• 沒有找到結果。

时间的声音

在文檔中 1 Leisure Activities (頁 121-127)

1 时间会说话。它比语言表达得更清楚明了。它所传递的信息明白易懂。由于时间并不那么任人摆布,

因此它不像讲话那么容易被歪曲。时间能响亮地说出真相,而语言则会说谎。

122 Unit 8

2 比如,在某些特定背景下,一天中的不同时刻就会显出特殊的意义。时间既可以显示特定场合的重要 性,又可以表明人际交往将在何种层次上进行。在美国,如果你一大早就给别人打电话,那个人正在刮胡 子或吃早餐,这通常意味着事情极为重要或十分紧急。晚上11点过后打电话也一样。夜间睡觉时接到的电 话常被视作是生死攸关的事情,因此年轻人之间才会开恶俗的玩笑去打这种电话。

3 对待时间的不同方式会带来诸多麻烦。一位美国农学家的例子就很好地说明了这一点。该农学家被 委派到一个拉丁美洲国家担任大使馆专员。在经过了一段他自认为合适的时间之后,他告知对方他想拜访 该国的农业部长。由于种种原因,他提议的时间不合适——对方给予了各种暗示,大概意思是拜访部长 的时机尚未成熟。可是,我们这位朋友固执己见,最后对方不太情愿地答应了这次会见。他比约定时间略 早些到达(这是美国人表示尊重的方式)后,便开始等待会见。约定时间到了,又过了;5分钟——10 钟——15分钟过去了。这时,他提醒部长秘书说部长可能还不知道他在其办公室外间等候。这样提醒一 下让他觉得自己做了一件具体的事情,同时也有助于他克服内心不断膨胀的焦急情绪。20分钟——25 钟——30分钟——45分钟又过去了(这是一段让他感到屈辱的时间)!

4 他腾地一下站了起来,告诉秘书说他已经在办公室外间“空等”了45分钟,他“受够了”这种待遇。

这话传到了部长那儿,结果那位部长说:“那就让他空等吧。”这位使馆专员在这个国家任职期间是不愉快的。

5 误解产生的原因主要在于,在这个国家5分钟的拖延时间算不了什么。另一方面,在该国,45分钟的 等待时间并不是等待的极限,而只是刚刚开始。你在等了60秒钟后就向一位美国秘书提醒说她的老板也许 不知道你在那儿等待,这种做法显得很荒谬,就像你因为“空等”了5分钟就大发雷霆一样荒谬。而这位 部长恰恰就是这样看待在他办公室外间等着的美国人的抗议的。像通常那样,他觉得美国人完全不可理喻。

6 在这件不愉快的事件的整个过程中,这位美国专员都是按照自己从小到大学会的方式行事的。在他自 己的家乡美国,他这种反应是正常的,其行为也是合乎情理的。然而,即便在他出国前就得知可能会发生 这种事情,但如果让他空等45分钟,他还是难免会感到受了侮辱。另一方面,倘若他事先经过培训,了解 当地时间观念的细节,正如他应该学会当地的口语一样,他也许有可能会进行适应性调整。

7 在这种情形下,让人们烦恼的是他们并未意识到自己正在经历另一种形式的沟通。这种沟通有时需要 借助语言,有时又与语言毫不相干。所传递的信息不是用正式词汇表达的,这使事情更加难以处理,因为 任何一方都无法明确知道实际发生的情况。每个人都只能说出他认为发生了什么以及他个人对此事的感受。

真正造成伤害的是对对方传递的信息的不同理解。

PART 3 Further Development

1 Vocabulary Review

Section A 1 A

A a sudden attack of illness in the brain that can cause loss of the power to move, speak clearly, etc.

B one of a set of movements in swimming or rowing in which you move your arms or the oar forward and then back repeatedly

C a single movement of a pen or brush when you are writing or painting

123 Time 2 B

A people who deal with the protection of buildings and equipment, especially people who do this for a company or store

B protection from bad things that could happen to you

C sth. deposited or given as assurance of the fulfillment of an obligation 3 C

A hold sb. or sth. using your hands, arms, or body and take them somewhere B have sth. with you everywhere you go

C have sth. as a particular quality 4 C

A shine suddenly and brightly for a short time B show sth. to sb. for only a short time

C suddenly remember many events from one’s life 5 B

A see and notice sth.

B say or write what you have noticed about a situation

C do what you are supposed to do according to a law or agreement 6 A

A use or take what is needed from sth.

B touch sb. or sth. gently

C make a regular pattern of sounds with your fingers or feet 7 C

A know what sth. is

B realize that sth. is important or very good C accept or admit that sth. is true

8 B

A make sb. experience sth. unpleasant B likely to experience sth. or affected by sth.

C obliged to obey a set of rules, laws, etc.

9 C

A an area that a police officer has responsibility for and must walk around regularly B the main rhythm that a piece of music or a poem has

C one of a series of regular movements or hitting actions 10 B

A believe or say that sth. was written, said, painted, etc. by a particular person B believe or say that a situation or event is caused by sth.

C believe or say that sb. or sth. has a particular quality Section B

1 with 2 to 3 on / upon 4 with 5 from 6 into 7 on 8 up 9 in 10 with 11 over / on 12 for 13 in 14 to 15 through 16 on 17 in 18 of

124 Unit 8

2 Talking About Your Timing

Sample

Interpretation of the Results

• Mostly As: You are a daydreamer. Did you actually manage to finish your quiz? You have little control over your life. Chaos is your natural habitat. Perhaps you tell yourself that this is creative, but the truth is that you hate discipline and are frightened of it. Your abilities remain untested and your dreams unfulfilled.

• Mostly Bs: Your ability to manage time is impressive, but you respect yourself enough to know when to relax, and you are clever enough to know that the best decisions are never made in an atmosphere of pressure. Deadlines don’t worry you, and your work seldom puts unbearable demands on you. You look ahead and make sure crises don’t happen.

• Mostly Cs: You are like Cinderella waiting for a fairy godmother who’s going to make time for all your dreams and make everything all right for you. “I’ll get round to it,” you tell yourself.

You are an expert at putting things off for the best reasons. Your excuses are endless. Forget them. The right time is now.

• Mostly Ds: You are an achiever. You are a superman or superwoman. You certainly know how to get a job done, and you are proud of your management of time. You are compulsive about using every second of the day to good effect, and you get irritable with people who take life at a slower pace. Relax a little. Remember that stress is a killer.

Note

1 But I do stop to smell the flowers: This implies that the person takes some time to enjoy the pleasant things in life.

2 demanding: needing a lot of time, ability, and energy

3 Life is not a dress rehearsal, so don’t just play a role: The dress rehearsal is the final production of a play before it is shown in public. In this case, the writer means that you can’t get a second chance in life, so you should take it seriously.

4 To everything there is a season: This means that there is a time and place for everything.

3 Talking About Punctuality

Sample

For people who are always late, I think first they should realize that it is impolite to keep others waiting. Wasting other people’s time can leave a very bad impression on them, especially when nowadays everybody seems to accelerate their pace and values their time very much. If a job applicant is late for the interview, their chance of getting the job will be definitely slim. So it’s advisable to assume that an important appointment is five or 10 minutes earlier than it actually is in order not to be late for it. It is recommended that those who are always late ask someone, such as a roommate or a friend, to remind them of the appointment or class so that they won’t forget the time. If you find it difficult to get up in the morning, especially in wintertime, an alarm clock is a good choice. If you’re an organizer of a meeting or an activity, always inform habitually late people of an earlier time than those who are punctual. Or you may ask latecomers to treat those who arrive before them.

125 Time

4 Helping a Friend

Sample

First, you should be aware that there are different time concepts between the two cultures.

Generally speaking, the pace of life in China is getting faster and faster, especially in large cities.

One thing you might find interesting or maybe frustrating in China is the long lunch break in some offices and institutions. It’s usually about two hours, and people can take a long after-lunch nap. Generally you can’t get anything done between 12 at noon and 2 p.m.

However, in big companies, especially those international companies, efficiency is highly valued. I believe these companies don’t have much difference in time concept from the U.S. Most businesses in China also believe time is money and it’s a sin to waste time. To make full use of time is ideal. When people’s income is based on how much work they’ve done, time means money in its real sense.

We generally consider being punctual a virtue. To be polite Chinese hosts or hostesses usually get there earlier than their guests. They usually tolerate lateness of their guests. But if their guests arrive too late, it shows they are not considerate or polite. Being late for meetings, for work or for school used to be tolerated, but is now considered bad manners and inefficient. So you see, being punctual is also observed in China.

5 Time Travel

Sample

1 If I could relive one year of my life, I think I would relive my freshman year of college. During my freshman year, I became discouraged and lost faith in myself due to various struggles I came upon. Because it took me too long to adjust myself to the environment and my studies, it gave me so much pressure that I wasn’t as attentive to the needs of my friends and family as I should have been. If I could relive that year, I would do better and take more time to appreciate and care for my loved ones.

2 If I had a time machine that could take me back in time, I would travel back to visit Han Dynasty in China around the year 200 BC. I have read that it was a splendid time in China’s history, which was regarded as the most glorious civilization of that period. I would like to see what China would have been like back then during this “golden age”. I’d like to observe how ancient Chinese did in terms of agriculture, business, finance and education. I could make a comparison between that dynasty and modern China. We could learn how ancient Chinese lived in harmony with nature and how they enjoyed life without all the modern gadgets and facilities.

PART 4 Translation and Writing

2 Translation Practice

1 蛋白质由氨基酸组成,而氨基酸有助于构成和修复人体组织。

126 Unit 8

2 根据在德国进行的探索性研究报告,当人们被分成小组,一起置身于不受光、温度和湿度等外部时 间提示因素影响的环境中时,他们自身内部复杂的时间节奏无法与外部时间保持同步;但他们的生 物钟随后会重新调整,相互之间保持同步。

3 我们正在通过这些实验测试大脑的神经生物学模式,这种模式提供了大脑神经处理信息及接受刺激 的方式。

4 长期以来,行为科学家们一直认为这些差异是个人异常习惯或早期训练的结果。但这种想法遭到了 内科医生兼生物学家弗朗兹·哈尔伯格称为时间生物学的理论的质疑。

5 温格特和同在美国国家航空航天局工作的时间生物学家查尔斯·德罗西亚还就如何缓解飞行时差反 应所带来的疲劳提出了一些建议:在出发前一周左右开始调整日常活动的时间,使其与你将要去的 目的地的时间安排保持一致。

3 Writing

Sample 1

A Race Against Time

Sometimes time passes quickly, and sometimes it passes slowly. For example, it happened to me on the playground one day. We were having a P.E. lesson and timing a 1,000-meter race. When my turn came, I became nervous and I knew I would have a hard time. After a while, I dropped to the last. I tried my best to keep up with the rest of the group, but the distance between me and them became longer and longer. I said to myself, “I am the last one!” I became increasingly nervous.

Soon I was out of breath and worn out. My legs seemed so heavy that they moved very slowly and I couldn’t control them. In the meanwhile, I was thirsty and got a stuffy nose. I thought of quitting, but I couldn’t. I had no choice but to continue.

I finally finished the race. A classmate asked me, “How do you feel?” “Terrible,” I said. “The past few minutes seemed like an hour.” Almost at the same time, I heard the teacher’s voice, “The last runner’s time: 4 minutes and 27 seconds.” I couldn’t believe my ears.

Sample 2

Time Flies

We bought a computer for our dormitory a month ago. At first we all promised not to play computer games, but later, we all broke our promises.

Last Sunday evening, I was going to do some homework. It was 5:30 p.m. and I thought I had plenty of time to finish it that evening. At that time, my roommates were playing the game “Need for Speed III”. They cheered when they won the game and attracted my attention. I couldn’t resist the temptation and said, “Let me have a try.” How exciting it was! I sat in front of the computer as if I were in a racing car. I ran into a corner and stepped on the gas and rushed ahead and won. Sometimes I made a mistake and the car turned over, but I didn’t lose heart. Again and again I played. Again and again I wanted to play more. I didn’t care what time it was. I thought it was still early.

Time flew and four hours passed before I knew it. I was astonished when I looked at my watch. It’s impossible, I thought, because it seemed to me like only a little while. I jumped off the stool and

Time flew and four hours passed before I knew it. I was astonished when I looked at my watch. It’s impossible, I thought, because it seemed to me like only a little while. I jumped off the stool and

在文檔中 1 Leisure Activities (頁 121-127)