小说
The Old Man and the Sea（节选）
Ernest Hemingway
He unstepped the mast and furled the sail and tied it.Then he shouldered the mast and started to climb.It was then he knew the depth of his tiredness.He stopped for a moment and looked back and saw in the reflection from the street light the great tail of the fish standing up well behind the skiff’s stern.He saw the white naked line of his backbone and the dark mass of the head with the projecting bill and all the nakedness between.
He started to climb again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder.He tried to get up.But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and looked at the road.A cat passed on the far side going about his business and the old man watched it.Then he just watched the road.
Finally he put the mast down and stood up.He picked the mast up and put it on his shoulder and started up the road.He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.Inside the shack he leaned the mast against the wall.In the dark he found a water bottle and took a drink.Then he lay down on the bed.He pulled the blanket over his shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with his arms out straight and the palms of his hands up.
He was asleep when the boy looked in the door in the morning.It was blowing so hard that the driftingboats would not be going out and the boy had slept late and then come to the old man’s shack as he had come each morning.The boy saw that the old man was breathing and then he saw the old man’s hands and he started to cry.He went out very quietly to go to bring some coffee and all the way down the road he was crying.
Many fishermen were around the skiff looking at what was lashed beside it and one was in the water,his trousers rolled up,measuring the skeleton with a length of line.
The boy did not go down.He had been there before and one of the fishermen was looking after the skiff for him.
“How is he?”one of the fishermen shouted.
“Sleeping,”the boy called.He did not care that they saw him crying.“Let no one disturb him.”
The boy carried the hot can of coffee up to the old man’s shack and sat by him until he woke.Once it looked as though he were waking.But he had gone back into heavy sleep and the boy had gone across the road to borrow some wood to heat the coffee.
Finally the old man woke.
That afternoon there was a party of tourists at the Terrace and looking down in the water among the empty beer cans and dead barracudas a woman saw a great long white spine with a huge tail at the end that lifted and swung with the tide while the east wind blew a heavy steady sea outside the entrance to the harbour.
“What’s that?”she asked a waiter and pointed to the long backbone of the great fish that was now just garbage waiting to go out with the tide.
“Tiburon,”the waiter said.“Eshark.”He was meaning to explain what had happened.
“I didn’t know sharks had such handsome,beautifully formed tails.”
“I didn’t either,”her male companion said.
Up the road,in his shack,the old man was sleeping again.He was still sleeping on his face and the boy was sitting by him watching him.The old man was dreaming about the lions.
文章梗概
本文作者欧内斯特·米勒尔·海明威，美国作家和记者，被认为是20世纪最著名的小说家之一。出生于美国伊利诺伊州芝加哥市郊区的奥克帕克，晚年在爱达荷州凯彻姆的家中自杀身亡。海明威一生感情错综复杂，先后结过四次婚，是美国“迷惘的一代”（Lost Generation）作家中的代表人物，其作品对人生、世界和社会都表现出了迷茫和彷徨。代表作有《老人与海》《太阳照样升起》《永别了，武器》。
选文主要讲的是老人第85天历经的艰辛以及终于捕到鱼后的经历。通过对老人回到棚屋后的细节描写以及人们惊讶地发现他不屈服于命运，无论在什么样的艰苦环境里，都能凭着自己的勇气、毅力和智慧进行奋勇地抗争。大马林鱼虽然没有保住，但他却捍卫了“人的灵魂的尊严”，显示了“一个人的能耐可以达到什么程度”，是一个胜利的失败者，一个失败的英雄。这样一个“硬汉子”形象，正是典型的海明威式的小说人物。而最后一段中老人梦中的狮子也正是象征着老人追求力与勇的搏击精神。
词汇
mast[mɑ:st]n.桅杆
skiff[skɪf]n.小艇；小型帆船；轻舟
stern[stɜ:n]n.船尾；末端
shack[ʃæk]n.棚屋；小室
barracuda[，bærə′ku:də]n.梭鱼类
长难句
He stopped for a moment and looked back and saw in the reflection from the street light the great tail of the fish standing up well behind the skiff’s stern.
他停了一会儿，回头一望，在街灯的反光中，看见了那鱼的大尾巴直竖在小船船尾。
Of Human Bondage（节选）
William Somerset Maugham
When Philip came out of the headmaster’s house there was a light rain falling.He went under the archway that led to the precincts,there was not a soul there,and the rooks were silent in the elms.He walked round slowly.He felt hot,and the rain did him good. He thought over all that Mr.Perkins had said,calmly now that he was withdrawn from the fervour of his personality,and he was thankful he had not given way.
In the darkness he could but vaguely see the great mass of the Cathedral:he hated it now because of the irksomeness of the long services which he was forced to attend.The anthem was interminable,and you had to stand drearily while it was being sung;you could not hear the droning sermon,and your body twitched because you had to sit still when you wanted to move about.Then philip thought of the two services every Sunday at Blackstable.The church was bare and cold,and there was a smell all about one of pomade and starched clothes.The curate preached once and his uncle preached once. As he grew up he had learned to know his uncle;Philip was downright and intolerant, and he could not understand that a man might sincerely say things as a clergyman which he never acted up to as a man.The deception outraged him.His uncle was a weak and selfish man,whose chief desire it was to be saved trouble.
Mr.Perkins had spoken to him of the beauty of a life dedicated to the service of God. Philip knew what sort of lives the clergy led in the corner of East Anglia which was his home.There was the Vicar of Whitestone,a parish a little way from Blackstable:he was a bachelor and to give himself something to do had lately taken up farming:the local paper constantly reported the cases he had in the county court against this one and that, labourers he would not pay their wages to or tradesmen whom he accused of cheating him;scandal said he starved his cows,and there was much talk about some general action which should be taken against him.Then there was the Vicar of Ferne,a bearded, fine figure of a man:his wife had been forced to leave him because of his cruelty,and she had filled the neighbourhood with stories of his immorality.The Vicar of Surle,a tiny hamlet by the sea,was to be seen every evening in the public house a stone’s throw from his vicarage;and the churchwardens had been to Mr.Carey to ask his advice.There was not a soul for any of them to talk to except small farmers or fishermen;there were long winter evenings when the wind blew,whistling drearily through the leafless trees,and all around they saw nothing but the bare monotony of ploughed fields;and there was poverty,and there was lack of any work that seemed to matter;every kink in their characters had free play;there was nothing to restrain them;they grew narrow and eccentric:Philip knew all this,but in his young intolerance he did not offer it as an excuse.He shivered at the thought of leading such a life;he wanted to get out into the world.
文章梗概
毛姆，英国小说家、戏剧家。生于律师家庭，父母早逝，由伯父接回英国抚养。原来学医，后转而致力写作。他的作品常以冷静、客观乃至挑剔的态度审视人生；基调超然，带讽刺和怜悯意味，在国内外拥有大量读者。著名的有戏剧《圈子》，长篇小说《人性的枷锁》《月亮和六便士》，短篇小说集《叶的震颤》《卡苏里那树》《阿金》等。毛姆属于现实主义作家，但是小说当中有部分自然主义特征。例如重视环境描写，以及反映中下层人民等。节选段落主要讲述菲利普开始对神学产生怀疑的经历。虽然伯父一心希望他学习神学，将来能成为一名当地教区的神父。但也正是在伯父身上，他看到了那种一面可以作为教士虔诚地讲大道理，一面又从不愿以普通人的身份躬身力行的自私与懦弱。此外，在菲利普眼中，其他教父也都是顶着神圣的帽子而丑态百出等，这些言行不一的欺骗行为都使他义愤填膺，想要跳脱神学的圈子，回到尘世。
词汇
archway[′ɑ:tʃweɪ]n.拱门；拱道
precinct[′pri:sɪŋ(k)t]n.选区；管理区；管辖区
rook[rʊk]n.白嘴鸦
irksome[′ɜ:ks(ə)m]adj.令人厌烦的，讨厌的；令人厌恶的
anthem[′ænθəm]n.赞美诗；圣歌
interminable[ɪn′tɜ:mɪnəb(ə)l]adj.冗长的；无止尽的
droning[drɒn]adj.声音低沉单调的；发嗡嗡声的
pomade[pə′meɪd;-′mɑ:d]n.润发油
starched[stɑ:tʃt]adj.浆硬的
curate[′kjʊərət]n.助理牧师；副牧师
outrage[′aʊtreɪdʒ]n.愤怒，愤慨
parish[′pærɪʃ]n.教区
vicarage[′vɪk(ə)rɪdʒ]n.教区牧师的住宅
monotony[mə′nɒt(ə)nɪ]n.单调；千篇一律
kink[kɪŋk]n.扭结；奇想
eccentric[ɪk′sentrɪk;ek-]adj.古怪的，反常的
长难句
the local paper constantly reported the cases he had in the county court against this one and that,labourers he would not pay their wages to or tradesmen whom he accused of cheating him;scandal said he starved his cows,and there was much talk about some general action which should be taken against him.
当地报纸不断报道他如何在郡法院一会儿同这个打官司一会儿又跟那个打官司的情况——不是雇工们控告他拒发工资，就是他指控商人们骗取钱财；也有人愤愤然说他竟让自己的奶牛饿着肚子。人们议论纷纷，认为对这个牧师应该采取某种一致行动。
Pride and Prejudice（节选）
Jane Austen
A short dialogue on the subject of the country ensued,on either side calm and concise— and soon put an end to by the entrance of Charlotte and her sister,just returned from their walk.The te^te-a`-te^te surprised them.Mr.Darcy related the mistake which had occasioned his intruding on Miss Bennet,and after sitting a few minutes longer without saying much to anybody,went away.
“What can be the meaning of this!”said Charlotte,as soon as he was gone.“My dear Eliza,he must be in love with you,or he would never have called on us in this familiar way.”
But when Elizabeth told of his silence,it did not seem very likely,even to Charlotte’s wishes, to be the case;and after various conjectures,they could at last only suppose his visit to proceed from the difficulty of finding anything to do,which was the more probable from the time of year.All field sports were over.Within doors there was Lady Catherine,books, and a billiard table,but gentlemen cannot be always within doors;and in the nearness of the Parsonage,or the pleasantness of the walk to it,or of the people who lived in it,the two cousins found a temptation from this period of walking thither almost every day.They called at various times of the morning,sometimes separately,sometimes together,and now and then accompanied by their aunt.It was plain to them all that Colonel Fitzwilliam came because he had pleasure in their society,a persuasion which of course recommended him still more;and Elizabeth was reminded by her own satisfaction in being with him,as well as by his evident admiration of her,of her former favourite George Wickham;and though, in comparing them,she saw there was less captivating softness in Colonel Fitzwilliam’s manners,she believed he might have the best informed mind.
But why Mr.Darcy came so often to the Parsonage,it was more difficult to understand.It could not be for society,as he frequently sat there ten minutes together without opening his lips;and when he did speak,it seemed the effect of necessity rather than of choice— a sacrifice to propriety,not a pleasure to himself.He seldom appeared really animated. Mrs.Collins knew not what to make of him.Colonel Fitzwilliam’s occasionally laughing at his stupidity,proved that he was generally different,which her own knowledge of him could not have told her;and as she would have liked to believe this change the effect of love,and the object of that love,her friend Eliza,she sat herself seriously to work to find it out.—She watched him whenever they were at Rosings,and whenever he came to Hunsford;but without much success.He certainly looked at her friend a great deal,but the expression of that look was disputable.It was an earnest,steadfast gaze,but she often doubted whether there were much admiration in it,and sometimes it seemed nothing but absence of mind.
She had once or twice suggested to Elizabeth the possibility of his being partial to her,but Elizabeth always laughed at the idea;and Mrs.Collins did not think it right to press the subject,from the danger of raising expectations which might only end in disappointment; for in her opinion it admitted not of a doubt,that all her friend’s dislike would vanish,if she could suppose him to be in her power.
In her kind schemes for Elizabeth,she sometimes planned her marrying Colonel Fitzwilliam.He was beyond comparison the pleasantest man;he certainly admired her, and his situation in life was most eligible;but,to counterbalance these advantages,Mr. Darcy had considerable patronage in the church,and his cousin could have none at all.
文章梗概
简·奥斯汀，英国著名女性小说家，作品主要关注乡绅家庭女性的婚姻和生活，以女性特有的细致入微的观察力和活泼风趣的文字真实地描绘了她周围世界的小天地。
前期作品：《傲慢与偏见》《理智与情感》《诺桑觉寺》；后期作品同样也是三部：《曼斯菲尔德庄园》《爱玛》和《劝导》。虽然其作品反映的广度和深度有限，但对改变当时小说创作的庸俗风气起了很好的作用，在英国小说的发展史上有承上启下的意义，被誉为地位“可与莎士比亚平起平坐”的作家。
节选段落主要讲述的是人们开始猜测Mr.Darcy是否爱上了Elizabeth。由于之前Mr. Darcy的傲慢以及其他一些原因，两人之间误会重重。但是随着在庄园彭伯里一段时间的相处，两人之间互生好感，尽释前嫌，也因此放下了傲慢与偏见。文章通过对男女之间婚姻问题的描写展示了当时英国社会真实的生活画面。
词汇
concise[kən′saɪs]adj.简明的，简洁的
intrude[ɪn′tru:d]vi.闯入；侵入；侵扰
billiard[′bɪljəd]adj.台球的
Parsonage[′pɑ:s(ə)nɪdʒ]n.牧师住所
thither[′ðɪðə]adv.向那方；到那边
animated[′ænɪmeɪtɪd]adj.活生生的；活泼的；愉快的
propriety[prə′praɪətɪ]n.适当；礼节；得体
earnest[′ɜ:nɪst]adj.认真的，热心的
vanish[′vænɪʃ]vi.消失；突然不见
counterbalance[′kaʊntə，bæl(ə)ns]vt.使平衡；抵消
patronage[′peɪtrənɪdʒ]n.赞助；任免权
长难句
It was plain to them all that Colonel Fitzwilliam came because he had pleasure in their society,a persuasion which of course recommended him still more;and Elizabeth was reminded by her own satisfaction in being with him,as well as by his evident admiration of her,of her former favorite George Wickham.
女眷们看得非常明白，费茨威廉来访，是因为他喜欢跟她们在一起──这当然使人家愈加喜欢他，伊丽莎白跟他在一起就觉得很满意，他显然也爱慕伊丽莎白，这两重情况使伊丽莎白想起了她以前的心上人乔治·韦翰。
My Life（节选）
Bill Clinton
In the end I couldn’t bear the thought of walking away from a decade of hard work,with my last year marked by repeated failures to fund further improvements in education.I never was one for quitting,and whenever I was tempted,something always happened to give me heart.In the mid-eighties,when our economy was in the tank,I was about to land a new industry for a county where one in four people was unemployed.At the last minute, Nebraska offered the company an extra million dollars and I lost the deal.I was crushed and felt I had failed the whole county.When Lynda Dixon,my secretary,saw me slumped in my chair with my head in my hands,she tore off the daily scripture reading from the devotional calendar she kept on her desk.The verse was Galatians 6:9:Let us not grow weary while doing good,for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.I went back to work.
On February 11,I witnessed the ultimate testimonial to the power of perseverance.Early that Sunday morning,Hillary and I got Chelsea up and took her down to the kitchen of the Governors Mansion to see what we told her would be one of the most important events shed ever witness.Then we turned on the television and watched Nelson Mandela take the last steps in his long walk to freedom.Through twenty-seven years of imprisonment and abuse,Mandela had endured,and triumphed,to end apartheid,liberate his own mind and heart from hatred,and inspire the world.
At the March 1 press conference,I said I would run for a fifth term,although the fire of an election no longer burns in me,because I wanted another chance to finish the job of improving education and modernizing the economy,and because I thought I could do a better job of it than the other candidates.I also promised to keep bringing new people into state government and to bend over backward to avoid abuse of power.
Looking back on it,I can see how the statement looked ambivalent and a touch arrogant, but it was an honest expression of how I felt,as I began the first campaign since 1982 that I could have lost.I got a break soon afterward,when Jim Guy Tucker decided to withdraw from the race and run for lieutenant governor instead,saying a divisive primary would only increase the chances of a Republican victory in the fall,no matter who won.Jim Guy had made a judgment that he could win the lieutenant governors race easily,then become governor in four years.He was almost certainly right,and I was relieved.
文章梗概
威廉·杰斐逊·克林顿，美国律师、政治家，民主党成员，曾任阿肯色州州长、全美州长联席会议主席、联合国海地事务特使、克林顿基金会主席以及美国第42任（52届）美国总统。
克林顿是美国第一位出生于第二次世界大战之后的总统，第三位遭国会弹劾动议的总统，也是仅次于西奥多·罗斯福和约翰·肯尼迪之后最年轻的美国总统，以及富兰克林·罗斯福之后连任成功的第一位民主党总统。
本文节选自威廉·杰斐逊·克林顿的回忆录，具体讲述的是克林顿决定竞选阿肯色州第5任州长前的一些心理活动与准备工作。通过前四任连续担任州长的经历，表明自己不是一个轻言放弃的人，再加之受曼德拉的事迹鼓舞，承诺自己在任内会进一步促进该州教育的发展以及经济的现代化进程。事实上，克林顿任州长期间，确实在推动州教育改革和实施经济发展计划方面取得了非常重要的成就。
词汇
apartheid[ə′pɑrtaɪt]n.种族隔离
verse[vɝs]n.篇章，诗篇
ambivalent[æm′bɪvələnt]adj.矛盾的
hatred[′heɪtrɪd]n.憎恨；怨恨；敌意
arrogant[′ærəɡənt]adj.自大的
withdraw[wɪð′drɔ]v.退出
lieutenant governor n.副州长
长难句
Looking back on it,I can see how the statement looked ambivalent and a touch arrogant,but it was an honest expression of how I felt,as I began the first campaign since 1982 that I could have lost.
现在回头想想，我能够看出，在这个声明中，我所流露出的矛盾心理和些许的傲慢，但它确实是我内心感受的真实表达，因为这是自1982年以来，我第一次开始进行可能会失利的竞选活动。
Farmer Boldwood Proposes Marriage（节选）
Thomas Hardy
On Saturday at Casterbridge market Boldwood saw the woman who was disturbing his dreams.For the first time he turned his head and looked at her.It was in fact the first time in his life that he had looked at any woman.Up to now he had considered women to be distant,almost foreign creatures who had nothing to do with him.Now he saw Bathsheba’s hair,and every detail of her face.He noticed her figure,her dress,and even her feet.She seemed very beautiful to him，and his heart began to move within him.‘And this woman,this lovely young woman,has asked me to marry her!’he thought.As he was watching Bathsheba selling wheat to another farmer,he was filled with jealousy.
All this time Bathsheba was aware of his eyes on her.At last she had made him look at her!But she would have preferred him to admire her from the beginning,without the encouragement of her valentine.She felt sorry she had disturbed the usual calmness of a man she respected,but considered she could not apologize to him without either offending or encouraging him.
Mr Boldwood did not try to speak to her,and returned home to his farm.He was a man of strong feelings,which normally lay hidden deep inside him.Because he was serious,and did not joke with his neighbours,people thought he was cold.But when he loved or hated, it was with his whole heart.If Bathsheba had known how strong the feelings of this dark and silent figure were,she would have blamed herself terribly for her thoughtlessness.But nobody guessed what lay behind his calm appearance.
A few days later Mr Boldwood was looking at Bathsheba’s fields,which were next to his own，when he saw her helping Gabriel Oak with the sheep.To Boldwood,Bathsheba shone like the moon on a dark night.His heart,which had never been touched before,was filled completely with his love for her.He decided to go and speak to her.
As he stopped at the gate of the field,Bathsheba looked up and noticed him.Gabriel was watching her face and saw her blush.He immediately thought of the envelope,with the valentine,that Boldwood had shown him,and suspected Bathsheba of encouraging the farmer to fall in love with her.
Boldwood realized they had noticed him,and suddenly felt unsure of himself.He did not know enough about women to discover from Bathsheba’s manner whether she wanted to see him or not.And so he did not enter the field,but walked on,past the gate.
Bathsheba,however,knew that he had come to see her,and felt extremely guilty.She promised herself never again to disturb the peace of this man’s life.Unfortunately her promise was made too late,as such promises often are.
It was not until the end of May that Boldwood was brave enough to declare his love.He went to Bathsheba’s house,where the maids told him their mistress was watching the sheep-washing.Every spring the sheep were washed in a special pool,to keep their wool clean and to get rid of insects on their skin.Boldwood walked across the fields to the pool, where he found the farm workers busily washing the sheep.
文章梗概
本文节选自英国著名作家哈代的小说Far from the Madding Crowd（《远离尘嚣》）。《远离尘嚣》这个书名出自托马斯·格雷（Thomas Gray）的诗作《墓园挽歌》（Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard），表达了哈代想远离工业文明的理想，而小说中主人公们的爱恨情仇和跌宕起伏的人生经历实在不是一个远里离尘嚣的穷乡僻壤中应该发生的事情。在工业文明的侵蚀之下，没有人可以真正地远离尘嚣，这部小说也体现了哈代的悲观主义宿命论。
小说讲述的是芭丝谢芭来到威斯伯里这个被时间遗忘的村落继承叔叔的遗产，并在小村里经历了一场场爱恨情仇的纠葛。本节选主要讲述了威廉·伯德伍德从对他魅力无动于衷到在收到芭丝谢芭的一张情人节卡后，内心的爱意和柔情被点燃，最后向芭丝谢芭求婚的故事。
词汇
jealousy[′dʒɛləsi]n.嫉妒；猜忌；戒备
figure[′fɪɡjɚ]n.身形；数字
长难句
If Bathsheba had known how strong the feelings of this dark and silent figure were，she would have blamed herself terribly for her thoughtlessness.
如果芭丝谢芭知道这个黝黑、沉静的人的感情是如此强烈的话，她一定会为自己的欠考虑而自责不已。
A Flood of Sunshine（节选）
Nathaniel Hawthorne
The struggle,if there were one,need not be described.Let it suffice,that the clergyman resolved to flee,and not alone.
“If,in all these past seven years,”thought he,“I could recall one instant of peace or hope, I would yet endure,for the sake of that earnest of Heaven’s mercy.But now-since I am irrevocably doomed-wherefore should I not snatch the solace allowed to the condemned culprit before his execution?Or,if this be the path to a better life,as Hester would persuade me,I surely give up no fairer prospect by pursuing it!Neither can I any longer live without her companionship;so powerful is she to sustain-so tender to soothe!O Thou to whom I dare not lift mine eyes,wilt Thou yet pardon me!”
“Thou wilt go!”said Hester calmly,as he met her glance.
The decision once made,a glow of strange enjoyment threw its flickering brightness over the trouble of his breast.It was the exhilarating effect-upon a prisoner just escaped from the dungeon of his own heart-of breathing the wild,free atmosphere of an unredeemed, unchristianized,lawless region.His spirit rose,as it were,with a bound,and attained a nearer prospect of the sky,than throughout all the misery which had kept him grovelling on the earth.Of a deeply religious temperament,there was inevitably a tinge of the devotional in his mind.
“Do I feel joy again?”cried he,wondering at himself.“Methought the germ of it was dead in me!O Hester,thou art my better angel!I seem to have flung myself-sick,sin-stained, and sorrow-blackened-down upon these forest-leaves,and to have risen up all made anew,and with new powers to glorify Him that hath been merciful!This is already the better life!Why did we not find it sooner?”
“Let us not look back,”answered Hester Prynne.“The past is gone!Wherefore should we linger upon it now?See!With this symbol,I undo it all,and make it as it had never been!”
So speaking,she undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter,and,taking it from her bosom,threw it to a distance among the withered leaves.The mystic token alighted on the hither verge of the stream.With a hand’s breadth farther flight it would have fallen into the water,and have given the little brook another woe to carry onward,besides the unintelligible tale which it still kept murmuring about.But there lay the embroidered letter,glittering like a lost jewel,which some ill-fated wanderer might pick up,and thenceforth be haunted by strange phantoms of guilt,sinkings of the heart,and unaccountable misfortune.
The stigma gone,Hester heaved a long,deep sigh,in which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit.Oh,exquisite relief!She had not known the weight,until she felt the freedom!By another impulse,she took off the formal cap that confined her hair;and down it fell upon her shoulders,dark and rich,with at once a shadow and a light in its abundance,and imparting the charm of softness to her features.There played around her mouth,and beamed out of her eyes,a radiant and tender smile,that seemed gushing from the very heart of womanhood.A crimson flush was glowing on her cheek, that had been long so pale.Her sex,her youth,and the whole richness of the beauty, came back from what men call the irrevocable past,and clustered themselves,with her maiden hope,and a happiness before unknown,within the magic circle of this hour.And, as if the gloom of the earth and sky had been but the effluence of these two mortal hearts, it vanished with their sorrow.All at once,as with a sudden smile of heaven,forth burst the sunshine,pouring a very flood into the obscure forest,gladdening each green leaf, transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold,and gleaming adown the grey trunks of the solemn trees.The objects that had made a shadow hitherto,embodied the brightness now.The course of the little brook might be traced by its merry gleam afar into the wood’s heart of mystery,which had become a mystery of joy.
文章梗概
本文节选自美国19世纪浪漫主义作家的长篇小说The Scarlet Letter（《红字》），讲述了发生在北美殖民时期的恋爱悲剧。女主人公海丝特·白兰嫁给了医生奇灵渥斯，他们之间却没有爱情。在孤独中，白兰与牧师丁梅斯代尔相恋并生下了女儿珠儿。白兰被当众惩罚，戴上标志“通奸”的红色A字示众。然而白兰坚贞不屈，拒不说出孩子的父亲。小说惯用象征手法，人物、情节和语言都颇具主观想象色彩，在描写中又常把人的心理活动和直觉放在首位，因此也被视为是美国心理分析小说的开创篇。本节选讲述了牧师丁梅斯代尔在经历了灵魂和心灵的无数次颠簸和折磨后，在走到绝境后瞬间看到了希望——他要带着海斯特和女儿逃离。树林中的一片阳光，也投射到了他们心中，幻化成了一片希望。
词汇
irrevocably[ɪ′rɛvǝkəbli]adj.不可撤回的；不要取消的
dungeon[′dʌndʒən]n.地牢
unredeemed[，ʌnrɪ′dimd]adj.未履行的；未赎回
的；未补偿的
grovel[′grɑvl]v.匍匐；卑躬屈膝
tinge[tɪndʒ]n.些许
stigma[′stɪgmə]n.耻辱；烙印
长难句
1.But now—since I am irrevocably doomed—wherefore should I not snatch the solace allowed to the condemned culprit before his execution?
可是如今，我既已命中注定无法挽回，又何必不去捕捉已经定罪的犯人临刑前所能得到的那点慰藉呢？
2.All at once,as with a sudden smile of heaven,forth burst the sunshine,pouring a very flood into the obscure forest,gladdening each green leaf,transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold,and gleaming adown the grey trunks of the solemn trees. The objects that had made a shadow hitherto,embodied the brightness now.
突然之间，天空似乎一下子绽出微笑，立时阳光四射，将灿烂的光芒洒向朦胧的树林，使每一片绿叶都兴高采烈，把枯黄的落叶染成金黄，连肃穆的树木的灰色树干也闪出亮光。原先造成阴影的东西，如今也成了发光体。
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin（节选）
Benjamin Franklin
Look round the habitable world,how few Know their own good,or,knowing it,pursue!
Those who govern,having much business on their hands,do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects.The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom,but forced by the occasion.
The Governor of Pennsylvania,in sending it down to the Assembly,expressed his approbation of the plan,“as appearing to him to be drawn up with great clearness and strength of judgment,and therefore recommended it as well worthy of their closest and most serious attention.”The House,however,by the management of a certain member, took it up when I happened to be absent,which I thought not very fair,and reprobated it without paying any attention to it at all,to my no small mortification.
In my journey to Boston this year,I met at New York with our new governor,Mr.Morris, just arrived there from England,with whom I had been before intimately acquainted. He brought a commission to supersede Mr.Hamilton,who,tired with the disputes his proprietary instructions subjected him to,had resigned.Mr.Morris asked me if I thought he must expect as uncomfortable an administration.I said,“No;you may,on the contrary,have a very comfortable one,if you will only take care not to enter into any dispute with the Assembly.”“My dear friend,”says he,pleasantly,“how can you advise my avoiding disputes?You know I love disputing;it is one of my greatest pleasures; however,to show the regard I have for your counsel,I promise you I will,if possible, avoid them.”He had some reason for loving to dispute,being eloquent,an acute sophister,and,therefore,generally successful in argumentative conversation.He had been brought up to it from a boy,his father,as I have heard,accustoming his children to dispute with one another for his diversion,while sitting at table after dinner;but I think the practice was not wise;for,in the course of my observation,these disputing, contradicting,and confuting people are generally unfortunate in their affairs.They get victory sometimes,but they never get good will,which would be of more use to them. We parted,he going to Philadelphia,and I to Boston.In returning,I met at New York with the votes of the Assembly,by which it appeared that, notwithstanding his promise to me,he and the House were already in high contention; and it was a continual battle between them as long as he retained the government.I had my share of it;for,as soon as I got back to my seat in the Assembly,I was put on every committee for answering his speeches and messages,and by the committees always desired to make the drafts.Our answers,as well as his messages,were often tart,and sometimes indecently abusive;and,as he knew I wrote for the Assembly,one might have imagined that,when we met,we could hardly avoid cutting throats;but he was so good-natured a man that no personal difference between him and me was occasioned by the contest,and we often dined together.
文章梗概
《富兰克林自传》是本杰明·富兰克林的一部代表作，讲述富兰克林从一位贫困家庭的孩子在经历种种磨难后，成为一个令人难以置信的通才的成长经历。同时它也是美国传记文学的开山之作，使自传成为一种全新的文学体裁。它包含了人生奋斗与成功的真知灼见，以及诸种善与美的道德真谛，被公认为是改变了无数人命运的美国精神读本。本节选用友人的故事，提醒人们看清自己的利益，让争辩的一时输赢让位于长远利益的重要性。有时，你的让步，你的不针锋相对，不咄咄逼人，或许能成全更多的成就。
词汇
approbation[′æprǝ′beʃən]n.认可；赞许；批准
mortification[，mɔ:tɪfɪ′keɪʃn]n.屈辱；禁欲
reprobate[′rɛprǝbet]v.非难，拒绝
supersede[，supɚ′sid]vt.取代，代替
sophister[′sɒfɪstə]n.诡辨家
contention[kən′tɛnʃən]n.争论
长难句
1.Look round the habitable world,how few know their own good,or,knowing it,pursue!
环顾一切有人烟之处，有几人明白他们自己的利益，并且能够为之追求呢！
2.He had been brought up to it from a boy,his father,as I have heard,accustoming his children to dispute with one another for his diversion,while sitting at table after dinner;but I think the practice was not wise;for,in the course of my observation, these disputing,contradicting,and confuting people are generally unfortunate in their affairs.
据我所知，他从小就是这样，他的父亲习惯地在晚饭后，把孩子们聚在一起互相争辩，以做自己的消遣。但我认为这种训练并不明智，据我观察，这些好争辩的、好针锋相对的人在处理自己的事情上通常不太走运。
The Great Gatsby（节选）
Francis Fitzgerald
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,”he told me,“just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”
He didn’t say any more but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that.In consequence I’m inclined to reserve all judgments,a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal person,and so it came about that in college I was unjustly accused of being a politician,because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild,unknown men.Most of the confidences were unsought—frequently I have feigned sleep,preoccupation,or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon—for the intimate revelations of young men or at least the terms in which they express them are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions.Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope.I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that,as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.
And,after boasting this way of my tolerance,I come to the admission that it has a limit. Conduct may be founded on the hard rock or the wet marshes but after a certain point I don’t care what it’s founded on.When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever;I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart.Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book,was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures,then there was something gorgeous about him,some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life,as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the “creative temperament”—it was an extraordinary gift for hope,a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again. No—Gatsby turned out all right at the end;it is what preyed on Gatsby,what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.
My family have been prominent,well-to-do people in this middle-western city for three generations.The Carraways are something of a clan and we have a tradition that we’re descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch,but the actual founder of my line was my grandfather’s brother who came here in fifty-one,sent a substitute to the Civil War and started the wholesale hardware business that my father carries on today.
文章梗概
《了不起的盖茨比》是20世纪美国著名作家菲茨吉拉德的代表作。书中描述了出身贫寒的盖茨比如何历尽艰辛、不择手段地攫取财富，并最终从一个穷光蛋变成人们心中的“了不起”的豪富，却始终心心念念着初恋。然而，冰冷的现实容不下缥缈的梦，到头来，盖茨比心中的女神只不过是凡尘俗世的物质女郎。当一切真相大白，盖茨比的悲剧人生亦如烟花般，璀璨只是一瞬，幻灭才是永恒。小说采用印象派的描写手法，笔调既热烈又冷静。
vulnerable[′vʌlnərəbl]adj.易受伤害的；易患病的
privy[′prɪvi]adj.知情的，了解内幕的
feign[fen]v.假装，装作
quiver[′kwɪvɚ]v.颤抖，震颤
snobbish[′snɑbɪʃ]adj.势利的
boast[bəʊst]v.吹嘘；取得（成功），拥有
clan[klæn]n.宗族；部落；集团
长难句
1.In consequence I’m inclined to reserve all judgments,a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.
因此，我习惯于对所有的人都保留判断，这个习惯既使得许多有怪僻的人肯跟我讲心里话，也使我成为不少爱唠叨的惹人厌烦的人的受害者。
2.This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the“creative temperament”—it was an extraordinary gift for hope,a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again.
这种敏感和通常美其名曰“创造性气质”的那种软绵绵的感受性毫不相干——它是一种异乎寻常的永葆希望的天赋，一种富于浪漫色彩的敏捷，这是我在别人身上从未发现过的，也是我今后不大可能会再发现的。