21世纪大学英语读写教程第三册Unit4大学压力
导语：很多人都以为上了大学就可以放松，那只不过是高中老师的谎言，其实大学也有压力，下面是一篇讲述21世纪大学英语读写教程第三册Unit4大学压力，欢迎大家学习。
Pre-reading Activities
1. As you listen to the passage, fill in as much information as you can about Annette's plans.
Friday evening:
During the coming month:
Next term:
In the fall:
Next spring:
2. How did you feel while you were listening to Annette? What was it like trying to keep up with her? How do students like Annette make you feel?
College Pressures
I am master of Branford College at Yale. I live on the campus and know the students well. (We have 485 of them.) I listen to their hopes and fears — and also to their stereo music and their piercing cries in the dead of night ("Does anybody care?"). They come to me to ask how to get through the rest of their lives.
Mainly I try to remind them that the road ahead is a long one and that it will have more unexpected turns than they think. There will be plenty of time to change jobs, change careers, change whole attitudes and approaches. They don't want to hear such news. They want a map — right now — that they can follow directly to career security, financial security, social security and, presumably, a prepaid grave.
What I wish for all students is some release from the grim grip of the future. I wish them a chance to enjoy each segment of their education as an experience in itself and not as a tiresome requirement in preparation for the next step. I wish them the right to experiment, to trip and fall, to learn that defeat is as educational as victory and is not the end of the world.
My wish, of course, is naive. One of the few rights that America does not proclaim is the right to fail. Achievement is the national god, worshipped in our media — the million-dollar athlete, the wealthy executive — and glorified in our praise of possessions. In the presence of such a potent state religion, the young are growing up old.
I see four kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure. It's easy to look around for bad guys — to blame the colleges for charging too much money, the professors for assigning too much work, the parents for pushing their children too far, the students for driving themselves too hard. But there are no bad guys, only victims.
Today it is not unusual for a student, even one who works part time at college and full time during the summer, to have accumulated $5,000 in loans after four years — loans that the student must start to repay within one year after graduation (and incidentally, not all these loans are low-interest, as many non-students believe). Encouraged at the commencement ceremony to go forth into the world, students are already behind as they go forth. How can they not feel under pressure throughout college to prepare for this day of reckoning? Women at Yale are under even more pressure than men to justify their expensive education to themselves, their parents, and society. For although they leave college superbly equipped to bring fresh leadership to traditionally male jobs, society hasn't yet caught up with this fact.
Along with economic pressure goes parental pressure. Inevitably, the two are deeply intertwined. I see students taking premedical courses with joyless determination. They go off to their labs as if they were going to the dentist. It saddens me because I know them in other corners of their life as cheerful people.
"Do you want to go to medical school?" I ask them.
"I guess so," they say, without conviction, or, "Not really."
"Then why are you going?"
"My parents want me to be a doctor. They're paying all this money and..."
Peer pressure and self-induced pressure are also intertwined, and they begin from the very start of freshman year. "I had a freshman student I'll call Linda," one instructor told me, "who came in and said she was under terrible pressure because her roommate, Barbara, was much brighter and studied all the time. I couldn't tell her that Barbara had come in two hours earlier to say the same thing about Linda."
The story is almost funny — except that it's not. It's a symptom of all the pressures put together. When every student thinks every other student is working harder and doing better, the only solution is to study harder still. I see students going off to the library every night after dinner and coming back when it closes at midnight. I wish they could sometimes forget about their peers and go to a movie. I hear the rattling of typewriters in the hours before dawn. I see the tension in their eyes when exams are approaching and papers are due: "Will I get everything done?"
Probably they won't. They will get sick. They will sleep. They will oversleep. They will bug out.
I've painted too grim a portrait of today's students, making them seem too solemn. That's only half of their story; the other half is that these students are nice people, and easy to like. They're quick to laugh and to offer friendship. They're more considerate of one another than any student generation I've ever known. If I've described them primarily as driven creatures who largely ignore the joyful side of life, it's because that's where the problem is — not only at Yale but throughout American education. It's why I think we should all be worried about the values that are nurturing a generation so fearful of risk and so goal-obsessed at such an early age.
I tell students that there is no one "right" way to get ahead — that each of them is a different person, starting from a different point and bound for a different destination. I tell them that change is healthy and that people don't have to fit into pre-arranged slots. One of my ways of telling them is to invite men and women who have achieved success outside the academic world to come and talk informally with my students during the year. I invite heads of companies, editors of magazines, politicians, Broadway producers, artists, writers, economists, photographers, scientists, historians — a mixed bag of achievers.
I ask them to say a few words about how they got started. The students always assume that they started in their present profession and knew all along that it was what they wanted to do. But in fact, most of them got where they are by a circuitous route, after many side trips. The students are startled. They can hardly conceive of a career that was not preplanned. They can hardly imagine allowing the hand of God or chance to lead them down some unforeseen trail.
New Words
campus
n. the grounds of a university, college or school; a university 大学校园，学校校园;大学
piercing
a. (of voices, sounds, etc.) very sharp, esp. in an unpleasant way (声音等)尖厉的，刺耳的
pierce
vi. make a hole in or through (sth.) with a sharp point 刺穿，戳穿
presumably
ad. it may be supposed; probably 假定;可能
* presume
v. believe sth. to be true without direct proof but with some feeling of being certain; suppose (没有根据地)相信;推测
grave
n. the place where a dead person is buried 坟墓
a. serious or solemn in manner; (of a situation) serious and worrying 严肃的，庄严的;(形势)严重的
gravity
n. 1. 严肃，庄严;严重
2. 重力;地心引力
grip
n. a firm hold; control 紧握;控制
vt. 1. take a very tight hold (of) 握紧，紧握
2. take hold of the attention or feelings of 吸引;引起
* segment
n. a part of sth. 部分
preparation
n. arrangement for a future event 准备
wealthy
a. rich 富有的
glorify
vt. praise highly 颂扬，赞颂
glory
n. great fame, honor, and admiration 光荣;荣誉
potent
a. powerful, strong, forceful or effective 强有力的;有权势的;有效力的
self-induced
caused or brought about by oneself 自己导致的
* induce
vt. lead or cause (sb.) to do sth.; persuade or influence (sb.) to do sth. 导致;劝使，诱导
* incidentally
ad. by the way 顺便说一句
commencement
n. 1. (AmE) a ceremony at which university or college students are given their degrees or diplomas (美)毕业典礼;学位授予典礼
2. beginning of sth. 开始
commence
v. begin; start 开始;着手
ceremony
n. 典礼，仪式
commencement ceremony
(AmE) a college or university graduation ceremony (美)毕业典礼
reckoning
n. settlement of an account or a bill; (fig.) punishment 结帐;(喻)算帐，惩罚
reckon
vt. 1. calculate; add up (an amount, cost, etc.) 计算;算出(数量、费用等)
2. consider, regard 认为，把…看作
day of reckoning
(a Biblical reference) the time when one must eventually be punished for what one has done wrong (源自《圣经》)清算日，最后审判日
equip
vt. prepare (sb.) for dealing with a particular situation by providing necessary tools, education, etc.; suply (sb./ sth. with what is needed for a particular purpose) (智力、体力上)使有准备;配备，装备
inevitably
ad. 不可必免地;必然发生地
inevitable
a. which cannot be avoided or prevented from happening; certain to happen 不可避免的;必然发生的
intertwined
a. joined tightly together; very closely connected 互相缠结的，缠绕在一起的
premedical
a. preparing for the study of medicine 医学预科的
* dentist
n. a doctor trained to take care of people's teeth 牙医
cheerful
a. in good spirit; causing a happy feeling 兴高采烈的;使人愉快的
conviction
n. a firm opinion or belief 深信，确信;把握
roommate
n. 住在同室的人，室友
typewriter
n. 打字机
* bug
vt. 1. (AmE) (infml) trouble (sb.) continually (美俚)烦扰，纠缠
2. (infml) fit with a secret listening apparatus (口)在…装qie听器
n. (AmE) a tiny insect, esp. one that causes damage; (infml) a fault or difficulty (美)虫子;(口)故障;毛病
considerate
a. careful not to hurt or trouble others; thoughtful 考虑周到的;替人着想的
fearful
a. afraid, anxious 惧怕的，忧虑的
goal-obsessed
a. extremely eager to realize one's goals 一心要实现目标的
pre-arranged
a. planned or prepared in advance 预先准备好的
arrange
vt. 1. plan in advance; prepare 安排，准备
2. set in good or pleasing order 整理;排列
* slot
n. 1. a place or position in a schedule, list or series (口)(在机构、名单、程序等中的)位置，职位
2. a narrow opening in a tool or machine 狭长孔;狭槽
informally
ad. 非正式地;不拘礼节地
economist
n. an expert in economics 经济学家
a mixed bag
a group of people or things of different kinds and different qualities (人或物的)混合体;大杂烩
circuitous
a. indirect 迂回的，绕行的
circuit
n. 1. 环行;环行道
2. 电路;线路
circular
a. 1. 环行的，圆形的
2. 循环的
trail
n. a path, often through a forest or across rough ground (荒野中的)小径，小道
Phrases and Expressions
in the dead of night
in the quietest part of the night 夜深人静之时
get through
complete successfully; manage to live through (a difficult experience or period of time) 完成;消磨，度过(时间)
right now
immediately; at this moment 立刻，马上
in itself
considered as a complete thing or experience, without thinking of effects, consequences, etc. 本身，实质上
in the presence of sb.
in the place where sb. is; with sb. there 在某人面前，当着某人的面
work on
affect; influence 对…起作用;影响
go forth (into)
set out 出发
under pressure
influenced by need or necessity; suffering stress 被催逼;在压力下
put together
(used after a noun or nouns referring to a group of people or things) combined; in total 合在一起
bug out
(AmE sl.) become mentally unbalanced (美俚)烦恼，困惑
be considerate of/to/toward sb.
pay attention to sb. 's needs, wishes, or feelings 替某人着想，体贴某人
be fearful of
be afraid of 惧怕
be bound for
intending to go to; going to 准备到…去;开往
fit into
be the right size or shape for; be suitable for 与…相符，与…相适应
all along
all the time; from the beginning 一直，始终;从一开始就
conceive of
think of 构想出;设想
Proper Names
William Zinsser
威廉·津瑟(男子名)
Branford College
布兰福德学院(美国耶鲁大学寄宿制学院之一)
Yale
(美国)耶鲁大学
Linda
琳达(女子名)
Barbara
巴巴拉(女子名)
Broadway
百老汇大街(美国纽约市的一条大街，为戏院、夜总会等娱乐场所的集中地)
全新版大学英语综合教程
Steve Shladover outlines the benefits to be gained from vehicles that could drive themselves and discusses how this could be achieved.
斯蒂夫·施多弗阐述了能自动运行的车辆的诸多裨益，并详细论述了如何将其变为现实。
Intelligent Vehicles
智能车辆
Steve Shladover
斯蒂夫·施多弗
Even when cars were still young, futurists began thinking about vehicles that could drive themselves, without human help. Perhaps the best known of these conjectures was the General Motors Futurama, the hit of the New York World's Fair. Now, at the start of the new century, it's worth taking a fresh look at this concept and asking how automation might change transportation and the quality of our lives.
还在汽车问世之初，未来学家就开始设想无需人来操纵便能自动运行的车辆将是什么样儿的。这类设想最出名的或许是年纽约世界博览会上轰动一时的由通用汽车公司推出的“未来城市风光”。今天，在世纪之初，以新的目光去审视这样的设想，去探讨自动化将如何改变交通以及我们的生活质量，是颇具价值的。
Consider some of the implications of cars that could drive themselves.
且来看一看能自动运行的汽车意味着什么。
We might eliminate the more than ninety percent of traffic crashes that are caused by human errors such as misjudgments and inattention.
我们或许能消除%以上由于判断失误以及疏忽等人为因素造成的交通事故。
We might reduce antisocial driving behavior such as road rage, thereby significantly reducing the stress of driving.
我们或许能减少野蛮开车这类有害公众利益的开车行为，从而大大减轻行车压力。
The entire population, including the young, the old, and the infirm, might enjoy a higher level of mobility without requiring advanced driving skills.
社会全体成员，包括老老少少与体弱者，也许都不需习得娴熟的驾车技巧就能较为自由地奔驰了。
The luxury of being chauffeured to your destination might be enjoyed by all, not just the wealthiest individuals.
被开车接送也许会成为世人共同的享受，而不仅仅是最富裕阶层的一种奢侈。
Fuel consumption and pollution might be reduced by smoothing traffic flow and running vehicles close enough to each other to benefit from aerodynamic drafting.
车流通畅，相互紧随行驶的车辆能利用前车产生的较小的空气阻力，这些都可能减少油耗和污染。
Traffic-management decisions might be based on firm knowledge of vehicle responses to instructions, rather than on guesses about the choices that drivers might make.
交通管理将会建立在充分了解车辆对指令的应变能力的基础上，而非基于对车辆驾驶者可能采取的行动的粗略估测。
The capacity of a freeway lane might be doubled or tripled, making it possible to accommodate growing demands for travel without major new construction, or, equivalently, today's level of congestion might be reduced, enabling travelers to save time.
高速公路的车容量会增加一倍或二倍，使其不必大兴土木就能适应不断增长的行车需求;或者，同样重要地，目前交通拥堵的程度能得到缓解，以使行车者节省时间。
Is it feasible?
是否可行?
This is now a realistic prospect. With advances in technology we can readily visualize your trip on an automated highway system.
目前这已成为一个可以实现的希望。随着技术的进步，我们不难设想自动化公路系统上的行车过程。
Imagine leaving work at the end of the day and needing to drive only as far as the nearest on-ramp to the local automated highway. At the on-ramp, you press a button on your dashboard to select the off-ramp closest to your home and then relax as your car's electronic systems, in cooperation with roadside electronics and similar systems on other cars, guide your car smoothly, safely, and effortlessly toward your destination. En route you save time by maintaining full speed even at rush-hour traffic volumes. At the end of the off-ramp you resume normal control and drive the remaining distance to your home, better rested and less stressed than if you had driven the entire way.
且来设想，工作一天下班后，只需开车至最近的一个自动公路入口匝道。到了入口匝道，在仪表板上按一下按钮选择离家最近的出口匝道，随后就休息放松，由车上的电子系统与路旁的电子装置以及其他车辆上类似的系统合作，把车平稳、安全、顺畅地开往目的地。即使是在车流量的高峰时段，也能一路全速行驶，从而节省时间。下了出口匝道，再照平常那样驾驶，开过余下的路程回家，那要比自己全程驾驶省力轻松许多。
Although many different technical developments are necessary to turn this image into reality, none requires exotic technologies, and all can be based on systems and components that are already being actively developed in the international motor vehicle industry. These could be viewed as replacements for the diverse functions that drivers perform every day: observing the road, observing the preceding vehicles, steering, accelerating, braking, and deciding when and where to change course.
要把这一景象变成现实固然需要各种不同的技术发展，但也无需什么匪夷所思的技术，所有的技术都能以国际车辆制造业正在积极开发研制的各种系统和部件作为基础。这些技术可以被看作是车辆驾驶者日常开车所起各种作用的替代：观察路况，留意前行车辆，掌握方向，加速，刹车，变道。
Observing the road
观察路况
Researchers have developed a road-reference and sensing system that makes it possible to determine accurately a vehicle's position and orientation relative to the lane's center. Cheap permanent magnets are buried at four-foot intervals along the lane centerline and detected by magnetometers mounted under the vehicle's bumpers. . These meters provide the information used by the vehicle's control computer to determine its exact position of the vehicle.
研究人员开发了一种路况参考及传感系统，这些能准确判断车辆的方位及所在车道中心的相应定位。价格低廉的永磁体以英尺的间隔埋设在车道中心线上，车辆保险杆下安装着的磁强计能够测知。这些磁强计向车上的计算机控制台提供信息，以断定车辆的确切方位。
Other researchers have used computer vision systems to observe the road. () These are vulnerable to weather problems and provide less accurate measurements, but they do not require special roadway installations, other than well-maintained lane markings.
其他研究人员利用计算机图像系统观察路况。这类系统易受气候变化的影响，提供的数据不够精确，但它们不需要特别的道路设置，只需要将路面标志维护好就行了。
Observing preceding vehicles
留意前行车辆
The distances and closing rates to preceding vehicles can be measured by a radar or a laser rangefinder. Both technologies have already been implemented in commercially available systems in Japan and Europe. The laser systems are currently less expensive, but the radar systems are more effective at detecting dirty vehicles and operating in adverse weather conditions. As production volumes increase and unit costs decrease, the radars are likely to find increasing favor.
与前行车辆的车距及接近时的速度可用雷达或激光测距仪测定。这两项技术已经在日本和欧洲投入商业运用。目前激光系统比较便宜，但雷达系统能更加有效地测知野蛮行驶的车辆，能更加安全地在天气恶劣时操作。随着产量的提高，成本的降低，雷达系统将会越来越受欢迎。
Steering, accelerating and braking
掌握方向、加速和刹车
The equivalents of these driver muscle functions are electromechanical devices installed in the automated vehicle. They receive electronic commands from the onboard control computer and then apply the appropriate steering angle, throttle angle, and brake pressure by means of small electric motors. Early versions of these devices are already being introduced into production of vehicles, where they receive their commands directly from the driver's inputs to the steering wheel and pedals. These decisions are being made for reasons largely unrelated to automation. Rather they are associated with reduced energy consumption, simplification of vehicle design, enhanced ease of vehicle assembly, improved ability to adjust performance to match driver preferences, and cost savings compared to traditional direct mechanical control devices.
相当于车辆驾驶者肌功能的是安置在自动车辆上的电动机械装置。它们接收车上计算机控制台发出的电子指令，再凭借小型电力发动机恰当地控制方向、油门大小以及刹车紧急程度。车辆生产已经采用这类装置的最初样本，它们通过驾驶者给方向盘和踏板的输入信息直接获得指令。决定开发这类产品大都与自动化无关。与之有关的因素有降低能耗、简化车辆设计、进一步提高车辆装配效率、改善根据车辆驾驶者的喜好调节性能的能力，以及低于传统的机械直控装置的成本等。
Deciding when and where to change course
决定何时何处变道
Computers in the vehicles and those at the roadside have different functions. Roadside computers are better suited for traffic management, setting the target speed for each segment and lane of roadway, and allocating vehicles to different lanes of a multilane automated facility. The aim is to maintain balanced flow among the lanes and to avoid obstacles or incidents that might block a lane. The vehicle's onboard computers are better suited to handling decisions about exactly when and where to change lanes to avoid interference with other vehicles.
车用计算机与路边装置的计算机功能不同。路边设置的计算机更适用于交通管理，如为不同路段和车道设定限速，通过多车道自动化设施为车辆安排不同的车道。其目的是使各车道的车流量保持平衡，避免可能堵塞车道的障碍或事故。车用计算机更适用于精确地判断在什么时间和位置改变车道，以避免与其他车辆碰撞。
Remaining challenges
尚存的挑战
There remain a number of difficulties to be overcome. These are mainly technical, but there are in addition a number of nontechnical challenges that need to be addressed. These involve issues of liability, costs, and perceptions.
尚有许多困难有待克服。主要是技术性难题，但此外也有不少非技术性的挑战需要面对，其中包括行车责任、成本以及观念等问题。
Automated control of vehicles shifts liability for most crashes from the individual driver (and his or her insurance company) to the designer, developer, and vendor of the vehicle and roadway control systems. Provided the system is indeed safer than today's driver-vehicle-highway system, overall liability exposure should be reduced. But its costs will be shifted from automobile insurance premiums to the purchase or lease price of the automated vehicle and toll for use of the automated highway facility.
车辆的自动控制把大多数事故的责任从车辆驾驶者个人(及其保险公司)转移到设计者、研制者以及车辆和道路控制系统的经销商身上。如果这一系统的确比当今的车辆驾驶者—车辆—公路系统安全，总体责任风险就会减少。但其成本会从汽车保险金转移到自动车辆的售价或租金，以及自动公路设施的使用费上来。
All new technologies tend to be costly when they first become available in small quantities, then their costs decline as production volumes increase and the technologies mature. We should expect vehicle automation technologies to follow the same pattern. They may initially be economically viable only for heavy vehicles (transit buses, commercial trucks) and high-end passenger cars. However, it should not take long for the costs to become affordable to a wide range of vehicle owners and operators, especially with many of the enabling technologies already being commercialized for volume production today.
任何新技术在最初小批量供应时都相对昂贵，以后随着产量的增长与技术的完善，成本就会降低。我们相信车辆自动控制技术也将遵循这一模式。从经济角度考虑，这类技术在最初阶段或许只能应用于重型车辆(如公交车、货运卡车)和高级客车。然而，不用多久，其成本就能为广大车辆拥有者和驾驶者所接受，尤其是目前不少可以应用的技术已经走向市场，开始了批量生产。
The largest impediment to introduction of electronic chauffeuring may turn out to be the general perception that it's more difficult and expensive to implement than it really is. If political and industrial decision makers perceive automated driving to be too futuristic, they will not pay it the attention it deserves and will not invest their resources toward accelerating its deployment. The perception could thus become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
电子驾驶应用的障碍可能在于一种普遍的观念，认为这一技术的应用比实际情况更困难，更昂贵。如果政治决策者和企业决策者认为自动驾驶过于超前，他们就不会予以应有的关注，就不会投入资源，促使其早日为人们利用。这样的话，这一观念就可能成为一种终将实现的预言。
It is important to recognize that automated vehicles are already carrying millions of passengers every day. Most major airports have automated people movers that transfer passengers among terminal buildings. Urban transit lines in Paris, London, Vancouver, Lyon, and Lille, among others, are operating with completely automated, driverless vehicles; some have been doing so for more than a decade. Modern commercial aircraft operate on autopilot for much of the time, and they also land under automatic control at suitably equipped airports on a regular basis.
重要的是，要看到，每天已有千百万人乘坐自动化车辆。大多数颇具规模的机场都有自动控制的客车把乘客从一个航站楼转到另一个航站楼。不少城市公交线路，如巴黎、伦敦、温哥华、里昂和里尔等，都是由全自动控制的无人驾驶车辆运行的，有些已运行了十多年。现代商用飞机大多时间是由自动驾驶仪操纵的，在装备完善的机场，这些飞机一向在自动控制指挥下着陆。
Given all of this experience in implementing safe automated transportation systems, it is not such a large leap to develop road vehicles that can operate under automatic control. That should be a realistic goal for the next decade. The transportation system will thus gain substantial benefits from the revolution in information technology.
考虑到所有这些安全运用自动化交通运输系统的经验，开发由自动控制操纵的公路车辆算不上什么大的飞跃。这应该是未来十年中的一个现实目标，交通运输系统也就会大大得益于信息技术革命。
大学英语自学教程(上册) unit 23 课文译文参考
If anyone asked you what were the main means of communication between people, what would you say? That isn’t a catch question. The answer is simple and obvious. It would almost certainly refer to means of communication that involve the use of words. Speakers and listeners-oral communication, and writers and readers-written communication. And you’d be quite right. There is, however, another form of communication which we all use most of the time, usually without knowing it. This is sometimes called body language. Its more technical name is non-verbal communication. Non-verbal, because it does not involve the use of words. NVC for short.
When someone is saying something with which he agrees, the average European will smile and nod approval. On the other hand, if you disagree with what they are saying, you may frown and shake your head. In this way you signal your reactions, and communicate them to the speaker without saying a word. I referred a moment ago to "the average European”, because body language is very much tied to culture, and in order not to misunderstand, or not to be misunderstood, you must realize this. A smiling Chinese, for instance, may not be approving but somewhat embarrassed.
Quite a lot of work is now being done on the subject of NVC, which is obviously important, for instance, to managers, who have to deal every day with their staff, and have to understand what other people are feeling if they are to create good working conditions. Body language, or NVC signals, are sometimes categorized into five kinds: 1.body and facial gestures; 2.eye contact; 3.body contact or "proximity"; 4.clothing and physical appearance; and 5.the quality of speech. I expect you understood all those, except perhaps "proximity." This simply means "closeness". In some cultures-and I am sure this is a cultural feature and not an individual one-it is quite normal for people to stand close together, or to more or less thrust their face into yours when they are talking to you. In other cultures, this is disliked; Americans, for instance, talk about invasion of their space.
Some signals are probably common to all of us. If a public speaker (like a professor, for example) is all the time fiddling with a pencil, or with his glasses, while he is talking to you, he is telling you quite clearly that he is nervous. A person who holds a hand over his mouth when he is talking is signaling that he is lacking in confidence. If you start wriggling in your chairs, looking secretly at your watches or yawning behind your hands, I shall soon get the message that I’m boring you. And so on. I'm sure you could make a whole list of such signals-and it might be fun if you did.
All the signals I have mentioned so far can be controlled. If you are aware that you are doing these things, you can stop. You can even learn to give false signals. Most public speakers are in fact nervous, but a good speaker learns to hide this by giving off signals of confidence. Other kinds of NVC are not so easy to control. Eye contact, for instance. Unless you are confessing intense love, you hardly ever look into someone else’s eyes for very long. If you try it, you’ll find they will soon away, probably in embarrassment.
I’ve already mentioned proximity, so just a brief word now about our last two categories, which concern the way people dress and the way they speak. These are both pretty obvious signals. People may dress casually and speak casually, which signals that they are relaxed. Or they can dress formally and speak formally, showing their tenseness. In fact, non-verbal communication can, as the saying goes, speak volumes.
【课文译文】
如果有人问你人与人之间最主要的交际手段是什么，你会怎么说?这倒不是一个难以回答的问题。答案简单明了。几乎可以肯定地说，它指的是运用语言进行交际。说话者和听话者之间是口头交际，作者和读者之间是书面交际。你的回答已经相当正确。但是，还有另一种交际手段，这一手段我们多数时间在使用，却又常常忽视。它有时被叫作体势语。更专业些的名字是非言语交际。之所以称之为非言语交际，是因为它不涉及言词。非言语交际的缩略语为NVC。
一般的欧洲人，在听别人说他赞同的事情时，会微笑并点头表示赞许。如果不同意别人的话，他会皱眉、摇头。用这种方式无需言词就可以把自己的态度传达给说话者。笔者刚才提到“一般的欧洲人”，是因为体势语与文化密切相关。为了不误解别人，也不被人误解，了解这一点非常必要。例如，中国人的微笑可能是表示某种不安而不是赞许。
关于NVC这个课题，现在正进行着大量的研究工作。这些研究工作显然很重要。比如，对管理者来说，他们每天与员工打交道，为了创造良好的工作环境，他们必须了解员工们的感觉。人们有时把体势语或称NVC信号分为五种：1.身体姿势和面部表情；2.目光接触；3.身体接触或“亲近程度”；4.着装与外貌；5.语言特点。笔者认为大家明白上述除“亲近程度”以外的各条。“亲近程度”简单来说就是“亲密程度”。在有些文化中——笔者非常肯定，“亲近程度”是一种文化特征而非个体特征——人们站得很近是很正常的；同样，人们在谈话时不时地把脸凑近你的脸，也是正常的。但在另一些文化中，上面这些行为就不受欢迎。比如，美国人会说这侵犯了他们的个人空间。
一些体势语信号非常普遍。如果在公共场所讲话的人(如大学教授)一直在玩弄铅笔或眼镜，说明他很紧张。说话时把手放在嘴上的人说明他缺乏信心。如果听讲的人开始在椅子上扭来扭去，偷偷地看手表或用手捂住嘴打哈欠，讲话的人很快就得到这样的信息：“我的话令人厌烦”。如此种种，不胜枚举。笔者相信读者可以列出一长串这样的体势语信号。试试吧，会很有趣的。
上面所提到的体势语信号，都是可以控制的。如果意识到自己在那样做，可以停下来。甚至可以给出虚假的信号，实际上，多数在公共场合讲话的人都会感到紧张，好的讲话者学会了通过发出有信心的信号来掩盖紧张情绪。其他的NVC信号就不容易控制。比如，目光接触。除非有强烈的爱，否则，人们很难长久地注视别人的眼睛。如果试一下你就会发现，别人会转移目光，看别处，而且可能会局促不安。
笔者已经提到过亲近程度，现在来简短地谈谈最后两种体势语信号，它们与人们的着装与说话方式有关。这两种信号都很明显。衣着随便、谈吐自然的人很放松，衣着正规、谈吐严谨的人情绪紧张。事实上，正如常言所说，非言语交际此时无声胜有声。
大学英语自学教程(上册) unit 01 怎样成为一名成功的语言学习者
01-A. How to be a successful language learner?
“Learning a language is easy, even a child can do it!”
Most adults who are learning a second language would disagree with this statement. For them, learning a language is a very difficult task. They need hundreds of hours of study and practice, and even this will not guarantee success for every adult language learner.
Language learning is different from other kinds of learning. Some people who are very intelligent and successful in their fields find it difficult to succeed in language learning. Conversely, some people who are successful language learners find it difficult to succeed in other fields.
Language teachers often offer advice to language learners: “Read as much as you can in the new language.”“ Practice speaking the language every day. ”“Live with people who speak the language.”“Don’t translate-try to think in the new language.”“ Learn as a child would learn; play with the language.”
But what does a successful language learner do? Language learning research shows that successful language learners are similar in many ways.
First of all, successful language learners are independent learners. They do not depend on the book or the teacher; they discover their own way to learn the language. Instead of waiting for the teacher to explain, they try to find the patterns and the rules for themselves. They are good guessers who look for clues and form their own conclusions. When they guess wrong, they guess again. They try to learn from their mistakes.
Successful language learning is active learning. Therefore, successful learners do not wait for a chance to use the language; they look for such a chance. They find people who speak the language and they ask these people to correct them when they make a mistake. They will try anything to communicate. They are not afraid to repeat what they hear or to say strange things; they are willing to make mistakes and try again. When communication is difficult, they can accept information that is inexact or incomplete. It is more important for them to learn to think in the language than to know the meaning of every word.
Finally, successful language learners are learners with a purpose. They want to learn the language because they are interested in the language and the people who speak it. It is necessary for them to learn the language in order to communicate with these people and to learn from them. They find it easy to practice using the language regularly because they want to learn with it.
What kind of language learner are you? If you are a successful language learner, you have probably been learning independently, actively, and purposefully. On the other hand, if your language learning has been less than successful, you might do well to try some of the techniques outlined above.
【课文译文】
怎样成为一名成功的语言学习者
“学习一门语言很容易，即使小孩也能做得到。”
大多数正在学习第二语言的成年人会不同意这种说法。对他们来说，学习一门语言是非常困难的事情。他们需要数百小时的学习与练习，即使这样也不能保证每个成年语言学习者都能学好。
语言学习不同于其他学习。许多人很聪明，在自己的领域很成功，但他们发现很难学好一门语言。相反，一些人学习语言很成功，但却发现很难在其他领域有所成就。
语言教师常常向语言学习者提出建议：“要用新的语言尽量多阅读”，“每天练习说这种语言”，“与说这种语言的人住在一起”，“不要翻译——尽量用这种新的语言去思考”，“要像孩子学语言一样去学习新语言”，“放松地去学习语言。”
然而，成功的语言学习者是怎样做的呢?语言学习研究表明，成功的语言学习者在许多方面都有相似之处。
首先，成功的语言学习者独立学习。他们不依赖书本和老师，而且能找到自己学习语言的方法。他们不是等待老师来解释，而是自己尽力去找到语言的句式和规则。他们寻找线索并由自己得出结论，从而做出正确的猜测。如果猜错，他们就再猜一遍。他们都努力从错误中学习。
成功的语言学习是一种主动的学习。因此，成功的语言学习者不是坐等时机而是主动寻找机会来使用语言。他们找到(说)这种语言的人进行练习，出错时请这些人纠正。他们不失时机地进行交流，不怕重复所听到的话，也不怕说出离奇的话，他们不在乎出错，并乐于反复尝试。当交流困难时，他们可以接受不确切或不完整的信息。对他们来说，更重要的是学习用这种语言思考，而不是知道每个词的意思。
最后，成功的语言学习者学习目的明确。他们想学习一门语言是因为他们对这门语言以及说这种语言的人感兴趣。他们有必要学习这门语言去和那些人交流并向他们学习。他们发现经常练习使用这种语言很容易，因为他们想利用这种语言来学习。
你是什么样的语言学习者?如果你是一位成功的语言学习者，那么你大概一直在独立地、主动地、目的明确地学习。另一方面,如果你的语言学习一直不太成功,你不妨试试上面提到的一些技巧。
大学英语自学教程(上册) unit 02 税、税、还是税
02-A. Taxes, Taxes, and More Taxes
Americans often say that there are only two things a person can be sure of in life: death and taxes, Americans do not have a corner on the "death" market, but many people feel that the United States leads the world with the worst taxes.
Taxes consist of the money which people pay to support their government. There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal, state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes.
Salaried people who earn more than a few thousand dollars must pay a certain percentage of their salaries to the federal government. The percentage varies from person to person. It depends on their salaries. The federal government has a graduated income tax, that is, the percentage of the tax (14 to 70 percent) increases as a person's income increases. With the high cost of taxes, people are not very happy on April 15, when the federal taxes are due.
The second tax is for the state government: New York, California, North Dakota, or any of the other forty-seven states. Some states have an income tax similar to that of the federal government. Of course, the percentage for the state tax is lower. Other states have a sales tax, which is a percentage charged to any item which you buy in that state. For example, a person might want to buy a packet of cigarettes for twenty-five cents. If there is a sales tax of eight percent in that state, then the cost of the cigarettes is twenty-seven cents. This figure includes the sales tax. Some states use income tax in addition to sales tax to raise their revenues. The state tax laws are diverse and confusing.
The third tax is for the city. This tax comes in two forms: property tax (people who own a home have to pay taxes on it) and excise tax, which is charged on cars in a city. The cities use these funds for education, police and fire departments, public works and municipal buildings.
Since Americans pay such high taxes, they often feel that they are working one day each week just to pay their taxes. People always complain about taxes. They often protest that the government uses their tax dollars in the wrong way. They say that it spends too much on useless and impractical programs. Although Americans have different views on many issues, they tend to agree on one subject: taxes are too high.
【课文译文】
税、税、还是税
美国人常说，人的一生有两件事可以肯定会发生：死亡和税收。美国人并不垄断死亡市场，但许多人却感到美国以最重的赋税领先于世界。
税指人们为支持政府而缴纳的资金。在美国通常有三级政府：联邦政府，州政府及市政府，因此就存在三种税。
收入超过几千元的工薪人士必须向联邦政府缴纳一定比率的税金。这一比率因人而异，取决于各人的工资数。联邦政府实行累进收入所得税制，也就是说，税率(14%～70%)随个人收入的增加而增加，由于高额税收，人们在4月15日很不愉快，因为这一天是缴纳税款的日子。
第二种税是缴纳给州政府的，这些州包括纽约，加利福尼亚，北达科他以及其他47个州中的任何一个。一些州的收入所得税的收取办法同联邦政府的相似，当然其税率要低一些。一些州设有销售税，即对你在该州所购买的任何商品所收的一定比率的税金。比如，某人想买一包25美分的烟。如果该州收取8%的销售税，那么买这包烟要花27美分，这一钱数就包括销售税。一些州利用收入所得税外加销售税的办法来提高税收，各州的税收法规五花八门，令人费解。
第三种税是向市政府缴纳的。这种税有两种：一种是财产税(拥有房屋的人都必须交税)，另一种是本国消费税，即对城市汽车所征收的税金。城市将这些资金用于教育、警察和消防部门、公共设施及市政建设。
由于美国人须付高额税金，所以他们经常感到每周有一天纯粹是在为缴税而工作。人们总是在抱怨税收太高。他们常常抗议政府滥用他们的税金。他们说政府将太多的钱花在无用且不符合实际的项目上了。尽管美国人在很多问题上有不同的看法，但他们在一个话题上的意见总是一致的：税收太高。
大学英语自学教程(上册) unit 03 大西洋
03-A. The Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is one of the oceans that separate the Old World from the New. For centuries it kept the Americas from being discovered by the people of Europe.
Many wrong ideas about the Atlantic made early sailors unwilling to sail far out into it. One idea was that it reached out to "the edge of the world." Sailors were afraid that they might sail right off the earth. Another idea was that at the equator the ocean would be boiling hot.
The Atlantic Ocean is only half as big as the Pacific, but it is still very large. It is more than 4,000 miles (6,000 km) wide where Columbus crossed it. Even at its narrowest it is about 2, 000 miles (3,200 km) wide. This narrowest place is between the bulge of south America and the bulge of Africa.
Two things make the Atlantic Ocean rather unusual. For so large an ocean it has very few islands. Also, it is the world's saltiest ocean.
There is so much water in the Atlantic that it is hard to imagine how much there is. But suppose no more rain fell into it and no more water was brought to it by rivers. It would take the ocean about 4,000 years to dry up. On the average the water is a little more than two miles (3.2 km) deep, but in places it is much deeper. The deepest spot is near Puerto Rico. This "deep" 30, 246 feet - almost six miles (9.6 km).
One of the longest mountain ranges of the world rises the floor of the Atlantic. This mountain range runs north and south down the middle of the ocean. The tops of a few of the mountains reach up above the sea and make islands. The Azores are the tops of peaks in the mid-Atlantic mountain range.
Several hundred miles eastward from Florida there is a part of the ocean called the Sargasso Sea. Here the water is quiet, for there is little wind. In the days of sailing vessels the crew were afraid they would be becalmed here. Sometimes they were.
Ocean currents are sometime called "rivers in the sea." One of these "river" in the Atlantic is called the Gulf Stream. It is a current of warm water. Another is the Labrador Current - cold water coming down from the Arctic. Ocean currents affect the climates of the lands near which they flow.
The Atlantic furnishes much food for the people on its shores. One of its most famous fishing regions, the Grand Banks, is near Newfoundland.
Today the Atlantic is a great highway. It is not, however, always a smooth and safe one. Storms sweep across it and pile up great waves. Icebergs float down from the Far North across the paths of ships.
We now have such fast ways of traveling that this big ocean seems to have grown smaller. Columbus sailed for more than two months to cross it. A fast modern steamship can make the trip in less than four days. Airplanes fly from New York to London in only eight hours and from South America to Africa in four!
【课文译文】
大西洋
大西洋是将欧洲和美洲分隔开的海洋之一。它使南北美洲长达几个世纪之久都未被人发现。
人们对大西洋有许多误解，这使得早期的海员不愿意远航驶入大西洋。一种想法是大西洋远抵“世界的边缘”，海员们担心他们会一直航行到地球边上掉落下去。另一个想法是在赤道处，大西洋的海水是滚烫的。
大西洋的面积只是太平洋的`一半，但也非常辽阔。哥伦布穿越过的地方宽达4000多英里(6000公里)。即使最窄的地方宽度也有大约2000英里(3200公里)，这是一片位于南美洲最东端与非洲最西端之间的水域。
大西洋有两点非同寻常。其一是在如此辽阔的海洋里少有岛屿。另外，大西洋是世界上含盐量最高的海洋。
大西洋海水量很大，人们无法想像到底有多少水。但如果假设不再有降雨和河水注入，则需4000年大西洋才会干涸。大西洋平均水深有2英里(3.2公里)多一点，但有些地方要深得多。最深处在波多黎各岛附近，深达30246英尺——约6英里(9.6公里)。
世界上最长的山脉之一从大西洋海底隆起，这条山脉沿海底中部向南北延伸，几座山峰露出海面，形成岛屿。亚速尔群岛就是大西洋中部山脉露出水面的几座山峰。
佛罗里达州向东几百英里有一处海域叫马尾藻海，这里由于很少刮风，海面很平静。在使用帆船的时代，船员们担心他们会因无风而在此处无法航行。有时他们确实会遇到这种情况。
海流有时被称作“海洋中的河流”。大西洋有一条这种“河流”，叫做墨西哥湾流，这是一股暖水流；另外一条是拉布拉多海流——这是来自北冰洋的冷水流。洋流对流域附近大陆的气候有影响。
大西洋为两岸的人们提供了丰富的食物。大浅滩是最著名的捕鱼区之一，位于纽芬兰附近。
今天，大西洋是一条重要的航路，这条航路并不总是风平浪静，毫无危险。暴风雨会掠过洋面，堆起大浪。从北冰洋漂来的冰山也会横穿航道。
我们现在有快捷的旅行方式，这个大洋似乎也变小了。哥伦布横越大西洋用了两个多月的时间，一艘现代化快轮不到4天就可完成这一航程，而乘飞机从纽约到伦敦只用8小时，从南美到非洲只用4小时。
大学英语自学教程(上册) unit 04 改善你的记忆力
04-A. Improving Your Memory
Psychological research has focused on a number of basic principles that help memory: meaningfulness, organization, association, and visualization. It is useful to know how these principles work.
Meaningfulness affects memory at all levels. Information that does not make any sense to you is difficult to remember. There are several ways in which we can make material more meaningful. Many people, for instance, learn a rhyme to help them remember. Do you know the rhyme “Thirty days has September, April, June, and November…? ” It helps many people remember which months of the year have 30 days.
Organization also makes a difference in our ability to remember. How useful would a library be if the books were kept in random order? Material that is organized is better remembered than jumbled information. One example of organization is chunking. Chunking consists of grouping separate bits of information. For example, the number 4671363 is more easily remembered if it is chunked as 467,13,63. Categorizing is another means of organization. Suppose you are asked to remember the following list of words: man, bench, dog, desk, woman, horse, child, cat, chair. Many people will group the words into similar categories and remember them as follows: man, woman, child; cat, dog, horse; bench, chair, desk. Needless to say, the second list can be remembered more easily than the first one.
Association refers to taking the material we want to remember and relating it to something we remember accurately. In memorizing a number, you might try to associate it with familiar numbers or events. For example, the height of Mount Fuji in Japan - 12, 389 feet - might be remembered using the following associations: 12 is the number of months in the year, and 389 is the number of days in a year (365) added to the number of months twice (24).
The last principle is visualization. Research has shown striking improvements in many types of memory tasks when people are asked to visualize the items to be remembered. In one study, subjects in one group were asked to learn some words using imagery, while the second group used repetition to learn the words. Those using imagery remembered 80 to 90 percent of the words, compared with 30 to 40 percent of the words for those who memorized by repetition. Thus forming an integrated image with all the information placed in a single mental picture can help us to preserve a memory.
【课文译文】
改善你的记忆力
心理研究集中在有助于记忆力的几个基本原则，即富有意义、组织、联想和想像。知道这些原则如何发挥作用是非常有益的。
富有意义从各个方面影响记记力。你很难记住对你毫无意义的信息，我们可以用几种办法使材料变得更有意义。例如，很多人学会用韵音来帮助他们记忆。你知道“九、四、六、十一有30天……”这首押韵诗吗?它帮助人们记住一年中哪些月份有30天。
信息的组织也对我们的记忆能力造成差异。图书馆的书如果陈列得杂乱无章对我们还会有什么帮助吗?组织过的材料比混杂的信息更容易记住。组织信息的一个例子就是组块。组块是将一个个单独的信息组织成信息块。例如，4671363这组数字如果被组块成467 13 63就更容易记住。分类是另一种组织方法。假定要求你记住一组词：男人、凳子、狗、书桌、女人、马、孩子、猫、椅子。很多人会将这些词分成相似种类的几组，即男人、女人、孩子；猫、狗、马；凳子、椅子、书桌。不用说第二种排列比第一种排列更容易记忆。
联想指将我们要记忆的材料和我们已准确记住的信息联系起来。在记忆数字时，可以将这一数字与我们所熟悉的数字或事件联系起来，例如，日本富士山的高度为12，389英尺，这一数字可以用下面的联想法记住：12是一年中的月份数，389是一年的天数(365)加月数的两倍(24)。
最后一个基本原则是想像。研究表明，如果人们把需要记忆的东西进行想像，各种记忆能力都会有显著的提高。在一项研究中，一组受试者被要求使用想像法学习一些生词，而另外一组用重复法学习生词。用想像法记忆单词的一组记住了80%～90%的生词，相比之下，用重复法记忆单词的一组只记住了30%～40%的生词。因此，将所有的信息放在一幅内心的图画里，从而形成一个整体形象，可以帮助我们保存记忆。
大学英语自学教程(上册) unit 05 对食物的错误看法
05-A. Fallacies about Food
Many primitive peoples believed that by eating an animal they could get some of the good qualities of that animal for themselves. They thought, for example, that eating deer would make them run as fast as the deer. Some savage tribes believed that eating enemies that had shown bravery in battle would make them brave. Man-eating may have started because people were eager to become as strong and brave as their enemies.
Among civilized people it was once thought that ginger root by some magical power could improve the memory. Eggs were thought to make the voice pretty. Tomatoes also were believed to have magical powers. They were called love apples and were supposed to make people who ate them fall in love.
Later another wrong idea about tomatoes grew up - the idea that they were poisonous. How surprised the people who thought tomatoes poisonous would be if they could know that millions of pounds of tomatoes were supplied to soldiers overseas during World War II.
Even today there are a great many wrong ideas about food. Some of them are very widespread.
One such idea is that fish is the best brain food. Fish is good brain food just as it is good muscle food and skin food and bone food. But no one has been able to prove that fish is any better for the brain than many other kinds of food.
Another such idea is that you should not drink water with meals. Washing food down with water as a substitute for chewing is not a good idea, but some water with meals has been found to be helpful. It makes the digestive juices flow more freely and helps to digest the food.
Many of the ideas which scientists tell us have no foundation have to do with mixtures of foods. A few years ago the belief became general that orange juice and milk should never be drunk at the same meal. The reason given was that the acid in the orange juice would make the milk curdle and become indigestible. As a matter of fact, milk always meets in the stomach a digestive juice which curdles it; the curdling of the milk is the first step in its digestion. A similar wrong idea is that fish and ice cream when eaten at the same meal form a poisonous combination.
Still another wrong idea about mixing foods is that proteins and carbohydrates should never be eaten at the same meal. Many people think of bread, for example, as a carbohydrate food. It is chiefly a carbohydrate food, but it also contains proteins. In the same way, milk, probably the best single food, contains both proteins and carbohydrates. It is just as foolish to say that one should never eat meat and potatoes together as it is to say that one should never eat bread or drink milk.
【课文译文】
对食物的错误看法
很多原始民族认为吃某种动物可以使他们获得这种动物的一些好的品质。例如，他们认为吃鹿可以使他们跑得像鹿一样快。一些野蛮部落相信，吃战争中表现勇敢的敌人会使他们勇敢。吃人现象开始发生可能是因为人们渴望变得像他们的敌人那样强壮、勇敢。
一些文明人曾经认为，姜根有某种魔力，能改善他们的记忆力。蛋能美化他们的声音。也有人认为西红柿有魔力。西红柿被称为爱的苹果，他们认为吃西红柿能使人坠入爱河。
后来又出现了另一个关于西红柿的错误观点——西红柿有毒。如果认为西红柿有毒的人知道二战中数百万磅的西红柿提供给了在海外的战士们，他们会多么吃惊!
甚至在今天也有很多关于食物的错误看法，其中一些看法很普遍。一种想法认为鱼是最佳益脑食物。鱼是有益于大脑的食物，就像它对肌肉、皮肤、骨骼一样有益。但是没有人能够证明对于大脑来说鱼比其他种类的食物更好。
另外一种想法认为，吃饭的时候不应该喝水。虽然用水把食物冲下去来代替咀嚼不是个好主意，但是人们发现吃饭时喝点水是有益的。水能使消化液更自由地流动，有助于消化食物。
很多想法是关于食物混在一起吃的，而科学家告诉我们，这些想法毫无根据。几年前有一种很普遍的看法，认为不能在同一餐中喝桔子汁和牛奶，其理由是桔子汁中的酸性物质能使牛奶凝结而难以消化。事实上，牛奶在胃里总会遇到一种使它凝结的消化液，而这种凝结是消化的第一步。类似的一种错误想法认为在同一餐中吃鱼和冰淇淋会形成一种有毒的化合物。
还有一种关于食物混在一起吃的错误想法，即不能在同一餐中吃蛋白质食物和淀粉质食物。例如，很多人认为面包是一种淀粉质食物。虽然面包主要是一种淀粉质食物，但它也含有蛋白质。同样，牛奶可能是最好的单一食物，但它也含有蛋白质和淀粉。不要吃面包喝牛奶，这种说法是愚蠢的，就像说不要把肉类和土豆一起食用一样。
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