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发表于 2016-7-14 00:50:04
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each person can "do his own thing" and be respected here to a very large extent. ;
Personal Questions Conversational questions may seem to ;
you both too personal and too many, especially when you first arrive. ;
"Where do you work?" "Are you married?" "How many children do you have?" ;
"Have you taken your vacation yet?" ;
are not personal questions by American standards. ;
They are a search for common ground on which to build a ;
relationship or base a conversation. ;
Understand that such questions are meant to be friendly. ;
It shows the questioner is interested in you. ;
If you are asked questions that seem to you to be too personal, ;
you need not answer them. ;
You can simply smile or say pleasantly ;
that you "do not know" or "In my country that would be a funny question," ;
or turn the questions gently aside by some comment such as ;
"Isn't it interesting to see how different nationalities begin a conversation?" ;
or something similar. If you do that, follow it quickly with another topic, ;
or make some comment of your own on variations in customs, ;
or lead the conversation off in some other direction. ;
The American will not be offended, but he or she will get the point. ;
Meeting People The whole matter of ;
names is a "culture shock" to many people. ;
Americans have a minimum feeling for "rank," especially socially. ;
Most do not themselves enjoy being treated with special respect for age or position; ;
it makes them uncomfortable. ;
Many Americans find even the terms "Mr.","Mrs.",or"Ms." stiff and formal. ;
You hear people well beyond middle age say-even to quite ;
young people-"Just call me Sally (or Henry or Don)." ;
Being on first-name terms is taken as a sign of acceptance and friendliness. ;
However,this need not bother you. ;
If you are not comfortable in ;
following the boss's immediate request to "Call me Andrew," ;
it is quite all right. Just smile and say "After a while perhaps, ;
but thank you anyway." What we do use, however, ;
are occupational titles. These are considered to be different, ;
because they show a recognition that has been earned, ;
not merely inherited. Occupations that most ;
frequently carry titles include diplomats, ;
members of the Senate (or certain other top government posts), ;
judges of the courts, military officers above a certain rank, ;
medical doctors, professors and priests. Examples would be Ambassador Jones, ;
Senator Smith, Governor Rockefeller, Judge Hartley, General Clark, ;
Doctor Brown (medical), Doctor Green(Ph. D.), Father White. ;
Silence Many Americans find silence uncomfortable. ;
They will say anything to fill any quietness if it extends for more than a moment. ;
Students often study with their radios blaring; ;
housewives leave televisions on for ;
the "companionship" of sound even though they may be working in some other room. ;
If you are silent for long periods, ;
they will do their best to "draw you out" ;
or will ask if you feel all right or if there is anything they can do to help you. ;
One aspect of silence can be confusing, however; ;
if Americans disagree with what you are saying, ;
many of them will remain quiet. This may not indicate agreement; ;
often it only means that they consider it impolite to argue further. ;
Lesson Twenty-three ;
Words and Expressions ;
apartment /'pa:tmnt/[美] 一套公寓房间 ;
asleep/'sli:p/ adj.睡着,睡熟 awake/'weik/醒 ;
awoke/'wuk/(过去式) awoke或awaked (过去分词) ;
basement/'beismnt/ n.地下室,底层 bench/bent/ n.长凳 ;
boat/but/ n.小船,艇 can/kn/n. [美](包藏食物的)罐头 ;
canning factory 罐头食品制造厂 crane/krein/ n.鹤 ;
creep/kri:p/ vi.爬行 crept(过去式, 过去分词) ;
cry/krai/vi.& vt. duck/dk/n.鸭 fisherman/'fimn/ n.捕鱼人 ;
fly/flai/vi.飞 flew/flu:/(过去式) flown/flun/(过去分词) ;
free/fri:/vt.使自由 hallway/'h:lwei/ n.[美]门厅,过道 ;
jump /dmp/vt.跳过 knock/nk/ vt.& n.敲,击,打 ;
koh/ku/n.鸟叫声 lake/leik/n.湖 nap/np/n.打盹,瞌睡 ;
nowhere/'nuwe/ n.无处 pack/pk/vt.包装 ;
plate/pleit/n.盘子 repair/ri'pe/vt.修理 roll/rul/vt.使滚动 ;
rope/rup/n.绳,索 sail/seil/vt.开(船) shine/ain/vi. 发光,发亮 ;
shone/n;un/ (过去式,过去分词) sir/强s:;弱s/ n.先生,阁下 ;
softly/'sftli/ adv.柔和地,轻轻地 stone/stun/ n.石头,石 ;
struggle/'strgl/ vi.挣扎 surface/'s:fis/ n.面,表面 ;
tiny/'taini/ adj.极小的 toy/ti/n.玩具 ;
tuna/'t(j)u:n/ n.金枪鱼 Proper Nouns ;
Karen/'kern/ Myoto/'mjutu/ ;
Text ;
The Crane Girl (1) ;
In a city by the sea, there lived an old man and his wife. ;
They were very poor because they were too old to work. ;
All his life, the old man had been a tuna fisherman. ;
He sold his fish to the city canning factory. ;
The old woman had worked in a Japanese restaurant. ;
They had lived well. But now that they were too old to work, they had no money. ;
The couple lived in a tiny apartment in the basement of a big apartment house. ;
The old man repaired things that broke down in the other apartments. ;
He had sold his fishing boat ;
so that he and the old woman could use the money. ;
The old woman walked the dogs of the other people in the apartment building. ;
They had little money, but they were happy. ;
One morning the old man got all of his work done early, ;
and he decided to spent the rest of the day at the park. ;
He went into his apartment and packed himself a bit of lunch. ;
He was looking forward to spending the day in the sunshine. ;
When he arrived at the park, he was tired from the walk. ;
He picked out a bench in the sun and sat down to eat his lunch. ;
From his bench he could see the park lake. ;
He liked to watch the ducks swim. ;
There were children at the water's edge sailing their toy boats. ;
Once in a while a fish would jump on the lake surface. ;
That reminded him of the days when he was a fisherman. ;
As he sat eating his sandwich,he heard the cry of a bird, Koh, ;
Koh, near the water's edge. ;
The old man walked to the bushes at the ;
water's edge and saw a struggling white crane. ;
It must have been one of the animals that belonged to the park. ;
Its foot was caught between two stones, and it could not fly. ;
Feeling sorry for the great bird, the old man crept close, ;
and, speaking softly to calm the crane, he rolled the stones a-part and freed it. ;
With a cry of Koh, ;
Koh, the crane rose into the air and flew to the other side of the lake. ;
The old man returned to his bench. ;
He watched the children with their boats until he nodded off to sleep. ;
After a short nap, he awoke and started home. ;
It would be time to help his wife prepare dinner. ;
While they were working in the kitchen, ;
he told her about freeing the crane. "That was nice," ;
she said. "Doesn't it make you feel good to know that you helped the bird?" ;
As soon as she spoke, there was a knock on the door. ;
The old man answered the door and found a small, ;
Japanese girl standing there. ;
Her little face shone with the light from the hallway. ;
She was quite beautiful. ;
"Please excuse me for knocking at your door, sir. ;
I was in the park with my mother and father. ;
I jumped rope with some other children. ;
When I went back to find my parents, they were gone. ;
I have nowhere to go. I saw your light, so I came in here. ;
My name is Karen Myoto."Poor girl," cried the old woman. ;
"Come in, dear, and have dinner with us." A third plate was put on the table, ;
and the old couple shared their meal with the girl. ;
After dinner the old woman made her a bed ;
on the sofa while the old man cleaned up in the kitchen. ;
The girl fell asleep the moment she got into bed. ;
Lesson twenty-four ;
Words and Expressions ;
amaze/'meiz/ vt.使惊奇,惊噩 arm/a:m/n.臂 ;
in one's arms bolt/bult/ n.(棉布等的)匹 ;
cake/keik/ n.饼,糕 careful/'kefl/ adj.仔细的,小心的 ;
cloth/kl:/ n.布(棉,毛,丝,麻, 合成纤维等)织物 ;
crack/krk/ n.裂缝,缝隙 ;
dollar/'dl/元 (美国,加拿大等国的 货币单位,符号为$) ;
fabric/'fbrik/ n.织物,布 feast/'fi:st/n.盛宴 ;
feather/'fe/ n.羽毛 furnace/'f:nis/ n.炉子 ;
giant/'daint/ adj.巨大的 gift/gift/ n.礼物 ;
hard/ha:d/ adj.艰难的 kindness/'kaindnis/ n.仁慈,照顾 ;
laughter/'la:ft/ n.笑声,笑 loom/lu:m/n.织机 ;
merchant/'m:tnt/ n.商人 ;
neighborhood /'neibhud/ n.[美]附近,四邻 [英]neighbourhood ;
neighbor/'neib/ n.[美]neighbour [英]邻居,邻人 ;
owner/'un/ n.所有人,物主 payment/'peimnt/ n.报偿,支付 ;
peek/pi:k/ vi.从缝隙看,偷看 pleasure/'ple/ n.愉快,乐趣 ;
pull/pul/vt.拉,拔 repay/ri:'pei/ vt.& vi.偿还,报答 ;
repaid/ri:'peid/ (过去式,过去分词) reward/ri'w:d/ n.报酬,奖赏 ;
rice/rais/n.稻,米,饭 rush/r/冲,奔,赶紧 shuttle/'tl/ n.(织机的)梭 ;
silk/silk/n.丝织品 tidy(up)/'taidi/ vt.& vi.收拾,整理 ;
tiptoe/'tiptu/ vi.踮着脚走 ;
unfinished /'n'finit/ adj.未完成的 ;
voice/vis/ n.说话声,声音 weak/wi:k/ adj.弱的 ;
weave/wi:v/ vt.& vi.织(布) wove/wuv/(过去式) ;
woven/'wuvn/ (过去式) ;
Text ;
The Crane Girl (2) ;
The next morning, ;
the old man and woman were surprised to find tea already made. ;
The girl was making breakfast. ;
The apartment had already been cleaned and tidied up. ;
"Good morning," Karen greeted them. "I hope you slept well. ;
Breakfast is ready." The old man laughed." Imagine. ;
A daughter at our age. "This is a reward for helping the bird yesterday," ;
replied the old woman. Every day Karen would go with the old woman to walk the dogs, ;
in hopes that she would see her parents. ;
But she returned every night with less and less hope. ;
Children in the neighborhood soon met Karen and grew to love her. ;
The home of the old couple was filled with the sound of laughter and children's voices. ;
Several weeks had passed, ;
and it would soon be time to celebrate the Japanese New Year. ;
The old man said to his wife, "Karen has been such a pleasure to us. ;
I would like to give her a gift." "So would I," said the old woman. ;
Karen heard them talking, and she felt sad because they were so poor. ;
She came to them and said, "I know that life is hard for you. ;
If you will let me repay your kindness to me, I will weave cloth for you to sell. ;
I ask only one thing-that no one watches me while I weave." ;
The old couple thought that this was strange, but they agreed. ;
Karen went into the furnace room, ;
and soon they heard the sound of the loom as the shuttle moved back and forth. ;
For three days, Karen wove without stopping. ;
She finally stepped into the apartment holding a beautiful bolt of cloth. ;
The old man and woman had never seen anything like it. ;
They told Karen how beautiful it was. "Father,"said the girl, ;
"take this to the fabric shops and show it to the owners. ;
Do not put a price on it,but let the merchants price it. ;
This is a small payment for the home you have given me." ;
The old man took the cloth and rushed to the street where all the shops were. ;
The first shop owner looked at the cloth. "Where did you get this?"he asked. ;
"My cousin in Japan sent it to me," answered the man. ;
"I will pay you fifty dollars for it." The old man went into another shop. ;
"This is very fine silk,"said the owner." I will pay you three hundred dollars." ;
The old man sold him the cloth. On the way home, ;
the old man stopped to buy rice cakes and a gift for Karen. ;
The three of them prepared a feast for the New Year, ;
and some of their friends came for a party. ;
Even though they were careful, the money was soon spent. ;
One day, Karen said, ;
"I must weave more cloth. You can sell it again to the merchants. ;
But remember what you promised. No one must see me while I work." ;
Two days went by, ;
and all the time the sound of the loom filled the apartment building. ;
The people who lived in the building came downstairs. ;
"What is the noise?" they asked. "That is Karen weaving," ;
the old woman answered. "Weaving? May we see?" asked the neighbors. ;
"Oh, no," ;
replied the old man. "We have promised her that no one will watch her." ;
All this time the old woman had wondered how Karen wove such beautiful cloth. ;
She could stand it no longer. Quietly,she tiptoed to the furnace room. ;
She peeked through a crack in the door. ;
The old man missed her and ran down the hall to the furnace room. ;
"Stop! Please stop!" he called to his wife. It was too late. ;
She had already seen inside the room. What she saw amazed her. ;
There,at the loom, was a giant white crane. ;
The crane pulled feathers from its body and wove them into cloth. ;
The old woman stepped back,and the door opened. Karen stepped out, ;
holding in her arms an unfinished bolt of cloth. ;
"Dear people," she said in a weak voice, ;
"I am the crane you saved by the lake in the park. ;
I wanted to help you by weaving cloth for you to sell." ;
She began to cry. "But, now that you know, I will have to leave." ;
She walked from the building toward the park. ;
The old couple followed her. When she reached the park she stopped. ;
Going to the old man and woman, she kissed them. ;
Then she changed into a white crane and flew into the air. ;
The bird looked down and cried,"Koh!" as if she were saying good-bye. ;
Then the bird rose and the crane girl was gone. ; |
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