英语新视野读写教程第一册课文原文

Unit 1

Learning a Foreign Language

Learning a foreign language was one of the most difficult

yet most rewarding experiences of my life.

Although at times, learning a language was frustrating,

it was well worth the effort.

My experience with a foreign language began in junior middle school,

when I took my first English class.

I had a kind and patient teacher who often praised all of the students.

Because of this positive method,

I eagerly answered all the questions I could,

never worrying much about making mistakes.

I was at the top of my class for two years.

When I went to senior middle school,

I was eager to continue studying English;

however, my experience in senior school was very different from before.

While my former teacher had been patient with all the students,

my new teacher quickly punished those who gave incorrect answers.

Whenever we answered incorrectly,

she pointed a long stick at us and,

shaking it up and down, shouted, "No! No! No!"

It didn't take me long to lose my eagerness to answer questions.

Not only did I lose my joy in answering questions,

but also I totally lost my desire to say anything at all in English.

However, that state didn't last long.

When I went to college,

I learned that all students were required to take an English course.

Unlike my senior middle school teacher,

my college English teachers were patient and kind,

and none of them carried long, pointed sticks!

However, the situation was far from perfect.

As our classes were very large,

I was only able to answer a couple of questions in each class period.

Also, after a few weeks of classes,

I noticed there were many students

who spoke much better than I did.

I began to feel intimidated.

So, once again, although for different reasons,

I was afraid to speak.

It seemed my English was going to stay at the same level forever.

That was the situation until a couple of years later,

when I was offered an opportunity to study English through an online The communication medium was a computer, phone line, and modem.

I soon got access to the necessary equipment,

learned the technology from a friend

and participated in the virtual classroom 5 to 7 days a week.

Online learning is not easier than regular classroom study;

it requires much time,

commitment and discipline to keep up with the flow of the course.

I worked hard to meet the minimum set by the course and to complete assignments on time.

I practiced all the time.I carried a little dictionary with me everywhere I went,

as well as a notebook in which I listed any new words I heard.

I made many, sometimes embarrassing, mistakes.

Once in a while I cried with frustration,

and sometimes I felt like giving up.

But I didn't feel intimidated by students

who spoke faster than I did

because I took all the time I needed to think out my ideas

and wrote a reply before posting it on the screen.

Then, one day I realized

I could understand just abo

ut everything I came across,

and most importantly, I could "say" anything I wanted to in English.

Although I still made many mistakes and was continually learning,

I had finally reaped the benefits of all that hard work.

Learning a foreign language has been a most trying experience for me,

but one that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Not only did learning another language teach me

the value of hard work,

but it also gave me insights into another culture,

and my mind was opened to new ways of seeing things.

The most wonderful result of having learned a foreign language

was that I could communicate with many more people than before.

Talking with people is one of my favorite activities,

so being able to speak a new language lets me meet new people,

participate in conversations, and form new, unforgettable friendships.

Now that I speak a foreign language,

I can participate and make friends.

I am able to reach out to others and bridge the gap

between my language and culture

新视野英语第一册 课文

Section B

Keys to Successful Online Learning

While regular schools still exist, the virtual classroom plays an important role in today's learning community. Job opportunities for students are expanding rapidly and more people of all ages are becoming aware of online learning that allows them to study at home. Online students, however, require unique qualities to be successful. The following list discusses some ideal qualities of successful online students.

1. Be open-minded about sharing life, work, and learning experiences as part of online learning.

Many different people find that the online method requires them to use their experiences and that online learning offers them a place to communicate with each other. This forum for communication removes the visual barriers that hinder some students from expressing themselves. In addition, students are given time to reflect on the information before replying. In this way, students can help to keep the online environment open and friendly.

2. Be able to communicate through writing.

In the virtual classroom nearly all communication is written, so it is critical that students feel comfortable expressing themselves in writing. Some students have limited writing abilities which need to be improved before or as part of the online experience. This usually requires extra commitment by these students. Whether working alone or in a group, students share ideas, perspectives and discussions on the subject being studied, and read about those of their classmates. In this way, students gain great insight from their peers, learning from each other as well as the instructor.

3. Be willing to "speak up" if problems arise.

Remember that instructors cannot see their students in an online course. This means students must be absolutely explicit with their comments and requests. If they experience technical difficulties, or problems in understanding something about the course, they MU

ST speak up; otherwise there is no way anyone can know something is wrong. If one person does not understand something, possibly several others have the same problem. If another student is able to help, she/he probably will. While explaining something to others, students reinforce their own knowledge about the subject.

4. Take the program seriously.

Online learning is not easier than study in regular classrooms. In fact, many students say it requires much more time and effort. Requirements for online courses are not less than those of any quality program. Successful students, however, see online learning as a convenient way to receive their education — not an easier way. Many online students sit at computers for hours at a time during evenings and on weekends in order to complete their assignments. When other people are finished and having fun is most likely the time when online students do their course work. Online students need to commit 4 to 15 hours a week for each course.

5. Accept critical thinking and decision making as part of online learning.

Online courses require students to make decisions based on facts as well as experience. It is absolutely necessary for students to assimilate information and make the right decisions based on critical thinking. In a positive online environment, students feel valued by the instructor, by their classmates and by their own work.

6. Be able to think ideas through before replying.

Providing meaningful and quality input into the virtual classroom is an essential part of online learning. Time is given to allow for careful development of answers. Testing and challenging of ideas is encouraged. Many times online students will not always be right; they just need to be prepared to accept a challenge.

7. Keep up with the progress of the course.

Online learning is normally sequential and requires commitment on the students' part. Keeping up with the face-to-face class and completing all work on time is vital. Once students get behind, it is almost impossible to catch up. Students need to want to be there and need to want the experience. The instructor may have to communicate with students personally to offer help and remind them of the need to keep up.

Just as many excellent instructors may not be effective online facilitators, not all students have the necessary qualities to perform well online. People who have the qualities discussed above usually make very successful online students. If you have these qualities, learning online may be one of the best discoveries you will ever make.

新视野英语第一册 课文

Unit 2 Section A

he radio clicked on. Rock music blasted forth. Like a shot, the music woke Sandy. She looked at the clock; it was 6:15 A.M. Sandy sang along with the words as she lay listening to her favorite radio station.

"Sandy," shouted her father. "Sandy, turn that music off!" Steve Finch burst into her room. "Why do you have to listen to such horrible stuff? I

t's the same thing over and over. I'm not sure it is really music though it does have rhythm. Hmmm. No, it isn't really music. It's weird. It is definitely horrible stuff."

"I like that music, Dad; it's my favorite group — Green Waves. Listen for a minute; I'm sure you'll like it. It has a really powerful message. Didn't you ever listen to music like this when you were a youngster?" Sandy reached for the radio to turn it up louder.

"No, no, don't do that. I can't stand it. The music I listened to had a message, too, but the words were clear and the musicians didn't use such offensive language. Turn that radio down so your mother and I can't hear it. I'm sure that music is hurting your ears as well as your brain. Now, would you please hurry up and turn it off? Get ready for school or you'll be late!"

Sandy walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. At first, the water felt cold. It helped her wake up. Then, as the water got hotter, she thought, "This shower feels great and in here I can be alone and sing. No one disturbs me in here." She grabbed the soap and washed thoroughly, including her hair. If she stayed in the shower too long, her mom or dad usually banged on the door to rush her so she grabbed a towel and dried off.

After her shower, Sandy brushed her hair, put on her old, green T-shirt and some jeans and wrapped her sweater around her shoulders. Then she put on her makeup, grabbed her books and went to the kitchen.

She looked at the clock again; it was late. As usual, she didn't know what to have for breakfast, so she grabbed a glass of milk and ate a piece of toast while standing by the sink. Just then, her mother, Jane, entered the kitchen.

"Sandy, why don't you sit down and eat your breakfast? It isn't healthy to eat standing up."

"I know. Mom, but I'm already late for school. I don't have time to sit down and eat."

"Did you finish your homework, dear?"

"Yes."

"Do you have your instrument?"

"Uh-huh."

"And your lunch?"

"Yah."

"Did you brush your teeth?"

"Mom, I haven't finished eating breakfast yet. I'll brush my teeth when I'm done."

"You should brush your teeth when you wake up and then brush them again after breakfast. Sandy, why are you wearing that old T-shirt? It's disgusting. I know you have some nice blouses in your closet."

"Mom, please stop."

"Stop what, dear?"

"Stop bugging me."

"Sandy, are you wearing eye-liner?"

"Yes, Mom, I've been wearing eye-liner for months. Isn't it pretty? It's called French Lilac Blue. I just love it." Sandy pretended not to notice that her mother was a little annoyed.

"Sandy Finch, you're too young to wear that much makeup. Please go upstairs and wash it off."

"Mom, I'm fifteen. I'm old enough to wear makeup. Believe me, all the girls at school wear makeup. Some have tattoos and pierced ears, and noses and tongues, too. Mom, I don't have time to talk about this now — I'm late. I've got to go. See you later." Sandy kissed her mother quickly on the cheek, picked up h

er books, and bolted out of the house.

As she ran to catch the school bus, Sandy thought of her older brother Bill who was away at college. He phoned her often so they could talk and share their problems, but she hadn't heard from him for a while. She missed him. Since Bill had gone to college, her mother bugged Sandy much more than before, and she was arguing with her mother a lot more than usual, too.

After Sandy had left for school, Jane Finch sat down in peace and quiet to drink her coffee. She sipped slowly and tried to read the newspaper. Soon her husband joined her.

"Would you like some coffee, Steve?" asked Jane.

"No thanks, honey. My stomach feels upset — like it's full of knots. It's probably that awful music that wakes me up every morning. I don't think I'm old-fashioned but hearing those tuneless, offensive lyrics repeatedly makes my blood boil. There is no message to them either. I can't believe Sandy really likes that stuff."

"You know, honey, different music appeals to different generations," reasoned Jane. "Remember some of the music we listened to?"

Steve smiled. "You're right. Maybe eating breakfast will help me get rid of some of the knots in my stomach."

"I'll get you some juice," she offered, starting to get up.

"That's okay," said Steve. "I'll get it. You're reading."

"I'm not really reading. I'm distracted. I've been thinking about Sandy too."

Steve prepared his breakfast and then sat down with his wife. She gave him a section of the newspaper and they both tried to read for a few moments. Then Jane broke the silence.

"Did you notice how much makeup our fifteen-year-old daughter was wearing this morning? When I asked about it, she told me she's been wearing eyeliner for months. I can't believe I never noticed. I suppose we should feel lucky because makeup is our biggest problem with her. I've seen other teenagers walking around town with tattoos and piercings all over their bodies—in their eyebrows, their noses, everywhere. I suppose they're expressing their identity but it's so very different from what we did."

"Is it so different?" asked Steve. "I remember defying my parents when I grew my hair long. Remember? It was so long it was down below my shoulders."

"And you almost got expelled from school," added Jane.

"That's true but my hair could be cut. These tattoos are permanent. Tattoos seem radical to me."

"Actually, tattoos can be removed," said Jane. "It's painful and expensive but they can be removed. Every generation seems to need to identify itself."

"What worries me," said Steve, "is that music has a very negative message. It could have a negative influence on Sandy. I don't know what's happening to our little girl. She's changing and I'm concerned about her. Makeup, terrible music — who knows what will be next? We need to have a talk with her. The news is full of stories about teenagers in trouble whose parents hardly know anything about their problems."

"Oh, I don't think her music is so ter

rible. I like it." said Jane.

"You like it? "

"You know I like loud, weird music. Anyway, you're right. We need to have a talk with Sandy," agreed Jane.

Jane glanced at the clock. "Oh dear, I'm late!" she moaned. "I have to run or I'll be late for my first appointment." She kissed her husband quickly, picked up her briefcase, and started for the door.

"Bye, honey," called Jane.

"Bye, dear," answered Steve.

As Jane Finch drove to work, she thought about her children, Sandy and Bill. "Sandy is beginning to mature," she thought. "Soon she'll be dating and going out but I don't want her wasting her time talking on the phone and watching TV. I want her to do well in school and to continue her music. How can I tell her these things? I don't want her to get angry with me. If I'm too strict, she'll rebel. I often worry she may rebel and go too far. So many young girls rebel, drop out of school and get into all kinds of trouble. Sometimes they even run away from home. I wouldn't want that to happen to Sandy."

Jane knew what she wanted to say, what she had to say to Sandy. She was so glad that she and Sandy could still talk things over. She knew she had to have patience and keep the lines of communication with her daughter open. She wanted to be there as an anchor for her but at the same time she would give her her freedom to find her own identity.

新视野英语第一册 课文

Unit 3 Section A

A Good Heart to Lean On

When I was growing up, I was embarrassed to be seen with my father. He was severely crippled and very short, and when we walked together, his hand on my arm for balance, people would stare. I would inwardly struggle at the unwanted attention. If he ever noticed or was bothered, he never let on.

It was difficult to coordinate our steps — his halting, mine impatient — and because of that, we didn't say much as we went along. But as we started out, he always said, "You set the pace. I will try to adjust to you."

Our usual walk was to or from the subway on which he traveled to work. He went to work sick, and despite nasty weather. He almost never missed a day, and would make to the office even if others could not. A matter of pride.

When snow or ice was on the ground, it was impossible for him to walk, even with help. At such times my sisters or I would pull him through the streets of Brooklyn, N.Y., on a child's wagon with steel runners to the subway entrance. Once there, he would cling to the hand-rail until he reached the lower steps that the warmer tunnel air kept free of ice. In Manhattan the subway station was the basement of his office building, and he would not have to go outside again until we met him in Brooklyn on his way home.

When I think of it now, I am amazed at how much courage it must have taken for a grown man to subject himself to such shame and stress. And at how he did it—without bitterness or complaint.

He never talked about himself as an object of pity, nor did he show any envy of the more fortunate

or able. What he looked for in others was a "good heart

hen the young Marine walked into the entrance lobby of Kings County Hospital. A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.

"Your son is here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened. The medicine he had been given because of the pain from his heart attack made his eyes weak and he only dimly saw the young man in Marine Corps uniform standing outside the oxygen tent. He extended his hand. The Marine wrapped his strong fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement. The nurse brought a chair, so the Marine could sit by the bed.

Nights are long in hospitals, but all through the night the young Marine sat there in the dimly-lit ward, holding the old man's hand and offering words of hope and strength. Occasionally, the nurse urged the Marine to rest for a while. He refused.

Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was there, but he paid no attention to her and the night noises of the hospital — the banging of an oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff exchanging greetings, the cries and moans and breathing of other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son through most of the night.

It was nearly dawn when the patient died. The Marine placed the lifeless hand he had been holding on the bed, and went to inform the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he smoked a cigarette, his first since he got to the hospital.

Finally, she returned to the nurse's station, where he was waiting. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her. "Who was that man?" he asked.

"He was your father," she answered, startled.

"No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."

"Why didn't you say something when I took you to him?" the nurse asked.

"I knew immediately there'd been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, I guessed he really needed me. So I stayed. "

With that, the Marine turned and exited the hospital. Two days later a message came in from the North Carolina Marine Corps base informing the Brooklyn Red Cross that the real son was on his way to Brooklyn for his father's funeral. It turned out there had been two Marines with the same name and similar numbers in the camp. Someone in the personnel office had pulled out the wrong record.

But the wrong Marine had become the right son at the right time. And he proved, in a very human way, that there are people who care what happens to their fellow men.

新视野英语第一册 课文

Unit 4 Section A

How to Make a Good Impression

Research shows we make up our minds about people through unspoken communication within seven seconds of meeting them. Consciously or unconsciously, we show our true feelings with our eyes, faces, bodies and attitudes, cau

sing a chain of reactions, ranging from comfort to fear.

Think about some of your most unforgettable meetings: an introduction to your future spouse, a job interview, an encounter with a stranger. Focus on the first seven seconds. What did you feel and think? How did you "read" the other person? How do you think he read you?

You are the message. For 25 years I've worked with thousands who want to be successful. I've helped them make persuasive presentations, answer unfriendly questions, communicate more effectively. The secret has always been you are the message.

Others will want to be with you and help you if you use your good qualities. They include: physical appearance, energy, rate of speech, pitch and tone of voice, gestures, expression through the eyes, and the ability to hold the interest of others. Others form an impression about you based on these.

Think of times when you know you made a good impression. What made you successful? You were committed to what you were talking about and so absorbed in the moment, you lost all self-consciousness.

Be yourself. Many how-to books advise you to stride into a room and impress others with your qualities. They instruct you to greet them with "power handshakes" and tell you to fix your eyes on the other person. If you follow all this advice, you'll drive everyone crazy — including yourself.

The trick is to be consistently you, at your best. The most effective people never change from one situation to another. They’re the same whether they're having a conversation, addressing their garden club or being interviewed for a job. They communicate with their whole being; the tones of their voices and their gestures match their words.

Public speakers, however, often send mixed messages. My favorite is the kind who say, "Ladies and gentlemen. I'm very happy to be here" — while looking at their shoes. They don't look happy. They look angry, frightened or depressed.

The audience always believe what they see over what they hear. They think, "He's telling me he's happy, but he's not. He's not being honest."

Use your eyes. Whether you're talking to one person or one hundred, always remember to look at them. Some people start to say something while looking right at you, but three words into the sentence, they break eye contact and look out the window.

As you enter a room, move your eyes comfortably; then look straight at those in the room and smile. Smiling is important. It shows you are relaxed. Some think entering a room full of people is like going into a lion's cage. I disagree. If I did agree, I certainly wouldn't look at my feet or at the ceiling. I'd keep my eye on the lion!

Lighten up. Once in a staff meeting, one of the most powerful chairmen in the entertainment industry became very angry over tiny problems, scolded each worker and enjoyed making them fear him. When he got to me, he shouted, "And you, Ailes, what are you doing?"

I said, "Do you mean now, this evening or for the rest of m

y life?" There was a moment of silence. Then the chairman threw back his head and roared with laughter. Others laughed too. Humor broke the stress of a very uncomfortable scene.

If I had to give advice in two words, it would be "lighten up"! You can always see people who take themselves too seriously. Usually they are either brooding or talking a great deal about themselves.

Take a good hard look at yourself. Do you say "I" too often? Are you usually focused on your own problems? Do you complain frequently? If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you need to lighten up. To make others comfortable, you have to appear comfortable yourself. Don't make any huge changes; just be yourself. You already have within you the power to make a good impression, because nobody can be you as well as you can.

新视野大学英语 读写教程第一册 unit4-b

Body Language

"I liked him the minute I saw him!" "Before she even said a word, I knew there was something funny about her." Such statements are examples of "snap judgments

language" they're using.

Two of the most "telling" forms of behavior are driving a car and playing games. Notice a person's reaction to stress in these situations and to aggressive behavior in others. Those who easily become angry, excited, passive or resentful when driving or playing may be giving insights into the inside self.

While clothing serves a purely practical function, how you dress also communicates many things about your social status, state of mind and even your aspirations and dreams. The eleven-year-old girl who dresses like a college student and the forty-year-old woman who dresses like a teenager are saying something through what they wear. What you communicate through your kind of dress definitely influences others to accept the picture of yourself you are projecting: in the business world, the person who dresses like a successful manager is most likely to be promoted into a managing position.

Also important are the ornaments a person wears: buttons, medals, jewels, etc. Such ornaments are often the means by which a person announces a variety of things about himself: his convictions (campaign buttons), his beliefs (religious tokens), his membership in certain groups (club pins or badges), his past achievements (college ring or Phi Beta Kappa key) and his economic status (diamonds).

Another sign of a person's nature is said to be found in his choices in architecture and furniture. A person who would really like to live in a castle would probably be more at home in the Middle Ages. Those who like Victorian family houses and furniture might secretly welcome a return to more rigid social norms. People who are content with modern design are probably comfortable with modern life-styles.

When you see a person for the first time, even though he doesn't speak to you, you begin watching him — his actions, his attitude, his clothing and many other things. There's a wealth of information there if you know how to "read" it. Perhaps snap judgments aren't so unsound after all.

新视野大学英语 读写教程第一册 unit5-a

The Battle Against AIDS

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was diagnosed in the United States in the late 1970s. Since then, AIDS has killed more than 204,000 Americans — half in the past few years alone. Another 185,000 of the one million infected with the HIV virus are also expected to die.

Nearly half of those diagnosed with the virus are blacks and Latinos. Women and youth in rural Southern communities now constitute the fastest growing segment of people with AIDS.

Despite such alarming numbers, the federal and state governments have been slow in implementing programs to stop the spread of AIDS. In place of government inactivity, a number of local organizations have emerged.

One organization, the South Carolina AIDS Education Network, formed in 1985 to combat the growing number of AIDS cases. Like many local organizations, this organization suffers from a lack of money, forcing it to use it

s resources creatively. To reach more people in the community, some AIDS educational programs operate out of a beauty shop.

The owner hands out AIDS information to all her clients when they enter the shop and shows videos on AIDS prevention while they wait for their hair to dry. She also keeps books and other publications around so customers can read them while waiting for their appointments. It's amazing how many people she has educated on the job.

Recently, the network began helping hair stylists throughout the Southeast set up similar programs in their shops. They are also valuable resources in spreading information to their schools, community groups, and churches.

The organization has developed several techniques useful to other groups doing similar work. While no one way of winning the war against AIDS exists, the network shares these lessons learned in its battle against AIDS:

Speak to your community in a way they can hear. Many communities have a low literacy rate, making impossible passing out AIDS literature and expecting people to read it. To solve this problem, ask people in the community who can draw well to create low-literacy AIDS education publications.

These books use simple, hand-drawn pictures of "sad faces" and "happy faces" to illustrate ways people can prevent AIDS. They also show people who look like those we need to educate, since people can relate more when they see familiar faces and language they can understand. As a result, such books actually have more effect in the communities where they are used than government publications, which cost thousands of dollars more to produce.

Train teenagers to educate their peers. Because AIDS is spreading fastest among teenagers in the rural South, the stylists have established an "AIDS Busters" program which trains youth from 8 to 26 to go into the community and teach "AIDS 101" to their peers. They make it simple and explain the risk of catching AIDS to friends their own age much better than an adult can. They also play a vital role in helping parents understand the types of peer pressure their children experience.

Redefine "at risk" to include women from different backgrounds and marriage status. One woman's doctor told her she was not at risk for AIDS because she was married and didn't use drugs. Such misinformation plagues the medical establishment. According to the Centers for Disease Control, women will soon make up 80 percent of those diagnosed with HIV.

The stylists also emphasize that everyone is at risk and that all of us have a right to protect ourselves — regardless of marriage status.

These lessons are not the only solutions to the crisis but until there is a cure for AIDS, education represents the only safe measure to guard against the virus.

Like no other plague before, the AIDS epidemic threatens to wipe out an entire generation and leave another without parents. We must not let cultural, racial, or social barriers distract us from the job that must be don

Nor can we let political inefficiency stop us from our task. This is an undeclared war that everyone must sign up for in order for us to win. We simply cannot let people continue to die because we don't feel comfortable talking about AIDS. Everyone must become an educator and learn to live.

新视野大学英语 读写教程第一册 unit5-B

The Last Dive at the Olympics

I climbed the ladder, heard my dive announced, and commenced the moves that would thrust me into the air. Pushing off the diving board with my legs, I lifted my arms and shoulders back, and knew immediately I would be close to the board and might hit my hands. I tried to correct myself as I turned, spreading my hands wide apart. Then I heard a strange sound and my body lost control. Moments later I realized I had hit my head on the board.

Initially, I felt embarrassment. I wanted to hide, to get out of the pool without anyone seeing me. Next I felt intense fear. Had I cut my head? Was I bleeding? Was there blood in the pool? Swimming to the side, I noticed many shocked faces. People were worried about my head; I was worried about something far more threatening. An official examined my head. In haste, I pushed him away, and everyone else who approached me. "Don't touch me!" I felt like screaming. "Get away from me!"

These were the trials for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea. Until this dive, I had been ahead. But now, something else was more significant than winning. I might have endangered other divers' lives if I had spilled blood in the pool. For what I knew — that few others knew — was that I was HIV-positive.

According to my mother, my natural parents were Samoan and only teenagers when I was born, so they gave me up for adoption. When I was only eighteen months old, I started gym classes. At ten, I explored doing gym exercises off the diving board at the pool.

Because of my dark skin, kids at school called me names; I often got mugged coming home from school. My diving made me feel good about myself when my peers made me feel stupid. In the seventh grade, I started taking drugs.

At sixteen, I knew I had a shot at the 1976 Olympics. At the trials, one month prior to the finals, I took first place on the ten-meter platform and on the springboard! This was surprising because I had trained mostly on the platform. In the finals, I won the silver medal for the platform. Unfortunately, I wasn't happy. Instead, I felt I failed because I hadn't won the gold. After that, I started training with Ron O'Brien, a well-known Olympic diving coach. Ron understood me and assisted my working more intensely. I soon became the international leader in diving. In the 1984 Olympics, I won two gold medals, one for platform, one for springboard. This was an enjoyable triumph.

No one knew then I was gay, except Ron and a few friends. I feared being hated if people found out. Four years later, while preparing for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, I learned my partner had AIDS. I had to accep

ept I might be HIV-positive or have AIDS, too. When my HIV test results returned positive, I was shocked and confused. Was I dying? Was my shot at the '88 Olympics vaporized? What should I do? During this very difficult time, I couldn't tell anyone for fear I wouldn't be able to compete in the Olympics if people learned I was HIV-positive.

Everyone was alarmed when I hit my head on the board at the trials in Seoul. Regardless, I made it into the finals. When we practiced the next morning, my coach made me start with the dive I'd hit my head on. At first, I was scared, but Ron made me do it six times. With each repetition, I felt more confident.

During my last dive in the finals, I enjoyed for the last time the quietness underwater and then swam to the side of the pool. Afraid to look at the score-board, I watched Ron's face. Suddenly he leaped into the air, the crowd cheered, and I knew I'd won — two gold medals, one for the three-meter springboard, one for the ten-meter platform. None knew how hard it had been, except Ron and the friends I'd told I was HIV-positive.

AIDS forced me to stop diving; I had to quit diving professionally after the Olympics.

新视野大学英语 读写教程第一册 unit6-a

The Trashman

Saturday, April 7

Steve and I hauled trash for four solid hours continuously, except for about five minutes when we stopped to talk. My shoulder hurt wickedly each time I put another full barrel on it, and my legs occasionally trembled as I was heading to the street. But the rest of me said, "Go, trashman, go."

I could not have imaged there would be joy in this. Dump. Lift. Walk. Lift. Walk. The hours flew by.

Saturday meant most adults were at home on the route. So were school-age children. I thought this might mean more exchanges as I made the rounds today. Many people were out-doors working in their gardens or greenhouses. Most looked approachable enough. There wasn't time for lengthy talks but enough to exchange greetings that go with civilized ways.

That is where I got my shock.

I said hello in quite a few yards before the message registered that this wasn't normally done. Occasionally, I got a direct reply from someone who looked me in the eye, smiled, and asked "How are you?" or "Isn't this a nice day?" I felt human then. But most often the response was either nothing at all, or a surprised stare because I had spoken.

One woman in a housecoat was startled as I came around the corner of her house. At the sound of my greeting, she gathered her housecoat tightly about her and retreated quickly indoors. I heard the lock click. Another woman had a huge, peculiar animal in her yard. I asked what it was. She stared at me. I thought she was deaf and spoke louder. She seemed frightened as she turned coldly away.

Steve raged spontaneously about these things on the long ride to the dump.

"The way most people look at you, you'd think a trashman was a monster. Say hello and they stare at you in surprise. They don't realiz

e we're human."

"One lady put ashes in her trashcan. I said we couldn't take them. She said, 'Who are you to say what goes? You're nothing but a trashman.' I told her,‘Listen, lady, I've got an I.Q. of 137, and I graduated near the top of my high school class. I do this for the money, not because it's the only work I can do.’"

"I want to tell them,‘Look, I am as clean as you are,' but it wouldn't help. I don't tell anyone I'm a garbageman. I say I'm a truck driver. My family knows, but my wife's folks don't. If someone comes right out and asks,‘Do you drive for a garbage company?' I say yes. I believe we're doing a service people need, like being a police officer or a fire fighter. I'm not ashamed of it, but I don't go around boasting about it either."

"A friend of my wife yelled at her kids one day when they ran out to meet a trash truck.‘Stay away from those trashmen. They're dirty.' I was angry with her.‘They're as good as we are,' I told her.‘You seem to have a lot of sympathy for them,' she said.‘Yes, I do.' But I never told her why."

I had originally planned to stay at this employment for only two days but now I'm going to continue. The exercise is great; the lifting gets easier with every load, even if my shoulder muscle is sore. I become faster and neater each day. I'm outdoors in clean air. And, contrary to what people think, I don't get dirty on the job.

I have decided, too, to keep saying hello in people's yards. It doesn't do any harm, and it still feels right. Frankly, I'm proud. I'm doing an essential task. I left this country a little cleaner than I found it this morning. Not many people can say that tonight.

John Gardner wrote that a society which praises its philosophers and looks down on its plumbers is in for trouble. "Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water," he warns. He might have gone a step further and called for respect for both our economists and our trashmen; otherwise, they'll both leave garbage behind.

新视野大学英语 读写教程第一册 unit7-a

Face to Face with Guns

Like most city folks, I'm cautious. I scan the street and pathways for anything— or anyone — unusual before pulling into the garage. That night was no exception. But, as I walked out of the garage, KFC chicken in hand, a portly, unshaven young man in a stocking cap and dark nylon jacket emerged from the shrub by the parking pad and put his pistol between my eyes.

"Give it up, mother —," he threatened. "Give it up."

"Hey," I said, "just take it." As I spoke, I set the KFC box on the planter beside the pathway, contriving as I did so to toss my house keys into a bush.

"Where's your money? Where's your money?" he barked. Everything he said during our encounter was repeated; instinctively, I did the same.

"It's in my wallet. It's in my wallet," I said.

He moved behind me, put his gun on my neck and began to search my trousers' pockets.

"Where's your wallet?" he asked.

"It's in my back pocket."

"Whe

re's the rest of your money?"

"I don't have any more money."

"Where's your watch?"

"Here," I replied, extending my left arm sideways.

Just then, his partner appeared. Slight and shorter, he held an enlarged blue steel pistol. His dark eyes shone like polished glass; his arms and legs moved unexpectedly, as if attached to unseen wires.

His voice snapped, "Stop looking at us. Stop looking at us."

He wasn't stupid. I've seen enough criminal trials to know victims of armed attacks are seldom able to identify their offenders because their attention focuses on the guns, rather than on their users. I consciously noted details of their faces.

"I'm not looking at you," I lied as the big one ripped the watch from my wrist.

"Get down. Get down," the thin one ordered. He grabbed my glasses and tossed them onto the lawn.

By then, I was flat on my face on the pathway, its dirt against my forehead. The big one's gun dug into the back of my head, the thin one's pistol into my left temple.

I thought, "I am going to die. This is going to kill Leslie. Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner."

"What's this?" the big one asked.

I rolled my head to the right.

"It's KFC chicken," I said.

"We'll take it," the big one snapped.

And, suddenly — wallet, watch and chicken in hand — their footsteps faded down the darkened street.

I turned to see their shadows get into a car and speed away.

I had been spared, but by what? Mercy? A short attention span? Hunger?

"How peculiar," I thought, "to have your life saved by fried chicken. I saw eternity; they saw food."

I got to my feet, found the keys, entered and called 911. The operator took a description of the robbers and sent a police car. I poured a stiff drink and, soon, two uniformed officers of the LAPD arrived. They took a report and admitted the "important thing" was nobody was hurt.

"But," one officer said on leaving, "taking your chicken, that's rough."

Later, an officer telephoned for additional details. He said the pair's methods suggested they might be the same men who had committed a number of robberies in the area over the past few months. He asked me to come to the station and look through mug shots.

So, last Monday I looked through album-sized books of pictures mostly of young men — an amazing number of them actually children.

Turning those pages and studying their photographs is like flowing on a sad current that, like Blake's Thames, seems to "mark in every face, marks of weakness, marks of woe."

Together, these young men are a kind of river — one that is out of control, eating at the foundations of things we hold dear: our freedom to move about; the fruits of labor; our own lives and those of people we value. Some day, we will have to face this river and seek the depths of its discontent.

Presently, all we can do is look at mug shots and stick our fingers in the dam.

新视野大学英语 读写教程第一册 unit7-B

Should I Have a Gun?

I own a black gun with a brown handle. It

holds five bullets and stays loaded by my bed.

I've always advocated gun control; the odd thing is I still do. It wasn't ignorance of crime statistics that previously kept me from owning a gun nor thinking I was immune to violence.

1. What is the purpose for the writer to have a loaded gun since she is in favor of gun control?

I assumed because I didn't believe in violence, because I wasn't violent, I wouldn't be affected by violence. I believed my belief in the best of human nature could make it real.

I should transport the gun from my residence to my vehicle, but I don't. What the gun is capable of, what it is intended for, still frightens me more than what it may prevent. If I carry my gun and I am attacked, I must use it to kill, not just injure.

2. Why did the writer choose not to take her gun along with her since she has her gun loaded?

I have confronted an attacker in my imagination, not in reality. A man is walking down the street. I lock my car and walk to my apartment with my key ready. Before I reach the door, I think I hear a voice say, money. Before I open the door I hear a voice and turn to see the man with a gun.

He is frightened. I am frightened I will scare him and he will shoot, or I will give him my money and he will still shoot. I am also angry because a gun is pointed at me by someone I've never met and never hurt.

Something makes me uncomfortable about this imagined robbery, something I don't want to admit, something I almost intentionally omitted because I am ashamed.

3. What, do you think, is the something that makes the writer feel uncomfortable?

I understand why I imagined being robbed by a man: They're physically more dominating and I've never heard of anyone being robbed by a female.

But why is he a black man? Why is he a Negro male with a worn T-shirt and shining eyes? Why is he not a white man?

4. Why is it that the writer's imagined robber is always a man and especially a black man?

I imagine standing in a gas station on Claiborne and Jackson waiting to pay the cashier when a black man walks up behind me. I do not turn around. I stare ahead waiting to pay. I try not to reveal I feel anxiety just because a black man has walked up behind me in a gas station in a bad neighborhood and he does not have a car.

5. What does a bad neighborhood mean here?

I imagine another possibility. I am walking with my gun in my hand when I hear the voice. The man mustn't have seen my gun. I get angry because I am threatened, because someone is endangering my life for the money in my pocket.

I turn and without really thinking, angry and frightened, I shoot. I kill a man for $50 or perhaps $100. It doesn't matter that he was trying to rob me. A man has died for money, not my money or his money, just money. Who put that price on his life?

6. What is the writer's level of comfort with killing a robber in self-defense?

I remember driving one night with my friend in her parents' automobile. We stopped

at a red light at Carlton and Tulane where a black man was crossing the street in front of us. My friend automatically locked the doors.

I am disgusted she saw the man as a reminder to lock her doors. I wonder if he noticed us doing so. I wonder how it feels when people lock their doors at the sight of you.

7. What does the writer intend to say when she finds her friend locking the doors at the sight of a black man?

I imagine another confrontation in front of my apartment. I have my gun when a man asks for money. I am angry and scared, but I do not use the gun. I fear what may happen if I don't use it, but am more afraid of killing another human being, more afraid of trying to live with the guilt of murdering another person. I bet my life that he will take my money and leave. I hope I win.

8. What does "I hope I win" mean?

Now I enter a gasoline station near my house. A black man is already waiting in line. He jumps and turns around. Seeing me, he relaxes and says I scared him because of the way things have become in this neighborhood.

Sorry, I say and smile. I realize I'm not the only one who is frightened.

新视野大学英语 读写教程第一册 unit8-a

Birth of Bright Ideas

No satisfactory way exists to explain how to form a good idea. You think about a problem until you're tired, forget it, maybe sleep on it, and then flash! When you aren't thinking about it, suddenly the answer arrives as a gift from the gods.

Of course, all ideas don't occur like that but so many do, particularly the most important ones. They burst into the mind, glowing with the heat of creation. How they do it is a mystery but they must come from somewhere. Let's assume they come from the "unconscious." This is reasonable, for psychologists use this term to describe mental processes which are unknown to the individual. Creative thought depends on what was unknown becoming known.

All of us have experienced this sudden arrival of a new idea, but it is easiest to examine it in the great creative personalities, many of whom experienced it in an intensified form and have written it down in their life stories and letters. One can draw examples from genius in any field, from religion, philosophy, and literature to art and music, even in mathematics, science, and technical invention, although these are often thought to depend only on logic and experiment. All truly creative activities depend in some degree on these signals from the unconscious, and the more highly insightful the person, the sharper and more dramatic the signals become.

Take the example of Richard Wagner composing the opening to "Rhinegold". Wagner had been occupied with the idea of the "Ring" for several years, and for many months had been struggling to begin composing. On September 4, 1853, he reached Spezia sick, went to a hotel, could not sleep for noise without and fever within, took a long walk the next day, and in the afternoon flung himself on a couch intending to sleep. Then

t last the miracle happened for which his unconscious mind had been seeking for so long. Falling into a sleeplike condition, he suddenly felt as though he were sinking in a mighty flood of water, and the rush and roar soon took musical shape within his brain. He recognized that the orchestral opening to the "Rhinegold

kespeare isn't creative capacity. It's the ability to use that capacity by encouraging creative impulses and then acting upon them. Most of us seldom achieve our creative potential but the reservoir of ideas hiding within every one of us can be unlocked.

The following techniques suggest concrete ways of increasing creativity:

Capture the fleeting . A good idea is like a rabbit. It runs by so fast, sometimes you see only its ears or tail. To capture it, you must be ready. Creative people are always ready to act — possibly the only difference between us and them.

In a letter to a friend in 1821, Ludwig van Beethoven wrote about thinking of a beautiful tune while half asleep in a carriage: "But scarcely did 1 awake when away flew the tune and I could not recall any part of it." Fortunately, for Beethoven and for us, the next day in the same carriage, the tune returned to him and he captured it in writing.

When a good idea comes your way, write it down — on your arm if necessary. Not every idea will have value but capture it first and evaluate later.

Daydream, Painter Salvador Dali used to lie on a sofa, holding a spoon. As he began to fall asleep, Dali would drop the spoon onto a plate on the floor. Shocked awake by the sound, he would immediately sketch the images seen in his mind in that fertile world of semi-sleep.

Everyone experiences this strange state and can take advantage of it. Try Dali's trick, or just allow yourself to daydream. Often, the "three bs" — bed, bath and bus — are productive. Anywhere you can be with your thoughts undisturbed, you'll find ideas emerge freely.

Seek challenges. Try inviting friends and business associates from different areas of your life to a party. Bringing people of different ages and social status together may help you think in new ways.

Edwin Land, one of America's most productive inventors, claimed the idea leading to his invention of the Polaroid camera came from his three-year-old daughter. On a visit to Santa Fe in 1943, she asked why she couldn't see the picture he had just taken. During the next hour, as Land walked around Santa Fe, all he had learned about chemistry came together: "The camera and the film became clear to me. In my mind they were so real that I spent several hours describing them. "

Expand your world. Many discoveries in science, engineering and the arts mix ideas from different fields. Consider " The Two-String Problem. " Two widely separated strings hang from a ceiling. Even though you can't reach both at once, is it possible to tie their ends together, using only a pair of pliers ?

One college student tied the pliers to one string and set it in motion like a pendulum. As it swung back and forth, he walked quickly to the other string and drew it as far forward as it would reach. Then he caught the swinging string when it passed near him and tied the two ends.

Asked how he succeeded, the student explained he had just come from a physics class on pendulum motion. Wh

at he had learned in one context transferred to a completely different one.

This principle works elsewhere as well. To enhance your creativity, learn some-thing new. If you're a banker, take up tap dancing; if you're a nurse, try a course in vitamin therapy. Read a book on a new subject. Change your daily newspaper. The new will combine with the old in novel and potentially fascinating ways. Becoming more creative means paying attention to that endless flow of ideas you produce, and learning to capture and act upon the new that's within you.

新视野大学英语 读写教程第一册 unit10-a

Being Honest and Open

My grandparents believed that you were either honest or you were not. There was no middle point. They had a simple saying hanging on their living-room wall: "Life is like a field of newly fallen snow. Where I choose to walk every step will show." They didn't have to talk about it; they demonstrated this truth by their life style.

They understood instinctively that integrity involves having a personal standard of morality and boundaries that does not sell out to convenience and that is not relative to the situation at hand. Integrity is an inner compass for judging your behavior.

Unfortunately, integrity is in short supply today — and getting scarcer. But it is the real bottom line in every area of society and a discipline we must demand of ourselves. A good test for this value is to apply what I call the "Integrity Triangle

organizations in the world.

Be honest and open about who you really are. People who lack genuine core values rely on external factors — their looks or status — in order to feel good about themselves. Inevitably they will do everything they can to preserve this false mask, but they will do very little to enhance their inner value and personal growth.

So be yourself. Don't engage in a personal cover-up of areas that are unpleasing in your life. "Tough times never last but tough people do," as Robert Schuller says. In other words, face reality and be mature in your responses to life’s challenges.

Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others. Integrity means you do what you do because it's right and not just fashionable or politically correct. A life of principle, of not yielding to the tempting attractions of an easy morality, will always win the day. It will take you forward into the twenty-first century without having to check your tracks in a rear-view mirror. My grandparents taught me that.

新视野大学英语 读写教程第一册 unit10-B

Web Site Resources:The Best Aid for Cheating?

For generations of students, writing term papers has been a major source of nerves and frustration, if not the ultimate homework nightmare. But for those with Internet access, illicit resources are just a few links away.

The contemporary student who wants to fake a term paper does not have to search far. All one has to do is to go to the appropriate Web site, where online papers can either be purchased, ordered, or downloaded for free.

Collegiate Care Research Assistance, for instance, may do the job. Do you want to "write" a paper on "Hamlet’s irreconcilable moral dilemmas"? Simply hand over $29.75, and the essay is yours.

For those who find this too great an expense, there is an alternative. Collegiate Care, with its "highest quality papers at the lowest possible prices

on explained, the task may not be too difficult for the perceiving teacher.

"Students who have gotten it off the Internet don’t look at me, twitch a little bit and look at their feet. And students who wrote every bit of it can talk about the paper very intelligently and look me in the eye," Morrison said.

Faking term papers is nothing new, and stolen intellectual property has been marketed for years. But the appearance of the Internet raises the issue: Is this new technology making cheating more widespread?

A senior official at Berkeley doubts it. "Students who are inclined to cheat are going to cheat regardless of the technology. I think it’s sort of a cynical notion to think that this new tool is going to spread the incidence of cheating," Gary Handman said.

This view was backed by Berkeley graduate student Arianne Chernock, who says that, after all, students have to decide what’s best for themselves. "It’s a question of honesty. We’re here to learn, so we’ve got to make the most of it ourselves."

And inventive teachers can make their assignments almost cheat-proof.

"If you structure the assignment in a creative way, and if students, for instance, have to transform the information into a hand-out, or do a drama, or write an account in first person narrative, then you may curb illicit work," said library media teacher Leslie Farmer.

That kind of strategy, some experts say, will basically force students to do more than simply download their education.