大学英语精读第四册.pdf

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1、Two college-age boys,unaware that making money usually involves hard work,are tempted by anadvertisement that promises them an easy way to earn a lot of money.The boys soon learn thatif something seems to good to be true,it probably is.BIG BUCKS THE EASY WAYJohn G.HubbellYou ought to look into this,

2、I suggested to our two college-age sons.It might be a way toavoid the indignity of having to ask for money all the time.I handed them some magazines in aplastic bag someone bad hung on our doorknob.A message printed on the bag offered leisurely,lucrative work(Big Bucks the Easy Way!)of delivering mo

3、re such bags.I dont mind the indignity,the older one answered.I can live with it,his brother agreed.But it pains me,I said,to find that you both have been panhandling so long that it nolonger embarrasses you.The boys said they would look into the magazine-delivery thing.Pleased,I left town on abusin

4、ess trip.By midnight I was comfortably settled in a hotel room far from home.The phonerang.It was my wife.She wanted to know how my day had gone.Great!I enthused.How was your day?I inquired.Super!She snapped.Just super!And its only getting started.Another truck just pulled upout front.Another truck?

5、The third one this evening.The first delivered four thousand Montgomery Wards.Thesecond brought four thousand Sears,Roebucks.I dont know what this one has,but Im sure itwill be four thousand of something.Since you are responsible,I thought you might like to knowwhats happening.What I was being blame

6、d for,it turned out,was a newspaper strike which made it necessaryto hand-deliver the advertising inserts that normally are included with the Sunday paper.Thecompany had promised our boys$600 for delivering these inserts to 4,000 houses by Sundaymorning.Piece of cake!our older college son had shoute

7、d.“Six hundred bucks!His brother had echoed,And we can do the job in two hours!Both the Sears and Ward ads are four newspaper-size pages,my wife informed me.Thereare thirty-two thousand pages of advertising on our porch.Even as we speak,two big guys arecarrying armloads of paper up the walk.What do

8、we do about all this?Just tell the boys to get busy,I instructed.Theyre college men.Theyll do what they haveto do.At noon the following day I returned to the hotel and found an urgent message to telephonemy wife.Her voice was unnaturally high and quavering.There had been several more truckloadsof ad

9、 inserts.Theyre for department stores,dime stores,drugstores,grocery stores,auto storesand so on.Some are whole magazine sections.We have hundreds of thousands,maybe millions,of pages of advertising here!They are crammed wall-to-wall all through the house in stacks tallerthan your oldest son.Theres

10、only enough room for people to walk in,take one each of theeleven inserts,roll them together,slip a rubber band around them and slide them into a plasticbag.We have enough plastic bags to supply every takeout restaurant in America!Her voice keptrising,as if working its way out of the range of the hu

11、man ear.All this must be delivered byseven o*clock Sunday morning.Well,you had better get those guys banding and sliding as fast as they can,and Ill talk toyou later.Got a lunch date.When I returned,there was another urgent call from my wife.Did you have a nice lunch?she asked sweetly.I had had a ma

12、rvelous steak,but knewbetter by now than to say so.Awful,I reported.Some sort of sour fish.Eel,I think.*Good.Your college sons have hired their younger brothers and sisters and a couple ofneighborhood children to help for five dollars each.Assembly lines have been set up.In thelanguage of diplomacy,

13、there is movement.Thats encouraging.No,its not,she corrected.Ifs very discouraging.Theyre been as it for hours.Plastic bagshave been filled and piled to the ceiling,but all this hasnt made a dent,not a dent,in thesituation!Its almost as if the inserts keep reproducing themselves!Another thing,she co

14、ntinued.Your college sons must learn that one does not get the bestout of employees by threatening them with bodily harm.Obtaining an audience with son NO.1,I snarled,TH kill you if threaten one of those kidsagain!Idiot!You should be offering a bonus of a dollar every hour to the worker who fills th

15、emost bags.But that would cut into our profit/he suggested.There wont be any profit unless those kids enable you to make all the deliveries on time.Ifthey dont,you two will have to remove all that paper by yourselves.And there will be no eatingor sleeping until it is removed.There was a short,though

16、tful silence.Then he said,Dad,you have just worked a profoundchange in my personality.Do it!Yes,sir!By the following evening,there was much for my wife to report.The bonus program hadworked until someone demanded to see the color of cash.Then some activist on the work forceclaimed that the workers h

17、ad no business settling for$5 and a few competitive bonuses while thebossed collected hundreds of dollars each.The organizer had declared that all the workers wereentitled to$5 per hour!They would not work another minute until the bosses agreed.The strike lasted less than two hours.In mediation,the

18、parties agreed on$2 per hour.Gradually,the huge stacks began to shrink.As it turned out,the job was completed three hours before Sundays 7 a.m.deadline.By thetime I arrived home,the boys had already settled their accounts:$150 in labor costs,$40 forgasoline,and a like amountfor giftsboxes of candy f

19、or saintly neighbors who had volunteered station wagons and helpin delivery and dozen roses for their mother.This left them with$185 each about two-thirdsthe minimum wage for the 91 hours they worked.Still,it was enough,as one of them put it,toenable them to avoid indignity for quite a while.All wen

20、t well for some weeks.Then one Saturday morning my attention was drawn to theodd goings-on of our two youngest sons.They kept carrying carton after carton from variouscorners of the house out the front door to curbside.I assumed their mother had enlisted them toremove junk for a trash pickup.Then I

21、overheard them discussing finances.Geez,were going to make a lot of money!Were going to be rich!Investigation revealed that they were offering for sale or rent our entire library.No!No!I cried.You cant sell our books!Geez,Dad,we thought you were done with them!Youre never done with books,I tried to

22、explain.Sure you are.You read them,and youre done with them.Thats it.Then you might as wellmake a little money from them.We wanted to avoid the indignity of having to ask you for.New Wordsbuckn.(si.)U.S.dollarplastica.塑料的n.(p l)塑料doorknobn.门把手leisurelya.unhurried从容的，慢慢的leisuren.free tim e空闲时间，闲暇lucr

23、ativea.profitable有利的；赚钱的painvt.cause pain topanhandlevi.(AmE)beg.esp.on the streetsdeliveryn.delivering(of letters,goods,etc.)投递；送交enthusevi.show enthusiasminquirevt.asksupera.(colloq.)wonderful,splendid;excellentsnapvt.say(sth.)sharply 厉声说insertn.插页normallyad.in the usual conditions;ordinarily 通常co

24、mpanyn.公司echovt.say or do what another person says or does;repeat 附和；重复adn.(short for)advertisementinformvt.tell;give information 告知porchn.(AmE)veranda 门廊armloadn.as much as one arm or both arms can hold;armfulwalkn.a path specially arranged or paved for walking 人行道unnaturallyad.in an unnatural way

25、不自然地quavervi.(of the voice or sound)shake;tremble 颤抖truckloadn.as much or as many as a truck can carrydepartment storen.store selling many different kinds of goods in separate departments 百货公司dimen.coin of U.S.and Canada worth ten centsdime storen.（AmE）a store selling a large variety of low-priced a

26、rticles;variety store 廉价i药品店；商 口店drugstoren.（AmE）a store that sells not only medicine,but also beauty products,film,magazines,andfood药店，杂货店groceryn.a store that sells food and household supplies 食品杂货店sectionn.part of subdivision of a piece of writing,book,newspaper,etc.;portion（文章等的）段落；节；部分cramvt.fi

27、ll too full;force or press into a small space 把.塞满；把.塞进stackn.an orderly;heap or group of things 一 叠（堆、垛等）bandn.flat,thin piece of material 带；带状物vt.tie up with a band 捆扎rubber bandn.橡皮筋takeouta.（餐馆）出售外卖菜的rangen.the distance at which one can see or hear（听觉、视觉等）的范围marvel（l）ousa.wonderful;astonishingst

28、eakn.牛排；大块肉(或鱼)片soura.酸的eeln.鳗蛆diplomacyn.外交encouraginga.鼓舞人心的dentn.a hollow in a hard surface made by a blow or pressure;initial progress 凹痕，凹坑，初步进展reproducevt.produce the young of(oneself or ones own kind)生殖，繁殖bodilya.of the human body;physicalharmn.damage or wrong 伤害audiencen.the people gathered

29、in a place to hear or see;a chance to be heard 观众；听众；陈述意见的机会snarlvt.speak in a harsh voice 咆哮着说bonusn.an extra payment to workers 奖金thoughtfula.give to or indicating thought 思考的cashn.money in coins or notes 现金activistn.a person taking an active part esp.in a political movement 激进分子work forcen.total

30、number of workers employed in a particular factory,industry or area 工人总数；劳动人口competitivea.竞争的organizern.person who organizes things 组织者mediationn.调解partyn.one of the people or sides in an agreement or argument 一方；当事人graduallyad.slowly and by degrees.graduala.shrink(shrank,shrunk)vi.become less or sm

31、aller 减少；变小deadlinen.fixed limit of finishing a piece of work 最后期限station wagonn.小型客车，客货两用车minimum(pl.minima or minimums)n.the smallest possible amount,number,e tc.最低限度的量、数等minimum wagen.the lowest wage permitted by law or by agreement for certain work 法定最工资odda.strange;unusualgoings-onn.activities,

32、usu.of an undesirable kindcartonn.a cardboard box for holding goods 纸板箱(或盒)curbsiden.the area of sidewalk at or near curb(curb:人行道的镶边石)enlistvt.obtain the support and help of;cause to join the armed forces 取得.的支持和帮助;征募trashn.waste material to be thrown away;rubbish 垃圾pickupn.a small light truck with

33、 an open back used for light deliveries 小卡车；轻型货车overhearvt.hear by chance;hear without the knowledge of the speaker(s)无意中听到；偷听到financen.money matters;(used in pl.)money;(science of)the management of funds 财政；钱财；金融geezint.哎呀，呀salen.the act of selling sth.Phrases&Expressionspull upbring or come to a s

34、top(使)停下a piece of cake(informal)sth.very easy to doeven asjust at the same moment asknow better thanbe wise or experienced enough not(to do sth.)明事理而不至于be atbe occupied with,be doingmake a dent(in)make less by a very small amount;reduce slightly;make a first step towards success(in)减少一点；取得初步进展cut i

35、ntoreduce;decrease 减少have no businesshave no right or reason 无权,没有理由settle foraccept,although not altogether satisfactory(无可奈彳可土也)前足于settle ones accountpay what one owes 结帐quite a whilea fairly long timedraw(sb.s)attention tomake sb.notice,or be aware offor saleintended to be soldfor rentavailable t

36、o be rentedbe done withstop doing or using;finish 做完，不再使用may/might/could as wellwith equal or better effect 不妨,还不如，最好Proper NamesMontgomery Ward蒙哥马利沃德百货公司Sears,Roebuck西尔斯一罗百克百货公司Is there anything we can learn from deer?During the energy crisis of 1973-1974 the writer ofthis essay was living in north

37、ern Minnesota and was able to observe how deer survive whenwinter arrives.The lessons he learns about he way deer conserve energy turn out applicable toour everyday life.DEER AND THE ENERGY CYCLESome persons say that love makes the world go round.Others of a less romantic and morepractical turn of m

38、ind say that it isnt love;its money.But the truth is that it is energy that makesthe world go round.Energy is the currency of the ecological system and life becomes possibleonly when food is converted into energy,which in turn is used to seek more food to grow,toreproduce and to survive.On this cycl

39、e all life depends.It is fairly well known that wild animals survive from year to year by eating as much as theycan during times of plenty,the summer and fall,storing the excess,usually in the form of fat,andthen using these reserves of fat to survive during the hard times in winter when food is sca

40、rce.But it is probably less well known that even with their stored fat,wild animals spend less energyto live in winter than in summer.A good case in point is the whiter-tailed deer.Like most wildlife,deer reproduce,grow,andstore fat in the summer and fall when there is plenty of nutritious food avai

41、lable.A physicallymature female deer in good condition who has conceived in November and given birth to twofawns during the end of May or first part of June,must search for food for the necessary energynot only to meet her bodys needs but also to produce milk for her fawns.The best milkproduction oc

42、curs at the same time that new plant growth is available.This is good timing,because milk production is an energy consuming process it requires a lot of food.The cost cannot be met unless the region has ample food resources.As the summer progresses and the fawns grow,they become less dependent on th

43、eirmothers milk and more dependent on growing plants as food sources.The adult males spend thesummer growing antlers and getting fat.Both males and females continue to eat high qualityfood in the fall in order to deposit body fat for the winter.In the case of does and fawns,a greatdeal of energy is

44、expended either in milk production or in growing,and fat is not accumulated asquickly as it is in full grown males.Fat reserves are like bank accounts to be drawn on in thewinter when food supplies are limited and sometimes difficult to reach because of deep snow.As fall turns into winter,other chan

45、ges take place.Fawns lose their spotted coat.Hair on allthe deer becomes darker and thicker.The change in the hair coats is usually complete bySeptember and maximum hair depths are reached by November or December when the weatherbecomes cold.But in addition,nature provides a further safeguard to hel

46、p deer survive the winteraninternal physiological response which lowers their metabolism,or rate of bodily functioning,andhence slows down their expenditure of energy.The deer become somewhat slow and drowsy.The heart rate drops.Animals that hibernate practice energy conservation to a greater extrem

47、ethan deer do.Although deer dont hibernate,they do the same thing with their seasonal rhythmsin metabolism.Deer spend more energy and store fat in the summer and fall when food isabundant,and spend less energy and use stored fat in the winter when food is less available.When the energy crisis first

48、came in 1973-1974,I was living with my family in a cabin onthe edge of an area where deer spend the winter in northern Minnesota,observing the deer astheir behavior changed from more activity in summer and fall to less as winter progressed,followed by an increase again in the spring as the snow melt

49、ed.It was interesting and ratheramusing to listen to the advice given on the radio:Drive only when necessary,we were told.Put on more clothes to stay warm,and turn the thermostat on your furnace down.Meanwhilewe watched the deer reduce their activity,grow a winter coat of hair;and reduce theirmetabo

50、lism as they have for thousands of years.It is biologically reasonable for deer to reducetheir cost of living to increase their chance of surviving in winter.Not every winter is critical for deer of course.If the winter has light snow,survival andproductivity next spring will be high.But if deep sno