高中英語選修六課文原文

第第頁(yè)高中英語選修6

Unit1

ASHORTHISTORYOFWESTERNPAINTING

Artisinfluencedbythecustomsandfaithofapeople.StylesinWesternarthavechangedmanytimes.AstherearesomanydifferentstylesofWesternart,itwouldbeimpossibletodescribealloftheminsuchashorttext.Consequently,thistextwilldescribeonlythemostimportantones.StartingfromthesixthcenturyAD.

TheMiddleAges(5thtothe15thcenturyAD)

DuringtheMiddleAges,themainaimofpainterswastorepresentreligiousthemes.Aconventionalartistofthisperiodwasnotinterestedinshowingnatureandpeopleastheyreallywere.Atypicalpictureatthistimewasfullofreligioussymbols,whichcreatedafeelingofrespectandloveforGod.Butitwasevidentthatideaswerechanginginthe13thcenturywhenpainterslikeGiottodiBondonebegantopaintreligiousscenesinamorerealisticway.

TheRenaissance(15thto16thcentury)DuringtheRenaissance,newideasandvaluesgraduallyreplacedthoseheldintheMiddleAges.Peoplebegantoconcentratelessonreligiousthemesandadoptamorehumanisticattitudetolife.AtthesametimepaintersreturnedtoclassicalRomanandGreekideasaboutart.Theytriedtopaintpeopleandnatureastheyreallywere.Richpeoplewantedtopossesstheirownpaintings,sotheycoulddecoratetheirsuperbpalacesandgreathouses.Theypaidfamousartiststopaintpicturesofthemselves,theirhousesandpossessionsaswellastheiractivitiesandachievements.

Oneofthemostimportantdiscoveriesduringthisperiodwashowtodrawthingsinperspective.ThistechniquewasfirstusedbyMasaccioin1428.Whenpeoplefirstsawhispaintings,theywereconvincedthattheywerelookingthroughaholeinawallatarealscene.Iftherulesofperspectivehadnotbeendiscovered,noonewouldhavebeenabletopaintsuchrealisticpictures.Bycoincidence,oilpaintswerealsodevelopedatthistime,whichmadethecoloursusedinpaintingslookricheranddeeper.Withoutthenewpaintsandthenewtechnique,wewouldnotbeabletoseethemanygreatmasterpiecesforwhichthisperiodisfamous.

Impressionism(late19htoearly20thcentury)

Inthelate19thcentury,Europechangedagreatdeal,fromamostlyagriculturalsocietytoamostlyindustrialone.Manypeoplemovedfromthecountrysidetothenewcities.Thereweremanynewinventionsandsocialchangesalsoledtonewpaintingstyles.AmongthepainterswhobrokeawayfromthetraditionalstyleofpaintingweretheImpressionists,wholivedandworkedinParis.TheImpressionistswerethefirstpainterstoworkoutdoors.Theywereeagertoshowhowlightandshadowfellonobjectsatdifferenttimesofday.However,becausenaturallightchangessoquickly,theImpressionistshadtopaintquickly.Theirpaintingswerenotasdetailedasthoseofearlierpainters.Atfirst,manypeopledislikedthisstyleofpaintingandbecameveryangryaboutit.Theysaidthatthepainterswerecarelessandtheirpaintingswereridiculous.

ModernArt(29thcenturytotoday)Atthetimetheywerecreated,theImpressionistpaintingswerecontroversial,buttodaytheyareacceptedasthebeginningofwhatwecall"modernart".ThisisbecausetheImpressionistsencouragedartiststolookattheirenvironmentinnewways.Therearescoresofmodernartstyles,butwithouttheImpressionists,manyofthesepaintingstylesmightnotexist.Ontheonehand,somemodernartisabstract;thatis,thepainterdoesnotattempttopaintobjectsasweseethemwithoureyes,butinsteadconcentratesncertainqualitiesoftheobject,usingcolour,lineandshapetorepresentthem.Ontheotherhand,somepaintingsofmodernartaresorealisticthattheylooklikephotographs.Thesestylesaresodifferent.WhocanpredictwhatpaintingstylestherewillbeintheGrandad

爺爺?shù)闹腋?/p>

親愛的詹姆士：

今天這兒的天氣很好?，F(xiàn)在我正坐在花園盡頭的那棵大樹底下呢。我剛剛才回來，騎自行車跑了很長(zhǎng)一段路，一直到了古城堡。感到驚奇吧，像我這樣的年紀(jì)，身體健康而且能在一個(gè)下午騎車跑公里。''!再過兩個(gè)禮拜就是我歲的生日了！我想我之所以長(zhǎng)壽而且精力充沛，要?dú)w功于我的健康生活。

這就是我寫信給你的真正原因，我親愛的孫子。你媽媽告訴我，你不久前開始吸煙了，而且現(xiàn)在很難把它戒掉。相信我吧，我知道，吸煙容易戒煙難。你知道，當(dāng)我還是一個(gè)十幾歲的孩子的時(shí)候，我也吸過煙，而且還上了癮。

?這兒我想順便問你一個(gè)問題，你知道上癮有三個(gè)方面的原因嗎？首先，你會(huì)在身體上對(duì)尼古丁有癮，它是香煙里幾百種化學(xué)物質(zhì)之一。這句是說，過一段時(shí)間以后，你的身體習(xí)慣了香煙里的尼古丁，一旦你的體內(nèi)沒有這種麻醉劑了，你就會(huì)有斷癮癥狀，我記得曾感到煩躁、甚至痛苦。其次你也可能因?yàn)榱?xí)慣的原因而上癮。你知道，如果你反反復(fù)復(fù)地做同一件事情，你就會(huì)自動(dòng)地做它。最后，你可以心理上癮。我那時(shí)認(rèn)為，抽了一支煙后就會(huì)感到更輕松愉快，于是我就以為抽煙才能使自己感覺良好。我之所以上癮就有著這三個(gè)方面的原因，因此，要戒煙就很難。但是我終于還是戒掉了。

'在我年輕的時(shí)候，關(guān)于吸煙的危害性我知道的并不多。'例如，我不知道抽煙能嚴(yán)重侵害人的心臟和肺部，也不知道吸煙的夫婦生育能力會(huì)下降。'我當(dāng)然不知道他們的嬰兒在出生時(shí)可能體重較輕或某些方面不正常。我更不知道，我自己吸煙還會(huì)損害那些不吸煙人的健康。然而我的的確確知道，我的女朋友覺得我的煙味很難聞。她說我的呼吸、我的衣服都有味道，而且我的手指頭都變黃了。'!她說在我把煙戒掉之前不會(huì)跟我一起出去。'我還注意到我的呼吸變得急促，并且使我不那么喜愛運(yùn)動(dòng)了。而由于我身體不健康被校足球隊(duì)除名之后，我才知道該是我戒煙的時(shí)候了。我把我從網(wǎng)上找到的一些忠告寄給你，也許對(duì)你戒煙和堅(jiān)定決心會(huì)有所幫助。我的確希望你把煙戒掉，因?yàn)槲蚁Ｍ隳芟裎疫@樣活得健康長(zhǎng)壽。

愛你的爺爺

?你怎樣才能戒煙呢？

戒煙不容易，但許許多多的人都成功地戒掉了煙，所以你也能。這兒有幾點(diǎn)建議：

·做好準(zhǔn)備。確定一個(gè)開始戒煙的日子?！灰x擇你明知有壓力的日子，例如要考試的那一天。把戒煙的好處開列一個(gè)清單。

在你計(jì)劃戒煙的前一天，把你最后一包香煙扔掉。

·下定決心。每當(dāng)你想要吸煙的時(shí)候，你就提醒你自己，你（已經(jīng)）是不吸煙的人了。把你早先寫的那個(gè)戒煙的好處的清單反復(fù)地看一看。

·破除舊習(xí)。不要抽煙，而去干點(diǎn)別的事情，去散散步、刷刷牙、喝點(diǎn)水、打掃房間。其實(shí)，只要是能使你的腦，特別是手不得閑的事情，你都可以去做。

·放松休息。如果你開始感到緊張有壓力了，這時(shí)你也不要伸手去拿香煙。試著做做深呼吸。每當(dāng)你感到緊張了，就去做做放松運(yùn)動(dòng)。

·必要時(shí)找人幫忙。同朋友一起安排戒煙，這樣你們可以談?wù)勀愕膯栴}。你也可以參加一個(gè)戒煙小組。如果你的確感到?jīng)]法辦，你還可以找一個(gè)醫(yī)生或藥劑師來談?wù)?，幫你想點(diǎn)辦法，如含尼古丁的口香糖等。

·繼續(xù)努力。即使非得經(jīng)過多次戒煙才能最后把它戒掉，你也不要失去希望。如果你因意志衰弱而又抽煙了，也不要覺得難為情。那就再努力戒就是了。最終你是會(huì)成功的。

Unit4

THEEARTHISBECOMIGWARMER-BUTDOESITMATTER?Duringthe20thcenturythetemperatureoftheearthroseaboutonedegreeFahrenheit.Thatprobablydoesnotseemmuchtoyouorme,butitisarapidincreasewhencomparedtoothernaturalchanges.Sohowhasthiscomeaboutanddoesitmatter?Earthcare'sSophieArmstrongexploresthesequestions.Thereisnodoubtthattheearthisbecomingwarmer(seeGraph1)andthatitishumanactivitythathascausedthisglobalwarmingratherthanarandombutnaturalphenomenon.

Allscientistssubscribetotheviewthattheincreaseintheearth'stemperatureisduetotheburningoffossilfuelslikecoal,naturalgasandoiltoproduceenergy.Somebyproductsofthisprocessarecalled"greenhouse"gases,themostimportantoneofwhichiscarbondioxide.DrJaniceFosterexplains:"Thereisanaturalphenomenonthatscientistscallthe"greenhouseeffect".Thisiswhensmallamountsofgasesintheatmosphere,likecarbondioxide,methaneandwatervapour,trapheatfromthesunandthereforewarmtheearth.Withoutthegreenhouseeffect

heearthwouldbeaboutthirty-threedegreesCelsiuscoolerthanitis.So,weneedthosegases.Theproblembeginswhenweaddhugequantitiesofextracarbondioxideintotheatmosphere.Itmeansthatmoreheatenergytendstobetrappedintheatmospherecausingtheglobaltemperaturetogoup.Weknowthatthelevelsofcarbondioxidehaveincreasedgreatlyoverthelast100to150years.ItwasascientistcalledCharlesKeeling,whomadeaccuratemeasurementsoftheamountofcarbondioxideintheatmospherefrom1957to1997.Hefoundthatbetweentheseyearsthecarbondioxideintheatmospherewentupfromaround315partstoaround370partspermillion(seeGraph2)Allscientistsacceptthisdata.Theyalsoagreethatitistheburningofmoreandmorefossilfuelsthathasresultedinthisincreaseincarbondioxide.Sohowhighwillthetemperatureincreasego?DrJaniceFostersaysthatoverthenext100yearstheamountofwarmingcouldbeaslowas1to1.5degreesCelsius,butitcouldbeashighas5degrees.However,theattitudeofscientiststowardsthisriseincompletelydifferent.Ontheonehand,DrFosterthinksthatthetrendwhichincreasesthetemperatureby5degreeswouldbeacatastrophe.Shesays,"Wecan'tpredicttheclimatewellenoughtoknowwhattoexpect,butitcouldbeveryserious."Otherswhoagreewithherthinktheremaybeariseofseveralmetresinthesealevel,orpredictseverestorms,floods,droughts,famines,thespreadofdiseasesandthedisappearanceofspecies.Ontheotherhand,therearethose,likeGeorgeHambley,whoareopposedtothisview,believethatweshouldnotworryabouthighlevelsofcarbondioxideintheair.Theypredictthatanywarmingwillbemildwithfewbadenvironmentalconsequences.Infact,Hambleystates,"Morecarbondioxideisactuallyapositivething.Itwillmakeplantsgrowquicker;cropswillproducemore;itwillencourageagreaterrangeofanimals-allofwhichwillmakelifeforhumanbeingsbetter."Greenhousegasescontinuetobuildupintheatmosphere.Evenifwestartreducingtheamountofcarbondioxideandothergreenhousegases,theclimateisgoingtokeeponwarmingfordecadesorcenturies.Nooneknowstheeffectsofglobalwarming.Doesthatmeanweshoulddonothing?Or,aretheriskstoogreat?

全球在變暖——這會(huì)帶來什么影響嗎？

在世紀(jì)期間，地球溫度大約升了華氏度。這個(gè)數(shù)值對(duì)你我來說很可能是無所謂的，但是跟其他自然變化相比較而言，這卻是一種快速的增長(zhǎng)。?那么，這種溫度的增長(zhǎng)是怎么產(chǎn)生的呢？會(huì)產(chǎn)生什么影響呢？’“關(guān)愛地球”組織的索菲·阿姆斯特朗就在探究這些問題。

毫無疑問，地球是在變暖（見表一，略），而地球變暖正是人類活動(dòng)導(dǎo)致而成的，并非是一種無規(guī)律的自然現(xiàn)象。

'所有的科學(xué)家贊同這種觀點(diǎn)：人們?yōu)榱松a(chǎn)能量而燃燒化石燃料（如煤、天然氣和石油等），從而引起了地球溫度的升高。""這個(gè)升溫的過程的一些副產(chǎn)品就叫做“溫室”氣體，其中作用重要的就是二氧化碳。:"''賈尼絲·福斯特博士解釋說：“有一種科學(xué)家稱之為‘溫室效應(yīng)’的自然現(xiàn)象。這種現(xiàn)象發(fā)生在大氣層中少量的氣體（如二氧化碳、甲烷、水蒸氣等）吸收太陽(yáng)的熱量，因而使地球變暖的時(shí)候。''如果沒有這種‘溫室效應(yīng)’，地球的溫度將比現(xiàn)在的溫度還要低攝氏度左右。因此，我們需要這些氣體。當(dāng)我們?cè)诖髿鈱又性黾恿舜罅款~外的二氧化碳時(shí)，問題就來了。"這意味著更多的熱量被困在大氣層中，從而引起全球溫度上升。”

我們知道，在過去~年期間，二氧化碳的含量急劇增加了。有一位名叫查爾斯·基林的科學(xué)家曾經(jīng)把~年期間大氣層中二氧化碳的含量作了精確的統(tǒng)計(jì)。他發(fā)現(xiàn)，在這些年里，大氣層中的二氧化碳含量從上升到。（見表二，略）

所有科學(xué)家都接受這個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)。他們還贊同下述觀點(diǎn)，正是由于越來越多燃燒化石燃料導(dǎo)致了二氧化碳的增加。?那么氣溫會(huì)升到多高？福斯特博士說，在今后的年里，全球變暖的量可能低到~攝氏度，但是也有可能高達(dá)攝氏度。

然而，科學(xué)家們?cè)趯?duì)待升溫的態(tài)度上卻是大不相同的。一方面，福斯特博士認(rèn)為氣溫升高度的趨勢(shì)可能是一場(chǎng)大災(zāi)難，"'"她說：“對(duì)于未來的氣候，我們不可能做出精確的預(yù)測(cè)，但是那時(shí)的天氣可能是很糟糕的。”同意她的觀點(diǎn)的其他科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，全球變暖會(huì)導(dǎo)致海平面上升好幾米；也有人預(yù)言會(huì)出現(xiàn)嚴(yán)重的風(fēng)暴、洪澇、干旱、饑荒、疫病和物種的滅絕。在另一方面，還有一些人，像科學(xué)家喬治·漢布利，反對(duì)上面的觀點(diǎn)，他們認(rèn)為我們不必?fù)?dān)心空氣中會(huì)有高含量的二氧化碳。他們預(yù)言說，變暖的情況不會(huì)很嚴(yán)重，對(duì)環(huán)境的影響也不會(huì)太壞。";;"漢布利實(shí)際上是這樣說的：“二氧化碳含量的增加實(shí)際上是件好事，它使植物成長(zhǎng)更快，莊稼產(chǎn)量更高，還會(huì)促進(jìn)動(dòng)物的生長(zhǎng)——所有這些都能改善人類的生活。”

溫室氣體繼續(xù)在大氣層中聚集。即使我們開始減少二氧化碳和其他溫室氣體的含量，在（未來）幾十年或幾個(gè)世紀(jì)內(nèi)，氣候仍會(huì)持續(xù)轉(zhuǎn)暖。沒有人知道全球變暖帶來什么樣的影響。?這是不是意味著我們就不必采取任何措施呢？?還是說，這樣不采取任何措施危險(xiǎn)性會(huì)很大呢？

Unit5

ANEXCITINGJOBIhavethegreatestjobintheworld.Itraveltounusualplacesandworkalongsidepeoplefromallovertheworld.Sometimesworkingoutdoors,sometimesinanoffice,sometimesusingscientificequipmentandsometimesmeetinglocalpeopleandtourists,Iamneverbored.Althoughmyjobisoccasionallydangerous,Idon'tmindbecausedangerexcitesmeandmakesmefeelalive.However,themostimportantthingaboutmyjobisthatIhelpprotectordinarypeoplefromoneofthemostpowerfulforcesnearth-thevolcano.IwasappointedasvolcanologistinformationforadatabaseaboutMountKilauea,whichisoneofthemostactivevolcanoesinHawaii.Havingcollectedandevaluatedtheinformation,Ihelpotherscientiststopredictwherelavafromthevolcanowillflownextandhowfast.Ourworkhassavedmanlivesbecausepeopleinthepathofthelavacanbewarnedtoleavetheirhouses.Unfortunately,wecannotmovetheirhomesoutoftheway,andmanyhouseshavebeencoveredwithlavaorburnedtotheground.Whenboilingrockeruptsfromavolcanoandcrashesbacktoearth,itcauseslessdamagethanyoumightimagine.ThisisbecausenoonelivesnearthetopofMountKilauea,wheretherocksfall.Thelavathatflowsslowlylikeawavedownthemountaincausesfarmoredamagebecauseitburieseverythinginitspathunderthemoltenrock.However,theeruptionitselfisreallyexcitingtowatchandIshallneverforgetmyfirstsightofone.ItwasinthesecondweekafterIarrivedinHawaii.Havingworkedhardallday,Iwenttobedearly.IwasfastasleepwhensuddenlymybedbeganshakingandIheardastrangesound,likearailwaytrainpassingmywindow.HavingexperiencedquiteafewearthquakesinHawaiialready,Ididn'ttakemuchnotice.Iwasabouttogobacktosleepwhensuddenlymybedroombecameasbrightasday.IranoutofthehouseintothebackgardenwhereIcouldseeMountKilaueainthedistance.Therehadbeenaneruptionfromthesideofthemountainandredhotlavawasfountaininghundredsofmetresintotheair.Itwasanabsolutelyfantasticsight.ThedayafterthiseruptionIwasluckyenoughtohaveamuchcloserlookatit.TwootherscientistsandIweredrivenupthemountainanddroppedascloseaspossibletothecraterthathadbeenformedduringtheeruption.Havingearliercollectedspecialclothesfromtheobservatory,weputthemonbeforewewentanycloser.Allthreeofuslookedlikespacemen.Wehadwhiteprotectivesuitsthatcoveredourwholebody,helmets,bigbootsandspecialgloves.Itwasnoteasytowalkinthesesuits,butweslowlymadeourwaytotheedgeofthecraterandlookeddownintothered,boilingcentre.Theothertwoclimbe