英语四级听力美文原文
阅读经典美文可以丰富学生的知识,巩固学习成果;可以提高学生的阅读能力和写作能力;可以学生的审美能力和陶冶情操。下面是小编带来的英语四级听力美文原文，欢迎阅读!
英语四级听力美文原文篇一
The English Humour 英国人的幽默
Fun seems to be the possession of the English race.Fun is JohnBulll's idea of humour，and there is no intellectualjudgment in fun.Everybody understands it be-cause it is practical.More than that，it unites allclasses and sweetens even political life.To studythe elemental form of English humour，you must look to the school-boy.It begins with the practical joke，and unless there is something of his natureabout it，it is never humour to an Englishman.Inan English household，fun is going all the time.The entire house resounds witn it.The father comes home and the whole family contribute to theamusement;puns，humorous uses of words，little things that are meaningless nonsense，if you like，fly round，and every one enjoys them thoroughly for just what they are.The Scotch are devoid ofthis trait，and the Americans seem to be，too.
If I had the power to give humour to the na-tions I would not give them drollery，for that isimpractical;I would not give them wit，for that isaristocratic，and many minds cannot grasp it;but Iwould be contented to deal out fun，which has nointellectual element，no subtlety，belongs to oldand young，educated and uneducated alike，and isthe natural form of the humour of the Englishman.
Let me tell you why the Englishman speaksonly one language.He believes with the strongest conviction that his own tongue is the one that allpeople ought to speak and will come in time tospeak，so what is the use of learning any other?Hebelieves，too，that he is appointed by Providenceto be a governor of all the rest of the human race.From our Scottish standpoint we can never see anEnglishman without thinking that there is oozing from every pore of his body the conviction that he belongs to a governing race.It has not been his de-sire that large portions of the world should be un-der his care，but as they have been thrust uponhim in the proceedings of a wise Providence，hemust discharge his duty.This theory hasn't en-deared him to others of his kind，but that isn't amatter that concerns him.He doesn't learn anyother language because he knows that he couldspeak it only so imperfectly that other people would laugh at him，and it would never do that aperson of his importance in the scheme of the uni-verse should be made the object of ridicule.
英语四级听力美文原文篇二
The English and the Americans 英国人和美国人
The contrasting English and American patterns have some remarkable implications, particularly if we assume that man, like other animals, has a built-in need to shut himself off from others from time to time. An English student in one of my seminars typified what happens when hidden patterns clash. He was quite obviously experiencing strain in his relationships with Americans. Nothing seemed to go right and it was quite clear from his remarks that we did not know how to behave. An analysis of his complaints showed that a major source of irritation was that no American seemed to be able to pick up the subtle clues that there were times when he didn’t want his thoughts intruded on. As he started it, “I’m walking around the apartment and it seems that whenever I want to be alone my roommate starts talking to me. Pretty soon he’s asking ‘What’s the matter?’ and wants to know if I’m angry. By then I am angry and say something.”
It took some time but finally we were able to identify most of the contrasting features of the American and Britain problems that were in conflict in this case. When the American wants to be alone he goes into a room and shuts the door---he depends on architectural features for screening. For an American to refuse to talk to someone else present in the same room, to give them the “silent treatment,” is the ultimate form of rejection and a sure sign of great displeasure. The English, on the other hand, lacking rooms of their own since childhood, never developed the practice of using space as a refuge from others. They have in effect internalized a set of barriers, which they erect and which others are supposed to recognize. Therefore, the more the Englishman shuts himself off when he is with an American the more likely the American is to break in to assure himself that all is well. Tension lasts until the two get to know each other. The important point is that the spatial and architectural needs of each are not the same at all.
英语四级听力美文原文篇三
The lowest animal
By Mark Twain
Man is the only animal that robs his helpless fellow of his country-takes possession of it and drives him out of it or destroys him. Man has done this in all the ages. There is not an acre of ground on the globe that is in possession of its rightful owner, or that has not been taken away from owner after owner, cycle after cycle, by force and bloodshed.
Man is the only Slave. And he is the only animal who enslaves. He has always been a slave in one form or another, and has always held other slaves in bondage under him in one way or another. In our day he is always some man's slave for wages, and does the man's work; and this slave has other slaves under him for minor wages, and they do his work. The higher animals are the only ones who exclusively do their own work and provide their own living.
Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, and keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other people's countries, and keep them from grabbing slices of his. And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man"-with his mouth.
Man is the Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion-several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself, and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven. He was at it in the time of Caesars, he was at it in Mahomet's time, he was at it in the time of the Inquisition, he was at it in France a couple of centuries, he was at it in England in Mary's day, he has been at it ever since he first saw the light, he is at it today in Crete-as per the telegrams quoted above*-he will be at it somewhere else tomorrow. The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out, in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste.
Man is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute. Indeed, my experiments have proven to me that he is the Unreasoning Animal. Note his history, as sketched above. It seems plain to me that whatever he is he is not a reasoning animal. His record is the fantastic record of a maniac. I consider that the strongest count against his intelligence is the fact that with that record back of him he blandly sets himself up as the head animal of the lot: whereas by his own standards he is the bottom one.
In truth, man is incurably foolish. Simple things which the other animals easily learn, he is incapable of learning. Among my experiments was this. In an hour I taught a cat and a dog to be friends. I put them in a cage. In another hour I taught them to be friends with a rabbit. In the course of two days I was able to add a fox, a goose, a squirrel and some doves. Finally a monkey. They lived together in peace; even affectionately.
最低等的动物
马克吐温
人是掠夺孤弱同类的家园的唯一动物。他把它据为己有，把他的同类赶走或消灭掉。人在各个时代都是这样干的。地球上没有一亩土地未曾通过武力和流血周而复始地从一个又一个主人手里夺走。
人是唯一的奴隶。他又是唯一的奴役他同类的动物。他永远是这种或那种形式的奴隶，总是用这种或那种形式把其他奴隶置于自己的控制之下。在我们这个时代里他 为了拿工资而充当别人的奴隶，替那个人干活;这个奴隶的手下又有其他奴隶，他们为了更少的工资替他干活。高等动物毫无例外地为自己干活，靠自己谋生。
人是唯一的爱国者。他使自己在本国超群出众，打出自己的旗号，讪笑其他的民族，他出重金豢养众多穿制服的杀手去攫取其他国家一片又一片领土，并阻止别人攫取他的领土。在战役的间歇他洗掉双手的血迹，为“四海之内皆兄弟也”的理想奉献力量——用他的嘴巴。
人是信宗教的动物。他是唯一信教的动物。他是唯一有“真正宗教”(有好几种)的动物。他是爱邻如己的唯一动物。如果邻人的宗教不对头，那就割断那邻人的喉 咙。他把地球变成一片墓地，最忠诚的为他的弟兄铺平通向幸福和天国的道路。他在恺撒时代这样干，他在穆罕默德时代这样干，他在宗教审判时代这样干，他在法 国这样干了两个世纪，他在英国玛丽女王(6)时代这样干，自从他第一次见到光以来他一直这样干，他现在在克里特岛上这样干——根据上面所引的电文(7)， 他明天将在其他地方这样干。高等动物没有宗教。我们听说在“来世”要把它们去除掉。我不懂这是为什么?这种鉴别能力是很成问题的。
人是“理性的动物”。这是他自许的。我认为值得争议。我的实验确实向我证明他是“非理性的动物”。请注意上面简述的他的历史。不管他是什么，他不是理性的 动物。我感到这一点是很清楚的。他的历史是一个疯子的狂乱历史。我认为对他的理智最强有力的反证就是：尽管他的背后有那样一部历史，他还厚颜无耻地自封为 万物之首，但按照他自己规定的标准来衡量，他是最底层的动物。
事实上人的愚蠢已经到了不可救药的地步。其他动物很容易学会的东西，他就是学不会。我的实验中就有这一项。我在一个小时之内教会一只猫和一只狗做朋友。我 把它们放进一个笼子。另一个小时之内我教会它们和一个兔子做朋友。在两天内我还能加上一只狐狸、一只鹅、一只松鼠，和几只鸽子。最后还有一个猴子。它们住 在一起相安无事，甚至相亲相爱。