適合背誦的英語美文

　　背誦是英語學習的一種重要方法.下面是小編帶來的，歡迎閱讀!

　　1

　　Movie Music

　　Accustomed though we are to speaking of the films made before 1927 as “silent”, the film has never been, in the full sense of the word, silent. From the very beginning, music was regarded as an indispensable accompaniment; when the Lumiere films were shown at the first public film exhibition in the United States in February 1896, they were accompanied by piano improvisations on popular tunes. At first, the music played bore no special relationship to the films; an accompaniment of any kind was sufficient. Within a very short time, however, the incongruity of playing lively music to a solemn film became apparent, and film pianists began to take some care in matching their pieces to the mood of the film.

　　As movie theaters grew in number and importance, a violinist, and perhaps a cellist, would be added to the pianist in certain cases, and in the larger movie theaters small orchestras were formed. For a number of years the selection of music for each film program rested entirely in the hands of the conductor or leader of the orchestra, and very often the principal qualification for holding such a position was not skill or taste so much as the ownership of a large personal library of musical pieces. Since the conductor seldom saw the films until the night before they were to be shown***if indeed, the conductor was lucky enough to see them then***, the musical arrangement was normally improvised in the greatest hurry.

　　To help meet this difficulty, film distributing companies started the practice of publishing suggestions for musical accompaniments. In 1909, for example, the Edison Company began issuing with their films such indications of mood as “pleasant”, “sad”, “lively”. The suggestions became more explicit, and so emerged the musical cue sheet containing indications of mood, the titles of suitable pieces of music, and precise directions to show where one piece led into the next.

　　Certain films had music especially composed for them. The most famous of these early special scores was that composed and arranged for D.W Griffith’s film Birth of a Nation, which was released in 1915.

　　電影插曲

　　儘管我們習慣於將1927年以前的電影稱為"無聲電影"，但是就無聲這個詞完整的意義上來說，電影從未真正的無聲過，從最初開始音樂就被視為必不可少的伴奏。當盧米埃爾的電影在1896年2月美國首屆影片公映展覽上放映的時候，影片便用當時的流行曲臨場鋼琴伴奏。最初，這些音樂伴奏與電影沒有什麼特別的關係，用什麼曲子伴奏都行。但在很短的時間內，為一部莊重的影片演奏快活的音樂所產生的不協調感變得顯而易見，因此鋼琴家們開始注意將自己的作品與影片的情調結合起來。

　　隨著影劇院在數量上與重要性上的不斷增長，在一些場合，除了鋼琴師外，還要加上小提琴師，或許還有一位大提琴師。較大的影劇院裡還組成了小型的管絃樂隊。在很長的時間內，為各部影片選擇配樂完全掌握在樂隊指揮或隊長手中，而通常把持這種職位的資格不是技巧或鑑賞品味，而是擁有一個大的音樂作品的個人收藏。因為直到電影上映的前一天晚上樂隊指揮才能看到影片***如果這個指揮真正有幸能夠看到影片的話***，音樂安排通常是在非常匆忙的情況下臨場進行的。

　　為了解決以上的困難，電影發行公司開辦了為音樂伴奏印製提示單的業務。例如1909年愛迪生公司開始將一些諸如"喜悅的"、"悲傷的"、"活潑的"之類表明影片情調特徵的提示與影片一起發行。這些提示逐漸變得更加具體，並且出現了包括影片情調說明、適用樂曲名稱和樂曲轉換點等內容的配樂說明單。

　　某些影片擁有專門為其創作的音樂。這些早期特創樂譜中最著名的便是為D.W.格雷夫斯1915年上映的影片《一個國家的誕生》所創作的音樂。

　　2

　　Cross-cultural Communication

　　International Business and Cross-cultural Communication

　　The increase in international business and in foreign investment has created a need for executives with knowledge of foreign languages and skills in cross-cultural communication. Americans, however, have not been well trained in either area and, consequently, have not enjoyed the same level of success in negotiation in an international arena as have their foreign counterparts.

　　Negotiating is the process of communicating back and forth for the purpose of reaching an agreement. It involves persuasion and compromise, but in order to participate in either one, the negotiators must understand the ways in which people are persuaded and how compromise is reached within the culture of the negotiation.

　　In many international business negotiations abroad, Americans are perceived as wealthy and impersonal. It often appears to the foreign negotiator that the American represents a large multi-million-dollar corporation that can afford to pay the price without bargaining further. The American negotiator’s role becomes that of an impersonal purveyor of information and cash.

　　In studies of American negotiators abroad, several traits have been identified that may serve to confirm this stereotypical perception, while undermining the negotiator’s position. Two traits in particular that cause cross-cultural misunderstanding are directness and impatience on the part of the American negotiator. Furthermore, American negotiators often insist on realizing short-term goals. Foreign negotiators, on the other hand, may value the relationship established between negotiators and may be willing to invest time in it for long-term benefits. In order to solidify the relationship, they may opt for indirect interactions without regard for the time involved in getting to know the other negotiator.

　　Clearly, perceptions and differences in values affect the outcomes of negotiations and the success of negotiators. For Americans to play a more effective role in international business negotiations, they must put forth more effort to improve cross-cultural understanding.

　　國際商業和跨文化交流

　　國際貿易和海外投資的增加產生了對具有外語知識和跨文化交流技巧的經理的需求。然而，美國人在這兩方面未得到良好的訓練，因此沒有在國際談判中像他們的外國對手一樣成功。

　　談判是為了達成協議而反覆交流的過程。它包括說服和妥協。但是為了去進行說服和妥協，談判者必須懂得在談判的文化中怎樣說服人和怎樣達成妥協。

　　在國外的國際商務談判中，美國人被視為富有和不帶個人情感。在外國談判者看來，似乎美國人代表著一個龐大的擁有數百萬資財的大企業，不用進一步地討價還價就能出得起價錢。美國談判者的角色變成了一個沒有個人感情的資訊及現金的供應者。

　　對在國外的美國談判者的研究中，我們找出了損害談判者能力的幾個特點，或許證實這個已成定式的看法。尤其引起跨文化誤解的兩個特點是美國談判者的直截了當和缺乏耐心。此外，美國談判者經常堅持實現短期目標，而外國的談判者會珍視建立談判者之間的聯絡並願意為長期利益投入時間。為了鞏固這種聯絡，他們會選擇非直接的交流而不計較投入用於瞭解對方的時間。

　　明顯地，價值觀的不同和理解上的差異影響了談判的結果和談判者的成功與否。美國人要在國際商務談判中扮演更為有效的角色，他們就必須投入更多的努力提高跨文化的理解力。

　　3

　　Collectibles

　　Collectibles have been a part of almost every culture since ancient times. Whereas some objects have been collected for their usefulness, others have been selected for their aesthetic beauty alone. In the United States, the kinds of collectibles currently popular range from traditional objects such as stamps, coins, rare books, and art to more recent items of interest like dolls, bottles, baseball cards, and comic books.

　　Interest in collectibles has increased enormously during the past decade, in part because some collectibles have demonstrated their value as investments. Especially during cycles of high inflation, investors try to purchase tangibles that will at least retain their current market values. In general, the most traditional collectibles will be sought because they have preserved their value over the years, there is an organized auction market for them, and they are most easily sold in the event that cash is needed. Some examples of the most stable collectibles are old masters, Chinese ceramics, stamps, coins, rare books, antique jewelry, silver, porcelain, art by well-known artists, autographs, and period furniture. Other items of more recent interest include old photograph records, old magazines, post cards, baseball cards, art glass, dolls, classic cars, old bottles, and comic books. These relatively new kinds of collectibles may actually appreciate faster as short-term investments, but may not hold their value as long-term investments. Once a collectible has had its initial play, it appreciates at a fairly steady rate, supported by an increasing number of enthusiastic collectors competing for the limited supply of collectibles that become increasingly more difficult to locate.

　　收藏品

　　從古代開始，收藏品就是文化的一部分。一些物品因它們的有用性被收藏，而另一些則純粹因為它們的美被收藏。在美國，當今流行的收藏品種類從傳統物件，如郵票、硬幣、珍本書籍、藝術品，到更近期一些的有趣的東西，如布娃娃、瓶子、壘球卡、連環漫畫冊。

　　對收藏品的興趣在過去十年中大大地增長，部分原因是一些收藏品顯示出了它們的投資價值。尤其在高通貨膨脹時期，投資者儘量購買那些至少會保持他們現有市場價值的有形資產。一般來說，最傳統的收藏品受青睞，因為它們多年後仍保持其價值。它們擁有完善的拍賣市場，在需要現金的時候最容易被賣掉。一些最穩當的收藏品是古老的畫作、中國陶器、郵票、硬幣、珍本書籍、古代珠寶、銀器、瓷器、著名藝術家的作品、親筆簽名和有時代特徵的傢俱。其它更近期的物品有舊唱片、舊雜誌、明信片、壘球卡片、彩色玻璃、布娃娃、早期汽車、古瓶和連環畫冊。作為短期投資這些相對說來較新穎的收藏品的確可能更快地增值，但作為長期投資則可能不能保值。一旦一件收藏品有了它第一次交易，它便以一個相當穩定的比率增值，這個增值率受到越來越多的熱情的收藏者的支援，他們為有限的而且越來越難找到的收藏品而競爭。