College English Intensive Reading 2 Text Translation 2009 1 19, Monday, 09:32 am

Unit 1

This is a humorous article. But after reading it, you will find that the author is very serious when writing this article.

Is there life on the earth?

Venus was very lively last week Scientists there successfully launched a satellite to the earth for the first time, and since then, the satellite has been sending back signals and photos.

The satellite was launched into an area called Manhattan (it was named after Professor Manhattan, a great astronomer on Venus, who first discovered this area with a telescope 20,000 light years ago).

Because of good weather conditions and high-quality signals, scientists on Venus can get valuable information about whether manned flying saucers can land on the earth. A press conference was held at Venus Institute of Technology.

"We came to the conclusion that according to the satellites that landed on the earth within a week," Professor Zog said, "there is no life phenomenon on the earth."

"How can I see it?" The science reporter of Venus Evening News asked.

"First of all, the material that constitutes the surface of Manhattan is hard concrete, and of course nothing grows there. Moreover, the atmosphere is full of carbon monoxide and other deadly gases, and no one can breathe this air to survive. "

"What does this mean for our flying butterfly plan?"

"We will have to bring our own oxygen, which makes the flying saucer much heavier than originally planned."

"Did you find any other risk factors in your research?"

"Please look at this photo. Do you see this dark black cloud floating on the surface of the earth? We call it the Edison joint belt. We don't know what it is made of, but it brings us a lot of trouble. We will try to suppress the satellite before sending it to earth. rdquo

"Here you will notice a waterway like a river, but satellite information shows that the waterway is polluted and the water is not drinkable. This means that we will have to bring our own drinking water. This will further increase the weight of the flying saucer. "

"Sir, what are the little black dots in those photos?"

"We don't know much about it. They seem to be metal particles moving along some channels. They can release gas, make noise and keep bumping into each other. There are so many such channels and so many such particles on the earth that it is impossible for a UFO to land there without being hit by particles. "

"What are those upright stalagmite-like protrusions?"

"That's some granite structure that glows at night. Professor Graeme calls them skyscrapers because they seem to cut through the sky.

"If everything you say is true, will it delay the UFO project for many years?"

"Yes, but we will start the project as soon as the additional funds provided by the Grupo Foundation are available."

"Professor Zog, why should we spend hundreds of millions of fraction to implement the UFO landing plan? Since there is no life on earth. " "Because if we Venusians can learn to breathe the air on the earth, we can live anywhere."

2 unit

A heated discussion about whether men are braver than women is going on in an unexpected way.

dinner

I first heard this story in India, where people still take it as true today-although any naturalist knows it can't be true. Later, someone told me that it appeared in a magazine shortly after the First World War. But the story published in the magazine and the person who wrote it have never been found.

The story takes place in India. A colonial official and his wife hosted a popular dinner party. The guests sitting with them are the wives of officers and others, and a visiting American naturalist. The banquet was held in their spacious restaurant, and there was no carpet on the marble floor indoors. The roof is exposed; Outside the wide glass door is the balcony.

During the dinner, a young lady had a heated discussion with a major. Miss Li thinks that women have improved, instead of jumping on chairs at the sight of mice as in the past. The major disagreed.

"When a woman meets an emergency," said the major, "the response is screaming. Men may want to scream, but compared with women, their self-control is slightly better. This extra self-control is really effective. "

The American didn't take part in the argument, he just stared at the other guests present. When he noticed this, he found a strange expression on the hostess's face. She stared straight ahead, her facial muscles twitching slightly. She made a gesture to the Indian footman standing behind the seat and whispered a few words to him. The footman quickly left the restaurant with his eyes wide open.

Among the guests present, except Americans, Argument Jun didn't notice this scene, nor did he see the footman put a bowl of milk on the balcony by the door.

The American suddenly woke up. In India, milk in a bowl has only one meaning-bait to attract snakes. He realized that there must be a cobra in the restaurant. He looked up at the rafters on the roof-that's the most likely place for snakes to hide-but it was empty. Three corners of the room are empty. In the fourth corner, the servants are waiting for the next dish. In this way, there is only one place left-under the dining table.

His first thought was to jump back and warn others. But he knew it would cause riots, scare glasses and bite people. So he quickly made a phone call, with a dignified tone, and everyone was quiet.

"I want to know how much restraint you have here. When I count to 305 minutes, none of you move. Offenders will be fined 50 rupees. Get ready! "

During his counting, these 20 people sat there like stone carvings. When he counted "when ... 280 ...", he suddenly saw the cobra come out of his eyes and climb to the bowl of milk. When he jumped up and slammed all the doors leading to the balcony, there was a scream in the room.

"You're right, Major!" The host said loudly. A man just showed us an example of calmness. "

"Wait a minute," said the American, turning to the hostess. "Mrs. Voss, how did you know that the cobra was in the house?" The hostess flashed a faint smile on her face and replied, "Because it is crawling over my instep."

Unit 3

Jefferson died a long time ago, but we are still interested in some of his views.

Jefferson's proverb

Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, may not be as famous as George Washington and abraham lincoln, but most people remember at least one fact about him: he drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Although Jefferson lived more than 200 years ago, we can still learn a lot from him today. Many of his thoughts are of special significance to contemporary youth. Here are some ideas he said and wrote:

See for yourself. Jefferson believed that a free man can obtain knowledge from many other sources besides books; It's important to do your own research. When he was young, he was appointed as a member of a Committee to investigate whether the southern tributary of the James River was deep enough to accommodate large ships. While other members of the Committee were sitting in the state capitol to study documents on this issue, Jefferson jumped into a canoe and made an on-the-spot observation.

You can learn from anyone. According to Jefferson's background and education, he belongs to the highest social class. However, in an era when people from humble origins rarely speak, in that era, the nobility gave orders. Jefferson tried to talk to gardeners, servants and waiters. Jefferson once said to the French aristocrat Galeries Lafayette: You must go to an ordinary house like me, look at their pots and eat their bread. As long as you are willing to do so, you will find out why the people are not satisfied, and you will understand the revolution that is threatening France. "

Judge for yourself. Jefferson never accepted other people's opinions without careful consideration. "I don't believe it or reject it." In a letter to his nephew, he wrote, "Because other people believe or reject something. God gave you a mind to judge truth and falsehood. Then you can use it. " Jefferson believed that people are "completely reliable, and they should be allowed to hear everything true and false, and then make a correct judgment. If let me decide whether we should have a government instead of a newspaper or a newspaper instead of a government, I will not hesitate to choose the latter. "

Do what you think is right. In a free country, there are always conflicting ideas, which is the source of strength. What keeps freedom is conflict, not absolute agreement. Although Jefferson has been severely criticized for many years, he never answered those who criticized him. He expressed his views in a letter he wanted to write to a friend: "Every question has two sides. If you insist on standing on one side and take effective actions accordingly, then people standing on the other side will certainly resent your actions. "

Believe in the future and youth. Jefferson believed that the hands and feet of the present should never be bound by those useless customs. "No society," he said, "can make a constitution that will always apply, and even a law that will always apply cannot be made. The earth belongs to the living generation. He is not afraid of new ideas or the future. " How much pain, "he commented," is caused by some disasters that have never happened! I expect the best, not the worst. I sailed my boat hopefully, leaving my fears behind. "

Jefferson's courage and idealism were based on knowledge. He probably knows much more than anyone of his contemporaries. He is an expert in agriculture, archaeology and medicine. He did this a century before crop rotation and soil conservation were widely adopted by everyone. He also invented the best plow at that time. He has influenced the entire American construction industry, and he has continuously produced various devices, making many tasks that need to be done in daily life easier.

Among Jefferson's many talents, one is the most important: he was first and foremost an excellent and tireless writer. His complete works, published for the first time at present, will exceed fifty volumes. His talent as a writer was soon discovered, so when 1776 wrote the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, this task fell on his shoulders. Millions of people excitedly read the following words he wrote: We hold these truths to be self-evident; All men are created equal ... "Jefferson died on July 4th, 1826, which coincided with the 50th anniversary of American independence. He left a rich ideological legacy and countless examples to his compatriots. Thomas Jefferson made great contributions to American education. He believes that only a country composed of educated people can remain free.

Unit 4

I tried to save some money before entering the university. The author applied to be a teacher. But the interview is getting worse. ...

My first job.

While I was waiting to enter the university, I saw an advertisement in the local newspaper, saying that I had learned something in a suburb of London and wanted to recruit a teacher about ten miles from my residence. I wanted to do something useful because I was short of money, so I applied. At the same time, I am worried that I have no academic qualifications and no teaching experience, and the possibility of getting this job is slim.

However, three days later, a letter came and asked me to go to Croydon for an interview. It turns out that getting there on the road is really troublesome: first, take the train to Croydon station, then take a ten-minute bus ride, and then walk at least a quarter of a mile. As a result, I got there on a hot morning in June, because I was too depressed and not nervous at all.

The school is a red brick house with big windows. The garden in front is a square paved with gravel: there is a cluster of holly shrubs on each corner, and there is a cluster of holly shrubs on each corner. They struggled to survive in the smoke from busy streets.

It was obviously the headmaster himself who opened the door. He is short and fat, with a sandy moustache, wrinkled forehead and almost bald hair.

He looked at me with a surprised and disapproving expression, just like a colonel looking at a private who didn't fasten his boots. "Oh," he mumbled. "You'd better come in." The narrow, sunless corridor smells of rotten cabbage and smells uncomfortable; The narrow, sunless corridor smells of rotten cabbage and smells uncomfortable; The ink on the wall was stained, the lines were dirty, and there was silence around. His study, judging from the crumbs on the carpet, "you'd better sit down," he said, and then asked me a lot of questions: which courses I took and got the certificate of ordinary school; How old am I? What game can I play? Asked here, he suddenly stared at me with bloodshot eyes and asked me if I thought games were an extremely important part of children's education. I muttered something about not paying too much attention to the game. He mumbled something. I said something wrong. The headmaster and I obviously have nothing in common.

He said that there is only one class in the school, and there are 24 boys, ranging in age from seven to thirteen. In addition to art classes, he will go to the park a mile away to play football and cricket on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.

The whole teaching plan frightened me. I will divide the whole class into three groups and give them lessons in turn at three different levels; The thought of teaching algebra and geometry scares me. I did poorly in these two subjects at school. Perhaps even worse is the arrangement of playing cricket on Saturday afternoon, because my friend metropolis is enjoying himself at leisure.

I asked shyly, "How much is my salary?" "A week 12, plus lunch." He stood up before I could raise an objection. "Well," he said, "you'd better meet my wife. She is the real supervisor of this school. "

I can't stand it any longer. I was very young at that time, and the thought of working under a woman was the biggest insult.

Unit 5

From the perspective of a young friend, Einstein is a simple, modest and ordinary person.

Professors and toys are leisurely

My father is a close friend of Albert Einstein. When I was a child, I was very shy when I visited Einstein's house. When I felt free, he said, "I have something to show you." He went to the table and brought back a yo-yo. He tried to show me how to play with this toy; But he couldn't get it on the production line. When it was my turn, I held out my hands and pointed out to him that the wrong coil made the toy out of balance. Einstein nodded, impressed by his skills and knowledge. Later, I bought a Youyou as a Christmas present for the professor and received a poem of thanks from him.

As a child and later as an adult, I was always amazed at Einstein's personality. He is the only person I know who can reach a compromise with himself and the world around him. He knows what he wants. All he wants is to understand the nature of the universe and the logic and simplicity of its operation within his ability as a person. He knows that the answers to many questions are beyond his intelligence. But this did not discourage him. He is satisfied as long as he achieves the greatest success within his ability.

In our 23-year friendship, I have never seen him show taboo, vanity, pain, anger, resentment or personal ambition. He seems to be immune to these feelings. He has no affectation or vanity. Although he corresponds with many important people in the world, there is only one pad on his writing paper.

He only needs pencils and paper for his work. Matter means nothing to him. I know he never carries money with him, because he never needs money. He believes in simplicity, even shaving with a safety razor and water. When I suggested that he use shaving cream, he said, "A razor and water are enough."

"But, Professor, why can't you try shaving cream once?" I think. "It can make your beard smooth and painless."

he gave a shrug of the shoulders. Finally, I brought him a tube of shaving cream. second ....