Batman Begins by Goyer David 词汇提示 1.District Attorney 地方检察官 原文 Chapter II: Bats Everywhere Bruce couldn't sleep that night. He remembered his life after Joe Chill killed his parents. He was so unhappy and so angry. He went from school to school and university to university. He never stayed long in one place. Bruce is twenty. He is going back to Gotham by train. Alfred meets him at the station. On the way to Wayne Manor he sees that everything is different. Everywhere is dirty. Many houses are empty. Many shops are closed. People are sleeping on the streets. 'Things are very bad in Gotham now, Master Bruce,' Alfred tells him.'But Wayne Manor is still your home. Your father was a great man, and one day you will be a great man too.' It is the afternoon on the same day. Bruce is sitting on his bed. 'Joe Chill will be free today,' he thinks. 'He killed my parents twelve years ago. And today I'm going to kill him.' He takes a gun out of his bag. His old friend, Rachel, comes to the house. She is an Assistant District Attorney – an important lawyer in Gotham now. 'Wow!' he thinks when he sees her. 'She is so beautiful.' They drive to the prison. 'Why are they freeing Joe Chill today?' he asks. 'When he was in prison, he was in a room with Carmine Falcone, the famous criminal, 'Rachel explains.' They talked and he learned lots of things about Falcone. He's going to give that information to the police.' They arrive outside the prison. The newspaper people are waiting. Joe Chill comes out. There are police all around him. Bruce gets out of Rachel's car and walks towards Chill. He has his hand in his pocket... on his gun. But - suddenly - a blonde woman pushes through the people. She runs up to Chill. She has a gun in her hand. 'Falcone says "Hi, Joe", ' she shouts. BANG! BANG! She kills Joe Chill. Joe Chill was dead. But Bruce didn't feel better. It wasn't the answer. Ducard took Bruce's blue flower. He pulled the dry flower into little pieces and made a small fire with it. 'Smell your flower now,' he said to Bruce. Bruce put his nose near the smoke. The smell was terrible. He suddenly started to remember the worst days of his life... He was falling down the well... He was seeing his parents' blood in the street... 'You are frightened of these things. Look at them. Fight them. Now!' said Ducard. He pointed to a large wooden box. Bruce opened it. WHOOOOSSSH! Hundreds of bats flew out of the box. Bruce wanted to shout and run. But he didn't. 'No,' he thought, 'I must be strong.' He stood there quietly. He didn't move. He didn't say a word. 'Well done!' said Ra's al Ghul. 'You are not frightened now. You are ready to join my Ninjas.' He gave Bruce alight. 'Take this light and give your life to me.' Bruce took the light. 'Where must I go with your men? 'he asked. 'To Gotham,' answered Ra's al Ghul. 'Gotham must die. You must kill all the people there.' 'No!' shouted Bruce. This could not be real. 'We have taught you many things,' said Ra's al Ghul. 'Now you must do this for us.' 'I won't do it!' shouted Bruce. He threw the light on the wooden floor. It broke. A fire started and moved quickly around the room. It grew and grew. It reached the boxes of explosives in the cupboards. They started to explode. BANG!BANG! Ninjas ran everywhere. The roof started to fall. It fell on Ra's al Ghul and killed him. As Bruce ran to the door, he saw Ducard's body on the floor. He wasn't dead. Bruce pulled Ducard out of the building and into the snow. He pulled him down the icy mountain. Ducard was very heavy. Once he almost fell over the edge of the mountain, but Bruce saved him. After some time they came to some houses. Bruce left Ducard with an old man there. 'You saved his life. I will tell him,' said the old man. 'Where are you going?' 'I'm going home,' said Bruce. Bruce walked down the rest of the mountain. He phoned Alfred. 'I need you, Alfred,' he said. 'Please come and get me.' Alfred flew to Bhutan in the Wayne family plane and took Bruce back to Gotham. He told Bruce all about the terrible changes in Gotham. Carmine Falcone was the crime boss in the city now. Everyone was frightened of him. And William Earle sat in Bruce's father's chair at Wayne Enterprises, the Wayne family business in Wayne Tower. 'Bruce Wayne is dead,' Earle told everyone. 'I'm the boss now.' Bruce listened carefully to Alfred. 'I'm going to save Gotham, Alfred,' he said. When they arrived home at Wayne Manor, Bruce saw a small black thing high on the wall. 'What's that, Alfred?' he asked. 'It's a bat, sir,' answered Alfred. 'There are lots of bats around here.' Bruce suddenly ran out of the house. He ran to the well in the garden and climbed down and down. He reached the floor. It was very dark but he could feel a cold wind. He found a hole in the wall and climbed through. He could hear water. It was quite near. He followed the black walls until they opened into a big cave. A river ran through the cave. And everywhere there were bats- hundreds and hundreds of bats. Bruce smiled. The next morning Bruce put on a new suit and went to Wayne Tower. The woman at the front desk at Wayne Enterprises tried to stop him. 'You can't go in there,' she said.' They're having a business meeting.' But Bruce opened the door and went in. There were a lot of men sitting around a long table. And at the end of the table was William Earle. 'Good morning, Mr. Earle. Good morning, everyone,' said Bruce. Earle's face went white but he quickly tried to smile. 'My boy! How nice to see you!' he said. 'You're back. What a surprise! A nice surprise!' 'I've come back to work here,' said Bruce. 'I want to learn the family business.' Bruce started work in the Applied Sciences office. This was the new ideas office, but Wayne Enterprises didn't seem to be very interested in new ideas these days. The only other person in the office was Lucius Fox. Lucius was a friend of Bruce's father, before he died. Bruce looked around the big room. It was full of strange and exciting things. 'What's this?' he asked, and pointed to a black suit. 'It's a body suit,' said Lucius. 'It can stop a knife. It can even stop a gun.' 'Can I have it?' asked Bruce. 'Of course,' said Lucius. 'All these things are yours anyway.' Bruce took the body suit home and down to the cave. 'Soon,' he thought, 'I will be ready.'

提示 一、每期五个句子，均是从四六级听力真题中选取的长难句。 二、每个句子念三遍女声，一遍男声，再一遍女声。 三、如果觉得语速过快，可以在播放器上调慢语速，多听几遍。 词汇提示 1.indicates 表明 2.obligatory 强制 原文 126. The scientific evidence from countries like Australia, Canada, and the USA clearly indicates a decline in the birds' numbers. 来自澳大利亚、加拿大和美国等国家的科学证据清楚地表明，这种鸟类的数量下降了。 127. It is a seven-day race called "The lditarod Trail". And participants stop at Takotna for the obligatory 24 hour rest. 这是一场为期七天的比赛，名为“艾迪塔罗德狗拉雪橇比赛”。参与者会在塔克哈纳停留24小时休息。 128. The scientists wanted to see whether the mice would continue doing the same kinds of activities they were observed doing on Earth. 科学家们想知道这些老鼠是否会继续做他们在地球上观察到的同样的活动。 129. He lands a job decorating a restaurant with his drawings rather than shutting down the habit of drawing in his school's workbook. 他并未停止在学校练习册上画画的习惯，而是赢得了一份用自己的画装饰餐厅的工作。 130. Homework is an important part of schooling, but the purposes of giving children homework will change as they grow older. 家庭作业是学校教育的重要组成部分，但随着孩子年龄的增长，给他们留家庭作业的目的会随之改变。

听前提示 一、三遍英文，一遍中文，再一遍英文。 二、从听懂的词入手，理解句子含义。 三、根据中英文意思，听不懂的多听几遍。 词汇提示 1.credit 表扬 2.astonishment 震惊 3.urgent 紧急 原文 441. The world is divided into people who get things done, and people who get the credit. 世界上有两种人，一种是把事情做好的人，另一种是接受赞扬的人。 442. Excuse me, but will you show me the way to the station? 对不起，你能告诉我去车站怎么走吗？ 443. Could you change my room to one with a view of the ocean? 你帮我换一间能看到大海的房间吗？ 444. After we had walked for some time, we came to the lake. 我们走了一会儿，来到了湖边。 445. I'd like the most inexpensive room you have for four nights. 我想要定你们这最便宜的房间，住四晚上。 446. To everyone's astonishment, Mike won first prize in the speech contest. 令大家惊讶的是，迈克在演讲比赛中得了第一名。 447. This national treasure can be seen by the public only once a year. 公众每年只有一次机会看到这一国宝。 448. If it had not been for your support, he would have failed in business. 如果没有你的支持，他在事业上早就失败了。 449. In many parts of the world, there is not enough food to meet everyone's needs. 在世界的许多地方，没有足够的食物来满足每个人的需求。 450. I need to make an urgent call. Is there a public phone near here? 我需要打个紧急电话。这附近有公用电话吗?

词汇提示 1.lithography 平板印刷 2.decorative 装饰的 3.contemporary 当代 4.occupations 职业 5.whaling 捕鲸 6.buggy rides 驾马车 7.sleigh rides 滑雪橇 原文 Currier and Ives Before the widespread use of photography there was a large market for artistic depictions of scenes and events. A process for making prints called lithography became popular in North America during the early nineteenth century. One young artist who mastered this technique was Nathaniel Currier (1813-1888). Currier opened his own shop in 1834. Currier's success came when he issued prints of newsworthy events. His "Ruins of the Merchant's Exchange" followed a great fire in New York, December 1834. One of Currier's prints of a disastrous fire on a steamboat was published in the New York Sun in 1840. There was also a large market for decorative prints. People who couldn't afford oil paintings would buy color prints to put on their walls. Some of these prints were copies of paintings. Sometimes, Currier mentioned his source and sometimes not. In 1852, James Merritt Ives (1824-1895) joined Currier's firm. In 1857, he became Currier's partner. After that, the firm was known as Currier and lves. Altogether the firm produced about 7,000 different subjects. Small prints sold for about 25 cents, and large color prints for about three dollars. Travelling salesmen went from house to house selling them. Currier and lves sometimes hired the original painters to make the print. More often, someone from his or her own studio either composed an original subject or copied an existing painting or drawing. Contemporary news remained popular. Currier and lves prints included "The First Appearance of Jenny Lind in America" (1850), "The Fall of Richmond, Virginia" (1865), and "The Great Fire at Chicago" (1871). A common subject was a patriotic scene from American history. Interesting occupations such as whaling, bird hunting, trapping, fur trading and deep-sea fishing were portrayed. Pioneer and Indian topics were in demand. However, the most popular of all scenes were winter and holiday prints of ordinary people enjoying life. Farm scenes, buggy rides, sleigh rides, market scenes, black smith's shops, and town scenes sold well. Favorite prints included "American Forest Scene: Maple Sugaring" (1860), "Home to Thanksgiving"(1863), "Winter in the Country" (1862),"Life in the Country: The Morning Ride"(1859) and "American Winter Sports" (1856). These scenes are still popular. Even today you can buy Christmas cards with Currier and Ives winter scenes. This collection of prints gives a remarkable picture of America between 1834 and 1907. Although the prints are sometimes more romantic than reality, they give a lotof information about everyday life. They depict styles of clothing, trains and boats buildings and bridges and popular activities. They also tell us what sorts of scenes people at that time liked, and what their artistic tastes were. Eventually, advances in photography made this kind of printmaking obsolete. In 1906, the firm of Currier and Ives closed its doors. For a while, these prints were not considered very valuable. Nowadays, however, there are many collectors,and Currier and Ives prints once again can be found decorating North American homes. 翻译 库里和艾夫斯 在摄影被广泛使用之前，对场景和事件的艺术描绘有很大的市场。 19世纪初，一种叫做平版印刷的印刷工艺在北美流行起来。 掌握这一技术的一位年轻艺术家是纳撒尼尔·库里尔（Nathaniel Currier，1813-1888）。 库里在1834年开了自己的店。 库里的成功来自于他发布了有新闻价值的事件的印刷品。 1834年12月，他的《商人交易所的废墟》在纽约发生大火之后出版。 1840年，柯里尔在《纽约太阳报》上发表了一幅关于蒸汽船上灾难性火灾的版画。 装饰印刷品也有很大的市场。 买不起油画的人会买彩色印刷品贴在墙上。 其中一些版画是绘画的复制品。 有时，库里提到了他的消息来源，有时没有。 1852年，詹姆斯·梅里特·艾夫斯（1824-1895）加入了库里的公司。 1857年，他成为库里的合伙人。 此后，该公司被称为Currier and lves。 该公司总共制作了大约7000个不同的主题。 小版画售价约25美分，大彩色版画售价约3美元。 旅行推销员挨家挨户推销。 柯里尔和艾夫斯有时会聘请原画家来制作版画。 更常见的情况是，他或她自己工作室的人要么创作了一个原创主题，要么复制了现有的绘画或绘图。 当代新闻仍然很受欢迎。 柯里尔和艾夫斯的作品包括《珍妮·林德在美国的首次亮相》（1850年）、《弗吉尼亚州里士满的陷落》（1865年）和《芝加哥大火》（1871年）。 一个共同的主题是美国历史上的爱国主义场景。 有趣的职业，如捕鲸、猎鸟、诱捕、毛皮交易和深海捕鱼都被描绘出来。 先锋和印度主题很受欢迎。 然而，所有场景中最受欢迎的是普通人享受生活的冬季和假日版画。 农场场景、马车、雪橇、集市场景、铁匠铺和城镇场景卖得很好。 最受欢迎的版画包括《美国森林场景：枫糖》（1860）、《感恩节之家》（1863）、《乡村的冬天》（1862）、《乡间生活：早晨的骑行》（1859）和《美国冬季运动》（1856）。 这些场景仍然很受欢迎。 即使在今天，你也可以买到带有库里和艾夫斯冬季场景的圣诞卡。 这组版画展示了1834年至1907年间美国的非凡图景。 虽然这些照片有时比现实更浪漫，但它们提供了很多日常生活的信息。 它们描绘了服装、火车、船只、建筑、桥梁和流行活动的风格。 他们还告诉我们当时人们喜欢什么样的场景，以及他们的艺术品味。 最终，摄影技术的进步使这种版画过时了。 1906年，库里尔和艾夫斯公司关门。 有一段时间，这些照片被认为不太值钱。 然而，如今，有很多收藏家，在北美的家中再次可以找到柯里尔和艾夫斯的版画。

Batman Begins by Goyer David 词汇提示 1.Bhutan 不丹 2.crack 爆裂声 3.manor 庄园 4.thick 厚的 原文 Chapter I: The Blue Flower Bruce Wayne was in prison in Bhutan, a country far away from his home in Gotham City in America. One day, he was waiting for breakfast with all the other prisoners. They stood in lines. After a long time, Bruce got his plate of horrible food. He took the plate and walked to a table. A very big man stood in front of him. 'Give me your food,' said the man. 'No,' Bruce said. The man hit Bruce in the face. Bruce dropped his plate and fell to the floor. When he got up, there were seven big men in front of him. Two of them took Bruce by the arms. He used his legs - hard - and they fell. Then -CRRAAACCCCK! At the sound of the gun, all the prisoners quickly got down on the floor. A prison officer took Bruce's arm. 'You're coming with me,' he said. 'Why?' asked Bruce. 'So I'm safe?' 'No,' said the officer. 'So they're safe!' The officer pushed Bruce into a room and closed the door with a bang. It was very dark in the room, but Bruce saw that he was not alone. There was a man in the corner. He didn't look like a prisoner. He wore good clothes. 'My name is Ducard,' he said. 'I work for Ra's al Ghul. Do you know him?' 'Is he a criminal?' Bruce asked. 'He is not a criminal,' said Ducard. 'He is a great man with very clever ideas. He knows that you're in trouble, Mr. Wayne. He wants to help you.' Ducard walked to the door and shouted. The officer came and opened it. Ducard turned to Bruce. 'There is a very special flower,' he said. 'It grows on the mountain near here. It's blue. Find it and take it to the top of the mountain. There you will find the answer to your question.' 'And what is my question?' asked Bruce. "'Where am I going?"" said Ducard. And he left. 'Why is Ducard interested in me? How does he know about me?' Bruce asked himself. He sat on the hard bed and began to think about his life. He remembered that terrible day in Gotham many years ago. He is a little boy. He is playing with his friend, Rachel. They are running in the garden at his home, Wayne Manor. There is an old well in the garden. Bruce climbs onto the well and laughs. 'Look at me, Rachel, I'm-' Suddenly he isn't laughing. He's shouting. 'Help! Help! I'm falling-' And he falls down and down and down into the dark well. He hits the floor with a bang! 'Agh! My leg!' he cries. It feels terrible. Then he hears some strange sounds. He isn't alone in the well! Help! What is it? He looks up and sees a cloud of terrible black things. Bats! They are flying towards him and into him. Their teeth are like knives. He thinks he is going to die. He makes himself into a ball and shouts. 'Help! Help!' Then everything goes black. The next thing he remembers... he is in bed. The only person in the bedroom with him is Alfred. Alfred has always worked for the Wayne family. 'You had a very bad fall, Master Bruce,' says Alfred. 'But you're going to be OK.' Alfred waits for a moment, then he asks, 'Why do we fall, Master Bruce?' Bruce knows the answer, but he can't remember it. 'I can't remember,' says Bruce. 'Tell me.' 'We fall,' says Alfred with a smile, 'so that we can learn to get up again.' Bruce started to climb the mountain. He found the blue flower easily. He climbed higher. Up and up he went. It got colder and colder. Soon he was walking on ice. It started to snow heavily. Bruce was cold and unhappy. And very tired. 'I have to get to the top,' he thought, 'but I don't know if I can.' Then at last he saw a big building. He pushed open the heavy door and went in. Ra's al Ghul was sitting in a big chair. Ducard was next to him. And there was a line of Ninjas with swords in their hands...ready to fight. Bruce was frightened. He quickly showed them the blue flower in his hand. Ducard took the flower. 'Are you ready to start?' he asked. 'Ready? Oh no,' Bruce said, 'I'm so tired.' Ducard threw him to the floor. 'You must always be ready,' he said. 'Here we will teach you to be ready.' One day, Ducard said to Bruce, 'You're not frightened of me, are you, Bruce? What are you frightened of?' 'Bats,' answered Bruce, and he told Ducard about the bats in the well. 'My father told me something important about the bats in the well.' He said, "The bats flew at you because they were frightened of you. All things are frightened of something, even scary things like bats." I didn't know that. My father was very clever. I loved him very much. But soon after that, he died. A criminal killed both my parents. His name was Joe Chill.' It's the evening. They are at a play. Suddenly there are bats in the show. They fly around above the singers and dancers. Bruce is frightened, so they leave early. But in the street outside, there is a man with a gun. He wants money. He takes their money but he wants more. And then- BANG! - he fires his gun. Bruce's mother shouts. Bruce's father falls to the floor. BANG! He fires again. Bruce's mother falls to the floor. This is the worst moment of Bruce's life. And it is all his fault. 'It wasn't your fault, Bruce,' said Ducard.'You were very young.' He was giving Bruce a lesson on a river. It was thick ice. They were fighting with swords. 'You must always look very carefully at the things around you, Bruce,' said Ducard. Suddenly he hit the ice with his sword. CRRAAACCCCK! The ice broke and Bruce crashed into the black water below. Bruce had lessons with Ducard for many months. He learned to fight with his hands and his feet. He learned to fight with a sword and climb tall buildings quickly and quietly. He learned many things. But most of all he learned to use his ears and eyes, and he learned how to think quickly. 'It's time to test you,' said Ducard one day. 'Today you must fight all the Ninjas.' So Bruce fought all the Ninjas with his sword. It was a very long fight, but in the end he won. 'You fight very well now,' said Ducard. 'I think you are ready.'

提示 一、每期五个句子，均是从四六级听力真题中选取的长难句。 二、每个句子念三遍女声，一遍男声，再一遍女声。 三、如果觉得语速过快，可以在播放器上调慢语速，多听几遍。 词汇提示 1.obstacle 障碍物 原文 121. Whatever their financial background or their educational background, most people will have something in common with each other. 无论他们的经济背景或教育背景如何，大多数人都会有一些共同点。 122. Christine said "We will pay that to anyone who brings him home, as long as they are not responsible for his disappearance. 克里斯蒂娜说，“我们会把钱付给任何带它回家的人，只要狗狗的失踪不是由他们造成。 123. Drivers on their way to the Polish capital of Warsaw on Wednesday morning found the road blocked by an unusual obstacle. 周三上午，不少人在前往波兰首都华沙的途中发现自己被一种不同寻常的障碍物拦住了去路。 124. According to the official news agency, Russian authorities have recovered more than170 gold bars weighing 20 kilograms each. 据官方通讯社报道，俄罗斯当局已经追回了170多根金条，每根金条重达20公斤。 125. Learning to ride a bike is almost always more difficult as an adult, and this can take days and weeks, rather than hours. 对于成年人来说学习骑自行车一般相对困难，可能需要几天或几周的时间，而不是几个小时。

听前提示 一、三遍英文，一遍中文，再一遍英文。 二、从听懂的词入手，理解句子含义。 三、根据中英文意思，听不懂的多听几遍。 原文 431. Sorry to be so direct, but how much did you pay for this? 不好意思这么直接，你花了多少钱买的这个？ 432. This medicine, properly used, will do you a lot of good. 这种药如果使用得当，会对你大有好处。 433. Just as food feeds the body, so reading feeds the mind. 正如食物滋养身体，阅读可以涵养思想。 434. That TV station is on the air 24 hours a day. 那个电视台24小时直播。 435. Students often find it very difficult to understand a lecture in a foreign language. 学生们经常发现很难听懂另外一种语言的讲座。 436. If you stop and relax, this will relieve the tension and stress in your shoulders. 你停下来放松一下，这会减轻你肩部的紧张和压力。 437. It should be stressed that we are often influenced by advertising without being aware of it. 应该强调的是，我们经常受到广告的影响而没有察觉。 438. That's the same story as I heard when I was a child. 这和我小時候听到的故事一样。 439. John studied hard at school, while at home he helped his mother with her work. 约翰在学校努力学习，在家里帮助母亲工作。 440. However fast you may walk, you can't catch up with him. 不管你走得多快，都赶不上他。

词汇提示 1.conquering 征服 2.veteran 老水兵 3.feat 壮举 4.currents 水流 5.lamprey eels 七鳃鳗 6.corn syrup 玉米糖浆 7.liniment 搽剂 原文 Conquering Lake Ontario In 490 B. C. the Greek runner Phidippides ran the 24 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce an Athenian victory. His endurance was so much admired that runners ever since have attempted to run similar long "Marathon" distances. In the twentieth century, however, long distance swimming has also attracted attention and admiration. To swim the English Channel or Juan de Fuca Strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland have become challenges for both male and female swimmers. In September 1954, some Canadian businessman from Toronto offered veteran Californian champion Florence Chadwick $10,000 if she could swim Lake Ontario. They felt sure that such a feat would attract large crowds. Chadwick had swum the English Channel in both directions. However, no one - neither man nor woman - had crossed Lake Ontario. It was a 32-mile swim through cold water and difficult currents. Two other women also decided to take up the challenge. One, Winnie Roach Leuszler, had also swum the English Channel. The other was a 16 year old girl named Marilyn Bell. The swimmers traveled to the mouth of the Niagara River on the south side of Lake Ontario. They would swim from Youngs town, in the U.S.A., and back to Toronto. Bad weather delayed the swim for several days. During the night of September 8th the weather cleared, and the swimmers entered the water before midnight. Guided by her coach's flashlight, Marilyn swam through the dark water and soon passed Chadwick, who was lifted from the water after swimming 12 miles. Leuszler made it further, but she too eventually had to give up. Marilyn not only had to overcome her fears of the dark, but she was attacked during the night by blood-sucking lamprey eels. She was able to knock these off with her fist. As dawn approached, the winds and waves increased, and Marilyn's weariness mounted. Her coach, Gus Ryder, passed her some corn syrup on a stick, and later gave her liniment for her tired legs. He wrote messages on a blackboard to encourage her to keep going. Sometimes, he tricked her into thinking that she was nearer to the shore than she was. Marilyn fell asleep in the water twice and had to be awakened. The second time, a friend of hers jumped into the water beside her, and swam with her for a distance. Because Marilyn's strength was declining, she was being pushed off course by the currents. Although the direct route was 32 miles, Marilyn swam a total of 45 miles. The last few miles were extremely difficult. Marilyn's family and the lifeguards felt that she should be taken out of the water. But her coach threatened to quit as her coach if the swimmer gave up. It was getting dark again, and the swimmer was barely conscious as she approached the shore. Thousands of people lined the shore hoping to touch her or get a picture of her. Marilyn's supporters had to push the crowds back so they wouldn't stop her from touching the shore. Finally, after 21 hours in the water, Marilyn reached land. The exhausted girl was rushed to an ambulance. She had lost about 20 pounds of her 120 pounds weight in the crossing. Finally she was able to sleep. Huge crowds came out to see her the next day,and two days later there was a parade in her honor through the streets of Toronto. Everyone admired the courage and endurance of the 16 year-old girl,who became the first person to swim across Lake Ontario. 翻译 征服安大略湖 公元前490年，希腊选手菲迪皮德斯从马拉松到雅典跑了24英里，宣布雅典获胜。 他的耐力是如此令人钦佩，以至于从那以后，跑步者们都尝试跑类似的“马拉松”长跑。 然而，在二十世纪，长距离游泳也引起了人们的关注和钦佩。 在温哥华岛和大陆之间的英吉利海峡或胡安·德富卡海峡游泳对男女游泳运动员来说都是挑战。 1954年9月，一位来自多伦多的加拿大商人向加州老牌冠军弗洛伦斯·查德威克（Florence Chadwick）提供了10000美元，如果她能游安大略湖的话。 他们确信这样的壮举会吸引大批观众。 查德威克在英吉利海峡上游了两个方向。 然而，没有人——无论男女——穿过安大略湖。 这是一次32英里的游泳，穿过冰冷的海水和湍急的水流。 另外两名女性也决定接受挑战。 其中一位，温妮·罗奇·卢斯勒（Winnie Roach Leuszler）也曾游过英吉利海峡。 另一个是一个名叫玛丽莲·贝尔的16岁女孩。 游泳者游到了安大略湖南侧的尼亚加拉河口。 他们将从美国的扬斯镇游回多伦多。 恶劣的天气使游泳推迟了好几天。 9月8日夜间，天气转晴，游泳运动员在午夜前下水。 在教练手电筒的指引下，玛丽莲在黑暗的水中游泳，很快就经过了查德威克，查德威克在游了12英里后被从水中抬了出来。 卢斯勒做得更进一步，但她最终也不得不放弃。 玛丽莲不仅要克服对黑暗的恐惧，而且在晚上还被吸血的七鳃鳗袭击。 她能用拳头把这些打下来。 随着黎明的临近，风浪越来越大，玛丽莲的疲惫感也越来越重。 她的教练古斯·莱德（Gus Ryder）在一根棍子上递给她一些玉米糖浆，后来给她涂了搽剂，以治疗她疲惫的腿。 他在黑板上留言鼓励她坚持下去。 有时，他欺骗她，使她认为自己比实际离海岸更近。 玛丽莲在水中睡着了两次，不得不被唤醒。 第二次，她的一个朋友跳到她身边的水里，和她一起游了一段距离。 因为玛丽莲的力量在下降，她被水流推离了航道。 虽然直接路线是32英里，但玛丽莲总共游了45英里。 最后几英里非常艰难。 玛丽莲的家人和救生员认为她应该被带出水面。 但她的教练威胁说，如果这位游泳运动员放弃，她将辞去教练的职务。 天又黑了，游泳运动员接近岸边时几乎没有知觉。 成千上万的人在岸边排队，希望能触摸她或拍到她的照片。 玛丽莲的支持者不得不把人群往后推，以免阻止她上岸。 最后，在水中21个小时后，玛丽莲到达了陆地。 筋疲力尽的女孩被紧急送往救护车。 她在穿越中减掉了120磅体重中的20磅。 她终于可以睡觉了。 第二天，大批群众出来看她，两天后，在多伦多街头举行了一场为她举行的游行。 每个人都钦佩这位16岁女孩的勇气和耐力，她成为第一个横渡安大略湖的人。

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 词汇提示 1.glorious 美妙的 原文 Chapter VI: 'A Merry Christmas, Mr. Scrooge!' The bed was his, the room was his, and best of all, he still had time to be a better man. He jumped out of bed. 'I will live with the spirits of the past, present and future in me!' he said, on his knees and with tears in his eyes. 'Thankyou. Jacob Marley! God bless Christmas!' Then he put on his clothes. 'My clothes are here: I am here. But the future is not here yet and I can change it!' he said, laughing and crying at the same time. 'What shall I do first? Oh, I feel as light as a feather! I'm as happy as an angel! A Merry Christmas to everybody! A Happy New Year to all the world!' He danced in the sitting-room and looked around. 'There's the door where Jacob Marley came in. There's the place where the Ghost of Christmas Present sat.There's the window where I saw the ghosts in the air. It's all right, it's all true, It all happened!' And he laughed and laughed. Then the church bells rang - ding, dong, ding, dong! It was a glorious sound! He opened the window and put out his head. No fog. It was a bright, sunny day and the air was cold and sweet. 'What's today?' Scrooge shouted to a boy in the street. 'Eh?' The boy looked very surprised. 'What's today, my boy?' 'It's Christmas Day.' 'Christmas Day!' Scrooge said happily to himself. 'So the Spirits did everything in one night. Hey, boy! Do you know the butcher's shop in the next street?' 'Of course!' 'You're an intelligent boy! Do you know if they've sold that big turkey in the window?' 'You mean the one as bigas me?' 'What a nice boy!' said Scrooge. 'Yes, that one.' 'No. It's still there.' 'Is it? Oh, good! Go and buy it for me, will you? Tell them to bring it here. If you come back in five minutes, I'll give you half-a-crown.' The boy ran as fast as possible to the shop. 'I'll send it to Bob Cratchit,' Scrooge said. 'Ha, ha! He won't know who sent it!' And he wrote Bob's address on a piece of paper. When the butcher's man arrived with the enormous turkey, Scrooge told him to call a cab. He paid for the turkey and the cab, and he gave the boy half-a-crown. He was laughing all the time. Then he put on his coat and walked along the street. He looked at all the people with a happy smile. 'Good morning!' people said to him. 'A Merry Christmas to you!' And Scrooge answered in the same way. 'Ah, there are the two gentlemen who were asking for money in my office yesterday,' he said. 'How do you do my dear sirs! A Merry Christmas to you!' 'Mr. Scrooge?' asked one of them. 'Yes. That's my name and perhaps you don't like me. Please excuse me for yesterday. Listen.….'Scrooge spoke quietly in the man's ear. 'Are you serious, Mr. Scrooge?' The man was very surprised. 'Of course. Can you do me that favor?' 'My dear Scrooge, that's very generous! I don't know what to say to thank you.' 'Don't say anything. Come and see me tomorrow. I'll give it to you then. All right?' Then Scrooge continued walking. He watched the people, he kissed little children, he played with some dogs, he looked at everything with love, and he felt very happy. In the afternoon he went to his nephew's house. Everybody was in the dining-room. 'Fred!' said Scrooge at the door. 'My God! Who's that?' cried Fred. 'It's your Uncle Scrooge. I have come to dinner. Can I come in, Fred?' 'Come in? Of course, uncle! You're very welcome.' Everybody was happy to see Scrooge and he was happy to see them. They ate a wonderful dinner, and then they played wonderful games and had a wonderful time! Scrooge was in his office early the next morning. He was waiting for Bob Cratchit. Of course, he knew Bob would be late. Nine o'clock and no Bob. A quarter past nine. No Bob. At nine-twenty Bob ran in. He went into his room immediately and started to work fast. 'Hallo!' Scrooge said in his old angry voice. 'You're late!' 'I'm very sorry, sir!' Bob answered. 'Are you? Come here, Cratchit.' 'It's only once a year, sir,' said poor Bob. 'It won't happen again.' 'Well, my friend, I hope not,' Scrooge said with a big smile. 'Because I'm going to give you a bigger salary!' Bob trembled. He couldn't believe his ears. 'A merry Christmas, Bob!' said Scrooge. 'This will be your happiest Christmas! Yes, I'm going to give you a lot more money and I'm going to help your poor family. Come on make a very big fire and let's have a drink. Bob Cratchit!' Scrooge gave Bob more money, helped his family and did much more. Tiny Tim did NOT die and Scrooge was a second father to him. He became a good friend, a good manager and a good man. A few people laughed at him, of course, but he knew that some people always laugh at anything new, strange, and good. He often laughed now and that was the most important thing to him. He didn't see the Spirits again, and he celebrated every Christmas with all his heart. And, like Tiny Tim he said, 'God bless everyone!' THE END

提示 一、每期五个句子，均是从四六级听力真题中选取的长难句。 二、每个句子念三遍女声，一遍男声，再一遍女声。 三、如果觉得语速过快，可以在播放器上调慢语速，多听几遍。 词汇提示 1.concept 概念 2.commitment 承诺 原文 116. Surprisingly, the Space Roaster concept-should it go ahead-will not be the first attempt to take coffee into space. 令人惊讶的是，太空烘焙机这一概念——如果能继续进行一一那将不会是第一次尝试将咖啡带到太空。 117. The three hours a day that used to spend on walking to and from English language lessons has been reduced to just one hour. 过去每天花在步行上英语课和放学上英语课上的三个小时已经减少到只有一个小时。 118. He went on to say that if love is defined as a long-term commitment, meaning dogs seek one another out when they're apart. 他接着说，如果爱被定义为一种长期的承诺，那就意味着狗在分开的时候会互相寻找。 119. They can also reduce sweets and provide healthier snacks in the office and healthier meals at the company canteen. 他们还可以减少办公室里甜食的供应，将其改换成更加健康的零食，同时让公司食堂提供的膳食更加健康。 120. Each March, this tiny village swells up in numbers because it is located in the middle of a race that takes place every year. 每年三月，这座小村庄会人满为患，因为其位于每年举行的比赛赛段的中间地点。

听前提示 一、三遍英文，一遍中文，再一遍英文。 二、从听懂的词入手，理解句子含义。 三、根据中英文意思，听不懂的多听几遍。 词汇提示 1.scholar 学者 2.dumb 笨的 3.periodical 期刊 原文 421. It will soon be possible for us to go direct to New York by air. 不久我们就可以直接乘飞机去纽约了。 422. Some of the students were from Asia and the others were from Europe. 有些学生來自亚洲，其余的来自欧洲。 423. Our rent is four times as much as it was ten years ago. 我们现在的房租是十年前的四倍。 424. According to some scholars, a major earthquake could occur at any moment now. 一些学者认为，现在随时都可能发生大地震。 425. These potato chips are good enough to make you want more. 这些薯片味道太好了，让你不禁还想再吃。 426. Arriving at the station, I found the train had already left. 到达车站时，我发现火车已经开走了。 427. I'm so dumb... I'm trying to explain things to you that I don't understand myself. 我太笨了……我在试着向你解释一些我自己都不明白的事情。 428. Excuse me but, would you kindly lift that box for me? 对不起，你能帮我抬起那个箱子吗？ 429. I want to buy this material fora new dress. How much does it cost? 我想买这料子做新衣服。多少钱? 430. There are a number of shops selling foreign books and periodicals. 有许多商店出售外文书刊。

词汇提示 1.comic strip 连环画 2.snagged 钩住 3.illustrates 表现出 4.insecurities 缺少安全感 5.wishy-washy 稀里糊涂 6.preoccupied 一门心思 7.tomboy 假小子 8.stuffed toys 毛绒玩具 原文 Charlie Brown On October 2, 1950, a new comic strip appeared in American newspapers. The "hero" of the strip was around-headed kid named Charlie Brown. In the very first cartoon, two young school mates watch Charlie Brown walking by, and one comments, "Well! Here comes ol' Charlie Brown. Yes, Sir! Good ol' Charlie Brown. How I hate him. This comic strip was to become one of the most popular in history. Its creator, Charles M. Schultz, drew the strip for 50 years until his death. But reruns of "Peanuts" still appear regularly in the newspaper. What are some of the characteristics of Charlie Brown and his friends that have made the cartoon popular? Charlie Brown is an unlikely hero. Other kids don't like being around him because the things he does never seem to work out properly. Kids want to be with someone who is good-looking, popular and successful, so that they can feel a part of his success. Charlie Brown is always worrying, hardly ever up-beat, afraid of failure, and always making mistakes. His kite gets snagged in a tree, he needs counseling from Lucy, his dog Snoopy is more popular than he is, and the little red-haired girl never notices him. In short, Charlie Brown is a "loser. Charlie Brown illustrates all the insecurities that kids have. Many of these anxieties carry over into adult life. Sometimes, they reflect problems in the life of the comic strip's Schulz. Schulz suffered from depression much of his life and had a difficult time in school. He was not very popular with his classmates. Humor and laughter are often a way of dealing with problems. And in the "Peanuts" strip, the world can laugh at all the silly little things that people do. Because of its honest way of dealing with problems,Charlie Brown and his friends are more interesting than the average comic strip characters. The characters represent adult personality types. Charlie Brown is "wishy-washy," and is afraid to do things for fear of failure. Lucy is a pushy over bearing female, who thinks she knows it all. Linus, her younger brother, is intellectual but insecure. He still clings to his baby blanket for security. Schroeder is preoccupied with Beethoven's music to the exclusion of everything else. Sally, Charlie Brown's younger sister, combines both a romantic attachment to Linus and a desire for material things. Peppermint Patty is a tomboy who loves baseball, but nonetheless has a romantic crush on Charlie Brown. Snoopy, the dog, represents a cool detached inventive in dividual who also relies on basic creature comforts. These characters add up to a "human comedy. In the comic strip, we can see ourselves and the people around us: making mistakes, getting second chances,but tending to do the same things over again. Behind the humor of "Peanuts" there is a serious message. Words can hurt. Relationships are important. Truth is difficult to find. Criticism is too common. Greed can easily overpower us. These messages are both timeless and timely. "Peanuts" has also been turned into television specials and several movies. Snoopy stuffed toys are popular all over the world. A huge industry has grown from a simple comic strip. Perhaps this means that, while we all secretly want to be "winners,"we really identify more closely with the Charlie Browns of this world! 翻译 查理·布朗 1950年10月2日，美国报纸上出现了一幅新的连环画。 这部电影的“英雄”是一个名叫查理·布朗的小男孩。 在第一幅漫画中，两位年轻的同学看着查理·布朗走过，其中一位同学评论道：“哦！老好人查理·布朗来了。是的，先生！查理·布朗，我真讨厌他。”。 这部连环画将成为历史上最受欢迎的连环画之一。 它的创造者查尔斯·M·舒尔茨（Charles M.Schultz）画了50年，直到他去世。 但《花生漫画》的重播仍然经常出现在报纸上。 查理·布朗（Charlie Brown）和他的朋友们的哪些特点使这部动画片大受欢迎？ 查理·布朗是个不太像的英雄。 其他孩子不喜欢和他在一起，因为他做的事情似乎永远都做不好。 孩子们希望和一个长得好看、受欢迎、成功的人在一起，这样他们就能感受到他的成功。 查理·布朗总是令人担忧，几乎乐观过，害怕失败，而且总是犯错误。 他的风筝被树钩住了，他需要露西的辅导，他的狗史努比比他更受欢迎，而红头发的小女孩从来没有注意到他。 简而言之，查理·布朗是个“失败者”。 查理·布朗展示了孩子们所有的不安全感。 这些焦虑中的许多都会延续到成年人的生活中。 有时，它们反映了漫画作者舒尔茨生活中的问题。 舒尔茨一生中大部分时间都患有抑郁症，在学校度过了一段艰难的时光。 他不太受同学欢迎。 幽默和笑声通常是处理问题的一种方式。 在花生地带，世界可以嘲笑人们做的所有愚蠢的小事。 由于其诚实的处理问题的方式，查理·布朗和他的朋友比一般的漫画人物更有趣。 这些字符代表成人的性格类型。 查理·布朗是个“一厢情愿的人”，害怕失败而不敢做事。 露西是一个容易冲动的女人，她认为自己无所不知。 她的弟弟莱纳斯很聪明，但缺乏安全感。 为了安全起见，他仍然紧紧抓住婴儿毯。 施罗德专注于贝多芬的音乐而忽略了其他一切。 查理·布朗的妹妹萨莉既对莱纳斯有着浪漫的依恋，又对物质的渴望。 薄荷派帕蒂是一个喜欢棒球的假小子，但却对查理·布朗有着浪漫的迷恋。 史努比，这只狗，代表了一个冷静、独立的个体，它也依赖于基本的生物舒适。 这些角色加起来就是“人类喜剧” 在漫画中，我们可以看到自己和周围的人在犯错误，获得第二次机会，但倾向于重复同样的事情。 在“花生”的幽默背后，有一个严肃的信息。 言语会伤人。 人际关系很重要。 真相很难找到。 批评太常见了。 贪婪很容易压倒我们。 这些信息既永恒又及时。 《花生》也被拍成了电视特辑和几部电影。 史努比毛绒玩具在全世界都很流行。 一个巨大的产业已经从一个简单的连环漫画发展而来。 也许这意味着，虽然我们都暗自想成为“赢家”，但我们真的更加认同这个世界上的查理·布朗！