2007北京太奇培訓學校考研英語強化班授課講義(六)

    [2006, RC Text 4]

    Many things make people think artists are weird. But the weirdest may be this: artists’ only job is to explore emotions, and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel bad.

    This wasn’t always so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But somewhere from the 19th century onward, more artists began seeing happiness as meaningless, phony or, worst of all, boring, as we went from Wordsworth’s daffodils to Baudelaire’s flowers of evil.

    You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern times have seen so much misery. But it’s not as if earlier times didn’t know perpetual war, disaster and the massacre of innocents. The reason, in fact, may be just the opposite: there is too much damn happiness in the world today.

    After all, what is the one modern form of expression almost completely dedicated to depicting happiness? Advertising. The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media, and with it, a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an ideology.

    People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.

    Today the messages the average Westerner is surrounded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy. Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all smiling, smiling, smiling. Our magazines feature beaming celebrities and happy families in perfect homes. And since these messages have an agenda -- to lure us to open our wallets -- they make the very idea of happiness seem unreliable. "Celebrate!" commanded the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.

    But what we forget -- what our economy depends on us forgetting -- is that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. The things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need art to tell us, as religion once did, Memento mori: remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it. It’s a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air. (433 words)

    Notes: weird adj. 不可思議的，離奇古怪的。phony (=phoney) 假裝的，冒充的，偽造的。Wordsworth (1770 – 1850) 英國詩人。daffodil n.水仙花。Baudelaire (1821 – 1867) 法國詩人及散文家。damn adj. （表示不滿、憤怒、不耐煩等）：Where is that damn book? 那本該死的書在哪里？My damn car has broken down! 我的混賬汽車壞了。memento 紀念品。Memento mori人總有一死。

    1. By citing the examples of poets Wordsworth and Baudetaire, the author intends to show that

    [A] poetry is not as expressive of joy as painting or music.

    [B] art grows out of both positive and negative feelings.

    [C] poets today are less skeptical of happiness.

    [D] artists have changed their focus of interest.

    2. The word "bummer" (Line 4, Paragraph 5) most probably means something

    [A] religious. [B] unpleasant. [C] entertaining. [D] commercial.

    3. In the author's opinion, advertising

    [A] emerges in the wake of the anti-happy art. [B] is a cause of disappointment for the general public.

    [C] replaces the church as a major source of information. [D] creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself.

    4. We can learn from the last paragraph that the author believes

    [A] happiness more often than not ends in sadness. [B] the anti-happy art is distasteful but refreshing.

    [C] misery should be enjoyed rather than denied. [D] the anti-happy art flourishes when economy booms.

    5. Which of the following is true of the text?

    [A] Religion once functioned as a reminder of misery. [B] Art provides a balance between expectation and reality.

    [C] People feel disappointed at the realities of modem society [D] Mass media are inclined to cover disasters and deaths.

    Text 2

    [2005, RC Text 4]

    Americans no longer expect public figures, whether in speech or in writing, to command the English language with skill and gift. Nor do they aspire to such command themselves. In his latest book, Doing Our Own Thing. The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care, John McWhorter, a linguist and controversialist of mixed liberal and conservative views, sees the triumph of 1960s counter-culture as responsible for the decline of formal English.

    Blaming the permissive 1960s is nothing new, but this is not yet another criticism against the decline in education. Mr. McWhorter's academic specialty is language history and change, and he sees the gradual disappearance of "whom", for example, to be natural and no more regrettable than the loss of the case-endings of Old English.

    But the cult of the authentic and the personal, "doing our own thing", has spelt the death of formal speech, writing, poetry and music. While even the modestly educated sought an elevated tone when they put pen to paper before the 1960s, even the most well regarded writing since then has sought to capture spoken English on the page. Equally, in poetry, the highly personal, performative genre is the only form that could claim real liveliness. In both oral and written English, talking is triumphing over speaking, spontaneity over craft.

    Illustrated with an entertaining array of examples from both high and low culture, the trend that Mr. McWhorter documents is unmistakable. But it is less clear, to take the question of his subtitle, why we should, like, care. As a linguist, he acknowledges that all varieties of human language, including non-standard ones like Black English, can be powerfully expressive -- there exists no language or dialect in the world that cannot convey complex ideas. He is not arguing, as many do, that we can no longer think straight because we do not talk proper.

    Russians have a deep love for their own language and carry large chunks of memorized poetry in their heads, while Italian politicians tend to elaborate speech that would seem old-fashioned to most English-speakers. Mr. McWhorter acknowledges that formal language is not strictly necessary, and proposes no radical education reforms -- he is really grieving over the loss of something beautiful more than useful. We now take our English "on paper plates instead of china". A shame, perhaps, but probably an inevitable one. (391 words)

    Notes: aspire to (after) 渴望成就…。degradation n. 退化；墮落，貶低，降低。permissive 放任的。specialty (=speciality)專業。no more … than …與…一樣都不…。cult n. 膜拜。authentic adj. 真實的。spell vt. 招致；意味著。elevated adj. 高架的；有修養的。put pen to paper（開始）寫信。performative 有表演力的。genre 種類；風格，體裁。triumph over勝過。spontaneity 自發性。craft工藝性。 entertaining adj. 令人感興趣的。array n. 系列；大量。subtitle 副標題。dialect 方言。think straight 有條理地思維。talk proper 說話規范。chunk n. 相當數量。

    1. According to McWhorter, the decline of formal English

    [A] is inevitable in radical education reforms. [B] is but all too natural in language development.

    [C] has caused the controversy over the counter-culture. [D] brought about changes in public attitudes in the 1960s.

    2. The word "talking" (Line 4, Paragraph 3) denotes

    [A] modesty. [B] personality. [C] liveliness. [D] informality.

    3. To which of the following statements would McWhorter most likely agree?

    [A] Logical thinking is not necessarily related to the way we talk.

    [B] Black English can be more expressive than standard English.

    [C] Non-standard varieties of human language are just as entertaining.

    [D] Of all the varieties, standard English can best convey complex ideas.

    4. The description of Russians' love of memorizing poetry shows the author's

    [A] interest in their language. [B] appreciation of their efforts.

    [C] admiration for their memory. [D] contempt for their old-fashionedness.

    5. According to the last paragraph, "paper plates" is to "china" as

    [A] "temporary" is to "permanent". [B] "radical" is to "conservative".

    [C] "functional" is to "artistic". [D] "humble" is to "noble".

    Word Study

    command [k m nd] v. 1.命令，吩咐：I command you to start at once.(我命令你立即出發。) She commanded that we (should) attack at once.(她命令我們立即進攻。) He commanded silence.(他吩咐安靜。) 2.指揮（部隊），控制:General Smith commanded the army. (史密斯將軍指揮軍隊。) 3.掌握，支配: He commands a large vocabulary. (他掌握大量詞匯。) 4.得到，值得（尊敬，同情等）：This great man is able to command everyone’s respect. (這位偉人能得到人人尊敬。) 5.俯瞰（因而可以控制）：The castle commanded the whole town. (這個城堡俯瞰整個城鎮。) n. 命令；指揮；掌握，控制；司令部，指揮部。成語 at sb’s command 聽候差遣[吩咐]，由…掌握：I’m at your command. (我聽你的差遣。) by sb’s command 根據…的命令：It was done by the Queen’s command. (這是按女王命令辦的。) in command (of) 指揮，控制：Who is in command here?(誰在這里指揮？) take command of (開始)指揮：When the major was killed, the senior captain took command of the company. (當少校陣亡了，大尉開始指揮步兵連。)

    aspire (after or to) vi. (=direct one’s hopes and efforts to some great aims)渴望（得到或成為…），有…的雄心［野心］：He aspired after knowledge/to the highest positions/to be come president. (他渴望知/爬上比較高職務/成為總統。)

    Text 3

    The good news made headlines nationwide: Deaths from several kinds of cancer have declined significantly in recent years. But the news has to be bittersweet for many cancer patients and their families. Every year, more than 500,000 people in the United States still die of cancer. In fact, more than half of all patients diagnosed with cancer will die of their disease within a few years. And while it is true that survival is longer today than in the past, the quality of life for these patients is often greatly diminished. Cancer – and many of the treatments used to fight it – causes pain, nausea, fatigue, and anxiety that routinely go undertreated or untreated.

    In the nation’s single-minded focus on curing cancer, we have unintentionally devalued the critical need for palliative care, which focuses on alleviating physical and psychological symptoms over the course of the disease. Nothing would have a greater impact on the daily lives of cancer patients and their families than good symptom control and supportive therapy. Yet the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the federal government’s leader in cancer research and training, spent less than 1 percent of its 1999 budget on any aspect of research or training in palliative care.

    The nation needs to get serious about reducing needless suffering. NCI should commit itself to and fund research aimed at improving symptom control and palliative care. NCI also could designate “centers of excellence” among the cancer centers it recognizes. To get that designation, centers would deliver innovative, top-quality palliative care to all segments of the populations the centers serve; train professionals in medicine, nursing, psychology, social work, and other disciplines to provide palliative care; and conduct research.

    Insurance coverage for palliative and hospice care also contributes to the problem by forcing people to choose between active treatment or hospice care. This “either/or” approach does not readily allow these two types of essential care to be integrated. The Medicare hospice benefit is designed specially for people in the final stages of illness and allows enrollment only if patients are expected to survive six months or less. The benefit excludes patients from seeking both palliative care and potentially life-extending treatment.

    That makes hospice enrollment an obvious deterrent for many patients. And hospices, which may have the most skilled practitioners and the most experience in administering palliative care, cannot offer their services to people who could really benefit but still are pursuing active treatment.

    Death is inevitable, but severe suffering is not. To offer hope for a long life of the highest possible quality and to deliver the best quality cancer care from diagnosis to death, our public institutions need to move towards policies that value and promote palliative care. (449 words)

    Notes: nausea 惡心；single-minded 一心一意的；palliative 減輕的，緩解的；palliative care 姑息治療；commit oneself to 承擔去做…；insurance coverage保險復蓋范圍； hospice (晚期病人)收容所，收容計劃；Medicare [美] 老年醫療保健制度 （指政府為65歲以上老人設置的醫療費減免制度）；benefit保險金；deterrent 威懾力量；制止因素；administer給予；實施，執行。

    1. According to the first paragraph, what is the author’s attitude towards the good news?

    A. He believes that dramatic results have been made in cancer research.

    B. He has mixed feelings about the rapid decline in deaths from cancer.

    C. He deems that a large number of cancer patients still die every year.

    D. He thinks many by-effects brought by cancer treatments are severe.

    2. It can be learned from the text that palliative care is intended to __________.

    A. raise patients’ survival rates B. extend patients’ life spans

    C. improve patients’ quality of life D. provide patients with health insurance

    3. According to the author, research on palliative care for cancer __________.

    A. has been overlooked by the NCI B. has gained the active support of the nation

    C. has been overfunded by the NCI D. is of greater significance than research on cancer cures

    4. The main issue of insurance coverage for hospice care and active treatment is that __________.

    A. it does not allow patients to seek both simultaneously

    B. it only covers patients whose life expectancy is less than six months

    C. hospice care is only covered when it may extend a patient’s life expectancy

    D. it deprives patients of the right to choose between two proven treatment methods

    5. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the text?

    A. Improving cancer research in the U.S. B. Alleviating the suffering of cancer patients

    C. Reforming insurance coverage for cancer patients D. Choosing active treatment or palliative care for patients

    Word Study

    1.squeeze vt. 擠、壓、擰；塞進；擠進：1) He squeezed the last bit from the tooth-paste tube. (他從牙膏筒里擠出了比較后一點牙膏。) 2) Squeeze the walnuts together to crack them. (把核桃放在一起擠壓以便敲碎它們。) 3) He squeezed an extra shirt into the suitcase. (他把又一件襯衣塞進箱子。) 4) Can’t you squeeze more juice out of that lemon? (你能否從那個檸檬中擠出更多的汁來？) squeeze n. (經濟術語)銀根緊的時候：We cannot borrow money during the present credit squeeze. (在目前信貸緊縮時期我們無法借到更多的錢。)

    2. swing vi. 擺動：1) His arms swing as he walks. 2) The door swung open. （門擺動開了。） swing n. 變動，波動：swings in the oil price 油價波動。用于成語：in full swing （某活動）全面展開，達到高潮：1) Everything seemed to be in full swing there. 2) It was Saturday night; the little party was in full swing. 3) The work was in full swing when we arrived. 4) When we arrived, the meeting was already in full swing. 5) Ten weeks before the election the campaign was in full swing.

    3. 經濟方面的短語：economic decline經濟衰退；a swing in prices價格波動；supply-cut供應減少；double-digit inflation兩位數的通貨膨脹；economic consequences經濟上產生的后果；retail price零售價；energy conservation能源保護；oil import bill石油進口開支；oil shock石油恐慌；energy-intensive能源密集型的；price index價格指數。

    Text 4

    [2004 RC Text 4 ]

    Americans today don’t place a very high value on intellect. Our heroes are athletes, entertainers, and entrepreneurs, not scholars. Even our schools are where we send our children to get a practical education – not to pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Symptoms of pervasive anti-intellectualism in our schools aren’t difficult to find.

    “Schools have always been in a society where practical is more important than intellectual,” says education writer Diane Ravitch. “Schools could be a counterbalance.” Ravitch’s latest book, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, traces the roots of anti-intellectualism in our schools, concluding they are anything but a counterbalance to the American distaste for intellectual pursuits.

    But they could and should be. Encouraging kids to reject the life of the mind leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and control. Without the ability to think critically, to defend their ideas and understand the ideas of others, they cannot fully participate in our democracy. Continuing along this path, says writer Earl Shorris, “We will become a second-rate country. We will have a less civil society.”

    “Intellect is resented as a form of power or privilege,” writes historian and professor Richard Hofstadter in Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, a Pulitzer Prize winning book on the roots of anti-intellectualism in US politics, religion, and education. From the beginning of our history, says Hofstadter, our democratic and populist urges have driven us to reject anything that smells of elitism. Practicality, common sense, and native intelligence have been considered more noble qualities than anything you could learn from a book.

    Ralph Waldo Emerson and other transcendentalist philosophers thought schooling and rigorous book learning put unnatural restraints on children:” We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for 10 or 15 years and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing.” Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn exemplified American anti-intellectualism. Its hero avoids being civilized – going to school and learning to read – so he can preserve his innate goodness.

    Intellect, according to Hofstadter, is different from native intelligence, a quality we reluctantly admire. Intellect is the critical, creative, and contemplative side of the mind. Intelligence seeks to grasp, manipulate, re-order, and adjust, while intellect examines, ponders, wonders, theorizes, criticizes and imagines.

    School remains a place where intellect is mistrusted. Hofstadter says our country’s educational system is in the grips of people who “joyfully and militantly proclaim their hostility to intellect and their eagerness to identify with children who show the least intellectual promise.” (414 words)

    Notes：intellect 才智，智能。entertainers 表演家。entrepreneurs 企業家。pervasive 彌漫的，滲透的，遍布的。intellectualism （哲）主知主義（主張知識為純理性的產物）。counterbalance 平衡力，起平衡作用的因素。anything but 根本不。distaste (for) n. 厭惡，不喜歡。populist adj.平民主義的。elitism 杰出人物統治論，高人一等的優越感。complementary 補充的，互補的。civil 公民的；文明的。transcendentalist 先驗論的。rigorous 嚴格的，嚴厲的。a bellyful of 滿腹的。innate 天生的，先天的。contemplative 沉思的。

    1. What do American parents expect their children to acquire in school?

    A. The habit of thinking independently. B. Profound knowledge of the world.

    C. Practical ability for future career. D. The confidence in intellectual pursuits.

    2. We can learn from the text that Americans have a history of

    A. undervaluing intellect. B. favoring intellectualism.

    C. supporting school reform D. suppressing native intelligence.

    3. The views of Ravitch and Emerson on schooling are

    A. identical. B. similar. C. complementary. D. opposite.

    4. Emerson, according to the text, is probably

    A. a pioneer of education reform. B. an opponent of intellectualism.

    C. a scholar in favor of intellectualism. D. an advocate of regular schooling.

    5. What does the author think of intellect?

    A. It is second to intelligence. B. It evolves from common sense.

    C. It is to be pursued. D. It underlies power.

    III. Writing

    (I)

    Directions: In this part, you are to write an essay of 160—200 words entitled “On Developing Tourism”. Your essay should be based on the outline below:

    1. Present situation,

    2. Benefits brought by tourism,

    3. Obstacles to the development of tourism,

    4. My view on future prospect.

    旅游業----"無煙的工業"----正在中國迅速發展。隨著改革開放政策的貫徹執行, 數以萬計的外國游人涌入中國。他們渴望參觀這個具有5000多年燦爛文化的神秘古國。

    旅游業作為一種商業活動給中國帶來許多好處。首先, 在經濟上它有利于我國經濟的發展。正如你們所知道的,中國需要大量的外匯來執行現代化建設計劃。旅游業是獲取外匯的比較重要的渠道之一。其次, 旅游業使中國人民更多地了解外界。另一方面, 訪問過中國的外國人對我國的比較新發展和我國人民的友好和殷勤留下了深刻的印象。顯然，旅游業大大促進了中國人民和世界各族人民之間的友誼和了解。

    然而, 仍然存在兩個障礙妨礙著旅游業的發展。一方面, 許多地區的運輸系統效率不高無法滿足日益增長的需要。另一方面，我們的許多名勝地還要多做廣告，讓全世界都知道它們，以便吸引更多的旅游者。因此, 我們還有許多困難要克服。

    至于我, 我相信, 隨著我國經濟的發展, 這些問題必將逐步得到解決。我們期望有一個更美好、更光明的未來。

    Tourism, a smokeless industry, is developing rapidly in China. With the reform and opening-up policy being carried out, thousands upon thousands of foreign visitors are pouring into our country. They are eager to see(=visit) this old mysterious land with a splendid culture of more than 5,000 years.

    Tourism as a form of enterprise brings China a lot of benefits. In the first place, it is financially beneficial to the economic development of China. As you know, China needs a growing amount of foreign currencies for its modernization program. Tourism is one of the most important channels to obtain them. Secondly, tourism enables the Chinese people to know more about the outside world. On the other hand, the foreigners who have visited China are deeply impressed by the latest developments of our country and the friendliness and hospitality of our people. It is clear that tourism contributes a great deal to the friendship and mutual understanding between the Chinese people and peoples all over the world.

    There are, however, still two obstacles hindering the expansion of tourism in our country. For one thing, the transportation system in many areas is not efficient enough to meet the ever-increasing needs. For another, our places of interest have yet to be better advertised. Information about them should be made available throughout the world to attract more and more tourists. Therefore, we still have a long way to go.

    As for me, with the development of our national economy, all these problems will certainly be solved step by step. A much better and brighter future awaits us. (262words)

    背記重點詞語漢英對照： 1. 成千上萬：thousands upon thousands of; 數以百計：hundreds of。 2. 擁入：pour into; crowd into; stream into; swarm into。 3. 渴望做某事：be eager to do sth.; desire strongly to do sth.; aspire to do sth.; long to do sth. ; 渴望某事：be eager for sth.; desire sth.; aspire after/to sth.; long for sth. 4. 使某人能做某事：enable sb. to do sth.。 5. 有助于，促進，增加：contribute to sth.。 6. 阻礙某人做某事：hinder sb. from doing sth.; stop sb. from doing sth.; 阻礙某事：obstruct sth.。 7. 盼望，等待：sth. await(s) sb. = sb. look(s) forward to sth., 例如：A much better and brighter future awaits us. = We are looking forward to a much better and brighter future.

    Put the following sentences from Chinese into English:

    1. 數以百計的學生擁入大廳去看這位歌星。

    2. 1)他渴望成功。 2)他渴望知識。 3)他渴望成為一個超級明星。

    3. 雖然我們還有許多困難要克服，但是我們對未來充滿信心。

    4. 1)她的著作極有助于我們對這個困難課題的了解。[ALD] 2)汽車增加了空氣污染。

    5. 總之，我們盼望一個更美好、更光明的未來。

    (II) (課外背誦篇)

    Directions: Study the following pie chart carefully and write an essay entitled “Investment in Beijing from Different Countries and Regions”. Your essay should meet the requirements below:

    1. Describe the pie chart,

    2. State the possible benefits brought by outside investment,

    3. Suggest measures helping to attract investment from outside.

    自從1979年中國對外開放以來，北京在吸引外企投資合資企業方面已取得了顯著成績。根據圖示，不同企業的投資者來自26個國家和地區。香港的投資額居第一位，占總額的44%。日本占19.2%, 居第二位。美國為第三，占16%。

    普遍認為，北京從外部投資中受益匪淺。首先，大量合資企業已經建立，這就大大促進了“首都經濟”的發展。其次，外資企業為北京市民提供了許多就業機會。這又緩解了北京的下崗工人問題。比較后，由于北京和沿海開放城市一樣享有許多優惠政策，所以高科技產業在首都發展迅猛。

    至于吸引外資的措施，有如下幾點。一方面，我們應該專門努力來改善投資環境, 以便越來越多的外資能流入北京。另一方面，我們應該抓住機遇把目前的外資企業盡可能辦好。我深信，隨著改革開放政策的貫徹執行，北京將吸引大量外資。

    Since China opened its door to the outside world in 1979, Beijing has made remarkable results in attracting foreign business to invest in joint ventures. According to the pie chart, the investors in different enterprises come from 26 countries and regions. The investment of Hong Kong ranks first, accounting for 44 per cent of the total. Japan’s investment makes up 19.2 per cent, putting it in second spot. Third is the United States at 16 per cent.

    It is generally believed that Beijing benefits a lot from the outside investment. In the first place, a large number of joint ventures have been set up, which contributes greatly to the development of Capital Economy. Secondly, the foreign-invested enterprises offer a lot of jobs to the residents in Beijing. This in turn relieves the problem of laid-off workers in the city. Finally, the high-tech enterprises in the capital will grow rapidly as Beijing enjoys the same preferential policies as coastal cities open to the outside world.

    As far as the measures to attract outside investment are concerned, they are as follows. On the one hand, we should make special efforts to improve the investment environment so that an increasing amount of foreign capital can stream into Beijing. On the other hand, we should take advantage of this opportunity to run the present foreign-invested enterprises as efficiently as possible. I am convinced that with the reform and opening up policy being implemented, Beijing will be a great attraction for foreign investment. (247 words)

    作業：1.每天做“復習指導”閱讀理解1 -- 2篇、英譯漢2--3天一篇。 2. 改寫本單元作文。3. 詞匯要結合書中的內容反復背記。

    贈言：1. 一面學習、一面思考，學習使人增加知識，而思考則使人把知識總結成規律，再在實踐中轉化為解決問題的能力。

    2. 現象是多變的，本質是基本不變的, 它是事物內部的因果性、必然性和規律性。所以本質，一般來說，就是規律。只有把握規律的人才能從必然王國過渡到自由王國。

    Text 1 考考譯文

    有許多事情使人們認為藝術家離奇古怪。但是比較怪異的事情可能是，藝術家的惟一工作是探索情感，而且喜歡關注那些負面情感。

    但情況并不總是這樣的。諸如繪畫和音樂這樣的早期藝術形式比較適合于表達喜悅之心。但是從大約19世紀后，隨著我們從英國詩人渥茲華斯的水仙花到法國詩人波多雷的邪惡之花，更多的藝術家開始把幸福視為毫無意義的、虛偽的，甚至是令人厭倦的。

    你可能會辯解說，藝術對幸福更為懷疑，這是因為現代社會目睹了如此眾多的苦難。但是這并不是說，好像以前就沒有無休止的戰亂、災難及對無辜者的屠殺。事實上，藝術對幸福懷疑的原因可能恰恰相反：在今天的世界上混賬的幸福實在太多了。

    雖然這樣，那什么是幾乎能夠完全致力于描繪幸福的一種現代表達方式呢? 廣告業。反幸福藝術(=宣揚不幸的藝術)的興起幾乎完全是隨著大眾媒體的出現而接踵而至的；隨之，出現了商業廣告文化，其中幸福不僅僅是一種理想，而且還是一種思想意識。

    早期的人們到處都能感悟苦難。他們一直工作到筋疲力盡，生活幾無保障，年紀輕輕就嗚呼哀哉。在西方，在大眾宣傳工具和閱讀書寫之前，比較有力的大眾傳媒是教堂。它可以使那些做禮拜的人想到，他們的心靈處于危險之中，有朝一日他們可能會成為壞人的盤中之餐。考慮到這一切，人們也確實不需要讓藝術也變成令人不快的東西了。

    如今，普通西方人的周圍不是宗教信息，而是商業信息以及永遠快樂的信息。吃快餐的人、新聞主持人、郵遞員，所有的人都在不停地微笑著。我們的雜志為容光煥發的名人和住在漂亮房子里的幸福家庭做特寫。因為這些信息有日程安排 －以便誘惑我們打開錢包，它們使幸福的概念變得似乎不太可靠。廣告為治療關節炎的藥物Celebrex發出命令：“慶祝！”。可后來我們發現，這種藥可能增加患心臟病的風險，

    但是我們所忘記的東西，即我們的經濟指望我們忘記的東西，是幸福不僅僅是沒有痛苦的快樂。那些能夠帶來巨大快樂的東西也有可能帶來巨大的潛在的損失和失望。今天，我們周圍到處都是唾手可得的幸福的承諾，我們需要藝術來告訴我們死亡的象征，就像過去一度宗教所做的那樣，即記住，人是會死的，一切都會結束；記住，幸福不是否認死亡，而是與死亡共存。這個信息比丁香香煙還苦，但是，由于某種原因，它又是一股新鮮空氣。

    Text 2 考考譯文

    美國人不再期望公眾人物無論在講演或在書寫中熟練地、天才地掌握英語語言。他們自己也沒有這樣的雄心。既有自由派又有保守派觀點的語言學家兼善辯家John McWhorter在他的近著《Doing Our Own Thing. The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care》中認為，20世紀60年代反傳統文化的勝利是造成規范英語衰落的原因。

    譴責放任的六十年代并不是什么新鮮的事，但是這還不是再次批判教育的衰退。McWhorter先生的學術專業是語言歷史和變遷。他認為，諸如“whom”一詞的逐漸消失是自然的，與古英語格結尾的消失一樣并沒有什么可遺憾的。

    可是，膜拜真實性和個性化，即所謂“做我們自己的事情”，已經招致了規范語言、作品、詩歌和音樂的衰亡。盡管六十年代以前有一定文化的人寫信時也尋求高雅的筆調，但是從那時以來甚至比較受好評的作品也一直捕捉報紙上的口頭英語。同樣，在詩歌中，高度個性化的、極具表演力的風格成了可以稱作真正生動活潑的惟一形式。在口頭和書面英語中，談話語體戰勝了講演語體，自發性戰勝了工藝性。

    來自高低文化層次的大量令人高興的例子說明，McWhorter先生書中所證明的趨勢是不會錯的。但是，拿他這本書的副標題所提出的問題“為什么我們應該，喜歡，照料”來看，這一趨勢并不清楚。作為語言學家，他承認，人類語言的形形式式的種類，包括像黑人英語這樣的非標準語言，都可以有很強的表達力 － 世界上沒有一種語言或方言不能傳遞復雜的思想。與很多人不一樣的是，他并不認為，因為我們講話不規范所以我們思維混亂。

    俄羅斯人深深熱愛自己的語言并且在他們的頭腦里背誦了大量詩歌，而意大利政治家們往往對語言精雕細刻，這就使許多講英語的人似乎覺得老氣橫秋。McWhorter先生承認，規范語言并不是絕對必要的，他并沒有提出激進的教育改革 － 他只是對語言中美好有余、實用不足的東西的丟失而感到傷感。我們現在用“紙盤子而不是瓷盤子”來盛我們的英語大餐。或許，這樣做不好看，但很可能這是必然的。

    Text 3 考考譯文

    一條好消息成了全國各大報刊的頭條新聞：近年來，幾種癌癥的死亡人數已經大大降低了。但是這條新聞對于許多癌癥患者及其家庭來說仍是憂喜參半。每年，美國仍有50多萬人死于癌癥。事實上，診斷為癌癥的所有病人中一半以上將在今后幾年內死于這種疾病。雖然確實現在的存活時間比過去長，但是這些病人的生活質量往往大大下降了。癌癥 － 以及用來與癌癥作斗爭的許多治療 － 會引起疼痛、惡心、疲勞和焦慮，所有這些反應通常沒有得到很好的治療或者根本沒有治療。

    在國家專心集中精力治療癌癥時，我們卻無意間忽視了對姑息治療的需要；這種治療注重緩解疾病過程中的生理和心理癥狀。有效的癥狀控制和支持性治療對于癌癥病人和他們家人的日常生活來說比什么都重要。然而國家癌癥研究所（NCI），作為聯邦政府在癌癥研究和培訓方面的領導者，在姑息治療的研究和培訓方面所花的錢只占它1999年預算的1%弱。

    國家需要嚴肅認真地考慮如何減輕病人不必要的痛苦。國家癌癥研究所也可以在它所承認的癌癥中心中樹立一些“優秀中心”。為了獲得這樣的命名，癌癥中心將向它們服務的各種病人提供有創新的、高質量的姑息治療，培訓醫藥、獲理、心理咨詢、社會工作和其它學科方面的專業人員并進行研究。

    姑息治療和晚期病人收容治療的保險覆蓋范圍迫使人們在積極治療和晚期病人收容治療兩者之間做出選擇，這也是問題產生的部分原因。這種“二選一”的做法不允許把兩種必需的治療合二而一。醫療保險的晚期病人收容治療的保險金專門是為晚期病人設立的，只有預期病人只能存活六個月或不到六個月才允許登記收容。這種保險金把既尋求姑息治療又尋求可能延長壽命治療的病人排除在外。

    這就使得晚期病人收容登記對許多病人來說起到明顯限止的作用。晚期病人收容所，雖然在實施姑息治療方面可能擁有技術水平比較高的開業醫生和比較豐富的治療經驗，但是不能向真正受益但又在尋求積極治療的病人提供它們的各種服務。

    死亡是不可避免的，但痛苦的折磨是可以避免的。為了給予癌癥患者從被確診到死亡之前盡可能優質的長期生活的希望以及比較好的癌癥治療，我們的公共機構需要提出新的政策，重視并推進姑息治療。

    Text 4 考考譯文

    美國人今天并不十分重視理性才智(與感情和本能相對)。我們的英雄是運動員、表演家和企業家，而不是學者。甚至我們的學校是我們送孩子去接受實用教育的地方 -- 而不是為了知識而去探索知識的地方。在我們學校中不難找到普遍存在的反主知主義的跡象。

    “學校一直是處在更重視實用性而不是理性知識的社會中，”教育作家Diane Ravitch說。“學校可以成為一個起平衡彌補作用的力量。” Ravitch的近著 <落后了：學校改革失敗的100年>，探索了我們學校中反主知主義的根源，結論是，現在的學校根本就不是對美國人厭惡知識追求的起平衡彌補作用的力量。

    但是學校可以而且應該成為一種平衡力。鼓勵孩子摒棄理性思維的生活，使孩子很容易受到別人的利用和控制。如果沒有批判思維的能力，沒有維護自己思想和理解別人思想的能力，孩子們就無法充分參與我們的民主生活。沿著這條道路走下去，作家Earl Shorris說，“我們將變成一個二流國家。我們將成為一個缺乏文明的社會。”

    “理性才智作為權力或特權的一種形式而受到憎惡，”歷史學家Richard Hofstadter教授在其 <美國生活中的反主知主義> 一書中寫道。該書在論述美國政治、宗教和教育中的反主知主義根源方面榮獲了美國普利策獎金。從我們的歷史開端起，Hofstadter說，我們的民主的和平民主義的要求一直驅使我們摒棄任何帶有精英主義的思想。實用性、常識和天智一直被認為是比從書本上學到的任何知識更高尚的品質。

    Ralph Waldo Emerson和其他先驗論哲學家認為，上學和嚴格的書本學習人為地限制了孩子：“從10歲到15歲，我們被關在中學里和大學的背誦教室里，比較終等我們出來時，知識滿腹，但什么事也不懂。“馬克 吐溫的 一書就是美國反主知主義的一個事例。該書的主人公逃避接受文明的熏陶 – 上學和學習讀書 – 因此他能保持他天生的美德。

    按照Hofstadter的看法，理性才智與天智截然不同。天智是一種我們不愿意崇尚的品質。理性才智是思維中長于批判的、有創造性的和善于思考的一面。天智是要去理解、支配、重組和調整，而理性才智是考察、沉思、質疑、理論化、批判和想像。

    學校仍然是理性才智受到懷疑的地方。Hofstadter說，我們國家的教育制度是掌握在這樣一些人的手里，他們“高興地、好斗地 。

    宣稱他們對理性才智的敵視，宣稱渴望認同理性才智前景比較差的。