Unit 9 Meaning of Culture

文化的意义

人类不仅拥有文字，通过长期积累，人类还形成了丰富多彩的文化。而动物没有语言，其知识局限于本能或直接观察现实所学到的东西......

Man differs from animal species in many ways. Biologically the difference is minor but in mind there are many differences. Man lives in the world of ideas, and acts and reacts in terms of concepts about objects and organizations. The animals live only in the present, they are not possessed of language, and their knowledge is limited to instinct or what they learn by direct and present observations. Their learning does not accumulate except for what they can presently use. Man on the other hand can simultaneously look into the past, present and future. He possesses the capacity to talk, to respond, to represent, to accumulate knowledge and to learn from the stimulusresponserelationships(刺激反应关系). These peculiar elements in the make-up of man provide a long history and tradition of wisdom, accumulated in various forms of civilization from which culture grows and continues flowing. The fundamentals of culture developed by past generations serve as the foundation stone to the next generation. The new generation further adds to the past accumulation of civilization and culture and enables man to continuallyassimilate in the stream of culture. Thus man continues to live as a civilized and cultured member of society.

Scientific inventions and discoveries greatly influence cultural variability(变化性，易变性). They affect tradition, customs, beliefs and faiths. They not only affect the present and future ideology(意识形态) of society but also practically bring about changes in artistic products and cultural environment. They quite often undermine the spiritual aspect of cultural life and provide material patterns. Inventions and discoveries bring about changes in the mode of production, art, morals, customs, laws, literature, etc. the changing mode of production affects the culture. Karl Marx held that the culture of capitalist countries differed from that of socialist countries because of the differences in the modes of production.

What does culture do? The first function of culture is to make man a human being. It is culture that regulates his conduct and prepares him for group life. It teaches him the art of living as per the cultural traits of the group. He takes the food, wears the clothes, goes to school, speaks the language and does so many other little things of day-to-day life which are a part of the conventional norms, mores(风俗), laws, customs and morals of the group. The culture of a group plays a major part in the heightening human qualities of its individuals and save them from avoiding participation in the cultural stream.

The culture of the group must give to its individual the capacity to lead a social life as an effective member of society. With the induction of the individual as an effective participant in the social life of the group, one can greatly gain by the utilization of energy of the individual in different constructive activities, which not only provides satisfaction on to the individual but also benefits the group.

The second important role of culture is to keep social relationshipintact so that the group as a whole can maintain and develop the values and ideals of the group through the regulation of behaviors of its members and by satisfying their primary needs and objectives in respect of the necessities and luxuries of life. People learn to behave socially in a group because their behavior is subject to approval or disapproval.

The culture of a group provides a number of controls on the irrational conducts for its members. It organizes many cultural aids like schooling, provision of work, outlet to talent, etc. these outlets go to provide rationality and responsibility to the members and integrate them mentally, morally and sentimentally in the group. A culturally advanced group is also capable of providing a coordinated set-up to take the best out of each member and in return give the necessary comfort for personal development, recreation and emotional living. It must also provide other facilities for broadening the vision of the individual members so as to provide necessary motivations for creation in different fields of social activity including production of pieces of art, handicrafts and scientific implements and equipments which the group may need for the satisfaction of its different cultural and material requirements.

The next important function of culture is to instantly provide new interpretation to different situations arising from the traditional cultural elements transmitted to the group. Provision of interpretation to traditional culture helps the reorientation (重新定位)of present and future cultural trends, putting them on the right track. For instance, in the modern era it is the duty of the school and other institution of a group to tell its members that if a cat crosses his way he needs not consider it unfortunate and give up the new projects, which is needed in the modern norms of society.

However, these interpretations based on tradition may differ from culture to culture. Among some cultures the owl may still be regarded as a symbol of bad luck while in others it may be symbol of wisdom.

The principle of cultural diffusion has been advocated by three German scholars. Cultural diffusion is the process by which the cultural trades of one group of society are spread directly or indirectly" title="a.间接地；迂回地">indirectly to other societies. It is historically established that some societies have served as centers of cultural unification. After the birth of Christ was born a cultural center, from where many cultural trades in the field of art and political organization got diffused to the northwestern Europe and to the east up to India. Subsequently Rome(罗马)became a great cultural center from where Roman law spread in most countries of Europe. In ancient time India was the cultural center from where many cultural trade spread eastward up to Indonesia(印度尼西亚) and passed through the fourteenth century. European culture became the dominant element in Asia and Africa and even America. At present the United States and Russia are exporting their respective cultures to different countries.

Several factors influence the diffusion of culture. The foremost is the capacity of the cultural center to inspire other countries to import the culture. The most important vehicle of cultural diffusion is mass communication, tourism, and exchange of educational and cultural delegations and teams, literature, films, etc. Obstruction to cultural diffusion may sometimes arise from the refusal of a group to borrow or import from the other group. Such a group tends to become an island of local culture untouched by the culturally developed countries. Sometimes a cultural island may exist within a larger cultural island. For example, in India the caste(印度的世袭等级)system that has separated Brahmins(印度的婆罗门阶级)from the other social groups for many generations on supposed biologicalsuperiority may reject a foreign cultural form, as they fear its impact on the prevailing moral norms and social values. It is for this reason that cultural centers of new values find it more expeditious to invade foreign cultures through such means as the mass media. This process, although indirect and slow, has in due course a lastingimpact as it appeals to the coming generations of the foreign countries which are still not fully socialized to the local cultures. For example, the young age groups in India were subjected to cultural influence of the Beatles(披头士乐队，甲壳虫乐队) for quite a long time.

Unit 10 Two Strangers

两个陌生人

有一种真情，直到老了才能体会：有一种眷恋，想来平凡但又真切。谁说陌生人眼里只有陌生？只要用心体会，人与人的沟通就会更加顺畅......

Not that I would have cared. No, it is not the reason why I stopped. He gave a faint sigh, like the sigh of one who has a thousand stories to tell but only a moment left in one's life.

In fact it was the sound of a piece of metal hitting the pavement that made me turn around. I had already passed the man, walking promptly as I always do. I had all the time in the world that evening, and I had nowhere to go--I just took a walk along the street.

But as I tried to draw out my keys from the pocket of my brown leather jacket, a small coin fell on the ground making that clinking(叮当响的) noise. Why would I pull out the keys from the pocket here, on the street, kilometers away from any door which the keys could open? It was the sense of security: wishing to be sure that everything is completely in my control.

Yes, I had heard the sound right: there was a ten-cent coin lying on the ground beside an old man, a stranger to me, and seemingly(看来) a stranger to all the people who passed him on the pavement that afternoon. It was spring then; the first warm and sunny evenings of the year were at hand. The day was all too beautiful to be wasted in talking to a complete stranger, who was not even handsome or beautiful or good-looking, and listening to the obscure groans he uttered. Why should I care what he was trying to say, what kind of a burden he might have on his heart?

But I did pick up the coin from the ground, and put it into the pocket of my fashionable leather jacket. "Fashionable", that's what they said in the advertisements of the clothing company. Latest designs, latest cuts, best colors.

I was better off(富裕的) than the old man, who was sitting on the bench with a newspaper in his hands, murmuring something at me. I guess my income had to be twice more than what he had.And I looked more stylish--younger, healthier, more joyous(高兴的).

The man grabbed the sleeve of my jacket and drew me closer to himself. It was surprising--such sudden demand of personal contact and intimacy which two strangers passing each other on the street did not often develop between themselves. I was curious to know what could come out of such an exceptional situation, I... I forgot to draw myself back, to forcefully free myself of the grip of the man and rush away.

The old man put his newspaper in my hand and said, "Please read it for me. " I am not so sure what the exact words were which he uttered from his mouth, but I understood what his meaning to be. The man was not blind; he could see both me and all the people who were walking on the street. But perhaps his sight was too weak for reading the small print of the newspaper.

I looked at the front page; it was dated four days ago. I was disappointed. I didn't want to waste a nice day in reading news that were no news any more. Wasn't it like throwing one's coins away when one could as well buy candies with them, or sitting beside a stranger when one could as well walk free and alone on the street, hurrying somewhere?

"Read the classified advertisements", said the old man, whom I scarcely knew at all, but who had courageously(勇敢地) grabbed my sleeve without permission, demanding me to pay attention to him.

I opened the requested page. What then? Should I read all the ads:cats for sale, lost dogs wanted, motor vehicles rented, repaired, washed, and painted?

"Go to the miscellaneous(综合的，混杂的) section," the man pleaded.

Those ads were not so many, only fifteen or twenty. In a monotonous voice I recited cement" title="n.通告；宣布；言谈">announcement after cement" title="n.通告；宣布；言谈">announcement: second-hand bicycles, unused electronic devices, lost wedding ring...

"There! Read that one again, please," said the man, filled with excitement.

"Mr. Whoever(敬启者，某某先生), the lost wedding ring described in your ad is in my possession. Meet me at railway station next Sunday, at 19 o'clock. " I read the cement" title="n.通告；宣布；言谈">announcement once again.

It was Sunday then. And the time was, at the moment when I looked at my watch and announced it to the man who asked about it, 18:27.

The old man wanted to explain something to me. He leaned forward, getting his face close to my ear, and whispered, "It is the ring of my wife. She lost it a month ago. Oh! What a sorrowful thing it was to find out that the ring which you have worn for five decades cannot be found anywhere. I bought it at Dahlberg's jewellery shop. I can still remember how the saleswoman was dressed that morning. In pink, that's what it was, in soft, charming pink... But the shop isn't there any more. I think they went bankrupt soon after the war. Such a pity, it was a nice little store. And we have our fiftieth anniversary on Sunday. "

The man didn't say more about his wife or the wedding ring; he only brushed his gray hair with a plastic comb.

"I think I will go and buy a bunch of roses", the gray-haired gentleman said. "I'11 ask the saleswoman to choose beautiful ones. What do you think, will she be dressed in light pink, just like the lady at Dahlberg's jewellery shop? But my wife wore a dark dress this morning. That's how you can tell that a woman is getting old... They wear darker clothes. No, I will tell my darling to wear something brighter this evening. "

The man stood up and started to slowly walk toward the direction of the railway station. There was an air of steadfastness(坚定) in him--something that could not be purchased with money, or won in a lottery. Was he stylish? Yes--he was not like the laughing youngsters in the advertisements, but there was something else in him, something more admirable, more valuable.

I still held the newspaper in my hand when the old gentleman disappeared behind the corner of one of the houses. I didn't open or read the paper any more, I only sat in silence on the bench. Time was the only thing that moved; everything else stood still.

I leaned back in the bench and stared into the distance. I did not want to walk away, hurrying into a direction chosen at random.

Unit 11 Edward and His Incredible Black Hole

爱德华和他那难以置信的黑洞

小时候，最吸引人的童话故事或者动画片总是与星空和宇宙有关。很多人在童年里都做过飞上太空﹑探索宇宙的梦想。爱德华将梦想付诸实施，虽然其结局是悲惨的，但谁能说，他的科学探索精神不是可贵的？

Edward had a marvelous plan. He was going to create a genuine mini Black Hole, right here on earth.

Edward lived alone in the suburban sprawl(无规则蔓延)of a large city. His father had experimented with inventions in his large steel garage. Because of this, his mother had left home four years ago. He missed his father who had died of a heart attack two summers ago.

Edward worked during the day as an attendant at the City Library where he taught himself technology so that he could understand his father's notebooks. At home he stumbled around in track-pants(运动裤)and a T-shirt and busily modified his father's equipment.

Edward put coils of copper tube, large permanent magnets, sheets of aluminum foil, old iron tubes full of silicone(硅树脂) sealant(密封剂) together to construct a two and a half meters high intricateapparatus, putting a copper vertical horn on top. The horn, like the front of a large trumpet, was pointed towards the ceiling.

Today was Edward's twenty-second birthday, remembered only by the lovely Fiona, the Circulation Librarian. At lunchtime, Fiona had kissed him on the cheek in front of everybody in the tearoom. Edward had flushed crimson(深红色)with embarrassment.

But now was the moment. He climbed the stepladder(活动梯子) and peered into the trumpet. The curved mirror at its base magnified his reflected image and he admired his golden curly hair and his green eyes, but loathed(讨厌) his big ears.

Edward sipped on a glass of cheap soda and whispered, "Black holes are the mysteries of our universe. Everything that enters them never leaves--even light." He had a collection of hardware items arranged near him so that he could throw them into the Black Hole and watch them disappear. Edward sat at the computer controls for the Black Hole Generator.

"That's one small step for a man..." Edward intoned(拖长音) and double-clicked on the start icon. There was a loud vibrating noise and a strange glaring effect in the horn. Edward didn't realize that a simple software mistake had reversed the polarity(极性) of his black hold generator. Yes, he could see that the interior of the horn was indeed the deepest, blackest thing that he had ever seen, but within the blackness he could soon make out sparkling points of every color imaginable.

"Stars?" he thought just before he died. Within a few seconds, around a hundred million colorful ballpoint pens shot out of the horn, bounced off the roof and filled up the garage, spearing poor Edward to death. As every lost ballpoint pen in the world poured out of the black hole, the pressure blew the top off the garage and the mountain of pens continued to grow.

Soon every lost sock in the world flew into the air from the trumpet, and covered the mountain of pens. Then a great number of shopping lists fluttered into the air, followed by an emission of lottery tickets, and train, tram, bus and concert tickets. This was followed by every letter, telegram and E-mail that had never arrived.

Edward's garage then collapsed as millions of metal keys shot out of the horn and rained down---lost front door keys, car keys and locker keys. The overflow continued as sewing needles, cuff(袖口) links, pencil sharpeners, razors and lost passports, followed by countless of pins.

Can openers, bottle openers and corkscrews(开塞钻) were followed by sink plugs and remote controls. As these flooded over the local community, they were covered by clothes pegs(衣夹), the caps of toothpaste tubes and a flow of overdue(过期的) library books.

A veritable(真正的) mountain of lost-receipts needed by the taxman was followed by every lost screw nut from a world of car engines, household appliances and technical instruments.

As the city sagged(下陷) beneath the weight of all these lost things, millions of credit cards fluttered into the air and rained down.

Edward would have been amazed, except that he was long dead.

Finally, just before the black hole generator disappeared in a puff of smoke, every lost love in the history of the world was expelled into the air and rained down in an overflow of desolation.

Unit 12 Killing Time

生死时刻

我是一名退役的战士，有一次在银行里成功地制止了一次抢劫和劫持人质案。在那个生死时刻......

This was a common place for me but today I discerned there was something wrong when I turned around. Wrong means not right. There were two men in the bank now, a big guy just inside the door and a smaller one more like a skeleton in the middle of the floor.

Big guy was leafing through the leaflets on the counter, but his eyes were on the door and the eyes of the small guy never stopped moving and were scouting the scope and layout of the room, his head moved like that of a tennis fan sitting at the net.

Small guy was making a thing of deciding which queue to join, but it was the way he stood that held my attention. His left arm was tight against his body and he was wearing a long coat. Nothing wrong with that, it was winter.

Still wrong. It's transparent to me that he was carrying a weapon. On closer observation, big guy was likewise sort of leaning against the counter and in an instant I knew that he was using his weight to jam his gun between him and the counter. A robbery was about to happen.

If I attacked the small guy, I'd be easily picked off by the big guy as I struggled to get small guy's gun. If I walked casually by, and seized the big guy, the small guy would shoot the customers around him and take some nice-looking teller(银行出纳) as a hostage.

The situation was urgent. It was better to leave and call for immediate assistance. Assistance? I wasn't a soldier any more. I had been retired. Better to call the police, as normal people do. I could be anonymous then.

As I walked by, the small guy started to move. He swung back his coat and revealed a pistol and started to yell, "Attention, everyb--!" The small guy was too busy to finish the second word.In the instant an idea flashed into my mind,"why the big coat for such a small gun", then thought "winter" again.

Fortunately for me, it was not I that stopped him but a keen security guard who'd obviously seen the same signs I had. Fortunate for me, but unfortunate for the security-man. He hadn't noted that the big guy was an accomplice(同伙). After an interval of a few seconds,he fired a pistol at the back of the guard's head as he walked over to check on the dead small guy. He fell on the body of the small guy, blood streamed down from his wound.

Big guy stood there, momentarily as if deciding what to do. His eyes were a little wild but not scared. I thought again about rushing at him, but the distance was too great. Better to wait. All around me, people were screaming and moaning in shock and some people were already lying on the ground, anticipating the big guy's next instruction. The screaming did not bother him, which was both good and bad. It was good because the cool gunman was unlikely to shoot unnecessarily and bad because he would shoot without pausing if the situation required it.

It seemed there was chaos in the place. The only ones standing silent were him and me. For a moment, our eyes met and gazed at each other. Did he know me? How could he? The sound of the approaching alarms broke our gaze and the big guy calmly and loudly instructed everybody to lie on the floor. I did as he bade, but taking as many steps forward as I dared before lying down. I was no more than five yards from him.

He gave an imperative order, "If everybody does what I say, no one will get hurt. This is just a robbery gone wrong and I want to use you good people as hostages so that I can get away!" He didn't have to say any more than that. We'd all seen in perspective what had happened and knew he could kill some of us. The "hostage" in his short speech made it clear that he was saying he would threaten to kill hostages if his demands were not met.

The police arrived and contact was made straight away. He said that he would kill a hostage every ten minutes until he was given a clear passage to the private airways strip, where a helicopter was to take him to Cuba(古巴). He would bring hostages along with him as insurance against any unpredictable(不可预测的) trouble.

As the first ten-minute deadline approached, the big guy scanned the hostages in front of him.His eyes touched mine, but he moved on, looking for something. "You! Kid!" Everybody looked back and saw a boy, about ten years old, cowering behind his mother. "Get over here! Get over here, NOOOW!" shouted the big guy, as the boy cowered further.

I could see he would act for the ultimate aim--to kill a kid and to make them know he was serious. I couldn't let the tragedy(悲剧) happen. Could I hide and wait and let all this happen and walk away? All my training said I could. "Bad things will happen around you", said the Controller.

"Terrible things. But if it doesn't happen to you,it's not your liability to stop them. " I had seen terrible things and walked away. But not today.

"Take me", I said, standing up and making another vital step forward. "Leave the kid and take me". Everybody looked at me, some of them taking me for a suicidal (自杀的) person and thought it was a movie. This is really happening, their eyes said to me, for God's sake,to sit down before he would kill you.

It was too late. "OK, come here by the door and kneel in front of it". He said this as if he was a surgeoninviting a patient into his surgery. "Were you in the army?" He asked casually as I walked towards him. "No", I replied. This had to be quick. I would have no chance to seize him when I was kneeling at the front door.

"You're saving me from the trouble", I said, casually setting his mind at ease so that he needn't worry about my last-minute efforts for freedom. If he were wary(警惕的) of me, he would not take his eyes off me. In the instant he turned to walk with me towards the door, I had my arm around his neck. It broke like a toothpick(牙签) and he died instantly.

He didn't even get a shot off. It was done at one stroke without noise and he slumped into the floor. I turned around to see people looking at me horrified. I knew then that I had killed him too easily, too quickly.

One of the tellers picked up the phone and spoke to the police. Suddenly the place was overrun(占据) with uniforms. Eventually, we were all shepherded to waiting police cars and moved down-town to the station house.

I was ushered(引导) into an interview room. They showed me the close circuit TV coverage(闭路电视录像) of the incident in the bank and I made a statement corroborating(证实) what had happened. "You are being charged with murder," said the detective whose name I could not remember,"but this evidence should show that it was self-defense(自卫)". Well, anyway, I was fighting against almost certain death, and they were the same thing. I didn't argue.