大英一各单元summary与英汉互译

第一单元The writer describes the first few days of university life in the diary with a casual , informal style full of humor and exaggeration. As a fresher, the writer has many probl ems: feeling lonely and l ost, not having a good appetite for the food in the dining hall, feeling not as intelligent and knowledgeable as others; not knowing how to take notes and how to wash clothes. Besid es, her d ormitory looks very small. The tutor seems unfriendly and uncaring. The library rul es are too strict. The writer tries to solve the probl ems: joining many clubs and societies to make more friends, talking to Mum on the phone to get some comfort and advice.The writer of the text newly arrived in New York as an immigrant. He worked full time with a variety of manual jobs while taking courses at the university. He was faced with many problems. He felt inferior (自卑) to his classmates because he didn’t have a high school diploma and he had a strong Irish accent. He didn’t know how to take notes in the class. He was puzzl ed by what the professor said about the Pilgrims and dared not ask questions in the class. Being lonely and insecure, he was dreaming of a good-l ooking girl who was impressed by what he had read and what he would fall in l ove with him.第二单元It was the first time that I had oyster. Before I had it, I thought it was disgusted to eat. And I even missed mother’s cook and fish and fries. But my father encouraged me to swall ow it, which he thought was delicious. In order to earned his love and respect, I did, and that was the last time I had oyster.The passage tells us the history of chocolates and the progress of making cocoa beans into chocolates. It also tells us the reason we like chocolate so much and according to experiment, which proves that genetic trait makes us prefer to eat things with a sweet taste. But we just like chocolate not other sweet things. Although there are about 300 different chemicals in chocolate, we really d on’t know how all of these affect us.第三单元“Thinking for oneself”means consid ering facts and making d ecisions for oneself, instead of d epending on someone else’s judgment or d oing as they are told. Every step of real progress in our society has come from it, yet thinking for ourselves is still a radical act. In most circles, especially in places that shape our lives, thinking for ourselves is regarded with suspicion, and even seen as dangerous. Hardly anyone has been encouraged, much l ess trained to d o it. I was once forced by my advanced algebra mentor to write d own the sum of a number that d oes not exist. Even though scared by such a humiliating experience, I gradually examined and valued the concept of d eveloping our own thinking which has at least been introduced into my academic life. Thinking for oneself is associated with the positive values of being independent, creative and original.Activist learners generate new ideas and try things out; Reflectors form their own judgments from listening, observing and reflecting; Theorists resort to logical reasoning and assimilating new information into a rational scheme. Pragmatists prefer testing ideas withpractical values to open-ended discussions. This passage tells us how to improve study skills among these ways, such as lectures and note-taking, earning styles, activist, reflector, theorist, pragmatist, doing research, writing essays.Tips for d oing research1. Do not get bogged d own in the research2. Break up the process into stages3. Apply a step-by-step approach to reading4. Decid e a reading rate and style in accordance with the type of reading material and your purpose in readingTips for writing essays1. Have a plan2. Work out the title3. Finish the first draft4. Make modifications for the sake of read ers第四单元As far back as I can remember, the large pickle jar sat on the floor beside the dresser in my parents’ bedroom. When Dad got ready for bed, he would empty pockets and toss his coins into the jar. When the jar was full, the money were for my college fund. The year passed and I finished college and the jar was gone. A lump rose in my threat, because the pickl e had taught me the values of determination, perseverance, and faith. The first Christmas after my daughter born, I returned with my family. To my amazement, on the floor besid e the dresser stood the pickl e jar again. I realized my father was saving for my daughter’s education. The jar shows a continuity of family.Venus and Serena Williams are two of the most famous tennis players in the world. They have differences the way any siblings do. For instance, Serena is a littl e bit more outgoing than Venus ,a little bite more prepared to take risks. But on the other hand, she is more prepared to take risks. But on the other hand ,she is more outspoken, more likely to get things off her chest. What’s more, Serena is not as humorous as Venus.In spite of so many differences in their characters, they have a lot in common. Both of them started playing tennis at an age when kids seld om played. Whil e playing tennis ,they had no distractions. Since they weren’t born with sliver spoons in their mouth, they are cl ear that they have to earn anything that come their way. Most of importance of all is that both of them are very determined to d o well, to succeed, to do the best they possibly can. All these similarities in their characters play significant parts.第五单元All over the English-speaking worl d, newspaper circulation has been confronted with a long-term trend of d ecline. The decline comes much from the challenge of Internet and the negative environmental impact of newspaper industry . The challenge of internet mainly focuses on its attraction to read ers and minute-by-minute ads monitoring system. But maybe the newspaper won’t die without struggle. Besid es its convenience over laptop, the demand for local news and the exploitation of lifestyl e journalism will create new revenue streams. And more interestingly, the ritual of reading the newspaper has become a hard habit tobreak.What exactly is news? The objective importance and the historical, international significance of an event is not enough. It is the odd, unexpected and human nature that mad e news like 9/11 memorable and newsworthy. So is immediacy which refers to the nearness of the event in time.When it comes to immediacy, those media like TV, radio and Internet have an enormous advantage over the press. However, no matter what form it may take, all the media more or less covertly, influence the public. That is the so-called power of the media.In the new millennium, maybe the press or TV are not going to disappear overnight, but the power of the media may be erod ed.第六单元George lived on his own in a flat in south Lond on. He felt overwhelmed by the stupidity of people and ugliness of his surroundings, so he spent his days in an old and comfortabl e armchair reading great works of literature ,esp the classic works of travel writing, so that from the d eep warmth of his armchair ,he could travel in his mind to the far reaches of the world. One morning, he was browsing through a book by Marcel Pagnol, whose visions of Provence aroused his keen interest to see Provence for himself. Unable to contain his curiosity, he went to the station and departure time approached, he gradually felt that it woul d be tiring and uncomfortable to travel. He was sudd enly stuck by the realization that as a stranger, he woul d never experience the warmth and col ors of his mind,so he went back home and resolved never to l eave home again.On a warm July night ,we arrived late in Druskininkai for a Lithuanian conference for English teachers. We were tired and decided to rest, but the car d oors banging and slamming on the hotel door at approximately two-minute intervals prevent us from sleeping . Although the mayor was as good as his word the hotel was cl osed the next night, but the noise was worse than the night before. At the farewell party, two song-and-dance groups were invited to perform traditional Lithuanian folk singing and dancing. But unfortunately, they were not only rivals but deadly enemies, and neither wanted to yield to, the other. So the concert was twice as l ong as had been intended. Some peopl e tried to leave quietly by a side door. However they came to a dead end and were squashed into a cupboard. Sud denly ,the d oor burst open and people fell out and ran away, with handkerchiefs stuffed in their mouths to stop themselves laughing.第一单元Today, a gap year refers mostly to a year taken before starting university or college. During their gap year, American students either engage in advanced academic courses or do some volunteer work to improve their knowledge, maturity, decision-making, leadership, independence, self-sufficiency and more, thus improving their résumés before going to college. British and European students, however, take a much more holiday-style approach to the gap year by generally working for 3–6 months and then travelling around the world before college begins. This is intended to expand their minds, personal confidence, experiences and interests prior to college. It is a much less structured approach than taken in the United States, and is generally viewed by parents as a formative year for young adults to become independent and learn a great deal of responsibility prior to engaging in university life.如今，间隔年最为普遍的含义是指上大学前的一年。