|
Unit 11
College Life
After-Class Reading
PASSAGE I Those College Finals
Proper Names
Boer War
布尔战争
Elizabethan
伊丽莎白(时代)的
Northwestern University
西北大学(在美国伊利诺伊州)
New Words
administrator
n. 管理者
arcane
adj. secret and mysterious 神秘的
bizarre *
adj. strange, peculiar 古怪的
calendar *
n. 日历；年历
e.g. Gregorian calendar 公历
campus *
n. the land and buildings of a university or college 校园
e.g. Most first-year students live on campus.
chilling *
adj. making one feel frightened 使人寒心的；使人恐惧的
e.g. The report gives a chilling account of how the plane disintegrated (碎裂) after the explosion.
cursing *
n. 诅咒，咒骂
demented
adj. behaving as if one is crazy, especially because of an upsetting experience (因忧虑等)焦躁不安的
depressing *
adj. making someone feel very unhappy 令人沮丧的；令人忧愁的
e.g. It's depressing to fail after trying so hard.
discard *
v. get rid of 丢弃；抛弃
e.g. Remove the skins from the tomatoes and discard them.
exhilarating
adj. making someone feel excited and happy 令人兴奋的；令人振奋的
frigid
adj. very cold 寒冷的；严寒的
gasp *
v. take a short quick breath through the mouth, especially because of surprise, pain or shock (因惊异、痛苦等)吸气，喘气
e.g. I ) When she saw the money hidden in the box she gasped in surprise.
II ) "Help me!" he gasped.
glaze
v. show no expression because one is very bored or tired (因厌倦、疲劳等)指眼睛变得呆滞，毫无表情
e.g. Among the audience eyes glazed over with boredom and a few heads started to nod.
glide *
n. & v. (make) smooth, quiet movement that seems to take no effort 滑行；轻松地行动
e.g. Some people glide through life without ever worrying about having enough money.
glow *
v. shine with a soft, steady light 发光
e.g. I ) The night lantern glowed softly in the darkness.
II ) Helen's cheeks glowed with youthful energy.
horror *
n. an extremely unpleasant or frightful experience 恐怖；可怕的事
e.g. Can I possibly picture for you all the horrors we have undergone since I last wrote you?
kneel *
v. (knelt或kneeled)跪
e.g. She knelt down to pray.
leisurely *
adj. done in a relaxed way without hurrying 悠闲的；从容的；慢慢的
e.g. Tom walked at a leisurely pace.
lengthy *
adj. continuing or lasting for a long time, often too long 漫长的；(derogative) (speech, etc.) tiresomely long, long and boring 冗长的
e.g. I ) Many airline passengers face lengthy delays because of overcrowded airports.
II ) All of us got bored with his lengthy explanations.
moan *
n. a long slow sound expressing pain, unhappiness, etc. 呻吟声，呜咽声
mound
n. a large pile of something 一大堆
mutter *
v. speak quietly or in a low voice 咕哝，含糊、轻声地说话
northwestern
adj. 西北的
obscure *
adj. difficult to understand 晦涩的，费解的；unknown or known by only a few people 无名的，不重要的
e.g. I ) Official policy has changed, for reasons that remain obscure.
II ) Food also contains obscure nutrients, which scientists do not yet fully understand.
pathetic *
adj. making one feel pity and sympathy 引起怜悯的，可怜的
possess *
v. (formal) own or have something 拥有
e.g. I ) He is said to possess a fortune of more than two-and-a-half-thousand million dollars.
II ) She gave everything she possessed to the poor.
precursor
n. 先兆；前兆
regurgitate
v. repeat facts, ideas, etc. that one has read or heard without thinking about them oneself 逐字逐句地重复，机械刻板地重复
rotten *
adj. (informal) (something) very unpleasant or of very poor quality 腐烂的
e.g. I ) The smell outside this building is overwhelming-like rotten eggs.
II ) I had a pretty rotten day yesterday.
scrunch
v. squeeze or bend something so that it is no longer in its natural shape 揉皱
sidewalk
n. 人行道
spiral *
n. 螺旋型的东西；螺旋弹簧
stagger *
v. walk or move unsteadily, almost falling over 蹒跚
e.g. He was staggering and had to lean on the bar.
steady *
v. stop shaking or moving about 稳住，使稳固
e.g. His elbows were resting on his knees to steady the binoculars (望远镜).
stomp
v. walk with heavy steps, especially when one is angry 跺(脚)，重踩，重踏
trace *
v. find the origin by going back in time 追溯
e.g. The American Democratic Party traces its origins to the Democratic Republican Party, which came into being in the 1790s.
tumble *
v. roll over or down quickly or violently 翻滚，滚下
e.g. I ) The puppies were tumbling about the floor.
II ) He tumbled down the stairs.
weep *
v. (wept) cry, especially when one is very sad 哭泣
e.g. She lay on her bed, weeping bitterly.
wink
v. 眨眼
e.g. He winked at me to show that he was playing a joke on the others.
Those College Finals
I was sitting around downtown the other night. The wind was blowing; the temperature was frigid; the atmosphere was depressing. I knew that the combination of these things reminded me of something, and soon enough[1] I realized what that something was. Final exams.
The most miserable moments of a college student's life come during final exam week during the winter. It is a horror that stays with a person for the rest of his life: the desperation, the frustration, the realization that one has to cough up mounds of knowledge that one does not even possess[2]. And that one's future career may depend on how well one does the coughing.
I checked the calendar. Sure enough, it was just about time for the end of the term at Northwestern University, just up the road from me[3]. I knew that thousands of students were up there at that very moment, bending over textbooks and notes and trying against all odds to memorize arcane facts and figures that they really cared nothing about. I couldn't help myself.[4] I headed for the campus. In the first building where I stopped, a light was burning brightly in a classroom. I walked in; two young men had papers spread all over the room. Class was not in session; the two were alone. "Hi, fellows," I said. They looked up. Their eyes were filled with pain. They appeared to have gone without sleep for three or four days.[5]
"What's up[6], guys?" I said.
"Please leave us alone,"one of them said softly.
"Leave you alone?"I said.
"Finals," the other one gasped.
I walked out of the room and began a leisurely stroll around campus. Men and women looked as if they were about to sob as they staggered toward the library. They muttered to themselves. They lifted their eyes in silent prayer. They walked into trees, steadied their bodies, and kept walking. I felt great. I had been one of them, and now I wasn't. There probably is no feeling in this world more exhilarating than being on a college campus during final exams, and knowing that you don't have to take them.
I spent most of the evening wandering from building to building, watching the students get ready for the next day's finals. It was all so familiar. They gathered around long tables, spiral-bound notebooks[7] open, and they shot[8] questions at one another. There were lengthy periods of silence, and then a series of tentative answers. Cursing was common. Moans broke out. They stomped on the floor, and gazed out the window, and seemed to be ready to weep. Once in a while they glanced over at me. Under normal circumstances they probably would have been curious about my presence, but on this night their eyes were so glazed over that they couldn't even think straight.[9] I just read the sports section and winked at them.
If I would have been in a charitable mood, I would have told them one of the great secrets of the real world. It is a secret that all of us who have been to college learned only after we got out; a secret that, if college students knew it, would ease their minds and make them calm. The secret is this: There are no final exams in real life.
It's true. In the real world, you don't have to know anything. There are no cases in which you have to sit down in a crowded room, scrunch your eyes up in concentration and regurgitate obscure and ridiculous facts from memory. In real life, you get to bring the book along. Believe it, college students: Real life is an open-book test. If you've forgotten something, you get to go look it up[10], or ask someone who's smarter than you. It's easy; much easier than college.
The only place you'll ever encounter something as bizarre and frightening as a final exam is at college. The college administrators fool the students by making them believe that final exams are only a mild precursor of what is going to happen every day in the big, mean[11]world. But it's not true. If the real world were as bizarre and rotten as final exams, you'd see everyone on the street walking around in the same demented, pathetic state as college students during exam week. No, it's all downhill[12] after college finals. Real life is a coast[13], a glide. No one is ever going to ask you to compare and contrast the works of the Elizabethan authors[14]; no one is ever going to demand that you trace the battles of the Boer War[15]. If someone did come up to you at work and ask you something like that, he'd soon be locked up in an institution[16]somewhere.
I could have told the students that. I could have soothed their minds and made things simple for them. I could have asked them to join me for a beer and forget about finals week. Look at the top executives of the Fortune 500[17]companies, I could have told them. Do you think anyone would ever dare ask them how they did on their college final exams? I could have filled the students' mind with comforting thoughts like that.
But I didn't. And why should I have? I went through finals many times; finals made me crazy, and now it was time for these students to be made crazy. I watched them in their despair, and I smiled the smile of the truly contented[18]. I stayed on campus until nearly midnight, and then I wandered off. On a path between some classroom buildings, something tumbled across the sidewalk, blowing in the wind. I knelt to pick it up. It was a blue book[19], the dreadful, chilling symbol of finals week. A blue book that some poor student had carried out of his exam and then discarded on the ground. I stuck it in my pocket and laughed a mechanical laugh. The lights still glowed in the campus building, as they would all night, but I got to go home.
Phrases and Expressions
against all (the) odds
in spite of great difficulties 尽管有极大的困难
e.g. Against all the odds, racing driver Lauda recovered from his terrible injuries.
break out
begin suddenly 突然发生
e.g. I was in a nightclub in Brixton when a fight broke out.
cough up
(informal) unwillingly give money, information, etc. 勉强说出某话；不情愿地提供某物
e.g. I'll have to cough up $ 10,000 a year for tuition.
do something from memory
do something without looking at anything written or printed
e.g. The children write down the words, cover them up and then try to spell them from memory.
glaze over
appear glassy-eyed, show no expression because one is very bored or tired (指眼睛)变呆滞
e.g. I could see people's eyes glaze over when I told them I was an educational psychologist.
head for
move towards (a place) 向(某处)行进
e.g. I ) Once inside the shop the children headed straight for the computer games.
II ) You're heading for disaster.
in session
在开会；在开庭；在上课?
e.g. The Court was in session.
lock up
put someone in a prison or a secure psychiatric hospital 将某人监禁起来或送进精神病院
e.g. He spent the night locked up in the local police station.
scrunch up
crush and twist something into a small round ball 揉皱
e.g. She scrunched up three pages of notes and threw them in the bin.
sure enough
(informal) as might have been expected 果然；果真
e.g. As soon as I brought the car to the service station, sure enough the weird sound went away.
PASSAGE II Fall from University Grace[1]
Proper Names
Calgary
卡尔加里(加拿大西南部城市)
New Words
apparent *
adj. clear and obvious 明显的，显然的
e.g. It was becoming quite apparent to me that they weren't going to finish the job in time.
attain *
v. gain or achieve something 获得；实现
e.g. Jim is halfway to attaining his pilot's license.
beneficial *
adj. producing results that bring advantages 有益的；有用的；有好处的
e.g. Using a computer has a beneficial effect on children's learning.
brag
v. 吹嘘；自夸
e.g. The chairman never tires of bragging that he and Bush are old friends.
breezy
adj. slightly windy 有微风的
contemplate *
v. think about something carefully for a long time 沉思；思忖
e.g. As he lay in his hospital bed that night, he cried as he contemplated his future.
destitute
adj. having no money, no food, and nowhere to live 贫困的；穷苦的
dismal
adj. bad and unsuccessful 差劲的
disposition *
n. willingness to do something 意向；倾向
e.g. He showed no disposition to follow our advice.
downfall
n. loss of success or power 垮台；衰落
elude
v. avoid or escape 逃避，躲避
e.g. Leaving home was just a way of eluding his responsibilities.
enrage
v. cause (someone) to become very angry 激怒；触怒
e.g. Plans to build a new nightclub in the neighborhood have enraged local residents.
enroll *
v. (AmE enrol) (BrE enrolled) officially arrange to join a school, university or course, or arrange for someone else 注册，入学；招(生)
e.g. I ) Is it too late to enroll at the college?
II ) She enrolled in a Women into Management course.
hound *
v. 追逼；不断地烦扰
e.g. Newcomers are constantly hounding them for advice.
impunity
n. (惩罚、损失、伤害等的) 免除
inhabit *
v. live (in a place) 居住
e.g. These remote islands are inhabited only by birds and animals.
lash *
v. speak very angrily to someone 严厉斥责
e.g. She lashed out at the injustice she saw.
lousy
adj. (especially spoken) very bad, unpleasant, etc. 糟糕的，劣等的
merciless *
adj. cruel or showing no kindness or forgiveness 无怜悯心的；不宽恕的
nag
v. keep complaining to someone about their behavior or asking them to do something 不断挑剔或批评(某人)
nicety
n. (usually plural) a small and exact point of difference or detail 微小的细节
e.g. By the end of the term, girls will have learnt the niceties of dinner party conversation.
premature *
adj. happening before the natural or proper time 过早的; done too early or too soon 仓促的
e.g. Lack of regular exercise increases the risk of premature death.
privilege *
n. a special advantage that is given to only one person or group of people 特有的权利或利益
e.g. As a teenager, she felt that living in Manhattan was a privilege she was lucky to have.
residence *
n. a house, especially a large one 房子，(尤指)大宅
shelter *
v. provide a place where someone or something is protected, especially from the weather or danger 遮蔽，庇护(如避雨、不受攻击等)
e.g. We were caught in a thunderstorm, without anywhere to shelter.
sin *
n. an action or type of behavior which is believed to break religious or moral laws 罪恶，罪孽
sufficient *
adj. enough or adequate 足够的
e.g. --Can you lend me some money for the journey?
--Yes, will $ 50 be sufficient?
tempt *
v. attract, arouse a desire in somebody 引诱；诱惑
e.g. It is the fresh fruit that tempts me at this time of the year.
transgression
n. breaking of a moral law or a rule of behavior 违反戒律
unaccustomed *
adj. (formal) not used to something 不习惯的
e.g. I'm unaccustomed to speaking in public.
Fall from University Grace[1]
Just as Adam was cast out of Eden[2], I was kicked out of university; but while his transgression was eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge, my sin was ignoring the tree. After my dismal performance in my first year of university, I contemplated the reasons for my failure. Now, I understand the two factors that contributed to my downfall: the lack of a career goal and premature independence.
Without a career goal, I lacked direction and motivation. About halfway through my final year of high school, I was hounded by my parents to enroll in university, but until that time I had not given any thought to what career I wanted to pursue. To silence their nagging, I told them I wanted to be an engineer. Though I got high marks in math, physics, and chemistry, I was bored with them, and my dislike of the sciences became apparent in the first four months of university. I failed all my science courses.
Had I been more motivated, I might have passed those courses, but I just wasn't ready for university. In fact, I wasn't ready for any career. I assumed that the amount of studying I did in high school—an hour per day—would be sufficient to attain respectable marks in university. I was wrong. Because I could not see myself as an engineer, I could not motivate myself to study harder; then I began looking for excuses to avoid studying.
Even when I was reading my textbooks, I wasn't studying. Daydreams of sleeping on a patch of cool grass on a breezy summer day intruded upon my concentration, chasing away calculus and physics theories. By the time the daydreams ended, I had forgotten most of what I had studied in the previous hour. As the midterm week drew closer, the daydreams grew longer while the study sessions grew shorter. Studying was avoidable as long as daydreaming was possible. I escaped often and as a result I failed my math, chemistry and physics exams.
Why didn't I transfer to another program? Why didn't I just drop out? First, my parents had paid for my tuition and I feared they would pull out their financial support and leave me destitute. Second, my aspirations were still cloudy, so if I transferred out of the engineering faculty[3] I would still lack direction. Without a definite goal, afraid of disappointing my strict parents, I remained in the program until Christmas, hopeful that my marks would improve as well as my disposition towards engineering.
However, passing grades eluded me, as did maturity. Coming from a small town and being unaccustomed to the fast-paced routine of campus life in a big city like Calgary, I inhabited the residence hall, believing that it would shelter me from competitive courses and merciless engineering professors. After the first month of adjustment, I learned that the place offered the niceties of home without the watchful eye of parents.
Snow fell in mid-December—final exam time—but I didn't notice either event, because I had become a creature of the night preying on full beer mugs in smoke-filled bars. A week later, snow covered every building on campus, which promised a white Christmas[4] for everyone but me: my exams had been returned and I had failed all my courses. I didn't care; neither did my friends, whose marks were equally bad. We bragged of our freedom from our parents, not realizing that their influence was more beneficial than the influence we had on each other. When my friends and I were not in the bar, we were playing cards in somebody's room or inviting ourselves[5] to parties held by other students in the residence hall.
At the time, my independence was exhilarating; freedom, denied me for eighteen years, was mine to experience and abuse. I got drunk with impunity. No angry mother awaited my return home at five in the morning. No enraged father tongue-lashed[6] me for lousy grades. But freedom had its price[7]: nobody told me to study harder; no one said that if I didn't get an eighty on my next three exams, I would fail; no one told me to take responsibility for my actions.
When Christmas day arrived, I found a "withdrawal from university" notice in my stocking. My refusal to claim responsibility for my actions and my abuse of newly gained independence and freedom from parental rule had combined to ensure my marks were below the passing grade and to make my Christmas black.
Unearned independence was the fruit from the tree of knowledge that tempted me and caused my downfall. Because I was not mature enough to accept the responsibility for my own future and because I abused my privileges of independence, I failed my first year of university. The causes of my downfall have taught me maturity and responsibility, and in the future I will not ignore the tree of knowledge again. Falling from Eden was enough to teach Adam; the same is true for me.
Phrases and Expressions
be unaccustomed to
be not used to something 不习惯
e.g. I ) They were unaccustomed to wearing suits and ties.
II ) I'm not accustomed to being treated like this.
III) She had not yet become accustomed to the fact that she was a rich woman.
cast out
(literary) force someone to go away 把某人赶走；逐出
e.g. They said he could cast out the demon (魔鬼) and heal the sick.
chase away
drive something away 赶走；驱逐
e.g. Ellen's return will help to chase away some of the gloom.
draw closer
(also draw nearer) approach 临近
e.g. I ) Next spring's elections are drawing closer.
II ) As the day set for departure drew nearer, I told my wife that I could not accompany them.
intrude upon
侵入；打扰
e.g. Do you feel anxious when unforeseen incidents intrude upon your day?
prey on
hunt and kill another animal for food 捕食(动物等)
e.g. The amphibians (两栖动物) were hunters, preying on worms and insects.
with impunity
not punished for doing something 不受伤害或惩罚
e.g. These gangs operate with apparent impunity.
|