外研版选修二册第一单元阅读讲解

Unit 1 Growing up

第2页阅读讲解

The Age of Majority
成年

In most countries, turning 18 marks the start of adulthood. But what does reaching this milestone, the age of majority, really mean? Will you be completely in charge of your own life and able to express yourself in new and exciting ways? What new responsibilities will this freedom bring? Here, three young people tell us what turning 18 means, or meant, to them.
在大多数国家，18岁标志着成年的开始。但是，达到成年这一里程碑意味着什么呢?你能完全掌控自己的生活吗?能以新的、令人兴奋的方式表达自己吗?这种自由将带来什么新的责任?在这里，年轻人告诉我们18岁对他们来说意味着什么。

Bethany
16, Victoria, Australia

1 I can't wait to be 18. One reason is that although I've been working ever since leaving school, I won't be voting in the next general election. Why? Because I still won't be old enough. Surely, if you're old enough to earn a wage and pay taxes, you should be allowed to have a say on how the government spends them! I've also been taking driving lessons, and in fact I will be taking my driving test on the very day I turn 18. My mum worries about me being behind the wheel. As an ambulance driver, she's seen a lot of car accidents involving teenagers and thinks the legal age for getting a driving licence should be 21. But I think I'm already mature enough to understand that driving a car also means taking responsibility for my life and the lives of other people.
我都等不及18岁了。例如，我离开学校后一直在工作，但我不会在下次选举中投票。为什么?因为我还不够大。当然，如果你到了可以挣工资和纳税的年龄，你就应该被允许对政府如何使用这些钱有发言权!我还在上驾驶课，事实上，我将在18岁那天参加驾驶考试。我妈妈担心我开车。作为一名救护车司机，她目睹了很多涉及青少年的车祸，因此她认为获得驾照的法定年龄应该是21岁。但我认为我已经足够成熟，能够理解开车也意味着对自己的生活和他人的生活负责。

Lin Ning
19, Shanghai, China

2 I celebrated my 18th birthday just before I went to university. I expected to feel instantly different, as if I had closed the door on my childhood and stepped into a whole new adult world. But it wasn't like that. When I woke up the next day, there were still rules to obey and lessons to attend. In fact, the change has been more subtle and gradual than I imagined. Instead of being the selfish teenager I used to be, I have begun to feel more aware of other people and to develop a stronger sense of social responsibility. To give an example, I will be signing an organ donation agreement this time tomorrow. This was a big decision for me and I made it without asking my parents (although I knew they would approve). Turning 18 also changed the way that society viewed me. I was really surprised when a bank contacted me with a credit card offer. Of course, I would like to have more freedom with money and no doubt I will be getting a credit card at some point, but I currently don't have a steady income, so getting a credit card might tempt me to spend more money than I have!
我在上大学前庆祝了我的18岁生日。我期待着马上就会有不同的感觉，就好像我关上了童年的大门，走进了一个全新的成人世界。但事实并非如此。当我第二天醒来，仍然有规则要遵守和上课。事实上，这种变化比我想象的更加微妙和渐进。我不再是过去那个自私的青少年，我开始更多地意识到别人的存在，并培养了更强的社会责任感。举个例子，明天的这个时候我就要签署器官捐赠协议了。这对我来说是一个重大的决定，我没有征求父母的意见就做出了这个决定(尽管我知道他们会同意的)。18岁也改变了社会对我的看法。当一家银行联系我提供信用卡时，我真的很惊讶。当然，我想在金钱上有更多的自由，我怀疑我是否会在某个时候得到一张信用卡，但是我目前没有稳定的收入，所以得到一张信用卡可能会诱惑我花更多的钱!

Morgan
20, Florida, the US

3 People say that 18 marks a new chapter in our lives, and that we should become more independent. I used to believe this, but the reality for me has been very different. I assumed I'd already have a well-paid job and that I'd be moving into a rented apartment as soon as I turned 18, but how wrong I was! My librarian's salary means that I'll be living at home with my parents for a while longer. Because I contribute to the household bills and my commute to work is quite expensive, I find it hard to save any money. I'll be starting a new job next month, however, so maybe things will get easier. I know I could get a bank loan to pay the deposit on my very own apartment, but I don't feel ready to make that kind of commitment, and I do like my mom's cooking. I guess some responsibilities are more about attitude than age.
人们说，18岁标志着我们生活的新篇章，我们应该变得更加独立。我曾经相信这一点，但对我来说，现实是非常不同的。我以为我已经有了一份高薪的工作，一到18岁就会搬进租来的公寓，但是我错了!我图书管理员的薪水意味着我还得和父母住一段时间。因为我自己承担家庭开销，而且我上下班的花费非常昂贵，所以我发现很难攒钱。不过，下个月我就要开始一份新工作了，也许事情会变得容易一些。我知道我可以向银行贷款来支付我自己的公寓的押金，但是我觉得我还没有准备好做出那种承诺，而且我很喜欢我妈妈做的菜。我想有些责任更多的是态度而不是年龄。

第8页阅读讲解

The Little Prince
小王子

1 Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing.
在我六岁的时候，我在一本关于原始森林的书中看到了一幅精彩的图画。那是一幅巨蟒正在吞食一只大野兽的画。这是那幅画的副本。

2 In the book it said: “Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion.”
这本书中写道:“这些蟒蛇把它们的猎获物不加咀嚼地囫囵吞下。”在这之后，它们就不能动了。它们在整个6个月的睡眠中消化食物。”

3 I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked like this:
于是，我对丛林里的冒险经历进行了深入的思考。后来我用彩色铅笔成功地画出了我的第一幅画。我的第一号作品。它是这样的:

4 I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.
我把我的杰作拿给大人看，问他们这幅画是不是很吓人。

5 But they answered: “Frighten? Why should anyone be frightened by a hat?”
他们回答说:“害怕?一顶帽子有什么可怕的?”

6 My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grownups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:
我画的不是一顶帽子。那是一幅巨蟒正在消化一头大象的画。但是大人们不明白，我就又画了一幅。我把巨蟒肚子里的情况画出来，让大人们看得清楚些。他们总是需要解释一些事情。我的第二幅作品是这样的:

7 The grown-ups' response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
大人们劝我把这些画着开着肚皮的和开着肚皮的蟒蛇的画放在一边，把兴趣放在地理、历史、算术、语法上面。因此，在六岁的时候，我就放弃了当画家这一美好的职业。我的第一号和第二号作品的失败使我很沮丧。大人们靠他们自己什么也弄不懂，老是不停地向他们解释，这真叫孩子们厌烦。

8 So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
于是我选择了另一种职业，学会了驾驶飞机。我飞遍了世界各地;的确，地理对我非常有用。我一眼就能分辨出中国和亚利桑那州。如果一个人在夜里迷路了，这种知识是很有价值的。

9 In the course of this life, I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them.
在我的一生中，我遇到过许多严肃的人。我在大人们中间生活了很久。我仔细地观察过他们，近在咫尺。但这并没有改善我对他们的看法。

10 Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding. But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say:
每当我遇到一个头脑稍微清醒的人，我就试着把我一直保存着的第一号作品拿给他看。我会试着弄清楚，这是不是一个真正善解人意的人。但是，不管是谁，他总是说:

11 “That is a hat.”
“这是一顶帽子。”

12 Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.
我永远不会和那个人谈论巨蟒、原始森林或星星。我会把自己降到他的水平。我会和他谈桥牌、高尔夫、政治和领带。大人们一定会非常高兴能遇到这样一个通情达理的人。

(Excerpt from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
(节选自安东尼·德·圣埃克苏佩里的《小王子》)