新视野大学英语课文.pdf

Charlie ChaplinHe was born in a poor area of south London.He wore his mothers old red stockings cut down forankle socks.His mother was temporarily declared mad.Dickens might have created CharlieChaplins childhood.But only Charle Chaplin could have created the great comic character of the Tramp”，the little man in rags who gave his creator permanent fame.Other countries France,Italy,Spain,even Japan and Korea have provided more applause(and profit)where Chaplin is concerned than the land of his birth.Chaplin quit Britain for good in1913 when he journeyed to America with a group of performers to do his comedy act on the stagewhere talent scouts recruited him to work for Mack Sennett,the king of Hollywood comedy films.Sad to say,many English people in the 1920s and 1930,s thought Chaplin*s Tramp a bit,well,*crude Certainly middle-class audiences did;the working-class audiences were more likely toclap for a character who revolted against authority,using his wicked little cane to trip it up,oraiming the heel of his boot for a well-placed kick at its broad rear.All the same,Chaplins comicbeggar didnt seem all that English or even working class.English tramps didnt sport tinymoustaches,huge pants or tail coats:European leaders and Italian waiters wore things like that.Then again,the Tramps quick eye for a pretty girl had a coarse way about it that was considered,well,not quite nice by English audiences that*s how foreigners behaved,wasnt it?But for overhalf of his screen career,Chaplin had no screen voice to confirm his British nationality.Indeed,it was a headache for Chaplin when he could no longer resist the talking movies and hadto find the right voice for his Tramp.He postponed that day as long as possible:in ModernTimes in 1936,the first film in which he was heard as a singing waiter,he made up a nonsenselanguage which sounded like no known nationality.He later said he imagined the Tramp to be acollege-educated gentleman whod come down in the world.But if hed been able to speak with aneducated accent in those early short comedy movies,its doubtful if he would have achieved worldfame.And the English would have been sure to find it odd”.No one was certain whether Chaplindid it on purpose but this helped to bring about his huge success.He was an immensely talented man,determined to a degree unusual even in the ranks ofHollywood stars.His huge fame gave him the freedom and,more importantly,the money tobe his own master.He already had the urge to explore and extend a talent he discovered in himselfas he went along.It cant be me.Is that possible?How extraordinary,is how he greeted the firstsight of himself as the Tramp on the screen.But that shock roused his imagination.Chaplin didnt have his jokes written into a script inadvance;he was the kind of comic who used his physical senses to invent his art as he went along.Lifeless objects especially helped Chaplin make contact with himself as an artist.He turnedthem into other kinds of objects.Thus,a broken alarm clock in the movie The Pawnbroker becamea sick patient undergoing surgery;boots were boiled in his film The Gold Rush and their soleseaten with salt and pepper like prime cuts of fish(the nails being removed like fish bones).Thisphysical transformation,plus the skill with which he executed it again and again,are surely thesecrets of Chaplins great comedy.He also had a deep need to be loved-and a corresponding fear of being betrayed.The two werehard to combine and sometimes as in his early marriages the collision between themresulted in disaster.Yet even this painfully-bought self-knowledge found its way into his comiccreations.The Tramp never loses his faith in the flower girl wholl be waiting to walk into thesunset with him;while the other side of Chaplin makes Monsieur Verdoux,the French wife killer,into a symbol of hatred for women.Its a relief to know that life eventually gave Charlie Chaplin the stable happiness it had earlierdenied him.In Oona ONeill Chaplin,he found a partner whose stability and affection spanned the37 years age difference between them that had seemed so threatening that when the official whowas marrying them in 1942,turned to the beautiful girl of 17 whod given notice of their weddingdate and said,And where is the young man?*Chaplin,then 54,had cautiously waited outside.As Oona herself was the child of a large family with its own problems,she was well-prepared forthe battle that Chaplins life became as unfounded rumors of Marxist sympathies surrounded themboth-and,later on,she was the center of rest in the quarrels that Chaplin sometimes sparked intheir own large family of talented children.Chaplin died on Christmas Day 1977.A few months later,a couple of almost comic body-thievesstole his body from the family burial chamber and held it for money:the police recovered it withmore efficiency than Mack Sennetts clumsy Keystone Cops would have done.But one cant helpfeeling Chaplin would have regarded this strange incident as a fitting memorial his way ofhaving the last laugh on a world to which he had given so many.(Words:909)The Political Career of a Female PoliticianModest and soft-spoken,Agatha Muthoni Mbogo,24,is hardly the image of a revolutionary.Yet,six months ago,she did a most revolutionary thing:She ran for mayor of Embu,Kenya,and won.Ms.Mbogos victory was even more surprising because she was voted in by her colleagues on theDistrict Council,all men.For the thousands of women in this farming area two hours northeast ofNairobi,Ms.Mbogo suddenly became a symbol of the increasingly powerful political forcewomen have become in Kenya and across Africa.Ms.Mbogo launched her dream of a career in politics in 1992 by running for the Embu Council,facing the obstacles that often trouble African women running for political office.She had littlemoney.She had no political experience.She faced ridiculous questions about her personal life.“My opponent kept insisting that I was going to get married to somebody in another town andmove away,”Ms.Mbogo said.Ms.Mbogo also faced misunderstanding among the towns women,many of whom initially wereunwilling to vote for her.She became an ambassador for womens political rights,giving speechesbefore womens groups and going from door to door,handbag in hand,spending hours at a timegiving a combination of speech and government lesson.“I was delighted when she won the election,because men elected her,*said Lydiah Kimani,anEmbu farmer and political activist.MIt was the answer to my prayers because it seemed to be avictory over this idea that women cant lead.Education of African women has become a top priority for political activists.One organization hasheld dozens of workshops in rural Kenya to help women understand the nation*s constitution andthe procedures and theory behind a democratic political system.One veteran female politicalactivist said that many women had not been taught the basics of political participation.They aretaught to vote for the one who gives you a half-kilo sack of flour,200 grams of salt,or a loaf ofbread during the campaign,said the activist.Women politicians and activists say they are fighting deeply held cultural traditions.Thosetraditions teach that African women cook,clean,take care of children,sow and harvest crops andsupport their husbands.They typically do not inherit land,divorce their husbands,control theirfinances or hold political office.Yet,political activity among Kenyan women is not a new phenomenon.During the struggle forindependence in the 1950s,Kenyan women often secretly provided troops with weapons and spiedon the positions of colonial forces.But after independence,leaders jealous to protect their powershut them out of politics,a situation repeated across the continent.Today,men still have the upper hand.Women in Kenya make up 60 percent of the people whovote,but only 3 percent of the National Assembly.No Kenyan woman has ever held a cabinet post.Against that background,Agatha Mbogo began her political career.After winning her council seat,she declined a spot on the education and social services committee after a colleague called it nawomans committee1.She instead joined the town planning committee,a much more visibleassignment.Then last year,she decided to challenge Embus mayor,a veteran politician.Ms.Mbogo said shehad become frustrated because the donor groups that provide substantial aid to Kenyas rural areas“did not want to come here1.We werent seeing things done for the community,1 she said.It was a scandal the donorsmoney seemed to be going to individuals.1After a fierce campaign,the council elected her,7 to 6.She said women in Embu celebrated.Menwere puzzled;some were hostile.They asked,uHow could all of those men vote for a woman?she recalled.Ms.Mbogo has not met with the kinds of abuse that other female politicians have been subjectedto,however.Some have said their supporters are sometimes attacked with clubs after rallies.LastJune,Kenyan police attempted to break up a womens political meeting northwest of Nairobi,insisting it was illegal and might start a riot.When the 100 women,including a member of theNational Assembly,refused to go,officers tore down their banners and beat them with clubs andfists,witnesses reported.In contrast,Ms.Mbogo generally receives warm greetings from the men of Embu,and many saythey are now glad the council chose her.Donor groups are now funding projects in Embu in earnest.A new market is going up downtown.A 200-bed section for new-mothers is being added to the hospital.A dormitory-style home hasbeen built for the dozens of homeless street children who once wandered the city.Ms.Mbogo isespecially proud of the market and the hospital because they have an impact on women.At the current market,where hundreds of people,shaded by umbrellas,lay out fruits andvegetables,one person who sells lemons said she liked the new mayor.“I fieel like if I have a problem,I can go to her office,she said.The other mayor shouted.Heacted like an emperor.He did not want to hear my problems.1Nearby,a man said he found Ms.Mbogo a refreshing change.Tm tired of men,he said,watching over his pile of onions.They give us so many promises,but they dont deliver the goods.As long as she keeps giving us what we want,she is all right.(Words:902)A Family of FirstsIn my family,success is weighed by a single standard:the ability to be first.It does not matterwhat you are first at as long as you are first at something.My relatives came from Europe at the height of the Machine Age(机器时代).Every day,something else in America was new and first.The first flush toilet（抽水马桶）,the first radio,thefirst hat with a fan.My family got first fever.Foods and other good ideas all counted.Styles,inventions,phrases,too.The sole standard for being first at something was simply not havingheard that somebody else had done it.Then you earned the right to say the wonderful words:Idid it first!My great-grandfather on my mothers mothers side invented the toodle.The toodle is a littlesquare of paper with a bit of mustard（芥末）rolled up into it.You could take a toodle to work inthe morning with a piece of cold meat and squeeze some fresh mustard on it at lunch.This great-grandfather,the toodle inventor,had three daughters:Ruthie（露茜），the first girl whoever made a curtain into a jacket;Gertie（格尔蒂）,the first girl who ever made a jacket into acurtain;and Polly（波莉），my grandmother,who perfected a brush to clean the inside of a watertap.Just because you cant see it doesnt mean it isnt dirty,*she was fond of saying.Polly was proud of the fact that every inch of her apartment was touched by human hand at leasttwice a year.She even dusted the tops of doors,using a top-of-the-door duster made of oldstockings,stuffed with more old stockings.Old stockings have always been perceived as achallenge by my family.My mother uses hers as an onion bag,an idea she says she invented.Shealso takes credit for being the first person to use both legs of a pair of stockings at the same time,one leg for onions,one leg for potatoes or garlic.But I am getting ahead of myself.Perhaps my most famous relative of all,the one who really left his mark on America,was RebSussel（莱伯萨塞尔），my great-grandfather on my fathers fathers side.According to familystories,he introduced the pastrami（五香烟熏牛肉）sandwich to the world.In 1879,Reb Susselleft his native country to find fame and fortune on the streets of New York.He had worked at amill in the old country,but,finding the wheat business too much of a grind,began selling pots andpans off his back.He had no home and would sleep in the basements or stables of the people hesold pots to.While praying one morning he was kicked by a horse.Reb Sussel knew how to butcher meat,so he decided to change his job and opened a small butchershop.The first week,a friend stopped by and asked if he could store a trunk in the back of theshop.Im just going back to the old country for a few years,he said.nIf you store my trunk,Illtell you how to make pastrami.1 As the story goes,Great-Grandpa took the trunk,learned how tomake pastrami,and began selling big pieces of pastrami over the counter.Soon he was selling itby the slice.Then,between two pieces of bread.He met up with my great-grandfather on mymothers side,who introduced him to the toodle,and before long,people were coming to his shopfor sandwiches more than they were coming for meat.My fathers father,Jacob Volk（雅各布沃尔克）,took credit for the wrecking ball.Jake took hiswrecking ball all over lower Manhattan Island（曼哈顿）in New York.Painted on the sides of allhis trucks were the words The Most Destructive Force on Wall Street.He married Granny Ethel（格兰妮爱丝尔），who was so beautiful she did not have to be first at anything.She was,though一 the first calendar girl in Princeton,N.J.In the early 1900s her picture was used by a bank therefor its first calendar.Thats where Grandpa met her,in the bank.She was so beautiful,she oncereceived a letter addressed:Postman(邮递员)，PostmanDo your dutyDeliver this letterTo the Princeton beauty.It was dropped off right at her front door.My grandmother on my mothers side invented the shoe pocket.It was her belief that if youalways kept a nickel in your shoe,nothing bad would happen to you.You could always make aphone call.You could always buy something.You would never be broke.But the nickel couldslide around.And if it could slide around,it could slide out.So she constnicted a small pocket thatfastened to the inner sole.That way,any pair of shoes could have its own secret sum of money.Me,I have yet to make my mark.I am still waiting to find a first.Sometimes I think my life is toocomfortable.Why should I mother an invention if all my needs are met?But then something getsmy attention,and I begin to think of new uses for items such as old light bulbs or eggshells.Whenyou come from a family of firsts,whether you like it or not,youre thinking all哈佛名师独创，无需死记硬背让你不知不觉听会单词，一分钟一个Longing for a New Welfare System(Longing for a New Welfare System)A welfare client is s