自考英语综合二下册课文 lesson 11

　　[00:00.00]Lesson Eleven
[00:02.98] Text
[00:06.03]Selling the Post (I)
[00:10.61]Russell Baker¹ I began working in journalism² when I was eight years old.
[00:18.65]It was my mother's idea. She wanted me to"make something" of myself and,
[00:27.51]after a levelheaded appraisal³ of my strengths,
[00:32.76]decided⁴ I had better start young
[00:36.88]if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition.
[00:42.55]The flaw in my character which she had already spotted⁵ was lack of "gumption⁶.
[00:51.10]My idea of a perfect afternoon was lying in front of theradio rereading
[00:59.14]my favorite Big Little Book,Dick Tracy Meets Stooge Viller.
[01:09.80]Seeing me having a good time in repose,she was powerless to hide her disgust.
[01:17.35]"You've got no more gumption than a bump on a log," she said.
[01:23.51]"Get out in the kitchen and help Doris do those dirty dishes.
[01:27.95]"My sister Doris,though two years younger than I,
[01:33.23]had enough gumption for a dozen people.
[01:37.78]She positively⁷ enjoyed washing dishes, making beds, and cleaning the house.
[01:44.75]When she was only seven
[01:48.20]she could carry a piece of shortweighted cheese back to the A&P,
[01:54.83]threaten the manager with Legal action,
[01:58.96]and come back triumphantly⁸ with the full quarter pound we'd paid for
[02:05.62]and a few ounces extra thrown tn for forgiveness.
[02:11.27]Doris could have made something of herself if she hadn't been a girl.
[02:17.61]Because of this defect however,
[02:22.29]the best she could hope for was a career as a nurseor schoolteacher,
[02:28.45]the only work that capable females were considered up to in those days
[02:35.72]This must have saddened my mother,
[02:39.48]this twist of fate that had allocated⁹ all the gumption to the daughter
[02:45.75]and left her with a son who was content with Dick Tracy and Stooge Viller.
[02:52.20]If disappointed,though she wasted no energy on self pity.
[02:58.55]She would make me make something of myself whether I wanted to or not.
[03:05.31]"The Lord helps those who help themselves,"she said.
[03:10.88]That was the way her mind worked.
[03:14.74]She was realistic about the difficulty.
[03:19.11]Having sized up the material the Lord had given her to mold,
[03:24.46]she didn't overestimate¹⁰ what she could do with it.
[03:29.21]She didn't insist that I grow up to be President of the United States.
[03:35.46]Fifty years ago parents still asked boys if they wanted to grow up to be president
[03:42.90]and asked it not jokingly but seriously.
[03:48.47]Many parents who were hardly more than paupers¹¹ still believed their sons could do it
[03:55.52]Abraham Lincoln had done it.
[03:59.18]We were only sixty-five years from Lincoln.
[04:04.45]Many a grandfather who walked among us could remember Lincoln's time.
[04:10.70]Men of grandfatherly age
[04:14.67]were the worst for asking if you wanted to grow up to be president.
[04:20.83]A surprising number of little boys said yes and meant it.
[04:26.89]I was asked many times myself.
[04:32.25]No,I would say,I didn't want to grow up to be president.
[04:38.31]My mother was present during one of these interrogations.
[04:43.87]An elderly uncle,
[04:47.03]having posed the usual question and exposed my lack of interest in the presidency¹²
[04:54.30]asked,"Well,what do you want to be when you grow up?"
[05:00.67]I loved to pick through trash piles and collect empty bottles,
[05:06.23]tin cans with pretty labels, and discarded magazines.
[05:12.11]The most desirable job on earth sprang instantly to mind.
[05:18.56]"I want to be a garbage man," I said.
[05:23.42]My uncle smiled,
[05:26.66]but my mother had seen the first distressing¹³ evidence of a bump budding on a log
[05:34.21]"Have a little gumption, Russell,"she said.
[05:39.17]Her calling me Russell was a signal of unhappiness.
[05:44.92]When she approved of me I was always"Buddy. "
[05:49.96]When I turned eight years old
[05:53.52]she decided that the job of starting meon the road toward making something of myself
[05:59.68]could no longer be safely delayed.

　　[06:04.07]"Buddy," she said one day,"
[06:08.33]I want you to come home right after school this afternoon.
[06:13.79]Somebody's coming and I want you to meet him.
[06:18.15]"When I burst in that afternoon she was in conference in the parlor¹⁴
[06:24.31]with an executive of the Curtis Publishing Company.She introduced me.
[06:30.27]He bent¹⁵ low from the waist and shook my hand
[06:35.02]Was it true as my mother had told him,he asked,
[06:40.17]that I longed for the opportunity to conquer the world of business?
[06:46.13]My mother replied that I was blessed with a rare determination
[06:51.77]to make something of myself."That's right," I whispered.
[06:58.01]"But have you got the grit¹⁶, the character,
[07:02.27]the never-say-quit spirit it takes to succeed in business?"
[07:08.12]My mother said I certainly did.
[07:12.07]"That's right,"I said.
[07:16.14]He eyed me silently for a long pause,
[07:21.10]as though weighing whether I could be trusted to keep his confidence,
[07:27.45]then spoke¹⁷ man-to-man.
[07:30.98]Before taking a crucial step, he said,he wanted to tell me
[07:37.74]that working for the Curtis Publishing Company
[07:42.47]placed enormous responsibility on a young man.
[07:47.75]It was one of the great companies of America.
[07:52.01]Perhaps the greatest publishing house in the world.
[07:56.97]I had heard, no doubt,of the Saturday Evening Post?
[08:03.45]Heard of it?
[08:06.09]My mother said that everyone in our house had heard of the Saturday Evening Post
[08:12.46]and that I,in fact,read it with religious devotion.
[08:18.21]Then doubtless, he said,
[08:22.07]we were also familiar with those two monthly pillars of the magazine world,
[08:28.73]the Ladies Home Journal and the Country Gentleman.
[08:33.78]Indeed we were familiar with them,said my mother.
[08:39.05]Representing the Saturday Evening Post was one of the weightiest honors
[08:45.40]that could be bestowed¹⁸ in the world of business, he said.
[08:50.16]He was personally proud of being a part of that great corporation.
[08:56.03]My mother said he had every right to be.
[09:00.58]Again he studied me as though debating whether I was worthy¹⁹ of a knighthood.
[09:07.55]Finally: "Are you trustworthy?"
[09:12.59]My mother said I was the soul of honesty."That's right,"I said.
[09:20.25]The caller smiled for the first time.
[09:24.32]He told me I was a lucky young man. He admired my spunk²⁰.
[09:30.49]Too many young men thought life was all play.
[09:35.53]Those young men would not go far in this world.
[09:40.39]Only a young man willing to work
[09:44.54]and save and keep his face washed and his hair neatly²¹ combed
[09:50.42] could hope to come out on top in a world such as ours.
[09:56.06]Did I truly and sincerely believe that I was such a young man?
[10:02.12]"He certainly does,"said my mother."That's right,"I said.
[10:09.49]He said he had been so impressed by what he has seen of me
[10:15.16]that he was going to make me a representative of the Curtis Publishing Company.
[10:21.51]On the following Tuesday, he said,
[10:25.95]thirty freshly printed copies of the Saturday Evening Post
[10:32.40]would be delivered at our door.
[10:36.16]I would place these magazines,still damp with the ink of presses,
[10:42.64]in a handsome canvas bag,sling²² it over my shoulder,
[10:48.59]and set forth²³ through the streets to bring the best
[10:53.35]in journalism fiction,and cartoons to the American public.
[10:59.59]He had brought the canvas bag with him.
[11:03.67]He presented it with reverence²⁴ fit for a religious object.
[11:09.31]He showed me how to drape the sling over my left shoulder
[11:14.35]and across the chest so that the pouch²⁵ lay easily accessible to my right hand,
[11:21.20]allowing the best in journalism, fiction,and security
[11:26.76]to be swiftly extracted and sold to a citizenry
[11:32.40]whose happiness and security depended upon us soldiers of the free press.
[11:39.77]The following Tuesday I raced home from school,
[11:44.31]put the bag over my shoulder, dumped the magazines in,
[11:49.67]and,tilting to the left to balance their weight on my right hip²⁶,

　　[11:55.91]embarked on the highway of journalism.

1 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

2 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

3 appraisal   

n.对…作出的评价；评价，鉴定，评估

参考例句：

• What's your appraisal of the situation?你对局势是如何评估的？
• We need to make a proper appraisal of his work.对于他的工作我们需要做出适当的评价。

4 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。

5 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

6 gumption   

n.才干

参考例句：

• With his gumption he will make a success of himself.凭他的才干，他将大有作为。
• Surely anyone with marketing gumption should be able to sell good books at any time of year.无疑，有经营头脑的人在一年的任何时节都应该能够卖掉好书。

7 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

8 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

9 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

10 overestimate   

v.估计过高，过高评价

参考例句：

• Don't overestimate seriousness of the problem.别把问题看重了。
• We overestimate our influence and our nuisance value.我们过高地估计了自己的影响力和破坏作用。

11 paupers   

n.穷人( pauper的名词复数 )；贫民；贫穷

参考例句：

• The garment is expensive, paupers like you could never afford it! 这件衣服很贵，你这穷鬼根本买不起！ 来自互联网
• Child-friendliest among the paupers were Burkina Faso and Malawi. 布基纳法索，马拉维，这俩贫穷国家儿童友善工作做得不错。 来自互联网

12 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

13 distressing   

a.使人痛苦的

参考例句：

• All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
• It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。

14 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

15 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

16 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

17 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

18 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

19 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

20 spunk   

n.勇气，胆量

参考例句：

• After his death,the soldier was cited for spunk.那位士兵死后因作战勇敢而受到表彰。
• I admired her independence and her spunk.我敬佩她的独立精神和勇气。

21 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

22 sling   

vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓

参考例句：

• The boy discharged a stone from a sling.这个男孩用弹弓射石头。
• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。

23 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

24 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

25 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

26 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。