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上海牛津英语高二上第一学期全部课文
S2A
Chapter1
ReadingMyfavoritesport
Skiingismyfavoritesport,eventhoughIhaveonlyskiedforfourdaysin
mywholelife.Lastyear,myfatherpromisedtotakemeonaholidayifI
didwellinmyexams.WhenIgotstraightA's,Dadsaid'‘Howabouta
weekendattheBotanicalGardens?
'
However,mymusaid,‘No,youpromisedaspecialholiday.Ithinkyou
oughttokeepyourword.'And,despitetheexpense,hedid,
Mydreamwastoseesomerealsnow,sointheChristmasvacationwe
flewtoSeoul,SouthKorea,andthentookashuttlebuswhichrunsback
andforthbetweenSeoulandMujuResort.Asthebusclimbedthrough
themountains,wesawthesnowinthetrees.Iwasdyingtogetoutofthe
bus.
Nooneinmyfamilyhadevertouchedsnowbefore.Wewerealllike
littlechildren---wepickeditup,madesnowballs,andthrewthemateach
other!
1
Thenwecheckedinatthehotel.Ourroomoverlookedoneoftheski
slopes.Theslopewasfloodlit,sowewatchedpeopleskiinguntil10p.m.
Wecouldnotwaittotryitourselves.
Thenextdaywehadourfirstskiinglesson.Werentedourskisuits,boots
adskis,andwentoutsideontothesnow.Wearingskisforthefirsttime
makesyoufeelverystrange.Suddenlyyoufindyoucannotevenwalk.
Ourinstructortookusontoagentleslope,andshowedussomebasic
skills.Inordertodoupahill,youhavetostandsideways,andgoupstep
bystep.Youmustpointthetipsofyourskistogethersothatyoucanstop.
However,thetipsmustnotcross,oryouwillfall.Youshouldnotski
aloneincaseyoufallandgetinjured.Tobehonest,thatfirstlessonwas
notagreatsuccess,andIkeptfallingdown!
However,thenextdayIdefinitelyimproved.Ionlyfelloverafewtimes,
andImanagedtodoafewlongerruns.Ifeltpleasedwithmyself,andthe
instructorcongratulatedme,soIfeltgreat.Althoughitwasverycold,I
spentmostofthatholidayskiing.Itwasthemostwonderfultimeofmy
life.
Nevertheless,itwasallovertoosoon.NowIhavedecidedtowork
part-timethissummer,soIcanearnenoughmoneyforanothersuper
skiingholiday.
2
MorereadingFaster,Higher,Stronger
TheOlympicGameshavealonghistory.ThefirstmodernGameswere
heldinAthens,Greecein1896.Everyfouryears,athleticsfromallover
theworldcompeteinvarioussportsattheGames.Thelargestgroup
participatesinathletics.
‘Athletics'referstosportsinfourareas:
track,field,roadandcombined
events.Trackevents,suchasrunningandhurdling,testaperson'sspeed.
Inordertowinatrackevent,apersonneedstogofasterthaneveryone
else.Fieldevents,however,testhowhighorfarsomeonecanjumpin
eventssuchasthelongjumporhighjump.Theyalsotesthowfar
someonecanthrowineventssuchastheshot-put,discusorjavelin.The
marathonandracewalksareroadevents.Theytestendurance.In
combinedevents,athletesarerequiredtocompeteinaseriesof
competitionfromeachcategory.Themostfamouscombinedeventisthe
decathlon.Thedecathloninvolvestendifferentathleticseventsthattake
placeovertwodays.Sincethedecathloninvolvestendifferentathletics
eventsthattakeplaceovertwodays.Sincethedecathlontestsall-around
physicalability,thewinnerofthedecathlonisoftencalled‘theworld‘s
greatestathlete.'
3
AlthoughallOlympicsportsareequalinimportance,athleticsis,inmany
ways,thebestpictureoftheOlympicmotto‘Faster,Higher,Stronger”.
Thedesireofhumanitytodobetter---torunfaster,tosoarhigherandto
pushfarther---iswhattheOlympicsareallabout.
Chapter2
ReadingTutorialcentres
Helpful
Ihavebeenstudyingatatutorialcentrefortwoyears.Thefeesarevery
reasonable,andmycommandofEnglishhasimprovedgreatlysinceI
started.
Mytutorsareallqualifiedteachers.Theyaresincereandkind.Ihave
beenhelpedalotbythem.
OneofmyteacherswasBritish.Atfirst,Icouldnotsayanythingtoher.
However,laterIlearnthowtocommunicateinEnglishwithawesterner.
Ithinkthatthetutorialcentrehasgivenmealotofconfidenceinusing
English.
4
Igotosleep
Ihavebeenattendingatutorialcentrefortwomonths.Ihavebeenforced
toattendbymyparents,butIdonotthinkitisusefulforme.
Iamalwaysverytiredafterschool.SometimesIevensleepduringthe
classesintheevening.
Furthermore,theteachersareveryboring.Theygiveusalotof
supplementaryexercisesbuttheyteachusnothing.Iusuallyreadcomics
duringclass.SometimesIgotoavideoarcadeinstead.Ithinktutorial
centresareuseless
Wasteofmoney
Ihavestudiedatatutorialcentreforoneyear.However,IthinkthatI
havebeencheated.
Thesetutorialcentresareonlyinterestedinmakingmoney,sotheyaccept
toomanystudentsforeachclass.However,theydonotwanttopayfor
goodteachers.MyEnglishteacherwasauniversitystudentwhostudied
physics,notEnglish!
Veryoften,hecouldnotanswerourquestionsabouttheuseofthe
language.
5
Inmyopinion,itisbettertospendmoretimeonschoolworkthanto
wastemoneyata‘money-making'tutorialcentre.
Goodandbad
Ihaveexperiencedbothgoodandbadtutorialcentres.
Inmyfirstcentre,Iwasinaverybigclass.MyteacherwasanAustralian.
Hejusttalkedabouthistravels.Icouldlearnnothingfromhim.Ileft
withinamonth.
ThenIaskallmyfriendsfortheiradvice.Asaresultoftheir
recommendations,Ienrolledonacourseatanothercentre.
Theteachersareexcellenthereandtheclassesaresmall.Wehavebeen
taughtmanygoodtechniquesfordevelopingourlanguageandstudying
skills.
Therearebothgoodandbadtutorialcentres,soyoumustdosome
detectiveworkbeforeyouenroll.
However,themostimportantthingiswhetheryouarewillingtolearn
andtoworkhard.Thekeyfactorisyourself.
MorereadingIndependentlearning
6
Independentlearningisonesolutionforthosewhowanttocontinuetheir
education,nuthavenotimeforit.Itisoftendescribedas‘aclassofone',
becauseyouworkalone.Youstudyatyourownpace,atatimeandplace
convenientforyou.Thesecoursescanhelpyougetadegree,helpyour
career,orhelpyoulearnwhatinterestsyou.
Onetypeofindependentlearningisthecorrespondencecourse,Ina
correspondencecourse,aschoolsendsyoutextbooks,studyguides,and
materialssuchasvideoandaudiodiscs.Youcommunicatewithyour
teacherbymail.Yourteacherreadsyourpapersandmakescomments,
Yourmarksarerecordedbytheschoolbeforetheyaremailedbackto
you.
Anewerstyleofindependentlearningise-learning.Withe-learning,you
studyusingcomputersoftwareortheInternet.Youcanlearnonyourown,
oryoucanenrollonacourse.Usually,inane-learningcourse,students
communicatewiththeirteachersthroughe-mail.However,somestudents
havebeenusingvideorecently.Thisallowstheteacherandthestudents
toseeandcommunicatewitheachotheratthesametime.
Independentlearninggivesyouthefreedomtoadaptyourlearningto
yourlifestyle.However,itrequiresself-disciplineandhardwork,sonot
everyoneissuccessfulatit.Thosewhoaresuccessfulreceivearealsense
ofachievementandsatisfaction.
7
Chapter3
ReadingFashion
Mytopicis‘Fashion'.Fashionisimportanttoalmostallofus.Byfashion,
weusuallymeanpopulartrendsinstylesofdress.Whenwedooutortoa
party,weusuallyliketowearfashionableclothes.Toillustratemytalk,I
havebroughtalongfiveobjects.
Myfirstobjectisthisblouse.Itlooksbeautiful,doesn'tit?
It'smymost
expensivepieceofclothing,andIloveit.Itcostme$200.Itmayseem
veryextravagant,butIcouldafforditwithmyownsavings.Itwasn't
easyformetoearnthemoney,butwhenbuyingclothes,Ithinkthemore
youspendthebetterthequality.Soyousee,fashionisquiteimportantto
me.
However,I'mnotaskeenonfashionasmybrotherGary.Lastsummer,
hewonafreetriptoLondoninacontest.Theorganizerswantedtoshow
himsomefamoussights.Buthedidn'tappreciateoldbuildings.Hejust
spentallhistimesearchingforthecoolestpairoftrainers!
Forhim,
fashionwasmoreimportantthanculture.Thesearethetrainershebought.
8
WasitworthatriptoLondontobuythese?
Well,Idon'tthinkso.Itwas
awasteoftimeandmoney.
Fashionisverybigbusiness.Changesinfashioncancreateorruinjobs.
Asanexample,Ihavebroughtthisblondewigtoshowyou.Itbelongsto
oneofmymum'sfriends.Inthe1960s,thesewereveryfashionable.But
afewyearslaterfashionschanged,andwomenworewigsmuchless
often.Manywigfactoriescloseddown,andhundredsofworkerslost
theirjobs,whichwasterrible!
Fashioncanaffectthenaturalworld,aswell.I'mholdinganoldhat
borrowedfromadramacompany.It'smadeofbeaverfur.Thesehats
wereveryfashionableabout200yearsago.Asaresult,beaversalmost
becameextinct.Luckily,inthe1850s,thesehatswentoutofstyleandthe
beaversweresaved.
Finally,weshouldrememberthesaying,'neverjudgeabookbyits
cover.'Clotheswillnotmakeusmoreorlessclever,betterorworse,
moreorlesshonest.IoncesawamovieaboutMotherTeresa.Shespent
allherlifehelpingpoorpeopleinIndia,mostofwhomweredying.In
1979,shewasawardedtheNobelPrizeforPeace.Whensheflewtoget
theaward,sheworethesameoldclothesasusual,andcarriedallher
possessionsinalittlebagli