大学英语--美文阅读.pdf
Passage 1 (35)Deir s StoryWhat I saw was a great opportunity to provide computing technology in a more efficient way.That was the core idea of what became Dell Computer Corporation and that s one we were stuckover ever since.I started the business with a simple question:how can we make the process of buying acomputer better?The answer was:sell the computer directly to the end customers.It hadn t occurred to me that others hadn t figured it out.I thought it was pretty obvious.Iam sure if I had taken the time to ask,plenty of people would have told me that my ideawouldn t work I have heard that a lot in the fifteen years since starting the business.On January 2,1984,I went back to Austin earlier than I would have to attend classes,and Idid all the things you need to do to set up a business.I registered the company with the State ofTexas as“PC s Limitedw.I placed ads in the classified section in our local newspaper.Throughmy previous contract with customers and the small ads I placed in the paper,I was already gettinga lot of business.I was selling between$50,000 to$80,000 upgraded PCs,upgrade kits,andadd-on computer components to people in Austin area.Not long after starting the classes I wasable to move from a stuffy room that I shared with a roommate to a condominium with highceilings and two bedrooms.In early May,I incorporated the company as“Dell Computer Corporation,doing businessas PC s Limited”.We moved the business from my condo to a 1000-square-foot office spacein a small business center in North Austin.I hired a few people to take orders over telephone and afew more to fulfill them.Manufacturing consisted of three guys with screwdrivers sitting atsix-foot tables upgrading machines.Passage 2(34)Dad Sure Could Play That MandolinMy father was a self-taught mandolin player.He was one of the best string instrumentplayers in our town.He could not read music,but if he heard a tune a few times,he could play it.When he was younger,he was a member of a small country music band.They could play at localdances and on a few occasions would play for the local radio station.Occasionally,Dad would get out his mandolin and play for the family.Davey,DaveyCrockett,King of the Wild Frontier5 accompanied the Walt Disney Series,was a favorite song forthe family.He knew we enjoyed the song and the program and would often get out the mandoli nafter the program was over.I could never get over how he could play the songs so well after onlyhearing them a few times.I loved to sing,but I never learned how to play the mandolin.This issomething I regret to this day.Dad loved to play the mandolin for his family.He knew we enjoyed singing and hearing himplay.He was like that.If he could give pleasure to others,he would,especially his family.He wasalways there,sacrificing his time and efforts to see that his family had enough in their life.I had tomature into a man and have children of my own before I realized how much he had sacrificed.Nobody played the mandolin like my father.He could touch your soul with the tones thatcame out of that old mandolin.He seemed to shine when he was playing.You could see his pridein his ability to play so well for his family.Passage 3(39)An Unusual ArchitectLeoh Ming PeiLeoh Ming Pei,the 1983 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize,is a founding partner ofI.M.Pei&Partners based in New York City.He was born in China in 1917,the son of aprominent banker.He came to the United States in 1935 to study architecture at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology(B.Arch.1940)and the Harvard Graduate School of Design(M.Arch.1946).During World War II,he served on the National Defense Research Commission at Princeton,and from 1945 to 1948,he taught at Harvard.In 1948 he accepted the newly created post ofdirector of Architecture at Webb&Knapp,Inc.,the real estate development firm,and thisassociation resulted in major architectural and planning projects in Chicago,Philadelphia,Washington,Pittsburgh and other cities.In 1958,he formed the partnership of I.M.Pei&Associates,which became I.M.Pei&Parteners in 1966.The partnership received the 1968Architectural Firm Award of The American Institute of Architects.In 1982,the deans of thearchitectural schools of the United Sates chose I.M.Pei as the best designer of significantnon-residential structures.Pei has designed over forty projects in this country and abroad,twenty of which have beenaward winners.He has designed arts facilities and university buildings on the campuses of theMassachusetts Institute of Technology,University of Rochester,Cornell University,the ChoateSchool,Syracuse University,New York University and University of Hawaii.He has beenselected to design the headquarters for the Bank of China in Hong Kong.Pei is currently a member of the National Council on the Arts,and previously served on theNational Council on the Humanities.On this vivid planet,it appears colorful with azure blueseawater,lush green plants and many world famous buildings.Among these largest artificialarticles in the world,many originated from the same architect that is Leoh Ming Pei.Passage 4(38)The Cobbler and the BankerA cobbler passed his time in singing from morning till night;it was wonderful to see,wonderful to hear him;he was more contented in making shoes,than was any of the seven sages.His neighbor,on the contrary,who was rolling in wealth,sung but little,and slept less.He was abanker;when by chance he fell into a doze at day-break,the cobbler awoke him with his song.Having at length sent for the songster,he said to him,“How much a year do you earn,MasterGregory?”“I never reckon in that way,living as I do from one day to another;somehow I manage toreach the end of the year;each day brings its meal.But the worst of it is,a number of days occurin the year on which we are forbidden to work;without that our earnings would be very tolerable,and the curate,moreover,is constantly adding some new saint to the said the merry cobbler.The banker,laughing at his simplicity,said,“In the future I shall place you above want.Takethis hundred crowns,preserve them carefully,and make use of them in time of need.The cobbler fancied he beheld all the wealth which the earth had produced in the past centuryfor the use of mankind.Returning home,he buried his money and his happiness at the same time.No more singing.He lost his voice,the moment he acquired that which is the source of so muchgrief.Sleep quitted his dwelling,and cares,suspicions,and false alarms took its place.All day,hiseye wandered in the direction of the treasure,and at night,if some stray cat made a noise,the catwas robbing him.At length the poor man ran to the house of his rich neighbor;Give me back,“said he,“sleep and my voice,and take your one hundred crowns.”Passage 5(41)18-year-old MayorAmerica s youngest mayor,Michael Sessions,is just an 18-year-old high school studentwho lives with his mother.Michael Sessions is too young to drink champagne legally,but the18-year-old high school senior has reason to celebrate.He unofficially won a race for mayor.By 670 votes to 668,Sessions beat the sitting mayor,who is 51,and had all the advantages ofincumbency.He was too young to stand by the spring deadline fbr registration.So after he turned18,he entered as a write-in candidate-meaning voters had to remember his name and add it tothe ballot by hand in order to support him.Once his victory is certified and he s sworn in the ceremony which is set for Nov.21,2005 he may be the youngest mayor in the USA.The U.S.Conference of Mayors lacks the data todetermine whether he 1 1 be the youngest mayor ever.At least two other teens have been electedas mayors in recent years,but they were a tad older and represented much smaller towns.Sessions plans to devote after-school hours to the job and use his bedroom as his officebecause other than a$250 per month salary,he receives no other compensation.The mayordoesn t even have an office at city hall.He says many voters told him they wanted“new energy，but he was still caught off-guardby the support he received.Passage 6(40)Marriage of Henry T HWhen Henry became King of England he married Catherine,the daughter of the King ofSpain and widow of his elder brother.The Pope had given special permission for him to marry hisbrother?s widow,as this was against the laws of the church.She gave Henry a daughter,Mary,but all her sons died at birth,and Henry badly needed a son to follow him.He began to feel thatGod had not approved of his marriage and Pope had been wrong to allow it.There was one possible remedy.The Pope must declare that the marriage had been allowedby mistake and was unlawful；Henry would then be free to marry again.The Pope could easilyhave agreed,as he had done for two recent Kings of France in similar cases.But emperor CharlesV was Catherine*s nephew,and his army had seized Rome.The Pope was in his power and didnot dare to annoy him by helping Henry.Henry s trouble over his marriage made him realize something that most English peoplehad known fbr years:that foreign interference in English affairs had gone on too long and must bestopped for ever.The parliament of 1529 felt this most strongly.In seven years it destroyed thefeudal power of the church completely.The Church Council accepted Henry as itshead.Archbishop Cranmer declared that his marriage to Catherine was unlawful and accepted hisnew wife,Ann Boleyn,as Queen.Passage 7(51)American Black BearsAmerican black bears appear in a variety of colors despite their name.In the eastern part oftheir range,most of these bears have shiny black fur,but in the west they grow brown,red,or evenyellow coats.To the north,the black bear is actually gray or white in color.Even in the same litter,both brown and black furred bears may be born.Black bears are the smallest of all American bears,ranging in length from five to six feet,weighing from three hundred to five hundred pounds.Their eyes and ears are small and theireyesight and hearing are not as good as their sense of smell.Like all bears,the black bear is timid,clumsy,and rarely dangerous,but if attacked,most canclimb trees and cover gi-ound at great speeds.When angry or frightened,it is a formidable enemy.Black bears feed on leaves,herbs,roots,fruit,berries,insects,fish,and even larger animals.One of the most interesting characteristics of bears,including the black bear,is their winter sleep.Unlike squirrels and many other woodland animals,bears do not actually hibernate.Although thebear does not eat during the winter months,sustaining itself from body fat,its temperature remainsalmost normal,and it breathes regularly four or five times per minute.Most black bears live alone,except during mating season.They prefer to live in caves,hollow logs,or dense thickets.A little of one to four cubs is bom in January or February,and theyremain with their mother until they are fully grown or about one and a half years old.Black bearscan live as long as thirty years in the wild,and even longer in game preserves set aside for them.Passage 8(44)Swimming with Dolphins Can Beat DepressionSwimming with dolphins can be good for your health,according to a new research.The studyfound that swimming with the creatures led to falling levels of depressive symptoms in patients.The findings show human health and well-being are dependent on relationships with the naturalenvironment.The research,partly carried out by Leicester University Medical School in Honduras,appearsin a special human and animal health issue,highlighting the impact nature has on people swell-being.30 patients diagnosed with mild or moderate depression took part in the study.Allpatients stopped antidepressant treatment or psychotherapy at least four weeks before taking partin the study,with depression scores measured at the start and end of treatment.For two weeks halfof the group swam and snorkeled with dolphins for an hour a day.At the same time the controlgroup carried out the same type of water activities,but with the absence of dolphins to control forthe influence of water and natural setting.The researchers found that the average severity of the depressive symptoms reduced more inthe dolphin group than in the water therapy group.They said that the overall reduction insymptoms of anxiety in both groups may be explained by the therapeutic property of water.Butthe effects exerted by the dolphins were significantly greater than those just in the natural settingof water.One reason for it could be the emotions raised by the interaction with the dolphins,according to the researchers.Passage 9(47)Pregnant Women Can Safely Drink CoffeePrevious studies suggested caffeine might harm unborn babies as it stays in the system longerin pregnant women,passing easily to a growing baby.Health officials have warned that a highcaffeine intake could affect birth weight or the chance of having a miscarriage.But a new studysuggests that pregnant women can safely drink coffee as caffeine does not affect their unbornbaby.The study recruited more than 1,000 women before they were 20 weeks pregnant,whodrank at least three cups of coffee a day.The group was split into two,with 568 women drinkingordinary instant coffee and 629 drinking decaffeinated.The authors then monitored the birthweight of 1,150 newborn babies and the length of pregnancy for the babies.They found nosignificant differences between the two groups for birth weight or length of pregnancy.In the study,the women were not told what type of coffee they were drinking,and theresearch was adjusted to take into account factors such as age,weight and whether the womensmoked.When the adjustments were made,the average weight of babies bom to women in thedecaffeinated group was a mere 16g higher than those bom to women in the caffeinated group.The average difference in the length of pregnancy was less than two days.A spokesman for the British Coffee Association said:This new study is very interesting andsupports the consistent advice given that pregnant women should stick to a safe upper limit inline with guidance issued by the Food Standards Agency.This equates to three cups of brewed,orfour cups of instant coffee.Passage 10(48)Monarch ButterfliesA severe winter storm in central Mexico killed hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies.Itis the largest number of monarch butterflies killed at one time.However,scientists say the loss isnot expected to threaten the species.Researchers say the butterflies froze to death after heavy rain fell,followed by freezingtemperatures.Monarch butterflies can easily freeze to death if they become wet and thetemperature drops to freezing.During the year,monarch butterflies fly long distances,or migrate.They are one of the flewkinds of insects to migrate.The monarchs spend the winter in Mexico.Each spring,the butterflies fly north after theymate.The females stop to lay their eggs in the southern United States.The adults die soon after.The monarchs that develop from those eggs continue the flight.They retur
