阅读教程 - 图文(20)

The terrain of New York is such that a resident sometimes travels farther, in the end, than a commuter. The journey of the composer Irving Berlin11 from Cherry Street in the lower East Side to an apartment uptown was through an alley and was only three or four miles in length; but it was like going three times around the world12.

New York will bestow the gift of loneliness and the gift of privacy on any person who desires

such queer prizes. It is this largeness that accounts for the presence within the city‘s walls of a considerable section of the population; for the residents of Manhattan are to a large extent strangers who have pulled up stakes somewhere and come to town, seeking sanctuary or fulfillment or some greater or lesser grail13. The capacity to make such dubious gifts is a mysterious quality of New York. It can destroy an individual, or it can fulfill him, depending a good deal on luck. No one should come to New York to live unless he is willing to be lucky.

Although New York often imparts a feeling of great forlornness or forsakenness, it seldom seems dead or un-resourceful; and you always feel that either by shifting your location ten blocks or by reducing your fortune by five dollars you can experience rejuvenation14. Many people who have no real independence of spirit depend on the city‘s tremendous variety and sources of excitement for spiritual sustenance and maintenance of morale. In the country there are a few chances of sudden rejuvenation—a shift in weather, perhaps, or something arriving in the mail. But in New York the chances are endless. I think that although many persons are here from some excess of spirit (which caused them to break away from their small town), some, too, are here from a deficiency of spirit, who find in New York a protection, or an easy substitution. (963 words)

Notes

1. E.B. White (1899–1985) was an American writer. A long-time contributor to The New Yorker

magazine, he also wrote many famous books for both adults and children, such as the popular

45

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

8. 9.

10.

11. 12. 13. 14.

Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little, and co-authored a widely used writing guide, The Elements of Style, popularly known by its authors‘ names as Strunk & White.

Commuter: people who travel regularly a long distance between their home and work place, esp. by train

Corn belt: Major agricultural region of the U.S. Midwest where corn acreage once exceeded that of any other crop, now commonly called the Feed Grains and Livestock Belt

Consolidated Edison Company: A regulated utility providing electric, gas, and steam service in New York City and Westchester County, New York Suburban towns in the New York metropolitan area Metaphorical use, meaning make money

New York Public Library (NYPL) is the second largest public library in North America and is one of the United States‘ most significant research libraries. It has branches in the boroughs of Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island.

Bowery: name of a street and a small neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, most often associated with the poor and the homeless

Rockefeller Center: An art deco marvel consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering 11 acres in midtown Manhattan from 49th to 52nd Streets, Fifth to Seventh Avenues, named after the multi-millionaire, John D. Rockefeller, who leased the space from Columbia University in 1928

Governors Island is a 172-acre island whose name dates back to the 1780‘s when New York was a British colony and the colonial assembly reserved the island for the exclusive use of New York‘s royal governors.

Irving Berlin (1888–1989) was an American composer and lyricist, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in history.

It implies that one has to make great efforts in order to survive and succeed in New York. grail: the cup believed to have been used by Christ before his death, and in which, it is said, some of his blood was collect; suggesting a dream which may never be realized rejuvenate: to make someone feel or look young and strong again

Writing

A city might be a place of unavoidable experience. Living there, one has the reassurance of steadily confronting life. Loving and hating it becomes a matter of alternating moods, often in the same day. Please write an essay of 200 words on a city you like/dislike most and give at least three different reasons to support that feeling.

Text B Hiroshima - The “Liveliest” City in Japan

―Hiroshima! Everybody off!‖ That must be what the man in the Japanese stationmaster‘s uniform shouted, as the fastest train in the world slipped to a stop in Hiroshima Station. I did not understand what he was saying. First of all, because he was shouting in Japanese. And secondly, because I had a lump in my throat and a lot of sad thoughts on my mind that had little to do with

46

anything a Nippon railways official might say. The very act of stepping on this soil, in breathing this air of Hiroshima, was for me a far greater adventure than any trip or any reportorial assignment I‘d previously taken. Was I not at the scene of the crime?

The Japanese crowd did not appear to have the same preoccupations that I had. From the sidewalk outside the station, things seemed much the same as in other Japanese cities. Little girls and elderly ladies in kimonos rubbed shoulders with teenagers and women in western dress. Serious looking men spoke to one another as if they were oblivious of the crowds about them, and bobbed up and down repeatedly in little bows, as they exchanged the ritual formula of gratitude and respect: ―Tomo aligato gozayimas.‖ Others were using little red telephones that hung on the facades of grocery s …… 此处隐藏：6063字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……