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01 The Language of Music
A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer
writes a work, but no one can hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players
have great responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of
music needs as long and as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student
needs to become a doctor
. Most training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to
have the muscular proficiency of an athlete or a ballet dancer
. Singers practice breathing
every day, as their vocal chords would be inadequate without controlled muscular support.
String players practice moving the fingers of the left hand up and down, while drawing the
bow to and fro with the right arm
—
two entirely different movements.
Singers and instruments have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are
spared this particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the
piano tuner’
s responsibility to tune the
instrument
for them. But they have their own
difficulties; the hammers that hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion,
and each overlapping tone has to sound clear
.
This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors: they have
to learn to know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at
controlling these sound with fanatical but selfless authority.
Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding.
Great artists are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they
can enjoy performing works written in any century.
02 Schooling and Education
It is commonly believed in United States that school is where people go to get an education.
Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school.
The distinction between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.
Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling. Education knows no
bounds. It can take place anywhere, whether in the shower or in the job, whether in a
kitchen or on a tractor
. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and
the whole universe of informal learning. The agents of education can range from a revered
grandparent to the people debating politics on the radio, from a child to a distinguished
scientist. Whereas schooling has a certain predictability, education quite often produces
surprises. A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is
known of other religions. People
are engaged
in education from infancy on. Education,
then, is a very broad, inclusive term. It is a lifelong process, a process that st
arts long
before the start of school, and one that should be an integral part of one’s entire life.
Schooling, on the other hand,
is a specific,
formalized process, whose general pattern
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varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive at school at
approximately the same time, take assigned seats,
are taught by an adult, use similar
textbooks, do homework, take exams,
and so on. The slices of reality that
are to be
learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the working of government,
have usually been limited by the boundaries of the subject being taught. For example, high
school students know that there not
likely to find out
in their classes the truth about
political problems in their communities or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting
with. There are definite conditions surrounding the formalized process of schooling.
03 The Definition of “Price”
Prices
determine
how
resources
are
to
be
used.
They
are
also
the
means
by
which
products and services that are
in
limited supply are rationed among buyers. The price
system
of
the
United
States
is
a
complex
network
composed
of
the
prices
of
all
the
products bought and sold in the economy as well as those of a myriad of services, including
labor
, professional, transportation, and public-utility services. The interrelationships of all
these prices make up the ―system‖ of prices. The price of any particular product or service
is linked to a broad, complicated system of prices in which everything seems to
depend
more or less upon everything else.
If one were to ask a group of randomly selected individuals to define ―price‖, many would
reply that price is an amount of money paid by the buyer to the seller of a product or
service or
, in other words that price is the money values of a product or service as agreed
upon in a market transaction. This definition is, of course, valid as far as it goes. For a
complete
understanding
of
a
price
in
any
particular
transaction,
much
more
than
the
amount of money involved must be known. Both the buyer and the seller should be familiar
with not only the money amount, but with the amount and quality of the product or service
to be exchanged, the time and place at which the exchange will take place and payment
will be made, the form of money to be used, the credit terms and discounts that apply to
the transaction, guarantees on the product or service, delivery terms, return privileges,
and other factors. In other words, both buyer and seller should be fully aware of all the
factors that comprise the total ―package‖ being exchanged for the asked
-for amount of
money in order that they may evaluate a given price.
04 Electricity
The
modern
age
is
an
age
of
electricity.
People
are
so
used
to
electric
lights,
radio,
televisions, and telephones that it is hard to imagine what life would be like without them.
When there is a power failure, people grope about in flickering candlelight, cars hesitate in
the streets because there are no traffic
lights to guide them,
and food spoils
in
silent
refrigerators.
Yet, people began to understand how electricity works only a little more than two centuries
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ago. Nature has apparently been experimenting in this field for million of years. Scientists
are discovering more and more that the liv
ing world may hold many interesting secrets of
electricity that could benefit humanity.
All living cell send out tiny pulses of electricity. As the heart beats, it sends out pulses of
record; they form an electrocardiogram, which a doctor can study to determine how well
the heart is working. The brain, too, sends out brain waves of electricity, which can be
recorded in an electroencephalogram. The electric currents generated by most living cells
are extremely small
–
often so small that sensitive instruments are needed to record them.
But
in
some
animals,
certain
muscle
cells
have
become
so
specialized
as
electrical
generators that they do not work as muscle cells at all. When large numbers of these cell
are linked together
, the effects can be astonishing.
The electric eel
is
an amazing storage battery. It can seed a jolt of as much as
eight
hundred volts of electricity through the water in which it live. ( An electric house current is
only one hundred twenty volts.) As many as four-fifths of all the cells
in the electric eel’s
body are specialized for generating electricity, and the strength of the shock it can deliver
corresponds roughly to length of its body.
05 The Beginning of Drama
There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The on most
widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual. The
argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural
forces of the world- even the seasonal changes-as unpredictable, and they sought through
various
means
to
control
these
unknown
and
feared
powers.
Those
measures
which
appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened
into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which explained or veiled the mysteries of the
rites. As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths,
persisted and provided material for art and drama.
Those who believe that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contain
ed
the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used,
Furthermore, a suitable site had to be provided for performances and when the entire
community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the
and
the
In
addition,
there
were
performers,
and,
since
considerable
importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders
usually assumed that task. Wearing masks and costumes, they often impersonated other
people, animals, or supernatural beings, and mimed the desired effect- success in hunt or
battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun-as an actor might. Eventually such dramatic
representations were separated from religious activities.
Another
theory
traces
the
theater's
origin
from
the
human
interest
in
storytelling.
According to this vies tales (about the hunt, war
, or other feats) are gradually elaborated,
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at first through the use of impersonation, action,
and dialogue by a narrator and t
hen
through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person. A closely related theory
traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical
and gymnastic or that are
imitations of animal movements and sounds.
06 Television
Television-----the most pervasive and persuasive of modern technologies, marked by rapid
change and growth-is moving into a new era, an era of extraordinary sophistication and
versatility, which promises to reshape our lives and our world. It is an electronic revolution
of sorts, made possible by the marriage of television and computer technologies.
The word
can literally be interpreted as sight from a distance. Very simply put, it works in this way:
through
a
sophisticated
system
of
electronics,
television
provides
the
capability
of
converting an image (focused on a special photoconductive plate within a camera) into
electronic impulses, which can be sent through a wire or cable. These impulses, when fed
into a receiver (television
set), can then be electronically reconstituted
into that same
image.
Television is more than just an electronic system, however
. It is a means of expression, as
well as a vehicle for communication, and as such becomes a powerful tool for reaching
other human beings.
The field of television can be div
ided
into two categories determined by its means of
transmission.
First,
there
is
broadcast
television,
which
reaches
the
masses
through
broad-based
airwave
transmission
of
television
signals.
Second,
there
is
nonbroadcast
television, which provides for the needs of individuals or specific interest groups through
controlled transmission techniques.
Traditionally, telev
ision has been a medium of the masses. We are most familiar with
broadcast television because it has been with us for about thirty
-seven years in a form
similar to what exists today. During those years, it has been controlled, for the most part,
by the broadcast networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, who have been the major purveyors of
news, information, and entertainment. These giants of broadcasting have actually shaped
not only television but our perception of it as well. We have come to look upon the picture
tube as a source of entertainment, placing our role in this dynamic medium as the passive
viewer.
07 Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie, known as the King of Steel, built the steel industry in the United States,
and , in the process, became one of the wealthiest men in America. His success resulted in
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part from his ability to sell the product and in part from his policy of expanding during
periods
of
economic
decline,
when
most
of
his
competitors
were
reducing
their
investments.
Carnegie believed that individuals should progress through hard work, but he also
felt
strongly that the wealthy should use their fortunes for the benefit of society. He opposed
charity, preferring instead to provide educational opportunities that would allow others to
help themselves.
Among
his
more
noteworthy
contributions
to
society
are
those
that
bear
his
name,
including the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, which has a library, a museum of fine arts,
and a museum of national history. He also founded a school of technology that is now part
of Carnegie-Mellon University. Other philanthrophic gifts are the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace to promote understanding between nations, the Carnegie Institute of
Washington to fund scientific research, and Carnegie Hall to provide a center for the arts.
Few
Americans
have
been
left
untouched
by
Andrew
Carnegie's
generosity.
His
contributions
of
more
than
five
million
dollars
established
2,500
libraries
in
small
communities throughout the country and formed the nucleus
of the public library system
that we all enjoy today.
08 American Revolution
The American Revolution was not a sudden and v
iolent overturning of the political and
social framework, such as later occurred in France and Russia, when both were already
independent nations. Significant changes were ushered in, but they were not breathtaking.
What
happened
was
accelerated
evolution
rather
than
outright
revolution.
During
the
conflict itself people went on working and praying, marrying and playing. Most of th
em
were
not
seriously
disturbed
by
the
actual
fighting,
and
many
of
the
more
isolated
communities scarcely knew that a war was on.
America's War of
Independence heralded the birth of three modern nations. One was
Canada,
which
received
its
first
large
in
flux
of
English-speaking
population
from
the
thousands of loyalists who fled there from the United States. Another was Australia, which
became a penal colony now that America was no longer available for prisoners and debtors.
The third newcomer- the United States-based itself squarely on republican principles.
Yet even the political overturn was not so revolutionary as one might suppose. In some
states, notably Connecticut and Rhode Island, the war largely ratified a colonial self
-rule
already existing. British officials,
everywhere ousted,
were replaced by a home-grown
governing class, which promptly sought a local substitute for king and Parliament.
09 Suburbanization
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If
by
is
meant
an
urban
margin
that
grows
more
rapidly
than
its
already
developed
interior
, the process of suburbanization began during the emergence of the
industrial city in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Before that period the city
was a small highly compact cluster in which people moved about on foot and goods were
conveyed by horse and cart. But the early factories built in the 1840's were located along
waterways and near railheads at the
edges of cities, and housing was needed for the
thousands of people drawn by the prospect of employment. In time, the factories were
surrounded by proliferating mill towns of
apartments and row houses that abutted the
older
, main cities. As a defense against this encroachment and to enlarge their tax bases,
the
cities
appropriated
their
industrial
neighbors.
In
1854,
for
example
,
the
city
of
Philadelphia annexed most of Philadelphia County. Similar municipal maneuvers took place
in Chicago and in New York. Indeed, most great cities of the United States achieved such
status only by incorporating the communities along their borders.
With the acceleration of industrial growth came acute urban crowding and accompanying
social stress- conditions that began to approach disastrous proportions when, in 1888, the
first commercially successful electric traction line was developed. Within a few years the
horse-drawn
trolleys
were
retired
and
electric
streetcar
networks
crisscrossed
and
connected every major urban area, fostering a wave of suburbanization that transformed
the compact industrial city
into a dispersed metropolis. This
first phase of mass-scale
suburbanization was reinforced by the simultaneous emergence of the urban Middle Class,
whose desires for homeownership
in neighborhoods far from the aging
inner city were
satisfied by the developers of single-family housing tracts.
10 Types of Speech
Standard usage includes those words and expressions understood, used, and accepted by
a majority of the speakers of a language in any situation regardless of the level of formality.
As such, these words and expressions are well defined and listed in standard dictionaries.
Colloquialisms, on the other hand, are familiar words and idioms that are understood by
almost
all
speakers
of
a
language
and
used
in
informal
speech
or
writing,
but
not
considered appropriate for more
formal situations.
Almost all
idiomatic
expressions
are
colloquial
language. Slang, however
, refers to words
and expressions understood by a
large
number
of
speakers
but
not
accepted
as
good,
formal
usage
by
the
majority.
Colloquial expressions and even slang may be found in standard dictionaries but will be so
identified. Both colloquial usage and slang are more common in speech than in writing.
Colloquial speech often passes into standard speech. Some slang also passes into standard
speech, but other slang expressions enjoy momentary popularity followed by obscurity. In
some cases, the majority never accepts certain slang phrases but nevertheless retains
them in their collective memories. Every generation seems to require its own set of words
to describe familiar objects and events. It has been pointed out by a number of linguists
that
three
cultural
conditions
are
necessary
for
the
creation
of
a
large
body of
slang
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expressions. First, the introduction and acceptance of new objects and situations in the
society; second, a diverse population with a large number of subgroups; third, association
among the subgroups and the majority population.
Finally, it is worth noting that the terms
abstract labels for scholars who study language. Only a tiny number of the speakers of any
language will be aware that they are using colloquial or slang expressions. Most speakers
of English will, during appropriate situations, select and use all three types of expressions.
11 Archaeology
Archaeology is a source of history, not just a bumble auxiliary discipline. Archaeological
data are historical documents in their own right, not mere illustrations to written texts, Just
as much as any other historian, an archaeologist studies and tries to reconstitute the
process that has created the human world in which we live - and us ourselves in so far as
we
are each creatures of our age and
social
environment. Archaeological data are
all
changes
in
the
material
world
resulting
from
human
action
or
,
more
succinctly,
the
fossilized results of human behavior
. The sum total of these constitutes what may be called
the archaeological record. This record exhibits certain peculiarities and deficiencies the
consequences
of
which
produce
a
rather
superficial
contrast
between
archaeological
history and the more familiar kind based upon written records.
Not all human behavior fossilizes. The words I utter and you hear as v
ibrations in the air
are
certainly
human
changes
in
the
material
world
and
may
be
of
great
historical
significance. Yet they leave no sort of trace in the archaeological records unless they are
captured by a dictaphone or written down by a clerk. The movement of troops on the
battlefield may
is
equally ephemeral from the
archaeologist's standpoint. What is perhaps worse, most organic materials are perishable.
Everything made of wood, hide, wool, linen, grass, hair
, and similar materials will decay
and vanish in dust in a few years or centuries, save under very exceptional conditions. In a
relatively brief period the archaeological record is reduce to mere scraps of stone, bone,
glass,
metal,
and
earthenware.
Still
modern
archaeology,
by
applying
appropriate
techniques and comparative methods, aided by a few lucky finds from peat- bogs, deserts,
and frozen soils, is able to fill up a good deal of the gap.
12 Museums
From Boston to Los Angeles, from New York City to Chicago to Dallas, museums are either
planning,
building,
or
wrapping
up
wholesale
expansion
programs.
These
programs
already have radically altered facades
and floor plans or are expected to do so in the
not-too- distant future.
In New York City alone, six major institutions have spread up and out into the air space and
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neighborhoods around them or are preparing to do so.
The reasons for this confluence of activity are complex, but one factor is a consideration
everywhere - space. With collections expanding, with the needs and functions of museums
changing, empty space has become a very precious commodity.
Probably nowhere in the country is this more true than at the Philadelphia Museum of Art,
which has needed additional
space for decades and
which received
its
last significant
facelift
ten
years
ago.
Because
of
the
space
crunch,
the
Art
Museum
has
become
increasingly
cautious
in
considering
acquisitions
and
donations
of
art,
in
some
cases
passing up opportunities to strengthen its collections.
Deaccessing - or selling off - works of art has taken on new importance because of the
museum's space problems. And increasingly, curators have been forced to juggle gallery
space, rotating one masterpiece into public view while another is sent to storage.
Despite the clear need for additional gallery and storage space, however
,
no plan, no plan to break out of
its envelope
in the next fifteen years,
Philadelphia Museum of Art's president.
13 Skyscrapers and Environment
In the late 1960's, many people in North America turned their attention to environmental
problems, and new steel-and- glass skyscrapers were widely criticized. Ecologists pointed
out that a cluster of tall buildings in a city often overburdens public transportation and
parking lot capacities.
Skyscrapers are also lavish consumers, and wasters, of electric power
. In one recent year
,
the addition of 17 million square feet of skyscraper office space in New York City raised the
peak daily demand for electricity by 120, 000 kilowatts-enough to supply the entire city of
Albany, New York, for a day.
Glass-walled skyscrapers can be especially wasteful. The heat loss (or gain)through a wall
of half-inch plate glass is more than ten times that through a typical masonry wall filled
with
insulation board. To
lessen the strain on heating and
air- conditioning
equipment,
builders of skyscrapers have begun to use double-glazed panels of glass, and reflective
glasses coated with
silver or gold mirror films that reduce glare as well as heat gain.
However
, mirror- walled skyscrapers raise the temperature of the surrounding air and affect
neighboring buildings.
Skyscrapers put a severe strain on a city's sanitation facilities, too. If fully occupied, the
two World Trade Center towers in New York City would alone generate 2.25 million gallons
of raw sewage each year-as much as a city the size of Stanford, Connecticut , which has a
population of more than 109, 000.
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14 A Rare Fossil Record
The preservation of embryos and juveniles is a rate occurrence in the fossil record. The tiny,
delicate skeletons are usually scattered by scavengers or destroyed by weathering before
they can be fossilized.
Ichthyosaurs had a higher chance of being preserved than did
terrestrial creatures because, as marine animals, they tended to live in environments less
subject to erosion. Still, their fossilization required a suite of factors: a slow rate of decay of
soft tissues, little scavenging by other animals, a lack of swift currents and waves to jumble
and carry away small bones, and fairly rapid burial. Given these factors, some areas have
become a treasury of well-preserved ichthyosaur fossils.
The
deposits
at
Holzmaden,
Germany,
present
an
interesting
case
for
analysis.
The
ichthyosaur remains are
found in black, bituminous marine shales deposited about 190
million years ago. Over the years, thousands of specimens of marine reptiles,
fish and
invertebrates
have
been
recovered
from
these
rocks.
The
quality
of
preservation
is
outstanding,
but
what
is
even
more
impressive
is
the
number
of
ichthyosaur
fossils
containing preserved embryos. Ichthyosaurs with embryos have been reported from 6
different levels of the shale in a small area around Holzmaden, suggesting that a specific
site was used by large numbers of ichthyosaurs repeatedly over time. The embryos are
quite advanced in their physical development; their paddles, for example, are already well
formed. One specimen is even preserved in the birth canal. In addition, the shale contains
the remains of many newborns that are between 20 and 30 inches long.
Why are there so many pregnant females and young at Holzmaden when they are so rare
elsewhere? The quality of preservation is almost unmatched and quarry operations have
been carried out carefully with an awareness of the value of the fossils. But these factors
do not account for the interesting question of how there came to be such a concentration
of pregnant ichthyosaurs in a particular place very close to their time of giv
ing birth.
15 The Nobel Academy
For the last 82years, Sweden's Nobel
Academy has decided who will receive the Nobel
Prize in Literature, thereby determining who will be elevated from the great and the near
great to the immortal. But today the Academy is coming under heavy criticism both from
the without and from within. Critics contend that the selection of the winners o
ften has less
to do with true writing ability than with the peculiar internal politics of the Academy and of
Sweden itself. According to Ingmar Bjorksten , the cultural editor for one of the country's
two major newspapers, the prize continues to represent
exercise: reflecting Swedish tastes.
The Academy has defended itself against such charges of provincialism in its selection by
asserting that its physical distance from the great
literary capitals of the world actually
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serves to protect the Academy from outside influences. This may well be true, but critics
respond that this very distance may also be responsible for the
Academy's inability to
perceive accurately authentic trends in the literary world.
Regardless of concerns over the selection process, however
, it seems that the prize will
continue to survive both as an indicator of the literature that we most highly praise, and as
an elusive goal that
writers seek.
If
for no other reason, the prize will continue to be
desirable for the financial rewards that accompany it; not only
is the cash prize
itself
considerable, but it also dramatically increases sales of an author's books.
16. the war between Britain and France
In the late eighteenth century, battles raged in almost every corner of Europe, as well as in
the Middle East, south Africa ,the West Indies, and Latin America. In reality, however
, there
was only one major war during this time, the war between Britain and France. All other
battles were ancillary to this larger conflict, and were often at least partially related to its
antagonist’ goals and strategies. France sought total domination of Europe . this goal was
obstructed by British independence and Britain’s efforts throughout the continent to thwart
Napole
on; through treaties. Britain built coalitions
(not dissimilar
in concept to today’s
NATO)
guaranteeing
British
participation
in
all
major
European
conflicts.
These
two
antagonists were poorly matched, insofar as they had very unequal strengths; France was
predominant on land, Britain at sea. The French knew that, short of defeating the British
navy,
their
only
hope
of victory
was
to close
all
the
ports
of
Europe
to
British
ships.
Accordingly, France set out to overcome Britain by extending its military domination from
Moscow t Lisbon, from Jutland to Calabria. All of this entailed tremendous risk, because
France did not have the military resources to control this much territory and still protect
itself and maintain order at home.
French strategists calculated that a navy of 150 ships would provide the force necessary to
defeat the British navy. Such a force would give France a three-to-two advantage over
Britain. This advantage was deemed necessary because of Britain’s superior sea skills and
technology be
cause of Britain’s superior sea skills and technology, and also because Britain
would be fighting a defensive war, allowing it to win with fewer forces. Napoleon never lost
substantial impediment to his control of Europe. As his force neared that goal, Nap
oleon
grew increasingly impatient and began planning an immediate attack.
ion of sleep
Sleep
is
very
ancient.
In
the
electroencephalographic
sense
we
share
it
with
all
the
primates and almost all the other mammals and birds: it may extend bac
k as far as the
reptiles.
There is some ev
idence that the two types of sleep, dreaming and dreamless, depend on
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the life-style of the animal, and that predators are statistically much more likely to dream
than prey, which are in turn much more likely to experience dreamless sleep. In dream
sleep,
the
animal
is
powerfully
immobilized
and
remarkably
unresponsive
to
external
stimuli. Dreamless sleep is much shallower
, and we have all witnessed cats or dogs cocking
their ears to a sound when apparently fast asleep. The fact that deep dream sleep is rare
among pray today seems clearly to be a product of natural selection, and it makes sense
that today, when sleep is highly evolved, the stupid animals are less frequently immobilized
by deep sleep than the smart ones. But why should they sleep deeply at all? Why should a
state of such deep immobilization ever have evolved?
Perhaps one useful hint about the original function of sleep is to be found in the fact that
dolphins and whales and aquatic mammals in gener
a seem to sleep very little. There is, by
and large, no place to hide in the ocean. Could it be that, rather than increasing an animal’s
vulnerability, the University of Florida and Ray Meddis of London University have suggested
this to be the case. It is conceivable that animals who are too stupid to be quite on their
own initiative are, during periods of high risk, immobilized by the implacable arm of sleep.
The point seems particularly clear for the young of predatory animals. This is an interesting
notion and probably at least partly true.
American Universities
胖胖：
）
Before the 1850’s, the United States had a number of small colleges, most of them dating
from colonial days. They were small, church connected institutions whose primary concern
was to shape the moral character of their students.
Throughout Europe, institutions of higher
learning had developed, bearing the
ancient
name
of
university.
In
German
university
was
concerned
primarily
with
creating
and
spreading knowledge, not morals. Between mid-
century and the end of the 1800’s, more
than nine thousand young Americans, dissatisfied with their training at home,
went to
Germany for advanced study. Some of them return to become presidents of venerable
colleges-----Harvard, Yale, Columbia ---and transform them into modern universities. The
new presidents broke all ties
with the churches and brought in a new kind of
faculty.
Professors were hired for their knowledge of
a subject, not because they were of the
proper faith and had a strong arm for disciplining students. The new principle was that a
university was to create knowledge as well
as pass
it on, and this called
for a
faculty
composed of teacher-scholars. Drilling and learning by rote were replaced by the German
method
of
lecturing,
i
n
which
the
professor’s
own
research
was
presented
in
class.
Graduate training leading to the Ph.D., an ancient German degree signifying the highest
level of advanced scholarly attainment, was
introduced. With the establishment of the
seminar system, graduate student learned to question, analyze, and conduct their own
research.
At
the
same
time,
the
new
university
greatly
expanded
in
size
and
course
offerings,
breaking
completely
out
of
the
old,
constricted
curriculum
of
mathematics,
classics,
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rhetoric, and music. The president of Harvard pioneered the
elective system, by which
students were able to choose their own course of study. The notion of major fields of study
emerged. The new goal was to make the university relevant to the real pursuits of the
world. Paying close heed to the practical needs of society, the new universities trained men
and women to work at its tasks, with engineering students being the most characteristic of
the new regime. Students were also trained
as economists,
architects, agric
ulturalists,
social welfare workers, and teachers.
en
’
s numerical skills
怎么还是胖胖：
）
people appear to born to compute. The numerical skills of children develop so early and so
inexorably that it is
easy to imagine an
internal clock of mathematical maturity guiding
their growth. Not long after learning to walk and talk, they can set the table with impress
accuracy---one knife, one spoon, one
fork,
for each of the
five chairs. Soon they are
capable of nothing that they have placed five knives, spoons and forks on the table and, a
bit later
, that this amounts to fifteen pieces of silverware. Having thus mastered addition,
they move on to subtraction. It seems almost reasonable to expect that if a child were
secluded on a desert island at birth and retrieved seven years later
, he or she could enter a
second
enter
a
second-grade
mathematics
class
without
any
serious
problems
of
intellectual adjustment.
Of course, the truth is not so simple. This century, the work of cognitive psychologists has
illuminated
the
subtle
forms
of
daily
learning
on
which
intellectual
progress
depends.
Children
were
observed
as
they
slowly
grasped-----or
,
as
the
case
might
be,
bumped
into-----concepts that adults take for quantity is unchanged as water pours from a short
glass
into a tall thin one. Psychologists have
since demonstrated that young children,
asked to count the pencils in a pile, readily report the number of blue or red pencils, but
must be coaxed into finding the total. Such studies have suggested that the rudiments of
mathematics are mastered gradually, and with effort. They have also suggested that the
very concept of abstract numbers------the idea of a oneness,
a twoness, a threeness that applies to any class of objects and is a prerequisite for doing
anything more mathematically demanding than setting a table-----is itself far from innate
20 The Historical Significance of American Revolution
The ways of history are so intricate and the motivations of human actions so complex that
it
is
always
hazardous
to
attempt
to
represent
events covering
a
number
of years,
a
multiplicity of persons, and distant localities as the expression of one intellectual or social
movement; yet the historical process which culminated in the ascent of Thomas Jefferson
to the presidency can be regarded as the outstanding example not only of the birth of a
new
way
of
life
but
of
nationalism
as
a
new
way
of
life.
The
American
Revolution
represents the link between the seventeenth century, in which
modern England became
conscious of itself,
and the awakening of modern Europe at the end of the eighteenth
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century. It may seem strange that the march of history should have had to cross the
Atlantic Ocean, but only
in the North American colonies could a struggle for civic liberty
lead
also
to
the
foundation
of
a
new
nation.
Here,
in
the
popular
rising
against
a
―tyrannical‖ government, the fruits were more than the securing of a freer constitution.
They included the growth of a nation born in liberty by the will of the people, not from the
roots of common descent, a geographic entity, or the ambitions of king or dynasty. With
the American nation, for the first time, a nation was born, not in the dim past of history but
before the eyes of the whole world.
21 The Origin of Sports
When did sport begin? If sport is, in essence, play, the claim might be made that sport is
much older than humankind, for , as we all have observed, the beasts play. Dogs and cats
wrestle and play ball games. Fishes and birds dance. The apes have simple, pleasurable
games.
Frolicking
infants,
school
children
play
ing
tag,
and
adult
arm
wrestlers
are
demonstrating
strong,
transgenerational
and
transspecies
bonds
with
the
universe
of
animals
–
past, present, and future. Young animals, particularly, tumble, chase, run wrestle,
mock, imitate, and laugh (or so it seems) to the point of delighted exhaustion. Their play,
and ours, appears to serve no other purpose than to give pleasure to the players, and
apparently, to remove us temporarily from the anguish of life in earnest.
Some philosophers have claimed that our playfulness is the most noble part of our basic
nature. In their generous conceptions, play harmlessly and experimentally permits us to
put
our
creative
forces,
fantasy,
and
imagination
into
action.
Play
is
releas
e
from
the
tedious
battles
against
scarcity
and
decline
which
are
the
incessant,
and
inevitable,
tragedies of life. This is a grand conception that excites and provokes. The holders of this
view claim that the origins of our highest accomplishments ---- liturgy, literature, and law
---- can be traced to a play impulse which, paradoxically, we see most purely enjoyed by
young beasts and children. Our sports, in this rather happy, nonfatalistic view of human
nature, are more splendid creations of the nondatable, transspecies play impulse.
22. Collectibles
Collectibles have been a part of almost every culture since ancient times. Whereas some
objects
have
been
collected
for
their
usefulness,
others
have
been
selected
for
their
aesthetic beauty alone.
In the
United States, the kinds of collectibles currently popular
range from traditional objects such as stamps, coins, rare books, and art to more recent
items of interest like dolls, bottles, baseball cards, and comic books.
Interest in collectibles has increased enormously during the past decade, in part because
some collectibles have demonstrated their value as investments. Especially during cycles of
high
inflation,
investors try to purchase tangibles that
will at
least retain their current
market values.
In general, the most traditional collectibles will be sought because they
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have preserved their value over the years, there is an organized auction market for them,
and they are most easily sold in the event that cash is needed. Some examples of the most
stable collectibles are old masters, Chinese ceramics, stamps, coins, rare books, antique
jewelry, silver
, porcelain, art by well-known artists, autographs, and period furniture. Other
items of more recent interest include old photograph records, old magazines, post cards,
baseball cards, art glass, dolls, classic cars, old bottles, and comic books. These relatively
new kinds of collectibles may actually appreciate faster as short-term investments, but may
not hold their value as long-term investments. Once a collectible has had its initial play, it
appreciates at a fairly steady rate, supported by an
increasing number of enthusiastic
collectors competing for the limited supply of collectibles that become increasingly more
difficult to locate.
23 Ford
Althou
gh Henry Ford’s name is closely associated with the concept of mass production, he
should receive equal credit for introducing labor practices as early as 1913 that would be
considered advanced even by today’s standards. Safety measures were improved, and
the
work day was reduced to eight hours, compared with the ten-or twelve-hour day common
at
the
time.
In
order
to
accommodate
the
shorter
work
day,
the
entire
factory
was
converted from two to three shifts.
In addition, sick leaves as well as improved medical care for those injured on the job were
instituted. The Ford Motor Company was one of the first factories to develop a technical
school to train specialized skilled laborers and an English language school for immigrants.
Some
efforts
were
even
made
to
hire
the
handicapped
and
provide
jobs
for
former
convicts.
The most widely acclaimed innovation was the five-dollar-a-day minimum wage that was
offered in order to recruit and retain the best mechanics and to discourage the growth of
labor unions. Ford explained the new wage policy in terms of efficiency and profit sharing.
He also mentioned the fact that his employees would be able to purchase the automobiles
that they produced
–
in effect creating a market for the product. In order to qualify for the
minimum wage, an employee had to establish
a decent home
and demonstrate good
personal
habits,
including
sobriety,
thriftiness,
industriousness,
and
dependability.
Although some criticism was directed at Ford for involving himself too much in the personal
lives of his employees, there can be no doubt that, at a time when immigrants were being
taken advantage of in frightful ways, Henry Ford was helping many people to establish
themselves in America.
24
．
Piano
The ancestry of the piano can be traced to the early keyboard instruments of the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries --- the spinet, the dulcimer
, and the v
irginal. In the seventeenth
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century the organ, the clavichord, and the harpsichord became the chief instruments of the
keyboard group, a supremacy they maintained until the piano supplanted them at the end
of
the
eighteenth
century.
The
clavichord’s
tone
was
metallic
and
never
powerful;
nevertheless, because of the variety of tone possible to it, m
any composers found the
clavichord a sympathetic instrument for intimate chamber music. The harpsichord with its
bright, vigorous tone was the favorite
instrument for supporting the bass of the small
orchestra of the period and for concert use, but the character of the tone could not be
varied save by mechanical or structural devices.
The piano was perfected in the early eighteenth century by a harpsichord maker in Italy
(though
musicologists
point
out
several
previous
instances
of
the
instrument).
This
instrument was called a piano e forte (sort and loud), to indicate its dynamic versatility; its
strings were struck by a recoiling hammer with a felt- padded head. The wires were much
heavier in the earlier instruments. A series of mechanical improvements co
ntinuing well
into the nineteenth century, including the introduction of pedals to sustain tone or to soften
it, the perfection of a metal frame, and steel wire of the finest quality, finally produced an
instrument capable of myriad tonal effects from the most delicate harmonies to an almost
orchestral fullness of sound, from a liquid, singing tone to a sharp, percussive brilliance.
NOTE:
Musical Instruments
strings (
弦乐
)
1) plectrum: harp, lute, guitar, mandolin;
2) keyboa
rd: clavi
chord, harpsichord, piano;
3) bow: violin, viola, cello, double bass.
2. The
Wood
（木管）
—
winds : piccol
o, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, English horn;
3. the brass
（铜管）
: French horn, trumpet, trombone, cornet, tuba,
bugle, saxophone;
percussion
（打击组）
: kettle drum, bass drum, snare drum, castanet, xylophone, celesta, cymbal, tambourine.
25. Movie Music
Accustomed though we are to speaking of the films made before 1927 as ―silent‖, the fi
lm
has never been, in the full sense of the word, silent. From the very beginning, music was
regarded as an indispensable accompaniment; when the Lumiere films were shown at the
first public film exhibition in the United States in February 1896, they were
accompanied
by
piano
improvisations
on
popular
tunes.
At
first,
the
music
played
bore
no
special
relationship to the films; an accompaniment of any kind was sufficient. Within a very short
time, however
, the incongruity of playing lively music to a solemn
film became apparent,
and film pianists began to take some care in matching their pieces to the mood of the film.
As movie theaters grew in number and importance, a v
iolinist, and perhaps a cellist, would
be added to the pianist in certain cases, and in the larger movie theaters small orchestras
were formed. For a number of years the selection of music for each film program rested
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entirely
in the hands of the conductor or
leader of the orchestra, and very often the
principal qualification for holding such
a position was not skill or taste so much as the
ownership of a large personal library of musical pieces. Since the conductor seldom saw
the films until the night before they were to be shown(if indeed, the conductor was lucky
enough
to
see
them
then),
the
musical
arrangement
was
normally
improvised
in
the
greatest hurry.
To help meet this difficulty, film distributing companies started the practice of publishing
suggestions
for
musical
accompaniments.
In
1909,
for
example,
the
Edison
Company
began issuing
with their films such indications of mood as ― pleasant‖, ―sad‖, ―lively‖. The
suggestions
became
more
explicit,
and
so
emerged
the
musical
cue
sheet
containing
indications of mood, the titles of suitable pieces of music, and precise directions to show
where one piece led into the next.
Certain films had music especially composed for them. The most famous of these early
special scores was that composed and arranged for D.W Griffith’s film Birth of a Nation,
which was released in 1915.
Note:
美国通俗音乐分类
：
1
．
Jazz;
1) traditional jazz---- a) blues,
代表人物：
Billy Holiday
b)ragtime(
切分乐曲
):
代表人物：
Scott Joplin
c)New Orleans jazz (= Dixieland jazz)
eg: Louis Armstron
d)swing
e
g: Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington,
etc.
e)bop (=
bebop, rebop)
eg: Lester Young, Charlie Parker etc.
2)modern jazz ------
a) cool jazz(=progressive jazz)
高雅爵士乐。
Eg: Kenny G.
b)third-stream jazz.
Eg: Charles Mingus, John Lewis.
c) main stream jazz.
d)a
vant-garde jazz.
e) soul jazz. Eg: Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald
f) Latin jazz.
music
福音音乐，
主要源于
Nero spirituals. Eg. Doll
y Parke
r, Mahalia Jackson
y and Western music. Eg. John Denver, Tammy Wynette, Kenny Rogers, etc.
4. Rock music-----------a) rock and roll
eg: El
vis Prestley(US) , the Beatles(UK.)
b)fol
k rock Eg: Bob Dyl
on, Michael Jackson, Ma
riah Ca
rey, Bruce Springsteen, Lionel Riche etc.
c)punk rock
d)acid rock
e)rock jazz eg: M.J. McLa
ughlin
f) Jurassic rock
for easy listening (i.e. light music )
26. International Business and Cross- cultural Communication
The increase in international business and in foreign investment has created a need for
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