大学英语精读四

大学英语精读第四册第十单元内容详解

导语：工作对社会的意义，社会的发展进步，与每个社会组成成员的选择倾向是有密切关系的。下面是一篇关于人为什么工作的.英语课文，欢迎阅读。

Do you view work as a burden or an opportunity? Are you the kind of person who looks for ways to save your energy or the kind that finds spending your energy satisfying? Why do people like to complain about work? Find the answers to question like these in the following essay.

WHY PEOPLE WORK

Leonard R. Sayles

Jobs and work do much more than most of us realize to provide happiness sand contentment. We're all used to thinking that work provides the material things of life -- the goods and services that make possible our modern civilization. But we are much less conscious of the extent to which work provides the more intangible, but more crucial, psychological well-being that can make the difference between a full and an empty life.

Historically, work has been associated with slavery and sin and punishment. And in our own day we are used to hearing the traditional complaints: "I can't wait for my vacation," "I wish I could stay home today," "My boss treats me poorly," "I've got too much work to do and not enough time to do it." Against this background, it may well come as a surprise to learn that not only psychologists but other behavioral scientists have come to accept the positive contribution of work to the individual's happiness and sense of personal achievement. Work is more than a necessity for most human beings; it is the focus of their lives, the source of their identity and creativity.

Rather than a punishment or a burden, work is the opportunity to realize one's potential. Many psychiatrists heading mental health clinics have observed its healing effect. A good many patients who feel depressed in clinics gain renewed self-confidence when gainfully employed and lose some, if not all, of their most acute symptoms. Increasingly, institutions dealing with mental health problems are establishing workshops wherein those too sick to get a job in "outside" industry can work, while every effort is exerted to arrange "real" jobs for those well enough to work outside.

And the reverse is true, too. For large numbers of people, the absence of work is harmful to their health. Retirement often brings many problems surrounding the "What do I do with myself?" question, even though there may be no financial cares. Large numbers of people regularly get headaches and other illnesses on weekends when they don't have their jobs to go to, and must fend for themselves. It has been observed that unemployment, quite aside from exerting financial pressures, brings enormous psychological troubles and that many individuals deteriorate rapidly when jobless.

But why? Why should work be such a significant source of human satisfaction? A good share of the answer rests in the kind of pride that is stimulated by the job, by the activity of accomplishing.

Pride in Accomplishment

The human being longs for a sense of being accomplished, of being able to do things, with his hand, with his mind, with his will. Each of us wants to feel he or she has the ability to do something that is meaningful and that serves as a tribute to our inherent abilities.

It is easiest to see this in the craftsman who lovingly shapes some cheap material into an object that may be either useful or beautiful or both. You can see the carpenter or bricklayer stand aside and admire the product of his personal skill.

But even where there is no obvious end product that is solely attributable to one person's skill, researchers have found that employees find pride in accomplishment. Our own research in hospitals suggests that even the houskeeping and laundry staffs take pride in the fact that in their own ways they are helping to cure sick people -- and thus accomplishing good deal.

We're often misled by the complaints surrounding difficult work; deep down most people regard their won capacity to conquer the tough job as the mark of their own unique personality. Complaining is just part of working After all, how else do you know who you are, except as you can demonstrate the ability of your mind to control you limbs ad hands and words? You are, in significant measure, what you can do.

Some are deceived into thinking that people like to store up energy, to rest and save themselves as much as possible. Just the opposite. It is energy expenditure that is satisfying.

Just watch an employee who must deal with countless other people because his or her job is at some central point in a communications network: a salesman at a busy counter, a stock broker on the phone, a customer representative. They will tell you how much skill and experience it takes to answer countless questions and handle various kinds of personalities every hour of the day. Not everyone can interact with such persistence and over long hours, but those who do, pride themselves on a distinctive ability that contributes mightily to the running of the organization.

But work is more than accomplishment and pride in being able to command the job, because except for a few craftsmen and artists most work takes place "out in the world," with an through other people.

Esprit de corps

Perhasps an example will make the point:

I remember viewing a half dozen me in a chair factory whose job it was to bend several pieces of steel and attach them so that a folding chair would result. While there were ten or twelve of these "teams" that worked together, one in particular was known for its perfect coordination and lightning-like efforts. The men knew they were good. They would work spurts for twenty or thirty minutes before taking a break -- to show themselves, bystanders and other groups what it was to be superbly skilled and self-controlled, to be the best in the factory.

When I talked with them, each expressed enormous pride in being a part of the fastest, best team. And this sense of belonging to an accomplished work group is one of the distinctive satisfactions of the world of work.

One further word about work group satisfactions. Unlike may other aspects of life, relationships among people at work tend to be simpler, less complicated, somewhat less emotional. This is not to say there aren't arguments and jealousies, but, on the whole, behavioral research discloses that human relations at work are just easier, perhaps because they are more regular and predictable and thus simpler to adjust to than the sporadic, the more intense and less regular relationships in the community. And the work group also gently pressures its members to learn how to adjust to one another so that the "rough edges" are worked off because people know they must do certain things with and through one another each day.

Beyond the team and the work group, there is the organization, whether it be company or hospital or university. The same pride in being part of a well-coordinated, successful unit is derived from being part of a larger collectivity. Working for a company that is though of as being part of the best in the community can provide employees with both status and self-confidence. They assume, usually with good reason, that others regard them more highly, even envy them, and that they are more competent than the average because of this association with a "winner," a prestigious institution. We in truth bask in the reflected glory of the institution, and we seek ways of asserting our membership so that others will know and can recognize our good fortune.

contentment

n. happiness; satisfaction 满足

civilization

n. 文明

intangible

a. that can not be touched or grasped 触摸不到的

crucial

a. decisive; critical 决定性的，关键的

pschological

a. of the soul or mind 心理的

historically

ad. in the course of history, in accordance with or in respect to history

associate

vt. connect or bring together in one's mind 联想

slavery

n. the system of having slaves; the condition of being a slave 奴隶制度;奴隶身份

sin

n. behavior that is against the principles of morality; an immoral act 罪孽

punishment

n. punishing or being punished 惩罚

complaint

n. complaining; a statement expressing unhappiness, pain, dissatisfaction 抱怨

behavioral

a. of or having to do with behavior 行为的

contribution

n. act of contributing; sth. contributed

necessity

n. sth. that is necessary; the condition of being necessary, needed or unavoidable 必需品;必要性

focus

n. the central point; centre of interest 焦点

creativity

n. the ability to produce new and orignal ideas and things; inventiveness创造性

clinic

n. building or part of a hospital where doctors give specialized medical treatment and advice; a medical institution for special purposes 诊所

heal

v. (cause to) become healthy 治愈，愈合，痊愈

depressed

a. sad; low in spirits 精神抑郁的，情绪沮丧的

depress

vt. make sad, low in spirits

renew

vt. reestablish; give new life and freshness to 使更新

gainfully

ad. profitably

acute

a. severe; strong 严重的，急性的

symptom

a. a change in the body's condition that indicates illness 症状

institution

n. a society, club, college or any organization established for some public or social purpose 公共机构

workshop

n. a room of building which contains tools or machinery for making or repairing things 车间，工场

wherein

conj. in which

exert

vt. use(strength, skill, etc.) 尽力

reverse

n. the opposite; the other way round, the back 相反，背面

absence

n. non-existence; lack

retirement

n. instance of retiring or being retired; condition of being retired 退休

financial

a. relating to money 财政的;金融的

weekend

n. Saturday and Sunday, esp. when considered as a holiday from work

fend

vi. provide(for) 供养;照料

unemployment

n. the state of being unemployed

significant

a. of noticeable importance or effect 重大的

significance n.

satisfaction

n. be state of being satisfied 满足

satisfactory a.

accomplished

a. skilled, expert 有才艺的;有造诣的

tribute

n. material evidence of one's worth, virtue, etc.

inherent

a. existing as a natural and permanent part or quality of 内在的，生来的

craftsman

n. a highly skilled workman 手艺人，(名)工匠

bicklayer

n. a workman who builds with bricks

attributable

a. that can be attributed 可归因于……的

attribute

vt. 把……归因为

housekeeping

n. management of a home and its affairs 家政

staff

n. the group of workers who carry on a job (全体)员工

capacity

n. ability, power; the amount that sth. can hold or produce 能力;容量

tough

a. difficult to do or deal with 艰巨的

unique

n. being the only one of its type 独特的

limb

n. the leg, arm. or wing of an animal 肢，翼

opposite

n. a person or thing that is entirely different from another 对立面，对立物

countless

a. very many; too many to be counted

broker

n. person who buys and sells for others 经纪人，掮客

stock broker

n. a person who buys and sells stocks and bonds for other for a commission 证券经纪人

representative

n. a person acting in place of one or more others 代表

interact

vi. act on each other 相互作用

persistence

n. the act or fact of keeping on doing sth in spite of difficulty or opposition 坚持

persist vi.

distinctive

a. clearly marking a person or thing as different from other 特殊的;与众不同的

mightily

ad. with power and strength; greatly

esprit de corps

n. (French) spirit of loyalty and devotion which unites the members of a group or society 团体精神，集体荣誉感

coordination

n. harmonious adjustment or working together 协调

coordinate vt.

lightning

闪电

bystander

n. a person standing near but not taking part in an event or activity; onlooker 旁观者

superbly

ad. magnificently; first class

aspect

n. one side or view of a subject 方面

relationship

n. a friendship between people; connection 关系

disclose

make known; show by uncovering 揭示

sporadic

a. occurring now and then; occasional 零星发生的,偶尔的

collectivity

n. people collectively, especially as forming a community or state 集体

collective a.

status

n. (high) social or professional position 地位,身份

envy

vt. feel admiration or ill-will toward (sb.) because he has the good fortune one wishes to have 羡慕;妒忌

winner

n. one that wins or seems destined to win or be successful

prestigious

a. having respect that results from the good reputation (of a person, nation, etc.)有声望的

bask

vi. sit or lie in enjoyable warmth and light (舒适地) 取暖,享受

reflect

vt. throw back (light, heat, sound or image) 反射;反映

assert

vt. demonstrate the existence of; declare forcefully 宣称,断言

membership

n. the state of being a member, of a club, society, etc. all the members of a club, society, etc.

associate with

connect with (often mentally) 把…与…联系在一起

rather than

instead of

fend for oneself

look after oneself 照料自己，自行谋生

aside from

besides, apart from 除…以外

long for

desire (to have )sth. strongly 渴望

take pride in

fell please and happy because of 为…而感到得意

store up

put away for future use 储存，储备

pride oneself on

regard as a special reason for pride or satisfaction 以……自豪

make the/one's point

prove that sth. is true 证明一个论点

in particular

especially

at work

busy at a job; doing work

one the whole

considering everything; in general

work off

get rid of, dispose 除去，清除

大学英语精读第四册Unit One课文介绍

导语：我们都曾幻想自己有一大笔钱，下面是一篇讲述获得一大笔钱的简单方式的英语课文，欢迎大家学习。

Two college-age boys, unaware that making money usually involves hard work, are tempted by an advertisement that promises them an easy way to earn a lot of money. The boys soon learn that if something seems to good to be true, it probably is.

BIG BUCKS THE EASY WAY

John G. Hubbell

"You ought to look into this," I suggested to our two college-age sons. "It might be a way to avoid the indignity of having to ask for money all the time." I handed them some magazines in a plastic bag someone bad hung on our doorknob. A message printed on the bag offered leisurely, lucrative work ("Big Bucks the Easy Way!") of delivering more such bags.

"I don't mind the indignity," the older one answered.

"I can live with it," his brother agreed.

"But it pains me," I said，"to find that you both have been panhandling so long that it no longer embarrasses you."

The boys said they would look into the magazine-delivery thing. Pleased, I left town on a business trip. By midnight I was comfortably settled in a hotel room far from home. The phone rang. It was my wife. She wanted to know how my day had gone.

"Great!" I enthused. "How was your day?" I inquired.

"Super!" She snapped. "Just super! And it's only getting started. Another truck just pulled up out front."

"Another truck?"

"The third one this evening. The first delivered four thousand Montgomery Wards. The second brought four thousand Sears, Roebucks. I don't know what this one has, but I'm sure it will be four thousand of something. Since you are responsible, I thought you might like to know what's happening.

What I was being blamed for, it turned out, was a newspaper strike which made it necessary to hand-deliver the advertising inserts that normally are included with the Sunday paper. The company had promised our boys $600 for delivering these inserts to 4,000 houses by Sunday morning.

"Piece of cake!" our older college son had shouted.

" Six hundred bucks!" His brother had echoed, "And we can do the job in two hours!"

"Both the Sears and Ward ads are four newspaper-size pages," my wife informed me. "There are thirty-two thousand pages of advertising on our porch. Even as we speak, two big guys are carrying armloads of paper up the walk. What do we do about all this?"

"Just tell the boys to get busy," I instructed. "They're college men. They'll do what they have to do."

At noon the following day I returned to the hotel and found an urgent message to telephone my wife. Her voice was unnaturally high and quavering. There had been several more truckloads of ad inserts. "They're for department stores, dime stores, drugstores, grocery stores, auto stores and so on. Some are whole magazine sections. We have hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of pages of advertising here! They are crammed wall-to-wall all through the house in stacks taller than your oldest son. There's only enough room for people to walk in, take one each of the eleven inserts, roll them together, slip a rubber band around them and slide them into a plastic bag. We have enough plastic bags to supply every takeout restaurant in America!" Her voice kept rising, as if working its way out of the range of the human ear. "All this must be delivered by seven o'clock Sunday morning."

"Well, you had better get those guys banding and sliding as fast as they can, and I'll talk to you later. Got a lunch date.

When I returned, there was another urgent call from my wife.

"Did you have a nice lunch?" she asked sweetly. I had had a marvelous steak, but knew better by now than to say so.

"Awful," I reported. "Some sort of sour fish. Eel, I think."

"Good. Your college sons have hired their younger brothers and sisters and a couple of neighborhood children to help for five dollars each. Assembly lines have been set up. In the language of diplomacy, there is 'movement.'"

"That's encouraging."

"No, it's not," she corrected. "It's very discouraging. They're been as it for hours. Plastic bags have been filled and piled to the ceiling, but all this hasn't made a dent, not a dent, in the situation! It's almost as if the inserts keep reproducing themselves!"

"Another thing," she continued. "Your college sons must learn that one does not get the best out of employees by threatening them with bodily harm.

Obtaining an audience with son NO. 1, I snarled, "I'll kill you if threaten one of those kids again! Idiot! You should be offering a bonus of a dollar every hour to the worker who fills the most bags.

"But that would cut into our profit," he suggested.

"There won't be any profit unless those kids enable you to make all the deliveries on time. If they don't, you two will have to remove all that paper by yourselves. And there will be no eating or sleeping until it is removed."

There was a short, thoughtful silence. Then he said, "Dad, you have just worked a profound change in my personality."

"Do it!"

"Yes, sir!"

By the following evening, there was much for my wife to report. The bonus program had worked until someone demanded to see the color of cash. Then some activist on the work force claimed that the workers had no business settling for $5 and a few competitive bonuses while the bossed collected hundreds of dollars each. The organizer had declared that all the workers were entitled to $5 per hour! They would not work another minute until the bosses agreed.

The strike lasted less than two hours. In mediation, the parties agreed on $2 per hour. Gradually, the huge stacks began to shrink.

As it turned out, the job was completed three hours before Sunday's 7 a.m. deadline. By the time I arrived home, the boys had already settled their accounts: $150 in labor costs, $40 for gasoline, and a like amount

for gifts—boxes of candy for saintly neighbors who had volunteered station wagons and help in delivery and dozen roses for their mother. This left them with $185 each — about two-thirds the minimum wage for the 91 hours they worked. Still, it was "enough", as one of them put it, to enable them to "avoid indignity" for quite a while.

All went well for some weeks. Then one Saturday morning my attention was drawn to the odd goings-on of our two youngest sons. They kept carrying carton after carton from various corners of the house out the front door to curbside. I assumed their mother had enlisted them to remove junk for a trash pickup. Then I overheard them discussing finances.

"Geez, we're going to make a lot of money!"

"We're going to be rich!"

Investigation revealed that they were offering " for sale or rent" our entire library.

"No! No!" I cried. "You can't sell our books!"

"Geez, Dad, we thought you were done with them!"

"You're never 'done' with books," I tried to explain.

"Sure you are. You read them, and you're done with them. That's it. Then you might as well make a little money from them. We wanted to avoid the indignity of having to ask you for……"

buck

n. (sl.) U.S. dollar

plastic

a. 塑料的

n. (pl) 塑料

doorknob

n. 门把手

leisurely

a. unhurried 从容的，慢慢的'

leisure

n. free time 空闲时间，闲暇

lucrative

a. profitable 有利的;赚钱的

pain

vt. cause pain to

panhandle

vi. (AmE) beg. esp. on the streets

delivery

n. delivering (of letters, goods, etc.)投递;送交

enthuse

vi. show enthusiasm

inquire

vt. ask

super

a. (colloq.) wonderful, splendid; excellent

snap

vt. say(sth.) sharply 厉声说

insert

n. 插页

normally

ad. in the usual conditions; ordinarily 通常

company

n. 公司

echo

vt. say or do what another person says or does; repeat 附和;重复

ad

n. (short for) advertisement

inform

vt. tell; give information 告知

porch

n. (AmE) veranda 门廊

armload

n. as much as one arm or both arms can hold; armful

walk

n. a path specially arranged or paved for walking 人行道

unnaturally

ad. in an unnatural way 不自然地

quaver

vi. (of the voice or sound) shake; tremble 颤抖

truckload

n. as much or as many as a truck can carry

department store

n. store selling many different kinds of goods in separate departments 百货公司

dime

n. coin of U.S. and Canada worth ten cents

dime store

n. (AmE) a store selling a large variety of low-priced articles; variety store 廉价商品店;小商口店

drugstore

n. (AmE) a store that sells not only medicine, but also beauty products, film, magazines, and food 药店，杂货店

grocery

n. a store that sells food and household supplies 食品杂货店

section

n. part of subdivision of a piece of writing, book, newspaper, etc.; portion (文章等的)段落;节;部分

cram

vt. fill too full; force or press into a small space 把……塞满;把……塞进

stack

n. an orderly; heap or group of things 一叠(堆、垛等)

band

n. flat, thin piece of material 带;带状物

vt. tie up with a band 捆扎

rubber band

n. 橡皮筋

takeout

a. (餐馆)出售外卖菜的

range

n. the distance at which one can see or hear (听觉、视觉等)的范围

marvel(l)ous

a. wonderful; astonishing

steak

n. 牛排;大块肉(或鱼)片

sour

a. 酸的

eel

n. 鳗鲡

diplomacy

n. 外交

encouraging

a. 鼓舞人心的

dent

n. a hollow in a hard surface made by a blow or pressure; initial progress凹痕，凹坑，初步进展

reproduce

vt. produce the young of (oneself or one's own kind) 生殖，繁殖

bodily

a. of the human body; physical

harm

n. damage or wrong 伤害

audience

n. the people gathered in a place to hear or see; a chance to be heard 观众;听众;陈述意见的机会

snarl

vt. speak in a harsh voice 咆哮着说

bonus

n. an extra payment to workers 奖金

thoughtful

a. give to or indicating thought 沉思的，思考的

cash

n. money in coins or notes 现金

activist

n. a person taking an active part esp. in a political movement 激进分子

work force

n. total number of workers employed in a particular factory, industry or area 工人总数;劳动人口

competitive

a. 竞争的

organizer

n. person who organizes things 组织者

mediation

n. 调解

party

n. one of the people or sides in an agreement or argument 一方;当事人

gradually

ad. slowly and by degrees.

gradual

a.

shrink (shrank, shrunk)

vi. become less or smaller 减少;变小

deadline

n. fixed limit of finishing a piece of work 最后期限

station wagon

n. 小型客车，客货两用车

minimum (pl. minima or minimums)

n. the smallest possible amount, number, etc. 最低限度的量、数等

minimum wage

n. the lowest wage permitted by law or by agreement for certain work 法定最工资

odd

a. strange; unusual

goings-on

n. activities, usu. of an undesirable kind

carton

n. a cardboard box for holding goods 纸板箱(或盒) curbside

n. the area of sidewalk at or near curb (curb: 人行道的镶边石)

enlist

vt. obtain the support and help of; cause to join the armed forces 取得……的支持和帮助;征募

trash

n. waste material to be thrown away; rubbish 垃圾

pickup

n. a small light truck with an open back used for light deliveries 小卡车;轻型货车

overhear

vt. hear by chance; hear without the knowledge of the speaker(s)无意中听到;偷听到

finance

n. money matters; (used in pl.) money; (science of ) the management of funds 财政;钱财;金融

geez

int.哎呀，呀

sale

n. the act of selling sth.

pull up

bring or come to a stop (使)停下

a piece of cake

(informal) sth. very easy to do

even as

just at the same moment as

know better than

be wise or experienced enough not (to do sth.) 明事理而不至于

be at

be occupied with, be doing

make a dent (in)

make less by a very small amount; reduce slightly; make a first step towards success(in)减少一点;取得初步进展

cut into

reduce; decrease 减少

have no business

have no right or reason 无权，没有理由

settle for

accept, although not altogether satisfactory (无可奈何地)满足于

settle one's account

pay what one owes 结帐

quite a while

a fairly long time

draw(sb.'s) attention to

make sb. notice, or be aware of

for sale

intended to be sold

for rent

available to be rented

be done with

stop doing or using; finish 做完，不再使用

may/might/could as well

with equal or better effect 不妨，还不如，最好

Montgomery Ward

蒙哥马利—沃德百货公司

Sears, Roebuck

西尔斯—罗百克百货公司