大学英语精读第5册15课文全文翻译.docx

大学英语精读第5册15课文全文翻译.docx

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大学英语精读第5册15课文全文翻译

大学英语精读第5册和第6册全文课文翻译

AKindofSermon

ItisprobablyeasierforteachersthanforstudentstoappreciatethereasonswhylearningEnglishseemstobecomeincreasinglydifficultoncethebasicstructuresandpatternsofthelanguagehavebeenunderstood.Studentsarenaturallysurprisedanddisappointedtodiscoverthataprocesswhichoughttobecomesimplerdoesnotappeartodoso.

Itmaynotseemmuchconsolationtopointoutthattheteacher,too,becomesfrustratedwhenhiseffortsappeartoproducelessobviousresults.Hefindsthatstudentswhowereeasytoteach,becausetheysucceededinputtingeverythingtheyhadbeentaughtintopractice,hesitatewhenconfrontedwiththevastuntouchedareaofEnglishvocabularyandusagewhichfallsoutsidethescopeofbasictextbooks.Heseesthemstrugglingbecausethelanguagetheythoughttheyknewnowappearstoconsistofabewilderingvarietyofidioms,clichédandacceptedphraseswithdifferentmeaningsindifferentcontexts.ItishardtoconvincethemthattheyarestillmakingprogresstowardsfluencyandthattheirEnglishiscertaintoimprove,giventimeanddedication.

Insuchcircumstancesitishardlysurprisingthatsomegiveupindisgust,whileothersstillwaithopefullyfortheteachertogivethemthesameconfidentguidancehewasabletoofferthematfirst.Theteacher,forhispart,frequentlyreducedtotryingtoexplaintheinexplicable,maytakerefugeinquotingproverbstohiscolleaguessuchas:

"Youcanleadahorsetowaterbutyoucan'tmakehimdrink”or,morerespectfullyiflessgrammatically:

”Itain’twhatyousay,It'sthewaythatyousayit."Hisstudentsmightfeelinclinedtocounterthesewith:

"ThemoreIlearn,thelessIknow."

Ofcoursethisisnottrue.Whatbothstudentsandteachersareexperiencingistherecognitionthatthemorecomplexstructuresoneencountersinalanguagearenotasvitaltomakingoneselfunderstoodandsohavealessimmediatefieldofapplication.Forthesamereason,fromtheteacher'spointofview,selectingwhatshouldbetaughtbecomesamoredifficulttask.Itismucheasiertogetfoodofanykindthantochoosethedishyouwouldmostliketoeatonagivendayfromavastmenu.

Definingtheproblemiseasierthanprovidingthesolution.OnecansuggestthatstudentsshouldspendtwoorthreeyearsinanEnglish-speakingcountry,whichamountstowashingone'shandsofthem.Fewstudentshavethetimeorthemoneytodothat.Itisoftensaidthatwidereadingisthetimeorthemoneytodothat.Itisoftensaidthatwidereadingisthebestalternativecourseofactionbutevenhereitisnecessarytomakesomekindofselection.Itisnousetellingstudentstogotothelibraryandpickupthefirstbooktheycomeacross.Myownadvicetothemwouldbe:

"readwhatyoucanunderstandwithouthavingtolookupwordsinadictionary（butnotwhatyoucanunderstandataglance）;readwhatinterestsyou;readwhatyouhavetimefor（magazinesandnewspapersratherthannovelsunlessyoucanreadthewholenovelinaweekorso）;readtheEnglishwrittentoday,not200yearsago;readasmuchasyoucanandtrytorememberthewayitwaswrittenratherthanindividualwordsthatpuzzledyou."Andinsteadof"read",Icouldjustaswellsay"listento."

Myadvicetoteacherswouldbesimilarinaway.Iwouldsay"It'snogoodthinkingthatanythingwilldo,orthatalllanguageisuseful.It'snogoodrelyingonstudentstoexpressthemselveswithouttherighttoolsforexpression.It'sstillyourdutytochoosethebestpathtofollownearthetopofthemountainjustasitwastoproposeapracticableshort-cutawayfromthebeatentrackinthefoothills.Andifthepathyouchooseistooovergrowntomakefurtherprogress,thewholepartywillhavetogobackandyouwillhavetochooseanotherroute.Youarestillthepaidguideandexpertandthereisawaytothetopsomewhere."

TheFifthFreedom

MorethanthreecenturiesagoahandfulofpioneerscrossedtheoceantJamestownandPlymouthinsearchoffreedomstheywereunabletofindintheirowncountries,thefreedomsofwestillcherishtoday:

freedomfromwant,freedomfromfear,freedomofspeech,freedomofreligion.Todaythedescendantsoftheearlysettlers,andthosewhohavejoinedthemsince,arefightingtoprotectthesefreedomsathomeandthroughouttheworld.

Andyetthereisafifthfreedom-basictothosefour-thatweareindangeroflosing:

thefreedomtobeone'sbest.St.Exuperydescribesaragged,sensitive-facedArabchild,hauntingthestreetsofaNorthAfricantown,asalostMozart:

hewouldneverbetrainedordeveloped.Washefree?

"Noonegraspedyoubytheshoulderwhiletherewasstilltime;andnoughtwillawakeninyouthesleepingpoetormusicianorastronomerthatpossiblyinhabitedyoufromthebeginning."Thefreedomtobeone'sbestisthechanceforthedevelopmentofeachpersontohishighestpower.

HowisitthatweinAmericahavebeguntolosethisfreedom,andhowcanweregainitforournation'syouth?

Ibelieveithasstartedslippingawayfromusbecauseofthreemisunderstandings.

First,themisunderstandingofthemeaningofdemocracy.TheprincipalofagreatPhiladelphiahighschoolisdriventocryforhelpincombatingthenotionthatitisundemocratictorunaspecialprogramofstudiesforoutstandingboysandgirls.Again,whenagoodindependentschoolinMemphisrecentlyclosed,somethoughtfulcitizensurgedthatitbetakenoverbythepublicschoolsystemandusedforboysandgirlsofhighability,whatithaveentrancerequirementsandgiveanadvancedprogramofstudiestosuperiorstudentswhowereinterestedandabletotakeit.Theproposalwasrejectedbecauseitwasundemocratic!

Thus,coursesaregearedtothemiddleoftheclass.Thegoodstudentisunchallenged,bored.Theloaferreceiveshispassinggrade.Andthelackofanoutstandingcoursefortheoutstandingstudent,thelackofastandardwhichaboyorgirlmustmeet,passesfordemocracy.

Thesecondmisunderstandingconcernswhatmakesforhappiness.Theaimsofourpresent-daycultureareavowedlyeaseandmaterialwell-being:

shorterhours;ashorterweek;morereturnforlessaccomplishment;moresoftsoapexcusesandfewerhonest,realisticdemands.Inourschoolsthisisreflectedbythevanishinghickorystickandtheemergingpsychiatrist.Thehickorystickhaditsfaults,andthepsychiatristhashisstrengths.Buthickorystickhaditsfaults,andthepsychiatristhashisstrengths.Butthetrendisclear.Toutcomprendrec'esttoutpardoner（Tounderstandeverythingistoexcuseeverything）.Dowereallybelievethatoursofteningstandardsbringhappiness?

Isitoursoundandconsideredjudgmentthatthetoughersubjectsoftheclassicsandmathematicsshouldbethrownaside,assuggestedbysomeeducators,fordoll-playing?

SmallwonderthatCharlesMalik,LebanesedelegateattheU.N.,writes:

"ThereisintheWest"（intheUnitedStates）"ageneralweakeningofmoralfiber.（Our）leadershipdoesnotseemtobeadequatetotheunprecedentedchallengesoftheage."

Thelastmisunderstandingisintheareaofvalues.Herearesomeofthemostinfluentialtenetsofteachereducationoverthepastfiftyyears:

thereisnoeternaltruth;thereisnoabsolutemorallaw;thereisnoGod.Yetallofhistoryhastaughtusthatthedenialoftheseultimates,theplacementofmanorstateatthecoreoftheuniverse,resultsinaparalyzingmassselfishness;andthefirstsignsofitarealreadyfrighteninglyevident.

ArnoldToynbeehassaidthatallprogress,alldevelopmentcomefromchallengeandaconsequentresponse.Withoutchallengethereisnoresponse,nodevelopment,nofreedom.Sofirstweowetoourchildrenthemostdemanding,challengingcurriculumthatiswithintheircapabilities.Michelangelodidnotlearntopaintbyspendinghistimedoodling.Mozartwasnotanaccomplishedpianistattheageofeightastheresultorspendinghisdaysinfrontofatelevisionset.LikeEveCurie,likeHelenKeller,theyrespondedtothechallengeoftheirlivesbyadisciplinedtraining:

andtheygainedanewfreedom.

Thesecondopportunitywecangiveourboysandgirlsistherighttofailure."Freedomisnotonlyaprivilege,itisatest,"writesDeNouy.Whatkindofatestisit,whatkindoffreedomwherenoonecanfail?

ThedayispastwhentheUnitedStatescanaffordtogivehighschooldiplomastoallwhositthroughfouryearsofinstruction,regardlessofwhetheranyvisibleresultscanbediscerned.Weliveinanarrowedworldwherewemustbealert,awaketorealism;andrealismdemandsastandardwhicheithermustbemetorresultinfailure.Thesearehardwords,buttheyarebrutallytrue.Ifwedepriveourchildrenoftherighttofailwedeprivethemoftheirknowledgeoftheworldasitis.

Finally,wecanexposeourchildrentothebestvalueswehavefound.Byrelatingourlivestotheevidencesoftheages,byjudgingourphilosophyinthelightofvaluesthathistoryhasproventruest,perhapsweshallbeabletoproducethat"ringingmessage,fullofcontentandtruth,satisfyingthemind,appealingtotheheart,firingthewill,amessageonwhichonecanstakehiswholelife."Thisisthemessagethatcouldmeanjoyandstrengthandleadership--freedomasopposedtoserfdom.

YourKeytoaBetterLife

Themostimportantpsychologicalofthiscenturyisthediscoveryofthe"self-image."Whetherwerealizeitornot,eachofuscarriesaboutwithusamentalblueprintorpictureofourselves.Itmaybevagueandill-definedtoourconsciousgaze.Infact,itmaynotbeconsciouslyrecognizableatall.Butitisthere,completedowntothelastdetail.Thisself-imageisou