英语短文.docx

1、英语短文温斯顿?丘吉尔他的另一种生活玛丽?索姆斯我的父亲温斯顿?丘吉尔是在40几岁开始迷恋上绘画的，当时他正身处逆境。1915年，作为海军大臣，他深深地卷入了达达尼尔海峡的一场战役。原本那次战役是能够缩短一场血腥的世界大战的，但它却失败了，人员伤亡惨重，为此丘吉尔作为公务员和个人都付出了代价：他被免去了海军部的职务，失去了显赫的政治地位。 “我本以为他会因忧伤而死的。”他的妻子克莱门泰因说。被这一不幸压垮的他同家人一起退隐到萨里郡的一个乡间居处-耘锄农场。在那儿，正如丘吉尔日后所回忆的，“绘画女神拯救了我!” 一天他正在花园里漫步，正巧碰上他的弟妹在用水彩画素描。他观看了她几分钟，然后借过她的

2、画笔，试了一下身手-于是缪斯女神施展了她的魔法。自那天以后，温斯顿便爱上了绘画。 任何能让沉浸在忧思中的温斯顿分心的事情都让克莱门泰因高兴。于是，她赶紧去买来她所能找到的各种颜料和画具。水彩颜料、油画颜料、纸张、帆布画布-很快耘锄农场里便堆满了一个绘画者可能想要或需要的各样东西。 画油画最终成了温斯顿的一大爱好-但是最初几步却出奇地艰难。他凝视着他的第一块空白画布，异乎寻常地紧张。他日后回忆道：“我迟疑不决地选了一管蓝色颜料，然后小心翼翼地在雪白的底子上的画上蚕豆般大小的一笔。就在这时，我听到车道上传来一辆汽车的声音，于是惊恐地丢下我的画笔。当我看清是谁从汽车里走出来时，更是惊慌失措。来者正是

3、住在附近的著名画家约翰?莱佛利爵士的妻子。 “在画画呢!她大声说道。多么有趣。可你还在等什么呢? 把画笔给我-大的那支。她猛地用笔蘸起颜料，还没等我缓过神来，她已经挥笔泼墨在惊恐不已的画布上画下了有力的几道蓝色。谁都看得出画布无法回击。我不再迟疑。我抓起那支最大的画笔，迅猛异常地向我可怜的牺牲品扑了过去。自那以后，我再也不曾害怕过画布。” 后来教丘吉尔画画的莱佛利曾经说起过他这位不同寻常的学生的艺术才能：“如果他当初选择的是绘画而不是政治，他定会成为一位驾驭画笔的大师。” 在绘画中，丘吉尔发现了一个将陪他走过大半人生的伴侣。1921年，他的母亲去世，两个月后，他又失去了他和克莱门泰因的3岁爱女

4、玛丽戈尔德。那时，绘画是他的慰藉。悲痛欲绝的温斯顿住到了苏格兰朋友们的家中-并在他的绘画中寻得安慰。他写信给克莱门泰因：“我外出画了一条在午后阳光下的美丽的河流，背景是红色和金黄色的山峦。爱怜的思绪油然而生啊，我一直感受到失去玛丽戈尔德的痛楚。” 生命、爱和希望慢慢地复苏了。1922年9月，克莱门泰因和温斯顿的另一个孩子出生了：那就是我。同年，温斯顿买下了查特威尔，这是他将在以后40年里画出其所有不同风貌的他所钟爱的家。 20世纪20年代中期，我父亲在伦敦举行的一次享有盛名的业余画展中赢得了一等奖，当时他一定颇为得意。参赛作品不署名，所以一些评委坚持认为温斯顿的画-有关查特威尔的第一批画作中的

5、一幅-是一位专业画家而不是一位业余画家的作品，所以应该取消其参赛资格。但最后，他们同意信赖那位艺术家的诚实，而在得知那幅画为丘吉尔所作时他们都很高兴。 史学家们一直把1929年温斯顿再次被免职后的10年称为他无所作为的十年。也许政治上那些年（他）的确毫无作为，因为他一个人大声疾呼，想要唤醒英国人认识到来自希特勒的威胁，然而响应者寥寥无几。但在艺术上，那些年却硕果累累：现存的500多幅丘吉尔的油画中，约有一半作于1930年至1939年之间。 绘画始终是丘吉尔的一种乐趣，直到他生命的结束。“画家是幸福的，”他在他的作为一种消遣的绘画一书中写道，“因为他们不会孤独。光线与色彩，宁静与希望，将终日伴随

6、着他们。” 对我的父亲来说也是这样。Text Comprehension II 1. It was a military campaign in which many soldiers died. The effects on Churchill were () he lost his political position and he was overwhelmed with grief. 2. He felt so inspired to paint that he was distracted from his personal problems. 3. His sister-in-la

7、ws painting inspired him to try his hand at it; his wife rushed out to buy all the materials he would need; and the wife of Sir John Lavery helped him overcome his fear of the blank canvas. 4. The blank whiteness of the canvas made him feel he didnt know where to begin. This nervousness was not typi

8、cal of Churchill, who was known publicly as a brave and strong-willed person. 5. Churchill was comparing the canvas to an opponent in a fight, and he could now see that he need not fear his “adversary”. 6. He meant that Churchill would have been a great painter, just as he was a great politician. 7.

9、 It was his great comfort when the death of his mother was followed quickly by the death of his daughter. 8. Because the judges suspected that it was not painted by an amateur; they were later surprised and delighted because Churchill was not just a famous political figure but also a talented untrai

10、ned artist.9. No, she considers that decade an artistically fruitful one. 10. He meant that painting was like a friend who never betrayed or abandoned him. This seems to suggest that he often felt lonely, misunderstood and/or disappointed in his relationship with other people.Vocabulary III.1.artist

11、ic 2.overcome 3.infinite 4.plunged 5.mission 6.camgpain 7.revived 8.distract 9.accustomed 10.retreat 11.precaution 12. disastrous IV.1. delighted with 2. bore fruit 3. kept Clementine company 4. rely on 5. take refuge 6. awaken people to 7. pay the price 8. chanced upon; dated from 9. tried his hand

12、 at 10. fell upon; came to her rescueWord BuildingV. 1. broadens the mind 2. weakened 3. sweeten Diet Coke 4.hardens 5. strengthen 6. deepen your understanding of the course materiall 7. sharpen the kitchen knives 8. reddened 9. brighten; quickens 10. lightenedVI.1. lucky 2. wealthy 3. tasty 4. icy

13、5. wavy 6. smelly 7. sleepy 8. noisy (smelly is also plausible) 9. healthy 10. sunnyStructureVII. 1. Amazed at the great changes that are taking place in shanghai, many foreign visitors leave China with a completely new view of our country. 2. Unpleasantly startled by the appearance of a mouse, we p

14、romptly decided to clean our apartment. 3. Tired of their own cooking, theyve decided to go to a restaurant for a change. 4. Frightened by the horror film, the little girl was alert to every sound in the house that night. 5. Deeply disappointed with the actresss performance, tom soon switched to ano

15、ther channel. 6. Embarrassed about still being in bed at 10 a.m., when my friends came I pretended to be sick with a terrible headache. VIII.1. So I did 2. So did my brother 3. So she was 4. So they do; so do his classmates 5. So am I ClozeIXlonely; overcame; refuge; finally; however; where; delight

16、ed; contemplated; entry; campaign; distract; plunged into; Within a month; rescue; when; overwhelming Translation X.“在画画呢!她大声说道。多么有趣。可你还在等什么呢? 把画笔给我-大的那支。她猛地用笔蘸起颜料，还没等我缓过神来，她已经挥笔泼墨在惊恐不已的画布上画下了有力的几道蓝色。谁都看得出画布无法回击。我不再迟疑。我抓起那支最大的画笔，迅猛异常地向我可怜的牺牲品扑了过去。自那以后，我再也不曾害怕过画布。”XI1. When his wife died of a stroke

17、in her sixties, the 72-year-old retired professor was overwhelmed by grief. Life would be too difficult for him without anybody to rely on.2. Last month two amateur painters held an exhibition of their pictures in London. Many people went to see it, including a few celebrated professors.3. When seve

18、n astronauts died in the Challenger disaster in the mid-1980s, it plunged the whole world into shock and grief.4. After completing her second prime ministry, she remained actively involved in political affairs. She came to the rescue several times when the government was in difficulty.5. After his f

19、ailure in the election campaign, Dr. Smith retired to a small village, where he tried his hand at farming. 6. As long as you keep working hard all your life, you will recall your past with a glow of satisfaction.7. We must awaken people to the importance of environmental protection now, or it will s

20、oon be too late.8. That official was removed from office for being involved in a political scandal. Had he known this would happen, he might have acted differently. Reading AnalysisXII.Major Event: Life and love and hope slowly revived.How did the change happen?(1)Churchill bought a new house. (2) A

21、nother child was born to Churchill.Structured WritingXIII. One example, for referenceMy sister Stephanie began her love affair with television in the second grade amid highly emotional circumstances. She had had a quarrel with her best friend, and found herself alone and lonely every day after schoo

22、l with nothing to do. Thats when the miracle of television came toText UNIT2 TEXT A 他们为何出类拔萃？富克斯?巴特菲尔德 当郑金枝的父亲用积蓄的钱为她买了一张票，让她乘上一条将带她离开越南的渔船时，她才9岁。对这个家庭来说，将金枝送上小船，置身于陌生人中间，是一种令人心碎、代价昂贵的牺牲。他们只愿她最终能到达美国，在那儿受到良好的教育，享受更美好的生活。 对小女孩来说，这是一次充满危险的艰苦旅程。 在小船到达安全之地以前很久，食物和水的贮备已经用完。当金枝最终到达美国后，她又不得不同一连3个收养家庭相处。但是当

23、她1998年从圣地亚哥的帕特里克?亨利中学毕业时，她取得了全优的成绩以及这个国家最享盛名的几所大学提供的奖学金。 “我必须取得好成绩，”这个现为康奈尔大学二年级学生的19岁姑娘说，“这样我才对得起在越南的父母。” 金枝是一群聪明伶俐、积极进取的美籍亚裔中的一员，他们正突然潮水般地涌入我们最好的大学。虽然美籍亚裔只占全国人口的2.4%，但他们在哈佛的本科生中却占了17.1%， 在麻省理工学院占了18%，在加州大学伯克利分校占了27.3%。 为什么美籍亚裔的成绩这样优秀呢? 他们是否像一些陈旧的看法所暗示的那样是些埋头用功的学生? 他们是否有更高的智商? 或者在我们一向珍视，但也许已经丢失的价值观

24、-如敬业、家庭和教育等方面，我们是否可以向他们学到一些有用的东西呢? 并非所有的亚裔人都学得一样好；比如，没受过什么教育的柬埔寨难民的孩子就常常需要特殊的帮助。许多美籍亚裔人不喜欢被称为“模范的少数民族”，他们感到这是美国白人的逆向歧视-虽与1965年以前排斥大多数亚洲移民进入美国的法律截然不同，但仍是一种偏见。 亚裔年轻人的成绩已经引发了一系列引人注目的研究。也许最令人不安的结果来自于密歇根大学心理学家哈罗德?W?斯蒂文森进行的研究。他将芝加哥和明尼阿波利斯7000多名幼儿园、一年级、三年级和五年级的学生同他们在北京、台北和仙台的同级伙伴作了比较。在一组数学测试中，美国学生在所有的年级层次上

25、都考得最差。 斯蒂文森没有发现智商上的差别。 但是如果成绩上的差异在幼儿园就开始显现，那就表明事情出在家庭中，甚至是在孩子们上学之前。 正是在这一点上，各研究者的不同研究趋于了一致：亚洲的父母在激发孩子的学习动力方面做得更好。“决定的因素是亚洲孩子学习努力。”斯蒂文森说。 接下来，真正要弄清的问题是，亚洲父母是如何将这种学习动力灌输给他们的后代的。 斯蒂文森的研究提出了一个重要的答案。当被问及他们认为他们的孩子为什么学得好时，大多数亚洲父母说是“用功”。而美国父母则说是“天赋”。 “依我看，”斯蒂文森说，“对于我们都能通过艰苦努力在生活中取得成功的观念我们已经不再相信。相反，美国人现在认为有的

26、孩子具备成功所必需的素质，而有的孩子则不具备。于是我们开始把班级分为快班和慢班，而中国人和日本人则认为所有的孩子都能在同一课程中成功。” 这种对于勤奋的信念是促成亚洲学生成绩突出的三大要素中的第一个。它来源于亚洲人共同的儒教传统，即公元前5世纪那位中国圣人的哲学思想，他的教义对中国社会产生了深远的影响。孔夫子的主要教义之一是，人们通过努力能够完善自我。 儒教也为亚洲人的成功提供了另一个要素。在孔夫子的哲学中，家庭起着最重要的作用-这种定向引导人们为家庭的荣誉而学习工作，而不仅仅是为了他们自己。一个人永远无法报答他的父母，而且在亚洲人中间还有一种责任感、乃至负罪感，这是一种如同新教哲学在西方一样

27、的强大力量。 还有另外一个重要因素存在于亚洲父母及其子女的这种关系中。 在我住在中国、日本和越南的15年间，我注意到同大多数美国父母相比，亚洲父母同他们的婴儿建立了一种更为亲密的身体联系。比如，当我让幼小的女儿在地板上爬时，我的中国朋友们会大惊失色，冲过去把她抱起来。我们认为这种无时不在的关心已经过时、甚至是不健康的，但是对于亚洲人来说，它却十分有效。 我们能从亚洲人那儿学到点什么吗？“我还没有天真到认为亚洲的每样东西都能被移植过来。”斯蒂文森说。但是，他却提出了3条建议。 “首先，”他说，“我们需要为我们的孩子们确立更高的目标。我们不会指望他们不经过刻苦训练就能成为职业运动员。” 第二，他宣

28、称，美国父母需要更加关心子女的教育。“在孩子表现不好时表示理解是不够的。” 斯蒂文森发现，亚洲父母比美国父母花费更多的时间帮助孩子做作业或者写信给孩子的老师。 第三，我们的学校可以用简单而有效的方式加以重组，斯蒂文森说。近90%的中国年轻人说他们确实喜欢学校， 60%的年轻人迫不及待地盼着学校假期结束。同美国年轻人所表示的态度相比，这种态度要积极得多。原因之一也许是中国和日本的学生一般在每节课后都有一段休息时间， 这有助于他们放松并增加注意力集中的持续时间。 /我并不认为亚洲人更聪明。”伯克利的一位美籍亚裔学生李?唐说，“在我的化学班里，有一些很聪明的美国人。但是亚洲学生更刻苦。我在美国人身上

29、看到很多被浪费的潜能。”ComprehensionIIa 1F 2T 3F 4F 5T 6 F 7Tb. 1I 2I 3 I 4N 5I 6N 7I 8NVocabularyIII.1.label 2.converged 3.sacrifices 4.motivate 5.transplanted 6.horrified 7.bond 8.constitute 9.surged 10.prejudice 11.resents 12. recommendations IV.NB. these are not the only possible synoms/definitions/transla

30、tions.1. carried out; conducted, performed 2. led to; resulted in, caused 3. springs from; arises from, comes from 4. get ahead; make progress in life, achieve more, etc.5. showed up; appeared, arrived 6. make up; constitute, comprise 7. owes it to; 归功于 8. cope with; find a way of dealing with, mana

31、ge9. divided the cake into; 把蛋糕分成 10. excluded from; 被剥夺了11. committed to; devoted to, dedicated to 12. make it to; arrive at or on after much effort V. 1. sense of guilt 2. finally 3. imbued her with 4.offspring 5. horrified, motivated me 6. recommendations, To start with 7. naive 8. by contrast Wo

32、rd BuildingVI.1. misplaced 2. mismatched 3. misusing 4. mislead 5. misprinted 6. misinformed 7. misspelled 8. misunderstood StructureVII. 1. After the earthquake the government spent millions of dollars to help the victims rebuild their houses. 2. ill you reconsider your decision? No one wants you to leave. 3. Some of Lu Xuns writings were lost for decades, but t