grail新东方背诵50篇英文美文

2021年1月24日发(作者：dees)

01 The Language of Music
A pain ter hangs his or her fini shed pictures on a wall, and every one can see it. A composer writes a work,
but no one can hear it un til it is performed. Professi on al sin gers 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 stude nt n eeds to become a doctor. Most training is concerned with
technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an athlete or a ballet dan cer. Sin gers
practice breathi ng every day, as their vocal chords would be in adequate without con trolled muscular
support. String players practice moving the fin gers of the left hand up and down, while drawing the bow to
and fro with the right arm
—

two entirely different moveme nts.
Sin gers and in strume nts have to be able to get every n ote perfectly in tune. Pia ni sts are spared this
particular an xiety, for the no tes are already there, wait ing for them, and it is the pia no tun er s
responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But they have their own difficulties; the hammers that hit the
stri ng have to be coaxed not to sound like percussi on, and each overlapp ing tone has to sound clear.
This problem of gett ing clear texture is one that confronts stude nt con ductors: they have to learn to know
every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at con trolli ng these sound with
fanatical but selfless authority.
Tech nique is of no use uni ess it is comb ined with musical kno wledge and un dersta nding. Great artists
are those who are so thoroughly at home in the Ianguage of music that they can enjoy perform ing works
writte n in any cen tury.
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.
Educati on is much more ope n-en ded and all-i nclusive tha n schooli ng. Educati on knows no boun ds. It
can take place any where, whether in the shower or in the job, whether in a kitche n or on a tractor. It in
cludes both the formal lear ning that takes place in schools and the whole uni verse of in formal 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, educati on quite ofte n
produces surprises. A cha nee con versati on with a stra nger may lead a pers on to discover how little is
known of other religi ons. People are en gaged in educati on from infancy on. Education, then, is a very
broad, inclusive term. It is a lifelong process, a process that starts long before the start of school, and one
that should be an in tegral part of one
Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern 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 lear ned, whether they are the alphabet or an un dersta nding of the work ing of
1



gover nment, have usually bee n limited by the boun daries of the subject being taught. For example, high
school studentsknow 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 schooli ng.
03 The Definition of
“
Price
”

Prices determ ine how resourcesare 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 n
etwork composed of the prices of all the products bought and sold in the economy as well as those of a
myriad of services, in clud ing labor, professi on al, tran sportatio n, and public- utility services. The in terrelati
on ships of all these prices make up the
“
system
”
of prices.
Th
particular product or service is lin ked to a broad, complicated system of prices in which everythi ng seems to
depe nd more or less upon everyth ing else.
If one were to ask a group of randomly selected individuals to define
“
price
”
, many

that price is an amount of money paid by the buyer to the seller of a product or service or, i n 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 payme nt will be made, the
form of money to be used, the credit terms and disco unts 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
forfthreaaskedt of money in order that they
may evaluate a give n price.
04 Electricity
The modern age is an age of electricity. People are so used to electric lights, radio, televisions, and teleph
ones that it is hard to imag ine what life would be like without them. Whe n there is a power failure, people
grope about in flickeri ng can dlelight, 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 ago. Nature has
apparently been experimenting in this field for million of years. Scientists are discoveri ng more and more
that the liv ing world may hold many in teresti ng secrets of electricity that could ben efit huma nity.
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,
2



sends out brain waves of electricity, which can be recorded in an electroe electric curre
nts gen erated by most livi ng 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
gen erators 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 gen erat ing 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 beg inning of drama in an cie nt Greece. The on most widely accepted
today is based on the assumpti on that drama evolved from ritual. The argume nt for this view goes as
follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world-even the seas on alcha nges-
asu npredictable, and they sought through various means to con trol these unknown and feared powers.
Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were the n 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 contained the seed of theater
because music, dan ce, 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
considerable importanee was attached to avoiding mistakes in the en actme nt of rites, religious leaders
usually assumed that task. Weari ng masks and costumes, they ofte n impers on ated other people, ani mals,
or super natural bein gs, 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 represe ntati ons 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, at first through the use of impers on atio n, acti
on, and dialogue by a n arrator and the n through the assumpti on of each of the roles by a differe nt pers on.
A closely related theory traces theater to those dan ces that are primarily rhythmical and gymn astic or that
are imitati ons of ani mal moveme nts and soun ds.
06 Television
Television
——
the most pervasive and persuasive of moder n tech no logies, marked by rapid cha nge
and growth-is movi ng in to a new era, an era of extraord inary sophisticate n and versatility, which promises
3



to reshape our lives and our world. It is an electronic revolution of sorts, made possible by the marriage of
television and computer tech nologies.
The word
interpreted as sight from a distanee. 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 photoc on ductive
plate with in a camera) into electr onic impulses, which can be sent through a wire or cable. These impulses,
when fed into a receiver (television set), can then be electro nically rec on stituted in to that same image.
Television is more than just an electronic system, however. It is a means of expression, as well as a vehicle
for com muni catio n, and as such becomes a powerful tool for reachi ng other huma n bein gs.
The field of television can be divided into two categories determined by its means of transmission. First, there
is broadcast television, which reaches the masses through broad-based airwave tran smissi on of televisi on
sig nals. Second, there is non broadcast televisi on, which provides for the n eeds of in dividuals or specific in
terest groups through con trolled tran smissi on tech niq ues.
Traditionally, television has been a medium of the 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 bee n con trolled, for the most part, by the broadcast n etworks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, who have
bee n the major purveyors of n ews, in formatio n, and en terta inment. 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 dyn amic medium as the passive viewer.
07 Andrew Carnegie
An drew Carn egie, known as the Ki ng of Steel, built the steel in dustry in the Un ited States, and , in the
process, became one of the wealthiest men in America. His successresulted in part from his ability to sell the
product and in part from his policy of expanding during periods of economic decli ne, whe n most of his
competitors were reduci ng their in vestme nts.
Carn egie believed that in dividuals should progress through hard work, but he also felt stron gly that the
wealthy should use their fortunes for the ben efit of society. He opposed charity, preferri ng in stead to
provide educatio nal opport un ities that would allow others to help themselves.
disgraced,
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 n ati onal history. He also
foun ded a school of tech no logy that is now part of Carn egie-Mell on 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.
4



Few America ns have bee n left un touched by An drew Carn egie's gen erosity. His con tributio ns 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 violent overturning of the political and social framework,
such as later occurred in France and Russia, when both were already independent n ati ons. Sign ifica nt cha
nges were ushered in, but they were not breathtak ing. What happe ned was accelerated evolution rather
than outright revolution. During the conflict itself people went on working and praying, marrying and playing.
Most of them 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 In depe ndence heralded the birth of three moder n n ati ons. One was Can ada, which
received its first large in flux of En glish-speak ing populati on from the thousa nds of loyalists who fled there
from the Un ited States. Ano ther was Australia, which became a penal colony now that America was no Ion
ger available for pris oners and debtors. The third n ewcomer-the Un ited States-based itself squarely on
republican principles.
Yet even the political overturn was not so revolutionary as one might suppose. In some states, no tably Conn
ecticut and Rhode Isla nd, the war largely ratified a colo nial self-rule already existi ng. British officials,
everywhere ousted, were replaced by a home-grown governing class, which promptly sought a local
substitute for king and Parliament.
09 Suburbanization
If by
process of suburba ni zati on bega n duri ng the emerge nceof the in dustrial city in the sec ond 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 hous ing was n eeded for the thousa
nds of people draw n by the prospect of employme nt. In time, the factories were surro un ded by proliferati
ng mill tow ns of apartme nts 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 in dustrial n eighbors. In 1854, for
example, the city of Philadelphia ann exed most of Philadelphia Coun ty. Similar mun icipal man euvers took
place in Chicago and in New York. In deed, most great cities of the Un ited States achieved such status only
by in corporati ng the com mun ities along their borders.
With the acceleratio n of in dustrial growth came acute urba n crowd ing and accompa nying social stress-
conditions that began to approach disastrous proportions when, in 1888, the first commercially successful
electric tracti on line was developed. Within a few years the horse-draw n trolleys were retired and electric
streetcar n etworks crisscrossed and conn ected every major urba n area, fosteri ng a wave of suburba ni
zati on that tran sformed the compact in dustrial city into a dispersed metropolis. This first phase of mass-
scale suburba ni zati on was rein forced by the simulta neous emerge nee of the urba n Middle Class, whose
5



desires for homeow nership in neighborhoods far from the aging inner city were satisfied by the developers
of single- family hous ing tracts.
10 Types of Speech
Stan dard usage in cludes those words and expressi ons un derstood, used, and accepted by a majority of
the speakers of a Ianguage in any situation regardless of the level of formality. As such, these words and
expressi ons are well defi ned and listed in sta ndard dict ion aries. Colloquialisms, on the other hand, are
familiar words and idioms that are un derstood by almost all speakers of a Ian guage and used in in formal
speech or writi ng, but not con sidered appropriate for more formal situati ons. Almost all idiomatic
expressions are colloquial Ianguage. Slang, however, refers to words and expressi ons un derstood by a
large nu mber of speakers but not accepted as good, formal usage by the majority. Colloquial expressi ons
and eve n sla ng may be found in sta ndard dicti on aries but will be so ide ntified. Both colloquial usage and
sla ng are more com mon in speech tha n in writi ng.
Colloquial speech ofte n passes into sta ndard speech. Some sla ng also passes into sta ndard speech, but
other sla ng expressi ons enjoy mome ntary popularity followed by obscurity .In some cases, the majority
never accepts certain slang phrases but nevertheless retains them in their collective memories. Every gen
erati on 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 creati on of a large body of sla ng
expressi ons. First, the in troducti on and accepta nee of new objects and situati ons in the society; sec ond,
a diverse populati on with a large nu mber of subgroups; third, association among the subgroups and the
majority population.
Fin ally, it is worth no ti ng that the terms
scholars who study Ian guage. Only a tiny nu mber of the speakers of any Ian guage will be aware that they
are using colloquial or slang speakersof English will, during appropriate situations, select
and use all three types of expressions.
11 Archaeology
Archaeology is a source of history, n ot just a bumble auxiliary discipli ne. Archaeological data are historical
documents in their own right, not mere illustrations to written texts, Just as much as any other historia n, an
archaeologist studies and tries to rec on stitute 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 ki nd based upon writte n records.
Not all human behavior fossilizes. The words I utter and you hear as vibrations in the air are certainly human
changes in the material world and may be of great historical significanee. Yet they leave no sort of trace in
the archaeological records uni ess they are captured by a dictapho ne or written down by a clerk. The
movement of troops on the battlefield may
6



the archaeologist's sta ndpo int. What is perhaps worse, most orga nic materials are perishable. Everyth ing
made of wood, hide, wool, li nen, 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 froze n soils, is able to fill up a good deal of the gap.
12 Museums
From Bost on to Los An geles, from New York City to Chicago to Dallas, museums are either pla nning, buildi
ng, or wrapp ing up wholesale expa nsion 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 n eighborhoods
around them or are prepari ng to do so.
The reas ons for this con flue nce of activity are complex, but one factor is a con siderati on everywhere -
space. With collecti ons expa nding, with the n eeds and fun cti ons of museums cha nging, empty space has
become a very precious commodity.
Probably no where in the country is this more true tha n 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 collecti ons.
Deaccess ing - or selli ng off - works of art has take n on new importa nce because of the museum's space
problems. And in creas in gly, curators have bee n forced to juggle gallery space, rotat ing one masterpiece
into public view while ano ther is sent to storage.
Despite the clear need for additional gallery and storage space, however,
to break out of its envelope in the next fifteen years,
13 Skyscrapers and Environment

In the late 1960's, many people in North America turned their attention to environmentai problems, and new
steel-a nd- glass skyscrapers were widely criticized. Ecologists poin ted 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 dema nd for electricity
by 120, 000 kilowatts-e no ugh to supply the en tire city of Alba ny, 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 lesse n the
7



stra in on heati ng and air-c on diti oning equipme nt, builders of skyscrapers have beg un to use double-
glazed pan els 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 surro unding air and affect n
eighbori ng build in gs.
Skyscrapers put a severe strain on a city's sanitation facilities, too. If fully occupied, the two World Trade Cen
ter towers in New York City would alone gen erate 2.25 milli on gall ons of raw sewage each year-as much
as a city the size of Stanford, Connecticut, which has a population of more than 109, 000.
14 A Rare Fossil Record
The preservation of embryos and juveniles is a rate occurrence in the fossil record. The tiny, delicate skelet
ons are usually scattered by scave ngers or destroyed by weatheri ng 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 ani mals, a lack of swift curre nts and
waves to jumble and carry away small bon es, and fairly rapid burial. Give n 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 rema ins are
found in black, bitu minous marine shales deposited about 190 milli on 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 nu mber of ichthyosaur fossils containing
preserved embryos. Ichthyosaurs with embryos have bee n reported from 6 differe nt levels of the shale in a
small area around Holzmade n, suggest ing that a specific site was used by large nu mbers of ichthyosaurs
repeatedly
over
time.
The
embryos
are
quite
advaneed
in
their
physical
development;
their
paddles,
for
example, are already well formed. One specime n is eve n preserved in the birth can al. I n additi on, the shale
contains the rema ins of many n ewbor ns that are betwee n 20 and 30 in ches long.
Why are there so many preg nant females and young at Holzmade n whe n they are so rare elsewhere? The
quality of preservation is almost unmatched and quarry operations have been carried out carefully with an
awarenessof 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 giving 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 un der heavy criticism both from the without and from within. Critics contend that the
selection of the winners often 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 represe nt
8



ing Swedish tastes.
The Academy has defe nded itself aga inst such charges of provin cialism in its select ion by assert ing that
its physical distance from the great literary capitals of the world actually serves to protect the Academy from
outside in flue nces. This may well be true, but critics resp ond that this very dista nce may also be resp on
sible for the Academy's in ability to perceive accurately authe ntic 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 accompa ny it; not only
is the cash prize itself con siderable, but it also dramatically in creases 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 In dies, and Lati n 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 con flict, and were
ofte n at least partially related to its an tago nist
'
go
France sought total domination of Europe . this goal was obstructed by British independence and Britain
'efforts throughout the continent to thwart Napoleon; through treaties. Britain built coalitions (not dissimilar in
concept to today
'
NATO) guaranteeing British participation in all major Europea n con flicts. These two an
tag oni sts were poorly matched, in sofar as they had very un equal stre ngths; France was predo minant on
land, Brita in 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. Accord in gly, France set out to overcome Brita in by exte
nding its military domin ati on 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 n avy of 150 ships would provide the force n ecessary to defeat the
British navy. Such a force would give France a three-to- two advantageover Britain. This advantage was
deemed necessary because of Britain
'
s superior sea skills andceubnoiogy be
Brita in
'
s superior sea skills and tech no logy, and also because Brita in would be fighti ng a defe nsive war,
allowing it to win with fewer forces. Napoleon never lost substantial impediment to his control of Europe. As
his force n eared that goal, Napole on grew in creas in gly impatie nt and bega n pla nning an immediate
attack.
17. Evolution of sleep
Sleep is very ancient. In the electroencephalographicsensewe share it with all the primates and almost all the
other mammals and birds: it may extend back as far as the reptiles.
9



There is some evidenee that the two types of sleep, dreaming and dreamless, depend on 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 experienee dreamlesssleep. In dream sleep, the animal is powerfully immobilized and remarkably un
resp on sive to exter nal 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 n atural select ion, and it makes sense that today, whe n sleep is
highly evolved, the stupid ani mals are less freque ntly immobilized by deep sleep tha n the smart on es. But
why should they sleep deeply at all? Why should a state of such deep immobilizati on ever have evolved?
Perhaps one useful hint about the orig inal fun cti on of sleep is to be found in the fact that dolphi ns and
whales and aquatic mammals in genera 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,
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.
18. Modern American Universities
Before the 1850
'
she United States had a number of small colleges, most of them dating from colo nial
days. They were small, church conn ected in stituti ons whose primary concern was to shape the moral
character of their stude nts.
Throughout Europe, institutions of higher learning had developed, bearing the ancient name of uni versity .In
Germa n uni versity was concerned primarily with creati ng and spreadi ng kno wledge, not morals. Between
mid-century and the end of the 1800
'
spore than nine thousand young America ns, dissatisfied with their
training at home, went to Germa ny for adva need 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 becausethey 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. Drilli ng
and lear ning by rote were replaced by the Germa n method of lecturing, in which the professor
'
wn research
was presented in class. Graduate training leading to the Ph.D., an ancient German degree signifying the
highest level of advaneed scholarly attainment, was introduced. With the establishment of the seminar
system, graduate stude nt lear ned to questi on, an alyze, and con duct 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, rhetoric, and music. The preside nt of Harvard pion
eered the elective system, by which stude nts were able to choose their own course of study. The notion of
major fields of study emerged. The new goal was to make the uni versity releva nt to the real pursuits of the
world. Paying close heed to the practical n eeds 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. Stude nts were
10



also trained as econo mists, architects, agriculturalists, social welfare workers, and teachers.
19.
children's numerical skills
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 spo on, 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. Havi ng thus mastered additi on, they move
on to subtract ion. It seems almost reasonableto expect that if a child were secluded on a desert island at birth
and retrieved seven years later, he or she could en ter a sec ond en ter a sec on d-grade mathematics class
without any serious problems of in tellectual adjustme nt.
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
——
con cepts that adults take for quantity is unchanged
as water pours from a short glass into a tall thin one. Psychologists have since dem on strated that young
childre n, asked to count the pen cils 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 con cept of abstract numbers
the idea of
a onen ess,
a twon ess, a three ness that applies to any class of objects and is a prerequisite for doing anything more
mathematically dema nding tha n sett ing a table
--------- is itself far from inn ate
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 pers on s, a nd dista nt
localities as the expressi on of one in tellectual or social moveme nt; yet the historical process which cul min
ated in the asce nt of Thomas Jeffers on to the preside ncy 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 America n Revolutio n represe
nts the link betwee n the seve ntee nth cen tury, in which moder n En gla nd became con scious of itself, and
the awake ning of moder n Europe at the end of the eighteenth 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
foun
dati
on
of
a
new
n
ati
on.
Here,
in
the
popular
rising
aga
inst
a

“
ty
gover nment, the fruits were more tha n the securi ng of a freer con stituti on. They in cluded the growth of a
n ati on born in liberty by the will of the people, not from the roots of com mon desce nt, a geographic entity,
or the ambitions of king or dynasty. With the American nation, for the first time, a n ati on was born, not in the
dim past of history but before the eyes of the whole world.
11



21 The Origin of Sports
Whe n did sport beg in? If sport is, in esse nee, play, the claim might be made that sport is much older than
huma nkind, for , as we all have observed, the beasts play. Dogs and cats wrestle and play ball games.
Fishes and birds dan ce. The apes have simple, pleasurable games. Frolick ing infan ts, school childre n play
ing tag, and adult arm wrestlers are dem on strat ing strong, tran sge neratio nal and tran sspecies bonds
with the uni verse of an imals
—

past, prese nt, and future. Young an imals, particularly, tumble, chase, run
wrestle, mock, imitate, and laugh (or so it seems) to the point of delighted exhausti on. Their play, and ours,
appears to serve no other purpose tha n 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 playf uln ess is the most n oble part of our basic n ature. In their
generous conceptions, play harmlessly and experimentally permits us to put our creative forces, fantasy, and
imagination into action. Play is release from the tedious battles againstscarcity and decli ne which are the in
cessa nt,a nd in evitable, tragedies of life. This is a grand con cepti on 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, non fatalistic view of huma n n ature, are more sple ndid creati ons
of the non datable, tran sspecies play impulse.
22. Collectibles
Collectibles have been a part of almost every culture since ancient times. Whereas some objects have bee n
collected for their usef uln ess, others have bee n selected for their aesthetic beauty alone. In the Un ited
States, the kinds of collectibles curre ntly popular range from traditi onal objects such as stamps, coins, rare
books, and art to more recent items of interest like dolls, bottles, baseball cards, and comic books.
In terest in collectibles has in creased eno rmously duri ng the past decade, in part becausesome collectibles
have dem on strated their value as inv estme nts. Especially duri ng cycles of high in flati on, 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 have preserved their value over the years, there is an orga ni zed
auct ion market for them, and they are most easily sold in the eve nt that cash is n eeded. Some examples of
the most stable collectibles are old masters, Chin ese 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 Iong- 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
Although Henry Ford s name is closely associated with the con cept of mass product ion, he should receive
12



equal credit for introducing labor practices as early as 1913 that would be considered advaneed even by
today
'
standards. Safety measures were improved, and the work day was reduced to eight hours,
compared with the ten-or twelve- hour day com mon at the time. In order to accommodate the shorter work
day, the en tire factory was conv erted 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 Ianguage school for immigrants. Some efforts were even made to hire the han
dicapped and provide jobs for former conv icts.
The most widely acclaimed inno vati on was the five-dollar-a-day mi nimum wage that was offered in order to
recruit and reta in the best mecha nics 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 dece nt home and dem on strate good pers
onal habits, in clud ing sobriety, thrift in ess, industriousness, and dependability. Although some criticism was
directed at Ford for involving himself too much in the pers on al lives of his employees, there can be no doubt
that, at a time whe n 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 sixtee nth cen
turies --- the spin et, the dulcimer, and the virgi nal. I n the seve ntee nth cen tury the orga n, the clavichord,
and the harpsichord became the chief instruments of the keyboard group, a supremacy they maintained un til
the pia no suppla nted them at the end of the eightee nth cen tury.
The clavichord
'
s tone was metallic and never powerful; nevertheless, because of the variety of tone
possible to it, many composers found the clavichord a sympathetic in strume nt for in timate 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 mecha
ni cal 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 mecha ni cal improveme nts con ti nuing
well into the nin etee nth cen tury, in clud ing the in troduct ion of pedals to sustain tone or to soften it, the
perfection of a metal frame, and steel wire of the finest quality, fin ally produced an in strume nt 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 brillia nee.
NOTE:
Musical Instruments

13



1. The stri ngs
弦乐
)
1) plectrum: harp, lute, guitar, man doli n;
2)
keyboard: clavichord, harpsichord, pia no;
3)
bow: violi n, viola, cello, double bass.
2.
The Wood
(
木管
)
一
wi nds : piccolo, flute, oboe, clari net, basso on, En glish horn;
3.
the brass
(
铜管
)
：
French horn, trumpet, trombone, cornet, tuba, bugle, saxophone;
tambouri ne.
4.
the percussi on
(
打击组
)
：
kettle drum, bass drum, snare drum, casta net, xylopho ne, celesta, cymbal,
25.
Movie Music
Accustomed though we are to speaking of the films made before 1927 as
lm ha§
sievetr
”
, the fi
bee n, in the full sen seof the word, sile nt. From the very beg inning, 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 tun es. At first, the music played
bore no special relati on ship to the films; an accompa niment of any kind was sufficie nt. Withi n a very short
time, however, the incon gruity 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 importanee, a violinist, 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 entirely in the hands of the con ductor or
leader of the orchestra, and very ofte n the prin cipal qualificati on for hold ing such a positi on was not skill or
taste so much as the own ership of a large pers on al library of musical pieces. Since the con ductor seldom
saw the films un til the ni ght before they were to be show n(if in deed, the con ductor was lucky eno ugh to
see them the n), the musical arran geme nt was no rmally improvised in the greatest hurry.
To help meet this difficulty, film-distributing companies started the practice of publishing suggesti ons for
musical accompa nimen ts. In 1909, for example, the Edis on Compa ny bega n issu ing with their films such
indications of mood as
“
pleasant
”
,
“
sad
”
,
“
lively
”
. The su
more explicit, and so emerged the musical cue sheet containing indications of mood, the titles of suitable
pieces of music, and precise directi ons to show where one piece led into the n ext.
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 filns Birth of a Nation, which was released in 1915.
Note:
美国通俗音乐分类：

1.
Jazz;
1) traditio nal jazz---- a) blues,
代表人物：
Billy Holiday
b)
ragtime(
切分乐曲
)
：
代表人物：
Scott Joplin
14



c)
New Orlea ns jazz (= Dixiela nd jazz) eg: Louis Armstro n
d)
swing eg: Gle nn Miller, Duke Elli ngto n, etc.
e)
bop (=bebop, rebop) eg: Lester Young, Charlie Parker etc.
2)
modern jazz --- a) cool jazz(
二
progressive jazz
高雅爵士乐。

Eg: Kenny G.
b)
third-stream jazz. Eg: Charles Min gus, Joh n Lewis.
c)
main stream jaz z.
d)
ava nt-garde jazz.
e)
soul jazz. Eg: Sarah Vaugh n, Ella Fitzgerald
f)
Lati n jazz.
2.
gospel music
福音音乐，

主要源于

Nero spirituals. Eg. Dolly Parker, Mahalia Jacks on
3.
Co untry and Western music. Eg. Joh n Denver, Tammy Wyn ette, Kenny Rogers, etc.
4.
Rock music
-------- a) rock and roll eg: Elvis Presley(US) , the Beatles(UK.)
b) folk rock Eg: Bob Dylon, Michael Jacks on, Mariah Carey, Bruce Sprin gstee n, Lionel
Riche etc.
c)
punk rock
d)
acid rock
e)
rock jazz eg: M.J. McLaughli n
f)
Jurassic rock
5.
Music for easy liste ning (i.e. light music)
26.
International Business and Cross-cultural Communication

The in crease in intern ati onal bus in ess and in foreig n in vestme nt has created a n eed for executives with
kno wledge of foreig n Ian guages and skills in cross-cultural com muni cati on. America ns, however, have
not been well trained in either area and, consequently, have not enjoyed the same level of success in
negotiation in an international arena as have their foreign counterparts.
Negotiat ing is the process of com muni cati ng back and forth for the purpose of reach ing an agreement. It
invoIves persuasion and compromise, but in order to participate in either one, the negotiators must understand
the ways in which people are persuaded and how compromise is reached with in the culture of the n egotiati
on.
In many intern ati onal bus in ess n egotiati ons abroad, America ns are perceived as wealthy and impers on
al.
It
ofte
n
appears
to
the
foreig
n
n
egotiator
that
the
America
n
represe
nts
a
large
multi-million-dollar
corporation
that
can
afford
to
pay
the
price
without
bargaining
further.
The
American
negotiator
'
s
role
becomes that of an impersonal purveyor of information and cash.
In studies of American negotiators abroad, several traits have been identified that may serve to confirm this
stereotypical perception, while undermining the negotiator po
s
ition. Two traits in particular that cause cross-
cultural misun dersta nding are direct ness and impatie nee on the part of the American negotiator. Furthermore,
American negotiators often insist on realizing short-term goals. Foreig n n egotiators, on the other hand, may
value the relati on ship established betwee n n egotiators and may be willi ng to in vest time in it for Ion g-term
ben efits. In order to solidify the relatio nship, they may opt for in direct in teract ions without regard for the time
invo lved in gett ing to know the other n egotiator.
15