When faced with all kinds of environmental problems, many people seem to believe that we have to choose either economic prosperity or environmental protection. In my view, this is a false choice. I think that economic development and environmental protection can and must coexist. It is true that development has brought with it a number of environmental problems, such as air pollution, water shortages and acid rain, but at the same time modern industry and commerce have greatly improved our lives. Few would wish to live without the benefits of television, automobiles, computers, etc. To stop developing our industry and commerce for the sake of nature alone is pure sentimentalism.
Of course, we can't allow economic growth to go on at the expense of the environment, either. When a healthy environment is gone, everything that our life depends on is gone, too. So, we must protect the environment -- not for the sake of the environment alone -- but for the sake of man.(162 words)
Before putting pen to paper, read the advice on writing skills in the following box, as this may be of some help to you.
Writing Strategy
How to write a persuasive essay
The purpose of persuasive writing is to state an opinion which you are going to defend and to
offer supporting evidence in order to convince the reader to agree with you. There are three steps that you should take to produce a good persuasive essay.
1. Write your thesis clearly at the beginning the essay. The thesis is your statement of purpose and it will serve to guide you in writing the entire paper.
2. Give facts or other useful data to support your thesis. This can be done in several paragraphs in order of importance or relevance to the thesis.
3. By tying together what has been discussed, conclude your essay with a restatement of the thesis or a forceful sentence that helps to drive your thesis home.
Book 3
Unit 1
household primarily cut back get through premium insurance pick up pursue
十年之前，南希做了许许多多美国人梦寐以求的事。她辞去了经理职位，在邻近地区开了一家家用器材(equipment)商店。像南希那样的人作出这种决定主要是出于改善生活质量的愿望。
然而，经营小本生意绝非易事。在失去稳定的收入后，南希不得不削减日常开支。有
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时候她甚至没有钱支付她所需要的种种保险的费用。有一次她连电话费也付不起，只得向她的父母亲借钱。
幸运的是，通过自己的努力，她已经度过了最困难的时期。她决心继续追求她所向往的更加美好的生活。参考答案:
A decade ago, Nancy did what so many Americans dream about. She quit an executive position and opened/set up a household equipment store in her neighborhood. People like Nancy made the decision primarily because of / owing to /due to their desire to improve the quality of their lives.
But, to run a small business is by no means an easy job. Without her steady income, Nancy had to cut back on her daily expenses. Sometimes she did not even have the money to pay the premiums for the various kinds of insurance she needed. Once she could not even pick up the phone bill and had to ask her parents to loan her some money.
Fortunately, through her own hard work, she has now got through the most difficult time. She is determined to continue pursuing her vision of a better life.Model paper
Recent Changes in Chinese Family Life
Great changes have taken place in Chinese family life in the past twenty years. In my parents' words, the difference between their childhood and mine is as vast as that between heaven and earth.
When my parents were young, there was no TV, no computers nor any other electronic appliances in their home. Their food was simple and their clothing plain. What is unbelievable to young people today is that they seldom dined out in a restaurant, or traveled to a scenic spot for a holiday.
In contrast to family life one generation ago, each family in China today has at least one TV set and many have been equipped with telephones, computers, even cars. While the senior members of a family watch films on TV at home, the younger members like to play computer games or talk to their friends who may live thousands of miles from them.
The changes in Chinese family life have mirrored the economic development of our country. Without the prosperity of the whole country, our family life would probably be just the same as before. Times have changed. And changed, most would surely agree with me, for the better. (194 words)
Before putting pen to paper, read the following advice on writing skills, as this may be of some
help to you.
Writing Strategy
Using comparison and contrast in essay writing (2)
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In Unit One, Book Two, we touched upon two points which you should bear in mind when planning a comparison and contrast essay. Now we would like to call your attention to two more points:
Writing an Insightful Concluding Remark
It seems natural to end a comparison and contrast paper with an insightful remark. The reason is clear.
Comparing or contrasting enables us to understand each of the two things more clearly. Deeper understanding of the things can, in turn, give us a fresh insight into them and help us view them from a new perspective. As a result, insightful concluding remarks flow logically and smoothly from the body of the essay. After contrasting ways to learn in China and the West, Howard Gardner brings his essay to a conclusion by advancing a judicious suggestion about how to find a better approach to education. Donna Barron, having compared American households today and yesterday, concludes her essay with an optimistic prediction concerning family life. Using Transitional Words and Phrases
In Unit Six, Book Two, we made mention of use of transitional words and phrases as a device to achieve coherence. For comparison and contrast essays you can use the following transitional words and phrases to connect ideas:
For comparison (similarities): likewise, similarly, in a similar way, in the same way, just as ... so ...
For contrast (differences): unlike, however, although, while, whereas, on the other hand, in contrast, on the contrary
Unit 2
settlement painful capture underground racial conviction disguise abolish liberate close in on
痛苦的奴隶生活坚定了亨森为自由而战的决心。他获得自由后不久就成了一个帮助逃跑奴隶的组织中的一员。 他几次偷偷地回到美国帮助其他奴隶通过地下铁路获得自由。有一次在逃跑时，亨森和几个逃跑的奴隶被捕捉奴隶的人包围。他将逃跑的奴隶乔装打扮一番，成功地躲避了追捕。另外，他后来在加拿大的得累斯顿为逃跑的奴隶建造了一个居住小区，并建了教堂和学校，逃跑的奴隶们在这里能够学到有用的谋生之道。他坚信奴隶制终将被废除，所有奴隶终将获得解放，种族歧视消失的那天一定会到来。参考答案:
Henson's painful life as a slave strengthened his determination to struggle for freedom. Shortly after he achieved freedom he became a member of an organization that assisted fugitive slaves. He secretly returned to the United States several times to help others to travel the Underground Railroad to freedom. Once some slave catchers closed in on the escaping slaves and Henson when they were on the run. He disguised them and successfully avoided capture. In addition, he built a small settlement in Dresden for escaped slaves, setting up a chapel and a school where they could learn useful ways of making a living. He held to the conviction that slavery would be abolished, all the slaves would be liberated, and the day was bound to come
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when racial discrimination no longer existed.Model paper
The Civil-Rights Movement in the U.S.
Black Africans were first brought as slaves to what was to become the United States in the seventeenth century. Slavery was strongest in the South, where large plantations grew cotton, tobacco, and other crops. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, a growing demand for cotton led to an increase in the demand for slaves in the region. Slavery was less profitable in the North, however, and much of the opposition to slavery came from the northern states. The tension between the North and the South over the issue of slavery led to the Civil War in 1861.
With the victory of the North, slavery was abolished. Discrimination, however, did not end. Black Americans were treated as second class citizens, especially in the South. Dissatisfaction with unfair treatment eventually led to the civil rights protests of the 1950s and 1960s that brought about government action aimed at reducing discrimination.
As a result, African Americans have come a long way in the last fifty years, but they still find themselves at a disadvantage in comparison with Americans of European descent. Only 17 per cent of the black population are able to finish higher education, in contrast to 28 per cent of whites. Incomes for the average white family were just over $44,000 in 1999. For an average black family, however, the figure was in the region of $25,000.Not one of the chief executive officers of the top 500 companies is black.
Anyway, the civil-rights movement in the U.S. still has a long way to go.
Before putting pen to paper, read the following advice on writing skills, as this may be of some help to you.
Writing Strategy Using Library Resources
You will by now be used to using brainstorming to generate information on topics you write
about. However, in writing about complex and serious issues, you cannot expect to generate all the ideas by brainstorming, which focus on what you already know. Suppose you want to write about the impact of the civil-rights movement in America. You may already have some ideas on this issue. By brainstorming, you can develop a general framework. However, that is not sufficient for you to write a paper on such a serious and complex topic. You will find it necessary to do some library research on the issue.
A college library usually has the following basic sources which help you locate the information you need:
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General References
General references include dictionaries, encyclopedias, and atlases. They can give you a basic understanding of a topic. Index, Catalogs
They give information on what has been written and published about a subject. Abstracts
Abstracts not only list subject headings, but also summarize key information in a highly condensed form. Bibliographies
A bibliography -- a list of publications on a subject -- gives you an overview of what has been published on a given subject.
Follow the research guides provided by each library and you should be able to find the necessary information for your essay.
Unit 3
vulnerable wander statistics pry
barrier advertisement on the latch put up
在美国每隔15秒钟就有人举报一起入室行窃案（burglary）。统计数据显示去年窃贼
（burglar）光顾了两百多万户人家。人们实际上几乎无法将蓄意行窃的盗贼拒之门外，所能做的只是设法阻拦他片刻，从而使其暴露在巡警（police patrol）或附近溜达的人们面前。常识告诉我们，光照是犯罪行为的障碍物。家门口必须安装一盏灯，并在晚间开着。不管你是否相信，有些人，尤其是最晚进家的孩子，晚上进屋后不把门锁上。空心门（door of hollow core），即便是锁上了，也易遭贼侵入。因此最好选择实心（solid core）门或铁门，因为窃贼很难将它们撬开。如果你有意购买报警装置，别忘了索要报警器的标志，并把它们张贴在窗户和门上。最后，提醒一句，外出旅游时，一定要请一位信得过的邻居，在你回来前帮你收好每日的报纸和邮件。这是因为放在门阶（doorstep）上或邮箱里成堆的报纸邮件如同广告一样使大家都知道你家里没人。参考答案:
A burglary is reported every 15 seconds in the United States. Statistics show burglars entered more than 2 million homes last year. Actually it is almost impossible to keep a determined burglar out. All you can do is discourage him for a few minutes, thus exposing him to police patrols or those wandering around. Common sense tells us that lighting is a barrier to criminal activity. A light should be fixed in the doorway and switched on at night. Believe it or not, some people, particularly children who happen to be the last to come in, leave their doors on the latch at night. Doors of hollow core, even when locked, are vulnerable to break-ins. Thus doors of solid core or steel are much preferred as they make it difficult for the burglar to pry open. If you decide to buy an alarm device, be sure to ask for its signs and put them up on both windows and doors. Finally, a word of warning -- when you travel, make sure that you have a trusted neighbor collect and keep all the deliveries of newspapers and mail until you return. This is because a collection of newspapers and mail on the front doorstep or in your mailbox is an advertisement that no one is home.
Model paper
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VIP专享大学英语全新版汉英翻译及作文答案
