00015自考英语教材课程(二)电子版

大学英语自学教程（下）

01-A. What Is a Decision?

A decision is a choice made from among alternative courses of action that are available. The purpose of making a decision is to establish and achieve organizational goals and objectives. The reason for making a decision is that a problem exists, goals or objectives are wrong, or something is standing in the way of accomplishing them.

Thus the decision-making process is fundamental to management. Almost everything a manager does involves decisions, indeed, some suggest that the management process is decision making. Although managers cannot predict the future, many of their decisions require that they consider possible future events. Often managers must make a best guess at what the future will be and try to leave as little as possible to chance, hut since uncertainty is always there, risk accompanies decisions. Sometimes the consequences of a poor decision are slight; at other times they are serious.

Choice is the opportunity to select among alternatives. If there is no choice, there is no decision to be made. Decision making is the process of choosing, and many decisions have a broad range of choice. For example, a student may be able to choose among a number of different courses in order to implement the decision to obtain a college degree. For managers, every decision has constraints based on policies, procedures, laws, precedents, and the like. These constraints exist at all levels of the organization.

Alternatives are the possible courses of action from which choices can be made. If there are no alternatives, there is no choice and, therefore, no decision. If no alternatives are seen, often it means that a thorough job of examining the problems has not been done. For example, managers sometimes treat problems in an either/or fashion; this is their way of simplifying complex problems. But the tendency to simplify blinds them to other alternatives.

At the managerial level, decision making includes limiting alternatives as well as identifying them, and the range is from highly limited to practically unlimited.

Decision makers must have some way of determining which of several alternatives is best -- that is, which contributes the most to the achievement of organizational goals. An 太好

organizational goal is an end or a state of affairs the organization seeks to reach. Because individuals (and organizations) frequently have different ideas about how to attain the goals, the best choice may depend on who makes the decision. Frequently, departments or units within an organization make decisions that are good for them individually but that are less than optimal for the larger organization. Called suboptimization, this is a trade-off that increases the advantages to one unit or function but decreases the advantages to another unit or function. For example, the marketing manager may argue effectively for an increased advertising budget. In the larger scheme of things, however, increased funding for research to improve the products might be more beneficial to the organization.

These trade-offs occur because there are many objectives that organizations wish to attain simultaneously. Some of these objectives are more important than others, but the order and degree of importance often vary from person to person and from department to department. Different managers define the same problem in different terms. When presented with a common case, sales managers tend to see sales problems, production managers see production problems, and so on.

The ordering and importance of multiple objectives is also based, in part, on the values of the decision maker. Such values are personal; they are hard to understand, even by the individual, because they are so dynamic and complex. In many business situations different people's values about acceptable degrees of risk and profitability cause disagreement about the correctness of decisions.

People often assume that a decision is an isolated phenomenon. But from a systems point of view, problems have multiple causes, and decisions have intended and unintended consequences. An organization is an ongoing entity, and a decision made today may have consequences far into the future. Thus the skilled manager looks toward the future consequences of current decisions.

-B. Secrets of Success at an Interview

The subject of today's talk is interviews.

The key words here are preparation and confidence, which will carry you far.

Do your homework first.

Find out all you can about the job you are applying for and the organization you hope to work for.

Many of the employers I interviewed made the same criticism of candidates. "They have no idea what the day to day work of the job brings about. They have vague notions of "furthering the company's prospects’ or of 'serving the com munity', but have never taken the trouble to find out the actual tasks they will be required to do.”

Do not let this be said of you. It shows an unattractive indifference to your employer and to your job.

Take the time to put yourself into the interviewer's place. He wants somebody who is hard-working with a pleasant personality and a real interest in the job.

Anything that you find out about the prospective employer can be used to your advantage during the interview to show that you have bothered to master some facts about the people who you hope to work for.

Write down (and remember) the questions you want to ask the interviewer(s) so that you are not speechless when they invite your questions. Make sure that holidays and pay are not the first things you ask about. If all your questions have been answered during the interview, reply: "In fact, I did have several questions, but you have already answered them all.”

Do not be afraid to ask for clarification of something that has been said during the interview if you want to be sure what was implied, but do be polite.

Just before you go to the interview, look again at the original advertisement that you answered, any correspondence from your prospective employer, photocopies of your letter of application or application form and your resume.

Then you will remember what you said and what they want. This is very important if you have applied for many jobs in a short time as it is easy to become confused and give an impression of inefficiency.

Make sure you know where and when you have to report for the interview. Go to the building (but not inside the office) a day or two before, if necessary, to find out how long the journey takes and where exactly the place is.

Aim to arrive five or ten minutes early for the actual interview, then you will have a little time in hand and you will not panic if you are delayed. You start at a disadvantage if you arrive worried and ten minutes late.

Dress in clean, neat, conservative clothes. Now is NOT the time to experiment with the punk look or (girls) to wear low-cut dresses with miniskirts. Make sure that your shoes, hands and hair (and teeth) are clean and neat.

Have the letter inviting you for an interview ready to show in case there is any difficulty in communication.

You may find yourself facing one interviewer or a panel. The latter is far more intimidating, but do not let it worry you too much. The interviewer will probably have a table in front of him/her. Do not put your things or arms on it.

If you have a bag or a case, put it on the floor beside your chair. Do not clutch it nervously or, worse still, drop it, spilling everything.

Shake hands if the interviewer offers his hand first. There is little likelihood that a panel of five wants to go though the process of all shaking hands with you in turn. So you do not be upset if no one offers.

Shake hands firmly -- a weak hand suggests a weak personality, and a crushing grip is obviously painful. Do not drop the hand as soon as yours has touched it as this will seem to show you do not like the other person.

Speak politely and naturally even if you are feeling shy. Think before you answer any questions.

If you cannot understand, ask: "Would you mind rephrasing the question, please?" The question will then be repeated in different words.

If you are not definitely accepted or turned down on the spot, ask: "When may I expect to hear the results of this interview?"

If you do receive a letter offering you the job, you must reply by letter (keep a photocopy) as soon as possible.

Good luck!

02-A. Black Holes

What is a black hole? Well, it's difficult to answer this question, since the terms we would normally use to describe a scientific phenomenon are inadequate here. Astronomers and scientists think that a black hole is a region of space (not a thing ) into which matter has fallen and from which nothing can escape ?not even light. So we can't see a black hole. A black hole exerts a strong gravitational pull and yet it has no matter. It is only space -- or so we think. How can this happen?

The theory is that some stars explode when their density increases to a particular point; they collapse and sometimes a supernova occurs. From earth, a supernova looks like a very bright light in the sky which shines even in the daytime. Supernovae were reported by astronomers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Some people think that the Star of Bethlehem could have been a supernova. The collapse of a star may produce a White Dwarf or a neutron star -- a star, whose matter is so dense that it continually shrinks by the force of its own gravity. But if the star is very large (much bigger than our sun) this process of shrinking may be so intense that a black hole results. Imagine the earth reduced to the size of a marble, but still having the same mass and a stronger gravitational pull, and you have some idea of the force of a black hole. Any matter near the black hole is sucked in. It is impossible to say what happens inside a black hole. Scientists have called the boundary area around the hole the "event horizon." We know nothing about events which happen once objects pass this boundary. But in theory, matter must behave very differently inside the hole.

For example, if a man fell into a black hole, he would think that he reached the center of it very quickly. However an observer at the event horizon would think that the man never reached the center at all. Our space and time laws don't seem to apply to objects in the area of a black hole. Einstein's relativity theory is the only one which can explain such phenomena. Einstein claimed that matter and energy are interchangeable, so that there is no "absolute" time and space. There are no constants at all, and measurements of time and space depend on the position of the observer. They are relative. We do not yet fully understand the implications of the relativity theory; but it is interesting that Einstein's theory provided a basis for the idea of black holes

before astronomers started to find some evidence for their existence. It is only recently that astronomers have begun specific research into black holes. In August 1977, a satellite was launched to gather data about the 10 million black holes which are thought to be in the Milky Way. And astronomers are planning a new observatory to study the individual exploding stars believed to be black holes,

The most convincing evidence of black holes comes frown research into binary star systems. Binary stars, as their name suggests, are twin stars whose position in space affects each other. In some binary systems, astronomers have shown that there is an invisible companion star, a "partner" to the one which we can see in the sky. Matter from the one which we can see is being pulled towards the companion star. Could this invisible star, which exerts such a great force, be a black hole? Astronomers have evidence of a few other stars too, which might have black holes as companions.

The story of black holes is just beginning. Speculations about them. are endless. There might be a massive black hole at the center of our galaxy swallowing up stars at a very rapid rate. Mankind may one day meet this fate. On the other hand, scientists have suggested that very advanced technology could one day make use of the energy of black holes for mankind. These speculations sound like science fiction. But the theory of black holes in space is accepted by many serious scientists and astronomers. They show us a world which operates in a totally different way from our own and they question our most basic experience of space and time.

02-B. Worlds within Worlds

First of all let us consider the earth (that is to say, the world) as a planet revolving round the sun. The earth is one of nine planets which move in orbit round the sun. These nine planets, together with the sun, make up what is called our solar system. How this wonderful system started and what kept it working with such wonderful accuracy is largely a mystery but astronomers tell us that it is only one of millions of similar systems in space, and one of the smallest.

The stars which we see glittering in the sky on a dark and cloudless night are almost

certainly the suns of other solar systems more or less like our own, but they are so far away in space that it is unlikely that we shall ever get to know very much about them. About our own solar system, however, we are learning more every day.

Before the American and Russian astronauts made their thrilling journeys into outer space it was difficult for us to realise what our earth looked like from hundreds of thousands of miles away, but the photographs which the astronauts were able to take show us the earth in space looking not very different from what the moon looks like when we look at it from the earth. The earth is, however, very different from the moon, which the American astronauts have found to be without life or vegetation, whereas our earth is very much alive in every respect. The moon, by the way, is called a satellite because it goes round our earth as well as round the sun. In other words, it goes round the sun with our earth.

The surface of our earth is covered by masses of land and larger areas of water. Let us consider the water areas first. The total water area is about three times as large as the land area. The very large separate areas of water are called "oceans” and the lesser areas are called "seas.”

In most of the oceans and seas some of the water is found to be flowing in a particular direction -- that is to say, from one part towards another part of the ocean or sea concerned. The water which is flowing in this manner is said to be moving as a "current." There are many thousands of currents in the waters of the oceans and seas, but only certain of the stronger and better marked currents are specially named and of great importance. These currents are important because they affect the climate of the land areas close to where they flow and also because they carry large quantities of microscopic animal and vegetable life which forms a large part of the food for fishes.

The nature and characteristics of the surface of the land areas of the earth vary a great deal from area to area and from place to place. The surface of some areas consists largely of high mountains and deep valleys whilst, in other areas, most of the surface consists of plains. If one made a journey over the Continents one would find every kind of surface including mountain ranges, plains, plateaux, deserts, tropical forestlands and empty areas covered permanently by ice and snow.

When thinking and learning about the world we should not forget that our world is the home of a very great many different people -- peoples with different coloured skins, living very

different lives and having very different ideas about a great many important things such as religion, government, education and social behaviour.

The circumstances under which different people live make a great difference between the way in which they live and the way in which we live, and it ought to be our business to try to understand those different circumstances so that we can better understand people of other lands. Above all, we should avoid deciding what we think about people different from ourselves without first having learned a great deal about them and the kind of lives they have to live. It is true to say that the more we learn about other people, the better we understand their ideas and, as a rule, the better we like those people themselves.

03-A. Euthanasia: For and Against

"We mustn't delay any longer ... swallowing is difficult ... and breathing, that's also difficult. Those muscles are weakening too ... we mustn't delay any longer.”

These were the words of Dutchman Cees van Wendel de Joode asking his doctor to help him die. Affected with a serious disease, van Wendel was no longer able to speak clearly and he knew there was no hope of recovery and that his condition was rapidly deteriorating.

Van Wendel's last three months of life before being given a final, lethal injection by his doctor were filmed and first shown on television last year in the Netherlands. The programme has since been bought by 20 countries and each time it is shown, it starts a nationwide debate on the subject.

The Netherlands is the only country in Europe which permits euthanasia, although it is not technically legal there. However, doctors who carry out euthanasia under strict guidelines introduced by the Dutch Parliament two years ago are usually not prosecuted. The guidelines demand that the patient is experiencing extreme suffering, that there is no chance of a cure, and that the patient has made repeated requests for euthanasia. In addition to this, a second doctor must confirm that these criteria have been met and the death must be reported to the police department.

Should doctors be allowed to take the lives of others? Dr. Wilfred van Oijen, Cees van Wendel's doctor, explains how he looks at the question:

"Well, it's not as if I'm planning to murder a crowd of people with a machine gun. In that case, killing is the worst thing I can imagine. But that's entirely different from my work as a doctor. I care for people and I try to ensure that they don't suffer too much. That's a very different thing.”

Many people, though, are totally against the practice of euthanasia. Dr. Andrew Ferguson, Chairman of the organisation Healthcare Opposed to Euthanasia, says that "in the vast majority of euthanasia cases, what the patient is actually asking for is something else. They may want a health professional to open up communication for them with their loved ones or family -- there's nearly always another question behind the qu estion.”

Britain also has a strong tradition of hospices -- special hospitals which care only for the dying and their special needs. Cicely Saunders, President of the National Hospice Council and a founder member of the hospice movement, argues that euthanasia doesn't take into account that there are ways of caring for the dying. She is also concerned that allowing euthanasia would undermine the need for care and consideration of a wide range of people: "It's very easy in society now for the elderly, the disabled and the dependent to feel that they are burdens, and therefore that they ought to opt out. I think that anything that legally allows the shortening of life does make those people more vulnerable.”

Many find this prohibition of an individual's right to die paternalistic. Although they agree that life is important and should be respected, they feel that the quality of life should not be ignored. Dr. van Oijen believes that people have the fundamental right to choose for themselves if they want to die: "What those people who oppose euthanasia are telling me is that dying people haven't the right. And that when people are very ill, we are all afraid of their death. But there are situations where death is a friend. And in those cases, why not?

But "why not?" is a question which might cause strong emotion. The film showing Cees van Wendel's death was both moving and sensitive. His doctor was clearly a family friend; his wife had only her husband's interests at heart. Some, however, would argue that it would be dangerous to use this particular example to support the case for euthanasia. Not all patients would receive such a high level of individual care and attention.

03-B. Advantage Unfair

According to the writer Walter Ellis, author of a book called the Oxbridge Conspiracy, Britain is still dominated by the old-boy network: it isn't what you know that matters, but who you know. He claims that at Oxford and Cambridge Universities (Oxbridge for short) a few select people start on an escalator ride which, over the years, carries them to the tops of British privilege and power. His research revealed that the top professions all continue to be dominated, if not 90 per cent, then 60 or 65 per cent, by Oxbridge graduates.

And yet, says Ellis, Oxbridge graduates make up only two per cent of the total number of students who graduate from Britain's universities. Other researches also seem to support his belief that Oxbridge graduates start with an unfair advantage in the employment market. In the law, a recently published report showed that out of 26 senior judges appointed to the High Court last year, all of them went to private schools and 21 of them went to Oxbridge.

But can this be said to amount to a conspiracy? Not according to Dr. John Rae, a former headmaster of one of Britain's leading private schools, Westminster:

"I would accept that there was a bias in some key areas of British life, but that bias has now gone. Some time ago -- in the 60s and before ?entry to Oxford and Cambridge was not entirely on merit. Now, there's absolutely no question in any objective observer's mind that, entry to Oxford and Cambridge is fiercely competitive."

However, many would disagree with this. For, although over three-quarters of British pupils are educated in state schools, over half the students that go to Oxbridge have been to private, or "public" schools. Is this because pupils from Britain's private schools are more intelligent than those from state schools, or are they simply better prepared?

On average, about $ 5,000 a year is spent on each private school pupil, more than twice the amount spent on state school pupils. So how can the state schools be expected to compete with the private schools when they have far fewer resources? And how can they prepare their pupils for the special entrance exam to Oxford University, which requires extra preparation, and for which many public school pupils traditionally stay at school and do an additional term?

Until recently, many blamed Oxford for this bias because of the university's special entrance exam (Cambridge abolished its entrance exam in 1986). But last February, Oxford University decided to abolish the exam to encourage more state school applicants. From autumn 1996, Oxford University applicants, like applicants to other universities, will be judged only on their A level results and on their performance at interviews, although some departments might still set special tests.

However, some argue that there's nothing wrong in having elite places of learning, and that by their very nature, these places should not be easily accessible. Most countries are run by an elite and have centres of academic excellence from which the elite are recruited. Walter Ellis accepts that this is true:

"But in France, for example, there are something like 40 equivalents of university, which provide this elite through a much broader base. In America you've got the Ivy League, centred on Harvard and Yale, with Princeton and Stanford and others. But again, those universities together -- the elite universities -- are about ten or fifteen in number, and are being pushed along from behind by other great universities like, for example, Chicago and Berkeley. So you don't have just this narrow concentration of two universities providing a constantly replicating elit e.”

When it comes to Oxford and Cambridge being elitist because of the number of private school pupils they accept, Professor Stone of Oxford University argues that there is a simple fact he and his associates cannot ignore:

"If certain schools do better than others then we just have to accept it. We cannot be a place for remedial education. It's not what Oxford is there to do.”

However, since academic excellence does appear to be related to the amount of money spent per pupil, this does seem to imply that Prime Minister John Major's vision of Britain as a classless society is still a long way off. And it may be worth remembering that while John Major didn't himself go to Oxbridge, most of his ministers did.

04-A. Slavery on Our Doorstep

There are estimated to be more than 20,000 overseas domestic servants working in Britain

(the exact figure is not known because the Home Office, the Government department that deals with this, does not keep statistics). Usually, they have been brought over by foreign businessmen, diplomats or Britons returning from abroad. Of these 20,000, just under 2,000 are being exploited and abused by their employers, according to a London-based campaigning group which helps overseas servants working in Britain.

The abuse can take several forms. Often the domestics are not allowed to go out, and they do not receive any payment. They can be physically, sexually and psychologically abused. And they can have their passports removed, making leaving or "escaping" virtually impossible.

The sad condition of women working as domestics around the world received much media attention earlier this year in several highly publicised cases. In one of them, a Filipino maid was executed in Singapore after being convicted of murder, despite protests from various quarters that her guilt had not been adequately established. Groups like Anti-Slavery International say other, less dramatic, cases are equally deserving of attention, such as that of Lydia Garcia, a Filipino maid working in London:

"I was hired by a Saudi diplomat directly from the Philippines to work in London in 1989.

I was supposed to be paid $ 120 but I never received that amount. They always threatened that they would send me back to my country.”

Then there is the case of Kumari from Sri Lanka. The main breadwinner in her family, she used to work for a very low wage at a tea factory in Sri Lanka. Because she found it difficult to feed her four children, she accepted a job working as a domestic in London. She says she felt like a prisoner at the London house where she worked:

"No days off -- ever, no breaks at all, no proper food. I didn't have my own room; I slept on a shelf with a spad0 of only three feet above me. I wasn't allowed to talk to anybody. I wasn't even allowed to open the window. My employers always threatened to report me to the Home Office or the police.”

At the end of 1994 the British Government introduced new measures to help protect domestic workers from abuse by their employers. This included increasing the minimum age of employees to 18, getting employees to read and, understand an advice leaflet, getting employers to agree to provide adequate maintenance and conditions, and to put in writing the main terms and conditions of the job (of which the employees should see a copy).

However, many people doubt whether this will successfully reduce the incidence of abuse. For the main problem facing overseas maids and domestics who try to complain about cruel living and working conditions is that they do not have independent immigrant status and so cannot change employer. (They are allowed in the United Kingdom under a special concession in the immigration rules which allows foreigners to bring domestic staff with them.) So if they do complain, they risk being deported.

Allowing domestic workers the freedom to seek the same type of work but with a different employer, if they so choose, is what groups like Anti-Slavery International are campaigning the Government for. It is, they say, the right to change employers which distinguishes employment from slavery.

04-B. Return of The Chain Gang

Eyewitnesses say it was a scene straight out of a black and white movie from the 1950s. As the sun rose over the fields of Huntsville, Alabama, in the American South, the convicts got down from the trucks that had brought them there. Watched over by guards with guns, they raised their legs in unison and made their way to the edge of the highway, Interstate 65. The BBC's Washington correspondent Clare Bolderson was there and she sent this report: "They wore white uniforms with the words "Chain Gang' on their backs and, in groups of five, were shackled together in leg irons joined by an eight-foot chain. The prisoners will work for up to 90 days on the gang: they'll clear ditches of weeds and mend fences along Alabama's main roads. While they are working on the gang, they抣l also live in some of the harshest prison conditions in the United States. There'll be no televisions or phone calls; many other day-to-day privileges will be denied.”

The authorities in Alabama say there is a lot of support for the re-introduction of chain gangs in the State after a gap of 30 years (the last gangs were abolished in Georgia in the early 1960s). Many people believe it is an effective way to get criminals to pay back their debt to society.

The prisoners stay shackled when they use toilets. They reacted sharply to the treatment they are given:

Prisoner one: "This is like a circus. A zoo. All chained here to a zoo. We're all animals now."

Prisoner two: "It's degrading. It's embarrassing.”

Prisoner three: "In chains. It's slavery!"

Six out of every ten prisoners in chains are black, which is why the chain gangs call up images of slavery in centuries gone by, when black people were brought from Africa in leg irons and made to work in plantations owned by white men. Not surprisingly, although three-quarters of the white population of Alabama supports chain gangs, only a small number of black people do. Don Claxton, spokesman for the State Government of Alabama, insists that the system is not racist:

"This isn't something that's done for racial reasons, for political reasons. This is something that's going to help save the people of Alabama tax money because they don't have to pay as many officers to work on the highways. And it's going to help clean up our highways and it's going to help c lean up the State.”

However, the re-introduction of these measures has caused a great deal of strong disagreement. Human rights organizations say that putting prisoners in chains is not only inhumane but also ineffective. Alvin Bronstein, member of the Civil Liberties Union, says that study after study has shown that you cannot prevent people from committing crimes by punishment or the threat of punishment: "What they will do is make prisoners more angry, more hostile, so that when they get out of prison, they will increase the level of their criminal behaviour.”

Civil liberties groups say that chaining people together doesn't solve the causes of crime, such as poverty or disaffection within society. What it does is punish prisoners for the ills of society. They say the practice takes the United States back to the Middle Ages, and that it is a shame to American society. But that抯not an argument likely to win favour among many people in the Deep South of the United States. Alabama's experiment is to be widened to include more prisoners, and other States, such as Arkansas and Arizona, will very probably introduce their own chain gang schemes.

05-A. The New Music

The new music was built out of materials already in existence: blues, rock'n'roll, folk music. But although the forms remained, something completely new and original was made out of these older elements -- more original, perhaps, than even the new musicians themselves yet realize. The transformation took place in 1966--1967. Up to that time, the blues had been an essentially black medium. Rock'n'roll, a blues derivative, was rhythmic dance music. Folk music, old and modern, was popular among college students. The three forms remained musically and culturally distinct, and even as late as 1965, none of them were expressing any radically new states of consciousness. Blues expressed black soul; rock was the beat of youthful energy; and folk music expressed anti-war sentiments as well as love and hope.

In 1966 -- 1967 there was spontaneous transformation. In the United States, it originated with youthful rock groups playing in San Francisco. In England, it was led by the Beatles, who were already established as an extremely fine and highly individual rock group. What happened, as well as it can be put into words, was this. First, the separate musical traditions were brought together. Bob Dylan and the Jefferson Airplane played folk rock, folk ideas with a rock beat. White rock groups began experimenting with the blues. Of course, white musicians had always played the blues, but essentially as imitators of the Negro style; now it began to be the white bands’ own music. And all of the groups moved towards a broader eclecticism and synthesis. They freely took over elements from jazz, from American country music, and as time went on from even more diverse sources. What developed was a music readily taking on various forms and capable of an almost limitless range of expression.

The second thing that happened was that all the musical groups began using the full range of electric instruments and the technology of electronic amplifiers. The electric guitar was an old instrument, but the new electronic effects were altogether different -- so different that a new listener in 1967 might well feel that there had never been any sounds like that in the world before. Electronics did, in fact, make possible sounds that no instrument up to that time could produce. And in studio recordings, new techniques made possible effects that not even an electronic band could produce live. Electronic amplifiers also made possible a fantastic increase in volume, the music becoming as loud and penetrating as the human ear could stand, and

thereby achieving a "total" effect, so that instead of an audience of passive listeners, there were now audiences of total participants, feeling the music in all of their senses and all of their bones.

Third, the music becomes a multi-media experience; a part of a total environment. The walls of the ballrooms were covered with changing patterns of light, the beginning of the new art of the light show. And the audience did not sit, it danced. With records at home, listeners imitated these lighting effects as best they could, and heightened the whole experience by using drugs. Often music was played out of doors, where nature provided the environment.

05-B. Different Types of Composers

I can see three different types of composers in musical history, each of whom creates music in a somewhat different fashion.

The type that has fired public imagination most is that of the spontaneously inspired composer -- the Franz Schubert type, in other words. All composers are inspired, of course, but this type is more spontaneously inspired. Music simply wells out of him. He can't get it down on paper fast enough. You can almost tell this type of composer by his fruitful output. In certain months, Schubert wrote a song a day. Hugo Wolf did the same.

In a sense, men of this kind begin not so much with a musical theme as with a completed composition. They invariably work best in the shorter forms. It is much easier to improvise a song than it is to improvise a symphony. It isn't easy to be inspired in that spontaneous way for long periods at a stretch. Even Schubert was more successful in handling the shorter forms of music. The spontaneously inspired man is only one type of composer, with his own limitations.

Beethoven belongs to the second type -- the constructive type, one might call it. This type serves as an example of my theory of the creative process in music better than any other, because in this case the composer really does begin with a musical theme. In Beethoven's case there is no doubt about it, for we have the notebooks in which he put the themes down. We can see from his notebooks how he worked over his themes -- how he would not let them be until they were as perfect as he could make them. Beethoven was not a spontaneously inspired composer in the Schubert sense at all. He was the type that begins with a theme; makes it a preliminary idea; and

upon that composes a musical work, day after day, in painstaking fashion. Most composers since Beethoven's day belong to this second type.

The third type of composer I can only call, for lack of a better name, the traditionalist type. Men like Palestrina and Bach belong in this category. They both are characteristic of the kind of composer who is born in a particular period of musical history, when a certain musical style is about to reach its fullest development. It is a question at such a time of creating music in a well-known and accepted style and doing it in a way that is better than anyone has done it before you.

The traditionalist type of composer begins with a pattern rather than with a theme. The creative act with Palestrina is not the thematic conception so much as the personal treatment of a well-established pattern. And even Bach, who composed forty-eight of the most various and inspired themes in his Well Tempered Clavichord, knew in advance the general formal mold that they were to fill. It goes without saying that we are not living in a traditionalist period nowadays.

One might add, for the sake of completeness, a fourth type of composer -- the pioneer type: men like Gesualdo in the seventeenth century, Moussorgsky and Berlioz in the nineteenth, Debussy and Edgar Varese in the twentieth. It is difficult to summarize the composing methods of so diversified a group. One can safely say that their approach to composition is the opposite of the traditionalist type. They clearly oppose conventional solutions of musical problems. Inmany ways, their attitude is experimental ?they seek to add new harmonies, new sonorities, new formal principles. The pioneer type was the characteristic one at the turn of the seventeenth century and also at the beginning of the twentieth century, but it is much less evident today.

06-A. Improving Industrial Efficiency through Robotics

Robots, becoming increasingly prevalent in factories and industrial plants throughout the developed world, are programmed and engineered to perform industrial tasks without human intervention.

Most of today's robots are employed in the automotive industry, where they are programmed to take over such jobs as welding and spray painting automobile and truck bodies.

They also load and unload hot, heavy metal forms used in machines casting automobile and truck frames.

Robots, already taking over human tasks in the automotive field, are beginning to be seen, although to a lesser degree, in other industries as well. There they build electric motors, small appliances, pocket calculators, and even watches. The robots used in nuclear power plants handle the radioactive materials, preventing human personnel from being exposed to radiation. These are the robots responsible for the reduction in job-related injuries in this new industry.

What makes a robot a robot and not just another kind of automatic machine? Robots differ from automatic machines in that after completion of one specific task, they can be reprogrammed by a computer to do another one. As an example, a robot doing spot welding one month can be reprogrammed and switched to spray painting the next. Automatic machines, on the other hand, are not capable of many different uses; they are built to perform only one task.

The next generation of robots will be able to see objects, will have a sense of touch, and will make critical decisions. Engineers skilled in microelectronics and computer technology are developing artificial vision for robots. With the ability to "see", robots can identify and inspect one specific class of objects out of a stack of different kinds of materials. One robot vision system uses electronic digital cameras containing many rows of light-sensitive materials. When light from an object such as a machine part strikes the camera, the sensitive materials measure the intensity of light and convert the light rays into a range of numbers. The numbers are part of a grayscale system in which brightness is measured in a range of values. One scale ranges from 0 to 15, and another from 0 to 255. The 0 is represented by black. The highest number is white. The numbers in between represent different shades of gray. The computer then makes the calculations and converts the numbers into a picture that shows an image of the object in question. It is not yet known whether robots will one day have vision as good as human vision. Technicians believe they will, but only after years of development.

Engineers working on other advances are designing and experimenting with new types of metal hands and fingers, giving robots a sense of touch. Other engineers are writing new programs allowing robots to make decisions such as whether. to discard defective parts in finished products. To do this, the robot will also have to be capable of identifying those defective parts.

自考《英语二》2012版 课程代码00015 课文英汉对照

Unit 1 The Power of Language Text A Pre-reading Questions 1.Do you usually challenge the idea an author represents? What do you think is active reading? 2.What suggestions do you expect the author will give on reading critically? Critical Reading Critical reading applies to non-fiction writing in which the author puts forth a position or seeks to make a statement. Critical reading is active reading. It involves more than just understanding what an author is saying. Critical reading involves questioning and evaluating what the author is saying ,and forming your own opinions about what the author is saying. Here are the things you should do to be a critical reader. 批判性阅读 批判性阅读适合于那种作者提出一个观点或试图陈述一个说法的纪实类写作。批判性阅读是积极阅读。它不仅仅包括理解作者说了些什么，还包括质疑和评价作者的话，并对此形成自己的观点。成为一名批判性阅读者需要做到以下几点。 Consider the context of what is written. You may be reading something that was written by an author from a different cultural context than yours. Or, you may be reading something written some time ago in a different time context than yours. In either case, you must recognize and take into account any differences between your values and attitudes and those represented by the author. 考虑写作背景。你所读的可能是与你有不同文化背景的人所写的，或者是与你有不同时代背景的人多年以前所写的。无论哪种情况，你都必须注意并考虑你的价值观和态度与作者所代表的价值观和态度有何不同。 Question assertion s made by the author. Don’t accept what is written at face value. Before accepting what is written, be certain that the author provides sufficient support for any assertions made. Look for facts, examples, and statistics that provide support. Also, look to see if

00015英语二课文精讲讲义(4)

00015英语二课文精讲讲义（Unit4） Unit 4 The Joy of Work (工作的快乐) Text A Work is Blessing(工作是福) 共7个自然段，领读课文和单词。 一：本课重点词汇讲解，学习 1.blessing: n好事；动词：bless: v 祝福，保佑 如：1). The rain will be a blessing for the farmers. 2). May God bless you with a long life! https://www.docsj.com/doc/6e1269727.html,plain: v 抱怨，埋怨；名词：complaint 如：1). I’m going to complain to the manager about this. 2). The most common complaint is about poor service. https://www.docsj.com/doc/6e1269727.html,mitted: adj 尽心尽力的，坚定的；动词：commit犯罪，做错事；承诺，使…承担义务如：1). I have never committed any crime. 2). I would like to commit myself to teaching all my life. 3). She is a committed policewoman. 4.remind: v提醒; reminder: n 提醒物 如：Will you please remind me of his name? 5.victim: n 受害者，牺牲品 如：He said the female victim was his girlfriend。 6.terrorism: n 恐怖主义；terrorist: 恐怖分子 7.depression: n 萧条，不景气，萎靡不振，沮丧。 如：1). She suffered from severe depression after losing her job. 2). He never forgot the hardships he witnessed during the Great Depression （经

00015英语二2018年10月真题及答案

2018年10月高等教育自学考试全国统一命题考试 英语(二) 试卷 (课程代码00015) 本试卷共8页。满分l00分，考试时间l50分钟。 考生答题注意事项： 1.本卷所有试题必须在答题卡上作答。答在试卷上无效，试卷空白处和背面均可作草稿纸。 2.第一、二部分在“选择题答题区”作答。必须对应试卷上的题号使用2B铅笔将“答题卡的相应代码涂黑。 3.第三一七部分在“非选择题更真题资料请咨询Q或微信28225803答题区”作答。必须注明大、小题号，使用0．5毫米黑色字迹签字笔作答。 4．合理安排答题空间，超出答题区域无效。 第一部分：阅读判断(第l～l0题，每题l分，共10分) 下面的短文后列出了10个句子，请根据短文的内容对每个句子作出判断：如果 该句提供的是正确信息，选择A；如果该旬提供的是错误信息，选择B；如果该句的信息文中没有提及，选择C。在答题卡相应位置上将答案选项涂黑。

第二部分：阅渎选择(第11～15题，每题2分，共l0分) 阅渎下面短文，请从短文后所给各题的4个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出1个最佳选项，并在答题卡相应位置上将该项涂黑。

第三部分：概括段落大意和补全句子(第16～25题，每题l分，共10分) 阅读下面短文，请完成短文后的2项测试任务：(1)从第l6～20题后所给的6个选项中为第1～5段每段选择1个正确的小标题；(2)从第21～25题后所给的6个选项中选择5个正确选项，分别完成每个句子。请将正确选项的字母写在答题卡上。

第四部分：填句补文(第26～30题，每题2分，共10分) 下面的短文有5处空自，短文后有6个句子，其中5个取自短文，请根据短文内容将其分别放回原有位置，以恢复文章原貌，请将正确选项的字母写在答题卡上。

山东自考(00015)英语二课文翻译

Unit 1 Text A How Difficult Is English? 英语有多难 Like the national push for Asian literacy in Australia，there has been foreign languages fervor in China，with English on top of the list. English is not only taught at schools，colleges and universities，but also at evening classes，on radio and TV．Parents hire private tutors for their school children；adult English learners would sacrifice the weekend at an English corner in a public park practicing their spoken English with peop1e of the same interest and determination .Is English such a difficult language that it really demands people to invest a large amount of time and energy before it is mastered ? The answer，if I am asked to offer，is undoubtedly，yes. 就如澳大利亚在全国推行学亚洲语言一样，中国也掀起一股外语热，在这股热潮中，英语高居榜首.不仅各级学校教英语，夜校、电台、电视台也都设有英语课程。父母为学龄的孩子聘请英语家教，成年英语学习者会牺牲周末休息日，到公园参加英语角，与志趣相投的英语学习者练习口语。英语真的有这么难，需要人们投入大量的时间和精力才能掌握吗? 如果我被问及这个问题，那么毫无疑问，我的答案是：是的。 From my personal experience, I think learning English means far more than learning its pronunciation，its grammatical rules，its words，etc．It involves learning everything about the countries where it is used and the people who use it．Without such a complete understanding of the language, the English a foreigner speaks will inevitably sound strange or even unintelligible though there is not anything wrong with his pronunciation，sentence structure and the words he uses． 从我个人的经验来看，英语学习不仅仅是学习英语发音、语法规则、词汇等，它包括学习与使用该语言的国家和民族有关的所有内容。对英语没有这样全面的理解，即使发音、句子结构、措辞毫无错误，一个外国人所讲的英语也难免听起来稀奇古怪甚至难以理解。 The social customs and habits of the English-speaking people contribute a lot to the difficulty a foreigner has in learning it．Take the Chinese English learners for example．" Hello "and "Good morning" may sound a little bit simple to Chinese people．It is totally beyond the understanding of a Chinese English learner that native English speakers would be annoyed when they're addressed "Where are you going?"，which is a commonly used addressing among the Chinese．Is there anything wrong with the English sentence structure ? Of course not．It takes quite some time for a Chinese English learner to understand the western concept of privacy being violated in this address. By the same token，"Have you eaten?"(which is another addressing term the Chinese people usually use)will sound to native English speakers that the Chinese are so hospitable that they invite people to meals off-handedly. Meanwhile，the Chinese would be shocked to hear，"Oh，it's very nice of you．When?"，if the addressee happens to have a craving for Chinese cooking and has not had his dinner yet. 讲英语民族者的社会风俗习惯增加了外国人学习英语的难度。以学英语的中国人为例，"你好"和"早上好"是非常简单的。"你去哪儿?"是中国人常用的问候语，若英语母语者被问及"你去哪儿?"，他们会因此感到不悦，这一点让中国的英语学习者大为不解。这个英语句子结构不对吗? 当然不是。学英语的中国人得费点儿时间才能理解这一问候语侵犯了西方人的隐私。同样，英语母语者听到"你吃了吗?"(中国人常用的另外一个问候语)，会觉得中国人非常好客，会在事先毫无准备的情况下请人吃饭。如果听话者此刻正希望品尝一下中国美食，又碰巧没有吃饭，他会回答"太好了，什么时候?"，中国人为此也会大吃一惊。 "We can say we are going to have chicken for dinner．Why can't we say pig，bull or sheep for dinner instead of pork，beef or mutton?" Chinese English learners may raise such questions．Figuring out the reasons for the peculiar English vocabulary is no easy task for Chinese English learners．But the problem is that memorizing English words mechanically would be devastating and inefficient if they did not know what had happened in British history．Thus learning English(and other languages as well)involves learning the history of the countries where it is spoken．A task of this kind is more difficult for Chinese English learners than for people who speak a western language other than English because Chinese has nothing in common with the alphabetic English and China had little contact with the Western world in modern history．Consequently， the background knowledge of English fascinates large numbers of interested and determined English learners in China but at the same time disheartens quite a few． 中国的英语学习者可能会这样问："我 们可以说吃鸡，为什么不能说吃猪、 吃牛、吃羊，而要说吃猪肉、牛肉、 羊肉呢?"对学习英语的中国人来说，为 这些特殊的英语词汇找出理由并非易 事。问题在于如果不懂英国历史，死 记硬背英语单词毫无效率。所以说， 学英语(其他语言亦如此)还包括学习 使用该语言国家的历史知识。学习英 语的中国人要做到这一点比其他非英 语国家的西方人要困难得多，因为汉 字和英语这种拼音文字毫无共同之 处，并且中国和西方世界在近代史上 很少接触。所以，在中国，英语背景 知识既吸引了大量英语爱好者，也使 许多人丧失信心。 The Western and Oriental values are found to be in confrontation in learning English．Native English speakers may complain about Chinese confusion when using "he" and "she"，for the two words sound the same，though，different in written forms in Chinese．As a result， some native English speakers conclude that the Chinese are unable to tell the difference between the two sexes．But native English speakers are more gender blind than the Chinese when they mention their cousins．The confusion caused by the confrontation of Western and Chinese values，to a certain extent， affects the Chinese English learner's comprehension of what he／she reads and hears．Only by developing an understanding and tolerance（忍受）of different cultural values can a Chinese English learner reach the goal of communicating with native English speakers． 英语学习中，东西方的价值观念是相 互冲突的。英语母语的人会混淆汉语 中"他""她"的用法，因为这两个字尽管 字形不同，读音却相同，他们因此常 常抱怨。结果有些英语母语的人得出 结论，认为中国人不区分两种性别。 但是在涉及表亲的时候，英语母语的 人更是混淆性别。东西方价值观的冲 突造成的语言上的混淆，在一定程度 上影响学习英语的中国人对自己所读 或所听到的内容的理解.学习英语的中 国人只有增加不同文化价值观之间的 理解和宽容，才能达到与英语母语者 交流的目标。 A Chinese English learner could not have a good command of Eng1ish unless he overcomes the cultural barriers(not all，of course!)in learning English．Many Chinese translate what they think about in Chinese into English when they talk or write．This kind of English inevitably affects the fluency and flow of speech， the amount of information conveyed， and，above all，the quality of communication． 学习英语的中国人，只有在学习英语 的过程中克服文化障碍才能很好地掌 握英语。(当然不可能是克服全部文化 障碍!) 很多中国人说话或写作的时 候，将自己汉语思维的内容翻译成英 语，这势必会影响英语表达的流畅、 传达的信息量，最重要的是，影响交 流的质量。 The above is，not wholly，how difficult English is．Some native speakers might have said，"You foreigners don't use good English! " at the time a foreigner fails to understand what he is saying．"Why should l?"1 would protest，though．Still，I have to keep asking myself：Is it possible for a foreigner to command English? 尽管不完全，以上就是学习英语的困 难。英语母语者被外国人误解的时候 可能会说："你们外国人不懂地道的英 语!" 我要反驳："我们为什么要懂?"我还要 问：一个外国人可能精通英语吗? Text B Learning a Language 学 语言 Most students would like to know how to learn a 1anguage more easily. Most linguists and language teachers would also like to know this．Linguists are working on this problem in two ways．First，they are trying to understand how children learn to speak and understand their native language. They are also trying to learn how people learn a second language． 大部分学生都想知道如何能够轻松地 学好一门语言，大部分语言学家和语 言教师也想弄清楚这个问题。语言学 家从两个方面研究这个问题。一方面， 他们致力于弄清楚儿童是如何学会母 语、理解母语的。另一方面致力于研 究人是如何学习第二语言的。 Linguists are not sure how children learn to speak．Some linguists think that children are born with an ability to learn and use a 1anguage．This does not mean that they come into the world knowing their native language. It means that， along with many other things，they are born with the ability to learn their native language. With just a little exposure to the language，and a little help from their parents，they are able to learn to speak．Another group of linguists does not think this is correct． 语言学家并不确定儿童是如何学说话 的。一些语言学家认为儿童生来就有 学习和使用语言的能力。这并不是指 一个人的母语是与生俱来的；而是指 一个人生来具有学习其母语的能力， 这种能力与人在其他方面表现出来的 能力是相同的。孩子只要与要学习的 语言有一定接触，在父母的些许帮助 下就能够学会说话。另外一派语言学 家则对此持有异议。 This second group of linguists thinks that children learn to use a 1anguage from their parents．They believe that parents teach their children to produce sounds and words in their language．When children know some words，their parents will begin to teach them to say sentences．These linguists do not think that parents teach their children in the same way that adults are taught a second language．Instead， parents probably teach their children by talking to them and correcting their use of 1anguage. These linguists feel that children learn their language mainly from the environment . In this case，the environment is their family and their home. As you see，the first group of linguists disagrees． 持反对意见的语言学家认为儿童是跟 着父母学会使用语言的。他们认为父 母首先教孩子发声、吐字。当孩子掌 握一定词汇以后，父母就开始教他们 如何组织句子。但是他们认为，父母 教孩子的方式不同于教成年人学习第 二语言的方法。相反，父母是通过与 孩子交谈并纠正他们的语言错误来教 孩子说话的。这一派语言学家认为， 儿童主要通过语言环境学会使用语言 的。这种情况下，语言环境是家庭和 生活环境。可以看出，第一派语言学 家对此并不赞同。 There are some other theories about how children learn a language．Many people are studying the process of language learning by children．This work is being done in many countries．Linguists are not the only people who are interested in this process．Many psychologists，doctors， and parents are also interested．People who teach foreign languages are interested, too． 关于儿童如何学习语言还有一些其他 理论。许多国家中有很多人正着手研 究儿童学习语言的过程。不仅语言学 家，许多心理学家、医生和父母都对 儿童的语言学习过程感兴趣。外语教 师也对这一过程很感兴趣。 Foreign language teachers are interested in how children learn to speak their native language for a very important reason．If they knew how children learn their native language，perhaps they would have an easy way to teach adults， as well as children, a second language．This is a very interesting idea．Some foreign language teachers believe that adults learn a second language the same way children learn their native language . These teachers try to make their students' learning similar to that of children．These teachers speak only the foreign language in the classroom．They will not talk to students in the native language．They try to expose them to as much of the spoken foreign language as possible．They do not teach them any rules for using the language．Most parents don't teach their children rules for language usage，either. They simply tell them how to say something correctly．Foreign language teachers using this spoken language method do the same thing. For some students，this method is successful．They learn to speak quickly and easily．They seem to enjoy using the language，and they do not pay much attention to whether they use exactly the right rules for what they say．Some students, however，cannot learn a language this way．Linguists are trying to find another way to teach them a language． 外语教师对儿童如何学说母语感兴 趣，有其很重要的原因。他们如果知 道儿童如何学习母语，就可能找到一 种简便的方法教儿童和成年人学习第 二语言。这是一种非常有意思的想法。 有些外语教师认为成年人学习第二语 言的过程和儿童学习母语的过程是相 同的。这部分外语教师模仿儿童学习 语言的过程组织教学：课堂上只讲外 语，不与学生讲母语。他们使学生尽 可能多地接触所学外语的口语形式， 不教学生语言使用的规则。外语教师 采用这种口语教法是因为大多数父母 在教孩子说话的时候也不教孩子语言 使用规则，而只是告诉孩子怎样讲话 是正确的。对一些学生来说，这种方 法是成功的，他们能够轻而易举地、 很快地学会所学的语言。他们似乎很 喜欢去用所学的语言，并不很在意是 否使用了正确的语言规则。另外一些 学生则不适合这种方法，语言学家着 手寻找一种适合他们的教学方法。 A second method，the rule-learning method，sometimes works better with these students．Some linguists believe that learning a foreign language is different from learning to speak one's native language．They feel that students must learn the rules for using the language by memorizing them and must practice saying things in the language and using the rules correctly．These linguists try to teach students the rules of the language they want to learn．Then they give them many sentences in the language to say over and over again．The students are encouraged to make up new sentences， using the rules that they have learned and the words that they know． 另外一种方法--语言规则学习法--更适 合这部分学生。一些语言学家认为学 习外语不同于学习母语。学生必须通 过记忆来学习语言使用规则，必须练 习使用这种语言，练习正确地使用这 些规则。语言教师首先教学生要学的 语法规则，再给学生一些例句让他们 反复练习，同时鼓励学生使用所学过 的语法规则和他们所掌握的词造句。 Some students are very successful with this second, rule-learning method．They learn the language quite quickly and can use it well. They know the rules for using the language and can speak the language and understand it，too．For many students, this is the best way to learn a foreign language．For some students, both of these methods may work. Sometimes teachers use a combination of these methods in class， hoping that everyone will be able to learn the language with one method or the other. Some people can go to a country and "pick up" the language simply from hearing it and trying to communicate in it．These people are rare． 一些学生使用这种语法规则学习法效 果非常好，他们学得很快，用得也好。 他们掌握了语言使用规则，能够使用 所学的语言，也能够理解别人的话。 对一些学生来说，这是学外语最好的 方法。对另外一些学生来说，两种方 法都行之有效。有时候，老师在课堂 上将两种方法结合起来用，目的是让 每个学生都能受益。有些人能够到国 外通过倾听，与人交流等手段自然而 然的学会那个国家的语言。但这毕竟 是少数人。 Most people try to learn a language by taking classes and studying it in some way. Most teachers will try different ways to help students learn a language quickly and easily．Linguists and psychologists are trying to understand how people learn and use a language．Perhaps language 1earning will be easier when they have a clear understanding of how people learn and use a language． 大多数人还是通过课堂或者其他方式 来学语言的。大多数老师也通过不同 的教法来帮助学生轻松快速的学会一 门语言。语言学家和心理学家正致力 于弄清楚人是如何学会并使用语言 的。也许在解决了这个问题之后，语 言学习会变得容易一些。 Unit 2 Text A Caught Between Two Cultures 夹在两种文化之间 I was born and raised in Hong Kong. For the past six years I’ve been living in the United States．I work as a salesgirl in a large department store. Right now I’m going through a difficult period of my life which is hard for me to talk about． 我是土生土长的香港人。六年来一直 生活在美国，是一家大百货商店的女 售货员。目前我正经历人生中一段痛 苦，自己也很难讲述。 A few months ago 1 went to Hong Kong for a visit．It was the first time I’d gone back there since coming to the United States．I was eager to see my parents， my brothers and sisters，and my friends． 几个月前，我回香港探亲，这也是我 到美国后第一次回家探亲。我期待着 见到我的父母、兄弟姐妹和我的朋友。 I really got a shock when I arrived．Hong Kong was not the same city that I left six years ago．Things had changed so much that I didn’t recognize parts of it．My elementary school was gone．The houses on the street where I used to live had been torn down and replaced by office buildings． 到达时，我确实大吃一惊。香港已经 不是六年前我离开时的那座城市了。 这儿发生了巨大的变化，一些地方都 认不出来了。我读书的那所小学已经 不复存在。曾经住过的那条街上的房 子已被拆掉，代之而起的是办公大楼。 The shock from the physical changes in the city，however，was nothing compared to the confusion and hurt I soon began to feel in my parents’ home．My family greeted me warmly when I arrived．While my mother was busy preparing a special dinner in my honor，the rest of the family eagerly asked me questions about my life in the United States．I felt happy that day and for a couple of days after，but then I began to feel that something was wrong．I noticed that my family， especially my mother, would sometimes glance at me in a strange way when I was speaking．They gradually became less warm and friendly toward me，and I became uncomfortable and confused as to（至于）why they were behaving that way. 但是，我到了父母亲家里不久，就发 现了一些令我想不通的问题，情感上 也受到了挫伤。与之相比，香港外观 上的变化给我的震惊算不得什么。我 的家人热情地迎接我回家。我母亲忙 着备饭为我接风，家里其余的人迫不 及待地问我在美国的生活。那天和之 后的几天我都非常高兴, 但是不久我 就开始感觉到事情有些不对劲儿。我 注意到，在我讲话的时候，我的家人， 尤其是我母亲，会以一种奇怪的目光 看我。渐渐地，大家对我疏远起来， 不像开始时那么热情、友好了, 我感到 不舒服，弄不明白他们为什么这样对 待我。 I decided to talk to my mother．She asked me，“Have you forgotten your Chinese way ?”I asked her what she meant．She said．“You’ve forgotten the place of women in a Chinese home．You talk when you should remain silent．You speak on matters that are of concern only to men．You speak openly of your inner feelings and desires．That’s not the way of a Chinese woman．We keep our thoughts and feelings to ourselves．” 我决定和母亲谈一谈。她问我：“你忘 了中国的规矩了吗?”我问她指的是什 么。她回答说：“你忘了中国家庭里女 人的地位了。应该保持沉默的时候， 你却在讲话。你就那些只与男人有关 的事情发表见解。你直言不讳你的内 心感受和愿望，这不是中国女人的做 法。我们的想法和感情都不说出来。” As my mother spoke，I realized what had happened to me．American including American women，are much freer in expressing their thoughts and feelings．Also American women feel as free as men to speak or give an opinion about any subject．They don’t take a silent back seat during a discussion．I guessed that through my association with Americans during the past six years，，I had gradually adopted some of their ways． 听着母亲这样讲，我意识到了是怎么 回事。美国人，包括美国女性，都非 常自由地表达自己的思想和感情。美 国男女一样，对任何问题都自由地发 表见解。在讨论中，她们不会做一个 沉默的旁观者。我想，过去六年和美 国人的交往中, 我渐渐学了他们的一 些做法。 During the next few days I tried to be a Chinese woman．But it didn’t work．My family remained distant from me．They could no longer accept me fully as one of them．I became more uncomfortable and hurt as things were said and done that made me feel that I was an outsider,a stranger in my own country． 接下来的几天，我尽力作一名中国女 性，可是没用。家人和我疏远。他们 无法完全把我当作自己人。身在家乡 却被视为外人，这使我更加不自在， 感觉受到了深深的伤害。 I cut my visit short by three weeks and came back to the United States．But coming back here didn’t lessen the confusion and pain．In fact，I feel more confused than before．I now feel homeless．I don’t feel like an American．Americans haven’t accepted me．The women I work with at the store are polite enough，but they don’t try to get close to me or let me get close to them．During the morning coffee break they make plans to have lunch together and go shopping．On Fridays they talk about the disco place they’re going to that night．My accent，my name，and 1