新概念英語第三冊第50課-New Year resolutions

新概念英語第三冊第50課:NewYearresolutionsLesson50NewYearresolutions新年的決心Listentothetapethenanswerthequestionbelow.聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。WhatmarkedtheendofthewritersNewYearresolutions?TheNewYearisatimeforresolutions.Mentally,atleast,mostofuscouldcompileformidablelistsofdosanddonts.Thesameoldfavoritesrecuryearinyearoutwithmonotonousregularity.Weresolvetogetupearliereachmorning,eatless,findmoretimetoplaywiththechildren,doathousandandonejobsaboutthehouse,benicetopeoplewedontlike,drivecarefully,andtakethedogforawalkeveryday.Pastexperiencehastaughtusthatcertainaccomplishmentsarebeyondattainment.Ifweremaininveteratesmokers,itisonlybecausewehavesooftenexperiencedthefrustrationthatresultsfromfailure.Mostofusfailinoureffortsatself-improvementbecauseourschemesaretooambitiousandweneverhavetimetocarrythemout.Wealsomakethefundamentalerrorofannouncingourresolutionstoeverybodysothatwelookevenmorefoolishwhenweslipbackintoourbadoldways.Awareofthesepitfalls,thisyearIattemptedtokeepmyresolutionstomyself.Ilimitedmyselftotwomodestambitions:todophysicalexerciseeverymorningandtoreadmoreofanevening.Anall-nightpartyonNewYearsEveprovidedmewithagoodexcusefornotcarryingouteitherofthesenewresolutionsonthefirstdayoftheyear,butonthesecond,Iappliedmyselfassiduouslytothetask.ThedailyexerciseslastedonlyelevenminutesandIproposedtodothemearlyinthemorningbeforeanyonehadgotup.Theself-disciplinerequiredtodragmyselfoutofbedelevenminutesearlierthanusualwasconsiderable.Nevertheless,Imanagedtocreepdownintothelivingroomfortwodaysbeforeanyonefoundmeout.Afterjumpingaboutonthecarpetandtwistingthehumanframeintouncomfortablepositions,Isatdownatthebreakfasttableinanexhaustedcondition.Itwasthisthatbetrayedme.Thenextmorningthewholefamilytroopedintowatchtheperformance.Thatwasreallyunsettling,butIfendedoffthetauntsandjibesofthefamilygood-humouredlyandsooneverybodygotusedtotheidea.However,myenthusiasmwaned.ThetimeIspentatexercisesgraduallydiminished.Littlebylittletheelevenminutesfelltozero.ByJanuary10th,IwasbacktowhereIhadstartedfrom.IarguedthatifIspentlesstimeexhaustingmyselfatexercisesinthemorning,IwouldkeepmymindfreshforreadingwhenIgothomeformworkResistingthehypnotizingeffectoftelevision,Isatinmyroomforafeweveningswithmyeyesgluedtobook.Onenight,however,feelingcoldandlonely,Iwentdownstairsandsatinfrontofthetelevisionpretendingtoread.Thatprovedtobemyundoing,forIsoongotbacktomyoldbadhabitofdozingoffinfrontofthescreen.Istillhaventgivenupmyresolutiontodomorereading.Infact,IhavejustboughtabookentitledHowtoReadaThousandWordsaMinute.Perhapsitwillsolvemyproblem,butIjusthaventhadtimetoreadit!參考譯文新年是下決心的時候，至少在大多數(shù)人的心里會編排出一份〃應(yīng)做什么〃和〃不應(yīng)做什么〃的令人生畏的單子。相同的決心以單調(diào)的規(guī)律年復(fù)一年地消失。我們決心每天早晨起得早些；吃得少些；多花點時間與孩子們一起做嬉戲；做大量的家務(wù)；對不喜愛的人友善一些；當(dāng)心駕車；每天都要帶著狗漫步；等等。以往的閱歷告知我們有些事是辦不到的。假如我們煙癮大，戒不掉，那是由于屢戒屢敗，失去信念。我們大多數(shù)人想自我完善卻遭到失敗,這是由于我們的規(guī)劃過于宏大,而又根本沒有時間去實施。我們還犯有一個根本性的錯誤，即把我們的決心向大家宣布。這樣一旦滑回到那些老習(xí)慣上去，我們在別人的眼里會顯得更加尷尬。我深知這些問題，于是，今年我對自己的方案要嚴加保密，只給自己定下兩項適中的任務(wù)；每天早上熬煉身體，每天晚上多看點書。新年除夕舉辦的一次通宵晚會，使我理直氣壯地在新年頭一天免去了這兩項任務(wù)。不過，新年其次天，我全力以赴地照著去做了。早熬煉一共只有11分鐘，我準備在別人起床之前進行。這就要求我比平常早11分鐘把自己從床上拽起來，這種自我約束是很艱苦的。不過開頭兩天我還是勝利地躡手躡腳地來到樓下起居室，被誰也沒發(fā)覺。我在地毯上跳來蹦過去，扭曲身子，擺出各種姿態(tài)，弄得渾身不舒適，然后坐到桌邊吃早飯，一副筋疲力盡的樣子。正是這副模樣泄露了我的隱秘。其次天早晨全家人結(jié)隊來到起居室看我表演。這真叫人不好意思，但我心平氣和地頂住全家人的稱贊和諷刺。不久，大家對我習(xí)以為常了，而這時我的熱忱卻減退了。我花在熬煉上的時間漸漸削減，漸漸地從11分鐘減到了零。到了1月10日，我恢復(fù)了原來的作息時間。我辯解說，早晨少耗費精力熬煉，晚上下班回家看書時頭腦更糊涂些。有幾天晚上，我極力擺脫了電視的誘惑，坐在自己的房間里，兩眼盯在書上?？墒?，有一天夜里，我感到又冷又孤獨，便來到樓下坐在電視機前假裝看書。這下我可完了，由于不一會兒，我就恢復(fù)了以前的壞習(xí)慣，在屏幕前打起瞌睡來。但我還沒有放棄多看些書的決心。事實上，我剛買來一本叫《一分鐘讀一千字的訣竅》的書。或許這本書能解決我的問題，但我始終還沒時間去看這本書！Newwordsandexpressions生詞和短語resolutionn.決心mentallyadv.內(nèi)心里compilev.編輯，編制formidableadj.令人畏懼的recurv.再發(fā)生，又消失regularityn.規(guī)律性accomplishmentn.成就attainmentn.達到inveterateadj.根深蒂固的self-improvementn.自我完善schemen.簡潔的方案，方案ambitiousadj.雄心勃勃的pitfailn.意外的困難，易犯的錯誤modestadj.要求不過分的assiduouslyadv.刻苦地self-disciplinen.自我約束framen.軀體betrayv.暴露，顯露troopv.成群結(jié)隊地走動unsettlev.使擔(dān)心tauntn.稱贊，諷刺人的話jiben.嘲弄，挖苦good-humouredlyadv.和氣地，心情好地wanev.漸漸變小，變?nèi)鮤ypnotizev.使欲睡，使蒙朧undoingn.禍根，毀滅的緣由screenn.電視機屏幕Notesonthetext課文解釋dosanddonts,要做的事和不要做的事。yearinyearout.年復(fù)一年；athousandandone,許很多多。beyondattainment,做不至U的，達不到的。carryout,實行，照辦，執(zhí)行。slipbackintoourhadoldways.滑回到些壞的老習(xí)慣