新标准大学英语2.docx

1、新标准大学英语2Unit 1 Are You a 1960s Type Student?If you can remember anything about the 1960s, you werent really there, so the saying goes. It may be true for those who spent their college years in a haze of marijuana smoke. But there is one thing everyone remembers about the 1960s: Going to college was

2、the most exciting and stimulating experience of your life.In the 1960s, Californias colleges and universities had transformed the state into the worlds seventh largest economy. However, Berkeley, the University of Californias main campus, was also well-known for its student demonstrations and strike

3、s, and its atmosphere of political radicalism. When Ronald Reagan ran for office as governor of California in 1966, he asked if Californians would allow a great university to be brought to its knees by a noisy, dissident minority. The liberals replied that it was the ability to tolerate noisy, dissi

4、dent minorities which made universities great.On university campuses in Europe, mass socialist or communist movements gave rise to increasingly violent clashes between the establishment and the college students, with their new and passionate commitment to freedom and justice. Much of the protest was

5、 about the Vietnam War. But in France, the students of the Sorbonne in Paris managed to form an alliance with the trade unions and to launch a general strike, which ultimately brought about the resignation of President de Gaulle.It wasnt just the activism that characterized student life in the 1960s

6、. Everywhere, going to college meant your first taste of real freedom, of late nights in the dorm or in the Junior Common Room, discussing the meaning of life. You used to have to go to college to read your first forbidden book, see your first indie film, or find someone who shared your passion, for

7、 Jimi Hendrix or Lenny Bruce. It was a moment of unimaginable freedom, the most liberating in your life:But wheres the passion today? Whats the matter with college? These days political, social and creative awakening seems to happen not because of college, but in spite of it. Of course, its true tha

8、t higher education is still important. For example, in the UK, Prime Minister Blair was close to achieving his aim of getting 50 per cent of all under thirties into college by 2010 (even though a cynic would say that this was to keep them off the unemployment statistics). Yet college education is no

9、 longer a topic of great national importance. Today, college is seen as a kind of small town from which people are keen to escape. Some people drop out, but the most apathetic stay the course because its too much effort to leave.Instead of the heady atmosphere of freedom which students in the1960s d

10、iscovered, students today are much more serious. The British Council has recently done research into the factors which help international students decide where to study. In descending order these are: quality of courses, employability prospects, affordability, personal security issues, lifestyle, an

11、d accessibility. College has become a means to an end, an opportunity to increase ones chances on the employment market, and not an end in itself, which gives you the chance to imagine, just for a short while, that you can change the world.The gap between childhood and college has shrunk, and so has

12、 the gap between college and the real world. One of the reasons may be financial. In an uncertain world, many children rely on their parents support much longer than they used to. Students leaving university in the 21st century simply cannot afford to set up their own home because its too expensive.

13、 Another possible reason is the communications revolution. Gone are the days when a son or daughter rang home once or twice a term. Today students are umbilically linked to their parents by their cell phones. And as for finding like-minded friends to share a passion for obscure literature or music,

14、well, we have the Internet and chat rooms to help us do that.Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,But to be young was very heaven!Wordsworth may have written these lines about the French Revolution; but they were also true for the students of the 1960s. So why arent they true for the students of to

15、day? 大学已经不再特别了有这么一种说法：“要是你能记得20世纪60年代的任何事情，你就没有真正经历过那段岁月。”对于在大麻烟雾中度过大学时光的那些人，这话可能是真的。但是，20世纪60年代有一件事人人都记得，那就是：上大学是你一生中最激动人心、最刺激的经历。20世纪60年代，加州的高校把本州变成了世界第七大经济实体。然而，加州大学的主校园伯克利分校也以学生示威、罢课以及激进的政治氛围而著名。1966年，罗纳德里根竞选加州州长，他问加州是否允许“一所伟大的大学被喧闹的、唱反调的少数人征服。”自由派人士回答说，大学之所以伟大正是因为它们有能力容忍喧闹的、唱反调的少数人。在欧洲的大学校园里，大学

16、生以新的姿态和激情投人到争取自由和正义的事业中去，大规模的社会主义或共产主义运动引发了他们与当权者之间日益升级的暴力冲突。许多抗议是针对越南战争的。可是在法国，巴黎大学的学生与工会联盟，发动了一场大罢工，最终导致戴高乐总统辞职。20世纪60年代大学生活的特点并不仅仅是激进的行动。不论在什么地方，上大学都意味着你初次品尝真正自由的滋味，初次品尝深更半夜在宿舍或学生活动室里讨论人生意义的滋味。你往往得上了大学才能阅读你的第一本禁书，看你的第一部独立影人电影，或者找到和你一样痴迷吉米亨德里克斯或兰尼布鲁斯的志同道合者。那是一段难以想象的自由时光，你一生中最无拘无束的时光。可如今那份激情哪儿去了？大学

17、怎么了？现在，政治、社会和创造意识的觉醒似乎不是凭借大学的助力，而是冲破其阻力才发生的。当然，一点不假，高等教育仍然重要。例如，在英国，布莱尔首相几乎实现了到2010年让50的30岁以下的人上大学的目标（即使愤世嫉俗的人会说，这是要把他们排除在失业统计数据之外）。不过，大学教育已不再是全民重视的话题了。如今，大学被视为人们急于逃离的一种小城镇。有些人辍学，但大多数已经有些麻木，还是坚持混到毕业，因为离开学校实在是太费事了。没有了20世纪60年代大学生所发现的令人头脑发热的自由气氛，如今的大学生要严肃得多。英国文化协会最近做了一项调查，研究外国留学生在决定上哪所大学时所考虑的因素。这些因素从高到

18、低依次是：课程质量、就业前景、学费负担、人身安全问题、生活方式，以及各种便利。大学已变成实现目的的手段，是在就业市场上增加就业几率的一个机会，上大学本身不再是目的，不再是给你提供一个机会，让你暂时想象一下：你能够改变世界。童年与大学之间的距离已缩小了，大学与现实世界之间的距离也缩小了。其中的一个原因可能和经济有关。在一个没有保障的世界里，现在的许多孩子依赖父母资助的时间比以前的孩子更长。21世纪的学生大学毕业后根本无法自立门户，因为那太昂贵了。另一个可能的原因是通讯革命。儿子或女儿每学期往家里打一两回电话的日子一去不复返了。如今，大学生通过手机与父母保持着脐带式联系。至于寻找痴迷无名文学或音乐

19、的同道好友，没问题，我们有互联网和聊天室来帮助我们做到这一点。“幸福啊，活在那个黎明之中，年轻更是如进天堂！华兹华斯的诗句说的可能是法国大革命，但是对于20世纪60年代的大学生而言，这样的诗句同样真实生动。可是为什么对于如今的大学生来说，它们就不真实了呢？Unit 2 This is Sandy I love it when my friends introduce me to new people, although I never let on. I love the proud and honorable expression they wear when they say “This

20、is Sandy shes deaf”, as if I were evidence of their benevolence. I also love the split-second shocked expression on the new people, the hasty smiles and their best imitations of what they think of as their “normal faces”. If they do the ritual well enough I turn my head ever so slightly and tuck my

21、hair behind one of my ears, whichever ones closer to them. They never fail to say something nice about my pink hearing aids, while my regular friends beam on.Im thinking of starting a hearing aid collection, actually. Theyd make better accessories than earrings: I once saw a catalog for clip-on hear

22、ing aids and hearing aid covers, and the products were most definitely fashion statements in various shapes and hues. Itd be like the exquisitely expensive handbag Esthers dad got her when we were in high school. The rest of us could only admire, but could not, imitate, because our dads werent rich

23、enough to spoil us that way. And now, only I can wear hearing aids: My friends can do nothing but gush.To be honest, I quite like my deafness. It wasnt easy the first few years after the car accident and the stupid exploding airbag, but now its become something that makes me special among my friends

24、. None of my close friends are hearing-impaired; simply because I wasnt born deaf. By the time I lost my hearing; Id already accumulated a fixed circle of people, and they mostly rushed to participate in the drama.You know how when you talk about your friends, you refer to them as Drew the Bartender

25、, Carol the Feminist, Greg the Guy Who Can Knot a Cherry Stem with His Tongue and so on? Im Sandy the Deaf Girl. I like it. I dont have any other particularly outstanding traits or skills. Never did.Its more than just standing out; too: Im sure a lot of important events in my life wouldnt have happe

26、ned or worked out quite the same way if I werent wearing pink hearing aids. For example, the thing with Colin.I first met Colin at an apartment party. When Carol the Feminist introduced us to each other, I tucked my hair behind both my ears and leaned closer, not because he did the ritual particular

27、ly well; but because he was a stud: You should have seen his recovery smile after the inevitable surprise.We went in search of drinks after the handshakes, and somewhere between what was functioning as the wine bar and the couch, we lost Carol.“Do you usually read lips like this? Or do you sign, too

28、?” he asked after a while.“I mostly just read lips because it was easier to pick up than signing, although thats not the only reason I was staring at your lips, I told him.He laughed. We talked more, and then the host upped the music volume and dimmed the lights for the “dance floor”; and I had to l

29、ean in much, much closer to be able to continue reading his lips in the semi-darkness. And read his lips I did.We did the usual and exchanged numbers, and a week later Colin did the unthinkable and called. We went out, satisfied ourselves that the other person still looked good in sober daylight, an

30、d read more lips. Within two months Colin and I were dating. 这位是桑迪我的朋友向生人介绍我的时候，虽然我嘴上从不说什么，但我心里喜欢得很。我喜欢他们说“这位是桑迪她是聋子”的时候脸上那副骄傲和荣耀的表情，就好像我证明了他们的仁德善心一样。我也喜欢生人脸上那瞬间的震惊表情、匆忙的微笑和他们竭力装出的“正常脸色”。如果他们这套仪式做得够好，我就会微微转过头，把头发掖到离他们较近的那只耳朵后面。他们总会说些好话，夸我的粉红色助听器，我的朋友们则在一旁灿烂地微笑。实际上，我在考虑开始收藏助听器。它们是比耳环更好的首饰。我曾经看到过一款“一夹

31、得”带罩助听器的广告图片，产品有各种各样的形状和颜色，绝对时髦。那就像我们上高中的时候，埃斯特的爸爸给她买的精美昂贵的手提包一样。那时，我们其他人只有羡慕的份儿，却无法仿效，因为我们的老爸没那么多钱去娇惯我们。而现在，只有我能戴助听器。朋友们也就只有羡慕的份儿了。说实话，我挺喜欢耳聋的。在那次车祸和愚蠢的安全气囊破裂之后的头几年，日子不好过，但是现在，耳聋让我在朋友中显得很特别。我的好朋友没有一个是听力残障的，因为我不是天生耳聋，在我失去听觉的时候，我已经有了一个固定的朋友圈。他们中的多数人都热心积极地参加这场“表演”。你知道，在你谈论朋友时，你会把称他们为“酒吧侍者德鲁”、“女权主义者卡罗尔

32、”、能用舌头给樱桃梗打结的家伙格雷格”等等。我是“聋女桑迪”。我喜欢这个称呼。我没有任何其它突出的个性或能耐。从来没有过。还不仅仅是与众不同。我确信，假如我不戴粉红色助听器的话，我生活中的许多重大事件就不会以同样的方式发生或产生同样的结果。例如，跟柯林之间的事儿。我初次遇见柯林是在一次公寓派对上。女权主义者卡罗尔给我们彼此做了介绍之后，我把头发拢到两耳之后，凑得更近些，不是因为他把那套仪式做得特别好，而是因为他是个情种。谁都能注意到在不可避免的惊讶之后他脸上恢复的微笑。握手之后，我们去拿喝的。在临时搭建的吧台和沙发之间的某个地方，卡罗尔不见了。“你通常都像这样读唇语吗？还是也用手语？”过了一会儿他问。我告诉他说：“我多数时间只读唇语，因为这比用手语更容易，但这不是我一直盯着你的嘴唇的唯一原因。”他大笑起来。我们又说了一会儿话。后来，主人放大音乐的音量，调暗“舞池”的灯光；我不得不凑近他，很近很近，以便能在昏暗中接着读他的唇语。我的确读到了他的唇语。我们照例交换了电话号码。一周之后，柯林做了件不可思议的事：他打来了电话。我们出去玩了，发现对方在大白天依然好看，因此彼此感觉满意。我又读了更多的唇语。在两个月之内，柯林和我就开始约会了。Unit 3 Stolen IdentityCatch M