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2023年21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇(范例推荐)

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21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword1  BillGates  Thepasttwentyyearshavebeenanincredibleadventureforme.Itstart下面是小编为大家整理的2023年21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇(范例推荐),供大家参考。

2023年21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇(范例推荐)

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword1

  Bill Gates

  The past twenty years have been an incredible adventure for me. It started on a day when, as a college sophomore, l stood in Harvard Square with my friend Paul Allen and pored over the description of a kit com*r in Popular Electronics magazine. As we read excitedly about the first truly personal com*r, Paul and I didn"t know exactly how it would be used, but we were sure it would change us and the world of computing. We were right. The personal com*r revolution happened and it has affected millions of lives. It has led us to places we had barely imagined.

  We are all beginning another great journey. We aren"t sure where this one will lead us either, but again I am certain this revolution will touch even more lives and take us all farther. The major changes coming will be in the way people communicate with each other. The benefits and problems arising from this upcoming communications revolution will be much greater than those brought about by the PC revolution.

  There is never a reliable map for unexplored territory, but we can learn important lessons from the creation and evolution of the $120-billion personal-com*r industry. The PC — its evolving hardware, business applications, on-line systems. Internet connections, electronic mail, multimedia titles, authoring tools, and games — is the foundation for the next revolution.

  During the PC industry"s infancy, the mass media paid little attention to what was going on in the brand-new business. Those of us who were attracted by com*rs and the possibilities they promised were unnoticed outside our own circles.

  But this next journey, to the so-called information highway, is the topic of endless newspaper and magazine articles, television and radio broadcasts, conferences, and widespread speculation. There has been an unbelievable amount of interest in this subject during the last few years, both inside and outside the com*r industry. The interest is not confined only to developed countries, and it goes well beyond the large numbers of personal-com*r users.

  Thousands of informed and uninformed people are now speculating publicly about the information highway. The amount of misunderstanding about the technology and its possible dangers surprises me. Some people think the highway is sim* today"s Internet or the delivery of 500 simultaneous channels of television. Others hope or fear it will create com*rs as smart as human beings. Those developments will come, but they are not the highway.

  The revolution in communications is just beginning. It will take place over several decades, and will be driven by new "applications" — new tools, often meeting currently unforeseen needs. During the next few years, major decisions will have to be made. It is crucial that a broad set of people — not just technologists or those who happen to be in the com*r industry — participate in the debate about how this technology should be shaped. If that can be done, the highway will serve the purposes users want. Then it will gain broad acceptance and become a reality.

  I"m writing this book The Road Ahead as part of my contribution to the debate and, although it"s a tall order, I hope it can serve as a travel guide for the forthcoming journey. I do this with some misgivings. We"ve all smiled at predictions from the past that look silly today. History is full of now ironic examples — the Oxford professor who in 1878 dismissed the electric light as a gimmick; the commissioner of U.S. patents who in 1899 asked that his office be abolished because "everything that can be invented has been invented." This is meant to be a serious book, although ten years from now it may not appear that way. What I"ve said that turned out to be right will be considered obvious and what was wrong will be humorous.

  Anyone expecting an autobiography or a treatise on what it"s like to have been as lucky as I have been will be disappointed. Perhaps when I"ve retired I will get around to writing that book. This book looks primarily to the future.

  Anyone hoping for a technological treatise will be disappointed, too. Everyone will be touched by the information highway, and everyone ought to be able to understand its implications. That"s why my goal from the very beginning was to write a book that as many people as possible could understand.

  The process of thinking about and writing the present book took longer than I expected. Indeed, estimating the time it would take proved to be as difficult as projecting the development schedule of a major software project. The only part that was easy was the cover photo which we finished well ahead of schedule. I enjoy writing speeches and had thought writing a book would be like writing them. I imagined writing a chapter would be the equivalent of writing a speech. The error in my thinking was similar to the one software developers often run into — a program ten times as long is about one hundred times more complicated to write. I should have known better.

  And here it is. I hope it stimulates understanding, debate, and creative ideas about how we can take advantage of all that"s sure to be happening in the decade ahead.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword2

  foreword

  n. a short introduction at the beginning of a book 序言,前言

  incredible

  a. unbelievable; extraordinary 难以置信的;了不起的

  sophomore

  n. a student in the second year of college or high school(中学、大学)二年级学生

  pore

  vi. (over) study with close attention 专心阅读;钻研

  description

  n. saying in words what sb. or sth. is like 描写,描述

  kit

  n. a set of all the parts needed to assemble sth. 配套元件

  *com*

  v. calculate ( a result, answer, sum, etc.) esp. with a com*r(尤指用计算机)计算

  barely

  ad. only just; hardly 仅仅;几乎不

  upcoming

  a. about to happen 即将来临的

  PC (abbr.)

  personal com*r 个人计算机

  reliable

  a. that can be relied on; dependable 可靠的; 确实的

  territory

  n. (an area of) land, esp. ruled by one government 领土

  *creation

  n. the act or process of creating sth. 创造; 创作

  evolution

  n. 1. the gradual change and development 演变,发展

  2. (the theory of) the development of the various types of plants, animals, etc., from earlier and simpler forms 进化(论)

  evolve

  vt. 演化,发展,逐步形成;进化

  application

  n. 1. (an instance of) putting to practical use 应用,运用

  2. a com*r software program 应用软件程序

  on-line

  a. 联机的,联线的

  Internet

  n. 因特网,国际互联网

  connection

  n. 连接,连结;联系,关系

  electronic

  a. 电子的

  multimedia

  n.& a. 多媒体(的)

  title

  n. (多媒体)题标;标题;题目

  author

  vt. 写作;创造

  n. 作者

  foundation

  n. 基础

  infancy

  n. 婴儿期;幼儿期;初期

  attract

  vt. cause to like, admire, notice, or turn towards; arouse (interest, etc.); prompt 引起…的注意(或兴趣等),吸引;引起(兴趣等);激起

  possibility

  n. 1. (often pi.) power of developing, growing, or being used or useful in the future [常用复数] 发展前途,潜在价值

  2. the state of being possible; likelihood 可能;可能性

  so-called

  a. called or named thus but perhaps wrongly or doubtfully 所谓的,号称的

  endless

  a. without end, or seeming to be without end(似乎)无穷尽的;没完没了的

  conference

  n. a meeting for discussion 会议,讨论会

  confine

  vt. (to) restrict or keep within certain limits 限制,使局限

  speculate

  vi. 猜测;投机

  amount

  n. 量,数量;总数,总额

  misunderstanding

  n. 误解,曲解

  misunderstand

  v. 误解,误会

  delivery

  n. 传送;投递;运载

  *simultaneous

  a. happening or being done at the same time 同时发生的,同时进行的

  channel

  n. 频道;水道;海峡

  create

  vt. cause (sth. new) to exist; produce (sth. new) 创造;创作

  unforeseen

  a. not known in advance; unexpected 未预见到的;意料之外的

  crucial

  a. (to, for) of deciding importance 决定性的;至关重要的

  technologist

  n. an expert in technology 技术专家

  contribution

  n. 捐款;捐献;贡献

  debate

  n. a formal argument or discussion(就…)进行辩论

  v. have a debate about; take part in a debate 辩论;讨论

  purpose

  n. that which one means to do, get, be, etc.; intention 目的;意图

  acceptance

  n. 接受

  *forthcoming

  a. happening or appearing in the near future 即将到来的,即将出现的

  misgiving

  n. [复数] 疑虑,担忧

  prediction

  n. sth. that is said or described in advance 预言

  gimmick

  n. (骗人的)玩意儿

  *commissioner

  n. (*厅、局、处等部门的)长官;委员;专员

  *patent

  n. 专利;专利权

  *abolish

  vt. put an end to, do away with 取消,废除

  humorous

  a. funny and amusing; having or showing a sense of humour 幽默的;滑稽的`;富有幽默感的

  autobiography

  n. a book written by oneself about one"s own life 自传

  treatise

  n. 专著;(专题)论文

  retire

  vi. stop working at one"s job, profession, etc., usu. because of age 退休,退职

  primarily

  ad. mainly; chiefly 主要地;首要地

  technological

  a. of or related to technology 技术的;工艺(学)的

  implication

  n. 含意,暗示

  process

  n. 过程;进程

  estimate

  vt. 估计,估量

  n. 估计

  project

  vt. make plans for 设计,规划

  n. 规划,计划;(工程)项目

  chapter

  n. (书的)章,回

  equivalent

  n. sth. that is equal in meaning, amount, value 相等物;等值物;等量物

  a. 相等的;等值的;等量的

  complicated

  a. very difficult to understand 复杂的;难解的;难懂的

  stimulate

  vt. excite (the body or mind), encourage 刺激;激发;促使

  advantage

  n. 有利条件,优势;好处;利益

  Phrases and Expressions

  communicate with

  share or exchange opinions, news, information, etc. with 与…交流

  arise from

  result from 由 … 产生,由 … 引起

  bring about

  cause to happen 带来,造成

  go on

  take place or happen 发生

  go beyond

  exceed 超过;越过

  tall order

  a task difficult to perform 难以完成的任务,过高要求

  get around to /get round to

  find time for (sth. or doing sth.) 抽出时间去做

  look to

  give one"s attention to 展望

  ahead of schedule

  before the planned or expected time 提前

  run into

  1. meet (difficulties, etc.) 遭遇(困难等)

  2. meet by chance 偶然碰见,撞见

  take advantage of

  make use of 利用


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇扩展阅读


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇(扩展1)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元7课文讲解60篇

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元7课文讲解1

  Roger Wilkins

  My favorite teacher"s name was "Dead-Eye" Bean. Her real name was Dorothy. She taught American history to eighth graders in a junior high school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was the fall of 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt was president; American troops were battling their way across France; I was a 12-year-old black newcomer in a school that was otherwise all white. When we moved in, the problem for our new neighbors was that their neighborhood had previously been all-white and they were ignorant about black people. The prevailing wisdom in the neighborhood was that we were spoiling it and that we ought to go back where we belonged. There was a lot of angry talk among the *s, but nothing much came of it.

  But some of the kids were quite nasty during those first few weeks. They threw stones at me, chased me home when I was on foot and spat on my bike seat when I was in class. For a time, I was a pretty lonely, friendless and sometimes frightened kid.

  I now know that Dorothy Bean understood most of that and deplored it. So things began to change when I walked into her classroom. She was a pleasant-looking single woman, who looked old and wrinkled to me at the time, but who was probably about 40.

  Whereas my other teachers approached the problem of easing in their new black pupil by ignoring him for the first few weeks, Miss Bean went right at me. On the morning after having read our first assignment, she asked me the first question. I later came to know that in Grand Rapids, she was viewed as a very liberal person who believed, among other things, that Negroes were equal.

  I gulped and answered her question and the follow-up. They weren"t brilliant answers, but they did establish the fact that I could speak English. Later in the hour, when one of my classmates had bungled an answer, Miss Bean came back to me with a question that required me to clean up the girl"s mess and established me as a smart person.

  Thus, the teacher began to give me human dimensions, though not perfect ones for an eighth grader. It was somewhat better to be, on one"s early days, a teacher"s pet than merely a dark presence in the back of the room.

  A few days later, Miss Bean became the first teacher ever to require me to think. She asked my opinion about something Jefferson had done. In those days, all my opinions were derivative. I was for Roosevelt because my parents were and I was for the Yankees because my older buddy from Harlem was a Yankee fan. Besides, we didn"t have opinions about historical figures like Jefferson. Like our high school building, he just was.

  After I had stared at her for a few seconds, she said: "Well, should he have bought Louisiana or not?"

  "I guess so," I replied tentatively.

  "Why?" she shot back.

  Why! What kind of question was that? But I ventured an answer. Day after day, she kept doing that to me, and my answers became stronger and more confident. She was the first teacher to give me the sense that thinking was part of education and that I could form opinions that had some value.

  Her final service to me came on a day when my mind was wandering and I was idly digging my pencil into the writing surface on the arm of my chair. Miss Bean impulsively threw a hunk of gum eraser at me. By amazing chance, it hit my hand and sent the pencil flying. She gasped, and I crept hurriedly after my pencil as the class roared.

  That was the ice breaker. Afterward, kids came up to me to laugh about "Old Dead-Eye Bean." The incident became a legend, and I, a part of that story, became a person to talk to.

  So that"s how I became just another kid in school and Dorothy Bean became "Old Dead-Eye."

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元7课文讲解2

  Listen to the tape again. Then, choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

  1. How did their new white neighbors treat the author"s family?

  A) Both the *s and the children were welcoming.

  B) The *s were welcoming, but the children were unfriendly.

  C) The *s were unfriendly, but the children were welcoming.

  D) Both the *s and the children were unfriendly.

  2. How did Miss Bean treat the black student in class?

  A) She ignored him.

  B) She asked him only easy questions.

  C) She asked him difficult questions.

  D) She apologized for the other students" behavior.

  3. How did Miss Bean teach the author to think for himself?

  A) She made him memorize sayings about the old west.

  B) She made him give his opinions and tell why he thought that way.

  C) She made him study the history of France.

  D) She threw an eraser at him.

  4. After Miss Bean threw the eraser, how was the school different?

  A) Miss Bean had a new nickname.

  B) The other students were more friendly towards the black student.

  C) Everyone paid more attention in Miss Bean"s class.

  D) Both A) and B).


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇(扩展2)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册克隆的课文介绍60篇

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册克隆的课文介绍1

  good Science or Baaaad Jdea

  Chana Freimans Stiefel

  Just before President Clinton heads to the hospital for knee surgery, he asks another Bill Clinton to meet Russian President Boris Yeltsin at an overseas meeting. Meanwhile, a third Bill Clinton is out playing golf, while a fourth is helping daughter Chelsea with a science project.

  Sound far-fetched? That day may come. Scientists in Scotland recently announced that, for the first time, they have cloned an exact copy of an * sheep. The cloned baby lamb, named Dolly, has the exact same genes as the * sheep from which she was cloned. In other words, the two are identical twins; only Dolly is six years younger. The goal of embryologist lan Wilmut, the lead scientist, is to develop a way to raise identical sheep that produce medications for humans.

  A week after Wilmut"s announcement, scientists in Oregon disclosed that they had used a different technique to clone monkeys, close cousins of humans. Faster than you can say "Frankenstein," these accomplishments triggered a worldwide debate: Should scientists be allowed to clone animals? Will humans be next? Is cloning unethical and dangerous—or is it a valuable research tool?

  All attempts at cloning were largely unsuccessful until 1984. That"s when a scientist in Denmark separated cells from a sheep"s embryo. An embryo is an early stage of development in which cells are busy dividing and "transforming" into specialized cells like skin, eye, or muscle cells.

  Unlike a skin cell, an embryo is on its way to becoming a complete living thing. The Danish scientist combined an embryo cell with an egg cell from another sheep. He implanted the fused cell - then a newly growing embryo - into a grown female sheep. To much surprise, the embryo grew into a baby lamb. Since then, other scientists have used embryos to clone cattle, pigs, goats, rabbits - and, now, even monkeys.

  So what makes Wilmut"s sheep unique? Instead of using early-stage embryo cells, Wilmut used cells from the udder of an * sheep. In theory, that"s like using one of your skin cells to clone a new you!

  Wilmut knew that each cell of the body contains a full set of genetic instructions—a blueprint to grow a complete individual. (The only exceptions are egg and sperm cells, each of which contains half the genes to grow a new individual.) Once cells have specialized, on their way to becoming skin or eye or udder cells, most of the genetic instructions to make a full being are turned off. Until now, scientists believed that specialized cells could not be used to form a complete organism.

  Wilmut proved them wrong. He found a way to "reprogram" an udder cell and make it grow into a new cloned lamb. An amazing fact: Dolly has no biological father.

  Wilmut"s success didn"t come easily. He has been studying reproductive science for more than two decades. Last year, he used embryos to successfully clone two sheep. Then he forged ahead to clone an * sheep. But, of 277 udder cells he fused with egg cells, only 30 began to develop into embryos. He implanted 29 of those into female sheep. Only one * gave birth to a lamb.

  Other scientists have jumped in to repeat Wilmut"s experiment with other animals, including cows. And that"s what has scientists, animal-rights activists, politicians—even President Clinton — up in arms. How far, they wonder, will cloning go?

  Wilmut maintains that cloning animals has tremendous potential for helping people. Cloned sheep, he says, could be used as living drug factories. Scientists could "engineer" sheep that produce drugs in their milk. And by altering the proteins on the surfaces of animal organs to make them more like human organs, scientists believe they may be able to create a plentiful source of organ donors for people.

  Why not clone humans as organ donors? Theoretically, Wilmut says, there is no reason his techniques couldn"t someday be used to clone people. Think about the possibilities: a whole team of Michael Jordans, a scientific panel of Albert Einsteins, a movie starring and co-starring Brad Pitt.

  On a more serious note, some fertility specialists argue that couples who have difficulty conceiving a baby could make copies of themselves. And parents whose child has a fatal disease like cancer might be able to clone the child, creating a twin who is an exact match for bone-marrow donation.

  But even lan Wilmut draws the line at cloning humans. "All of us would find that offensive," he says. Several countries, including Britain, Denmark, Germany, and Australia, have outlawed all scientific work on cloning humans. The U.S. has no such law, but President Clinton has set up a panel of scientists and ethicists to study the issue. In the meantime, Clinton has imposed a ban on using Federal money to clone humans.

  Humans are more than the sum of their genes, argues Mark Hanson, an ethicist at an ethics research institute in Briarcliff Manor, New York. Though they look exactly the same, clones are not necessarily carbon copies. The younger twin might grow up with different influences—say, unusual friends or special teachers. A cloned Albert Einstein might flunk physics. A cloned Madonna might sing off-key.

  Say you were cloned. Would your twin live a shorter life because he or she started out with teenage genes? Scientists aren"t sure. And how could you prevent someone from taking a sample of your hair and making a clone of you? Again, no solutions.

  Some opponents of cloning also object to the use of animals as research tools. "Next, they"ll be cloning minks and foxes to make more fur coats," says Cleveland Amory, president and founder of the Fund for Animals, an animal rights group.

  What do you think? Should scientists be allowed to clone animals? How about humans?

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册克隆的课文介绍2

  cloning

  n. 克隆,无性繁殖

  surgery

  n. 手术;外科

  overseas

  a. existing somewhere across the sea; foreign (在)海外的;外国的

  ad. to, at, or in somewhere across the sea 向海外;在海外

  meanwhile

  ad. during the same period of time 同时

  golf

  n. 高尔夫球

  far-fetched

  a. improbable; not naturally connected 不大可能的;牵强的

  lamb

  n. a young sheep; the meat of a young sheep 羔羊;羔羊肉

  gene

  n. 基因

  identical

  a. 1. (with, to) exactly alike 一模一样的a.

  2. the same 同一的

  3. 同卵的

  twin

  n. 孪生儿之一;[复数] 双胞胎

  a. 孪生的;成双的.

  identical twins

  [复数] 同卵双生胎;全等双生胎

  embryologist

  n. 胚胎学家

  *medication

  n. 1. medicine used to cure illness 药物

  2. 药物治疗

  *disclose

  vt. 1. make known 透露;使公开

  2. show by uncovering 使显露

  *clone

  vt. 克隆,(无性繁殖)复制

  accomplishment

  n. a remarkable achievement 成就;造诣

  *trigger

  vt. (off) start (a chain of events) 触发;激起

  n. 板机;引爆器

  unethical

  a. morally wrong 不道德的

  attempt

  n. an effort made to do sth. 企图,尝试

  vt. make an effort at; try 试图做

  cell

  n. 细胞

  embryo

  n. 胚胎

  transform

  vt. change completely in form, appearance or nature 彻底改变;将…转化

  specialized, -ised

  a. 1. fit for one particular purpose 专门的

  2. 专化的;特化的

  specialize, -ise

  v. 1. 专化,特化

  2.(in)专攻;专门研究

  muscle

  n. 肌肉

  implant

  vt. (in, into) fix dee* in the body or mind 植入;灌输

  fuse

  vt. 1. cause to melt in great heat 熔化

  2. cause to join by melting 熔合

  female

  a. 女性的;雌的

  n. 女子;雌性动物

  rabbit

  n. 野兔;兔肉

  udder

  n. (母牛、母山羊的)乳房;乳腺

  contain

  vt. hold, have within itself 包含,容纳

  *genetica. 遗传的;基因的

  blueprint

  n. a photographic copy in white or blue paper 蓝图;计划

  exception

  n. 例外

  organism

  n. 1. a living being 生物,有机体

  2. a whole made of special parts 有机组织

  reprogram

  vt. l. 改编…的编码指令序列

  2. 为…重新编程

  reproductive

  a. concerned with producing young or copying 生殖的;复制的

  *forge

  vi. (ahead) move steadily and purposely forward 稳步前进

  activist

  n. a person who takes or supports vigorous action, esp. for a political cause 激进分子,积极分子

  tremendous

  a. very great in size, amount or degree 巨大的,极大的

  alter

  v. (cause to) become different 改变,(使)变样

  protein

  n. 蛋白质

  organ

  n. 1. a part of the body with a particular function 器官n.

  2. 风琴;管风琴

  plentiful

  a. existing in large amounts or numbers 充足的,丰富的

  donor

  n. l.(组织、器官等的)供体,供者

  2. a person who gives or presents 赠送人;捐赠者

  theoretically

  ad. according to theory 理论上

  panel

  n. 1. a small group of people chosen to do sth. 专门小组

  2. 镶板;嵌板

  co-star

  vt. 使联袂主演

  fertility

  n. 繁殖力;肥沃

  specialist

  n. expert 专家

  *conceive

  vt. 1. become pregnant (with a child) 怀(孕);受(孕)

  2. think of, imagine 构想;设想

  fatal

  a. 1. causing death 致命的

  2. very dangerous and unfortunate 毁灭性的;不幸的

  marrow

  n. 髓,骨髓

  bonemarrow

  n. 骨髓

  donation

  n. the act of donating or sth. donated 捐赠;捐赠物

  offensive

  a. causing offense; unpleasant 冒犯的;使人难受的

  outlaw

  vt. declare unlawful 宣布…为非法

  n. criminal 歹徒;逃犯

  ethicist

  n. 伦理学家

  meantime

  n. the time between two events 其间,其时

  impose

  vt. (on, upon) 1. force the acceptance of 把…强加于

  2. establish (an additional payment) officially 征(税)

  ban

  n. (on) an order to forbid sth. 禁令;禁止

  vt. forbid by law 禁止;取缔

  federal

  a. l. [F-](美国)联邦*的

  2. 联盟的;联邦的

  *ethics

  n. 伦理学;道德学

  flunk

  vt. fail (an examination or course) 通不过(考试等)

  off-key

  a. 走调的,不和谐的

  opponent

  n. a person who acts against sb. or sth. or who takes the opposite side 反对者;对手;敌手

  mink

  n. 水貂;水貂毛皮

  Phrases and Expressions

  for the first time

  第一次,破天荒

  in other words

  expressing the same meaning in another way 换句话说

  on one"s way to

  moving towards 接近,将要

  to much surprise

  令人大为惊异的是

  in theory

  理论上

  give birth to

  produce 产(仔);生(孩子)

  jump in

  join in with vigor or eagerness (踊跃或热切地)加入

  up in arms

  angry (about sth.) and protesting strongly 极力反对

  draw the line at

  refuse to do or accept 拒绝做;拒绝接受

  set up

  found or establish 设立,建立

  in the meantime

  in the period of time between two events 在此期间,与此同时

  start out

  begin 开始

  object to

  be against 反对


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇(扩展3)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword (菁选2篇)

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword1

  Bill Gates

  The past twenty years have been an incredible adventure for me. It started on a day when, as a college sophomore, l stood in Harvard Square with my friend Paul Allen and pored over the description of a kit computer in Popular Electronics magazine. As we read excitedly about the first truly personal computer, Paul and I didn"t know exactly how it would be used, but we were sure it would change us and the world of computing. We were right. The personal computer revolution happened and it has affected millions of lives. It has led us to places we had barely imagined.

  We are all beginning another great journey. We aren"t sure where this one will lead us either, but again I am certain this revolution will touch even more lives and take us all farther. The major changes coming will be in the way people communicate with each other. The benefits and problems arising from this upcoming communications revolution will be much greater than those brought about by the PC revolution.

  There is never a reliable map for unexplored territory, but we can learn important lessons from the creation and evolution of the $120-billion personal-computer industry. The PC — its evolving hardware, business applications, on-line systems. Internet connections, electronic mail, multimedia titles, authoring tools, and games — is the foundation for the next revolution.

  During the PC industry"s infancy, the mass media paid little attention to what was going on in the brand-new business. Those of us who were attracted by computers and the possibilities they promised were unnoticed outside our own circles.

  But this next journey, to the so-called information highway, is the topic of endless newspaper and magazine articles, television and radio broadcasts, conferences, and widespread speculation. There has been an unbelievable amount of interest in this subject during the last few years, both inside and outside the computer industry. The interest is not confined only to developed countries, and it goes well beyond the large numbers of personal-computer users.

  Thousands of informed and uninformed people are now speculating publicly about the information highway. The amount of misunderstanding about the technology and its possible dangers surprises me. Some people think the highway is sim* today"s Internet or the delivery of 500 simultaneous channels of television. Others hope or fear it will create computers as smart as human beings. Those developments will come, but they are not the highway.

  The revolution in communications is just beginning. It will take place over several decades, and will be driven by new "applications" — new tools, often meeting currently unforeseen needs. During the next few years, major decisions will have to be made. It is crucial that a broad set of people — not just technologists or those who happen to be in the computer industry — participate in the debate about how this technology should be shaped. If that can be done, the highway will serve the purposes users want. Then it will gain broad acceptance and become a reality.

  I"m writing this book The Road Ahead as part of my contribution to the debate and, although it"s a tall order, I hope it can serve as a travel guide for the forthcoming journey. I do this with some misgivings. We"ve all smiled at predictions from the past that look silly today. History is full of now ironic examples — the Oxford professor who in 1878 dismissed the electric light as a gimmick; the commissioner of U.S. patents who in 1899 asked that his office be abolished because "everything that can be invented has been invented." This is meant to be a serious book, although ten years from now it may not appear that way. What I"ve said that turned out to be right will be considered obvious and what was wrong will be humorous.

  Anyone expecting an autobiography or a treatise on what it"s like to have been as lucky as I have been will be disappointed. Perhaps when I"ve retired I will get around to writing that book. This book looks primarily to the future.

  Anyone hoping for a technological treatise will be disappointed, too. Everyone will be touched by the information highway, and everyone ought to be able to understand its implications. That"s why my goal from the very beginning was to write a book that as many people as possible could understand.

  The process of thinking about and writing the present book took longer than I expected. Indeed, estimating the time it would take proved to be as difficult as projecting the development schedule of a major software project. The only part that was easy was the cover photo which we finished well ahead of schedule. I enjoy writing speeches and had thought writing a book would be like writing them. I imagined writing a chapter would be the equivalent of writing a speech. The error in my thinking was similar to the one software developers often run into — a program ten times as long is about one hundred times more complicated to write. I should have known better.

  And here it is. I hope it stimulates understanding, debate, and creative ideas about how we can take advantage of all that"s sure to be happening in the decade ahead.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword2

  foreword

  n. a short introduction at the beginning of a book 序言,前言

  incredible

  a. unbelievable; extraordinary 难以置信的;了不起的

  sophomore

  n. a student in the second year of college or high school(中学、大学)二年级学生

  pore

  vi. (over) study with close attention 专心阅读;钻研

  description

  n. saying in words what sb. or sth. is like 描写,描述

  kit

  n. a set of all the parts needed to assemble sth. 配套元件

  *compute

  v. calculate ( a result, answer, sum, etc.) esp. with a computer(尤指用计算机)计算

  barely

  ad. only just; hardly 仅仅;几乎不

  upcoming

  a. about to happen 即将来临的

  PC (abbr.)

  personal computer 个人计算机

  reliable

  a. that can be relied on; dependable 可靠的; 确实的

  territory

  n. (an area of) land, esp. ruled by one government 领土

  *creation

  n. the act or process of creating sth. 创造; 创作

  evolution

  n. 1. the gradual change and development 演变,发展

  2. (the theory of) the development of the various types of plants, animals, etc., from earlier and simpler forms 进化(论)

  evolve

  vt. 演化,发展,逐步形成;进化

  application

  n. 1. (an instance of) putting to practical use 应用,运用

  2. a computer software program 应用软件程序

  on-line

  a. 联机的,联线的

  Internet

  n. 因特网,国际互联网

  connection

  n. 连接,连结;联系,关系

  electronic

  a. 电子的

  multimedia

  n.& a. 多媒体(的)

  title

  n. (多媒体)题标;标题;题目

  author

  vt. 写作;创造

  n. 作者

  foundation

  n. 基础

  infancy

  n. 婴儿期;幼儿期;初期

  attract

  vt. cause to like, admire, notice, or turn towards; arouse (interest, etc.); prompt 引起…的注意(或兴趣等),吸引;引起(兴趣等);激起

  possibility

  n. 1. (often pi.) power of developing, growing, or being used or useful in the future [常用复数] 发展前途,潜在价值

  2. the state of being possible; likelihood 可能;可能性

  so-called

  a. called or named thus but perhaps wrongly or doubtfully 所谓的,号称的

  endless

  a. without end, or seeming to be without end(似乎)无穷尽的;没完没了的

  conference

  n. a meeting for discussion 会议,讨论会

  confine

  vt. (to) restrict or keep within certain limits 限制,使局限

  speculate

  vi. 猜测;投机

  amount

  n. 量,数量;总数,总额

  misunderstanding

  n. 误解,曲解

  misunderstand

  v. 误解,误会

  delivery

  n. 传送;投递;运载

  *simultaneous

  a. happening or being done at the same time 同时发生的,同时进行的

  channel

  n. 频道;水道;海峡

  create

  vt. cause (sth. new) to exist; produce (sth. new) 创造;创作

  unforeseen

  a. not known in advance; unexpected 未预见到的;意料之外的

  crucial

  a. (to, for) of deciding importance 决定性的;至关重要的

  technologist

  n. an expert in technology 技术专家

  contribution

  n. 捐款;捐献;贡献

  debate

  n. a formal argument or discussion(就…)进行辩论

  v. have a debate about; take part in a debate 辩论;讨论

  purpose

  n. that which one means to do, get, be, etc.; intention 目的;意图

  acceptance

  n. 接受

  *forthcoming

  a. happening or appearing in the near future 即将到来的,即将出现的

  misgiving

  n. [复数] 疑虑,担忧

  prediction

  n. sth. that is said or described in advance 预言

  gimmick

  n. (骗人的)玩意儿

  *commissioner

  n. (*厅、局、处等部门的)长官;委员;专员

  *patent

  n. 专利;专利权

  *abolish

  vt. put an end to, do away with 取消,废除

  humorous

  a. funny and amusing; having or showing a sense of humour 幽默的;滑稽的`;富有幽默感的

  autobiography

  n. a book written by oneself about one"s own life 自传

  treatise

  n. 专著;(专题)论文

  retire

  vi. stop working at one"s job, profession, etc., usu. because of age 退休,退职

  primarily

  ad. mainly; chiefly 主要地;首要地

  technological

  a. of or related to technology 技术的;工艺(学)的

  implication

  n. 含意,暗示

  process

  n. 过程;进程

  estimate

  vt. 估计,估量

  n. 估计

  project

  vt. make plans for 设计,规划

  n. 规划,计划;(工程)项目

  chapter

  n. (书的)章,回

  equivalent

  n. sth. that is equal in meaning, amount, value 相等物;等值物;等量物

  a. 相等的;等值的;等量的

  complicated

  a. very difficult to understand 复杂的;难解的;难懂的

  stimulate

  vt. excite (the body or mind), encourage 刺激;激发;促使

  advantage

  n. 有利条件,优势;好处;利益

  Phrases and Expressions

  communicate with

  share or exchange opinions, news, information, etc. with 与…交流

  arise from

  result from 由 … 产生,由 … 引起

  bring about

  cause to happen 带来,造成

  go on

  take place or happen 发生

  go beyond

  exceed 超过;越过

  tall order

  a task difficult to perform 难以完成的任务,过高要求

  get around to /get round to

  find time for (sth. or doing sth.) 抽出时间去做

  look to

  give one"s attention to 展望

  ahead of schedule

  before the planned or expected time 提前

  run into

  1. meet (difficulties, etc.) 遭遇(困难等)

  2. meet by chance 偶然碰见,撞见

  take advantage of

  make use of 利用


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇(扩展4)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册Unit4课文简介60篇

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册Unit4课文简介1

  Isaac Bashevis Singer

  She was a small woman, old and wrinkled. When she started washing for us, she was already past seventy. Most Jewish women of her age were sickly and weak. All the old women in our street had bent backs and leaned on sticks when they walked. But this washwoman, small and thin as she was, possessed a strength that came from generations of peasant forebears. Mother would count out to her a bundle of laundry that had accumulated over several weeks. She would then lift the bundle, put it on her narrow shoulders, and carry it the long way home.

  She would bring the laundry back about two weeks later. My mother had never been so pleased with any washwoman. Yet she charged no more than the others. She was a real find. Mother always had her money ready, because it was too far for the old woman to come a second time.

  Laundering was not easy in those days. The old woman had no running water where she lived but had to bring in the water from a pump. And the drying! It could not be done outside because thieves would steal the laundry. So it had to be carried up to the attic and hung on clotheslines. Only God knows what the old woman had to endure each time she did a wash!

  She could have begged at the church door or entered a home for the penniless and aged. But there was in her a certain pride and love of labor with which many members of the labor force have been blessed. The old woman did not want to become a burden, and so she bore her burden.

  The woman had a son who was rich. He was ashamed of his mother, and never came to see her. Nor did he ever give her money. The old woman told this without bitterness. When the son got married, the wedding took place in a church. The son had not invited the old mother to his wedding, but she went to the church anyway and waited at the steps to see her son lead the bride to the altar.

  One day the washwoman, now nearly eighty years old, came to our house. A good deal of laundry had accumulated during the past weeks. Mother gave her a pot of tea to warm herself, as well as some bread. The old woman sat on a kitchen chair trembling and shaking, and warmed her hands against the teapot. Her fingernails were strangely white. These hands spoke of the stubbornness of mankind, of the will to work not only as one"s strength permits but beyond the limits of one"s power. It was sad to watch the old woman stagger out with the big bundle and disappear.

  Usually the woman brought back the wash after two or, at the most, three weeks. But three weeks passed, then four and five, and nothing was heard of the old woman.

  For us the washwoman"s absence was a catastrophe. We needed the laundry. We did not even know the woman"s address. It seemed certain that she had collapsed, died. Mother declared she had had a premonition that we would never see our things again. We mourned, both for the laundry and for the old woman who had grown close to us through the years she had served us so faithfully.

  More than two months passed. One evening, while Mother was sitting near the lamp mending a shirt, the door opened and a small puff of steam, followed by a huge bundle, entered. Under the bundle tottered the old woman, her face as white as a linen sheet. Mother uttered a half-choked cry, as though a corpse had entered the room. I ran toward the old woman and helped her unload her bundle. She was even thinner now, more bent. She could not utter a clear word, but mumbled something with her sunken mouth and pale lips.

  After the old woman had recovered somewhat, she told us that she had been ill, very ill. In fact, she had been so sick that someone had called a doctor, and the doctor had sent for a priest. Someone had informed the son, and he had contributed money for a coffin. But God had not yet wanted to take this poor soul to Himself. She began to feel better, she became well, and as soon as she was able to stand on her feet once more, she resumed her washing. Not just ours, but the wash of several other families too.

  "I could not rest easy in my bed because of the wash," the old woman explained. "The wash would not let me die."

  "With the help of God you will live to be a hundred and twenty," said my mother.

  "God forbid! What good would such a long life be? The work becomes harder and harder ... my strength is leaving me ... I do not want to be a burden on any one!" The old woman muttered, crossed herself, and raised her eyes toward heaven. After getting paid, she left, promising to return in a few weeks for a new load of wash.

  But she never came back. The wash she had returned was her last effort on this earth. She had been driven by a strong will to return the property to its owners, to fulfill the task she had undertaken.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册Unit4课文简介2

  washwoman

  n. 洗衣妇

  wrinkled

  a. having or showing small folds or lines in the skin 有皱纹的

  *wrinkle

  vi. (esp. of the skin) form into lines, folds, etc. 起皱纹

  n. 皱纹

  Jewish

  a. of the Jews 犹太人的

  sickly

  a. often ill 常病的

  possess

  vt. own, have 拥有,具有

  generation

  n. a single stage or step in family descent 代,一代

  for(e)bear

  n. [常用复数] 祖先

  bundle

  n. (of) a number of articles tied, fastened or held together, usu. across the middle 捆,束,包

  laundry

  n. 1. clothes, sheets, etc., that need to be washed or have just been washed 付洗衣物;已洗好的衣物

  2. a place or business where clothes, etc., are washed and ironed 洗衣房,洗衣店

  accumulate

  vi. gradually increase in numbers or amount until there is a large quantity in one place 积累,积聚

  launder

  vi. wash and iron clothes, sheets, etc. 洗熨衣物

  pump

  n. 泵,抽(水)机

  attic

  n. 阁楼;顶楼

  clothesline

  n. 晾衣绳

  endure

  vt. suffer, undergo (pain, hardship, etc.) 忍受(痛苦、困难等),耐住

  penniless

  a. 身无分文的"

  *bless

  vt. (with) 使具有,使有权得到

  bear(bore, borne)

  vt. take (responsibility, etc.) on oneself 承担(责任等)

  wedding

  n. a marriage ceremony, esp. with a party or meal after a church service 婚礼

  bride

  n. 新娘

  altar

  n. (教堂内的)圣坛,祭坛

  kitchen

  n. 厨房,灶间

  teapot

  n. 茶壶

  fingernail

  n. 指甲

  stubbornness

  n. 倔强;顽强

  *stubborn

  a. 1. 顽固的, 倔强的

  2. 顽强的, 坚持的

  *stagger

  vi. have trouble standing or walking; move unsteadily on one"s feet 摇晃着移动; 蹒跚

  n. 摇晃不稳的动作; 蹒跚

  *catastrophe

  n. a terrible event that causes great suffering, misfortune, or ruin 灾难,灾祸,大祸

  collapse

  vi. (健康等)垮掉;倒坍

  premonition

  n. 预感

  *mourn

  vi. (for, over) feel and/or show grief, esp. for the death of someone; be sorrowful(尤指对某人的亡故)感到悲痛;哀悼

  faithfully

  ad. 1. with faith 忠实地

  2. exactly 如实地;确切地

  faithful

  a. 1. loyal and true (to sb., to a cause, etc.) 忠实的,忠诚的

  2. true to the facts or to an original 如实的

  puff

  n. a sudden short rush of air, smoke, etc.(空气、烟雾等的)一阵,一股

  totter

  vi. walk with weak unsteady steps 蹒跚,踉跄

  *linen

  a. 亚麻(布)的

  n. 亚麻布(或线);亚麻织品(床单、被单、桌布等)

  utter

  vt. make (a sound); say 发出(声音);说,讲

  half-choked

  a. 半哽住的

  *corpse

  n. 死尸,尸体

  unload

  vt. 1. have (a load) removed 卸(货)

  2. remove a load from (sth.) 从 … 卸下货物

  vi. 卸货

  mumble

  v. speak (words) unclearly 含糊地说(话),咕哝

  sunken

  a. 下陷的;凹陷的

  recover

  vi. (from) return to the usual state of health, strength, ability, etc. 痊愈,复原;恢复

  somewhat

  ad. by some degree or amount; a little 稍微,有点

  priest

  n. 牧师,神父

  inform

  vt. (of, about) tell, give information to 告诉,通知

  contribute

  vt. join with others in giving (money, help, etc.) 捐(款),贡献,提供(帮助)

  coffin

  n. 棺材

  resume

  vt. begin (sth. or doing sth.) again after a pause (中断后)重新开始,继续

  *mutter

  vt. 轻声含糊地说

  load

  n. 一包(洗的衣物);负荷,负载

  vt. 装(货或人);把货物(或人)装上(车、船、飞机等)

  property

  n. 财产;所有物

  fulfil,-fill

  vt. do or perform (a duty, task, etc.) 履行,完成

  *undertake(undertook,undertaken)

  vt. accept responsibility for (a piece of work) and start to do it 承担

  Phrases and Expressions

  lean on

  rest in a sloping position on for support 靠在 …上,倚在 …上

  count out

  count one by one 逐一数出

  be blessed with

  be fortunate in having 有幸得到,具有

  take place

  举行,进行;发生,产生

  a (good /great) deal of

  quite a lot of 大量

  speak of

  suggest the idea of; show clearly that sth. happened or that it exists 显示;表明

  at (the) most

  not more than (the stated amount) 至多

  hear of

  receive news about (sb. or sth.) 获知…的消息,听到…的消息

  stand /be on one"s feet

  站起;(病后)恢复健康

  with the help of

  在 … 的帮助下

  God forbid!

  May it not happen! 上天不容!


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇(扩展5)

——21世纪大学英语Unit3读写教程60篇

21世纪大学英语Unit3读写教程1

  Have you ever paid tributes to your mother? Have you ever expressed your emotions on the theme of mothers? Here industrialist Ross Perot and Professor Michael DeBakey are eager to salute their own mothers.

  Mothers

  An old Jewish proverb says, "God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers."

  Ann Taylor expressed her emotions on the theme of mothers with the following:

  Who ran to help me when I fell,

  And would some pretty story tell,

  Or kiss the place to make it well?

  My mother.

  On account of the many tributes paid to mothers from the time of Eve, one might think the subject exhausted. But not so. Here, Industrialist Ross Perot and Professor Michael E. DeBakey are ready, indeed eager, to salute their own cherished mothers.

  My mother was an angel.

  Our family lived six blocks from the railroad tracks. During the Depression, the freight trains were filled with hoboes wandering from town to town looking for work. Every day they would come by our house asking for food. My kind mother would always share our food with them.

  These people were poor and desperate, but we had absolutely no fear of them. When they knocked and asked for food, there was no concern that they might break in and steal things.

  One day, a hobo said, "Lady, don"t you have a lot of people stopping by here?"

  My mother said, "Yes, we do."

  "Do you know why?" he asked.

  She replied, "Not really."

  Then he took her out to the street and showed her a mark on our curb. He said, "Lady, this mark on your curb says that you will feed people. That"s why you get so many visitors."

  After the man left, I turned to my mother and said, "Do you want me to wash that mark off the curb?"

  She replied with words that I will remember for the rest of my life. "No, Son, leave it there. These are good people. They are just like us, but they"re down on their luck. We should help them."

  Ross Perot

  Industrialist

  My mother"s birthday, Christmas, is symbolic of her human warmth, her giving nature, her noble character, and her high Christian values. She and my father instilled those values in all their children from the earliest age, and she lived to make life better not only for her family, but for everyone she knew, particularly those less fortunate than she.

  I recall vividly one incident in my childhood that had a lasting impact on me. Every Sunday after dinner, my parents would pack food, clothing, and books in our car and would drive, with their children, to an orphanage just outside our hometown. One Sunday I saw my mother packing a favorite cap of mine, and I protested. She calmly explained that I had several other caps and could easily get new ones, whereas the orphan who would receive this cap had none at all. She assured me that I would derive a special feeling of happiness when I saw the smile on the boy"s face as he put the cap on his head. That lesson made a deep impression on me, and the truth of her words has certainly stood the test of time as other incidents in my life have validated her words. I consider the wonderful parents that God gave me my greatest blessing, for they both believed it was always more blessed to give than to receive.

  Michael E. DeBakey, M.D.

  Professor

  (545 words)

21世纪大学英语Unit3读写教程2

  Jewish

  a. of the Jews 犹太人的

  proverb

  n. 谚语,语言

  emotion

  n. strong feeling of any kind 激情;情感

  theme

  n. the main subject or idea of a talk, book, movie, etc. (谈话、书、电影等的)题目,主题

  following

  a. 下列的,下述的

  account

  n. 理由,根据;账目

  * tribute

  n. a gift, speech of praise, etc., given as an expression of gratitude toward another(表示敬意的)礼物;颂词,称赞

  exhaust

  vt. 1. use up 用尽,耗尽

  2. talk about, write about or study a subject fully 详尽论述(某事物)

  industrialist

  n. a person engaged in the management of industry 工业家;实业家

  eager

  a. full of interest or desire; keen 热切的;渴望的;热心的

  * salute

  vt. honor or acknowledge with praise 颂扬

  * cherish

  vt. be fond of (sb./sth.); love 珍爱(某人/某事物);爱

  railroad

  n. (AmE) railway (美)铁路

  freight

  n. goods transported by ships, aeroplanes, or trains (水运、空运、陆运的)货物

  hobo

  n. (esp. AmE) an unemployed worker wandering from place to place (尤美)流动的失业工人;失业游民

  wander

  vi. move about without any special purpose or direction 游荡;闲逛;流浪

  desperate

  a. wild or dangerous because of despair (因绝望而)不顾一切的,拼命的

  absolutely

  ad. completely; beyond any doubt 完全地;绝对地

  concern

  n. worry; anxiety 担心;焦虑

  * curb

  n. (由路缘石砌成的`街道或人行道的)路缘

  symbolic

  a. 象征的,象征性的

  warmth

  n. the state or quality of being warm 热情;温暖

  character

  n. mental or moral qualities that make a person, group, nation, etc., different from others (个人、集体、民族等特有的)品质,特性

  Christian

  a. 基督教的;基督教徒的

  instill

  vt. put (ideas, feelings, etc.) gradually but firmly into sb"s mind by a continuous effort 逐渐灌输

  particularly

  ad. especially 特别,尤其

  fortunate

  a. lucky 幸运的

  recall

  vt. remember; bring (sth.) back to mind 记得;回想起

  vividly

  ad. in a lively manner 清晰地;生动地

  incident

  n. event or happening, often of little importance 事情,发生的事;小事

  childhood

  n. the condition or time of being a child 童年;幼年时代

  lasting

  a. continuing for a long time 持久的

  impact

  n. strong effect or influence on sb./sth. 影响;作用

  pack

  vt. put (items) into a container 把东西装进(箱子、盒子等)

  orphanage

  n. a place or institution for the housing and care of orphans 孤儿院

  hometown

  n. the town where one was born and lived while they were young 故乡,家乡

  favorite

  a. best liked 最喜欢的

  protest

  v. express strong disagreement or disapproval about (sth) *;对…提出异议

  calmly

  ad. *静地;镇定地

  whereas

  conj.compared with the fact that; while 然而,但是;而

  orphan

  n. a child whose parents are dead 孤儿

  assure

  vt. promise or tell sth. to (sb.) confidently or firmly 向…保证

  derive

  vt. get or obtain 取得,得到

  happiness

  n. 愉快,快乐,高兴

  impression

  n. an effect produced (esp. on the mind or feelings) 印象

  validate

  vt. 1. make (sth.) logical or justifiable 证实;确证

  2. make (sth.) legally effective 使(某事物)具有法律效力

  blessing

  n. God"s favour and protection (上帝的)赐福,保佑

  Phrases and Expressions

  on account of

  because of 因为,由于

  pay (a) tribute to sb./sth.

  express one"s admiration or respect for sb./sth. 对(某事物)表示赞赏或敬意

  look for

  search for or try to find (sb./sth.) 寻找;寻求

  come by

  visit a person or place for a short time, often when one is going somewhere else; get, obtain 访问,看望;得到,获得

  ask for

  expect or demand (sth.) 要;要求

  share with

  have a share of (sth.) with another or others 与别人分享(某物)

  break in

  get into a building by using force, usu. in order to steal sth. 强行闯入屋内,破门而入

  stop by

  pay a short visit to a person or place, usu. when one in going somewhere else (顺便)过访

  wash sth. off

  remove sth. from the surface of a material, etc., by washing 把某物冲洗掉

  be down on one"s luck

  have bad luck, esp. in money * 不走运;穷困潦倒

  at all

  (used with negatives or questions) in any way or of any type [用于否定句或疑问句]丝毫,一点;根本


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇(扩展6)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第5单元课文详解第四册60篇

21世纪大学英语读写教程第5单元课文详解第四册1

  Malcolm X

  Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those who read something I"ve said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade. This impression is due entirely to my prison studies.

  It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge. Bimbi had always taken charge of any conversation he was in, and I had tried to emulate him. But every book I picked up had few sentences which didn"t contain anywhere from one to nearly all of the words that might as well have been in Chinese. When I just skipped those words, of course, I really ended up with little idea of what the book said. So I had come to the Norfolk Prison Colony still going through only book-reading motions. Pretty soon, I would have quit even these motions, unless I had received the motivation that I did.

  I saw that the best thing I could do was get hold of a dictionary—to study, to learn some words. I was lucky enough to reason also that I should try to improve my penmanship. It was sad. I couldn"t even write in a straight line. It was both ideas together that moved me to request a dictionary along with some tablets and pencils from the Norfolk Prison Colony school.

  I spent two days just thumbing uncertainly through the dictionary"s pages. I"ve never realized so many words existed! I didn"t know which words I needed to learn. Finally, to start some kind of action, I began copying.

  In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into my tablet everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks.

  I believe it took me a day. Then, aloud, I read back, to myself, everything I"ve written on the tablet. Over and over, aloud, to myself, I read my own handwriting.

  I woke up the next morning, thinking about those words—immensely proud to realize that not only had I written so much at one time, but I"ve written words that I never knew were in the world. Moreover, with a little effort, I also could remember what many of these words meant. I reviewed the words whose meanings I didn"t remember. Funny thing, from the dictionary"s first page right now, that "aardvark" springs to my mind. The dictionary had a picture of it, a long-tailed, long-eared, burrowing African mammal, which lives off termites caught by sticking out its tongue as an anteater does for ants.

  I was so fascinated that I went on—I copied the dictionary"s next page. And the same experience came when I studied that. With every succeeding page, I also learned of people and places and events from history. Actually the dictionary is like a miniature encyclopedia. Finally the dictionary"s A section had filled a whole tablet—and I went on into the B"s. That was the way I started copying what eventually became the entire dictionary. I went a lot faster after so much practice helped me to pick up handwriting speed. Between what I wrote in my tablet, and writing letters, during the rest of my time in prison I would guess I wrote a million words.

  I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying. Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened. Let me tell you something; from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You couldn"t have got me out of books with a wedge. Between Mr. Muhammad"s teachings, my correspondence, my visitors, and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life...

  As you can imagine, especially in a prison where there was heavy emphasis on rehabilitation, an inmate was smiled upon if he demonstrated an unusually intense interest in books. There was a sizable number of well-read inmates, especially the popular debaters. Some were said by many to be practically walking encyclopedias. They were almost celebrities. No university would ask any student to devour literature as I did when this new world opened to me, of being able to read and understand.

  I read more in my room than in the library itself. An inmate who was known to read a lot could check out more than the permitted maximum number of books. I preferred reading in the total isolation of my own room.

  When I had progressed to really serious reading, every night at about ten p.m. I would be outraged with the "lights out." It always seemed to catch me right in the middle of something engrossing.

  Fortunately, right outside my door was a corridor light that cast a glow into my room. The glow was enough to read by, once my eyes adjusted to it. So when "lights out" came, I would sit on the floor where I could continue reading in that glow.

  At one-hour intervals the night guards paced past every room. Each time I heard the approaching footsteps, I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard passed, I got back out of bed onto the floor area of that light-glow, where I would read for another fifty-eight minutes—until the guard approached again. That went on until three or four every morning. Three or four hours of sleep a night was enough for me. Often in the years in the streets I had slept less than that.

  I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive. I certainly wasn"t seeking any degree, the way a college confers a status symbol upon its students. My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America. Not long ago, an English writer telephoned me from London, asking questions. One was, "What"s your alma mater?" I told him, "Books." You will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in which I"m not studying something I feel might be able to help the black man...

  Every time I catch a plane, I have with me a book that I want to read—and that"s a lot of books these days. If I weren"t out here every day battling the white man, I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity—because you can hardly mention anything I"m not curious about. I don"t think anybody ever got more out of going to prison than I did. In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college. I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions. Where else but in prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day?

21世纪大学英语读写教程第5单元课文详解第四册2

  emulate

  vt. imitate, especially from respect 仿效,模仿

  penmanship

  n. the skill or style of handwriting 书写的技巧(或风格),书法

  tablet

  n. 1. a pad of writing paper glued together along one edge 便笺簿,拍纸簿

  2. 药片

  thumb

  vi. (through) turn the pages of (a book, etc.) quickly 迅速翻阅(书等)

  painstaking

  a. done with, requiring or taking great care or trouble 刻苦的,下苦功的;煞费苦心的

  punctuation

  n. 标点符号 (=punctuation mark)

  burrow

  vt. dig (a hole, etc.) 挖(洞等)

  mammal

  n. 哺乳动物

  termite

  n. 白蚁

  anteater

  n. any of several mammals that feed largely or entirely on ants or termites 食蚁动物

  miniature

  a. very much smaller in size than is usual or normal 微型的,小型的

  inevitable

  a. incapable of being avoided or evaded 不可避免的`

  word-base

  n. the vocabulary one commands 词汇量

  broaden

  v. (cause to) become broad(er) (使)变宽,(使)变阔,扩大

  bunk

  n. a narrow bed built into a wall like a shelf (倚壁而设的)床铺

  wedge

  n. 1. 楔子

  2.(打高尔夫球用的)楔形铁头球棒

  correspondence

  n. communication by letters 通信

  correspond

  vi. 1. (with) 通信

  2. (to, with) 相符合;成一致

  3. (to) 相当,相类似

  imprison

  vt. put or keep (sb.) in or as if in prison 监禁,关押;禁锢

  rehabilitation

  n. restoration to a condition of health or useful and constructive activity 康复;(罪犯的)改造

  inmate

  n. a person confined (as in a prison or hospital) 囚徒;被收容者;住院者

  intense

  a. existing in an extreme degree 强烈的,极度的

  well-read

  a. well informed or dee* versed through reading 博学的,博览群书的

  debater

  n. 辩论家,好辩论者

  devour

  vt. enjoy avidly 贪婪地看(或听、读等)

  literature

  n. 文学,文学作品

  maximum

  n. the greatest quality or value attainable or attained 最大值,最大限度

  a. as high, great, intense, etc. as possible 最高的;最大的;最强的

  isolation

  n. solitude 隔离;孤立

  outrage

  vt. make very angry and shocked 激怒;激起…的义愤

  n. 1. a feeling of great anger and shock 义愤,愤怒

  2. a very cruel, violent, and shocking action or event 暴行;骇人听闻的事件

  engrossing

  a. taking up sb."s attention completely 使人全神贯注的

  corridor

  n. a passageway into which compartments or rooms open 走廊,过道

  interval

  n. a space of time between events; a space between objects, points or states (时间的)间隔;间歇;(空间的)间隔;空隙

  footstep

  n. 脚步,脚步声

  feign

  vt. give a false appearance of 假装,佯作

  light-glow

  n. 灯光

  vista

  n. 远景;前景

  dormant

  a. temporarily inactive 暂停活动的;休眠的;潜伏的

  confer

  vt. give or grant (a degree or title) to sb. 授予(某人)(学位或头衔)

  vi. discuss, talk together 讨论,商谈

  sensitivity

  n. the quality or state of being sensitive 敏感(性)

  dumbness

  n. lack of power of speech 哑

  alma mater

  n. a school, college, or university which one has attended or from which one has graduated 母校

  intensively

  ad. 加强地;集中地;密集地;透彻地

  ignorance

  n. the state or fact of lacking knowledge 无知,愚昧

21世纪大学英语读写教程第5单元课文详解第四册3

  in person

  physically present亲身,亲自

  take charge of

  take control of; become responsible for 控制;掌管

  go through the motions (of doing sth.)

  pretend to do sth.; do sth. without sincerity or serious intention 装出(做某事的)样子;敷衍

  get hold of

  take in the hands; manage to find 抓住;得到,找到

  along with

  together with 与…一起

  thumb through

  turn over (pages, etc.) quickly with one"s thumb 用拇指迅速地翻阅(书页等)

  down to

  下至,直到

  live off

  have as food; depend upon for support 以…为食;靠…生活

  stick out (cause to) project, stand out 伸出,突出

  pick up

  gain (speed) 增加(速度)

  up to

  up until 直到

  smile upon

  direct a smile towards; approve of or favor 对…微笑;赞许;惠及

  check out

  have the removal (of sth.) recorded 登记借出

  adjust to

  become used to 适应于

  reflect upon /on

  think dee* about; consider carefully 沉思;仔细考虑

  confer on /upon

  give (an honor, etc.) to (sb.) formally 把(某种荣誉等)授予(某人)


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇(扩展7)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元7课文讲解 (菁选2篇)

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元7课文讲解1

  Roger Wilkins

  My favorite teacher"s name was "Dead-Eye" Bean. Her real name was Dorothy. She taught American history to eighth graders in a junior high school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was the fall of 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt was president; American troops were battling their way across France; I was a 12-year-old black newcomer in a school that was otherwise all white. When we moved in, the problem for our new neighbors was that their neighborhood had previously been all-white and they were ignorant about black people. The prevailing wisdom in the neighborhood was that we were spoiling it and that we ought to go back where we belonged. There was a lot of angry talk among the adults, but nothing much came of it.

  But some of the kids were quite nasty during those first few weeks. They threw stones at me, chased me home when I was on foot and spat on my bike seat when I was in class. For a time, I was a pretty lonely, friendless and sometimes frightened kid.

  I now know that Dorothy Bean understood most of that and deplored it. So things began to change when I walked into her classroom. She was a pleasant-looking single woman, who looked old and wrinkled to me at the time, but who was probably about 40.

  Whereas my other teachers approached the problem of easing in their new black pupil by ignoring him for the first few weeks, Miss Bean went right at me. On the morning after having read our first assignment, she asked me the first question. I later came to know that in Grand Rapids, she was viewed as a very liberal person who believed, among other things, that Negroes were equal.

  I gulped and answered her question and the follow-up. They weren"t brilliant answers, but they did establish the fact that I could speak English. Later in the hour, when one of my classmates had bungled an answer, Miss Bean came back to me with a question that required me to clean up the girl"s mess and established me as a smart person.

  Thus, the teacher began to give me human dimensions, though not perfect ones for an eighth grader. It was somewhat better to be, on one"s early days, a teacher"s pet than merely a dark presence in the back of the room.

  A few days later, Miss Bean became the first teacher ever to require me to think. She asked my opinion about something Jefferson had done. In those days, all my opinions were derivative. I was for Roosevelt because my parents were and I was for the Yankees because my older buddy from Harlem was a Yankee fan. Besides, we didn"t have opinions about historical figures like Jefferson. Like our high school building, he just was.

  After I had stared at her for a few seconds, she said: "Well, should he have bought Louisiana or not?"

  "I guess so," I replied tentatively.

  "Why?" she shot back.

  Why! What kind of question was that? But I ventured an answer. Day after day, she kept doing that to me, and my answers became stronger and more confident. She was the first teacher to give me the sense that thinking was part of education and that I could form opinions that had some value.

  Her final service to me came on a day when my mind was wandering and I was idly digging my pencil into the writing surface on the arm of my chair. Miss Bean impulsively threw a hunk of gum eraser at me. By amazing chance, it hit my hand and sent the pencil flying. She gasped, and I crept hurriedly after my pencil as the class roared.

  That was the ice breaker. Afterward, kids came up to me to laugh about "Old Dead-Eye Bean." The incident became a legend, and I, a part of that story, became a person to talk to.

  So that"s how I became just another kid in school and Dorothy Bean became "Old Dead-Eye."

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册单元7课文讲解2

  Listen to the tape again. Then, choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

  1. How did their new white neighbors treat the author"s family?

  A) Both the adults and the children were welcoming.

  B) The adults were welcoming, but the children were unfriendly.

  C) The adults were unfriendly, but the children were welcoming.

  D) Both the adults and the children were unfriendly.

  2. How did Miss Bean treat the black student in class?

  A) She ignored him.

  B) She asked him only easy questions.

  C) She asked him difficult questions.

  D) She apologized for the other students" behavior.

  3. How did Miss Bean teach the author to think for himself?

  A) She made him memorize sayings about the old west.

  B) She made him give his opinions and tell why he thought that way.

  C) She made him study the history of France.

  D) She threw an eraser at him.

  4. After Miss Bean threw the eraser, how was the school different?

  A) Miss Bean had a new nickname.

  B) The other students were more friendly towards the black student.

  C) Everyone paid more attention in Miss Bean"s class.

  D) Both A) and B).


21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇(扩展8)

——21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册Unit4课文简介 (菁选2篇)

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册Unit4课文简介1

  Isaac Bashevis Singer

  She was a small woman, old and wrinkled. When she started washing for us, she was already past seventy. Most Jewish women of her age were sickly and weak. All the old women in our street had bent backs and leaned on sticks when they walked. But this washwoman, small and thin as she was, possessed a strength that came from generations of peasant forebears. Mother would count out to her a bundle of laundry that had accumulated over several weeks. She would then lift the bundle, put it on her narrow shoulders, and carry it the long way home.

  She would bring the laundry back about two weeks later. My mother had never been so pleased with any washwoman. Yet she charged no more than the others. She was a real find. Mother always had her money ready, because it was too far for the old woman to come a second time.

  Laundering was not easy in those days. The old woman had no running water where she lived but had to bring in the water from a pump. And the drying! It could not be done outside because thieves would steal the laundry. So it had to be carried up to the attic and hung on clotheslines. Only God knows what the old woman had to endure each time she did a wash!

  She could have begged at the church door or entered a home for the penniless and aged. But there was in her a certain pride and love of labor with which many members of the labor force have been blessed. The old woman did not want to become a burden, and so she bore her burden.

  The woman had a son who was rich. He was ashamed of his mother, and never came to see her. Nor did he ever give her money. The old woman told this without bitterness. When the son got married, the wedding took place in a church. The son had not invited the old mother to his wedding, but she went to the church anyway and waited at the steps to see her son lead the bride to the altar.

  One day the washwoman, now nearly eighty years old, came to our house. A good deal of laundry had accumulated during the past weeks. Mother gave her a pot of tea to warm herself, as well as some bread. The old woman sat on a kitchen chair trembling and shaking, and warmed her hands against the teapot. Her fingernails were strangely white. These hands spoke of the stubbornness of mankind, of the will to work not only as one"s strength permits but beyond the limits of one"s power. It was sad to watch the old woman stagger out with the big bundle and disappear.

  Usually the woman brought back the wash after two or, at the most, three weeks. But three weeks passed, then four and five, and nothing was heard of the old woman.

  For us the washwoman"s absence was a catastrophe. We needed the laundry. We did not even know the woman"s address. It seemed certain that she had collapsed, died. Mother declared she had had a premonition that we would never see our things again. We mourned, both for the laundry and for the old woman who had grown close to us through the years she had served us so faithfully.

  More than two months passed. One evening, while Mother was sitting near the lamp mending a shirt, the door opened and a small puff of steam, followed by a huge bundle, entered. Under the bundle tottered the old woman, her face as white as a linen sheet. Mother uttered a half-choked cry, as though a corpse had entered the room. I ran toward the old woman and helped her unload her bundle. She was even thinner now, more bent. She could not utter a clear word, but mumbled something with her sunken mouth and pale lips.

  After the old woman had recovered somewhat, she told us that she had been ill, very ill. In fact, she had been so sick that someone had called a doctor, and the doctor had sent for a priest. Someone had informed the son, and he had contributed money for a coffin. But God had not yet wanted to take this poor soul to Himself. She began to feel better, she became well, and as soon as she was able to stand on her feet once more, she resumed her washing. Not just ours, but the wash of several other families too.

  "I could not rest easy in my bed because of the wash," the old woman explained. "The wash would not let me die."

  "With the help of God you will live to be a hundred and twenty," said my mother.

  "God forbid! What good would such a long life be? The work becomes harder and harder ... my strength is leaving me ... I do not want to be a burden on any one!" The old woman muttered, crossed herself, and raised her eyes toward heaven. After getting paid, she left, promising to return in a few weeks for a new load of wash.

  But she never came back. The wash she had returned was her last effort on this earth. She had been driven by a strong will to return the property to its owners, to fulfill the task she had undertaken.

21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册Unit4课文简介2

  washwoman

  n. 洗衣妇

  wrinkled

  a. having or showing small folds or lines in the skin 有皱纹的

  *wrinkle

  vi. (esp. of the skin) form into lines, folds, etc. 起皱纹

  n. 皱纹

  Jewish

  a. of the Jews 犹太人的

  sickly

  a. often ill 常病的

  possess

  vt. own, have 拥有,具有

  generation

  n. a single stage or step in family descent 代,一代

  for(e)bear

  n. [常用复数] 祖先

  bundle

  n. (of) a number of articles tied, fastened or held together, usu. across the middle 捆,束,包

  laundry

  n. 1. clothes, sheets, etc., that need to be washed or have just been washed 付洗衣物;已洗好的衣物

  2. a place or business where clothes, etc., are washed and ironed 洗衣房,洗衣店

  accumulate

  vi. gradually increase in numbers or amount until there is a large quantity in one place 积累,积聚

  launder

  vi. wash and iron clothes, sheets, etc. 洗熨衣物

  pump

  n. 泵,抽(水)机

  attic

  n. 阁楼;顶楼

  clothesline

  n. 晾衣绳

  endure

  vt. suffer, undergo (pain, hardship, etc.) 忍受(痛苦、困难等),耐住

  penniless

  a. 身无分文的"

  *bless

  vt. (with) 使具有,使有权得到

  bear(bore, borne)

  vt. take (responsibility, etc.) on oneself 承担(责任等)

  wedding

  n. a marriage ceremony, esp. with a party or meal after a church service 婚礼

  bride

  n. 新娘

  altar

  n. (教堂内的)圣坛,祭坛

  kitchen

  n. 厨房,灶间

  teapot

  n. 茶壶

  fingernail

  n. 指甲

  stubbornness

  n. 倔强;顽强

  *stubborn

  a. 1. 顽固的, 倔强的

  2. 顽强的, 坚持的

  *stagger

  vi. have trouble standing or walking; move unsteadily on one"s feet 摇晃着移动; 蹒跚

  n. 摇晃不稳的动作; 蹒跚

  *catastrophe

  n. a terrible event that causes great suffering, misfortune, or ruin 灾难,灾祸,大祸

  collapse

  vi. (健康等)垮掉;倒坍

  premonition

  n. 预感

  *mourn

  vi. (for, over) feel and/or show grief, esp. for the death of someone; be sorrowful(尤指对某人的亡故)感到悲痛;哀悼

  faithfully

  ad. 1. with faith 忠实地

  2. exactly 如实地;确切地

  faithful

  a. 1. loyal and true (to sb., to a cause, etc.) 忠实的,忠诚的

  2. true to the facts or to an original 如实的

  puff

  n. a sudden short rush of air, smoke, etc.(空气、烟雾等的)一阵,一股

  totter

  vi. walk with weak unsteady steps 蹒跚,踉跄

  *linen

  a. 亚麻(布)的

  n. 亚麻布(或线);亚麻织品(床单、被单、桌布等)

  utter

  vt. make (a sound); say 发出(声音);说,讲

  half-choked

  a. 半哽住的

  *corpse

  n. 死尸,尸体

  unload

  vt. 1. have (a load) removed 卸(货)

  2. remove a load from (sth.) 从 … 卸下货物

  vi. 卸货

  mumble

  v. speak (words) unclearly 含糊地说(话),咕哝

  sunken

  a. 下陷的;凹陷的

  recover

  vi. (from) return to the usual state of health, strength, ability, etc. 痊愈,复原;恢复

  somewhat

  ad. by some degree or amount; a little 稍微,有点

  priest

  n. 牧师,神父

  inform

  vt. (of, about) tell, give information to 告诉,通知

  contribute

  vt. join with others in giving (money, help, etc.) 捐(款),贡献,提供(帮助)

  coffin

  n. 棺材

  resume

  vt. begin (sth. or doing sth.) again after a pause (中断后)重新开始,继续

  *mutter

  vt. 轻声含糊地说

  load

  n. 一包(洗的衣物);负荷,负载

  vt. 装(货或人);把货物(或人)装上(车、船、飞机等)

  property

  n. 财产;所有物

  fulfil,-fill

  vt. do or perform (a duty, task, etc.) 履行,完成

  *undertake(undertook,undertaken)

  vt. accept responsibility for (a piece of work) and start to do it 承担

  Phrases and Expressions

  lean on

  rest in a sloping position on for support 靠在 …上,倚在 …上

  count out

  count one by one 逐一数出

  be blessed with

  be fortunate in having 有幸得到,具有

  take place

  举行,进行;发生,产生

  a (good /great) deal of

  quite a lot of 大量

  speak of

  suggest the idea of; show clearly that sth. happened or that it exists 显示;表明

  at (the) most

  not more than (the stated amount) 至多

  hear of

  receive news about (sb. or sth.) 获知…的消息,听到…的消息

  stand /be on one"s feet

  站起;(病后)恢复健康

  with the help of

  在 … 的帮助下

  God forbid!

  May it not happen! 上天不容!

推荐访问:课文 读写 大学英语 21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文Foreword60篇 21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文foreword1 21世纪大学英语读写教程第一册课文翻译

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