大二英语课文翻译b版
导语:课文是指教科书中的正文,区别于注释和习题等,一般在语文或地理中出现。英语,有对话和短文。以下是大二英语课文翻译b版的内容,希望你们喜欢!
大二英语课文翻译b版
Disney Mirrors American Culture
Last fall, the Walt Disney Company did something rare: it admitted defeat in its fight to build a history theme park in park was going to be called "Disney's America".
Some people might be wondering, however, if Disney lost the battle but won the war, as it seems everyone is living in Disney's America these days.
With its purchase of Capital Cities/ABC Inc. last month, the company founded by Walter Elias Disney in 1923 deepened its claim on American culture. In fact, it would be hard to find another company so widely respected—even loved—by Americans.
Americans rush out to see Disney films, and then replay them—on videotapes; they read Disney books to their children;they watch Disney shows on Disney TV;they make trips to Disneyland and Disney World, where they stay in Disney hotels and eat Disney food;Americans buy Disney products at Disney stores, and listen to Disney records of Disney songs.
The world of Disney is becoming anything but small.
All this makes some people more than a little upset. Harold Bloom, a professor at Yale University, provides an examination of the cultural history of Western society.
"At the end of this road lies cultural uniformity of the worst kind. It's just terrible."
This is becoming a popular opinion in universities around the world.
"Disney products," said Paul Fussell, a professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, "have always seemed to me seriously sub-adult."
Those who oppose Disney (and there are many) see its films and by-products as sexist, racist and as simpler, cheered-up accounts of American history and folklore.
"There's a kind of protection at work here," said Henry Giroux, a professor at Penn State University. Like all those opposed to Disney, he can list, in detail, Disney's many crimes against culture:he is very angry, for example, about the treatment of American Indians in Pocahontas.
"I mean, the entire history of what happened to the Indians, which some people would call the murder of their people, is sort of played out as a love story," he said angrily.
Giroux said he believes that Disney has become a basic educator of America's children, most of whom will be able to perform every word of The Lion King long before they even learn US President Abraham Lincoln's historic Gettysburg Address.
However, even the most strongly opposed are quick to note that Disney has many positive values—cheerfulness, good-hearted fun, and a tradition of artistic quality—that help explain its success. Critical or not, most of those who oppose the company are Disney customers themselves.
迪斯尼——美国文化的一面镜子
去年秋天,沃尔特·迪斯尼公司做了一件罕见的事情:它承认自己争取在弗吉尼亚州建造一个历史主题公园的努力失败了。公园原本打算命名为“迪斯尼美国公园”。不过,有些人会这样想,迪斯尼只不过是输了一次战斗,但赢了一场战争,这是因为,这些年来人人似乎都生活在迪斯尼的美国。
随着迪斯尼公司在上月购买了美国的广播公司大都会电视台网之后,这家由沃尔特·伊莱亚斯·迪斯尼在1923年创建的公司进一步代表了美国文化。确实,很难再找出另一家公司像迪斯尼这样受到美国人如此普遍的尊敬,甚至可以说普遍的热爱。
美国人争着去看迪斯尼拍的电影,然后再重看电影录像;他们给孩子念迪斯尼的故事;他们在迪斯尼电视频道上观看迪斯尼节目;他们去迪斯尼乐园和迪斯尼世界游玩,在那儿他们住的是迪斯尼饭店,吃的是迪斯尼食品;美国人还在迪斯尼商店里购买迪斯尼商品,耳边听的是迪斯尼歌曲唱片。
迪斯尼的世界可真不小啊!
这一切让有些人感到忧心忡忡。耶鲁大学的教授哈罗德·布卢姆对西方社会的文化历史做了一番审视。
“这条路走到最后的结果便是再糟糕不过的文化单一性。实在太可怕了。” 这一观点在世界各地的大学越来越受到认同。 “迪斯尼产品,”宾州大学的英语教授保罗·富塞尔说,“在我看来实在很幼稚。”
反对迪斯尼的人(而且为数不少)认为迪斯尼电影及其副产品充满了性别歧视和种族歧视,是美国历史及民间传说的简化版、轻松版。
“这其中有一种偏袒护短的倾向,”宾州州立大学的一位教授亨利·吉罗说。和其他迪斯尼的反对者一样,他详细地列举了迪斯尼所犯的文化罪行:比如,迪斯尼在《风中奇缘》一片中对美国印第安人那段悲惨历史的种种处理手法就令他非常气愤。
“我的意思是,印第安人遭遇的整个历史,有人称之为对印第安人的屠杀,而在该片中却被演绎成一个爱情故事,” 他愤愤不平地说。
吉罗认为迪斯尼已经成了美国孩子的主要教育者,这些孩子早在学习美国总统亚伯拉罕·林肯那篇具有历史意义的葛底斯堡演说之前,大多数就能背诵《狮子王》中的每句台词了。
尽管如此,最强烈的反对者也很快指出了迪斯尼具有的诸多价值:轻松愉快、善意风趣、优良的艺术传统,这些都是迪斯尼成功的原因。不管是否存心挑剔,反对迪斯尼公司的那些人自己大多也是迪斯尼的顾客。
Heavy Body, Not Heavy Heart
In pictures from college I was thin.I worked full time, went to school full time, smoked, and lived off fast food and soft nds say that I don't look like myself in those pictures.I looked ill, sad, and unhealthy.
Now, at a weight considered to be dangerously high by medical charts, I live better than ever. I have given up smoking, and I eat a lot of vegetables; I enjoy walking, swimming and dancing classes.I exercise and eat well because I love living, not because I want to lose doctor tells me I am healthy, and this is much more important than being ies show that overweight people who exercise have a lower death rate than "normal" weight people who do not.
Negative attitudes toward fat people begin in childhood. One study showed that, as early as nursery school, children liked pictures of disabled children of similar ages better than those of fat larly, a study of college students said they would rather marry a drug user, a thief, or a blind person than someone who was e attitudes create discrimination that affects fat people in every aspect of their lives, including money fact, overweight, white women usually earn less than thin, white women—24 percent less, according to one study. People often justify their judgments about fat people by saying that people choose to be fat. Choose?Who would choose life as a fat person in this weight-obsessed culture?There are many false ideas about fat people in society: that all fat people have eating disorders or emotional or mental issues;that if they really wanted to lose weight they could.
In reality, however, some people are naturally fat. How a person is born is simply science, not a comment on someone's Center for Disease Control reports that 78 percent of American women are trying hard to lose weight, and at an amazing failure rate—95 percent get back what they've lost within two to five years.
The often-heard comment of "you have such a pretty face" does not please me because of all that's not said: "If you'd just lose the weight you'd be beautiful." Beauty is a taught concept and the cultural standards for beauty change constantly.
Later in life, I was happy to learn that some cultures have very different standards of beauty. While I was visiting the British Virgin Islands, a local man invited me to be in a picture with him on the beach.I asked, "Why me? There are women who look like models here."
"Bones are for dogs," he said with a smile. "Meat is for men."
体胖心宽
在大学的照片上我很瘦。那时我全天工作,全天上学,抽烟,吃快餐,喝软饮料。朋友们说现在的我和照片中的我一点都不像。那时的我看上去一脸病态、情绪低落、身体很差。
根据医学标准,我现在的体重已经超标到危险的程度,但我的生活状况比以前任何时候都好。我戒了烟,每天吃很多蔬菜;我喜欢散步、游泳、学跳舞。我积极锻炼、注意饮食,并不是为了减肥,而是因为我热爱生活。医生说我很健康,这比苗条重要得多。研究表明坚持运动的肥胖者的死亡率比不运动的“正常”体重者低得多。
人们从孩童时代就开始歧视肥胖者。一项研究表明,在幼儿园,孩子们更喜欢同龄的残疾儿童的照片而不喜欢肥胖儿童的照片。与此相似,一项对大学生的调查显示,他们宁可同吸毒者、小偷或盲人结婚,也不愿意同肥胖者结婚。这类态度导致了肥胖者在生活各方面受到歧视,包括经济方面。事实上,一项研究表明肥胖的白种妇女的收入比苗条的白种妇女少24%。
人们常常为歧视肥胖者找借口,认为肥胖是自己选择的。选择?在这样一个对体重高度敏感的文化中谁愿意选择做胖子呢?社会上对于肥胖存在种种错误观念:所有的肥胖者都有饮食、感情或精神问题;要是他们真正想减肥,是可以做到的。
然而,事实上,有些人天生就肥胖。人的体型是一个科学问题,而不应该成为评价一个人性格的依据。疾病控制中心的报告表明78%的美国妇女正竭力试图减肥,但成功率却出奇的低——其中95%的人在2至5年内又恢复了原来的体重。
常常有人对我说“你有一张漂亮的脸。”我却对此不以为然,因为我知道他们的潜台词:“你要是瘦一些的话会很漂亮的。”其实美是别人教给的概念,而且美的文化标准也在不断变化。
后来的生活中我欣喜地了解到,不同文化的审美标准是不同的。有一次我到英属维尔京群岛,一名当地人邀请我和他在海滩上一起拍照。我问他:“你为什么选我呢?这儿有些女人身材好得像模特。”
他微笑着对我说:“狗才喜欢骨头,男人喜欢肉。”
Unforgettable Life
With more than 20 million records sold, and several Grammy awards to show for it, Natalie Cole, the daughter of famous singer Nat King Cole, has made a name for herself in music.
Along with her great success, however, Natalie Cole has lived in a world of drugs, crime, and failed marriages.
"I have been to hell and back," she says.
In the book Angel on My Shoulder, Cole gives us an honest look at the difficult path she has taken, sharing, as well, her successful recovery.
"Where I'm at now helps me to look back on my life and realize that I've really had quite a colorful and rich life," she says. "I really could have turned out to be a different person."
As the second daughter of Maria and Nat King Cole, Natalie had as normal a childhood as was possible for a little girl whose father spent much of his time away from home. With hopes of one day becoming a doctor, she left her family in Los Angeles to attend a boarding school on the east when she was 14, she received some terrible news: her father was dying of lung than two months later, in 1965, Nat King Cole died at the age of 47. During her college years at Amherst, Cole began to experiment with drugs, though they didn't stop her from joining a music group. She played in small clubs on the east coast, using drugs more and more frequently.
Without enough money to pay the bills and to support her drug habit, Cole turned to stealing and got into trouble with the law. Eventually, she became so badly affected by the drugs that she decided to quit on the spot.
She says it was a miracle—the work of an angel on her shoulder. Her drug habit kicked, Natalie's career really began to take two years after being arrested and almost dying because of drugs, Cole's first record won two Grammies. In 1976, she married Marvin Yancy, her songwriter and soon had a son, Robbie, and Cole's life really seemed to be coming together.
"Marriage to Marvin, and Robbie, was like a breath of pure, fresh air," she says. "I was with a man whom I loved and who loved me... we were just so close."
Sadly, the marriage wouldn't last. After four years of being drug-free, Cole was once again using.
In 1983, Cole checked herself into a recovery program, and was finally able to mend the wounds from her difficult past.
After narrowly escaping death once again, Cole decided to record her father's greatest hits, including the phenomenal success Unforgettable: With Love.
Cole, who has fought and won many battles to find personal happiness, says "I'm so grateful for the way my life has turned out."
无法忘记的生活
唱片销量超过两千万张,并因此而赢得数项格莱美奖,纳塔莉·科尔——著名歌手纳特·金·科尔的女儿——在音乐界一举成名。
然而,除了巨大的成功之外,纳塔莉·科尔的世界里还曾充斥着毒品、犯罪和失败的婚姻。
“我去过地狱,又回来了,”她说。在《我肩膀上的天使》一书中,科尔真实地向我们展现了她走过的艰难道路,也讲述了她如何成功地康复。
“我现在所拥有的一切让我回顾我的人生,并认识到我的生活是多么的丰富多彩,”她说。“我真的有可能已成为另一个不同的人。”
纳塔莉是玛莉亚和纳特·金·科尔的二女儿,对于一个父亲时常不在家的小女孩来说,她的童年已经算是够正常的了。怀着做一名医生的愿望,她离开了洛杉矶的家,去东海岸上寄宿学校。但在14岁那年,噩耗传来:她的父亲患了肺癌,已经奄奄一息。不到两个月,也就是1965年,纳特·金·科尔去世了,享年47岁。
在阿默斯特上大学期间,科尔开始尝试吸毒,不过毒品并没有妨碍她加入到一个音乐组合。她在东海岸的一些小俱乐部里表演,吸毒也越来越频繁。
因为没有足够的钱支付账单和购买毒品,科尔开始偷盗,后来惹上了官司。由于深受毒品之害,她终于下定决心立即戒毒。 她说那是个奇迹——是她肩膀上的天使创造的。戒毒后,纳塔莉的事业真正开始蒸蒸日上。在经历了被捕和因吸毒而差点送命仅仅两年之后,科尔的首张唱片便赢得了两项格莱美奖。
1976年,她嫁给了她的歌曲创作人兼制作人马文·扬西。他们很快有了一个儿子——罗比,科尔的生活似乎真的是日臻完善。 “与马文的婚姻,以及有了罗比之后的生活,就像是呼吸纯净、新鲜的空气,”她说。“我是和一个我爱的并且也爱我的人在一起……我们亲密无间。”
不幸的是,他们的婚姻并不长久。戒毒四年之后,科尔又一次开始吸毒。
1983年,科尔报名参加了一个康复计划,旧日的创伤终于得以愈合。
在又一次死里逃生之后,科尔决心录制她父亲的成功之作,包括红极一时的《难以忘怀:带着爱》。
为了找到自己的幸福,科尔投入并打赢了多次战役,她说:“我很感激生活对我的最终安排。”
My Mother and I
Dad had lost any purpose in life. We had to watch him getting weaker and weaker, while my mother seemed even more energetic than still had a job to do—shopping, cooking and running the household. She was necessary. Dad, on the other hand, felt he wasn't much needed.
He died six years after they moved into the apartment. I think he died in self-defense.
Dad was the kindest man I have ever , I was never able to know him as well as I never spoke of things close to his heart. Maybe he couldn't. I know that he loved all his children. However, affection in my family was never really shown, and so I think somehow I never learned to express my love to him.
I was with Dad on the night he died.I longed to be able to sit by his bedside and say, "Dad, thank you for being so good to us. I love you, Dad." Every time I tried, I was overcome with embarrassment. I felt that even then he would think it wrong for me to share my most private feelings.
After Dad died, all of us gathered to support our mother. I'd visit her twice a day and listen while she talked about her life with my father. She kept him alive in spirit. The great thing about my mother was that she had no regrets; she was satisfied with how she and Dad had lived their lives together. I remember once, when my husband and I had been listening to her all afternoon, my mother said, as we left, "Now that I've talked to you both, I feel ten years younger."As we went down the stairs, I said to my husband, "And we feel ten years older." Yet, we were both content that she felt better.
It's all very well for me to say that Dad died in self-defense, that my mother ruled and overshadowed him. Perhaps this was what he wanted—someone to make all the to the very end, he respected his wife and she him. Perhaps, towards the end, he simply wanted peace.
It's only since he died that my mother has felt the need to talk about him; while he was there, her life was complete.
For the next fifteen years, my mother seemed to become even more she was well over eighty, she thought nothing of walking for miles at a impatient to wait for the bus, my mother would start out each journeywith a serious expression on her face.
Despite my mother's fierce independence, she still admitted to being lonely. I used to say how lucky she was to have five of us children and her grandchildren going to see her so regularly. Yet, she was never pleased. In response, she just insisted that she was alone in this world, and that she had been the one to care for Dad in good times and bad.
These days, I try and focus on my mother's goodness—her energy and her strength. Contrary to what she says, I'm convinced that beneath her external anger and disappointment, my mother is a woman who doesn't know how to express her feelings either.
I guess there are still some things we both have to learn together.
我和母亲
父亲已失去了所有的生活目标。我们无奈地看着他一天天虚弱下去,倒是母亲比以前看上去更精神了。她仍有事要做——购物、烧饭、操持家务。家里样样少不了她,而父亲却觉得大家都不再需要他了。
他们搬进公寓后过了6年,父亲去世了。我想,他用死来获得解脱。
父亲是我遇到的最善良的人。但我却从没有能够像我所希望的那样充分了解他。他从不谈及他内心的'东西。也许他只是不知道怎么去谈。我只知道他爱他的每一个孩子。但是,我们家的人从不真正表露对彼此的爱,所以我想在某种程度上我也从未学会如何表达我对他的爱。
他去世的那天晚上我就在他身旁。我渴望能够坐在他的床边对他说:“爸爸,谢谢你对我们这么好。我爱你,爸爸。”可每次我想说这些话的时候,都因难为情而无法开口。我觉得即使在他弥留之际,他也会认为我这样把自己内心的感受告诉别人是不妥的。 父亲去世后,我们一起去安慰母亲。我一天去看她两次,听她谈和父亲一起生活的情景。他一直活在她心里。母亲的伟大之处在于她从不觉得有什么遗憾;她对她和父亲同甘共苦的日子感到十分满意。
记得有一次,我和丈夫听她聊了一个下午。我们走时,母亲说:“同你们俩聊聊,我觉得自己年轻了10岁。”下楼梯时,我对丈夫说:“我们可觉得自己老了10岁。”不过,能让母亲心情愉快些,我们都感到高兴。
由于一切都由母亲说了算,相比之下父亲就黯然失色了,因此我说父亲是用死来获得解脱并非言过其实。也许这正是他所想要的:凡事须有人替他做决定。即使在生命的最后时刻,他和妻子也互相尊重。或许到最后,他只是想获得平静。
直到他去世后,母亲才想到要谈谈他;只有这样她的人生才是完整的。
随后的15年,母亲好像变得越发精神了。一口气走几英里的路,对早已年过80的她来说只是小事一桩。每次等车等烦了,母亲便神情严肃地开始步行。
尽管母亲相当独立,但还是承认自己很孤独。我过去常说,她有我们这5个孩子还有孙子孙女们经常去看她是多么幸运。但她从不满意。相反,她却硬说自己在这个世上是孤身一人,只有她一人无论是顺境还是逆境都在照顾着父亲。
最近,我努力去想母亲的优点——她精力旺盛、个性坚强。与她所说的正相反,虽然表面上她常常生我们的气,好像对我们很失望,但我确信母亲其实也是一个不善于表达感情的女人。
我想有些东西还需要我们共同去学习。
Never Too Old to Live Your Dream
The first day of school, the professor, upon arrival, introduced himself to our chemistry class and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look e she was, a little old lady smiling at me. "Hi, handsome. My name is Rose, and I'm eighty-seven years I give you a hug?"
"Of course you may!" I laughed and had to bend down for her to give me a big hug."Why are you in college at such a young age?" I asked.
She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel."
"No, seriously," I asked.I was curious as to why she was taking on such a challenge at her age.
"I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told me.
We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop.I was often silent, listening in wonder to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
Over the course of the school year, Rose became popular and easily made friends wherever she went. She was humorous and lively, loved to dress up, and enjoyed getting so much attention from the other students.
At the end of the term, we invited Rose to speak at our football dinner, and I'll never forget what she taught us that night.
She was introduced and stepped up to the she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three-by-five cards on the floor.A little bit embarrassed, she moved closer to the microphone and simply said, "I'm sorry I'm so wine is killing me!I'll never get my speech back in order, so let me just tell you what I know."As we laughed, she cleared her throat and began: We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playin.
There are only two secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success.
Number one: you have to laugh and find humor each and every day.
Number two: you've got to have a you lose your dreams, you
have so many people walking around who are dead and they don't even know it!
There is a giant difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will still turn twenty years I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I will still turn ne can grow older—that doesn't take any talent or idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.
Moreover, I advise you to have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what they did, but rather, for the things they did not only people who fear death are those with regrets.
Rose finally obtained the college degree she began all those years ago, and one week after graduation, she died peacefully in her sleep.
Shortly after that, over two thousand college students attended her all came to honor the wonderful woman who taught by example that you're never too old to live your dream.
人老志不穷
开学第一天,教授一到教室就向我们的化学课班作了自我介绍,并鼓励我们去认识一个那时我们还不认识的人。我站起来环顾四周。她就站在那儿,一位正在朝着我微笑的小个子老太太。
“嗨,帅小伙儿。我叫罗斯,87岁。我能拥抱你一下吗?”
“当然可以!”我笑道,然后不得不俯下身子,让她结结实实地拥抱了一下。
“你为什么这么年轻还来读大学?”我问道。
她开玩笑地回答:“我来这儿是为了认识一个有钱的丈夫,嫁给他,生几个小孩,然后退休去旅行。”
“不,说真的,”我问道。我很好奇,她这么大岁数了为什么还要接受这样一个挑战。
“我一直梦想着上大学读书,现在我就在读了呀!”她告诉我。
我们马上成了朋友。接下来的三个月里,我们每天都一起离开教室,不停地交谈。我常常默不作声,满怀惊奇地听这部“时间机器”与我分享她的智慧和经验。
一学年的时间里,罗斯到哪里都受到欢迎而且很容易和别人成为朋友。她幽默、活跃、爱打扮,并且喜欢成为其他学生注意的焦点。 学期结束时,我们邀请罗斯在我们的橄榄球晚宴上讲话,我永远都不会忘记那晚她教给我们的东西。
经别人介绍后她走上讲台。就在她要开始事先准备好的演讲时,她把自己那些三乘五英寸见方的卡片掉到了地上。她有点难为情,靠近麦克风,只是说:“很抱歉,我喝多了。这酒快要了我的命!我怎么都没法整理好我的演讲稿了,所以,就让我把我知道的东西告诉你们吧。”我们大笑起来,可她却清了清嗓子,开始说道: “我们不能因为上了年纪就不玩耍了,不玩耍我们就会变老。
保持年轻、快乐,成功地生活只有两个秘密:
第一,你必须每天都开怀大笑,寻找幽默。
第二,你必须有一个梦想,当你失去了梦想时,你就死了。很多人只是行尸走肉,但他们自己却不知道!
长大和成长之间有着巨大的差别。如果你19岁,整整一年躺在床上不做一件有创造性的事,你也还是会长大,变成20岁。如果我87岁,整整一年躺在床上,什么事也不干,我也还是会变成88岁,谁都会长大、变老,那不需要任何天赋或能力。关键是,要不停地在变化中寻找机遇,这样才能成长起来。
而且,我建议你们不要有遗憾。老年人通常不会为做过的事遗憾,而会为还没有做过的事感到遗憾。只有那些有遗憾的人才会怕死。”
罗斯最后终于获得了多年前就开始攻读的大学学位,毕业一个星期后,她在睡梦中安祥地去世了。
随后不久,两千多名大学生参加了她的葬礼。我们都来向这位了不起的女士表示敬意,她为我们树立了榜样,告诉我们人到老都可以实现自己的梦想。
Be Smart Online
Computers and modems are excellent at connecting us to worlds of fun. But look out you never know who's at the other end of the line. Criminal Inspector Frank Clark "walks" around shadowy places at night, looking for criminals. But he doesn't do it on foot or in a does it with his computer.
Part of Clark's job for the police office in Tacoma, Wash., is protecting kids who use a computer and a modem, kids can go "online" and communicate with other computer users around the can exchange messages, games, and even files containing photographs and voices.
It's the danger is that you can never be sure of whom you're talking to can lead to trouble.
"The problems are very serious," Clark says."You have no idea if the person is playing a role and it could thus be could be using false names and say anything they want."
Most of the problems occur on the major online services. They offer "chat rooms" in which strangers can "talk", along with easy-to-use electronic also offer parental controls that can be used to monitor and shut down these rooms.
Such controls are needed adults hang out at online chat rooms, pretending to be kids, and trying to learn about kids' claim to share those same interests, hoping that kids will exchange e-mail with them or even talk on the n, they try to trick kids into talking about not-so-nice topics.
The most frightening thing is when they arrange to meet kids in person. In the worst cases, children have been happened to a 10-year-old boy in Maryland in 1993.
Kids can get into other illegal trouble online, as well.
When "good kids meet bad kids", as it's known, the "bad" kids often take control.
Doug Rehman, a special officer with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, says this has led to cases in which kids have stolen credit-card numbers and ordered things online.
"A kid might think, 'I'll try it once to see what happens' ," Rehman says.
What happens is that, eventually, the kid gets arrested for stealing. When you get several million people together, as online services do, there are bound to be some strange ones on the loose. This shouldn't spoil your fun, though—as long as you are careful online.
"I haven't had any problems, nor have any of my friends," says Matt Ellis, a 13-year-old in Scottsdale, Ariz. "If I ever did, I would just log off."
The experts and kids we interviewed all agree that the benefits
of being online far outweigh the risks.
There is no need for alarm, as long as you are aware. Computers are tools, and like any other tool, they must be used with are some helpful suggestions the experts recommend:
Keep conversations with strangers to public places online, not in e-mail;
Don't give anyone online your real last name, phone number, or your home address;
Don't respond if someone sends you e-mail saying things that make you feel uncomfortable;
Be careful whom you talk to;
Never talk to anyone by phone if you know them only online; and
Never agree to meet someone you've met online any place offline.
Be smart online and have fun!
谨慎上网
电脑和“猫”(调制解调器)真是棒极了,它们给我们带来无穷的乐趣。但是得小心:谁知道网络的那头是什么人物。
刑警弗兰克·克拉克晚上总是在阴暗的地方“巡逻”,搜寻罪犯。然而,他“巡逻”不是靠步行,
也不是驾车,而是通过电脑。
克拉克在华盛顿州塔科马警察局的部分工作就是保护使用电脑的孩子。有电脑和“猫”,孩子们就可以上“网”,和世界各地其他电脑使用者交流。他们交换信息、游戏,甚至是带图像和声音的文件。
这很有趣。但危险的是,你永远不能确定自己和谁在网上聊天。这就产生了问题。
“问题很严重,”克拉克说,“你不知道对方是在扮演哪个角色,这就可能造成很大的危害。他们可能使用假名,信口开河。” 大多数问题都与主要的网络服务有关。除了易于使用的电子邮件外,它们还提供给陌生人可以“交谈”的“聊天室”。此外它们还提供家长监控功能,利用这一功能可以监控或关闭聊天室。
这种监控功能实在是太有必要了。有些成人装成孩子在网上聊天室闲逛,企图了解孩子们的兴趣。他们声称也有同样的兴趣,希望和孩子们互发电子邮件,甚至是通电话。他们通常诱骗孩子谈一些不太好的话题。
最可怕的是他们安排和孩子们见面。在性质最恶劣的一些案件中,有些孩子就被谋害了。1993年,这一噩运就曾经降临在马里兰州的一个10岁男孩身上。
上网的孩子也会陷入犯法的泥潭。 众所周知,当“好孩子遇上坏孩子”,总是“坏孩子”掌握着控制权。
道格·雷曼是佛罗里达州执法部门的一名特种警官,他说这种情况导致发生孩子偷窃信用卡号码在网上订购的案件。
雷曼说:“孩子可能会这样想,‘我试一次看结果会怎样。’” 结果是,这个孩子最终会因盗窃而被捕。
像网络服务那样,当你把几百万人集中在一起时,总归会有一些逍遥法外的怪人。不过这不应该让你扫兴——只要你上网时小心一点。
“我没遇到什么问题,我的朋友也没有,”今年13岁,家住亚利桑那州斯科茨代尔的马特·埃利斯说,“如果我真遇到什么问题,我会马上关机退出。”我们采访的专家和孩子一致认为上网的好处大大超过危险。
只要你警惕一些,就没有必要恐慌。电脑是一种工具,它和其他工具一样,都必须小心使用。以下是专家提出的一些有益的建议:
和陌生人交谈要在网络上的公共区域进行,不要用电子邮件; 不要在网上告诉任何人你的真实姓名、电话号码或家庭住址;如果有人给你发电子邮件说些让你不舒服的事情,不要回信; 要留心你在和谁交谈;不要和在网上结识的人打电话;还有 永远不要同意和网上结识的人在现实生活中任何地方见面。
谨慎上网,才能其乐无穷!
Applying for a New Boss
When I went off to college, I got one piece of advice from my father: "It doesn't matter what courses you take, just find the great professors." Sure enough, I soon discovered that all subjects were interesting, as long as I had good teachers.
In Professor Weinstein's class, for example, I could almost hear the prisoners being moved through the streets of Paris during the French Revolution. And going back even further, I can still recall things about the planets that I would've forgotten if not for the eagerness of my second-grade teacher. What it boils down to, for me, is that a great teacher somehow makes a subject come alive.
Great teaching is not limited to school, though. An excellent boss can do the same thing, turning every day into a learning experience. He can give you confidence, making you more willing to ask a question, take on responsibility, or even suggest a change in some out-of-date company short, a great boss knows how to teach.
My advice, then, is not to interview for the right job. Instead, interview for the right boss—not a best friend, but someone who is willing and able to help you grow professionally.
What are some signs of the wrong boss?Well, anyone who: * is surrounded by the same team year after year. If you're such a good teacher, why aren't these people moving on to better positions? * lacks a sense of is short. Work is hard. Let's lighten up when the mailroom loses a package, OK? There's no reason to get your nose out of joint. * loves typing, and has a hatred toward talking. Why are you continually e-mailing me when I sit across the hall?
Who are the best bosses I've had?
Angela, my first boss out of college, was smart and direct—she was not afraid to call a spade a spade. She ruffled feathers around the company, but would readily let me in on what she thought and why. She'd been there 30 years but was still a busybody—I loved that.
My other boss, Tom, had a saying: "You can sleep when you're dead."Working for him was more than a little tiring. But he was also really open—quick to ask for input and to give frequently had differing opinions, yet our discussions helped both of us learn more about what we were trying to achieve. A great boss both gives and earns respect. But how do you know when you've found the right boss?Trust your instincts. Be yourself and see if he is someone you want to learn from for a couple of years. If that person is dull, distant, or passive in an interview, guess what they're going to be like Monday through Friday. Interviewees are on their best behavior in that type of climate, but so are interviewers. You don't like what you see?The power is yours—go and check out other bosses before you jump aboard for the long run.
Churchill divided people into two groups—those for whom work is work and pleasure is pleasure, and those for whom work is pleasure. Whichever you are, my recommendation is to make sure you know where both you and your boss belong. If you're in the same group, then he could very well be just the teacher for you.
寻找新老板
我离家上大学时,父亲给了我一条忠告:“选什么课无所谓,只要找到好的教授就行。”果然,不久我就发现只要有好老师,所有的课程都令人感兴趣。
比如说在温斯坦教授的课上,我几乎听到了法国革命时期囚犯们在巴黎被游街示众的声音。我现在还记得再早些时候学到的有关行星的知识,要不是我那位二年级老师讲课的那股热情劲儿,我恐怕早就将那些知识抛到九霄云外去了。对我而言,这一切可以归结为一点:一位好教师能把课上活了。
当然,好的教育并不局限在校园。优秀的老板能够把每天的工作变成学习的过程,从而起到同样的教育效果。他可以给你信心,让你更乐意请教别人,担负责任,甚至提议改变某些已过时的公司政策。总之,好老板深知如何教人。
因此,我的忠告是:不要只为合适的工作去应聘,而要去应征合适的老板——他并不一定要成为你的好朋友,但应是一位既愿意又有能力在职业方面帮助你成长的人。
那么糟糕的老板有哪些特征呢?他们:
1 . 年复一年被同样的人包围。假如你是这样一位很优秀的老板,那你周围的这些人为何没有升职呢?
2. 缺乏幽默感。人生短暂,工作又辛苦。在收发室丢了个邮包时,也让我们放轻松些,好吗?用不着闷闷不乐。
3. 喜欢打字,讨厌当面交谈。我们在同一间办公室里,你为何要接二连三地给我发电子邮件呢?
我接触过的最出色的老板又是谁呢?
安吉拉是我大学毕业后遇到的第一位老板。她不但聪明,为人也坦率——她直言不讳。在公司里她免不了会得罪人,但她会随时让我了解她的想法以及为什么会有这个想法。那时她在公司已待了30年,但依然爱管闲事——我喜欢她这一点。
我的另一位老板汤姆有一句口头禅:“人到死时方能安睡。”为他工作虽然很累,但他心胸开阔——他乐意向我征求意见,也乐意给我提供建议。我们经常意见相左,但由此产生的争论也使我们更深地理解了我们共同追求的目标。杰出的老板既给人以尊重,也赢得尊重。
然而你怎样知道自己找到了好的老板呢?请相信自己的直觉。保持自我,然后判断一下在未来几年内他是否是那个你想向其学习的人。假如那个家伙在面试时了无趣味、难以接近、消极被动,可以想象平时的周一至周五他们会是什么模样。在那种气氛中,应征者处于最佳状态,而面试者也不应该例外。你不喜欢看到的这一切吗?决定权在你——不如去看看其他老板之后再决定是否长期加入这家公司吧。
丘吉尔曾把人归为两类,一类认为工作与快乐泾渭分明;另一类却把工作当作快乐。不管你属于哪一类,我建议一定要搞清楚你自己和老板各属于哪一类。如果你们是同类,那么他可能就是你要找的好老师。