Unit 1 A woman won a bucketful of quarters at a slot machine in Atlantic City. She found two black men already in the elevator as she went back to her room to hide the quarters. She hesitated to enter the elevator because she was afraid that the two men were going to rob her. After she joined them in the elevator, she heard one man say, “Hit the floor”, which was taken by her for falling on her knees to the floor. So she did.
The two men explained to her “hit the floor” meant “to push the button for the floor they were going to”. The woman’s fear gave place to embarrassment. The two men gathered up the scattered quarters with her and accompanied her to her room.
The next day the woman received a dozen roses and twelve 100-dollar bills given by Eddie Murphy and Michael Jordan to thank her for the best laugh they’d had in years.
Unit 2 The young man in the story dreamed of sailing around the world, but he never received any support or encouragement from people around him, not even his father, who wanted his son to work like him in a factory. But the boy stuck to his dream and to make his dream come true, he did two jobs to earn enough money for a sailboat. At long last, he purchased a boat and was ready to sail when federal agents were preparing to confiscate it for carrying drugs. He was even asked to pay for the docking fees of the former owner. The young man couldn’t take the hard blow and in anger and desperation, he painted “Ill Feelings” on the boat and sailed out regardless of the warning of an upcoming storm. Soon he found himself in danger when attacked by the storm and asked the harbormaster to harbor his boat. But to his dismay, he was told no “Ill Feelings” would be harbored in this dock.
Unit 3 The author, as a college sophomore, shared a rented apartment with three of his schoolmates, for they didn’t want to live in a dorm. But they had much trouble sharing the only bathroom as one of them was a taker, using up everything available; another a polluter, making a mess in the bathroom; the third a monopolizer, occupying the bathroom for a long time regardless of others’ urgent needs. With the example, the author thinks that the same is true of the world where some people or corporations take too much or make wrong use of our planet’s resources for their own benefit at the cost of other people just as his three roommates did with the bathroom. To solve the issue, a planet policy including compensations for the victims is a must for building a fair and harmonious world.
Unit 4 Bartleby was a new clerk I employed to write legal papers as my business was growing.
At first, he did an extraordinary quantity of writing and he worked just like a machine, never looking or speaking. But later, he would refuse my assignments by saying, “I would prefer not to.” What was worse, he never ate out or went anywhere, and made my law office his home. In spite of my deep sympathy for him, I had to dismiss him. However, he wouldn’t leave and locked himself in my office. So I left him. He was
finally taken to prison, and not until after he died in prison did I discover that he had worked many years at the Dead Letter Office, where every letter he had had to read had destroyed his hope in life.
Unit 5 Eight years ago I first met Mr. Foster, an old busboy at an airport. In spite of his age and physical handicap, he would go wherever he was needed instead of waiting to be summoned. What is more, he served every customer with the same enthusiasm whether they gave him tips or not, or no matter how much the tips were. Impressed and inspired, I developed a great admiration for him in the following years. I would contrast him with his fellow workers who were just loosely assembled there, idly waiting by for tables to become empty. However, Mr. Foster was ordered to stop helping people and act like his co-workers. Later, he was fired. Though he was back at work on a trial basis several months later, his spirit was gone. And today I learned that he quit his job—his heart was broken.
Unit 6 Tempted by material comfort and the various credit cards available, many young people accept student loans and credit cards gladly. On credit, they buy cars, furniture and nice new clothes. Thus a few years later, they’ve got a load of debts.
The lure of living on debt increased in the 1990s along with the economic boom, skyrocketed tuition and fees, increased student loan limits, plus the promotion of the mass media. In 1998, the average undergraduate had a balance of $1,879 on 3.5 credit cards.
Many critics worry that credit debts make graduates pay the consequences sooner or later. All this debt may force graduates to give up exciting but low-paying jobs in favor of dreary but well-paying jobs in order to repay lenders.
课后练习 Unit 1 B. Complete the following sentences with appropriate words in the text. 1. I heard his scream and felt my blood freeze with fear. 2. Some teachers tend to stereotype students who are from rural areas.
3. His first instinct was to call 911 when he realized there was a burglar in his house. 4. The building collapsed during the earthquake. It went all to pieces. 5. We promise that the products will be delivered on time.
Translation
1. As she was about to walk into the elevator she noticed two men already aboard. 她正要走进电梯时，看到电梯里已经有两位男乘客。
2. Her hesitation about joining them in the elevator was all too obvious now. Her face was flushed.
要不要进去和他们同乘一部电梯？她迟疑不决的态度已经太过明显了。她涨得满脸通红。
3. The one who said it had a little trouble getting the words out. He was trying mightily to hold in a belly laugh.
说这话的人有点费力才把话说完，尽力忍住没有放声大笑。
4. How do you apologize to two perfectly respectable gentlemen for behaving as though they were going to rob you?
把两位绝对体面正派的绅士看作劫匪，如何请求他们的谅解？
5. The woman brushed herself off. She pulled herself together and went downstairs for dinner with her husband.
她掸了掸灰，定了定神，便来到楼下与丈夫一起用餐。
B. Complete the sentences by translating into English the Chinese given in the brackets.
1. Tom Long bid goodbye to everything in the garden (向花园里的一草一木道别) as he wept tears.
2. She was clear-headed(头脑清醒的) and never made a spectacle of herself (从不出洋相).
3. He looked at the funny-looking man, biting his lip (咬着嘴唇强忍住不笑出声). 4. Gazing at his clipboard, he murmured, “It doesn’t look like you’re going to make it (看来你恐怕不行了).”
5. Panic consumed the survivors (幸存者都无比惊恐) after the tragedy of a disastrous plane crash.
Unit 2 B. Complete the following sentences with appropriate words in the text.
1. Emergency personnel are on site attempting to rescue workers exposed to the poisonous gas.
2. Recently, the police conducted a sting operation in the country targeting unlicensed electrical appliance repair shops.
3. Her experience in the hotel was terrible: the room rates were expensive, the food was poor, the room attendants were rude, and the bad weather was the last straw. 4. The real estate broker required a 10% down payment for the purchase of this house. 5. He lost all his wealth in the economic crisis; he killed himself in desperation.
Translation
1. The father just laughed and shook his head, showing no faith in his son or his dream. 他父亲只是笑了笑，摇了摇头，对儿子和儿子的梦想没有什么信心。
2. The kids at school also made fun of him, so much so that he stopped sharing his thoughts and desires and kept them hidden within his heart…
在学校里，同学们也拿他开玩笑，以至于他再也不愿和他们交流想法和愿望，而是把这些想法和愿望埋藏在心底??
3. It seemed that the world’s thumb was pressing the boy down throughout his adolescence.
在他少年时期，好像全世界都不支持他的想法。
4. They were surprised, to say the least, and wished him well, while never admitting
they were wrong.
他们很惊讶，这样说毫不夸张，但他们还是祝他一切顺利，然而绝不承认自己是错的。