believed that he was destined to lead his country. He fought as a soldier in World War I and led the country to victory in World War II. It seems ironic that a leader of such renowned as Churchill could not counton the loyalty of voters in 1945. However, in a democratic country, electors cannot be bullied, and he had to tolerate political defeat after military victory, and went once more to his country retreat, Chartwell.。

Unit 1 Active reading (1) / P3Looking for a job after university? First, get off the sofaMore than 650000 students left university this summer and many have no idea about the way to get a job. How tough should a parent be to galvanize them in these financially fraught times?今年夏天，超过65万名学生离开了大学，很多人都不知道如何找到工作。

在这个经济困难的时期，父母应该怎样严厉地激励他们呢?In July, you looked on as your handsome 21-year-old son, dressed in gown and mortarboard, proudly clutched his honors degree for his graduation photo. Those memories of forking out thousands of pounds a year so that he could eat well and go to the odd party, began to fade. Until now.7月，你看着你21岁的儿子，穿着学士服，戴着学位帽，骄傲地拿着他的荣誉学位拍毕业照。

那些为了吃得好、参加不定期的聚会而每年掏出几千英镑的记忆开始消失了。

直到现在。

As the summer break comes to a close and students across the country prepare for the start of a new term, you find that your graduate son is still spending his days slumped in front of the television, broken only by texting, Facebook and visits to the pub. This former scion of Generation Y has morphed overnight into a member of Generation Grunt. Will he ever get a job?当暑假即将结束，全国各地的学生都在为新学期的开始做准备时，你会发现，你毕业的儿子仍然整天窝在电视机前，只有发短信、上Facebook和泡酒吧。

Unit 1 AR1This passage focus on the problem of searching jobs after graduation. The graduates always want to find an ideal job with higher salary and less work. But after trying several times, they give up and start to complain about the unfair of the society. In the author’s opinion, parents should help their children to realize handling setbacks instead of complaining is more important and should try not to be too pushy or too soft. In the end the author concludes that if the graduates can not find an ideal job, they can take a temporary one.Unit 1 AR2This passage is story about an economic graduate who gets a job in a pub for a year and then has an opportunity to be successful. Since her family can’t support her to further study, she has to find a job in a pub. She tells her troubles to Tony, a regular customer of the pub. Tony talks to some friends and gets her a loan to set up a business. With the help she get her master’s degree and established her own company. However, Tony is disabled after an accident and needs the repayment of the loan to adapt his house for his disability. In the end, the theme is revealed –investing in people gives the best returnUnit 2 AR1: Danger! Books may change your lifeReading is a life-changing activity. It helps us enter a new world and liberate us from the real world we come from; it aids us to get out of confusion in a material world and to discover the real meaning of life. Simply put, books are supremely influential in the way we live.Home-run book might be the answer for the book that everyone should read. These books and others like them have helped me to discover the real meaning of my life, and helped me to get out of the confusion and meaninglessness of the real world.Unit 2 AR2: They were alive and they spoke to meHenry Miller made a lot struggle to obtain books when he was young, and then introduces the reason that makes a book live, that is the enthusiastic recommendation of one reader to another. In his eyes, books are one of the few things men cherished deeply, but if you lend it to others, it makes friends for you. He think the best way to read a book is to leave a book alone, but think as intensely as possible and if you decide to read, observe with what extraordinary acumen you read it and realize that very little of the books is really new to you.Unit 3 AR1: Been there, done that, got the T-shirtDifferent clothes have different functions. The author’s father’s old battle jacket is a reminder of a historical event. Originally, the clothes are purely functional. However, nowadays we have to make choices: dressing for comfort or dressing for fashion. Fashionistas dress for fashion at the expen se of comfort. What’s worse, some people choose clothes to impress others. Anyway, fashion can express our emotions and also give a sense of occasions.After all, our clothes are indicative of our lives, the events, the emotions, the sense of nostalgia for yesterday’s innocence and the chastening, humbling reminder of who we are today.Unit 3 AR2: Eco-jewellery: sea glassSea glass is popular among the jewellery collectors for several reasons. First, the creation of sea glass is a form of natural recycling. Second, sea glass becomes rarer than diamonds. This leads to its boom in the market. Third, sea glass is environmental-friendly, so the designers would like to put sea glass to use.Gina Cowen became a sea glass jeweller in her 20s and 30s. While sea glass is disappearing, she is still on the hunt. Her designs were sold at Liberty London, but mostly she sells her jewellery to private customers.With the decline of sea glass in supply there has arisen problem of reviving old habits of dumping glass into the sea. However, there is always a story behind sea glass and nothing can replace it.Unit 4 AR1: The credit card trapA credit card allows you to charge something immediately and then pay for the bill at a later date. Once a credit card has been issued, you can makepurchases within the credit limit A credit card with a limit of $100.00 enables you to pay for up to 100.00 worth of items. Every month, you will receive credit card statements that lists the charges you have made. You have to pay your bill in full by the due date. Otherwise, you have to pay interest or a finance charge which can be fairly high.Unit 4 AR2: Look after yourselfThis passage tell us that a girl learns how to make financial management from her father. When her eleventh birthday was coming, she wanted an unusual birthday present—a puppy. However, her easy-going father looked serious and showed her the expenditure they should pay. She was surprised to learn how many bills there were for things she took for granted.They should also keep some savings “for a rainy day”.She worked out how much it would cost to feed a puppy. Then she decided to find some jobs to earn some money. She might have satisfied everyone in the family, thus she got the cutest puppy on her birthday. From this experience, she understood how to take financial responsibility for herself and her family.Unit 5 AR1: Sex differences in English gossip rulesResearchers have found that men gossip as much as women and men spend much more time talking about themselves. However, men don’t admit they gossip, they define it as “exchanging information”.The reason why female gossip actually sounds like gossip is that there seem to be three principal factors involved. Firstly, the tone rule. Women adopt a tone which is high and quick, while men gossip in unemotional manner. Secondly, the detail rule. For women, a detailed speculation about possible motives and causes, outcomes are crucial. However, men find all this detail boring, irrelevant and unmanly. Thirdly, the feedback rule. Female listeners are required to be at least as enthusiastic as speakers. However, men who respond in such a manner would be considered girly. For them, a suitable expletive is better to convey their surprise.Unit 5 AR2: Marked: women in the workplaceWomen constantly have to make choices about dress and appearance, which lead people to make judgments about them. A woman without a particular hairstyle is considered careless about how she looks and can be disqualified for many positions. Tight or revealing clothes send a message that the wearer wants to be attractive and that she is still available.Light make-up calls attention to the wearer as someone who tries to be attractive without being alluring. A woman who takes her husband’s surname announces to the world that she is married and also that she is traditional and may be less herself. However, men do not have to make the same choices.Unit 6 AR1: Winston ChurchillThis passage tell us a great president of Britain, Winston Churchill. Churchill believed that he was destined to lead his country. When his country was threatened, he stand out. He fought as a soldier in World War I and led the country to victory in World War II. He was an instinctive, daring, often infuriating war leader. But he is also an inspiration. After victory was declared, the billboard said “Cheer Churchill, Vote Labour”, and that’s what people did. Britain could live on because of him, nothing could be greater than him.。

新标准大学英语综合教程4课文Summarybywithzhfn第1单元行动。

2ifyouaskme1.thisisastoryofagraduatewhogetsajobinapubforayearandhasachancetobesuccessful.3.在经历了一次意外事故，无法工作后，作者的助手帮助了他。

TONYSAINDING PEOPLEGISTER返回您可以访问的最佳位置。

unit2act.1danger!booksmaychangeyourlife1.本文介绍了Reading Books Tous的功能。

当你读库帕书的时候，你就可以进入世界了。

书籍会影响生活。

2.thewritermentionsaword“home-runbook”thatmightbetheanswerforthebookeveryoneshouldread.“home-run”bookiswhichcangiveyoupleasureandsatisfaction.3.标题描述了阅读能力。

unit2act.2theywerealiveandtheyspoketome2.作者建议尽可能少地使用。

更重要的是质量而不是数量。

unit3act.1fiftyyearsoffashion1960年至2022年的时尚有两个不变的因素：无处不在的Jeans，以及女性裙子和连衣裙的风格和风格。

他们的历史可以追溯到16世纪，后来他们成为了工人的工作服。

20世纪50年代，Jeanswer人与年轻人在一起，之后发展出了新思想。

女性的长寿与经济有关。

当经济形势好转时，女性会向她们展示自己。

unit3act.2eco-jewellery:seaglass这篇文章介绍了HYSEAGlass非常流行的原因。

并描述从海玻璃制作珠宝的过程，让人们思考循环的重要性。

并描绘了珠宝设计师金纳哥的激情。

unit4act.1thecreditcardtrapbywithzhfnunit4act.2thekeytoweddedbliss?moneymatters这篇文章告诉我们什么对婚姻和金钱很重要。

More than 650,000 students left university this summer and many have no idea about the way to get a job. Students Know they need to find a job,but dont konw how to find. The problem also plagued their parents,parents dont know how to help them.Some students didn't go to find a job because of enormous competitive pressure, low salary or a series of personal reasons. After a failure of applying a job，they start waching TV shows on the sofa rather than finding a job again.When their parents find this problem , they start to worry about their children's future.A psychologist give some advices to every parent about the problem. Firstly,the transition from university to a job is tough for parents and children,parents need to find the balance point between understanding children and not making their life too comfortable. Secondly,the main job for the parents is to be there because if they start advising them what to do, that is when the conflict starts. Thirdly, it's a good idea to get some jobs like bar work,shelf-stacking.All in all,this passage mainly tell us when we on the way to find a job,we need get off the sofa first.1.2This passage tell us a story about a girl overcame many difficulties and became successful in her field at last.First,the girl’s family can’t support her for university study.As a result,she packed up her belongings and went to London to get a job in order not to burden her family.Unfortunately, she was faced with many problems and she felt lonely.She told her problems to Tony.Tony give her a loan to start a business.With Tony’s help.she got her master degree and set up her own company.Many years later,Tony was disabled after an accident.She pays back Tony’s help and Tony thought investing in people gives the best return you can ever hope.2.1This passage mainly tell us the importance of reading. When we read a book we will enter a new world so that it may change our life.As soon as we are able to listen,books are supremely influential in the way we live.As we all know, reading books allows us to enjoy and celebrate this variety and difference in safety,and provides us with an opportunity to grow. And every book will have its own language and dialect,its own vocabulary and grammary. We may not always understand every word or sentence,but whether we're enchanted or whether we feel excluded,our emotions are nevertheless stimulated.So books can help us to discover the real meaning of our life, and they may change our life. Such is the power of reading.2.2This article is about the author’s views of reading books. The author is a writer and he likes reading books very much. He think that a book lives though the passionate recommendation of one reader to another. Nothing can throttle this basic impulse in the human being. And he also raises that we should read books as often as possible bacause a book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition. He told us that when you are eager to read a book, leave it alone for a few days and ask yourself earnestly if it be absolutely necessary to read it. In the end, the author described a writer who readed a lot and meanwhile writtrn a lot.3.1The article is about the fashion tendency in the last 50 years. The author mainly introduced the development of jeans and the relationship of economy and hemiline. It was Levi Strauss who invited the jeans. At first, only miners wore jeans. In the mid-1960s and early 1970s, the hippie movement influenced the design of jeans. And jeans remained fashionable during the period of punk. Besides, the ahthor found that as the stock market rises, so do hemlines, and when it falls, so do they.3.2Sea glass is popular for several reasons. First, the creation of sea glass is a form of recycling. Second, sea glass becomes rarer than diamonds now. Third, its eco-credentials lend sea glass further appeal. So the designers would like to put sea glass to use.Gina Cowen became a sea glass jeweler. Her designs were sold at Liberty or to private customers.Though seaglass become rarer, Gina Cowen refuses to condone it and she even rejects to polish new glass to make it look old. So we'd better follow Cowen’s example and search for glowing pebbles before they vanish.4.1Today, we are caught in the credit crunch because banks set traps .The banks give a false sense of superiority to people with exclusive gold credit cards in hand. They target people who tempted to spend more than they have, students with unrealistic interest rates and people who go over the l imits the exorbitant interest but omit the interest. By this deceive means, the banks earn money. So in order not to be cheated, we should be cautious about credit cards provived by banks4.2Money matters is the key to wedded bliss.To preserve their marital assets and their union,couples had better share similar outlooks on money matters,or ,find some middle ground.To become more compatible with their significant other and ultimately more prosperous,couples need follow these guidelines:Talking and sharing goals;Running a home like a business;Using a mediator while having strong yet divergent opinions.5.1Researchers have found that men gossip as much as women,and men spend much time talking about themselves.But men don’t admit it,and they define it as “exchanging information”.The reason why female gossip sounds like gossip is that there three principal factors involved:The high and quick tone and sometimes likes a stage whisper,but always highly animated.A detailed speculation with possible motives,causes and outcomesAnimated and enthusiastic feedback rule.5.2Women constantly have to make choices about dress and appearance, and even the way they sign their names, which lead people to make judgments about them. A woman without a particular hair style is considered careless about how she looks and can be disqualified for many positions. What’s more,tight or revealing clothed send a message that the wearer wants to be attractive and that she is still available. Light make-up calls attention to the wearer who tries to be attractive without being alluring.A woman who takes her husband’s surname announces to the world that she is married and also that she is traditional and may be less herself. However, men do not have to make the same choices6.1W inston Churchill was born in 1874 into one of Britain’s grand est families. His parents are both cold and distant people. He was bullied when he was in Harrow. His dream was to be a general, so he got into the RMAS. Then he became a soldier and a hero in Boer war. In 1911, he lost his job and sanity because the failure of the Gallipoli in 1915.He recovered from his depression by his fashion and his wife’s support. When he returned England, he had already achieved many great things. He through his leadership and example to encourage Britons to win the war against the monstrous tyranny and defend what all we hold dear. He saved Britain.。

新标准大学英语综合教材4课文翻译引言新标准大学英语综合教材是为中国大学英语四六级考试（CET-4/6）开发的一套教材。

该教材以提高学生英语综合应用能力为目标，包含了丰富多样的课文和相关练习题。

本文将翻译新标准大学英语综合教材4中的一篇课文，帮助读者了解该教材的内容。

课文翻译标题：跨越天涯在生活中，我们经常面临各种选择。

有些选择是容易的，而另一些则相当困难。

而有时我们必须跨越自己的舒适区，去追求一个更好的未来。

回想起我的大学生活，我很庆幸当时做出了一个勇敢的选择。

那时，我正面临选择是继续留在自己的家乡读书，还是选择去一个陌生的城市追求大学的梦想。

尽管这个决定对我来说并不容易，但我最终还是选择了前者。

在新的城市，我开始了我的大学生活。

一开始，一切都很陌生和不熟悉。

新的环境、新的朋友，甚至新的语言，给我带来了一定的挑战。

然而，我并没有退缩，而是积极适应了这种变化。

我参加了各种社团活动，结交了许多新朋友，提高了我的社交能力。

随着时间的推移，我逐渐适应了新生活。

我发现自己在不知不觉中已经变得更加自信和独立。

在大学期间，我有机会接触到各种各样的知识和文化，拓宽了我的视野。

这种全新的体验，让我对自己有了更多的认识和理解。

大学生活中最重要的经历之一是参加了一个关于国际交流的项目。

这个项目给予我去一个完全陌生的国家学习和生活的机会。

尽管这个选择对我来说是一个巨大的挑战，但我还是决定接受它。

在那个国家，我面对了许多困难和困境，但我学会了坚持和适应。

通过这个项目，我不仅丰富了自己的人生经历，也提高了我的英语水平。

总的来说，跨越自己的舒适区对每个人来说都是一次挑战。

但正是这些挑战让我们变得更加强大和成熟。

对于我个人而言，大学生活中的选择和决定让我学到了许多宝贵的知识和经验。

尽管有时我会感觉困难和迷茫，但我相信这些经历将对我的未来产生积极的影响。

结论新标准大学英语综合教材4是一套帮助学生提高英语综合应用能力的教材。

通过翻译其中一篇课文，我们可以看到这套教材关注的是培养学生的综合能力和跨文化交流能力。

Looking for a job after university? First, get off the sofaMore than 650,000 students left university this summer and many have no idea about the way to get a job. How tough should a parent be to galvanize通电，刺激them in these financially fraught 担心的，忧虑的times?1 In July, you looked on as your handsome 21-year-old son, dressed in gown and mortarboard, proudly clutched his honors degree for his graduation photo. Those memories of forking out不情愿掏出thousands of pounds a year so that he could eat well and go to the odd party began to fade. Until now.2 As the summer break comes to a close and students across the country prepare for the start ofa new term, you find that your graduate son is still spending his days slumped 掉落in front of the television, broken only by texting, Facebook and visits to the pub. This former scion幼芽of Generation Y has morphed改变overnight into a member of Generating Grunt. Will he ever geta job?3. This is the scenario情节facing thousands of families. More than 650,000 students left university this summer and most in these financially testing times have no idea what to do next. Parents revert to回复nagging; Sons and daughters become rebels without a cause, aware that they need to get a job, but not sure how.4. Jack Goodwin, from Middlesex, graduated with a 2:1 in politics from Nottingham this summer. He walked into the university careers service and straight back out again; there was a big queue. He lived with five other boys all of whom did the same. There was no pressure to find a job, even though most of the girls he knew had a clearer plan.5. “I applied for a job as a political researcher, but got turned down,” he says. “they were paying ￡18,000, doesn‟t buy you much more than a tin of beans after rent, but they wanted people w ith experience or master‟s degrees. Then I applied for the Civil Service fast stream. I passed the exam, but at the interviews they accused me of being …too detached” and talking in language that was …too technocratic‟, which I didn‟t think possible, but obviously it is.”6. Since then he has spent the summer “hiding”. He can recount several episodes of Traffic Cops and has seen more daytime television than is healthy. He talks to his friends about his aimless days and finds that most are in the same boat. One has been forced out to stack shelves by his parents. For the rest it is 9-to-5 “chilling” before heading to the pub. So how about working behindthe bar, to pay for those drinks? “I don‟t want to do bar work. I went to a comprehensive and I worked my backside off to go to a good university, where I worked really hard to get a good degree,” he says. “Now I‟m back at the same stage as those friends who didn‟t go to uni at all, who are pulling pints and doing dead-end jobs. I feel that I‟ve come full circle.”7. Jacqueling Goodwin, his mother, defends him. She insists that he has tried to get a job, but having worked full-time since leaving school herself, she and her husband find it tricky to advise him on how to proceed. “I have always had to work,” she says. “It‟s difficult because when you have a degree, it opens new doors for you, or you‟d like to think that it does.”8. Although she is taking a soft line with her son at the moment, she is clear that after an upcoming three-week trip to South America, his holiday from work will have to end. He may even have to pay rent and contribute to the household bills.9. “They‟ve got to grow up at some point. We‟ve finished paying for university, so a little bit of help back is good,” she says. “The South Ame rica trip is the cutoff point. When he comes back there‟ll be Christmas work if nothing else.”10. Gael Lindenfield, a psychotherapist and the author of the Emotional Healing Strategy, says that the Goodwin parents have struck exactly the right note. The transition from university to a job is tough for parents and children: Crucially they must balance being positive and understanding with not making life too comfortable for their offspring.11 “the main job for the parents is to be there because if they start advising them what to do, that is when the conflict starts. If you have contacts, by all means use those,” she said. “But a lot of parents get too soft. Put limits on how much money you give them, ask them to pay rent or contribute to the care of t he house or the pets. Carry on life as normal and don‟t allow them to abuse your bank account or sap your reserves of emotional energy.”12 paying for career consultations, train fares to interviews or books are good things; being too pushy is not. But while parents should be wary of becoming too soft, Lindenfield advises them to tread 踩sympathetically after a job setback for a few days or even weeks –depending on the scale of the knock. After that the son or daughter needs to be nudged推动firmly back into the saddle. 13 boys are more likely to get stuck at home. Lingenfield believes that men are often better at helping their sons, nephews, or friends‟ sons than are mothers and sisters. Men have a different way of handling setbacks than women, she says, so they need the male presence to talk it through.14 as for bar work, she is a passionate advocate: it‟s a great antidote解毒剂to graduate apathy 冷漠. It just depends on how you approach it. Lindenfield, who found her first job as an aerial photographic assistant through bar work, says it is a great networking opportunity and certainly more likely to get you a job than lounging in front of the TV.15 “The same goes for shelf-stacking. You will be spotted if you‟re good at it. If you‟re bright and cheerful and are polite to the customers, you‟ll soon get moved on. So think of it as an opportunity; people who are successful in the long run have often got shelf-stacking stories,” she says.16 your son or daughter may not want to follow Hollywood stars such as Whoopi Goldberg into applying make-up to corpses尸体in a mortuary太平间, or guarding nuclear power plants like Bruce Wills, but even Brad Pitt had to stand outside El Pollo Loco restaurant chain in a giant chicken suit at one time in his life. None of them appears the poorer for these experiences.Danger! Books may change your life1 Like Lewis Carroll's Alice, who falls into a rabbit hole and discovers a mysterious wonderland, when we pick up a book we are about to enter a new world. We become observers of life from the point of view of a person older than ourselves, or through the eyes of a child. We may travel around the globe to countries or cultures we would never dream of visiting in real life. We'll have experiences which are new, sometimes disconcerting, maybe deeply attractive, possibly unpleasant or painful, but never less than liberating from the real world we come from.2 The English poet William Cowper (1731–1800) said "Variety's the very spice of life, / that gives it all its flavour" although he neglected to say where or how we could find it. But we know he was right. We know we live in a world of variety and difference. We know that people live various different lives, spend their time in various different ways, have different jobs, believe in different things, have different opinions, different customs, and speak different languages. Normally, we don't know the extent of these differences, yet sometimes when somethingunusual happens to make us notice, variety and difference appear more as a threat than an opportunity.3 Reading books allows us to enjoy and celebrate this variety and difference in safety, and provides us with an opportunity to grow. To interact with other people's lives in the peace and quiet of our homes is a privilege which only reading fiction can afford us. We even understand, however fleetingly, that we have more in common with other readers of books in other cultures than we might do with the first person we meet when we step out of our front doors. We learn to look beyond our immediate surroundings to the horizon and a landscape far away from home.4 If we ever question the truth of the power of reading books, we should take the trouble to go to our local library or bookshop, or even, if we're fortunate enough, to the books on our shelves at home. We should wonder at the striking vistas created by the titles of novels ranging from the classics to the most recent: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Fourth Hand by John Irving, Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene, The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger or Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday. Then we should reflect on the other lives we'll meet once we begin to read.5 Every book will have its own language and dialect, its own vocabulary and grammar. We may not always understand every word or sentence, but whether we're enchanted or whether we feel excluded, our emotions are nevertheless stimulated. Other people and other cultures are not always distant because of geography. In a book we may confront people who live in a different climate, have different religious beliefs, or come from a different ethnic group. Even our neighbours down the road may be strangers who we can only meet through books.6 As soon as we are able to listen, books are supremely influential in the way we live. From the bedtime story read by a parent to their child all the way through to the sitting room lined with books in our adult homes, books define our lives. The English writer E. M. Forster (1879–1970) even hinted at a more mystical power which books possess over us. He wrote, "I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little further down our particular path than we have gone ourselves." It's as if the right book comes to seek us out at the right moment, and offers itself to us—it's not us who seek out the book.7 Thomas Merton (1915–1968), the American monk, priest and writer, was once asked a series of seven questions by a journalist: Name the last three books you have read, the three books you are reading now, the books you intend to read, the books that have influenced you, and why, a book that everyone should read, and why. For the books which had influenced him, he cited poetic works of William Blake, various plays by ancient Greek thinkers and writers, and a number of religious writings. When asked why they had influenced him, he replied, "These books and others like them have helped me to discover the real meaning of my life, and have made it possible for me to get out of the confusion and meaninglessness of an existence completely immersed in the needs and passivities fostered by a culture in which sales are everything."8 So how would you answer the questions?9 In 1947, Clifton Fadiman coined the term home-run book. When a baseball player hits a home run, he hits the ball so hard and so far he's able to run round the four bases of the diamond, and score points not only for himself but for the other runners already on a base. It's the most enjoyable and satisfying event in a baseball game. Likewise, a home-run book describesnot the child's first reading experience, but the first time they read a book which induces such pleasure and satisfaction that they can't put it down. For hundreds of millions of children around the world, the best known example of a home-run book will be the Harry Potter stories.10 As adults, we're always looking for our own home-run books, not just for the first time, but time after time again. Whoever has read a novel in one sitting will always remember the pleasure and satisfaction which await us, and eagerly, insistently, sometimes even desperately seeks to reproduce the marvellous sensation again. We cannot withstand the hunger to visit another world, to meet different people, to live other lives and to reflect on ourselves.11 Danger! Books may change your life. Such is the power of reading.Unit 3 Fifty years of fashion1 No history of fashion in the years 1960 to 2010 can overlook or underestimate two constant factors: the ubiquitous jeans and the rise and fall of hemlines for women's skirts and dresses.2 Denim, the material which jeans are made of, was known in France in the late 16th century, but it was Levi Strauss who saw that miners in the Californian gold rush in the mid-19th century needed strong trousers, which he reinforced with metal rivets. Blue denim jeans remained popular in the US as work clothes until the 1950s, but then became associated with youth, new ideas, rebellion and individuality. When Levi Strauss & Co began to export blue jeans to Europe and Asia in the late 1950s, they were bought and worn with huge enthusiasm by young people and recognized as a symbol of the young, informal American way of life.3 Hemlines have a more peculiar significance during this period. It has often been noted that there is a precise correlation, with only a few exceptions, between the length of women's skirts and the economy. As the stock market rises, so do hemlines, and when it falls, so do they. Exactly why women should want to expose more or less of their legs during periods of economic boom and bust remains a mystery. But the general trend is inescapable. Whenever the economic outlook is unsettled, both men and women tend to wear more conservative clothes.4 Perhaps the most important development in fashion in the 1960s was the miniskirt, invented by the British designer Mary Quant. Because Quant worked in the heart of Swinging London, the miniskirt developed into a major international fashion. It was given greater respectability when the great French designer, Courrèges, developed it into an item of high fashion. But it would not have achieved such international currency without the development of tights, instead of stockings, because the rise in hemlines meant the stocking tops would be visible.5 The hippie movement of the mid-1960s and early 1970s influenced the design of jeans, with the trouser leg developing a flared "bell-bottom" style. By the mid-1970s, as the economy deteriorated, hemlines dropped to midi (mid-calf length) and maxi (ankle length), while jeans were no longer exclusively blue.6 Jeans remained fashionable during the period of punk, usually worn ripped, often with chains and studded belts. The look lasted for several years, although became more and more restricted to small groups of inner-city young people, and had little influence on other age groups.7 As a backlash to the anarchy of punk, the New Romantics was a fashion movement which occurred mainly in British nightclubs. It was glamorous and courageous, and featured lavish frilled shirts. Jeans were definitely not acceptable.8 The mid-1980s saw the rise of a number of different styles. Power dressing was characterized by smart suits and, for the newly-empowered women, shoulder pads and knee-length skirts. Not surprisingly, the economy was unstable, and people took less risks in what they wore. For men, the Miami Vice style, named after the television series, made use of smart T-shirts under designer jackets, and designer stubble—three or four days of beard growth. But as always, denim remained popular with the young. In particular, heavy metal music fans wore bleached and ripped jeans and denim jackets.9 Gradually hemlines started to rise again ... until the world stock market crash in 1987. So the late 1980s in the US saw the rise of the more conservative style called Preppy style, with classic clothes by Ralph Lauren and Brooks Brothers for men, button-down shirts, chinos and loafers, with a sweater tied loosely around the neck. They also wore jeans, but either brand-new or clean and smartly pressed—not at all what Levi Strauss originally intended.10 As the world economies improved again in the 1990s, fashion for young people became more daring. Boots and Converse or Nike trainers remained popular, but the predominant colours became olive green and oatmeal. Hair was worn long, or cut spiky short and dyed blue, green or red. Hoodies, baseball caps and baggy jeans, which were often worn low below the buttocks, were common on the streets.11 Then in January 2000 the New York technology stock market collapsed. As usual, so did hemlines, which were described by one commentator as "the prim and proper look is in. Skirts should be below the knee." But merely one year later, the stock market began to recover, and the micro miniskirt returned. Hemlines were higher than they had been for many years.12 During this period, it was unusual to wear formal clothes unless you were at work. Designer jeans gained huge popularity. These were made of the traditional denim, perhaps with some lycra added, but cut and marketed under well-known brands such as Armani, Hugo Boss and Moschino, who until recently had only concerned themselves with the smartest fashion lines. Skinny jeans also became popular in Britain and most of Europe. Skirt length is uncertain, ranging from micro to "sensible"—knee-length or just below.13 Sometimes the hemline indicator, as it's called, can even precede and predict a change in the mood of the stock market long before it actually happens. In September 2007, at the New York fashion shows, which were displaying their styles for spring 2008, the trend was for much longer dresses and skirts, many to mid-calf or even down to the ankles. Some people felt this showed that the hemline indicator was no longer reliable, and that designers no longer dictated what people would wear. During the London and New York fashion shows in September 2008, hemlines continued to drop. But sure enough, in the fall of 2008, the stock market indexes fell dramatically when the banking crisis hit the US, Europe and then the rest of the world. Hemlines were no longer following the stock market—they were showing the way and indicating future economic trends.14 During the whole period, fashion styles have ranged widely, and have usually been sparked off by a desire to identify people as belonging to a particular sub-culture. But the constant factors over this period are denim and hemlines and the greatest influences have been a 19th-century Californian clothes manufacturer and a young designer in the Swinging London ofthe 1960s.Unit4The credit card trap1 I have a confession. Several years ago, I was standing in a queue to collect some theatre tickets for my family, and my friend was doing the same for hers. I got mine, and paid for them by credit card, feeling contented by the convenience of this cash- free transaction. It was then her turn to pay. The whole operation passed as smoothly as mine, but my delight soon turned to abject shame. My credit card was a fairly pathetic, status-free dark blue, whereas hers was a very exclusive gold one.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?3 Now, I had a job which was as steady as any job was in those days – that's to say, not very, but you know, no complaints. I had a mortgage on my house, but then who didn't?I paid off all my credit debt at the end of the month, so although technically, I was in debt to the credit card company, it was only for a matter of a few weeks. So I assumed I had a good credit rating.4 Call me superficial, and I'm not proud of myself, but there and then, I was suddenly jealous of my friend. I decided I no longer wanted a blue card. I wanted a gold one. A gold card was suddenly indispensable, it would make me feel good with myself, and desirable to others.5 So I applied for the most distinctive, shiny golden card the company offered.6 I was turned down.7 When I had recovered from the shock, which took several seconds, I asked why. It appears that because I pay my credit card bill both on time and in full, I'm not the kind of person that they want to have their gold credit card. They target people who are prone to impulse-buying, and potentially bad credit risks, tempted to spend more than they have, and liable to fall behind with repayments. Then they can charge them more interest, and earn more money. That's the way they do business.8 So does this explain why the credit card companies are luring impoverished students with unrealistic interest rates, like my kids?9 Three weeks ago, No. 2 daughter came home from university for the weekend. She's in her second term of her first year. 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. She wears clothes from the local charity shops, and rarely goes out. She hugged me (never usually does that) and then said, "Mum, I need to talk to you."10 "What is it, darling? Tell me everything."11 "I've applied for a credit card, and I need someone to act as a guarantee for me. Is it OK if I put down your name? Thanks so much, Mum, must dash! Bye. "12 After I'd hauled her back into the house, it transpired that her bank had written to her offering a credit card at a low interest for a trial three-month period, subject to suitability ... and so on. Her bank! I trusted them! They know even better than I do how broke she is.13 Here’s a serious question. Why do they call them credit cards when it would be more accurate to call them debt cards?14 Here's an even more serious story. Another friend's daughter, Kelly, was studying modern languages at university, and spent a year overseas. At some point in the year, there was a change of procedure, and Kelly's bank failed to allow her to access her funds in her current account, because the request was from outside the UK. Naturally, there was a lengthy correspondence while she tried to sort this out, so the delay in being able to access her funds meant that she went into the red, and her debts began to rise more than £200 above the agreed limit on her overdraft of £1,500.15 When Kelly got back home, the bank charged her £100 for going over the limit, and insisted she paid £30 a month to bring the balance back to below her limit. They omitted to tell her that she wasn't actually paying off the debt, but only the exorbitant interest on the overspend of the overdraft.16 So Kelly had to turn to her credit card which she had used sensibly and sparingly until that point. Because she was a student, and because she didn't use it much, naturally her credit limit was low.17 And not surpris ingly, she couldn’t pay off even the minimum payment on her credit card bill. So there were not only bank charges owing, but also credit card debts and interest. And of course, she was recorded as being a bad credit risk.18 Things then went from bad to worse. A few months into her final year, the bank notified her that it was going to reduce her overdraft from £1,500 to £1,000. They told her to apply for a student loan to cover the rest. But when the loan company did a credit check, they discovered the card debt.19 Guess what? She didn't get the loan.20 This was a delightful kid who had great restraint with her spending and was economical about her lifestyle. She didn't go on spending sprees buying new shoes, and she didn't use her credit card as if (unlike me) it was a fashion item. She used it to buy food, to survive.21 And what happened? She had to drop out of university22 I wish there was a happy ending to Kelly's story, although maybe there will be. For the moment, she's working in the local supermarket, and it's probable that she'll have another go at university when she has paid off her debts.23 So this is what the banks do. They set traps which appeal to our vanity and greed and sometimes to our basic need for survival. And then when we fall into the trap they shout "Got you! Didn't you realize it was a trap?"24 And here we are today, caught in the credit crunch, with world economies in free fall, all because the wicked bankers set us traps which we fell into, attracting us with endless publicity for loans of money which even they didn't have! It now appears they were borrowing on their own flashy gold credit cards too.25 So I have a solution to the credit card trap, and I want all of you to listen to me very carefully.26 I want you to lay out all of your credit cards in a line, take a large pair of scissors and cut them into small pieces. Then put them in an envelope and send them to your bank, with a letter saying (more or less) “I trusted you and you deceived me. You've got the whole world into this ridiculous credit card trap, and if I now cut your cards in half, and take away yourpotential to tempt money away from honest people like me, maybe it will be your turn to learn what it's like to run out of cash."27 As for me, I don't want any more credit cards, no more status symbols, no more bad feelings about wishing I could show how superior I am to others. I'm not going to yearn any more for what I cannot afford or cannot have.Sex Differences in English Gossip Rules1 Contrary to popular belief, researchers have found that men gossip just as much as women. In one English study, both sexes devoted the same amount of conversation time (about 65 per cent) to social topics such as personal relationships; in another, the difference was found to be quite small, with gossip accounting for 55 per cent of male conversation time and 67 per cent of female time. As sport and leisure have been shown to occupy about 10 per cent of conversation time, discussion of football could well account for the difference.2 Men were certainly found to be no more likely than women to discuss "important" or "highbrow" subjects such as politics, work, art and cultural matters –except (and this was a striking difference) when women were present. On their own, men gossip, with no more than five per cent of conversation time devoted to non-social subjects such as work or politics. It is only in mixed-sex groups, where there are women to impress, that the proportion of male conversation time devoted to these more "highbrow" subjects increases dramatically, to between 15 and 20 per cent.3 In fact, recent research has revealed only one significant difference, in terms of content, between male and female gossip: Men spend much more time talking about themselves. Of the total time devoted to conversation about social relationships, men spend two thirds talking about their own relationships, while women only talk about themselves one third of the time.4 Despite these findings, the myth is still widely believed, particularly among males, that men spend their conversations "solving the world's problems", while the womenfolk gossip in the kitchen. In my focus groups and interviews, most English males initially claimed that they did not gossip, while most of the female readily admitted that they did. On further questioning, however, the difference turned out to be more a matter of semantics than practice: What the women were happy to call "gossip", the men defined as "exchanging information".5 Clearly, there is a stigma attached to gossip among English males, an unwritten rule to the effect that, even if what one is doing is gossiping, it should be called something else. Perhaps even more important: It should sound like something else. In my gossip research, I found that the main difference between male and female gossip is that female gossip actually sounds like gossip. There seem to be three principal factors involved: the tone rule, the detail rule and the feedback rule.The tone rule6 The English women I interviewed all agreed that a particular tone of voice was considered appropriate for gossip. The gossip-tone should be high and quick, or sometimes a stage whisper, but always highly animated."Gossip's got to start with something like[Quick, high-pitched, excited tone] 'Oooh –Guess what? Guess what?'" explained one。

Looking for a job after university? First, get off the sofaMore than 650,000 students left university this summer and many have no idea about the way to get a job. How tough should a parent be to galvanize通电，刺激 them in these financially fraught担心的，忧虑的 times?1 In July, you looked on as your handsome 21-year-old son, dressed in gown and mortarboard, proudly clutched his honors degree for his graduation photo. Those memories of forking out不情愿掏出 thousands of pounds a year so that he could eat well and go to the odd party began to fade. Until now.2 As the summer break comes to a close and students across the country prepare for the start of a new term, you find that your graduate son is still spending his days slumped 掉落in front of the television, broken only by texting, Facebook and visits to the pub. This former scion幼芽 of Generation Y has morphed改变 overnight intoa member of Generating Grunt. Will he ever get a job?3. This is the scenario情节 facing thousands of families. More than 650,000 students left university this summer and most in these financially testing times have no idea what to do next. Parents revert to回复 nagging; Sons and daughters become rebels without a cause, aware that they need to get a job, but not sure how.4. Jack Goodwin, from Middlesex, graduated with a 2:1 in politics from Nottingham this summer. He walked into the university careers service and straight back out again; there was a big queue. He lived with five other boys all of whom did the same. There was no pressure to find a job, even though most of the girls he knew had a clearer plan.5. “I applied for a job as a political researcher, but got turned down,” he says. “they were paying ￡18,000, doesn‟t buy you much more than a tin of beans after rent, but they wanted people with experience or master‟s degrees. Then I applied for the Civil Service fast stream. I passed the exam, but at the interviews they accused me of being …too detached” and talking in language that was …too technocratic‟, which I didn‟t think possible, but obviously it is.”6. Since then he has spent the summer “hiding”. He can recount several episodes of Traffic Cops and has seen more daytime television than is healthy. He talks to his friends about his aimless days and finds that most are in the same boat. One has been forced out to stack shelves by his parents. For the rest it is 9-to-5 “chilling” before heading to the pub. So how about working behindthe bar, to pay for those drinks? “I don‟t want to do bar work. I went to a comprehensive and I worked my backside off to go to a good university, where I worked really hard to get a good degree,” he says. “Now I‟m back at the same stage as those friends who didn‟t go to uni at all, who are pulling pints and doing dead-end jobs. I feel that I‟ve come full circle.”7. Jacqueling Goodwin, his mother, defends him. She insists that he has tried to get a job, but having worked full-time since leaving school herself, she and her husband find it tricky to advise him on how to proceed. “I have always had to work,” she says. “It‟s difficult because when you have a degree, it opens new doors for you, or you‟ d like to think that it does.”8. Although she is taking a soft line with her son at the moment, she is clear thatafter an upcoming three-week trip to South America, his holiday from work will have to end. He may even have to pay rent and contribute to the household bills. 9. “They‟ve got to grow up at some point. We‟ve finished paying for university, so a little bit of help back is good,” she says. “The South America trip is the cutoff point. When he comes back there‟ll be Christmas work if nothing else.”10. Gael Lindenfield, a psychotherapist and the author of the Emotional Healing Strategy, says that the Goodwin parents have struck exactly the right note. The transition from university to a job is tough for parents and children: Crucially they must balance being positive and understanding with not making life too comfortable for their offspring.11 “the main job for the parents is to be there because if they start advising them what to do, that is when the conflict starts. If you have contacts, by all means use those,” she said. “But a lot of parents get too soft. Put limits on how much money you give them, ask them to pay rent or contribute to the care of the house or the pets. Carry on life as normal and don‟t allow them to abuse your bank account or sap your reserves of emotional energy.”12 paying for career consultations, train fares to interviews or books are good things; being too pushy is not. But while parents should be wary of becoming too soft, Lindenfield advises them to tread 踩sympathetically after a job setback for a few days or even weeks – depending on the scale of the knock. After that the son or daughter needs to be nudged推动 firmly back into the saddle. 13 boys are more likely to get stuck at home. Lingenfield believes that men are often better at helping their sons, nephews, or friends‟ sons than are mothers and sisters. Men have a different way of handling setbacks than women, she says, so they need the male presence to talk it through.14 as for bar work, she is a passionate advocate: it‟s a great antidote解毒剂 to graduate apathy冷漠. It just depends on how you approach it. Lindenfield, who found her first job as an aerial photographic assistant through bar work, says it is a great networking opportunity and certainly more likely to get you a job than lounging in front of the TV.15 “The same goes for shelf-stacking. You will be spotted if you‟re good at it. If you‟re bright and cheerful and are polite to the customers, you‟ll soon get moved on. So think of it as an opportunity; people who are successful in the long run have often got shelf-stacking sto ries,” she says.16 your son or daughter may not want to follow Hollywood stars such as Whoopi Goldberg into applying make-up to corpses尸体 in a mortuary太平间, or guarding nuclear power plants like Bruce Wills, but even Brad Pitt had to stand outside El Pollo Loco restaurant chain in a giant chicken suit at one time in his life. None of them appears the poorer for these experiences.Danger! Books may change your life1 Like Lewis Carroll's Alice, who falls into a rabbit hole and discovers amysterious wonderland, when we pick up a book we are about to enter a new world. We become observers of life from the point of view of a person older than ourselves, or through the eyes of a child. We may travel around the globe to countries or cultures we would never dream of visiting in real life. We'll have experiences which are new, sometimes disconcerting, maybe deeply attractive, possibly unpleasant or painful, but never less than liberating from the real world we come from.2 The English poet William Cowper (1731–1800) said "Variety's the very spice of life, / that gives it all its flavour" although he neglected to say where or how we could find it. But we know he was right. We know we live in a world of variety and difference. We know that people live various different lives, spend their time in various different ways, have different jobs, believe in different things, have different opinions, different customs, and speak different languages. Normally, we don't know the extent of these differences, yet sometimes when something unusual happens to make us notice, variety and difference appear more as a threat than an opportunity.3 Reading books allows us to enjoy and celebrate this variety and difference in safety, and provides us with an opportunity to grow. To interact with other people's lives in the peace and quiet of our homes is a privilege which only reading fiction can afford us. We even understand, however fleetingly, that we have more in common with other readers of books in other cultures than we might do with the first person we meet when we step out of our front doors. We learn to look beyond our immediate surroundings to the horizon and a landscape far away from home.4 If we ever question the truth of the power of reading books, we should take the trouble to go to our local library or bookshop, or even, if we're fortunate enough, to the books on our shelves at home. We should wonder at the striking vistas created by the titles of novels ranging from the classics to the most recent: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Fourth Hand by John Irving, Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene, The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger or Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday. Then we should reflect on the other lives we'll meet once we begin to read.5 Every book will have its own language and dialect, its own vocabulary and grammar. We may not always understand every word or sentence, but whether we're enchanted or whether we feel excluded, our emotions are nevertheless stimulated. Other people and other cultures are not always distant because of geography. In a book we may confront people who live in a different climate, have different religious beliefs, or come from a different ethnic group. Even our neighbours down the road may be strangers who we can only meet through books.6 As soon as we are able to listen, books are supremely influential in the way we live. From the bedtime story read by a parent to their child all the way through to the sitting room lined with books in our adult homes, books define our lives. The English writer E. M. Forster (1879–1970) even hinted at a more mystical power which books possess over us. He wrote, "I suggest that the only books that influence us are those for which we are ready, and which have gone a little further down ourparticular path than we have gone ourselves." It's as if the right book comes to seek us out at the right moment, and offers itself to us—it's not us who seek out the book.7 Thomas Merton (1915–1968), the American monk, priest and writer, was once asked a series of seven questions by a journalist: Name the last three books you have read, the three books you are reading now, the books you intend to read, the books that have influenced you, and why, a book that everyone should read, and why. For the books which had influenced him, he cited poetic works of William Blake, various plays by ancient Greek thinkers and writers, and a number of religious writings. When asked why they had influenced him, he replied, "These books and others like them have helped me to discover the real meaning of my life, and have made it possible for me to get out of the confusion and meaninglessness of an existence completely immersed in the needs and passivities fostered by a culture in which sales are everything."8 So how would you answer the questions?9 In 1947, Clifton Fadiman coined the term home-run book. When a baseball player hits a home run, he hits the ball so hard and so far he's able to run round the four bases of the diamond, and score points not only for himself but for the other runners already on a base. It's the most enjoyable and satisfying event in a baseball game. Likewise, a home-run book describes not the child's first reading experience, but the first time they read a book which induces such pleasure and satisfaction that they can't put it down. For hundreds of millions of children around the world, the best known example of a home-run book will be the Harry Potter stories.10 As adults, we're always looking for our own home-run books, not just for the first time, but time after time again. Whoever has read a novel in one sitting will always remember the pleasure and satisfaction which await us, and eagerly, insistently, sometimes even desperately seeks to reproduce the marvellous sensation again. We cannot withstand the hunger to visit another world, to meet different people, to live other lives and to reflect on ourselves.11 Danger! Books may change your life. Such is the power of reading.Unit 3 Fifty years of fashion1 No history of fashion in the years 1960 to 2010 can overlook or underestimate two constant factors: the ubiquitous jeans and the rise and fall of hemlines for women's skirts and dresses.2 Denim, the material which jeans are made of, was known in France in the late 16th century, but it was Levi Strauss who saw that miners in the Californian gold rush in the mid-19th century needed strong trousers, which he reinforced with metal rivets. Blue denim jeans remained popular in the US as work clothes until the 1950s, but then became associated with youth, new ideas, rebellion and individuality. When Levi Strauss & Co began to export blue jeans to Europe and Asia in the late 1950s, they were bought and worn with huge enthusiasm by young people and recognized asa symbol of the young, informal American way of life.3 Hemlines have a more peculiar significance during this period. It has often been noted that there is a precise correlation, with only a few exceptions, between the length of women's skirts and the economy. As the stock market rises, so do hemlines, and when it falls, so do they. Exactly why women should want to expose more or less of their legs during periods of economic boom and bust remains a mystery. But the general trend is inescapable. Whenever the economic outlook is unsettled, both men and women tend to wear more conservative clothes.4 Perhaps the most important development in fashion in the 1960s was the miniskirt, invented by the British designer Mary Quant. Because Quant worked in the heart of Swinging London, the miniskirt developed into a major international fashion. It was given greater respectability when the great French designer, Courrèges, developed it into an item of high fashion. But it would not have achieved such international currency without the development of tights, instead of stockings, because the rise in hemlines meant the stocking tops would be visible.5 The hippie movement of the mid-1960s and early 1970s influenced the design of jeans, with the trouser leg developing a flared "bell-bottom" style. By the mid-1970s, as the economy deteriorated, hemlines dropped to midi (mid-calf length) and maxi (ankle length), while jeans were no longer exclusively blue.6 Jeans remained fashionable during the period of punk, usually worn ripped, often with chains and studded belts. The look lasted for several years, although became more and more restricted to small groups of inner-city young people, and had little influence on other age groups.7 As a backlash to the anarchy of punk, the New Romantics was a fashion movement which occurred mainly in British nightclubs. It was glamorous and courageous, and featured lavish frilled shirts. Jeans were definitely not acceptable.8 The mid-1980s saw the rise of a number of different styles. Power dressing was characterized by smart suits and, for the newly-empowered women, shoulder pads and knee-length skirts. Not surprisingly, the economy was unstable, and people took less risks in what they wore. For men, the Miami Vice style, named after the television series, made use of smart T-shirts under designer jackets, and designer stubble—three or four days of beard growth. But as always, denim remained popular with the young. In particular, heavy metal music fans wore bleached and ripped jeans and denim jackets.9 Gradually hemlines started to rise again ... until the world stock market crash in 1987. So the late 1980s in the US saw the rise of the more conservative style called Preppy style, with classic clothes by Ralph Lauren and Brooks Brothers for men, button-down shirts, chinos and loafers, with a sweater tied loosely around the neck. They also wore jeans, but either brand-new or clean and smartly pressed—not at all what Levi Strauss originally intended.10 As the world economies improved again in the 1990s, fashion for young people became more daring. Boots and Converse or Nike trainers remained popular, but the predominant colours became olive green and oatmeal. Hair was worn long, or cut spiky short and dyed blue, green or red. Hoodies, baseball caps and baggy jeans, whichwere often worn low below the buttocks, were common on the streets.11 Then in January 2000 the New York technology stock market collapsed. As usual, so did hemlines, which were described by one commentator as "the prim and proper look is in. Skirts should be below the knee." But merely one year later, the stock market began to recover, and the micro miniskirt returned. Hemlines were higher than they had been for many years.12 During this period, it was unusual to wear formal clothes unless you were at work. Designer jeans gained huge popularity. These were made of the traditional denim, perhaps with some lycra added, but cut and marketed under well-known brands such as Armani, Hugo Boss and Moschino, who until recently had only concerned themselves with the smartest fashion lines. Skinny jeans also became popular in Britain and most of Europe. Skirt length is uncertain, ranging from micro to "sensible"—knee-length or just below.13 Sometimes the hemline indicator, as it's called, can even precede and predicta change in the mood of the stock market long before it actually happens. In September 2007, at the New York fashion shows, which were displaying their styles for spring 2008, the trend was for much longer dresses and skirts, many to mid-calf or even down to the ankles. Some people felt this showed that the hemline indicator was no longer reliable, and that designers no longer dictated what people would wear. During the London and New York fashion shows in September 2008, hemlines continued to drop. But sure enough, in the fall of 2008, the stock market indexes fell dramatically when the banking crisis hit the US, Europe and then the rest of the world. Hemlines were no longer following the stock market—they were showing the way and indicating future economic trends.14 During the whole period, fashion styles have ranged widely, and have usually been sparked off by a desire to identify people as belonging to a particular sub-culture. But the constant factors over this period are denim and hemlines and the greatest influences have been a 19th-century Californian clothes manufacturer and a young designer in the Swinging London of the 1960s.Unit4The credit card trap1 I have a confession. Several years ago, I was standing in a queue to collect some theatre tickets for my family, and my friend was doing the same for hers.I got mine, and paid for them by credit card, feeling contented by the convenience of this cash- free transaction. It was then her turn to pay. The whole operation passed as smoothly as mine, but my delight soon turned to abject shame. My credit card was a fairly pathetic, status-free dark blue, whereas hers was a very exclusive gold one.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 flashthan me?3 Now, I had a job which was as steady as any job was in those days –that's to say, not very, but you know, no complaints. I had a mortgage on my house, but then who didn't? I paid off all my credit debt at the end of the month, so although technically, I was in debt to the credit card company, it was only for a matter ofa few weeks. So I assumed I had a good credit rating.4 Call me superficial, and I'm not proud of myself, but there and then, I was suddenly jealous of my friend. I decided I no longer wanted a blue card. I wanted a gold one. A gold card was suddenly indispensable, it would make me feel good with myself, and desirable to others.5 So I applied for the most distinctive, shiny golden card the company offered.6 I was turned down.7 When I had recovered from the shock, which took several seconds, I asked why. It appears that because I pay my credit card bill both on time and in full, I'm not the kind of person that they want to have their gold credit card. They target people who are prone to impulse-buying, and potentially bad credit risks, tempted to spend more than they have, and liable to fall behind with repayments. Then they can charge them more interest, and earn more money. That's the way they do business.8 So does this explain why the credit card companies are luring impoverished students with unrealistic interest rates, like my kids?9 Three weeks ago, No. 2 daughter came home from university for the weekend. She's in her second term of her first year. 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. She wears clothes from the local charity shops, and rarely goes out. She hugged me (never usually does that) and then said, "Mum,I need to talk to you."10 "What is it, darling? Tell me everything."11 "I've applied for a credit card, and I need someone to act as a guarantee for me. Is it OK if I put down your name? Thanks so much, Mum, must dash! Bye. "12 After I'd hauled her back into the house, it transpired that her bank had written to her offering a credit card at a low interest for a trial three-month period, subject to suitability ... and so on. Her bank! I trusted them! They know even better than I do how broke she is.13 Here’s a serious question. Why do they call them credit cards when it would be more accurate to call them debt cards?14 Here's an even more serious story. Another friend's daughter, Kelly, was studying modern languages at university, and spent a year overseas. At some point in the year, there was a change of procedure, and Kelly's bank failed to allow her to access her funds in her current account, because the request was from outside the UK. Naturally, there was a lengthy correspondence while she tried to sort this out, so the delay in being able to access her funds meant that she went into the red, and her debts began to rise more than £200 above the agreed limit on her overdraft of £1,500.15 When Kelly got back home, the bank charged her £100 for going over the limit, and insisted she paid £30 a month to bring the balance back to below her limit. They omitted to tell her that she wasn't actually paying off the debt, but only the exorbitant interest on the overspend of the overdraft.16 So Kelly had to turn to her credit card which she had used sensibly and sparingly until that point. Because she was a student, and because she didn't useit much, naturally her credit limit was low.17 And not surprisingly, she couldn’t pay off even the minimum payment on her credit card bill. So there were not only bank charges owing, but also credit card debts and interest. And of course, she was recorded as being a bad credit risk.18 Things then went from bad to worse. A few months into her final year, the bank notified her that it was going to reduce her overdraft from £1,500 to £1,000. They told her to apply for a student loan to cover the rest. But when the loan company did a credit check, they discovered the card debt.19 Guess what? She didn't get the loan.20 This was a delightful kid who had great restraint with her spending and was economical about her lifestyle. She didn't go on spending sprees buying new shoes, and she didn't use her credit card as if (unlike me) it was a fashion item. She usedit to buy food, to survive.21 And what happened? She had to drop out of university22 I wish there was a happy ending to Kelly's story, although maybe there will be. For the moment, she's working in the local supermarket, and it's probable that she'll have another go at university when she has paid off her debts.23 So this is what the banks do. They set traps which appeal to our vanity and greed and sometimes to our basic need for survival. And then when we fall into the trap they shout "Got you! Didn't you realize it was a trap?"24 And here we are today, caught in the credit crunch, with world economiesin free fall, all because the wicked bankers set us traps which we fell into, attracting us with endless publicity for loans of money which even they didn't have!It now appears they were borrowing on their own flashy gold credit cards too.25 So I have a solution to the credit card trap, and I want all of you to listen to me very carefully.26 I want you to lay out all of your credit cards in a line, take a large pair of scissors and cut them into small pieces. Then put them in an envelope and send them to your bank, with a letter saying (more or less) “I trusted you and you deceived me. You've got the whole world into this ridiculous credit card trap, and if I now cut your cards in half, and take away your potential to tempt money away from honest people like me, maybe it will be your turn to learn what it's like to run out of cash."27 As for me, I don't want any more credit cards, no more status symbols,no more bad feelings about wishing I could show how superior I am to others. I'm not going to yearn any more for what I cannot afford or cannot have.Sex Differences in English Gossip Rules1 Contrary to popular belief, researchers have found that men gossip just as much as women. In one English study, both sexes devoted the same amount of conversation time (about 65 per cent) to social topics such as personal relationships; in another, the difference was found to be quite small, with gossip accounting for 55 per cent of male conversation time and 67 per cent of female time. As sport and leisure have been shown to occupy about 10 per cent of conversation time, discussion of football could well account for the difference.2 Men were certainly found to be no more likely than women to discuss "important" or "highbrow" subjects such as politics, work, art and cultural matters – except (and this was a striking difference) when women were present. On their own, men gossip, with no more than five per cent of conversation time devoted to non-social subjects such as work or politics. It is only in mixed-sex groups, where there are women to impress, that the proportion of male conversation time devoted to these more "highbrow" subjects increases dramatically, to between 15 and 20 per cent.3 In fact, recent research has revealed only one significant difference, in terms of content, between male and female gossip: Men spend much more time talking about themselves. Of the total time devoted to conversation about social relationships, men spend two thirds talking about their own relationships, while women only talk about themselves one third of the time.4 Despite these findings, the myth is still widely believed, particularly among males, that men spend their conversations "solving the world's problems", while the womenfolk gossip in the kitchen. In my focus groups and interviews, most English males initially claimed that they did not gossip, while most of the female readily admitted that they did. On further questioning, however, the difference turned out to be more a matter of semantics than practice: What the women were happy to call "gossip", the men defined as "exchanging information".5 Clearly, there is a stigma attached to gossip among English males, an unwritten rule to the effect that, even if what one is doing is gossiping, it should be called something else. Perhaps even more important: It should sound like something else. In my gossip research, I found that the main difference between male and female gossip is that female gossip actually sounds like gossip. There seem to be three principal factors involved: the tone rule, the detail rule and the feedback rule.The tone rule6 The English women I interviewed all agreed that a particular tone of voice was considered appropriate for gossip. The gossip-tone should be high and quick, or sometimes a stage whisper, but always highly animated."Gossip's got to start with something like[Quick, high-pitched, excited tone] 'Oooh –Guess what? Guess what?'" explained one woman, "or 'Hey, listen, listen [quick, urgent stage whisper] – you know what I heard?'" Another told me: "You have to make it sound surprising or scandalous, even when it isn't really. You'll go, 'Well, don't tell anyone, but …' even when it's not really that big of a secret."。

1.Can we live without our mobile phones?Mobile phones have been the biggest factor of change in everyday behavior. An increasing number of subscribers make more calls and take decisions more quickly that make an impact on our lifestyle. At the same time, the world has become smaller due to the wide use of mobile phones. In order to test whether people can live without mobile phones, the researchers ask three people to switch off their mobile phones for three days.The businessman loses his social life,but he is less likely to act on an impulse.Moreover,not having a phone creates more time for him to think.The schoolgirl cant’t speak to her friends or make arrangements for her social life without her mobile phone,but she feels more independent.The working mother,switching off her phone,feels anxious at first,but later on she finds that life can be solitary without anyone distracting her or interfering with her daily routine,so she feels it’s like therapy for the soul.2. Thank you for inviting us,when can we leave?The passage describes some nonverbal and verbal cultural bump about different countries.These phenomna reflect that there may be cross-cultural problems which cause misunderstanding,even you speak a language well. It’s impossible to collect all the information you might need to be relaxed in the many different cultures around the world, but you need to be tolerant and aware of the possibility of differences.。