Unit One

Text
    Writing research reports for college or work is often found far more difficult than it need so be. The following article offers some excellent advice on how to make the task easier and the report more impressive and effective. Whether you write a research report for a college professor or for a demanding boss in your profession, the author's advice will put you well on your way to becoming a skillful report writer.

   RESEARCH REPORTS FOR BUSINESS AND-           THECNICAL WRITING
  
                           Wayne Losano
    A surprising amount of one's time as a student and professional is spent reporting the results of one's research projects for presentation to teachers, managers, and clients. Indeed, without basic research skills and the ability to present research results clearly and completely, an individual will encounter many obstacles in school and on the job. The need for some research-writing ability is felt nearly equally by college students in all fields, engineering and science as well as business and the humanities. Graduate study often makes great demands on the student's research-writing skills, and most professions continue the demand; education, advertising and marketing, economics and accounting, science and engineering, psychology, anthropology, the arts, and agriculture may all require regular reporting of research data.
    
ELEMENTS OF THE RESEARCH PAPER
    The standard research report, regardless of the field or the intended reader, contains four major sections. These sections may be broken down into a variety of subsections, and they may be arranged in a variety of ways, but they regularly make up the core of the report.
    Problem Section. The first required section of a research report is the statement of the problem with which the research project is concerned. This section requires a precise statement of the underlying question which the researcher has set out to answer. In this same section there should be an explanation of the significance -- social, economic, medical, psychological, educational, etc. -- of the question; in other words, why the investigation was worth conducting. Thus, if we set out, for example, to answer the question "What is the effect of regular consumption of fast foods on the health of the American teenager?" we must explain that the question is thought to have significant relevance to the health of this segment of the population and might lead to some sort of regulations on such foods.
    A frequent subsection of this problem section is a review of past research on the topic being investigated. This would consist of summaries of the contributions of previous researcher to the question under consideration with some assessment of the value of these contributions. This subsection has rhetorical usefulness in that it enhances the credibility of the researcher by indicating that the data presented is based on a thorough knowledge of what has been done in the field and, possibly, grows out of some investigative tradition.
    Procedures Section. The second major section of the research report details, with as much data as possible, exactly how the study was carried out. This section includes description of any necessary equipment, how the subjects were selected if subjects were used, what statistical technique was used to evaluate the significance of the findings, how many observations were made and when, etc. An investigation of the relative effectiveness of various swim-strokes would have to detail the number of swimmers tested, the nature of the tests conducted, the experience of the swimmers, the weather conditions at the time of the test, and any other factors that contributed to the overall experiment. The goal of the procedures section is to allow the reader to duplicate the experiment if such were desired to confirm, or refute, your findings.
    Results Section. The third, and perhaps most important, section of the research report is the presentation of the results obtained from the investigation. The basic rule in this section is to give all data relevant to the research question initially asked. Although, of course, one's natural tendency might be to suppress any findings which do not in some way support one's hypothesis, such dishonesty is antithetical to good research reporting in any field. If the experiments undertaken fail to prove anything, if the data was inadequate or contrary to expectations, the report should be honestly written and as complete as possible, just as it would be if the hypothesis were totally proven by the research.
    Discussion Section. The final required section of a research report is a discussion of the results obtained and a statement of any conclusions which may be drawn from those results. Of primary interest in business and technical research reports is the validity of the results as the bases for company decisions: Will our planned construction project meet federal environmental guidelines and be approved for building? Will this new program attract skilled personnel to our company? Will this new oil recovery technique be financially feasible? Thus, the discussion section of the research report must evaluate the research results fully: were they validly obtained, are they complete or limited, are they applicable over a wide range of circumstances? The discussion section should also point out what question remain unanswered and perhaps suggest directions for further research.

STYLE OF RESEARCH REPORTS
    Research reports are considered formal professional communication. As such, there is little emphasis on a lively style, although, of course, there is no objection to writing that is pleasing and interesting. The primary goals of professional communication are accuracy, clarity, and completeness. The rough draft of any research report should be edited to ensure that all data is correctly presented, that all equipment is listed, that all results are properly detailed. As an aid to the reader, headings indicating at least the major section of the report should be used, and all data should be presented under the proper headings. In addition to their function of suggesting to the reader the contents of each section, headings enhance the formal appearance and professional quality of the report, increase to some degree the writer's credibility by reflecting a logical and methodical approach to the reporting process, and eliminate the need for wordy transitional devices between sections.
    Research data should be presented in a way that places proper emphasis on major aspect of the project. For different readers different aspects will take on different degrees of importance, and some consideration should be given to structuring research reports differently for different audiences. Management, for example, will be most concerned with the results of a research project, and thus the results section should be emphasized, probably by presenting it immediately after the problem section and before the procedures section. Other researchers would be most interested in the procedures section, and this should be highlighted in writing up research projects for publication in professional journals or for presentation at professional conferences. For non-technical readers and federal agencies, the implications of the results might be the most important consideration, and emphasis should be placed on the discussion of the report for this readership.
    For additional clarity and emphasis, major results should be presented in a visual format -- tables, charts, graphs, diagrams -- as well as in a verbal one.
    Beyond checking the report for clarity and accuracy in the presentation of technical data, the author of a research report should review for basic grammatical and mechanical accuracy. Short sentences are preferable to long in the presentation of complex information. Listings should be used to break up long passages of prose and to emphasize information. The research writer should try to use the simplest possible language without sacrificing the professional quality of the report. Although specialized terms can be used, pretentious jargon should be avoided. A finished research report should be readable and useful document prepared with the reader in mind.

CONCLUSION
    Although we struggle with research reports in high school, dread them in college, and are often burdened by them in our professional live, learning to live comfortably with them is a relatively easy task. A positive attitude (i.e. one that seem the oral or written presentation of research results as of equal importance to the data-gathering process); an orderly approach which includes prewriting (i.e., before any actual research is done, the researcher should try to get down on paper as much about the subject under investigation as possible) and a formal research report structure as the framework for the investigation; and a reasonable approach to the actual writing process including editing for accuracy and clarity, will help one to produce effective research reports efficiently.

             NEW WORDS
    presentation
n.  the act of presenting; a talk, usu. to a group of people 提出，呈递；介绍，报告

    client
n.  a person who gets help or advice from a professional, e.g. a lawyer, an accountant, an architect, etc.; a person who buys goods or services 委托人，当事人，顾客

    obstacle
n.  sth. which prevents action, movement or success 

    marketing
n.  the branch of business concerned with advertising, publicity, etc. 营销

    economics
n.  the science that deals with money, goods and services and how they are related to each other 经济学

    accounting
n.  the art, practice or system of keeping, analyzing and interpreting business accounts 会计学

    anthropology
n.  the scientific study of man, including his physical characteristics, the origin and development of races, and the cultures, customs and beliefs of mankind 人类学

    data
n.  facts; information

    element
n.  a basic part of which sth. is made up

    intend
vt. have in mind as a goal; plan

    precise
a.  clearly expressed; exact; accurate

    significance
n.  importance; meaning

    economic
a. connected with trade, industry and the management of money; of economics

    consumption
n.  the act of consuming or an amount consumed 消费（量）

    teenager
n.  a young person of between 13 and 19 year old

    relevance
n.  importance or significance to the matter at hand 

    relevant
a.

    segment
n.  a part into which a whole is or can be divided; section

    regulation
n.  a law or a set of rules by which sth. is regulated

    investigate
v.  examine carefully in a search for facts, knowledge, or information

    investigative
a.

    summary
n.  a short statement of the main points of a report, etc.

    consideration
n.  careful thought

    assessment
n.  the act of calculating or deciding the value or amount; the value or amount at which sth. is calculated

    rhetorical
a.  in using a style designed to impress or persuade 修辞（学）的

    enhance
vt. make greater; improve 增加，提高

    thorough
a.  complete in all respects

    tradition
n.  ideas, customs, beliefs that have been passed down from generation to generation

    description
n.  the act of describing sth.; an account in words describing sth.

    subject
n.  a person or thing that is an object of study or experiment 实验对象，试验品

    evaluate
vt. judge the value of

    stroke
n.  a single complete movement that is repeated often, as in swimming

    factor
n.  sth. that helps bring about a result 因素

    overall
a.  including everything; containing all

    duplicate
vt. make an exact copy of

    tendency
n.  an inclination to think or behave in a certain way

    hypothesis
n.  idea or suggestion put forward as a staring point for reasoning or explanation 假设

    antithetical
a.  opposite to and unable to exist together with 对立（面）的

    expectation
n.  the act of expecting sth. or sth. that is expected 

    validity
n.  truth or soundness; state of legally acceptable 正确（性）；合法（性），有效

    valid
a.

    construction
n.  the act of constructing sth. or sth. that is constructed 

    federal
a.  of the central government of the USA（美国）联邦政府的

    guideline
n.  (pl.) informal rules or instruction on how sth. should be done

    approve
v.  have a favorable opinion (of); give permission or consent (to)

    skilled
a.  having skill; requiring training and skill

    personnel
n.  all the people who work for a company or organization

    applicable
a.  that can be applied (to)

    formal
a.  (of words or style of writing or speaking) suitable for official occasions, serious writing, etc. 

    emphasis
n.  special importance given to sth. 强调

    objection
n.  disapproval or opposition; a reason for being against sth.

    pleasing
a.  likable; giving delight or enjoyment

    accuracy
n.  the condition of being correct and exact.

    clarity
n.  clearness

    draft
n.  a rough sketch, plan or outline 草稿，草图， 草案

    edit
vt. prepare for publication by checking, correcting and revising 编辑

    ensure
vt. make sure or certain; guarantee

    aid
n.  help; assistance

    heading
n.  a title at the top of a page, chapter, or letter 

    methodical
a.  arranged or done according to a clear plan or method; orderly and systematic

    eliminate
vt. get rid of; remove

    wordy
a.  using too many words

    transitional
a.  of change from one condition, activity or topic to another

    transition  n.

    publication 
n.  (the printing and selling of) books, newspapers and magazines

    agency
n.  (esp. AmE) department of a government or an international body

    readership
n.  the particular number or type of people who read a book, newspaper or magazine

    visual
a.  of, relating to, or used in seeing

    format
n.  the way or order in which sth. is arranged or presented

    graph
n.  a mathematical diagram which shows the relationship between two or more sets of numbers or measurement （曲线）图

    diagram
n.  a simple drawing consisting mainly of lines used, for example, to explain how a machine works 简图，图表

    mechanical
a.  concerned with small technical detail 技巧上的，细节上的

    preferable
a.  more desirable or suitable

    listing
n.  an act or instance of making a list

    prose
n.  ordinary written language, in contrast to poetry

    sacrifice
vt. give up, usu. for obtaining sth. for oneself or for others

    specialized
a.  suitable or developed for one particular use

    specialize
v.  adapt for a particular purpose

    pretentious
a.  claming (in an unpleasant way) to have importance, artistic value or social rank that one does not really possess 矫饰的，做作的

    jargon
n.  technical words expert use to discuss their subjects 行话

    readable 
a.  easy and enjoyable to read

    orderly
a.  arranged in good order, in a well organized and controlled way

    framework
n.  a structure that shapes or supports sth. 框架

              Phrase & Expressions
  on the job
  while working; at work

  break down into
  separate into different kinds; divide into types

  a variety (of)
  a number or collection of different sorts of the same general type

  make up
  form as a whole; constitute

  under consideration
  being discussed; begin given thoughtful attention

  as such 
  as being what is indicated or suggested; in itself or in themselves
  
  take on
  begin to have; assume

  write up
  rewrite in a fuller, better organized way; give a full written account of

  get down
  write, record (usu. quickly or with difficulty)

            Proper Names
  Wayne Losano
  韦恩.洛桑诺

             Unit Two

Text
    There is something fascinating about reading other people's mail if you are allowed to. Here is your chance to read the letters of American writer Sylvia Plath, which she wrote home to her mother from a hotel where she had a summer job as a waitress. At the time, she was a college student and was still at the start of her writing career. Through the letter we learn of her changing thoughts and moods concerning, boys and writing.

     THE BEGINNING OF A CARREER


                          Sylvia Plath
            The Belmont Hotel, cape Cod
                         June 11, 1952
Dear Mother, 
    Your amazing telegram [telegram announcing $500 Mademoiselle prize for "Sunday at the Mintons," which I forwarded] came just as I was scrubbing tables in the shady interior of The Belmont dining room. I was so excited that I screamed and actually threw my arms around the head waitress who no doubt thinks I am rather insane! Anyhow, psychologically, the moment couldn't have been better. I felt tired -- one's first night's sleep in a new place never is peaceful -- and I didn't get much! To top it off, I was the only girl waitress here, and had been scrubbing furniture, washing dishes and silver, lifting tables, etc. since 8 a.m. Also, I just learned since I am completely inexperienced, I am not going to be working in the main dining room, but in the "side hall" where the managers and top hotel brass eat. So, tips will no doubt net much less during the summer and the company be less interesting. So I was beginning to worry about money when your telegram came. God! To think "Sunday at the Mintons" is one of two prize stories to be put in a big national slick! Frankly, I can't believe it!
    The first thing I though of was: Mother can keep her intersession money and buy some pretty clothes and a special trip or something! At least I get a winter coat and extra special suit out of the Mintons. I think the prize is $500!
    ME! Of all people!…
    So it's really looking up around here, now that I don't have to be scared stiff about money … Oh, I say, even if my feet kill me after this first week, and I drop 20 trays, I will have the beach, boys to bring me beer, sun, and young gay companions. What a life. 
    Love, your crazy old daughter.

                               Sivvy

                         June 12. 1952
    No doubt after I catch up on sleep, and learn to balance trays high on my left hand, I'll feel much happier. As it is now, I feel stuck in the midst of a lot of loud, brassy Irish Catholics, and the only way I can jolly myself is to say, "Oh, well, it's only for a summer, and I can maybe write about them all." At least I've got a new name for my next protagonist -- Marley, a gabby girl who knows her way around but good. The ration of boys to girls has gotten less and less, so I'll be lucky if I get tagged by the youngest kid here. Lots of the girls are really wise, drinking flirts. As for me, being the conservative, quiet, gracious type, I don't stand much chance of dating some of the cutest ones … If I can only get "in" as a pal with these girls, and never for a minute let them know I'm the gentle intellectual type, it'll be O.K.
    As for the Mlle news, I don't think it's really sunk in yet. I felt sure they made a mistake, or that you'd made it up to cheer me. The big advantage will be that I won't have to worry about earning barely $300 this summer. I would really have been sick otherwise. I can't wait till August when I can go casually down to the drug store and pick up a slick copy of Mlle, flip to the index, and see ME, one of two college girls in the U.S.!
    Really, when I think of how I started it over spring vacation, polished it at school, and sat up till midnight in the Haven House kitchen typing it amidst noise and chatter, I can't get over how the story soared to were it did…
    I get great pleasure out of sharing it [her feeling about the story] with you, who really understand how terribly much it means as a tangible testimony that I have got a germ of writing ability. The only thing, I probably won't have a chance to win Mlle again, so I'll try for a guest editorship maybe next or my senior year, and set my sights for the Atlantic. God, I'm glad I can talk about it with you -- probably you're the only outlet that I'll have that won't get tired of my talking about writing …
    Speaking again of Henry and Liz, it was a step for me to a story where the protagonist isn't always ME, and proved that I am beginning to use imagination to transform the actual incident. I was scared that would never happen, but I think it's an indication that my perspective is broadening.
   Sometime I think -- heck, I don't know why I didn't stay home all summer, writing, doing physical science, and having a small part-time job. I could "afford" to now, but it doesn't do much good to yearn about that, I guess. Although it would have been nice. Oh well, I'll cheer up. I love you.
                   Your own Sivvy

                        June 15, 1952

Dear Mother.
    … Do write me letters, Mommy, because I am in a very dangerous of feeling sorry for myself … Just at present, life is awful. Mademoiselle seems quite unreal, and I am exhausted, scared, incompetent, unenergetic and generally low is spirits … Working in side hall puts me part, and I feel completely uprooted and clumsy. The more I see the main hall girls expertly getting special dishes, fixing shaved ice and fruit, etc., the more I get an inferiority complex and feel that each day in side hall leaves me further behind … But as tempted as I am to be a coward and escape by crawling back home, I have resolved to give it a good month's trial -- till July 10 … Don't worry about me, but do send me little pellets of advice now and then.

                        June 24, 1952
    … Last night I went on a "gang" birthday party at the "Sand Bar" where we sang and talked for a few hours. There were about forty of us kids from the hotel. I managed by some magic to get myself seated next to a fellow in his first year at Harvard Law -- and he was just a dear … The best part was when we came back. It was a beautiful clear starry night, and Clark went in to get me two of his sweaters to wear because it was cold, and brought out a book of T.S. Eliot's poems. So we sat on a bench where I could just barely read the print, and he put his head in my lap and I read aloud to him for a wile. Most nice. The only thing is I am so inclined to get fond of someone who will do things with me like that -- always inclined to be too metaphysical and serious conversationally -- that's my main trouble … So glad to hear the check from Mlle is real. I hardly could believe it. Just now I am mentally so disorganized that I can't retain knowledge or think at all. The work is still new enough to be tiring, what with three changes a day into uniforms, and I am so preoccupied by mechanics of living and people that I can't yet organize and assimilate all the chaos of experience pouring in on me. In spite of everything, I still have my good old sense of humor and manage to laugh a good deal of the time … I'll make the best of whatever comes my way. 

                     Much love to you, 
                                 Sivvy

          New Words
    mademoiselle
n.  French title equivalent to Miss, abbr. Mlle

    shady
a. full of or providing shad; dark

    interior
n. the inner part of sth; inside

    insane
a.  seriously ill in the mind; mad
    anyhow
ad. in any case; anyway

    brass
n.  (sl.) high officials, executives, etc. 

    net
vt. gain as profit 净赚

    slick
n.  a popular magazine printed on heavy, glassy paper（用油光纸印制的）通俗杂志
 
    frankly
ad. in an open, honest and straightforward way

    frank
a.

    intersession
n.  a period between two academic terms, sometime utilized for brief concentrated courses

    beer
n.  a bitter alcoholic drink made from grain 啤酒

    companion
n.  one who is often with another person; friend 同伴

    brassy
a.  loud and daring in a tasteless manner

    jolly
vt. make (sb.) feel good or agreeable, esp. to gain and end

    protagonist
n.  the chief character in a play or novel

    gabby
a.  very talkative

    ratio
n.  the relationship in number, quantity or size between two different things 比率

    tag
vt. follow closely

    flirt
n.  a person who behaves with a member of the opposite sex in a way that attracts interest and attention

    gracious
a.  very well-mannered and pleasant

    cute
a.  sharp-witted, clever, charmingly attractive

    pal
n.  (infml) friend

    flip
vi. turn over quickly

    index
n.  an alphabetical list of the names and subjects in a printed work 索引

    polish
vt. improve; perfect 润色

    soar
vi. fly high into the air; rise beyond what is common and ordinary

    tangible
a.  real; clear or definite enough to be easily seen, felt or noticed
  
    testimony
n.  proof; evidence

    germ
n.  the beginning of anything; origin 萌芽，起源

    editorship
n.  the position of an editor

    senior
a.  of the final year at high school or college 
n.  student in the senior class

    outlet
n.  a way of releasing sth.

    perspective
n.  view; outlook; way of thinking about things 观点，看法

    broaden
v.  make or become broader

    heck
int. (used mainly as a mild curse) hell

    yearn
vi. have a strong desire; long

    uproot
vt. tear up by the roots

    inferiority
n.  the state or condition of being not good or less good in quality or value

    inferiority complex
    an abnormal feeling not as good as other people, sometimes resulting in avoidance of others or overly aggressive behavior 自卑情结

    inferior
a.

    coward
n.  a person who is afraid to face danger, pain or hardship

    pellet
n.  a little ball or similarly shaped object; piece

    gang
n.  a group of friends who frequently meet

    starry
a.  filled with stars that are visible

    sweater
n.  a warm knitted piece of clothing, which covers the upper part of one's body and arms 毛线衫，厚运动衫

    fond
a.  having a great liking or love for sb. or sth.

    metaphysical
a.  highly abstract; philosophical 高度抽象的，哲理的

    disorganized 
a.  in a confused state; badly planned or managed

    preoccupy
vt. fill the thoughts of sb. almost completely, esp. so that not enough attention is given to other things

    mechanics
n.  the way in which sth. works or is done

    mechanics of living
    simple routine matters of life

    assimilate
vt. take into the body and digest; understand completely and be able to use properly

    chaos
n.  a state of complete and thorough disorder and confusion

         Phrases & Expressions
  no doubt
  without doubt; certainly

  to top it off
  (usu. introducing sth. undesirable) in addition to everything else

  be stuck in
  be unable to escape from (a disadvantageous position)

  know one's way around/ about
  understand how things happen in the world; be experienced in the way of the world

  as for
  in regard to; speaking of; concerning

  sink in
  get a firm place in the mind; become fully understood

  get over
  believe; learn to live with the shock of (sth. Very surprising or shocking)

  set one's sight for
  aim for, wish to get or win

  cheer up
  become hopeful, joyous or glad; stop being sad or discouraged

  at present
  at this time; now

  what with
  as a result of (used to introduce the reasons for a particular situation, esp. an undesirable one)

  be preoccupied by/with
  have the mind fixed on sth., esp. sth. worrying so that no attention is paid to anything else

  make the best of
  do as well as one can with

  come one's way
  happen to one

             Proper Names
  Sylvia Plath
  西尔维亚.普拉斯

  Belmont
  贝尔蒙特

  Cape Cod
  科德角

  Mademoiselle
  《小姐》杂志 

  Minton
  明顿

  Marley
  马莉

  the Atlantic
  《大西洋》月刊

  Henry
  亨利

  Liz
  莉兹

  Harvard Law (School)
  哈佛大学法学院

  Clark
  克拉克

  T.S. Eliot 
  T.S. 艾略特                   
  

             Unit Three

Text
    Are we humans alone in the universe? Or is there intelligent life on other planets? These questions are not new. What is new, however, is the scientific attempt to discover whether or not other planets beyond our own have given birth to advanced civilizations. In the following article, the author describes the scientific means now available for investigating this possibility and discusses how probable it is that we are not alone in the universe.

             THE QUEST FOR 
     EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE

                             Carl Sagan
    Through all of our history we have pondered the stars and mused whether humanity is unique or if, somewhere else in the dark of the night sky, there are other beings who contemplate and wonder as we do, fellow thinkers in the cosmos. Such beings might view themselves and the universe differently. Somewhere else there might be very exotic biologies and technologies and societies. In a cosmic setting vast and old beyond ordinary human understanding, we are a little lonely; and we ponder the ultimate significance, if any, of our tiny but exquisite blue planet.
    The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the search for a generally acceptable cosmic context for the human species. In the deepest sense, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is a search for ourselves.
    In the last few years -- in one-millionth the lifetime of our species on this planet -- we have achieved an extraordinary technological capability which enables us to seek out unimaginably distant civilizations even if they are no more advanced than we. That capability is called radio astronomy and involves single radio telescopes, collections or arrays of radio telescopes, sensitive radio detectors, advanced computers for processing received date, and the imagination and skill of dedicated scientists. Radio astronomy has in the last decade opened a new window on the physical universe. It may also, if we are wise enough to make the effort, cast a profound light on the biological universe.
    Some scientists working on the question of extraterrestrial intelligence, myself among them, have attempted to estimate the number of advanced technical civilizations -- defined operationally as societies capable of radio astronomy -- in the Milky Way Galaxy. Such estimates are little better than guesses. They require assigning numerical values to quantities such as the numbers and ages of stars; the abundance of planetary systems and the likelihood of the origin of life, which we know less well; and the probability of the evolution of intelligent life and the lifetime of technical civilizations, about which we know very little indeed.
    When we do the arithmetic, the sorts of numbers we come up with are, characteristically, around a million technical civilizations. A million civilizations is a breathtakingly large number, and it is exhilarating to imagine the diversity, lifestyles and commerce of those million worlds. But the Milky Way Galaxy contains some 250 billion stars, and even with a million civilizations, less than one star in 200,000 would have a planet inhabited by an advanced civilization. Since we have little idea which stars are likely candidates, we will have to examine a very large number of them. Such considerations suggest that the quest for extraterrestrial intelligence may require a significant effort.
    Despite claims about ancient astronauts and unidentified flying objects, there is no firm evidence for past visitation of the Earth by other civilizations. We are restricted to remote signaling and, of the long-distance techniques available to our technology, radio is by far the best. Radio telescopes are relatively inexpensive; radio signals travel at the speed of light, faster than which nothing can go; and the use of radio for communication is not a short-sighted or anthropocentric activity. Radio represents a large part of the electromagnetic spectrum and any technical civilization anywhere in the Galaxy will have discovered radio early -- just as in the last few centuries we have explored the entire electromagnetic spectrum from short gamma rays to very long radio waves. Advanced civilizations might very well use some other means of communication with their peers. But if they wish to communicate with backward or emerging civilizations, there are only a few obvious methods, the chief of which is radio.
    The first serious attempt to listen for possible radio signals from other civilizations was carried out at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Greenbank, West Virginia, in 1959 and 1960. It was organized by Frank Drake, now at Cornel University, and was called Project Ozma, after the princess of the Land of Oz, a place very exotic, very distant and very difficult to reach. Drake examined two nearby stars for a few weeks with negative results. Positive results would have been astonishing because as we have seen, even rather optimistic estimates of the number of technical civilizations in the Galaxy imply that several hundred thousand stars must be examined in order to achieve success by random stellar selection.
    Since Project Ozma, there have been six or eight other such programs, all at a rather modest level, in the United States, Canada and the Soviet Union. All results have been negative. The total number of individual stars examined to date in this way is less than a thousand. We have performed something like one tenth of one percent of the required effort.
    However, there are signs that much more serious efforts may be mustered in the reasonably near future. Besides, hand in hand with the recent spectacular advances in radio technology, there has been a dramatic increase in the scientific and public respectability of the entire subject of extraterrestrial life. A clear sign of the new attitude is the Viking missions to Mars, which are to a significant extent dedicated to the search for life on another planet.
    But along with the burgeoning dedication to a serious search, a slightly negative note has emerged which is nevertheless very interesting. A few scientists have lately asked a curious question: If extraterrestrial intelligence is abundant, why have we not already seen its manifestations? Skeptics also ask why there is no clear evidence of extraterrestrial visits to Earth. We have already launched slow and modest interstellar spacecraft. A society more advance than ours should be able to ply the spaces between the stars conveniently if not effortlessly. Over millions of years such societies should have established colonies, which might themselves launch interstellar expeditions. Why are they not here? The temptation is to deduce that there are at most a few advanced extraterrestrial civilizations -- either because statistically we are one of the first technical civilizations to have emerged or because it is the fate of all such civilizations to destroy themselves before they are much further along than we.
    It seems to me that such despair is quite premature. All such arguments depend on our correctly surmising the intentions of beings far more advanced than ourselves, and when examined more closely I think these arguments reveal a range of interesting human conceits. Why do we expect that it will be easy to recognize the manifestations of very advanced civilizations? Is our situation not closer to that of members of an isolated society in the Amazon basin, say, who lack the tools to detect the powerful international radio and television traffic that is all around them? Also, there is a wide range of incompletely understood phenomena in astronomy. Might the modulation of pulsars or the energy source of quasars, for example, have a technological origin? Or perhaps there is a galactic ethic of noninterference with backward or emerging civilizations. Perhaps there is a waiting time before contact is considered appropriate, so as to give us a fair opportunity to destroy ourselves first, if we are so inclined. Perhaps all societies significantly more advanced than our own have achieved an effective personal immortality and lose the motivation for interstellar gallivanting, which may, for all we know, be a typical urge only of adolescent civilizations. Perhaps mature civilizations do not wish to pollute the cosmos. There is a very long list of such "perhapses," few of which we are in a position to evaluate with any degree of assurance.
    The question of extraterrestrial civilizations seems to me entirely open. Personally, I think it far more difficult to understand a universe in which we are the only technological civilization, or one of a very few, than to conceive of a cosmos brining over with intelligent life. Many aspects of the problem are, fortunately, amenable to experimental verification. We can search for planets of other stars, seek simple forms of life on such nearby planets as Mars, and perform more extensive laboratory studies on the chemistry of the origin of life. We can investigate more deeply the evolution of organisms and societies. The problem cries out for a long-term, open-minded, systematic search, with nature as the only arbitor of what is or is not likely 

               New Words
    quest
n.  search

    extraterrestrial
a.  (coming from) outside the earth

    ponder
v.  think about slowly and carefully

    muse
v.  think deeply, forgetting about the world around one

    contemplate
v.  look at or think about intently; have in mind as a possibility or plan

    exotic
a.  not native; fascinating because strange or different 外国的；异国情调的

    biology
n.  the scientific study of living things; animal and plant life, as of a given area 生物学；一个地区的生物

    cosmic
a.  of the universe, esp. the heavens as distinguished from the earth 宇宙的

    exquisite
a.  extremely beautiful or pleasant, esp. in a delicate or refined way

    acceptable
a.  good enough; satisfactory

    extraordinary
a.  very remarkable; exceptional

    unimaginably
a.  in an unimaginable manner; inconceivably

    astronomy
n.  the scientific study of the stars, planets, and other natural objects in space 天文学

    array
n.  collection; an impressive display of numerous persons or objects 列阵

    detector
n.  an instrument for discovering the presence of sth.
 
    dedicated
vt. devoted

    dedicate
vt. set apart for a special use or purpose

    operationally
ad. in respect to operation

    operational 
a.

    galaxy
n.  any of the large groups of stars which make up the universe 星系

    the Milky Way Galaxy 
    银河系

    assign
vt. fix; decide on

    quantity
n.  an amount or number

    abundance
n.  a great quantity; plenty

    planetary
a.  of a planet; having sth. to do with planets

    likelihood
n.  the degree to which sth. can reasonably be expected to happen; probability

    probability
n.  the condition of being likely to happen

    characteristically
ad. in a characteristic manner

    characteristic
n.  a special feature or quality that makes sb. or sth. different from others
a.  showing a special feature or identity

    breathtakingly 
ad. astonishingly

    exhilarating
a.  very exciting; causing happiness

    diversity
n.  difference; variety

diverse  
a.

    lifestyle
n.  a way of living

    commerce
n.  the buying and selling of goods; trade 商业

    candidate
n.  a person or thing that is regarded as being suitable for a particular purpose or as being likely to do or be a particular thing

    astronaut
n.  a person trained to travel in a spacecraft 宇航员

    visitation
n.  the act of visiting; visit

    remote
a.  distant in space or time

    inexpensive
a.  that which does not cost much; reasonable in price

    anthropocentric
a.  regarding men as the central fact, and his existence and welfare as the ultimate aim, of the universe 以人类为宇宙中心的 

    electromagnetic
a.  of magnetic force produced by an electric current 电磁的

    spectrum
n.  a set of bands of colored light in the order of their wavelengths into which a beam of light may be separated; a range of any of various kinds of waves 光谱；波谱

    ray
n.  a beam of light, heat, electricity or some other form of energy

    gamma ray (usu. pl.)
    a beam of light of short wavelength which goes through solid objects Y射线，光（量）子

    peer
n.  an equal in rank, quality or worth

    backward
a.  late in development

    observatory
n.  a place from which scientists watch stars and other heavenly bodies 天文台

    princess
n.  the daughter of a king or queen; a prince's wife 公主；王妃

    optimistic
a.  tending to see the bright side of things

    imply
vt. express, show or mean indirectly; suggest 

    stellar
a.  of or concerning stars

    muster
vt. gather or collect; summon

    respectability
n.  the quality of being respectable

    Mars
n.  火星

    mission
n.  an important task, esp. one that involves traveling abroad

    burgeon
vi. bud; grow or develop rapidly

    lately
ad. not long ago; recently

    manifestation
n.  sign of the existence or presence of a person, object or quality

    manifest vt.

    skeptic
n.  person who questions the truth of theories or apparent facts

skeptical 
a.

    interstellar
n.  (placed or moving) between the stars

    spacecraft
n.  a vehicle used for traveling in outer space 宇宙飞船

    ply
v.  make regular journeys (between); sail

    conveniently
ad. with ease
 
convenient  
a.

    colony
n.  the area settled by a group of people who leave their country to live in another place 殖民地

    premature
a.  appearing, happening, or done before the usual, expected or correct time

    surmise
vt. guess; suppose

    detect
vt. notice or find the presence of

    international
a.  of or between two or more nations

    traffic
n.  vehicles, people, ships or aircraft moving along a route

    incompletely
ad. not completely; partially

    modulation
n.  variation of the amplitude, frequency, or phase of the carrier wave in accordance with the sound wave or other signals being sent 调制

    pulsar
n.  an astronomical source or powerful radio waves emitted in short, intense bursts or pulses at very precise intervals 脉冲星

    quasar
n.  a heavenly object which emits powerful blue light and radio waves; quasi-stellar objects 类星体

    galactic
a.  of or having to do with the Milky Way or with other galaxies

    ethic
n.  system of moral behavior 伦理

    noninterference
n.  the practice of not taking part in or trying to influence the affairs of other people, countries, etc.

    appropriate
a.  correct or suitable for a particular situation or occasion

    immortality
n.  the state of being immortal; never-ending life or endless fame 不朽，永存；不灭的声望

    motivation
n.  need; desire 动因；动力

    motivate 
vt.
    
    gallivant
vi. go around amusing oneself; wander

    adolescent
a.  growing up from childhood to adulthood; immature
    assurance
n.  belief in one's own ability; confidence

    brim
vi. be full to the brim

    amenable
a.  that can be tested (by)

    verification
n.  proof by evidence; confirmation 证明；核实

    extensive
a.  large in amount, area or range

    organism
n.  a living being

           Phrases & Expressions
  if any
  possibly none

  seek out
  find (sb. or sth.) by looking hard

  might very well
  be (very) likely to

  to date
  until today; yet

  band in hand with 
  together with

  be dedicated to 
  be devoted to; be intended to be used for

  along with
  together with

  depend on
  following directly or logically from; turn on

  so as to
  in order to

  in a position to
  able to

  brim over with 
  have an abundance of

  cry out for
  need badly

              Proper Names
  Carl Sagan
  卡尔.萨根

  Greenbank
  格林班克

  West Virginia
  西弗吉尼亚州

  Frank Drake
  弗兰克.德雷克

  Cornell University
  康乃尔大学

  the Land of Oz
  奥兹国

  the Soviet Union
  苏联

  the Amazon
  亚马逊河

  

             Unit Four

Text
    As a black boy growing up in America in the early 1900s, Richard Wright knew well the meaning of racial prejudice. He was not allowed to play in a park or borrow books from a library. While working as an office boy in a bank, though, he found a way into the library and discovered the power of the written word. In the following story, Richard Wright tells us how his thirst for books grew with each passing day and what changes took place in him as he did more and more reading.

            THE LIBRARY CARD

                         Richard Wright
    One morning I arrived early at work and went into the bank lobby where the Negro porter was mopping. I stood at a counter and picked up the Memphis Commercial Appeal and began my free reading of the press. I came finally to the editorial page and saw an article dealing with one H. L. Mencken. I knew by hearsay that he was the editor of the American Mercury, but aside from that I knew nothing about him. The article was a furious denunciation of Mencken, concluding with one, hot, short sentence: Mencken is a fool.
    I wondered what on earth this Mencken had done to call down upon him the scorn of the South. The only people I had ever heard enounced in the South were Negroes, and this man was not a Negro. Then what ideas did Mencken hold that made a newspaper like the Commercial Appeal castigate him publicly? Undoubtedly he must be advocating ideas that the South did not like.
    Now, how could I find out about this Mencken? There was a huge library near the riverfront, but I knew that Negroes were not allowed to patronize its shelves any more than they were the parks and playgrounds of the city. I had gone into the library several times to get books for the white men on the job. Which of them would now help me to get books?
    I weighed the personalities of the men on the job. There was Don, a Jew; but I distrusted him. His position was not much better than mine and I knew that he was uneasy and insecure; he had always treated me in an offhand, bantering way that barely concealed his contempt. I was afraid to ask him to help me to get books; his frantic desire to demonstrate a racial solidarity with the whites against Negroes might make him betray me. 
    Then how about the boss? No, he was a Baptist and I had the suspicion that he would not be quite able to comprehend why a black boy would want to read Mencken. There were other white men on the job whose attitudes showed clearly that they were Kluxers or sympathizers, and they were out of the question.
    There remained only one man whose attitude did not fit into an anti-Negro category, for I had heard the white men refer to him as "Pope lover". He was an Irish Catholic and was hated by the white Southerners. I knew that he read books, because I had got him volumes from the library several times. Since he, too, was an object of hatred, I felt that he might refuse me but would hardly betray me. I hesitated, weighing and balancing the imponderable realities.
    One morning I paused before the Catholic fellow's desk.
    "I want to ask you a favor," I whispered to him.
    "What is it?"
    "I want to read. I can't get books from the library. I wonder if you'd let me use your card?"
    He looked at me suspiciously.
    "My card is full most of the time," he said.
    "I see," I said and waited, posing my question silently. 
    "You're not trying to get me into trouble, are you, boy?" he asked, staring at me.
    "Oh, no, sir."
    "What book do you want?"
    "A book by H. L. Mencken."
    "Which one?"
    "I don't know. Has he written more than one?"
    "He has written several."
    "I didn't know that."
    "What makes you want to read Mencken?"
    "Oh, I just saw his name in the newspaper," I said.
    "It's good of you to want to read," he said. "But you ought to read the right things."
    I said nothing. Would he want to supervise my reading?
    "Let me think," he said. "I'll figure out something."
    I turned from him and he called me back. He stared at me quizzically.
    "Richard, don't mention his to the other white men," he said.
    "I understand," I said. "I won't say a word."
    A few days later he called me to him.
    "I've got a card in my wife's name," he said. "Here's mine."
    "Thank you, sir."
    "Do you think you can manage it?"
    "I'll manage fine," I said.
    "If they suspect you, you'll get in trouble," he said.
    "I'll write the same kind of notes to the library that you wrote when you sent me for books," I told him. "I'll sign your name."
    He laughed.
    "Go ahead. Let me see what you get," he said.
    That afternoon I addressed myself to forging a note. Now, what were the name of books written by H. L. Mencken? I did not know any of them. I finally wrote what I thought would be a foolproof note: Dear Madam: Will you please let this nigger boy -- I used the word "nigger" to make the librarian feel that I could not possibly be the author of the note -- have some books by H.L. Mecken? I forged the white man's name.
    I entered the library as I had always done when on errands for whites, but I felt that I would somehow slip up and betray myself. I doffed my hat, stood a respectful distance from the desk, looked as unbookish as possible, and waited for the white patrons to be taken care of. When the desk was clear of people, I still waited. 
    The white librarian looked at me.
    "What do you want, boy?"
    As though I did not possess the power of speech, I stepped forward and simply handed her the forged note, not parting my lips.
    "What books by Mencken does he want?" She asked.
    "I don't know, ma'am," I said, avoiding her eyes. 
    "Who gave you this card?"
    "Mr. Falk," I said.
    "Where is he?"
    "He's at work, at M -- Optical Company," I said. "I've been in here for him before."
    "I remember," the woman said. "But he never wrote notes like this." 
    Oh, God, she's suspicious. Perhaps she would not let me have the books? If she had turned her back at that moment, I would have ducked out the door and never gone back. Then I thought of a bold idea.
    "You can call him up, ma'am," I said, my heart pounding. 
    "You're not using these books, are you?" she asked pointedly.
    "Oh, no, ma'am. I can't read."
    "I don't know what he wants by Mencken," she said under her breath.
    I knew now that I had non; she was thinking of other things and the race question had gone out of her mind. She went to the shelves. Once or twice she looked over her shoulder at me, as though she was still doubtful. Finally she came forward with two books in her hand.
    "I'm sending him two books," she said. "But tell Mr. Falk to come in next time, or send me the names of the books he wants. I don't know what he wants to read."
    I said nothing. She stamped the card and handed me the books. Not daring to glance at them. I went out of the library, fearing that the woman would call me back for further questioning. A block away from the library I opened one of the books and read a title: A Book of Prefaces. I was nearing my nineteenth birthday and I did not know how to pronounce the word "preface". I thumbed the pages and saw strange words and strange names. I shook my head, disappointed. I looked at the other book; it was called Prejudices, I knew what that word meant; I had heard it all my life. And right off I was on guard against Mencken's books. Why would a man want to call a book Prejudices? The word was so stained with all my memories of racial hate that I cold not conceive of anybody using it for a title. Perhaps I had made a mistake about Mencken? A man who had prejudices must be wrong.
    When I showed the books to Mr. Falk, he looked at me and frowned.
    "That librarian might telephone you," I warned him.
    "That's all right," he said. "But when you're through reading those books, I want you to tell me what you get out of them."
    That night in my rented room, while letting the hot water run over my can of pork and beans in the sink, I opened A Book of Preface and began to read. I was jarred and shocked by the style, the clear, clean, sweeping sentences. Why did he write like that? And how did one write like that? I pictured the man as a raging demon, slashing with his pen, consumed with hate, denouncing everything American, extolling everything European or German, laughing at the weaknesses of people, mocking God, authority. What was this? I stood up, trying to realize what reality lay behind the meaning of the words … Yes, this man was fighting, fighting with words. He was using words as a weapon, using them as one would use a club. Could words be weapons? Well, yes, for there they were. Then, maybe, perhaps, I could use them as a weapon? No. It frightened me. I read on and what amazed me was not what he said, but how on earth anybody had the courage to say it.
    I ran across many words whose meanings I did not know, and either looked them up in a dictionary or, before I had a chance to do that, encountered the word in a context that made its meaning clear. But what strange world was this? I concluded the book with the conviction that I had somehow overlooked something terribly important in life. I had once tried to write, had once reveled in feeling, had let my crude imagination roam, but the impulse to dream had been slowly beaten out of me by experience. Now it surged up again and I hungered for books, new ways of looking and seeing. It was not a matter of believing or disbelieving what I read, but of feeling something new, of being affected by something that made the look of the world different.
    I forget more notes and my trips to the library became frequent. Reading grew into a passion. My first serious novel was Sinclair Lewis's Main Street. It made me see my boss, Mr. Gerald, and identify him as an American type. I would smile when I saw him lugging his golf bags into the office. I had always felt a vast distance separating me from the boss, and now I felt closer to him, though still distant. I felt now that I knew him, that I could feel the very limits of his narrow life. And this had happened because I had read a novel about a mythical man called George F. Babbitt.
    I read Dreiser's Jennie Gerhardt and Sister Carrie and they revived in me a vivid sense of my mother's suffering; I was overwhelmed. I grew silent, wondering about the life around me. It would have been impossible for me to have told anyone what I derived from these novels, for it was nothing less than a sense of life itself. All my life had shaped me for the realism, the naturalism of the modern novel, and I could not read enough of them.
    Steeped in new moods and ideas, I bought a ream of paper and tried to write; but nothing would come, or what did come was flat beyond telling. I discovered that more than desire and felling were necessary to write and I dropped the idea. Yet I still wondered how it was possible to know people sufficiently to write about them? Could I ever learn about life and people? To me, with my vast ignorance, my Jim Crow station in life, it seemed a task impossible of achievement. I now knew what being a Negro meant. I could endure the hunger. I had learned to live with hate. But to feel that there were feelings denied me, that the very breath of life itself was beyond my reach, that more than anything else hurt, wounded me. I had a new hunger.

              New Words
    lobby
n.  entrance hall 门廊，门厅

    porter
n.  an employee who sweeps, cleans, does errands, etc. as in a bank, store, or restaurant 勤杂工

    mop
vt. wash or wipe up; clean with a mop 擦；用拖把擦洗

    commercial
a.  having to do with business

    hearsay
n.  information or new heard from another person 传闻

    furious
a.  extremely angry; violent

    denunciation
n.  the act of denouncing; condemnation 谴责，痛斥

    scorn
n.  strong disrespect; contempt 鄙视，轻蔑

    denounce
vt. criticize severely and publicly

    castigate
vt. criticize severely

    riverfront
n.  the part of a city or town on or near a river or harbor area

    patronize 
vt. be a regular customer, reader, etc. of; give regular business to 

    insecure
a.  anxious and unsure of oneself; not confident

    offhand
a.  careless or disrespectful in manner; casual 

    banter
vi. talk in a joking way

    contempt
n.  a feeling that sth. is of little value or worthless; scorn 轻视，轻蔑

    solidarity
n.  agreement of interests, aims, or standards

    Baptist
n.  浸礼会教徒

    comprehend
vt. understand

    Kluxer
n.  a member of the Ku Klux Klan 三K党成员

    sympathizer
n.  a person who sympathizes with another persons or is favorably inclined toward a particular belief

anti-
prefix    against; opposed to

refer(to)
vi. mention or speak about

pope
n.  head of the Roman Catholic Church（罗马天主教的）教皇

    lover
n.  one who is in love with sb. or sth.

    southerner
n.  a person from a southern region

    imponderable
a.  unable to be weighed or assessed

    suspiciously
ad. distrustfully

    pose
vt. put forward fro discussion; state

    supervise
vt. keep watch over( work or workers) as the person in charge

    forge
vt. make or write(sth. false) to deceive

    foolproof
a.  that can not go wrong

    nigger
n.  (derogatory) a Negro

    errand
n.  a short journey made to get sth. or carry a message

    doff
vt. take off

    respectful 
a.  having or showing respect

    unbookish
a.  not inclined to read and study

    patron
n.  a person who uses a particular shop, hotel, etc, esp. regularly

    optical
a.  of or relating to light or the sense of light 光学的；视力的

    suspicious
a.  causing one to suspect; deserving or exciting suspicion

    suspicion 
n.

    duck
vt. try to escape by hiding quickly 闪避

    hold
a.  showing or needing courage

    pointedly
ad. in such a way as to make some meaning, reference or application quite unmistakable

    doubtful
a.  having, showing or causing doubt

    title
n.  a name given to a book, painting, play, etc.

    thumb
vi. turn pages of (a book, etc.) rapidly with a thumb, reading only portions

    frown
vi. draw the brows together in deep thought, anger or disapproval

    pork
n.  meat from pigs

    bean
n.  a rounded seed of a plant related to peas 豆

    jar
vt. have a harsh, unpleasant effect on; shock

    sweeping
a.  forceful; comprehensive and wide-ranging

    raging
a.  violent; furious

    rage
vi. be furious with anger; act violently

    demon
n.  an evil spirit

    slash
vt. cut with a sweeping stroke of a sword, knife or whip

    extol
vt. praise highly

    mock
vt. laugh at; make fun of; ridicule

    reality
n.  the condition or quality of being real; the state of things as they are

    weapon
n.  an instrument used to attack another or defend oneself from attack

    club
n.  a heavy stick with one thick end, use as a weapon

    conviction
n.  a strong feeling or belief about sth.

    revel
vi. take very great pleasure(in)

    crude
a.  in a natural or raw state; unrefined

    surge
vi. rise or swell with great force

    hunger
vi. have a strong desire or craving

    disbelieve
vt. refuse to believe

    novel
n.  a long story about fictitious people and events

    lug
vt. pull along or carry with effort; drag

    golf
n.  a game played by hitting a small, hard ball with one of a set of clubs around an outdoor course into a series of holes in as few strokes as possible 高尔夫球

    mythical
a.  not real; imaginary

    myth
n.  a story that expresses the beliefs and values of a people 神话

    revive
vt. bring back to life or consciousness

    vivid
a.  active, lively

    naturalism
n.  the showing in art, and literature, of the world and people scientifically and exactly as they are 自然主义

    mood 
n.  the way sb. feels at a certain time 心境，情绪

    ream
n.  480 or 500 sheets of paper of the same size and quality 令

    sufficiently
ad. in a sufficient manner or to a sufficient degree

    sufficient  
a.  as much as is needed; enough

    ignorance
n.  the condition of being ignorant; lack of knowledge

    Jim Crow
    discriminating against Negroes; for blacks only

        Phrases & Expressions
aside from
  except for; in addition to

on earth
  of all possible things; ever (use. used for emphasis after words that ask question)

call down
  summon; evoke (sth. upon sb.)

out of the question
  not worth considering; impossible

fit into
  belong to; be appropriate to

refer to
  mention; allude to

address oneself to
  give one's full attention to; tackle

on errands
  making a short trip to do or get sth. for sb.

slip up
  make a mistake

be clear of
  be a safe distance away from; free from

call up
  call on the telephone

under one's breath
  in a whisper

right off
  at once; immediately

be through
  have reached the end of; be finished with; be done with 

run across
  find or meet by chance

look up
  search for, hunt information about in a dictionary

surge up
  rise up in a wave

hunger up
  rise up in a wave
  
nothing less than
  nothing short of

beyond one's reach 
  not capable of being had or got to

            Proper Names
  Richard Wright
  理查德.赖特

  Memphis
  孟菲斯

  Commercial Appeal
  《商业呼声报》

  H.L. Mencken 
  H.L. 门肯

  Don
  唐

  A Book of Prefaces
  《序言集》

  Prejudices
  《偏见》

  Sinclair Lewis
  辛克莱.刘易斯

  Main Street
  《大街》

  Gerald
  杰拉尔德

  George F. Babbitt
  乔治.F.巴比特

  Dreiser
  德莱塞

  Jennie Gerhardt
  珍尼.格哈特

  Sister Carrie
  《嘉莉妹妹》

             Unit Five

Text
    If modern life is so wonderful, why do we feel so unhappy? In the following article, the author suggests that though living standards have improved, we, rather than feeling content, never become completely satisfied with what we have achieved. This is because we always find ourselves with new and higher expectations. To meet these expectations and solve the new problems that arise, new strategies should be adopted.

         HOW COULD ANYTHING THAT
         FEELS SO BAD BE SO GOOD?
     
                      Richard E. Farson
    Maybe it is time to adopt a new strategy in trying to figure out why life today is so difficult, and what can be done about it. Assume that not only are things often not what they seem, they may be just the opposite of what they seem. When it comes to human affairs, everything is paradoxical. 
    People are discontented these days, for example, not because things are worse than ever, but because things are better than ever. Take marriage. In California there are about six divorces for every ten marriages -- even higher in some of the better communities. One must admit that a good deal of discontent is reflected in those statistics. But the explanation so frequently offered -- that the institution of marriage is in a state of collapse -- simply does not hold. Marriage has never been more popular and desirable than is it now; so appealing in fact, that even those who are in the process of divorce can scarcely wait for the law to allow them to marry again.
    The problem is that people have never before entered marriage with the high expectations they now hold. Throughout history, the family has been a vital unit for survival, starting as a defense system for physical survival, and gradually becoming a unit for economic survival. Now, of course, the family has become a physical and economic liability rather than an asset. Having met, as a society, the basic survival and security needs, people simply don't need each other anymore to fight Indians or spin yarn -- or wash dishes or repair electrical plugs for that matter. The bonds of marriage and family life are no longer functional, but affectional. People used to come to love each other because they needed each other. Now it's just the other way around. They need each other because they love each other.
    Listening to the complaints of those recently divorced, one seldom hears of brutality and desertion, but usually something like, "We just don't communicate very well", "The educational differences between us were simply too great to overcome", "I felt trapped in the relationship", "He won't let me be me", "We don't have much in common anymore". These complaints are interesting, because they reflect high-order discontent resulting from the failure of marriage to meet the great expectations held for it. Couples now expect -- and demand -- communication and understanding, shared values and goals, intellectual companionship, great moments of intimacy. By and large, marriage today actually does deliver such moments, but as a result couples have gone on to burden the relationship with even greater demands. To some extent it has been the success of marriage that has created the discontent.
    The same appears to be true in the civil rights movement. The gains that have been made have led not to satisfaction but to increased tension and dissatisfaction, particularly among those benefiting from such gains. The discontent is higher in the North than in the South, higher in cities than in rural areas.
    The disturbing paradox of social change is that improvement brings the need for more improvement in constantly accelerating demands. So, compared to what used to be, society is way ahead; compared to what might be, it is way behind. Society is enabled to feel that conditions are rotten, because they are actually so good. 
    Another problem is that everything is temporary, nothing lasts. We have grown up with the idea that in order to develop personal security we need stability, roots, consistency, and familiarity. Yet we live in a world which in every respect is continually changing. Whether we are talking about sky-scrapers or family life, scientific facts or religious values, all are highly temporary and becoming even more so. If one were to plot a curve showing the incidence of invention throughout the history of man, one would see that change is not just increasing but actually accelerating. Changes are coming faster and faster -- in a sense change has become a way of life. The only people who will live successfully in tomorrow's world are those who can accept and enjoy temporary systems.
    People are also troubled because of the new participative mood that exists today. It's a do-it-yourself society; every layman wants to get into the act. Emerson's "do your own thing" has become the cliché of the times. People no longer accept being passive members. They now want to be active changers.
    This participative phenomenon can be seen in every part of contemporary life -- on campus, in the church, in the mass media, in the arts, in business and industry, on ghetto streets, in the family.
    The problem is that modern man seems unable to redesign his institution fast enough to accommodate the new demands, the new intelligence, the new abilities of segments of society which, heretofore, have not been taken seriously. Consequently, people are frightened by the black revolution, paralyzed by student activism, and now face what may be even more devastating -- the women's rebellion.
    Society simply has not had these kinds of problems before, and to meet them it will have to adopt strategies for their solution that are as new, and as different, and as paradoxical as are the problems themselves.
    Instead of trying to reduce the discontent felt, try to raise the level or quality of the discontent. Perhaps the most that can be hoped for is to have high-order discontent in today's society, discontent about things that really matter. Rather than evaluating programs in terms of how happy they make people, how satisfied those people become, programs must be evaluated in terms of the quality of the discontent they engender. For example, if a consultant wants to assess whether or not an organization is healthy, he doesn't ask, "Is there an absence of complaints?" but rather, "What kinds of complaints are there?"
    Instead of trying to make gradual changes in small increments, make big changes. After all, big changes are relatively easier to make than are small ones. Some people assume that the way to bring about improvement is to make the change small enough so that nobody will notice it. This approach has never worked, and one can't help but wonder why such thinking continues. Everyone knows how to resist small changes; they do it all the time. If, however, the change is big enough, resistance can't be mobilized against it. Management can make a sweeping organizational change, but just let a manager try to change someone's desk from here to there, and see the great difficulty he encounters. All change is resisted, so the question is how can the changes be made big enough so that they have a chance of succeeding?
    Buckminster Fuller ahs said that instead of reforms society needs new forms; e.g., in order to reduce traffic accidents, improve automobiles and highways instead of trying to improve drives. The same concept should be applied to human relations. There is a need to think in terms of social architecture, and to provide arrangements among people that evoke what they really want to see in themselves. Mankind takes great pains with physical architecture, and is beginning to concern itself with the design of systems in which the human being is a component. But most of these designs are only for safety, efficiency, or productivity. System designs are not made to affect those aspects of life people care most about such as family life, romance, and esthetic experiences. Social technology as well as physical technology need to be applied in making human arrangements that will transcend anything mankind has yet experienced. People need not be victimized by their environments; they can be fulfilled by them.
    The great frontier today is the exploration of the human potential man's seemingly limitless ability to adapt, to grow, to invent his own destiny. There is much to learn, but we already know this: the future need not happen to us; we can make it happen.

          New Words
    strategy
n.  the art of planning action that lead to gaining a goal or victory

    paradox
n.  a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement that is or may be true; a person or situation exhibiting apparently contradictory characteristics 似非而是，自相矛盾

    paradoxical
a.  of or having the nature of a paradox

    discontented
a.  dissatisfied and restlessly unhappy


    statistics
n.  facts and figures gathered together for information or on a particular subject 统计（资料）

    institution
n.  an established custom, law or relationship in a society or community 风俗，制度，惯例

    popular
a.  enjoyed, accepted or liked by many people

    desirable
a.  worthy of being desired

    liability
n.  sth. for which one is responsible, esp. by law; sth. that limits one's activities or freedom 责任，义务； 不利条件

    liable
a.  responsible under the law

    asset
n.  sth. that is useful or valuable; (pl.) the property of a person, company, etc. 宝贵的东西，资产

    anymore
ad. (used in negative sentences) any longer

    yarn
n.  a long continuous thread, as of wool or cotton, use in making cloth, mats, etc.

    electrical
a.  concerned with or using electricity

    plug
n.  a device at the end of an electrical cord that fits into an electrical socket to make an electrical connection 插头

    bond
n.  sth. that binds or unites 联结物；联系

    functional
a.  made for or concerned with practical use only 功能的

    function
n.  normal use; duty or work 功能

    affectional 
a.  relating to or implying affections 感情的

    affection
n.  gentle, lasting love, like that of a parent for a child; fondness

    desertion
n.  (an example of ) the act of leaving one's duty, family, etc. 抛弃，遗弃

    overcome
vt. fight successfully against; defeat

    order
n.  kind, sort, type

    intimacy
n.  a close and affectionate personal relationship; familiarity

intimate  
a.

    dissatisfaction
n.  lack of satisfaction; displeasure

    improvement
n.  the act of improving or the state of being improved
 
    way
ad. far, considerably

    familiarity
n.  thorough knowledge

    religious
a.  of religion

    plot
vt. draw (a curve) on a graph to show certain stated facts

    incidence
n.  the rate at which sth. happens or exists 发生率

    participative
a.  characterized by participation; participating

    layman
n.  a person who does not have specialized or professional knowledge of a subject 门外汉，外行

    passive
a.  not joining in or taking part; not acting

    contemporary
a.  belonging to the present time; of or belonging to the same time

    changer
n.  one who makes change

    medium (pl. media)
n.  a method for giving information;  form of art 媒介；艺术手段

    mass media
    the means of communication that reach large numbers of people in a short time, such as radio, television, newspapers, magazines, etc.

    activism
n.  the process of campaigning in public or working for an organization in order to bring about political or social change

    rebellion
n.  the act of rebelling; open defiance of authority

    engender
vt. bring about; produce 

    assess
vt. estimate the value or amount of; evaluate

    gradual
a.  happening or developing slowly and by degrees; not sudden 

    increment
n.  an increase or addition, esp. one of a series 

    resist
vt. work or fight against

    resistance 
n.

    mobilize
vt. organize for a purpose 动员

    organizational
a.  of or having to do with organization

    reform
n.  an improvement, esp. one made by removing faults or abuses 改革

    arrangement
n.  a plan made in preparation for sth.

    component
n.  any of the parts that together make a whole machine or system

    romance
n.  a love affair

    esthetic 
a.  having to do with beauty and the appreciation of beauty in nature an dart（审）美的

    victimize
vt. cause (sb.) to suffer unfairly

    victim
n.  a person or animal sacrificed, injured or destroyed; a person who suffers some hardship or loss 牺牲者；受害者

    environment
n.  the physical and social conditions in which people live

    fulfill
vt. supply or satisfy

    frontier
n.  an area or field not yet developed

    exploration
n.  the act of traveling in little known lands or seas for the purpose of discovery

    explore
vt. examine (sth.) thoroughly in order to test or find out about it

    seemingly
ad. in appearance; apparently

    limitless
a.  without limit or end

          Phrases & Expressions
when it come to 
  when it concerns

for that matter
  with regard to that; about that

the other way round
  in the opposite order

in terms of
  in regard to; especially about

bring about 
  cause; produce; lead to

can't help but
  can only; be forced to 

take (great) pains (with/to do)
  try hard (to do)

            Proper Names
  Richard E. Farson
  理查德.E.法森

  California
  加利福尼亚

  Emerson
  爱默生
 
  Buckminster Fuller
  巴克明斯特.富勒

 
      

             Unit Six

Text
    This essay on a famous man, whose name is not revealed until almost the end of the piece, is a study of monstrous conceit. Filled with biographical details that keep the reader guessing to the last moment, the essay concludes with a challenging view on the nature of genius: If a genius was so prolific, "is it any wonder that he had no time to be a man?"

            THE MONSTER

                          Deems Taylor
    He was an undersized little man, with a head too big for his body -- a sickly little man. His nerves were had. He had skin trouble. It was agony for him to wear anything next to his skin coarser than silk. And he had seclusions of grandeur.
    He was a monster of conceit. Never for one minute did he look at the world or at people, except in relation to himself. He was not only the most important person in the world, to himself; in his own eyes he was the only person who existed. He believed himself to be one of the greatest dramatists in the world, one of the greatest thinkers, and one of the greatest composers. To hear him talk, he was Shakespeare, and Beethoven, and Plato, rolled into one. And you would have had no difficulty in hearing him talk. He was one of the most exhausting conversationalists that ever lived. An evening with him was an evening spent in listening to a monologue. Sometimes he was brilliant; sometimes he was maddeningly tiresome. But whether he was being brilliant or dull, he had one sole topic of conversation: himself. What he thought and what he did.
    He had a mania for being in the right. The slightest hint of disagreement, from anyone, on the most trivial point, was enough to set him off on a harangue that might last for house, in which he proved himself right in so many ways, and with such exhausting volubility, that in the end his hearer, stunned and deafened, would agree with him, for the sake of peace.
    It never occurred to him that he and his doing were not of the most intense and fascinating interest to anyone with whom he came in contact. He had theories about almost any subject under the sun, including vegetarianism, the drama, politics, and music; and in support of these theories he wrote pamphlets, letters, books … thousands upon thousands of words, hundreds and hundreds of pages. He not only wrote these things, and published them -- usually at somebody else's expense -- but he would sit and read them aloud, for hours, to his friends and his family.
    He wrote operas, and no sooner did he have the synopsis of a story, but he would invite -- or rather summon -- a crowed of his friends to his house, and read it aloud to them. Not for criticism. For applause. When the complete poem was written, the friends had to come again, and hear that read aloud. Then he would publish the poem, sometimes years before the music that went with it was written. He played the piano like a composer, in the worst sense of what that implies, and he would sit down at the piano before parties that included some of the finest pianists of his time, and play for them, by the hour, his own music, needless to say. He had a composer's voice. And he would invite eminent vocalists to his house and sing them his operas, taking all the parts.
    He had the emotional stability of a six-year-old child. When he felt out of sorts, he would rave and stamp, or sink into suicidal gloom and talk darkly of going to the East to end his days as a Buddhist wonk. Ten minutes later, when something pleased him, he would rush out of doors and run around the garden, or jump up and down on the sofa, or stand on his head. He could be grief-stricken over the death of a pet dog, and he could be callous and heartless to a degree that would have made a Roman emperor shudder.
    He was almost innocent of any sense of responsibility. Not only did he seem incapable of supporting himself, but it never occurred to him that he was under ay obligation to do so. He was convinced that the world owed him a living. In support of this belief, he borrowed money from everybody who was good for a loan -- men, women, friends, or strangers. He wrote begging letters by the score, sometimes groveling without shame, at other loftily offering his intended benefactor the privilege of contributing to his support, and being mortally offended if the recipient declined the honor. I have found no record of his ever paying or repaying money to anyone who did not have a legal claim upon it.
    What money he could lay his hands on he spent like an Indian rajah. The mere prospect of a performance of one of his operas was enough to set him to running up bills amounting to ten times the amount of his prospective royalties. No one will ever know -- certainly he never knew -- how much money he owed. We do know that his greatest benefactor gave him $6,000 to pay the most pressing of his debts in one city, and a year later had to give him $16,000 to enable him to live in another city without being thrown into jail for debt.
    He was equally unscrupulous in other ways. An endless procession of women marched through his life. His first wife spent twenty years enduring and forgiving his infidelities. His second wife had been the wife of his most devoted friend and admirer, from whom he stole her. And even while he was trying to persuade her to leave her first husband he was writing to a friend to inquire whether he could suggest some wealthy woman -- any wealthy woman -- whom he could marry for her money.
    He was completely selfish in his other personal relationships. His liking for his friends was measured solely by the completeness of their devotion to him, or by their usefulness to him, whether financial or artistic. The minute they failed him -- even by so much as refusing dinner invitation -- or began to lessen in usefulness, he cast them off without a second thought. At the end of his life he had exactly one friend left whom he had known even in middle age.
    The name of this monster was Richard Wagner. Everything that I have said about him you can find on record -- in newspapers, in police reports, in the testimony of people who knew him, in his own letters, between the lines of his autobiography. And the curious thing about this record is that it doesn't matter in the least.
    Because this undersized, sickly, disagreeable, fascinating little man was right all the time. The joke was on us. He was one of the world's greatest dramatists; he was a great thinker; he was one of the most stupendous musical geniuses that, up to now, the world has ever seen. The world did owe him a living.
    When you consider what he wrote -- thirteen operas and music dramas, eleven of them still holding the stage, eight of them unquestionably worth ranking among the world's great musico-dramatic masterpieces -- when you listen to what he wrote, the debts and heartaches that people had to endure from him don't seem much of a price. Think of the luxury with which for a time, at least, fate rewarded Napoleon, the man who ruined France and looted Europe; and then perhaps you will agree that a few thousand dollars' worth of debts were not too heavy a price to pay for the Ring trilogy.
    What if he was faithless to his friends and to his wives? He had one mistress to whom he was faithful to the day of his death: Music. Not for a single moment did he ever compromise with what he believed, with what be dreamed. There is not a line of his music that could have been conceived by a little mind. Even when he is dull, or downright bad, he is dull in the grand manner. There is greatness about his worst mistakes. Listening to his music, one does not forgive him for what he may or may not have been. It is not a matter of forgiveness. It is a matter of being dumb with wonder that his poor brain and body didn't burst under the torment of the demon of creative energy that lived inside him, struggling, clawing, scratching to be released; tearing, shrieking at him to write the music that was in him. The miracle is that what he did in the little space of seventy years could have been done at all, even by a great genius. Is it any wonder that he had no time to be a man?

             New Words
    monster
n.  a person too wicked to be considered human; an animal or plant that is very unlike those usually found in nature

    undersized
a.  smaller than usual; too small

    sickly
a.  weak, unhealthy and often ill

    agony 
n.  very great pain or suffering of mind or body

    coarse
a.  not fine or smooth; rough

    delusion
n.  a false belief

    grandeur
n.  greatness, nobility

    delusion of grandeur
    夸大妄想

    dramatist
n.  a writer of plays, esp. serious ones; playwright 

    composer
n.  one who writes musical works

    compose vt.

    conversationalist
n.  a person who enjoys and is skilled at conversation

    monologue
n.  a long speech by one person; a spoken part in a play or film for a single person 独白

    maddeningly
ad. annoyingly

    tiresome
a.  irritating or boring

    mania
n.  a desire so strong than it seems mad; an unusual or unreasonable fondness 狂热；癖好

    hint
n.  a statement or action that gives a small or indirect suggestion

    trivial 
a.  of little or no importance

    harangue
n.  a long, loud speech, esp. one which blames those listening to it

    volubility
n.  fondness for talking; talkativeness

    deafen
vt. make deaf, esp. for a short time; stun with noise

    vegetarianism
n.  the practice or principle of eating only vegetable foods and refraining from eating meat, fish or other animal products

    pamphlet
n.  a small book with paper covers which deals usu. with some matter of public interest; booklet 小册子

    expense
n.  cost in money, time, or effort

    opera
n.  a musical play

    summon
vt. order(sb.) to come

    applause
n.  loud praise for a performer or performance, esp. by striking the hands together

    needless
a.  unnecessary

    eminent
a.  (of people) famous and admired

    vocalist
n.  singer

    vocal
a.  of the voice

    rave
vi. talk wildly

    suicidal
a.  wishing to kill oneself, which leads or will lead to death or destruction

    suicide 
n.

    gloom
n.  a feeling of unhappiness or despair

    gloomy  
a.

    darkly
ad. with a dark, gloomy, or menacing look or manner

    Buddhist
a., n.  having to do with Buddhism; a believer in Buddhism 佛教的；佛教徒

    monk
n.  a member of an all-male religious group who has made solemn promises, esp. not to marry and not to have any possessions, living in a monastery 僧侣

    Buddhist monk
    僧，和尚

    grief
n.  a feeling of extreme sadness

    grief-stricken
a.  filled with great sorrow

    grieve 
v.

    pet
n.  an animal kept in the home as a companion

    callous
a.  without feeling for the suffering of other people; unkind

    emperor
n.  the ruler of an empire

    shudder
vi. shake uncontrollably for a moment, esp. from fear, cold, or strong dislike; tremble

    incapable
a.  not having the power or ability to do sth. or show a quality

    grovel
vi. be shamefully bumble or eager to please; ask or beg with too great humility 卑躬屈膝，奴颜婢膝

    loftily
ad. proudly; haughtily

    lofty
a.  very high; towering; noble

    benefactor
n.  a person who gives friendly help, often in the form of money

    mortally
ad. bitterly, extremely

    mortal 
a.  causing death; certain to die someday

    offend
vt. hurt the feeling of; upset

    offensive 
a.

    recipient
n.  a person who receives sth.

    legal
a.  of or using the law

    rajah
n.  an Indian ruler

    prospective
a.  expected or intended; likely to be or become

    royalty
n.  a part of the price of a book, paid to the writer on each copy sold; a payment made to the writer of a play or piece of music when it is performed 版税

    pressing
a.  urgent

    jail
n.  prison

    unscrupulous
a.  not caring about honesty and fairness in getting what one wants; completely without principles

    endless
a.  having or seeming to have no end; never finishing

    infidelity
n.  an act of disloyalty; lack of faithfulness, esp. to husband or wife

    admirer
n.  a person who admires, esp. a man who is attracted to a particular woman

    wealthy
a.  rich, abundant

    selfish
a.  concerned about oneself without thinking of others

    devotion
n.  loyalty

    lessen
v.  make or become less

    autobiography
n.  the story of a person's life written by himself/herself

    disagreeable
a.  bad-tempered and unfriendly; unpleasant

    stupendous
a.  amazing, marvelous 巨大的，惊人的

    musical
a.  of or for music

    genius
n.  a person who has very great natural ability to think and create

    unquestionably 
ad. beyond dispute or doubt; certainly

    rank
v.  have or regard as having a certain rank or relative position

    musico-dramatic
a.  of or concerning both music and the drama

    masterpiece
n.  an outstanding work 杰作

    headache
n.  a pain in the head; a difficult or worrying problem

    loot
vt. rob, plunder

    trilogy
n.  a group of three related books, plays, etc. connected by common subject matter, but each complete in itself （小说、戏剧等的）三部曲

    faithless
a.  not deserving trust; disloyal

    compromise
vi. surrender one's principles, etc. dishonorably; reach an agreement by having each side give up certain demands 背弃；妥协

    downright
ad. thoroughly; completely

    grand
a.  dignified, stately

    forgive
v.  stop being angry (at)

    forgiveness 
n.  the act of forgiving or the willingness to forgive; pardon

    scratch
v.  dig, scrape, or injure with sth. sharp, such as fingernails, claws or a tool

    shriek
vi. make a loud, shrill cry

    miracle
n.  sth. that is amazing and unusual 奇迹

         Phrases & Expressions
in relation to
  in connection with; with regard to; about

in one's eyes
  in one's opinion

in support of
  supporting

at sb.'s expense
  with sb. paying the cost

needless to say
  of course; as was to be expected

out of sorts
  in an angry or unhappy mood; in a bad temper

under obligation (to do)
  having the duty (to do)

good for
  able to pay or contribute; useful or suitable for 

lay one's hands on
  find; gain possession of

run up
  allow (sth. such as debt) to increase

on record
  written down in a record
    
  

             Unit Seven

Text
    It is often said that cats have nine lives, that they are lucky enough to escape from danger again and again. Here is a science fiction tale about how one such lucky escape by a cat led to a discovery that was able to change the course of people's lives. The problems stemming from the discovery also make interesting reading.

              ZERITSKY'S LAW

                           Ann Griffith
    Somebody someday will make a study of the influence of animals on history. Among them, Mrs. Graham's cat should certainly be included in any such study. It has now been definitely established that the experiences of this cat led to the idea of quick-frozen people, which, in turn, led to the passage of Zeritsky's Law.
    We must go back to the files of the Los Angeles newspapers for 1950 to find the story. In brief, a Mrs. Fred C. Graham missed her pet cat on the same day that she put a good deal of food down in her home deep-freeze unit. She suspected no connection between the two events. The cat was not to be found until six days later, when its owner went to fetch something from the deepfreeze. Much as she loved her pet, we may imagine that she was more horror-than grief-stricken at her discovery. She lifted the little ice-encased body out of the deep--freeze and set it on the floor. Then she managed to run as far as the next door neighbor's house before fainting.
    Mrs. Graham became hysterical after she was revived, and it was several hours before she could be quieted enough to persuade anybody that she hadn't made up the whole thing. She prevailed upon her neighbor to go back to the house with her. In front of the deep-freeze they found a small pool of water, and a wet cat, busily licking itself. The neighbor subsequently told reporters that the cat was concentrating its licking on one of its hind legs, where some ice still remained, so that she, for one, believed the story.
    A follow-up dispatch, published a week later, reported that the cat was unharmed by the adventure. Further, Mrs. Graham was quoted as saying that the cat had had a large meal just before its disappearance; that as soon after its rescue as it had dried itself off, it took a long nap, precisely as it always did after a meal; and that it was not hungry again until evening. It was clear from the accounts that the life processes had been stopped dead in their tracks, and bad, after defrosting, resumed at exactly the point where they left off.
    Perhaps it is unfair to pull all the responsibility on one luckless cat. Had such a thing happened anywhere else in the country, it would have been talked about, believed by a few, disbelieved by most, and forgotten. But it happened in Los Angeles. There, and probably only there, the event was anything but forgotten; the principles it revealed became the basis of a hugely successful business. 
    How shall we regard the Zeritsky Brothers? As archvillains or pioneers? In support of the latter view, it must be admitted that the spirit of inquiry and the willingness to risk the unknown were indisputably theirs. However, their pioneering -- if we agree to call it that -- was, equally indisputably, bound up with the quest for a fast buck.
    Some of their first clients paid as high as $15,000 for the initial freezing, and the exorbitant rate of $1,000 per year as a storage charge. The Zeritsky Brothers owned and managed one of the largest quick-freezing plants in the world, and it was their claim that converting the freezing equipment and storage facilities to accommodate humans was extremely expensive, hence the high rates.
    When the early clients who paid these rates were defrosted years later, and found other clients receiving the same services for as little as $3,000, they threatened a row and the Zeritskys made substantial refunds. By that time they could easily afford it, and since any publicity about their enterprise was unwelcome to them, all refunds were made without a whimper. $3,000 became the standard rate, with $100 per year the storage charge, and no charge for defrosting.
    The Zeritskys were businessmen, first and last. Anyone who had the fee could put himself away for whatever period of time he wished, and no questions asked, The ironclad rule was that full payment had to be made in advance.
    Criminals were the first to apply for quick-freezing, and formed the mainstay of the Zeritskys' business through the years. What more easy than to rob, hide the loot (except for that all-important advance payment), present yourself to the Zeritskys and remain in their admirable chambers for five or ten years, emerge to find the hue and cry long since died down and the crime forgotten, recover your haul and live out your life in luxury?
    Due to the shady character of most of their patrons, the Zeritskys kept all records by a system of numbers. Name never appeared on the books, and anonymity was guaranteed.
    Law enforcement agents, looking for fugitives from justice, found no way to break down this system, nor any law which they could interpret as making it illegal to quick-freeze. Perhaps the truth is that they did not search too diligently for a law that could be made to apply. As long as the Zeritskys kept things quiet and did not advertise or attract public attention, they could safely continue their bizarre business.
    City officials of Los Angeles, and particularly members of the police force, enjoyed a period of unparalleled prosperity. Lawyers and other experts who thought they were on the track of legal means by which to liquidate the Zeritsky empire found themselves suddenly able to buy a ranch or a yacht or both, and retire forever from the arduous task of earning a living.
    Even with a goodly part of the population of Los Angeles as permanent pensioners, the Zeritsky fortune grew to incredible proportions. By the time the Zeritsky Brothers died and left the business to their sons, it was a gold mine, and an inexhaustible one at that.
    Next to criminals, the majority of people who applied for quick-freezing seem to have been husbands or wives caught in insupportable marital situations. Their experiences were subsequently written up in the confession magazines. It was usually the husband who fled to Los Angeles and incarcerated himself for an appropriate number of years, at the end of which time his unamiable spouse would have died or made other arrangements. If we can believe the magazines, this scheme worked out very well in most cases.
     The sins of the fathers may be visited on the sons, but how often we see repeated the old familiar pattern of the sons destroying the lifework of the fathers! The Zeritsky Brothers were fanatically meticulous. They supervised every detail of their operations, and kept their records with an elaborate system of checks and doublechecks. They were shrewd enough to realize that complete dependability was essential to their business. A satisfied Zeritsky client was a silent client. One dissatisfied client would be enough to blow the business apart.
    The sons, in their greed, over-expanded to the point where they could not, even among the four of them, personally supervise each and every detail. A fatal mistake was bound to occur sooner or later. When it did, the victim broadcast his grievance to the world.
    The story appeared in a national magazine, every copy of which was sold an hour after it appeared on the stands. Under the title They Put the Freeze on Me! John A. Monahan told his tragic tale. At the age of 37, he had fallen desperately in love with a girl of 16. She was immature and frivolous and wanted to "play around" a little more before she settled down.
    "She told me," he wrote, "to come back in five years, and that stared me thinking. In five year I'd be 42, and what would a girl of 21 want with a man twice as old as her?"
    John Monahan moved in circles where the work of the Zeritskys was well known. Not only did he see an opportunity of being still only 37 when his darling reached 21, but he foresaw a painless way of passing the years which he must endure without her. Accordingly, he presented himself for the deep-freeze, paid his $3000 and the $500 storage charge in advance, and left, he claimed, "written instructions to let me out in five years, so there'd he no mistakes."
    Nobody knows how the slip happened, but somehow John A. Monahan, or rather the number assigned to him, was entered on the books for 25 years instead of five years. Upon being defrosted, and discovering that a quarter of a century had elapsed, his rage was awesome. Along with everything else, his love for his sweetheart had been perfectly preserved, but she had given up waiting for him and was a happy mother of two boys and six girls.
    Monahan's accusation that the Zeritskys had "ruined his life" may be taken with a grain of salt. He was still a young man, and the rumor that he got a hundred thousand for the magazine rights to his story was true.
    As most readers are aware, what has come to be known as "Zeritsky's law" was passed by Congress and signed by the President three days after Monahan's story broke.
    Seventy-five years after Mrs. Graham's cat feel into the freezer, it became he law of the land that the mandatory penalty for anyone applying quick-freezing methods to any living thing, human or animal, was death. Also, all quick-frozen people were to be defrosted immediately.
    Los Angeles papers reported that beginning on the day Monahan's story appeared, men by the thousands poured into the city. They continued to come, choking every available means of transport, for the next two days -- until, that is, Zerisky's Law went through.
    When we consider the date, and remember that due to the gravity of the international situation, a bill had just been passed drafting all men from 16 to 60, we realize why Congress had to act.
    The Zeritskys, of course, were among the first to be taken. Because of their experience, they were put in charge of a military warehouse for dehydrated foods, and warned not to get any ideas for a new business.

             New Words
    connection
n.  the state of being connected; relationship 
    -stricken 
(combining form) overwhelmed or afflicted by disease, misfortune, horror, grief, etc.

    ice-encased
a.  placed or enclosed in or as if in an ice case 

    hysterical 
a.  in a state of hysteria; emotionally disturbed 歇斯底里的

    lick
vt. pass the tongue over 舔

    subsequently
ad. afterward, late

    hind
a.  back, rear

    follow-up
a.  of sth. done to continue or reinforce an initial action

    dispatch
n.  a report sent to a newspaper, etc. by a correspondent

    disappearance
n.  the act or an example of disappearing

    rescue
vt. save from danger

    nap
n.  a short sleep, usu. at a time other than one's regular sleeping hours

    defrost
v.  make or become free of ice or frost; thaw

    unfair
a.  not fair or right; unjust

    luckless
a.  having or bringing bad luck; unfortunate

    archvillain
n.  a principal villain; an extremely wicked person 

    indisputably
ad. beyond doubt; certainly

    exorbitant
a.  going beyond reasonable limits

    storage
n.  the act of storing or the condition of being stored 

    facility
n.  (usu. pl.) sth. provided for people to use. 设备，设施

    row
n.  a noisy quarrel or dispute

    substantial
a.  large in amount

    refund
n.  the return of money paid; a repayment 退款；归还

    publicity
n.  information given out to get public attention 宣传，广告

    enterprise
n.  an undertaking, esp. one that is difficult or involving risk; a business firm

    whimper
n.  a weak complaint 牢骚，怨声

    fee
n.  a charge for a service or a right

    ironclad
a.  inflexible, rigid

    mainstay
a.  a main support

    loot
n.  goods (esp. private property) taken from an enemy in war, or stolen by thieves

    admirable
a.  worth admiring; arousing wonder and approval

    chamber
n.  an enclosed space or a private room; a room set aside for a special purpose

    hue and cry
    the pursuit of a suspected criminal with loud cries in order to raise the alarm; loud public outcry 追捕犯人时的叫喊声；（表示反对的）叫嚷

    crime
n.  an action or activity that is against the law or a failure to do what the law requires

    haul
n.  the amount of sth. gained, esp. stolen goods

    anonymity
n.  the condition of being anonymous 匿名

    enforcement
n.  the act or process of enforcing; putting into force 实施，执行

    enforce  vt.

    agent
n.  representative of a government agency

    fugitive
n.  a person running away from justice, danger, etc. 逃亡者

    illegal
a.  against the law

    diligently
ad. in a diligent manner; carefully; industriously

    bizarre
a.  strictly odd or queer in appearance or style; fantastic

    unparalleled
a.  too great to be equaled 举世无双的

    liquidate
vt. terminate the operation of (a commercial firm, etc.) by assessment of liabilities and appropriation of assets for their settlement 清算

    yacht
n.  a small ship used for pleasure trips

    arduous
a.  requiring great physical or mental effort; difficult to accomplish

    goodly
a.  considerable

    pensioner
n.  a person who receives a regular payment, not wages, from a government, company, or patron

    pension
n.  a regular payment to a person of a specified sum of money which is not wages

    proportion 
n.  the size or amount of one thing when compared to the size or amount of another; (pl.) size or extent 比率，比例；大小

    inexhaustible
a.  existing in such large amounts that it can never be finished or used up

    insupportable
a.  unbearable

    marital
a.  of or relating to marriage

    confession
n.  admission (of one's weakness, fault, sin, etc.) 坦白；忏悔

    incarcerate
vt. confine or imprison 幽闭；监禁

    unamiable
a.  ill-natured, ungracious

    spouse
n.  a wife or husband

    scheme
n.  a plan for doing sth.

    visit
vt. inflict (punishment) for (wrongdoing); avenge 降罪于，惩罚

    lifework
n.  the work to which one's life is devoted; most important work of one's life

    fanatically
ad. excessively

    meticulous
n.  extremely careful; with great attention to detail 

    double-check
n.  the act of checking again; verifying

    shrewd
a.  clever in judgment, esp. of what is to one's own advantage

    dissatisfy
vt. fail to satisfy; displease

    greed
n.  a selfish desire to get more and more of sth. 贪婪

    greedy 
a.

    expand
v.  make or become larger

    grievance
n.  a complaint or cause for complaint, esp. when one feels one has been unfairly treated

    immature
a.  not mature; not full-grown

    frivolous
a.  not serious or sensible in content, attitude or behaviour 不严肃的，轻浮的

    foresee
vt. see or realize in advance

    slip
n.  a usu. slight mistake

    elapse
vi. (of time) pass by

    awesome
a.  inspiring fear or dread

    sweetheart
n.  a person whom one loves

    accusation
n.  a statement that one has done sth. wrong

    accuse  
vt.

    rumor
n.  news or information which is passed from person to person but has not been proven to be true

    freezer
n.  a large fridge in which supplies of food can be stored at a very low temperature; deep freeze

    mandatory
a.  required by law; compulsory 依法的；强制性的

    choke
vt. block or clog up (a passage, street, etc.)

    transport
n.  the act of carrying (goods or people) from place to place

    Congress
n.  the elected law-making body, e.g. of the US 立法机构，如美国国会

    warehouse
n.  a house or building where merchandise is stored 

    dehydrate
vt. cause to lose water 使脱水

          Phrases & Expressions
in brief
  in short; to sum up

as far as
  to the distance, point or degree that

for one
  as the first of several possible examples

dry off
  make or become dry

stop dead in one's tracks
  stop very quickly or with great force

be bound up with
  be closely connected with or related to 

first and last
  always and chiefly

put away
  put in the right place or out of sight

die down
  come slowly to an end; grow slowly less or weaker
  
on the track of
  looking for, trying to find

earn/make a living
  support oneself

at that
  in addition; also
  
be caught in
  be involved in

to the point where
  to the extent that

play around
  spend time playing, fooling or joking instead of being serious or working

settle down
  marry; begin to live a stable life

take with a grain of salt
  accept or believe only in part
 
go through
  be approved or accepted

              Proper Names
  Zeritsky
  齐里斯基

  Ann Griffith
  安.格里菲斯

  Los Angeles
  洛杉机

  Fred C. Graham
  弗雷德.C.格雷厄姆

  John A. Monahan 
  约翰.A. 莫纳汉

             Unit Eight

Text
    Science fiction is definitely not pure science, but neither is it pure fiction. This literary genre, argues science fiction writer Ben Bova, stands as a bridge between science and fiction, between reason and emotion. Moreover, science fiction is not mere entertainment, but has a more important role to play. Believe it or not, it can help us to understand the ways in which our world may change and assist us in shaping the future in the manner that we wish.

      THE ROLE OF SCIENCE FICTION

                              Ben Bova
    The year 1972 was marked by publication of a controversial book, The Limits to Growth, This study of the world's future, done by a team of MIT scientists with the aid of computer "models" of the future of our society, forecast a planet wide disaster unless humankind sharply limits its population growth and consumption of natural resources.
    Most people were caught by surprise when the book came out. Many refused to believe that disaster is possible, probable, inevitable -- if we don't change our mode of running Spaceship Earth. But science fiction people were neither surprised nor outraged. The study was really old news to them. They'd been making their own "models" of tomorrow and testing them all them all their lives.
For what the scientists attempted with their computer model is very much like the thing that science fiction writers and readers have been doing for decades. Instead of using a computer to "model" a future world society, science fiction writers have used their human imaginations. This gives the writers some enormous advantages.
One of the advantages is flexibility.
    Science fiction writers are not in the business of predicting the future. They do something much more important. They try to show the many possible future that lie open to us.
    For there is not simply a future, a time to come that's inevitable. Our future is built, bit by bit, minute by minute, by the actions of human beings. One vital role of science fiction is to show what kinds of future might result from certain kinds of human actions.
    To communicate the ideas, the fears and hopes, the shape and feel of all the infinite possible futures, science fiction writers lean heavily on another of their advantages: the art of fiction.
    For while a scientist's job has largely ended when he's reduced his data to tabular or graph from, the work of a science fiction writer is just beginning. His task is to convey the human story: the scientific basis for the possible future of his story is merely the background. Perhaps "merely" is too limiting a word. Much of science fiction consists of precious little except the background, the basic idea, the gimmick. But the best of science fiction, the stories that make a lasting impact on generations of readers, are stories about people. The people may be nonhuman. They may be robots or other types of machines. But they will be people, in the sense that human readers can feel for them, share their joys and sorrows, their dangers and their ultimate successes.
    The art of fiction has not changed much since prehistoric times. The formula for telling a powerful story has remained the same: create a strong character, a person of great strengths, capable of deep emotions and decisive action. Give him a weakness. Set him in conflict with another powerful character -- or perhaps with nature. Let his exterior conflict be the mirror of the protagonist's own interior conflict, the clash of his desires, his own strength against his own weakness. And there you have a story. Whether it's Abraham offering his only son to God, or Paris bringing ruin to Troy over a woman, or Hamlet and Claudius playing their deadly game, Faust seeking the world's knowledge and power -- the stories that stand out in the minds of the reader are those whose characters are unforgettable.
    To show other worlds, to describe possible future societies and the problems lurking ahead, is not enough. The writer of science fiction must show how these worlds and these futures affect human beings. And something much more important: he must show how human beings can and do literally create these future worlds. For our future is largely in our own hands. It doesn't come blindly rolling out of the heavens; it is the joint product of the actions of billions of human beings. This is a point that's easily forgotten in the rush of headlines and the hectic badgering of everyday life. But it's a point that science fiction makes constantly: the future belongs to us -- whatever it is. We make it, our actions shape tomorrow. We have the brains and guts to build paradise (or at least try). Tragedy is when we fail, and the greatest crime of all is when we fail even to try.
    Thus science fiction stands as a bridge between science and art, between the engineers of technology and the poets of humanity. Never has such a bridge been more desperately needed.
    Writing in the British journal New Scientist, the famed poet and historian Robert Graves said in 1972, "Technology is now warring openly against the crafts, and science covertly against poetry."
    What Graves is expressing is the fear that many people have: technology has already allowed machines to replace human muscle power; now it seems that machines such as electronic computers might replace human brainpower. And he goes even further, criticizing science on the grounds that truly human endeavours such as poetry have a power that scientists can't recognize.
    Apparently Graves sees scientists as a sober, plodding phalanx of soulless thinking machines, never making a step that hasn't been carefully thought out in advance.
    But as a historian, Graves should be aware that James Clerk Maxwell's brilliant insight about electromagnetism -- the guess that visible light is only one small slice of the spectrum of electromagnetic energy, a guess that forms the basis for electronics technology  -- was an intuitive leap into the unknown. Maxwell had precious little evidence to back up his guess. The evidence came later. The list of wild jumps of intuition made by these supposedly stolid, humorless scientists is long indeed.
    Scientists are human beings! They are just as human, intuitive, and emotional as anyone else. But most people don't realize this. They don't know scientists, any more than they know much about science.
    Today most people still tend to hold scientists in awe. After all, scientists have brought us nuclear weapons, modern medicines, space flight, and underarm deodorants. Yet at the same time, we see scientists derided as fuzzy-brained eggheads or as coldly ruthless, emotionless makers of monsters. Scientists are minority group, and like most minorities they're largely hidden from the public's sight, tucked away in ghettos -- laboratories, campuses, field sites out in the desert or on Pacific atolls.
    Before the public can understand and appreciate what science can and cannot do, the people must get to see and understand the scientists themselves. Get to know their work, their aims, their dreams, and their fears.
    Science fiction can help to explain what science and scientists are all about to the non-scientists. It is no accident that several hundred universities and public schools are now offering science fiction courses and discovering that these classes are a meeting ground for the scientist-engineers and the humanists. Science and fiction. Reason and emotion.
    The essence of the scientific attitude is that the human mind can succeed in understanding the universe. By taking thought, men can move mountains -- and have. In this sense, science is an utterly humanistic pursuit, the glorification of human intellect over the puzzling, chaotic, and often frightening darkness of ignorance.
     Much of science fiction celebrates this spirit. Very few science fiction stories picture humanity as a passive species, allowing the tidal forces of nature to flow unperturbed. The heroes of science fiction stories -- the gods of the new mythology -- struggle manfully against the darkness, whether it's geological doom for the whole planet or the evil of grasping politicians. They may not always win. But they always try.
    Perhaps, however, the most important aspect of science fiction's role in the modern world is best summed up in a single word: change.
    After all, science fiction is the literature of change. Each and every story preaches from the same gospel: tomorrow will be different from today, violently different perhaps.
    Science fiction very clearly shows that changes -- whether good or bad -- are an inherent part of the universe. Resistance to change is an archaic, and nowadays dangerous, habit of thought. The world will change. It is changing constantly. Humanity's most fruitful course of action is to determine how to shape these changes, how to influence them and produce an environment where the changes that occur are those we want.
    Perhaps this is the ultimate role of science fiction: to act as an interpreter of science to humanity. This is a two-edged weapon, of course. It is necessary to warn as well as evangelize. Science can kill as well as create; technology can deaden the human spirit or life it to the farthermost corners of our imaginations. Only knowledgeable people can wisely decide how to use science and technology for humankind's benefit. In the end, this is the ultimate role of all art: to show ourselves to ourselves, to help us to understand our own humanity.

               New Words
    genre
n.  a particular type of art, writing, music, etc., which has certain characteristics that all examples of this type share（文艺作品的）体裁，样式；类型

    controversial
a.  causing much argument or disagreement

    forecast
vt. say what will happen ahead of time; predict

    planetwide
a.  extending all over the planet

    humankind
n.  human being in general; mankind

    probable
a.  likely to happen or be true

    inevitable
a.  which can not be avoided; certain to happen 

    mode
n.  a way of behaving, living, operating, etc.

    spaceship
n.  a vehicle used for traveling in outerspace; spacecraft

    flexibility
n.  flexible quality

    flexible
a.  easily adapted to fit various conditions

    tabular
a.  arranged in the form of a table

    gimmick
n.  an ingenious or novel mechanical device 别致的玩意儿；新奇的发明

    robot
n.  a machine that can move and do some of the work of a human being and is usu. controlled by a computer 机器人

    sorrow
n.  sadness, grief

    prehistoric
a.  of a time before events were written down 

    formula
n.  a fixed way of doing sth.; method 公式，程式

    decisive
a.  showing or marked by determination and firmness

    exterior
a.  on the outside; outer
n.  an outer part, surface or appearance

    clash
n.  a strong disagreement; conflict

    lurk
vi. wait in hiding. esp. for an evil purpose; exist unseen

    joint
a.  done or shared by two or more people

    headline
n.  a line usu. printed in large type at the top of a newspaper article

    hectic
a.  very busy; rushed

    badger
vt. bother by requesting sth. repeatedly

    tragedy
n.  a serious play that ends unhappily; a terrible event; disaster

    historian
n.  an expert in history; a person who writes about history

    craft
n.  a trade or art needing skill, esp. with one's hands 工艺

    covertly
ad. secretly

    poetry
n.  (the art of writing) poems

    endeavor
n.  an earnest effort or attempt

    sober
a.  not drunk; serious, solemn

    plodding
a.  proceeding in a slow or dull way

    phalanx 
n.  a closely massed body of persons, animals, or things; a number of persons united for a common purpose 方阵，密集的人群（兽群、东西）；为一个共同目标而团结起来的一群人

    soulless
a.  having or showing no attractive or tender human qualities

    electromagnetism
n.  magnetism produced by an electric current; the branch of physics that deals with electricity and magnetism 电磁（学）

    slice
n.  a thin flat piece cut from sth; portion

    electronics
n.  the study of electrons and their behavior and of electronic equipment such as computers

    stolid
a.  not easily excited; showing no emotion; seeming dull

    awe
n.  a feeling of wonder and fear mixed together with deep respect

    underarm
a.  (euph.) of or for the armpit （为）腋下的

    deodorant 
n.  a man-made chemical substance that destroys or hides unpleasant smells, esp. those of the human body

    deride
vt. laugh at or make fun of as of no value

    fuzzy
a.  not clear in shape or sound; confused

    fuzzy-brained 
a.

    egghead
n.  (derog.) a clever, highly-educated person, esp. one who is impractical

    minority
n.  a group of people of a different race, religion or nationality from the rest of society

    tuck
vt. put or store in a safe or secret place

    site
n.  a place where sth. of special interest existed or happened

    Pacific
a.  太平洋的

    atoll
n.  ring-shaped island made of coral partly or completely enclosing an area of sea water环礁，环状珊瑚礁

    humanist
n.  a student of human nature or affairs; follower of humanism 人文主义者，人本主义者；人道主义者

    humanistic
    of humanism or humanists

    glorification
n.  the act of glorifying or the state of being glorified

    chaotic
a.  in a state of complete disorder and confusion

    celebrate
vt. mark (an event) with public or private rejoicings; praise in writing, speech, etc.

    tidal
a.  of or having a tide

    tide
n.  the regular rise and fall of the sea caused by the pull of the moon and sun 潮汐 

    unperturbed
a.  undisturbed; calm

    mythology
n.  a collection of myths; the study of myths 神话集；神话学

    myth
n.  an ancient story that expresses the beliefs and values of a people 神话故事

    manfully
ad. bravely, courageously

    geological
a.  of or having to do with geology

    geology
n.  the study of the origin, structure and history of the earth 地质学

    politician
n.  a person who runs for or holds a position in government

    preach 
v.  speak publicly on a religious or moral subject

    gospel
n.  a set of instructions or teachings; any of the four accounts of Christ's life in the Bible 《新约》四部福音之一

    archaic
a.  belonging to the past; no longer used

    fruitful
a.  producing good results; successful

    interpreter
n.  a person who interprets 翻译

    interpret
vi. put (a language) into the words of another language usu. by speech; make clear or explain the meaning of

    interpretation 
n.

    evangelize
vt. preach the Gospel (to)对……宣讲福音

    farthermost 
a.  most distant; farthest

    knowledgeable
a.  knowing a lot

           Phrases & Expression
come out
  be published

bit by bit
  gradually; little by little

lean on
  choose, esp. for support; depend on

feel for
  sympathize with

in one's hands 
  under one's control; be taken care of

one the grounds that 
  for the reason that

think out
  consider, examine carefully

back up
  support, esp. in an argument

tuck away
  store in a safe place

take thought
  perform the actions connected with thinking; think 

               Proper Names
  Ben Bova
  本.博瓦

  MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
  麻省理工学院

  Abraham 
  亚伯拉罕

  Paris
  帕里斯

  Troy
  特洛伊

  Hamlet
  哈姆雷特

  Claudius
  克劳狄斯

  Faust
  浮士德

  New Scientist
  《新科学家》周刊

  Robert Graves
  罗伯特.格雷夫斯

  James Clerk Maxwell
  詹姆斯.克拉克.马克斯韦尔

  

             Unit Nine

Text
    "Every cloud has a silver lining," says the optimist. It follows naturally, then, that the pessimist must favor "looking for the rusty lining". Just as the optimist can always find reasons for hoping that bad situations can improve, so the best pessimist can always find that in every situation here is something you can worry about. In the essay, the author, a self-proclaimed pessimist, claims to be worried about being swallowed by things from outer space and about much else besides. He certainly seems to be what is known as "a born worrier", though how serious he is about it all you can judge for yourself.

       LOOK FOR THE RUSTY LINING 

                       Ralph Schoenstein

    My grandfather's hobby was worrying, and although hobbies are not usually thought of as being inheritable, I am a talented worrier, too. My grandfather's glum genes, which skipped my merry father, have reflowered in me as a major, all-purpose anxiety. A few weeks ago, for example, I learned that collapsing stars called black holes may soon such up all the matter in the universe. Because I read this in Vogue, I hoped at first that the black holes were some kind of fad -- a celestial pop event like Kohoutek or UFOs -- but then I saw that the author of the article had been twice a visiting member at the Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, and I knew that another crisis was at hand. Ominously, the Institute is just down the street from where I do my worrying.
    The end of the universe should have been a splendid challenge for a gifted worrier like me, but mostly it upset me in a new and worrisome way, because it made me realize that I was spread too thin. When I found the black-hole story, I hadn't nearly come to the end of an earlier wonderful worry of mine about the polar ice cap melting and raising the level of the Atlantic Ocean enough to submerge the entire East Coast. I had been thinking of moving my family to Saskatchewan, but now that I was falling behind in my worrying, I had to worry if Saskatchewan might be tastier for a black hole than Princeton. On the other hand, Princeton was closer to those African killer bees that have been inexorably moving north from Brazil -- the ones that made me decide not to visit Central America last winter. The bees are getting very close to Central America, and Panama may be the only place where there is a chance to turn them back. Of course, even if it had only butterflies, Panama would still be a worrisome vacation spot for me, because it is said to be riddled with as much anti-American feeling as Boston.
    In these terrible days, I often think of my grandfather, who was a nervous wreck in a simpler and happier time. His worries were transient and nicely manageable: When would Mel Ott start hitting again? When would Eleanor Roosevelt collapse from too much traveling around? When would the Third Avenue "L" rust away? I miss him, but he is lucky not to be alive and worrying today. I don't think he could have handled all the terrors that keep testing my sanity; he might even have surrendered and become an optimist, thus forfeiting the hobby he loved.
    He was my inspiration when I was a boy -- a worrier to look up to. He used to visit me in my room, where he would examine my homework and then shake his head and say, "You'll never get through medical school with spelling like this."
    "But these are band-new words," I would tell him in a worried way. "Spelling is harder this year than it was in the second grade."
    He would sigh and say, "I don't know. I'm not even sure you should be a doctor at all. I just read that they have the highest rate for dropping dead."
    My grandfather's quaint worries about me and Mel Ott and Eleanor Roosevelt are enough to make a contemporary worrier weep with envy. I wonder what he would have done if he had read a recent prediction by Gunnar Myrdal that the American economy could utterly collapse within five years -- just before the Eastern tidal wave but shortly after the arrival of the bees. Probably he would have adopted something like my own advanced worrying posture and learned to make room for each new worry by letting it trump one of the old ones. For example, when I read about the inundation of the East I forgot about my overdue Bloomingdale's bill; when I read Gunnar Myrdal's warning I decided to stop worrying about what would happen if Connecticut ever ran out of antiques. When I heard about the bees I eased off my worry about a root canal of mine and let the Panama Canal replace it on the Top Twenty.
    What a list! Something old and something new, something cosmic yet something trivial too, for the creative worrier must forever blend the pedestrian with the immemorial. If the sun burns out, will the Mets be able to play their entire schedule at night? If cryogenically frozen human beings are ever revived, will they have to re-register to vote? And if the little toe disappears, will field goals play a smaller part in the National Football League?
    Actually, I've never had a worry as worrisome as the universe-destroying black holes. I mean, the universe is where I do all my worrying, and if it suddenly disappears I may not be able to relocate. My only hope comes from a first principle of worry that I have learned in a lifetime of anxiety; i.e., some of the biggest problems are half of a self-cancelling pair. A nice example is that dreaded polar ice cap, which some scientists say isn't starting to melt at all but instead will shortly begin to enlarge rapidly, giving birth to a new ice age that soon will cover the entire United States. I worried about this ice layer form last February 9th until about Labor Day, by which time my worry about the price of bottom round had reduced it to the size of a rink. Lately, however, I have turned my mind back to the ice again, and I have been worrying about the fact that you cannot have ice that is growing and melting at the same time. One of these terrors is a dud, and the job of the dedicated worrier is to find out which one it is.
    Applying this principle to the black holes, I wonder if there may not be some white holes in space as well -- pretty, glowing things that won't digest a universe but may prefer to spit it out again. All I need is a new flash from the Institute about one of these, and then perhaps I will be able to start worrying about chinch bugs and the male menopause and all the other gentle terrors my grandfather could endorse.
    Is that the right way to spell "chinch bugs"?

           New Words
    rusty
a.  covered with rust, rusted 生锈的

    lining 
n.  the inner surface of sth. 衬里

    inheritable
a.  that can be inherited

    inherit
vt. receive (property, a title, etc.) left by someone who has died

    worrier
n.  a person who worries

    glum
a.  sad, gloomy

    gene
n.  a tiny unit of a plant or animal cell that determines a characteristic that will be passed onto the offspring of the parent 基因

    reflower
vi. flower again; (fig.) be at one's or its best once more

    all-purpose
a.  that can be used for any purpose

    suck
vt. draw into the mouth by using the lips, cheeks and tongue; absorb 吸

    vogue
n.  the popular fashion or custom at a certain time

    fad
n.  (infml) an intense but short-lived fashion

    celestial
a.  of the sky  or heaven

    UFO
    unidentified flying object 不明飞行物，飞碟

    ominously
ad. of bad omen; unfavorably, threateningly

    worrisome
a.  which troubles one or makes one anxious

    polar
a.  of or near the North or South pole

    submerge
v.  (to cause) to go under the surface of water

    tasty
a.  having a pleasant taste; full of flavor

    inexorably
ad. in a relentless way; unyieldingly  毫不宽容地

    riddle
vt. make many holes in

    wreck
n.  a destroyed or much injured ship; (fig.) a person who has lost his health or money

    quaint
a.  strange or odd in an interesting, pleasing, or amusing way

    transient
a.  lasting for only short time; quickly passing 

    manageable
a.  easy or possible to control or deal with

    rust
v.  make or become rusty

    terror 
n.  (a person or thing that causes) great or intense fear

    surrender
v.  give up or give in to the power of (esp. of an enemy) as a sign of defeat

    optimist
n.  one who is hopeful about the future

    inspiration
n.  a felling of enthusiasm and encouragement one get from sb. or sth. that give new ideas and the desire to create 灵感

    inspire 
vt.

    eastern
a.  of or belonging to the east part of the world or a country

    posture
n.  a way of behaving or thinking on a particular occasion; attitude

    trump
vt. take (a trick or card of another suit) with a trump; (fig.) be better than; surpass

    antique
n.  a piece of furniture, jewelry, etc, that was made a very long time ago and is therefore valuable

    inundation
n.  the act or fact of overflowing; flood 泛滥；洪水

    overdue
a.  left unpaid too long

    warning
n.  a notice of coming danger given beforehand

    canal
n.  a waterway dug across land for ships to go through

    pedestrian
n.  a person who goes on foot; walker
a.  (fig.) without imagination; dull, slow, commonplace

    immemorial
a.  originating in the distant past, ancient

    cryogenically
ad. by using very low temperatures

    toe
n.  one of the end parts of the foot 脚趾，足尖

    relocate
v. move to or establish in a new place

    self-cancelling
a.  cancelling itself out

    cancel
vt. neutralize or balance in force or influence; offset 

    enlarge
v.  make or become larger

    rink
n.  a sheet of ice for skating 溜冰场

    dud
n.  a shell or bomb that fails to explode; (sl.) a failure

    digest
vt. change food into simple substance that can be absorbed by the body

    spit
vt. eject or discharge (sth.) from the mouth 吐出

    flash
n.  a short new announcement concerning a new event

    chinch bug
n.  a black-and-white tropical American insect that does much damage to wheat, corn, grass and other plants in dry weather 麦虱

    menopause
n.  the period during which a woman's menstrual cycle ends, normally occurring at an age of 45 to 50 绝经期
 
    endorse
vt. give public approval of; support greatly

          Phrases & Expressions
suck up
  draw liquids etc. up a tube by making a vacuum at its upper end

but then
  but on the other hand; but at the same time

at hand
  coming soon; almost here; nearby

turn back
  cause to go back

look up to
  admire; regard with respect

get through
  be successful in; manage to do, complete, etc.

drop dead
  die suddenly

make room for 
  provide space for

run out of
  finish; exhaust

ease off
  do with less severity or intensity; become less severe
 
burn out
  use up its fuel

play a part
  do a share; have an effect on

           Proper Names
  Ralph Schoenstein
  拉尔夫.舍恩斯坦

  Vogue
  《时尚》半月刊

  Atlantic, the 
  大西洋

  Saskatchewan
  萨斯喀彻温

  Brazil
  巴西 

  Central America
  中美洲

  Panama
  巴拿马

  Boston
  波士顿

  Mel Ott
  梅尔.奥特

  Eleanor Roosevelt
  埃莉诺.罗斯福

  Gunnar Myrdal
  冈纳尔.迈达尔
  
  Bloomingdale
  布卢明代尔百货公司

  Connecticut
  康涅狄克州

  National Football League
  全国橄榄球联赛

             Unit Then

Text
    Do animals think? How could the earth show so many signs of design and purpose and yet be random? Our best scientists are heatedly debating both sides of these and other scientific questions. In the following essay, the author takes a look at science education and argues that as well ass telling students the facts and theories that have already been proved and accepted, science teacher should spend more time introducing their students to the many mysteries that remain unsolved and the arguments taking place between scientists. What better way, he argues, to stimulate their interest in thing scientific?

          DEBATING THE UNKNOWABLE
 
                         Lewis Thomas
    The greatest of all the accomplishment of twentieth-century science has been the discovery of human ignorance. We live, as never before, in puzzlement about nature, the universe, and ourselves most of all. It is a new experience for the species. A century ago, after the turbulence caused by Darwin and Wallace had subsided and the central idea of natural selection had been grasped and accepted, we thought we knew everything essential about evolution. In the eighteenth century there were no huge puzzles; human reason was all you needed in order to figure out the universe. And for most of the earlier centuries, the Church provided both the questions and the answers, neatly packaged. Now, for the first time in human history, we are catching glimpses of our incomprehension. We can still make up stories to explain the world, as we always have, but now the stories have to be confirmed and reconfirmed by experiment. This is the scientific method, and once started on this line we cannot turn back. We are obliged to grow up in skepticism, requiring proofs for every assertion about nature, and there is no way out except to move ahead and plug away, hoping for comprehension in the future but living in a condition of intellectual instability for the long time.
    It is the admission of ignorance that leads to progress, not so much because the solving of a particular puzzle leads directly to a new piece of understanding but because the puzzle -- if it interests enough scientists -- leads to work. There is a similar phenomenon in entomology know as stigmergy, a term invented by Grasse, which means "to incite to work." When three or four termites are collected together in a chamber they wander about aimlessly, but when more termites are added, they begin to build. It is the presence of other termites, in sufficient numbers at close quarters, that produces the work: they pick up each other's fecal pellets and stack them in neat columns, and when the columns are precisely the right height, the termites reach across and turn the perfect arches that form the foundation of the termitarium. No single termite knows how to do any of this, but as soon as there are enough termites gathered together they become flawless architects, sensing their distances from each other although blind, building an immensely complicated structure with its own air-conditioning and humidity control. They work their lives away in this ecosystem built by themselves. The nearest thing to a termitarium that I can think of in human behavior is the making of language, which we do by keeping at each other all our lives, generation after generation, changing the structure by some sort of instinct.
    Very little is understood about this kind of collective behavior. It is out of fashion these days to talk of "superorganisms", but there simply aren't enough reductionist details in hand to explain away the phenomenon of termites and other social insects: some very good guesses can be made about their chemical signaling systems, but the plain fact that they exhibit something like a collective intelligence is a mystery, or anyway an unsolved problem, that might contain important implications for social life in general. This mystery is the best introduction I can think of to biological science in college. It should be taught for its strangeness, and for the ambiguity of its meaning. It should be taught to premedical students, who need lessons early n their careers about the uncertainties in science.
    College students, and for that matter high school students, should be exposed very early, perhaps at the outset, to the big arguments currently going on among scientists. Big arguments stimulate their interest, and with luck engage their absorbed attention. Few things in life are as engrossing as a good fight between highly trained and skilled adversaries. But the young students are told very little about the major disagreements of the day; they may be taught something about the arguments between Darwinians and their opponents a century ago, but they do not realize that similar disputes about other matters, many of them touching profound issues for our understanding of nature, are still going on and, indeed, are an essential feature of the scientific process. There is, I fear, a reluctance on the part of science teachers to talk about such things, based on the belief that before students can appreciate what the arguments are about they must learn and master the "fundamentals". I would be willing to see some experiments along this line, and I have in mind several examples of contemporary doctrinal dispute in which the drift of the argument can be readily perceived without deep or elaborate knowledge of the subject.
    There is, for one, the problem of animal awareness. One school of ethologists devoted to the study of animal behavior has it that human beings are unique in the possession of consciousness, differing from al other creatures in being able to think things over, capitalize on past experience, and hazard informed guesses at the future. Other, "lower", animals (with possible exceptions made for chimpanzees, whales, and dolphins) cannot do such things with their minds; they live from moment to moment with brains that are programmed to respond, automatically or by conditioning, to contingencies in the environment, Behavioral psychologists believe that this automatic or conditioned response accounts for human mental activity as well, although they dislike that word "mental". On the other side are some ethologists who seems to be more generous-minded, who see no compelling reasons to doubt that animals in general are quite capable of real thinking and do quite a lot of it —— thinking that isn't as dense as human thinking, that is sparser because of the lack of language and the resultant lack of metaphors to help the thought along, but thinking nonetheless.
    The point about this argument is not that one side or the other is in possession of a more powerful array of convincing facts; quite the opposite. There are not enough facts to sustain a genuine debate of any length; the question of animal awareness is an unsettled one.
    Another debatable question arises when one contemplates the whole biosphere, the conjoined life of the earth. How could it have turned out to possess such stability and coherence, resembling as it does a sort of enormous developing embryo, with nothing but chance events to determine its emergence? Lovelock and Margulis, facing this problem, have proposed the Gaia Hypothesis, which is, in brief, that the earth is itself a form of life, "a complex entity involving the Earth's biosphere, atmosphere, oceans and soil; the totality constituting a feedback or cybernetic system which seeks an optimal physical and chemical environment for life on this planet." Lovelock postulates, in addition, that "the physical and chemical condition of the surface of the Earth, of the atmosphere, and of the oceans has been an is actively made fit and comfortable by the presence of life itself."
    This notion is beginning to stir up a few signs of storm, and if it catches on, as I think it will, we will soon find the biological community split into fuming factions, one side saying that the evolved biosphere displays evidences of design and purpose, the other decrying such heresy. I believe that students should learn as much as they can about the argument.
    One more current battle involving the unknown is between sociobiologists and antisociobiologists, and it is a marvel for students to behold. To observe, in open-mouthed astonishment, one group of highly intelligent, beautifully trained, knowledgeable, and imaginative scientists maintaining that all behavior, animal and human, is governed exclusively by genes, and another group of equally talented scientists asserting that all behaviors is set and determined by the environment or by culture, is an educational experience that no college student should be allowed to miss. The essential lesson to be learned has nothing to do with the relative validity of the facts underlying the argument. It is the argument itself that is the education: we do not yet know enough to settle such questions.

            New Words
    debate
vt. argue about (sth.) with sb., discuss
n.  a discussion about a subject on which people have different views

    unknowable
a.  beyond comprehension, esp. beyond human comprehension

    puzzlement
n.  bewilderment, perplexity

    turbulence
n.  agitation; great disturbance 骚动，纷乱

    turbulent 
a.

    subside
vi. sink to a lower or more normal level; become less 

    package
vt. wrap or seal in a container, wrappings, etc. to  attract purchasers

    glimpse
n.  a quick view or look

    incomprehension
n.  lack of comprehension; inability to understand

    reconfirm
vt. confirm anew

    skepticism
n.  a doubting state or habit of mind; doubt

    assertion
n.  a positive statement; firm declaration

    assert
vt. state positively; declare firmly

    instability
n.  lack of firmness; being unstable

    admission
n.  (an) act of accepting the truth (of sth.)

    entomology 
n.  the branch of zoology that deals with insects 昆虫学

    incite
vt. cause or encourage sb. to a strong feeling or action; provoke

    termite
n.  an insect that looks somewhat like white ants and eats the wood of buildings and furniture 白蚁

    fecal
a.  having to do with feces (waste matter discharged from the intestines)粪便的，排泄物的

    column
n.  a long, thin, upright structure; pillar; post

    arch
n.  a curved structure capable of bearing the weight of the material above it 拱

    termitarium
n.  nest of termites

    flawless
a.  without a flaw; perfect

    flaw
n.  a fault or weakness that makes sth. imperfect 瑕疵

    air-conditioning
n.  the system that uses machines to control the temperature of the air in a room or building

    humidity
n.  moisture, esp. of the air 湿气；湿度

    ecosystem
n.  an ecological system which relates all the plants, animals and people in an area to their surroundings, considered as a whole 生态系（统）

    fashion
n.  the popular way of dressing or behaving at a certain time


    superorganism
n.  a group of organisms (as of social insects) that function as a social unit

    reductionist
a.  having to do with a procedure or theory that reduces complex data or phenomena to simple terms

    reduction 
n.
   
    insect
n.  a small animal with six les, a body divided into three main parts, and often wings 昆虫

    exhibit
vt. show demonstrate

    mystery
n.  sth. that is not known or understood

    unsolved
a.  not solved or explained
 
   introduction
n. a written or spoken explanation at the beginning of a book or speech

    ambiguity
n.  the possibility of two or more meanings; vagueness 模棱两可；意义不明确

    ambiguous
a.  having more than one possible meaning, permitting more than one possible interpretation or explanation

    premedical
a.  preparing for the study of medicine

    outset
n.  the beginning

    engross
vt. take up all of; absorb

    engrossing
a.  (not of a person) very interesting

    adversary
n.  a person or group to whom one is opposed; opponent or enemy

    adverse
a.  hostile; unfavorable

    Darwinian
a.  of Charles Darwin or his theory of evolution

    dispute
n.  a quarrel, disagreement

    feature
n.  an important part or quality

    reluctance
n.  unwillingness

    reluctant  
a.
 
    doctrinal 
a.  of or having to do with doctrine

    doctrine
n.  a principle or set of principles (esp. of a religious or political kind) that is taught 主义；教条，学说

    readily
ad. without difficulty, easily; without delay, quickly

    perceive
vt. become aware of by seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling or touching; get an understanding of 

    awareness
n.  the quality or state of being aware

    ethologist
n.  a person who studies ethology (the individual and comparative study of animal behavior, including that of man) （个体）生态学家；行为学家

    consciousness
n.  the condition being aware and able to  understand what is happening; awareness

    creature
n.  a living person or animal

    capitalize
vi. (on) profit by; use to one's own advantage included

    hazard
vt. venture; risk

    exception
n.  the fact of being left out; (a cause of) not being included

    chimpanzee
n.  a small African ape with dark hair黑猩猩

    whale
n.  a large sea animal that resembles fish but breathes air 鲸

    dolphin 
n.  a sea animal that has a snout like a beak 海豚

    contingency
n.  a chance happening; uncertain event

    automatic
a.  done or produced by the body without thought or control

   automatically 
ad.

    dislike
vt. consider unpleasant; not like

    generous
a.  willing to give or share; unselfish 慷慨的

    generous-minded  
a.

    sparse
a.  thin; thinly scattered

    resultant
a.  happening as an effect; resulting

    metaphor
n.  a figure of speech in which two things are compared without using "like" or "as"

    nonetheless
ad. in spite of that; nevertheless

    sustain
vt. maintain or keep (sth.) going; confirm

    genuine
a.  real or true; not false

    unsettled
a.  not yet settled

    debatable
a.  lending itself to formal debate; having strong points on both sides

    biosphere
n.  the part of the world in which life can exist 生命层；生物圈

    conjoin
vt. cause to join together or unite

    coherence
n.  natural or reasonable connection; consistency 连贯；一致性

    coherent  
a.

    resemble
vt. be like or similar to

    embryo 
n.  the young of any creature in its first state before birth, or before coming out of an egg 胚胎

    emergence
n.  the act or fact or emerging

    entity
n.  sth. That has a real and separate existence; being; existence 实体；存在

    totality
n.  the state of being whole; completeness

    feedback 
n.  a process in which the factors that produce a result are themselves modified,  corrected, strengthened, etc. by that result 反馈

    cybernetic
a.  of, relating to, or involving cybernetics （控制论）

    optimal
a.  most favorable; best

    optimum   
n., a.

    postulate
vt. assume without proof as a basis of reasoning; take for granted

    notion
n.  an idea, belief or opinion in one's mind; concept

    fume
vi. give off vapor, gas or smoke; show anger or irritation

    faction
n.  a group or party within a large group  派别

    evolve
v.  develop gradually by a long continuous process 演化

    decry
vt. express strong disapproval; cry out against

    heresy
n.  a belief different from the accepted belief of a church, school, profession or other group 异教；异端

    sociobiologist
n.  one who studies the biological basis for animal and human social behavior

    antisociobiologist  
n.

    behold
vt. have in sight; see

    astonishment
n.  great surprise; amazement

    astonish 
vt.

    imaginative
a.  having or showing a strong imagination 

    govern
vt. direct or manage; rule; control

            Phrases & Expressions
move ahead 
  go forward

plug away
  work persistently

at close quarters
  very near or near together

out of fashion
  not popular or approved of
 
explain away 
  give a satisfactory reason for; remove objection to by means of a convincing argument

at the outset
  at the beginning

on the part of
  of or by (sb.)

have it (that) 
  maintain, assert (that)

think over
  think carefully about; consider; study

capitalize on
  profit by; make full use of (sth.)

in possession of
  having; owing

stir up
  excite; stimulate; provoke
 
catch on
  become popular or fashionable

          Proper Names
  Lewis Thomas
  刘易斯.托马斯

  Darwin
  达尔文

  Walace
  华莱士

  Grasse
  格拉斯

  Lovelock
  洛夫洛克

  Margulis
  马古利斯

  Gaia
  盖亚