自学考试综合英语二课文文本.docx

自学考试综合英语二课文文本.docx

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自学考试综合英语二课文文本

自学考试综合英语二课文文本

TwelveThingsIWishTheyTaughtatSchool

1.Iattendedjuniorandseniorhighschool,publicinstitutioninNewYorkandNewJersey,justaftertheSecondWorldWar.Itseemsalongtimeago.ThefacilitiesandskillsoftheteacherswereprobablywellaboveaveragefortheUnitedStatesatthattime.Sincethen,i'velearnedagreatdeal.Oneofthemostimportantthingi'velearnedishowmuchthereistolearn,andhowmuchIdon'tyetknow.SometimesIthinkhowgratefuliwouldbetodayifIhadlearnedmorebackthenaboutwhatreallymatter.Insomerespectseducationsisterriblynarrow;theonlythingIeverlearnedinschoolabout

NapoleonswasthattheUnitedStatesmadeaLouisiannaPurchasefromhim（Onaplanetwheresome95%oftheinhabitantsarenotAmericans,theonlyhistorythatwasthoughtworthteachingwasAmericanhistory.）Inspelling,grammar,thefundamentals

ofmath,andothervitalsubjects,myteachersdidaprettygoodjob.Butthere'snomuchelseIwishthey'dtaughtus.

2.Perhapsallthedeficiencieshavesincebeenrectified.Itseemstometherearemanythings（oftenmoreamatterofattitudeandperceptionthanthesimplememorizationo

thingsthattrulywouldbeusefulinlaterlife,ffacts）thattheschoolsshouldteach——

usefulinmakingastrongercountryandabetterworld,butusefulalsoinmakingpeoplehappier.Humanbeingsenjoylearning.That'soneofthefewthingsthatwedobetterthantheotherspeciesonourplanet.Everystudentshouldregularyexperiencethe

"Aha!

"——whensomethingyouneverunderstood,orsomethingyouneverknewwasmysterybecomesclear.

3.Sohere'smylist:

Pickadifficultthingandlearnitwell

4.TheGreekphilosopherSocratessaidthiswasoneofthegreatestofhumanjoys,and

itis.Whileyoulearnalittlebitaboutmanysubjects,makesureyoulearnagreatdealaboutoneortwo.Ithardlymatterswhatthesubjectis,aslongasitdeeplyinterestsyou,andyouplaceitinitsbroaderhumancontext.Afteryouteachyourselfonesubject,youbecomemuchmoreconfidentaboutyourabilitytoteachyourselfanother.Yougraduallyfindyou'veacquiredakeyskill.Theworldischangingsorapidlythatyou

mustcontinuetoteachyourselfthroughoutyourlife.Butdon'tgettrappedbythefirstsubjectthatinterestsyou,orthefirstthingyoufindyourselfgoodat.Theworldisfullofwonders,andsomeofthemwedon'tdiscoveruntilwe'reallgrowup.Mostofthem.sadly,weneverdiscover.

Don'tbeafraidtoask"stupid"questions.

5.Manyapparentlynaiveinquirieslikewhygrassisgreen,orwhytheSunisround,or

whyweneed55.000nuclearweaponsintheworld——arereallydeepquestions.The

answerscanbeagatewaytorealinsights.It'salsoimportanttoknow,aswellasyoucan,whatitisthatyoudon'tknow,andaskingquestionsistheway.Toask"stupid"questionsrequirescourageonthepartoftheaskerandknowledgeandpatienceonthepartoftheanswerer.Anddon'tconfineyourlearningtoschoolwork.Discussideasin

depthwithfriends.It'smuchbravertoaskquestionsevenwhenthere'saprospectof

ridiculethantosuppressyourquestionsandbecomedeadened

totheworldaroundyou.

Listencarefully.

6.Manyconversationsareakindofcompetitionthatrarelyleadstodiscoveryoneither

side.Whenpeoplearetalking,don'tspendthetimethinkingaboutwhatyou'regoingtosaynext.Instead,trytounderstandwhatthey'resaying,whatexperienceisbehind

theirremarks,whatyoucanlearnfromoraboutthem.Olderpeoplehavegrownupinaworldverydifferentfromyours,oneyoumaynotknowverywell.They.andpeoplefromotherpartsofthecountryandfromothernations,haveimportantperspectivesthatcanenrichyourlife.

Everybodymakesmistakes

7.Everybody'sunderstandingisincomplete.Beopentocorrection,andlearntocorrectyourownmistakes.Theonlyembarrassmentisinnotlearningfromyourmistakes.

Knowyourplanet

8.It'stheonlyonewehave.Learnhowitworks.We'rechangingtheatmosphere,thesurface,thewatersoftheEarth,oftenforsomeshort-termadvantagewhenthelong-termimplicationsareunknow.Thecitizensofanycountryshouldhaveatleastsomethingtosayaboutthedirectioninwhichwe'regoing.Ifwedon'tunderstandtheissues,weabandonthefuture.

Scienceandtechnology.

9.Youcan'tknowyourplanetunlessyouknowsomethingaboutscienceandtechnology.

Schoolsciencecourses,Iremember,concentratedontheunimportantpartsofscience,

leavingthemajorinsightsalmostuntouched.Thegreatdiscoveriesinmodernsciencearealsogreatdiscoveriesofthehumanspirit.Forexample,Copernicusshowedthat—

—farfrombeingthecenteroftheuniverse,aboutwhichtheSun,theMoon,theplanets,

andthestarsrevolvedinclockwisehomage——theEarthisjustoneofmanysmallwo

rlds.Thisisadeflationofourpretensions,tobesure,butitisalsotheopeninguptoourviewofavastandawesomeuniverse.EveryhighschoolgraduateshouldhavesomeideaoftheinsightsofCopernicus,Newton,Darwin,Freud,andEinstein.（Einstein'sspecialtheoryofrelativity,farfrombeingobscureandexceptionallydifficult,canbeunderstoodinitsbasicswithnomorethanfirst-yearalgebra,andthenotionofarowboatinarivergoingupstreamanddownstream.）

Don'tspendyourlifewatchingTV.

10.YouknowwhatI'mTalkingabout.

Culture.

11.Gainsomeexposuretothegreatworksofliturature,artandmusic.Ifsuchaworkishundredsorthousandsofyearsoldandisstilladmired,thereisprobablysomething

toit.Likealldeepexperiences,itmaytakealittleworkonyourparttodiscoverwhatallthefussisabout.Butonceyoumaketheeffort,yourlifehaschanged;you'veacquiredasourceofenjoymentandexcitementfortherestofyourdays.Inaworldas

tightlyconnectedasoursis,don'trestrictyourattentiontoAmericanorwesternculture.Learnhowandwhatpeopleelsewherethink.Learnsomethingoftheirhistory,their

religion,theirviewpoints.

Compassion

12.Manypeoplebelievethatweliveinanextraordinarilyselfishtime.Butthereisahollowness,alonelinessthatcomesfromlivingonlyforyourself.Humansarecapableofgreatmutualcompassion,loveandtenderness.Thesefeelings,however,needencouragementtogrow.

13.Lookatthedelightaone-ortwo-yearoldtakesinlearning,andyouseehowpowerfulisthehumanwilltolearn.Ourpassiontounderstandtheuniverseandourcompassionforothersjointlyprovidethechiefhopeforthehumanrace.

LessontwoIcons

HerosandCulturalIcons

GrayGoshgarian

IfyouwereaskedtolisttenAmericanheroesandheroines,youwouldprobablynamesomeorallofthefollowing:

GeorgeWashington,AbrahamLincoln,DanielBoone,MartinLutherKingJr.,AmeliaEarhart,SusanB.Anthony,JacquelineKennedyOnassis,

HelenKeller,ElizabethCadyStanton,andRosaParks.Ifnextyouwereaskedtolistpeoplewhoaregenerallyadmiredbysociety,whosomehowseembiggerthanlife,youmightcomeupwithanentirelydifferentlist.Youmight,infact,namepeoplewhoarecelebratedfortheirwealthandglamourratherthantheirachievementsandmoralstrengthofcharacter.Andyouwouldnotbealone,becausepollstershavefoundthatpeopletodaydonotchoosepoliticalleaderswhoshapehistoryfortheir―MostAdmired‖list,

butrathermovieandtelevisioncelebrities,fashionmodels,professionalathletes,andevencomicbookandcartooncharacters.Inshortmediaicons.

Bydefinition,heroesandheroinesaremenandwomendistinguishedbyuncommoncourage,achievements,andself-sacrificemademostofternforthebenefitofothers---t

henarepeopleagainstwhomwemeasureothers.Theyaremenandwomenrecognizedforshapingournation‘sconsciousnessanddevelopmentaswellasthelivesofthose

whoadmirethem.Yet,somepeoplesaythatoursisanagewheretrueheroesandheroinesarehardtocomeby,wheretheveryidealofheroismissomethingbeyondus---anartifactofthepast.SomemaintainthatbecausetheColdWarisoverandbecauseAmericaisatpeaceourageisessentiallyandunheroicone.Furthermore,theoverall

crimerateisdown,povertyhasbeeneasedbyastrongandgrowingeconomy,andadvancescontinuetobemadeinmedicalscience.Consequently,bereftofculturalheroes,wehavelatchedontoculturalicons—mediasuperstarssuchasactors,actresses,spo

rtscelebrities,televisionpersonalities,andpeoplewhoaresimplyfamousforbeingfamous.

Culturaliconsarehardertodefine,butweknowthemwhenweseethem.Theyare

peoplewhomanagetotranscendcelebrity,whoarelegendary,whosomehowmanage

tobecomemythic.Butwhatmakessomefiguresiconsandothersmerecelebrities?

That‘shardtoanswer.Inpart,theirliveshavethequalityofastory.Forinstance,thebeautifulyoungDianaSpencerwhoat19marriedaprince,boreaking,renouncedmarriageandthethrone,anddiedatthemomentshefoundtruelove.Goodlookscertainlyhelp.Sodoesaspecialindefinablecharisma,withthehelpofthemedia.Butnothingbecomesaniconmorethanatragicandearlydeath---suchasMartinLutherKingJr.,

JohnF.Kennedy,andPrincessDiana.

BeingSomebody

DonnaWoolfolkCross

Onehundredyearsago,peoplebecamefamousforwhattheyhadachieved.MenlikeJ.P.Morgan,E.H.HarrimanandJayGouldwereallnotableachievers.SowereThomasEdison,MarkTwain,andSusanB.Anthony.

Theiraccomplishmentsarestillevidentinourownday.Today‘scelebrities,however,of

tendonotbecomeknownforanyenduringachievement.Thepeoplewemostadmiretodayareusuallythosewhoaremosthighlypublicizedbythemedia.In1981,aGalluppollrevealedthatNancyReaganwa