综合英语二课文上册.docx

综合英语二课文上册.docx

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综合英语二课文上册

LessonOne--TwelveThingsIWishTheyTaughtatSchool

1.Iattendedjuniorandseniorhighschool,publicinstitutioninNewYorkandNewJersey,justaftertheSecondWorldWar.Itseemsalongtimeago.Thefacilitiesandskills  oftheteacherswereprobablywellaboveaveragefortheUnitedStatesatthattime.Sincethen,I'velearnedagreatdeal.Oneofthemostimportantthingi'velearnedishowmuchthereistolearn,andhowmuchIdon'tyetknow.SometimesIthinkhowgratefulIwouldbetodayifIhadlearnedmorebackthenaboutwhatreallymatter.Insomerespectseducationsisterriblynarrow;theonlythingIeverlearnedinschoolaboutNapoleonswasthat  theUnitedStatesmadeaLouisianaPurchasefromhim（Onaplanetwheresome95%oftheinhabitantsarenotAmericans,theonlyhistorythatwasthoughtworthteachingwasAmericanhistory.）Inspelling,grammar,thefundamentalsofmath,andothervitalsubjects,myteachersdidaprettygoodjob.Butthere'snomuchelseIwishthey'dtaughtus.

2.Perhapsallthedeficiencieshavesincebeenrectified.Itseemstometherearemanythings（oftenmoreamatterofattitudeandperceptionthanthesimplememorizationoffacts）thattheschoolsshouldteach——thingsthattrulywouldbeusefulinlaterlife,usefulinmakingastrongercountryandabetterworld,butusefulalsoinmakingpeoplehappier.Humanbeingsenjoylearning.That'soneofthefewthingsthatwedobetterthantheotherspeciesonourplanet.Everystudentshouldregularyexperiencethe"Aha!

"——whensomethingyouneverunderstood,orsomethingyouneverknewwasmysterybecomesclear.

3.Sohere'smylist:

  Pickadifficultthingandlearnitwell

4.TheGreekphilosopherSocratessaidthiswasoneofthegreatestofhumanjoys,anditis.Whileyoulearnalittlebitaboutmanysubjects,makesureyoulearnagreatdealaboutoneortwo.Ithardlymatterswhatthesubjectis,aslongasitdeeplyinterestsyou,andyouplaceitinitsbroaderhumancontext.Afteryouteachyourselfonesubject,youbecomemuchmoreconfidentaboutyourabilitytoteachyourselfanother.Yougraduallyfindyou'veacquiredakeyskill.Theworldischangingsorapidlythatyoumustcontinuetoteachyourselfthroughoutyourlife.Butdon'tgettrappedbythefirstsubjectthatinterestsyou,orthefirstthingyoufindyourselfgoodat.Theworldisfullofwonders,andsomeofthemwedon'tdiscoveruntilwe'reallgrowup.Mostofthem.sadly,weneverdiscover.

  Don'tbeafraid  toask"stupid"questions.

5.Manyapparentlynaiveinquirieslikewhygrassisgreen,orwhytheSunisround,orwhyweneed55.000nuclearweaponsintheworld——arereallydeepquestions.Theanswerscanbeagatewaytorealinsights.It'salsoimportanttoknow,aswellasyoucan,whatitisthatyoudon'tknow,andaskingquestionsistheway.Toask"stupid"questionsrequirescourageonthepartoftheaskerandknowledgeandpatienceonthepartoftheanswerer.Anddon'tconfineyourlearningtoschoolwork.Discussideasindepthwithfriends.It'smuchbravertoaskquestionsevenwhenthere'saprospectofridiculethantosuppressyourquestionsandbecomedeadened

totheworldaroundyou.

  Listencarefully.

6.Manyconversationsareakindofcompetitionthatrarelyleadstodiscoveryoneitherside.Whenpeoplearetalking,don'tspendthetimethinkingaboutwhatyou'regoingtosaynext.Instead,trytounderstandwhatthey'resaying,whatexperienceisbehindtheirremarks,whatyoucanlearnfromoraboutthem.Olderpeoplehavegrownupinaworldverydifferentfromyours,oneyoumaynotknowverywell.They.andpeoplefromotherpartsofthecountryandfromothernations,haveimportantperspectivesthatcanenrichyourlife.

    Everybodymakesmistakes

7.Everybody'sunderstandingisincomplete.Beopentocorrection,andlearntocorrectyourownmistakes.Theonlyembarrassmentisinnotlearningfromyourmistakes.

    Knowyourplanet

8.It'stheonlyonewehave.Learnhowitworks.We'rechangingtheatmosphere,thesurface,thewatersoftheEarth,oftenforsomeshort-termadvantagewhenthelong-termimplicationsareunknown.Thecitizensofanycountryshouldhaveatleastsomethingtosayaboutthedirectioninwhichwe'regoing.Ifwedon'tunderstandtheissues,weabandonthefuture.

    Scienceandtechnology.

9.Youcan'tknowyourplanetunlessyouknowsomethingaboutscienceandtechnology.Schoolsciencecourses,Iremember,concentratedontheunimportantpartsofscience,leavingthemajorinsightsalmostuntouched.Thegreatdiscoveriesinmodernsciencearealsogreatdiscoveriesofthehumanspirit.Forexample,Copernicusshowedthat——farfrombeingthecenteroftheuniverse,aboutwhichtheSun,theMoon,theplanets,andthestarsrevolvedinclockwisehomage——theEarthisjustoneofmanysmallworlds.Thisisadeflationofourpretensions,tobesure,butitisalsotheopeninguptoourviewofavastandawesomeuniverse.EveryhighschoolgraduateshouldhavesomeideaoftheinsightsofCopernicus,Newton,Darwin,Freud,andEinstein.（Einstein'sspecialtheoryofrelativity,farfrombeingobscureandexceptionallydifficult,canbeunderstoodinitsbasicswithnomorethanfirst-yearalgebra,andthenotionofarowboatinarivergoingupstreamanddownstream.）

    Don'tspendyourlifewatchingTV.

10.YouknowwhatI'mTalkingabout.

    Culture.

11.Gainsomeexposuretothegreatworksofliturature,artandmusic.Ifsuchaworkishundredsorthousandsofyearsoldandisstilladmired,thereisprobablysomethingtoit.  Likealldeepexperiences,itmaytakealittleworkonyourparttodiscoverwhatallthefussisabout.Butonceyoumaketheeffort,yourlifehaschanged;  you'veacquiredasourceofenjoymentandexcitementfortherestofyourdays.Inaworldastightlyconnectedasoursis,don'trestrictyourattentiontoAmericanorwesternculture.Learnhowandwhatpeopleelsewherethink.Learnsomethingoftheirhistory,theirreligion,theirviewpoints.

  Compassion

12.Manypeoplebelievethatweliveinanextraordinarilyselfishtime.Butthereisahollowness,alonelinessthatcomesfromlivingonlyforyourself.Humansarecapableofgreatmutualcompassion,loveandtenderness.Thesefeelings,however,needencouragementtogrow.

13.Lookatthedelightaone-ortwo-yearoldtakesinlearning,andyouseehowpowerfulisthehumanwilltolearn.Ourpassiontounderstandtheuniverseandourcompassionforothersjointlyprovidethechiefhopeforthehumanrace.

Lessontwo  --HerosandCulturalIcons

GrayGoshgarian

  IfyouwereaskedtolisttenAmericanheroesandheroines,youwouldprobablynamesomeorallofthefollowing:

GeorgeWashington,AbrahamLincoln,DanielBoone,MartinLutherKingJr.,AmeliaEarhart,SusanB.Anthony,JacquelineKennedyOnassis,HelenKeller,ElizabethCadyStanton,andRosaParks.Ifnextyouwereaskedtolistpeoplewhoaregenerallyadmiredbysociety,whosomehowseembiggerthanlife,youmightcomeupwithanentirelydifferentlist.Youmight,infact,namepeoplewhoarecelebratedfortheirwealthandglamourratherthantheirachievementsandmoralstrengthofcharacter.Andyouwouldnotbealone,becausepollstershavefoundthatpeopletodaydonotchoosepoliticalleaderswhoshapehistoryfortheir“MostAdmired”list,butrathermovieandtelevisioncelebrities,fashionmodels,professionalathletes,andevencomicbookandcartooncharacters.Inshortmediaicons.

  Bydefinition,heroesandheroinesaremenandwomendistinguishedbyuncommoncourage,achievements,andself-sacrificemademostofternforthebenefitofothers---thenarepeopleagainstwhomwemeasureothers.Theyaremenandwomenrecognizedforshapingournation’sconsciousnessanddevelopmentaswellasthelivesofthosewhoadmirethem.Yet,somepeoplesaythatoursisanagewheretrueheroesandheroinesarehardtocomeby,wheretheveryidealofheroismissomethingbeyondus---anartifactofthepast.SomemaintainthatbecausetheColdWarisoverandbecauseAmericaisatpeaceourageisessentiallyandunheroicone.Furthermore,theoverallcrimerateisdown,povertyhasbeeneasedbyastrongandgrowingeconomy,andadvancescontinuetobemadeinmedicalscience.Consequently,bereftofculturalheroes,wehavelatchedontoculturalicons—mediasuperstarssuchasactors,actresses,sportscelebrities,televisionpersonalities,andpeoplewhoaresimplyfamousforbeingfamous.

  Culturaliconsarehardertodefine,butweknowthemwhenweseethem.Theyarepeoplewhomanagetotranscendcelebrity,whoarelegendary,whosomehowmanagetobecomemythic.Butwhatmakessomefiguresiconsandothersmerecelebrities?

That’shardtoanswer.Inpart,theirliveshavethequalityofastory.Forinstance,thebeautifulyoungDianaSpencerwhoat19marriedaprince,boreaking,renouncedmarriageandthethrone,anddiedatthemomentshefoundtruelove.Goodlookscertainlyhelp.Sodoesaspecialindefinablecharisma,withthehelpofthemedia.Butnothingbecomesaniconmorethanatragicandearlydeath---suchasMartinLutherKingJr.,JohnF.Kennedy,andPrincessDiana.

  BeingSomebody

  DonnaWoolfolkCross

  Onehundredyearsago,peoplebecamefamousforwhattheyhadachieved.MenlikeJ.P.Morgan,E.H.HarrimanandJayGouldwereallnotableachievers.SowereThomasEdison,MarkTwain,andSusanB.Anthony.

Theiraccomplishmentsarestillevidentinourownday.Today’scelebrities,however,oftendonotbecomeknownforanyenduringachievement.Thepeoplewemostadmiretodayareusuallythosewhoaremosthighlypublicizedbythemedia.

In1981,aGalluppollrevealed