作者：周化嫒,龚小燕
出版社：西南交大出版社
格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT
英语专业快速阅读（二）试读：
前言
据高等学校外语专业教学指导委员会制定的《高等学校英语专业英语教学大纲》，阅读课程是英语专业本科基础阶段的一门专业必修课程，其中，快速阅读是英语专业阅读课程的主要内容之一。快速阅读旨在培养英语专业学生快速阅读的技能和技巧，培养学生通过阅读快速获取知识和信息的能力，培养英语专业学生语言能力、语言基本功和语言素养。
高等学校《英语专业快速阅读》（1～4册）教材由王扬教授担任总主编。参与编写教材的人员有刘娜、刘晶晶、周化嫒、龚小燕、乔淑霞、孔云军等。
教材每册设计16个单元（共32篇文章），每个单元包括与专题内容相关的2篇阅读材料，短文字数控制在800～1000词，设计阅读量要求学生10分钟左右完成。每篇文章设计5道选择题（其中，2道涉及文章主题或大意，3道涉及内容细节），要求学生在规定时间内选择出正确的答案。教材在语料选择上注意题材、体裁的多样化（科技、文学、语言、文化、社会、习俗、生活等）；在内容上力求体现新颖性、趣味性、实用性、广泛性、可读性；在词汇等级及难易度控制上，根据《高等学校英语专业英语教学大纲》词汇范围选择语料。第一册词汇量范围为3500词，生词出现率为3%～5%；第二册词汇量范围为4500词，生词出现率为3%～5%；第三册词汇量范围为5500词，生词出现率为3%～5%；第四册词汇量范围为6500词，生词出现率为3%～5%。英语专业基础阶段共4学期，本套教材每学期学习1册，每周学习1个单元。
本套教材适用于英语专业本科基础阶段或英语专业专科以及同等水平的英语读者。
由于编写时间紧、任务重，加之编者水平有限，教材中难免有不足之处，敬请外语同行及专家批评指正。总主编 王扬2016年3月30日Unit 1It’s Time to Be into WorkText A Why Chores are Good for Children
A study of the articles, advice and letters published in more than 300 parenting magazines between 1920 and 2006 has found that most modern-day children are only asked to take on trivial responsibilities, such as feeding a pet, clearing the table after dinner or tidying up after themselves.
“In earlier generations, children and adolescents were given meaningful opportunities to be responsible by contributing not only to their households but also to their larger communities,” said Markella Rutherford, assistant professor of sociology at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and author of the new study, Children’s Autonomy and Responsibility, and An Analysis of Child Rearing Advice.
Until the 1980s, staff at parenting magazines and parents who wrote in agreed that chores helped children to develop empathy and a desire to contribute to the well-being of others, she said.Between the 1930s and the 1970s, adolescent and preadolescent children were expected to plan menus, shop and prepare meals for the family.They were given responsibility for tasks, including nursing sick family members, keeping household accounts, decorating or even helping to maintain the family car.
“Even very young children were considered capable of contributing to necessary tasks,” said Rutherford.“One mother’s letter describes how she taught her four-year-old boy to lay kindling and to start a fire.”
In contrast, schoolwork is the only real responsibility given to the modern children, says Rutherford.“In the 1980s descriptions of children’s household chores all but disappeared from parenting magazines,” she said.In rare cases, when children were asked to shoulder more onerous chores, references were invariably made to “bribes” in the form of payment or points that could be“cashed in” for toys, games or outings.
Rutherford’s findings reflect another recent survey that found British children earn about 700 pounds a year by doing chores and errands for their parents.“In the past, parents didn’t feel the need to bribe children because they were confident chores benefited their kids by making them feel both responsible and an active part of family life,” said Rutherford.“Added to which, children of the past would not have expected to be bribed because their parents taught them to take pride in a job well done.”
Jeremy Todd, chief executive of the national helpline Parent Plus, said parents must be careful not to demand too much of their children and must ensure that responsibilities are fair and age-appropriate.But he added: “Giving children their own ‘must-do’ chores is great for self-discipline and for building their confidence.Chores can also teach children how to plan their own time, taking into consideration others’ needs, limits and responsibilities.They teach children about the consequences of their actions and encourage them to think about what they do, and don’t do, in the course of the day.Having to wipe the table after painting, or cleaning their shoes after a puddle-splashing session, shouldn’t be seen as a punishment; it just needs to be done.”
Michael Clapham, a senior lecturer at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, said children needed a high degree of physical activity.“Doing chores and running errands could be part of that,” he said.“Perhaps they could extend that beyond the family, run to the shop for the old lady down the road, for example, or, if it snows, go out and clear the pavement before it freezes.These kinds of activities have lots of benefits.Children can get a feeling of satisfaction and self-worth.”
But John Rowlinson, founder of the Kids Development website, warned that parents should not ask children to do the kind of chores that they themselves would not be willing to do.“Parents should ensure that everyone in the family completes chores that contribute to the good of the household,” he said.“When children do complete chores, parents should recognize their contributions with praise.It might be a stretch to think that chores will ever be fun, but they certainly can be bearable if approached in the right way.Parents should attempt to keep chores lively, and often even simple things, like playing music, telling stories or singing songs can make all the difference between mundane tasks and family fun time.”
He said that chores could also be used by busy working parents as an opportunity to spend more quality time with their children individually.（721 words）（Amelia Hill, The Observer）
1.What tasks are assigned to children in earlier generation as chores?
A.Plan menus.
B.Keep household accounts.
C.Helping to maintain the family car.
D.All of the above.
2.Which is not mentioned as the benefits of chores?
A.Greater autonomy.
B.Develop empathy.
C.A desire to contribute.
D.Self-discipline.
3.Jeremy Todd suggests parents must not_______.
A.demand too much of their children
B.ensure that responsibilities are fair and age-appropriate
C.give chores as a punishment
D.encourage children to think about what they do, and don’t do
4.What does “bribe” mean in Paragraph 6?
A.Buying.
B.Payments or points.
C.Promise.
D.Deal.
5.What suggestion can we get from John Rowlinson?
A.Parents should not ask children to do the kind of chores that they themselves would not be willing to do.
B.Children need a high degree of physical activity.
C.Children are given meaningful opportunities to their larger communities.
D.Parents should not keep chores lively.Text B Monday Yawning
Monday morning–is there a worse time of the week? Just managing to get out of bed and into the shower can seem like a major triumph.But if this morning felt like a struggle, you are not alone–feeling groggy and unproductive is a common beginning-of-the-week side effect in UK employees.What’s more, there is actually a reason why we don’t feel our best when that Monday morning alarm clock rings.Even better, there are steps we can take to feel perkier.
“Ultimately it’s like a very mild form of seasonal affective disorder,” says sleep expert Dr.Chris Idzikowski of the widely reported Monday morning syndrome.Idzikowski is director of Edinburgh Sleep Centre, and has been appointed to research optimum sleep for British Airways.“Your body clock tends to run a little bit slow if you work hard during the week and then sleep in over the weekend,” he says.“It’s the effect of imposing an artificial seven-day week.Your circadian rhythms rely on natural light cues to speed them up.If you miss these in the morning because you’ve kept the curtains drawn and stayed in bed at the weekend, then your body clock will be out of time and you’ll feel tired.”
According to Idzikowski, some people will feel these effects more forcefully, with “morning” people often finding it more difficult to deal with disruptions to their body clock.“People who find it easier to get up in the morning and go to bed earlier tend to find it harder to adjust,” says Idzikowski.“This could just be because they have more of a routine, but it certainly seems to be the case that they feel the effect of disruption more than people who are night owls.”
But whichever category you fall into, you’re unlikely to avoid the effects of a Monday morning sleep deficit.Physiologically, the vast majority of us feel the effects of the weekend come on Monday morning–the exceptions being a few lucky individuals whose body clocks run a bit fast.We suffer more now the dark winter nights have set in, leaving us less natural wake up light in the early hours.
This is bad news for businesses, as the loss in hours is estimated at ￡113 million annually as workers struggle to adapt to their Monday mornings.This figure, according to research by Office Angels, is the impact of what they’ve termed “weekend jetlag”, which sees the majority of workers displaying symptoms ranging from tiredness to feeling cranky or unproductive.
But there are ways to tackle the Monday morning wipeout.And one of the key techniques for businesses to adopt is simply to acknowledge it exists.“We’re quite aware that on Monday morning staff aren’t at their most awake or productive,” says Alistair Leathwood, MD of recruitment consultancy FreshMinds Talent.“In an ideal world we’d have everything prepared on a Friday night, ready to get straight back on task for Monday.But the reality is very few of us do this, and it helps to have a little extra motivation on Mondays.”
Leathwood’s solution is a simple one.He holds a 9:15 am meeting every Monday for staff to talk through a quick rundown of their plans for the day or the week.“It gives people 15 minutes to settle in and check their emails, or whatever,” says Alistair.“But then at 9:15 we’re all in the same room, and ready to crack on.”
If you haven’t got a kind manager, there are other techniques you can adopt.Buying a dawn-simulator alarm clock can be a surprisingly effective way to reset your body clock–these are designed to mimic a half hour sunrise, and have been proven in sleep studies to be an effective technique in regulating circadian rhythms.Alternatively, pull your curtains wide open in the morning, and try to get out in some sunlight before you start work.Exercise can also help wake you up and, if taken in the early evening, it is associated with helping to regulate your body clock.
For many of us, however, that Monday morning feeling is as much psychological as it is physiological.Knowing we’ve got a stressful job to get back to, or we’ve had a heavy weekend can affect how much we’re looking forward to starting work again.“A lot of people link the Monday morning feeling with going back to school after a weekend when they haven’t done their homework,” says Dr.Nerina Ramlakhan, sleep and energy coach at Capio Nightingale.“Also, we’re essentially working against our genetic code because of the artificial way we work.We don’t necessarily need to go to bed at night and sleep the whole way through.Historically, we would be waking up in the middle of the night, and taking sleep in different parts of the day.”
A good argument then for one of our favorite bugbears–the right to more flexible hours.After all, with more freedom over when we work, staff could sleep in for an extra hour on Mondays, or take a quick nap in the afternoon to adjust.
And as TUC general secretary Brendan Barber concludes: “Workers who feel their bosses trust them enough to work flexibly will feel more involved and more content in their jobs–conditions which make for a much more productive workforce on Mondays and every other day of the week.”（904 words）（Catherine Quinn）
1.Sleep expert Dr.Chris Idzikowski explained the reason of Monday morning tiredness as_______.
A.disordered body clock
B.circadian rhythms
C.the artificial seven-day week
D.natural light
2.Which item is not belonged to weekend jetlag?
A.Tiredness.
B.Feeling cranky.
C.Unproductive.
D.Disorder.
3.“Crack on” （Paragraph 7） means_______.
A.continuing to work
B.breaking
C.accomplishing
D.solving
4.Paragraph 9 and Paragraph 10 mainly focus on_______.
A.psychological and physiological explanation of Monday morning feeling
B.heavy weekend may account for Monday morning feeling
C.genetic explanation of Monday morning feeling
D.both A and C
5.The last two paragraphs focus on_______.
A.how does the Monday morning feeling affect businesses
B.how to tackle Monday morning feeling
C.the favourite solution of Monday morning feeling
D.how to make Monday morning productiveUnit 2Is It Healthier?Text A An Onion a Day: Health Tip from the Village of Long Life
Some put it down to the water, others believe the clean, fresh Somerset air is the reason for their longevity.Charlie and Mabel Northam, still going strong at 89 and 90 respectively, swear they have lived so long because they eat a locally produced onion every day and drink spring water from a nearby hill.
Montacute village in Somerset came top in a study of where people are likely to live the longest.Residents Charlie and Mabel Northam put their health down to eating home-grown produce–including an onion a day.
The residents of Montacute, a place of honey-coloured hamstone cottages and gorgeous woods and valleys, were yesterday celebrating being pinpointed as the place in England where you are likely to live the longest.The south-west of England as a whole did well in the study, carried out by pension experts, with six towns and villages featuring in the English top 10.
In Montacute the revelation did not cause the Northams’ routine to falter.As ever they ate a couple of fried onions for lunch, washed down with half pints of spring water.For 40 years Mr.Northam grew vegetables, producing 500 onions a year among other things on his allotment.“I had 30 rows of potatoes, spinach, runner beans–you name it I grew it and I didn’t use any chemicals.” He had to give up, but the couple still swear by fresh, local vegetables.“I think this is a lovely place,” added Mr.Northam, who turns 90 on New Year’s Eve.“I suppose that’s one of the big reasons that people live so long.People are happy.We were always happy.” The Northams have built their lives around the village church.They were married there 64 years ago and Mr.Northam has sung in the choir for 81 years.Living to a ripe-old age seems to run in the family.Mrs.Northam’s mother, Mary Ellen Adams, who lived next door, died at 106.“So we may still have some time to go,” she said.
Lifelong resident Shirley Hann is another who believes growing your own is key to a long life.A mere spring chicken at 74, she keeps a thriving vegetable patch.“People here all have allotments or a little vegetable patch in their back garden.I’ve been eating home-grown veg my whole life,” she said.Her cousin, Keith Hann, 72, said he had grown his own for half a century.“I grow everything.I’ve got three allotments, and I’ve grown about 95% of my fruit and veg for nearly 50 years.”
Bill Dufton, 83, was to be found on top of a ladder, restoring the window frames of his 500-year-old home.He believes good healthcare is one of the reasons people are lasting so long here.“We have a good health centre down the road.We have all sorts of pills to take.I put it down in good part to the NHS –and also that this is a great place for walking.That keeps you fit.”
In the post office, sub-postmaster Myrtle Hann, a whippersnapper at 63, said she believed great community spirit helped keep elderly people going.“It’s the sort of village where people help each other get by.Top 10 places in England for longevity are Montacute, Somerset Brockenhurst, Hampshire Aldeburgh, Suffolk Church Stretton, Shropshire Colyton, Devon Lyme Regis, Dorset Lymington, Hampshire Verwood, Dorset Hinton St George, and Somerset Budleigh Salterton, Devon.I think that helps.People feel secure.”
The study was carried out by actuaries at the international business consultancy Watson Wyatt.Understanding in which areas people are likely to last longer has become important for people such as bosses of insurance companies and pension funds.
Though the study that put Montacute on the top of the list focused on men only, Watson Wyatt said the evidence was that it would hold true for women too.The bottom line was that if a Montacute man reached the age of 65, he was likely to carry on to 90, and any partner would probably survive a couple of years on top of that.
Kevin and Carolyn Bowmaster, landlord and lady of the village pub, the Phelips Arms, agree that the water and fresh air is good but also think the good beer and wine might have something to do with it.“People do enjoy themselves here and coming to the pub is a part of that,” said Mr Bowmaster.
The pub hosts regular outings by two rival groups – the Romeos, made up of gentlemen of a certain age, and the Juliets, their female counterparts.
Violet Myram, 88, founder of the Juliets, said: “We go out and have a meal and conversation.I expect I’m the oldest but, fingers crossed, we’re all fighting fit.”（788 words）（The Guardian）
1.According to the residents of Montacute village, which is not mentioned as the keys to long life?
A.Growing your own vegetables.
B.Good health care.
C.Great community spirit.
D.Security.
2.What does the word “allotment” mean in Paragraph 5?
A.Aboundance.
B.A small area of land.
C.Garden.
D.Pills.
3.It could be inferred from Paragraph 9 that_______.
A.residents in Montacute are likely to live to 90
B.females live longer than males
C.residents in Montacute are all old
D.the study did not focus on women
4.According to Watson Wyatt, the longevity survey is significant for_______.
A.population census
B.medical care
C.bosses of insurance companies
D.getting more pension funds
5.The village pub_______.
A.does not offer beer and wine to the old
B.founded the Juliets
C.hosts regular outings for the old
D.only serves wineText B Do Men and Women Process Alcohol Differently?
When it comes to processing alcohol, men and women are entirely different.Contrary to common belief, men and women of almost the same height and weight do not experience similar effects after consuming equal amounts of alcohol.Studies prove that women are more adversely affected by alcohol abuse.That makes it very necessary for women to understand this particular difference between them and men and reduce their alcohol consumption accordingly.
Just like men and women are differently affected by various diseases, alcohol-related ailments also exhibit varying levels.Studies and researches conducted over the last couple of decades prove without a doubt that quite a number of ill-health consequences of alcohol abuse develop faster in women than in men.
In general, men are able to handle excessive alcohol consumption better than women.Being larger in build, men have more blood volume and less body fat than women.In addition, men have a higher concentration of dehydrogenase–an enzyme that breaks alcohol down.On the other hand, women have a smaller body size, more body fat, lower amounts of dehydrogenase and regular occurrences of hormonal changes.As a result, women respond faster and with more intensity after a round of drinks.
Why is there a difference in alcohol processing?
Due to many physiological factors, women experience the ill-effects of alcoholism more than men–even if both of them are of the same size.Here are 4 explanations as to why men and women react differently to alcohol consumption:
Capacity to dilute alcohol: While the concentration of water in the body of an average man is around 61 percent, a woman has a considerable less water content, that of 52 percent.As a result, a man’s body is naturally equipped to dilute alcohol more efficiently than a woman’s body–regardless of the weight factor.
Capacity to metabolize alcohol: As mentioned earlier, women have lower concentrations of dehydrogenase–the enzyme that metabolizes alcohol before it passes into the bloodstream.So, a woman’s body processes alcohol comparatively slower than a man’s body would.
Hormonal changes: Variations in the hormonal levels prior to menstruation can cause women to become intoxicated faster.This is especially evident during the days just before the commencement of the periods.Women who regularly take estrogen-added medications like birth control pills often experience extended effects of intoxication since the medication slows down the rate at which the body is able to eliminate the alcohol content.
Body fat: The content of body fat is directly related to the rate of absorption and metabolizing of alcohol.Women have a higher concentration of body fat than men.Since fat does not absorb alcohol, the entire alcohol content remains in a highly concentrated form in the bloodstream.Consequently, women experience alcohol-induced intoxication faster than men.
Alcohol-related women’s health issues Comparative studies on the drinking habits and its after-effects on men and women have uncovered another alarming fact–women are more vulnerable to the damaging effects of alcohol.
Here are some of the serious conditions that may affect female
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