四級閱讀美文
Barbie’s fate
‵Barbie, beware. The ‵iconic plastic doll｜is ‵often mutilated｜at the ‵hands of young girls, according to research published｜by British academics.
“The ‵girls we survey｜see Barbie torture｜as a ‵legitimate play activity, and see the ‵torture as a｜ ‵‘cool’ activity,” said Agnes Nairn, one of the University｜of Bath researchers. The ‵types of mutilation are ‵varied｜and ‵creative, and ‵range from removing the hair｜to decapitation, burning, breaking｜and ‵even microwaving.
Researchers from the university’s ‵marketing｜and ‵psychology departments｜questioned ‵100 children｜about their attitudes｜to a ‵range of products｜as part of a study｜on ‵branding. They found｜ ‵Barbie provoked the ‵strongest reaction, with youngsters reporting｜“‵rejection, ‵hatred and ‵violence”, Nairn said. “The ‵meaning of ‘Barbie’｜went ‵beyond an expressed antipathy; ‵actual physical violence｜and torture towards the doll｜was ‵repeatedly reported.” she said.
While boys ‵often expressed nostalgia｜and affection toward GI Joe, ‵renouncing Barbie｜appeared to be a ‵rite of passage｜for ‵many girls,① Nairn said.
“The ‵most readily expressed reason｜for ‵rejecting Barbie｜was that she was ‵babyish, and girls saw her｜as representing their younger childhood｜ ‵out of which they felt｜they had now grown,” she said.
Nairn said｜many girls saw Barbie｜as an ‵inanimate object｜ ‵rather than a treasured toy.
“Whilst for an ‵adult｜the delight the child felt in ‵breaking, ‵mutilating｜and ‵torturing their dolls｜is ‵deeply disturbing, from the child's point of view｜they were ‵simply being imaginative｜in disposing of an ‵excessive commodity｜in the ‵same way｜as one might crush cans｜for recycling,” she said.
Manufacturer Mattel, which sells 94 ‵million Barbies｜a year worldwide, said the doll remained｜the “‵No. 1 fashion doll brand”.
Mattel U.K. said｜that despite the findings｜of “this ‵very small group of children, we know｜that there are ‵millions of girls in the U.K.｜and ‵across the world｜that love and enjoy playing with ‵Barbie｜and will ‵continue to do so｜in the future.” [330 words]
芭比娃娃的命運
芭比娃娃，小心點。根據英國研究人員公佈的調查結果，這隻塑膠娃娃經常受到年輕女孩的虐待。
英國巴斯大學研究人員艾格尼絲·奈恩說：“我們調查的那些女孩都認為虐待芭比娃娃沒有什麼不對，而且還覺得自己這樣做挺酷的。”虐待芭比的方式多種多樣，而且很有創意，有的把芭比娃娃的頭髮給剃了，有的把她的頭給卸了，有的燒它、把它的身體折斷，甚至有人把它放進微波爐裡。
巴斯大學營銷系和心理學系的研究人員對100個兒童進行了調查，調查主要是針對他們對一系列產品的態度，這也是品牌研究的一個部分。調查結果表明，孩子們對芭比娃娃的反應最為強烈，據奈恩介紹，“排斥、厭惡和暴力”是被用的最多的評價字眼。她說，“芭比所遭受的已經不僅僅是孩子們的反感了，暴力和‘酷刑’對於這個娃娃來說已是家常便飯。”
“當男孩們對於‘美國大兵’念念不忘時，和芭比娃娃說再見則是很多女孩告別童年時代的標誌。”
奈恩說，“女孩們不喜歡芭比最直接的一個原因就是，覺得芭比太孩子氣，就像自己童年時的樣子，而她們覺得自己已經不再是小女孩了，芭比娃娃已經不適合自己。”
奈恩說很多女孩都覺得芭比娃娃死氣沉沉的，沒有一點生氣，根本不把她當成寶貝。
她說，“在大人們看來，孩子以虐待、蹂躪玩具娃娃為樂實在是太不正常了，但是站在孩子們的角度想想，他們覺得自己只是在處理一個多餘的.東西，這就和把鐵罐壓扁以便回收的道理是一樣的。”
芭比娃娃的生產商麥特爾公司介紹，芭比娃娃仍然是時尚娃娃的第一品牌。她每年的全球銷售量達到9400萬。
麥特爾公司說，儘管這個調查發現有一小部分孩子不喜歡芭比娃娃，但是我們知道在英國乃至全世界，有幾百萬的女孩都很喜歡芭比，她們把她當作自己的朋友，而且會一直對芭比娃娃‘寵愛有加’。
英語標準美文100篇 002Competition
It is a plain fact that we are in a world where competition is going on in all areas and at all levels.This is exciting.Yet, on the other hand, competition breeze a pragmatic attitude.People choose to learn things that are useful,and do things that are profitable.Todays' college education is also affected by this general sense of utilitarianism. Many college students choose business nor computing programming as their majors convinced that this professions are where the big money is. It is not unusual to see the college students taking a part time jobs as a warming up for the real battle.I often see my friends taking GRE tests, working on English or computer certificates and taking the driving licence to get a licence. Well, I have nothing against being practical. As the competition in the job market gets more and more intense, students do have reasons to be practical. However, we should never forget that college education is much more than skill training. Just imagine, if your utilitarianism is prevails on campus, living no space for the cultivation of students' minds,or nurturing of their soul. We will see university is training out well trained spiritless working machines.If utilitarianism prevails society, we will see people bond by mind-forged medicals lost in the money-making ventures;we will see humality lossing their grace and dignity, and that would be disastrous.I'd like to think society as a courage and people persumed for profit or fame as a horese that pulls the courage.Yet without the driver picking direction the courage would go straight and may even end out in a precarious situation .A certificate may give you some advantage, but broad horizons, positive attitudes and personal integrities ,these are assets you cannot acquire through any quick fixed way.In today's world, whether highest level of competition is not of skills or expertise , but vision and strategy. Your intellectual quality largely determinds how far you can go in your career.
英語標準美文100篇 008
Chinese Undergraduates in the US
Each year, elite American universities and liberal arts colleges, such as Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Amherst and Wellesley, offer a number of scholarships to Chinese high school graduates to study in their undergraduate programs. Four years ago, I received such a scholarship from Yale.
What are these Chinese undergrads like? Most come from middle-class families in the big urban centers of China. The geographical distribution is highly skewed, with Shanghai and Beijing heavily over-represented. Outside the main pool, a number of Yale students come from Changsha and Ningbo,swhereseach year American Yale graduates are sent to teach English.
The overwhelming majority of Chinese undergraduates in the US major in science, engineering or economics. Many were academic superstars in their high schools - gold medallists in international academic Olympiads or prize winners in national academic contests. Once on US campuses, many of them decide to make research a lifelong commitment.
Life outside the classroom constitutes an important part of college life. At American universities the average student spends less than thirteen hours a week in class. Many Chinese students use their spare time to pick up some extra pocket money. At Yale, one of the most common campus jobs is washing dishes in the dining halls. Virtually all Chinese undergraduates at Yale work part-time in the dining halls at some point in their college years. As they grow in age and sophistication, they upgrade to better-paying and less stressful positions. The more popular and interesting jobs include working as a computer assistant, math homework grader, investment office assistant and lab or research assistant. The latter three often lead to stimulating summer jobs.
Student activities are another prominent feature of American college life. Each week there are countless student-organized events of all sorts - athletic, artistic, cultural, political or social (i.e. just for fun). New student organizations are constantly being created, and Chinese undergrads contribute to this ferment. Sport looms much larger on US campuses than in China. At Yale, intramural sports from soccer to water polo take place all year long; hence athletic talent is a real social asset. One of the Chinese students at Yale several years ago was a versatile sportsman. His athletic talents and enthusiastic participation in sporting events, combined with his other fine qualities, made him a popular figure in his residential college.
英語標準美文100篇 017I Want to Know
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!
It doesn’t interest me if the story you’re telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.
It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.
It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
It doesn’t interest me who you are, how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
I want to know if you can sit with pain, without moving to hide it
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.
I want to know if you can see beauty , if you can source your life from god’s presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”
英語標準美文100篇 027Beauty
there were a sensitivity and a beauty to her that have nothing to do with looks. She was one to be listened to, whose words were so easy to take to heart.
I have thought about her often over the years and how she struggled in a society that places an incredible premium on looks, class, wealth and all the other fineries of life. She suffered from a disfigurement that cannot be made to look attractive. I know that her condition hurt her deeply.
Would her life have been different had she been pretty? Chances are it would have. And yet there were a sensitivity and a beauty to her that had nothing to do with looks. She was one to be listened to, whose words were so easy to take to heart. Her words came from a wounded but loving heart, very much like all hearts, but she had more of a need to be aware of it, to live with it and learn from it. She possessed a fine-tuned sense of beauty. Her only fear in life was the loss of a friend.
It is said that the true nature of being is veiled. The labor of words, the expression of art, the seemingly ceaseless buzz that is human thought all have in common the need to get at what really is so. The hope to draw close to and possess the truth of being can be a feverish one. In some cases it can even be fatal, if pleasure is one's truth and its attainment more important than life itself. In other lives, though, the search for what is truthful gives life.
The truth of her life was a desire to see beyond the surface for a glimpse of what it is that matters. She found beauty and grace and they befriended her, and showed her what is real.
英語標準美文100篇 080Work and Pleasure
To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real. It is no use starting late in life to say: “I will take an interest in this or that.” Such an attempt only aggravates the strain of mental effort. A man may acquire great knowledge of topics unconnected with his daily work, and yet hardly get any benefit or relief. It is no use doing what you like; you have got to like what you do. Broadly speaking, human beings may be divided into three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are worried to death, and those who are bored to death. It is no use offering the manual labourer, tired out with a hard week’s sweat and effort, the chance of playing a game of football or baseball on Saturday afternoon. It is no use inviting the politician or the professional or business man, who has been working or worrying about serious things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the weekend.
It may also be said that rational, industrious useful human beings are divided into two classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure; and secondly, those whose work and pleasure are one. Of these the former are the majority. They have their compensations. The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of sustenance, but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms. But Fortune’s favoured children belong to the second class. Their life is a natural harmony. For them the working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays when they come are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vocation. Yet to both classes the need of an alternative outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of a diversion of effort, is essential. Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means of banishing it at intervals from their minds.
工作和娛樂
要想獲得真正的快樂與安寧，一個人應該有至少兩三種愛好，而且必須是真正的愛好。到晚年才說“我對什麼什麼有興趣”是沒用的，這隻會徒然增添精神負擔。一個人可以在自己工作之外的領域獲得淵博的知識，不過他可能幾乎得不到什麼好處或是消遣。做你喜歡的事是沒用的，你必須喜歡你所做的事。總的來說，人可以分為三種：勞累而死的、憂慮而死的、和煩惱而死的。對於那些體力勞動者來說，經歷了一週精疲力竭的體力勞作，週六下午讓他們去踢足球或者打棒球是沒有意義的。而對那些政治家、專業人士或者商人來說，他們已經為嚴肅的事情操勞或煩惱六天了，週末再讓他們為瑣事勞神也是沒有意義的。
也可以說，那些理性的、勤勉的、有價值的人們可分為兩類，一類，他們的工作就是工作，娛樂就是娛樂；而另一類，他們的工作即娛樂。大多數人屬於前者，他們得到了相應的補償。長時間在辦公室或工廠裡的工作，回報給他們的不僅是維持了生計，還有一種強烈的對娛樂的需求，哪怕是最簡單的、最樸實的娛樂。不過，命運的寵兒則屬於後者。他們的生活很自然和諧。對他們來說，工作時間永遠不嫌長。每天都是假日，而當正常的假日來臨時，他們總是埋怨自己所全身心投入的休假被強行中斷了。不過，有些事情對兩類人是同樣至關重要的，那就是轉換一下視角、改變一下氛圍、將精力轉移到別的事情上。確實，對那些工作即是娛樂的人來說，最需要隔一段時間就用某種方式把工作從腦子裡面趕出去。