2015年职称英语《综合类B级》考试教材新增

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　　第二十四篇 The Romance of Arthur

2015年职称英语《综合类B级》考试教材新增

　　Most cultures have some sort of hero whorepresents the best values of what its people believe in. The unusual thingabout King Arthur is that legends of his heroism have persisted for severalcenturies and spread far beyond England, the place where they began.

　　The earliest stories of King Arthur represent himas a warrior who fought and subdued the invading Norsemen in the years aroundA. D. 700. This much of the Arthurian tale is probably based on fact. Whethercalled Arthur or not, there is a body of evidence supporting the existence ofsuch a warrior. It is the later embellishments of the tale whose authenticityis questionable. According to these, Arthur was born in a castle in Tintagel onthe stormy western coast of England and because he was the illegitimate son ofKing Uther Pendragon, he was spirited away by the magician Merlin and his trueidentity kept from him. He became king after freeing the sword Excalibur fromthe stone into which it was thrust. He married the beautiful Guinevere andassembled in his court all the noblest knights of the land, including Lancelot,with whom Guinevere would later be unfaithful to him. He was finally defeatedin battle by his illegitimate son Mordred, and his body was spirited away tothe isle of A Valon.

　　This romantic tale greatly appealed to the Englishand the French in the Middle Ages, when the code of chivalry-ideal qualities ofknighthood-constituted an important part of many stories. Tales of the heroismof Galahad, Percival, Gawain, and many other of Arthur's knights werecirculated as well.

　　In England today, there are many sites claiming apiece of the Arthurian an legend. There is a mined castle at Tintagel. NearGlastonbury are the remains of an ancient abbey where Arthur’s and Guinevere'sbodies were supposedly exhumed in the 12th century. Neither of these provesthat the legend is true, but they do keep its mystique alive.

　　词汇：

　　Arthurn.亚瑟(中世纪传奇故事中的不列颠国王，圆桌骑士团的首领)

　　authenticityn.可靠性，真实性

　　spiritv.偷偷地带走;拐走;绑架

　　warriorn. 战士，勇士

　　chivalryn. 骑士

　　subduev. 制服，慑服

　　embellishmentn. 美化，修饰

　　mystiquen. 神秘气氛

　　注释：

　　1. This much of theArthurian tale……：许多这类亚瑟王的故事

　　2. ...was spirited awayby ……被偷偷地带走……

　　练习：

　　1. King Arthur’s famer was ______

　　A. Lancelot

　　B. Avalon

　　C. Mordred

　　D. Uther Pendragon

　　2. The writer seems to feel that the truth aboutArthur is that he ______.

　　A. existed

　　B. was married to Guinevere

　　C. had many knights

　　D. was born at Tintagael

　　3. The information in the second paragraph ismostly presented in ______.

　　A. spatial order

　　B. order from latest to earliest

　　C. order from earliest to latest

　　D. order from least persuasive

　　4. In the last paragraph the word “exhumed” means_____

　　A. dug up from the grave

　　B. buried

　　C. quarreled over

　　D. built a church around

　　5. Another good title for this passage would be ______

　　A. Kings in the Seventh Century

　　B. The Knights of the Round Table

　　C. Real or Legend?

　　D. Arthur’s Marriage to Guinevere.

　　第九篇 Style, Not Fashion

　　Style goes way beyondfashion: It is the distinctive way we put ourselves together. It is a uniqueblend of spirit and substance-personal identity imposed oil and created throughthe world of things. _____ (1) It is what people really want when they aspireto be fashionable. (if they aren't just adorningthemselvesin status symbols).

　　Through clothes, wereinvent ourselves every time we get dressed. Our wardrobe is our visual vocabulary. Style is ourdistinctive pattern of speech, our individual poetry.

　　Fashion is the least of it.Style is, for starters, one part identity: self-awareness and self-knowledge._____ (2) And style requires security-feeling at home in your body, physically andmentally. Of course, like all knowledge, self-knowledge must be updated as yougrow evolve; style takes ongoing self-assessment.

　　Style is also one partpersonality: spirit: verve, attitude, wit, inventiveness. It demands the desireand confidence to express whatever mood one wishes. Such variability is notonly necessary but a reflection of a person's unique complexity as a humanbeing. _____ (3) In order to work, style must reflect the real self, thecharacter and personality of the individual; anything less appears to be acostume?

　　Lastly, style is one partfashion. It's possible to have lots of clothes and not an ounce of style. Butit’s also possible to have very few clothes and lots of style. Yes, fashion isthe means through which we express style, but it takes fewer clothes to bestylish than you might imagine.

　　Whatever else it is, styleis optimism made visible. Style presumes that you are a person of interest:that the world is a place of interest that life is worth making the effort for.It also shows that you are morally responsible. It shows that you don't buythings at the whim of the marketplace or the urging of marketers. _____ (4) Styleexposes people's ambivalence over good looks. It always demonstrates that appearancesdo count. Deep down we suspect this, since we ourselves make judgments aboutothers from how they look.

　　No one should be penalizedfor not having style, of course, but those who have it are distinctive and thusmore memorable. _____ (5) They announce to the world that they are in commandof themselves.

　　词汇：

　　adorn v.装饰，使更美观

　　wardrobe n. (个人的)全部服装

　　suspect v.怀疑，猜想

　　wit n.风趣，说话风趣的人

　　blend v.混在一起，混合

　　ambivalence n.矛盾心理，矛盾心态

　　注释：

　　1.aspire to be fashionable:渴望赶上时尚潮流

　　2.an ounce of style: 一丁点的风格

　　3.atthe whim of:心血来潮(突发奇想)

　　练习：