研究生英语阅读教程(基础级2版)课本03

READING SELECTION A
Whupping Fat Albert
By Rudolph Giuliani
[1] My father was an excellent boxer. His poor eyesight prevented him from becoming the prizefighter he wanted to be, but at 6 feet and a lean 150 pounds, he was fast and tough. He understood the sport and would describe fights to me in great detail, explaining the strategies and techniques of the great fighters, men like Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Willie Pep, Rocky Marciano, and Jersey Joe Walcott.
[2] In boxing, he said, the most important skill was to stay calm. This was the best lesson my father ever taught me—stay calm, especially when those around you are uneasy or troubled. The one who stays unruffled has a great advantage in being able to help others, to control the situation, to fix it.The fighter who loses his cool the first time he's hit will end up flat on his back on the canvas. If he remains calm, even while he's being hit, he can look for opportunities to hit back.
[3] The lesson came in handy. My Uncle Willie was a New Y ork City police officer. Long after he retired, he always wore a jacket and, usually, a tie. He was a shy man who kept to himself, and he'd spend his off hours reading the paper under the tree in front of our house. Next door lived another family, and the father was also a cop. For some reason, my uncle disliked him—perhaps he'd been nasty or unfair to Uncle Willie. Anyway, this guy had a son named Albert, a big fat kid, two years older than me—I was about 5 and he was 7. Albert took advantage of his size to intimidate the other kids. He'd knock them down and roll on them.
[4] My uncle used to read Spring 3100, the in-house police magazine. I loved looking at it—still do, in fact.
I would pore over Uncle Willie's copy, but only for so long—my uncle would always take the magazine back. One day he was sitting alone under the tree and my mother was nowhere in sight. He called me over. A copy of Spring 3100 was by his side.
[5] "Y ou want this magazine, right?"
[6] "Y es," I replied.
[7] "Y ou want it to keep?"
[8] "Sure!'
[9] "Beat up Albert, and I'll give you the magazine."
[10] "What do you mean?"
[11] Uncle Willie said, "Look, your father's been teaching you to box. Throw a couple of jabs like your old man showed you and Albert will start crying—he's a fat slob and bullies are never as tough as they seem."
[12] I was reluctant, because Albert was much heavier than I was. But Uncle Willie showed me the magazine and let me hold it, before taking it back and repeating that it would be mine as soon as I got Albert to cry uncle.
[13] A little while later, Uncle Willie was sitting in his usual chair, when I saw Albert up to his usual tricks, pushing some kids around, all of them smaller than he. I don't remember exactly how it started. All I know is that I found myself in a fight with him, just the two of us.
[14] I started jabbing at his face—boom, boom, boom, exactly as I'd been taught—and they were landing, nearly all of them. Albert never laid a hand on me—or if he did, I didn't notice. His nose started bleeding, a shiner was rising nicely, and finally he started to cry. Then he turned and ran home.
[15] I went home, too, and told my mother. She slapped me hard across the face. "Apologize right now, and I'm going to tell your father tonight. He's going to give you a real beating."
[16] "I don't want to apologize," I mumbled. "He started it." For that I got a second slap.
[17] Albert was still crying, and I begrudgingly said, "I'm sorry, Albert." My mother made us shake hands and ordered me to stay in for the rest of the day. I glanced at my uncle, and thought, at least he could give me the darn magazine. But I didn't give him up. I just went slowly up to my room. About 20 minutes later, his daughter, my cousin Evangeline, came up. She was carrying his copy of Spring 3100. "My dad wanted you to
have this," she said. "Since you have to stay in all day." I looked out the window. Uncle Willie was still there, under his tree, and he gave me a nod—as much for keeping my mouth shut, I knew, as for whipping Albert.
[18] My father came home that evening, and my mother told him what had happened. I could hear them talking in the room next door. It was his fault, my mother said, for teaching me to box. He should give me a licking I'd never forget. My father came up to me, but before he could adopt a suitable face of disapproval, he blurted, "You whipped Albert? God almighty! He's two years older than you, and 25 pounds heavier!"
[19] Standing up to bullies might sound like a glib call to be macho, but the truth is it takes a toll on you. One of the best reasons to let bullies know you won't back down from a fight is so that it doesn't get to that point often. That's not just a theory—there were many times in my administration when an early confrontation led to far less fighting down the road. Here's an example. At about 8:40 p. m. on Wednesday, July 17, 1996, TWA Flight 800 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean just off Long Island. All 230 on board the Paris-bound 747, which had taken off from Kennedy International Airport, were killed. My community response team and I got to the scene within an hour and set up an assistance center at the Ramada Plaza Hotel near the airport to provide aid and counseling to family members.
[20] When we got there, the first thing we tried to do was obtain the manifest so we could be sure who had been on the plane. Airlines are required by law to compile a complete list of passengers on international flights, including full names, passport information, and emergency phone contact numbers. This information is supposed to be made available within three hours of any crash. In this case, by 11:30 p. m., TWA said 229 people were aboard. By noon the next day, they were saying the number was 228. Later in the afternoon, they put the number at 230. I repeatedly demanded an accurate passenger list from TW A but was given every excuse why the airline couldn't produce one. I sensed something was up when I received a call about 4 a. m. from the CEO of the airline, Jeffrey Erickson, from a plane heading for Kennedy. I told him that I needed the manifest. He said we would talk when he got to New Y ork, that he wanted to "liaise" with me. I don't agree to liaise with people I haven't met. But then I thought, well, maybe I shouldn't be so judgmental based on the use of one word.
[21] By the next day, I was exasperated. I felt we were getting the runaround. When Erickson finally showed up, he addressed the families and the press at Kennedy Airport, and spoke for under a minute. He refused to take a single question. He added nothing to what we already knew; there was certainly nothing to liaise about.
[22] On behalf of the families of the passengers—and with an eye toward future disasters—I decided to make my anger known. On several national shows and on all the local channels, I criticized TWA for caring more about covering itself than promptly notifying suffering family members. On Friday, I recorded my weekly W ABC radio show from the Ramada and said, "The upper management of TW A incompetently handled the notification process for the families. That continues to be exacerbated by their not telling the truth about what happened."
[23] Three months later, Erickson resigned. But that wasn't the point. In a city the size of New Y ork, disasters are inevitable. I wanted leaders of companies involved in any future disaster to understand just what was expected of them—clear, honest, timely communication. By refusing to keep quiet about TWA's behavior, I made sure the consequences of putting corporate needs ahead of human suffering were understood. (1, 388 words).
OUT THE AUTHOR
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani III (born May 28, 1944) served as the Mayor of New Y ork from January 1, 1994 through December 31, 2001.
SCOREBOARD
EXERCISES
I . Reading Comprehension
Answer the following questions or complete the following statements.
1. Rudolph Giuliani's father was _____.
A. a successful boxing prizefighter
B. able to win fights with techniques
C. very tall and strong
D. well informed of boxing
2. The strategies and techniques of a great fighter that Rudolph Giuliani learned from his father _____.
A. were soon practiced
B. were later used when he grew up
C. didn't work for Giuliani
D. were made into theory by Giuliani
3. Uncle Willie didn't like their neighboring policeman probably because _____.
A. he often abused children
B. he was unfair while executing the law
C. he had treated Uncle Willie unfairly
D. he was a crazy and unreasonable man
4. What made Giuliani decide to beat Albert?
A. Albert took advantage of his size to bully other kids.
B. Albert used to intimidate Giuliani.
C. Giuliani didn't like him.
D. Giuliani wanted to keep a police magazine.
5. In the fighting between Giuliani and Albert, Albert _____.
A. lost his control the first time he was hit
B. missed almost all his targets
C. ended up flat on his back
D. never had any chance to use his hands
6. After Giuliani's father was told about the fighting he _____.
A. was very excited
B. gave Giuliani a real beating
C. didn't believe it
D. kissed his son as an encouragement
7. The theory of standing up to bullies _____.
A. took a heavy toll in Giuliani's later life
B. became a very useful strategy in Giuliani's life
C. led to far less fighting in Giuliani's later life
D. helped him win in his running for the mayor
8. Giuliani criticized TWA company for _____.
A. being unable to provide an accurate passenger list
B. planning to liaise with Giuliani
C. its covering of itself
D. its CEO's be lated showing up
9. The most important reason for Erickson's resignation is that _____.
A. he lied to the public about the truth of his company
B. as a CEO he didn't live up to the expectations of the public
C. his company was involved in a disaster in which too many people were killed
D. as a CEO he was incompetent in dealing with their business partners
10. Giuliani disclosed the TWA's misconduct because he wanted to tell the companies that _____.
A. they must pay price if they care about their company' interests more than human injuries and loss
B. they will lose in the competition with their rivals if they put their needs ahead of human suffering
C. serious consequences will follow if they don't corporate with the city's government in a disaster
D. companies will suffer a lot if they don't communicate with the public honestly and timely
II. Vocabulary
Read the following sentences and decide which of the four choices below each sentence is closest in meaning to the underlined word.
1. Traditionally it is a peaceful event, without confrontation between police and what they describe as the hippy convoy.
A. connection
B. exchange
C. fight
D. interaction
2. Tom Landry is one of the most successful football coaches in National Football League history, and he was known for his unruffled manner and fierce competitiveness.
A. calm
B. brave
C. polite
D. mild
3. At the auction, he offered ridiculously low bids and intimidated other would-be buyers so that he could buy back the farm at an extremely low price.
A. betrayed
B. frightened
C. gathered
D. cheated
4. After the boss announced that he would move the company to Los Angeles, all the employees begrudgingly accepted the plan as they were afraid of losing the job.
A. presently
B. reasonably
C. willingly
D. reluctantly
5. People with ADHD have difficulty keeping their minds on one thing; they may run into the street without looking blurt out inappropriate comments in class, and interrupt conversations.
A. utter
B. conduct
C. make
D. crush
6. An attendant Labor press officer mumbled: "We're shameless aren't we?"
A. claimed
B. acknowledged
C. proposed
D. muttered
7. During the congressional elections of 1866, Johnson campaigned for his Reconstruction Program, but his efforts hurt his cause more than they helped. This exasperated him into heated and undignified arguments.
A. hit
B. beat
C. angered
D. stirred
8. One primary intervention therefore was for me to liaise regularly with the ward so that Mrs. Allen was fully informed about the situation.
A. negotiate
B. contact
C. impose
D. stimulate
9. Difficult market conditions were exacerbated when Korean tanners entered the UK and New Zealand raw material markets, driving up prices.
A. deteriorated
B. changed
C. relieved
D. solved
10. Thus all material to be shown will have been compiled in the knowledge that it would be made available.
A. verified
B. sorted
C. extracted
D. composed
B. Choose the best word or expression from the list given for each blank each word or expression only once and make proper changes where necessary.
take a toll on end up pore over slap bully
lose one's cool be up come in handy strategy promptly
1. Human-made structures also take a toll on migrants. Skyscrapers and radio towers have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of migrating birds.
2. Amanda stayed calm at the moment and didn't lose her cool.
3. We both like driving it so much that we end up using it all the time.
4. We should remember from Mayhew's account that the boots also come in handy for kicking policemen and other traditional foes of the costers.
5. In his lunch breaks Doisneau pored over books on photography, and at weekends he set off alone with a heavy wooden camera and tripod to capture the first of the "personal" photographs that would be the basis of
his life's work.
6. Last night the woman, who did not wish to be named, said: "I'm really furious, I'd just love to slap him on his nasty face."
7. I could tell by the look on his face that something was up.
8. Essential information on the progress of the project is conveyed throughout its duration and any enforced changes are notified promptly.
9. This use of a series of releasers, one after the other, is a strategy frequently employed in communication.
10. He wasn't, in fact, a very nice boy, a bully and rather stupid.
III. Cloze
There are ten blanks in the following passage. Read the passage candidly and choose the hest answer from the four choices given .for each blank.
New Y ork City has a highly centralized municipal government. The mayor, chosen by a citywide electorate for a four-year term, has wide 1 powers. The mayor has a leadership role in budget-making, authority to organize and reorganize administrative agencies and to 2 and remove their heads, a strong veto (否决权), and all powers not specifically otherwise granted. The comptroller (审计官) , elected on a citywide basis for a four-year term, recommends financial policies and advises the mayor and the city council in the preparation of the 3 .
There are nine major administrative agencies, called administrations. The police and fire departments are not 4 as administrations, but are also principal agencies. Certain important city agencies include the board of education, the board of higher education, the health and hospitals corporation, and the housing authority. 5 two major agencies are bi-state or regional in character: the Port Authority of New Y ork and New Jersey, which controls airports and interstate buses, and the Transportation Authority, which controls s ubway and bus operations in the city and railroad service in New Y ork and Connecticut.
Legislative authority is 6 by the city council, made up of 51 members, who are elected from 7 districts for four-year terms. The 8 officer is the public advocate, chosen for a four-year term by a citywide electorate. The advocate can vote only to 9 . The most powerful member of the council is the speaker, who is chosen by a 10 of the members and appoints the heads of the various council committees. The council introduces and legislates all laws and approves the budget; it can override a mayoral veto by a vote of two-thirds of all the members.
1. A. productive B. manipulative C. speculative D. executive
2. A. appoint B. fire C. arrange D. offer
3. A. economy B. budget C. revenue D. expense
4. A. included B. undertaken C. classified D. called
5. A. At last B. As usual C. In addition D. After all
6. A. grabbed B. guarded C graded D. granted
7. A. personal B. individual C. private D. single
8. A. presidential B. practicing C. presiding D. present
9. A. break a tie B. make a decision C. draw a conclusion D. give a summary
10. A. minimum B. maximum C. minority D. majority
IV. Translation
Put the following parts into Chinese.
1. The one who stays unruffled has a great advantage in being able to help others, to control the situation, to fix it. The fighter who loses his cool the first time he's hit will end up flat on his back on the canvas.
能够保持冷静的人占据很大优势。

他们能够帮助别人；能够控制局势，并能使情况转危为安。

如果一个拳击手挨了第一下就失去了冷静的话，那他最终一定会被打倒在拳台上。

2. Standing up to bullies might sound like a glib call to be macho, but the truth is it takes a toll on you. One
of the best reasons to let bullies know you won't back down from a fight is so that it doesn't get to that point often.
勇敢地面对强者听上去像是很轻松地叫你去作个男子汉大丈夫，但实际做起来是要付出代价的。

在一场拳击中要让恃强凌弱的对手知道你不会倒下的最佳理由之一就是你不轻易倒下。

3. The upper management of TW A incompetently handled the notification process for the families. That continues to be exacerbated by their not telling the truth about what happened.
环球航空公司的上层管理人员没能及时、准确地向遇难者家属通报，更严重的是他们隐瞒了事实的真相。

4. Three months later, Erickson resigned. But that wasn't the point. In a city the size of New Y ork, disasters are inevitable. I wanted leaders of companies involved in any future disaster to understand just what was expected of them—clear, honest, timely communication. By refusing to keep quiet about TW A's behavior, I made sure the consequences of putting corporate needs ahead of human suffering were understood.
三个月后Erickson 辞职了，但这不是最重要的。

在纽约这样的大城市中灾难在所难免，我只是希望今后任何公司遇到灾难时，公司的领导应该明白在灾难发生时，公众希望他们能清楚、诚实并及时地告知事实的真相。

在环球航空公司的事件中我没有保持沉默就是想要明确地告诉他们，如果他们把公司的需求放在人民生命损失之上会有什么样的结果。

V. Oral Practice and Discussion
1. If we divide the selection into two parts, where is the beginning of the second part? What is the relationship between the two parts?
2. What was the most important skill in boxing that the author learned from his father? And what was the advantage of it?
3. The author liked the Spring 3100 magazine very much, but why couldn't he buy one himself?
4. Why did the author lie to his mother that Albert started the fighting? Did his mother believe him?
5. TWA company was unwilling to provide an accurate and timely passenger list, what
did this show?
6. What made Giuliani exasperated in the TWA case?
7. Try to find out what Giuliani did in handling the crisis when the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New Y ork City on September 11, 2001.
VOCABULARY ITEMS
1. whup：v. (chiefly used in Southern U.S.) to defeat, e. g. by whipping, striking or beating (whip的变体)(美俚)大胜
2. unruffled：adj. calm; not upset or agitated平静，镇定
3. canvas：n. the floor of a boxing ring拳击场的地板
4. nasty：adj. dirty; unpleasant肮脏的，令人不快的
5. intimidate：v. to frighten esp. in order to force sb. into doing sth.胁迫
6. in-house：adj. originating within an organization, company, etc.内部的
7. jab：n. sudden rough blow or thrust 猛击，猛刺
8. slob：n. unpleasantly dirty and rude person肮脏粗鲁的人
9. bully：a person who uses his strength or power to frighten or hurt those who are weaker恃强凌弱者
10. boom：n. deep hollow sound低沉的声音
11. shinner：n. black eye (跌，打伤的)黑眼圈
12. slap：v. to hit sb. with the flat part of one's hand掴；拍
13. mumble：v. to speak indistinctly
14. begrudgingly：adv. showing unwillingness or dissatis咕哝
15. darn：adj. used to emphasize how bad, stupid, unfair, etc. sb. or sth. is; damn it该死的
16. licking：n. beating打，鞭打
17. blurt：v. to tell sth. e. g. a secret thoughtlessly脱口说出某事
18. glib：adj. ready and smooth but not sincere圆滑的，口齿流利的
19. macho：n. having the characteristics of man男子汉，大丈夫
20. confrontation：n. an argument, fight, or battle冲突，对抗
21. manifest：n. a detailed list详细名单
22. compile：v. to collect and put together many pieces of information搜集，编制
23. liaise：v. to establish link or connection建立联系contact
24. exasperate：v. to irritate; make anger worse激怒，加深愤怒
25. runaround：n. an indecisive or evasive response借口；躲闪；拖延
26. exacerbate：v. to make pain, disease or situation worse加重，使恶化
27. come in handy：to prove to be useful发现后来有用
28. pore over：to study with close attention仔细研究
29. take a toll on sb.：to bring heavy losses to使遭受损伤
30. be up：to be going on发生了什么事
NOTES
1. Sugar: famous American Ray Robinson, Willie Pep, Rocky Marciano and Jersy Joe Walcott: boxers: famous American boxers
2. TW A: Trans-World Airlines
3. Long Island: an island in southwest New Y ork
4. Paris-bound: going to or heading for Paris
5. W ABC: a news talk radio in New Y ork City. It includes news, weather, sports, traffic, lottery results, community.
6. Ramada: a chain hotel
READING SELECTION B
Paging Dr. Carson
By Ben Carson
[1] It was in 1961 and I was in fifth grade. My marks in school were miserable and, the thing was, I didn't know enough to really care.
[2] Our father was long gone. My older brother, Curtis, and I lived with Mom in a dingy multi-family house in the Delray section of Detroit, one of those neighborhoods that might politely be called gritty. Our home was cramped and poorly furnished, but it was clean and there was always food on the table. In that self-insulating ignorance of kids, we were only dimly aware of the difficulties our mother had keeping things together while working three different jobs as a 'domestic'.
[3] Our world was basically like this: Get school over with, then play football or basketball, do a little "apple raiding" from a neighbor's back-yard tree and maybe shoot rats with a BB gun. Then it was home after dark to watch TV. We did not need TV Guide. My brother and I knew at any time what was on every channel.
[4] But one day Mom changed our world forever. She turned off the TV. My failing grades in school triggered the whole thing. Our mother, Sonya Carson, had only been able to get through third grade. But she was much brighter and smarter than we boys knew at the time. She had noticed something in the suburban houses she cleaned—books. So she came home one day, snapped off the TV, sat us down and explained that her sons were going to make something of themselves. "Y ou boys are going to read two books every week," she said. "And you're going to write me a report on what you read."
[5] We moaned and complained about how unfair it was, and how all the other kids watched TV. When that didn't work we thought, well, maybe she'll forget about the idea in a few days. Besides, we didn't have any books in the house other than Mom's Bible.
[6] But she explained that we would go where the books were: "Ill drive you to the library." So pretty soon
there were these two peevish, disconsolate boys sitting in her white 1959 Oldsmobile on their way to the Waterman Street branch of the Detroit Public Library. I loved animals, so when I saw some books that seemed to be about animals, I started leafing through them.
[7] The first book I read clear through was Chip the Dam Builder. It was about beavers and how they lived and built their dams. For the first time in my life I was lost in another world. No television program had ever taken me so far away from my surroundings as did this verbal visit to a cold stream in a forest and these animals building a home.
[8] It didn't dawn on me at the time, but the experience was quite different from watching TV. There were images forming in my mind instead of before my eyes. And I could return to them again and again with the flip of a page.
[9] Soon I began to look forward to visiting this hushed sanctuary from my other world. I discovered dinosaurs. I discovered the difference between reptiles and mammals. And I discovered something much more important: not only did I like to read, but I could absorb more information, more quickly, through the printed word than I ever did from sounds or images.
[10] I moved on from animals to plants and then to other fields.
[11] Between the covers of all those books were whole worlds, and I was free to go anywhere in them. Along the way a funny thing happened: I started to know things.
[12] Only years later would we realize that our mother was illiterate and could not read even those short book reports we scrawled for her each week. Eventually, though, she not only learned to read but went on to earn her general-education diploma.
[13] Now Curtis is an engineer and I am chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore. Sometimes I still can't believe my life's journey, from a failing and indifferent student in a Detroit public school to a Y ale University scholarship, the University of Michigan Medical School and finally this position, which takes me to over the world to teach and perform critical surgery.
[14] But I know when the journey began—the day Mom snapped off the TV set and put us in her Oldsmobile for that drive to the library. (742 words)
Answer the following questions or complete the following statements.
1. Dr. Carson is from a(n) _____.
A. multi-children family
B. unhappy family
C. wealthy family
D. lower-class family
2. In his fifth grade, Dr. Carson's poor marks _____.
A. made him miserable
B. seemed nothing important to him
C. had him punished by his mother
D. made him aware of his problem
3. When they were young, Dr. Carson and his brother _____.
A. knew it was hard for their mother to make ends meet
B. didn't know their mother worked in other people's houses
C. knew their mother was bright and smart
D. didn't know their mother couldn't read and write
4. Dr. Carson and his brother didn't have TV Guide because _____.
A. they could remember what was shown on TV
B. they couldn't afford to buy a TV Guide
C. their mother would not allow them to watch TV
D. they only watched TV at a regular time
5. Dr. Carson's mother asked her sons to read books and write book reports because _____.
A. she saw there were many books in the houses of rich people
B. she wanted to know how well her sons could read and write
C. she wanted her sons to be successful in the future
D. she was very interested in reading herself
6. The boys thought their mother was not serious about asking them to write book reports because _____.
A. the requirement was unfair
B. other children didn't write book reports
C. their mother was always forgetful
D. they didn't have books at home except the Bible
7. When Dr. Carson became interested in reading _____.
A. he read a great number of picture books
B. he found reading could help build his imagination
C. he found reading could take the place of watching TV
D. he could get as much information through reading as through TV
8. While reading in Detroit library, Dr. Carson _____.
A. began to understand more
B. taught himself to be a doctor
C. became interested in medicine
D. finished his general education
9. While asking her sons to read and write reports, Dr. Carson's mother _____.
A. had to work harder to support them
B. finished her own general education
C. went to high schools to receive her basic education
D. became a scholar herself
10. The story tells us _____.
A. how the author became a successful doctor
B. reading has many advantages over watching TV
C. how an illiterate mother led her sons to the way to success
D. people from poor families could be successful by reading
VOCABULARY ITEMS
1. page：v. to call aloud for sb. who is wanted for some reasons, e. g. doctors广播呼叫某人
2. dingy：n. darkened with smoke and dirt; dirty and faded阴暗的；肮脏的或褪色的
3. gritty：n. containing or covered with small pieces of a hard material, usu. Stone含砂的，被砂覆盖的
4. cramped；adj. limited in space狭窄的
5. selt-insulalting：adj. isolating oneself from other people自我隔离的
6. domestic：n. a household servant佣人
7. raid：v. to visit or attack a place袭击
8. trigger：v. to start; set off引发，触发
9. moan：v. to complain抱怨
10. peevish：adj. bad-tempered坏脾气的
11. disconsolate：adj. (typically of a person) hopelessly sad, esp. at the loss of sth. and unwilling to be comforted郁闷的，忧伤的
12. beaver：n. a kind of water and land animal of rat family海狸
13. verbal：adj. of, relating to, or associated with words文字的
14. flip：n. the movement to turn pages 翻页。