2007北京太奇培训学校考研英语强化班授课讲义(十九)
2007 – KY-- 19 内部资料 翻印必究
1. Reading Comprehension:
Text 1
It is frequently assumed that the mechanization of work has a revolutionary effect on the lives of the people who operate the new machines and on the society into which the machines have been introduced. For example, it has been suggested that the employment of women in industry took them out of the household, their traditional sphere, and fundamentally altered their position in society. In the nineteenth century, when women began to enter factories, Jules Simon, a French politician, warned that by doing so, women would give up their femininity. Friedrich Engels, however, predicted that women would be liberated from the “social, legal, and economic subordination” of the family by technological developments that made possible the recruitment of “the whole female sex… into public industry.” Observers thus differed concerning the social desirability of mechanization’s effects, but they agreed that it would transform women’s lives.
Historians, particularly those investigating the history of women, now seriously question this assumption of transforming power. They conclude that such dramatic technological innovations as the spinning jenny, the sewing machine, the typewriter, and the vacuum cleaner have not resulted in equally dramatic changes in women’s economic position or in the prevailing evaluation of women’s work. The employment of young women in textile mills during the Industrial Revolution was largely an extension of an older pattern of employment of young, single women as domestics. It was not the change in office technology, but rather the separation of secretarial work, previously seen as an apprenticeship for beginning managers, from administrative work that in the 1880’s created a new class of “dead-end” jobs, thenceforth considered“women’s work”. The increase in the numbers of married women employed outside the home in the twentieth century had less to do with the mechanization of housework and an increase in leisure time for these women than it did with their own economic necessity and with high marriage rates that shrank the available pool of single women workers, previously, in many cases, the only women employers would hire.
Women’s work has changed considerably in the past 200 years, moving from the household to the office or the factory, and later becoming mostly white-collar instead of blue-collar work. Fundamentally, however, the conditions under which women work have changed little since before the industrial revolution: the segregation of occupations by sex, lower pay for women as a group, jobs that require relatively low levels of skill and offer women little opportunity for advancement all persist, while women’s household labor remains demanding. Recent historical investigation has led to a major revision of the notion that technology is always inherently revolutionary in its effects on society. Mechanization may even have slowed any change in the traditional position of women both in the labor market and in the home. (461 words)
Notes: femininity 女子气质。subordination 从属地位。recruitment招慕。 spinning jenny 纺纱机。domestic 佣人。apprenticeship 学徒期。dead-end 没有出息的。segregation 分离,隔离。advancement晋升。demanding adj. 花功夫的,要付出巨大精力的。
1. The main idea of the text is that mechanization _____________.
A. does not perform an inherently revolutionary function
B. revolutionizes the traditional values of a society
C. has caused the nature of women’s work to change
D. creates whole new classes of jobs that did not exist previously
2. In relation to those historians who study the history of women, the author most probably believes that _____________.
A. they provide a valuable insight into the social phenomena affecting the position of women
B. their work can only be used cautiously by scholars in historical studies
C. they tend to draw less reliable conclusions than do other historians
D. their work has not had an impact on other historians’ current assumptions
3. The text states that, before the twentieth century, many employers ____________.
A. employed women only in traditional household work B. tended to employ single rather than married women
C. resisted changing women’s roles in their social life D. hired only qualified women to fill the open positions
4. According to the author, which of the following may indicate a fundamental alteration in working women’s conditions?
A. The majority of women occupy white-collar positions.
B. Married men are doing the same household tasks as are women.
C. Female workers outnumber male ones in a new class of jobs.
D. Working women’s pay is as high as that of working men.
5. The function of the concluding sentence of the text is that _____________.
A. it sums up the general points concerning the mechanization of work made in the text
B. it draws a conclusion which goes beyond the evidence presented in the text as a whole
C. it restates the point concerning technology made in the sentence immediately preceding it
D. it suggests a compromise between two seemingly contradictory views stated in the text
Word Study
1. subordinate vt. 使屈从于:1) She constantly subordinated her own wishes to the children’s welfare. (她总是使自己的愿望屈从于孩子们的康乐。) 2) He subordinated his personal needs to his political interests. (他使他的个人需要屈从于他的政治利益。)
subordinate adj. 地位较低的,从属于:1) In the army a captain is subordinate to a major. (在军队中大尉比少校地位低。)2)This is our main aim: all the other aims are subordinate to the main problem. (这是我们的主要目标,所有其他目标都从属于这个主要问题。)
subordinate n. 下属:1) He treated his subordinates like slaves. (他对待他的下属就像对待奴隶一样。) 2) The surgeon asked his subordinates to make notes on the patient’s medical history. (外科医生要他的下属记录病人的病历。)
subordination n. 从属,从属地位:economic subordination经济上的从属地位。
2. subscribe vt. 捐赠,认购;签(名):1) Two local businessmen have subscribed large sums to the rebuilding fund. (两位当地商人已为重建基金捐赠大笔款项。) 2) Each member subscribed ten dollars for the charity. (每个会员给慈善机构捐10美元。) 3) They subscribed their names to the protest about low wages. (他们签名抗议低工资。)
用于成语:subscribe to 捐款;订阅;赞同,支持:1) We all subscribed to the football club. (我们都给足球俱乐部捐款。) 2) He subscribed to a number of journals concerned with his subject. (他订阅了若干本与他的课题有关的期刊。) 3) I don’t subscribe to the idea that money brings happiness. (我不赞同金钱带来幸福的观念。)
同根词:subscriber n. 订户,用户。subscription n. 捐赠,订费:We paid our subscription yearly.
3. submit vt. 提交;听从,顺从;投降,屈服;声明(法律用语):1) You must submit your request to the committee.(你必须把你的请求提交给委员会。) 2) The old woman refused to submit to surgery. (这位老太太不肯做外科手术。) 3) After being defeated they submitted to the enemy. (被打败以后他们向敌人投降了。) 4) I submit that the witness is lying. (我声明,证人在撒谎。)
同根词:submission n. 交上;屈服;顺从,投降,看法(法律用语)。submissive adj. 顺从的:Maria is not a submissive wife. submissiveness n. 顺从性。
4. assume, consume, presume, resume的词义与用法区别:
assume vt. 认为,假定;装出…样子;开始担任,承担(职务、任务等):1) We assumed that you understood the situation. (我们认为,你了解形势。) 2) He assumed a well-informed manner but in fact he knows very little. (他装出一副见多识广的样子,而实际上他知之甚少。) 3)You will assume your new duties tomorrow. (你明天将开始担任新的任务。) 4)The prince assumed power when he was only fifteen. (王子掌权时只有15岁。)
同根词:assumption假定,设想;担任(职务);装出…样子:1) His assumption proved to be wrong. (他的假定证明是错误的。) 2) His assumption of power is not liked by many. (许多人并不喜欢他掌权。) 3) He appeared with an assumption of authority. (他带着一副权威的样子出现。) assumed adj. 假装的,假的:He lived under an assumed name. (他使用假名活着。)
consume vt. 消费,吃掉;烧掉:1)An automobile consumes gasoline. (汽车消费汽油。) 2) This is time-consuming work. 3) Fire consumed the whole house. (火把房子烧了。)
用于成语:be consumed with 充满某种感情:He was consumed with envy. (他充满妒忌心。)
同根词:consumer 消费者,用户。consumption n. 消耗;消耗量。
presume vt. 揣想,认为,估计;竟敢冒昧(做某事):1) I presume that you will be at the meeting. 2) She presumed to write to him in his daughter’s name. (她竟敢冒昧地以他女儿的名字给他写信。) 3) I won’t presume to disturb you.(我不敢冒昧地打扰你。)
同根词:presumption n. 假定;大胆,冒昧,放肆:1) As his mouth was sticky, the presumption was that he had eaten the cake.(由于他的嘴发粘,可以假定,他刚把这个蛋糕吃了。) 2) It took a great deal of presumption to insult the ambassador at his own party. (在他自己的聚会上污辱大使是要有很大胆量的。)
presumptuous adj. 大胆的,傲慢的:It was presumptuous for the young senator to challenge the leadership so soon. (这位年轻参议员那么快就向领导挑战是十分大胆的。) presumably 大概,或许:Presumably there’s a good reason for her absence, as she doesn’t usually stay away from work. (很可能她有充分理由缺席,因为她通常不在工作的地方。) presumptive a. 假定的,依据推定的。
resume vt. (停顿以后)继续(进行某项活动)vt. vi. 1) Directly after, they resumed their journey. (接着,他们又继续他们的行程。) 2) We’ll stop now and resume working at 2 o’clock. (我们现在停下来,二点继续开始工作。)
同根词:resumption 重新开始:We all hate the resumption of work after a holiday. resume n. 简历。
Text 2
American federalism has been described as a neat mechanical theory. The national government was said to be sovereign in certain areas of governmental concern, such as the regulation of interstate commerce. State governments were said to be sovereign in certain other areas, such as regulation of intrastate commerce and exercise of the police power. One writer has described this as the 'layer cake' concept of American federalism. In the top layer are neatly compacted all the powers of the national government; in the bottom layer are found the separate and distinct functions and powers of state governments.
How nice it would be if the American federal system could be so easily and conveniently analyzed. But Professor Martin Grodzings of the University of Chicago has gone on to describe federalism in practice as more like a marble cake, with an intermingling of functions, than like a layer cake, with functions separate and distinct. This intermingling can be seen best, perhaps, by examining the example of railroad traffic. If it crosses a state line, it constitutes interstate commerce, coming under control of the national government. Rail shipments originating and ending within a single state constitute intrastate commerce, thus --the theory tells us -- falling under regulation of state government. However, both the interstate and intrastate shipments may have moved over the same rails. In this simple example, one might easily read the urgent necessity for close cooperation between state and national governments. This need has not gone unrecognized by administrators of governmental programs at the state, local, and national levels.
Nonetheless, national and state interests often conflict in the political arena. Pressures may be brought to bear on state legislators which differ from those felt by members of the national Congress. Disagreement over the proper division of powers between states and the national government often lies beneath a conflict of interests. But no 'best' formula has been discovered for drawing a dividing line between state powers and national powers.
The men who wrote the United States Constitution did the best they could in the face of circumstances which confronted them at the time. The state-national power dispute has raged persistently ever since. What are "states' rights"? It is obvious that, throughout the United States' history, "states' rights" has risen repeatedly as the anguished wail of any interest which felt it was being treated unsympathetically at a given moment by the national government. The source of the cry would seem to depend on whose ox is being gored. (418 words)
Notes: federalism 联邦制度;sovereign adj. 拥有主权的;至高无尚的;bear on… 影响…;legislators 立法委员;anguished wail痛苦的哀鸣;gore vt. 用角顶。
1. Federalism could best be described as ____________.
A. a system that reconciles central government with states’ ones
B. a system that provides for continuous checks on federal authority
C. a system in which the state and federal governments have distinct functions
D. dividing the powers of the federal government into three distinct branches of government
2. The author implies in the second paragraph that modern federalism _________.
A. has a new way to limit the states' powers
B. has not recognized the legal demand for states' rights
C. is best explained as a system with diffused functions
D. can be classified as a distinct two-tier(层) system of government control
3. In the author's point of view, the basic problem in establishing clear guidelines related to interstate commerce would be that __________.
A. as the power of the federal government increases, the power of the states decreases
B. the rapid growth of transportation networks has undermined federal authority
C. federal authorities have abused their constitutional power to regulate commerce
D. state and national governments have not effectively cooperated in defining their areas of control
4. According to the text, since there is no clear-cut formula for dividing state and national powers, _________.
A. the role of the state has not been significantly altered
B. conflicting interests have to be resolved in the political arena
C. interstate cooperation is primarily a thing of the past
D. state governments delegate certain functions to the federal government
5. A major factor weighing heavily against federal-state cooperation would be ___________.
A. conflicting economic interests B. national railway transportation
C. the rapid growth of state powers D. the integration of political powers
Text 3
[99年考题,试题重编]
Science, in practice, depends far less on the experiments it prepares than on the preparedness of the men who watch the experiments. Sir Isaac Newton supposedly discovered gravity through the fall of an apple. Apples had been falling in many places for centuries and thousands of people had seen them fall. But Newton for years had been curious about the cause of the orbital motion of the moon and planets. What kept them in place? Why didn’t they fall out of the sky? The fact that the apple fell down toward the earth and not up into the tree answered the question he had been asking himself about those larger fruits of the heavens, the moon and planets.
How many men would have considered the possibility of an apple falling up into the tree? Newton did because he was not trying to predict anything. He was just wondering. His mind was ready for the unpredictable. Unpredictability is part of the essential nature of research. If you don’t have unpredictable things, you don’t have research. Scientists tend to forget this when writing their cut and dried reports for the technical journals, but history is filled with examples of it.
In talking to some scientists, particularly younger ones, you might gather the impression that they find the “scientific method” a substitute for imaginative thought. I’ve attended research conferences where a scientist has been asked what he thinks about the advisability of continuing a certain experiment. The scientist has frowned, looked at the graphs, and said “the data are still inconclusive.” “We know that,” the men from the budget office have said, “but what do you think? Is it worthwhile going on? What do you think we might expect?” The scientist has been shocked at having even been asked to speculate.
What this amounts to, of course, is that the scientist has become the victim of his own writings. He has put forward unquestioned claims so consistently that he not only believes them himself, but has convinced industrial and business management that they are true. If experiments are planned and carried out according to plan as the reports in the science journals indicate, then it is perfectly logical for management to expect research to produce results measurable in dollars and cents. It is entirely reasonable for auditors to believe that scientists who know exactly where they are going and how they will get there should not be distracted by the necessity of keeping one eye on the cash register while the other eye is on the microscope. Nor, if regularity and conformity to a standard pattern are as desirable to the scientist as the writing of his papers would appear to reflect, is management to be blamed for discriminating against the “odd balls” among researchers in favor of more conventional thinkers who “work well with the team.” (474 words)
注:最后一句译文:如果科学家和他的著作似乎所反映的一样,都渴望得到规律性和与标准模式的一致性,那么就不应该责备管理人员歧视研究人员中的“标新立异者”,也不能责备管理人员支持能与他们合作的循规蹈矩者。
1. The author uses the example of Isaac Newton in the first paragraph to show that __________.
A. science advances not so much through scientific experiments as because of inquiring minds of scientists.
B. scientists are capable of predicting anything if entirely devoted to their research work.
C. a scientist is certain to succeed in his research if he has unpredictable things.
D. all scientists believe unpredictability to be the essential nature of research.
2. By the second paragraph the author intends to render the idea that _____________.
A. the history of science is flooded with examples of predictability in scientific research
B. scientists should attach great significance to speculating on unpredictable things
C. it is important for scientists to work on more elaborate reports for technical journals
D. confidence in one’s research discoveries is essential to scientific experiments
3. It can be inferred from the third paragraph that some young scientists _____________.
A. are lacking in experience in dealing with unpredictable things
B. often attend research conferences where they are asked to speculate on the future
C. tend to replace a “scientific method” with imaginative thinking
D. are liable to overestimate the value of “scientific method” and reluctant to speculate
4. We can learn from the last paragraph that it often happens that _____________.
A. scientists concentrate on their research work rather than on practical application
B. industrial and business management expects too much to meet their needs
C. the results of scientific research may fall short of expected commercial profits
D. management tends to underestimate the practical value of scientific research
5. The best title for the text may be _____________.
A. Scientific Method and Inventive Thinking
B. Importance of Independent Thinking in Science
C. Readiness for Unpredictability in Scientific Research
D. Theoretical Science and Its Experiments
Text 4 (课外阅读)
In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, merging into super-systems, causing heightened concerns about monopoly. As recently as 1995, the top four railroads accounted for under 70 percent of the total ton-miles moved by rails. Next year, after a series of mergers is completed, just four railroads will control well over 90 percent of all the freight moved by major rail carriers.
Supporters of the new super-systems argue that these mergers will allow for substantial cost reductions and better coordinated service. Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce competition from trucks. But many shippers complain that for heavy commodities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals, and grain, trucking is too costly and the railroads therefore have them by the throat.
The vast consolidation within the rail industry means that most shippers are served by only one rail company. Railroads typically charge such “captive” shippers 20 to 30 percent more than they do when another railroad is competing for the business. Shippers who feel they are being overcharged have the right to appeal to the federal government’s Surface Transportation Board for rate relief, but the process is expensive, time consuming, and will work only in truly extreme cases.
Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shippers on the grounds that in the long run it reduces everyone’s cost. If railroads charge all customers the same average rate, they argue, shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder the cost of keeping up the line. It’s a theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail. “Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace”? asks Martin Bercovici, a Washington lawyer who frequently represents shippers.
Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be hit with a round of huge rate increase. The railroad industry as a whole, despite its brightening fortunes, still does not earn enough to cover the cost of the capital it must invest to keep up with its surging traffic. Yet railroads continue to borrow billions to acquire one another, with Wall Street cheering them on. Consider the $10.2 billion bid by Norfolk Southern and CSX to acquire Conrail this year. Conrail’s net railway operating income in 1996 was just $427 million, less than half of the carrying costs of the transaction. Who’s going to pay for the rest of the bill? Many captive shippers fear that they will, as Norfolk Southern and CSX increase their grip on the market. (449 words)
Notes: merge合并;acquisition收购;allow for 考虑到;rate relief费用补贴;on the grounds that因为;keep up维持;subscribe to 订购,同意;surge汹涌;高涨;cheer on向…鼓气,欢呼;grip v./n. 掌握,控制。
1. According to those who support mergers, railway monopoly is unlikely because ________.
A. cost reduction is based on competition B. services call for cross-trade coordination
C. outside competitors will continue to exist D. shippers will have the railway by the throat
2. What is many captive shippers’ attitude towards the consolidation in the rail industry?
A. Indifferent. B. Supportive. C. Indignant. D. Apprehensive.
3. It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that ________.
A. shippers will be charged less without a rival railroad B. there will soon be only one railroad company nationwide
C. overcharged shippers are unlikely to appeal for rate relief D. a government board ensures fair play in railway business
4. The word “arbiters” (line 5, paragraph 4) most probably refers to those ________.
A. who work as coordinators B. who function as judges
C. who supervise transactions D. who determine the price
5. According to the text, the cost increase in the rail industry is mainly caused by ________.
A. the continuing acquisition B. the growing traffic
C. the cheering Wall Street D. the shrinking market
Word Study
1. allow 允许;允许进入;给予,让有:1) They don’t allow smoking. 2) They didn’t allow their workers to organize. 3) He didn’t allow her into the house. 4) Allow me one minute in which to change my costume.
allow for 把…考虑进去:In working with this cloth, be sure to allow for shrinkage. (用这种布做衣服时,一定要考虑到缩水。)
allow of 容许(有):The problem allows of only one solution. (这个问题只容许有一种解决办法。)
同根词: allowable 允许的:In some parks it is allowable to walk on the grass. (有的公园容许在草地上走。)
allowance n. 1)补贴,津贴:He has an allowance from the government for traveling expense.2) 折扣:That store makes an allowance of 10% for cash payment. (那家商店现金支付打九折。)
make allowance for 原谅,不计较:We make allowances for her rudeness because she has never been taught good manners.
2. appeal vi. 1) 呼吁,请求:He appealed to his friends for support. (他向他的朋友们请求支持。) 2) 投合(兴趣或心意),对…有吸引力: These pictures don’t appeal to me. (这些画对我没有吸引力。) 3) 上诉,申诉:He appealed against the judge’s decision. 4) 诉诸于:If you don’t obey me, I shall appeal to force. (如果你不服从我,我将诉诸于武力。)
appeal n. 1) .呼吁,请求:His appeal was broadcast yesterday. 2) 吸引力:Films of that sort have lost their appeal for me. 3) 上诉: Not satisfied with the verdict, they decided to make an appeal. (他们不满意这个裁决,决定上诉。)
同根词:appealing 吸引人的:His appealing eyes impressed me very much.
3. on the ground(s) that (复合连词) 因为,原因是:Her claim was disallowed on the grounds that she had not paid her premium. (她要求赔款遭到拒绝,原因是她事先没有交纳保险费。)
类似的复合连词有: with the result that 因此;as long as 只要;now that 既然;for fear 唯恐,以防;in that 因为;in case 以防,万一;seeing that 既然,因为;so that 因此,以便;in so far as 由于;on condition that 只要;for all that 尽管;admitting that 即使;even if 即使;as though 好像。
4. acquire vt. (经过一个过程或通过自己的努力等)培养出,获得(接抽象名词): 1) He has acquired a set of interests. 2) She has acquired confidence. 3) She did not acquire her knowledge of English from reading alone. 4) an acquired taste 逐渐培养的爱好。 5) AIDS (acquired immunity deficiency syndrome) 爱滋病(获得性免疫力缺乏综合症)。 acquire vt. (经过努力)得到(接具体名词):By the time he was twenty he had acquired a store of his own.
acquire vt. (经济学用语) 收购: Yet railroads continue to borrow billions to acquire one another, with Wall Street cheering them on. 同根词:acquisition n. 取得,获得;收购;采编(书等)。 acquisitive a. 贪得无厌的。
III. Writing
Directions: In this section, you are to write an essay of 160-- 200 words within 30--35 minutes. Your essay should be based on the information given below:
现在许多人愿意乘飞机旅行。随着我国民航事业的迅速发展,全国各大城市兴建了许多现代化的机场。乘飞机旅行有许多长处(方便、快捷、省时、舒适等); 但是,空中旅行也有许多不足之处(机票价格贵,有的旅客不适应空中旅行,常常感到身体不适,甚至有人还担心发生空难)。请你简单阐述上述两个方面。最后请你说明你的看法。
许多人愿意乘飞机旅行。这是因为空中旅行有某些长处。首先,人类创造的奇迹 – 飞机 – 是最快捷的运输工具。人们从一地到另一地乘飞机旅行花时间最少。其次,空中旅行方便舒适。友好的空中小姐既热心又体贴。她们照料旅客一直到目的地。最后,在长途航班上有电影和音乐供旅客娱乐。
常言道,“事物总是一分为二的。”空中旅行也一样。它也有某些短处。一方面,空中旅行费用高。普通中国人还没有富到足以支付价格昂贵的机票钱。因此,他们宁愿乘火车,这样能省下许多钱。另一方面,虽然向旅客保证安全,但是在旅途中旅客仍然担心安全,因为飞行或多或少冒点风险。
至于我的看法是,上面提到的长处超过短处。如果给我挑选乘飞机还是乘火车,我肯定愿意乘飞机。对于我来说,时间就是金钱,无论做什么事,时间是我必须考虑的最重要因素。
Many people prefer to travel by air. The reason is that air travel has some advantages. In the first place, airplane, the miracle created by man, is the fastest means of transport. It takes the least time for one to travel by air from one place to another. Secondly, traveling by air is convenient and comfortable. Friendly air hostesses are affectionate and considerate. They look after passengers all the way to their destinations. Finally, on long distance flights there are films and music for people to entertain themselves.
As a popular saying goes, “Everything has two sides.” The same is true of air travel. It has some disadvantages, too. For one thing, air travel costs a great deal. The average Chinese are not rich enough to afford expensive air-fares. So they prefer to take trains, which save a lot of money. For another, although passengers are assured of their safety, they are still worried about it during the journey because flying always involves more or less risk.
As far as I am concerned, the advantages mentioned above exceed the disadvantages. If I were given choice between traveling by air and by train, I would certainly prefer the former. For me, time is money and it is the most important thing I have to take into consideration whatever I do. (219 words)
背记重点词语汉英对照:1. 人类创造的奇迹:the miracle created by man。 2. 需要某人多少时间做某事: It takes + 多少时间 + for sb. to do sth. 3. 热情体贴的:affectionate and considerate。 4. 一路照料乘客:look after passengers all the way。 5. 娱乐:entertain themselves。 6. 事物总是一分为二的。Everything has two sides. 7. …也一样:The same is true of/with …。 8. 空中旅行费用高。Air travel costs a great deal. 9. 涉及到或多或少的冒险性:involve more or less risk。10. 向他们保证他们的安全:assure them of their safety。 11. 考虑:take sth. into consideration。
Put the following sentences From Chinese into English:
1. 电视、计算机和飞机都是人类创造的奇迹。
2. 完成这项计划需要我们花两年左右。
3. 医生和护士们既热情又体贴。他们全心全意照料病人。
4. 我能向你保证我全力支持你的计划。
5. 我们必须考虑到我们前进道路上的各种艰难险阻。.
家庭作业:1. 认真复习阅读材料,注意试题命题思路与解题对策。
2. 总结考研图画短文写作的基本模式:描述、分析内含和举例阐述。
赠言:成功就在于不断地剖析自己、不断地反省自己、不断地否定自己、不断地更新自己、不断地战胜自己、不断地超越自己。这是我事业与人生的座右铭。
Text 1
人们常常以为,劳动机械化会对操作新机器的人和引进这些机器的社会产生革命性的影响。例如,人们认为,在工业中雇佣妇女使妇女走出家庭,即她们传统的活动范围,并根本上改变了她们的社会地位。19世纪,当妇女开始进入工厂时,法国政治家Jules Simon警告说,这样做,妇女将失去她们的女子气质。然而,Friedrich Engels预言,技术的发展将使妇女从家庭的“社会、法律和经济的从属地位”中解放出来,而且技术的发展还能招收“整个女性…进入公共工业”。因此,观察家有关机械化影响所产生的社会效果意见不一,但是他们却一致认为,机械化会改变妇女的生活。
历史学家,特别是那些研究妇女历史的历史学家,现在对机械化的这种改造力提出了严肃的质疑。他们的结论是,像纺纱机、缝纫机、打字机和真空吸尘器这样的激动人心的技术革新并没有产生妇女经济地位或对妇女劳动流行的评价方面的同样激动人心的变化。工业革命期间纺织工厂雇佣年轻妇女基本上是旧式的雇佣年轻单身妇女做家庭佣人的延伸。并不是办公室技术的变革,而是秘书工作,即过去被认为是见习经理的学徒期,与行政管理工作相分离,在19世纪80年代产生了一个新的“没有出息的”工作阶层,此后被认为是“妇女的工作”。20世纪在家庭以外雇佣已婚妇女人数的增加与其说与家务劳动机械化有关,与这些妇女闲暇时间增加有关,还不如说与妇女经济上的必要性及结婚率高有关。结婚率高缩小了过去在许多情况下雇主常常雇佣的单身妇女工人的来源。
过去的200年中,妇女工作发生了相当大的变化,从家庭进入到办公室或工厂,后来又变成主要是白领工作而不是蓝领工作。然而,从根本上讲,从工业革命到现在为止,妇女劳动的状况几乎没有什么变化:按性别分隔职业、妇女作为一个群体工资较低、其工作技术含量相对低、提供妇女的晋升机遇很少,所有这一切都继续存在,而妇女的家务劳动仍然是要付出巨大精力的。最近历史学的研究已经对一个观念做出了重大的修正,这个观念认为,技术对社会的影响天生是革命性的。机械化可能甚至减慢了在劳务市场和家庭中妇女传统地位的任何改变。
Text 3
在实践中,科学与其说是依靠它所准备的试验,还不如说是依靠观察试验的人的有所准备的头脑。艾萨克 牛顿爵士据说是看到苹果落下而发现地心引力的。在这之前,几百年来苹果在许多地方都在落地,并且成千上万的人看见过苹果落地。但是牛顿多年来一直想知道月球和行星绕轨道运动的原因。什么力量使它们停在原地?它们为什么不从天空掉下来?苹果向地球落下而不是向上进入树丛这一事实回答了他一直对那些如月球和行星那样更大的天体所提出的问题。
有多少人会去考虑苹果向上飞入树丛的可能性?牛顿考虑了,因为他并不试图去预告什么事情将发生。他就是不知道而想知道。他的头脑时刻准备去接受不能预知的事情。不可预知性是研究的本质部分。如果你没有不可预知的事情,那你就没有研究。科学家在写枯燥乏味的期刊论文时,往往忘记了这一点,但是历史上这类事例却是举不胜举。
在和一些科学家,特别是年轻科学家谈话时,你可能会得到这样的印象:他们认为“科学方法”可以替代富有想象力的思维。我曾出席过一些科研讨论会,会上有人曾问一位科学家,他对继续某项研究的可取性有何想法。这位科学家皱了一下眉头,看了一眼曲线图表,然后回答说,“这些数据资料仍然不能令人信服。”来自预算办公室的人员说,“我们知道那一点,但是你是怎么看的呢?是不是值得继续?你认为我们或许可以得到什么结果?”这位科学家对要他进行推测感到十分惊讶。
当然,这就等于说,这位科学家已经成了他自己著作的牺牲品(或译为:作茧自缚)。他一贯提出毋容置疑的断言,因而他不仅自己相信这些断言,而且还使工业和企业管理人员相信,这些断言是正确的。如果严格按计划、按科学期刊上的报告所示来安排和进行试验,那么管理人员完全可以按逻辑推理期待这项研究会产生可以用钱来计算的成果。审计人员也完全有理由认为,确切了解研究方向和研究目标的科学家不需要因为一眼盯着收款机、一眼盯着显微镜而分心。如果科学家和其科学论著所似乎反映的一样都希望一切符合规律、一切符合一种标准模式,那么管理人员歧视“有奇异想法的人”并支持“能和大家合作的”循规蹈矩的人就是无可指责的了。
Text 4
近年来,铁路一直相互联合,合并为超大系统,因而使人们越来越关注垄断问题。早在1995年,最大的4条铁路占了铁路运输总吨英里数的不到百分子七十。明年,经过一系列的合并,仅4条铁路将控制主要货运公司全部运输货物的百分之九十以上。
新的超大系统的支持者论证说,这些合并将大大降低成本并改进协调服务。他们说,垄断产生的威胁已被来自公路运输的激烈竞争所消除。但是许多发货人抱怨说,对于长途运输的大宗货物来说,诸如煤、化学品和粮食,公路运输费用太大,而铁路就能运输这些货物。
铁路业内部的大规模合并强化意味着,许多发货人将由一家铁路公司来服务。联营铁路对这样的“跑不掉的”的发货人所收取的运费比有另一条铁路来竞争这笔生意时的收费高出百分之二十到三十。被敲了竹杠的发货人有权向联邦政府的陆地运输局申诉,以便得到费用补贴,但是这一过程费用高、耗时长而且成功的把握很小。
联营铁路认为对“跑不掉的”的发货人实行费用差异是正确的,因为从长远来看这会降低每个人的费用。如果铁路对所有客户收取相同的平均费用,他们说,那么有可能选择汽车运输或其它运输形式的发货人或许会跑掉,而使剩下的客户来负担维持线路的费用。这是一条许多经济学家都同意的理论,但是在实践中这样做常常使铁路有能力来决定,哪些公司将兴旺发达,哪些公司将倒闭破产。“我们是不是希望铁路成为市场中决定谁赢谁输的裁判呢?”经常代表发货人的一位华盛顿律师Martin Bercovici问道。
许多跑不掉的运货人也着急,他们将很快受到新一轮费用暴涨的冲击。整个铁路业,尽管财运亨通,仍然赚不到足够的钱来支付为跟上不断增加的车辆而投入的资金费用。然而铁路却不断借贷巨款来相互收购,而华尔街的金融巨头在为他们鼓气。看看Norfolk Southern公司和CSX公司今年为收购Conrail 公司而出价$102亿。Conrail公司1996年的净铁路运行收入刚为$427,000,000,不到业务运输成本的一半。谁来支付费用的其余部分呢?许多跑不掉的发货人担心,他们将承担这部分费用,随着Norfolk Southern公司和CSX公司增强对市场的控制。
帮助你学习记忆单词的有效方法 -- 同根词解析
machin, mechan [希腊语] 机械,机器 *machine n. 机器
*machinery n. [总称] 机器,机械 vt. 用机器加工 *mechanic n. 技工,机修工
*mechanical a. 机械的;机械学的,力学的;机械式的,刻板的;手工操作的
*mechanically adv. 机械地 *mechanics n. 力学,机械学;技术细节,例行方法
*mechanism n. 机械装置;结构,构造;机制;手法,技巧
man, manu, mani [拉丁语] 手,管理 *manage vt./vi. 管理,经营,处理;设法,对付
*management n. 管理,经营;管理部门 *manager n. 经理,管理人
*manual a. 用手的,手工的 n. 手册,指南 *manuscript [manu手 + cript抄写] n. 手册,原稿
*manipulate [mani手 + pul(=full) 完满 + ate熟练地使用] vt. 操纵,控制;应付,处理
*manner n. 方法,方式;举止,态度;pl.礼貌,规矩
*manifest [mani手 + fest表明] vt. 清楚表明 a. 明白的,明了的
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