研究生英语多维教程探索课文原文及课后题课样本.docx

1、研究生英语多维教程探索课文原文及课后题课样本Unit 1 travel languageThe Academie Francasie has for decades been the watchdog over the French language. A few years ago，French sensitivity to the influx of English words became so great that law for the purification of French was adopted. The law covers even technical applicat

2、ions. For example，in theory，it is now compuslory in France to refer to the Boeing 747 as a gros-porteur，leasing as credit-bail，etc. the list is very long and detailed and applies to all facets of life. Mr. Chirac，the French President，might well expand on this list and come up with some new French te

3、rms for words such as “internet” or “byte stream” just to name a couple. The mind boggles at what the world might face.Unfortunately (or perhaps not)，the English language is not so protected. Quite apart from the unforgivable deviations from the kings English prevlent in America，where “honour” is co

4、mmonly written as “honor” and “night” as “nite,” many well-tested has also been give new meanings，making communication somewhat difficult. For example，the boot of a car has become to be called a trunk a word reserved in England for the main part of a tree. The bonnet is a hood，good old nappies are d

5、iapers，and a babys matinee jacket is a vest. Its obvious that the two countries are indeed separated by what once was a common language！From an American point of view，of course，it could be argued that the British speak English with a speech deficiency.Even worse English，however，is in use. Anyone who

6、 travels in foreign countries and observes it on menus and posters，in hotels，and indeed in everyday life can testify that what used to be the kings lingo has become in these places but a poor relation thereof. Allow me to elaborate.The travel writer Perrot Phillips has taken pains to highlight some

7、of his experiences，which I feel should not be withheld from a wider readership. He refers to a Dutch bulb catalogue which promised customers “a speedy execution” and to an East Berlin cloakroom sign that requested guests to “please hung yourself here.” One hopes that nobody took the advice literally

8、.To these I can add some of my own experiences，encountered in long years of traveling the world. There was，for example，the observation in an Ostend novelty shop that “revolting new ideas” were being marketed，and the boast of some Bombay bakers that “we are No. 1 loafers，best values in whole town.”I

9、realized how far Christinanity had come when I read in Hong Kong the following call by a dentist：The teeth they are extracted here by the latest Methodists.I fear it can not be answered with certainty whether these actually illustrate a progressive use of English or are simply reflections of local u

10、sages. I feel quite strongly，however，that the Haifa Medical Association should have prevented one of its members from claiming on his brass plate that he is a “Specialist in Women and Other Diseases.”Hotels seem to revel in their multilingual signs. One supposes these signs were designed to facilita

11、te the use of modern services in otherwise sterile and barely functional establishments. Nevertheless，the unsuspecting guests confronted in a Brussels hotel with the following instruction for the use of the life (elevator) might well prefer to walk：“To move the life，push button to wishing floor. If

12、the cabin should enter more persons，each one should push number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by natural order. Button retaining pressed position shows received command for visiting station.” The less sophisticated notice in Istanbul (“To call room service，please to open doo

13、r and call ROOM SERVICE”) at least does not confront the guest with electronics that might not always work.In Turkey，the delight in “straight talk” expresses itself in the by-now-famous Ankara brochure which advises，“Visit our restaurant where you can eat Middle East foods in an European Ambulance.”

14、 A note on a Swiss menu that “Our wines leave nothing to hope for” was equally inviting.Eastern European courtesies have never left the once grand hotels of the former Austro-Hungarian empire. A notice in the hotel rooms that “the honoured guests are invited to take advantage of the chamber maids fr

15、om 12-14 oclock” might，however，result in some unplanned traffic jams. A recent Moscow exhibitions announcement drew attention to “a showing of 300 paintings by Russian artists，most of whom were executed in the last ten years” hardly a welcoming thought to the occasional visitor.A Bangkok laundrys ad

16、vertisement to the visiting public (“Leaving your clothes here and enjoy yourself”) could also be seen as a invitation to extracurricular activities in that Far Eastern capital of fun.In Rome，a laundry advertised a similar invitation：Ladies，leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a go

17、od time.It should not surprise the traveller that nightspots advertise their wares in Europe in many and diverse language. The German preoccupation with Majorca led a Munich nightclub to copy a trilingual Palma announcement that dancing was going on in what is indeed a surprising way. The notice rea

18、d，“Baile！Baile！Baile!” in Spanish，“Tanz！Tanz！Tanz!” in German，and “Balls！Balls！Balls!” in what was meant to be English. We are spared the upper Bavarian version of the activity.The Black Forest Germans，on the other hand，are known to be rather prudish in their outlook，but is it really necessary to po

19、st a sign：“It is strictly forbidden on our Black Forest camping site that people of different sexes，for example men and women，live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.”I am told that for the otherwise unsuspecting tourist，the following sign proved a real cro

20、wd puller. Parrot Phillips claims it to be true that in an Austrian hotel room he found the sign：“If service required，give two strokes to the maid and three to the valet.”There are undoubtedly more and varied versions of the use of English，unprotected as our language is from the interference of emer

21、ging and ambitious entrepreneurs. Nevertheless，I prefer seeing English develop as the lingua franca around the world rather than being suffocated for the sake of so-called purity by some ill-advised legislative process.Unit 2 Lies and TruthWhat is truth? and the opposite question that goes with it：w

22、hat makes a lie?Philosophers，teachers，and religious leaders from all cultures and periods of history have offered many answers to these questions. Among Euro-North-American writers，there is general agreement on two points. The first is that what we call a “lie” must be told intentionally that is，if

23、someone tells an untruth but they believe it to be true，we dont consider them a liar. The second point is that practically everyone lies，and lies frequently. But there the agreement ends.One rather extreme point of view is that lying is always bad and that we should try to find ways avoid doing it.

24、The reason is that lying hurts not only the listener，but also the liar. Each lie makes the next one easier to tell，and the liar comes not only to disrespect herself，but to mistrust others，whom she believes will lie as easily as she. In a society，where lying is common，trust becomes impossible，and wit

25、hout trust，cooperation can not exist. Furthermore，by lying to people，we remove their power to make important choices about how to spend money，what future career to take，what medical treatment to take.Toward the opposite extreme is the position that although some lies are evil，many others are not in

26、fact，they are necessary to hold our society together. We lie in harmless ways to protect others feelings and to better our relationship. These are not lies that try to hurt others. We laugh at the bosss joke which we have heard before and which she doesnt tell very well；we pretend interest in a frie

27、nds story of something uninteresting that happened to him. If someone asks us a question that is very personal and is none of their business，we may lie in response. Sometimes we lie to protect the reputation or even the life of another person. On a larger scale，government may protect national securi

28、ty by lying.Each person seems to have some point at which they draw the line between an acceptable lie and a bad lie. Obviously，this point varies from individual to individual and from culture to culture. A sometimes painful part of growing up is realizing that not everyone shares your own individua

29、l definition of honesty. Your parents and your culture may teach you that liars suffer，but as you go through life，you find that often they dont：in fact，dishonest people often seem to prosper more than honest ones. What are you to do with this realization?It may make your moral beliefs look weak and

30、silly in comparison，and you may begin to question them. It takes a great deal of strength and courage to continue living an honest life in the face of such reality.Little white lies：This is our name for lies that we consider harmless and socially acceptable. They are usually told to protect the liar

31、 or the feelings of the listener. Most of them would be considered social lies，and they include apologies and excuses：“I tried to call you，but your line was busy.” “Youre kidding！You dont look like youve gained a pound.” Some people，however，would consider it acceptable to lie to save themselves from

32、 responsibility in a business transaction：“After I got home，I noticed that it was broken，so Im returning it and would like my money back.”Occasionally a “little white lie” may have a very profound effect on the lives of the listeners，and may even backfire. Author Stephanie Ercsson tells of the well-

33、meaning U.S. Army sergeant who told a lie about one of his men who had been killed in action. The sergeant reported the man as “missing in action,” not killed，so that the military would continue sending money to the dead mans family every month. What he didnt consider was that because of his lie，the family continued to liv