大学英语精读3-作文

Unit 1A Funny Mistake At 8:15 one Sunday morning, a police officer saw a man climbing down a drainpipe from an open bedroom window. As soon as the man reached the ground, the officer caught him by the arm. In answer to the officers questions, the man said that his name was Charlie Crane and he was a lorry driver from Nottingham. He explained that the day before he had had a breakdown and had spent the night in the house where the officer saw him. That morning the landlady had given him breakfast and he had gone on his way. Later he found that he had left 80 under his pillow. He returned and rang the bell, but no one answered it. Spotting the bedroom window still open, he climbed up the drainpipe. As he was again leaving, the officer saw him. Just as the officer was figuring out whether or not it was only a funny mistake, a woman shouted from the kitchen window, Mr. Crane, whatever are you doing here? I thought youd gone away an hour ago.Unit 2Dear Dad,You remember the problem that my research team has been trying to solve for some time now? The one I mentioned in my last letter? Well, yesterday we finally hit upon the solution. And it is all due to you. How? Well, you remember that game you used to play with us to encourage us to think laterally, the What Doesnt Belong? one? It all came back to me as we were sitting around going over the same old ground for what seemed like the hundredth time. Clearly, what we needed to do was to see the problem from a completely new angle. I put this to the rest of the group and after a session of brainstorming we hit upon an entirely fresh way of looking at the problem that led us straight to the answer. It had been under our noses all along, but we hadnt noticed it because of sticking to our old habits of thought. It seems all those discussions about oranges, tomatoes and strawberries long ago were not only good fun, but were good for the mind as well. So, you deserve the credit for our success as much as we do. Many thanks!Your loving son,TomUnit 3Why I Chose to Attend CollegeAs my high school years were drawing to a close, I turned over and over again in my mind the question of whether I should go to college. At times I did have some doubts. After careful consideration, however, I finally decided it would be worthwhile. My main reason was simply that I was eager for knowledge and wanted to keep on learning. While getting through high school, I became more and more interested in such subjects as math, physics and chemistry, and thirsted to explore them further. I also chose to go to college because I knew a college education would provide me with opportunities for all-round development. I could play in musical groups, take part in sports, and join campus organizations. Involvement in various kinds of activities would help make me into a well-rounded person. A further factor was my awareness that in todays world many professions require years of specialized training. Being without a college education would have made it more difficult to obtain a desirable position. As I proceed further through college, I seem to have more and more reasons to congratulate myself on having made the right decision.Unit 4In a recent poll taken by the Herald of the Town, 72 percent of the residents interviewed said the city government could do more for homeless people. And 65 percent said the city was paying too little attention to the needs of the blacks and other minority groups. Asked about the suggestion of building more soup kitchens and nursing homes for the homeless and the old people, 77 percent thought it a good idea, 14 percent said it was foolish and 9 percent gave no comments. 38 percent considered crime as the worst problem facing the city, while 25 percent and 37 percent perceived unemployment or pollution as the worst one respectively. Job training for young people was chosen as the best way to reduce crime (63 percent). After that, in order of percentage, came citizens neighborhood patrols (23 percent), more police on foot (10 percent) and the death penalty (4 percent).Unit 5It was Mothers Day. Susan asked her father and brother to think of something special they could do for the occasion. Her father came up with the idea of surprising the childrens mother with a barbecue, the first of the year. The children agreed that it was a wonderful idea and they all set about preparing for the barbecue. The first thing they had to do was to get the biggest steaks they could find. By the time they were ready to start the fire it was getting dark. And to their disappointment, there was not a single briquette left from the previous year.In the end they had to ask for some from neighbours, disturbing the television viewing of a couple living nearby.Unit6One Sunday afternoon Peter was reading the newspaper when Tom, his little son of six years, rushed into the room crying bitterly, his left eye black and bruised. Whats the matter? Who hit you on the eye, Tom? the father asked. Steve, the big boy on Quail Street . the son cried all the more bitterly, pointing outside with his finger. In a rage, Peter jumped out of the armchair and dashed out, clenching his fists. Hardly had Steve uttered a word when Peter smashed his fist into his face. Totally unprepared, Steve was knocked down to the ground. However, he regained his feet quickly and hit back so hard that Peter got a black eye too. Seeing he had had his revenge, Steve lost no time running away. Peter had to walk home completely defeated. Back in the room he was seated in the armchair, looking quite upset and depressed.Unit 7Dear Pearl,Susan of Rockford is coming to stay with me for a few days. She and I are hoping you can come to dinner here on Friday the eighth at seven oclock. Yours, Mary Dear Mary, Many thanks for your invitation. Ill be delighted to have dinner with you on Friday at seven oclock and see Susan again. Yours, Pearl Dear Mary, You cannot imagine my disappointment at not being able to come to dinner with you and see Susan again. Little Tom is running a high fever and needs constant care, so it is quite impossible for me to come. But thank you so much for your kind invitation.Sincerely,PearlUnit 8How to Attain Our Goals in LifeAs a sailing ship has a certain destination, so we must have a definite goal in our life. To succeed in life, a man must learn to develop such qualities in himself as industry, persistence, confidence, and strong willpower. Here I would like to dwell a little on the first two. Undoubtedly, hard work is the key to success. Take Peter G. Beidler for example. Having chosen teaching as his career, Professor Beidler made a great effort to meet the challenges of the profession. Day after day he stayed up late preparing his lectures, even when his eyes became swollen for lack of sleep. His subsequent success as a teacher was borne out by the fact that he was named The Professor of the Year in 1983. Obviously his success has had a great deal to do with hard work. Persistence is another important factor leading to the realization of ones goal in life. Once we have set a goal for ourselves, we must not depart from our course until we reach it. The mother in Unit 5 is a case in point. She refused to give up in the face of all the challenges in life. Instead, she persisted in improving herself. In the end, she became a reporter with a local newspaper. Clearly persistence helped to make her dream come true.Unit 9Never Forget the Atrocities Committed by the Japanese AggressorsIt is more than half a century since Japan surrendered in 1945, but we must never forget the atrocities committed by the Japanese aggressors against the Chinese people.They pursued in China the policy of burn all, kill all, and loot all. They slaughtered millions of people and left vast expanses of the land in ruins, throwing the Chinese people into deep misery. In the Nanjing Massacre alone, more than 350, 000 people were killed in cold blood and countless houses were reduced to ashes. The Japanese fascists were indeed the most brutal and bloodthirsty beasts. When faced with the brutal aggressor, the Chinese people started the War of Resistance against Japan. After eight years of fierce fighting, we finally drove them out of our country. While striving for modernization we must keep in mind what we had suffered at the hands of the Japanese invaders, strengthen our country persistently and defend the fruits of our modernization effort.Unit10George Stephenson was born on June 9, 1781, in Wylam, Britain. At the age of 8 he worked as a herdboy. When he was still young, Stephenson was interested in making little models of engines of clay and sticks. However, he had not learned to read until 17. Later he became a well-known engineer through self-study. He invented the first successful steam locomotive and built the first railway to carry passengers, which was opened to traffic in 1825. He was called the Founder of Railways. He died in 1848.