Letters from Warren Buffet to stockholders 1985
巴菲特致股东的信(Warren Buffett's Letters to Berkshire Shareholders)-1977
Warren Buffett's Letters to Berkshire Shareholders-1977BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC.To the Stockholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.:Operating earnings in 1977 of $21,904,000, or $22.54 per share, were moderately better than anticipated a year ago. Of these earnings, $1.43 per share resulted from substantial realizedcapital gains by Blue Chip Stamps which, to the extent of our proportional interest in that company, are included in ouroperating earnings figure. Capital gains or losses realizeddirectly by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. or its insurance subsidiaries are not included in our calculation of operating earnings.Whiletoo much attention should not be paid to the figure for any single year, over the longer term the record regarding aggregate capital gains or losses obviously is of significance.1977年本公司的营业净利为2,190万美元，每股约当22.54美元，表现较年前的预期稍微好一点，在这些盈余中，每股有1.43美元的盈余，系蓝筹邮票大量实现的资本利得，本公司依照投资比例认列投资收益所贡献，至于伯克希尔本身及其保险子公司已实现的资本利得或损失，则不列入营业利益计算，建议大家不必太在意单一期间的盈余数字，因为长期累积的资本利得或损失才是真正的重点所在。
Letters from an American Farmer
J．赫克托．圣约翰．克雷夫科尔(J. HECTOR ST. JOHN DE CREVECOEUR)一个美国农民的信Letters from an American Farmer在这里，来自世界各国的人融合成一个新的民族，总有一天，他们所付出的劳动以及他们的后代将使世界发生巨大的变化。
1782年，一位法裔美国博物学家发表了十二篇文章，他自己把这些文章题爲《一个美国农民的信》。
这本书在欧洲出版后，作者一举成名，并爲这个新生的国家赢得许多朋友。
J．赫克托．圣约翰．克雷夫科尔又名米歇尔．纪尧姆．琼．克雷夫科尔(1735─ 1813)生于法国，在杰苏伊特的学校里受过教育。
1754年，克雷夫科尔移民到新世界，在纽约殖民地的一个农场定居。
在美国革命期间，他在双方都有朋友和亲戚，而且自己遭到英国人短期监禁。
1780年他乘船前往欧洲，安排在伦敦出版他写美国生活的文章。
他曾担任法国驻纽约领事几年，1790年回到法国安度余生。
在许多年里，克雷夫科尔对新世界敏锐而富于同情的描述，使他成爲拥有最广大读者的美洲评论员。
也许他的《信》中最著名的部分就是编在这里的这段文章，文中提出了美国作爲许多国家人民的熔炉这个概念。
但愿我能熟悉那种必将鼓动人心的感情和思想，并且在一个开明的英国人首次踏上这片大陆时，将这种思想和感情原原本本地展现在他眼前。
他一定会大爲高兴，在有生之年看到这片美丽的国土被人发现和定居。
当他观看装点着这延绵不断的海岸上的一连串殖民地时，他必定会感到一份民族自豪。
这时他对自己说这是我的同胞们干的，他们是在受派别骚扰，爲各种不幸和贫困感到痛苦，并且烦躁不安时，来到这里避难的。
他们带来了他们的民族精神，他们现在能享有这样的自由并且拥有这样的物质财富主要应归功于这种精神。
在这里他看到祖国的工业以新的方式展现出来，从他们一点一滴的劳动成果里可以看到在欧洲繁荣的所有艺术、科学和创造力的萌芽。
在这里他看到美丽的城市，富足的乡村，广阔的田野，一个到处是漂亮的房子、良好的道路、果园、草地和桥梁的大国家，而在一百年以前，这里还是荒野、树林和未开垦的土地！这美妙的景象定会引起人们愉快的联想，这前景必将激起一个好公民最舒心的快感。
遇见未来的你,想想退休的事
为什么让人把钱存下来以备长远打算会那么困难？收入较低和诱惑太大是两个显而易见的原因，但最基本的因素也许来源于人性的根本弱点：我们将未来的自己视为陌路人。
Estimating with any precision what you will want 30 or 40 years from now is almost impossible. You don't know your future desires, because you don't know your future self. What will you want or need when you are 65 or 70 or 80 or older? Who knows?
这关系到很多人的切身利益。多年来，企业一直在削减员工的固定养老金，让员工加入401(k)和其它一些自愿性质的退休养老计划，但这些计划提供的是非固定的投资回报。此外，政策制定者在小打小闹地推出税收等优惠政策，鼓励人们储蓄。共同基金和保险公司则看中了数以万亿计的退休基金能赚取大量管理费，因此也不遗余力地试图说服人们更多地存钱。
当然，如果你今朝有酒今朝醉，那未来需要用钱时就会发现自己囊中空空——但那一天离现在还有好几十年。对于任何年龄段的人来说，这都是颠扑不破的真理，但年轻人的机会损失最大，因为存钱的时候越早，财富增长的时间就会越充裕。
26 English Letter Teaching Courseware
The letter "D" is written in both upper and lower case forms It insists of a semiconductor connected to a vertical line
Examples
"Dog", "Door", "Day"
The Promotion and Writing of the Letter E
要点一
Pronunciation
The letter "E" is promoted as/i ː/ In the IPA When promoting, the south should be slightly open and the tongue should be raised towards the roof of the south
fun, fish, fan, fast
The Promotion and Writing of Letter G
01
Pronunciation
The letter "G" is proposed as/g/ It is a consistent sound made by blocking the back of your throat and then releasing the air
PThroe nletutenrc"Dia"tisiopnromoted as/di ː/ In the IPA It is a voiced consonant,
produced by playing the tongue tip behind the tea and releasing it while voicing
THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS
THE SCREWTAPE LETTERSbyC. S. LEWISFellow of Magdalen College, OxfordTOJ. R. R. TOLKIEN"The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn."—Luther"The devill . . the prowde spirite . . cannot endure to be mocked."—Thomas MoreContentsPrefaceI II III IV V VI VII VIII IXX XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIXXX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI XXVII XXVIII XXIXXXX XXXI[About this etext]PREFACEI HA VE no intention of explaining how the correspondence which I now offer to the public fell into my hands.There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight. The sort of script which is used in this book can be very easily obtained by anyone who has once learned the knack; but disposed or excitable people who might make a bad use of it shall not learn it from me.Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a liar. Not everything that Screwtape says should be assumed to be true even from his own angle. I have made no attempt to identify any of the human beings mentioned in the letters; but I think it very unlikely that the portraits, say, of Fr. Spike or the patient's mother, are wholly just. There is wishful thinking in Hell as well as on Earth. In conclusion, I ought to add that no effort has been made to clear up the chronology of the letters. Number XVII appears to have been composed before rationing became serious; but in general the diabolical method of dating seems to bear no relation to terrestrial time and I have not attempted to reproduce it. The history of the European War, except in so far as it happens now and then to impinge upon the spiritual condition of one human being, was obviously of no interest to Screwtape.C. S. LEWIS MAGDALEN COLLEGEJuly 5, 1941IMY DEAR WORMWOOD,I note what you say about guiding our patient's reading and taking care that he sees a good deal of his materialist friend. But are you not being a trifle naïf? It sounds as if you supposed that argument was the way to keep him out of the Enemy's clutches. That might have been so if he had lived a few centuries earlier. At that time the humans still knew pretty well when a thing was proved and when it was not; and if it was proved they really believed it. They still connected thinking with doing and were prepared to alter their way of life as the result of a chain of reasoning. But what with the weekly press and other such weapons we have largely altered that. Your man has been accustomed, ever since he was a boy, to have a dozen incompatible philosophies dancing about together inside his head. He doesn't think of doctrines as primarily "true" of "false", but as "academic" or "practical", "outworn" or "contemporary", "conventional" or "ruthless". Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church. Don't waste time trying to make him think that materialism is true! Make him think it is strong, or stark, or courageous—that it is the philosophy of the future. That's the sort of thing he cares about.The trouble about argument is that it moves the whole struggle onto the Enemy's own ground. He can argue too; whereas in really practical propaganda of the kind I am suggesting He has been shown for centuries to be greatly the inferior of Our Father Below. By the very act of arguing, you awake the patient's reason; and once it is awake, who can foresee the result? Even if a particular train of thought can be twisted so as to end in our favour, you will find that you have been strengthening in your patient the fatal habit of attending to universal issues and withdrawing his attention from the stream of immediate sense experiences. Your business is to fix his attention on the stream. Teach him to call it "real life" and don't let him ask what he means by "real". Remember, he is not, like you, a pure spirit. Never having been a human (Oh that abominable advantage of the Enemy's!) you don't realise how enslaved they are to the pressure of the ordinary.I once had a patient, a sound atheist, who used to read in the British Museum. One day, as he sat reading, I saw a train of thought in his mind beginning to go the wrong way. The Enemy, of course, was at his elbow in a moment. Before I knew where I was I saw my twenty years' work beginning to totter. If I had lost my head and begun to attempt a defence by argument I should have been undone. But I was not such a fool. I struck instantly at the part of the man which I had best under my control and suggested that it was just about time he had some lunch. The Enemy presumably made the counter-suggestion (you know how one can never quite overhear What He says to them?) that this was more important than lunch. At least I think that must have been His line for when I said "Quite. In fact much too important to tackle it the end of a morning", the patient brightened up considerably; and by the time I had added "Much better come back after lunch and go into it with a fresh mind", he was already half way to the door. Once he was in the street the battle was won. I showed him a newsboy shouting the midday paper, and a No. 73 bus going past, and before he reached the bottom of the steps I had got into him an unalterable conviction that, whatever odd ideas might come into a man's head when he was shut up alone with his books, a healthy dose of "real life" (by which he meant the bus and the newsboy) was enough to show him that all "that sort of thing" just couldn't be true. He knew he'd had a narrow escape and in later years was fond of talking about "that inarticulate sense for actuality which is our ultimate safeguard against the aberrations of mere logic". He is now safe in Our Father's house.You begin to see the point? Thanks to processes which we set at work in them centuries ago, theyfind it all but impossible to believe in the unfamiliar while the familiar is before their eyes. Keep pressing home on him the ordinariness of things. Above all, do not attempt to use science (I mean, the real sciences) as a defence against Christianity. They will positively encourage him to think about realities he can't touch and see. There have been sad cases among the modern physicists. If he must dabble in science, keep him on economics and sociology; don't let him get away from that invaluable "real life". But the best of all is to let him read no science but to give him a grand general idea that he knows it all and that everything he happens to have picked up in casual talk and reading is "the results of modem investigation". Do remember you are there to fuddle him. From the way some of you young fiends talk, anyone would suppose it was our job to teach!Your affectionate uncleSCREWTAPEIIMY DEAR WORMWOOD,I note with grave displeasure that your patient has become a Christian. Do not indulge the hope that you will escape the usual penalties; indeed, in your better moments, I trust you would hardly even wish to do so. In the meantime we must make the best of the situation. There is no need to despair; hundreds of these adult converts have been reclaimed after a I brief sojourn in the Enemy's camp and are now with us. All the habits of the patient, both mental and bodily, are still in our favour.One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do riot mean the Church as we see her spread but through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes I our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans. All your patient sees is the half-finished, sham Gothic erection on the new building estate. When he goes inside, he sees the local grocer with rather in oily expression on his face bustling up to offer him one shiny little book containing a liturgy which neither of them understands, and one shabby little book containing corrupt texts of a number of religious lyrics, mostly bad, and in very small print. When he gets to his pew and looks round him he sees just that selection of his neighbours whom he has hitherto avoided. You want to lean pretty heavily on those neighbours. Make his mind flit to and fro between an expression like "the body of Christ" and the actual faces in the next pew. It matters very little, of course, what kind of people that next pew really contains. You may know one of them to be a great warrior on the Enemy's side. No matter. Your patient, thanks to Our Father below, is a fool. Provided that any of those neighbours sing out of tune, or have boots that squeak, or double chins, or odd clothes, the patient will quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous. At his present stage, you see, he has an idea of "Christians" in his mind which he supposes to be spiritual but which, in fact, is largely pictorial. His mind is full of togas and sandals and armour and bare legs and the mere fact that the other people in church wear modern clothes is a real—though of course an unconscious—difficulty to him. Never let it come to the surface; never let him ask what he expected them to look like. Keep everything hazy in his mind now, and you will have all eternity wherein to amuse yourself by producing in him the peculiar kind of clarity which Hell affords.Work hard, then, on the disappointment or anticlimax which is certainly coming to the patient during his first few weeks as a churchman. The Enemy allows this disappointment to occur on the threshold of every human endeavour. It occurs when the boy who has been enchanted in thenursery by Stories from the Odyssey buckles down to really learning Greek. It occurs when lovers have got married and begin the real task of learning to live together. In every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspiration to laborious doing. The Enemy takes this risk because He has a curious fantasy of making all these disgusting little human vermin into what He calls His "free" lovers and servants—"sons" is the word He uses, with His inveterate love of degrading the whole spiritual world by unnatural liaisons with the two-legged animals. Desiring their freedom, He therefore refuses to carry them, by their mere affections and habits, to any of the goals which He sets before them: He leaves them to "do it on their own". And there lies our opportunity. But also, remember, there lies our danger. If once they get through this initial dryness successfully, they become much less dependent on emotion and therefore much harder to tempt.I have been writing hitherto on the assumption that the people in the next pew afford no rational ground for disappointment. Of course if they do—if the patient knows that the woman with the absurd hat is a fanatical bridge-player or the man with squeaky boots a miser and an extortioner—then your task is so much the easier. All you then have to do is to keep out of his mind the question "If I, being what I am, can consider that I am in some sense a Christian, why should the different vices of those people in the next pew prove that their religion is mere hypocrisy and convention?" You may ask whether it is possible to keep such an obvious thought from occurring even to a human mind. It is, Wormwood, it is! Handle him properly and it simply won't come into his head. He has not been anything like long enough with the Enemy to have any real humility yet. What he says, even on his knees, about his own sinfulness is all parrot talk. At bottom, he still believes he has run up a very favourable credit-balance in the Enemy's ledger by allowing himself to be converted, and thinks that he is showing great humility and condescension in going to church with these "smug", commonplace neighbours at all. Keep him in that state of mind as long as you can.Your affectionate uncleSCREWTAPEIIIMY DEAR WORMWOOD,I am very pleased by what you tell me about this man's relations with his mother. But you must press your advantage. The Enemy will be working from the centre outwards, gradually bringing more and more of the patient's conduct under the new standard, and may reach his behaviour to the old lady at any moment. You want to get in first. Keep in close touch with our colleague Glubose who is in charge of the mother, and build up between you in that house a good settled habit of mutual annoyance; daily pinpricks. The following methods are useful.1. Keep his mind on the inner life. He thinks his conversion is something inside him and his attention is therefore chiefly turned at present to the states of his own mind—or rather to that very expurgated version of them which is all you should allow him to see. Encourage this. Keep his mind off the most elementary duties by directing it to the most advanced and spiritual ones. Aggravate that most useful human characteristic, the horror and neglect of the obvious. You must bring him to a condition in which he can practise self-examination for an hour without discovering any of those facts about himself ,which are perfectly clear to anyone who has over lived in the same house with him or worked the same office.2. It is, no doubt, impossible to prevent his praying for his mother, but we have means of rendering the prayers innocuous. Make sure that they are always very "spiritual", that he is alwaysconcerned with the state of her soul and never with her rheumatism. Two advantages follow. In the first place, his attention will be kept on what he regards as her sins, by which, with a little guidance from you, he can be induced to mean any of her actions which are inconvenient or irritating to himself. Thus you can keep rubbing the wounds of the day a little sorer even while he is on his knees; the operation is not at all difficult and you will find it very entertaining. In the second place, since his ideas about her soul will be very crude and often erroneous, he will, in some degree, be praying for an imaginary person, and it will be your task to make that imaginary person daily less and less like the real mother—the sharp-tongued old lady at the breakfast table. In time, you may get the cleavage so wide that no thought or feeling from his prayers for the imagined mother will ever flow over into his treatment of the real one. I have had patients of my own so well in hand that they could be turned at a moment's notice from impassioned prayer for a wife's or son's "soul" to beating or insulting the real wife or son without a qualm.3. When two humans have lived together for many years it usually happens that each has tones of voice and expressions of face which are almost unendurably irritating to the other. Work on that. Bring fully into the consciousness of your patient that particular lift of his mother's eyebrows which he learned to dislike in the nursery, and let him think how much he dislikes it. Let him assume that she knows how annoying it is and does it to annoy—if you know your job he will not notice the immense improbability of the assumption. And, of course, never let him suspect that he has tones and looks which similarly annoy her. As he cannot see or hear himself, this is easily managed.4. In civilised life domestic hatred usually expresses itself by saying things which would appear quite harmless on paper (the words are not offensive) but in such a voice, or at such a moment, that they are not far short of a blow in the face. To keep this game up you and Glubose must see to it that each of these two fools has a sort of double standard. Your patient must demand that all his own utterances are to be taken at their face value and judged simply on the actual words, while at the same time judging all his mother's utterances with the fullest and most oversensitive interpretation of the tone and the context and the suspected intention. She must be encouraged to do the same to him. Hence from every quarrel they can both go away convinced, or very nearly convinced, that they are quite innocent. You know the kind of thing: "I simply ask her what time dinner will be and she flies into a temper." Once this habit is well established you have the delightful situation of a human saying things with the express purpose of offending and yet having a grievance when offence is taken.Finally, tell me something about the old lady's religious position. Is she at all jealous of the new factor in her son's life?—at all piqued that he should have learned from others, and so late, what she considers she gave him such good opportunity of learning in childhood? Does she feel he is making a great deal of "fuss" about it—or that he's getting in on very easy terms? Remember the elder brother in the Enemy's story,Your affectionate uncleSCREWTAPEIVMY DEAR WORMWOOD,The amateurish suggestions in your last letter warn me that it is high time for me to write to you fully on the painful subject of prayer. You might have spared the comment that my advice about his prayers for his mother it "proved singularly unfortunate". That is not the sort of thing that anephew should write to his uncle—nor a junior tempter to the under-secretary of a department. It also reveals an unpleasant desire to shift responsibility; you must learn to pay for your own blunders.The best thing, where it is possible, is to keep the patient from the serious intention of praying altogether. When the patient is an adult recently re-converted to the Enemy's party, like your man, this is best done by encouraging him to remember, or to think he remembers, the parrot-like nature of his prayers in childhood. In reaction against that, he may be persuaded to aim at something entirely spontaneous, inward, informal, and unregularised; and what this will actually mean to a beginner will be an effort to produce in himself a vaguely devotional mood in which real concentration of will and intelligence have no part. One of their poets, Coleridge, has recorded that he did not pray "with moving lips and bended knees" but merely "composed his spirit to love" and indulged "a sense of supplication". That is exactly the sort of prayer we want; and since it bears a superficial resemblance to the prayer of silence as practised by those who are very far advanced in the Enemy's service, clever and lazy patients can be taken in by it for quite a long time. At the very least, they can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls. It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.If this fails, you must fall back on a subtler misdirection of his intention. Whenever they are attending to the Enemy Himself we are defeated, but there are ways of preventing them from doing so. The simplest is to turn their gaze away from Him towards themselves. Keep them watching their own minds and trying to produce feelings there by the action of their own wills. When they meant to ask Him for charity, let them, instead, start trying to manufacture charitable feelings for themselves and not notice that this is what they are doing. When they meant to pray for courage, let them really be trying to feel brave. When they say they are praying for forgiveness, let them be trying to feel forgiven. Teach them to estimate the value of each prayer by their success in producing the desired feeling; and never let them suspect how much success or failure of that kind depends on whether they are well or ill, fresh or tired, at the moment.But of course the Enemy will not meantime be idle. Wherever there is prayer, there is danger of His own immediate action. He is cynically indifferent to the dignity of His position, and ours, as pure spirits, and to human animals on their knees He pours out self-knowledge in a quite shameless fashion. But even if He defeats your first attempt at misdirection, we have a subtler weapon. The humans do not start from that direct perception of Him which we, unhappily, cannot avoid. They have never known that ghastly luminosity, that stabbing and searing glare which makes the background of permanent pain to our lives. If you look into your patient's mind when he is praying, you will not find that.If you examine the object to which he is attending, you will find that it is a composite object containing many quite ridiculous ingredients. There will be images derived from pictures of the Enemy as He appeared during the discreditable episode known as the Incarnation: there will be vaguer—perhaps quite savage and puerile—images associated with the other two Persons. There will even be some of his own reverence (and of bodily sensations accompanying it) objectified and attributed to the object revered. I have known cases where what the patient called his "God" was actually located—up and to the left at the corner of the bedroom ceiling, or inside his own head, or in a crucifix on the wall. But whatever the nature of the composite object, you must keep him praying to it—to the thing that he has made,not to the Person who has made him. You may even encourage him to attach great importance to the correction and improvement of his composite object, and to keeping it steadily before his imagination during the whole prayer. For if he ever comes to make the distinction, if ever he consciously directs his prayers "Not to what I think thou art but to what thou knowest thyself to be", our situation is, for the moment, desperate. Once all his thoughts and images have been flung aside or, if retained, retained with a full recognition of their merely subjective nature, and the man trusts himself to the completely real, external, invisible Presence, there with him in the room and never knowable by him as he is known by it—why, then it is that the incalculable may occur. In avoiding this situation—this real nakedness of the soul in prayer—you will be helped by the fact that the humans themselves do not desire it as much as they suppose. There's such a thing as getting more than they bargained for!Your affectionate uncleSCREWTAPEVMY DEAR WORMWOOD,It is a little bit disappointing to expect a detailed report on your work and to receive instead such a vague rhapsody as your last letter. You say you are "delirious with joy" because the European humans have started another of their wars. I see very well what has happened to you. You are not delirious; you are only drunk. Reading between the lines in your very unbalanced account of the patient's sleepless night, I can reconstruct your state of mind fairly accurately. For the first time in your career you have tasted that wine which is the reward of all our labours—the anguish and bewilderment of a human soul—and it has gone to your head. I can hardly blame you. I do not expect old heads on young shoulders. Did the patient respond to some of your terror-pictures of the future? Did you work in some good self-pitying glances at the happy past?—some fine thrills in the pit of his stomach, were there? You played your violin prettily did you? Well, well, it's all very natural. But do remember, Wormwood, that duty comes before pleasure. If any presentself-indulgence on your part leads to the ultimate loss of the prey, you will be left eternally thirsting for that draught of which you are now so much enjoying your first sip. If, on the other hand, by steady and cool-headed application here and now you can finally secure his soul, he will then be yours forever—a brim-full living chalice of despair and horror and astonishment which you can raise to your lips as often as you please. So do not allow any temporary excitement to distract you from the real business of undermining faith and preventing the formation of virtues. Give me without fail in your next letter a full account of the patient's reactions to the war, so that we can consider whether you are likely to do more good by making him an extreme patriot or an ardent pacifist. There are all sorts of possibilities. In the meantime, I must warn you not to hope too much from a war.Of course a war is entertaining. The immediate fear and suffering of the humans is a legitimate and pleasing refreshment for our myriads of toiling workers. But what permanent good does it do us unless we make use of it for bringing souls to Our Father Below? When I see the temporal suffering of humans who finally escape us, I feel as if I had been allowed to taste the first course of a rich banquet and then denied the rest. It is worse than not to have tasted it at all. The Enemy, true to His barbarous methods of warfare, allows us to see the short misery of His favourites only to tantalise and torment us—to mock the incessant hunger which, during this present phase of the great conflict, His blockade is admittedly imposing. Let us therefore think rather how to use, thanhow to enjoy, this European war. For it has certain tendencies inherent in it which are, in themselves, by no means in our favour. We may hope for a good deal of cruelty and unchastity. But, if we are not careful, we shall see thousands turning in this tribulation to the Enemy, while tens of thousands who do not go so far as that will nevertheless have their attention diverted from themselves to values and causes which they believe to be higher than the self. I know that the Enemy disapproves many of these causes. But that is where He is so unfair. He often makes prizes of humans who have given their lives for causes He thinks bad on the monstrously sophistical ground that the humans thought them good and were following the best they knew. Consider too what undesirable deaths occur in wartime. Men are killed in places where they knew they might be killed and to which they go, if they are at all of the Enemy's party, prepared. How much better for us if all humans died in costly nursing homes amid doctors who lie, nurses who lie, friends who lie, as we have trained them, promising life to the dying, encouraging the belief that sickness excuses every indulgence, and even, if our workers know their job, withholding all suggestion of a priest lest it should betray to the sick man his true condition! And how disastrous for us is the continual remembrance of death which war enforces. One of our best weapons, contented worldliness, is rendered useless. In wartime not even a human can believe that he is going to live forever.I know that Scabtree and others have seen in wars a great opportunity for attacks on faith, but I think that view was exaggerated. The Enemy's human partisans have all been plainly told by Him that suffering is an essential part of what He calls Redemption; so that a faith which is destroyed by a war or a pestilence cannot really have been worth the trouble of destroying. I am speaking now of diffused suffering over a long period such as the war will produce. Of course, at the precise moment of terror, bereavement, or physical pain, you may catch your man when his reason is temporarily suspended. But even then, if he applies to Enemy headquarters, I have found that the post is nearly always defended,Your affectionate uncleSCREWTAPEVIMY DEAR WORMWOOD,I am delighted to hear that your patient's age and profession make it possible, but by no means certain, that he will be called up for military service. We want him to be in the maximum uncertainty, so that his mind will be filled with contradictory pictures of the future, every one of which arouses hope or fear. There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human's mind against the Enemy. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.Your patient will, of course, have picked up the notion that he must submit with patience to the Enemy's will. What the Enemy means by this is primarily that he should accept with patience the tribulation which has actually been dealt out to him—the present anxiety and suspense. It is about this that he is to say "Thy will be done", and for the daily task of bearing this that the daily bread will be provided. It is your business to see that the patient never thinks of the present fear as his appointed cross but only of the things he is afraid of.Let him regard them as his crosses: let him forget that, since they are incompatible, they cannot all happen to him, and let him try to practise fortitude and patience to them all in advance. For real resignation, at the same moment, to a dozen different and hypothetical fates, is almost impossible,。
LettertoLordChesterfield解读
terre⑵;—that I might obtain that regard （尊重，尊敬） for which I saw the world⑶ contending（争夺，竞争）;
• Patron，英国文学史上都有“赞助人”之说，当时的 文人无法依靠作品生活，往往是达官贵人提携这些文 人，提供酬劳，而作为回报，文人将作品奉贤给赞助 人或者也叫恩主。
与山巨源绝交书
嵇康
《与山巨源绝交书》，是三国时期“竹 林七贤”之一的嵇康写给朋友山涛（字 巨源）的一封信。山涛在由选曹郎调任 大将军从事中郎时，想荐举嵇康代其原 职，嵇康断然拒绝，修书绝交，以表明 自己归隐山林，不愿涉足官场的志节。 这是一篇名传千古的著名散文，可以与 约翰逊的《与伯爵大人书》进行对比阅 读。
• 可是奥利弗·歌德史密斯（Oliver Goldsmith）出来打 抱不平了，他大声疾呼：约翰逊博士“除却皮囊且不 谈，更无一处是熊样！”—是呀，他是四海宗盟三十 年的文雄！以《兰登传》等“流浪汉小说”驰名英伦 的托拜厄斯·G·斯摩莱特（Tobias G. Smollett）送给约 翰逊一个震古烁今的雅号：“文章大汗”（the Great Cham of Literature）。
waited in your outward rooms, or was repulsed (拒绝， 驳斥) from your door; during which time I have been pushing on （继续向前，继续进行下去）my work
through difficulties, of which it is useless to complain, and have brought it, at last, to the verge of （边缘，边 界，濒临）publication, without one act of assistance , one word of encouragement, or one smile of favour（赞 许approval）. Such treatment I did not expect, for I never had a patron before. 【Triple parallelism 三联排 比】
美国文学红字TheScarletLetter优秀课件
Satirical introduction to the novel Autobiographical of Hawthorne Used to show his dislike for the Puritans and
Nathaniel Hawthorne died at Plymouth, New Hampshire, on May 18th, 1864.
Picture found on Google Images
3
Personal Notables
He discovered that he had Puritan ancestors. One relative had served as a judge in the Salem witch
By 1842, he was able to earn enough to marry Sophia Peabody and move to Concord, which was then the center of the Transcendental movement.
Hawthorne returned to Salem in 1845 and in 1850, his most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter was published.
their strong religious beliefs He is bored at his job which leads him to
PE 从业者的基础学科书目推荐
2008-06-25 18:27:06 来自: 吴舸 (上海)一、经济学《国富论》-- 亚当.斯密“看不见的手”是本书被引用最高的一句话，本书被引用量可能是经济学著作的TOP1，就此一点，斯密的伟大可见，不过书中观点在现在看来，依然存在相当的局限性，注意甑别；《经济学基础》-- 萨缪尔森虽然曼昆的经济学是现在被用得更多的，但萨缪尔森的角度和观点是还是高度值得推荐的；《经济学原理》-- 曼昆29岁成为哈佛的终身教授，本书是出版社邀标时竟标而出；《风险、不确定性和利润》-- 奈特作为芝加哥学派的创始人，本书为奈特的博士论文，相当一部份观点把这本书列为和《国富论》、《货币、利率和就业通论》同样重要的书；二、金融财务(Finance)《公司理财》(第七版)-- MIT 斯隆管理学院《公司财务原理》-- MIT 斯隆管理学院两本书有近80%是相同和类似内容，但有很好的差异化角度和观点，所以建议两本同读；作为全球Finance 专业的最高水平学府，斯隆学院的书是本行业的基础读本 ，就《公司理财》一书，国内上市公司的CFO 能全读并理解的可能不到30%；三、商学《商学》(第七版)-- 里基·格里芬《伟大的博弈》-- 约翰.戈登《资本的冒险》-- 约翰.戈登四、投资理念《聪明的投资者》-- 格雷厄姆《致股东的信》-- 巴菲特一：合伙人智商毋容怀疑，对Finance和商业的认知水平随时可以到商学院客串讲学，火眼睛睛，没有任何商业的东西能骗过他们，对战略有深刻认识，拥有“水晶球”，能洞察未来 ...二：副总裁级的高级投资经理资深人士，通常基本具备合伙人80%以上的素质和能力，可能最后差的就是“财富圈子”--这是LP的重要来源，和“路演能力”--这是LP能否最后点头的关键；--- 当然，还是需要等机会三：初级投资经理具备很好的专业教育基础，经过很好的商业训练，通常有三年以上工作经验，正在加强修炼深层次的商业能力--这些都是学校给不到你的，时间和阅历--是他们进阶的唯一道路；四：投资助理如果你能成为副总裁很好用很顺手的高级工具，那你就是一个优秀的投资助理；founder (sometimes combined with CEO, as in founder/CEO), general manager, and owner.Executive director执行董事non-executive director非执行董事managing director董事总经理/执行董事associate director联席董事investment director投资总监vice president 副总裁In large brokerage firms and investment banks, there are usually several VPs in each local branch office, the title being more of a marketing approach for customers, than denoting an actual managerial position within the company.analyst分析师/副经理投资者进阶分级阅读书单（转自Value论坛by Zell）原文见:/wiki/index.php?Hidden%20Gems%20Reading%20ListHidden Gems Reading List(注：中文名我已尽量用从网上找到的中文版译名)Elementary School （小学)- One Up on Wall Street,（彼得·林奇的成功投资）by Peter Lynch（彼得·林奇）- Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist（一个美国资本家的成长-巴菲特传）, by Roger Lowenstein- value Investing With the Masters（跟大师学价值投资), by Kirk Kazanjian (0735203210)- The Davis Dynasty(戴维斯王朝——五十年华尔街成功投资历程), by John Rothchild- valuegrowth Investing(价值成长型投资), by Glen ArnoldJunior High (初中)- The 5 Keys to value Investing(价值投资五大关键), by J. Dennis Jean-Jacques- Beating the Street(战胜华尔街), by Peter Lynch(彼得·林奇)- Investment Fables(打破神话的投资十诫), by Aswath Damodaran- The Vest Pocket Guide to value Investing(价值投资手册), by C. Thomas Howard- Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits(怎样选择成长股), by Philip Fisher (菲利普.费雪)High School （高中）- Made in America（美国制造）, by Sam Walton (萨姆.沃尔顿)- Forbes' Greatest Investing Stories( 福布斯最大投资传奇), by Richard Phalon- John Neff on Investing(约翰.聂夫谈投资), by John Neff (约翰.聂夫)- The Intelligent Investor(聪明的投资者), by Benjamin Graham (本杰明.格雷厄姆)- The Money Masters(金融大师), by John TrainUniversity （大学）- Stocks for the Long Run(股史风云话投资(第3版散户投资正典)), by Jeremy Siegel (西格尔)- Quality of Earnings（盈利的质量), by Thornton Oglove (0029226309)- Investing in Small-Cap Stocks(投资小盘股）, by Christopher Graja and Elizabeth Ungar- The Book of Investing Wisdom（投资智慧书), by Peter Krass- You Can Be a Stock Market Genius(你能成为股市天才), by Joel GreenblattGrad School （研究院）- Break Up!(分裂), by Campbell, Koch & Sadtler- Investment Gurus(投资大师), by Peter Tanous- value Investing: A Balanced Approach(《价值投资：平稳途径》）, by Martin Whitman- value Investing: From Graham to Buffett and Beyond(价值投资：从格雷厄姆到巴菲特及其他), by Bruce Greenwald- The Road to Serfdom(通往奴役之路), by F.A. Hayek (哈谢克)Post-Doc 1: （博士后1）- It's Earnings that Count(起作用的是盈利), Heiserman- The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing(股市真规则), Dorsey- Inside Intuit(Intuit公司内幕), Taylor & Scroeder- Pour Your Heart Into It(星巴克咖啡王国传奇), Schultz & Yang- Investment Philosophies(投资哲学), DamodaranPost-Doc 2: （博士后2）- Damodaran on Valuation(价值评估,另一个译本译名:论价值:投资与公司财务安全性分析),Damodaran- Contrarian Investment Strategies: The Next Generation(反向投资策略：升级版), Dreman- Moneyball(钱与球: 在不公平比赛中获胜的艺术), Lewis- Investment Intelligence From Insider Trading (从内线交易中获得的投资情报)- Financial Shenanigans(财务诡计), SchilitPost-Doc 3: （博士后3）- Bull! A History of the Boom, 1982-1999,(牛市！1982-1999的市场繁荣历史) Mahir- Wall Street: A History,（华尔街史) Geisst- The Effective Executive(有效的管理者), Drucker (彼得.德鲁克)- The Essential Drucker(管理大师德鲁克精华), Drucker (彼得.德鲁克)- The Essays of Warren Buffet（巴菲特致股东的信：股份公司教程）, BuffetPost-Doc 4: （博士后4）- Letters to Shareholders: Warren Buffet （巴菲特致股东的信)- Letters to Shareholders: Charlie Munger (芒格致股东的信)- Bershire Hathaway Owners Manual（伯克夏所有者手册）, Buffet （以上三个见伯克夏网站)- The Dark Side of Valuation(深入价值评估), Damodaran投资银行书籍（传记类）推荐1、《摩根财团——美国一代银行王朝和现代金融业的崛起》第二版获得1990年美国国家图书奖英文名：The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance 罗恩·彻诺（Ron Chernow）著，中国财政经济出版社2003年9月出版推荐理由：摩根家族的发迹史和19-20世纪美国金融市场和银行业发展演变的全景图，前任财政任亚洲开发银行副行长金立群先生的翻译代表了中文相关专业译著的最高水平。
美国文学红字TheScarletLetterPPT精选文档
Primary Document 1 Custom House Receipt
Salem Custom House Receipt, April 18, 1848
Signed by Nathaniel Hawthorne
/images
First Publishing
Hawthorne was a Romantic Author
Defining Scarlet
Function: adjective 1 of the color scarlet 2 a : grossly and glaringly offensive <sinning in flagrant and
The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Advanced American Lit Mr. Mays
The Author
Nathaniel Hawthorne American novelist and short story writer, most famous for his novel The Scarlet Letter
courtesy of The House of the Seven Gables Historic Site
Primary Document 3 Original Book Cover
(courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum)
Title page of 1850 edition of The Scarlet Letter
The story is based on a historical manuscript that he found. The narrator of the story is nameless, but shares many qualities with Hawthorne himself. He creates the narrator similar to Hester since they both feel alienated from those around them. Narrator says one day he will be remembered by his name on the custom stamp, while Hester will be remembered for her scarlet cloth.
红字PPTTheScarletLetterPPT
Primary Document 2 A letter from Hawthorne
Page one of a copy made by George B. Curwen of a letter from Hawthorne to Horace Ingersoll.
Written in Lenox in the summer of 1850 about his firing as surveyor at the Salem Custom House the year before.
(1830-1865) along with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Edgar Allen Poe
The Custom House
Satirical introduction to the novel Autobiographical of Hawthorne Used to show his dislike for the Puritans and
By 1842, he was able to earn enough to marry Sophia Peabody and move to Concord, which was then the center of the Transcendental movement.
Hawthorne returned to Salem in 1845 and in 1850, his most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter was published.
Nathaniel Hawthorne died at Plymouth, New Hampshire, on May 18th, 1864.
warren buffet
Journalist:Your style has been described as＂buy and hold＂, and sometimes it 1)strikes me that Wall Street 2)perverts that 3)notion to get people to invest and forget about what they own. I think you buy and watch. Right? Because you sell if something is no longer working.Buffet:Oh sure. Sure we’ve sold, well, sell some things. We don’t sell the businesses that we buy, but we’ve sold plenty of stocks over the years. I mean you know, I’ve got my 4)portfolio from 1950, and I had six stocks that I don’t have them today. But I like to buy something with the idea I’m going to hold it indefinitely, if I’m taking a big equity position. Now we do 5)arbitrage, we do high yield 6)bonds, I mean we do other things. So those do not have that same permanence attached to them. But if you’re talking about just pure 7)bread and butter equities, I like to buy something that I feel is so good in terms of the business they’re in and the management, and I feel so good about the price, I bought them, then I say to myself I’d just as soon own this forever.Journalist:Coca-Cola, Dairy Queen, C’s Candy Ñ what does that tell us about you?Buffet:It tells you I like to buy things that I can understand. I do a lot of research on things like Dairy Queen. And if you look at our businesses, the truth is you’ll understand every one of them. There might be some that you are more familiar with than others, butthere’s nothing in there that’s black box stuff or anything of this sort. You’ll understand what they’re doing with the customer, what it takes to keep that customer happy, and why that customer should be coming back five or ten years from now, and why they should have an edge and all of that thing. So I look for things that I can understand and Dairy Queen’s a great example.Journalist:Has nothing to do with a 8)sweet tooth though?Buffet:Well, I like the product.Journalist:I know what you do is very hard and yet it all sounds very straight forward. Do people over think this process of investing, get too cute, get too fancy, and do things...Buffet:I say it’s simple but not easy. I mean and I also tell people that they got to when they were 21, they got a card with 20 9)punches on it, and every time they made an investment decision, they used up a punch. And when the 20 punches were gone, they were done. They’d make a lot of money because they think a long time before they make any decision. They take a long time before they buy a car or buy a house or all that, but many people do buy a stock because somebody mentioned that they particularly stocks have been going up. So it is...you have to stick with what you understand. You only buy into things you understand and then you are disciplined about what youwill pay when you buy into them, you can’t lose money. We’ve never lost a lot of money.Journalist:There has been, however, a rather decided loss in investor confidence these days. Main street looks at Wall Street and again believes as it has in previous occasions that the 10)casino was 11)rigged, they all went to the table and got taken by a 12)crooked 13)dealer.Buffet:Well, main street’s expectations were too high. Now we get blamed for that. You can blame main street itself, you can blame the people who are promoting stocks, you can blame Wall Street. But the basic problem was that expectations were too high, and people thought you could make a lot of money without knowing anything but just basically riding along on hot items. So who you blame for that? You can blame, there’s probably plenty of blame to go around. Now I think it is particularly blame worthy when people who have certain businesses made tremendous amounts of money and walked away, and their 14)shareholders ended up poor. I think that that fits the definition of a scam or something close to it. But the main thing that, you know, people’s enthusiasm just got carried away with it and they were aided in that by Wall Street. I mean, the fans were 15)flamed in a whole variety of ways, analysts’ reports or whatever it may be. But that’s what happens when the world goes crazy.CE。
如何看待富人与同情心的关系——TED英语演讲稿
如何看待富人与同情心的关系——TED英语演讲稿How to Address the Relationship between Wealth and Compassion: A Reflection on TED TalksIn recent years, the issue of wealth inequality has gained more attention in the public discourse. Many people believe that the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer, creating a growing gap between the haves and have-nots. Moreover, some people argue that the wealthy are often seen as lacking in compassion for those who are less fortunate, viewing them as selfish and uncaring. However,this perception is increasingly being challenged by various sources, such as the TED Talk speakers, who highlight the importance of compassion and empathy in creating a more just and equitable society. In this article, we will explore how the relationship between wealth and compassion is presented in some TED Talks and what we can learn from them.To start, it is important to note that wealth itself is not the problem, but rather how it is used. In her talk on "The Giving Pledge," Melinda Gates emphasizes that the rich have a responsibility to give back to society and help those who are less fortunate. She argues that wealth is not just ameasure of personal success but also an opportunity to make a positive impact on the world. She offers an example of Warren Buffet, who pledged to give away a significant portion of his wealth to charitable causes, and encourages others to do the same. This suggests that wealth can in fact be a source of compassion, if it is directed towards charitable causes.Similarly, Nick Hanauer, in his talk on "Beware, Fellow Plutocrats," challenges the notion that the rich create jobs and stimulate economic growth. He argues that it is the middle class who creates jobs and drives the economy, andthat the wealthy, by hoarding their wealth, are actually hindering economic progress. He also points out that the wealthy benefit from the infrastructure and services provided by the government, such as roads, schools, and hospitals, which are paid for by taxpayers. Therefore, he suggests that the rich have a duty to pay their fair share of taxes, which would help to create a more equal and just society. In this way, Hanauer underscores the need for empathy and social responsibility among the wealthy, and makes a compelling case for the redistribution of wealth.Furthermore, it is worth noting that wealth can also create barriers to compassion, especially if it is acquiredthrough unfair means. In his talk on "The Psychology of Inequality," Paul Piff explores how wealth affects people's behavior and attitudes. He argues that wealth has a corrosive effect on morality and social values, making people moreselfish and less empathetic towards others. He alsohighlights the reality of the social divide between the rich and poor, which erodes a sense of community and shared values. Therefore, he suggests that the solution to this problem isnot just to redistribute wealth, but to create a moreinclusive and participatory society, where people are valued for who they are, not just what they have.In conclusion, the relationship between wealth and compassion is complex and multifaceted. The TED Talk speakers we have discussed offer different perspectives on how wealth can be both a source of compassion and a barrier to it. However, they all remind us of the importance of empathy, social responsibility and community in creating a more just and equitable society. As we reflect on these issues, we should not demonize the wealthy, but rather engage with themas partners in creating a better future for all.。
广播剧纯爱推荐英语作文
Radio dramas have been a cherished form of entertainment for many decades, offering listeners the chance to immerse themselves in stories through the power of sound. In the realm of pure love stories, Englishlanguage radio dramas provide a unique and engaging experience that can be both heartwarming and captivating. Here are a few recommendations for those looking to explore the world of pure love in radio dramas:1. The Love of a Lifetime This classic radio drama tells the story of two individuals who meet by chance and navigate the complexities of love and life. The narrative unfolds through their letters, phone calls, and intimate conversations, capturing the essence of a deep and enduring love.2. Letters from Home Set during World War II, this drama follows the correspondence between a soldier and his sweetheart back home. Their letters reveal the strength of their love as they share their hopes, fears, and dreams, despite the distance and challenges of war.3. The Sound of Your Voice A modern tale of two people who fall in love over the phone, never having met in person. The story explores the power of connection and intimacy that can be built through the spoken word, even in the absence of physical presence.4. A Love Rediscovered This drama tells the story of a couple who, after many years apart, unexpectedly reconnect. As they reminisce about their past and confront the reasons for their separation, they rediscover the love that has never truly left them.5. The Timeless Melody A romantic drama that weaves together the story of a struggling musician and a woman who becomes his muse. Their love story is set against the backdrop of the music industry, highlighting the power of art to bring people together.6. Love Across the Miles A touching story about a longdistance relationship, where the couple communicates only through letters and occasional phone calls. The drama captures the emotional highs and lows of maintaining a relationship when physical touch is a rare luxury.7. The Hearts Journey This radio drama takes listeners on an emotional journey as it follows a character who, after a heartbreak, finds love in the most unexpected place. The story is a testament to the resilience of the human heart and the power of love to heal.8. Whispers of the Heart A poignant drama that delves into the inner thoughts and feelings of a character who is hesitant to express their love. Through a series ofmonologues and reflective moments, the story encourages listeners to embrace vulnerability and the beauty of expressing ones true feelings.9. The Bridge of Love Set in a quaint European town, this drama tells the story of two strangers who meet on a bridge and share a connection that transcends language and culture. Their love story unfolds as they navigate the challenges of building a relationship across different worlds.10. The Last Dance A bittersweet tale of a couple who, after many years of marriage, must confront the reality of aging and the inevitable end of their journey together. The drama is a poignant reminder of the beauty and fragility of life and love.These radio dramas offer a variety of pure love stories that can resonate with listeners of all ages and backgrounds. They serve as a reminder of the power of love to inspire, uplift, and transform lives.。
名著英文简介
名著英文简介第一篇：名著英文简介探讨杜拉斯《情人》和《来自中国北方的情人》两部作品的叙事体裁。
这两部作品既非作者自传,也非一般小说,而是一种具有浓厚自传意味和小说色彩、又兼有其他文艺体裁因素的新型叙事作品。
读者在其中可以窥见当今各种文学、艺术乃至各个学科之间相互渗透、相互据有的种种多元现象,而这一切皆服务于表现心灵欲望的真实这样一个主题。
【英文摘要】 This article tries to explore the genre in Duras' Lover and Lover from North of China.Not only can the two works be simply perceived as the author's autobiography, but they do not fall into the category of novel.They actually are a new-type narrative form with profound interest of autobiography and novel flavor as well as other forms of literature and art, in which readers can deeply experience the pluralistic phenomena of mutual infiltration and mutual containment.All of these serve for embodying the th...长发公主影评我们都习惯了童话故事里王子和公主的完美结局。
所以迪斯尼这次翻新了，不是公主配王子，而是公主配盗贼---当然是个英俊盗贼！这位暴力公主还会用她瀑布般的长发绑架一个帅气小偷，与她一同去外面广阔的世界冒险，故事可谓非常具有“女权”色彩。
1992年 华伦
B ERKSHIRE H ATHAWAY INC.SHAREHOLDER LETTERSWarren E. BuffettFebruary 28, 1992 Chairman of the Board CHAIRMAN’S LETTERS 1992To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.:Our per-share book value increased 20.3% during 1992. Over the last 28 years (that is, since present management took over) book value has grown from $19 to $7,745, or at a rate of 23.6% compounded annually.During the year, Berkshire's net worth increased by $1.52 billion. More than 98% of this gain came from earnings and appreciation of portfolio securities, with the remainder coming from the issuance of new stock. These shares were issued as a result of our calling our convertible debentures for redemption on January 4, 1993, and of some holders electing to receive common shares rather than the cash that was their alternative. Most holders of the debentures who converted into common waited until January to do it, but a few made the move in December and therefore received shares in 1992. To sum up what happened to the $476 million of bonds we had outstanding: $25 million were converted into shares before yearend; $46 million were converted in January; and $405 million were redeemed for cash. The conversions were made at $11,719 per share, so altogether we issued 6,106 shares.Berkshire now has 1,152,547 shares outstanding. That compares, you will be interested to know, to 1,137,778 shares outstanding on October 1, 1964, the beginning of the fiscal year during which Buffett Partnership, Ltd. acquired control of the company.We have a firm policy about issuing shares of Berkshire, doing so only when we receive as much value as we give. Equal value, however, has not been easy to obtain, since we have always valued our shares highly. So be it: We wish to increaseBerkshire's size only when doing that also increases the wealth of its owners.Those two objectives do not necessarily go hand-in-hand as an amusing but value-destroying experience in our past illustrates. On that occasion, we had a significant investment in a bank whose management was hell-bent on expansion. (Aren't they all?) When our bank wooed a smaller bank, its owner demanded a stock swap on a basis that valued the acquiree's net worth and earning power at over twice that of the acquirer's. Our management - visibly in heat - quickly capitulated. The owner of the acquiree then insisted on one other condition: "You must promise me," he said in effect, "that once our merger is done and I have become a major shareholder, you'll never again make a deal this dumb."You will remember that our goal is to increase our per-share intrinsic value - for which our book value is a conservative, but useful, proxy - at a 15% annual rate. This objective, however, cannot be attained in a smooth manner. Smoothness isparticularly elusive because of the accounting rules that apply to the common stocks owned by our insurance companies, whose portfolios represent a high proportion of Berkshire's net worth. Since 1979, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) have required that these securities be valued at their market prices (less an adjustment for tax on any net unrealized appreciation) rather than at the lower of cost or market. Run-of-the-mill fluctuations in equity prices therefore cause our annual results to gyrate, especially in comparison to those of the typical industrial company.To illustrate just how volatile our progress has been - and to indicate the impact that market movements have on short-term results - we show on the facing page our annual change in per- share net worth and compare it with the annual results (including dividends) of the S&P 500.You should keep at least three points in mind as you evaluate this data. The first point concerns the many businesses we operate whose annual earnings are unaffected by changes in stock market valuations. The impact of these businesses on both our absolute and relative performance has changed over the years. Early on, returns from our textile operation, which then represented a significant portion of our net worth, were a major drag on performance, averaging far less than would have been thecase if the money invested in that business had instead been invested in the S&P 500. In more recent years, as we assembled our collection of exceptional businesses run by equally exceptional managers, the returns from our operating businesses have been high - usually well in excess of the returns achieved by the S&P.A second important factor to consider - and one that significantly hurts our relative performance - is that both the income and capital gains from our securities are burdened by a substantial corporate tax liability whereas the S&P returns are pre-tax. To comprehend the damage, imagine that Berkshire had owned nothing other than the S&P index during the 28-year period covered. In that case, the tax bite would have caused our corporate performance to be appreciably below the record shown in the table for the S&P. Under present tax laws, a gain for theS&P of 18% delivers a corporate holder of that index a return well short of 13%. And this problem would be intensified if corporate tax rates were to rise. This is a structural disadvantage we simply have to live with; there is no antidotefor it.The third point incorporates two predictions: Charlie Munger, Berkshire's Vice Chairman and my partner, and I are virtually certain that the return over the next decade from an investment in the S&P index will be far less than that of the past decade, and we are dead certain that the drag exerted by Berkshire's expanding capital base will substantially reduce our historical advantage relative to the index.Making the first prediction goes somewhat against our grain: We've long felt that the only value of stock forecasters is to make fortune tellers look good. Even now, Charlie and I continue to believe that short-term market forecasts are poison and should be kept locked up in a safe place, away from children and also from grown-ups who behave in the market like children. However, it is clear that stocks cannot forever overperform their underlying businesses, as they have so dramatically done for some time, and that fact makes us quite confident of our forecast that the rewards from investing in stocks over the next decade will be significantly smaller than they were in the last. Our second conclusion - that an increased capital base will act as an anchor on our relative performance - seems incontestable. The only open question is whether we can drag the anchor along at sometolerable, though slowed, pace.We will continue to experience considerable volatility in our annual results. That's assured by the general volatility of the stock market, by the concentration of our equity holdings in just a few companies, and by certain business decisions we have made, most especially our move to commit large resources tosuper-catastrophe insurance. We not only accept this volatility but welcome it: A tolerance for short-term swings improves our long-term prospects. In baseball lingo, our performanceyardstick is slugging percentage, not batting average.The Salomon InterludeLast June, I stepped down as Interim Chairman of Salomon Inc after ten months in the job. You can tell from Berkshire's 1991- 92 results that the company didn't miss me while I was gone. But the reverse isn't true: I missed Berkshire and am delighted to be back full-time. There is no job in the world that is more fun than running Berkshire and I count myself lucky to be where I am.The Salomon post, though far from fun, was interesting and worthwhile: In Fortune's annual survey of America's Most Admired Corporations, conducted last September, Salomon ranked second among 311 companies in the degree to which it improved its reputation. Additionally, Salomon Brothers, the securities subsidiary of Salomon Inc, reported record pre-tax earnings last year - 34% above the previous high.Many people helped in the resolution of Salomon's problems and the righting of the firm, but a few clearly deserve special mention. It is no exaggeration to say that without the combined efforts of Salomon executives Deryck Maughan, Bob Denham, Don Howard, and John Macfarlane, the firm very probably would not have survived. In their work, these men were tireless, effective, supportive and selfless, and I will forever begrateful to them.Salomon's lead lawyer in its Government matters, Ron Olson of Munger, Tolles & Olson, was also key to our success in getting through this trouble. The firm's problems were not only severe, but complex. At least five authorities - the SEC, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Attorneyfor the Southern District of New York, and the Antitrust Divisionof the Department of Justice - had important concerns about Salomon. If we were to resolve our problems in a coordinated and prompt manner, we needed a lawyer with exceptional legal, business and human skills. Ron had them all.AcquisitionsOf all our activities at Berkshire, the most exhilaratingfor Charlie and me is the acquisition of a business withexcellent economic characteristics and a management that we like, trust and admire. Such acquisitions are not easy to make but we look for them constantly. In the search, we adopt the same attitude one might find appropriate in looking for a spouse: It pays to be active, interested and open-minded, but it does not pay to be in a hurry.In the past, I've observed that many acquisition-hungry managers were apparently mesmerized by their childhood reading of the story about the frog-kissing princess. Remembering her success, they pay dearly for the right to kiss corporate toads, expecting wondrous transfigurations. Initially, disappointing results only deepen their desire to round up new toads. ("Fanaticism," said Santyana, "consists of redoubling your effort when you've forgotten your aim.") Ultimately, even the most optimistic manager must face reality. Standing knee-deep in unresponsive toads, he then announces an enormous "restructuring" charge. In this corporate equivalent of a Head Start program, the CEO receives the education but the stockholders pay the tuition.In my early days as a manager I, too, dated a few toads. They were cheap dates - I've never been much of a sport - but my results matched those of acquirers who courted higher-priced toads. I kissed and they croaked.After several failures of this type, I finally remembered some useful advice I once got from a golf pro (who, like all pros who have had anything to do with my game, wishes to remain anonymous). Said the pro: "Practice doesn't make perfect; practice makes permanent." And thereafter I revised my strategy and tried to buy good businesses at fair prices rather than fair businesses at good prices.Last year, in December, we made an acquisition that is aprototype of what we now look for. The purchase was 82% of Central States Indemnity, an insurer that makes monthly payments for credit-card holders who are unable themselves to pay because they have become disabled or unemployed. Currently the company's annual premiums are about $90 million and profits about $10 million. Central States is based in Omaha and managed by Bill Kizer, a friend of mine for over 35 years. The Kizer family - which includes sons Bill, Dick and John - retains 18% ownership of the business and will continue to run things just as it has in the past. We could not be associated with better people.Coincidentally, this latest acquisition has much in common with our first, made 26 years ago. At that time, we purchased another Omaha insurer, National Indemnity Company (along with a small sister company) from Jack Ringwalt, another long-time friend. Jack had built the business from scratch and, as was the case with Bill Kizer, thought of me when he wished to sell. (Jack's comment at the time: "If I don't sell the company, my executor will, and I'd rather pick the home for it.") National Indemnity was an outstanding business when we bought it and continued to be under Jack's management. Hollywood has had good luck with sequels; I believe we, too, will.Berkshire's acquisition criteria are described on page 23. Beyond purchases made by the parent company, however, our subsidiaries sometimes make small "add-on" acquisitions that extend their product lines or distribution capabilities. In this manner, we enlarge the domain of managers we already know to be outstanding - and that's a low-risk and high-return proposition. We made five acquisitions of this type in 1992, and one was not so small: At yearend, H. H. Brown purchased Lowell Shoe Company, a business with $90 million in sales that makes Nursemates, a leading line of shoes for nurses, and other kinds of shoes as well. Our operating managers will continue to look for add-on opportunities, and we would expect these to contribute modestly to Berkshire's value in the future.Then again, a trend has emerged that may make further acquisitions difficult. The parent company made one purchase in 1991, buying H. H. Brown, which is run by Frank Rooney, who has eight children. In 1992 our only deal was with Bill Kizer,father of nine. It won't be easy to keep this string going in 1993.Sources of Reported EarningsThe table below shows the major sources of Berkshire'sreported earnings. In this presentation, amortization ofGoodwill and other major purchase-price accounting adjustmentsare not charged against the specific businesses to which they apply, but are instead aggregated and shown separately. This procedure lets you view the earnings of our businesses as they would have been reported had we not purchased them. I'veexplained in past reports why this form of presentation seems tous to be more useful to investors and managers than one utilizing GAAP, which requires purchase-price adjustments to be made on a business-by-business basis. The total net earnings we show inthe table are, of course, identical to the GAAP total in ouraudited financial statements.(000s omitted)-----------------------------------------------Berkshire's Shareof Net Earnings(after taxes andPre-Tax Earnings minority interests)--------------------------------------------1992 1991 1992 1991---------- ---------- --------------------Operating Earnings:Insurance Group:Underwriting ............ $(108,961) $(119,593) $ (71,141) $ (77,229)Net Investment Income.... 355,067 331,846 305,763 285,173H. H. Brown (acquired 7/1/91) 27,883 13,616 17,340 8,611Buffalo News .............. 47,863 37,113 28,163 21,841Fechheimer ................ 13,698 12,947 7,267 6,843Kirby ..................... 35,653 35,726 22,795 22,555Nebraska Furniture Mart ... 17,110 14,384 8,072 6,993Scott FetzerManufacturing Group .... 31,954 26,123 19,883 15,901See's Candies ............. 42,357 42,390 25,501 25,575Wesco - other than Insurance 15,153 12,230 9,195 8,777World Book ................ 29,044 22,483 19,503 15,487Amortization of Goodwill .. (4,702) (4,113) (4,687) (4,098)Other Purchase-PriceAccounting Charges ..... (7,385) (6,021) (8,383) (7,019)Interest Expense* ......... (98,643) (89,250) (62,899) (57,165)Shareholder-DesignatedContributions .......... (7,634) (6,772) (4,913) (4,388)Other ..................... 72,223 77,399 36,267 47,896---------- ---------- --------------------Operating Earnings .......... 460,680 400,508 347,726 315,753Sales of Securities ......... 89,937 192,478 59,559 124,155---------- ---------- --------------------Total Earnings - All Entities $ 550,617 $ 592,986 $ 407,285$ 439,908========== ========== ====================*Excludes interest expense of Scott Fetzer Financial Group and Mutual Savings & Loan. Includes $22.5 million in 1992 and $5.7 million in 1991 of premiums paid on the early redemption of debt.A large amount of additional information about these businesses is given on pages 37-47, where you will also find our segment earnings reported on a GAAP basis. Our goal is to give you all of the financial information that Charlie and I consider significant in making our own evaluation of Berkshire."Look-Through" EarningsWe've previously discussed look-through earnings, which consist of: (1) the operating earnings reported in the previous section, plus; (2) the retained operating earnings of major investees that, under GAAP accounting, are not reflected in our profits, less; (3) an allowance for the tax that would be paid by Berkshire if these retained earnings of investees had instead been distributed to us. Though no single figure can be perfect, we believe that the look-through number more accurately portrays the earnings of Berkshire than does the GAAP number.I've told you that over time look-through earnings must increase at about 15% annually if our intrinsic business value is to grow at that rate. Our look-through earnings in 1992 were $604 million, and they will need to grow to more than $1.8 billion by the year 2000 if we are to meet that 15% goal. For us to get there, our operating subsidiaries and investees must deliver excellent performances, and we must exercise some skill in capital allocation as well.We cannot promise to achieve the $1.8 billion target. Indeed, we may not even come close to it. But it does guide our decision- making: When we allocate capital today, we are thinking about what will maximize look-through earnings in 2000.We do not, however, see this long-term focus as eliminating the need for us to achieve decent short-term results as well.After all, we were thinking long-range thoughts five or ten years ago, and the moves we made then should now be paying off. If plantings made confidently are repeatedly followed by disappointing harvests, something is wrong with the farmer. (Or perhaps with the farm: Investors should understand that for certain companies, and even for some industries, there simply is no good long-term strategy.) Just as you should be suspicious of managers who pump up short-term earnings by accounting maneuvers, asset sales and the like, so also should you be suspicious of those managers who failto deliver for extended periods and blame it on their long-term focus. (Even Alice, after listening to the Queen lecture her about "jam tomorrow," finally insisted, "It must come sometimes to jam today.")The following table shows you how we calculate look-through earnings, though I warn you that the figures are necessarily very rough. (The dividends paid to us by these investees have been included in the operating earnings itemized on page 8, mostlyunder "Insurance Group: Net Investment Income.")Berkshire's Shareof UndistributedBerkshire's Approximate Operating EarningsBerkshire's Major Investees Ownership at Yearend (in millions)--------------------------- -----------------------------------------1992 1991 1992 1991-------- -------- ----------------Capital Cities/ABC Inc. ....... 18.2% 18.1% $ 70 $ 61The Coca-Cola Company ......... 7.1% 7.0% 82 69Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. 8.2%(1) 3.4%(1) 29(2) 15GEICO Corp. ................... 48.1% 48.2% 34(3) 69(3)General Dynamics Corp. ........ 14.1% -- 11(2) --The Gillette Company .......... 10.9% 11.0% 38 23(2)Guinness PLC .................. 2.0% 1.6% 7 --The Washington Post Company ... 14.6% 14.6% 11 10Wells Fargo & Company ......... 11.5% 9.6% 16(2) (17)(2)-------- -------- ----------------Berkshire's share ofundistributed earnings of major investees $298 $230Hypothetical tax on theseundistributed investee earnings (42) (30)Reported operating earnings of Berkshire 348 316----------------Total look-through earnings of Berkshire $604 $516(1) Net of minority interest at Wesco(2) Calculated on average ownership for the year(3) Excludes realized capital gains, which have been both recurring and significantInsurance OperationsShown below is an updated version of our usual tablepresenting key figures for the property-casualty insuranceindustry:Yearly Change Combined Ratio in Premiums After Policyholder Written (%) Dividends-------------------------------1981 ........................... 3.8 106.01982 ........................... 3.7 109.61983 ........................... 5.0 112.01984 ........................... 8.5 118.01985 ........................... 22.1 116.31986 ........................... 22.2 108.01987 ........................... 9.4 104.61988 ........................... 4.5 105.41989 ........................... 3.2 109.21990 ........................... 4.5 109.61991 (Revised) ................. 2.4 108.81992 (Est.) .................... 2.7 114.8The combined ratio represents total insurance costs (losses incurred plus expenses) compared to revenue from premiums: A ratio below 100 indicates an underwriting profit, and one above 100 indicates a loss. The higher the ratio, the worse the year. When the investment income that an insurer earns from holding policyholders' funds ("the float") is taken into account, a combined ratio in the 106 - 110 range typically produces an overall break-even result, exclusive of earnings on the funds provided by shareholders.About four points in the industry's 1992 combined ratio can be attributed to Hurricane Andrew, which caused the largest insured loss in history. Andrew destroyed a few small insurers. Beyond that, it awakened some larger companies to the fact that their reinsurance protection against catastrophes was far from adequate. (It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked.) One major insurer escaped insolvencysolely because it had a wealthy parent that could promptly supply a massive transfusion of capital.Bad as it was, however, Andrew could easily have been far more damaging if it had hit Florida 20 or 30 miles north of where it actually did and had hit Louisiana further east than was the case. All in all, many companies will rethink their reinsurance programs in light of the Andrew experience.As you know we are a large writer - perhaps the largest in the world - of "super-cat" coverages, which are the policies that other insurance companies buy to protect themselves against major catastrophic losses. Consequently, we too took our lumps from Andrew, suffering losses from it of about $125 million, an amount roughly equal to our 1992 super-cat premium income. Our other super-cat losses, though, were negligible. This line of business therefore produced an overall loss of only $2 million for the year. (In addition, our investee, GEICO, suffered a net loss from Andrew, after reinsurance recoveries and tax savings, of about $50 million, of which our share is roughly $25 million. This loss did not affect our operating earnings, but did reduce our look-through earnings.)In last year's report I told you that I hoped that oursuper-cat business would over time achieve a 10% profit margin. But I also warned you that in any given year the line was likelyto be "either enormously profitable or enormously unprofitable." Instead, both 1991 and 1992 have come in close to a break-even level. Nonetheless, I see these results as aberrations and stick with my prediction of huge annual swings in profitability from this business.Let me remind you of some characteristics of our super-cat policies. Generally, they are activated only when two things happen. First, the direct insurer or reinsurer we protect must suffer losses of a given amount - that's the policyholder's "retention" - from a catastrophe; and second, industry-wide insured losses from the catastrophe must exceed some minimum level, which usually is $3 billion or more. In most cases, the policies we issue cover only a specific geographical area, such as a portion of the U.S., the entire U.S., or everywhere other than the U.S. Also, many policies are not activated by the first super-cat that meets the policy terms, but instead cover only a "second-event" or even a third- or fourth-event. Finally, some policies are triggered only by a catastrophe of a specific type, such as an earthquake. Our exposures are large: We have one policy that calls for us to pay $100 million to the policyholder if a specified catastrophe occurs. (Now you know why I suffer eyestrain: from watching The Weather Channel.)Currently, Berkshire is second in the U.S. property-casualty industry in net worth (the leader being State Farm, which neither buys nor sells reinsurance). Therefore, we have the capacity to assume risk on a scale that interests virtually no other company. We have the appetite as well: As Berkshire's net worth and earnings grow, our willingness to write business increases also. But let me add that means good business. The saying, "a fooland his money are soon invited everywhere," applies in spades in reinsurance, and we actually reject more than 98% of the business we are offered. Our ability to choose between good and bad proposals reflects a management strength that matches our financial strength: Ajit Jain, who runs our reinsurance operation, is simply the best in this business. In combination, these strengths guarantee that we will stay a major factor in the super-cat business so long as prices are appropriate.What constitutes an appropriate price, of course, isdifficult to determine. Catastrophe insurers can't simply extrapolate past experience. If there is truly "global warming," for example, the odds would shift, since tiny changes inatmospheric conditions can produce momentous changes in weather patterns. Furthermore, in recent years there has been a mushrooming of population and insured values in U.S. coastal areas that are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes, the number one creator of super-cats. A hurricane that caused x dollars of damage 20 years ago could easily cost 10x now.Occasionally, also, the unthinkable happens. Who would have guessed, for example, that a major earthquake could occur in Charleston, S.C.? (It struck in 1886, registered an estimated 6.6 on the Richter scale, and caused 60 deaths.) And who could have imagined that our country's most serious quake would occur at New Madrid, Missouri, which suffered an estimated 8.7 shocker in 1812. By comparison, the 1989 San Francisco quake was a 7.1 - and remember that each one-point Richter increase represents a ten-fold increase in strength. Someday, a U.S. earthquake occurring far from California will cause enormous losses for insurers.When viewing our quarterly figures, you should understand that our accounting for super-cat premiums differs from our accounting for other insurance premiums. Rather than recording our super-cat premiums on a pro-rata basis over the life of a given policy, we defer recognition of revenue until a loss occurs or until the policy expires. We take this conservative approach because the likelihood of super-cats causing us losses is particularly great toward the end of the year. It is then that weather tends to kick up: Of the ten largest insured losses in U.S. history, nine occurred in the last half of the year. In addition, policies that are not triggered by a first event are unlikely, by their very terms, to cause us losses until late in the year.The bottom-line effect of our accounting procedure forsuper-cats is this: Large losses may be reported in any quarter of the year, but significant profits will only be reported in the fourth quarter.* * * * * * * * * * * *As I've told you in each of the last few years, what counts in our insurance business is "the cost of funds developed from insurance," or in the vernacular, "the cost of float." Float - which we generate in exceptional amounts - is the total of loss。
美国文学红字TheScarletLetter ppt课件
Hawthorne returned to Salem in 1845 and in 1850, his most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter was published.
The story is based on a historical manuscript that he found. The narrator of the story is nameless, but shares many qualities with Hawthorne himself. He creates the narrator similar to Hester since they both feel alienated from those around them. Narrator says one day he will be remembered by his name on the custom stamp, while Hester will be remembered for her scarlet cloth.
美国文学红字TheScarletLetter
The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Advanced American Lit Mr. Mays
The Author
Nathaniel Hawthorne American novelist and short story writer, most famous for his novel The Scarlet Letter
百万英镑《the letter》概括英语
百万英镑《the letter》概括英语"Million pounds"is about a poor，honest man，the hero of this story is a pair of brothers received a letter which gave him a million pounds.It turned out that the brothers made a bet，bet if a poor，honest man fall from the sky received one million pounds，he will have what results？Brother that he would starve to death because he could not prove the money was his own，someone else will be suspected，even banks will not allow him to save money.Brother believes that he will very well，so they brothers will check for one million pounds lent the poor，and abroad spent thirty days.I did not expect at this time，people who suddenly rich riches rare，hard to actually draw him from the free food，buy clothes，to free accommodation，one by one like a beggar，like to please him，and continue to improve his social position，until the outdoor addition to the king on top of Duke！Not only that，he got a good wife and thirty thousand pounds of bank interest.Since then lived very，very happy life.See here，I am so envious of the"lucky"the hero，but I want to:The reason why people please him，not because it was too much focus on money yet？Worship of money is shameful，something for nothing we should not！Money is not everything in the world there are many more important things than money.Article on the"money is everything""Money is omnipotent，"the idea for a satire and expose the ugly face of capitalist society and the rule of darkness.！。
《英美文学选读》论述题汇总
美国文学III. Nathaniel HawthorneMosses from an Old Manse古宅青苔The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales 雪像和其他故事新编The Scarlet Letter 红字The House of Seven Gables 七个尖角阁的房子The Blithedale Romance 福谷传说The Marble Faun 大理石雕像选文Young Goodman BrownIV. Walt WhitmanLeaves of Grass选文There Was a Child Went Forth, Cavalry Crossing a Ford, Song of MyselfV. Herman MelvilleTypee 泰比Omoo 奥穆Mardi 玛迪Redburn 雷德本White Jacket 白外衣Pierre 皮埃尔Confidence-Man 信心人Moby-Dick 白鲸Billy Budd 比利伯德选文Moby-DickChapter 2 现实主义时期I. Mark TwainAdventures of Huckleberry FinnLife on MississippiThe Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Innocent Abroad 傻瓜出国记Roughing It 含莘如苦The Adventures of Tom Sawyer The Gilded Age 镀金时代 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 亚瑟王宫庭中的美国佬The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson 傻瓜威尔逊The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg 败坏哈德莱堡的人The Mysterious Stranger 神秘的陌生人选文Adventures of Huckleberry Finn II. Henry James The American 美国人Daisy Miller 黛西米勒The European 欧洲人The Protrait of A Lady 贵妇人的画像The Bostonians 波士顿人Princess Casamassima 卡撒玛西公主The Private Life 私生活The Middle Years 中年The Turn of the Screw 螺丝的拧紧The Beast in the Jungle 丛林猛兽What Maisie Knows 梅西所知道的The Wings of the Dove 鸽翼The Ambassadors 大使The Golden Bowl 金碗The Death of a Lion 狮之死选文Daisy Miller III. Emily Dickinson If you were coming in the fall There came a day Summer’s full I cannot live with You I’m ceded-I’ve stopped being theirs 选文This is my letter to the World, I heard a Fly buzz-when I died I like to see it lap the Miles Because I could not stop for death IV．Theodore Dreiserer Sister Carrie 嘉莉妹妹Nigger Jeff 黑人杰夫Old Rogaum and His Theresa 老罗格姆和他的特里萨Jennie Gerhardt珍妮姑娘Trilogy of Desire The Financier 金融家The Genius 天才An American Tragedy 美国悲剧Dreiser at Russia 德莱塞对俄罗斯的观感选文Sister Carrie Chapter 3 现代主义时期II. Robert Lee Frost A Boy’s Will 一个男孩儿的愿望North of Boston 波士顿以北Mountain Interval New Hampshire 新罕布什尔Snowy Evening 雪夜停马在林边West-Running Brook 向西流去的小溪Collected Poems 诗选A Winter Tree 选文After Apple-Picking, The Road Not T aken, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening以IV. F. Scott Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise 天堂的这一边Beautiful and Damned 美丽而遭骂的人The Great Gatsby Tender is the Night 夜色温柔The Last Tycoon 最后一个巨头Flappers and Philosophers 吹捧者与哲学家Tales of the Jazz Age 爵士时代All the Sad Young Men 所有悲惨的小伙子Taps at Reveille 拍打在起床鼓上Babylon Revisited重返巴比伦选文The Great Gatsby V. Earnest Hemingway In Our Time 在我们的时代 A Farewell to Arms 永别了，武器For Whom the Bell Tolls 丧钟为谁敲响The Old Man and the Sea 老人与海Men Without Women 没有女人的男人Death in the Afternoon 午后之死The Snows of Kilimanjaro 开利曼扎罗之雪The Green Hills of Africa 非洲的青山选文Indian Camp (from In Our Time) VI. William Faulkner The Marble Faun 玉石牧神The Sound and the Fury 喧嚣与骚动As I Lay Dying 我弥留之际Light in August 八月之光Absalom, Absalom 押沙龙！押沙龙！Wild Palms 疯狂的手掌The Hamlet 哈姆雷特The Unvanquished 不可征服的Go Down, Moses 去吧，摩西The Fable 寓言The Town 小镇The Mansion 大厦Soldier’s Pay 士兵的报酬英国文学部分Chapter 1 文艺复兴时期III. William Shakespeare Rape of Lucrece 鲁克斯受辱记Venus and Adonis 维纳斯与安东尼斯Titus Andronicus 泰托斯安东尼The Comedy of Errors 错误的喜剧The Two Gentlemen of Veroma 维洛那二绅士The Taming of the Shrew 驯悍记Love’s Labour’s Lost 爱的徒劳Richard II 理查二世King John 约翰王Henry IV, Parts I and II, Henry V Six Comedies: A Midsummer Night’s Dream 仲夏夜之梦The Merchant of Venice 威尼斯商人Much Ado About Nothing 无事无非As You Like It 皆大欢喜Twelfth Night 第十二夜The Merry Wise of Windsor 温莎的风流娘儿们Two Tragedies: Romeo and Juliet 罗米欧与朱丽叶Julius Caesar 凯撒Hamlet Othello King Lear Macbeth Antony and Cleopatra 安东尼与克里佩特拉Troilus and Cressida, and Coriolanus 特洛伊勒斯与克利西达All’ Well That Ends Well (comedy) 终成成眷属Measure for Measure (comedy) 一报还一报Pericles 伯里克利Cymbeline 辛白林The Winter’s Tale 冬天的故事The Tempest 暴风雨Henry VIII The Two Noble Kinsmen两位贵族亲戚选文为Sonnet 18; The Merchant of Venice; Hamlet VI. John Milton Paradise Lost 失乐园Paradise Regain 复乐园Samson Agonistes力士参孙Lycidas 利西达斯Areopagitica 论出版自由Chapter 2 新古典主义时期III. Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe 鲁宾逊漂流记Captain Singleton 辛立顿船长Moll Flanders 莫尔弗兰德斯Colonel Jack 杰克上校A Journal of the Plague Year 灾疫之年的日记Roxana 罗克萨那选文Robinson Crusoe IV. Jonathan Swift A Tale of Tub 木桶传The Battle of the Books 书籍的战斗Gulliver’s Travels 格列弗游记 A Modest Proposal 一个小小的建议The Drapier’s Letter s 布商的书信选文Gulliver’s Travels V. Henry Fielding The Coffee House Politician 咖啡屋的政治家The Tragedy of the Tragedies 悲剧中的悲剧The Historical Register for the Year 1736 1736历史年鉴The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of his friend Mr. Abraham Adams, Written in Imitation of the Manner of Cervantes The History of Jonathan Wild the Great 大伟人江奈生翻乐德传The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling 汤姆琼斯The History of Amelia 阿米亚选文为Tom Jones Chapter III 浪温主义时期I．William Blake Poetic Sketches 诗歌扎记The Songs of Innocence 天真之歌The Songs of Experience 经验之歌Marriage of Heaven and Hell 天堂与地狱联姻The Book of Urizen 尤里曾的书The Book of Los 洛斯的书The Four Zoas 四个成熟的个体Milton 弥尔顿选文The Chimney Sweeper (from Songs of Innocence); The Tyger II. William Wordsworth Lyrical Ballads (抒情歌谣集) The Prelude The Excursion Worshipper of Nature (The Sparr,w’s Nest, To a Skylark, T o the Cuckoo, To a Butterfly, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, An Evening Walking, My Heartn Leaps up, Tintern Abbey) 选文：I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, Composed upon Westminster Bridge, She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways, The Solitary Reaper V. Percy Bysshe Shelley The Necessity of Atheism 无神论的必要性Queen Mab: A Philosophical Poem 仙后麦布Alastor, or The Spirit of Solitude 复仇者或隐居者的精神Julian and Maddalo 朱利安与麦达格The Revolt of Islam 伊斯兰的反叛The Cenci 钦契一家The Prometheus Unbound解放了的普罗米修斯Adomais 阿多尼斯Hellas 海娜斯A Defense of Poetry 诗之辩护选文A Song: Men of England; Ode to the West Wind VII. Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility 理智与情感Pride and Prejudice 傲慢与偏见Northanger Abbey 诺桑觉寺Mansfield Park 曼斯菲尔德花园Emma 埃玛Persuasion 劝导The Watsons 屈陈氏一爱Fragment of a Novel 小说的片断Plan of a Novel 小说的计划选文Pride and Prejudice Chapter IV. 维多利亚时期I．Charles Dickens Sketches by Boz 博兹特写集The Posthumous of the Pickwick Club 皮克威克外传Oliver Twist 雾都孤儿Nicholas Nickleby 尼古拉斯尼克尔贝The Pickwick Paper 皮克威克外传David Copperfield 大卫科波菲尔Martin Chuzzlewit 马丁朱尔述维特Dombey and Son 董贝父子A Tale of Two Cities 双城记Bleak House 荒凉山庄Little Dorrit 小杜丽Hard Times 艰难时世Great Expectations 远大前程Our Mutual Friends 我们共同的朋友The Old Curiosity Shop 老古玩店选文为Oliver Twist II. The Bronte Sisters Poem by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (Charlotte, Emily, Anne) The Professor (Charlotte) 教师Jane Eyre (Charlotte) 简爱Wuthering Heights (Emily) 呼啸山庄Agnes Grey (Anne) 格雷The T enant of Wildfell Hall (Anne)野岗庄园房客选文Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte VI. Thomas Hardy Tess of the D’Urbervilles 苔丝Jude the Obscure 无名的裘德The Dynasts 列后The Return of the Native 还乡The Trumpet Major 号兵长The Mayor of Casterbridge 卡斯特桥市长The Woodlanders 林地居民Under the Greenwood 林间居民Far from the Madding Crowd 远离尘嚣选文Tess of the D’Urbervilles Chapter 5 现代主义时期I. George Bernard Shaw Cashel Byron’s Profession 卡歇尔拜伦的职业Our Theaters in the Nineties 90年代的英国戏剧Widower’s Houses 鳏夫的房产Candida 堪迪达Mrs. Warren’s Profession 沃伦夫人的职业Caesar and Cleoptra 凯撕与克利奥佩特拉St. Joan 圣女贞德Back to Methuselah 回归玛士撒拉Man and Superman人与超人John Bull’s Other Island 约翰布尔的另外岛屿Pygmalion 茶花女Getting Married 结婚Misalliance 不合适的媳妇Fanny’s First Play 范尼的第一部戏剧The Doctor’s Dilemma医生的困境Too True to be Good 难以置信选文Mrs. Warren’s Profession IV. T. S. Eliot The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 布鲁富劳克的情歌The Waste Land 荒园Murder in the Cathedral 教堂里的谋杀The Family Reunion 家人团聚The Confidential Clerk 机要秘书The Statesmen 政治家The Cocktail Party鸡尾酒会选文The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock V. D. H. Lawrence Sons and Lovers 儿子与情人The White Peacock白孔雀The Trespasser 过客The Rainbow彩虹Women in Love 恋爱中的女人Aaron’s Rod亚伦神仗Kangaroo 袋鼠The Plumed Serpent带羽毛的蛇Lady Chatterley’s Lover St. Mawr 圣摩尔The Daughter of the Vicar 主教的女儿The Horse Dealer’s Daughter贩马人的女儿The Captain’s Doll 般长的娃娃The Prussian Officer 普鲁士军官The Virgin and the Gypsy贞女和吉普塞人Trilogy(A Collier’s Friday Night, 矿工周五的夜晚The Daughter-in-law,儿媳The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyed 守寡的霍尔伊德夫人选文Sons and Lovers《英美文学选读》论述题汇总---按2009 年调整后新大纲IV. Topic Discussion(20 points in all, 10 for each) Write no less than 150 words on each of the following topics in English in the corresponding space on the answer sheet.2009 年4 月英美文学选读试题49. Briefly discuss William Shakespeare's artistic achievements in characterization, plot construction and language.（人物、情节构造、语言特色）50. Briefly discuss Mark Twain's art of fiction in terms of the setting,the language, and the characters, etc.,based on his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. （《哈克贝利·芬历险记》的小说框架、语言特色、人物塑造）2009 年7 月英美文学选读试题49. Define modernism in English literature. Name two major modernistic British writers and list one major work by each. 现代主义名词解释列出现代主义时期的两位英国作家和他的主要作品50. Briefly discuss the term “The Lost Generation”and name the leading figures of this literary movement (Give at least three). 简述专业名词“迷失的一代” ，最少列出三个特征。
浙江高三高中英语高考模拟带答案解析
浙江高三高中英语高考模拟班级:___________ 姓名：___________ 分数：___________一、单项选择1.—Tony said he could fix my bicycle, but I really doubt it.—_______. He’s very good at this sort of thing.A．Don’t worry B．I couldn’t agree moreC．Of course D．A piece of cake2.—Did you enjoy yourself last weekend, Tom?—Yes, as you know, ______ birthday party went on in _____ most pleasant atmosphere.A．the; the B．a; the C．the; a D．a; a 3.—Mary, are you sure your aunt ___ back from America?—Yes. My mother ___ me. I am going to see her now.A．has come; told B．came; had toldC．had come; tells D．is coming; has told4.Security was such a major concern at the conference that no journalists could approach the meeting zone without ________ the special pass.A．commanding B．issuing C．producing D．involving5.He had planned to make a compromise，but he changed his mind at the last minute.A．therefore B．otherwise C．anyhow D．somehow6.The old lady is said to have three children，two of ____studying abroad.A．whom B．them C．all D．who7.There came a point in his life____ he had to think about seriously about his future.A．what B．that C．when D．which 8.—Have you checked the engine?—Yes, I did twice; there ______ be anything wrong with the car.A．won’t B．mustn’t C．needn’t D．shouldn’t9.We think that it’s love, generosity and perseverance make the world it is today.A．what; that B．that; what C．which; what D．which; that 10.Your daughter ____ to be a famous musician, so you should keep her practicing the piano. A．promises B．agrees C．expects D．pretends11.China’s population is expected to increase to about 1.5 billion, ____ it will start to decline slowly. A．after that B．since when C．on which D．after which 12.—You seem busy these days.—Yes. I’m looking for a house. It’s really not easy to find _____ with four bedrooms.A．one B．the one C．it D．that13.People can accept the fact that prices tend to rise year by year but at a(an) ______ rate.A．modest B．sharp C．regular D．amazing14.We did have a quarrel about money last night, but now we have already _____.A．taken up B．made up C．put up D．brought up15.______, I can see that those terrible events shaped me into the person I am today.A．Having looked back B．Looking backC．Being looking back D．To be looking back16.The U.S. government on Wednesday _______ former Commerce Secretary Gary Locke as ambassador to China, making him the first Chinese-American ever to take the post.A．accumulated B．reflected C．distinguished D．appointed17.—If it hadn’t been raining so hard, I might have been home much earlier.—It’s too bad you _____ it. Nancy _____ here and she _____ to see you.A．didn’t make; is; wasB．won’t make; will be; wantsC．didn’t make; was; wantedD．won’t make; would be; wanted18.—I’m going to have lunch. Do you mind talking about your plan ____ lunch?—All right. I’ll wait here in the office.A．after B．before C．over D．until19.Miss Green often said “God helps those who help themselves”, intending to _______ on us the significance of being independent.A．base B．impress C．focus D．rely20.—Sorry my dog frightened your daughter.—Forget it! _______.A．She deserved it B．Every dog has its dayC．Bad luck comes three D．Animals will be animals二、完形填空This is the story of two lovers, who finally got married. Both of them were romantic at first, 1 on the walk of life, problems, quarrels, profession came into their life.One day, she finally decided “I want to break up”. “Why?” he asked.“I am 2 .” she answered.He kept silent the whole night, seemingly in deep 3 . finally he asked, “What can I do to 4 your mind?”Looking into his eyes she said, “Answer my question. If you can 5 my heart, I will change my mind. Let’s say, I want a flower 6 on the face of a mountain cliff (悬崖), we both are sure that picking the flower will causeyour 7 . will you do it for me?”He said, “I will give you my 8 tomorrow.”She woke up the next morning, found him gone, and saw a piece of paper on her bed, which 9 “My dear, I would not pick that flower for you, the 10 are …”“When you use the computer you always 11 the software, and you cry in front of the screen. I have to save my fingers so that I can help to restore the 12 . You always leave the house keys behind, thus I have to savemy 13 to rush home to open the door for you. You love traveling but always lose your way in a (n) 14 city. I have to save my eyes to show you the way. You always 15 at the computer, and that will do nothing good for your eyes. I have to save my eyes 16 when we grow old, I can help to clip your nails and help to removethose 17 white hairs.”“Thus, m y dear, unless I am sure that there is someone who loves you 18 I do … I could not pick that flower yet, and die …”That’s life, and 19 . flowers, and romantic moments are only used and appear on the 20 of the relationship. Under all this, the pillar of true love stands.【1】A．but B．and C．or D．so【2】A．lonely B．shamed C．tired D．worried【3】A．space B．thought C．shade D．impression 【4】A．speak B．change C．blow D．keep【5】A．represent B．expand C．admit D．convince【6】A．growing B．falling C．living D．waiting【7】A．attention B．satisfaction C．interest D．death【8】A．agreement B．answer C．announcement D．judgment【9】A．writes B．informs C．prints D．goes【10】A．meanings B．messages C．reasons D．purposes 【11】A．turn up B．put up C．use up D．mess up 【12】A．structures B．programs C．balance D．position【13】A．legs B．patience C．energy D．dollars【14】A．ancient B．new C．modern D．underground 【15】A．shout B．jump C．knock D．stare【16】A．as if B．now that C．so that D．in case【17】A．annoying B．enjoyable C．dusty D．amusing【18】A．less than B．rather than C．more than D．other than【19】A．determination B．love C．progress D．power【20】A．surface B．way C．principle D．nature三、阅读理解1.Brief Introduction(Adeline) Virginia Woolf (née Stephen; 25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941) was an English novelist and essayist, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century.During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her mostfamous works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929), with its famous dictum, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction."Main bodyMy dear，'Dearest, I feel certain I am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be.I don't think two people could have been happier till this terrible disease came. I can't fight any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can't even write this properly. I can't read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that - everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can't go on spoiling your life any longer.I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been...........................from the last letter of virginia woolf【1】According to the first paragraph we can infer thatA．During the interwar period，virginia woolf was important for London people.B．She has been living for 55 yearsC．Her first the novels Mrs Dalloway in 1925D．She regarded as one of the foremost romanticism literary figures of the twentieth century【2】what is form of The main body？A．letter of resignation B．Letter of condolenceC．Letter of suicide D．Letters of Apologies ;【3】Where can I see this article？A．newspaper B．biographyC．German Literature D．television【4】According to the main body, which of the following is not the reason of her Dutch act（自杀）？A．She can't go on spoiling your life any longerB．I feel certain I am going mad againC．She cannot bear her husband's interferenceD．The approach of war makes her psychological problems aggravated2.Everybody cheats. Whether it’s the taxi driver who tricks a visitor and takes them the long way round, or the shop assistant who doesn’t give the correct change, or the police officer who accepts a bribe (贿赂) –ev erybody’s at it. Cheats in the nest include the scientist whose research was based on fake data, the game show competitors who worked with a friend in the audience or win a million pounds, and the doctor who made up his qualifications and wasn’t really a doctor at all. Everybody cheats; nobody’s playing the game.Is cheating acceptable, a natural way of surviving and being successful? Or is it something that should be frowned on, and young people discouraged from doing? If it’s the latter how can we explain to children why so many bend the rules?Take sport for example. The Word Cup was filled with cheating. Whether diving, pretending to be hurt or denying a handball, footballers will do anything for a free – kick or a penalty shot. France striker Henry denied cheating to win the free –kick which led to his side’s second goal in their 3 – 1 victory over Spain. Many footballers, however, are often putting it on. Whatever the nationality there’s one common ploy: the player rolls over holding their leg, ankle or head seeming to be in great pain. As a result a yellow card and / or free – kick is given for the foul and then, a few seconds later, the player is up and about as if nothing had happened ! The ref (裁判) may be taken in by it but youngsters watching the g ame aren’t. they also see their heroes getting away with it.Of course it’s not just football. In 1998 the Tour de France, the world’s greatest cycling event, was hit by a drug –taking scandal (丑闻). The 40 bottles of forbidden drugs found with the Fustian team caused a massive investigation that almost caused the Tour to be abandoned. One rider, Veronique, was banned for 9 months. Heclaimed: “You have cheats in sport, just as you do in business – there will always be people trying to take a short cut. At least we’re not turning a blind eye to the problem, which other sports are.”Is it all unavoidable? There’s huge pressure on all athletes to perform for their fans and for their sponsors. It’s success, money and power that rule professional sport rather than an honest at tempt to do the best one can. Meanwhile companies around the world are losing billions of dollars to fake products. From cut price CDs and DVDs to sportswear, cheap fake products are everywhere. It has become socially acceptable to buy fake Gucci bags and illegal copies of films. If parents are doing this, their children will follow.So perhaps it’s not surprising that around the world more pupils than ever are caught cheating during exams. In one case missing exam papers were put up for sale on the Internet. In another, widespread cheating took place by pupils using their mobile phones to receive tested answers. They blame the pressure put on them to do well in exams. It doesn’t help that their role models are also cheats. Surely we can’t complain when we’re setting such a bad example.【1】According to the passage, in which way can a game show player cheat?A．By taking an indirect way.B．By gaining aid from a friend.C．By taking forbidden drugs.D．By selling fake products.【2】The phrase “be frowned on”(Paragraph 2) most probably means .A．to be disapproved of B．to be pushed forwardC．to be taken the place of D．to be stuck with【3】The writer’s suppose for writing this passage is to .A．explain why people in almost every field cheatB．complain about cheats in school educationC．persuade young people not to cheat in examsD．blame the society for tolerating cheats【4】The writer mentions the example of the World Cup in Paragraph 3 in order to .A．show cheating is a common phenomenon nowadaysB．discuss the relationship between sport and cheatingC．explore the nature of cheating in important eventsD．warn coaches and athletes of the danger of cheating【5】Which of the following is the main idea of the passage?A．Exams are not a good way of testing children.B．Children are natural cheats.C．If adults cheat, children will cheat too.D．Everyone including children cheats.3.Living in South Africa, I had always taken the wildlife pretty much for granted. Not to say that we were surrounded by it, but the accessibility of game parks and wildlife sanctuaries（避难所，庇护所） always made it seem like a natural part of the environment. For this reason, I suppose that the way my European friends used to talk to me, wasn’t so strange after all. They would ask me what I thought at the time were really silly questions which got on my nerves. They’d say things like ‘Do you have a pet baboon?’ or‘Do you travel to school by elephant?’.When Amanda, a friend of mine who was visiting from England, invited me to join her and a group of friends on a wildlife expedition, I was not filled with enthusiasm. However, from the moment we entered the gates of the Zaluzi game reserve, I knew that this was not going to be anything like I had expected. We had been traveling along the National Road when, suddenly, we turned onto a dirt track which seemed to be hidden in the middle of nowhere. Amazingly, the scenery changed dramatically. The civilized environment took on a wild, chaotic（混沌的；一片混乱的） aspect and continued to do so as we walked deeper into the bush.After having a good night’s sleep at one of the reserve’s bungalows, we were woken at the crack of dawn. A fter a quick breakfast we piled into a jeep and set off. Our guide assured us that the early start was necessary in order to have the best chance of seeing what was really worthwhile. Armed with just a thermos of coffee, we set out towards the shore of a small lake where it was expected that we could see that animals that used it as their morning watering hole.On the way to our destination, we topped a hill and there, against the emerging morning light, were a group of animals. It was a stunning sight. As we moved closer, the animals did not appear to be alarmed by our presence. Pet baboons aside, I had never before come within such close range of a pride of lions. It did cross my mind, however, that we might be in a certain amount of danger. When I asked Timothy, our game ranger, if we were actually in any danger, he replied straightforwardly that one is never entirely safe in the bush, but his knowledge and experience allowed him to anticipate any danger with reasonable accuracy.However, the following day there was some cause for alarm. Not having started out so early, we missed the sightings of the day before. We decided to drive around for a while, hoping to come across something of interest. Suddenly our tracker perched up on the back of our vehicle, signaled to the driver to halt and at the same moment I realized that this time we had stumbled right into a pride of lions. The driver promptly turned off the engine and in a low voice warned us to remain seated and not to make any abrupt movements. The lions were picking at what looked like the remains of a zebra. Timothy, later told us how much to our advantage this was. Had their bellies not been full, their reaction to us would surely have been otherwise. As the nearest lion was less than three meters away from the jeep, I considered that we had been very lucky indeed.All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Our near miss with the lions was without a doubt the highlight, but what it taught me yet again was how easy it is to be indifferent to our surroundings and not to have a full appreciation of the beauty around us.【1】How did the writer feel about the questions her European friends asked?A．ridiculous B．annoyed C．strange D．embarrassed【2】When did the writer’s attitude change about the expedition?A．When she was traveling along the dirt track.B．When she received her invitation.C．When she arrived at the game reserve.D．When her friend arrived from England.【3】What does the underlined word ‘It’ (in the fourth paragraph) refer to?A．the pride of lions B．the destinationC．the top of the hill D．the morning light【4】Timothy’s experience as a game ranger was valuable because he ______________A．could supply a straightforward answer to any question.B．knew how to frighten the animals.C．knew the game reserve well.D．could identify trouble in advance.【5】What does the writer mean by the underlined sentence ‘we had been very lucky indeed’ in the fifth paragraph?A．They had seen the lions up close.B．They hadn’t been attacked.C．They had a good guide with them.D．They had gone on a trip.【6】What conclusion does the writer of the text come to?A．We often do not realize how attractive our environment really is.B．It is not clever to unnecessarily put ourselves in dangerous situations.C．We don’t respect wild animals enough.D．We should protect our surroundings.4.The bedroom door opened and a light went on, signaling an end to nap time．The toddle（初学走路的婴儿）, sleepy-eyed, clambered to a swinging stand in his crib．He smiled, reached out to his father, and uttered what is fast becoming the cry of his generation: "iPhone!"Just as adults have a hard time putting down their iPhones, so the device is now the Toy of Choice for many 1-, 2- and 3-year-olds．The phenomenon is attracting the attention and concern of some childhood development specialists．Natasha Sykes, a mother of two in Atlanta, remembers the first time her daughter, Kelsey, now 3 but then barely 2 years old, held her husband's iPhone．"She pressed the button and it lit up．I just remember her eyes．It was like 'Whoa!' "The parents were charmed by their daughter's fascination．But then, said Ms．Sykes （herself a Black Berry user）, "She got serious about the phone．" Kelsey would ask for it．Then she'd cry for it．"It was like she'd always want the phone," Ms．Sykes said．Apple, the iPhone's designer and manufacturer, has built its success on machines so user-friendly that even technologically blinded adults can figure out how to work them, so it makes sense that sophisticated children would follow．Tap a picture on the screen and something happens．What could be more fun?The sleepy-eyed toddler who called for the iPhone is one of hundreds of iPhone-loving toddlers whose parents are often proud of their offspring's ability to slide fat fingers across the gadget's screen and pull up photographsof their choice．Many iPhone apps on the market are aimed directly at preschoolers, many of them labeled "educational," suchas Toddler Teasers: Shapes, which asks the child to tap a circle or square or triangle; and Pocket Zoo, which streams live video of animals at zoos around the world．Along with fears about dropping and damage, however, many parents sharing iPhones with their young ones feel guilty．They wonder whether it is indeed an educational tool, or a passive amusement like television．The American Academy of Pediatrics is continually reassessing its guidelines to address new forms of "screen time．" Dr．Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, a member of the academy's council, said, "We always try to throw in the latest technology, but the cellphone industry is becoming so complex that we always come back to the table and wonder- Should we have a specific guideline for them?"Tovah P. Klein, the director of a research center for Toddler Development worries that fixation on the iPhone screen every time a child is out with parents will limit the child's ability to experience the wider world.As with TV in earlier generations, the world is increasingly divided into those parents who do allow iPhone use and those who don't. A recent post on , asked if anyone had found that their child was more interested in playing with their iPhone than with real toys. The Don't mothers said on the Website: "We don't let our toddler touch our iPhones ... it takes away from creative play." "Please ... just say no. It is not too hard to distract a toddler with, say ... a book."Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a psychology professor who specializes in early language development, sides with the Don'ts. Research shows that children learn best through activities that help them adapt to the particular situation at hand and interacting with a screen doesn't qualify, she said.Still, Dr. Hirsh-Pasek, struck on a recent visit to New York City by how many parents were handing over their iPhones to their little children in the subway, said she understands the impulse (冲动). "This is a magical phone," she said. "I must admit I'm addicted to this phone."【1】The first paragraph in the passage intends to ______.A．get us to know a cute sleepy-eyed child in a familyB．show us how harmful the iPhone isC．lead us to the topic of the toddlers' iPhone-addictD．explain how iPhone appeals to toddlers【2】According to the author, iPhones are popular with both adults and young kids because they are______. A．easy to use B．beautiful in appearanceC．cheap in price D．powerful in battery volume【3】The underlined word "them" in the seventh paragraph refers to ______.A．televisions B．cellphones C．iPhones D．screens【4】The tone of the author towards parents sharing iPhones with their children is ______.A．negative B．subjective C．objective D．supportive【5】The passage mainly tells us ______.A．children's iPhone addict is becoming a concernB．iPhone is winning the hearts of the toddlersC．Apple is developing more user-friendly productsD．ways to avoid children's being addicted to iPhone games四、信息匹配需要添加小标题。
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BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC.To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.:You may remember the wildly upbeat message of last year�sreport: nothing much was in the works but our experience had been that something big popped up occasionally. This carefully-crafted corporate strategy paid off in 1985. Later sections of this report discuss (a) our purchase of a major position in Capital Cities/ABC, (b) our acquisition of Scott & Fetzer, (c) our entry into a large, extended term participation in theinsurance business of Fireman�s Fund, and (d) our sale of our stock in General Foods.Our gain in net worth during the year was $613.6 million, or 48.2%. It is fitting that the visit of Halley�s Comet coincided with this percentage gain: neither will be seen again in mylifetime. Our gain in per-share book value over the last twenty- one years (that is, since present management took over) has been from $19.46 to $1643.71, or 23.2% compounded annually, another percentage that will not be repeated.Two factors make anything approaching this rate of gain unachievable in the future. One factor probably transitory - is a stock market that offers very little opportunity compared to the markets that prevailed throughout much of the 1964-1984 period. Today we cannot find significantly-undervalued equities to purchase for our insurance company portfolios. The current situation is 180 degrees removed from that existing about a decade ago, when the only question was which bargain to choose.This change in the market also has negative implications for our present portfolio. In our 1974 annual report I could say:�We consider several of our major holdings to have great potential for significantly increased values in future years.� I can�t say that now. It�s true that our insurance companiescurrently hold major positions in companies with exceptional underlying economics and outstanding managements, just as theydid in 1974. But current market prices generously appraise theseattributes, whereas they were ignored in 1974. Today�svaluations mean that our insurance companies have no chance for future portfolio gains on the scale of those achieved in the past.The second negative factor, far more telling, is our size. Our equity capital is more than twenty times what it was only ten years ago. And an iron law of business is that growth eventually dampens exceptional economics. just look at the records of high- return companies once they have amassed even $1 billion of equity capital. None that I know of has managed subsequently, over aten-year period, to keep on earning 20% or more on equity while reinvesting all or substantially all of its earnings. Instead,to sustain their high returns, such companies have needed to shed a lot of capital by way of either dividends or repurchases of stock. Their shareholders would have been far better off if all earnings could have been reinvested at the fat returns earned bythese exceptional businesses. But the companies simply couldn�t turn up enough high-return opportunities to make that possible.Their problem is our problem. Last year I told you that we needed profits of $3.9 billion over the ten years then coming up to earn 15% annually. The comparable figure for the ten years now ahead is $5.7 billion, a 48% increase that corresponds - asit must mathematically - to the growth in our capital base during1985. (Here�s a little perspective: leaving aside oil companies,only about 15 U.S. businesses have managed to earn over $5.7billion during the past ten years.)Charlie Munger, my partner in managing Berkshire, and I arereasonably optimistic about Berkshire�s ability to earn returns superior to those earned by corporate America generally, and you will benefit from the company�s retention of all earnings as long as those returns are forthcoming. We have several things goingfor us: (1) we don�t have to worry about quarterly or annualfigures but, instead, can focus on whatever actions will maximize long-term value; (2) we can expand the business into any areas that make sense - our scope is not circumscribed by history, structure, or concept; and (3) we love our work. All of these help. Even so, we will also need a full measure of good fortune to average our hoped-for 15% - far more good fortune than was required for our past 23.2%.We need to mention one further item in the investment equation that could affect recent purchasers of our stock. Historically, Berkshire shares have sold modestly below intrinsic business value. With the price there, purchasers could becertain (as long as they did not experience a widening of this discount) that their personal investment experience would atleast equal the financial experience of the business. But recently the discount has disappeared, and occasionally a modest premium has prevailed.The elimination of the discount means that Berkshire�smarket value increased even faster than business value (which, itself, grew at a pleasing pace). That was good news for any owner holding while that move took place, but it is bad news for the new or prospective owner. If the financial experience of new owners of Berkshire is merely to match the future financial experience of the company, any premium of market value over intrinsic business value that they pay must be maintained.Management cannot determine market prices, although it can, by its disclosures and policies, encourage rational behavior bymarket participants. My own preference, as perhaps you�d guess, is for a market price that consistently approximates business value. Given that relationship, all owners prosper precisely as the business prospers during their period of ownership. Wild swings in market prices far above and below business value do not change the final gains for owners in aggregate; in the end, investor gains must equal business gains. But long periods of substantial undervaluation and/or overvaluation will cause the gains of the business to be inequitably distributed among various owners, with the investment result of any given owner largely depending upon how lucky, shrewd, or foolish he happens to be.Over the long term there has been a more consistentrelationship between Berkshire�s market value and business valuethan has existed for any other publicly-traded equity with whichI am familiar. This is a tribute to you. Because you have been rational, interested, and investment-oriented, the market pricefor Berkshire stock has almost always been sensible. Thisunusual result has been achieved by a shareholder group withunusual demographics: virtually all of our shareholders are individuals, not institutions. No other public company our sizecan claim the same.You might think that institutions, with their large staffsof highly-paid and experienced investment professionals, would bea force for stability and reason in financial markets. They are not: stocks heavily owned and constantly monitored byinstitutions have often been among the most inappropriatelyvalued.Ben Graham told a story 40 years ago that illustrates why investment professionals behave as they do: An oil prospector, moving to his heavenly reward, was met by St. Peter with badnews. �You�re qualified for residence�, said St. Peter, �but, as you can see, the compound reserved for oil men is packed.There�s no way to squeeze you in.� After thinking a moment, theprospector asked if he might say just four words to the present occupants. That seemed harmless to St. Peter, so the prospectorcupped his hands and yelled, �Oil discovered in hell.�Immediately the gate to the compound opened and all of the oilmen marched out to head for the nether regions. Impressed, St.Peter invited the prospector to move in and make himself comfortable. The prospector paused. �No,� he said, �I thinkI�ll go along with the rest of the boys. There might be sometruth to that rumor after all.�Sources of Reported EarningsThe table on the next page shows the major sources ofBerkshire�s reported earnings. These numbers, along with farmore detailed sub-segment numbers, are the ones that Charlie andI focus upon. We do not find consolidated figures an aid ineither managing or evaluating Berkshire and, in fact, neverprepare them for internal use.Segment information is equally essential for investorswanting to know what is going on in a multi-line business. Corporate managers always have insisted upon such informationbefore making acquisition decisions but, until a few years ago, seldom made it available to investors faced with acquisition and disposition decisions of their own. Instead, when owners wishingto understand the economic realities of their business asked fordata, managers usually gave them a we-can�t-tell-you-what-is-going-on-because-it-would-hurt-the-company answer. Ultimatelythe SEC ordered disclosure of segment data and management began supplying real answers. The change in their behavior recalls aninsight of Al Capone: �You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.�In the table, amortization of Goodwill is not charged against the specific businesses but, for reasons outlined in the Appendix tomy letter in the 1983 annual report, is aggregated as a separate item. (A compendium of the 1977-1984 letters is available uponrequest.) In the Business Segment Data and Management�sDiscussion sections on pages 39-41 and 49-55, much additional information regarding our businesses is provided, includingGoodwill and Goodwill Amortization figures for each of the segments. I urge you to read those sections as well as CharlieMunger�s letter to Wesco shareholders, which starts on page 56.(000s omitted)-----------------------------------------Berkshire's Shareof Net Earnings(after taxes andPre-Tax Earnings minority interests)--------------------------------------1985 1984 1985 1984-------- -------- ----------------Operating Earnings:Insurance Group:Underwriting ................ $(44,230) $(48,060) $(23,569) $(25,955)Net Investment Income ....... 95,217 68,903 79,716 62,059Associated Retail Stores ...... 270 (1,072) 134 (579)Blue Chip Stamps .............. 5,763 (1,843) 2,813 (899)Buffalo News .................. 29,921 27,328 14,580 13,317Mutual Savings and Loan ....... 2,622 1,456 4,016 3,151Nebraska Furniture Mart ....... 12,686 14,511 5,181 5,917Precision Steel ............... 3,896 4,092 1,477 1,696See�s Candies ................. 28,989 26,644 14,55813,380Textiles ...................... (2,395) 418 (1,324) 226Wesco Financial ............... 9,500 9,777 4,191 4,828Amortization of Goodwill ...... (1,475) (1,434) (1,475) (1,434)Interest on Debt .............. (14,415) (14,734) (7,288) (7,452)Shareholder-DesignatedContributions .............. (4,006) (3,179) (2,164) (1,716)Other ......................... 3,106 4,932 2,102 3,475-------- -------- ----------------Operating Earnings .............. 125,449 87,739 92,948 70,014Special General Foods Distribution 4,127 8,111 3,779 7,294Special Washington PostDistribution ................. 14,877 --- 13,851 ---Sales of Securities ............. 468,903 104,699 325,237 71,587-------- -------- ----------------Total Earnings - all entities ... $613,356 $200,549 $435,815 $148,895======== ======== ================Our 1985 results include unusually large earnings from thesale of securities. This fact, in itself, does not mean that wehad a particularly good year (though, of course, we did).Security profits in a given year bear similarities to a college graduation ceremony in which the knowledge gained over four yearsis recognized on a day when nothing further is learned. We mayhold a stock for a decade or more, and during that period it may grow quite consistently in both business and market value. Inthe year in which we finally sell it there may be no increase in value, or there may even be a decrease. But all growth in value since purchase will be reflected in the accounting earnings ofthe year of sale. (If the stock owned is in our insurance subsidiaries, however, any gain or loss in market value will be reflected in net worth annually.) Thus, reported capital gains or losses in any given year are meaningless as a measure of how well we have done in the current year.A large portion of the realized gain in 1985 ($338 millionpre-tax out of a total of $488 million) came about through thesale of our General Foods shares. We held most of these shares since 1980, when we had purchased them at a price far below whatwe felt was their per/share business value. Year by year, the managerial efforts of Jim Ferguson and Phil Smith substantially increased General Foods� business value and, last fall, PhilipMorris made an offer for the company that reflected the increase. We thus benefited from four factors: a bargain purchase price, a business with fine underlying economics, an able managementconcentrating on the interests of shareholders, and a buyer willing to pay full business value. While that last factor is the only one that produces reported earnings, we consider identification of the first three to be the key to building value for Berkshire shareholders. In selecting common stocks, we devote our attention to attractive purchases, not to the possibility of attractive sales.We have again reported substantial income from special distributions, this year from Washington Post and General Foods. (The General Foods transactions obviously took place well before the Philip Morris offer.) Distributions of this kind occur when we sell a portion of our shares in a company back to it simultaneously with its purchase of shares from other shareholders. The number of shares we sell is contractually set so as to leave our percentage ownership in the company precisely the same after the sale as before. Such a transaction is quite properly regarded by the IRS as substantially equivalent to a dividend since we, as a shareholder, receive cash while maintaining an unchanged ownership interest. This tax treatment benefits us because corporate taxpayers, unlike individual taxpayers, incur much lower taxes on dividend income than on income from long-term capital gains. (This difference will be widened further if the House-passed tax bill becomes law: under its provisions, capital gains realized by corporations will be taxed at the same rate as ordinary income.) However, accounting rules are unclear as to proper treatment for shareholderreporting. To conform with last year�s treatment, we have shown these transactions as capital gains.Though we have not sought out such transactions, we have agreed to them on several occasions when managements initiated the idea. In each case we have felt that non-selling shareholders (all of whom had an opportunity to sell at the same price we received) benefited because the companies made their repurchases at prices below intrinsic business value. The tax advantages we receive and our wish to cooperate with managements that are increasing values for all shareholders have sometimes led us to sell - but only to the extent that our proportional share of the business was undiminished.At this point we usually turn to a discussion of some of our major business units. Before doing so, however, we should firstlook at a failure at one of our smaller businesses. Our Vice Chairman, Charlie Munger, has always emphasized the study of mistakes rather than successes, both in business and other aspects of life. He does so in the spirit of the man who said:�All I want to know is where I�m going to die so I�ll never go there.� You�ll immediately see why we make a good team: Charlielikes to study errors and I have generated ample material for him, particularly in our textile and insurance businesses.Shutdown of Textile BusinessIn July we decided to close our textile operation, and by yearend this unpleasant job was largely completed. The history of this business is instructive.When Buffett Partnership, Ltd., an investment partnership of which I was general partner, bought control of Berkshire Hathaway 21 years ago, it had an accounting net worth of $22 million, alldevoted to the textile business. The company�s intrinsicbusiness value, however, was considerably less because thetextile assets were unable to earn returns commensurate withtheir accounting value. Indeed, during the previous nine years (the period in which Berkshire and Hathaway operated as a merged company) aggregate sales of $530 million had produced an aggregate loss of $10 million. Profits had been reported from time to time but the net effect was always one step forward, two steps back.At the time we made our purchase, southern textile plants - largely non-union - were believed to have an important competitive advantage. Most northern textile operations had closed and many people thought we would liquidate our business as well.We felt, however, that the business would be run much better by a long-time employee whom. we immediately selected to be president, Ken Chace. In this respect we were 100% correct: Ken and his recent successor, Garry Morrison, have been excellent managers, every bit the equal of managers at our more profitable businesses.In early 1967 cash generated by the textile operation was used to fund our entry into insurance via the purchase of National Indemnity Company. Some of the money came from earnings and some from reduced investment in textile inventories, receivables, and fixed assets. This pullback proved wise:although much improved by Ken�s management, the textile businessnever became a good earner, not even in cyclical upturns.Further diversification for Berkshire followed, andgradually the textile operation�s depressing effect on ouroverall return diminished as the business became a progressively smaller portion of the corporation. We remained in the business for reasons that I stated in the 1978 annual report (andsummarized at other times also): �(1) our textile businesses arevery important employers in their communities, (2) management has been straightforward in reporting on problems and energetic in attacking them, (3) labor has been cooperative and understanding in facing our common problems, and (4) the business shouldaverage modest cash returns relative to investment.� I further said, �As long as these conditions prevail - and we expect that they will - we intend to continue to support our textile business despite more attractive alternative uses for capital.�It turned out that I was very wrong about (4). Though 1979 was moderately profitable, the business thereafter consumed major amounts of cash. By mid-1985 it became clear, even to me, that this condition was almost sure to continue. Could we have found a buyer who would continue operations, I would have certainly preferred to sell the business rather than liquidate it, even if that meant somewhat lower proceeds for us. But the economicsthat were finally obvious to me were also obvious to others, and interest was nil.I won�t close down businesses of sub-normal profitabilitymerely to add a fraction of a point to our corporate rate of return. However, I also feel it inappropriate for even an exceptionally profitable company to fund an operation once itappears to have unending losses in prospect. Adam Smith would disagree with my first proposition, and Karl Marx would disagree with my second; the middle ground is the only position thatleaves me comfortable.I should reemphasize that Ken and Garry have been resourceful, energetic and imaginative in attempting to make our textile operation a success. Trying to achieve sustainable profitability, they reworked product lines, machineryconfigurations and distribution arrangements. We also made amajor acquisition, Waumbec Mills, with the expectation ofimportant synergy (a term widely used in business to explain an acquisition that otherwise makes no sense). But in the endnothing worked and I should be faulted for not quitting sooner.A recent Business Week article stated that 250 textile mills have closed since 1980. Their owners were not privy to anyinformation that was unknown to me; they simply processed it more objectively. I ignored Comte�s advice - �the intellect should be the servant of the heart, but not its slave� - and believed what I preferred to believe.The domestic textile industry operates in a commodity business, competing in a world market in which substantial excess capacity exists. Much of the trouble we experienced was attributable, both directly and indirectly, to competition from foreign countries whose workers are paid a small fraction of the U.S. minimum wage. But that in no way means that our labor force deserves any blame for our closing. In fact, in comparison with employees of American industry generally, our workers were poorly paid, as has been the case throughout the textile business. In contract negotiations, union leaders and members were sensitiveto our disadvantageous cost position and did not push for unrealistic wage increases or unproductive work practices. Tothe contrary, they tried just as hard as we did to keep us competitive. Even during our liquidation period they performed superbly. (Ironically, we would have been better off financiallyif our union had behaved unreasonably some years ago; we thenwould have recognized the impossible future that we faced,promptly closed down, and avoided significant future losses.)Over the years, we had the option of making large capital expenditures in the textile operation that would have allowed usto somewhat reduce variable costs. Each proposal to do so looked like an immediate winner. Measured by standard return-on- investment tests, in fact, these proposals usually promised greater economic benefits than would have resulted from comparable expenditures in our highly-profitable candy and newspaper businesses.But the promised benefits from these textile investments were illusory. Many of our competitors, both domestic and foreign, were stepping up to the same kind of expenditures and, once enough companies did so, their reduced costs became the baseline for reduced prices industrywide. Viewed individually,each company�s capital investment decision appeared cost-effective and rational; viewed collectively, the decisions neutralized each other and were irrational (just as happens when each person watching a parade decides he can see a little betterif he stands on tiptoes). After each round of investment, allthe players had more money in the game and returns remained anemic.Thus, we faced a miserable choice: huge capital investment would have helped to keep our textile business alive, but would have left us with terrible returns on ever-growing amounts of capital. After the investment, moreover, the foreign competition would still have retained a major, continuing advantage in labor costs. A refusal to invest, however, would make us increasingly non-competitive, even measured against domestic textile manufacturers. I always thought myself in the position describedby Woody Allen in one of his movies: �More than any other time inhistory, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let uspray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.�For an understanding of how the to-invest-or-not-to-invest dilemma plays out in a commodity business, it is instructive to look at Burlington Industries, by far the largest U.S. textile company both 21 years ago and now. In 1964 Burlington had sales of $1.2 billion against our $50 million. It had strengths inboth distribution and production that we could never hope to match and also, of course, had an earnings record far superior to ours. Its stock sold at 60 at the end of 1964; ours was 13.Burlington made a decision to stick to the textile business, and in 1985 had sales of about $2.8 billion. During the 1964-85 period, the company made capital expenditures of about $3billion, far more than any other U.S. textile company and more than $200-per-share on that $60 stock. A very large part of the expenditures, I am sure, was devoted to cost improvement andexpansion. Given Burlington�s basic commitment to stay in textiles, I would also surmise that the company�s capital decisions were quite rational.Nevertheless, Burlington has lost sales volume in realdollars and has far lower returns on sales and equity now than 20 years ago. Split 2-for-1 in 1965, the stock now sells at 34 --on an adjusted basis, just a little over its $60 price in 1964. Meanwhile, the CPI has more than tripled. Therefore, each share commands about one-third the purchasing power it did at the endof 1964. Regular dividends have been paid but they, too, have shrunk significantly in purchasing power.This devastating outcome for the shareholders indicates what can happen when much brain power and energy are applied to afaulty premise. The situation is suggestive of Samuel Johnson�s horse: �A horse that can count to ten is a remarkable horse - not a remarkable mathematician.� Likewise, a textile company thatallocates capital brilliantly within its industry is a remarkable textile company - but not a remarkable business.My conclusion from my own experiences and from much observation of other businesses is that a good managerial record (measured by economic returns) is far more a function of what business boat you get into than it is of how effectively you row (though intelligence and effort help considerably, of course, inany business, good or bad). Some years ago I wrote: �When amanagement with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for poor fundamental economics, it is thereputation of the business that remains intact.� Nothing hassince changed my point of view on that matter. Should you find yourself in a chronically-leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.* * *There is an investment postscript in our textile saga. Some investors weight book value heavily in their stock-buying decisions (as I, in my early years, did myself). And some economists and academicians believe replacement values are of considerable importance in calculating an appropriate price level for the stock market as a whole. Those of both persuasions would have received an education at the auction we held in early 1986 to dispose of our textile machinery.The equipment sold (including some disposed of in the few months prior to the auction) took up about 750,000 square feet of factory space in New Bedford and was eminently usable. It originally cost us about $13 million, including $2 million spent in 1980-84, and had a current book value of $866,000 (after accelerated depreciation). Though no sane management would have made the investment, the equipment could have been replaced new for perhaps $30-$50 million.Gross proceeds from our sale of this equipment came to $163,122. Allowing for necessary pre- and post-sale costs, our net was less than zero. Relatively modern looms that we bought for $5,000 apiece in 1981 found no takers at $50. We finally sold them for scrap at $26 each, a sum less than removal costs.Ponder this: the economic goodwill attributable to two paper routes in Buffalo - or a single See�s candy store - considerablyexceeds the proceeds we received from this massive collection of tangible assets that not too many years ago, under different competitive conditions, was able to employ over 1,000 people.Three Very Good Businesses (and a Few Thoughts About Incentive Compensation)When I was 12, I lived with my grandfather for about four months. A grocer by trade, he was also working on a book and each night he dictated a few pages to me. The title - brace。