综合英语(二)作文精华

综合英语(二)作文精华L1 P14 Why does the author tell s not to be afraid to ask stupid questions?The author thinks that many apparently naive inquiries like why grass is green, or why the sn is round, or why we need 55,000 unclear weapons in the world --are really deep questions. He says when you try to get the answers, you will gain deep understanding of the things. Its also important to know, as well as you can, what it is that you dont know, and asking questions is the way. He also tell us to ask stupid questions requires courage on the part of the asker and knowledge and patience on the part of the answers. And dont confine your learning to schoolwork. Discuss ideas in depth with friends. Its much brave to ask questions even when theres a prospect of ridicule than to suppress your questions and become deadened to the world around you.L2 Icons P30 What are the factors to shift the hero-worship to the celebrity-worship?The new forms of media--photography, moving pictures, radio and television are the main factors. The reproduction of photos in newspapers turned famous people into celebrities whose dress, appearance, and personal habits were widely commented upon. Slowly, the focus of public attention began to shift away from knowing what such people did to knowing what looked like. The shift was accelerated by the arrival of moving pictures. Between 1901 and 1914, 74 percent of the magazine articles about famous people were about political leaders,inventors, inventors, professionals, and businessmen. After 1922, however, most articles were about movie stars.With the arrival of television, the faces of the stars became as familiar as those we saw across the breakfast table. We came to know more about the lives of the celebrities than we did about most of the people we know personally. Less than seventy years after the appearance of the first movimg pictures, the shift from hero-worship to celebrity-worship was complete.L3 GO-GO AMERICAN P46 What is the Americans attitude towards time?Give necessary examples.In the United States, many people keenly feel the shortness of each lifetime. They are aware that once a day in their life is gone, it will never come back. And Americans believe no one stands still .If you are not moving ahead, you are falling behind. So they value time and want every minte to count.This attitde towards time is shown in the fast pace of life in the country. Whatever they do they always seem to be in a rush. You find people hurrying to get where they are going. They hurry to eating places for a mea and finish it as quickly as possible.Also Americans do what they can to save time. They produce a lot of labour-saving devices such as clothes-and dish-washers; they rapidly communicate through phone calls, telex and e-mail and cut down on personal contacts.L4 Take Over,Bosn! P62 Can you imagine what did Barret think of when he heard Snyders whisper Take over,bosn?Becase of thirst,Barret was almost out of mind. He rose several times and was a constant threat.But when he heard Snyder said“Take over, bosn, he had a strange feeling suddenly. He came to realize he would and must take over the task and be responsible for the rest. As long as he stopped others from the little water, they would always have hopes and wouldnt die soon. So he picked Snyders gun up and decided to hold off the other from the water until night when a ship saved them.L5 Are You Giving Your Kids Too Much?P78 Why parents overindulge their children?There are several reasons to explain why parents overindulge their children. One fairly common reason is that parents overindulge their chidren out of a sense of guilt. Parents who both hold down full-time jops may feel guilty about the amount of time they spend away from their children and may attempt to compensate by showering them with material possessions. Other parents overindulge because they want their children to have everything they had while growing up, along with those things the parents yearned for but didnt get. Still others are afraid to say no to their childrens denless requests for toys for fear that their children will feel unloved or will be ridiculed if thy dont have the same playthings their friends have.L6 Culture Shock P94 What are four stages that people go through when they experience situations that are very different from those to which they are accustomed?Stage one is a honeymoon phase, during which the new experience is perceived to be interesting, picturesque, entertaining, and charming. You may notice several superficial differences such as music, food, and clothing, and the fresh apeal of the new experience keeps you feeling interested and positive. When you stay in a new envirnment for a while, you move to stage two-the crisis stage-in which the shine wears off and day-to-day realities sink in. In relationship, you notie annoying habits;in a new country, you find barriers to establishing connections or to learning the language beyond a few polite phrases. If you stick with the experience and try to deal with it realistically, you will probably move to the third phase:recovery. In recovery, you learn the systems, procedures, language or nonverbal behaviors of the new environment so that you can cope with it on the basis of some mastery, competence, and comfort. Finally,when you feel that you function well and almost automatically in the new culture, you will move to the fourth phase:adjustment.L7 The Model Millionaire(I) P108 Suppose you are the millionaire.Explain how you get to know Hughie Erskine and what you do in return for the pound he gave you when you first met.I am Baron Hausberg. I have enough money to buy the whole of London. One day, on a whim I asked my artist friend Alan Trevor to pain me as a beggar. Alan had almost finished the picture when a very charming young man walked into his studio.I suppose he must have been very sympathetic with me, for when Alan was away a minute, the young man quickly put a pound into my hat. I was startled for a moment, but I was pleased when I realized that he took me for a real begger.Later I learned from Alan all about this young man:he was poor, and could not marry the girl heloved because her father wouldnt let them unless he had 10,000 pounds.Touched by the young mans spirit of kindness, I decided to help him. The next day I had a cheque for 10,000 pounds delivered to him as a wedding gift.L8 The Model Millionaire(II) P123 Retell the story The Model Millionaire in about 150 words, concluding your retelling with a one-sentence comment.Hughie Erskine was a charming young man who was in love with a nice girl called Laura uras father made it clear to Hughie that he would not marry his daughter to him until Hughie had ten thousand pounds.One day,Hughie went to see his artist friend Alan Trevor in his studio. There he found his friend painting a beggar, who was an old man in rags.Hughie felt so sorry for the poor model that he gave him the only pound he had.The old model was actually a millionaire.When he heard all about Hughie and Laura, and their problem, he had a cheque for ten thousand pounds delivered to him the very next day.The couple were happily married,and the beggar attended their wedding.The story shows that a genuine millionaire is not one who has, but who give.L9 Only Three More Days P139 The author got a solution finally. What was the solution? Was it risky?He laid out the diaries in two big steel suitcases. Over them he palced a number of his broadcast scripts, each page of which had been stamped by the military and civilian censors as passed for broadcast. On top he put a few General Staff maps he had picked up from friends. Then he phoned the Gestapo Headquarters to say he had a couple of suicases full of his dispatches, broadcasts and notes that he wanted to take out of the country. As he was flying off early the next day, there would be no time for Gestapo official at the airfield to go over the contents. Could they take a look now,if he brought them over;and if they approved, put a Gestapo seal on the suitcases so he wouldnt be held up at the airport?Yes,it was risky. He thought life in the Third Reich had always been risky. It was worth a try.L10 The Washwoman P155 Describe the situation that“I”saw the old washwoman for last time. One evening, while Mother was sitting near the oil lamp mending a shirt, the door opened and a small puff of steam, followed by a gigantic bag, entered the room. I ran toward the old woman and helped her unload her bag. She was even thinner now, more bent. Her head shook from side to side as though she were saying no. She could not utter a clear word, but mumbled something with her sunken mouth and pale lips.After the old woman had recovered somewhat, she told us that she had been ill badly. But as soon as she was able to stand on her feet once more, she began her w ashing. She said “I could not rest easy in my bed because of the wash. The wash would not let me die.……I dont want to be a burden on anyone!”L11 How I Served My Apprenticeship 170 Why was Andrew Carnegie so pround of the one dollorand twenty cents--the first pay he brought home?Carnegie was very pround of the one dollar and twenty cents he earned for the first time in his life when he was only twelve. The money, though small in amount, meant a great deal.First, when he got his first pay he felt that he had grown up. He was no longer a boy who had to depend on his parents; he had become a man who was able to help support the family, a contributing member. This was important because at that time life was hard for the family and it was difficult for his parents to manage alone.Also he though the money was the direct reward of honest manual labor. It represented a week of very hard work. This money gave him the greatest satisfaction of being rewarded for what he had done.L12 A Friend of the Environment P185 Why did Rachel Carson write the Silent Spring? Whats the content of it?Because she felt that the wonders of Nature are precious and permanent, and much of Nature was forever beyond the destruction of man. But then she discovered she was wrong. She learned with sadness that little in Nature is truly beyond the tampering reach of man. Then, She wrote the book Silent Spring to sound a startling warming to mankind and the book showed quite clearly that man was endangering himself and everything else on this planet by his indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides. As her title suggests, Miss Carson was saying that there might come a springtime that would indeed be silent because the birds, as well as other creatures, and plants would have been destroyed by the man-made poisons used to kill crop-threateding insects.L13 Who Shall Dwell? P201 In the story Who shall Dwell?, how did the fatners attitude towards the neighbours change? What brought about the change?When the bomb onmouseover came, the father was clear that he had built the shelter for his own family, and that he would not let anybody else in. So when his neighbours came and asked to share the shelter he rejected them flatly. When a monther begged him to take her little girl in , he did not know what to do. At that monent his wife dashed outside and pushed the girl in. her act set him thinking hard. Just a moment before the first bomb struck he made a big decision. After giving his elder son a few instructions, he stepped out and shoved two children into the shelter. He stood beside his wife, ready to spend the last minute with her.His change seemed sudden, but was actually quite natural. He loved his children, so he was greatly affected by the monthers plea and gave the chance of surival to the two children. Also his love for his wife led him to follow her example.L14 Cipher in the Snow P218 Describe Cliff Evans life before his sudden death.Cliff Evans lived with his mother, stepfather and five younger half brothers and sisters.His stepfather had never legally adopted him, nor did he show any affection for him. At home Cliff didnt talk much and had never told his family about his problems.When he began school, he was timid but eager to learn. And his IQ was pretty good. Then in the third grade a teacher wrote in the school record that he was uncooperative and slow. Since then hehad never got any encouragement from his teachers. Gradually, the child had no more confidence left. He never smiled nor talked much. He had no friends; he had never belonged to a club, never played on a team and never held an office. He came to school by himself and left by himself. In class, he would sit back in the last seat. Finally he became silent and lonely. He became nothing.L15 Bribery--An Inevitable Evil? P232 What are the major forms of bribery?Bribery can be classified into three broad categories. The first category consisits of large amounts of money paid for political purposes or to secre major contracts. For example, a certain American company offered big sums of money to support a U.S. presidential candidate when it was nder investigation. Also in order to get big contracts, such payments are often made to ruling families or their close advisers.The second category covers payments made to obtain quicker official approval of some project. In such cases, the money is often paid to key goverment officials concerned.The third category involves payments made in certain countries to make a business deal easy to get approved. For instance, a foreign company may pay to get permission to import equipment. A common type of this category is the facilitating payment to clear cargoes. These are smaller sums of money paid to customs officials.L16 A Social Event P250 What do you know about Randy and Carle in A Social Even? Why are they anxious to get invited to Scottys funeral?Randy and Carole are a young Hollywood couple. They have been married only a short time. Both have achieved a certain degree of success in pictures, but their careers in the show business are still in the promising stage.Scotty Woodrow, a world-famous movie star has just died, and Randy and Carole are anxious to go to his funeral, which will be a gathering of celebrities and is regarded as a big social event. It is said that flowers have come from the U.S. President and the British Queen.Randy and Carole think it is extremely important for their career to be seen there with a lot of big shots. But they havet got an invitation while some of their Hollywood friends, also young actors and actresses like themselves, have been invited. Thats why they are worried and are trying hard to find ways of getting themselves invited in the last minute.Lesson five first principlesWhat do u learn about laura？Why were her parents so proud of her？Laura was a slim，dark-haired girl of fourteen. she was smart and a pupil at Green Valley Academy. Christmas Day was coming，laura wanted a ballerina dress as a gift from her parents to attend some parties. But when laura‘s mother told her about her father’s unemployment，she understood them and said she didn‘t care about presents or parties. During the time when the family spent Christmas Day at the farm，laura seemed to radiate happiness. It was laura’s obvious pleasure that had a wonderful Christmas Day. Therefore，laura‘s parents were proud of her.Lesson six The beauty of BritainBritain is a small but beautiful country .One of its charms lies in its variety with the territory of square kilometers，it has mountains，plains and lakes as other countries. Someone perhaps says that the mountains there are only mountains in miniature . Although those mountains are small，they all have the air of great mountains .Another characteristic of Britain is its happy surprise. A traveler will kept being pleasantly astonished by the landscape. On a rolling plain，you might suddenly noticed mountains with step slopes ahead. In a highly developed industrial district，he would see out of expectation a rough wilderness. But the most impressing would be the happy compromise between Nature and Man，country and city .This characteristic is obvious in suburbs where the inhabitants can not only enjoy the civilization of the city，but also live a comfortable country gentlemen‘s life .Lesson seven some meanings of authentic loveIn author‘s opinion，what does love mean？1. Love means I know the person I love.2. Love means that I care about the welfare of the person I love.3. Love means having respect for the dignity of the person I love.4. Love means having a responsibility toward the person I love.5. Love means growth for both myself and the person I love.6. Love can tolerate imperfection.7. Love is freeing.8. Love is expansive.9. Love means having a want for the person I love without having a need for that person in order to be complete. 10. Love means identifying with the person I love. 11. Love is selfish. 12. Love involves seeing the potential within the person we love.Lesson ten On friendshipFour different-kinds of friendship：AmericanFew American stay put for a lifetime. Americans use the word“friend”to a wide range from someone known only a few weeks，most people，old and young r called by first name，and friends flow in and out American family with little ceremony.很少美国人一辈子呆在一个地方的。