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新视野三版读写B2U2TextAThehumanities:Outofdate?

1Whenthegoinggetstough,thetoughtakeaccounting.Whenthejobmarketworsens,manystudentscalculatetheycan'tmajorinEnglishorhistory.Theyhavetostudysomethingthatbooststheirprospectsoflandingajob.

2Thedatashowthatasstudentshaveincreasinglyshoulderedtheever-risingcostoftuition,theyhavedefectedfromthestudyofthehumanitiesandtowardappliedscienceand\skillsthattheybetwillleadtoemployment.Inotherwords,acollegeeducationismoreandmoreseenasameans

for

economic

betterment

rather

than

a

means

for

human

betterment.Thisisatrendthatislikelytopersistandevenaccelerate.3Overthenextfewyears,aslabormarketsstruggle,thehumanitieswillprobablycontinuetheirlongslideinsuccession.Therealreadyhasbeenanearly50percentdeclineintheportionofliberalartsmajorsoverthepastgeneration,anditislogicaltothinkthatthetrendisboundtocontinueorevenaccelerate.Oncethedominantpillarsofuniversitylife,thehumanitiesnowplaylittleroleswhenstudentstaketheircollegetours.Thesedays,labsaremorevividandcompellingthanlibraries.

4Here,pleaseallowmetostandupforandpromotethetruevaluethatthehumanities

add

to

people's

lives.

Since

ancient

times,

people

havespeculatedaboutthemysteryofthoseinnerforcesthatdrivesomepeopletogreatnessandotherstoself-destruction.Thisinnerdrivehasbeencalledmanythingsoverthecenturies.Thefamouspsychologist,SigmundFreud,calleditthe\mind\or,morefamiliarly,\

5Fromthebeginningoftime,thisinneraspectofourbeing,thisdrivethatcanbeconstructiveordestructive,hascapturedourimagination.Thestoriesofthisamazingstrugglehaveformedthebasisofculturestheworldover.Historians,architects,authors,philosophersandartistshavecapturedthewords,imagesandmeaningsofthisinnerstruggleintheformofstory,music,myth,painting,architecture,sculpture,landscapeandtraditions.Thesemenandwomendevelopedartistic\thathelpusunderstandtheseaspirationsandalsoeducategenerations.Thisfertilebodyofworkfromancienttimes,theveryfoundationofcivilization,formsthebasisofstudyofthehumanities.

6Studyingthehumanitiesimprovesourabilitytoreadandwrite.Nomatterwhatwedoinlife,wewillhaveahugeadvantageifwecanreadcomplexideasandunderstandtheirmeaning.Wewillhaveabrightcareerifwearethepersonintheofficewhocanwriteaclearandelegantanalysisofthoseideas!7Studyingthehumanitiesmakesusfamiliarwiththelanguageofemotionandthecreativeprocess.Inaninformationeconomy,manypeoplehavetheabilitytoproduceausefulproductsuchasanewMP3player.Yet,veryfewpeoplehavetheabilitytocreateaspectacularbrand:theiPod.Mostimportantly,studying

the

humanities

invests

us

with

great

insight

and

self-awareness,therebyreleasingourcreativeenergyandtalentinapositiveandconstructivemanner.

8Perhapsthebestargumentinfavorofthehumanitiesisthescopeofpossibilitiesthatarewidelyopentous.DidyouknowthatJamesCameron,world-famousdirectorofthemovie,Titanic,graduatedwithadegreeinthehumanities?SodidSallyRide,thefirstwomaninspace.SodidactorsBruceLee,GwynethPaltrow,ReneeZellwegerandMattDamon.Dr.HaroldVarmus,whowonaNobelPrizeforMedicine,studiedthehumanities.EvenMichaelEisner,ChairmanoftheDisneyCompany,majoredinthehumanities.Famouspeoplewhostudiedthehumanitiesmakealonglistindeed.It'seasytoseethatthehumanitiescanprepareusformanydifferentcareersandjobswecanundertake,whethermedicine,business,scienceorentertainment.Ifwestudyonlymathematics,it'slikelywewillbeacandidateonlyforjobsasamathematician.imagination.

9Ofcourse,nowadays,ifwestudythehumanitiesalone,weareliabletomissmanyopportunities.Eachoneofusneedstobecomeastechnicallyandprofessionallyskilledaspossibletohelpmeettheneedsofmodernlife.Infact,increasinglyapairingoftechnicalknowledgeandinnerinsightisseenastheidealintheestablishmentofacareer.IfIweretheDeanofAdmissionsatamedicalschoolandtwopeopleappliedtoourschool,bothhavingtherequiredbasicscientificcourses,oneaphilosophymajorandtheothersolelyapre-medstudent,thephilosophyapplicantwouldbechosen.

10Insummary,thehumanitieshelptocreatewell-roundedhumanbeingswithinsightandunderstandingofthepassions,hopesanddreamscommontoallhumanity.Thehumanities,theancienttimelessreservoirofknowledge,teachustoseethingsdifferentlyandbroadenourhorizons.Theyareasusefuland

If

we

include

studying

the

humanities,

we

can

makebreakthroughsonmanybarriersandarelimitedonlybyoureffortand

relevantinourmodernageastheyhavealwaysbeen.Doesn'titmakesensetospendsometimeinthecompanyofthehumanities,ouroutstandingandremarkabletreasureofknowledge?WhoknowshowfamousYOUmightbecome!

LanguagePoints:

1Whenthegoinggetstough,thetoughtakeaccounting.(Para.1)Meaning:Whenconditionsorsituationsbecomedifficult,determinedpeoplechoosetostudythesubjectofaccounting,hopingtheycanmoreeasilyfindajobinthefuture.whenthegoinggetstough:whenthesituationbecomesdifficult当形式变得严峻时Whenthegoinggetstough,womencangetastoughasmen.当形势变得严峻时，女人可以变得跟男人一样坚强。Whenthegoinggetstoughthetoughgetgoing,andthat’sme.艰难之路唯勇者行，这就是我。Irunthefarmonmyownbutalocalboyhelpsmeoutwhenthegoinggetstough.我自己管理我的农场，但当局面变得困难时，一个当地的男孩会帮助我。Hehashersupporttofallbackonwhenthegoinggetstough.当形势变得严峻时，他可以依靠她的支持。Note:Amorecommonsayinginthesimilarstructureis“Whenthegoinggetstough,thetoughgetgoing”.Thisisaninformalexpressionandanoldmottomeaning“Whenthesituationbecomesdifficult,strongpeopletakethenecessaryactiontodealwithit(艰难之路唯勇者行)”.Nowpeopleoftencreativelyusethemotto,byonlyquotingthefirstpart“Whenthegoinggetstough…”.Theauthorisverywittytouse“takeaccounting”heretobehumorousandsarcastic.takeaccounting:choosetostudythesubjectofaccounting选择学会计2Whenthejobmarketworsens,manystudentscalculatetheycan’tmajorinEnglishorhistory.(Para.1)Meaning:Whentherearefewerjobopenings,manycollegestudentsmakeajudgmentfromthesituationandthinktheycan’tstudyEnglishorhistoryastheirmajor.Meaningbeyondwords:Manystudentswillnottaketheclassesthatwon’thelpthemlocateadecentjoblater.3Theyhavetostudysomethingthatbooststheirprospectsoflandingajob.(Para.1)Meaning:Theyhavetostudysomethingthatimprovestheirchancesofsuccessinfindingajob.4Thedatashowthatasstudentshaveincreasinglyshoulderedtheever-risingcostoftuition,theyhavedefectedfromthestudyofthehumanitiesandtowardappliedscienceand“hard”skillsthattheybetwillleadtoemployment.(Para.2)Meaning:Thefactsandinformationshowthatasstudentshavespentincreasinglymoremoneyontuition,theyhaveturnedawayfromstudyingthehumanitiestosomepracticalcoursesthattheybelievewillenablethemtogetajobmoreeasily.Usagenote:defect,deficiency1在表示“人的缺点，设计制造方面的缺点或缺陷”时，名词defect和deficiency的词义相近。physiologicaldefect/deficiency生理缺陷Thenewcarhadtobewithdrawnfromthemarketbecauseofamechanicaldefect.这款新汽车因有机械缺陷，必须被撤出市场。Thedeficiencyofthisplanisveryclear,soitcan’tpossiblysucceed.这项计划的缺陷是很明显的，所以它不可能成功。2但表示“缺少；不足”（shortage）时，只可用deficiency。Thereareseriousdeficienciesinthenumberofsuitableaircraft.符合要求的飞机数量严重不足。Duringthewarchildrensufferedfromadeficiencyoffood.战争期间孩子们遭受了缺乏食物之苦。5Inotherwords,acollegeeducationismoreandmoreseenasameansforeconomicbettermentratherthanameansforhumanbetterment.(Para.2)Meaning:Inotherwords,acollegeeducationismoreconsideredasamethodtoimprovestudents’futureeconomicstatusratherthanimprovehumannatureorbehavior.Meaningbeyondwords:Thequalityofacollegeeducationisincreasinglyquestionablebecausethetrendamongmanycollegesistobecomemorelikeabusinessandlesslikeanacademicsetting.6Thisisatrendthatislikelytopersistandevenaccelerate.(Para.2)Meaning:Verylikely,thetrendwillcontinuetoexistandevengofasterthanever.Usagenote:persist,insist1persist可用于表示“继续存在；持续”,尤其用于不好的事情，而insist没有此意。Contactyourdoctorifthecoughpersists.如果咳嗽持续，请联系您的医生。2persist和insist容易混淆主要是当两者均表示“坚持”时。persist用于表示“坚持”时，表示“坚持反复做同一件事”，后接介词in，多用于褒义，指“坚持继续做某事”，有时用于贬义，指“不听劝告；顽固坚持”。Hermothertriedtopersuadehertogotobedearly,butshepersistedinworkinguntilthe