第一单元
十年之前，南希做了许许多多美国人梦寐以求的事。她辞去了经理职位，在附近地区开了一家家用器材商店。向南希那样的人作出这种决定主要是出于改善生活质量的愿望。
然而，经营小本生意绝非易事。在失去稳定的收入后，南希不得不削减日常开支。有时候她甚至没有钱支付她所需要的种种保险的费用，有一次她连电话费也付不起，只得向她的父母亲借钱。
幸运的是，通过自己的努力，她已经度过了最困难的时期。她决心继续追求她所向往的更加美好的生活。
A decade ago, Nancy did what so many Americans dream about. She quit an executive position and opened / set up a household equipment store in her neighborhood. People like Nancy made the decision primarily because of/owing to/due to their desire to improve the quality of their lives. But, to run a small business is by no means an easy job. Without her steady income, Nancy had to cut back on her daily expenses. Sometimes she did not even have the money to pay the premiums for the various kinds of insurance she needed. Once she could not even pick up the phone bill and had to ask her parents to loan her some money. Fortunately, through her own hard work, she has now got through the most difficult time. She is determined to continue pursuing her vision of a better life.
第二单元
痛苦的奴隶生活坚定了亨森为自由而战的决心。他获得自由后不久就成了一个帮助 逃跑奴隶的组织中的一员。他几次偷偷地从加拿大回到美国帮助其他奴隶通过地下铁路获得自由。有一次在逃跑时，亨森和几个逃跑的奴隶被捕捉奴隶的人包围。他将逃跑的奴隶乔装打扮一番，成功地躲避了追捕。另外，他后来在加拿大的得累斯顿为逃跑的奴隶建造了一个居民小区，并建了教堂和学校，逃跑的奴隶们在这里能够学到有用的谋生之道。他坚信奴隶制终将被废除，所有奴隶终将获得解放，种族歧视消失的那天一定会到来。
Henson's painful life as a slave strengthened his determination to struggle for freedom. Shortly after he achieved freedom he became a member of an organization that assisted fugitive slaves. He secretly returned to the United States from Canada several times to help others to travel the Underground Railroad to freedom. Once some slave catchers closed in on the escaping slaves and Henson when they were on the run. He disguised them and successfully avoided capture. In addition, later he built a small settlement in Dresden in Canada for escaped slaves, setting up a chapel and a school where they could learn useful ways of making a living. He held to the conviction that slavery would be abolished, all the slaves would be liberated, and the day was bound to come when racial discrimination no longer existed.
在美国每隔15秒钟就有人举报一起入室行窃案。统计数据显示去年窃贼光顾了两百多万户人家。人们实际上几乎无法将蓄意行窃的盗贼拒之门外，所能做的只是设法阻拦他片刻，从而使其暴露在巡警或附近溜达的人们面前。常识告诉我们，光顾是犯罪行为的障碍物。家门口必须安装一盏灯，并在晚间开着。不管你是否相信，有些人，尤其是最晚进家的孩子，晚上进屋后不把门锁上。空心门，即便是锁上了，也易遭贼侵入。因此最好选择实心门或铁门，因为窃贼很难将它们撬开。如果你有意购买报警装置，别忘了索要报警器的标志，并把它们张贴在窗户和门上。最后，提醒一句，外出旅游时，一定要请一位信得过的邻居，在你回来前帮你收好每日的报纸和邮件。这是因为放在门阶上或邮箱里成堆得报纸邮件如同广告一样使大家知道你家里没人。 A burglary is reported every 15 seconds in the United States. Statistics show burglars en-tered more than 2 million homes last year. Actually it is almost impossible to keep a determined burglar out. All you can do is discourage him for a few minutes, thus exposing him to police patrols or those wandering around. Common sense tells us that lighting is a barrier to criminal activity. A light should be fixed in the doorway and switched on at night. Believe it or not, some people, particularly children who happen to be the last to come in, leave their doors on the latch at night. Doors of hollow core, even when locked, are vulnerable to break-ins. Thus doors of solid core or steel are much preferred as they make it difficult for the burglar to pry open. If you decide to buy an alarm device, be sure to ask for its signs and put them up on both windows and doors. Finally, a word of warning—when you travel, make sure that you have a trusted neighbor collect and keep all the deliveries of newspapers and mail until you return. This is because a collection of newspapers and mail on the front doorstep or in your mailbox is an advertisement that no one is home. 第五单元
在感恩节的气氛中，乔治没有跟朋友们一起庆祝节日，却沉浸于阅读他父亲留给他的日记。他的父亲在连续两次完成环球旅行后在海上去世。这份日记使他回忆起自己与父亲一起度过的每一刻以及父亲为他所做的许多具体事情。乔治的父亲过去经常向他强调必须经历各种艰难困苦去追求卓越。他还教导他世界上没有理所当然的东西。即使今天，他依然记得父亲如何引用“懂得感激是高尚者的标志”这句伊索名言来教导他把懂得感激放在最重要的位置。
Amid the atmosphere of Thanksgiving, rather than joining his friends in celebration of the holiday, George was immersed in the diary left to him by his father, who died at sea after he completed two successive trips around the world. The diary brought back every moment George had spent with his father and many of the specific things his father did on his behalf. George's father used to impress on him the need to undergo all kinds of hardship in quest of excellence. He also taught him that nothing in the world could be taken for granted. Even today, George still remembers how his father would quote Aesop's famous saying "Gratitude is the sign of noble souls" and tell him to accord the greatest importance to it.
我们到处都能看到“抢眼”的青年艺术家。他们要么一年四季穿着破旧的牛仔裤；要么大冬天也打赤脚；要么饮酒过度；要么就是抱着创作一部杰作的幻想，实际上并不做任何创作的事。其实，他们中的很多人只不过是为了看上去像名艺术家，或为了其他艺术家“保持一致”才这么做的。他们忘了，只有通过不懈的努力才能获得成功。 Here and there we see young artists who stand out from other people. They may be in worn out jeans all the year round, or walk barefoot / in bare feet even in winter, or drink to excess, or cling to the fancy of creating a masterpiece without actually doing any creative work. In fact, many of them act like this just to look the part, or to be "in tune with" other artists. They have forgotten that only through persistent effort can one achieve success.
第七单元
汤姆生来跛足，有一条腿不管用。他很小的时候起就懂得，除非他努力摆脱自身的局限，他是无力谋生的；而除非他能独立谋生，他就不可能得到他人的尊敬。这是他要赢得做人的尊严必须付出的代价。
汤姆申请过许多工作，都遭到拒绝，最后他找到一份为必胜客送比萨饼的工作。后来他又到一个没有人想去的推销区做一家运动服装公司的销售代表。现在，他在他的家乡拥有一家颇为盈利的零售商店，还雇用了好几个人为他工作，这些人都不拿薪水，只拿佣金。