The most commonly used network service is electronic mail (E-mail), or simply as mail. Mail permits network users to send textual messages to each other. Computers and networks handle delivering the mail, so that communicating mail users do not have to handle details of delivery, and do not have to be present at the same time or place.



The simplest way to access a file on another host is to copy it across the network to your local host. FTP(File Transfer Protocol) can do this.



Presently, a user with an account on any Internet machine can establish a live connection to any other machine on the Net from the terminal in his own office or laboratory. It is only necessary to use the Unix command that sets up a remote terminal connection (Telnet), followed by the address of the distant machine.



Before you can use the Internet, you must choose a way to move data between the Internet and your PC. This link may be a high-speed data communication circuit, a local area network (LAN)(局域网), a telephone line or a radio channel. Most likely, you will use a Modem(调制解调器) attached to your telephone line to talk to the Internet. Naturally, the quality of your Internet connection and service, like many other things in life, is dictated by the amount of money that you are willing to spend,



Although all these services can well satisfy the needs of the users for information exchange, a definite requirement is needed for the users. Not only should the users know where the resources locate, but also he should know some operating commands concerned to ease the searching burden of the users, recently some convenient searching tools appear, such as Gopher(一种因特网的资源检索工具), World Wide Web (WWW)(万维网) and Netscape(Netscape公司的因特网浏览器).



WWW is a networked hypertext protocol (超文本协议) and user interface (用户界面). It provides access to multiple services and documents like Gopher does but is more ambitious in its method. A jump to other Internet service can be triggered(触发) by a mouse click on a "hot-linked(热链接)" word, image, or icon on the web page.



As more and more systems join the Internet, and as more and more forms of information can be converted to digital form, the amount of stuff available to Internet users continues to grow. At some points very soon after the nationwide (and later worldwide) Internet started to grow, people began to treat the Net as a community, with its own tradition and customs. For example, somebody would ask a question in a conference, and a complete stranger would send back an answer: after the same question were repeated several time by people who hadn't seen the original answers, somebody else gathered list of "frequently asked questions(常见问题，简称FAQ)" and placed it where newcomers could find it.



So we can say that the Internet is your PC's window to the rest of the world.



Unit 26 Media Coverage



媒体报道



大众传媒已经成为现代生活不可或缺的一部分。但他们真的可信吗？他们能给我们提供的内容到底有多少是真实的和客观的？我们是否只能成为坐在屏幕前接受欺骗的无助的"目标观众"？



What do we expect from those stalwart(坚定的) people who report the news? A past generation of journalists prided itself on the image of the fearlessobjectivereporter, whose slogan was, "Just the facts, Ma'am. " All editorializing was left to the editorials pages. Then the so-called "investigative journalist" was born. They blurred the distinction between reporting and editorializing. Investigative journalism seems to see its job as a mission to expose wrongdoing(不道德行为) and corruption in high places. Of course, on occasion(有时) these journalists do a good deed. And with the birth of the investigative journalist came the inevitable News Shows! They've blurred the distinction between news and entertainment, often seeming to cater to(迎合) the public's taste for scandal(丑闻) and gossip than for real news. Put them all together and they make up the Media.



The media holds vast potential for education as well as the broadening of individual viewpoints.Conversely, it often has a frightening power to manipulate the minds of the masses. This last fact is demonstrated by millions who have become media dependent. Yes it's true. Just as there are people who are alcohol-dependent.



Just look at the effect the media has on most people's political views. Elections are sometimes indirectlydecided by what the media presents to the public. We often choose political leaders in campaigns conducted in large part in the news, whether it's in the form of newspapers or television.It's all the same. And the nastier the campaign, the more coverage it gets.



One main area that many people have allowed the media to shape their views on is race relations. Because of the TV images of places that few of the viewers have ever visited, and incidents that they didn't actually witness and are not truly well informed about, personal decisions are made.Our fears and doubts about racial bias, rapists(强奸犯) and their victims, world hunger or what have you(等等), are aroused and fueled by a sensation-hungry media. It is also the media that either keeps us pumped up and excited about these issues or that lets our excitement dwindle and subside(减退).But where does it all start? Where does the finished product come from? Who is behind deciding what we all get to actually see in the end?



Whatever it is that we are seeing and reading about the issues mentioned above, and indeed countless others, all depends on the judgment of editors and network executives who are more or less self-appointed(自作主张的) judges of what is newsworthy and what is not. Do you know what it is that most often determines what goes on the front page of a newspaper and what is lost in its back pages? Marketing. Marketing judgment is foremost in making these decisions. Secondly there's editorial judgment. "What is good for the public to hear on this issue?" That is the question that they ask themselves, and when they formulate an answer they believe to be pleasing enough, then they put it all together and present it.



I have noticed that whenever the media focuses sharply on candidates for the presidency((美)总统职务) or especially for the Supreme Court, more often than not we learn more about their pasts than their current standing(立场) on health insurance, abortion(堕胎), the death penalty or what have you(等等). The media tries to sensationalize their youthful experiments with cocaine(可卡因) or their talks behind closed doors, like these are truly important errors. In today's permissive(自由的) and often pervasive(有渗透力的) society, it would be an odd thing indeed if a candidate appeared who didn't have any fault, wouldn't it? Anyway, for many viewers, and especially our younger generations, the faces that come up on the media screens are more real and more interesting than those of their coworkers, neighbors and schoolmates.



Our judicial(司法的) system could use tuning up too in various areas. More and more in recent years it seems that contributory negligence(因受伤一方本身的粗心而造成的意外事故) is not a viable(可行的) factor in many lawsuits(诉讼). Take this one case in particular. It happened some years back, I disremember where I read it. A guy decided to perform a stupid stunt(绝技), so he strapped a refrigerator onto his back and ran. It was a truly idiotic(白痴般的) thing to do. One of the straps broke, the guy fell down when the weight of the refrigerator shifted on his back. The refrigerator naturally fell on top of him. He got hurt, and he sued the manufacturer that made the broken strap. Believe it or not, he won! Believe it or not, a judge actually awarded him a cool(整整的) million for his troubles. No wonder it is that everywhere you look there are tort lawyers(民事诉讼律师) advertising their services to sue people on your behalf.



What effect does that kind of idiotic suit have on small business? Many small companies can not afford to pay off a million dollar lawsuit and continue to thrive.



One more really curious thing. Nowadays it seems popular to try to get government grants.There is a book that tells one how to apply and get these grants for practically any reason. There once was supposedly a team of young scientists who applied for and actually received a $ 5 000 000 grant in order to do a study of the effects of bacteria on global warming. Is it true? I don't know. I wouldn't say it didn't happen.



Do we know our world well enough? Yes we know some of our world on a first hand basis but most of it we know through the media. Is that a sad thing or a good thing? I suppose it depends on whether or not the media does accurate reporting.



For instance, some people in a television audience may not know one single African American(非籍美洲人) personally, but he or she does know the media versions of some African Americans and their stereotypes(固定的形象) ：the up-to-date wise-cracking(说俏皮话的) tough LA(洛杉矶) street kid (who might be male or female), Bill Cosby (who is described as kindly, forever smiling and self-depreciating), or Mike Tyson (described as the violent and self-destructive black male).Yes, the media magnates are undisputed experts at playing out with loving detail, the personal disasters, heroic rescues, and petty scandals that they know the viewers love. However, they take no responsibility whatsoever for providing true insights on credible issues like the politics of race, immigration, education, the national debt, mental health, or unemployment.



Now I ask you.



How does the media shape or distort our reality on a daily basis? Do they always skim the surface of our reality, soundly biting into it at given points and taking away the bits that allow us a chance for thinking about cause and effect? Are we always to be no more than helpless "target audiences" sitting around a television screen taking in the hype? Or can we do something to influence the steady stream of images and ideas that the media present to us?



Unit 27 The Freak Accident



意外伤害



玛蒂因一次意外事故失去了双腿的功能，但她没有消沉，反而发挥自己的才能，录制了一部介绍残疾人生活的录像，并获了奖。这次事故给了她改变世界的机会，也让她成为一名很好的制片人……



Dr. Kaye, Marty's neurologist, called it a "freak(意外的)" accident because the chance of it happening to a 10-year-old girl was almost nil(零). "The fact is, " Dr. Kaye droned(低沉地说出), "spinal cord(脊髓) injuries occur most often among men ages 18--24. Paraplegia(下肢麻痹) is generally the result of motor vehicle accidents. Medical science is still in search of a cure,"she had noted with authority.



Marty had heard those words five years ago. At the time Dr. Kaye had given her the bad news, about not walking again, Marty was not listening. She was thinking about the freak accident.



It all happened on a Thanksgiving Day, when she was just 8 years old. Marty and her older sister, Eleanor, had gone to their backyard to pick apples for their mom. When Marty reached the top of the ladder, the rotten wood gave way. She tumbled noiselessly to the ground. There hadn't been pain.



But then, she noticed her legs didn't move.



The last words Marty remembered saying were, "Eleanor, get room, something is wrong. "The next thing she remembered was lying in bed in the Children's Hospital. The surgical ward was active and fun. Respiratory therapists came every day to Marty's bedside. They taught her to blow the harmonica(口琴) so that she could strengthen her lungs.



Occupational therapists taught her to make birdhouses and belts. Her favorite therapist, Laura, was a physical therapist (理疗师). She taught Marry to use a wheelchair and to wheel down steps.



After just 3 months, Marry had gone home. Her mom had the house refitted, and a ramp(斜坡) had replaced the front steps.



Marty played chess, swam, went to school, and even rode horse. She was the same girl she always was; it was the people who had changed.



They said things like, "why not get an electric wheelchair, dear", to which Marty always wantted to say, "what's wrong with wheeling my own chair?" And they always tried to push her chair,even when she didn't need help. Couldn't they see she managed just fine?



Then there were the other questions like. "what happened to your legs", to which Marty usually answered, "I thought I still had them, aren't they still there?" Then adults would ask her,"how do you go to the bathroom?" And Marty would reply,"I wheel there."The one question Marty relished(喜欢) was, "how do you sleep?" Without missing a beat, Marty would shoot back,"like a baby, just fine, thanks."



At first she would answer seriously, "I have a spinal cord injury", and patiently explain, "I use a sliding board to get into bed, then I lie down." But after 5 years, she was tired of the questions. So she just made up(捏造) answers.



"People are just curious, Marty", her mother would explain. "It wouldn't hurt to be nice and give a real explanation."



"Mom, I don't want to ask a lot of questions to people who walk, why do they all ask me questions?"



"Just try to be nice Marty, after all you are a role model for others in wheelchairs," was her mom's usual reply.



"I just want to roll my wheelchair in peace, I don't want to be a role model." Marty would shoot back.



Even though she resented the questions, Marty did want people to comprehend what life was like in a wheelchair. She didn't want pity；she just wanted people to feel comfortable around her.She hated feeling like some alien in a metal spaceship who was visiting from another planet.



"Well, I've tried to explain, and that gets nowhere", Marty grumbled to her best friend,Sasha, who had a sister also in a wheelchair. "People still look at me like I'm sick or weird(怪异的)．"



Sasha thought for a minute about what her friend had said. She had a sudden inspiration."Hey, I know, why not make a video about what it's like to be in a wheelchair? I have a video camera, and we could write a script(剧本), you and me. What do you say?" Sasha enthused(对…表示热心)．



Marty adopted Sasha's proposal,"Sasha, you are a genius. We could make a video about your sister and me, and give it to the public library. They could show it to people so they could see what people in wheelchairs can do."



By the next weekend, the girls had finished their script. Dr. Laura had even drawn a diagram of the spinal cord. It showed how messages went from the brain down the nerves along the spinal cord. The messages ended where Marty's spinal cord was broken. That was why when her brain told her legs to move, they couldn't. That message never got to the legs. It got as far as the break in her spine.



The video also showed how Marty could get into cars, and into her bed. There was even a part where Marty got on her horse, and took her dog for a walk, and weeded her vegetable garden, and fixed a lamp bracket for the family. The girls decided to leave out the stuff(镜头资料) that showed how she went to the bathroom.



Marty and Sasha went to the Children's Hospital's ward and filmed the children who were undergoing treatment. They wanted others to see what it was like to lift weights and play cricket, and learn to dress yourself.



The preview was held in the community center events room. All of Marty and Sasha's classmates, their parents, the teachers, and the school principal came. The kids from the children's ward and the doctors and therapists came, too.



Marty had a lot of fun acting as Master of Ceremonies(仪式主持人). She even had an auction(拍卖) of artwork done by the children in the spinal cord ward. In all the proceeds was $1 000 that she donated to the spinal cord research.



That night, Marty thought about the "freak" accident. She thought how being in a wheelchair made her different, but it also had forced her to make her life special. She had been elected to represent other disabled people and educate them about disabled people. The freak accident had given her the chance to change the world. It had also made her into a pretty good film maker(制片人).



Her video won the children's video award, and she got another $1 000 which she donated the children's ward.



The apple tree is in bloom again. Sometimes Marty wheels to her backyard and looks up. She does not feel sad；she just tries to figure out how she can pick apples from the highest branch. If anyone can climb up that tree, it's Marty.



Unit 28 Death Valley



死亡谷



死亡谷的名字虽然不好，名声也欠佳，但这里并非只有黄沙和岩石的不毛之地。它是一个风景优美的地方，是许多动植物，甚至人类的家园……



Death Valley doesn't sound like a very inviting place. It is one of the hottest places in the world. The highest temperature ever recorded there was 134 degrees Fahrenheit, and that was in the shade! Death Valley in California(加利福尼亚州) covers nearly 3000 square miles, from which approximately 555 square miles are below the surface of the sea. One point is 282 feet below sea level--the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. In Death Valley, pioneers and explorers faced death from thirst and the searing heat. Yet despite its name and bad reputation, Death Valley is not just an empty wildness of sand and rock. It is a place of spectacular scenic beauty and home to plants, animals, and even humans.



In 1849 a small group of pioneers struggled for three months to get across the rough land.They suffered great hardships as they and their wagons traveled slowly across the salt flats in the baking sun. They ran out of food and had to eat the oxen and leave their possessions behind. They ran out of water and became so thirsty that they could not swallow the meat. They found a lake and, being wild with joy, fell on their knees only to discover it was heavily salted. Finally, weak and reduced to almost skeletons, they came across a spring of fresh water and their lives were saved. When they finally reached the foot of mountains, they slowly climbed up the rocky slopes.One of them looked back and said, "Goodbye, Death Valley."That has been its name ever since.



Death Valley is the driest place in North America. Yet far from being dead, it is alive with plants and animals. They have adapted to this harsh region. In the salt flats on the valley floor,there are no plants to be seen. But near the edge, there are grasses. Farther away, there are some small bushes and cactus(仙人掌). Finally, high on the mountainside, there are pine trees.



What is not visible are the seeds lodged in the soil, waiting for rain. When it does come, a brilliant display of wild flowers carpets the once barren(荒芜的) flatlands. Even the cactuses blossom.As the water dries up and the hot summer nears, the flowers die. But first they produce seeds that will wait for the rains of another year.



At noon on a summer day, Death Valley looks truly devoid(缺乏的) of wildlife. But in reality, there are 55 species of mammals(哺乳动物), 32 kinds of birds, 36 kinds of reptiles, and 3 kinds of amphibians(两栖动物). During the day many seek shelter under rocks and in burrows(洞穴). As night approaches, however, the land cools, and the desert becomes a center of animal activity. Owls hunt for mice. Bats gather insects as they fly. The little kid fox is out looking for food,accompanied by snakes, hawks, and bobcats(山猫). Many of these animals, like the desert plants,have adapted to the dry desert. They use water very efficiently. They can often survive on poor water supplies that would leave similar animals elsewhere dying of thirst.



Humans have also learned how to survive in this land. The natives knew where every hidden spring was. They also knew the habits of the desert animals, which they hunted. The natives, and later even the prospectors, ate every imaginable desert animal. They ate everything from the big horn sheep(巨角野羊) to snakes, rats and lizards(蜥蜴). They were often on the edge of starvation, In autumn they gathered nuts from the pine trees. Other foods they ate included roots, cactus plants, leaves, and sometimes insects.



The early prospectors didn't know the desert as well as the natives. Many died looking for gold and silver in Death Valley; others did find the precious metals. Then a "boomtown(新兴城镇)" was born. First it consisted of miners living in tents. Then permanent buildings were built. But when the mine failed, the town that was built up around it did too. Today the remains of these "ghost towns(鬼城(因金矿枯竭而被人遗弃的城镇))" are scattered about Death Valley.



Unit 29 Business：How to Serve the Society More Efficiently