Unit 2
2 You must be careful how you answer this question. The best technique技巧，方法 is to form an honest yet sensitive谨慎，敏锐的 response, then promptly马上 excuse yourself for some kind of emergency突发事件，紧急情况. Trust me, this is the easiest way out. No amount of rehearsal排练，预演 will help you come up with the right answer.
对于如何应对这个问题，你一定得小心。 最好的对策就是给一个诚实但又谨慎的回答，然后借口有急事马上脱身。 相信我，这是最简单的方法。 对于她的这一问题，无论你事先练习多少次，都不会找到正确答案。
6 Why do women consider their looks so deficient不足，有缺陷的? This chronic一直有的，长期的，慢性的 insecurity不自信 isn't inborn,天生的, but created through the interaction互相作用，互动 of many complex复杂的 心理上的 and societal社会的 因素, beginning with the dolls we give them as children. Girls grow up playing with dolls proportioned被做成特定比例的 so that, if they were human, they would be seven feet tall and weigh 61 pounds, with tiny thighs大腿 and a large upper body. This is an absurd荒谬的 standard to live up to, especially when you consider the size of the doll's waist, a relative相对的 measurement尺寸 physically从身体上来说，完全地 impossible for a living human to achieve实现，达到. Contrast对比 this absurd standard标准 with that presented被提供给，被展示给 to little boys with their \played with were weird-looking相貌怪诞的, like the one called Buzz-Off that was part human, part flying insect. This guy was not a looker好看的人或物, but he was still
extremely极其 self-confident自信. You could not imagine him saying to the others, \this accessory附件 the right shade色调 of violet紫色 for this outfit装备，外套?\为什么女性会把自己的外貌想得这么差呢？ 这种长期的不安全感并不是与生俱来的，而是由许多复杂的心理和社会因素的相互作用造成的，从小时候大人们给她们买洋娃娃时就开始了。 女孩成长过程中摆弄的洋娃娃，如果按照身材比例还原为真人大小的话，就会是7英尺高，61 英磅重，大腿纤细，上身丰满。 要达到这样的标准是很荒唐的，尤其是当我们想想那种洋娃娃的腰围尺寸，就知道其相对尺寸对任何一个活人来说都是不可企及的。 与女孩玩具的这种荒唐标准相比，小男孩们得到的“动作玩偶”却是完全不同的模样。 大多数男孩的玩具都样貌古怪，例如那个叫作“蜜蜂侠”的玩偶，一半像人，一半像会飞的昆虫。 这个玩偶尽管样子不好看，但仍然非常自信。 你肯定无法想象他会问别人说：“这个配饰的紫罗兰色和这件外套配不配呢？”
9 Of course women argue that they become obsessed迷恋的 with appearance外表 as a reaction反应，应对 to pressure压力 from men. The truth is that most men think beauty is more than just lipstick口红 and perfume香水 and take no notice of these extra details细节.I have never once, in more than 40 years of listening to men talk about women, heard a man say, \gorgeous迷人，漂亮 fingernails!\
fingernails are all homogeneous相同的，同质的 anyway, and one woman's flawless无瑕疵的，完美的 pink polish擦亮剂，指甲油 is exactly as invisible看不见的，不引人注目的 as another's bare不加修饰的，赤裸的，光秃秃的 nails。
当然，女性会争辩说她们对外表的热衷追求是出于对来自男性的压力的一种反应。 而事实是，大多数男性认为美丽不仅仅来自于口红和香水，而且他们也不会去注意这些额外的细节。 四十多年来，我在听男性谈论女性时，从来没有一次听到过哪位男性这样说：“她的指甲真漂亮啊！” 对大多数男性来说，像指甲这样小的东西看起来都一样，无论一个女士的指甲是用粉色指甲油涂得完美无瑕，还是光光的毫无修饰，男性都一概视而不见。
Unit 5
20 Having listened to both Chinese and English, I'm suspicious怀疑 of comparisons between the two languages, as I notice the reciprocal互相的，相互的 challenges挑战 they each present提供给，展示给，给予. English speakers say Chinese is extremely difficult because different words can be denoted代表，表示 by very subtle细微的，微妙的 变化，改变 in tone. English is often bracketed括在一起，归类 with the label标签 of inconsistency不一致, a language of too many broken rules.
由于一直同时听着中英文两种语言，故而我对它们之间的任何对比总是心存怀疑，因为我注意到它们各自都有对方所没有的难点。 说英文的人会认为中文极其难，因为中文用非常微妙的声调变化就可以表示不同的词语。 而英文则常常被认为缺乏一致性，因为英文具有太多不合规则的用法。
21 Even more dangerous, in my view, is the temptation诱惑 to view the gulf区别，鸿沟 between different languages and behavior in translation. To listen to my mother speak English, an outside spectator观众 might make the deduction推断 that she has no concept概念 of the temporal时间的 differences of past and future or that she is gender性别 blind because she refers称呼 to my husband as \ If one were not careful, one might also generalize概括 that all Chinese people take an indirect route路线 to get to the point. It is, rather, my mother's individual个人的 tendency倾向 to ornament修饰 her language and wander绕弯子 around a bit.
在我看来，更危险的做法是，人们往往倾向于通过翻译来理解不同语言和行为之间的差异。 如果一个旁观的外人听我母亲说英语，可能会得出结论，说她对过去和将来这样的时间区别没有概念，或者认为她对人的性别不加区分，因为她提到我丈夫时总是说“她”。 如果一个人对此类现象不假思虑，他也许还会概括说，所有中国人都是通过委婉迂回的方式才能说到话题重点的。 而实际上喜欢修饰和绕弯子只是我母亲个人的说话风格。
26 These remarks are not representative代表的 of new ideas, honest emotions, or considered深思熟虑的 thought. Like a piece of bread, they are only the crust外壳，表皮 of the interaction交流, or what is said from the polite distance of social社交的 contexts: greetings, farewells, convenient方便的，便利的 excuses, and the like. This generalization概括, therefore, is not a true composite合成物 of Chinese culture but only a stereotype成见，固定看法 of our exterior外在的，外表的 behavior.
这些话不能表达什么新观点，也不能传达什么真实的情感或深思熟虑的想法。 它们就像一片面包，只是人们交往中最表层的东西，或社交场合下出于礼貌而说的一些话：问候、道别、顺口的托词，诸如此类。 由此看来，那些对中国人的概括性评价并非是对中国文化成分的真实描述，而仅仅是对我们外在行为的一种成见而已
Unit 6
4 These weren't the only destinies命运 of men, as I learned from having a few male男性的 teachers, from reading books and from watching观看television. But the men on television — the news commentators评论员, the lawyers律师, the doctors, the politicians who levied征收 the taxes and the bosses who gave给予，发布orders — seemed as remote遥远的and unreal to me as the figures人物，形象in old paintings. I could no more imagine growing up to become one of these sophisticated世故的，老练的people than I could imagine becoming a sovereign权利至高无上的, 主权独立的 prince.
这些并非男人们唯一的归宿，我从曾经有过的几位男教师、从看书及看电视中认识到了这一点。 但是，那些上电视的男人们——新闻评论员、律师、医生、课征税款的政治家及发号施令的老板们——在我看来就像古老绘画上的人像，遥远而不真实。 我不能想象自己长大会变成这些精明世故的人中的一员，就像我无法想象自己能变成一个权力至高无上的国君一样。
8 When the women I met at college thought about the joys and privileges特权 of men, they didn't see the sort of men I had known. These daughters of privileged, Republican men wanted to inherit继承 their fathers' power and lordship 统治 over the world. They longed渴望 for a say over their future. But so did I. The difference between me and these daughters was that they saw me, because of my sex, as destined命中注定的 from birth to become like their fathers, and therefore as an enemy to their desires. But I knew better. I wasn't an enemy to their desires, in fact or in feeling. I was an ally盟友，同盟者 in their rebellion反抗，反叛. If I had known, then, how to tell them so, or how to be a mediator调停人, would they have believed me? Would they have known?
当我在大学里遇到的那些女子们想到男人的享乐和特权时，她们并没有见过我以前认识的那些男人。 这些特权阶层的、共和党男人的女儿们渴望继承她们父亲的权力和凌驾世界的贵族身份。 她们渴望能对自己的未来拥有发言权。 而我也渴望这样。 我和这些女儿们之间的区别在于，她们看我时想到的是，我因为自己的性别而自出生起就注定可以成为像她们父亲那样的人，从而也是她们实现自己欲望的敌人。 但我比她们更清楚，无论是事实上还是情感上，我都不是她们欲望的敌人。 我是她们反抗行动的同盟者。 如果那时我就知道如何把这些告诉她们，或如何在中间做一个调停人，她们会相信我吗？ 她们能够理解吗？
Unit 7
1 Two hundred years ago, the world experienced经历 an energy revolution that launched发射，开启 the Industrial Age. Ever since then, with the rapid increase of population density密度, the industrialized world's thirst渴求 for energy has more than tripled增加两倍，Petroleum and natural gas are exploited剥削，利用 as versatile多用途的 and high quality energy products. Uranium is also tapped开发，利用 to fuel nuclear reactors and provide atomic energy.
两百年前，全球经历了一场能源革命，由此引发了工业时代的到来。 从那时起，随着人口密度的迅速增加，工业国家对于能源的需求成倍成倍增加。 石油和天然气被看作是用途多、质量好的能源产品而得到开发，而铀也得以开发，为核反应堆提供燃料并供应原子能源。
9. Although renewable可再生的 energies are not yet economically经济上 competitive有竞争力的 with fossil fuels, their price becomes more attractive有吸引力的 when compared with the health and environmental环境的 costs associated与有关的 with burning coal and oil. Perhaps the best solution to our growing energy challenges挑战 comes in a bulletin简报，公报 from the Union of Concerned Scientists: \hinge取决于 on one single solution. The answer instead must come from a family of diverse多样化的 energy technologies that share a unified共同的，统一的 purpose — they do not deplete耗尽 our natural resources or destroy our environment.\is approaching接近，到来，走近 at supersonic超音速的 speeds and will soon be upon us. In order to inaugurate使就职，为举行开幕典礼e a new era时代 in energy, we must act quickly and work toward international collaboration合作，协作 to find the most effective有效的 solutions to our energy problems.
虽然从经济实惠方面来说，可再生能源没有矿物能源有竞争力，但是，与燃烧煤和石油所带来的健康及环境代价相比，它们的价格又变得较有吸引力了。 也许，对于日益紧迫的能源挑战，最好的解决办法正如“忧思科学家联盟”所出的一份简报上所说的那样:“未来我们社会的成功不能依赖于某一单一的解决方案。 相反，答案须来自一系列各种不同的能源技术。这些技术有一个共同目的：它们不会耗尽我们的自然资源，也不会破环我们的环境。” 尽管困难重重，我们需要牢记的是，能源危机正以超音速逼近，即将来到我们面前。 为了在能源领域开创一个新时代，我们必须赶快行动，努力寻求国际合作，以找到能源问题最有效的解决办法。
大学英语新概念四级（必背）
