ries forecasting future events that entitle him to be known as the
father of science fiction.
When
The War in the Air
appeared in 1908, how many people could have foreseen that within
thirty years great cities were going to be destroyed by bombs
dropped from aeroplanes?
The First Men in the Moon was
published in 1901. How many of those who read it realized that men
really were going to walk on the moon within their lifetime?
And what about
The Time Machine
and The Invisible Man? Are we going to wake up one morning and
find that here too Wells was forecasting events which were going to
come true?
Task 2
【答案】
A.
1) b
2) c
3) c
4) a
B.
1) tall; narrow; tousled
2) surveyed; half-closed
3) taking a long stride
4) capable; flexible; still life
5) faded; frayed
6) tilted his head; smiled; walked forward; with a flourish
【原文】
If you came into his studio in the evening as the sun was setting
you could see him. You would notice how the soft light coming
through the long windows fell on his left profile as he stood in
front of his easel. He was tall; his shoulders were narrow; his
head was large with an abundance of dark, tousled hair.
He surveyed the canvas in front of him and
half-closed his eyes. His cheek bones were high and prominent, and
accentuated the line of the jaw. This in turn set off his long
neck. He stepped back, taking a long stride, and remained with one
foot in front of the other. He wore sandals without socks and you
could see that a big toe had developed a blister where a leather
strap cut across it. He had short, strong, capable fingers and he
used his broad, flexible thumb to smooth some of the paint on the
still life he was busy finishing. The jeans he wore were faded and
frayed; paint rags hung from each pocket. His shirt was a checked
one of many colors, mainly purple, blue and yellow. It contrasted
peculiarly with the ephemeral colors on the canvas. He tilted his
head to one side, smiled, walked forward and brought his brush
slowly towards the bottom of the canvas, and with a flourish signed
his name.
Task 3
【答案】
A.
1) F
2) T
3) F
4) F
5) F
6) T
7) F
8) T
B.
1) dramatic sunsets and sunrises
2) 1930s; 1840s;
impressionistic
3) reds; oranges; 1820
【原文】
Joseph Turner (1775—1851) is one of the two greatest English
landscape painters of his age. He is especially noted for his
imaginative water colours and oil paintings, which often show
dramatic sunsets and sunrises, done in a brilliant kaleidoscope of
colours. His painting Burning of the Houses of Parliament appears
in colour in the Painting article. During the 1830s and 1840s, the
method he used became more and more impressionistic. His work
influenced the impressionist movement in France led by Claude Monet
in the 1870s. Turner is also known for his landscape drawings,
especially the book of drawings called Liber Studiorum, which he
produced between 1807 and 1819.
Turner was influenced at first by
Rembrandt and later by Claude. He began to use bright colours in
his paintings, especially the reds and oranges for which he is
known, after about 1820. Some of his most famous paintings are
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus, Bay of
Baiae, and View of Orvieto.
Turner was born in London, the son
of a barber. He was' something of a boy genius, and exhibited at
the Royal Academy at the age of 15. He traveled widely, first in
England and Scotland, and after 1800 in France, Italy, and Germany.
Turner drew and painted wherever he went, working incessantly and
producing hundreds of paintings and thousands of drawings, many of
which he left to the nation. During his lifetime Turner was said to
be a miser, and towards the end of his life, he became slovenly,
solitary, and secretive. Many people did not like his work until
John Ruskin championed him in 1843, but Turner died wealthy and was
buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, London. He left his money to a
charity for poor English artists.
Task 4
【答案】
1) A natural curiosity./A good interviewer is one who likes meeting
people and wants to find out about them.
2) A curious kind of affinity with people, and an ability to get on
will with people.
3) Because television depends a lot on the director getting the
right shot.
4) By research./By knowing more about the guest than they’ve
forgotten about themselves.
5) All./Every ounce of research.
6) Because Mitchum rarely said anything.
7) Because very often the interviewees spin off into areas that the
interviewer has never thought about and sometimes it’s worth
pursing.
8) A traffic cop.
9) Talent, ambition and energy.
【原文】
Interviewer: With all your experience of interviewing, Michael, how
can you tell if somebody is going to make a good interviewer?
Michael: Oh, I say, what a question! I've never
been asked that before. I think that the prerequisite obviously is
curiosity. I think that's a natural one, not an assumed one. I
think the people who have done my job, and the graveyard of the BBC
is littered with them, their tombstones are there, you know; who
failed, have been because basically they've not been journalists.
My training was in journalism. I've been 26 years a journalist and,
to be a journalist argues that you like meeting people to start
with, and also you want to find out about them. So that's the
prerequisite. After that, I think there's something else comes into
it, into play, and I think again, most successful journalists have
it: It's a curious kind of affinity with people; it's an ability to
get on with people; it's a kind of body warmth, if you like. If you
knew the secret of it and could bottle it and sell it, you'd make a
fortune.
Interviewer: When you've done an interview yourself, how do you
feel whether it's been a good interview or not a good
interview?
Michael: I can never really tell on air. I have to
watch it back, because television depends so much on your director
getting the right shot, the right reaction you can't--it's amazing.
Sometimes I think 'Oh, that's a boring interview' and just because
of the way my director shot it, and shot reaction he's composed a
picture that's made it far more interesting than it actually
was.
Interviewer: How do you bring out the best in people, because you
always seem to manage to, not only relax them, but somehow get
right into the depths of them.
Michael: By research. By knowing, when you go into
a television studio, more about the guest in front of you than
they've forgotten about themselves. And, I mean that's pure
research. I mean, you probably use, in a 20 minute interview; I
probably use, oh, a 20th of the research material that I've
absorbed, but that's what you've got to do. I mean I once
interviewed Robert Mitchum for 75 minutes and the longest reply I
got from him was 'Yes.' And that's the only time I've used every
ounce of research and every question that I've ever thought of, and
a few that I hadn't thought of as well. But that really is the
answer — it's research. When people say to you, you know, 'Oh you
go out and wing it', I mean that's nonsense. If anybody ever tries
to tell you that as an interviewer just starting, that you wing it,
there's no such thing. It's all preparation — it's knowing exactly
what you're going to do at any given point and knowing what you
want from the person.
Interviewer: And does that include sticking to written questions or
do you deviate?
Michael: No, I mean what you do is you have an aide
memoire. I have. My list of questions aren't questions as such —
they're areas that I block out, and indeed, I can't remember, I
can't recall, apart from the foresaid Mr. Mitchum experience, when
I've ever stuck to that at all. Because, quite often you'll find
that they spin off into areas that you've not really thought about
and perhaps it's worth pursuing sometimes. The job is very much
like, actually, a traffic cop — you're like you're on point duty
and you're, you know when you're directing the flow of traffic,
well, you're directing the flow of conversation, that's basically
what you're doing, when you're doing a talk show, in my view.
Interviewer: Have you got a last word of encouragement for any
young people setting out on what they'd like to be a career as an
interviewer?
Michael: I envy them, I mean, I really do. I mean I'd go
back and do it all again. I think it's the most perfect job for any
young person who's got talent and ambition and energy. And the nice
thing about it is that the proportion of talent is indeed only 5
percent. The other 95 percent is energy and no examinations to
pass. I'd love to do it over again.
Task 5
【答案】
A.
Wangari Maathai
|
Award:
|
Nobel Peace Prize (the
twelfth woman/ the first African woman since 1901 to win the
prize)
|
Comments from the Nobel
Committee:
|
Peace on earth depends on our
ability to secure our living environment.
|
Major reason for receiving the
award:
|
Green belt movement
|
Personal
information:
|
Nationality:
|
Kenyan
|
Age:
|
64
|
Education:
|
Studied in the United States
and Kenya
Believed to have been the first woman in East and central Africa to
earn a doctorate degree
|
Career:
|
Was a professor of animal
science at the University of Nairobi
Is assistant minister of environment, natural resources
an
|
B.
1997, plant trees all over Africa, thirty million, seeds nurseries,
communities, planting, taking care of the trees, survives,
fuel
【原文】
Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai says poor women can
fight poverty and help the environment by planting trees. In
December, she will receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to
save the forests of Africa.
Wangari Maathai is the twelfth woman since nineteen oh one to win
the prize. Last year the Norwegian Nobel Committee also recognized
a woman, Shirin Ebadi of Iran. She is a lawyer who has fought for
human rights for women.
But this is the first time the peace prize will go to an African
woman. It is also the first time someone within the environmental
movement has been recognized at such a high level. The Nobel
Committee said: 'Peace on earth depends on our ability to
secure our living environment.'
In 1977, Wangari Maathai started the Green Belt Movement. The goal
is to plant trees all over Africa, to replace those cut down over
the years. Trees are the main source of cooking fuel. Trees also
protect wildlife. And they keep nutrients in the soil and help
prevent flooding.
Today the program operates in a number of countries. A reported
thirty million trees have been planted.
Young trees are grown from seeds at thousands of nurseries. The
Green Belt Movement gives these young trees to communities. Locally
trained people advise women farmers about planting and taking care
of the trees. The movement pays farmers for every tree that
survives. Later the women can use some of the trees for fuel.
Professor Maathai is sixty-four years old. She studied in the
United States and Kenya. She is believed to have been the first
woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. She
became a professor of animal science at the University of Nairobi.
But her activism angered the former government in Kenya. She was
beaten and arrested.
Now, she is assistant minister of environment, natural resources
and wildlife.
But she does not speak out only about the environment. In August,
she called the AIDS virus a biological weapon to control black
people. Later, she said her comments were meant to get people to
ask questions and not think of AIDS as a 'curse from God.'
Wangari Maathai will receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on
December tenth. She will also receive almost one point four million
dollars in prize money.
Task 6
【答案】
I.
A. Norway
B. the United States
II.
A. a lack of balance; inflation; recession
B. low interest rates; increased government spending; higher
interest rates
C. low employment; high inflation
D. high employment; low inflation; the time consistency
problem
Ⅲ.
A. business cycles
B. new technology
C. market corrections
D. an increase in oil price
【原文】
The winners of the Nobel prize in economics this year are Finn
Kydland of Norway and Edward Prescott of the United States.
Mister Prescott is an adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of
Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is also an Arizona State University
professor. Mister Kydland is a professor at Carnegie Mellon
University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The prize recognizes their work together on two studies. The first
was published in nineteen seventy-seven.
Before the 1970s, economic problems were seen mainly in terms of a
lack of balance. Too much demand caused inflation. Too much supply
caused a recession.
Governments would take steps aggressively to re-balance supply and
demand. Low interest rates and increased government spending would
expand growth and employment. Then, if prices went up too much,
higher interest rates would ease inflation.
But in the 70s, many nations experienced both low employment and
high inflation at the same time. This was called stagflation. And
no one could explain it.
Finn Kydland and Edward Prescott showed that stagflation resulted
when policymakers did not do as they promised. Most governments say
they want high employment and low inflation. But, over time, events
can cause them not to follow their stated economic policy to
support these goals. This is called the time consistency
problem.
The two economists published another study in nineteen eighty-two.
They developed ways to explain business cycles, times of increase
or decrease in economic activity. They showed how new technology
creates periods of economic growth and productivity.
Markets then make corrections which slow the growth. Wages change.
Investments change. People buy more or less of things. The two
economists showed how activities at this level govern an economy.
They also showed how a shock like an increase in oil prices can
affect business cycles.
Today, their work influences central bank officials and
policymakers around the world.
Task 7
【答案】
A.
1) It was originally released in local newspaper in serial
form.
2) The two short, little sections are easily doable, and then you
get hooked on the story and wonder what’s happening next.
3) Through mail and twice a month.
4) Because the book opens on Christmas Eve and it has a strong
message about family.
5) 5,600
B.
1) 1860; London; in suspense
2) adventures; love; betrayal; a poor orphan
3) any likeness of either of them; photograph; their
tombstones
4) Industrial Revolution; altering daily life
5) profound change; fundamental values
【原文】
Host: In December, 1860, the first serialized part of Charles
Dickens' Great Expectations hit the streets of London. Every week,
readers were kept in suspense waiting for the next installment.
Over the next few months, Stanford University will let readers
experience Great Expectations the way Victorians did.
Reporter: It's Thursday evening and the Stevens' family has settled
into the living room to take turns reading the latest weekly
installment of Great Expectations. Peter and Rosemary Stevens
thought that the installment plan was a terrific way to read Great
Expectations with their seven- and eight-year-old daughters.
Mrs. Stevens: You have two short, little sections that are easily
doable, and where if it's a huge book, you'd say, 'How am I going
to approach this?' where if it's little pieces, say, 'Oh, okay. I
can do this.' And then you get hooked on the story and think,
'Well, what's happening next?'
Reporter: It's a little like a very good
soap opera, says Rosemary. Most of Dickens' novels —
Oliver
Twist, A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations — were released
in serial form. Stanford University Professor Linda Paulson wanted
to recreate that experience.
Prof. Paulson: Imagine sitting there in 1860, this brand-new
Dickens' novel. You know him as a writer. You respect him. He's
wonderful. He's great fun. And you don't know what he's got in his
mind.
Reporter: Dickens' works were originally
released in local newspapers. Stanford made copies of the
installments and sends them to readers through the mail twice a
month. The university kicked off the serial with a public reading
by local actor Marco Barricelli.
Mr. Barricelli: My father's family name, being Pirrip, and
my Christian name, Philip, my infant tongue could make of both
names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So I called myself
Pip and came to be called Pip.
Reporter: For those who aren't familiar
with
Great Expectations, it is the story of Pip, who writes
as an adult looking back on his youth. He faces adventures, love
and betrayal, too. Like many Dickens' characters, Pip is born a
poor orphan.
Mr. Barricelli: As I never saw my father or my mother, and
never saw any likeness of either of them, for their days were long
before the days of photographs, my first fancies regarding what
they were like were unreasonably derived from their
tombstones.
Reporter: Paulson says
Great
Expectations was a good choice for this time of year because it
opens on Christmas Eve and it has a strong message about
family.
Prof. Paulson: The idea of what constitutes a family, which is not
necessarily the biological family.
Reporter: Dickens was writing during the
Industrial Revolution, says Paulson, at a moment when technology
was altering daily life.
Prof. Paulson: He was looking at a world that was in profound
change and reminding people that there were some fundamental values
that they needed always to remember, and I think that's not far off
from what we are trying to remind ourselves of now.
Reporter: More than 500 people showed up
for the public reading, and 5,600 have signed up to get the serial
installments. For many, like Alison Price, it is an opportunity to
get closer to
friends and family.
Ms. Price: I'm doing it with my parents, who live in
Southern California, and my friend Miriam and my husband. So we're
sort of doing it together.
Reporter: Although Price and everyone else
could just go out and buy a copy of
Great Expectations, most
seem to enjoy waiting expectantly for the next episode to arrive in
the mail.
Task 8
【答案】
the ability to laugh; luxury; a unifying force; disagree;
ideological factions; political camps; a sense of humour; a
universal appeal; a correct sense of values; taking ourselves too
seriously; tragedy; comedy; irony; satire; redress the balance;
arrogant politicians; absurdity; powerful; laughter; happiness;
uniquely human; key
【原文】
Biologically, there is only one quality which distinguishes us from
animals: the ability to laugh. In a universe which appears to be
utterly devoid of humor, we enjoy this supreme luxury. And it is a
luxury, for unlike any other bodily process, laughter does not seem
to serve a biologically useful purpose. In a divide world, laughter
is a unifying force. Human beings oppose each other on a great many
issues. Nations may disagree about systems of government and human
relations may be plagued by ideological factions and political
camps, but we all share the ability to laugh. And laughter, in
turn, depends on that most complex and subtle of all human
qualities: a sense of humor. Certain comic stereotypes have a
universal appeal. This can best be seen from the world-wide
popularity of Charlie Chaplin’s early films. The little man at odds
with society never fails to amuse no matter which country we come
from. As that great commentator on human affairs, Dr. Samuel
Johnson, once remarked, ‘Men have been wise in very different
modes; but they have always laughed in the same way.’
A sense of humor may take various forms and laughter may be
anything from a refined tingle to an earth quaking roar, but the
effect is always the same. Humor helps us to maintain a correct
sense of values. It is the one quality which political fanatics
appear to lack. If we can see the funny side, we never make the
mistake of taking ourselves too seriously. We are always reminded
that tragedy is not really far removed from comedy, so we never get
a lopsided view of things.
This is one of the chief functions of satire and irony. Human pain
and suffering are so grim; we hover so often on the brink of war;
political realities are usually enough to plunge us into total
despair. In such circumstances, cartoons and satirical accounts of
somber political events redress the balance. They take the wind out
of pompous and arrogant politicians who have lost their sense of
proportion. They enable us to see that many of our most profound
actions are merely comic or absurd. We laugh when a great satirist
like Swift writes about war in
Gulliver’s Travels. The
Lilliputians and their neighbors attack each other because they
can’t agree which end to break an egg. We laugh because we meant to
laugh; but we are meant to weep too. It is too powerful a weapon to
be allowed to flourish.
The sense of humor must be singled out as man’s most important
quality because it is associated with laughter. And laughter, in
turn, is associated with happiness. Courage, determination,
initiative — these are qualities we share with other forms of life.
But the sense of humor is uniquely human. If happiness is one of
the great goals of life, then it is the sense of humor that
provides the key.
Task 9
【答案】
A.
1) At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
2) The
Mona Lisa and
The Last Supper.
3) Sudies for Leonardo's most famous paintings, and the results of
new research into such subjects as Leonardo's patrons, his
teachers, and the work of his pupils.
4) Because they are particularly sensitive to light and
temperature.
5) Because drawings are difficult to see in a museum.
B.
1) T
2) F
3) T
4) F
5) T
C.
1) Master Draftsman; artistic apprenticeship; 1470s; scientist;
inventor; France;1519
2) artist; scientist; theorist; Renaissance Man
3) revealing; rationalizing; the mysteries of the world; the great
depths of human emotion; convincing
4) magical sense; draws; creates; greatest personalities
5) reassuring; cajoling; security; insurance; the general public;
knowledge
【原文】
The most comprehensive collection of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci
ever assembled in the United States, is on exhibit at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The exhibition is taken
from major collections from around the world, and features many
pieces not seen in public since the 1930s.
Even for seasoned art historian and curator Carmen Bambach, who put
together the exhibition of nearly 120 drawings, seeing so many
works by Leonardo da Vinci in one place is a moving experience. 'It
is possibly the most emotional time in my entire life, that I am
likely to have. To think about these works you will see on the
walls, or that you have already seen on the walls, that normally
live in dark, black boxes. To see them all together here, so many
of them, is a very, very emotional thing,' she said.
Leonardo da Vinci — Master Draftsman follows da Vinci's entire
career, from his artistic apprenticeship in Florence, Italy in the
1470s, to his highly productive years as a scientist and an
inventor in Milan, through to his return to Florence in the
beginning of the 16th century, and death in France in 1519.
Ms. Bambach said the drawings in the exhibition provide a rare
opportunity to confront the diverse talents that made Leonardo da
Vinci, artist, scientist, engineer, theorist, teacher, the original
'Renaissance Man.'
'He very much believed in revealing, and in the process of
revealing, rationalizing. At the same time, he was deeply and
humbly aware of the mysteries of the world, the mysteries of human
life. He talks a great deal about that. The mysteries of life, the
great depths of human emotion as a kind of shaper of physical
gesture. That is why his figures are so deeply convincing.'
Although Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps best known for paintings such
as
the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, very few paintings by
the master exist today — 15 at most, whereas there are 4,000 pages
of his drawings and notes in various collections throughout the
world.
The one painting in the exhibition, the unfinished St. Jerome
Praying in the Wilderness, has the imprint of the artist's fingers
in the upper left corner. Metropolitan Museum Director Philipe de
Montebello says tiny details like this are what make the Master
Draftsman exhibition so compelling.
'You get that magical sense that you are looking over the shoulder
of the artist as he draws and creates. It brings you in touch with
one of the greatest personalities in the world on such a close
basis that it is deeply moving,' Mr. de Montebello said.
The exhibition includes studies for Leonardo's most famous
paintings,
Virgin and Child with St. Anne, The Last Supper,
Adoration of the Magi, as well as a recently discovered,
two-sided sketch of a Hercules statue, possibly meant to compete
with Michaelangelo's David.
Interwoven in the exhibition are the results of copious new
research into such subjects as Leonardo da Vinci's patrons, his
teachers, and the work of his pupils.
Mr. Montebello said the new research helped convince some reluctant
lenders to temporarily part with their da Vinci treasures. 'There
is no question that it took a lot of reassuring and cajoling, in
terms of security and insurance and the like, but I think
ultimately what prevailed was the seriousness of the project. The
new research, the scholarship, the fact that the exhibition will
make not only a contribution to the general public, but a
contribution to knowledge,' he said.
Some art experts have questioned the wisdom of transporting and
showing such valuable work because of its fragility. The old work
is particularly sensitive to light and temperature. But Francoise
Viatte, chief curator of drawings at the Musee de Louvre in Paris,
says it is a risk worth taking.
'If we never attempt this kind of thing, very few people will see
the works of art in the world. I think part of the job of the
museum is to make exhibitions between them in partnerships.
Especially for drawings. Because Drawings are difficult to see in a
museum. Drawings are a special section in a museum. You have to
make a special request and get authorization to see them. So it is
very important to make a big exhibition like Leonardo,' Ms. Viatte
said.
21 of the drawings in the exhibition come from the Louvre. Other
major contributions come from museums and private collections in
the Netherlands, Portugal, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Austria, and
the United States. The Royal Library of Windsor Castle in England
lent 31 drawings.
The exhibition will travel to the Louvre later this year.
Task 10
Thomas Edison was one of ten said to be the greatest genius of his
age. There are only a few men in all of the history, who have
changed the lives of other men as much as the inventor of the first
useful electric light. But Edison could never be happy only because
someone said he was a genius.“ There is no such thing as genius,”
Edison said. He said that what people called genius was mostly hard
work.
But Edison was a dreamer as well as a
worker. From his earliest days as a child he wondered about the
secrets of nature. Nature, he often said, is full of secrets. He
tried to understand them; then, he tried to learn what could
usefully be done with them.
Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most
people will do almost anything instead of the difficult work of
thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew,
too, that thinking can give men enjoyment and pleasure.
