【正文】 wards us. I looked up to see where they had e from. There were just two rocks at first, leaping and bounding down the face towards us, once cannoning off each other in midair. And then the air above suddenly seemed alive with falling rocks, humming through the air and filling it with noise. Crack, went each one as it leapt off the rock face, then humhumhum as it moved through the air, then crack again. The pause between the cracks lengthened each time, as the rocks gained momentum and jumped further and further. I continued to gaze up at the rocks as they fell and skipped towards me. A boy who had been a few years above me at school had taught me never to look up during a rock fall. Why? Because a rock in your face is far less pleasant than a rock on your helmet, he told us. Face in, always face in. I heard Toby, my partner on the mountain that day, shouting at me. I looked across. He was safe beneath an overhanging canopy of rock. I could not understand him. Then I felt a thump, and was tugged backwards and round, as though somebody had clamped a heavy hand on my shoulder and turned me to face them. A rock had hit the lid of my rucksack. I looked up again. A rock was heading down straight towards me. Instinctively, I leant backwards and arched my back out from the rock to try to protect my chest. What about my fingers, though, I thought: they39。ll be crushed flat if it hits them, and I39。ll never get down. Then I heard a crack directly in front of me, and a tug at my trousers, and a yell from Toby.Are you all right? That went straight through you.The rock had pitched in front of me, and passed through the hoop of my body, between my legs, missing me but snatching at my clothing as it went. Toby and I had spent the evening talking through the events of the morning: what if the big final stone hadn39。t leapt sideways, what if I39。d been knocked off, would you have held me, would I have pulled you off? A more experienced mountaineer would probably have thought nothing of it. I knew I would not fet it. 詞匯： livid [39。livid] adj. 鉛色的；青灰色的；非常生氣的 awkward [39。?:kw?d] adj. 笨拙的；尷尬的；棘手的； grip/ɡrip / n. 緊握；支配 vt. 緊握；夾緊 注釋： 1. When we stepped outside, the sky beyond the mountains to our east was already livid with colour. 我們走到外面，東面籠罩在山上的天空是青灰色的。 2. For about 30 minutes we moved steadily up the face. The rock was in poor condition, shattered horizontally and mazed with cracks. When I tried to haul myself up on a block of it, it would pull out towards me, like a drawer opening. My hands became progressively wetter and colder. 我們平穩(wěn)前進了 30 分鐘。巖石的狀況很不好。當我們試圖把自己拉上去，它就會滑向我們，像一個打開的抽屜。我的手巨劍出汗變得冰冷。 3. Then I felt a thump, and was tugged backwards and round, as though somebody had clamped a heavy hand on my shoulder and turned me to face them. A rock had hit the lid of my rucksack 然后我感到了一陣重擊，緊緊向后拉扯，像是有人使勁兒地用手夾住我的肩膀然后把我轉向面對他的方向。一塊石頭砸在了我背包的蓋子上。 練習： 1. Why was it ―too late‖ by the time they left the hut in the morning? A) It would be unfortable climbing in hot weather. B) The livid colour of the sky would hurt their eyes. C) Rocks loosened by melting ice could be dangerous. D) They wouldn39。t be able to walk on the melting ice. 2. The first reason given to explain why mountaineers hate talus is_______. A) that climbers above you might cause it to fall on you B) that it allows people climbing above you to push off C) that it makes people climbing above you feel insecure D) that it can cause other people to push you off the mountain 3. What is likely to be the meaning of Cailloux? A) Rocks are flying through the air. B) Rocks are falling. C) There are loose rocks on the ground ahead. D) There are rocks everywhere. 4. What is sarcastic in the words of the boy in paragraph four? A) He didn39。t keep his 39。39。face in. B) Not every climber wears a helmet. C) It is very difficult not to look up during a rockfall. D) Being hit by a rock isn39。t pleasant at all. 5. In what sense was Toby safe? A) The overhanging rock would protect him from falling rocks. B) He felt a hand on his shoulder. C) His rucksack was protected. D) He had hidden under a canopy. 答案與題解： 1. C 本題的問題是：為什么說他們離開小屋的時間晚了？由第一段可以知道答案 ―It meant the day would be a hot one, and the warmth would loosen rocks that were gripped by ice. ‖可知巖石的狀況已經(jīng)不是很好了，故此題的正確答案為 C。 2. A 本題的問題是：登山者討厭斜坡的第一個原因是什么？由原文第二段可以直接得出答 案。 ―First, because it can easily be pushed off on to you by people climbing above. ‖ 3. B 本題的問題是： ―Cailloux‖這個詞的意思是什么？由第三段后半部分與第四段開頭可知 這個單詞是石頭滑落的意思。 ―it would pull towards me, like a drawer opening‖―There were just two rocks at first, leaping and bounding down the face towards us, once cannoning off each other in midair.‖ 4. D 本題的問題是：在第四段男孩話語中諷刺的是什么？由第四段 ―?Why? Because a rock in your face is far less pleasant than a rock on your helmet， ‘he told us. ?Face in, always face in.‘‖可知正確答案為 D。 5. A 本題的問題是： Toby 安全的標志是什么？由文中第五段 ―I looked across, he was safe beneath an overhanging canopy of rock. 可以得出答案。 第一篇 講述關于人們的故事 最普遍的非小說類文學作品類型之一就是一些描述人們生活的故事，并且很多人喜歡閱讀這 類作品。這些故事大致分為三類：自傳、回憶錄和傳記 o 自傳是作者記錄自己故事的文章。通常自傳會、以作者最早期的回憶開始并以對現(xiàn)在情況的總 結作為結束。自傳的作者也許不會完全客觀地介紹自己。然而，他們給讀者提供了一個途徑來了 解自己比較好的行事風格和為何成就這樣的 amp。己。就 像本杰明 ?富蘭克林和海倫 ?凱勒一樣，各 種各樣的人們已經(jīng)寫了自傳。其他的作者就像詹姆斯 ?喬伊斯一樣僅僅寫了關于自己生活的虛構 小說。這些不是自傳，但是它們和自傳非常相近。 嚴格意義上來講，回憶錄是既注重作者本身的生活經(jīng)歷，也注重其所處的時代所發(fā)生的事件 的自傳性的描述?；貞涗涀髡咄ǔ０堰@些事件作為他們生活的背景。他們詳細地描述這些事件并 論述這些事件的重要性。雖然近些年，回憶錄這個詞似乎開始變得可以和自傳互換，但是目前回 憶錄也許還沒有因外界評論而有所改變。 傳記事實上是記錄（作者以外 ).其他人的生活。在很 多方面，傳記也許是這三種非小說類文 學作品中最難寫的了。自傳作者知悉他們所寫的事件因為他們就生活在其中。但是傳記作者不得 不盡量從很多不同的渠道來收集信息。然后他們不得不決定包含哪種事實。他們的目標是用比較 全面的圖片來介紹一個人物，并不是過于蘿極也不是過于批判。一個公正并詳盡的傳記也許要花 費許多年來研究并進行書寫。 第八篇 變化中的中產(chǎn)階級 美國把自己看成是一個中產(chǎn)階級的國家。然而，中產(chǎn)階級既不是一個真實的稱號，也不會帶 來特別待遇。它更是一個觀念，一個也許在第二次世界大戰(zhàn)之后會變得更加正確的觀念。那 時， 美國經(jīng)濟不斷增長，越來越多的人擁有了自己的家庭，工人們和雇傭自己的公司簽訂了可靠的合 同，并且?guī)缀跛邢胧艿礁叩冉逃娜四軌蚪邮芙逃?。成功的人士享受這種上升的社會流動性。 他們也許之前很窮，但是