佚名/Anonymous
Ace in the Hole
Understand these new words before you listen to this article.
Understand these new words before you listen to this article.
1. available [?'veil?bl] adj. 可用的，可得到的
2. separate ['sep?rit] adj. 不同的，個別的；單獨的
3. literature ['lit?rit??] n. 文學，文學作品
4. treasure ['tre??] n. 金銀財寶; 寶藏；貴重物品；不可多得的人才
5. generation [,d?en?'rei??n] n. 同時代的人，一代
All the wisdom of the ages, all the stories that have de lighted mankind for centuries, are easily and cheaply available to all of us within the covers of books but we must know how to avail ourselves of this treasure and how to get the most from it. The most unfortunate people in the world are those who have never discovered how satisfying it is to read good books.
Reading is pleasure of the mind, which means that it is a little like a sport: your eagerness and knowledge and quickness make you a good reader. Reading is fun, not because the writer is telling you something, but because it makes your mind work. Your own imagination works along with the author’s or even goes beyond his. Your experience, compared with his, brings you to the same or different conclusions, and your ideas develop as you understand his.
Every book stands by itself, like a one family house, but books in a library are like houses in a city. Although they are separate, together they all add up to something, they are connected with each other and with other cities. The same ideas, or related ones, turn up in different places; the human problems that repeat themselves in life repeat themselves in literature, but with different solutions according to different writings at different times. Books influence each other; they link the past, the present and the future and have their own generations, like families. Wherever you start reading you connect yourself with one of the families of ideas, and in the long run, you not only find out about the world and the people in it; you find out about yourself, too.
Reading can only be fun if you expect it to be. If you concentrate on books somebody tells you you“ough”to read, you probably won’t have fun. But if you put down a book you don’t like and try another till you find one that means something to you, and then relax with it, you will almost certainly have a good time—and if you become, as a result of reading, better, wiser, kinder, or more gentle, you won’t have suffered during the process.
參考譯文
人類世世代代的聰明才智，以及幾百年來愉悅人們的故事，都可以輕鬆實惠地從書中獲得。不過，讀者必須懂得利用知識，進而獲得最大收益。世上最不幸的人就是那些從未體會過閱讀佳作所帶來的快樂的人。
讀書是一種思維享受，有點兒像體育運動。善於讀書的人需要強烈的求知欲、豐富的知識和敏捷的反應。讀書之所以是一種樂趣，並不在於作者告訴你什麽，而是因為讀書使你積極思考。在作者的引導下，你的想象任意馳騁，甚至超越作者的想象。對比作者的經曆，你會得出自己的結論，也許相同，也許相悖，而隨著你對作者思想的理解，你也會變得越來越深刻。
每一部書都獨自存在，猶如獨戶房子。而圖書館的書籍則像城市中的建築。盡管它們各成一體，但共同構成一個整體。不僅它們之間相互關聯，而且也與其他城市相互聯係。相同或相近的看法會在不同的地方出現。文學作品中反映的就是人們生活中經常出現的事情，但在不同時期作者的處理大相徑庭。書籍之間也相互影響，它們傳承過去，體現現在，預測將來，相互聯係，代代相傳，形同各個家族。不管你從何時讀起，都會有一種觀點與你相符。長遠來看，你不僅從書中了解世界，體驗別人的生活，也會認識你自己。
隻有你誠心讀書，閱讀才會成為一種樂趣。假如你讀的是別人認為“該”讀的書，你很可能覺得索然無味。假如你放下自己不喜歡的書，另試一本，直到發現自己覺得有意義的書，然後輕鬆地讀下去，你肯定會感到心情暢快。假如你因閱讀而變得更加高尚、聰明、善良和文雅，讀書就不再是一種負擔了。
心靈小語
孤獨寂寞時，閱讀可以消遣。高談闊論時，知識可供裝飾。處世行事時，知識意味著才幹。懂得事務因果的人是幸運的。有實際經驗的人雖能夠處理個別性的事務，但若要綜觀整體，運籌全局，卻唯有學識方能辦到。
Learning for Better Understanding
Listen to the article, and then try to recite the following sentences.
1. I can look back upon its completed course, and what a little thing!
2.And that is best, to smile not in scorn, but in all forbearance, without too much self-compassion.
3. Better to see the truth now, and accept it, than to fall into dread surprise on some day of weakness, and foolishly to cry against fate.
Chunks in Practice
Listen to the following passage twice and then fill in the blanks with
appropriate words.
1. All the______of the ages, all the stories that have de lighted______for centuries, are easily and cheaply______to all of us within the covers of books but we must know how to avail ourselves of this______and how to get the most from it.
2. Your own______works along with the author’s or even goes______you’re your experience, compared with his, brings you to the______or______conclusions, and your ideas develop______you understand his.
Now a Try
Listen to the article again, and try to make a summary of it.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________