补充阅读B1U15.docx

补充阅读B1U15.docx

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补充阅读B1U15

补充阅读B1

Unit1UniversityStudentlife

Education

Educationistheprocessbywhichpeopleacquireknowledge,skills,habits,values,orattitudes.Thewordeducationisalsousedtodescribetheresultsoftheeducationalprocess.Ideally,educationshouldhelppeopledevelopanappreciationoftheirculturalheritage文化遗产andlivemoresatisfyinglives.Itshouldalsoenablepeopletobecomemoreproductivemembersofsociety,bothascitizenssharingindemocraticprocessesandasworkersintheeconomy.Themostcommonwaytogetaneducationistoattendschool.Butmucheducationtakesplaceoutsidetheclassroom.

Educationinvolvesbothlearningandteaching.Sometimes,peoplelearnbyteachingthemselves.Buttheyalsolearnwiththehelpofotherpeople,suchasparentsorteachers.Parentsareachild'sfirstandperhapsmostimportantteachers.Theyteachtheirchildrenattitudes,habits,andvaluesthathelpshapethechildren'scharacterandremainwiththemthroughoutlife.Butfewparentshaveeitherthetimeortheabilitytoteachtheirchildreneverythingtheyneedtoknow.Instead,parentsturnovermanyeducationalresponsibilitiestoprofessionaleducators.

Teachersandschooldistrictadministratorshavethechiefresponsibilityforeducation.Theorganizedinstructiontheyprovideiscalledformaleducation.Learningthatresultsfromless-organizedinstructioniscalledinformaleducation.

Butmanyotherinstitutionsandagenciesalsoprovideeducation.Churches,whichareestablishedmainlyforworship礼拜,educatetheirmembersthroughchurchteachings.Libraries,newspapers,andsuchorganizationsastheBoyScouts童子军andGirlScoutsalsoeducatepeople.Radioandtelevisionareespeciallyeffectivemeansofeducation.Forexample,variousTVprogramsprovidedbypublictelevisionstationsgivemillionsofchildrenintheUnitedStatesvaluablelearningexperiences.Sincethelate1970's,computershavebecomeimportantineducation.Widespreaduseofwordprocessingandfinancialsoftwarehashelpedpeopletobemoreproductive.Also,theabilitytoquicklysearchforinformationontheInternet,aworldwidenetworkofconnectedcomputers,hasbeguntochangethewayformaleducationisprovided.

Educationandcivilization

Educationisasoldashumanity.Tosurvive,prehistoricpeoplehadtoeducatetheirchildrentohuntanimalsortoplantandharvestgrains,fruits,andvegetablesforfood.Prehistoricpeoplesalsohadtolearntocooperateandtolivetogetherpeacefully.Theyfoundthattheycouldnotlivetogetherpeacefullyforlongunlesstheylearnedtoactincertainways.Educationtaughtthemhowtoactandsohelpedmakesocietypossible.

Asocietythatreachesarelativelycomplexlevelofdevelopmentiscalledacivilization.Forasocietytoachievethislevel,itsmembersmustlearnagreatdeal.Theymustbecomeskilledinagriculture,commerce,government,industry,andthearts.Educationisthechiefmeansofacquiringandteachingtheessentialknowledgeandskills.Amodernsocietywouldnotsurvivewithouteducation.

Educationismoreimportanttodaythaneverbefore.Ithelpspeopleacquiretheskillstheyneedforsucheverydayactivitiesasreadinganewspaperormanagingtheirmoney.Italsogivesthemthespecializedtrainingtheymayneedtoprepareforajoborcareer.Forexample,peoplemustmeetcertaineducationalrequirementsandobtainalicenseorcertificatebeforetheymaypracticeaccounting,law,ormedicine.Manyfields,suchascomputerorpolicework,requirespecialtraining.Also,thereisconsiderableevidencethatpeoplewhoachievehigherlevelsofeducationearnhigherwages.

Educationisimportantbecauseithelpspeopleincreasetheirknowledgeandunderstandingoftheworld.Educationhelpspeopleacquireskillsthatmaketheirlivesmoreinterestingandenjoyable.Suchskillsincludethoseneededtoparticipateinasport,paintapicture,orplayamusicalinstrument.

Educationalsohelpspeopleadjusttochange.Thisbenefithasbecomeincreasinglyimportantbecausesocialchangestodaytakeplacewithincreasingspeedandaffectthelivesofmoreandmorepeople.Educationcanhelpapersonunderstandthesechangesandprovidetheskillsforadjustingtothem.

Mostcountriesconsidereducationoneofthemostimportantareasofpubliclife.Countriesthroughouttheworldinvestlargeamountsoftime,money,andotherresourcestoprovideeducationfortheircitizens.Almost20percentofallthepeopleintheworldaredirectlyinvolvedineducationasstudentsorteachersinelementaryschools,middleorjuniorhighschools,highschools,colleges,oruniversities.Inindustrializedcountries,suchasCanada,Japan,theUnitedKingdom,andtheUnitedStates,about25percentofthepeoplearedirectlyinvolvedineducation.Millionsmorepeopleholdnonteachingjobsrelatedtoeducation.Thesejobsincludeschoolcafeteriaworkers,nurses,andsecretaries;schoolbusdrivers;textbookpublishers;andproducersofeducationalmaterialsandequipment.

Unit2CultureShock

Culture

Culture,inanthropology人类学,thepatternsofbehaviorandthinkingthatpeoplelivinginsocialgroupslearn,create,andshare.Culturedistinguishesonehumangroupfromothers.Italsodistinguisheshumansfromotheranimals.Apeople’scultureincludestheirbeliefs,rulesofbehavior,language,rituals礼节,art,technology,stylesofdress,waysofproducingandcookingfood,religion,andpoliticalandeconomicsystems.

Cultureisthemostimportantconceptinanthropology（thestudyofallaspectsofhumanlife,pastandpresent）.Anthropologistscommonlyusethetermculturetorefertoasocietyorgroupinwhichmanyorallpeopleliveandthinkinthesameways.Likewise,anygroupofpeoplewhoshareacommonculture—andinparticular,commonrulesofbehaviorandabasicformofsocialorganization—constitutesasociety.Thus,thetermscultureandsocietyaresomewhatinterchangeable可互换的.However,whilemanyanimalsliveinsocieties,suchasherdsofelk麋鹿orpacksofwilddogs,onlyhumanshaveculture.

Culturedevelopedtogetherwiththeevolution进化ofthehumanspecies,Homosapiens人类,andiscloselyrelatedtohumanbiology生物学.Theabilityofpeopletohaveculturecomesinlargepartfromtheirphysicalfeatures:

havingbig,complexbrains;anupright直立posture;freehandsthatcangraspandmanipulate操作smallobjects;andavocaltract声道thatcanproduceandarticulate发音awiderangeofsounds.ThesedistinctivelyhumanphysicalfeaturesbegantodevelopinAfricanancestorsofhumansmorethanfourmillionyearsago.TheearliestphysicalevidenceofcultureiscrudestonetoolsproducedinEastAfricaovertwomillionyearsago.

CultureIsSymbolic

Peoplehavecultureprimarilybecausetheycancommunicatewithandunderstandsymbols符号.Symbolsallowpeopletodevelopcomplexthoughtsandtoexchangethosethoughtswithothers.Languageandotherformsofsymboliccommunication,suchasart,enablepeopletocreate,explain,andrecordnewideasandinformation.

Asymbolhaseitheranindirectconnectionornoconnectionatallwiththeobject,idea,feeling,orbehaviortowhichitrefers.Forinstance,mostpeopleintheUnitedStatesfindsomemeaninginthecombinationofthecolorsred,white,andblue.Butthosecolorsthemselveshavenothingtodowith,forinstance,thelandthatpeoplecalltheUnitedStates,theconceptofpatriotism爱国,ortheU.S.nationalanthem国歌,TheStarSpangledBanner星条旗.

Toconveynewideas,peopleconstantlyinventnewsymbols,suchasformathematicalformulas数学公式.Inaddition,peoplemayuseonesymbol,suchasasingleword,torepresentmanydifferentideas,feelings,orvalues.Thus,symbolsprovideaflexiblewayforpeopletocommunicateevenverycomplexthoughtswitheachother.Forexample,onlythroughsymbolscanarchitects建筑师,engineers,andconstructionworkerscommunicatetheinformationnecessarytoconstructaskyscraper摩天楼orbridge.

Peoplehavethecapacityatbirthtoconstruct,understand,andcommunicatethroughsymbols,primarilybyusinglanguage.Researchhasshown,forexample,thatinfantshaveabasicstructureoflanguage—asortofuniversalgrammar—builtintotheirminds.Infantsarethuspredisposed预先安排（先天）tolearnthelanguagesspokenbythepeoplearoundthem.

Languageprovidesameanstostore,process,andcommunicateamountsofinformationthatvastlyexceedthecapabilitiesofnonhumananimals.Forinstance,chimpanzees黑猩猩,theclosestgenetic基因的relativesofhumans,useafewdozencallsandavarietyofgesturestocommunicateinthewild.PeoplehavetaughtsomechimpstocommunicateusingAmericanSignLanguage北美式手势语andpicture-basedlanguages,andsomehavedevelopedvocabulariesofafewhundredwords.Butanunabridged未删节的Englishdictionarymightcontainmorethanhalf-a-millionvocabularyentries条目.Chimpanzeeshavealsonotclearlydemonstratedtheabilitytousegrammar,whichiscrucialforcommunicatingcomplexthoughts.

Inaddition,thehumanvocaltract,unlikethatofchimpanzeesandotheranimals,cancreateandarticulateawideenoughvarietyofsoundstocreatemillionsofdistinctwords.Infact,eachhumanlanguageusesonlyafractionof小部分thesoundshumanscanmake.Thehumanbrainalsocontainsareasdedicatedtotheproductionandinterpretationofspeech,whichotheranimalslack.Thus,humansarepredisposedinmanywaystousesymboliccommunication.

CultureIsLearned

Peoplearenotbornwithculture;theyhavetolearnit.Forinstance,peoplemustlearntospeakandunderstandalanguageandtoabideby遵守therulesofasociety.Inmanysocieties,allpeoplemustlearntoproduceandpreparefoodandtoconstructshelters庇护所.Inothersocieties,peoplemustlearnaskilltoearnmon