1 When I first entered college as a freshman, I was afraid that I was not able to do well in my studies. I was afraid of being off by myself, away from my family for the first time. Here I was surrounded by people I did not know and who did not know me. I would have to make friends with them and perhaps also compete with them for grades in courses I would take. Were they smarter than I was? Could I keep up with them? Would they accept me?
2 I soon learned that my life was now up to me. I had to set a study program if I wanted to succeed in my courses. I had to regulate the time I spent studying and the time I spent socializing. I had to decide when to go to bed, when and what to eat, when and what to drink, and with whom to be friendly. These questions I had to answer for myself.
3 At first, life was a bit difficult. I made mistakes in how I used my time. I spent too much time making friends. I also made some mistakes in how I chose my first friends in college.
4 Shortly, however, I had my life under control. I managed to go to class on time, do my first assignments and hand them in, and pass my first exams with fairly good grades. In addition, I made a few friends with whom I felt comfortable and with whom I could share my fears. I set up a routine that was really my own — a routine that met my needs.
5 As a result, I began to look upon myself from a different perspective. I began to see myself as a person responsible for myself and responsible for my friends and family. It felt good to make my own decisions and see those decisions turn out to be wise ones. I guess that this is all part of what people call “growing up.”
6 What did life have in store for me? At that stage in my life, I really was not certain where I would ultimately go in life and what I would do with the years ahead of me. But I knew that I would be able to handle what was ahead because I had successfully jumped this important hurdle in my life: I had made the transition from a person dependent on my family for emotional support to a person who was responsible for myself. 大学——我一生中的转折点
作为一名一年级新生初进大学时，我害怕自己在学业上搞不好。我害怕独自一人在外，因为我是第一次远离家人。在这里，周围都是我不认识的人，而他们也不认识我。我得和他们交朋友，或许还得在我要学的课程上跟他们在分数上进行竞争。他们比我更聪明吗？我跟得上他们吗？他们会接受我吗？
我很快就认识到，我的生活现在就取决于我自己了。如果我要在学业上取得成
功，我就必须制定一份学习计划。我必须调整花在学习上的时间和花在社交上的时间。我必须决定什么时候上床睡觉，什么时候吃什么，什么时候喝什么，对什么人表示友好。这些问题我都得自己回答。
开始时，生活有点艰难。我在怎样利用时间上犯了错误。我在交朋友上花的时间太多了。我还在怎样选择大学里的第一批朋友上犯了一些错误。
然而不久，我就控制住了自己的生活。我做到了按时上课，完成并交上了第一批作业，而且以相当好的成绩通过了前几次考试。此外，我还交了一些朋友，跟他们在一起我感到很自在，我能把我担心的事告诉他们。我建立了一种真正属于我自己的常规——一种满足了我的需要的常规。
结果，我开始从一个不同的视角看待我自己了。我开始把自己看作是一个对自己负责也对朋友和家人负责的人。凡事自己做决定并看到这些决定最终证明是明智的决定，这种感觉很好。我猜想这就是人们所说的“成长”的一部分吧。
我未来的生活将会怎样呢？在人生的这一阶段，我真的不能确定我的人生之路最终将会走向何方，我真的不知道在以后的几年中我会做什么。但我知道，我能应对未来，因为我已经成功地跃过了我生命中的这一重要障碍：我已经完成了从一个依赖家人给予感情支持的人向一个对自己负责的人的过渡。
Unit 2 Text A He Helped the Blind
1 Blind and wanting to read — those were the realities of Louis Braille’s life. The desire to read easily led to the Braille system. January 4 is Braille Day. That day honors the blind. But we should also remember Louis and what he achieved by age 15.
2 Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809, in France. He lived with his parents, two older sisters, and one older brother in a small, stone house in Coupvray.
3 Three-year-old Louis went to his father’s workshop. Louis’s father was a saddle maker who made items out of leather. Imitating his father, Louis tried to cut a piece of leather with a small knife. His hand slipped, and the point of the knife went into his eye. The doctors took care of him the best they could, but the injured eye got infected. Then the infection spread to his good eye. Louis became blind.
4 Louis went to a public school and learned by listening to the teacher. To do his homework, his sister and a friend read the assignments to him. Soon Louis was at the top
of his class.
5 One day, the pastor of Louis’s church came to Louis’s house and told his parents of a school for the blind in Paris. Louis’s parents decided to send him to the school when he was nine years old.
6 Louis wanted very much to read. The school had only 14 books for blind people; the books were big and heavy. The letters were large and raised; one book took a long time to read. Louis thought there must be a better way to read.
7 When Louis was 12, Charles Barbier, a French Army officer, came to the school. Barbier developed an alphabet code used by army soldiers. The code was used to deliver messages to the soldiers at night. It was made up of dots and dashes. It kept the messages secret even if the enemy would see them, but the code was too complicated for the blind. Louis thought the code was slow and the dashes took up too much space. Only one or two sentences fit on a page.
8 Over the next three years, Louis worked to simplify the code. On a vacation at home, Louis, age 15, picked up a blunt awl. Aha! An idea came to him. He made the alphabet using only six dots. Different dots were raised for different letters. Later, he made a system for numbers and music.
9 Today, Braille is in nearly every language around the world. Louis Braille, at age 15, changed the lives of blind people when he created the six-dot Braille system. It is fitting that January 4, Louis’s birthday, is considered Braille Day, in honor of the blind.
他帮助了盲人
眼睛瞎了而又想读书——这就是路易·布莱叶的生活现实。想顺利进行阅读的愿望导致了布莱叶盲字体系的产生。1月4日是布拉耶日。这一节日是向盲人表示敬意。我们还应该记住路易和他在15岁时取得的成就。
路易·布莱叶于1809年1月4日生于法国。他与父母、两个姐姐和一个哥哥住在库普弗雷一幢小小的石头房子里。
3岁的路易去了父亲的作坊。路易的父亲是个鞍具制作商，他用皮革制作各种鞍具。路易学着父亲的样子，试着用小刀割一块皮革。他的手一滑，刀尖就戳进了眼睛。医生们竭尽全力为他医治，但那只受伤的眼睛受到了感染。后来感染传给了他那只好的眼睛。路易变成了盲人。
路易进了一所公立学校，通过听老师讲课进行学习。为了做作业，他的姐姐和一个朋友把作业读给他听。很快路易便成了班里的尖子生。
一天，教会的牧师来到路易家，告诉他的父母, 巴黎有一所盲童学校。路易的
父母决定把他送到那所学校去，当时他是9岁。
路易12岁时，一位法国军官查尔斯·巴比埃来到了学校。巴比埃研制出一种供军队士兵使用的字母电码。这种电码被用来在夜间向士兵发送信息。它由点和划组成。即使敌人看到信息，电码也能使它们保密。但这种电码对盲人来说太复杂了。路易认为这种电码使用起来太慢，而那些划也太占地方。一页纸只容得下一两句句子。
在以后的三年中，路易一直在做着简化电码的工作。在家中度假的一天，15岁的路易捡起了一把钝锥子。啊哈！他突然想到了一个主意。他只用6个点就做出了字母表。他用不同的凸点代表不同的字母。后来，他又为数字和音乐编制了一个体系。
今天，布莱叶盲字已用于全世界几乎每一种语言。路易·布莱叶在15岁时创造了六圆点布莱叶体系从而改变了盲人的生活。把布莱叶的生日1月4日定为向盲人表示敬意的布莱叶日是非常恰当的。
Unit 3 Text A Thanks, Mom, for All You Have Done
1 We tend to get caught up in everyday business and concerns and forget some of the things that are most important. Too few of us stop and take the time to say “thank you” to our mothers.
2 With a letter to my mother on the occasion of Mother’s Day, I’m going to take a minute to reflect. Feel free to use any of this in greeting your own mother on Sunday, May 10. Happy Mother’s Day to all.
Dear Mom,
3 This letter, I know, is long past due. I know you’ll forgive the tardiness, you always do.
4 There are so many reasons to say thank you, it’s hard to begin. I’ll always remember you were there when you were needed.
5 When I was a child, as happens with young boys, there were cuts and bumps and scrapes that always felt better when tended by you.
6 You kept me on the straight path, one I think I still walk.
7 There was nothing quite so humbling as standing outside my elementary school classroom and seeing you come walking down the hall. You were working at the school and I often managed to get sent outside class for something. Your chiding was gentle, but right to the point.
8 I also remember that even after I grew bigger than you, you weren’t afraid to remind me who was in charge. For that I thank you.
9 You did all the things that mothers do — the laundry, the cooking and cleaning — all without complaint or objection. But you were never too busy to help with a problem, or just give a hand.
10 You let me learn the basics in the kitchen, and during the time I was on my own it kept me from going hungry.
11 You taught by example and for that I am grateful. I can see how much easier it is with my own daughter to be the best model I can be. You did that for me.
12 Your children are grown now, your grandchildren, almost. You can look back with pride now and know you can rest. As mothers are judged, you stand with the best.
13 God bless you, Mom.
谢谢你，妈妈，为了你所做的一切
我们往往被日常事务缠住而忘记一些最为重要的事情。我们极少有人停下来花时间对我们的母亲说一声“谢谢你” 。
我准备在母亲节之际花一点时间给母亲写封信反省一下。在5月10日星期天问候你的母亲时请随意用这封信中任何句子。祝大家母亲节快乐。
亲爱的妈妈：
我知道，这封信早就该写了。我知道你会原谅我的拖沓，你总是这样的。 有很多很多理由要说谢谢你，真不知从何说起。我会永远记住，每当需要你时，你总是在那儿。
我小的时候，如同所有的小男孩一样，身上总有些割破的伤口、碰撞造成的肿块和擦伤，但有你照料总感到好一些。
你使我一直走在正路上，我认为这仍是我在走的路。
最为丢脸的事莫过于站在我小学的课堂外看到你沿着走廊走过来。你在学校里工作，而我竟然常常因为犯事被赶出教室。你的责备很和婉，但却非常中肯。
我还记得，即使在我长得比你高大以后，你也不怕提醒我谁是家里的主管。为此我感谢你。
母亲们做的事你都做了，洗衣服、烧饭、打扫卫生，而且毫无怨言、毫无异议。然而即使再忙你也总能帮着我做习题，或助我一臂之力。
你让我学会了厨房里的基本功，这使我在独自一人时不致挨饿。
你以身作则，身教重于言教，对此我非常感激。我能看到我多么容易就成了自己女儿的最佳楷模。你为我做出了榜样。
你的孩子们现在都已成人，你孩子们的孩子也差不多都已长大。你现在可以自豪地回顾过去，而且知道自己可以休息了。要是对母亲们进行评价，你当立于最佳母亲之列。
愿上帝保佑你，妈妈。
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