Different generations in America
generation differences in Usa
(Beatles)
1
2
Related Information
4) 13ER Generation
Born 1961 to 1981
Generation “X” or the “13ER” appear shocking to others on the outside and unknown on the inside.
1
2
Related Information
6) Futuristic Generation
Born after 2003
Fantastic opportunities are sure to be part of the Futuristic Generation’s future, but deciding which one to pursue and which one to bypass will be a difficult choice.
1
2
Related Information
2) Silent Generation
Born 1925 to 1942
They felt they were the generation without a cause. The Silent Generation was the earliest marrying group in American history.
1
2
Related Information
4) 13ER Generation
Born 1961 to 1981
Older generations classify this generation as irresponsible, reckless, uneducated, and violent—the generation only concerned about “me”.
美国移民史
美国移民史移民美国Immigration to the United States美国移民是一个复杂的人口现象，是美国历史长河中人口增长和文化变迁的主要来源之一。
移民带来的经济、社会、政治方面的影响引起了诸多争议，涉及种族、经济效益、非移民的工作机会、居住模式、对向上社会流动的影响、犯罪、以及投票行为。
2005年，美国人均获准进入该国移民人数在全世界179个国家中排名第34位。
Immigration to the United States is a complex demographic phenomenon that has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants, settlement patterns, impact on upward social mobility, crime, and voting behavior. In 2005, the United States per capita ranked 34th out of 179 world nations in the number of immigrants allowed into the country.在1965年之前，诸如全国移民来源国家规划（the national origins formula）的政策限制了西欧地区以外人员的移民和入籍机会。
新标准大学英语综合教程4课后答案
包含综合教程4中的一些课文翻译及习题答案综合教程4课后答案Handouts and Key to book4 unit1-4Unit 1Active reading (1)Looking for a job after university? First, get off the sofaBackground informationAbout the passage: This is an article by an Education Correspondent, Alexandra Blair, published in September 2008 in The Times, a long-established British quality newspaper. In Europe generally, and in Britain in particular, for a number of years there has been a rising number of students who go to university and therefore more new graduates seeking employment. However, for many graduates finding a job became harder in 2008–2009 because the economic downturn –then a recession –meant that many employers were reducing their workforce. After their final exams, some students rested in the summer before looking for jobs and then they found that it was difficult to find employment in their field or at the level they wanted. The article addresses the problems of such new graduates who might be stuck at home and advises their parents to be there for their children (ie to be available if their children want to talk about the problem or if they need help). The article recommends finding work in a bar or supermarket rather than sitting unemployed at home since this is more likely to lead to better employment later. The style is partly of a report, but also of a humorous comment for light entertainment (seen in the jokey language and problem-solving advice to parents).Why finding a job in 2008 is so difficult for university graduates?Universities in Europe, particularly in Britain, have expanded greatly in the last fifteen years (over 45% of young adults now go on to higher education), so there are more graduates looking for jobs. This competitive situation became a lot worse in 2008 onwards with the credit crunch and economic depression, which meantthat there were fewer jobs available and a rise in unemployment. Thus new graduates have to be active to seek a job, they need to fill in many application forms and try to get job interviews: they won’t find employment by lying on the sofa at home. Culture pointshonours degree: Traditionally, in the British university system, BA and BSc honours degrees are awarded in different categories: a first class degree (written using Roman numbers as I), a second (divided into two subcategories, written as IIii and IIii, which are called “a two one” and “a two two”), a third (written III) and a pass degree. Most people get a second. There are also ordinary degrees with more general courses of study without these categories.Generation Y and Grunt: The main idea here is that there is a succession of different generations or cohorts of adults who come into the workforce in North America which are given different informal names to characterize them. First, “Baby boomers” were born in the great increase (the boom) of births after World War II (1946–1960), followed by “Generation X” people (born 1960–1980) who were said to bring new attitudes of being independent, informal, entrepreneurial, and expected to getskills and have a career before them. “GenerationY” or the “Millenial Generation” (born 1980s and 1990s and becoming adult in the new millenium) are now making up an increasing percentage of the workforce; they are said to be spoilt by doting parents, to have structured lives, to be used to teamwork and diverse people in a multicultural society. In the passage, this generation is now becoming (morphing into) Generation Grunt, which is an ironic name referring to repetitive, low status, routine or mindless work – this may be the only work available to some graduates, who may have to take very ordinary jobs to get experience before they find something more suitable. “Grunt” also refers to coarse behaviour or bad manners and to the deep sound that is made by a pig; when p eople “grunt” they express disgust but do not communicate with words –this may be how the parents of new graduates think their children communicate with them!A comprehensive refers to a British type of secondary school which became popular in the1960s. Before that there were academic “grammar schools” and more general “secondary modern” schools for those who didnot pass the grammar school entrance tests, but the comprehensive schools were designed for all students in a social philosophy of bringing diverse students together whether they were academic or not. Those students who went to a comprehensive school probably felt that had to study particularly hard (I worked my backside off) to get to university, compared to those who went to grammar schools where all students were academic –comprehensive students felt they had to struggle to get to university.Chicken suit This refers to a large yellow costume that someone wears which makes the person look like a giant chicken. Before he became a famous actor, Brad Pitt once dressed in such a costume when he had a job advertising for a restaurant called El Pollo Loco (The Crazy Chicken’ in Spanish) – the job meant that he hadto walk around the streets like a chicken to attract customers to come to the restaurant.Language points1 Those memories of forking out thousands of pounds a year so that he could eat well and go to theodd party, began to fade. Until now. (Para 1)The parents paid a lot of money for their son’s university fees and living expenses (so that he could eat well) and for occasional social events –at graduation these memories of money were mostly forgotten because the parents were proud. But now the parents are thinking of money again because the son doesn’t have a job and doesn’t seem to be actively seeking one.2 This former scion of Generation Y has morphed overnight into a member of Generation Grunt.(Para 2)The distinguished son of Generation X (of the parents’ generation who worked hard, got jobs, and had good careers and expected their son to do the same) has changed into a member of Generation Grunt –he doesn’t seem to communicate much, lies around and doesn’t get a job (or can only do a low status routing job).3 I passed the exams, but at the interviews they accused me of being …too detached‟ and talking inlanguage that was …too technocratic‟, which I didn‟t think possible, but obviously it is. (Para 5)He passed the entrance exams for a government post, but he was criticized in the selection interviews: They said he was detached (not personally involved) and too technocratic (he used the language of a technical expert or high authority). As a new graduate he probably wanted to show his expertise in his language so he can’t understand this criticism.4 For the rest it is 9-to-5 “chilling” before heading to the pub. (Para 6)The others who do not have a routine low status job (like stacking goods on a supermarket shelf) chill out all day (they spend their time casually relaxing –they don’t look for work) and go to pub for a drink in the evening.5 I went to a comprehensive and I worked my backside off to go to a good university …(Para6)He went to a school for students of all abilities (not to a special school for academic students) and so he had to work very hard to enter a good university: Your backside means your bottom – the part of your body that you sit on – to work your backside off is informal and it means you work very hard indeed.6 … but having worked full-time since leaving school herself, she and her husband find it tricky toadvise him on how to proceed. (Para 7)The mother has always had a full-time job (presumably the father is also working full-time), so she does not have relevant personal experience. For her, it is tricky to give advice (difficult to do).7 Carry on life as normal and don‟t allow them to abuse your bank account or sap your reserve of emotional energy. (Para 11)The advice from Gael Lindenfield here is that parents should live as usual. They should neither let theirchildren spend the parents’ money unnecessar ily, nor let the problem take away all their energy and emotions. Sap their reserve means use up their store of emotional energy.8 After that the son or daughter needs to be nudged firmly back into the saddle. (Para 12) Then the parents should gently push their children firmly so that they get back into control of their lives.Reading and understanding2 Choose the best answer to the questions.Teaching tipsGo over the correct answers with Ss and ask them to explain why the other answers are wrong (Seebelow).1 Why hasn’t Jack Goodwin got a job yet?(a) He doesn’t have a very good degree.(No, he has a 2:1 which is considered a good degree. )(b) He refuses to apply for jobs with low salaries.(He feels he should get a better job after studying at university.)(c) It isn’t easy to get a job in the current financial climate.(This may be true but the passage does not mention this.)(d) He prefers to stay at home and help his family.(No, he doesn’t seem to be helping his family: he watches TV and talks to f riends.)2 How does he spend a typical day?(a) Doing a temporary job.(No, some of his friends are working in temporary jobs but he doesn’t want to do this.)(b) Watching television.(He watches TV a lot.)(c) Queuing up in the university careers service.(No, he went there once but he didn’t want to queue so he walked away.)(d) Preparing for the next job interview.(No, he doesn’t seem to be preparing for interviews.)3 How do most of his friends spend the day?(a) They do nothing all day and go to the pub in the evening.(All except one of them do nothing except chill, then they go to the pub.) (b) They do outdoor activities such as sailing.(No, none of them seem to do outdoor activities; there is no mention of sailing.)(c) They are forced to work by their parents.(No, only one of them has been forced out to stack shelves by his parents; the others seem to be likeJack.)(d) They do part-time jobs such as working in a bar.(No, the text mentions bar work but none of Jack’s friends seem to do this work.)4 How are Jack’s parents helping him?(a) By looking for jobs for him.(No, Jack has tried to get a job himself; there’s nothing here about his parents helping him look for ajob.)(b) By paying for a trip to South America.(No, although he is going on a three-week trip to South America, the passage does not say thatJack’s parents have paid for this.)(c) By gradually making him more financially aware.(The passage does not say so explicitly, but this is the implication about the cut-off point after thetrip when he may be expected to pay rent and contribute to the household bills.)(d) By threatening to throw him out of the house.(No, they haven’t threatened to do this, but they definitely want him to work after he gets back fromhis trip.)5 What does Gael Lindenfield say about Jack’s parents?(a) They have not really understood Jack’s problems.(No, she doesn’t say this; she says they must balance being positive with not making life toocomfortable. This doesn’t mean they haven’t understood Jack’s prob lems.) (b) They have made life too comfortable for Jack.(No, she says they must balance comfort with being positive. This doesn’t necessarily mean that theyhave already made life too comfortable for Jack.)(c) The approach they have chosen is the right one.(She says they have struck exactly the right note.)(d) They need help from a psychologist.(No, she doesn’t say this.)6 What do Whoopi Goldberg, Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt have in common?(a) They all did bar work before going to university.(No, we don’t know from the passage if any of them did this.)(b) They took part in protests against nuclear power plants.(No, we don’t know is any of them did this)(c) They learnt to act by dressing up as giant chickens.(No, only Brad Pitt did this.)(d) They all did temporary jobs at one stage in their lives.(This is right, although they all had completely different temporary jobs.) Dealing with unfamiliar words3 Match the words in the box with their definitions.1 to make progress by moving to the next stage in a series of actions or events (proceed)2 the process of changing from one situation, form or state to another (transition)3 not feeling involved with someone or something in a close or emotional way (detached)4 referring to something which will happen soon (upcoming)5 to be sitting still in a position that is not upright (slump)6 to return to a previous state or way of behaving (revert)7 to say what happened (recount)4 Complete the paragraph with the correct form of the words in Activity 3.It isn’t easy to make the (1) transition from a busy university student to an unemployed young adult(2) slumped on a bar stool or half watching a mindless television show, wondering if and how their careeris going to (3) proceed. Many people who have experienced a long period of inactivity like this, when(4) recounting how they felt at the time, refer to the same strange psychological effect. As the days pass,they begin to feel (5) detached from any sense of pressure to go and look for a job, and tend to regard(6) upcoming interviews as if they were not very important. Typically, back at home after three or fouryears away, they (7) revert to old habits, start seeing old friends, and, in many cases, become dependentagain on their parents.5 Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the words in the box. You may need to makeother changes.1 I went to a mixed-ability secondary school just outside London. (comprehensive)2 I got stopped by a policeman who asked to see my driving licence. (cop)3 Have you seen this beautiful from the air view of Oxford? (aerial)4 Isabel tightly her bag as she walked down the corridor towards the office. (clutched)5 You should speak to Toby; he’s an supporter of flexible working hours. (advocate)6 I hurt my leg b adly a couple of months ago, and it still hasn’t got better completely. (healed)6 Answer the questions about the words.1 Is a dead-end job one with (a) exciting prospects, or (b) no future?2 Is a tricky problem (a) difficult, or (b) easy to solve?3 If an activity saps all your energy, do you feel (a) tired, or (b) more active than usual?4 Does a pushy person try to (a) persuade you to do something you don’t want to, or (b) help you bylistening to what you have to say?5 If you feel apathy, do you want to (a) change the world, or (b) stay at home and do nothing?7 Answer the questions about the phrases.1 Is fork out (a) a formal, or (b) an informal way of saying to pay for something?2 If you are in the same boat as another person, are you (a) making the same journey together, or (b) inthe same difficult or unpleasant situation?3 If you feel you have come full circle, do you (a) feel you are back where you started, or (b) feel a senseof satisfaction because you have completed something?4 If someone takes a soft line, do they deal with a person (a) in a kind and sympathetic way, or (b) in alazy way without making a decision?5 If you strike the right note about something, are you expressing yourself (a) well, or (b) badly?6 If you do something by all means, do you (a) try your best to do it, or (b) not care about it?7 If you nudge someone back into the saddle, are you encouraging them to (a) take responsibility again, or(b) take it easy?8 If you talk through a problem with someone, do you (a) examine it carefully and sensitively, or (b) referto it quickly and then change the subject?Reading and interpreting8 Answer the questions.1 “Will he ever get a job?” Who is asking this question? What mood does it express? The parents are asking this because the paragraph is addressed to parents (earlier it says “your graduateson”). The mood seems to express patience or resignation because the word “ever” suggests that gettinga job will take a long time.2 Who describes Generation Y as “rebels without a cause”? Is it a fair description? This is the writer’s description to indicate that this generation is rebelling against parents or society,but they have nothing particular to rebel against. This doesn’t seem very fair because the students aretrying to find work –it is just that they don’t like their parents nagging them. So they are a bit rebelliousagainst their parents, but no more than that.3 Jack “walked into the university careers service and straight back out again”. What does this suggestabout Jack’s character?It suggests that Jack is not very determined. As soon as he saw the queue he left without waiting andwithout trying to ask about jobs or careers.4 Jack spent the summer “hiding”. Hiding from what? Why are quotation marks used? Probably this means he was hiding from the world of work, staying at home and not looking for a job.The quotation marks tell us that he wasn’t literally hiding, he just spent a lot of time at home.5 How is Mrs Goodwin’s point of view affected by her own personal experience? In one way her experience hasn’t affected her attitude: She left school and went immediately to a job(without going to university) and has been working full-time since then and yet she is sympathetic andtakes a soft line.6 How is Lindenfield’s point of view affected by her own personal experience? Her personal experience was that she worked in a bar before finding her first proper job as an aerialphotographic assistant. So she says such work is a great networking opportunity. If new graduates aregood at such work and bright, cheerful and polite, they will soon be promoted. Her personal experiencethus reflects – or perhaps has created – her point of view.7 What would the first two paragraphs have focused on if they had been presented from the point of viewof the students rather than the parents?The first two paragraphs would have focused on the need for the new graduates to rest for a bit aftertheir hard studies. It is OK for students to relax with the TV or to socialize with friends for a while, thenthey can start a serious search for employment after that.Active reading (2)If you ask meBackground informationThis is an informal and personalized account of an economics graduate who gets a job in a pub for a year andthen has an opportunity to be successful (a lucky break). She works in a London pub called “The Salisbury”or “The Marquis Salisbury”, named after someone who was the British Prime Minister three times between1885 and 1902 and whose family once owned the pub’s land. The 100 year old pub is in Leadenhall Street,just off the Charing Cross Road and Leicester Square. Daytime customers can get a pub lunch and eveningcustomers include many office workers and theatre goers (the pub is near many West End theatres). Theinterior of this pub is dazzling, with large mirrors, cut glass and a mahogany décor. British pubs are often named after famous people (Robin Hood, The Duke of Wellington) or royalty (TheQueen’s Arms, the Prince of Wales) or historical symbols (The Rose and Crown to represent King EdwardIII, The Royal Oak to represent King Charles II who once hid in a large oak tree). Other names often includecolours and animals (The Red Bull, The Black Horse, The Golden Lion, The Swan) or symbols of traditionaltrades (The Compasses for carpenters, The Three Hammers for blacksmiths, The Three Tuns for winemakers).As the pub is a social place to meet as well as a place to get a drink, people often play games like dominoesor darts or join a quiz or competition. A common expressio n is to “go down the pub” or “go round to thelocal” (both meaning to go to the local pub).Culture pointspub in London: A pub is a place where people go for a drink and to meet friends and socialize. People canplay games – such as darts, cards, dominoes – in a pub and pubs often have quiz nights, with prizes for thewinners, and live music (See also Background information)The Salisbury is a well-known pub in central London (See also Background information) London School of Economics is a distinguished university in central London, famous for social sciences.Language points1 If you ask me, real life is not all it‟s cracked up to be. (Para 1)In my opinion (If you ask me introduces an opinion), real life is not everything that people say it is. If athing is cracked up to be, people normally praise it but in the opinion of the speaker they are wrong.2 … spending money when you don‟t have any is dead easy. (Para 7)Dead here means very. For example, we can say dead tired (exhausted), a dead loss (a complete loss oruseless), a dead weight (very heavy, difficult to lift).3 What were the odds on anyone being so nice? (Para 11)What are the chances that someone would be so nice? The writer is emphasizing here that such kindness isvery unusual.4 … looking b ack after all these years, you only need one or two breaks in your life to succeed.(Para 13)A break here means a chance to be successful. A lucky break is an unexpected opportunity.Reading and understanding2 Choose the best answer to the questions.1 What did the writer want to do after finishing her degree?(a) To do an MA at the London School of Economics.(b) To earn some money to pay off her loan.(c) To start working as soon as possible.(d) To return home and help her mother.2 Why did she ask for a job in The Salisbury?(a) She was hungry and thirsty.(b) She thought it would lead to better things.(c) She was a friend of the landlord.(d) She had the idea when she saw the landlord working.3 What did she buy with her first salary?(a) A bunch of flowers.(b) A CD and a plant for the flat she lived in.(c) A ham sandwich and a glass of beer.(d) She didn’t have any money left after paying the bills.4 Why did Tony give her £20,000?(a) He found out it was her birthday and wanted to help.(b) He trusted her and thought it would help her.(c) He wanted her to leave the pub and work for him.(d) He was secretly in love with her.5 What did she do with the money?(a) She used it to pay for her course at the LSE.(b) She lost a lot of it in the 2008 stock market crash.(c) She invested it and paid back Tony and other investors.(d) She used it to start her own business.6 Why was Tony pleased when she repaid the loan?(a) He had had an accident and needed the money for a wheelchair.(b) It meant that he would be able to see her again.(c) It proved that he had been right to invest in her.(d) She paid back the loan with a lot of interest.3 Work in pairs and answer the questions.What do we know about the writer’s:1 family background?Her mother had worke d hard for 15 years to support her education but couldn’t afford any furthersupport. Her father wasn’t around most of the time. He didn’t have any money because he spent it ongambling on dog racing or drinking in pubs.2 career as a student?She had a good degree in economics and wanted to study for a masters course at the London School ofEconomics.3 ambition?She wanted to get a job in finance or investments in London because then she would be able to use herdegree.4 appreciation of other people?She appreciated Mike’s friendliness with customers and his skill, and she appreciated Tony as a niceperson; later she appreciated the trust of Tony and his friends5 love life?We don’t know much about this, except that she doesn’t like boys to hassle her. She thinks they areimmature.6 financial expertise?It must be quite good: She invested the £20,000 and made enough profit to pay the money back withinterest and set up her own company.7 sense of responsibility?She has a strong sense of responsibility because she paid back the money to the investors and paid theman annual interest for the loan.8 philosophy of life?She believes that you should work hard; you may need one or two breaks to succeed but you shouldknow how to use the breaks. You should be honest and responsible with people who trust you.Dealing with unfamiliar words4 Match the words in the box with their definitions.1 funny or entertaining (amusing)2 used for emphasizing that something good has happened, especially because of good luck (fortunately)3 an amount of money that a person, business or country borrows, usually from a bank (loan)4 to take an amount or number from a total (deduct)5 the most exciting, impressive, or interesting part of an event (highlight)6 to show that you u nderstand someone’s problems (sympathize)7 needing a lot of time, ability, and energy (demanding)5 Complete the conversation with the correct form of the words in Activity 4. Teaching tipsWhen Ss have completed the blanks with the correct form of the appropriate words, ask them to practicereading the dialogue, trying to make their reading sound as conversational as possible. Choose a pair toperform their reading to the class. The class listens and gives the performing pair a rating on a scale of 1-10for fluency and naturalness.A After three years at university, I’m now quite heavily in debt.B I (1) sympathize with you, I know what it’s like to have financial problems. But(2) fortunately I didn’tneed to take out a student (3) loan when I was at university, because I had a part-time job.A What did you do?B I worked in a restaurant at weekends.A That must have been very (4) demanding.B Yes, it was. I had to get the right balance between work and study. But the other people who workedthere were good fun to be with, so it was quite (5) amusing too. The (6) highlight of the weekend wasalways Saturday night when we worked overtime.A But I don’t expect you made a lot of money?B No, there wasn’t much after they’d (7) deducted tax and pension contributions. But it was enough tokeep me going.6 Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the words in the box. You may need to makeother changes.1 When I was at college I kept all my personal things in an old cupboard.2 A lot of people who leave university before getting a degree end up in good jobs.3 I think she’ll get a good degree, but I wouldn’t risk my money on the exact result.4 The money I spent at college was more than what I earned in my part-time job.5 The chances of my being offered a job after that interview must be quite remote.6 Our business has done very well since we changed our advertising.7 I think telling the truth and not cheating is always the best policy.Key: (1) belongings (2) dropouts (3) gamble (4) exceeded (5) odds(6) has thrived (7) honesty7 Answer the questions about the words and expressions.1 If something is not all it’s cracked up to be, is it (a) valid and interesting, or (b) just a little bitdisappointing?2 If someone keeps banging on about something, are you likely to be (a) interested in, or (b) bored bywhat they say?3 If there is a lot of hassle in your life, are you likely to feel (a) stressed, or(b) relaxed?4 If something happens out of the blue, is it (a) unexpected, or (b) part of your plan?5 If you say you ended up in a particular job, do you suggest that (a) you have fulfilled your ambition, or(b) it happened almost by chance?6 Are the regulars in a pub (a) the customers who come very often, or (b) the food the pub offers mostoften?7 If something is dead easy, is it (a) very easy, or (b) not easy at all?8 If you treat someone to something, do you (a) buy something nice for them, or (b) behave badly tothem?9 If you cheer a place up, do you (a) make the place look brighter, or (b) make the people in the placehappier?Reading and interpreting8 Look at the sentences from the passage and identify the style features.1 Twelve years at school and three years at university, teachers banging on about opportunities in the bigwide world beyond our sheltered life as students, and what do I find?This shows the informality of an incomplete sentence in the first part, the use of an informal expression(banging on) and a rhetorical question to the reader (What do I find?)2 Try as I might to stay cheerful, all I ever get is hassle, sometimes with people。
American Generations
In America, there are six living generations, which are six fairly distinct groups of people. As a generalization each generation has different likes, dislikes, and attributes. They have had collective experiences as they aged and therefore have similar ideals. A person‟s birth date may not always be indicative of their generational characteristics, but as a common group they have similaritiesGI Generation.▪Born 1901-1926.▪Children of the WWI generation & fighters in WWII & young in the Great Depression…all leading to strong models of teamwork to overcome andprogress.▪Their Depression was The Great One; their war was The Big One; their prosperity was the legendary Happy Days.▪They saved the world and then built a nation.▪They are the assertive and energetic do‟ers.▪Excellent team players.▪Community-minded.▪Strongly interested in personal morality and near-absolute standards of right and wrong.▪Strong sense of personal civic duty, which means they vote.▪Marriage is for life, divorce and having children out of wedlock were not accepted.▪Strong loyalty to jobs, groups, schools, etc.▪There was no “retirement” you worked until your died or couldn‟t work anymore.▪The labor-union-spawning generation.▪“Use it up, fix it up, make it do, or do without.”▪Avoid debt…save and buy with cash.▪Age of radio and air flight; they were the generation that remembers life without airplanes, radio, and TV.▪Most of them grew up without modern conveniences like refrigerators, electricity and air conditioning.▪Sometimes called The Greatest Generation.Mature/Silents.▪Born 1927- 1945.▪Went through their formative years during an era of suffocating conformity, but also during the postwar happiness: Peace! Jobs! Suburbs! Television!Rock …n Roll! Cars! Playboy Magazine!▪Korean and Vietnam War generation.▪The First Hopeful Drumbeats of Civil Rights!▪Pre-feminism women; women stayed home generally to raise children, if they worked it was only certain jobs like teacher, nurse or secretary.▪Men pledged loyalty to the corporation, once you got a job, you generally kept it for life.▪The richest, most free-spending retirees in history.▪Marriage is for life, divorce and having children out of wedlock were not accepted.▪In grade school, the gravest teacher complaints were about passing notes and chewing gum in class.▪They are avid readers, especially newspapers.▪“Retirement” means to sit in a rocking chair and live your final days in peace.▪The Big-Band/Swing music generation.▪Strong sense of trans-generational common values and near-absolute truths.▪Disciplined, self-sacrificing, & cautious.Baby Boomers▪Born between 1946 and 1964. Two sub-sets:▪ 1. the save-the-world revolutionaries of the ‟60s and ‟70s;▪and 2. the party-hardy career climbers (Yuppies) of the ‟70s/‟80s.▪The “me” generation.▪“Rock and roll” music generation.▪Ushered in the free love and societal “non-violent” protests which triggered violence.▪Self righteous & self-centered.▪Buy it now and use credit.▪Too busy for much neighborly involvement yet strong desires to reset or change the common values for the good of all.▪Even though their mothers were generally housewives, responsible for all child rearing, women of this generation began working outside the home in record numbers, thereby changing the entire nation as this was the firstgeneration to have their own children raised in a two-income householdwhere mom was not omnipresent.▪The first TV generation.▪The first divorce generation, where divorce was beginning to be accepted asa tolerable reality.▪Began accepting homosexuals.▪Optimistic, driven, team-oriented.▪Envision technology and innovation as requiring a learning process.▪Tend to be more positive about authority, hierarchal structure and tradition. ▪One of the largest generations in history with 77 million people.▪Their aging will change America almost incomprehensibly; they are the first generation to use the word “retirement” to mean being able to enjoy life after the children have left home. Instead of sitting in a rocking chair, they goskydiving, exercise and take up hobbies, which increases their longevity.▪The American Youth Culture that began with them is now ending with them and their activism is beginning to re-emerge.Generation X.Born between 1965 and 1980*▪The “latch-key kids” grew up street-smart but isolated, often with divorced or career-driven parents. Latch-Key came from the house key kids worearound their neck, because they would go home from school to an emptyhouse.▪Entrepreneurial.▪Very individualistic.▪Government and big business mean little to them.▪Want to save the neighborhood, not the world▪Feel misunderstood by other generations▪Cynical of many major institutions, which failed their parents, or them, during their formative years and are therefore eager to make marriage work and “be there” for their children▪Don‟t “feel” like a generation, but they are▪Raised in the transition phase of written based knowledge to digital knowledge archives; most remember being in school without computers and then after the introduction of computers in middle school or high school▪Desire a chance to learn, explore and make a contribution▪Tend to commit to self rather than an organization or specific career. This generation averages 7 career changes in their lifetime, it was not normal to work for a company for life, unlike previous generations.▪Society and thus individuals are envisioned as disposable.▪AIDS begins to spread and is first lethal infectious disease in the history of any culture on earth which was not subjected to any quarantine.▪Beginning obsession of individual rights prevailing over the common good, especially if it is applicable to any type of minority group.▪Raised by the career and money conscious Boomers amidst the societal disappointment over governmental authority and the Vietnam war.▪School problems were about drugs.▪Late to marry (after cohabitation) and quick to divorce…many single parents.▪Into labels and brand names.▪Want what they want and want it now but struggling to buy, and most are deeply in credit card debt.▪It is has been researched that they may be conversationally shallow because relating consists of shared time watching video movies, instead of previous generations.▪Short on loyalty & wary of commitment; all values are relative…must tolerate all peoples.▪Self-absorbed and suspicious of all organization.▪Survivors as individuals.▪Cautious, skeptical, unimpressed with authority, self-reliant. Generation Y/Millennium.▪Born between 1981* and 2000*.▪Aka “The 9/11 Generation” “Echo Boomers” America‟s ne xt great generation brings a sharp departure from Generation X.▪They are nurtured by omnipresent parents, optimistic, and focused.▪Respect authority.▪Falling crime rates. Falling teen pregnancy rates. But with school safety problems; they have to live with the thought that they could be shot at school, they learned early that the world is not a safe place.▪They schedule everything.▪They feel enormous academic pressure.▪They feel like a generation and have great expectations for themselves.▪Prefer digital literacy as they grew up in a digital environment. Have never known a world without computers! They get all their information and most of their socialization from the Internet.▪Prefer to work in teams.▪With unlimited access to information tend to be assertive with strong views. ▪Envision the world as a 24/7 place; want fast and immediate processing.▪They have been told over and over again that they are special, and they expect the world to treat them that way.▪They do not live to work, they prefer a more relaxed work environment witha lot of hand holding and accolades.Generation Z/Boomlets.▪Born after 2001*▪In 2006 there were a record number of births in the US and 49% of those born were Hispanic, this will change the American melting pot in terms ofbehavior and culture. The number of births in 2006 far outnumbered thestart of the baby boom generation, and they will easily be a largergeneration.▪Since the early 1700‟s the most common last name in the US was …Smith‟ but not anymore, now it is Rodriguez.▪There are two age groups right now:▪(a) Tweens.▪(a1) Age 8-12 years old.▪(a2) There will be an estimated 29 million tweens by 2009.▪(a3) $51 billion is spent by tweens every year with an additional $170 billion spent by their parents and family members directly for them.▪(b)Toddler/Elementary school age.▪61 percent of children 8-17 have televisions in their rooms.▪35 percent have video games.▪14 percent have a DVD player.▪ 4 million will have their own cell phones. They have never known a world without computers and cell phones.▪Have Eco-fatigue: they are actually tired of hearing about the environment and the many ways we have to save it.▪With the advent of computers and web based learning, children leave behind toys at younger and younger age. It‟s called KGOY-kids growingolder younger, and many companies have suffered because of it, mostrecognizable is Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls. In the 1990‟s the average age of a child in their target market was 10 years old, and in 2000 it dropped to 3 years old. As children reach the age of four and five, old enough to play on the computer, they become less interested in toys and begin to desireelectronics such as cell phones and video games.▪They are Savvy consumers and they know what they want and how to get it and they are over saturated with brands.The Beat Generation was a group of American post-World War II writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired. Central elements of "Beat" culture: rejection of received standards, innovations in style, use of illegal drugs, alternative sexualities, an interest in religion, a rejection of materialism, and explicit portrayals of the human condition.[1]Allen Ginsberg's Howl (1956), William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch (1959) and Jack Kerouac's On the Road (1957) are among the best known examples of Beat literature.[2] Both Howl and Naked Lunch were the focus of obscenity trials that ultimately helped to liberalize publishing in the United States.[3][4] The members of the Beat Generation developed a reputation as new bohemian hedonists, who celebrated non-conformity and spontaneous creativity.The original "Beat Generation" writers met in New York. Later, in the mid-1950s, the central figures (with the exception of Burroughs) ended up together in San Francisco where they met and became friends of figures associated with the San Francisco Renaissance.In the 1960s, elements of the expanding Beat movement were incorporated into the hippie and larger counterculture movementsThe "Lost Generation" was the generation that came of age during World War I. The term was popularized by Ernest Hemingway, who used it as one of two contrasting epigraphs for his novel, The Sun Also Rises. In that volume Hemingway credits the phrase to Gertrude Stein, who was then his mentor and patron. This generation included distinguished artists such as F. Scott Fitzgerald,[1]T. S. Eliot, John Dos Passos, Waldo Peirce, Isadora Duncan, Abraham Walkowitz, Alan Seeger, and Erich Maria Remarque.Variously, the term is used for the period from the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression, though in the United States it is used for the generation of young people who came of age during and shortly after World War I, alternatively known as the World War I generation. Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe, wellknown for their generational theory, define the Lost Generation as the cohorts born from 1883 to 1900, who came of age during World War I and the Roaring Twenties.[7]In Europe, they are mostly known as the "Generation of 1914," for the year World War I began.[8]In France, the country in which many expatriates settled, they were sometimes called the Génération au Feu, the "Generation in Flames."In Britain the term was originally used for those who died in the war,[9]and often implicitly referred to upper-class casualties who were perceived to have died disproportionately, robbing the country of a future elite.[10] Many felt "that 'the flower of youth' and the 'best of the nation' had been destroyed," for example such notable casualties as the poets Isaac Rosenberg, Rupert Brooke, Edward Thomas and Wilfred Owen,[11] composer George Butterworth and physicist Henry Moseley.。
向美国人介绍家庭作文英语
When introducing the concept of family in an essay to an American audience,its important to consider the cultural nuances and the diversity of family structures that exist in the United States.Heres how you might approach writing such an essay:1.Definition of Family:Begin by defining what family means in a general sense, acknowledging that the concept of family can vary greatly across cultures and even within the United States.Mention that it can include biological relatives,legal relationships,and chosen family.2.Traditional Family Structure:Describe the traditional family structure,which often consists of two parents and their children.Highlight the roles and responsibilities within this structure,such as the father being the breadwinner and the mother taking care of the home and children,although these roles have evolved significantly over time.3.Modern Family Variations:Discuss the various forms that families can take today, including singleparent families,blended families from previous relationships,samesex couples with children,and cohabiting partners.Emphasize that these variations are becoming increasingly common and accepted.4.Importance of Family:Explain the importance of family in American society,touching on themes such as emotional support,shared values,and the role of family in personal development and identity formation.5.Cultural Diversity:Address the cultural diversity within American families,including the influence of different ethnic backgrounds and traditions that contribute to the unique dynamics within each family.6.Challenges and Strengths:Discuss the challenges that modern families face,such as economic pressures,worklife balance,and societal expectations.Also,highlight the strengths that come from family unity and support systems.7.Legal Aspects:Briefly touch on the legal aspects of family in the United States,such as marriage laws,adoption rights,and custody arrangements,noting the evolution of these laws to be more inclusive.8.Family Values:Talk about the values that are often associated with family life,such as love,respect,loyalty,and mutual support.Discuss how these values are passed down through generations and how they shape individuals.9.Influence on Society:Explain how family dynamics influence broader societal issues,such as education,healthcare,and community engagement.10.Conclusion:Conclude by summarizing the importance of family in American life and the evolving nature of what constitutes a family.Encourage a continued dialogue about the role of family in society and the need for inclusive and supportive policies. Remember to use clear,concise language and provide examples to illustrate your points. Its also beneficial to cite relevant studies or statistics to support your arguments.。
美国文学复习
美国文学复习材料Washington IrvingThe legend of sleepy hollowThe story is set circa 1790 in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town, New York, in a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow. It tells the story of Ichabod Crane, a lean, lanky, and extremely superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut, who competes with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, the town rowdy, for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of a wealthy farmer (Baltus Van Tassel). As Crane leaves a party he attended at the Van Tassel home on an autumn night, he is pursued by the Headless Horseman, who is supposedly the ghost of a Hessian trooper who had his head shot off by a stray cannonball during "some nameless battle" of the American Revolutionary War, and who "rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head". Ichabod mysteriously disappears from town, leaving Katrina to marry Brom Bones, who was "to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related".The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'' takes place in Sleepy Hollow, New York, a snug rural valley near Tarry town in the Catskill Mountains. Constructed from German tales but set in America, it is a classic tale of the conflict between city and country, and between brains and brawn. Ichabod Crane courts Katrina Van Tassel, but is frightened away by his rival, Brom Bones, masquerading as the headless horseman. The story demonstrates the two qualities for which Irving is best known: his humor, and his ability to create vivid descriptive imagery.Irving discovered and helped satisfy the raw new nation's sense of history. His numerous works may be seen as his devoted attempts to build the new nation's soul by recreating history and giving it living, breathing, imaginative life. For subjects, he chose the most dramatic aspects of American history: the discovery of the New World, the first president and national hero, and the westward exploration. His earliest work was a sparkling, satirical History of New York (1809) under the Dutch, ostensibly written by Diedrich Knickerbocker (hence the name of Irving's friends and New York writers of the day, the "Knickerbocker School").Your faithful correspondent has spent a good deal of his earthly allotment meandering (some would say aimlessly) about the Hudson River Valley, to his tastes one of the most beautifully scenic places in the multi-landscaped United States. I only wish, dear readers, that you could see through my eyes the tranquility and the expanse of that winding waterway as the seasons put it through their splendorous and bre athtaking changes. Do you know I‘ve never seen the Mississippi, but perhaps only it, thanks to one Samuel Langhorne Clemens, could take pride of place to the mighty Hudson in my dream life‘s eye. The Hudson is a legendary river, and the villages and towns that have sprung up alongside its banks — places with names such as Croton-on-Hudson, and Dobbs Ferry, and Piermont, and Nyack — have engendered myths and legends of their own that have, in their turn, gone on to stitch themselves quietly into the quilt of the American Imagination.I have over the years been a frequent visitor to those riverbank villages and towns, replete as they are with eccentrics, and old houses, and antiques, and bookshops. I have taken my anonymous ease in their out-of-the-way pubs and taverns, and been made to feel welcome by their local residents, listening to their stories and their music, and, from time to time, their gossip. But they‘re a river people and, time march so resolutely forward as it may, a river people they will remain,perhaps always keeping that little extra something to themselves, to be revealed, if at all, only among themselves alone, and in my absence.The Author and the SettingWashington Irving was born in New York City (well within striking distance of the Hudson River Valley) on April 3, 1783. Perhaps you‘ve heard of the infamous Diedrich Knickerbocker and his bawdy tales of early 19th Century New York. If so, then we‘re talking about the selfsame Mr. Irving, who penned those tales under that pseudonym in the year 1809. He loved the majesty and the mystery of the Hudson River and came to immortalize both in the Halloween classic, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (the official title of which was The Legend of Sleepy Hollow — Found Among the Papers of the Late Diedrich Knickerbocker). Diedrich, or Washington, knew the ways of the river people of that area, and that time, and felt himself compelled to pass along some of their Halloween magic, thanks be to God, to us in the present day, and to future generations in prospe rity. I‘ll let him set the scene….―In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the Eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail, and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market town or rural port, which by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry Town. This name was given, we are told, in former days, by the good housewives of the adjacent country, from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days.‖ Nearby to Tarrytown (its modern spelling), only about two miles, is a little valley that Mr. Irving describes as ―one of the quietest places in the whole world.‖ The name of that little valley is, of course, Sleepy Hollow, the locus of our legend.The StoryShall I provide you with a brief recounting of the principal elements of the story and the principal characters? Yes? (It saddens me to worry that these most important things are drifting slowly, but steadily, into oblivion. Perhaps we can help to put a stop to that trend, you and I.) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is essentially the story of three people: Ichabod Crane, Katrina Van Tassel and Abraham Van Brunt, known popularly as Brom Van Brunt, and, more popularly still, by the nickname ―Brom Bones.‖ Ichabod, as his peerless name would suggest, is the bookish schoolmaster, the super stitious (yet impeccably innocent) student of Cotton Mather‘s History of New England Witchcraft, and the lover of ease and comfort who is, all too predictably, possessed of a ―soft and foolish heart‖ when it comes to creatures of the opposite sex. Katrina, as Mr. Irving describes her, is a ―blooming lass of fresh eighteen, plump as a partridge, ripe and melting and rosy-cheeked as one of her [prosperous] father‘s peaches, and universally famed, not merely for her beauty, but her vast expectations. She was w ithal a little of a coquette….‖ Brom Bones is, well, the way you would expect someone known as Brom Bones to be —―broad-shouldered and double-jointed,‖ ―having a mingled air of fun and arrogance,‖ and ―always ready for either a fight or a frolic,‖ having ―more mischief than ill will in his composition,‖ with ―a strong dash of waggish good humor at bottom.‖And how do these three principal characters interact? It‘s a semi-comic (what James Joyce used to call a ―joco-serious‖) love triangle. Yes, a love tria ngle, yet again! Ichabod loves Katrina, and the ―country squire‖ life she represents; Brom loves Katrina; and Katrina loves … it‘s not, I suppose, entirely clear. It‘s a classic predicament that the author sets up for us: the Beautiful Woman, butfickle, facing the choice of Brains versus Brawn, and in a rural society, no less, that naturally leaned toward Brawn. Against the backdrop of that familiar situation, however, the author sets the chilling and eponymous Legend of Sleepy Hollow, complete with its sinister, anatomically-challenged ghoul. As we all know: ―The dominant spirit … that haunts [that] enchanted region and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air is the apparition of a figure on horseback without a head. It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannon ball, in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War, and who is ever and anon seen by the country folk, hurrying along in the gloom of night, as if on the wings of th e wind.‖ (A nice touch —don‘t you think? —the ―namelessness‖ of the battle.)Legend vs. TextYou can see, no doubt, where this is going. Or can you? I have a sneaking feeling that the populace at large has forgotten what the ―real‖ Legend of Sleepy Hollo w (that is, Washington Irving‘s Legend of Sleepy Hollow) really has to say. Don‘t take my word for it, you‘ll have to satisfy yourself by recourse to the actual text, but I think that the Legend of Sleepy Hollow persists as a much darker ―legend‖ than ―what‘s-really-in-the-book.‖ The legend, in the popular mind, has it that Ichabod was run down by the Headless Horseman — and killed by a well-aimed Jack-o‘-Lantern to the head — on his way home one fateful night from a soiree at Old Man Van Tassel‘s. But is t hat the reality, as Mr. Irving actually tells it? I quote a much-overlooked passage of the author at length: ―It is true an old farmer … brought home the intelligence that Ichabod Crane was still alive; that he had left the neighborhood … partly in mortifi cation at having been suddenly dismissed by the heiress [Katrina]; that he had changed his quarters to a distant part of the country [and become successful]. Brom Bones too, who shortly after his rival‘s disappearance conducted the blooming Katrina to the altar, was observed to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related, and always burst into a hearty laugh at the mention of the pumpkin, which led some to suspect that he knew more about the matter than he chose to tell.‖ You, dear readers, tell me what we are to deduce from such lines.Your faithful correspondent knows what he deduces from them. And it is consistent with his own personal experience of the area and its people — as I said at the beginning, and I believe it still, a river people to the end. There is, at the end of the day, no new thing under the sun, only new ways of describing, of expressing, what we find there. To that end, the great Washington Irving on this our season: ―As Ichabod jogged slowly on his way, his eye, ev er open to every symptom of culinary abundance, ranged with delight over the treasures of jolly autumn. On all sides he beheld vast store of apples, some hanging in oppressive opulence on the trees, some gathered into baskets and barrels for the market, others heaped up in rich piles for the cider press. Farther on he beheld great fields of Indian corn, with its golden ears peeping from their leafy coverts and holding out the promise of cakes and hasty pudding; and the yellow pumpkins lying beneath them, turning up their fair round bellies to the sun, and giving ample prospects of the most luxurious of pies; and anon he passed the fragrant buckwheat fields, breathing the odor of the beehive, and as he beheld them, soft anticipations stole over his mind of dainty slapjacks, well buttered and garnished with honey or treacle, by the delicate little dimpled hand of Katrina Van Tassel.‖Alas, it didn‘t turn out that way for old Ichabod, but perhaps it didn‘t turn out so badly for him either. I suppose that‘s what legends are all about. In any case, do have a Happy Halloween, and God bless!Edgar Allen PoeTo Helen1.In To Helen, the speaker sees pure idealized beauty, both physically and spiritually. He thinksthat she is so beautiful that it is a relief to just be with her and you are calmed by her extraordinary beauty. She has beautiful hair and a classic face, and her inner beauty is also tremendous. The speaker sees Helen as very poised and perfect and ideal. The words that characterize the beauty most clearly are ―gently‖, ―perfumed‖, ―hyacinth hair‖, ―classic face‖, ―statue-like‖, and ―brilliant‖.2.The speaker says that Helen‘s beauty has ―brought me home/ To the glory that was Greece/And the grandeur that was Rome‖ because Poe had opened the poem with the simile ―Helen, thy beauty is to me / Like those Nicean barks of yore‖ and this compares the beauty of Helen, with small sailing boats (barks) that took travelers home in ancient times. He extends this boat imagery into the lines above, when he says Helen brought him home to the shores of these great civilizations, classical Greece and Rome. Helens beauty inspires the speaker and calms him to a great extent. Just her presence is a blessing to him and being with her gives the speaker relief.3.The words or phrases that make the reader believe that Helen may not be an actual person arein stanza two, where the speaker says that she has ―hyacinth hair‖ and a ―classic face‖. This is where the poem begins to describe her immense beauty. Later on in the poem, in stanza three, the speaker compares Helen to Psyche, who in fact wasn‘t a real woman, but from Greek mythology. The poems allusions are in reference to Greek mythology and the classical ages are moderated before posted.Annabel LeeThis poem is simply dedicated to Poe's dead wife, Virginia. Their love for one another allows them to create their own fantasy world, where they live in a castle by the sea. The speaker says that the angels in Heaven envied how blissful the two lovers were and drew them apart by death. This leads to "Annabel Lee's" "high kinsmen", or wealthy relatives, placing her in a tomb by the sea. Here Poe lies next to her, trying to bring back the times when they were together, and reflecting on the moments they shared. My theory is that he might be lying next to Annabel Lee waiting for the tide to come in, and kill him, so he could join her in Heaven with the jealous angels. However, I am not entirely sure of that.Literary techniques include end rhymes, rhyming meter, alliteration, and imagery. The end rhymes have a unique pattern, yet unlike a sonnet's, which is unusual for Poe's writing.Here is the conclusion to my "brief" summary, and I hope it helped and got your minds to work. If you have anything else to add, please add it, so I can reflect on it and have something to chew on. And remember; don't get caught up in the past!The philosophy of compositionMany people have argued that Edgar Allan Poe‘s writing is morally ambiguous. Even Poe suggests that moralisms are not a consideration when he writes. He begins with the effect he intends to impress upon the reader and methodically works out the entire structure of his writing to produce the desired effect. He focuses on the effect and eliminates everything that doesn‘t culminate in the desired effect.Naturally, if one has studied Poe‘s The Philosophy of Composition, it would seem obvious that his writing is simply an exercise in effect and has no consequence. However, to believe that th ere are no moral conclusions in Poe‘s work is to suggest that not only did he live in a moral void but that we too live in a place void of moral considerations. Poe clearly understands the depraved nature of man, a nature that humans use all sorts of civilized conventions to buffer themselves against so that they can forget that they are no better than the serial murderer whose deeds they so avidly read about in the morning paper.We are hopelessly depraved and unable to free ourselves from our own bondage. Yet we rail against and play games with God trying to deny our own futility. Poe reveals to us our frailty in these enclosed incidents. Poe writes in his essay The Philosophy of Composition that ―A close circumscription of space is absolutely necessary to the effect of insulated incident:—it has the force of a frame to a picture.‖ Poe gives us the key to his stories – unlike traditional stories with motive, plot, moral which move us from an original image of the object of the story to a new image of the ob ject of a story (otherwise known as a moral), Poe‘s stories are a photograph. He begins with the obvious details and moves inward to the less obvious details until we find that we have moved behind the photograph into the mind of the subject. Yet we still deal with the same image, it never changes or grows. Yes, there is plot, otherwise we wouldn‘t be drawn inexorably forward for deeper and deeper examination of the horror before us but the plot is not motivated by the need to create a turn point in the story and reader—it is there simply to draw us further into the portrait.His object from beginning to end, it would seem, is to give us an intimate and intricate portrait of depravity or of a lost soul. When discussing composition, Poe uses his poem The Raven as an example of his method. He tells us that his intended effect is beauty with a tone of melancholy. Yet while, theoretically, the poem carries out its mission of beautiful melancholy (as many Goth fans would avidly declare it has), it still unravels s ufficiently to show us man‘s inability to escape from the self-destruction of his own mind. Poe describes the lover as excited to the point of querying the bird in a ―species of despair which delights in self-torture—propounds them not altogether because he believes in the prophetic or demoniac character of the bird...but because he experiences a frenzied pleasure...‖ Beauty and melancholy have flown and the story is that of a person enclosed in the despairing and inescapable wishes of his own mind.At this point, Poe admits to placing before us a teaser. Near the end of the poem, the despairing lover implores the bird to ‗Take thy beak from out my heart.‘ Poe points out that this is the first metaphorical expression in the poem and ―disposes the mind to see k a moral in all that has been previously narrated.‖ Poe says that the Raven is emblematical of the ‗Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance.‘ Perhaps, the effect is more emblematical of the mind enclosed and lost in its own despairing memories – of a mind never able to break through to freedom on its own. We see the photo of a man closeted in his chamber lost in memory and by the end of the poem, we see a man enclosed in a trap that he will never escape on his own.It is clear that intentionally or unintentionally what Poe repeatedly gives us is a series portraits showing depravity and despair in various forms. Perhaps these portraits are a mirror in which he subconsciously hopes that society will look into and in one of the portraits recognize itself for what it is—depraved and hopeless. Perhaps, once society has viewed itself in Poe‘s mirror we will understand that we cannot hide our own lost souls not even behind walls or doors.Ralph Waldo EmersonNatureEmerson's philosophy has been called contradictory, and it is true that he consciously avoided building a logical intellectual system because such a rational system would have negated his Romantic belief in intuition and flexibility. In his essay "Self-Reliance," Emerson remarks: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Yet he is remarkably consistent in his call for the birth of American individualism inspired by nature. Most of his major ideas -- the need for a new national vision, the use of personal experience, the notion of the cosmic Over-Soul, and the doctrine of compensation -- are suggested in his first publication, NatureThe RhodoraPoem SummaryIn the heading, "Whence" does not mean when, but from what place, or from what origin or source. Thus, the heading of the poem implies that someone asked the speaker where the flower came from. Which might be another way of asking, what is so special or important about this ordinary flowering shrub?Lines 1 – 4The speaker begins by noting the season and the general weather. It is May, when flowers are just beginning to bloom; an off-shore breeze has inspired him (and, noting the plural use of "solitudes," possibly a companion) to take a walk. He then describes coming upon the rhodora and its immediate surroundings, which seem to indicate that the plant is alone in an otherwise none too thrilling spot: it is a damp nook or corner; the brook is not babbling happily, but sluggishly. He even uses the word "desert," which seems oddly misplaced for this part of the world, especially given the description of the nook. However, the New England spring comes notoriously late, following several months of very muddy conditions, so perhaps it is the desert of mud — with no other blooms in sight — that Emerson is referring to. As line 3 reveals, the rhodora is a shrub that blooms before its leaves appear, meaning that the petals stand out in stark relief.Lines 5 – 6With the alliterative "P's" in line 5, Emerson uses the most musical line in the poem to describe the flower itself. Notice, though, that the petals have fallen into a pool of black water, which might mean that it is really more of a stagnant puddle, an image that is consistent with the sluggish brook of line 4. Perhaps the speaker was particularly struck by the purple blooms because they were in such an otherwise unattractive water, just as the water brought a special beauty to the otherwise simple petals.Lines 7 – 8Emerson continues to add colors, as "red-bird" joins the purple petals and black water. The bird's plumes will be outdone, says the speaker, by the flower's color. He also uses the word "court," which hints at the fertility of spring.Lines 9 – 10As the second half of the poem starts, the speaker shifts and addresses the flower, rather than the companion whose question inspired the poem. He even uses an exclamation point to add a celebratory verve to the line. The rest of this couplet, and the two lines that follow, have an implication of Emerson's impatience with those who would elevate Man above Nature. Readers might even hear a certain sarcasm for the so-called sages who fail to appreciate the flower's charmor beauty, as well as the majesty of the earth and sky.Lines 11 – 12The use of the affectionate term "dear" personalizes the flower even more. The speaker also cleverly plays off those who would ask, and have asked, "what's the purpose of this flower?" by pointedly remarking that the purpose of one's eyes is to appreciate beauty for its own sake, without asking the flower to justify its existence.Lines 13 – 14Continuing the thought of the previous lines, the speaker declares that it never even occurred to him to ask the simple rhodora what purpose it served. Furthermore, he considers it the rival of the rose, the most poetically celebrated flower of all.Lines 15 – 16The "simple ignorance" is probably written with a dash of irony since the rest of the poem seems to argue that the speaker's view is more knowledgeable, or at least more encompassing and tolerant, than that of those who question the flower's purpose. The last line openly suggests that since the rhodora was made by God as surely and as expertly as He made Man, the flower — and by extension all living things — should be granted a deserved respect and honor. The flower might just as easily have asked, and have a God-given right to ask, whence is this man? For Emerson, the answer to both questions might be that man and flower both came from the self-same Power — the Creator — and that power brought each of them to this meeting as equals.To better understand this final point, it is helpful to consider what Emerson said of himself as a poet, in an 1862 entry in his journal: "I am a bard because I stand near them [flowers, rocks, trees, etc.], and apprehend all they utter, and with pure joy hear that which I also would say." In other words, Emerson and nature not only speak the same language, but they speak for each other.This poem reflects Emerson's deep appreciation for nature and the beauty that he constantly found in it. He prefers the wild and natural rhodora to the pruned, indoor, and tamed rose.There is a great emphasis on color and imagery in this poem as well.According to the statement that prefaces this poem, the poem attempts to explain what is special about this ordinary plant. In the heading, ?whence? doesn?t necessarily mean when, but from where, or from what origin. Therefore, the heading of the poem implies that someone asked the speaker where the flower came from. This is another way of asking what is so special about this ordinary shrub.Nathaniel HawthorneYoung Goodman BrownWhat created Goodman Brown? A man so tormented by what even he considered to be a dream that it changed his life in a profound negative way forever. Goodman Brown was man plagued by his own conscious; he was someone who believed himself to have committed grave sin by meeting with the devil and participating in a witches meeting in his dreams. This spoke of an era where people were overcome with religious guilt and superstition. As a result of Brown's dream he suspected everyone in the town of being cohorts with the devil, in addition his superstition and questioning of his own self overcame his ability to trust or believe in anyone else. He died a bitter, unhappy, miserable man.In order to fully understand the character of Young Goodman Brown we must firstunderstand the era he comes from. Although Hawthorne does not state directly whether or not the plot of this story takes place in Salem in the seventeenth century, his references to other characters clearly imply it does. His references to Martha Carrier, Martha Cory, and Sarah Cloyse, all women hanged as witches in 1692; as well as his reference to King William who ruled England from 1650-1702 tell of this horrid time where people killed, tortured, burned, executed and suspected that everyone from their sister to there neighbor might be in contact with the devil. As a result of this environment of suspicion and paranoia Goodman might have felt as though his dream was in reality a lack of faith on his part. He may have felt so guilty for experiencing this dream that he thought he, as well as the people in his life were guilty of coercing with the devil.Goodman Brown might have been Hawthorne's expression of his own struggles with his faith in humanity and himself. Hawthorne was a guilt ridden person and I believe that he had many instances when his faith was tested. Brown is Hawthorne to a lesser extent. Goodman Brown starts out as a good, happy, decent man; he seems very content. All of this changes when he decides against the advice of his wife faith (the symbolism is obvious here) that he should go out on a journey into the woods to meet with the devil. I believe path in the woods to be his continued decent into metaphorical as well as literal darkness. As he continues down the woods he reaches the pinnacle of his journey when he comes upon the witches meeting. Once Brown reaches this point he loses his faith despite his last ditch effort to save his wife. He never knows if he was able to save her. This doubt is what destroyed him.Brown's motivation for meeting with the devil is never made absolutely clear and can only be speculated by the devil's references to others that have come into his fold. He speaks of the King, Goodman's father and grandfather, the deacon, minister and mayor. The devil makes it appear that everyone with any power, success or for that matter anyone that means anything to Goodman is in fact allied with Satan. Although Goodman resists the devils temptations at first; as more and more people are brought to his attention as being followers of the dark one, the idea becomes more acceptable. I believe Brown's motivation to meet with the devil was power; he wanted an advantage over others to achieve his goals. This may have contributed to his last ditch effort to save faith when he shouted "Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One". When he arrived at the witches meeting he discovered that everyone already had the advantage of being on the wicked side and had already sold there souls for money, power, or prestige. He was able to see that nothing would put him ahead of anyone else by following through with his original task. He had nothing to win and everything to lose by making an alliance with the devil. Unfortunately for Young Goodman Brown it was too late for his soul to be saved. He reached the point of no return and not only didn't he reap any benefit from his ordeal but lost every bit of happiness he previously possessed.Goodman Brown was a man destroyed by his own obsession. He lived a miserable life as a result of the guilt he felt for embarking on a dark journey in his dreams; which resulted in his suspicion of everyone and a lack of trust for individuals in his community, himself and humanity. The only way Goodman Brown would have been able to save his faith would have been to never embark on the dark path.The Scarlet LetterPublic Guilt vs. Private Guilt:Perhaps the foremost purpose of The Scarlet Letter is to illustrate the difference between shaming someone in public and allowing him or her to suffer the。
新标准大学英语三8篇汉译英段落翻译
1、美国国家教育统计中心的数据表明，大约80%的美国大学生至少要换一次专业。
有些学生上大学时就读父母或亲戚为他们选择的专业。
在大多数情况下，这些学生难以作出决定，因为他们不知道在决定变换被规划好的职业的时候该如何面对自己的亲人。
有些学生决定转专业是因为他们无法应付所学专业的基础课，而另一些学生则是因为他们实在厌恶所学的专业，必须换一个自己真正喜欢的专业。
专家认为，意识到所学专业不适合自己的技能和天赋没什么错。
实际上，能意识到这一点是成熟的标志。
重要的是找到一个真正适合你的专业。
在转专业之前，你需要见学业导师，跟教授或专业人员谈谈，做一些调查，问几个严肃的问题，看看你的选择是否正确。
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 80 percent of students in the United States end up changing their major at least once.Some students start college with a major their parents or relatives picked for them. In most cases, these students struggle to make a decision, because they don’t know how to confront their loved ones about a change in their intended career.Some students decide to change majors because they are struggling in basic courses for their intended major, while some others have come to so detest their major that they find it necessary to switch to another that they really love.Experts believe that there is nothing wrong with realizing that your major doesn’t suit your skills and talents.In fact, the ability to make such a realization is a sign of maturity. The trick is to find a major that does suit you better.Before making the switch, you need to meet with an academic advisor, research your choice by talking to professors or professionals, and ask yourself serious questions about whether it is the right choice for you.2、中国有一句古话：叫“人贵有自知之明”。
2020年9月英语六级真题及参考答案完整版
2020年9月英语六级真题及参考答案【完整版】四六级试卷采用多题多卷形式，大家核对答案时，请找具体选项内容，忽略套数。
无忧考网搜集整理了各个版本(有文字也有图片)，仅供大家参考。
【网络综合版】听力：Section ALong Conversation OneM: You are a professor of Physics at the University of Oxford. You are a senior advisor at the European Organization for Nuclear Research. You also seem to tour the global tirelessly, giving talks. And in addition, you have your own weekly TV show On Science. Where do you get the energy?W: Oh, well. 【Q1】I just love what I do. I am extremely fortunate to have this life, doing what I love doing.M: Professor, what exactly is your goal? Why do you do all of these?W: well, as you said, I do have different things going on. But these I think can be divided into 【Q2】two groups: the education of science, and the further understanding of science.M: Don't these two things get in the way of each other? What I mean is, doesn't giving lectures take time away from the lab?W: Not really, no. I love teaching, and I don’t mind spending more time doing that now than in the past. Also, what I will say is, that 【Q3】teaching a subject helps me comprehend it better myself. I find that it furthers my own knowledge when I have to explain something clearly, when I have to aid others understanding it, and when I have to answer questions about it. Teaching at a high level can be very stimulating for anyone, no matter how much expertise they may already have in the field they are instructing.M: Are there any scientific breakthroughs that you see on the near horizon? A significant discovery or invention we can expect soon.W: 【Q4】The world is always conducting science. And there're constantly new things being discovered. In fact, right now, we have too much data sitting in computers.For example, we have thousands of photos of planet Mars taken by telescopes that nobody has ever seen. We have them, yet nobody has had time to look at them with their own eyes, let alone analyze them.Q1: Why does the woman say she can be so energetic?Q2: What has the woman been engaged in?Q3: What does the woman say about the benefit teaching brings to her?Q4: How does the woman say new scientific breakthroughs can be made possible?Section AConversation 2M: Do you think dreams 【Q5】have special meanings?W: No. I don't think they do.M: I don't either, but some people do. I would say people who believe that dreams have special meanings are superstitious, especially nowadays. In the past, during the times of ancient Egypt, Greece or China, people used to believe that dreams could foresee the future. But today, with all the scientific knowledge that we have, I think it's much harder to believe in these sorts of things.W: My grandmother is superstitious, and she thinks dreams can predict the future. Once, 【Q6】she dreamed that the flight she was due to take the following day crashed.Can you guess what she did? She didn't take that flight. She didn't even bother to go to the airport the following day. Instead, she took the same flight but a week later. And everything was fine of course. No plane ever crashed.M: How funny! Did you know that flying is actually safer than any other mode of transport? It's been statistically proven. People can be so irrational sometimes.W: Yes, absolutely. But, even if we think they are ridiculous, 【Q7】emotions can be just as powerful as rational thinking.M: Exactly. People do all sorts of crazy things because of their irrational feelings. But in fact, some psychologists believe that our dreams are the result of our emotions and memories from that day. I think it was Sigmund Freud who said that children's dreams were usually simple representations of their wishes, thingsthey wished would happen. 【Q8】But in adults', dreams are much more complicated reflections of their more sophisticated sentiments.W: Isn't it interesting how psychologists try to understand using the scientific method something as bazaar as dreams? Psychology is like the rational study of irrational feelings.Q5: What do both speakers think of dreams?Q6: Why didn't the woman's grandmother take her scheduled flight?Q7: What does the woman say about people's emotions?Q8: What did psychologist Sigmund Freud say about adults' dreams?Section BPassage 1While some scientists explore the surface of the Antarctic, others are learning more about a giant body of water -- four kilometers beneath the ice pack. Scientists first discovered Lake Vostok in the 1970s by using radio waves that penetrate the ice. Since then, they have used sound waves and even satellites to map this massive body of water. How does the water in Lake Vostok remained liquid beneath an ice sheet? “The thick glacier above acts like insulating blanket and keeps the water from freezing,” said Martin Siegert, a glaciologist from the university of Wales. In addition, geothermal heat from the deep within the earth may warm the hidden lake.The scientists suspect that microorganisms may be living in Lake Vostok, closed or more than two million years. Anything found that off from the outside world f s on the surface of the earth, said Siegert. Scientists ’will be totally alien to what are trying to find a way to drill into the ice and draw water samples without causing ht be the solution. If all goes as planned, a contamination. Again, robots mig shift robot will melt through the surface ice. When it reaches the lake, it -drill will release another robot that can swim in the lake, take pictures and look for ries will shed light on life in outer signs of life. The scientists hope that discove up -space, which might exist in similar dark and airless conditions. Recently closed s moon, Europa, shows signs of water beneath the icy surface. ’pictures of Jupiter ropa to search for life there, Once tested the Antarctic, robots could be set to Eu too.Q9: What did the scientists first use to discover Lake Vostok in the 1970s? Q10: What did scientists think about Lake Vostok?Q11: What do the scientists hope their discoveries will do?Section BPassage 2The idea to study the American Indian tribe – Tarahumaras, came to James Copeland in 1984 when 【Q12】he discovered that very little research had been done on their language. He contacted the tribe member through a social worker who workedwith the tribes in Mexico. At first, the tribe member named Gonzalez was very reluctant to cooperate. He told Copeland that no amount of money could buy his language. But after Copeland explained to him what he intended to do with his research and how it would benefit the Tarahumaras, Gonzalez agreed to help. 【Q13】He took Copeland to his village and served as an intermediary. Copeland says, thanks to him, the Tarahumaras understood what their mission was and started trusting us. 【Q14】Entering the world of Tarahumaras has been a laborious project for Copeland.To reach their homeland, he must strive two and half days from Huston Taxes. He loads up his vehicle with goods that the tribe’s men can’t easily get and gives the goods to them as a gesture of friendship. The Tarahumaras, who don’t believe any humiliating wealth, take the food and share among themselves. For Copeland, the experience has not only been academically satisfying but also has enriched his life in several ways. 【Q15】“I see people rejecting technology and living a very hard, traditional life, which offers me another notion about the meaning of progress in the western tradition,” he says, “I experienced the simplicity of living in nature that I would otherwise only be able to read about.I see a lot of beauty and their sense of sharing and concern for each other.”Q12: Why did James Copeland want to study the American Indian tribe -- Tarahumaras?Q13: How did Gonzalez help James Copeland?Q14: What does the speaker say about James Copeland’s trip to the Tarahumaras village?Q15: What impresses James Copeland about the Tarahumaras tribe?Section CRecording 1What is a radical? It seems today that people are terrified of the term,minority, who are mostly wealthy white males in western society.Feminism is a perfect example of this phenomenon. The women's movement has been plagued by stereotypes, misrepresentations by the media, and accusations of man-hating and radicalism. When the basic foundation of feminism is simply that women deserve equal rights in all facets of life. When faced with the threat of being labelled radical, women back down from their worthy calls and consequently, participate in their own oppression.It has gotten to the point that many women are afraid to call themselves feminists because of a stigma attached to the word. If people refused to be controlled, and intimidated by stigmas, the stigmas lose all their power, without fear on which they feed, such stigmas can only die.To me, 【Q17】a radical is simply someone who rebels against the norm when advocates a change in the existing state of affairs. On close inspection, it becomes clear that the norm is constantly involving, and therefore, is not a constant entity. So why then, is deviation from the present situation such a threat, when the state of affairs itself is unstable and subject to relentless transformation?It all goes back to maintaining the power of those who have it and preventing the right of those who don't. In fact, when we look at the word "radical" in a historical context, nearly every figure we now hold up as a hero was considered a radical in his or her time. Radicals are people who affect change. They are the people about whom history is written. Abolitionists were radicals, civil rights activists were radicals, 【Q18】 even the founders of our country in their fight to win independence from England were radicals. Their presence in history has changed the way our society functions, mainly by shifting the balance of power that previously existed. Of course, there are some radicals who've made a negative impact on humanity, 【Q18】 but undeniably, there would simply be no progress without radicals. That been said, next time someone calls me a radical, I would accept that label with pride.Q16: What usually happens when people are accused of being radical?Q17: What is the speaker's definition of a radical?Q18: What does the speaker think of most radicals in the American history?Recording 2We are very susceptible to the influence of the people around us. For instance, you may have known somebody who has gone overseas for a year or so and has returned with an accent perhaps. We become part of our immediate environment. None of us are immune to the influences of our own world and let us not kid ourselves that we are untouched by the things and people in our life.Fred goes off to his new job at a factory. Fred takes his ten-minute coffee break, but the other workers take half an hour. Fred says, “What’s the matter with you guys?” Two weeks later, Fred is taking twenty-minute breaks. A month later, Fred takes his half hour. Fred is saying “If you can’t be them, join them. Why should I work any harder than the next guy?” The fascinating thing about being human is that generally we are unaware that there are changes taking place in our mentality. It is like returning to the city smog after some weeks in the fresh air. Only then do we realize that we’ve become accustomed to the nasty smells. Mix with critical people and we learn to criticize. Mix with happy people, and we learn about happiness. What this means is that we need to decide what we want from life and then choose our company accordingly. You may well say, "That is going to take some effort. It may not be comfortable. I may offend some of my present company." Right, but it is your life. Fred may say, "I’m always broke, frequently depressed. I’m going nowhereand I never do anything exciting." Then we discover that Fred’s best friends are always broke, frequently depressed, going nowhere and wishing that life was more exciting. This is not coincidence, nor is it our business to stand in judgement of Fred? However, if Fred ever wants to improve his quality of life, the first thing he'll need to do is recognize what has been going on all these years.It’s no surprise that doctors as a profession suffer a lot of ill health, because they spend their life around sick people. Psychiatrists have a higher incidence of suicide in their profession for related reasons. Traditionally, nine out of ten children whose parents smoke, smoke themselves. Obesity is in part an environmental problem. Successful people have successful friends, and so the story goes on.Q19 What does the speaker say about us as human beings?Q20 What does the speaker say Fred should do first to improve his quality of life?Q21 What does the speaker say about the psychiatrists?Section CLecture 3Virtually every American can recognize a dollar bill at a mere glance. Many can identify it by its sound or texture. But 【Q22】few people indeed can accurately describe the world's most powerful, important currency.The American dollar bill is colored with black ink on one side and green on the other;【Q23】 the exact composition of the paper and ink is a closely guarded government secret. Despite its weighty importance, the dollar bill actually weighs little. It requires nearly 500 bills to tip the scales at a pound. Not only is the dollar bill lightweight, but it also has a brief life span. Few dollar bills survive longer than 18 months.The word "dollar" is taken from the German word "taler," the name for the world's most important currency in the 16th century. The taler was a silver coin first minted in 1518 under the reign of Charles V, Emperor of Germany.The concept of paper money is a relatively recent innovation in the history of American currency. When the Constitution was signed, people had little regard for paper money because of its steadily decreasing value during the colonial era.【Q24】Because of this lack of faith, the new American government minted only coins for common currency. Interest-bearing bank notes were issued at the same time, but their purpose was limited to providing money for urgent government crises, such as American involvement in the War of 1812.The first noninterest-bearing paper currency was authorized by Congress in 1862, at the height of the Civil War. At this point, citizens' old fears of devalued paper currency had calmed, and the dollar bill was born. The new green colored paper money quickly earned the nickname "greenback."Today, the American dollar bill is a product of the Federal Reserve and is issued from the twelve Federal Reserve banks around the United States. The government keeps a steady supply of approximately two billion bills in circulation at all times.Controversy continues to surround the true value of the dollar bill.【Q25】American history has seen generations of politicians argue in favor of a gold standard for American currency. However, for the present, the American dollar bill holds the value that is printed on it, and little more. The only other guarantee on the bill is a Federal Reserve pledge of as a confirmation in the form of government securities.Q22: What does the speaker say about the American dollar bill?Q23: What does the speaker say about the exact composition of the American dollar bill?Q24: Why did the new American government mint only coins for common currency?Q25: What have generations of American politicians argued for?参考答案1.A)She can devote all her life to pursing her passion.2.D)Science education and scientific research.3.A)A better understanding of a subject.4.B)By making full use of the existing data.5. B) They have no special meanings.6. C) She dreamed of a plane crash.7. D) They can have an impact as great as rational thinking8. C) They reflect their complicated emotions.9. A) Radio waves.10. B)It may have micro—organisms living in it.11. D)Shed light on possible life in outer space.12. A)He found there had been little research on their anguage.13. D)He acted as an intermediary between Copel and the villagers.14. C)Laborious15. B)Their sense of sharing and caring.16 .A)They tend to be silenced into submission.17. D)One who rebels against the existing social orser.18. C)They served as a driving force for progress.19. B)It is impossible for us to be immune from outside influence.20. D) Recognize the negative impact of his coworkers.21. A) They are quite susceptible to suicide.22. B) Few people can describe it precisely.23. C) It is a well—protected government secret.24. A) People had little faith in paper money.25. C) It is awell—protected government secret.翻译：《水浒传》(Water Margin)是中国文学四大经典小说之一。
2014年6月英语六级真题及答案
2014年6月英语六级真题及答案全面的！请好评哦！PartI Writing ( 30minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay explaining why it is unwise to put all your eggs in one basket. You can give examples to illustrate your point .You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay explaining why it is unwise a person by their appearance. You can give examples to illustrate your point .You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay explaining why it is unwise to jump to conclusions upon seeing or hearing something. You can give examples to illustrate your point .You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)Section A Directions:In this section,you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations.At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said.Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once.After each question there will be a pause.During the pause,you must read the four choices marked A),B),C)and D),and decide which is the best answer.Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet1 with a single line through the centre.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
generations z is different阅读理解
A．Employees.
B．Students.
C．Graduates.
D．Shareholders.
2. Why do Gen-Z employees prefer work remotely?
That in turn has accelerated a pre-existing trend of young employees trading Wall Street for Silicon Valley. Now technology bosses are more willing than their opposite numbers in finance to let employees work from home (or anywhere else). Annual rankings of employer desirability by Universum, a graduate-staffing consultancy, bear this out. In 2008 the list of best employers graded by American graduates was dominated by big banks and the Big Four consulting firms. By 2021 seven of the ten highest spots were occupied by tech and media giants.
Generation Z is different. As a whole, Americans born between the late 1990s and early 2000s are less likely to have work or look for it: their labour- force-participation rate is 71%, compared with 75% for millennials (born between 1980 and the late 1990s) and 78% for Generation X (born in the decade or so to 1980) when each came of age. As a result, they make up a smaller share of the workforce. With graduation ceremonies behind them, the latest group ofdiploma-holdersare entering the job market. What they want from employers is also not quite the same as in generations past.
2022北京高三二模英语汇编：阅读理解C篇
2022北京高三二模英语汇编阅读理解C篇一、阅读理解（2022·北京东城·二模）We’ve all felt the tap to the soul you get from driving by your old high school or hearing a tune you once danced to. But why is that feeling so universal?Nostalgia, a combination of the Greek words nostos (homecoming) and algos (pain), was a special type of homesickness associated with soldiers fighting far-off wars. Seventeenth century physicians worried such thoughts put health at risk. In the 19th century, doctors believed it could cause irregular heartbeat, fever, and death.Our understanding of nostalgia has developed since then. “It’s a very mixed emotion,” says Frederick Barrett, a neuroscientist. That makes it hard to fit into existing theory, which typically categorizes emotions as either positive or negative. And triggers — the cars, music or smells — are extremely personal. Therefore, designing a standardized study is difficult.But we do know nostalgia has a marked effect on us: brain imaging studies show that those experiences have their own neural signature. Neuroscientists argued that the emotion is co-produced by the brain’s recall and reward systems. They found that nostalgic images use the memory-managing hippocampus (海马区) more than other sights, as people mine autobiographical (个人经历的) details deep in the past. This mental effort pays off:as the hippocampus activates, so does one of the brain’s reward centers.That longing for the past might be a protective mechanism, says Tim Wildschut, a professor. His work also suggests a more primitive purpose for the feeling: it developed to remind our ancient ancestors of pleasant physical feelings during periods of discomfort and pain.Recent research suggests the occasional look backwards can give us a boost in unnoticeable ways: by increasing self-respect and protecting against depression. Nostalgia’s apparent power to jump-start one’s memory also seems to improve recall ability in people with Alzheimer’s disease.New flavors of “reminiscence therapy” (回忆疗法) are emerging around the world. In 2018, the George G. Glenner Alzheimer’s Family Centers opened its first Town Square, an adult daycare facility designed to look like a small town in 1950s America. Though Town Square has yet to publish peer-reviewed data on the success of the program, clients say it has helped seniors access dusty memories and reconnect with loved ones.Scientists need a lot more information to adequately characterize this complex and bittersweet feeling. But while centuries of doctors considered nostalgia a deadly disease, we now know: it can help us make it through today.1．What can we learn about nostalgia?A．It was first discovered in Greece.B．It’s more common among soldiers.C．It’s set off by personal experiences.D．It was a well-defined scientific idea.2．What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?A．How nostalgia works.B．Why nostalgia matters.C．What nostalgia means.D．When nostalgia emerges.3．How might nostalgia benefit people?A．It makes people’s mind sharp.B．It gives seniors a sense of security.C．It helps us face unpleasant situations.D．It improves people’s instant memory.4．Why does the author mention Town Square?A．To reveal a phenomenon of emotion.B．To interpret the concept of a therapy.C．To explore the advantage of a treatment.D．To demonstrate the use of a research finding.（2022·北京十四中二模）Music is a powerful thing. It awakens feelings and has the power to bring people together. But today, artists are not known for their music, but for how flashy their clothing is and how many times their wealthy relatives can get them out of jail(监狱). And thus, their music is lost.Pop and rap music has developed into a shallow, image-addicted industry that lines up with what the public wants to hear and see, removing the focus on the actual music. Mainstream music is no longer composed of emotion, but instead, themes of money and fame. Photos and rumors fly while the music is ignored.Not all musical groups or individual artists begin like this. Many of these artists are original and talented, but turn to the money side. Often their songs are written by experts who know what is appealing to a certain age group, and the musicians’ faces can be seen on countless magazine covers. Soon their supposedly new and improved songs can be heard blasting out of car windows. But these songs are totally empty, lacking creativity and the original thirst of the artist to make an impact or convey(传递) a message.MTV is not helping. It plays only what the public wants to hear. And unfortunately, the majority seems interested in either sickly sweet, generic pop or stereotypical(刻板的), bleeped-out rap. Kids and teens everywhere are swimming in these songs, which are often degrading to women and minorities, and inappropriate.Almost all the girls in my dorm are addicted to the same songs. This was the case the previous year, and the year before that. Whenever I try to play music I enjoy, or introduce them to some decent songs, they say that everyone except me likes their music.Why do most teenagers only listen to pop and rap music when so many other types exist? Maybe it’s because everywhere we look, we are bombarded with the same music: on the radio, on TV, on the computer. At school, pop and rap are discussed all the time. Perhaps they have never listened to anything else. Or maybe peer pressure is part of it.There is no solution to the “pop problem”. It’s called popular for a reason—many people enjoy it. There’s no easy way to change their views. My suggestion is not to buy music like this when you can explore something new. Expand your horizons. Dig up your parents’ old records and CDs. You never know what you might find.5．The author probably prefers ______.A．new pop songs meant for girls B．original songs with deep meaningC．catchy songs produced by popular singers D．never-heard-before songs just recently discovered6．What can we learn from the passage?A．Many artists trade creativity for wealth and fame.B．The public is responsible for the existence of music.C．MTV promotes the songs favored by women and minorities.D．Musicians singing about money is an ineffective way to attract fans.7．What is most probably the author’s suggestion for young people?A．Try to respect your peers’ music tastes.B．Deal with the “pop problem” patiently.C．Expose yourself to various music styles.D．Treasure the music from previous generations.（2022·北京朝阳·二模）Millions of migratory(迁徙的)birds occupy seasonally favorable breeding(繁殖)grounds in the Arctic, but scientists know little about the formation, maintenance and future of the migration routes of Arctic birds and the genetic determinants of migratory distance. In a new study, a multinational team of researchers under the leadership of Dr. ZHAN Xiangjiang from the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences integrated two state-of-the-art techniques-satellite tracking and whole genome sequencing(基因排序)-and established a continental-scale migration system of peregrine falcons in Eurasian Arctic.The researchers tracked 56 peregrine falcons from six Eurasian Arctic breeding populations and sequenced 35 genomes from four of these populations to study the migration of this species. They found that the birds used five migration routes across Eurasia, probably established between the last Ice Age 22, 000 years ago and the middle-Holocene 6, 000 years ago. “Peregrine falcons initiated their autumn migration mainly in September, and arrived at their wintering areas mainly in October, " said Professor Mike Bruford, an ecologist at Cardiff University. “Peregrine falcons that depart from different breeding grounds use different routes, and winter at widely distributed sites across four distinct regions. Individual birds that were tracked for more than one year exhibited strong path repeatability during migration, complete loyalty to wintering locations and limited breeding dispersal(扩散). ”The researchers quantified the migration strategies and found that migration distance is the most significant differentiation. They used whole genome sequencing and found a gene-ADCY8, which is known to be involved in long-term memory in other animals in previous research- associated with differences in migratory distance. They found ADCY8 had a variant at high frequency in long-distance migrant populations of peregrine falcons, indicating this variant is being favorably selected because it may increase powers of long-term memory thought to be essential for long-distance migration.“Previous studies have identified several candidate genomic regions that may regulate migration-but our workis the strongest demonstration of a specific gene associated with migratory behavior yet identified, ”Professor Bruford said. The researchers further looked at models of likely future migration behavior to predict the impact of global warming. If the climate warms at the same rate as it has in recent decades, they predict peregrine populations in western Eurasia have the highest probability of population decline and may stop migrating altogether.“Our work is the first to begin to understand the way ecological factors may interact in migratory birds, ” said Dr. ZHAN Xiangjiang. “We hope it will serve as a cornerstone to help conserve migratory species in the world. ”8．What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?A．Five birds’ historical migration routes were rebuilt.B．Peregrine falcons stick to the areas where they winter.C．Two novel research methods of migration were invented.D．Peregrine falcons leave for Arctic regions in September.9．What can we infer about ADCY8?A．It is a newly-discovered gene in the new study.B．It serves as a fundamental part of long-distance migration.C．It could be strengthened by the power of long-term memory.D．It turned out to be more favored by birds than the other animals.10．What is special about the new study?A．It has discovered a new genomic region of birds.B．It has predicted the rate at which the climate warms.C．It analyses the reasons for the decrease of peregrine falcons.D．It encourages attention to environmental effects on migratory birds.11．Which would be the best title for this passage?A．Researchers Help Conserve Migratory SpeciesB．Biologists Find Evidence of Migration Gene in BirdsC．How Long-term Memory Helps Long-distance MigrationD．How Ecological Factors Affect Birds’ Migratory Distances（2022·北京丰台·二模）It shouldn’t come as news to anyone that the planet is moving quickly towards a climate emergency. And fast fashion certainly plays its part in this.Fast fashion brands, which release hundreds of new styles every week, have caused trends cycles to speed up rapidly, leading to overproduction and overconsumption. British shoppers are buying twice as much as we did a decade ago and both brands and consumers are throwing away “unfashionable” clothing more often—over £300,000 of it ends up in landfill every year. How do we solve this issue?One answer lies in the new generation of made-to-order brands making their way into the mainstream. These brands make clothes only as and when they’re ordered, and because there’s no overproduction, less unwanted stock ends up in landfills. They also promote a slower fashion model, with pieces taking between three weeks and three months to arrive once purchased. The focus is on creating special, well-made pieces for consumers to treasure for years to come.Made-to-order fashion is nothing new. Until the mid-20th century, it was the norm. However, the 1960s brought about the dawn of fast fashion and a shift in our relationship with our clothes. The value once placed on craftsmanship and quality was replaced by the desire for low cost and volume, resulting in cut-cost production and the attitude that clothing should be cheap and disposable.Of course, made-to-order fashion has continued to exist alongside this, though research clearly shows that fast fashion prevails (盛行). Cue a made-to-order brand bringing bespoke (定制) back to the mainstream. Spanish brand Alas features a slow business model. It takes orders each week which are then handmade and delivered in about three weeks. It also revolves around an on-demand production process that rewards consumers for “pre-planned responsible shopping.” Every week, they launch a new drop, available to pre-order for a discounted rate for a limited time. From pre-order, Alas determines how popular each new item is and calculates how many units should be produced to fulfill both pre-orders and future full-price orders, therefore reducing the overproduction of stock.With made-to-order brands growing in popularity, it begs the question—could this be the dawn of a new, environmentally responsible era? The answer is self-evident.12．What do the first two paragraphs mainly show?A．Our strong desire for fashion.B．The fast development of fashion industry.C．The urgent need for a different fashion model.D．The advantages and disadvantages of fast fashion.13．What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 5 refer to?A．The shadow of fast fashion.B．The value placed on quality.C．The shift towards a green lifestyle.D．The criticism for cheapness and quantity.14．What does the example of Spanish brand Alas tell us?A．The reward mechanism is a must in slow fashion.B．It takes patience and thought to buy made-to-order items.C．The pre-order model reduces the cost of purchasing brands.D．Consumers have a say about how their orders are produced.15．As for the future of made-to-order fashion, the author is ________ .A．anxious B．confidentC．puzzled D．curious（2022·北京海淀·二模）Microplastics —tiny pieces of plastic waste less than five millimetres long that have been degraded by waves, wind and ultraviolet rays — have been discovered in the deepest oceanic trenches and within the stomachs of the organisms that live there, but we have little idea about where the great majority of them end up. More than eight million tonnes of plastic enters our oceans every year, comprising between 80 and 85 percent of all marine trash, but with inadequate data, there are concerns that these figures could be underestimates.Currently, most of the data we have on microplastics are accidentally captured by research ships, which useplankton nets to collect marine-microorganism samples. However, researchers Christopher Ruf and Madeline Evans from the University of Michigan have discovered an innovative way to identify and track concentrations of microplastics in the ocean.The technique relies on NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), a constellation of eight micro-satellites used to predict hurricanes that calculate wind speeds above the ocean by measuring the roughness of surface waters. As the satellites are continuously recording, Ruf and Evans realised that they collect a great deal of additional data. It was while analysing these data that they noticed some differences-times where the surface of the ocean appeared to be much smoother than it should, given the prevailing wind (盛行风) conditions.Knowing that water isn’t roughened as much when it contains a lot of floating material, Ruf and Evans identified a pattern that linked areas of unusual smoothness and predicted microplastic distributions. They found that the difference between their measurements, and how much rougher the surface would be if winds of the same speed were blowing across clear water, was “highly correlated with the presence of microplastics, and the degree of the difference also correlated with the concentration of the plastics.”The research reveals that there are seasonal variations,where the concentrations of microplastics tend to be higher in the summer and lower in the winter in a very clean, periodic way, which Ruf explains mirrors the way in which the ocean circulation changes throughout the year. It also confirms, as was previously thought, that rivers are the main source of ocean microplastics.Raising awareness of the issue of ocean microplastics among the public and politicians is just one of the researchers’ future aims; they are also in conversation with Duteh non-profit The Ocean Cleanup and Finnish clean-technology specialist Clewat, which are interested in using the information to more efficiently target their trash-collection campaigns.So far, only one year’s worth of data have been processed since CYGNSS was launched in 2016. By looking at a longer time period, Ruf and Evans aim to determine whether the seasonal pattern is repeatable, and whether the concentration of micmplastics in the ocean is getting worse.16．What is Paragraph 1 mainly about?A．The limited knowledge about ocean microplastics.B．The harm of ocean microplastics to sea creatures.C．The methods of degrading ocean microplasties.D．The previous research on ocean microplasties.17．According to the passage, CYGNSS ________.A．has offered data about the repeatable seasonal patternB．guides research ships to gather data about sea animalsC．provides unexpected data about the changes of sea surfaceD．was designed to measure the distribution of ocean microplastics18．What can we learn from the passage?A．Microplastics will end up in the stomachs of the ocean organisms.B．Mlicroplastics play a vital role in the yearly ocean circulation changes.C．The surface of the ocean can get smoother with more microplastics in it.D．The new way of tracking microplastics has helped prevent ocean pollution.19．What is the main purpose of the passage?A．To introduce the technology of CYGNSS.B．To present a way to study ocean microplastics.C．To test an assumption on ocean microplastics.D．To propose a new means of protecting the ocean.（2022·北京房山·二模）Creativity Improves Your HealthCreativity helps us create works of beauty, solve problems, and refresh our bodies and our minds. It’s fun. When you are having fun, you are positively impacting your health. Studies show that engaging in creative behaviors improves brain function, mental health and physical health.You’ve probably heard of flow — it’s the state you get in when you’re completely absorbed in something. Have you ever been working on a project and completely lost all sense of self and time? That’s flow. It reduces anxiety, boosts your mood, and even slows your heart rate.It’s not just being in flow that makes you happy. Repetitive creative motions like knitting, drawing, or writing help activate flow, and are all tasks that create a result. When you succeed in creating a result, your brain is flooded with dopamine, a natural anti-depressant that actually helps motivate you, whether or not you’re aware of your increased happiness.Creativity is also an effective treatment for patients with dementia — a serious illness of the mind. Studies show that creative engagement not only reduces depression and isolation, but can also help people with dementia by sharpening their senses.The average person has about 60,000 thoughts in a day. A creative act such as crafting can help focus the mind, and has even been compared to meditation due to its calming effects on the brain and body. Even just gardening or sewing releases dopamine.Creativity reduces anxiety, depression and stress. Studies have found that writing helps people manage their negative emotions in a productive way, and painting or drawing helps people express their mental injury or hurtful experiences that they find too difficult to put into words.Studies show people who write about their experiences daily actually have stronger immune system function. Writing, a creative work, increases your CD4+ lymphocyte count, the key to your immune system.Playing music can also function well in your immune system. Studies show that our left brain is responsible for the motor functions, while our right brain focuses on melody. When the two parts work together, our cognitive function improves.It’s pretty amazing that doing the activities is good for us. Get a pen and start writing or coloring. Get your hands dirty with pottery or gardening or pick up an instrument. Whatever you decide to do, it’s time to start getting creative!20．Which situation shows that you are in flow?A．You are working with a difficult task.B．You are having a boring repetitive action.C．You get lost and don’t know where to go.D．You are absorbed in a work that interests you.21．The underlined word “dopamine” in Paragraph 3 is probably ________.A．an awareness of how to be successfulB．a thought having calming effects on the brainC．an activity to fight against your negative emotionsD．a material for the functioning of the nervous system22．What can we learn from the passage?A．Repetitive actions can cure patients with mental diseases.B．Creative activities help you build a stronger immune system.C．Meditation makes your anxiety, depression and stress disappear.D．Telling others your hurtful experiences helps improve your health.（2022·北京顺义·二模）An ageing population is a global phenomenon. Countries are looking for the balm to address the demands of a swelling elderly community.Many nations are threatened by a shortage of healthcare workers because of unenviable tasks such as bathing, feeding and changing the diapers. Advancements in technology now present an innovative solution to this. Japan has now developed carebots, specially-designed robots, to replace human caregivers. Japan is also working at more coordinated care for the elderly within the community which includes the integration of hospitals, homecare, elderly care centres and nursing homes. Putting in place a system that can effectively track and retrieve the medical history of every elderly person, Japan leverages technology to provide quality healthcare for the seniors.The unique feature about Sweden is that most of the elderly live in their own homes where they continue to enjoy living independently. Local governments allocate funds and manage services while citizens have the freedom to choose the type of home services and their service provider. They can apply for homecare services including delivering meals to homes, hanging curtains, changing light bulbs etc. In Sweden, the focus is also on preventive care—keeping the elderly healthy. The elderly who are ill are not just given medicines but also a specific type of physical activity, where their doctors also monitor the outcome.Singapore also provides more homecare services and day-care centres where the older people can go for rehabilitative and social activities. Besides, the government is creating more dementia-friendly communities, where support comes from the community. Various people within a community like policemen, shopkeepers and other volunteers are trained to assist the elderly with dementia (痴呆). With greater community awareness and support, it is more plausible for a dementia sufferer to stay at home instead of a nursing home.In our search for the best model to meet the demands of a burgeoning ageing population, let us keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. What is important is shouldering the responsibilities of caring for them and ensuring them to age well and comfortably.23．How does Japan deal with the problem of the shortage of healthcare workers?A．By offering quality healthcare for the seniors.B．By tracking the medical history of every elderly person.C．By developing robots programmed with caregiving functions.D．By integrating places like hospitals, homecare, and nursing homes.24．According to the passage, what do Sweden and Singapore have in common?A．Optional care services are both provided free.B．Independent living is respected and supported.C．Preventive care for the elderly is highly valued.D．Social activities and voluntary help are enjoyed.25．What is the passage mainly about?A．Models for giving the elderly care.B．Countries with an ageing population.C．Responsibilities of caring for the elderly.D．Demands of a growing elderly community.（2022·北京昌平·二模）Few dishes taste better than a juicy cut of beef. One survey in 2014 found that steak was Americans’ favorite food. Unfortunately, by cooking so many cows, humans are cooking themselves, too.The influence of food on greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions (排放) can slip under the radar. In a survey in Britain last year, the share of answerers saying that “producing plants and meat on farms” was a “significant contributor” to climate change was the lowest among ten listed activities. Yet two papers published this year in Nature Food find that food, especially beef, creates more GHGS than previously thought.This March researchers from the European Commission and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Office released a study estimating that the global food system was responsible for 34% of GHG in 2015. The paper assigns the full impact of deforestation to the agriculture that results from it;includes emissions after food is sold(such as from waste and cooking);and counts non-food crops like cotton. But even when the authors took away emissions from sources like transport and packaging, they still found that agriculture generated 24% of GHGS.Another recent paper, by Xiaoming Xu of the University of Illinois and eight co-authors, allocates (分配) this impact among 171 crops and 16 animal products. It finds that animal-based foods account for 57% of agricultural GHGS, versus 29% for food from plants. Beef and cow’s milk alone made up 34%. Combined with the earlier study’s results, this implies that cattle produce 12% of GHG emissions.Relative to other food sources, beef is uniquely carbon-intensive. Because cattle emit methane (甲烷) and need large grasslands that are often created by cutting more forests, they produce seven times as many GHGS per calorie of meat as pigs do. This makes beef a bigger share among foods than coal is among sources of electricity.The simplest way to cut beef output is for people to eat other animals instead, or become vegetarians. But convincing people to give up their burgers is a tall order.Fortunately, lab-grown meats are moving from Petri dishes (培养皿) to high-end restaurants. Doing without beef from live cattle is hard to imagine, but the same was true of coal 100 years ago. Lab-grown meat could play an essential role in slowing a climate disaster.26．The underlined phrase in paragraph 2 can probably be replaced by ____________.A．be detected by radar B．be ignored by peopleC．be explained by experts D．be controlled by government27．What can we learn from the passage?A．Lab-grown meats will replace other meats in the future.B．Quitting steak may be an efficient way to reduce GHG.C．Producing beef generates more GHG than burning coal.D．Beef transport is the major contributor of GHG emissions.28．The author mentions the coal in the last paragraph just to show ____________.A．the importance of both lab-grown beef and coal B．the difficulty to produce the lab-grown meat C．the necessity of beef from live cattle D．the future of lab-grown beef参考答案1．C2．A3．C4．D【导语】本文是一篇说明文。
美国学生与中国学生的不同英语作文
美国学生与中国学生的不同英语作文全文共5篇示例，供读者参考篇1School Life in America and ChinaHi there! My name is Timmy and I'm a 4th grade student here in the United States. Today, I want to tell you about the differences between school life for kids like me in America compared to kids in China. It's really fascinating stuff!First, let's talk about our daily schedules. Here in the U.S., we typically start school around 8am and finish up around 3pm. We have a bunch of different classes like math, science, reading, writing, social studies, art, music, and gym. We get breaks for recess to run around outside and a decent lunch period of 30 minutes or so.From what I've heard, the school day is much longer for kids in China. They often start very early, like 7am, and don't finish until 4pm or later! They have way fewer breaks during the day too. Instead of having recess periods, they just get a couple of short 10-minute breaks. Their lunch period is shorter as well,often only 30 minutes including time to eat and play. Whew, that sounds exhausting!Another big difference is the subjects we study. In America, we focus a lot on reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. We also have optional classes like art, music, computer skills, and foreign languages. The curriculum tries to bewell-rounded.But in China, the big emphasis is on the core subjects like math, Chinese, and English. Students start learning complex math, like algebra and geometry, at a really young age. They spend much more time on these academic subjects and less on "extras" like art or music. It's a very rigorous education for sure.One unique thing in America is the importance of extracurricular activities after school. Loads of kids join sports teams, clubs, Scout troops, or take lessons for music, dance, martial arts, you name it. Getting involved in extracurriculars is really encouraged.However, this doesn't seem as common in China from what I know. Most Chinese students use their time after school to do homework, attend academic tutoring classes, or participate in academic Olympics competitions. Their schedules are packed trying to excel in their studies.Something else that's pretty different is homework. I'll be honest, I don't love getting homework, but at least I don't get too much of it here. Maybe an hour or two per night tops. Chinese students, on the other hand, often have 3 or more hours of homework to complete each evening! No wonder they work so hard.When it comes to testing, things are also really different. We take standardized tests periodically in America like the SATs to measure our performance. But from my understanding, students in China take extremely high-pressure exams like the Gaokao that can basically determine their whole future and which university they can attend.Lastly, I want to mention classroom behavior and discipline. In our American classrooms, teachers usually are pretty casual and relaxed with us students. We're allowed and expected to ask questions, give our opinions, and engage in discussions during lessons. A little chatter is usually permitted.But in China, classrooms are much more strict and orderly. Students must raise their hands to speak, address the teacher very formally, and cannot talk among themselves during class. The teacher leading lectures is much more common than open discussions. Punishments and discipline seem stricter too.Phew, that's a lot of differences, huh? Like I said, school life is pretty distinct for kids in America compared to China. We have our own strengths and things we prioritize. I guess there's no single "right way" to approach education.Personally, I'm happy to attend my American school. While my schedule is still pretty packed and I have to work hard, at least I get recess breaks, fun electives, less intense academic pressure, and freedom of expression in the classroom. I don't know if I could handle the extreme rigor of the Chinese education system! But I respect how hard-working and focused those students are.Well, thanks for reading my essay! I tried to cover as many of the key differences as I could. Let me know if you have any other questions about life as an American student or if you want to share what school is like for kids in your country. Study hard, but also remember to play and have fun sometimes too!篇2Comparing American and Chinese StudentsHi friends! My name is Lily and I'm going to tell you about the differences between students in America and China. My cousin Michael lives in California while I live in Shanghai, so I'velearned a lot about how schools work in both countries. It's really interesting to see the similarities and differences!Let's start with the school day. In China, we have a really long school day that goes from around 7:30am to 5pm or even later sometimes. We start with morning reading sessions, then have core classes like math, Chinese language, and science. After a lunch break, we have more classes like English, music, art, and PE. American kids usually only have school from like 8am to 3pm. Their days are shorter but they often have lots of homework to do in the evenings.Speaking of homework, Chinese students get wayyyy more homework than American kids. We'll typically have 2-3 hours of homework per night across all our subjects. I remember Michael telling me he only gets about an hour per night max. All that homework keeps us Chinese students super busy! We also have extra cramming classes on weekends to prep for major tests. Education is seen as extremely important for getting into a good university later.Testing is another big difference. We have high-stakes exam periods twice per year that determine if we move up a grade level. There's a ton of pressure to perform well. American students take standardized tests too but they aren't as intense.They have grades based on homework, quizzes, participation and such rather than just big exam scores.Our classroom experiences are pretty different as well. Class sizes are much bigger in China, with 40-50 students per class usually. We stay in the same classroom all day while teachers rotate between rooms. American classes are smaller with 20-30 kids. The students are the ones who change rooms for different subjects.The teaching styles vary too. In China, it's very lecture-based with teachers writing on chalkboards or showing PowerPoints. We're expected to listen carefully, take detailed notes, and not ask many questions. Classes in America seem to have more hands-on activities, group work, class discussions and personal interaction. Students are encouraged to ask questions and be more participative.Outside of academics, extracurriculars are another area where we differ. Chinese students don't have as many options like sports teams, clubs, dances, etc. Our focus is really just on studying. Most American schools have a ton of those extracurricular activities that kids can join to pursue interests and develop nonacademic skills.I think the overall biggest difference comes down to independence and parenting styles. Parents in China tend to be very strict and have high academic expectations for their kids. We get less personal freedom and free time. Things are more relaxed for American families from what I've seen. Kids have more independence to choose classes, make their own choices about extracurriculars, hang out with friends freely, etc.Of course, every student is unique regardless of their country. These are just some of the general patterns I've noticed! Chinese and American education systems clearly have their own strengths and weaknesses. I'm really grateful to have experienced a bit of both worlds through my family connections.Well, that's all I've got to say on the topic for now. Let me know if you have any other questions! I'm always happy to share more about the similarities and differences in how kids in different countries experience school life. Thanks for reading my essay!篇3My Friend Mingming From ChinaHi friends! Today I want to tell you about my best friend Mingming who is from China. She just moved to my town andstarted going to my school. At first, I thought she was really different from me and the other kids. But after getting to know her, I realized we actually have a lot in common too! Let me tell you about the ways Mingming is different and similar to us American students.One of the biggest differences is the subjects we study in school. In China, Mingming had to study really hard subjects like math, science, and Chinese reading and writing. She tells me they have way more homework and tests than we do. Mingming says Chinese schools are very strict and focused on academics. Here in America, we still study those subjects but not as intensely. We also have more fun classes like art, music, and P.E. I love P.E. class because we get to run around and play games! Mingming says they don't have much P.E. in Chinese schools.Another difference is that in China, all the students wear school uniforms. Mingming looked so cool and proper in her uniform with its color and emblem on it. Here we can just wear whatever clothing we want, which I prefer because I like to pick my outfit every day. Although sometimes I do wish I had a uniform so I didn't have to decide what to wear!The schedule is also really different. Mingming says in China, they go to school for a full day from very early morning untilevening with only a short lunch break. We have a much shorter day, getting out by 3pm. And we get big breaks for recess and lunch. I'd hate being in school from morning until night - no thanks!Another big difference is the classrooms. Mingming says in China, the classrooms are very plain with just desks and a chalkboard. The teacher does most of the instruction by lecturing. Our classrooms have colorful decorations and educational posters. We often do hands-on activities with manipulatives or technology. My favorite part of our classroom is the reading corner with the beanbags and books.As different as school was for Mingming, I've also noticed some similarities between us. We're both really excited to learn and do well in school. Mingming works incredibly hard on every assignment. I admire her studiousness and try to put a lot of effort into my work too. We both love reading and often talk about the latest books we've enjoyed. Reading is my favorite subject!Another similarity is that we both feel a lot of pressure from our parents to get good grades. Even though school is easier here, my parents still get pretty upset if I bring home a bad grade. Mingming says her parents are extremely strict and will punishher if she doesn't get all As. We both wish our parents would relax a little!One more thing we have in common is the way we like to have fun and be kids when not doing schoolwork. After school, Mingming and I love running around outside, riding our bikes, jumping on the trampoline, or playing imaginative games. Even though our school experiences were really different, at the end of the day we're just two elementary school best friends who like to play!So that's the main ways my friend Mingming's life as a student in China was different and similar to mine here in America. Learning about her experiences has helped me appreciate my own education more. But it's also made me respectful of how hard she had to work in China's strict academic system. No matter where we go to school though, Mingming and I will always be buddies who share a love of learning, reading, playing and being kids. I'm so lucky to have an awesome friend like her!篇4My Best Friend is Chinese and We are So Different!Hi everyone! My name is Tommy and I'm 10 years old. I go to Oakwood Elementary School here in California. One of my best friends is a boy named Zhiyu who just moved to America from China last year. Zhiyu and I have become super close but we've also realized there are a lot of big differences between us because of our different cultures and backgrounds. Let me tell you all about it!The first really obvious difference is our languages. I only know how to speak English while Zhiyu's first language is Mandarin Chinese. He's learning English in school but it's still really hard for him sometimes. I try to speak slowly when I talk to him so he can understand me better. Zhiyu says Chinese is a tonal language which means the way you say a word can change its meaning completely. That seems so weird and confusing to me! English is hard enough without having tones.Another major difference is our families. My family is just me, my mom, my dad, and my little sister Sarah. But Zhiyu's family is huge! He lives with his mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, and three cousins all under one roof. He tells me thatmulti-generational households are really common in China. At his place there's always a bunch of people coming and going. At my house it's just the four of us most of the time and it's wayquieter. Zhiyu says he misses the hustle and bustle of having a huge family around.Our houses look really different too. I live in a two-story house with a bedroom for me and one for my parents and sister. Zhiyu lives in a crazy tall apartment building. His whole family shares just a few bedrooms and doesn't have a yard or anything. He was shocked when I showed him our big backyard! Zhiyu says in China there's so many people that houses and apartments have to be stacked on top of each other. There's no extra space for yards or extras. Everything is a lot more crowded than here.School is another place where Zhiyu and I experience a lot differences. My school days are pretty relaxed and we have a lot of fun activities mixed in with core subjects like math and English. Zhiyu says at his school in China, it was just hardcore studying every single day from really early until late at night. He didn't have time for art, music, sports or anything like that. It was all about buckling down and learning as much as possible through homework and lectures. Zhiyu says the teachers in China were extremely strict too and would punish students for small mistakes or any kind of goofing around. He got in huge trouble once for forgetting to do his homework! My teachers have never punished me for stuff like that.Food is the next big difference between Zhiyu and I. I'm a pretty typical American kid so I'll eat pizza, hamburgers, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese...basically any kid's meal on any menu. Zhiyu was mind-blown the first time he saw me eating something like a cheeseburger. He said it looked so strange and foreign to him! Chinese dishes are his favorite and he eats a lot of rice, noodles, dumplings, veggies and meats that are cooked in really different sauces and styles than American cuisine. Whenever my mom makes him an American meal with something like meatloaf he always thinks it's so weird and bland compared to his usual foods. But I think Chinese food is delicious! Especially the dumplings.Our cultures and family traditions are also really different. My family celebrates Christmas and Thanksgiving which are big American holidays. Zhiyu's family celebrates Chinese holidays like Chinese New Year (which actually lasts for like 2 whole weeks!), the Mooncake Festival, and others I can't remember. His family has all these cool traditions like giving out red envelopes with money to kids and eating special dumplings and other dishes on the holidays. We don't have as many unique traditions and foods for our holidays. We just eat turkey on Thanksgiving and open presents on Christmas. Zhiyu says in China, EVERYholiday has about a million specific traditional foods, decorations and customs to follow.Let me tell you about our free time too! For me, I love playing video games, watching movies, going to the park, that type of stuff. Zhiyu does a lot less "playing" in his free time. His parents always have him practicing things like math, piano, Chinese writing and reading, or doing extra homework from his Chinese tutors. Zhiyu never has pure "free time" to just goof off! Even on weekends and holidays he has to spend a lot of hours each day practicing academic skills. He told me it's because Chinese parents have extremely high expectations for their children to be the best students ever and get into great colleges and careers. My parents definitely want me to do well in school but they aren't that intense about it.Speaking of academics, that's another big difference! Zhiyu is under so much more pressure than me to get perfect grades and scores on tests. His parents expect straight A's in every subject and will get really upset if he underperforms. They've already decided he needs to be an engineer, doctor or something along those lines. My parents just want me to try my best but if I get a B here and there they aren't too worried about it. I'm free to explore my interests and figure out my own path.Zhiyu's entire childhood, on the other hand, is pretty much decided for him in terms of his career and academic track based on his parents' choices. No wonder he studies so much!The last major difference I'll talk about between me and my friend is our sleeping habits and schedules. I go to bed around 8:30 or 9pm and wake up at 7am before school. Zhiyu has to wake up at 6am every single day to start his intense schedule of homework, tutoring, practicing Piano and Chinese writing and any other academic work. Then he doesn't get done until 10pm at night! Sometimes even later if he has a big test or project to complete. His parents say sleep is for the weak and he needs to spend every waking hour studying and practicing to get ahead. I don't know how he doesn't just pass out from exhaustion every day! I need my 10 hours of sleep each night to function properly.So those are the biggest differences I've noticed between me and my wonderful friend Zhiyu. Despite coming from such diverging backgrounds, we both really admire and appreciate how the other lives. I'm amazed by Zhiyu's incredible work ethic and respect for education. And he thinks the way I balance working hard but still having fun is really cool. We're constantly learning from each other! Even though we'll always havedifferences, the most important thing is the friendship and appreciation we've developed for our two cultures.篇5My Friend from ChinaOne day, a new kid joined my class at school. His name was Xinming and he had just moved to America from China with his family. At first, I thought Xinming was really weird and different from the rest of us. But after getting to know him, I realized that kids in China and kids in America have a lot of similarities and differences!The first thing I noticed about Xinming was how quiet and serious he was compared to the other kids in our class. In America, kids are really loud and rowdy - we're always joking around, playing games at recess, and generally being pretty goofy. Xinming seemed shy and didn't laugh or smile much. He was really focused on his schoolwork too. My friends and I have to be reminded to pay attention a lot!My mom told me that in China, kids are taught from a very young age to be disciplined, work hard, and respect their elders and teachers. She said kids there don't run around and act crazy like American kids do. I can definitely see that with how Xinmingbehaves. He is really polite and speaks very properly, even to other kids. I think it's because of the strong emphasis on respect in China.Another big difference is that Xinming's parents seem way more strict than American parents. They expect him to get perfect grades and study for hours every night after school. My parents want me to do well, but they don't get that upset if I get a B or something. They know I'm just a kid trying my best. But for Xinming, anything less than an A is a total disappointment to his family.Xinming says the homework they give in China is also way harder than what we get in America. The math, science, and Chinese lessons are much more advanced and complicated compared to our work. No wonder Xinming is always at the top of our class! He works his butt off because that's what's expected of students in China. Here, we have more of a balanced lifestyle with plenty of time for fun, sports, and just being kids.On the other hand, there are also tons of similarities I've noticed between me and Xinming. We both love a lot of the same games, TV shows, sports and other fun stuff. Kids all around the world seem to be into a lot of the same pop culture and hobbies these days. And of course, we joke around, play atrecess, and get hyper and goofy together when we're hanging out - even Xinming, eventually!I think underneath it all, kids just want to be kids no matter what country you're from. We all like to have fun, play games, spend time with friends, and not have to worry about being too serious all the time. Both Chinese kids and American kids want to run around at recess getting dirty and being silly. Those are some of the best parts about being a kid!So while there are definitely some big cultural differences between how kids act in China versus America, at the end of the day, we're all just kids who want to play, laugh, and enjoy our childhood. Having Xinming in my class has taught me so much about China and how kids live there. It's been really cool to have a friend from such a different background. Even though we grew up on opposite sides of the world, we've realized that deep down, we're basically the same!。
时代差异英语作文带翻译
时代差异英语作文带翻译英文回答：Growing up in a rapidly evolving world, I have witnessed firsthand the profound impact of generational shifts. As a child, I marveled at the wonders of the digital age, which my parents had never experienced in their youth. Now, as a young adult, I observe how my own generation's values and aspirations differ from those of my elders.Technology has played a pivotal role in shaping these differences. For us millennials, the internet is an indispensable part of our lives. We communicate, learn, and socialize through digital platforms that were non-existent a few decades ago. This constant connectivity has fostered a culture of immediacy and accessibility, where information and entertainment are always at our fingertips.However, this technological immersion has also brought about certain challenges. While it has undoubtedly expandedour horizons, it has also led to a decline in face-to-face interactions and a heightened sense of isolation. The constant need to be "plugged in" can create a sense of anxiety and disrupt our ability to truly connect with others.Moreover, our generation's experiences have shaped our values and priorities. We grew up during a time of economic uncertainty and social upheaval, which has made us more pragmatic and less optimistic than our predecessors. We are less likely to prioritize material possessions or traditional markers of success, such as a high-paying job or a prestigious education. Instead, we are drawn to experiences, creativity, and making a meaningful impact on the world.This generational divide can sometimes lead to misunderstandings and conflicts. Our elders may see us as entitled or lacking ambition, while we may perceive them as out of touch or rigid in their thinking. It is crucial that we bridge this gap by fostering dialogue and empathy. Wemust strive to understand each other's perspectives and find common ground amidst our differences.The generational divide is an inevitable aspect of societal evolution. However, it is also an opportunity for growth and learning. By embracing the strengths of each generation while acknowledging their limitations, we can create a more cohesive and vibrant society.In the tapestry of human experience, the threads of different generations intertwine, forming a rich and vibrant pattern. As we navigate the challenges and embrace the possibilities that come with these generational shifts, let us cultivate a spirit of understanding, collaboration, and shared purpose, ensuring that the legacy we leave behind is one that honors the past while boldly embracing the future.中文回答：在快速发展的时代中成长，我亲眼目睹了代际差异的深刻影响。
names in america听力原文
names in america听力原文In America, there is a wide variety of names that people have. Some names are traditional and have been passed down through generations, while others are more modern and unique.Traditional names such as John, James, Mary, and Elizabeth are still very popular in America. These names have cultural, religious, or historical significance and continue to be chosen by many parents. They are considered timeless and classic.However, there has been a shift in recent years towards more unique and unconventional names. Parents are increasingly choosing names that are less common and have a distinct sound or spelling. Names such as Aiden, Harper, Luna, and Liam are examples of this trend. Some parents even create completely new names by combining different words or sounds.Another popular trend in America is naming children after popular culture references. For example, many children have been named after characters from movies, books, or TV shows. This could be characters from popular franchises like Harry Potter or Game of Thrones, or even names inspired by celebrities.Overall, names in America are diverse and reflect the individuality of parents and their desire to give their children unique identities. Whether traditional or contemporary, these names contribute to the rich tapestry of American culture.。
关于美国多元文化的英语作文
关于美国多元文化的英语作文The United States is a tapestry woven from the threads of countless cultures. Each thread represents a unique heritage, adding to the vibrant pattern of American society.The diversity in America is not just a collection of different ethnicities; it's a celebration of varied traditions, languages, and cuisines. From the rich flavors of Mexican tacos to the aromatic spices of Indian curries, the culinary landscape is a testament to this cultural mosaic.Education plays a pivotal role in embracing and understanding the multicultural fabric of the nation. Schools are where children from all backgrounds come together, learning not only from books but from each other, fostering a sense of unity in diversity.The arts are a vibrant expression of America's multiculturalism. From the rhythmic beats of African drums to the melodic tunes of Irish fiddles, music transcends language barriers, connecting people through the universal language of rhythm and melody.The workplace is another melting pot where the American dream is shared and pursued by people of all backgrounds. The exchange of ideas and collaboration in professional settings is a powerful demonstration of how diversity can drive innovation and success.In the realm of sports, the American spirit of competition and teamwork is reflected in the diversity of its athletes. From the NBA to the NFL, players from various ethnic backgrounds come together to represent their teams and the nation.The political landscape of America is also a reflection of its multiculturalism. The representation of diverse voices in government ensures that the needs and perspectives of all communities are considered in the decision-making process.Despite the challenges that come with cultural differences, the American spirit is one of inclusivity and acceptance. It is this spirit that allows the nation tothrive as a beacon of hope and opportunity for people fromall walks of life.In conclusion, the multiculturalism of the United States is its greatest strength. It is the foundation upon which the nation stands, a symbol of unity in diversity that enriches the lives of its citizens and shapes its global identity.。
不同时代的人不同英语作文
不同时代的人不同英语作文Different People in Different ErasThe English language has evolved significantly over the centuries, reflecting the changing values, perspectives, and experiences of those who have used it. As the world has become more interconnected, the ways in which people communicate and express themselves through the written word have also undergone remarkable transformations. In this essay, we will explore how the writing styles and perspectives of individuals from different eras have shaped the development of the English language.In the Middle Ages, the use of English was largely confined to the lower classes, while the educated elite preferred to communicate in Latin or French. The writings of this period were often heavily influenced by religious themes and the social hierarchies of the time. One notable example is the work of Geoffrey Chaucer, whose Canterbury Tales provide a vivid snapshot of the language and culture of 14th-century England. Chaucer's use of Middle English, with its intricate grammatical structures and archaic vocabulary, presents a stark contrast to the more streamlined and accessible English of today.As the Renaissance swept across Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, the English language underwent a period of rapid expansion and diversification. Writers such as William Shakespeare and John Milton utilized the rich tapestry of the English language to create works of unparalleled literary brilliance. Shakespeare's plays, in particular, are renowned for their innovative use of language, incorporating a vast array of neologisms, metaphors, and rhetorical devices that have since become ingrained in the English lexicon.The 18th and 19th centuries saw the emergence of a more structured and standardized approach to English, as the rise of the printing press and the growth of the middle class led to a greater emphasis on formal education and the codification of grammar and spelling rules. Writers of this era, such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, crafted their works with a keen eye for detail and a sophisticated understanding of the nuances of the language. Their writings often reflected the social and political concerns of their time, as well as the evolving cultural attitudes towards class, gender, and morality.The 20th century witnessed a profound transformation in the way people communicated and expressed themselves through the written word. The advent of modern technology, including the telephone, radio, and television, ushered in a new era of mass communication and the rapid dissemination of information. Writers,journalists, and public figures adapted their styles to cater to the needs of these new mediums, often favoring concise, straightforward language over the more ornate and elaborate prose of earlier eras.The rise of the internet and digital communication in the 21st century has further accelerated the evolution of the English language. Social media platforms, instant messaging, and online forums have given rise to a new form of written expression that is characterized by informality, abbreviations, and the blending of text with visual elements. This "digital vernacular" has challenged traditional notions of grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and has led to the emergence of a more dynamic and fluid form of communication.Despite these changes, the fundamental purpose of written expression remains the same: to convey ideas, emotions, and experiences to others. Whether it is the ornate and poetic language of the Renaissance, the measured and refined prose of the 19th century, or the concise and dynamic communication of the digital age, the written word continues to serve as a powerful tool for self-expression, cultural exchange, and the preservation of human knowledge and experience.In conclusion, the evolution of the English language has been shaped by the diverse perspectives, experiences, and cultural influences of those who have used it. From the Middle Ages to the present day,the ways in which people have written and communicated have been a reflection of the changing values, technologies, and social structures that have defined each era. As we continue to navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of communication and expression, it is important to recognize and appreciate the rich tapestry of the English language and the enduring power of the written word.。
英语作文中国和美国不一样初一下册
英语作文中国和美国不一样初一下册China and the United States are two nations with distinct differences. Though they both play significant roles on the global stage, their unique characteristics set them apart.One notable difference lies in their cultural heritage. China boasts a rich and ancient culture that spans thousands of years, with deep-rooted traditions, values, and customs. From the splendor of Chinese art, literature, and philosophy to the importance placed on family and community, China's cultural heritage shapes its society in profound ways. In contrast, the United States is a younger nation with a diverse cultural landscape influenced by various immigrant populations. This diversity lends itself to a more eclectic and individualistic cultural ethos.Another aspect where the two countries diverge is in their political systems. China follows a socialist system, emphasizing collective interests and state-led decision-making. In the United States, a democratic republic, individual rights, and the separation of powers are central principles. These differing political approaches influence governance, social policies, and interactions between the government and its citizens.Economic structures also vary between China and the United States. China has experienced rapid economic growth in recent decades, becoming a major global manufacturing and trading power. The United States, on the other hand, holds a prominent position in areas such astechnology, innovation, and services. These contrasting economic models have implications for trade, business practices, and economic development.Language and education are additional areas of distinction. The Chinese language, with its complex characters and rich grammar, holds great significance in Chinese society. Education in China places a strong emphasis on rote learning and academic achievement. In the United States, English is the primary language, and education systems tend to prioritize critical thinking, creativity, and individual development.It's important to note that while there are differences, both China and the United States have much to offer and learn from one another. Understanding and respecting these distinctions can foster cross-cultural dialogue and cooperation. By celebrating diversity and finding common ground, we can build bridges and promote global understanding.。
美国与中国的不同英语作文
美国与中国的不同英语作文Title: The Distinct Differences between the United States and ChinaThe United States and China, two nations situated on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean, have developed distinctively over the centuries, giving rise to remarkable differences in their cultures, political systems, economic landscapes, and societal norms. These disparities, though significant, are fascinating to explore and offer valuable insights into the unique characteristics of each country. Firstly, the cultural differences between the two nations are profound. The United States, a melting pot of various ethnicities and cultures, has fostered a culture of individualism, freedom, and innovation. Americans value personal liberty, freedom of expression, and the pursuit of happiness, which is reflected in their day-to-day lives, from the way they dress to the way they interact with others. On the other hand, Chinese culture is deeply rooted in traditional values of respect for elders, collectivism, and harmony. Chinese society emphasizes the importance of family, community, and the maintenance of social order.These cultural differences also manifest in the way the two countries approach problems and make decisions.Secondly, the political systems of the United States and China are starkly different. The United States operates under a democratic system with elected representatives at various levels of government. The Constitution serves as the supreme law of the land, protecting the rights of citizens and providing the framework for government operations. In contrast, China follows a socialistpolitical system with a strong central government led by the Communist Party of China. Decision-making is highly centralized, and the government plays a significant role in economic planning and social development.Furthermore, the economic landscapes of the two countries vary significantly. The United States boasts a diversified economy with strengths in sectors such as technology, finance, and manufacturing. Its market-oriented system encourages innovation and competition, leading to the creation of numerous global brands and technological advancements. China, on the other hand, has experienced rapid economic growth in recent decades, particularly inmanufacturing, infrastructure, and technology. The government has played a pivotal role in guiding economic development, investing heavily in areas such as renewable energy and high-speed rail.Additionally, societal norms and values differ greatly between the two countries. Americans tend to value independence, competitiveness, and direct communication. They often prioritize personal goals and success, andsocial interactions are often informal and casual. In contrast, Chinese society emphasizes conformity, respect, and indirect communication. Chinese people value harmonious relationships and often prioritize collective goals over personal ones. These differences are reflected in various aspects of daily life, from the way people greet each other to the expectations placed on individuals within society. Moreover, the two countries have distinct approaches to education. The American education system emphasizescritical thinking, creativity, and individual exploration. Students are encouraged to question authority and seektheir own answers. In China, education is highly valued, and the system is often focused on academic achievement andpreparing students for high-stakes exams. Students are expected to conform to strict disciplinary standards and adhere to a more structured curriculum.In conclusion, the United States and China are two vastly different nations with distinct cultures, political systems, economies, and societal norms. These differences, while significant, are what make each country unique and offer valuable lessons to the world. Understanding and respecting these differences is crucial for promotingcross-cultural understanding and fostering harmonious relations between the two countries. As the world continues to evolve and global interconnections grow, it is essential to appreciate and learn from the diverse cultures and systems that shape our global community.。
研究生英语听说教程
63Unit Four When MTV Goes CEOWhen MTV Goes CEO1. A generation is defined by a common age location in history and a collective peer personality. What do you know about the different generations in America in the 1900s?Look at the following chart. Match the generation names on the left column with their birth years on the right. Say something about each of the generations.Greatest Generation 1965–1976Silent Generation 1965–1980Baby Boomers 1925–1945Beat Generation 1911–1924Baby Busters 1977–1994Generation X 1948–1962Generation Y 1946–19642. Look at the title of the following text: When MTV Goes CEO. What does MTV possibly refer to here? What does the title mean? What do you expect to read from this passage?64新视角研究生英语读说写Text1234When MTV Goes CEOby Susan M. KeaveneyAs professor of marketing at the University of Colorado, Keaveney teachesmarketing management, international marketing, and services marketing for the graduate School of Business and Executive MBA programs. She has also worked in retail, financial services, and health care, and has been active in the ―internationalization‖ of business schools.In the following artic le, Susan Keaveney provides a broad definition of GenerationXers, under headings such as ―latchkey kids‖, ―techno-babes‖, ―life-balancers‖, and ―free agents‖. She concludes with a number of questions abou t how members of this generationwill behave by the middle of the millennium.This article is taken from Acting on Words.What happens when the ―unmanageables‖ become managers?―Who will take the helm?‖ is one question that will keep CEOs awake atnight in the next millennium. Most wonder what corporate culture in servicesfirms will look like when the 40 million Gen Xers1 in the work force — nowtwenty-and thirty-something employees — take over as managers.Much has been written about Gen X employees, most of it negative. Earlystudies accused them of being arrogant, uncommitted, unmanageable slackers— disrespectful of authority, scornful of paying dues —tattooed and piercedyouths who ―just don’t care.‖ Recent interpretations, however, offer some newand somewhat different insights.Arrogance or Independence?Gen Xers have been characterized as the ―latchkey kids2‖ of the 70’s and80’s; often left on their own by divorced and / or working parents, these youngpeople became adept at handling things on their own and in their own ways.Many became self-motivating, self-sufficient, and creative problem-solvers.Their independence, which baby-boom3 managers sometimes interpret as1 Gen X: refers to the namelessness of a generation that was born between mid 1960s and late 1970s, right following the peak ofthe post-World War II baby boom, especially in Canada and the United States. X一代2 latchkey kid: also latchkey child, refers to a child that returns from school to an empty home because their parents are away atwork, or a child that is often left at home with little or no parental supervision. Called ―latchkey kids‖ because the kids often hadthe telltale keys around their necks or in their pockets. 钥匙儿童3 baby-boom: most often refers to the dramatic post-World War II increased birthrate (1946–1964) in the U.S., with the termBaby Boomer referring to the persons born during that iconic era. 婴儿潮65Unit Four When MTV Goes CEO8910711arrogance, may also reflect a need to feel trusted to get a job done.As employees, Gen Xers enjoy freedom to manage their own schedules.They don’t watch a clock and don’t want their managers to do s o. Whether workis done from nine-to-five or noon-to-eight — at home, in the office, or over lattes— is irrelevant to this group because Gen Xers are results-oriented. They seekguidance, inspiration, and vision from their managers but otherwise prefer tobe left alone between goal-setting and deliverables.Many Gen Xers excel at developing innovative solutions, but need clear,firm deadlines to set boundaries on their creative freedom. They have beenknown to bristle under micromanagement but flourish with coaching andfeedback.Techno-BabesGen X grew up with rapidly changing technology and the availability ofmassive amounts of information. Many developed skills at parallel processingor sorting large amounts of information quickly (which is sometimesinterpreted as a short attention span). Most are skilled at understanding andusing technologies, adapt quickly to new platforms, and are practiced atlearning through technological media. They value visual as well as verbalcommunication.Gen X employees excel in a technologically advanced environment. Theydemand state-of-the-art capabilities, such as telecommuting, teleconferencing,and electronic mail, in order to work efficiently and effectively. To babyboommanagers this may seem to be a preference for impersonal means ofcommunicating, living and working, but Gen Xers do not see it that way; forexample, they have modified electronic language and symbolism to expressemotions such as surprise, anger and pleasure.Get a LifeGen X employees don’t live to work, they work to live. They place a highvalue on prototypical family values that they feel they missed. Having observedtheir parents trade personal lives for ―the good of the company,‖ this groupwants balance in their lives, demanding time for work, play, family, friends, andspirituality. Gen X employees are skeptical of forgoing the needs of today for alater, uncertain payoff.When on the job market, Gen Xers will openly ask life-balance questions.This can be a turnoff for unprepared interviewers used to classic baby-boomerscripts featuring such lines as ―How can I best contribute to the company?‖ and―My greatest weakness is that I work too hard.‖In contrast, Gen Xers want to know ―What can you do to help me balancework, life, and family?‖ They expect companies to understand and respect theirneeds as individuals with important personal lives. This focus on ―getting alife‖ causes some to label them as slackers. Viewed from another perspective,however, Gen Xers could be seen as balanced individuals who can set prioritieswithin time limits.6566新视角研究生英语读说写Just Do ItGen X grew up with scandals in politics (Watergate4, Whitewatergate5),literature (The Education of Little Tree6), journalism (Janet Cooke7), business(Ivan Boesky8, Michael Milliken9), entertainment (Milli Vanalli10), professionalsports (Pete Rose11, Tonya Harding12), and religion (Jim13 and Tammy Bakker14).It’s not surprising that they’re cynical about authority, irreverent abouthierarchy, hate bureaucracy, loathe hidden agendas, and disdain politicking.They demand honesty and clarity, and respect substance over style.Gen X employees tend to focus on the big picture, to emphasize outcomesover process or protocol. They respect clear, unambiguous communication —whether good news or bad. Gen Xers prefer tangible rewards over soft words.Cash incentives, concert tickets, computer equipment, or sports outings gofarther with this group than ―attaboys,‖ plaques, or promises of future rewards.Free AgentsGrowing up in a period of corporate downsizing and right-sizing fosteredGen X beliefs that the future depends on their resumes rather than loyalty toany one company. Not surprisingly, Gen X employees seek challenging projectsthat help them develop a portfolio of skills.What might appear to a baby-boom manager as job-hopping can be141512134 Watergate: 即the Watergate Affair 水门事件, 指1972年6月17日美国共和党总统候选人尼克松利用其竞选班子刺探对方民主党的竞选政策而在民主党总部水门大厦安装窃听器所引发的政治丑闻。
- 1、下载文档前请自行甄别文档内容的完整性，平台不提供额外的编辑、内容补充、找答案等附加服务。
- 2、"仅部分预览"的文档,不可在线预览部分如存在完整性等问题,可反馈申请退款(可完整预览的文档不适用该条件!)。
- 3、如文档侵犯您的权益，请联系客服反馈,我们会尽快为您处理(人工客服工作时间：9:00-18:30)。
Lesson 10—The Richer, the Poorer
III. Lifestyles in America
4. Yuppie, a young upwardly mobile professional
person. Yuppies tend to be 9-5 professional workers. Yuppies tend to value material goods (especially trendy new things). In particular this can apply to their stocks, imported automobiles, development houses, and technological gadgets, particularly cell phones. Unfortunately, the fast paced pursuit of these material goods has unintended consequences. Usually in a hurry, they seek convenience goods and services. Being "time poor", their family relations can become difficult to sustain. Maintaining their way of life is mentally exhausting. Sometimes, they will move every few years to where their job goes, straining their family. The fast-paced lifestyle has been termed a rat race. W B T L E
The end of Lifestyles in America.
ቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱ
Lesson 10—The Richer, the Poorer
Different generations in America
1. Lost Generation, group of expatriate American
writers residing primarily in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s. The group never formed a cohesive literary movement, but it consisted of many influential American writers, including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Carlos Williams, Thornton Wilder, Archibald MacLeish, and Hart Crane. The group was given its name by the American writer Gertrude Stein to refer to expatriate Americans bitter about their World War I experiences and disillusioned with American society. Hemingway later used the phrase as an epigraph for his novel The Sun Also Rises (1926). W B T L E
To be continued on the next page.
Ernest Hemingway
Lesson 10—The Richer, the Poorer
III. Lifestyles in America
2. The beat generation, group of American writers
To be continued on the next page.
Lesson 10—The Richer, the Poorer
III. Lifestyles in America
3. Hippie, member of a youth movement of the late
1960s that was characterized by nonviolent anarchy, concern for the environment, and rejection of Western materialism. Also known as flower power, the hippie movement originated in San Francisco, California. The hippies formed a politically outspoken, antiwar, artistically prolific counterculture in North America and Europe. Their colorful psychedelic style was inspired by drugs such as the hallucinogen Lysergic Acid Diethylamid (LSD). This style emerged in fashion, graphic art, and music by bands such as Love, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Pink Floyd. W B T L E
of the 1950s whose writing expressed profound dissatisfaction with contemporary American society and endorsed an alternative set of values. Its bestknown figures were writers Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, who met as students at Columbia University in the 1940s, and San Francisco-based poet and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Bookstore, in the North Beach section of San Francisco, became a center of Beat culture and remained an enduring symbol of alternative literature into the 1990s. Another center of Beat activity was New York City’s East Village, where Ginsberg made his home. W B T L E