英语时文泛读 Current News Articles for Extensive Reading

1. 英语时文泛读Current News Articles for Extensive Reading BOOK III

2. Life Goes On

3. I. Overview • In this unit, you will read 3 passages about people who pursue their own life styles, their likes and dislikes. As you read the texts note those segments that strike you as being impressive.

4. Structure • Life begins at forty, as one well-known saying goes. Of course, the meaning of life is discussed more when one gets older, travels more extensively, and consequently sees more. Life styles and sometimes ways of life are the main themes of this unit. Different opinions of different people are discussed in detail in this unit.

5. Why Montana Is Turning Blue There are two Montanas in the United States, in a sense. That is, there is a traditional rural Montana and a modern developing Montana. People who are traditional in their values miss the old Montana where life was more leisured and enjoyable. On the other hand, people who like modern life will very likely suggest changes in the way of life of the people in Montana. However, for most local natives, the tradition in the state should be preserved. Text A

6. Nothing is perfect in life. People should be prepared to accept that ideals are missing in life most of the time. We must remember that the things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. The Art of Unhappiness Text B

7. There is prejudice against each other between Britain and France, most people would agree. Some would even suggest that there is some vanity involved in this kind of prejudice. However, through the eyes of some experienced writers living in London and Paris, we are reminded that despite their magnificent histories, marvelous achievements and well-developed identities, both nations remain altogether fascinated with what foreigners think of them. In other words, it is narcissism that determines the vanity between the two countries. Holding the Mirror Up to Vanity Text C

8. Focus of this session

9. II. Text A Why Montana Is Turning Blue • Main Idea of the Text • People have ideas about the state of Montana, particularly people who are not from there. Freedom has a price indeed and not only in times of war. Montanans know that well by now, but even as they try to lower the costs of enjoying so much liberty for so long, a lot of them are suffering from a nagging sense of loss.

10. Author Walter Kirn, an American novelist and critic, lives in Montana. A 1983 graduate of Princeton University, he has published a collection of short stories and several novels, including Thumbsucker, which was made into a 2005 film featuring Keanu Reeves and Vince Vaughn; Up in the Air; and Mission to America. He has also written The Unbinding, an Internet-only novel that was posted in Slate magazine. Background Information

11. Source Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report. A European edition (Time Europe, formerly known as Time Atlantic) is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition (Time Asia) is based in Hong Kong. As of 2009, Time no longer publishes a Canadian advertiser edition The South Pacific edition, covering Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, is based in Sydney. In some advertising campaigns, the magazine has suggested that, through an acronym, the letters T-I-M-E stand for The International Magazine of Events Background Information

12. Montana The 41st state of the US (November 8th, 1889) State name: Montana (meaning: Mountainous region) State Byname: Treasure State; the Big Sky Country Area：381，085 sq.km. (the 4th largest state in the US) Population: 761，000 (the 43rd ) State capital：Heldna Major cities：Billings (the largest);Missoula State flower：Bitterroot State bird：Western Meadowlark State tree: Ponderosa Pine State Motto：Gold and Silver Cultural Notes

13. Livingston Located in south-central Montana, Livingston is nestled in a lovely valley surrounded by the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area, the Gallatin and Crazy Mountains. Livingston sits below the first canyon of the Yellowstone River, along the original and only year round entrance to Yellowstone National Park. It is a pristine environment marked by Blue Ribbon trout streams, the Rocky Mountains, and golden plains that stretch to the horizon under Montana’s big sky. Cultural Notes

14. Name: Freemen (Montana Freemen) Main Belief/Focus: Freemen are involved with Christian Identity, which teaches that God made white gentiles as the race that is superior. Freemen deny that the federal and state courts have any hold on them. They claimed that a common law court system was the only Constitutional court system. The groups identity beliefs from their beliefs for government. They often intimidated public officials and others who spoke against their beliefs. Cultural Notes The photo above shows two Montana Freemen at a sentry post at Justus Township near Jordan in May, 1995. The Freemen began flying the distress flag after pro-Americanist Colorado State Senator Charles Duke, who had attempted to mediate a resolution to the standoff, had left the area.

15. Neanderthal man or Neandertal man, a subspecies of Homo sapiens, the species to which contemporary humans belong, known as H. sapiens neandertalensis after Neanderthal, Germany, the valley where the first specimen was found. Many scientists classify Neanderthal as its own species (H. neandertalensis), pointing to the large number of anatomical differences between it and H. sapiens.Anatomically Neanderthals were somewhat shorter but much more robust than contemporary H. sapiens. Cultural Notes

16. Mecca is a city in Saudi Arabia. Home to the Masjid al-Haram, it is the holiest city in Islam and plays an important role in the faith. Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants. In the 7th century, the Islamic prophet Muhammad proclaimed Islam in the city. After 966, Mecca was led by local sharifs, until 1924, when it came under the rule of the Saudis. In its modern period, Mecca has seen a great expansion in size and infrastructure. Cultural Notes

17. Language Points Key Words & Expressions • bastion (para. 1): • (formal) a group of people or a system that protects a way of life or a belief when it seems that it may disappear （正式）堡垒，捍卫者 • e.g. • a bastion of male privilege （大男子主义的捍卫者。）

18. Language Points • rowdy (para. 2): • (of people人) making a lot of noise or likely to cause trouble 吵闹的，惹事生非的，捣乱的 • e.g. • a rowdy crowd at the pub （酒吧里一群闹哄哄的家伙）

19. Language Points • sweeping (para. 3): • (usually before noun) having a important effect on a large part of sth 影响广泛的，打范围的，根本性的 • e.g. • sweeping reforms/changes （ 全面改革，彻底变化 ）

20. Language Points • implication (para. 4): • a possible effect or result of an action or a decision 可能的影响（或作用、结果） • e.g. • The development of the site will have implications for the surrounding countryside. （这个地点的开发将会影响周围的乡村。）

21. Language Points • invigorate (para. 4): • to make sb feel healthy and full of energy 使生气勃勃，使精神焕发 • e.g. • The cold water invigorated him. （ 冷水让他打起了精神。）

22. Language Points Difficult Sentences • “The place is still in the Stone Age. It’s Neanderthal. Personally, I couldn’t live there,” the fellow said. (para.1) • to be in the Stone Age 意思是极端落伍的，It’s Neanderthal. 强调了这层意思。

23. Language Points • Although the state went to George W. Bush in the presidential race, coloring it red on the electoral maps, it also chose its first Democratic Governor since 1984, broke the G.O.P.’s hold on the state legislature and backed a pair of progressive ballot initiatives banning toxic mining practices and legalizing medical marijuana. (para.2) • went to sb 是支持某人，broke the G.O.P.’s hold on the state legislature 打破了G.O.P.在州议会的垄断控制，legalizing medical marijuana 使用于医学目的的大麻合法化。

24. Language Points • First, in a frontal assault on the state’s image as a vast frontier-era saloon where a person is free to lose his life to vice as long as he doesn’t take other people with him, the legislature prohibited smoking in all public places, including bars and restaurants. (para.3) • where a person is free to lose his life to vice as long as he doesn’t take other people with him 在那里，一个人可以将自己的生命交给邪恶的事物，只要他不带走别人。

25. Language Points • But the old-timers are turning bluer too – perhaps as a result of choking on the polluted air that issues from the state’s assorted smelters, refineries, pulp mills, oil and gas wells and non-emission-controlled exhaust pipes. (para.6) • the old-timers 指老辈儿人，are turning bluer 指变得更加忧郁、更加愁闷。blue 在这里指 sad, depressed 。

26. Language Points • “The stuff is said to ease the pain of battling cancer, and up in Libby at least, that pain is great. (para.6) • 那东西据说能减轻与癌症斗争得疼痛，而至少在Libby那个地方，癌症的发病率是很高的。

27. Language Points • The open range was fenced in long ago, but the hell-raising atmosphere lingered on. (para.7) • 参考译文：广阔的牧场早就被圈了起来，可是那抗议的氛围还在空气中游荡。请注意：to raise hell 是不正式的表达方式，而且文体不大礼貌，其意思是 to protest strongly and angrily about a situation 。