21世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語教程04

Unit4TextAPre-readingActivitiesAsyoulistentothepassage,fillinasmuchinformationasyoucanaboutAnnette'splans.Fridayevening:Duringthecomingmonth:Nextterm:Inthefall:Nextspring:HowdidyoufeelwhileyouwerelisteningtoAnnette?Whatwasitliketryingtokeepupwithher?HowdostudentslikeAnnettemakeyoufeel?CollegePressuresWilliamZinsserIammasterofBranfordCollegeatYale.Iliveonthecampusandknowthestudentswell.(Wehave485ofthem.)Ilistentotheirhopesandfears-andalsototheirstereomusicandtheirpiercingcriesinthedeadofnight("Doesanybodycare?").Theycometometoaskhowtogetthroughtherestoftheirlives.MainlyItrytoremindthemthattheroadaheadisalongoneandthatitwillhavemoreunexpectedturnsthantheythink.Therewillbeplentyoftimetochangejobs,changecareers,changewholeattitudesandapproaches.Theydon'twanttohearsuchnews.Theywantamap-rightnow-thattheycanfollowdirectlytocareersecurity,financialsecurity,socialsecurityand,presumably,aprepaidgrave.WhatIwishforallstudentsissomereleasefromthegrimgripofthefuture.Iwishthemachancetoenjoyeachsegmentoftheireducationasanexperienceinitselfandnotasatiresomerequirementinpreparationforthenextstep.Iwishthemtherighttoexperiment,totripandfall,tolearnthatdefeatisaseducationalasvictoryandisnottheendoftheworld.Mywish,ofcourse,isnaive.OneofthefewrightsthatAmericadoesnotproclaimistherighttofail.Achievementisthenationalgod,worshippedinourmedia——themillion-dollarathlete,thewealthyexecutive-andglorifiedinourpraiseofpossessions.Inthepresenceofsuchapotentstatereligion,theyoungarcgrowingupold.Iseefourkindsofpressureworkingoncollegestudentstoday:economicpressure,parentalpressure,peerpressure,andself-inducedpressure.It'seasytolookaroundforbadguys-toblamethecollegesforchargingtoomuchmoney,theprofessorsforassigningtoomuchwork,theparentsforpushingtheirchildrentoofar,thestudentsfordrivingthemselvestoohard.Buttherearenobadguys,onlyvictims.Todayitisnotunusualforastudent,evenonewhoworksparttimeatcollegeandfulltimeduringthesummer,tohaveaccumulated$5,000inloansafterfouryears一loansthatthestudentmuststarttorepaywithinoneyearaftergraduation(andincidentally,notalltheseloansarelow-interest,asmanynon-studentsbelieve).Encouragedatthecommencementceremonytogoforthintotheworld,studentsarealreadybehindastheygoforth.Howcantheynotfeelunderpressurethroughoutcollegetoprepareforthisdayofreckoning?WomenatYaleareunderevenmorepressurethanmentojustifytheirexpensiveeducationtothemselves,theirparents,andsociety.Foralthoughtheyleavecollegesuperblyequippedtobringfreshleadershiptotraditionallymalejobs,societyhasn*tyetcaughtupwiththisfact.Alongwitheconomicpressuregoesparentalpressure.Inevitably,thetwoaredeeplyintertwined.Iseestudentstakingpremedicalcourseswithjoylessdetermination.Theygoofftotheirlabsasiftheyweregoingtothedentist.ItsaddensmebecauseIknowtheminothercornersoftheirlifeascheerfulpeople."Doyouwanttogotomedicalschool?nIaskthem.nIguessso,”theysay,withoutconviction,or,“Notreally."nThenwhyareyougoing?""Myparentswantmetobeadoctor.They'repayingallthismoneyand...”Peerpressureandself-inducedpressurearealsointertwined,andtheybeginfromtheverystartoffreshmanyear.nIhadafreshmanstudentIllcallLinda/oneinstructortoldme,"whocameinandsaidshewasunderterriblepressurebecauseherroommate,Barbara,wasmuchbrighterandstudiedallthetime.Icouldn*ttellherthatBarbarahadcomeintwohoursearliertosaythesamethingaboutLinda."Thestoryisalmostfunny-exceptthatit'snot.It*sasymptomofallthepressuresputtogether.Wheneverystudentthinkseveryotherstudentisworkingharderanddoingbetter,theonlysolutionistostudyharderstill.Iseestudentsgoingofftothelibraryeverynightafterdinnerandcomingbackwhenitclosesatmidnight.Iwishtheycouldsometimesforgetabouttheirpeersandgotoamovie.Iheartherattlingoftypewritersinthehoursbeforedawn.Iseethetensionintheireyeswhenexamsareapproachingandpapersaredue:"WillIgeteverythingdone?"ProbablytheywontTheywillgetsick.Theywillsleep.Theywilloversleep.Theywillbugout.Pvepaintedtoogrimaportraitoftoday'sstudents,makingthemseemtoosolemn.That'sonlyhalfoftheirstory;theotherhalfisthatthesestudentsarenicepeople,andeasytolike.They'requicktolaughandtoofferfriendship.They'remoreconsiderateofoneanotherthananystudentgenerationFveeverknown.IfPvedescribedthemprimarilyasdrivencreatureswholargelyignorethejoyfulsideoflife,it'sbecausethat'swheretheproblemis—notonlyatYalebutthroughoutAmericaneducation.It'swhyIthinkweshouldallbeworriedaboutthevaluesthatarenurturingagenerationsofearfulofriskandsogoal-obsessedatsuchanearlyage.Itellstudentsthatthereisnoone"right1'waytogetahead-thateachofthemisadifferentperson,startingfromadifferentpointandboundforadifferentdestination.Itellthemthatchangeishealthyandthatpeopledon'thavetofitintopre-arrangedslots.Oneofmywaysoftellingthemistoinvitemenandwomenwhohaveachievedsuccessoutsidetheacademicworldtocomeandtalkinformallywithmystudentsduringtheyear.Iinviteheadsofcompanies,editorsofmagazines,politicians,Broadwayproducers,artists,writers,economists,photographers,scientists,historians一amixedbagofachievers.Iaskthemtosayafewwordsabouthowtheygotstarted.Thestudentsalwaysassumethattheystartedintheirpresentprofessionandknewallalongthatitwaswhattheywantedtodo.Butinfact,mostofthemgotwheretheyarebyacircuitousroute,aftermanysidetrips.Thestudentsarestartled.Theycanhardlyconceiveofacareerthatwasnotpreplanned.TheycanhardlyimagineallowingthehandofGodorchancetoleadthemdownsomeunforeseentrail.(1069words)NewWordscampusn.thegroundsofauniversity,collegeorschool;auniversity大學(xué)校園,學(xué)校校園；大學(xué)piercinga.(ofvoices,sounds,etc.)verysharp,esp.inanunpleasantway(聲音等)尖厲的，刺耳的piercevi.makeaholeinorthrough(sth.)withasharppoint刺穿，戳穿presumablyad.itmaybesupposed;probably假定；可能*presumev.believesth.tobetruewithoutdirectproofbutwithsomefeelingofbeingcertain;suppose(沒有根據(jù)地)相信；推測graven.theplacewhereadeadpersonisburied墳?zāi)筧.seriousorsolemninmanner;(ofasituation)seriousandworrying嚴(yán)肅的，莊嚴(yán)的；(形勢)嚴(yán)重的gravityn.1.嚴(yán)肅，莊嚴(yán)；嚴(yán)重2.重力;地心引力gripn.afirmhold;control緊握；控制vt.1.takeaverytighthold(of)握緊，緊握takeholdoftheattentionorfeelingsof吸弓I；弓|起*segmentn.apartofsth.部分preparationn.arrangementforafutureevent準(zhǔn)備wealthya.rich富有的glorifyvt.praisehighly頌揚(yáng)，贊頌gloryn.greatfame,honor,andadmiration光榮；榮譽(yù)potenta.powerful,strong,forcefuloreffective強(qiáng)有力的；有權(quán)勢的；有效力的self-inducedcausedorbroughtaboutbyoneself自己導(dǎo)致的inducevt.leadorcause(sb.)todosth.;persuadeorinfluence(sb.)todosth.導(dǎo)致；勸使,誘導(dǎo)incidentallyad.bytheway順便說一句commencementn.1.(AmE)aceremonyatwhichuniversityorcollegestudentsaregiventheirdegreesordiplomas(美)畢業(yè)典禮；學(xué)位授予典禮2.beginningofsth.開始commencev.begin;start開始;著手ceremonyn.典禮，儀式commencementceremony(AmE)acollegeoruniversitygraduationceremony(美)畢業(yè)典禮reckoningn.settlementofanaccountorabill;(fig.)punishment結(jié)帳；(喻)算帳，懲罰reckonvt.1.calculate;addup(anamount,cost,etc.)計(jì)算；算出(數(shù)量、費(fèi)用等)consider,regard認(rèn)為，把???看作dayofreckoning(aBiblicalreference)thetimewhenonemusteventuallybepunishedforwhatonehasdonewrong(源自《圣經(jīng)》)清算日，最后審判日equipvt.prepare(sb.)fordealingwithaparticularsituationbyprovidingnecessarytools,education,etc.;suply(sb./sth.withwhatisneededforaparticularpurpose)(智力、體力上)使有準(zhǔn)備；配備，裝備inevitablyad.不可必免地；必然發(fā)生地inevitablea.whichcannotbeavoidedorpreventedfromhappening;certaintohappen不可避免的；必然發(fā)生的intertwineda.joinedtightlytogether;verycloselyconnected互相纏結(jié)的,纏繞在一起的premedicala.preparingforthestudyofmedicine醫(yī)學(xué)預(yù)科的*dentistn.adoctortrainedtotakecareofpeople'steeth牙醫(yī)cheerfula.ingoodspirit;causingahappyfeeling興高采烈的；使人愉快的convictionn.afirmopinionorbelief深信,確信；把握roommaten.住在同室的人，室友typewritern.打字機(jī)*bugvt.1.（AmE）（infml）trouble（sb.）continually（美俚）煩擾，糾纏2.（infml）fitwithasecretlisteningapparatus（口）在…裝竊聽器n.（AmE）atinyinsect,esp.onethatcausesdamage;（infml）afaultordifficulty（美）蟲子；（口）故障；毛旖consideratea.carefulnottohurtortroubleothers;thoughtful考慮周到的；替人著想的fearfula.afraid,anxious懼怕的,憂慮的goal-obsesseda.extremelyeagertorealizeone'sgoals一心要實(shí)現(xiàn)目標(biāo)的pre-arrangeda.plannedorpreparedinadvance預(yù)先準(zhǔn)備好的arrangevt.1.planinadvance;prepare安排，準(zhǔn)備setingoodorpleasingorder整理；排列*slotn.1.aplaceorpositioninaschedule,listorseries（口）（在機(jī)構(gòu)、名單、程序等中的）位置，職位2.anarrowopeninginatoolormachine狹長孑L；狹槽informallyad.非正式地；不拘禮節(jié)地economistn.anexpertineconomics經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家amixedbagagroupofpeopleorthingsofdifferentkindsanddifferentqualities（人或物的）混合體；大雜燒circuitousa.indirect迂回的，繞行的circuitn.1.環(huán)行；環(huán)行道2.電路；線路circulara.1.環(huán)行的，圓形的2.循環(huán)的trailn.apath,oftenthroughaforestoracrossroughground(荒野中的)小彳至，小道PhrasesandExpressionsinthedeadofnightinthequietestpartofthenight夜深人靜之時(shí)getthroug