剑桥流利英语(2)阅读

章节摘录

　　I was born in Drummin，County Mayo， in the west of Ireland. I had five brothers， four sisters and two adopted sisters.I left school at the age of fourteen.I wanted to stay on at school as my ambition was to become a school teacher， but my parents could not afford to send me to college at that time. I went to work in a shoe factory for a year. After that I became a nanny as I wanted to work with children. I lived in with the family and worked from 8am to 8pm—for $2 a week.　　At the age of seventeen I felt that there were no opportunities for me to earn a decent living and that I had to come to England. Dad gave me the boat fare and $10 to keep me going until I found a job. I came to Slough， Buckinghamshire， as that was where most of the people from my part of the country went to.　　I arrived in Slough and immediately began to look around for a place to stay. I eventually found a room in Windsor. The next day I went looking for work， and found a job in a factory malting Mars bars.　　I had a lot to get used to in this strange country . There were big houses， trains， traffic lights and lots of people from all over the world.　　I never knew the English hated us （the Irish）. I did not hate them！ I could not understand the hostility I received. I was not prepared for it. For example， I had to listen to people telling me how thick and stupid the Irish were. I was always told， and was made to feel， that I was different. I felt isolated and seriously thought about going back.　　In fact I did go home. And stayed there for a month. But I was disappointed to find that I was a stranger there. People treated me very differently because I had been to England. I returned to Slough for a period and then moved to London in the late 1960s.　　　　What does it feel like to be approaching the wrong end of middle age? For the moment at least， the differences between the young diplomat of 30 years ago and the ageing writer of today are more psychological than physical. Naturally， I can hardly ignore the inevitable change in my outward appearance. My hair has gone—well， silver， the whites of my eyes occasionally look more like yolks; and I’ve got heavier round the middle. But all this is merely on the surface; inside， I’m not really conscious of feeling very much older than I did in my younger days.　　Mentally， however， it’s another story. It is no longer a surprise to come into a room and to find that I’m the oldest person in it， but I notice the fact all the same. It’s a long time since I stopped worrying about policemen being younger than me; when， on the other hand， I find gen- erals， archbishops and High Court judges in the same happy situation， I tend to grow thoughtful...　　Now for the compensations. And there are plenty of them， and by no means the least is a new found independence. Until now， responsi- bilities seem to have increased year by year; now， thankfully， they begin to diminish， and are replaced by new opportunities.　　These are positive compensations; there are also negative ones which can be appreciated just as much. Immense pleasure can be got from Putting Things Behind One. My own recent decision—taken with im- mense relief—has been to give up all efforts to understand modem music. There is more than enough music from the 17th， 18th and 19th centuries to keep me happy for the rest of my life. Now， at last， I can face the fact that I just don’t like 20th century music.　　Finally， it’s goodbye to hypochondria. When I was young I constantly worried about my health and imagined I had all sorts of terrible diseases. Now those days are over. I love every moment of my life and want it to go on for as long as possible until I become senile or a burden to my family and friends， at which point I would like it to stop at once. I can honestly say that I have had and am still having a wonderful time.　　　　It was very late when the old beggarman came to the rich farmyard. He had travelled far that day， he was tired and hungry. He said to himself， ‘I must find　　somewhere to sleep，’ because it was snowing. ‘I will go up here， maybe the farmer will help me. He could probably give me somewhere to lie down.’ So the old beggarman walked up to the farmhouse and he knocked on the door.

前言

　　在国内令人眼花缭乱的英语教材市场上，阅读教材一向是重量级的产品，其原因是显而易见的：英语教师和学习者都倾向于把阅读能力看作是英语水平的主要标志。阅读教材的繁荣使这类教材的编写思想和方法竞相出笼，为广大英语学习者在比较和选择更为有效的学习路径上提供了颇具参考价值的指导，而对于教材编写者来说，竞争意味着必须吸取他人经验，同时又要有所开拓乃至突破，方可拾级而上，达到新的水准。剑桥大学出版社推出的"剑桥流利英语"系列中的这套阅读教材（共四册）便是如此。它所突出的编写指导思想是激发学习者的阅读动力（Learners motivation）。　　需要说明的是，这里所说的阅读动力并非等同于阅读兴趣。在母语环境中，阅读是出于多种多样的原因（其中兴趣也许是一个重要原因，它很大程度上基于母语便利条件下的阅读经验），也就是说，人们的阅读动力是自发的，而且具有很强的现实性。而对于外语阅读而盲，尤其是对于以学习为目的的外语阅读而言，情形显然大为不同，阅读经常是一种在教师指导下的课堂活动，学习者往往是直接地或间接地被告知阅读内容以及阅读技巧。这套教材所针对的问题是如何在人为的课堂氛围下激发外语学习者在母语阅读过程中所具有的自发动力以及使他们得到原来所得到的阅读乐趣。为实现这一目标，编者在选材、阅读任务及编写形式上都作了精心考虑，特色卓然。　　以精彩的选材来持续吸引阅读者的兴趣是外语教材编写者的共识和重要手段。这套教材所选的阅读语篇（the text）体现了以下一些特点：　　1．全部选用现实语言环境中的全真材料（authentic materials），避免那种专为外语学习　　者编写的进阶式规范读物，目的是要让学习者尽早接触到原汁原味的鲜活语言。　　2．内容广泛涉及社会、文化和生活等多方面：但另一方面，所选材料对于非英语文化背　　景的读者具有不同程度上的挑战性，能够促发读者思考，调动读者的阅读参与意识，　　从而真正地激发了他们的阅读动力，同时也使他们得到阅读乐趣，而不仅仅是对另一　　种语言的字面意义上的"破译"的满足。　　3．语篇形式活泼多样，有报刊文章、评论、短篇故事、民间传说、歌谣、小诗、广告、 游记、问卷、语录、日记等，使读者能够体验到不同体裁的英语灵活而变化多端的特 色。　　尽管以语篇内容来激发阅读动力是基本目标，但指望一套选材本身来吸引所有读者是不切实际的，因此另一个因素--阅读任务--对于激发阅读动力就显得非常重要。这套教材在阅读任务设计上有两个用意：首先是用以持续激发读者的阅读动力，其次是培养读者获得外语阅读的一些技能。在第一点上，任务设计注重就材料内容提出具有诱导启发性的问题，这些问题往往为阅读材料提供了一个更为宽泛的思维语境，有利于读者从更多角度对阅读材料作出反应。在培养阅读技能方面，这套教材设计了一系列不同类型的练习，简述如下：　　1．归纳大意：帮助学习者寻找段落大意并且避免生词的干扰。培养这项技能的典型题型 是"匹配练习"（matching exercise），比如，使标题与插图、文章与标题匹配。有时题中还附有额外的一句话或一幅图，让读者想得更多一点。　　2．理解文章结构：有时候不容易搞清楚文章里哪些是重要内容以及它们的位置，文章结 构练习帮助读者明白文章里包含的内容以及句子之间是如何被合乎逻辑地联接起来的 。　　3．深入推想：引导读者深入字面去理解，把握文章的内涵和基调。　　4．内容预测：阅读文章之前鼓励读者根据文章主题或标题来预测内容。预测是否正确并 不重要，此项练习旨在激发读者的阅读期待，活跃思维。　　5．查阅具体信息：有时候我们阅读并不是为了了解文章大意，而是为了找到一个具体问 题的答案。教材中的有些练习是专为训练读者尽快获取信息的能力而设计的。　　6．衔接意思：这项练习主要是帮助读者通过上下文注意沟通意思的衔接词语。　　7．文本评价：为了透彻理解文章，读者可能需要评价作者的观点并理解写作原因，还需 要分清文章的论点和论据。这项练习有利于提高评论能力。　　8．对文章作出反应：为激发读者的兴趣有必要使他们对文章作出主观方面的反应，比如 针对文章中的幽默、文风、诗韵等等。读者对其他文体比如说明性文章的反应表现在 他们能够按照说明执行任务方面。这项练习也可以培养读者补充相关信息的能力。　　此外，这套教材的任务设计还将阅读与口语及写作训练自然地结合起来，使读者得以在获得"输入"（input）的基础上逐渐锻炼"输出"（output）能力，从而提高英语综合技能。

书籍目录

改编前言

Thanks

内容纲要

1 你有冒险精神吗？

2 天气知多少

3 迁居异国

4 自己的房间

5 童年的梦想

6 琼斯先生

7 野外避险

8 学校

9 2010年

10 字面错误

11 画画与右半脑

12 我一生中的美好时光

13 流浪汉与农夫

14 恐惧

……

参考答案

作者简介

《剑桥流利英语2:阅读》是由外语教学与研究出版社与剑桥大学出版社合作出版的、主要适合成人使用的初中级阅读教材。全书正文部分由20个单元组成。每个单元都以大家最为熟悉的话题为主题来组织阅读与练习。在每个单元中，编译者在相关的短文或者练习说明处在添加的注解针对性强。

图书封面

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