Unit11. We all sensed we were coming to the end of our stay here, that we would never get a chance like this again, and we became determined not to waste it. Most important of course were the final exams in April and May in the following year. No one wanted the humiliation of finishing last in class, so the peer group pressure to work hard was strong. Libraries which were once empty after five o'clock in the afternoon were standing room only until the early hours of the morning, and guys wore the bags under their eyes and their pale, sleepy faces with pride, like medals proving their diligence.我们都觉得在校时间不多了，以后再也不会有这样的学习机会了，所以都下定决心不再虚度光阴。
当然，下一年四五月份的期末考试最为重要我们谁都不想考全班倒数第一，那也太丢人了，因此同学们之间的竞争压力特别大以前每天下午五点以后，图书馆就空无一人了，现在却要等到天快亮时才会有空座，小伙子们熬夜熬出了眼袋，他们脸色苍白，睡眼惺忪，却很自豪，好像这些都是表彰他们勤奋好学的奖章2. Tomorrow? It's all a lie; there isn't a tomorrow. There's only a promissory note that we are often not in a position to cash. It doesn't even exist. When you wake up in the morning it'll be today again and all the same rules will apply. Tomorrow is just another version of now, an empty field that will remain so unless we start planting some seeds. Your time, which is ticking away as we speak (at about 60 seconds a minute chronologically; a bit faster if you don't invest your time wisely), will be gone and you'll have nothing to show for it but regret and a rear-view mirror full of "could haves", "should haves" and "would haves".明天行吗？明天只是个谎言；根本就没有什么明天，只有一张我们常常无法兑现的期票。
明天甚至压根儿就不存在你早上醒来时又是另一个今天了，同样的规则又可以全部套用明天只是现在的另一种说法，是一块空地，除非我们开始在那里播种，否则它永远都是空地你的时间会流逝（时间就在我们说话的当下嘀嗒嘀塔地走着，每分钟顺时针走60秒，如果你不能很好地利用它，它会走得更快些），而你没有取得任何成就来证明它的存在，唯独留下遗憾，留下一面后视镜，上面写满了“本可以做”、“本应该做”、“本来会做”的事情1 对于是否应该在大学期间详细规划自己的未来，学生们意见不一有的人认为对未来应该有一个明确的目标和详细的计划，为日后可能遇到的挑战做好充分的准备；有的人则认为不用过多考虑未来，因为未来难以预料map out; brace oneself for; uncertainty)Students differ about whether they should have their future mapped out when they are still at university. Some think they should have a definite goal and detailed plan, so as to brace themselves for any challenges, whereas some others think they don’t have to think much about the future, because future is full of uncertainties.2 经过仔细检查，这位科学家得知自己患了绝症。
虽然知道自己将不久于人世，他并没有抱怨命运的不公，而是准备好好利用剩下的日子，争取加速推进由他和同事们共同发起的那个研究项目，以提前结项 tick away; make the best of; have a shot at)After a very careful check-up, the scientist was told he had got a fatal disease. Although he knew that his life was ticking away, instead of complaining about the fate, the scientist decided to make the best of the remaining days, and speed up the research project he and his colleagues initiated, and have a shot at completing it ahead of schedule.Unit21 在火车站上，有一位老人给我讲述了他参加解放战争的经历，那些战斗故事对我有着极大的吸引力。
后来他上了车，列车从我身边隆隆地开走了可那些故事仍然是那么清晰可见，对于英雄们的壮举，我钦佩不已 fascination; roar; marvel at)At the railway station, an old man told me his experience in the Liberation War, the fighting stories of which were of great fascination to me. Then he got up on the train and it roared past me. But the stories were so real and definite that I greatly marveled at the courageous deeds of those war heroes2 行之有效的环保政策不仅能创造良好的生态环境，还能大大降低能源消耗回顾这个地区近年来的发展情况，我们惊喜地发现地区政府强制实行的环保政策不但没有受到任何批评，还促使居民增强了环保意识，尽其所能节约能源consumption; impose; take exception to; prompt)Effective environmental policy might bring about a good environment, as well as reducing energy consumption. Looking back on the recent development of this region, we find, to our pleasant surprise, that little exception has been taken to the environmental policy of the local government, and the policy has also raised the environmental awareness of the local residents and prompted them to save energy as possible as they could.Unit31. Listen, if you can, to the 48 fugue themes of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavichord. Listen to each theme, one after another. You will soon realize that each theme mirrors a different world of feeling. You will also soon realize that the more beautiful a theme seems to you the harder it is to find any word that will describe it to your complete satisfaction. Yes, you will certainly know whether it is a gay theme or a sad one. You will be able, in other words, in your own mind, to draw a frame of emotional feeling around your theme. Now study the sad one a little closer. Try to pin down the exact quality of its sadness. Is it pessimistically sad or resignedly sad; is it fatefully sad or smilingly sad?可能的话，你不妨听听巴赫的《平均律钢琴曲集》中的48个赋格主题。
依次地、一个个地听听其中的每一个主题，你很快就会意识到每个主题都反映了一个不同的情感世界，你很快也会意识到你越觉得某个主题美妙，就越难找到令你完全满意的字眼来描述它是的，你当然知道那个主题是欢快的还是悲伤的换句话说，你能够在脑海中勾勒出那个主题的情感框架那么就更仔细地听一下这个悲伤的主题吧，要明确悲伤的性质是悲观厌世的悲伤，还是无可奈何的悲伤？是时运不济的悲伤，还是强颜欢笑的悲伤？2. We know less about the Girl with the Pearl Earring than any of Vermeer's works. Indeed, the unexplainable lack of background information may even contribute to the worldwide popularity the painting enjoys. With so much mystery, the painting has been the theme of first, a novel and later, a film, both of which attempt to answer some of the questions about the painting, as well。