新标准大学英语课文概括.docVIP

Unit One Passage One What are the most important issues for students today? Is the university campus really such a different place compared to what it was 40 years ago? For the students in the 1960s, going to college was the most exciting and stimulating experience of their life. They took part in protests and launched strikes against the establishment with their new and passionate commitment to freedom and justice. Going to college also meant their first taste of real freedom. They could discuss the meaning of life, read their first forbidden book and see their first indie film. In contrast, the students today don’t have the passion for college life that they used to. Today, college is seen as a kind of small town from which people are keen to escape. Instead of the heady atmosphere of freedom which students in the 1960s discovered, students today are much more serious. College has become a means to an end , an opportunity to improve their prospects of being competitive in the employment market, and not an end in itself. But in spite of all this, the role of the university is the same as it always has been. It is the place where students have the opportunity to learn to think for themselves. Psaaage Two Older generations generally have a negative attitude to today’s students, the product of postmodern times. Today’s students are expected to accomplish anything in an era with extraordinary opportunities and privileges. It would seem they do the opposite. They direct their energy on the Internet communicating ideas and frustrations, instead of trying to assert their identity by revolution. Perhaps when they are not told about what their parents did before, they will be seen writing the revolution in technology. Unit Two Passage Two This is Sandy is an extract from Tone, a story about the life of a deaf girl. She thinks her friends are honorable people who beam with pride when they introduce her to someone new. When people find out she is deaf they