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6大学英语精读四
Unit1BIGBUCKSTHEEASYWAY
Twocollege-ageboys,unawarethatmakingmoneyusuallyinvolveshardwork,aretemptedbyanadvertisementthatpromisesthemaneasywaytoearnalotofmoney.Theboyssoonlearnthatifsomethingseemstogoodtobetrue,itprobablyis.
BIGBUCKSTHEEASYWAY
"Yououghttolookintothis,"Isuggestedtoourtwocollege-agesons."Itmightbeawaytoavoidtheindignityofhavingtoaskformoneyallthetime."Ihandedthemsomemagazinesinaplasticbagsomeonebadhungonourdoorknob.Amessageprintedonthebagofferedleisurely,lucrativework("BigBuckstheEasyWay!
")ofdeliveringmoresuchbags.
"Idon'tmindtheindignity,"theolderoneanswered.
"Icanlivewithit,"hisbrotheragreed.
"Butitpainsme,"Isaid,"tofindthatyoubothhavebeenpanhandlingsolongthatitnolongerembarrassesyou."
Theboyssaidtheywouldlookintothemagazine-deliverything.Pleased,Ilefttownonabusinesstrip.BymidnightIwascomfortablysettledinahotelroomfarfromhome.Thephonerang.Itwasmywife.Shewantedtoknowhowmydayhadgone.
"Great!
"Ienthused."Howwasyourday?
"Iinquired.
"Super!
"Shesnapped."Justsuper!
Andit'sonlygettingstarted.Anothertruckjustpulledupoutfront."
"Anothertruck?
"
"Thethirdonethisevening.ThefirstdeliveredfourthousandMontgomeryWards.ThesecondbroughtfourthousandSears,Roebucks.Idon'tknowwhatthisonehas,butI'msureitwillbefourthousandofsomething.Sinceyouareresponsible,Ithoughtyoumightliketoknowwhat'shappening.
WhatIwasbeingblamedfor,itturnedout,wasanewspaperstrikewhichmadeitnecessarytohand-delivertheadvertisinginsertsthatnormallyareincludedwiththeSundaypaper.Thecompanyhadpromisedourboys$600fordeliveringtheseinsertsto4,000housesbySundaymorning.
"Pieceofcake!
"ouroldercollegesonhadshouted.
"Sixhundredbucks!
"Hisbrotherhadechoed,"Andwecandothejobintwohours!
"
"BoththeSearsandWardadsarefournewspaper-sizepages,"mywifeinformedme."Therearethirty-twothousandpagesofadvertisingonourporch.Evenaswespeak,twobigguysarecarryingarmloadsofpaperupthewalk.Whatdowedoaboutallthis?
"
"Justtelltheboystogetbusy,"Iinstructed."They'recollegemen.They'lldowhattheyhavetodo."
AtnoonthefollowingdayIreturnedtothehotelandfoundanurgentmessagetotelephonemywife.Hervoicewasunnaturallyhighandquavering.Therehadbeenseveralmoretruckloadsofadinserts."They'refordepartmentstores,dimestores,drugstores,grocerystores,autostoresandsoon.Somearewholemagazinesections.Wehavehundredsofthousands,maybemillions,ofpagesofadvertisinghere!
Theyarecrammedwall-to-wallallthroughthehouseinstackstallerthanyouroldestson.There'sonlyenoughroomforpeopletowalkin,takeoneeachoftheeleveninserts,rollthemtogether,sliparubberbandaroundthemandslidethemintoaplasticbag.WehaveenoughplasticbagstosupplyeverytakeoutrestaurantinAmerica!
"Hervoicekeptrising,asifworkingitswayoutoftherangeofthehumanear."Allthismustbedeliveredbyseveno'clockSundaymorning."
"Well,youhadbettergetthoseguysbandingandslidingasfastastheycan,andI'lltalktoyoulater.Gotalunchdate.
WhenIreturned,therewasanotherurgentcallfrommywife.
"Didyouhaveanicelunch?
"sheaskedsweetly.Ihadhadamarveloussteak,butknewbetterbynowthantosayso.
"Awful,"Ireported."Somesortofsourfish.Eel,Ithink."
"Good.Yourcollegesonshavehiredtheiryoungerbrothersandsistersandacoupleofneighborhoodchildrentohelpforfivedollarseach.Assemblylineshavebeensetup.Inthelanguageofdiplomacy,thereis'movement.'"
"That'sencouraging."
"No,it'snot,"shecorrected."It'sverydiscouraging.They'rebeenasitforhours.Plasticbagshavebeenfilledandpiledtotheceiling,butallthishasn'tmadeadent,notadent,inthesituation!
It'salmostasiftheinsertskeepreproducingthemselves!
"
"Anotherthing,"shecontinued."Yourcollegesonsmustlearnthatonedoesnotgetthebestoutofemployeesbythreateningthemwithbodilyharm.
ObtaininganaudiencewithsonNO.1,Isnarled,"I'llkillyouifthreatenoneofthosekidsagain!
Idiot!
Youshouldbeofferingabonusofadollareveryhourtotheworkerwhofillsthemostbags.
"Butthatwouldcutintoourprofit,"hesuggested.
"Therewon'tbeanyprofitunlessthosekidsenableyoutomakeallthedeliveriesontime.Iftheydon't,youtwowillhavetoremoveallthatpaperbyyourselves.Andtherewillbenoeatingorsleepinguntilitisremoved."
Therewasashort,thoughtfulsilence.Thenhesaid,"Dad,youhavejustworkedaprofoundchangeinmypersonality."
"Doit!
"
"Yes,sir!
"
Bythefollowingevening,therewasmuchformywifetoreport.Thebonusprogramhadworkeduntilsomeonedemandedtoseethecolorofcash.Thensomeactivistontheworkforceclaimedthattheworkershadnobusinesssettlingfor$5andafewcompetitivebonuseswhilethebossedcollectedhundredsofdollarseach.Theorganizerhaddeclaredthatalltheworkerswereentitledto$5perhour!
Theywouldnotworkanotherminuteuntilthebossesagreed.
Thestrikelastedlessthantwohours.Inmediation,thepartiesagreedon$2perhour.Gradually,thehugestacksbegantoshrink.
Asitturnedout,thejobwascompletedthreehoursbeforeSunday's7a.m.deadline.BythetimeIarrivedhome,theboyshadalreadysettledtheiraccounts:
$150inlaborcosts,$40forgasoline,andalikeamount
forgifts—boxesofcandyforsaintlyneighborswhohadvolunteeredstationwagonsandhelpindeliveryanddozenrosesfortheirmother.Thisleftthemwith$185each—abouttwo-thirdstheminimumwageforthe91hourstheyworked.Still,itwas"enough",asoneofthemputit,toenablethemto"avoidindignity"forquiteawhile.
Allwentwellforsomeweeks.ThenoneSaturdaymorningmyattentionwasdrawntotheoddgoings-onofourtwoyoungestsons.Theykeptcarryingcartonaftercartonfromvariouscornersofthehouseoutthefrontdoortocurbside.Iassumedtheirmotherhadenlistedthemtoremovejunkforatrashpickup.ThenIoverheardthemdiscussingfinances.
"Geez,we'regoingtomakealotofmoney!
"
"We'regoingtoberich!
"
Investigationrevealedthattheywereoffering"forsaleorrent"ourentirelibrary.
"No!
No!
"Icried."Youcan'tsellourbooks!
"
"Geez,Dad,wethoughtyouweredonewiththem!
"
"You'renever'done'withbooks,"Itriedtoexplain.
"Sureyouare.Youreadthem,andyou'redonewiththem.That'sit.Thenyoumightaswellmakealittlemoneyfromthem.Wewantedtoavoidtheindignityofhavingtoaskyoufor……"
Unit2DEERANDTHEENERGYCYCLE
Isthereanythingwecanlearnfromdeer?
Duringthe"energycrisis"of1973-1974thewriterofthisessaywaslivinginnorthernMinnesotaandwasabletoobservehowdeersurvivewhenwinterarrives.Thelessonshelearnsabouthewaydeerconserveenergyturnoutapplicabletooureverydaylife.
DEERANDTHEENERGYCYCLE
Somepersonssaythatlovemakestheworldgoround.Othersofalessromanticandmorepracticalturnofmindsaythatitisn'tlove;it'smoney.Butthetruthisthatitisenergythatmakestheworldgoround.Energyisthecurrencyoftheecologicalsystemandlifebecomespossibleonlywhenfoodisconvertedintoenergy,whichinturnisusedtoseekmorefoodtogrow,toreproduceandtosurvive.Onthiscyclealllifedepends.
Itisfairlywellknownthatwildanimalssurvivefromyeartoyearbyeatingasmuchastheycanduringtimesofplenty,thesummerandfall,storingtheexcess,usuallyintheformoffat,andthenusingthesereservesoffattosurviveduringthehardtimesinwinterwhenfoodisscarce.Butitisprobablylesswellknownthatevenwiththeirstoredfat,wildanimalsspendlessenergytoliveinwinterthaninsummer.
Agoodcaseinpointisthewhiter-taileddeer.Likemostwildlife,deerreproduce,grow,andstorefatinthesummerandfallwhenthereisplentyofnutritiousfoodavailable.AphysicallymaturefemaledeeringoodconditionwhohasconceivedinNovemberandgivenbirthtotwofawnsduringtheendofMayorfirstpartofJune,mustsearchforfoodforthenecessaryenergynotonlytomeetherbody'sneedsbutalsotoproducemilkforherfawns.Thebestmilkproductionoccursatthesametimethatnewplantgrowthisavailable.Thisisgoodtiming,becausemilkproductionisanenergyconsumingprocess—itrequiresalotoffood.Thecostcannotbemetunlesstheregionhasamplefoodresources.
Asthesummerprogressesandthefawnsgrow,theybecomelessdependentontheirmother'smilkandmoredependentongrowingplantsasfoodsources.Theadultmalesspendthesummergrowingantlersandgettingfat.Bothmalesandfemalescontinuetoeathighqualityfoodinthefallinordertodepositbodyfatforthewinter.Inthecaseofdoesandfawns,agreatdealofenergyisexpendedeitherinmilkproductionoringrowing,andfatisnotaccumulatedasquicklyasitisinfullgrownmales.Fatreservesarelikebankaccountstobedrawnoninthewinterwhenfoodsuppliesarelimitedandsometimesdifficulttoreachbecauseofdeepsnow.
Asfallturnsintowinter,otherchangestakeplace.Fawnslosetheirspottedcoat.Haironallthedeerbecomesdarkerandthicker.ThechangeinthehaircoatsisusuallycompletebySeptemberandmaximumhairdepthsarereachedbyNovemberorDecemberwhentheweatherbecomescold.
Butinaddition,natureprovidesafurthersafeguardtohelpdeersurvivethewinter—aninternalphysiologicalresponsewhichlowerstheirmetabolism,orrateofbodilyfunctioning,andhenceslows