英语阅读二 课文与笔记.docx

英语阅读二 课文与笔记.docx

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英语阅读二课文与笔记

Text3ARETHESETHEBESTYEARSOFYOURLIFE?

這些是你生命中的黄金时期吗？

（Lead-in:

Whicharethebestyearsoflife?

Allofusaskourselvesthisquestionfromtimetotime,andweprobablycomeupwithdifferentanswers.Youmayfindtheanswersinthefollowingtext.）

Text:

Theupsanddowns盛衰,沉浮oflifemayseemtohavenopredictable（可预言的）plan.Butscientistsnowknowthereareverydefinitelifepatternsthatalmostallpeopleshare.Today,whenwelive20yearslongerthanourgreat-grandparents曾祖父/母,andwhenwomenmysteriouslyoutlivemenbysevenyears,itisclearerthaneverthatthe“gameoflife”isreallyagameoftrade-offs交换.Asweage,wetrade交换strengthforingenuity（聪明才智/独创性）,speedforthoroughness,passionforreason.Theseexchangesmaynotalwaysseemfair,butateveryage,therearesomeadvantages.Soitisreassuringtonotethatevenifyou’vepassedsomeofyourprime全盛时期,youstillhaveotherprimeyearstoexperienceinthefuture.Certainimportantprimesseemtopeaklaterintime.

WHENAREYOUSMARTEST?

From18to25,accordingtoIQscores;butyouaremoreexperiencedwithincreasingage.You’resharpestinyour20’s;around30,memorybeginstodecline,particularlyyourabilitytoperformmathematicalcomputations.“ButyourIQforothertasksclimbs,”saysBerkeleypsychologistArthurJensen.Yourvocabularyatage45,forexample,isthreetimesasgreataswhenyougraduatedfromcollege.At60,yourbrainpossessesalmostfourtimesasmuchinformationasitdidatage21.Thistrade-offbetweensharpnessandwisdomhasledpsychologistDr.LeopoldBellatosuggestthat“maturityquotients（成熟商数）”（MQsinsteadofIQs）beadoptedforadults.

WHENAREYOUHEALTHIEST?

Formen,from15to25;forwomen15to30.

“Amanisinhisbestshapeinthedecadebeforeage25,”saysNewYorkinternistDr.DonaldTompkins.“Hismusclesarefirmest,hisresistancetocoldsandinfections（传染/感染）ishighest,andhisbodyismostefficientinutilizingnutrients营养.”Women,forreasonsscientistsdonotunderstand,getafive-yearbonus（奖金/意想不到的收获）.Peakhealthbeginstodeclinewhenthebodyprocesscalledanabolism（合成代谢cellgrowth）isovertakenbytheoppositeprocess,catabolism（celldeath）.“Cellshavebeendyingsincebirth,”saysTomkins,“butinourlate20’s,theystartdyingfasterthantheyarereplaced.”Also,muscleisreplacedwithfat.

Womenalsogetanadditionalbonusofgoodhealthlaterinlife.ThefiguresofNationalInstituteofHealthshowthattheonsetofsuch“oldage”diseasesasarthritis（关节炎）,rheumatism（风湿病）,andheartailments（疾病）deniesthegenerallygreaterfitness健康ofwomen:

Lifeexpectancyformenisnow68.3;forwomen75.9.U.S.agingauthorityWilliamKennelsays,“Olderwomenwithlowbloodpressurearepracticallyimportant.”However,psychologistsbelievethatbyenteringthecompetitivejobmarketinincreasingnumbers,womenmayeventuallygiveuptheirstatisticaladvantage.

WHENAREYOUMOSTLIKELYTODEVELOPMENTALDISORDERS?

From30to35.

Thissurprisinglynarrowpeakisveryreal.TheNationalInstituteofMentalHealth（INMH）reportsthatmorethanhalfofthepatientsinmentalhospitals,maleandfemale,areinthisagegroup（menleading领先womenbyabout20%）

Butifwearemostneurotic（患神经病的）between30and35,apparentlywerecoverquickly.Admissions进入tomentalhospitalsdropsharplyaroundage40andstaydownuntilage65.Yet,saypsychologists,between40and55,morepeoplereportthey“feel”ontheverge（边缘）ofanervousbreakdown.Relativelyfewactuallyoccur.“Webecomeveteransatcoping（cope:

应付,处理）.”sayspsychologistMarvinMarlins.

Suicide,ameasureofmentalproblems,peaksfrom20to24andthenagainaround70.Incidences发生/出现ofsuicidearesmallestamongpeoplewithintact完好的marriages,highestamongthedivorced.

WHENAREYOUHAPPIEST?

Youhavethebestphysicalsenseofyourselffrom15to24;thebestprofessionalsensefrom40to49.Pessimism（悲观主义）peaksbetween30and39.SanDiegoStateUniversitypsychologistsMarilynBargesandLindaDuttonfoundthatbeforeage24,webelievethatourhappiestyearsareyettocome（还没来）;over30,webelieverthatthey’rebehindus.ANationalHealthSurveyagrees:

Afterage30,webecomemorerealisticanddonotviewhappinessasagoalinitself在本质上.Ifwemaintainourhealth,achieveprofessionalandemotionalgoals,thenhappiness,wefeel,wefollow.”

TheAmericanInstituteofPublicOpinionsaysthatthepessimismpeakoccurswhenwerealizethattalentanddeterminationaren’tenoughtoguarantee（保证/担保）success.LadyLuck幸运女神musthelp.

Also,youth’sgoodphysicalsenseofselfapparentlydoeslittletofoster培养/抱有happiness.“Parentswhotelltheirteenagechildrenthesearethehappiestyears,”saysLigget,“couldn’tbemorewrong大错特错.Adolescenceisverydifficult.Onlywhenyouare40andlookingbackdoesyouth青春期lookblissful（非常幸福的,极其快乐的）.”

WHENAREYOUMOSTCREATIVE?

Generallybetween30to39,butthepeakvarieswithdifferentprofessions.

Mozartwroteasymphony交响曲/乐andfoursonatas（奏鸣曲）byageeight,andMendelssohncomposedhisbest-knownwork,AMidsummerNight’sdream,at17.PsychologistH.C.Lehmanpresentstheyearsforpeakworkinmanyfields.Thoughthepeakinmostfieldscomesearly---mostNobelPrizewinnersdidtheirtopresearchintheirlate20’sand30’s----creativepeoplecontinuetoproducequalityworkthroughouttheirlives.

Byviewinglife’svariouspeaks,wecaneasilygetthefeelingthatwearepartofagiantgive-and–takeplan.Thoughstatisticallytheplanisthere,wemustrememberthateverypeakhasmanyexceptions例外.SaysMcLeish,“Thehumanlifejourneycannotbechartedbyasinglecurvingline.”

Text4　Ourdisappearingwildlife

Animallifefirstappearedontheearthabout400millionyearsago.Throughthepassingmillennia（millenniumn.aperiodof1,000years）,thousandsofanimalspecieshavecomeandgone.Untilrecently,thisprocesswasgradual,theresultofchangeinclimate,inhabitat（thenaturalhomeofaplantoranimal）,orinthegenes基因oftheanimalsthemselves.Butthetremendousexpansionofmoderncivilizationnowthreatenstoupsetthisnaturalbalance,puttingunprecedented（史无前例的）pressureonthesurvivalofourwildlife.

Thisimbalancecanbetracedtomanycauses.Mostariseinthegreedandpoorplanningofmanhimself.Witheachincreaseinman’spopulation,thewildernessareaswheretheanimalslivegetsmaller.Theuseofpesticidestocontrolinjuriousinsectalsoharmswildbirdsandanimals.Waterpollutionkillsfishinourrivers,lakes,andoceans.Huntershavealmostexterminated（v.destroyutterly）manyofthelargeranimalslikethebighornsheep（大角羊）andthegrizzlybear（灰熊）.Andfarmersdestroysmalleranimalsliketheprairiedog（草原犬鼠）andcoyote（郊狼/小狼）.Asaresultofthisunrelentingpressure,ourwildlifeisdisappearingattherateofonespeciesorsubspeciesperyears.

Ofallthecontinents,themostdrastic激烈的reductioninwildlifehasoccurredinNorthAmerica,wherethetransitionfromaruraltoahighlyindustrializedsocietyhasbeenmostrapid.Amongthevictimsarebirds,mammals哺乳动物andfish.Wewillneveragainseethepassengerpigeon旅鸽ortheeasternelk（n.麋/四不像）.Theyhavebeenwipedout.Ofmanyotherspecies,onlyafewrepresentativesstillsurviveinthewild.TheU.S.DepartmentoftheInteriorhasputnofewerthan多达109speciesontheendangeredspecieslist.（Anendangeredspeciesisonewithpoorprospectsforsurvivalandinneedofprotection.）Thislistincludeseverythingfromthetimberwolf（大灰狼/林狼）tothewhoopingcrane（鸣鹤）.Eventhebaldeagle,ournationalsymbol,isthreatened.

Animalsthatkillothergame猎物forfoodarecalledpredators（捕食者）.Thepredatorsincludethewolf,mountainlion,fox,bobcat,andbear.AttackagainsttheseanimalsbeganwiththearrivalofthefirstEuropeansettlers,whowishedtoprotecttheirlivestock.Eventually,arewardwasofferedtohuntersforeverypredatorthatwaskilled.Thisrewardiscalledabounty奖励金（moneygivenforreward）.Ironically,theFederalgovernmentisthechieffunderofpredatorcontrolprograms.

ThesettlersalsobroughtwiththemtheirOldWorldfearsandsuperstitions迷信想法concerningpredators.Whetherpreyingon捕食livestockornot,predatorswereshotonsight.Thisattitudecontinuestothisdayforcoyotes,eagles,foxes,mountainlions,andbobcats,andislargelyresponsibleforplacingtheeasterntimberwolf,grizzlybear,andbaldeagleontheendangeredspecieslist.

Yeteveryanimal,includingthepredator,hasitsplaceinnature’sgrand总的design.Predatorshelpmaintainthehealthoftheirpreyspeciesbyeliminatingthediseased,young,old,andinjured.Predatorslikethemountainlionandthewolfhelptokeepthedeerherdshealthy.Theirkillalsoproviderfoodforscavengers（食腐动物）thatfeedon以...为食carrion腐肉.Occasionallossoflivestockmustbeweighedagainstthegoodtheseanimalsdoinmaintainingthebalanceofnature.

Themountainlionhasespeciallysufferedfromtrappingandhunting.ThisgreatcathadthewidestdistributionofanymammalintheWesternHemisphere.ItsrangeextendedfromnorthernBritishColumbiatothetipofSouthAmerica,andfromtheAtlantictothePacific.Butbytheturnof19thcentury,thissplendidanimalwasalmostextinctintheeasternUnitedStates.IntheWest,thepatternofpersecutionwassimilartothatsufferedbyotherpredators.Asthesheepandcattleempiresgrew,sodidthewaronthemountainlion.

Overhuntingananimalisanobviousformofextermination,buttherearemoresubtleprocessesthatoftenhavethesamefatalresult.Oneoftheseisdestructionofhabitat.Whenfarmersintroducedsheepandcatt