自考综合英语1-14

Lesson Fourteen Cipher in the Snow

Jean E. Mizer

一个母亲再嫁，与继父一起生活，没有家庭温暖的少年，在学校里成绩不好，沉默寡言，默默无闻，极少参加学校活动。在一个寒冷的早晨，上学的路上，他突然倒了下去，死于“心力衰竭”。一位老师进行了家访，阅读了他的全部档案之后，发出了愤怒的呼声：“是学校的‘教育’扼杀了他的信心，‘教育’对他的早逝有不可推卸的责任。这是为什么 ? ”

1 It started on a biting cold February morning. I was driving behind the Milford Corners bus as I did most snowy mornings on my way to school. It stopped short at a hotel, and I was annoyed, as I had to come to an unexpected stop. A boy staggered out of the bus, stumbled, and collapsed on the snowbank at the curb. The bus driver and I reached him at the same moment. His thin, hollow face was white even against the snow.

2 "He's dead," the driver whispered.

3 I glanced quickly at the scared young faces staring down at us from the school bus. "A doctor! Quick! "

4 "No use. I tell you he's dead." The driver looked down at the boy's still body. "He never even said he felt bad," he muttered, "just tapped me on the shoulder and said, quietly, I'm sorry. I have to get off at the hotel. That's all. Polite and apologizing. "

5 At school, the giggling morning noise quieted as the news went down the halls. I passed a group of girls. "Who was it? Who dropped dead on the way to school?" I heard one of them half-whisper.

6 " Don't know his name; some kid from Milford Corners " was the reply.

7 It was like that in the faculty room and the principal's office. "I'd appreciate your going out to tell the parents," the principal told me. "They haven't a phone and, anyway, somebody from school should go there in person. I'll cover your classes."

8 "Why me?" I asked. "Wouldn't it be better if you did it?"

9 "I didn't know the boy," the principal admitted. "And in last year's sophomore personalities column I note that you were listed as his favorite teacher."

10 I drove through the snow and cold down the bad road to the Evans place and thought about the boy, Cliff Evans. His favorite teacher! I could see him in my mind's eye all right, sitting back there in the last seat in my afternoon literature class. He came in the room by himself and left by himself. " Cliff Evans, " I muttered to myself, " a boy who never talked, a boy who never smiled. "

11 The big ranch kitchen was clean and warm. I blurted out the news somehow. Mrs. Evans reached blindly toward a chair. "He never said anything about being ill."

12 His stepfather said impatiently, "He has said nothing about anything since I moved in here."

13 Mrs. Evans pushed a pan to the back of the stove and began to untie her apron. " Now hold on, " her husband said angrily. " I've got to have breakfast before I go to town. Nothing we can do now anyway. If Cliff hadn't been so dumb, he'd have told us he didn't feel well. "

14 After school I sat in the office and stared at the records spread out before me. I was to close the file and write the obituary for the school paper. The almost bare sheets in the file mocked the effort. [0704:46] Cliff Evans, white, never legally adopted by stepfather, five young half

brothers and sisters. These bits of information and the list of D grades were all the records had to offer. [1004:34]

15 Cliff Evans had silently come in the school door in the mornings and gone out the school door in the evenings, and that was all. He had never belonged to a club. He had never played on a team. He had never held an office. As far as I could tell, he had never done one happy, noisy kid thing. He had never been anybody at all.

16 How do you go about making a boy into a zero? [0810:37] The grade school records showed me. The first and second grade teachers' notes read "sweet, shy child " ; " timid but eager. " Then the third grade note had opened the attack. Some teacher had written in a good, firm hand, "Cliff won't talk. Uncooperative. Slow learner." The other academic sheep had followed with "dull" ; "slow-witted" ; "low I. Q." They became correct. The boy's I.Q. score in the ninth grade was listed at 83. But his I.Q. in the third grade had been 106. The score didn't go under 100 until the seventh grade. Even shy, timid, sweet children have resilience. [0607:42] It takes time to break them.

17 I went angrily to the typewriter and wrote a savage report pointing out what education had done to Cliff Evans. I slapped a copy on the principal's desk and another in the sad file. I banged the typewriter and slammed the file and crashed the door shut, but didn't feel much better.

A little boy kept walking after me, a little boy with a thin, pale face; a skinny body in faded jeans; and big eyes that had looked and searched for a long time and then had become veiled.

18 I could guess how many times he'd been chosen last to play sides in a game, how many whispered child conversations had excluded him, how many times he hadn't been asked. I could see and hear the faces and voices that said over and over, "You're dumb. You're nothing, Cliff Evans."

19 A child is a believing creature. Cliff undoubtedly believed them. [1201:39; 1007:38; 1001:32; 0510:45] Suddenly it seemed clear to me: When finally there was nothing left at all for Cliff Evans, he collapsed on a snowbank and went away. The doctor might list "heart failure" as the cause of death, but that wouldn't change my mind.

20 We couldn't find ten students in the school who had known Cliff well enough to attend the funeral as his friends. So the student-body officers and a committee from the junior class went as a group to the church, being politely sad. I attended the service with them and sat through it with a lump of cold lead in my chest and a big resolution growing through me. [1007:31; 1001:36; 0907:36; 0607:49]

21 I've never forgotten Cliff Evans nor that resolution.

22 He has been my challenge year after year, class after class. I look up and down the rows carefully each September at the new faces. I look for veiled eyes or bodies scrounged into a seat in an unfamiliar world. "Look, kids," I say silently, "I may not do anything else for you this year, but not one of you is going to come out of here a nobody. I'll work or fight to the bitter end doing battle with society and the school board, but I won't have one of you coming out of here thinking himself into a zero."

23 Most of the time — not always, but most of the time — I've succeeded.

Lesson 14 雪地上的零

1 事情发生在二月的一个寒冷刺骨的早晨。我当时正开车跟在密尔福德区校车的后面。大多数下雪的早晨，我都是这样去学校上班。校车在议价饭店门前突然停了下来。我优点恼怒，因为我不得不紧急刹车。一个男孩摇摇晃晃地下了车，跌跌撞撞地倒在马路边的雪堆上。校车司机和我同时向他跑去。即使在白雪的映照下，他那瘦削凹陷的脸庞也显得十分苍白。

2 “他已经死了。”司机低声说。

3 我迅速扫了一眼校车行紧盯着我们的一张张年轻的、惊恐的脸，说到：“快！叫医生！”

4 “没用了，我肯定他已经死了。”司机低头看着男孩一动不动的身体。“他甚至根本没说感觉不舒服，”他低声说，“他只是轻轻拍了拍我的肩膀轻声说，‘对不起，我得在饭店下车。’只说了这些，非常有礼貌，还显得很抱歉的样子。”

5 当消息传遍学校的各个楼道时，早晨叽叽喳喳的欢笑声消失了。我经过几个女生身旁时听到她们中的一个低声问：“那人是谁？谁在上学的路上突然死了？”

6 “不知道他叫什么名字；是住在密尔福德区的一个男孩。”另一个答道。 7 在教师休息室和校长办公室情况也是如此。“希望你能跑一躺，去通知一下他的家长。”校长对我说，“我们家没有电话，而且无论如何学校方面应该有人亲自去一下。我会替你代课。”

8 “为什么让我去？”我问道，“您去不是更合适吗？”

9 “我不认识这个男孩子，”校长承认说，“而且我注意到在去年校刊高二学生栏目中你被他列为最喜爱的老师。”

10 我在寒冷中驾车行驶在通往埃文斯街的糟糕的路面上，心里想着那个男孩，克里夫.埃文斯。我是他最喜欢的老师！不错，我还能记得他，在我下午的文学课上，他总是远远地坐在教室最后面的座位上。他总是独自一人来上课，下课时又独自一人离开。“克里夫.埃文斯，”我自言自语道，“一个从不讲话，从没笑过的男孩子。”

11 那宽敞的牧场厨房干净、暖和。我几乎是直截了当地把消息告诉了他们。埃文斯太太茫然地伸手去拉一把椅子：“他从来没说过自己有病。”

12 他的继父不耐烦地说：“自从我搬来后，他什么事也没说过。”

13 埃文斯太太把平底锅推到炉灶后面，开始解围裙。“喂，等等，”她丈夫生气地说，“我进城之前必须要吃早餐。不管怎么说，我们现在是无能为力了。如果克里夫不总是那么一言不发，他早该告诉我们他感到不舒服。”

14 放学后，我坐在办公室里凝视着摊在眼前的档案记录。我的任务是最后完成他的档案并给校刊写个卟告。档案里几乎空白的记录让我感到为难：克里夫.埃文斯，白人，非法被继父领养，有五个同母异父的兄弟姐妹。他的档案所能提供的仅仅是这些情况和一连串的“D”成绩。

15 克里夫.埃文斯每天清晨悄悄地走进学校校门，傍晚又悄悄地离开学校，关于他再没有别的好写的。他从来没参加过任何俱乐部，也没在任何球队里打过球，也从没在班上或学校担任过任何职务。据我所知，他从没有做过一件那些快乐的、吵闹的孩子们做的事情。他从没有引起过任何人的注意。

16 怎么会把一个孩子弄得这样一事无成？他小学的成绩告诉了我答案。一、二年级的老师们的评语这样写道：“可爱的，害羞的孩子”；“胆小但是好学。”三年级的评语开始了对他的攻击。某位老师用漂亮的、有力的笔体写道：“可里夫不愿开口，不合作，脑子慢。”随后的那些学术绵羊们的评语也都相继效仿：“迟

钝”；“反应慢”；“智商低”。这些结论最后被人们接受了。这个男孩子到九年级时的智商是83分，但他在三年级时智商曾经是106分，直到七年级时才降到100分以下。即使是害羞、胆小、温顺的孩子也是有韧性的，他们不是一天就能被击垮的。

17 我愤怒地走向打字机，写了一篇措辞严厉的报告，尖锐地指出学校的教育给克里夫.埃文斯造成了怎样的影响。我把一份报告用力丢到校长的办公桌上，将另一份塞进那令人辛酸的档案中。我用力拍打打字机，啪地一声合上档案，重重地关上屋门，但心情并没有好转多少。我感到一个小男孩一直跟在我身后，一个脸颊消瘦、面色苍白的小男孩，他骨瘦如柴的身躯穿着褪了色的牛仔裤，他那大大的眼睛曾经期待地张望、寻找了很长时间，最后渐渐变的黯然无神。

18 我能想象有多少次他都是最后一个被选中参加比赛，有多少次孩子们低声交头接耳把他排除在外，又有多少次甚至没有人问他是否愿意参加某项活动。我可以看见那一张张的脸，可以听见那些声音在没完没了地说：“可里夫.埃文斯，你真笨，你一事无成。”

19 一个孩子是相信别人的。毫无疑问，克里夫相信了他们的话。突然间我明白了一切：当克里夫.埃文斯最终觉得自己已一无所有时，他倒在雪堆上，离开了这世界。医生可能会诊断他的死因是“心力衰竭”，但那并不会改变我的想法。

20 在学校里我找不出10个与可里夫有一定的交情而可以以朋友的身份参加他葬礼的学生，所以学生团体的干部和低年级学生以集体的身份去教堂参加了葬礼。处于礼貌，他们才表现出有些悲哀。我与他们一起出席了葬礼，自始至终我感觉似乎有一颗冰冷的铅球压在心头，同时脑子里酝酿着一个重大的决定。

21 年复一年，教了一个班又一个班，埃文斯始终在鞭策着我。每年9月我都会仔细查看一排排座位上的崭新的面孔。我寻找着是否有呆滞的目光，是否有人在这陌生的环境里使劲缩进自己的座位里。“孩子们，”我暗自对自己说，“今年，我也许不为你们做其他的事，但是我决不允许你们其中的任何一个一事无成地走出这教室。我会竭尽全力地工作，也许要斗争到底，和社会斗，和学校领导斗，但我决不让你们中的任何一个人从这个班里走出去的时候认为自己一无所长。”

23 大多数的时候——并不是所有的时候，但是大多数的时候——我是成功的。

往年考过的真题 I. Paraphrase

1. I was to close the file and write the obituary for the school. The almost bare sheets in the file

mocked the effort. [0704:46] (1-14:464)

A. I felt that my efforts were laughed at.

B. I find it a tough job to write the obituary.

C. The sheets were full of unfavorable remarks. D. There was hardly anything important to write about.

2. These bits of information and the list of D grades were all the records had to offer. [1004:34]

(1-14:464)

A. These bits of information explained his poor grades.

B. His poor grades were related to these bits of information.

C. What could be found in the records were those things required to be there.

D. The records gave nothing more than these bits of information and poor grades.

3. How do you go about making a boy into a zero? [0810:37] (1-14:464)

A. How can people possibly turn a boy into nobody?

B. How do you feel about 1eaving a boy in poverty? C. What about saving a boy from his failure?

D. What can you do to help a boy start from scratch?

4. Even shy, timid, sweet children have resilience. [0607:42] (1-14:464)

A. Even shy, timid, sweet children are able to recover quickly from damaging events.

B. Even shy, timid, sweet children have resilient skin. C. Even shy, timid, sweet children will pay back in kind.

D. Even shy, timid, sweet children have their happy time.

5. Child is a believing creature. Cliff undoubtedly believed them. [1201:39](1-14:39)

A. A child always wants adults to believe him.

B. A child readily accepts what adults say.

C. A child never rejects what adults tell him to do.

D. A child never thinks that adults can be right.

6．Child is a believing creature. Cliff undoubtedly believed them．[1007:38](1-14:465)

A．A child always wants adults to believe him．

B．A child readily accepts what adults say．

C．A child never rejects what adults tell him to do．

D．A child never thinks that adults can be right．

8．A child is a believing creature. Cliff undoubtedly believed them. [0510:45] (1-14:465)

A．A child always wants adults to believe him.

B．A child readily accepts what adults say.

C．A child never rejects what adults tell him to do.

D．A child never thinks that adults can be right

7. A child is a believing creature. [1001:32] (1-14:465)

A. Children want others to believe them.

B. Children should be believe d. C. Children will believe what adults say.

D. Children accept what adults say about them.

9．I attended the funeral with them and sat through it with a lump of cold lead in my chest and a big resolution growing through me．[1007:31] (1-14:465)

A. Throughout the funeral, I was filled with sadness.

B. The sad atmosphere of the funeral almost choked me. C. At the funeral I felt as cold as lead from beginning to end.

D. All the time I sat at the funeral with a heart as heavy as lead.

10. I attended the funeral with them and sat through it with a lump of cold lead in my chest and a

big resolution growing through me. [1001:36] (1-14:465)

A. Throughout the funeral, I was filled with sadness.

B. The sad atmosphere of the funeral almost choked me.

C. At the funeral I felt as cold as lead from beginning to end.

D. All the time I sat at the funeral with a heart as heavy as lead.

11. I attended the funeral with them and sat through it with a lump of cold lead in my chest.

[0907:36] (1-14:465)

A. Throughout the funeral, I was filled with sadness.

B. The sad atmosphere of the funeral almost choked me.

C. At the funeral I felt as cold as lead from beginning to end. D. All the time I sat at the funeral with a heart as heavy as lead.

12. I attended the service with them and sat through it with a lump of cold lead in my chest and a

big resolution growing through me. [0607:49] (1-14:465)

A. I joined the armed forces.

B. I entered the government department

C. I took up the duties of a servant.

D. I showed up in the burial ceremonies.

II. Writing

2004年10月：Cipher in the Snow （1-14）

Topic: How Cliff Evans Became a Zero?

The text you should base your composition on is “Cipher in the Snow”.

Use the following outline as a guide.

1. His family and his treatment at home

2. His life at school

3. Conclusion

Cliff Evans lived with his mother, stepfather and five younger half-brothers and half-sisters. His step-father never liked the boy. At home Cliff Evans didn t talk much and had never told his family about his problems.

When he first began school, he was timid but eager to learn. And his I. Q. was pretty good. Then in his third year a teacher wrote in the school record that he was “uncooperative and slow”. After that, he received no encouragement at all from his teachers. Gradually, the child had no more confidence left. He never smiled or talked much. He had no friends; he never belonged to a club, never played on a team and never held an office. He came to school alone and left school all by himself. In class, he would sit back in the last seat. Finally he became silent and lonely. He became a zero. (147 words)

2008年4月: Cipher in the Snow (1-14)

Topic: How did Cliff Evans death affect Jean E. Mizer, one of his teachers and the writers of “Cipher in the Snow”?

The following points should be covered.

1) What she was asked to do after Cliff Evans death?

2) What she found about Cliff Evans?

3) What resolution she made?

2011年10月:

Topic: What did the author, one of the teachers of Cliff Evans, find in the boy s death? Use the following points as an outline:

1) the bad effect of the family background on the boy s character

2) the awkward position the boy had in school

3) the real cause of the boy s death

Cliff Evan lived with his mother, stepfather and five younger half brothers and sisters. Not legally adopted, not to mention being loved, by his stepfather, Cliff could not get protection from his weak mother either. He was a lonely and unhappy boy and never told his family about his problems. In school, few people had taken notice of this shy boy, and he came to school and left school by himself, completely excluded from all activities. The poor comments from his teachers gradually turned this each learner into a nobody. He believed he was of no importance and there was nothing to live for. What Cliff got from his family and school, including his teachers attitude, made what he was. Bad education was actually the killer of the boy, for it robbed him of his confidence. Cliff Evans tragedy should not be allowed to happen to any other students. (149 words)

III. Translation

无

课后练习答案 3. Paraphrase

1. There was hardly anything important to write about.

2. The records gave nothing more than these bits of information and poor grades.

3. How can people possibly turn a boy into nobody?

4. Even shy timid, sweet children are able to recover quickly from damaging events.

5. I look for those shy students who hid themselves in a back seat.

词汇练习

1. （p.487）

1) inequality; 2) incorrect 3) impolite 4) informal 5) improper 6) incompetence

2. Translate the following into English.

1)

改变主意 to change one s mind

参加葬礼 to attend the funeral

喃喃自语 to mutter to oneself

自言自语 to talk to oneself

认养孩子 to adopt a child

发起进攻 to launch an attack

刺骨寒风 biting wind

倒毙在地 to drop dead

砰然关门 to crash the door shut

干瘦的身躯 skinny body

褪色牛仔裤 faded jeans

智商与情商 I.Q. and E.Q.

2) use the “useful expressions”

1 音乐突然停止，播音员几乎是叫了起来：“警报！注意隐蔽！”The music stopped short, and the announcer almost shouted: “Alert! Take cover !”

2 火车突然刹车，杯子和盘子都滚落在地上。The train come to a sudden stop, and all glasses and plates dropped to the floor.

3 身为主任，他的任务是组织实验室的工作，他很少亲自做实验。As a chief, his task is to organize the work in the lab. He seldom does experiment in person.

4 许多年以后，他仍能回想起飞机失事时的惨景。Many years later, he could still see the terrible scene of the air crash in his mind s eye.

5 我当小学徒时，压力大，工作很辛苦，但我从不把这些告诉父母。When I was a young apprentice, I worked very hard and under great strain, but I said nothing about it to my parents.

6 搬进新办公楼那天，我们搞了一次庆祝活动。The day when we moved in the new office building we had a celebration.

7 晚饭后克里夫把书本摊在面前开始复习功课。After supper, Cliff spread out his books before him to start reviewing his lessons.

8 就我所知，彼得的父亲在遗嘱中给彼得留下了至少2.5万英镑。As far as I know, Peter s father left Peter at least 250,000 in his will.

9 鲍勃发现几则广告很怪，他就在报纸档案堆进行调查。Bob found several advertisements very strange and went about investigating in the newspaper files.

10 医生指出，此种药物对婴儿有害。Doctors point out that medicine of this type is harmful to babies.

3） use drive, forget and drop.

1 我忘了带我的字典了。我能用一下你的吗？I forgot to bring my dictionary. May I use yours?

2 电话突然响了，他吓了一跳，书也掉到地上。The telephone suddenly rang. He was frightened and dropped the book on the floor.

3 不要老是想你和班上其他同学的肤色不一样，就记住你和他们一样的聪明。Forget that you are different in complexion from the other students in your class. Just remember you are as clever as them.

4 对金钱和权利的欲望使相当一些人走上犯罪的道路。The lust for money and power drives quite a number of people to commit crimes.

5 一再的失败使他几乎丧失了理智。Repeated failures have driven him out of his mind.

6 我永远不会忘记我们在大学度过的那些愉快的日子。I will never forget those happy days we spent together at college.

7 这个国家的人口出生率已经降至0.3%。the birthrate in this country has dropped to 0.3 percent.

8 如果他不开车送我去车站的话，我昨晚就赶不上火车了。If he didn t drive me the station, I would not have been able to catch the train last night.

9 很抱歉，我忘了这些学生是穆斯林。I m sorry I forgot these students are Muslims.

10 他们听到有人走过来，就压低了嗓子。When they heard someone approaching, they dropped their voice.

3. Complete the following sentences:

1) (1) off; at (2) for (3) in (4) to (5) in

(6) as; on (7) as; out (8) to (9) on (10) at; with

(11) in / by / around / over (12) out (13) at

2) (1) staring/ glaring (2) principles (3) relationship (4) places/seats (5) countries

stare: If you stare at someone or something, you look at them for a long time. 盯着看;

凝视

glare: If you glare at someone, you look at them with an angry expression on your face.

怒目而视

principal: The principal of a school is the person in charge of the school or college. 校长 principle: A principle is a general belief about the way you should behave, which

influences your behavior. 原则

relation: Relations between people, groups, or countries are contacts between them and

the way in which they behave toward each other. 关系

relationship: The relationship between two people or groups is the way in which they feel

and behave toward each other. 关系

place: A place is any point, building, area, town, or country. (任何) 地方

seat: A seat is an object that you can sit on, for example, a chair. 座位

country: A country is one of the political units which the world is divided into, covering a

particular area of land. 国家

state: You can refer to countries as states, particularly when you are discussing politics.

(政治上所指的) 国家

4. Choose the best word for each blank.

1) as 2) scarce 3) unless 4) delightful 5) simply 6) person / private

7) show 8) measuring 9) exactly 10) quickly 11) possible 12) with

语法练习答案

1. complete these sentence with proper word(s).

1) as if 2) like 3) of 4) like 5) as if

6) such 7) alike 8) as if 9) (a slip) of (girl)弱女子 10) same

3. Translate the following into English, using words in brackets.

1 你跟我想象的完全一样。(like) You are like what I imagined.

2 这个地区的建筑都一个样，没有什么特色。(alike) All buildings in this region are alike without any distinguishing features.

3 我昨天过的糟糕透了，把什么事都搞的乱糟糟的。(a hell of a time) I had a hell of a time yesterday, making everything into a mess.

4 这块肉放了好长时间了，好象坏了。(as if) This piece of meat has been kept for a long time, as if it has gone bad.

5 出什么事了，你今天对项目的态度跟昨天完全不一样。(the same as) What s wrong? Your attitude to the project today are not at all the same as yesterday.

6 出门旅行不要带太多东西，带上那些你必须带的东西就行了。(such … as) Don t carry too many things with you when you go traveling. Just take such things as you need.

7 他那种人是很危险的。(such … as) Such people as him are dangerous.

8 跟他说话就象是对牛弹琴。(like) Talking to him is like player the lute to a cow. 4.

1) know 2) came 3) were found 4) were found

5) has been found 6) produces 7) to cut 8) called

9) have been developed 10) cut 13) edged 14) revolves 11) arranged 15) have been 12) are fixed

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