人教版英语必修4课文—原文
现代文阅读-祖国我爱你
4－1 Women of Achievement
Following Jane's way of studying chimps, our
group are all going to visit them in the forest.
Jane has studied these families of chimps
for many years and helped people understand how
much they behave
like humans. Watching a
family of chimps wake up is our first activity of
the day. This means going back to the
place
where we left the family sleeping in a tree the
night before. Everybody sits and waits in the
shade of the
trees while the family begins to
wake up and move off. Then we follow as they
wander into the forest. Most of the
time,
chimps either feed or clean each other as a way of
showing love in their family. Jane warns us that
our group
is going to be very tired and dirty
by the afternoon and she is right. However, the
evening makes it all worthwhile.
We watch the
mother chimp and her babies play in the tree. Then
we see them go to sleep together in their nest
for the night. We realize that the bond
between members of a chimp family is as strong as
in a human family.
Nobody before
Jane fully understood chimp behaviour. She spent
years observing and recording their daily
activities. Since her childhood she had wanted
to work with animals in their own environment.
However, this was
not easy. When she first
arrived in Gombe in 1960, it was unusual for a
woman to live in the forest. (Only after her
mother came to help her for the first few
months was she allowed to begin her project). Her
work changed the
way people think about
chimps. For example, one important thing she
discovered was that chimps hunt and eat
meat.
Until then everyone had thought chimps ate only
fruit and nuts. She actually observed chimps as a
group
hunting a monkey and then eating it. She
also discovered how chimps communicate with each
other, and her
study of their body language
helped her work out their social system.
For forty years Jane Goodall has been outspoken
about making the rest of the world understand and
respect
the life of these animals. She has
argued that wild animals should be left in the
wild and not used for
entertainment or
advertisements. She has helped to set up special
places where they can live safely. She is leading
a busy life but she says:
when I
watch the wild chimps. I say to myself, 'Aren't
they lucky?
though they have done nothing
wrong. Once you have seen that you can never
forget ...
She has achieved everything
she wanted to do: working with animals in their
own environment, gaining a
doctor's degree and
showing that women can live in the forest as men
can. She inspires those who want to cheer
the
achievements of women.
4－2
A pioneer for all people
Although he is
one of China's most famous scientists, Yuan
Longping considers himself a farmer, for he
works the land to do his research. Indeed, his
sunburnt face and arms and his slim, strong body
are just like those of
millions of Chinese
farmers, for whom he has struggled for the past
five decades. Dr Yuan Longping grows what is
called super hybrid rice. In 1974, he became
the first agricultural pioneer in the world to
grow rice that has a high
output. This special
strain of rice makes it possible to produce one-
third more of the crop in the same fields. Now
more than 60% of the rice produced in China
each year is from this hybrid strain.
Born in 1930, Dr Yuan graduated from Southwest
Agricultural College in 1953. Since then, finding
ways to grow more rice has been his life goal.
As a young man, he saw the great need for
increasing the rice output.
At that time,
hunger was a disturbing problem in many parts of
the countryside. Dr Yuan searched for a way to
increase rice harvests without expanding the
area of the fields. In 1950, Chinese farmers could
produce only fifty
million tons of rice. In a
recent harvest, however, nearly two hundred
million tons of rice was produced. These
increased harvests mean that 22% of the
world's people are fed from just 7% of the
farmland in China. Dr Yuan is
now circulating
his knowledge in India, Vietnam and many other
less developed countries to increase their rice
harvests. Thanks to his research, the UN has
more tools in the battle to rid the world of
hunger. Using his hybrid rice,
farmers are
producing harvests twice as large as before.
Dr Yuan is quite satisfied with his
life. However, he doesn't care about being famous.
He feels it gives him less
freedom to do his
research. He would much rather keep time for his
hobbles. He enjoys listening to violin music,
playing mah-jong, swimming and reading.
Spending money on himself or leading a comfortable
life also means very
little to him. Indeed, he
believes that a person with too much money has
more rather than fewer troubles. He
therefore
gives millions of yuan to equip others for their
research in agriculture.
Just
dreaming for things, however, costs nothing. Long
ago Dr yuan had a dream about rice plants as tall
as
sorghum. Each ear of rice was as big as an
ear of corn and each grain of rice was as huge as
a peanut. Dr Yuan awoke
from his dream with
the hope of producing a kind of rice that could
feed more people. Now, many years later, Dr
Yuan has another dream: to export his rice so
that it can be grown around the globe. One dream
is not always
enough, especially for a person
who loves and cares for his people.
4－4 Body language
Yesterday, another
student and I, representing our university's
student association, went to the Capital
International
Airport to meet this year's
international students. They were coming to study
at Beijing University. We would take them
first to their dormitories and then to the
student canteen. After half an hour of waiting for
their flight to arrive, I saw
several young
people enter the waiting area looking around
curiously. I stood for a minute watching them and
then went
to greet them.
The first
person to arrive was Tony Garcia from Colombia,
closely followed by Julia Smith from Britain.
After I met them
and then introduced them to
each other, I was very surprised. Tony approached
Julia, touched her shoulder and kissed
her on
the cheek! She stepped back appearing surprised
and put up her hands, as if in defence. I guessed
that there was
probably a major
misunderstanding. Then Akira Nagata from Japan
came in smiling, together with George Cook from
Canada. As they were introduced, George
reached his hand out to the Japanese student. Just
at that moment, however,
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Akira bowed so his nose touched
George's moving hand. They both apologized -
another cultural mistake!
Ahmed Aziz,
another international student, was from Jordan.
When we met yesterday, he moved very close to me
as I
introduced myself. I moved back a bit,
but he came closer to ask a question and then
shook my hand. When Darlene
Coulon from France
came dashing through the door, she recognized Tony
Garcia's smiling face. They shook hands and
then kissed each other twice on each cheek,
since that is the French custom when adults meet
people they know.
Ahmed Aziz., on the
contrary, simply nodded at the girls. Men from
Middle Eastern and other Muslim countries will
often stand quite close to other men to talk
but will usually not touch women.
As I
get to know more international friends, I learn
more about this cultural
each other the same
way, nor are they comfortable in the same way with
touching or distance between people. In the
same way that people communicate with spoken
language, they also express their feelings using
unspoken
through physical distance, actions or
posture. English people, for example, do not
usually stand very close to others or
touch
strangers as soon as they meet. However, people
from places like Spain, Italy or South American
countries
approach others closely and are more
likely to touch them. Most people around the world
now greet each other by
shaking hands, but
some cultures use other greetings as well, such as
the Japanese, who prefer to bow.
These
actions are not good or bad, but are simply ways
in which cultures have developed. I have seen,
however, that
cultural customs for body
language are very general - not all members of a
culture behave in the same way. In general,
though, studying international customs can
certainly help avoid difficulties in today's world
of cultural crossroads!Body
language is one of
the most powerful means of communication, often
even more powerful than spoken language.
People around the world show all kinds of
feelings, wishes and attitudes that they might
never speak aloud. It is possible
to
language can be misread, but many gestures and
actions are universal.
The most
universal facial expression is, of course, the
smile – its function is to show happiness and put
people at ease. It
does not always mean that
we are truly happy, however. Smiles around the
world can be false, hiding other feelings like
anger, fear or worry. There are unhappy
smiles, such as when someone
general purpose
of smiling is to show good feelings.
From
the time we are babies, we show unhappiness or
anger by frowning. In most places around the
world, frowning
and turning one's back to
someone shows anger. Making a fist and shaking it
almost always means that someone is
angry and
threatening another are many ways around the
world to show agreement, but nodding the
head
up and down is used for agreement, almost
worldwide. Most people also understand that
shaking the head from
side to side means
disagreement or refusal.
How about
showing that I am bored? Looking away from people
or yawning will, in most cases, make me appear to
be
uninterested. However, if I turn toward and
look at someone or something, people from almost
every culture will think
that I am interested.
If I roll my eyes and turn my head away, I most
likely do not believe what I am hearing or do not
like
respectful to people is subjective,
based on each culture, but in general it is
probably not a good idea to give a
hug to a
boss or teacher. In almost every culture, it is
not usually good to stand too close to someone of
a higher rank.
Standing at a little distance
with open hands will show that I am willing to
listen.
With so many cultural differences
between people, it is great to have some
similarities in body language. We can often
be
wrong about each other, so it is an amazing thing
that we understand each other as well as we do!
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4－5 Theme parks
Which
theme park would you like to visit? There are
various kinds of theme parks, with a different
park for almost
everything: food, culture,
science, cartoons, movies or history. Some parks
are famous for having the biggest or
longest
roller coasters, others for showing the famous
sights and sounds of a culture. Whichever and
whatever you
like, there is a theme park for
you!
The theme park you are probably
most familiar with is Disneyland. It can be found
in several parts of the world.
It will bring
you into a magical world and make your dreams come
true, whether traveling through space, visiting a
pirate ship or meeting your favourite fairy
tale or Disney cartoon character. As you wander
around the fantasy
amusement park, you may see
Snow White or Mickey Mouse in a parade or on the
street. Of course Disneyland also
has many
exciting rides, from giant swinging ships to
terrifying free-fall drops. With all these
attractions, no wonder
tourism is increasing
wherever there is a Disneyland. If you want to
have fun and more than fun, come to
Disneyland!
Dollywood, in the
beautiful Smoky Mountains in the southeastern USA,
is one of the most unique theme parks in
the
world. Dollywood shows and celebrates America's
traditional southeastern culture. Although
Dollywood has
rides, the park's main
attraction is its culture. Famous country music
groups perform there all year in indoor and
outdoor theatres. People come from all over
America to see carpenters and other craftsmen make
wood, glass and
iron objects in the old-
fashioned way. Visit the candy shop to try the
same kind of candy that American southerners
made 150 years ago, or take a ride on the only
steam- engine train still working in the southeast
USA. You can even
see beautiful bald eagles in
the world's largest bald eagle preserve. And for
those who like rides, Dollywood has one
of the
best old wooden roller coasters, Thunderhead. It
is world-famous for having the most length in the
smallest
space. Come to Dollywood to have fun
learning all about America's historical
southeastern culture!
If you want to
experience the ancient days and great deeds of
English knights and ladies, princes and queens,
then
England's Camelot Park is the place for
you. Every area of the park is modelled after life
in the days of King Arthur
and the Knights of
the Round Table. In one place, you can watch magic
shows with Merlin the Wizard. If you want to
see fighting with swords or on horseback, then
the jousting area is a good place to visit. If you
do well there, King
Arthur may choose you to
fight in the big jousting tournament. Do you like
animals? Then visit the farm area, and
learn
how people in ancient England ran their farms and
took care of their animals. To enter a world of
fantasy
about ancient England, come to Camelot
Park!
Last week I took a journey deep
into space, to the end of the solar system, and
was pulled into a black hole. Then I
took a
trip to Brazil and experienced surviving an
airplane crash in the jungle. After that, I joined
some divers and
went to the bottom of the
ocean to see strange blind creatures that have
never seen sunlight. For a break, I took
part
in some car racing and then skied down some of
the most difficult mountains in the world. I ended
my travels
by meeting face to face with a
dinosaur, the terrible T-Rex, and survived the
experience!
I did all this in one great
day at Futuroscope. Opened in 1987, Futuroscope is
one of the largest space-age parks in
the
world. This science and technology-based theme
park in France uses the most advanced technology.
Its 3-D
cinemas and giant movie screens
provide brand new experiences of the earth and
beyond. Visitors can get close to
parts of the
world they have never experienced, going to the
bottom of the ocean, flying through the jungle or
visiting the edges of the solar system. The
amazing, up-to-date information together with many
opportunities for
hands-on learning makes the
world come to life in a completely new way for
visitors. Learning centres throughout
the park
let visitors try their own scientific experiments,
as well as learn more about space travel, the
undersea
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world and much
mote.
I bought tickets for myself and my
friends at the park's entrance, but tickets are
also available online.
Futuroscope is not only
for individuals, but is also the perfect mix of
fun and learning for class outings. Classes or
other large groups that let Futuroscope know
their plans in advance can get the group admission
rate. For anyone
coming from out of town,
Futuroscope has many excellent hotels nearby, most
of which provide a shuttle service to
the
park. If driving, Futuroscope is within easy reach
of the freeway. Plan your trip well before
starting, since
Futuroscope has so many shows,
activities and great souvenir shops that it is
difficult to see them all. Come ready to
walk
a lot - be sure to wear some comfortable sneakers
or other walking shoes!
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3－1 Festivals around
the world
Festivals and celebrations of
all kinds have been held everywhere since ancient
times. Most ancient festivals would
celebrate
the end of cold weather, planting in spring and
harvest in autumn. Sometimes celebrations would be
held
after hunters had caught animals. At that
time people would starve if food was difficult to
find, especially during the
cold winter
months. Today’s festivals have many origins, some
religious, some seasonal, and some for special
people
or events.
Festivals of the
dead
Some festivals are held to honour the
dead or to satisfy the ancestors, who might return
either to help or to do harm.
For the Japanese
festival Obon, people should go to clean graves
and light incense in memory of their ancestors.
They
also light lamps and play music because
they think that will lead the ancestors back to
earth. In Mexico, people
celebrate the Day of
the Dead in early November. On this important
feast day, people eat food in the shape of skulls
and cakes with “bones” on them. They offer
food, flowers and gifts to the dead. The Western
holiday Halloween also
had its origin in old
beliefs about the return of the spirits of dead
people. It is now a children’s festival, when they
can
dress up and go to their neighbours’ homes
to ask for sweets. If the neighbours do not give
any sweets, the children
might play a trick on
them.
Festivals to Honour People
Festivals can also be held to honour famous
people. The Dragon Boat Festival in China honours
the famous ancient
poet, Qu Yuan. In the USA,
Columbus Day is in memory of the arrival of
Christopher Columbus in the New World. India
has a national festival on October 2 to honour
Mohandas Gandhi, the leader who helped gain
India’s independence
from Britain.
Harvest Festivals
Harvest and Thanksgiving
festivals can be very happy events. People are
grateful because their food is gathered for the
winter and the agricultural work is over. In
European countries, people will usually decorate
churches and town halls
with flowers and
fruit, and will get together to have meals. Some
people might win awards for their farm produce,
like
the biggest watermelon or the most
handsome rooster. China and Japan have mid-autumn
festivals when people
admire the moon and in
China enjoy moon-cakes.
Spring Festivals
The most energetic and important festivals are
the ones that look forward to the end of winter
and to the coming of
spring. At the Spring
Festival in China, people eat dumplings, fish and
meat and may give children lucky money in red
paper. There are dragon dances and carnivals,
and families celebrate the Lunar New Year
together. Some Western
countries have very
exciting carnivals, which take place forty days
before Easter, usually in February. These
carnivals
might include parades, dancing in
the streets day and night, loud music and
colourful clothing of al kinds. Easter is an
important religious and social festival for
Christians around the world. It celebrates the
return of Jesus from the dead
and the coming
of spring and new life. Japan’s Cherry Blossom
Festival happens a little later. The country,
covered with
cherry tree flowers, looks as
though it is covered with pink snow.
People
love to get together to eat, drink and have fun
with each other. Festivals let us enjoy life, be
proud of
our customs and forget our work for a
little while.
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