UNIT1
Anne’s best friend
Do you want a friend whom you could tell everything to, like your deepest feeling and thoughts? Or are you afraid of your friend would laugh at you, or would not understand what you are going throught.Anne Frank want the first kind. She made her diary her best friend. Anne lived in Amsterdam in the Netherlands during World War Ⅱ .Her family wad Jewish so they had to hide or they would be caught by German Nazis. They hid away for twenty-five months before they were discovered. During that time the only true friends was her diary. She said, “I don?t want to set down a series of facts as most people do. But I want this diary itself to be my best friend, and I shall call my friend Kitty. Now read how she felt after being in the hiding place since July 1942.
你是不是想有一位无话不谈能推心置腹的朋友呢？或者你是不是担心你的朋友会嘲笑你，会不理解你目前的困境呢？
安妮弗兰克想要的是第一种类型的朋友，于是她就把日记当成了她最好的朋友。安妮在第二次世界大战期间住在荷兰的阿姆斯特丹。她一家人都是犹太人，所以他们不得不躲藏起来，否则他们就会被德国纳粹抓去。她和她的家人躲藏了二十五个月之后才被发现。在这段时间里，她唯一的忠实朋友就是她的日记了。她说，“我不愿像大多数人那样在日记中记流水账。我要把这本日记当作我的朋友，我要把我这个朋友称作基蒂”。 安妮从19xx年七月起就躲藏在那里了，现在来看看他当时的心情吧。
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Thursday 15th June 1944
Dear Kitty,
I wonder if it?s because I haven?t been able to be outdoors for so long that I?ve grown so crazy about everything to do with nature. I can well remember that there was a time when a deep blue sky, the songs of the bird, moonlight and flower could never have kept me spellbound. That?s changed since I came here.
…for example, one evening when it was so warm, I stayed awake on purpose until half past eleven in order to have a good look at the moon by myself. But as the moon gave far too much light, I didn?t dare open the window. Another time five month ago, I happened to be upstairs when at dusk when the window was open. I didn?t go downstairs until the window had to be shut. The dark, rainy evening, the wind, the thundering clouds held me entirely in their power; it was the first time in a year and a half that I?d seen the night face to face…. …Sadly…I am only able to look at nature through dirty curtains hanging before very dusty window. It?s no pleasure looking through these any longer, because nature is one thing really must be experienced.
Yours,
Anne
我不知道这是不是因为我长久无法出门的缘故，我变得对一切与大自然有关的事物都无比狂热。我记得非常清楚，以前，湛蓝的天空、鸟儿的歌唱、月光和鲜花，从未令我心迷神往过。自从我来到这里，这一切都变了。
…比方说，有天晚上天气很暖和，我熬到 11点半故意不睡觉，为的是独自好好看看月亮。但是因为月光太亮了，我不敢打开窗户。还有一次，就在五个月以前的一个晚上，我碰巧在楼上，窗户是开着的。我一直等到非关窗不可的时候才下楼去。漆黑的夜晚，风吹雨打，雷电交加，我全然被这种力量镇住了。这是我一年半以来第一次目睹夜晚…
不幸的是……我只能透过那满是灰尘的窗帘下那脏兮兮的窗户看看大自然。只能隔着窗户看那大自然实在没意思，因为大自然是需要真正体验的东西。
II
UNIT2
The road to modern English
At the end of the 16th century, about five to seven million people spoken English. Nearly all of them lived in England. Later in the next century, people from England made voyages to conquer other parts of the world and because of that, English began to be spoken in many other countries. Today, more people speak English as their first, second or a foreign language than ever before.
Native English speaks can understand each other even if they don?t speak the same kind of English. Look at this example:
British Betty: Would you like to see my flat?
American Amy: yes. I like to come up to your apartment.
So why has English changed over time？Actually all languages change and develop when cultures meet and communicate with each other. At first the English spoken in England between about AD 450 and 1150 was very different from the English spoken today. It was based more on German than English we speak at present. Then gradually between about AD 800 and 1150, English became less like German because those who ruled England spoken first Danish and later French. These new settlers enriched the English language and
especially its vocabulary. So by the 1600?s Shakespeare was able to make use of a wider vocabulary than ever before. In 1620 some British settlers moved to America. Later in the 18 century some British people were taken to Australia too. English began to be spoken in both countries. th
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Finally by the 19th century the language was settled. At that time too big changes in English spelling happened: first Samuel Johnson wrote his dictionary and Noah Webster wrote The American Dictionary of the English Language. The latter gave a separate identity to American English spelling.
English now is also a spoken as a foreign or second language in South Asia. For example, India has a very large number of fluent English speakers because Britain ruled India from 1765 to 1947. During that time English became language for government and education. English is also spoken in Singapore and Malaysia and countries in Africa such as South Africa. Today the number of people learning English in China is increasing rapidly. In fact, China may have the largest number of English learners. Will Chinese English develop its own identity? Only time will tell.
在16世纪末，大约有500万至700万人讲英语。几乎所有这些讲英语的人都住在英格兰。在其后的一个世纪中，英格兰人为征服世界航海到了世界其他一些地方，结果世界的其他地方的人们也开始说英语了。今天，把英语作为自己的第一语言、第二语言或外语来使用的人比以往任何时候都多。
以英语作为母语的人，即使他们所讲不是同一种英语，他们也能彼此听懂。请看看这个例子：
英国人贝蒂：来看看我的公寓（flat）吗？
美国人艾米：好的，我来看看你的公寓（apartment）吧。
那么，随着时间的推移英语为什么发生了变化呢？实际上，当不同文化相互交流渗透时，所有的语言都会有所发展和变化。开始，英格兰人在大约公元450年到1150年之间所说的英语与我们今天所说的英语很不一样。当时的英语更多的是以德语为基础的，不像我们现在说的英语。后来，大约在公元800年至1150年之间，英语慢慢变得不那么像德语，因为统治英格兰的那些人开始是说丹麦语，后来说法语。这些新来的定居者丰富了英语语言，尤其是丰富了英语词汇。所以到17世纪初的时候，莎士比亚能够得以使用比以往任何时候都丰富的词汇。1620年一些英国定居者来到了美洲，后来到了18世纪的时候，一些英国人还被带到了澳大利亚。英语也就开始在这两个国家使用。
最后到19世纪的时候，英语这种语言就变得稳定了。当时，英语的拼写发生了两个很大的变化：先是塞缪尔·约翰逊编写了他的英语词典，后是诺亚·韦伯斯特出版了《美国英语词典》。后者使得美式英语的拼写有了其独特的个性。
现在英语在南亚地区也被作为外语或第二语言使用。比如，印度就有很多人说英语说得很流利，因为在1765年到19xx年之间英国统治着印度。在此期间，英语成了印度政府和教育所用的语言。在新加坡和马来西亚以及像非洲的南非，人们现在也说英语。当今，在中国学英语的人数正在快速增加，事实上，中国可能是学英语人数最多的国家。中国式英语是否也能发展成一种具有自己独特个性的语言？这还有待时间去证明。
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Unit3
Journey Down the Mekong
Part1 The dream and the play
My name is Wang Kun. Ever since middle school, my sister Wang Wei and I have dreamed about taking a great bike trip. Two years ago she bought an expensive mountain bike and then she persuaded me to buy one. Last year, she visited our cousins, Dao Wei and Yu Hang at their college if Kunming. They are Dai and grew up in western Yunnan Province near the Lancang River, the Chinese part of the river that is called the Mekong River in other countries. Wang Wei soon got time interested in cycling too. After graduating from college, we finally got the chance to take a bike trip. I asked my sister, “Where are we going?” It was my sister who first had the idea to cycle along the entire Mekong River from where it begins to where it ends. Now she is planning our schedule for the trip.
I am fond of my sister but she has one serious shortcoming. She can be really stubborn. Although she didn?t know the best way of getting to places, she insisted that she organize the trip properly. Now I know that the proper way is always her way. I kept asking her, “When are we leaving and when are we coming back?” I asked her whether she had looked at a map yet. Of course she hadn?t; my sister doesn?t care about details. So I told her that the source of the Mekong is in Qinghai Province. She gave me a determined look -- the kind that said she would not change her mind. When I told her that our journey would begin at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters, she seemed to be excited about it. When I told her the air would be hard to breathe and it would be very cold, she said it would be an interesting experience. I know my sister well. Once she has made up her mind, nothing can change it. Finally, I had to give in.
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Several months before our trip, Wang Wei and I went to the library. We found a large atlas with good maps that showed details of world geography. From the atlas we could see that the Mekong River begins in a glacier to move quickly. It becomes rapids as it passes through deep valleys, traveling across western Yunnan Province. Sometimes the river becomes a water fall and enters wide valleys. We were both surprised to learn that half of the river is in China. After it leaves China and high altitude, the Mekong becomes wide, brown and warm. As it enters Southeast Asia, its pace slows. It makes wide bends or meanders through low valleys to the plains where rice grows. At last, the river delta enters the South China Sea.
我的名字叫王坤。从高中起，我姐姐和我就一直梦想作一次伟大的自行车旅行。两年前，她买了一辆价钱昂贵的山地自行车，然后她还说服我也买了一辆。去年她去看望了我们的表兄弟—在昆明读大学的刀伟和宇航。他们是傣族人，在云南省西部靠近澜沧江的地方长大，湄公河在中国境内的这一段叫澜沧江，流经其他国家后就叫湄公河。很快，王薇使表兄弟也对骑车旅行产生了兴趣。到大学毕业后，我们终于有了作一次骑车旅行的机会。我问姐姐：“我们要去哪里？”首先想到要沿湄公河从源头到终点骑车旅行的是我的姐姐。现在，她正为这次旅行制订计划。
我很喜欢我姐姐，但是她有一个严重的缺点，她有时确实很固执。尽管她对到某些地方的最佳路线并不清楚，她却坚持要把这次旅行安排的尽善尽美。现在我知道了这个尽善尽美的方式总是她的方式。我老是问她：“我们什么时候动身？什么时候回来？”我问她是否已经看过地图。当然她并没有看过，我的姐姐是不会考虑细节的。于是我告诉她湄公河的源头在青海省。她给了我一个坚定的眼神—这种眼神表明她是不会改变主意的。当我告诉她我们的旅行将从5000多米的的高地出发时，她似乎显得很兴奋。当我告诉她那里空气稀薄，呼吸会很困难，而且天气会很冷时，她却说这将是一次很有趣的经历。我非常了解我的姐姐，她一旦下了决心，就什么也不能使她改变。最后，我只好让步了。
在我们旅行前的几个月，王薇和我去了图书馆。我们找到了一本大型的地图册，里面有一些世界地理的明细图。我们从图上可以看到，湄公河源于西藏一座山上的冰川。起初，河很小，河水清澈而冷冽，然后它开始快速流动。它穿过深谷时就变成了急流。流经云南西部。有时，这条河形成瀑布进入宽阔的峡谷。我们惊奇的发现这条河有一半是在中国境内。当流出中国，流出高地后，湄公河就变宽，变暖了。河水也变成了黄褐色。而当它进入东南亚以后，流速减慢，河水变宽慢慢地穿过低谷，到了长着稻谷的平原。最后，湄公河三角洲的各支流流入中国南海。
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Unit4
A Night the Earth didn’t Sleep
Strange things were happening in the countryside of northeast Hebei. For three days the water in the village wells rose and fell, rose and fell. Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in them. A smelly gas came out of the cracks. In the farmyards, the chickens and even the pigs were too nervous to eat. Mice ran out of the fields looking for places to hide. Fish jumped out of their bowls and ponds. At about 3:00 am on July 28, 1976, some people saw bright lights in the sky. The sound of planes could be heard outside the city of Tangshan even when no planes were in the sky. In the city, the water pipes in some buildings cracked and burst. But the one million people of the city, who thought little of these events, were asleep as usual the night.
At 3:42 am everything began to shake. It seemed as if the world was at an end! Eleven kilometers directly below the city the greatest earthquake of the 20th century had begun. It was felt in Beijing, which is more than two hundred kilometers away. One-third of the nation felt it. A huge crack that was eight kilometers long and thirty meters wide cut across houses, roads and canals. Steam burst from holes in the ground. Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt. In fifteen terrible seconds a large city lay in ruins. The suffering of the people was extreme. Two-thirds of them died or were injured during the earthquake. Thousands of families were killed of injured reached more than 400,000.
But how could the survivors believe it was natural? Everywhere they looked nearly every thing was destroyed. All of the city?s hospitals, 75% of its factories and buildings and 90% VII
of its homes were gone. Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves. No wind, however, could blow them away. Two dams fell and most of the bridges also fell or were not safe for traveling. The railway tracks were now useless pieces of steel. Tens of thousands of cows would never give milk again. Half a million pigs and millions of chickens were dead. Sand now filled the wells instead of water. People were shocked. Then, later that afternoon, another big quake which was almost as strong as the first one shook Tangshan. Some of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the ruins. More buildings fell down. Water, food, and electricity were hard to get. People began to wonder how long the disaster would last. All hope was not lost. Soon after the quakes, the army sent 150,000 soldiers of thousands of people were helped. The army organized teams to dig out those who were trapped and to bury the dead. To the north of the city, most of the 10,000 miners were rescued from the coal mines there. Workers built shelters for survivors whose homes had been destroyed. Fresh water was taken to the city by train, truck and plane. Slowly, the city began to breathe again.
河北省东北部的农村不断有些怪事发生：三天来，村子里的井水升升降降，起起伏伏。农夫注意到，水井的井壁上有深深的裂缝，裂缝里冒出臭气。农家大院里的鸡,甚至猪都紧张得不想吃食。老鼠从田地里跑出来找地方藏身。鱼缸和池塘里的鱼会往外跳。在19xx年7月28日凌晨3点左右，有些人看到天上一道道明亮的光。即使天空没有飞机，在唐山城外也可以听到飞机声。在市内，有些建筑物里的水管爆裂开来。但是，唐山市的一百万居民几乎都没有把这些情况当一回事，当天晚上照常睡着了。
在凌晨3点42分，一切都开始摇晃起来。世界似乎到了末日！二十世纪最大的一次地震就在唐山市正下方11公里处发生了。100公里以外的北京市都感到了地震，全国1 / 3的地方都有震感。一条8公里长30米宽的巨大裂缝横穿房舍、马路和渠道。地上一些洞穴冒出了蒸气。石头山变成了泥沙河，在可怕的15秒钟内，一座大城市就沉沦在一片废墟之中。人们遭受的灾难极为深重。2/3的人在地震中死去或受伤。成千上万个家庭遇难，许多孩子变成了孤儿。死伤的人数达到40多万。
幸存的人们又怎么能相信这是自然现象呢？人们无论朝哪里看，哪里的一切都几乎被毁了。所有的市内医院、75%的工厂和建筑物、90%的家园都消失了。残砖就像秋天的红叶覆盖着大地，然而它们是不可能被风刮走的。两座大坝垮了，多数桥梁不是塌了就是无法安全通行了。铁轨如今成了一条条废钢。好几万头牛再也挤不出奶来。50万头猪和几百万只鸡全都死了。井里满是沙子，而不是水。人们惊呆了。接着，在下午晚些时候，又一次和第一次一样的强烈的地震震撼着唐山。有些医生和救援人员被困在废墟下面。更多的房屋倒塌了。水、电和食物都很难弄到。人们开始纳闷，这场灾难还会持续多久。
不是所有的希望都破灭了。地震后不久，部队派了15万名战士到唐山来协助救援人员，数十万的人得到了救助。部队人员组成小分队，将受困的人们挖出来，将死者掩埋。在唐山市的北边，有一个万名矿工的煤矿，其中多数人得救了。援救人员为那些家园被毁的幸存者盖起了避难所，用火车、卡车和飞机向市内运来了水。慢慢地、慢慢地，这座城市又开始出现了生机。
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Unit5
Elias’ Story
My name is Elias. I am a poor black worker in South Africa. The time when I first met Nelson Mandela was a very difficult period of my life. I was twelve years old. It was in 1952 and Mandela was the black lawyer to whom I went for advice. He offered guidance to poor black people on their legal problems. He was generous with his time, for which I was grateful.
I needed his help because I had very little education. I began school at six. The school where I studied for only two years was three kilometers away. I had to leave because my family could not continue to pay the school fees and the bus fare. I could not read or write well. After trying hard, I got a job in a gold mine. However, this was a time when one had got to have a passbook to live in Johannesburg. Sadly I did not have it because I was not born there, and I worried about whether I would become out of work.
The day when Nelson Mandela helped me was one of my happiest. He told me how to get the correct papers so I could stay in Johannesburg. I became more hopeful about my future. I never forgot how kind Mandela was. When he organized the ANC Youth League, I joined it as soon as I could. He said:
“The last thirty years have seen the greatest number of laws stopping out rights and progress, until today we have reached a stage where we have almost no rights at all.” It was the truth. Black people could not vote or choose their leaders. They could not get the jobs they wanted. The parts of town in which they had to live were decided by white people. The places outside the towns where they were sent to live were the poorest parts of South Africa. No one could grow food there. In fact as Nelson Mandela said:
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“…we were put into a position in which we had either to accept we were less important or fight the government. We chose to attack the laws. We first broke the law in a way which was peaceful; when this was not allowed…only then did we decide to answer violence with violence.” As a matter of fact, I do not like violence… but in 1963 I helped him blow up some government buildings. It was very dangerous because if I was caught I could be put in prison. But I was happy to help because I knew it would help us achieve our dream of making black and white people equal.
我的名字叫伊莱亚斯。我是南非的一个穷苦的黑人工人。第一次见到纳尔逊〃曼德拉的时候，是我一生中非常艰难的时期。（当时）我才12岁，那是在19xx年，曼德拉是我寻求帮助的一位黑人律师。他为那些穷苦黑人提供法律指导。他十分慷慨地给予我时间，我为此非常感激。
由于我所受的教育很少，所以我需要他的帮助。我六岁开始上学，我仅仅在那里读了两年的学校有三公里远。我不得不辍学，因为我的家庭无法继续支付学费和交通费。我既不太会读，也不怎么会写。几经周折，我才在一家金矿找到一份工作。然而在那个时候，你要想住在约翰内斯堡就非得要有身份证不可。糟糕的是我没有这个证件，因为我不是在那里出生的，我很担心我是不是会失业。
纳尔逊〃曼德拉给予我帮助的那一天是我一生中最高兴的日子。他告诉我要想在约翰内斯堡立住脚，应当如何获取所需证件。我对自己的未来又充满了希望。我永远也忘记不了他对我的恩情，当他组织了非国大青年联盟时，我马上就参加了这个组织。他说：“过去30年来所出现的大量法律剥夺我们的权利，阻挡我们的进步，一直到今天，我们还处在几乎什么权利都没有的阶段。”
他说的是真话。当时黑人没有选举权，他们无权选择他们的领导人。他们不能做自己想要做的工作。他们所能住的城区都是由白人决定的。他们被打发去住的城外地区是南非最贫穷的地区。在那儿，没有人能够种庄稼。事实上，就像拉尔逊〃曼德拉所说的：
“……我们被置于这样一个境地：要么我们被迫接受低人一等的现实，要么跟政府作斗争。我们选择向法律进攻。首先我们用和平的方式来破坏法律，而当这种方式也得不到允许时，……只有到这个时候，我们才决定用暴力反抗暴力。”
事实上，我并不喜欢暴力，……但是在19xx年的时候，我帮助他炸毁了一些政府大楼。那是很危险的事情，因为如果我被抓住了，可能就会被关进监狱。但是，我乐于帮忙，因为我知道，这是为了实现我们的黑人和白人平等的梦想。
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