新視野大學英語讀寫教程第一冊unit10-a Being Honest and Open

Unit 10

Section A

Pre-reading Activities

First Listening
Having ideas about a story before you read it is an important reading skill. Please listen to a very short piece of recording.

Second Listening
Now listen to the recording for the second time and try to the best of your ability to answer the following questions.
1. What must you have in order to be honest?
2. What are the three principles that constitute honesty?
3. What two qualities help make relationships stronger?

Being Honest and Open

My grandparents believed that you were either honest or you were not. There was no middle point. They had a simple saying hanging on their living-room wall: "Life is like a field of newly fallen snow. Where I choose to walk every step will show." They didn't have to talk about it; they demonstrated this truth by their life style.
They understood instinctively that integrity involves having a personal standard of morality and boundaries that does not sell out to convenience and that is not relative to the situation at hand. Integrity is an inner compass for judging your behavior.
Unfortunately, integrity is in short supply today — and getting scarcer. But it is the real bottom line in every area of society and a discipline we must demand of ourselves. A good test for this value is to apply what I call the "Integrity Triangle", which consists of three key principles:
Stand firmly for your convictions when confronted with personal pressure. There's a story told about a surgical nurse's assistance during her first day on the medical team at a well-known hospital. She was responsible for ensuring that all surgical instruments and materials were accounted for during an operation. The nurse said to the surgeon, "You've only removed 11 sponges, and we used 12. We need to find the last one."
"I removed them all," the surgeon assured her. "We'll close now."
"You can’t do that, sir," protested the nurse. "Think of the patient."
Smiling, the surgeon lifted his foot and showed the nurse the twelfth sponge. "You'll do just fine in this or any other hospital," he assured her.
When you know you're right, you can't concede.
Always give others credit that is rightfully theirs. Don’t be afraid of those who might have a better idea or who might even be more intelligent than you are.
David Ogilvy, founder of the advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather, clarified this point to his newly appointed office heads by sending each of them a Russian nesting doll with five progressively smaller figures inside.
His message was contained in the smallest doll: "If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, Ogilvy & Mather will become a company of giants." And that is precisely what O & M became — one of the largest and most respected advertising organizations in the world.
Be honest and open about who you really are. People who lack genuine core values rely on external factors — their looks or status — in order to feel good about themselves. Inevitably they will do everything they can to preserve this false mask, but they will do very little to enhance their inner value and personal growth.
So be yourself. Don't engage in a personal cover-up of areas that are unpleasing in your life. "Tough times never last but tough people do," as Robert Schuller says. In other words, face reality and be mature in your responses to life’s challenges.
Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others. Integrity means you do what you do because it's right and not just fashionable or politically correct. A life of principle, of not yielding to the tempting attractions of an easy morality, will always win the day. It will take you forward into the twenty-first century without having to check your tracks in a rear-view mirror. My grandparents taught me that.

Words: 596
NEW WORDS

living-room
n. a main room for general use in a house 客廳

demonstrate
vt. show clearly 演示；證明
vi. take part in a march or meeting to protest or to make demands 參加游行；示威

▲integrity
n. honesty 誠實；正直

▲morality
n. 1. moral values; right or wrong 道德
2. quality; goodness 德行

boundary
n. 1. (figurative) limit 界限；局限
2. dividing line 分界線

convenience
n. 1. comfort 舒適；便利
2. usefulness 有用；方便

inner
a. 1. unexpressed; secret 內(nèi)心的；未表達出來的
2. inside 內(nèi)在的；內(nèi)部的

compass
n. 1. an instrument for showing direction, with a needle that points to the north 指南針
2. an instrument for drawing circles 圓規(guī)

scarce
a. not much or many compared with what is wanted; hard to find 稀少

apply
v. 1. give or have an effect; use for a purpose（使）產(chǎn)生作用，適用于；運用
2. request officially 申請
3. cause to work hard; devote 致力于

triangle
n. a figure or shape with 3 straight sides and 3 corners 三角（形）

consist
vi. (of) be made up of 由……組成

assistance
n. [U](formal) help or support 幫助，援助

ensure
vt. 1. make sure or certain 確保，擔保
2. make sure of getting; secure 保證得到

▲surgeon
n. a doctor who does surgery 外科醫(yī)生

▲sponge
n. a simple sea animal with a rubber-like body; a piece of plastic or rubber material full of holes used for washing, cleaning, etc. 海綿

assure
vt. 1. tell positively or confidently 鄭重告知
2. make (oneself) sure or certain; convince 使確信

protest
v. 1. make complaint; object 反對；抗議
2. declare seriously 宣稱；聲明
n. 1. a statement that denies or objects 抗議
2. a serious statement 宣稱；聲明

concede
v. 1. yield 讓步
2. admit as true, often unwillingly 承認

intelligent
a. clever 聰明

clarify
vt. make clear; explain 弄清楚；解釋

appoint
vt. choose (someone) for a job, a position, etc. 任命

nest
vi. build or use as a nest 筑巢
n. a depressed place built or found by a bird for a home and a place to hold its eggs 巢

doll
n. a small figure of a person, especially for a child to play with 洋娃娃

progressive
a. 1. moving forward continuously or by stages 連續(xù)的；一步一步的
2. improving or changing according to new ideas 不斷改善的

progressively
ad. in a way of going from one to the next; step by step in sequence; bit by bit 逐步；逐漸

▲dwarf
n. a person of much less than usual size 侏儒
vt. cause to appear small by comparison（由于對比）使顯得矮小

giant
n. 1. a person who is much bigger than usual 巨人
2. (figurative) a person of great ability 偉人
a. unusually large or important 巨大的；重要的
genuine
a. real; true 真實的

core
n. 1. (figurative) the central or most important part 中心或重要部分
2. the hard, central part, containing the seeds, of fruits like apples and pears 核

rely
vi. (on) trust; have confidence in 依靠；依賴

external
a. 1. (figurative) easily seen but not essential; on the surface 外在的；表面的
2. outside 外部的；外面的

inevitable
a. which cannot be prevented from happening 不可避免的

inevitably
ad. unavoidably; certainly 不可避免地

preserve
vt. 1. keep; protect 保持；保護
2. store 儲存

mask
n. a covering for the face to hide or protect it 面具；面罩
vt. 1. put a mask over 戴面具
2. hide 掩蓋

tough
a. 1. hard; difficult 很難的
2. strong 結(jié)實的；有力的

conscience
n. the sense of right and wrong 良心；良知

component
n. a necessary or essential part 成分；部件

basis
n. (pl. bases) 1. foundation 基礎(chǔ)
2. the main part; base 主體；基地

▲enrich
vt. 1. improve 改善；改進
2. make rich or richer 使豐富

relationship
n. 1. friendship or connection between people 親屬關(guān)系；友好關(guān)系
2. connection 關(guān)系；聯(lián)系

fashionable
a. popular; following the fashion 時髦的；時尚的

yield
v. 1. give up; quit 屈服；放棄
2. produce 出產(chǎn)；生產(chǎn)

tempt
vt. draw in; invite 誘惑

attraction
n. 1. (figurative) drawing power; pull 魅力
2. a thing that delights or attracts people 吸引人的東西

rear
a. at the back; in the back 后面的
n. the back part; back 后面；背后

rear-view
n. a sight of what is behind 后視

mirror
n. a piece of glass in which one can see oneself 鏡子
vt. show; reflect 折射
PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONS

middle point
(figurative) a position which is between two very different ones 中間道路；折中

sell out (to)
let down one's cause or one's side (to sb.) 背叛事業(yè)或立場

at hand
1. near in time or place 即將到來；近在手邊
2. being considered 在考慮之中

in short supply
not enough; not quite available 缺貨；短缺

the bottom line
the most important factor; the main or essential point 重要因素；關(guān)鍵的東西

demand of
expect (sth.) from (sb. or sth.) 期待；要求

consist of
be made up of 由……組成

stand for
1. hold (an opinion); mean or believe (sth. such as a principle) 主張；相信
2. accept or bear (sth. bad); bear with 承受；忍受
3. represent 代表

account for
1. give a statement about sth. (esp. money) 對（錢等）東西做交代
2. be or give a reason for (sth. or doing sth.) 說明（原因）；解釋（原因）
think of
1. take into account; have... in one's mind 考慮；為……設(shè)想
2. have thoughts concerning (sb. or sth.) 回想，想起
3. imagine (sth. or doing sth.) 想像

do fine
do a good job 干得很好

give (the) credit
give (sb.) praise (for sth.) 贊揚

rely on/upon
depend on/upon 依賴；依靠

feel good
feel happy, confident, pleased with oneself 感覺好

engage in
1. (cause to) take part in or work at (sth.); make (oneself) busy in (sth. or doing sth.) 參與
2. cause (sb. or sth.) to be concerned in (sth.)（使）關(guān)心

in other words
that is (to say); put a different way; differently expressed 換言之

win the day
(also carry/gain the day) win in a competition, etc.; be successful 贏；成功
PROPER NAMES

David Ogilvy
大衛(wèi)·奧格爾維（人名）

Ogilvy & Mather
奧美廣告公司

Russia
俄國（地名）

Russian
a. 1. 俄國的；俄羅斯的
2. 俄國人的；俄羅斯人的
3. 俄語的
n. 1. 俄國人；俄羅斯人
2. 俄語

Robert Schuller
羅伯特·舒勒（人名）