第三版新视野大学英语第二册课文翻译.doc

Unit 1An impressive English lesson1If I am the only parent who still corrects his childs English, then perhaps my son is right.To him, I am atediousoddity: a father he is obligedto listen to and a manabsorbedin the rules of grammar, which my son seemsallergicto.2I think I got serious about this only recently when I ran into one of my former students, fresh from anexcursionto Europe.How was it? I asked, full ofearnestanticipation.3She nodded three or four times, searched the heavens for the right words, and thenexclaimed, It was, like,whoa!4And that was it.Thecivilizationof Greece and the glory of Romanarchitecturewerecapturedin acondensednon-statement.My students whoa! wasexceededonly by my head-shakingdistress.5There are many different stories about the downturn in the proper use of English.Surely students should be able todistinguish betweentheir/there/theyreor thedistinctivedifference betweencomplimentaryandcomplementary.They unfairly bear thebulkof the criticismfor these knowledgedeficitsbecause there is a sense that they should know better.6Students are notdumb, but they are being misled everywhere they look and listen.For example, signs ingrocerystores point them to thestationary, even though the actualstationeryitems pads,albumsand notebooks are not nailed down.Friends and loved ones oftenproclaimtheyve justatewhen, in fact, theyve justeaten.Therefore, it doesnt make any sense to criticize our students.7Blame for thescandalof this language deficit should bethrustupon our schools, which should be setting high standards of English languageproficiency.Instead, they only teach a little grammar and even less advanced vocabulary.Moreover, the younger teachers themselvesevidentlyhave little knowledge of these vital structures of language because they also went withoutexposureto them. Schools fail toadequatelyteach the essential framework of language, accurate grammar and proper vocabulary, while they should take the responsibility of pushing the young onto the path ofcompetentcommunication.8Since grammar is boring to most of the young students, I think that it must be handled delicately, step by step.The chance came when one day I was driving with my son.As we set out on our trip, he noticed a bird injerkyflight and said, Its flying so unsteady.I carefully asked, My son, how is the bird flying?Whats wrong? Did I say anything incorrectly?He got lost.Great! You said incorrectlyinstead ofincorrect. We use adverbs to describe verbs. Therefore, its flying sounsteadilybut not sounsteady.9Curious about my correction, he asked me what an adverb was.Slowly, I said, Its a word that tells you something about a verb.It led to his asking me what a verb was.I explained, Verbs are action words; for example, Dad drives the truck.Driveis the verb because its the thing Dad is doing.10 He became attracted to the idea of action words, so we listed a few more:fly, swim, dive, run.Then, out of his own curiosity, he asked me if other words had names for their use andfunctions.This led to a discussion of nouns, adjectives, and articles.Within the spanof a 10-minute drive, he had learned fromscratchto the major parts of speech in a sentence.It was painless learning and great fun!11Perhaps, language should be looked upon as a road map and a valuable possession: often study the road map (check grammar) andtuneup the car engine (adjustvocabulary).Learning grammar and a good vocabulary is just like driving with a road map in a well-conditioned car.12The road map provides the framework and guidance you need for your trip, but it wont tell you exactly what trees or flowers you will see, what kind of people you will encounter, or what types of feelings you will be experiencing on your journey.Here, the vocabulary makes the journeys true colors come alive!A good vocabulary enables you to enjoy whatever you see as you drive along.Equipped with grammar and a good vocabulary, you have flexibility and excellent control.While the road map guides your journey to your destination, an excellent vehicle helps you to fully enjoy all of the sights, sounds and experiences along the way.13Effective,precise, andbeneficialcommunication depends upon grammar and a good vocabulary, the two essentialassetsfor students, but they are not being taught in schools.14Just this morning, my son and I were eating breakfast when I attempted to add milk to my tea.Dad, he said, If I were you, I wouldnt do that. Itssour.15Oh my!I said, swelling with pride toward my son, Thats a grammatically perfect sentence. You usedwereinstead ofwas.16I know, I know, he said with a long agreeable sigh. Its thesubjunctivemood.17I was, like, whoa!Translation一堂难忘的英语课1 如果我是唯一一个还在纠正小孩英语的家长，那么我儿子也许是对的。对他而言，我是一个乏味的怪物：一个他不得不听其教诲的父亲，一个还沉湎于语法规则的人，对此我儿子似乎颇为反感。2 我觉得我是在最近偶遇我以前的一位学生时，才开始对这个问题认真起来的。这个学生刚从欧洲旅游回来。我满怀着诚挚期待问她：“欧洲之行如何？”3 她点了三四下头，绞尽脑汁，苦苦寻找恰当的词语，然后惊呼：“真是，哇！”4 没了。所有希腊文明和罗马建筑的辉煌居然囊括于一个浓缩的、不完整的语句之中！我的学生以“哇！”来表示她的惊叹，我只能以摇头表达比之更强烈的忧虑。5 关于正确使用英语能力下降的问题，有许多不同的故事。学生的确本应该能够区分诸如their/there/theyre之间的不同，或区别complimentary 跟complementary之间显而易见的差异。由于这些知识缺陷，他们承受着大部分不该承受的批评和指责，因为舆论认为他们应该学得更好。6 学生并不笨，他们只是被周围所看到和听到的语言误导了。举例来说，杂货店的指示牌会把他们引向stationary（静止处），虽然便笺本、相册、和笔记本等真正的stationery（文具用品）并没有被钉在那儿。朋友和亲人常宣称 Theyve just ate。实际上，他们应该说 Theyve just eaten。因此，批评学生不合乎情理。7 对这种缺乏语言功底而引起的负面指责应归咎于我们的学校。学校应对英语熟练程度制定出更高的标准。可相反，学校只教零星的语法，高级词汇更是少之又少。还有就是，学校的年轻教师显然缺乏这些重要的语言结构方面的知识，因为他们过去也没接触过。学校有责任教会年轻人进行有效的语言沟通，可他们并没把语言的基本框架准确的语法和恰当的词汇充分地传授给学生。8 因为语法对大多数年轻学生而言枯燥且乏味，所以我觉得讲授语法得一步一步、注重技巧地进行。有一天机会来了。我跟儿子开车外出。我们出发时，他看到一只小鸟飞得很不稳，就说：“它飞的不稳。”（Its flying so unsteady.）我小心翼翼地问：“儿子，鸟怎么飞?”“有问题吗？我说得不对吗？（Did I say anything incorrectly?）”他一头雾水。“太好了， 你说的是incorrectly而不是incorrect。我们用副词来描述动词。所以，要用unsteadily来描述鸟飞 ，而不是unsteady。”9 他对我的纠正很好奇，就问我什么是副词。我慢慢解释道：“副词是用来修饰动词的词。”这又导致了他询问我什么是动词。我解释说：“动词是表示行为的词，例如：爸爸开卡车。开是动词，因为它是爸爸在做的事。”10 他开始对表示行为的词产生兴趣，所以我们又罗列了几个动词：“飞行”、“游泳”、“跳水”、“跑步”。然后，他又好奇地问我，其他的词有没有说明它们的用法和功能的名称。这就引发了我们对名词、形容词和冠词的讨论。在短短十分钟的驾驶时间内，他从对语法一无所知到学会了句子中主要词语的词性。这是一次毫无痛苦而又非常有趣的学习经历。11 也许，语言应该被看成是一张路线图和一件珍品：我们要常常查看路线图（核对语法）和调整汽车的引擎（调节词汇）。学好语法和掌握大量的词汇就好比拿着路线图在车况良好的车里驾驶。12 路线图为你的旅行提供所需的基本路线和路途指南，可是它不会告诉你一路上你究竟会看见什么树或什么花，你会遇见什么样的人，或会有什么样的感受。这里，词汇会使你的旅途变得五彩缤纷、栩栩如生。大量的词汇让你享受到开车途中所见的点点滴滴。借助语法和丰富的词汇，你就有了灵活性，掌控自如。路线图会把你带到目的地，而一台好车却能让你完全陶醉于旅途的所有景色、声音及经历之中。13 对学生来说，有效、准确且富有成效的沟通技能取决于语法和词汇这两大有利条件，可是学校并没有教他们这些。14 就在今天早上，我跟儿子吃早饭时，我想把牛奶加入我的茶里。“爸爸，” 他说，“如果我是你的话，我不会这样做。牛奶会变酸。（If I were you, I wouldnt do that. Its sour.）”15 “哦，上帝！”我满怀着无比的骄傲说道，“这是一句语法完全正确的句子。你用了were而不是was。”16 “我知道，我知道，”他愉悦地舒了口气，“这是虚拟语气！”17 这下轮到我“哇！”了。Unit 2The humanities: Out of date?1When the going gets tough, the tough takeaccounting.When the job market worsens, many studentscalculatethey cant major in English or history.They have to study something thatbooststheirprospectsof landing a job.2The data show that as students have increasingly shouldered the ever-rising cost of tuition, they havedefectedfrom the study of the humanities and towardappliedscience and hard skills that theybetwill lead to employment.In other words, a college education is more and more seen as a means for economic betterment rather than a means for human betterment.This is a trend that is likely to persistand evenaccelerate.3Over the next few years, as labor markets struggle, the humanities will probably continue their long slide insuccession.There already has been a nearly 50 percent decline in the portion ofliberalarts majors over the past generation, and it islogicalto think that the trend isboundto continue or even accelerate.Once thedominantpillarsof university life, the humanities now play little roles when students take their college tours.These days, labs are morevividandcompellingthan libraries.4Here, please allow me to stand up for andpromotethe true value that the humanities add to peoples lives.Since ancient times, people havespeculatedabout themysteryof those inner forces that drive some people to greatness and others toself-destruction. This inner drive has been called many things over the centuries.The famous psychologist,Sigmund Freud, called it the unconscious mind or, more familiarly, instinct.5From the beginning of time, this inner aspect of our being, this drive that can be constructive ordestructive, has captured our imagination.The stories of this amazing struggle have formed the basis of cultures the world over.Historians,architects, authors, philosophersand artists have captured the words, images and meanings of this inner struggle in the form of story, music, myth, painting, architecture, sculpture,landscapeand traditions.These men and women developed artistic languages that help us understand these aspirations and also educate generations.Thisfertilebody of work from ancient times, the very foundation of civilization, forms the basis of study of the humanities.6Studying the humanities improves our ability to read and write.No matter what we do in life, we will have a huge advantage if we can read complex ideas and understand their meaning.We will have a bright career if we are the person in the office who can write a clear andelegantanalysisof those ideas!7Studying the humanities makes us familiar with the language of emotion and the creative process.In an information economy, many people have the ability to produce a useful product such as a new MP3 player.Yet, very few people have the ability to create a spectacularbrand: the iPod.Most importantly, studying the humanitiesinvestsus with greatinsightand self-awareness,there by releasing our creative energy and talent in a positive and constructive manner.8Perhaps the best argument in favor of the humanities is thescopeof possibilities that are widely open to us.Did you know that James Cameron, world-famous director of the movie,Titanic, graduated with a degree in the humanities?So didSally Ride, the first woman in space.So did actorsBruce Lee,Gwyneth Paltrow,Renee ZellwegerandMatt Damon.Dr.Harold Varmus, who won a Nobel Prize for Medicine, studied the humanities.EvenMichael Eisner, Chairman of the Disney Company, majored in the humanities. Famous people who studied the humanities make a long list indeed.Its easy to see that the humanities can prepare us for many different careers and jobs we canundertake, whether medicine, business, science or entertainment.If we study only mathematics, its likely we will be acandidateonly for jobs as a mathematician.If we include studying the humanities, we can makebreakthroughson manybarriersand are limited only by our effort and imagination.9Of course, nowadays, if we study the humanities alone, we areliableto miss many opportunities.Each one of us needs to become as technically and professionally skilled as possible to help meet the needs of modern life.In fact, increasingly a pairing of technical knowledge and inner insight is seen as the ideal in theestablishmentof a career.If I were theDeanof Admissions at a medical school and two people applied to our school, both having the required basic scientific courses, one a philosophy major and the othersolelya pre-med student, the philosophy applicant would be chosen.10In summary, the humanities help to create well-rounded human beings with insight and understanding of the passions, hopes and dreams common to all humanity.The humanities, the ancient timelessreservoirof knowledge, teach us to see things differently and broaden our horizons.They are as useful and relevant in our modern age as they have always been.Doesnt it make sense to spend some time in the company of the humanities, ouroutstandingand remarkable treasure of knowledge?Who knows how famous YOU might become!Translation人文学科：过时了吗？1 当形势变得困难时，强者会去选学会计。当就业市场恶化时，许多学生估算着他们不能再主修英语或历史。他们得学一些能改善他们就业前景的东西。2 数据显示，随着学生肩负的学费不断增加，他们已从学习人文学科转向他们相信有益于将来就业的应用科学和“硬”技能。换言之，大学教育越来越被看成是改善经济而不是提升人类自身的手段。这种趋势可能会持续，甚至有加快之势。3 在未来几年内，由于劳动力市场的不景气，人文学科可能会继续其长期低迷的态势。在上一代大学生中，主修文科的学生数跌幅已近50%。这种趋势会持续、甚至加速的想法是合情合理的。人文学科曾是大学生活的重要支柱，而今在学生们的大学游中却只是一个小点缀。现在，实验室要比图书馆更栩栩如生、受人青睐。4 在这儿，请允许我为人文学科给人们的生活所增添的真实价值进行支持和宣传。自古以来，人们一直在思索人类自身具有什么神奇的内力使一些人变得崇高伟大，而使另一些人走向自我毁灭。几个世纪以来，这股内力被称作很多东西。著名的心理学家西格蒙德弗洛伊德称之为“潜意识”，或更为人熟知的“本能”。5 从一开始，人类这股可以是建设性也可以是毁灭性的内在驱动力，就令我们心驰神往。这些惊人的、充满内心挣扎的故事形成了世界文化的基础。历史学家、建筑师、作家、哲学家和艺术家们以故事、音乐、神话、绘画、建筑、雕刻、风景画和传统的形式，捕捉到了这些撞击心灵的文字、形象及内涵。这些男男女女创造出了具有艺术性的“语言”，帮助我们了解人类的这些强烈愿望，并用以教育一代又一代人。从古时起开始的这些充满想象的大量作品，正是文明的底蕴，它奠定了人文研究的基础。6 学习人文学科会提高我们的阅读和写作能力。无论我们这一生中从事什么职业，如果我们能读懂复杂的思想并理解它们的内涵，我们都会受益匪浅。如果我们是在办公室里能对这些思想写出既明确又简洁的分析的人，我们会有光明的职业前景。7 学习人文学科会让我们熟悉表达情感的语言及进行创造的过程。在信息经济中，很多人都有能力创造出一个如新的MP3播放器那样的有用产品。然而，仅有很少的人具有能力创造出一个如iPod那样的精彩品牌。最重要的是，学习人文学科使我们具有伟大的洞察力和自我意识，从而以积极和建设性的方式来发挥我们的创造力和才艺。8 也许，支持人文学科的最好论点是，人文学科为我们提供了广阔的机会。你知道世界闻名的电影泰坦尼克号的导演詹姆斯卡梅隆拿的是人文学科的学位吗？第一个登上太空的女宇航员萨利赖德拿的也是人文学科的学位。还有电影演员李小龙、格温妮丝帕特洛、蕾妮齐薇格及马特达蒙，也都如此。获诺贝尔医学奖的哈罗德瓦慕斯博士也学过人文学科。甚至迪士尼公司的总裁迈克尔艾斯纳也主修人文学科。学习人文学科的有名人士确实可以列出一长串。显而易见，人文学能为我们从事许多不同的职业做准备，不管是医学、商务、科学或娱乐。如果我们仅学习数学，我们很可能只能申请数学家之类的工作。如果我们还学了人文学科，那我们就能突破许多障碍，只要我们愿意付出努力，敢于想象。9 当然，在当下，如果我们单学人文学科，可能会失去很多机会。我们每个人都需要尽可能变得技能化、职业化，以满足现代生活的需要。事实上，技术知识和内在洞察力的结合越来越被看成是建立职业生涯的理想搭配。如果我是某个医学院的招生部主任，有两个人同时申请我们学校，这两个人都学过基础的科学课程，一个主修哲学，另一个仅是医学院的预科生，我会选择那位哲学专业的申请者。10 总之，人文学科帮助造就全面发展的人，这些人具有洞察力，并理解全人类共有的激情、希望和理想。人文学科，这个古老、永恒的知识储蓄库，教我们如何以不同的方式看待事物，同时也拓宽我们的视野。在现代社会中，人文学科一如既往地同生活息息相关，也发挥着重要作用。我们在学习中花一些时间与人文学科我们杰出、非凡的知识宝藏相伴，这难道不是明智的吗？谁知道你将来会变得多有名气呢！Unit 5Spend or save The students dilemma1Do you feel as confused andmanipulatedas I do with this question, Should I spend or should I save?I think that the messages we get from our environment seem todefycommon sense andcontradicteach other.The government tells us to spend or well never get out of therecession.At the same time, they tell us that unless we save more, our country is ingravedanger.Banks offer higher interest rates so we increase savings.Then the same banks send us credit card offers so we can spend more.2Heres another familiar example: If we dont pay our credit card bill on time, we get demanding,nastyemails from the credit card company saying something like: Your failure to pay is unacceptable. Pay immediately or youll be in trouble!Then, as soon as we pay, we get a follow-up email in a charmingtonetelling us how valuable a customer we are and encouraging us toresumespending. Whichdepictionis correct: a failing consumer in trouble or a valued customer?Thegapbetween these two messages is enormous.3Theparadoxis that every day we get two sets of messages atoddswith each other.One is the permissiveperspective, Buy, spend, get it now. You need this!The other we could call anuprightmessage, whi