新视野大学英语读写教程第四册第五单元B篇原文和翻译.docVIP

新视野大学英语读写教程第四册第五单元B篇原文和翻译 unit5B Roommate Conflicts Identical twins Katie and Sarah Monahan arrived at Pennsylvanias Gettysburg College last year determined to strike out on independent paths. Although the 18-year-old sisters had requested rooms in different dorms, the housing office placed them on the eighth floor of the same building, across the hall from each other. While Katie got along with her roommate, Sarah was miserable. She and her roommate silently warred over matters ranging from when the lights should be turned off to how the furniture should be arranged. Finally, they divided the room in two and gave up on oral communication, communicating primarily through short notes. During this time, Sarah kept running across the hall to seek comfort from Katie. Before long, the two wanted to live together again. Sarahs roommate eventually agreed to move out. “From the first night we lived together again, we felt so comfortable,” says Sarah. “We felt like we were back home.” Sarahs ability to solve her dilemma by rooming with her identical twin is unusual, but the conflict she faced is not. Despite extensive efforts by many schools to make good roommate matches, unsatisfactory outcomes are common. One roommate is always cold, while the other never wants to turn up the furnace, even though the thermometer says its minus five outside. One person likes quiet, while the other person spends two hours a day practicing the trumpet, or turns up his sound system to the point where the whole room vibrates. One eats only organically produced vegetables and believes all living things are holy, even ants and mosquitoes, while the other likes wearing fur and enjoys cutting up frogs in biology class. When personalities dont mix, the excitement of being away at college can quickly grow stale. Moreover, roommates can affect each others psychological health. A recent study reports that depression in college roommates is often passed from one person to another.