选修八课文.docx

选修八课文.docx

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选修八课文

Unit1CALIFORNIA多样性的土地

CaliforniaisthethirdlargeststateintheUSAbuthasthelargestpopulation.ItalsohasthedistinctionofbeingthemostmulticulturalstateintheUSA,havingattractedpeoplefromallovertheworld.Thecustomsandlanguagesoftheimmigrantsliveonintheirnewhome.ThisdiversityofcultureisnotsurprisingwhenyouknowthehistoryofCalifornia.

NATIVEAMERCANS

ExactlywhenthefirstpeoplearrivedinwhatwenowknowasCalifornia,noonereallyknows.However,itislikelythatNativeAmericanswerelivinginCaliforniaatleastfifteenthousandyearsago.ScientistsbelievethatthesesettlerscrossedtheBeringStraitintheArctictoAmericabymeansofalandbridgewhichexistedinprehistorictimes.Inthe16thcentury,afterthearrivaloftheEuropeans,thenativepeoplesufferedgreatly.Thousandswerekilledorforcedintoslavery.Inaddition,manydiedfromthediseasesbroughtbytheEuropeans.However,somesurvivedtheseterribletimes,andtodaytherearemoreNativeAmericanslivinginCaliforniathaninanyotherstate.

THESPANISH

Inthe18thcenturyCaliforniawasruledbySpain.SpanishsoldiersfirstarrivedinSouthAmericaintheearly16thcentury,whentheyfoughtagainstthenativepeopleandtooktheirland.Twocenturieslater,theSpanishhadsettledinmostpartsofSouthAmericaandalongthenorthwestcoastofwhatwenowcalltheUnitedStates.OfthefirstSpanishtogotoCalifornia,themajoritywerereligiousmen,whoseministrywastoteachtheCatholicreligiontothenatives.In1821,thepeopleofMexicogainedtheirindependencefromSpain.CaliforniathenbecamepartofMexico.In1846theUnitedStatesdeclaredwaronMexico,andafterthewarwonbytheUSA,MexicohadtogiveCaliforniatotheUSA.However,thereisstillastrongSpanishinfluenceinthestate.Thatiswhytodayover40ofCaliforniansspeakSpanishasafirstorsecondlanguage.

RUSSIANS

Intheearly1800s,Russianhunters,whohadoriginallygonetoAlaska,begansettlinginCalifornia.Todaythereareabout25,000Russian-AmericanslivinginandaroundSanFrancisco.

GOLDMINERS

In1848,notlongaftertheAmerican-Mexicanwar,goldwasdiscoveredinCalifornia.Thedreamofbecomingrichquicklyattractedpeoplefromallovertheworld.Thenearest,andthereforethefirsttoarrive,wereSouthAmericansandpeoplefromtheUnitedStates.ThenadventurersfromEuropeandAsiasoonfollowed.Infact,fewachievedtheirdreamofbecomingrich.Somediedorreturnedhome,butmostremainedinCaliforniatomakealifeforthemselvesdespitegreathardship.Theysettledinthenewtownsoronfarms.BythetimeCaliforniaelectedtobecomethethirty-firstfederalstateoftheUSAin1850,itwasalreadyamulticulturalsociety.

LATERARRIVALS

AlthoughChineseimmigrantsbegantoarriveduringtheGoldRushPeriod,itwasthebuildingof

therailnetworkfromthewesttotheeastcoastthatbroughtevenlargernumberstoCaliforniainthe1860s.Today,Chinese-AmericansliveinallpartsofCalifornia,althoughalargepercentagehavechosentostayinthe"Chinatowns"ofLosAngelesandSanFrancisco.

OtherimmigrantssuchasItalians,mainlyfishermenbutalsowinemakers,arrivedinCaliforniainthelate19thcentury.In1911immigrantsfromDenmarkestablishedatownoftheirown,whichtodaystillkeepsuptheirDanishculture.Bythe1920sthefilmindustrywaswellestablishedinHollywood,California.TheindustryboomattractedEuropeansincludingmanyJewishpeople.TodayCaliforniahasthesecondlargestJewishpopulationintheUnitedStates.

JapanesefarmersbeganarrivinginCaliforniaatthebeginningofthe20thcentury,andsincethe1980salotmorehavesettledthere.PeoplefromAfricahavebeenlivinginCaliforniasincethe1800s,whentheymovednorthfromMexico.However,evenmorearrivedbetween1942and1945toworkintheshipandaircraftindustries.

MOSTRECENTARRIVALS

Inmorerecentdecades,CaliforniahasbecomehometomorepeoplefromAsia,includingKoreans,Cambodians,VietnameseandLaotians.Sinceitsbeginninginthe1970s,thecomputerindustryhasattractedIndiansandPakistanistoCalifornia.

THEFUTURE

Peoplefromdifferentpartsoftheworld,attractedbytheclimateandthelifestyle,stillimmigratetoCalifornia.Itisbelievedthatbeforelongthemixofnationalitieswillbesogreatthattherewillbenodistinctmajorracialorculturalgroups,butsimplyamixtureofmanyracesandcultures.

Unit2CLONING:

WHEREISITLEADINGUS

Cloninghasalwaysbeenwithusandisheretostay.Itisawayofmakinganexactcopyofanotheranimalorplant.Ithappensinplantswhengardenerstakecuttingsfromgrowingplantstomakenewones.Italsohappensinanimalswhentwinsidenticalinsexandappearanceareproducedfromthesameoriginalegg.Thefactisthatthesearebothexamplesofnaturalclones.

Cloninghastwomajoruses.Firstly,gardenersuseitallthetimetoproducecommercialquantitiesofplants.Secondly,itisvaluableforresearchonnewplantspeciesandformedicalresearchonanimals.Cloningplantsisstraightforwardwhilecloninganimalsisverycomplicated.Itisadifficulttasktoundertake.Manyattemptstoclonemammalsfailed.Butatlastthedeterminationandpatienceofthescientistspaidoffin1996withabreakthrough-thecloningofDollythesheep.Theprocedureworkslikethis:

Ontheonehand,thewholescientificworldfollowedtheprogressofthefirstsuccessfulclone,Dollythesheep.Thefactthatsheseemedtodevelopnormallywasveryencouraging.ThencamethedisturbingnewsthatDollyhadbecomeseriouslyill.CloningscientistswerecastdowntofindthatDolly'sillnessesweremoreappropriatetoamucholderanimal.AltogetherDollylivedsixandahalfyears,halfthelengthofthelifeoftheoriginalsheep.Sadlythesamearbitraryfateaffectedotherspecies,suchasclonedmice.Thequestionsthatconcernedallscientistswere:

"WouldthisbeamajordifficultyforallclonedanimalsWouldithappenforeverCoulditbesolvedifcorrectionsweremadeintheirresearchprocedure"

Ontheotherhand,Dolly'sappearanceraisedastormofobjectionsandhadagreatimpactonthemediaandpublicimagination.Itbecamecontroversial.Itsuddenlyopenedeverybody'seyestothepossibilityofusingcloningtocureseriousillnessesandeventoproducehumanbeings.

Althoughatpresenthumaneggcellsandembryosneededforcloningresearcharedifficulttoobtain,newspaperswroteofevilleadershopingtoclonethemselvestoattaintheirambitions.Religiousleadersalsoraisedmoralquestions.Governmentsbecamenervousandmoreconservative.Somebegantoreformtheirlegalsystemsandforbaderesearchintohumancloning,butothercountrieslikeChinaandtheUK,continuedtoaccumulateevidenceoftheabundantmedicalaidthatcloningcouldprovide.However,scientistsstillwonderwhethercloningwillhelporharmusandwhereitisleadingus.

Unit3WhenIcalledupmymotherinthecountrysideonthetelephoneshewasveryupset."Therearesomesnakesinourcourtyard,"shetoldme."Snakescomenearthehousenowandthen,andtheyseemtohavemadetheirhomehere,notfarfromthewalnuttree.Canyougetridofthemplease"Ifeltveryproud.Herewasachancefor.metodistinguishmyselfbyinventingsomethingmercifulthatwouldcatchsnakesbutnotharmthem.Iknewmyparentswouldnotlikemetohurttheselivingcreatures!

ThefirstthingIdidwastoseeiftherewereanyproductsthatmighthelpme,butthereonlyseemedtobepowdersdesignedtokillsnakes.Anewapproachwasclearlyneeded.Isetaboutresearchingthehabitsofsnakestofindtheeasiestwaytotrapthem.Luckilythesereptilesaresmallandthatmadethesolutioneasier.

Preparedwithsomeresearchfindings,Idecidedonthreepossibleapproaches:

firstly,removingtheirhabitat;secondly,attractingthemintoatrapusingmaleorfemaleperfumeorfood;andthirdlycoolingthemsothattheywouldbecomesleepyandcouldbeeasilycaught.Idecidedtousethelastone.Iboughtanice-creammakerwhichwasmadeofstainlesssteel.Betweentheoutsideandtheinsidewallsofthebowlthereissomejelly,whichfreezeswhencooled.Iputthebowlintothefridgeandwaitedfor24hours.AtthesametimeIpreparedsomeice-cubes.

ThenextmorningIgotupearlybeforethesunwashot.Iplacedthefrozenbowloverthesnakes'habitatandtheice-cubesontopofthebowltokeepitcool.FinallyIcoveredthewholethingwithalargebucket.ThenIwaited.AftertwohoursIremovedthebucketandthebowl.Thesnakeswerelessactivebuttheywerestilltoofastforme.Theyabruptlydisappearedintoaconvenientholeinthewall.SoIhadtoadjustmyplan.

ForthesecondattemptIfrozethebowlandtheice-cubesagainbutplacedthemoverthesnakes'habitatintheevening,asthetemperaturewasstartingtocool.Thenasbefore,Icoveredthebowlwiththebucketandlefteverythingovernight.EarlythenextmorningIreturnedtoseetheresult.ThistimewithgreatcautionIbentdowntoexaminethesnakesandIfoundthemverysleepy.Butoncepickedup,theytriedtobiteme.Astheywerepoisonoussnakes,Iclearlyneededtoimprovemydesignagain.

Mythirdattemptrepeatedthesecondprocedure.ThenextmorningIcarriedinmyhandasmallnetusedforcatchingfish.Thiswasintheexpectationthatthesnakeswouldbiteagain.Butmonitoredcarefully,thesnakesprovedtobenotroubleandallwentaccordingtoplan.Icollectedthepassivesnakesandthenextdaywemerrilyreleasedthemallbackintothewild.

Pressedbymyfriendsandrelations,Idecidedtoseizetheopportunitytogetrecognitionformysucces