Unite11.Ifyouaskme,reallifeisnotallit'scrackeduptobe.Twelveyearsatschoolandthreeyearsatuniversity,teachersbangingonaboutopportunitiesinthebigwideworldbeyondourshelteredlifeasstudents,andwhatdoIfind?依我看,现实生活与人们想象的不一样。我们上了12年的中、小学,又上了3年的大学,这期间老师们一直在没完没了地谈论在安宁的学生生活之外那个广阔天地里的各种机会,可我遇到的又是什么呢?2.TryasImighttostaycheerful,allIevergetishassle,sometimeswithpeople(especiallyboys,god,whenwilltheygrowup?),butmostlywithmoney.It'sjustsoexpensiveouthere!Everyonewantsasliceoffyou.TheInlandRevenuewantstodeductincometax,thebankmanagerwantsrepaymentsonmystudentloan,thelandlordwantstherent,gas,water,electricityandmymobilebillskeepcomingin,andallthat'sbeforeI'vehadanythingtoeat.Andthensomebrightsparkcallsmeoutoftheblue,askingifI'minterestedinbuyingapension.Atthisrate,Iwon'tevenlasttilltheendoftheyear,letalonetillI'm60.无论我怎么想保持心情愉快,麻烦事总是接踵而来:有时是跟人争吵(尤其是跟男孩,天哪!他们什么时候才能长大?),但通常是为钱发愁。这个地方什么东西都很贵!人人都想从我身上拿点钱去:国税局要收个人所得税,银行经理要我偿清学生贷款,房东催我交房租、燃气费、水费、电费,手机账单也不断地寄来。所有这些还没算上吃饭的钱。更可气的是,不知从哪里冒出一个自作聪明的家伙冷不丁地给我打电话,问我要不要买养老金。照这样下去,我连今年都活不过去了,更别提活到60岁领养老金了。3.我认为,选修第二专业并不适合每一位本科生。我大学本科主修英语专业,大一时就开始辅修经济学了。无疑,我是班里最用功的学生。我竭尽全力想同时达到两个不同专业的要求,但还是有不及格的时候。因为经济学需要良好的数学基础,我不得不花大量时间钻研数学,因而忽略了英语学习。(ifyouaskme;odds;tryas…might;sapone’sconfidence;giventhat;bowtofate;cometoaclose;forfearthat;nowthat)Ifyouaskme,takingasecondmajorisn’tgoodforeveryundergraduate.InmyfreshmanyearasanEnglishmajor,Itookeconomicsasmyminor.Byallodds,Iwasthemosthardworkingstudentinmyclass.ButtryasImighttomeettherequirementsofthetwodifferentsubjects,Istillcouldn’tdowellenoughtopassalltheexams.Giventhatthestudyofeconomicsrequiredagoodcommandofmathematics,IhadtospendsomuchtimeonmaththatIneglectedmyEnglishmajor.4.第二学期,《英国文学》及《宏观经济学》两门课不及格给我敲响了警钟,这可是我一生中第一次考试不及格,这大大打击了我的自信心。虽然我不是一个容易向命运低头的人,在暑假结束的时候,我还是决定放弃经济学,以免两个专业都难以完成。当我只需修一个专业的时候,一切似乎又回到了正轨。FailingEnglishLiteratureandMacroeconomicsinthesecondsemestersoundedthealarmforme.ThiswasthefirsttimeIdidnotpassacourseinmylife,whichhadgreatlysappedmyconfidence.AlthoughIwasnotamanwhowouldeasilybowtofate,asthesummerbreakcametoaclose,IdecidedtogiveupeconomicsforfearthatIwouldfailinbothsubjects.NowthatIhadonlyonesubjecttoattendto,everythingseemedtobeontherighttrackagain.Unite21.Indubitablythevastmajorityofbooksoverlaponeanother.Fewindeedarethosewhichgivetheimpressionoforiginality,eitherinstyleorincontent.Rarearetheuniquebooks–lessthan50,perhaps,outofthewholestorehouseofliterature.Inoneofhisrecentauto-biographicalnovels,BlaiseCendrarspointsoutthatRémydeGourmont,becauseofhisknowledgeandawarenessofthisrepetitivequalityinbooks,wasabletoselectandreadallthatisworthwhileintheentirerealmofliterature.Cendrarshimself—whowouldsuspectit?—isaprodigiousreader.Hereadsmostauthors.Notonlythat,butwhenhelikesanauthorhereadseverylastbookthemanhaswritten,aswellashislettersandallthebooksthathavebeenwrittenabouthim.Inourdayhiscaseisalmostunparalleled,Iimagine.For,notonlyhashereadwidelyanddeeply,buthehashimselfwrittenagreatmanybooks.Allontheside,asitwere.For,ifheisanything,Cendrars,heisamanofaction,anadventurerandexplorer,amanwhohasknownhowto“waste”histimeroyally.Heis,inasense,theJuliusCaesarofliterature.不容置疑的是,大多数书都互相重复。在文体或内容上让人感到具有独创性的书实在是少之又少。在整个文学库藏中,只有极少数作品——或许不到50本——是独具一格的。在最近出版的一部自传体小说中,布莱斯·桑德拉尔指出,古尔蒙之所以能够选择并通读文学领域中一切值得读的书籍,就是因为他知识渊博,并且了解书的这种重复性。桑德拉尔本人就是一个博览群书的人,没有人会怀疑这一点。他阅读了大部分作家的原作.不仅如此,一旦他喜欢上一个作家,他就会阅读这个人写的每一本书,包括他的书信以及所有有关他的书籍。我猜想,在当今世上,几乎没有人能像他一样,不仅读得广,读得深,而且还著述颇丰。可以说这一切都是在业余时间完成的。因为桑德拉尔是一个十足的行动家,一个四处跋涉的冒险家和探险家,一个懂得如何大量“肆意浪费”时间的人。从某种意义上说,他是文学界的凯撒大帝。2.张磊是在毕业工作后才开始意识到读书的乐趣的。反思自己的大学教育时,他感慨不已:他的一些同学都沉浸于从图书馆或书店找到的各种有趣的书籍,而他却只读了一些教科书,其中连一本真正能让他爱不释手、值得一读的书都没有。他可以说是被剥夺了通过书了解作家奇妙世界的特权。(reflecton;inonesitting;layhandson;immersein;worthwhile;privilege;withstand;vista)ItwasnotuntilafterhehadgraduatedfromuniversityandstartedtoworkthatZhangLeibecameawareofthepleasureofreading.Reflectingonhisundergraduatestudies,helamentedthathe,unlikehisclassmateswhohadimmersedthemselvesinvariousinterestingbookstheywereabletolayhandsonfromthelibraryorbookshop,hadonlyreadtextbooks,noneofwhichwasreallyworthwhile,orcouldbereadinonesitting.Hewasdeprivedoftheprivilegeofgainingaccesstothewriters’fantasticworldsthroughthewindowstheirbookshaveopened,sotospeak.3.如今,他嗜书如命,废寝忘食,好像要把大学期间没机会读的好书全都读一遍。到目前为止他已经利用业余时间读了几百本小说、传记和游记。他意识到书不仅能向他展示一个充满希望的前景,帮他消除现实生活中的压力和疲劳,而且能够帮他澄清一些误解,找到生活的真谛。Nowhehasbecomeanavidandomnivorousreader.Itisasifhewantstomakeupforthosemarvellousbookshehadn’thadachancetoreadinhisuniversitydays.Bynow,inhissparetime,hehasreadseveralhundredsofbooks,includingnovels,biographiesandtravelnotes.Herealizesthatbookscannotonlyrevealtohimthevistaofahopefulfutureandhelphimwithstandstressesandstrains,theycanalsohelphimclearupsomemisconceptionsanddiscoverthetruemeaningoflife.Unite31.Sometimesthehemlineindicator,asit'scalled,canevenprecedeandpredictachangeinthemoodofthestockmarketlongbeforeitactuallyhappens.InSeptember2007,attheNewYorkfashionshows,whichweredisplayingtheirstylesforspring2008,thetrendwasformuchlongerdressesandskirts,manytomid-calforevendowntotheankles.Somepeoplefeltthisshowedthatthehem