practice/strong>

1. In order to bring Miss.Nicle to his senses of how much he does love her, Liming quited the chance of further education in Canada but to stay with her.

2. Under ill advice of his bad friends,  Liming was tricked into signing the fake documents with a cheating group.

(1) Today's reading material is picked after reading some of your essays on Travelling Abroad.

(2) As tourists, we carry with us the national identity. What we said and do,and our behavior in public put us and our country in the limelight.

(3) In the 1950s, just after the Second World War, American Tourists flooded the European countries. They are generally looked at as uncouth, brash, and uncultured: the typical behavior of the nouveau riche 暴发户, flaunting their money and pushing their weight around.  In the late 60s to early 90s, it was the turn of the Japanese. Major tourists areas were inundated by hoards of Japanese tourist groups. They were being looked down for making loud noises, not following rules, and other "uncivilized behavior."  Let's make sure the emergency of the Chinese tourist onto the world stage is not going to repeat the same mistakes again.

The following is quoted from: Part II of http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20050916_1.htm

The absence of public awareness and self-discipline allowed uncivilized behavior to proliferate.缺乏公共意识与自我约束使得不文明行为得到传播。

opinions are divided into extreme opposing camps with irreconciliable differences and conflicts.怎么译噢？？？

“由于观点上的尖锐对立，人们分成了不可调和的两派”

我是这么翻译的，望指教

 It seemed that the opinions are divided into extreme opposing camps with irreconciliable(不可调和的) differences and conflicts. 

But in practice, many people have become inured (习惯)to bad habits such as spitting everywhere, jumping in queues (插队)and talking loudly. 

We should not make noice but to cover our mouses and use low voice when we answer the mobile phone in public areas; and we should not push over others but speak "excuse me" in polite manner when we need go accorss them. Civilized behaviors are merits

无英雄的时代. A little while ago there were several practice essays in the theme of hero worships about people going for a Beckham style haircut. The following old article, dated March 2000 that appeared on the Royal Bank Letter provides an interesting read on the subject.  The article is rather long--4 full pages, single-spacing, in an 8x10 sheet. I will type in a few relevant paragraphs as your reading assignment.

=========================================

So if America really is giving up on heroism, other societies can be expected to act accordingly. The fading of public heroism in the U.S. is especially disturbing in the light of its national mythology. As the world’s most heroically-minded nationality, American have reserved a central place for noble conduct in their collective self-image. They have concentrated on individual greatness to define their greatness as a nation.

  With this record in mind, it is to be hoped for all our sakes that Dr.Gibbon is being a bit alarmist. For the end of the heroic tradition would mean the end of a lot of other good things, too. If there is no admiration of greatness, no representative figures that ordinary people(*) would want to emulate, we could be taking a U-turn on the road to civilization. True heroes and heroines (the qualification “true” is necessary because there have been a lot of phoney ones) have always shown the way to the betterment of the human condition. Heroism and progress (again, true progress of the moral and not the illusive material kind)( go hand in hand.)

(*普通人 Ordinary people.  NOT common people.)

Examples: (Not very good one, but the only ones I can think of at this moment. Yeti, July 11, 2006.)

If we want to make our nation great, we must act accordingly.

In light of recent developments, the government have decided to dismantle the CET exam system.

The Chinese people have reserved a central place in their hearts for Chairman Mao.

Religious extremists have a collective self-image of being inflexible.

We often emulate the people we admire.

You better take a U-turn on what you are heading in your career or you will end up in the ditch. (two metaphors are used here: U-turn, ditch.)

The betterment of the human condition should not be set aside in favour of a mad pursuit for industrial growth.

A loss of interest in heroes and heroines would be something new under the sun (i), for history shows that human beings have always felt a need for paragons 模范  to look up to. Why? Because they show the rest of us that members of our species can be better than we ever thought they could be. Heroism symbolizes the soaring potential of humankind.

(i) The opposite is “there is nothing new under the sun.” “Under the sun=天下“ “Just when you think there is nothing new under the sun…” is usually used in a sarcastic manner.

   Dr. Gibbon suggests that the scepticism that has led to the decline of admiration in the United States is connected to religious scepticism. With the spread of secularism, people have come to feel that they are sufficient unto themselves (自我充足，不用求人)  and have no need of a higher power. A loss of religious faith implies a loss of faith in anyone greater than oneself, including heroes and heroines.

   Along with secularism has come modernism, a cultural movement that thumbs its nose
            嗤之一鼻 (see picture at the bottom)  at structure, form and convention. To modernists, one work of art or artist is as good as the next. Through reductio ad absurdum,(*) that would put a gangsta rap “song” on a par with a Beethoven sonata. In the modernist mind-set 想法 思考, the old standards of what is good and bad do not apply.

(* One of these Latin phrases often found in English, “Reductio ad adsurdum” means proving some as wrong by showing how absurd it is. I looked up a E to C dictionary and it gives me thisspan style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  归谬法 )

Thumbs one’s nose at someone

English text: Royal Bank Letter.  March 2000. –not available on the Internet. This is typed in by hand from a printed copy. Annotation and sentence samples by Yeti of the Rainlane BBS.  有帮助写作的短段精读, 不断加新 http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=8&ID=15724&page=1&star=18  (and also posted at the diandian.net)

 (Take a moment and think about how the following can be applied to the mass hysteria of Supergirls, Lotus Sister, and even some "English Educators" who sell product by using mass rallies to whip people into a frenzy.)

Diluted by Excess

  Those “old” standards, which obtained for thousands of years, were predicated on excellence (基于卓越上)They gave the rank and file of humanity something to aim for by identifying what was best. The “old values system held out reasonable rewards for successful efforts to be among the best in one’s calling.(see explanation below in #7) Entertainment was a metaphor for the way things worked in every aspect of society. Performers were admired not only for their talent, but for the work they put into developing that talent to a state of excellence.

Rank and file
     普通士兵=一般群众 the ordinary members of an organization (i.e. not counting the officials.)

Examples: (By Yeti of the Rainlane BBS
    http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=8&ID=15724&page=1&star=18 )

(1) The old standards of our grandparents are falling by the wayside as mediocrity sets in.

(2) Our vision of the future is predicated on a sustained growth without damage to the environment. 

(3) The ideal education system is one predicated on excellence.

(4) The rank and file of the union voted to go on strike. (rank and file=everyone in the organization not counting the officials.)The administration, the management, and the rank and file all agree that should take a serious look into allegations of corruption.

(5) A better future for their children is something most first generation immigrants aim for.

(6) We should re-examine our value system in light of the relentless material pursuit of our youth.

(7) A calling is not just 职业,行业. It is more as the inner urge that leads you to follow a vocation.   E.g. Becoming a missionary has long been a calling for John. “among the best in one’s calling”=”being the best in the particular profession you are in.”)

   In the new wired popular culture, excellence has been more or less abandoned. It’s a simple matter of supply and demand. The more the demand for entertainment is pumped up
    使兴奋 for commercial purposes, the lower the standards. Television’s hundred-plus-channel universe cannot sustain a continual flow of excellent material. In fact it does not produce much that is even ever good.

Examples: (By Yeti of the Rainlane BBS
    http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=8&ID=15724&page=1&star=18 )

(8) The popularity of pirated goods is a simple matter of supply and demand.

(9) The Supergirl craze is largely a pumped up by the entertainment industry for reaping maximum profit.

   A by-product of this form of mass production is instant and apparently effortless stardom, and the wealth that goes along with it. A performer no longer needs to be first-class to win a following  赢得一群跟随者among a public whose tastes have been diluted by excess.

    By capitalizing on the commercial possibilities (从其商业各种可能性上来赚利) of the cheap thrill (底等。廉价的刺激), popular culture pays more attention to glitz (庸俗 , 没品味的浮华)
    than merit and to trash than things of value. That might be all right but for the fact that merit and value have been thoroughly confused with glitz and trash. The net effect is that persons who are “famous for being famous” are held in the same respect as genuine heroes and heroines.

“Without emulation we sink into meaninglessness, or mediocrity, for nothing great or excellent can be done without it.” Francis Beaumont.

Examples: (By Yeti of the Rainlane BBS
    http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=8&ID=15724&page=1&star=18 )

(10) Certain opportunists capitalizes on the commercial possibility of learning English, and manage to win a following to their dubious method of learning English by pumping up the emotion of the masses using well proven motivational techniques.

(11) Is our clandestine rendezvous just a cheap thrill, or something that will develop into a permanent and deeper relationship? I wonder.

(12) Literary works of the Six-Dynasties are considered as glitz with little of value.

(13) When people who contribute nothing to society are held in the same respect as people who do, there will be little incentive for hard work and innovation.

Dining on subjects

 Much of the blame for this rests with the news and public affairs media, which have become more and more like the entertainment media in their race for ratings and circulation. Because scandal sells big-time, (=in a big way=popular) the media now hasten to tell us the worst about everybody and everything.

  They certainly show us the worst about the human race as a whole, concentrating on crime, conflict, and perfidy. By doing so, they make the world out to be a more cynical and ignoble place than it actually is.

  As Dr. Gibbon is quick to note, today’s journalists are not responsible for the situations they cover: “They did not invent celebrity worship and gossip. Nor did they create leaders who misbehave and let us down.”

  At the same tie, they “are not innocent, and they know it… Roger Rosenblatt, a veteran of the Washington Post, Time, Life and New York Times Magazine, says, “My trade of journalism is sodden these days with practitioners who seem incapable of admiring others or anything.” In his memoir, former presidential press secretary and ABC senior news editor Pierre Salinger writes, “No reporter can be famous unless they have [sic](i) bought someone down.” And New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik comments, “The reporter used to gain status by dining with his subject; now he gains status by dining on them.”(ii)

(i)sic: Thus; so. Used in written texts to indicate that a surprising or paradoxical word, phrase, or fact is not a mistake and is to be read as it stands..(Definition from Dictionary.)

(ii) This means that in the old days, reporters gain status when they are chummy with famous people; now they make their living by reporting the dirt of these people.

(Much as I hate doing so, I will use the highlighted words and phrase in examples related to those CET/4/6 practice essays.)

1. Much of the blame for the uncleanliness in school cafeterias falls on the students themselves.

2. Despite all the moral outcry, counterfeited goods sells big-time.

3. The worst part of the storm is yet to come. She had yet to learn the worst about the fate of her children.

4. When the truth came out, the world found out that President Bush had made the WMD situation out to be a lot worst than it actually was.

I believe in 4 stages of reading. For the very beginners, massive reading in many subjects
and from many sources. After mastering enough basic language skills: vocabulary, exposure
to different subject matters, sentence structure etc., you go on to the next stage:
meticulous reading 精读. Read intensively and absorb the intricate structure; try to
 understand how words are used and combined.

   The third stage is back to extensive reading again. This is to fortify your cultural,
 literary and knowledge base of the language your are learning. This stage may last for
years.

    The fourth stage is only for people who want to write and speak like an expert. It is a
 combination of the 2nd and 3rd. It is time consuming and requires constant exposure to
 "good quality English."

    E.g. watching sitcoms such as Friends (I heard it is a popular series in China for
 English learners. Personally, I have never watch one single episode from beginning to end,
although I know what it is all about.) is good for spoken English and everyday use, but if
you want to write like a pro, you must watch documentaries. The History and Discovery
channels are good for things like that. I am sure some of those programs are available in
China.

No new reading materials will be added to this thread. Instead, please go to: 点点英语论坛 → 英语学习 → ＋外刊精读版 http://bbs.diandian.net/index.asp?boardid=155

 I will put all future selection of "mostly complete" articles there.  Shorter and/or parts of  articles will go to these 3 threads at Rainlane/p>

有帮助写作的短段精读, 

http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=8&ID=15724&page=1 (Up to 100 only)(No new material will be added to this thread.)

Series II

http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardid=8&id=23980  (#101 and up. Very slowly being added.)

and

Short and interesting news items http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=11&ID=15393&page=1

 Reading Comprehension. Yeti’s choices http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardid=11&id=21913 (This is also no longer supported.)

hi

here i am a fresh man

the same with my english

your communication do my english good

thank you. let me enjoy your chat

                   新天地语言培训学校

<IFRAME name='f1' width=240 height=240 frameborder=0 scrolling=no src=http://www.qwindow.com.cn/users/1183627292859/index.htm></IFRAME>

 I have not added new materials to here because Diandian.net has started a "外刊精读版 http://bbs.diandian.net/index.asp?boardid=155 Please go there to look for more reading materials.

 However,if you are interested in reading more prose-like writing--great for learning how to write descriptive articles, or to do translation--go to http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardid=8&id=25370&star=1&page=1 for 写作的短段精读 Series III.  Excerpts from Canadian Book of the Road

 The series is just beginning. As of today, there are only 4 segments. I hope to add one every few days.

** I am restarting this series of "Yeti's selction of Reading Materials that are helpful for writing."  I will be putting materials here that are, in my opinion not quite suitable for 外刊精读版.***

Please note: For more of my reading selections, you can go to 有帮助写作的短段精读, http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardID=8&ID=15724&page=1 (Up to 100 only)Series II #101 and onward http://www.rainla