大学体验英语第一册Unit4-Passage B

Passage B
Living on My Own
The first time I decided¹ to leave home was when I was a sophomore² in high school. I was having trouble getting along with my parents. I had about a hundred dollars in my pocket, and so I thought about leaving home. It took me only three weeks away from home when I started to feel homesick. Living on my own is a totally different experience for three main reasons: being more responsible, more decisive and more creative.
Living on One's Own

　For Chinese students this may mean leaving home to attend college. Elsewhere, however, this may not provide enough independence to satisfy student desires for freedom from parents or other types of control. After all, colleges and dormitories have many rules and restrictions³, such as limitations on when and where one can study. Noise and lack of privacy are additional complaints of dormitory residents everywhere. American students, in particular, are often eager to move off campus as soon as they can. This may occur as early as the sophomore year at most American colleges.


　　 ?First of all, I have learned that living on my own requires that I become more responsible. My parents usually assign my work and duties which I have to keep up with almost every day. When I fail to do my assigned work, I only get scolded. However, now that I am on my own, I get to deal with my duties without being told to. When I fail to do my duties, I must also deal with the outcome on my own.

　　 ?Another different experience for me while living on my own is that now I have become more decisive. I have to be more careful now that I am on my own because my parents are not here to give me their advice. I must make my own decisions now that I am on my own. For example, I must make the best decisions for myself without hurting anybody's feelings and without my parents' authority.

　　 ?Therefore, I became more creative just by living on my own. I could make my own future plan. I have made rules for myself to follow. I also designed all the furniture in my room by using carving⁴ tools. I wrote a lot of songs and kept them in my notebook for any singer out there who might be interested. This to me is a good experience, because I usually think that being creative is the nicest thing in the world. However, when I was with my parents I found it hard for me to be creative simply because I always followed their ideas.

　　 ?In conclusion, these are the things that usually happen when I am with my parents and when I am alone. In addition, I think that it is appropriate for everyone in this world to love their parents and themselves before they love anyone else. They should learn how to live on their own, but at the same time learn how to support their loving parents. They need to follow every technique that was given to them by their parents. They can make use of their freedom of choice to lead to wherever they want.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。