1、十二单元A Flawed GeniusDiego Armando Maradona was an excellent football player. He was a genius who sent football fans crazy with his ball skills and abilities. He was also a fierce nationalist, who shed tears for his country each time he failed to bring glory to Argentina. But for all this he made such
2、 a blunder of his personal life. Greatness did not lie easily on his head and drugs triggered his big fall.Yet his football skills had the divine touch that few could dream of. That is perhaps why Maradona declared that his hand that helped him score Argentinas first goal against England in 1986 was
3、 actually the “hand of God.“ But the truth was Maradonas second goal against England in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico seemed to have more of a godly touch about it. He picked up the ball from the side of his own half, skipped past challenge after challenge, showing magic displays and leaving sev
4、en English players behind. He was always appearing to be on the point of tumbling. Yet miraculously, he was able to retain his balance and kicked the ball into the corner of the net for a goal that could only be manufactured in heaven. It is perhaps the most famous goal of all time.Born in the slums
5、 of Buenos Aires, Maradona was to get noticed early for his supreme skills. Even as a 17-year-old he was being looked at as a genius. In 1977, a year before Argentina hosted the World Cup, Maradona had presented his quality in a match against Hungary. But his coach did not want Maradona to burn out
6、early on the world stage and did not consider him for the World Cup in 1978. In 1982 he got his first chance for the World Cup in Spain, but he lost his cool in the match against Brazil on being fouled and kicked at Batista to be sent out.Disappointed in 1978, disgraced in 1982, Maradona wrote a dre
7、am script in 1986 in Mexico and without fear of contradiction, it can be said he single-handedly helped Argentina regain the World Cup. Millions around the globe were witnesses to the heroics of this short, muscular and explosive player. Not since Pele had anyone dominated a World Cup as much as Mar
8、adona.But life after 1986 took a different curve for the genius. True he was to inspire Argentina once again to the final in 1990 but by then drugs had begun to lay hands on his life. From then on, the genius became more and more irritable and he met his lifes lowest point in the 1994 FIFA World Cup
9、 in the USA, when he had the disgrace of being taken away from the arena for a dope test. He tested positive for drugs and was expelled from the tournament. Finally the idol had fallen. 十三单元How Technology Affects UsFor the most part, technology has improved the quality of our lives. We live longer,
10、healthier lives. We have more goods and services. Machines have done away with drudgery and hard physical labor. We have more leisure time. However, we have not always taken the time to study fully the impact of each technology on our lives or our environment. No matter what the benefits of any new
11、technology, history shows that there is a cost for each advance.Usually we see the benefits immediately. We like new technology; it makes our lives easier or more funny. Once we have a new technology it is hard to imagine life without it. However, the costs of using a new technology may only become
12、known years after its introduction. For example, people have used chemicals such as DDT to increase food production. The chemicals killed unwanted insects that destroy crops. However, they also killed many birds, squirrels, cats and rabbits, etc. More recently, some of these chemicals have been foun
13、d to cause cancer in humans.Is there also a cost associated with television? The benefits deriving from this technology are easy to see. These include access to world news, live coverage of sports events, and famous celebrities to entertain us at home. What are the costs? What effect has television
14、had on family life? Do people read in groups or as individuals as they did in the past? Are viewers not affected by watching so much violence?Another cost of technology, often a very high one, is the unforeseen accident. Bhopal, a city in India, used to be a peaceful city. This peace ended on the ni
15、ght of December 2-3, 1984. A mysterious and deadly fog was discharged from a nearby pesticide factory. The fog was a toxic gas used in pesticide production. This cloud of gas changed the lives of more than 250,000 people; 2,000 of them died. Nobody knows exactly what effect the exposure will have on
16、 future generations.It is wise to be cautious about the introduction of a new technology. For example, society today is increasingly concerned about generation of electricity from nuclear fission. The experience of radioactivity that escaped into the atmosphere from Chernobyl and Three Mile Island h
17、as taught us a sobering lesson. The damage resulting from the accidents at Bhopal, Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island was immediately obvious. Equally serious but less obvious damage is occurring all around us. We should be all the more cautious. 十四单元Adapting to Life in AmericaMy parents were born in
18、mainland China and entered the US as students in the mid-1940s. When they had children, they were determined that we would better be assimilated into American society. This meant we lived our lives completely in the American way, including food, dress and language. We were never exposed to the Chine
19、se language and never attended any Chinese cultural events. In fact, I was so indoctrinated into being “American“ that I would avoid anything that was associated with being Chinese. But at the same time, no matter how “American“ we had tried to make ourselves, we were still aware that we were Chines
20、e, or at least different enough from being fully American.Now that times have changed, I find myself lost between countries and at a loss to explain myself. How can I be Chinese and not speak Chinese or know anything about its culture? How can I be American and look Chinese? My eldest son came home,
21、 protesting that his classmates told him that he was Chinese. I attempted to explain what is nationality and what is heritage, which is hard for a second grader to grasp. I came to realize that I at least had the advantage of having parents who were directly from China, thus making me immediately aw
22、are of the differences between Chinese and “American.“ My wife and I both were American-born and non-Chinese speaking. But my son does not have that advantage. He is never exposed to the Chinese language and very rarely to Chinese culture. He really doesnt know why people view him as Chinese! So now
23、 I find myself going out of my way to research and teach my child about what being a Chinese is. And I also begin searching for Chinese language schools that will take a child who is not exposed to spoken Chinese in the home. But this is a definite improvement over how life was for me just 30 years
24、ago when I was close to something that was not “American.“ It will be interesting to see how the next generation of Chinese Americans defines itself.My parents came to the US with no money. With scholarships offered by the US government, they were able to obtain degrees and become working profession
25、als. They managed to raise seven children and send them all to either MIT or Stanford. Yes, they had the advantage of education, but they certainly had their fair share of setbacks and sacrifices to get as far as they got. We can say their success in the US is a partial testament to what is possible
26、 in American society. Once I took my youngest son to a park where some older boys started taunting him with mock Chinese. I remained speechless, which, of course, was unfortunate. I now know that I should have confronted the older boys and let them know that what they were doing was actually hurtful
27、 and not just fun. When I was the target, I could walk away from it. Now that my own children are the targets, I need to become more proactive to at least offer some hope that the cycle of racism will someday be broken. 十五单元 My Grandma (Part One)“Were moving Grandma up to Ohio.“ My father announced.
28、 The words floated over the dinner table and then sank around us like a blanket. Grandma was not a typical cookie-baking, sweet old lady. In fact, Grandma was a terror who would probably blow her top at being called “Old Lady“ rather than “Grandma.“ I nodded and smiled at my parents. “Sure, Dad. I t
29、hink its a great idea.“Back in the 1960s, my paternal grandparents had moved from rural Iowa, where they had been born, grown up, married, raised a family and lived for nearly sixty years in small farming communities on the Minnesota border. It didnt seem like a bad idea at the time to retire to rur
30、al Arkansas. A lot of their friends were going there. It was warmer than Iowa and the winters werent so harsh. Three of their four boys were grown, out of the house and college, and were married, tax-paying, good citizens. The youngest was a teenager, and he would be gone soon. With nothing to stop
31、them, they moved to Arkansas, bought a house and began their new life.Fast forward to the late eighties, Grandma was nearly blind with macular degeneration and Grandpa was starting to show his age as well. Most of their friends were either dead or in just as bad shape. All of their children were sca
32、ttered to the four winds, living all over the continental United States. They were unable to make their yearly trek to visit their grandchildren and expected their own children to see them once a year, usually in August. Most of the grandchildren did not go to this reunion regularly or at all, as th
33、ey were in college or just starting out in life and the expense of going to Arkansas was too much.In 1994, my grandfather died. This was tragic in that he had been always a nice, loving grandfather. His sons and daughters-in-law might use other words to describe their father, but as a grandkid, I al
34、ways thought he was sweet. His death was also a tragedy for my grandmother. Not only was she losing her husband of nearly sixty years, but she was losing her “eyes,“ as Grandpa served to see things for her that she could not.The sons convened and all debated what should be done with “mom,“ but no co
35、nsensus could be reached. Grandma said, “Im fine,“ and no one had the will to disagree. One of the sons did not think she should be moved. “But she says shes fine,“ he kept saying, over and over, as if saying it would make it true. Finally, my dad and the other two sons were able to convince him tha
36、t something needed to be done. There was a brief mention of having her stay in our house, but this idea was quickly dismissed. We were not equipped to care for her. My father was traveling overseas 60% of the time. My mother worked. I was a full-time student and was working. My husband was also work
37、ing two jobs. Besides, Grandma made it clear again and again that she didnt want to be cared for. The best option, we all agreed, was to give her the measure of independence that she demanded, but to keep her close enough that we could visit her daily. It was decided that Grandma would move up to Oh
38、io in January and live in a senior assisted living facility, only two miles from our house. It had a kitchen, living room, bedroom and bath.Having not seen my grandmother since I was eighteen and a freshman in college, I was excited to start anew with her. I had already decided that I would visit he
39、r daily and read the newspaper to her, cook for her and get some of that “quality“ time that I hadnt got as a child. Also, I wanted desperately to love her. 第五单元 惟独不吃牛肉斯科特沙利文威廉昂德希尔由于对疯牛病的恐惧，欧洲消费者仍然对牛排和烤牛肉敬而远之。现在欧盟开始介入解决这一不再只是英国独有的问题。1整个星期，焦虑不安的消费者一直不断地给忙得不可开交的德国消费热线打电话询问“疯牛病”的情况：牛奶还能喝吗?(答：能。) 牛皮椅子坐了
40、会得病吗?(答：不会。) 在首先发生恐慌的伦敦，一家保险公司应消费者要求为那些担心得疯牛病的人提供了相应的人寿保险。黄金时代保险经营公司做出承诺：年度保险费为 40 英镑，一旦保险单持有者被诊断患有疯牛病，该公司将支付 4 万英镑保险金。英国和欧洲大陆的消费者一下对早春羊肉和素肉饼胃口大开。人们似乎什么都吃，惟独不吃牛肉。法国、西班牙、荷兰和比利时四国的牛肉销量骤跌了三分之一；在德国，牛肉的销量跌落了 40，屠宰场强令工人回家度假。本周世界卫生组织宣布在日内瓦召开紧急会议。2 在这场风暴的中心，英国首相约翰 梅杰遭到了各方面的指责和谩骂。首相宣称：“现在所发生的情况来自各个方面的歇斯底里其中有
41、媒体的，有反对党的，也有欧洲的。 ”然而，即使枉保守党内部也有人公开批评梅杰政府处理这次危机的方式欠妥。先前担任过卫生部长，现为国会托利党成员的埃德维纳卡里说：“梅氏策略说得好听些是愚蠢笨拙，而说得难听些则是祸国殃民。 ” 两周前，新闻媒体对疯牛病问题的透露使得卫生部长斯蒂芬多雷尔被迫匆匆向外界做出公告。3科学家已经发现 10 位患者由于新的克雅氏(疯牛) 病死亡或奄奄一息。这是一种罕见而致命的变性（渐衰性）脑病。更糟糕的是，科学家怀疑这种传染病可能源于感染了疯牛病的牛肉。在英国，这一消息令人惶恐不安，因为自 1985 年以来，英国已报导报道了 16 万例牛海绵状脑病。这一消息同样使其他欧洲国
42、家惊恐不安，因为他们所消费的牛肉近一半来自英国，而且仅 1995 年一年就从英国进口了多达 25 万多公吨的牛肉。4上周头两天，欧盟对英国牛肉及其副产品从凝胶到化妆品的出口，都实行了全面的查禁。梅杰暴怒，指责这一禁令是非法的，但他的怒号无济于事。国际上对英国牛肉的需求量儿乎降到了零，而禁令依然生效。德国和法国的农民和屠宰商联合会为之欢呼雀跃，因为多年来他们一直抱怨由于国家对英国农产品的进口他们被迫压价。他们很高兴英国卫生部的公告间接证明了他们的抱怨是有道理的。5到本周三，人们的看法开始有所改变。该禁令本旨在保护欧洲市场，使人们不用担心病牛牛肉的侵害。而公众则将此举措看作是官方确认了疯牛病的威胁
43、。欧洲的家庭主妇们不再买任何牛肉，无论是英国牛肉还是本国牛肉。法国总统雅克希拉克和德国总理赫尔穆特科尔电告梅杰，表示他们会支持他。科尔回想起十年前欧盟曾提供 3 亿美元帮助德国和比利时控制猪瘟的蔓延。去年欧洲农业基金获了意想不到的 50 亿美元的盈余，因此可以用其中的一些资金来补偿遭受牛肉损失的英国农民。在欧盟各政府会联席会召开前夕，这一决定的确让英国人感到了欧盟实实在在的用处。6星期五在都灵召开的大会上，欧洲大陆各国领导人把这次会议开成了主题为积极支持梅杰，支持英国同时也是支持牛肉（工业）的工作会议。此次会议几乎没有商务活动安排，因此各国领导人可以自行设定自己的议事日程。希拉克认为“没有任何
44、科学证据”表明疯牛痫会传染给人类。梅杰则更谨慎一些，他宣称英国牛肉“从一般意义上说是安全的” 。欧洲委员会主席雅克桑特呼吁“消费者恢复(对牛肉的) 自信心 ”，同时暗示对英国的牛肉出口禁令可能“很快”解除。其他领导人也指责风靡欧洲的“大众心理的极度恐慌” 。奥地利总理弗朗兹乌拉尼茨基在会议上开玩笑说：“我们真正要讨论的不是疯牛病，而是一些疯狂的记者。 ”7但是现实危机并不是小报胡编来的。相反，事态已经非常严重，一致参加会议的各国领导要筹集资金挽救（欧洲的）牛肉工业。他们从欧盟基金中特意拨出 25 亿美元以维持牛肉价格和补偿为了遏制疯牛病危机要杀死其牛群的英国农民。他们还预定在英国农业部长道格拉
45、斯霍格和欧洲委员会代表之间召开一系列全天会晤。其任务是拟订计划，尽快消除疯牛病以及尽快支付该工作所需费用。该计划本周应呈交给欧洲各农业部长联席会议讨沦，如果欧盟常设兽医委员会批准，英国牛肉禁运可望在数日内得到解除。8欧洲希望付出的金钱能够得到回报。欧盟农业委员会委员弗朗兹费希勒说道：“我们给的决不是空额支票（要多少钱就给多少钱） ，也不要以为我们只是等着给别人支付帐单。 ”上周英国作出了一些象征性的表示，宣布禁止将含有任何哺乳动物肉类或骨粉的东西用作牛饲料。人们认为英国疯牛病来源于使用了含有感染了痒病(一种类似的脑病) 的绵羊的残余物所做的饲料。这种饲料加工在 1998 年就停止了。此后，疯牛
46、病的发病率急剧下降。据报导，1994 年每月大约有 2000 例这种病，而到 1996 年，发病率仅每月大约 300 例。9每月仍有 300 例病牛的数字对欧洲人来说还是不能接受的。他们可能会要求英同农民更大量销毁肉牛，尤其是可能吃了感染了病毒的饲料的成年牛。上周英国政府提出，正在考虑处理将近 450 万头牛；有些官员还说要从英国将近 1200 万头肉牛和奶牛中宰杀一大批这是一项将耗资 100 亿英磅的巨大工程。如何处理这么多牛的尸体就是一项艰巨的任务。如果运到填埋场掩埋，可能会使饮用水资源受到危险病菌的污染。而在露天柴堆上烧毁，温度又达不到足够杀死昕行这些病原体的高度。最安全的方法是将这些牛
47、在火葬场焚毁，但整个英国仅有十处设施有执照获准对动物尸体进行焚毁。有人估计这些焚烧场要烧完这 1200 万头牛的尸体需要 70 年的时间。10即使是对英国牛群的这种有选择的屠杀，许多英国人也不赞同。 （英国）下院农业特别委员会主席杰里维金斯爵士抱怨说：“我们正在讨论的问题只是用纳税人的钱屠杀健康的动物，不是为了保护公众，而是借此重建他们的自信心。 ” 而科学政策研究室的埃里克米尔斯通说：“根本无法计算出究竟要把多少牛送往焚烧场才能够恢复人们的自信心。 ” 有些评论员认为屠杀牛群的概念本身就很荒谬。泰晤士报专栏作者西蒙詹金斯写道：“像一些原始部落那样我们牺牲自己的财物来抚慰愤怒的众神。 ”11奇
48、怪的是，欧洲人似乎并不愤怒。英国政府甚至没有对欧洲委员会提出一步的警告便在两周前公布了疯牛病的消息。许多欧洲人认为疯牛病在欧洲大陆蔓延，责任存于英国的牛，英国的饲料，还有英国人的粗心大意。继英国之后，瑞士成了疯牛病发病率最高的地区总计多达 200 例。但是与英国人不同，瑞士人采取了积极果断的措施来战胜疯牛病，诸如对饲料厂家进行实地检查。在法国和爱尔兰，一旦发现一例疯牛病，则会将所有的牛彻底销毁。尽管大家对牛肉仍有些忐忑不安，但是欧洲却继续进口牛肉，直到上周禁令下达为止。其他许多贸易伙伴对英国牛肉的态度却远没有这么友好。自 1989 年以来，疯牛病的威胁使美国果断地禁止了对英国牛肉的进口；同样，
49、澳大利亚自 1988 年以来就已禁止进口英国牛肉。12在都灵，欧盟领导人仍然在寻求解决疯牛病的办法；同时他们还带着自信的笑容、振振有词地劝阻那些消费者不要放弃牛肉。无论要销毁多少英国牛，欧洲的牛肉销售量也不能在短期内恢复到产生消费恐慌之前的水平；（换句话说）即使有这种可也需要很长时间。像许多美国人一样，近年来欧洲人已经大大减少了对牛肉的消费，而且疯牛病也许还会加剧这一趋势。即使这样，欧盟领导人仍然以乐观的情绪来继续这场保卫战。在都灵，希拉克告诉记者：“我们每位总统和总理都在津津有味地吃着牛肉呢!”18领导人在都灵举行盛宴和高谈阔论的同时，英国的科学家们发布了更多不好的消。另一例疯牛病暗示了一种新型的 CDJ（克雅氏症）产生的可能性，这使得现在死于疯牛病的人数达到 13 例之多。这位 29 岁的妇女 2 月份死于肯特郡的一家医院。需要做出进一步的检查来确认这一诊断的结粜。而与此同时，该医院的菜单上仍然保留着特色牛肉不过这哩的牛肉是从阿根廷进口的。第六单元 求婚，从过去到现在玛格丽特米德1那些中产阶级、受过教育，并在广播、电视、报纸等媒体方面占据主要位置的美国人是美国生活方式的典型代表。在他们中间，对待求婚与结婚的态度变化很大。求婚原来曾是美国人生活中的正常现象，恋爱的过程也很长
