新标准大学英语综合教程4教师用书(外研社)(21)

是我一生中第一

次考试不及格，这大大打击了我的自信心。虽然我不是一个容易向命运低头的人，在暑假结束的

时候，我还是决定放弃经济学，以免两个专业都难以完成。当我只需修一个专业的时候，一切似乎又回到了正轨。 (if you ask me; odds; try as might; sap one’s confidence; given that; bow to fate;

come to a close; for fear that; now that)

If you ask me, taking a second major isn’t good for every undergraduate. In my freshman year as an

English major, I took economics as my minor. By all odds, I was the most hardworking student in

my class. But try as I might to meet the requirements of the two different subjects, I still couldn’t do

well enough to pass all the exams. Given that the study of economics required a good command of

mathematics, I had to spend so much time on math that I neglected my English major.

Failing English Literature and Macroeconomics in the second semester sounded the alarm for me. This

was the first time I did not pass a course in my life, which had greatly sapped my confidence. Although

I was not a man who would easily bow to fate, as the summer break came to a close, I decided to give

up economics for fear that I would fail in both subjects. Now that I had only one subject to attend to,

everything seemed to be on the right track again.

Translation of the passages

Active reading (1)

大学毕业找工作的第一要义：别躺在沙发上做梦

今年夏天，超过65 万的大学生毕业离校，其中有许多人根本不知道怎么找工作。在当今金融危

机的背景下，做父母的该如何激励他们？

七月，你看着21 岁英俊的儿子穿上学士袍，戴上四方帽，骄傲地握着优等学士学位证书，拍毕业照。

这时，记忆中每年支付几千英镑，好让儿子吃好、能参加奇特聚会的印象开始消退。总算熬到头了。

等到暑假快要结束，全国各地的学生正在为新学期做准备的时候，你发现大学毕业的儿子还歪躺