全新版大学英语快速阅读第一册课文Word格式.docx

1、 Of course not, Johnny replied. Then why?I just like seeing places, Johnny told them. Johnny continued to see places although everyone tried to stop him. His parents used to watch him closely, and so did his teachers; but sooner or later Johnny managed to slip away. As he grew older, his favorite tr

2、ick was to hide on a long distance truck. Sometimes he used to travel hundreds of miles before anyone discovered him. It is hardly surprising that eventually Johnny managed to get on board a plane. He was twelve at the time. It was a cargo plane and, a few hours later, Johnny found himself in Cairo.

3、 How did he get on board? No one knows! According to Johnny himself, it was easy: he just went into the airport, walked along some corridors and got on board the nearest plane. In spite of all this, Johnny did well at school. He enjoyed maths and languages and, perhaps not surprisingly, he was espec

4、ially good at geography. What do you want to be when you grow up? his teachers asked him. Johnny did not take long to answer that question. An explorer! he answered. But its difficult to become an explorer in this modem age. they tried to tell him, unless you go into space! But it was no use: Johnny

5、 knew what he wanted! Just before he left school, Johnny saw a notice in one of the daily papers. An expedition was about to go to Brazil to travel up the Amazon River. There were vacancies for three young people willing to work hard and with a sense of adventure. Johnny applied, and, two months lat

6、er, he was on his way to Brazil. Growing Pains I guess it was not Scottie s day. We did not know if something had happened, or if Scottie was just feeling his age. After all, how grown up is a four-year-old supposed to act? But to really understand what happened, let us start at the beginning. Mary

7、and I had invited our nephew, Scottie, over for his usual Sunday supper. We always looked forward to having him because he was a neat little boy. On this particular evening, he arrived on time as usual. However, instead of hugs and kisses, Scottie just pushed past us and headed for the sofa. I had t

8、o take a second look to make sure this was the right little boy. While we waited for the roast chickenScotties favoriteto finish cooking, we sat on the sofa talking. Right in the middle of one of my sentences, Scottie said suddenly, Hey, Uncle Arnold, I want to play my record. The conversation came

9、to a halt. A minute later, the record player was on as loud as it could go with Disco Duck. Scottie was dancing and singing in the middle of the room. Mary was talking to me, but I could not hear a thing she was saying. I was puzzled that I let the matter pass with only a slight comment. Soon dinner

10、 was served. We sat down, lit the candles, and started to eat. Scottie usually would be the first to start eating, but tonight he just sat there and stared at me. Arent you hungry? I asked. Yes, replied Scottie. Then arent you going to eat?No, I m not,Its your favorite dinner, said my wife. I dont w

11、ant to eat, answered Scottie. Paying no attention to his strange behavior for the moment, I said, Okay, if you dont want to eat, you dont have to eat. You may sit and keep us company until we finish our delicious meal. As we continued our dinner, Scottie s face looked confused and uncertain. After w

12、e finished dinner, we began clearing away the dishes, leaving Scottie to sit there with that look of disappointment on his little face. When I removed the dish containing the roast beef, it was more than he could bear. He stood up and threw his napkin across the table. Unfortunately, it hit one of t

13、he candles and caught fire. I do not know who cried out the loudest, myself or Scottie. We both stood there with a look of horror on our faces. I took the napkin and put it out. Scottie started crying. I m sorry, he said. I was just trying to be Dennis. My teacher read us the book about Dennis the M

14、enace, and we thought all the things he did were so funny. But they are not funny when I do them. I dont want to be Dennis any more. We were glad that he was not Dennis any more, just our little Scottie. Working while You Grow Kitchen ManagerJoe I had been working at a cafe called Pacific Desserts f

15、or two years. One day the kitchen manager left his job. I had worked there the longest. I was given the kitchen manager s work, but not the title or the pay. High school kids waited tables at night there. They often visited in the morning before the place was open. They came for free coffee. I had b

16、een making myself breakfast before the manager got there and I decided to expand. For the last three months of school, I made fried eggs and potato salad using the restaurant s eggs, cheese, milk, vegetables, potatoes, and spices. We started a morning coffee club, and charged $ 1 per plate. Soon the

17、 high school students started to bring their friends. One of them even made a signboard in his carpentry class that read Joe s Underground Cafe. I usually made about $ 8 extra per day. This was the same as an increase in my pay. I was also spending an hour of the company s time for my own profit. Bi

18、cycle MessengerKenny Being a bike messenger in Seattle is hard, but our job was easy. We had to work extremely hard, but at least we got paid by the hour. The company always let us wear shorts, but we had to wear the company T-shirts. We cut off the sleeves to stay cool. Then, the company wanted to

19、give a better impression of itself because we delivered to big businesses. They made us wear long pants and shirts made of heavy material. This was crazy! Try riding your bicycle fast for ten miles up hills, really big hills, with heavy packages while you re wearing long pants!All of the messengers

20、agreed we could not continue like that. We decided that we wouldnt wash our clothes at all. We wore the same clothes every day. You can imagine what it was like when we were in an elevator. Our clothes smelled terrible and our bodies also smelled bad. Within a month, the company received many compla

21、ints. They let us wear shorts again. E.T.A fairy Tale of the Space Age For many children the search for extra-terrestrial life or life from other planets may seem to be already over. An extra-terrestrial has been with us for some time. Children ask for shirts that read E.T.I love you and for E.T. to

22、ys under the Christmas tree. Steven Spielberg s film, E.T.the Extra-terrestrial, has become one of the biggest film money-makers of all time; even ahead of Star Wars. What is it about this big-eyed creature from outer space that has made America s children and many adults so excited? Psychologists s

23、ay that the film of E.T., like ancient fairy tales, contains powerful stories that help children through the difficult process of growing up. The message that fairy tales bring to the child is that a struggle against severe difficulties in life cannot be avoided, but that if one does not run away bu

24、t meets unexpected and often unjust hardships, one masters all obstacles and at the end comes out victorious. Today s children, who often grow up alone in homes that are separated from other children, need fairy tales even more than children did at the time when those tales were first told. In E.T.

25、they find a fairy tale with a special interest because it is set in the space age, which is closer to their situation than a story set in an old castle. E.T. may not be good-looking physically, but he is totally harmless, kind and charming. No child need fear an outer space filled with creatures lik

26、e E.T. The film has at least two heroes who children can understand and with whom they can share their feelingsE.T. himself and Elliott, the 10-year-old boy who finds, looks after and saves the friendly and likable creature after he is left behind by his spaceship. Both Elliott and E.T. have been le

27、ft to look after themselves. Elliott feels alone because his parents have separated, but he finds a magical friend whom he can protect and who provides him with friendship. Children often have a strong need for imaginary playmates. For all children, the film raises the question of the need to grow u

28、p and the desire to stay a child. Elliott decides not to go with E.T. aboard the spaceship, where he could continue living in an imaginary world. As one child said, Elliott stayed on Earth because he has to grow up and you cant grow up on the faraway planet of Jupiter. You stay small and a kid like

29、E.T.The film offers many ideas from the traditional fairy tale: first, good children get the better of bad adults. Secondly, the hero is put in a difficult position in the early stages of the story but there is a happy ending when he is finally rescued. Thirdly, the film offers the idea of rebirth,

30、which is found in many fairy tales. Finally, the story also reminds one of The Three Feathers by the well-known writers of fairy talesthe Grimm brothers. In this story, the youngest son wins his father s kingdom by defeating his brothers with the help of an ugly old toad. Put to a final test, to bring back the most beautiful woman, he wins again by choosing the toad who turns into a beauty. Thus, it is love which turns even ugly things into somethi