导语：选修是新课程标准改革中的一个名词，是课程结构调整中的一种课程类型。接下来我们一起来看看选修6英语课文及翻译吧！
Unit 1 A SHORT HISTORY OF WESTERN PAINTING 西方绘画艺术的历史
Art is influenced by the customs and of a people. Styles in Western art have changed many times. As there are so many different styles of Western art, it would be impossible to describe all of them in such a short text. Consequently, this text will describe only the most important ones. Starting from the sixth century AD. The Middle Ages(5th to the 15th century AD)
During the Middle Ages, the main aim of painters was to represent religious themes. A conventional artistof this period was not interested in showing nature and people as they really were. A typical picture at this time was full of religious symbols, which created a feeling of respect and love for God. But it was evident that ideas were changing in the 13th century when painters like Giotto di Bondone began to paint religious scenes in a more realistic way.
The Renaissance(15th to 16th century)
During the Renaissance, new ideas and values gradually replaced those held in the Middle Ages. People began to concentrate less on religious themes and adopt a more humanistic attitude to life.At the same time painters returned to classical Roman and Greek ideas about art. They tried to paint people and nature as they really were. Rich people wanted to possess their own paintings, so they coule decorate their superb palaces and great houses. They paid famous artists to paint pictures of themselves, their houses and possessions as well as their activities and achievements.
One of the most important discoveries during this period was how to draw things in perspective. This technique was first used by Masaccio in 1428. When people first saw his paintings, they were convinced that they were looking through a hole in a wall at a real scene. If the rules of perspective had not been discovered, no one would have been able to paint such realistic pictures. By coincidence,oil paints were also developed at this time, which made the colours used in paintings look richer and deeper. Without the new paints and the new technique, we would not be able to see the many great masterpieces for which this period is famous. Impressionism(late 19h to early 20th century)
In the late 19th century, Europe changed a great deal,from a mostly agricultural society to a mostly industrial one. Many people moved from the countryside to the new cities. There were many new inventions and social changes also led to new painting styles.
Among the painters who broke away from the traditional style of painting were the Impressionists, who lived and worke in Paris. The Impressionists were the first painters to work outdoors. They were eager to show how light and shadow fell on objects at different times of day. However, because natural light changes so quickly, the Impressionists had to paint quickly. Their paintings were not as detailed as those of earlier painters. At first, many people disliked this style of painting and became very angry about it. They said that the painters were careless and their paintings were ridiculous.
Modern Art(29th century to today)
At the time they were created, the Impressionist paintings were controversial, but today they are accepeted as the beginning of what we call “modern art”. This is because the Impressionists encouraged artists to look at their environment in new ways. There are scores of modern art styles,but without the Impressionists, many of these painting styles might not exsist. On the one hand, some modern art is abstract; that is, the painter does not attempt to paint objects as we see them with our eyes, but instead concentrates n certain qualities of the object, using colour, line and shape to represent them. On the other hand, some paintings of modern art are so realistic that they look like photographs. These styles are so different. Who can predict what painting styles there will be in the future?
西方的艺术风格经历了多次变革，而中国艺术所经历的变革则比较少。艺术受到人民生活方式和信仰的影响，而中国，和欧洲不同，它的生活方式在很长时期里都是相近的。西方艺术风格多种多样，在短短的一篇课文里不可能进行全面的描述。因此，本文只谈从公元5世纪以来少数几种主要的艺术风格。
中世纪（公元5世纪到15世纪）
在中世纪，画家的主要任务是把宗教的主题表现出来。艺术家们无意于如实地展现自然和人物，却着意体现对上帝的爱戴与敬重，因此，这段时期的绘画充满着宗教的信条。到13世纪时，情况已经开始发生变化，像乔托这样的画家们开始以一种比较现实的风格来画宗教场景。
文艺复兴时期（15世纪到16世纪）
在文艺复兴时期，新的思想和价值观取代了中世纪的思想和价值观。人们开始更多地关注人而非宗教。画家们回到了罗马、希腊的古典艺术理念上。他们力争如实地画出人物和自然。富人们想为自己的宫殿和豪宅收集艺术品，他们高价聘请著名艺术家来为自己画相，画自己的房屋和其它财物，以及他们的活动和成就。
在此期间，最重要的发现之一就是如何用透视法来画出事物。第一个在绘画中使用透视法的人是马萨乔，那是在1428年。当人们第一次看到他的画时，还以为是透过墙上的小洞来观看真实的场景，并对此深信不疑。如果没有发现透视法，人们就不可能画出如此逼真的画。在文艺复兴对期，油画也得到了发展，它使得色彩看上去更丰富、更深沉。
印象派时期（19世纪后期到20世纪初期）
19世纪后期，欧洲发生了巨大的变化，从以农业为主的社会变成了以工业为主的社会。许多人从农村迁入到新城市。有着许多新发明，还有许多社会变革。这些变革也自然而然地导致了绘画风格上的变化。在那些突破传统画法的画家中有生活和工作在法国巴黎的印象派画家。
印象派画家是第一批室外写景的艺术家。他们想把一天中不同时间投射到物体上的光线和阴影呈现出来。由于自然光的变化很快，所以印象派画家们必须很快地作画，因此，他们的画就不像以前那些画家的画那样细致了。起初，多数人都讨厌这种新式画法，甚至还怒不可遏。他们说这些画家作画时漫不经心、粗枝大叶，而他们的作品更是荒谬可笑。
现代艺术（加世纪至今）
在印象派作品的创建初期，它们是存在着争议的，但是如今已被人们接受而成为现在所说的"现代艺术"的始祖了。如今，现代艺术风格已经有好几十种，然而如果没有印象派，那么这许多不同的风格就不可能存在。印象派画家帮助艺术家甩新的方渙来观察环境与艺术。有些现代艺术養砷象的，《祖就是说,；画家并不打算把我们眼睛看到的东西如实地画出来，而是集中展现物体的某些品质特性，用色彩、线条和形状把它们呈现出来。而另一方面，有些现代派的艺术作品却是太现实了，它看上去就像是一张照片。预言将来绘画艺术的风格倒是饶有兴趣的一件事。
Unit 3 Healthy Life 健康的生活
It is a beautiful day here and I am sitting under the big tree at the end of the garden. I have just returned from a long bike ride to an old castle. It seems amazing that at my age I am still fit enough to cycle 20 kilometres in an afternoon.Its my birthday in two weeks time and I ll be82years old! I think my long and active life must bedue to the healthy life I live.
This brings me to the real reason for my letter, my dear grandson. Your mother tells me that you started smoking some time ago and how you are finding it difficult to give it up. Believe me, I know how easy it is to begin smoking and how tough it is to stop. You see, during adolescence I also smoked and became addicted to cigarettes.
By the way, did you know that this is because you become addicated in three different ways. First, you can become physically addicated to nicotine, which is one of the hundreds of chemicals in cigarettes. This means that after a while your body becomes accustomed to having nicotine in it. So when the drug leaves our body, you get withdrawal symptoms. I remember feeling bad-tempered and sometimes even in pain. Secondly, you become addicted through habit. As you know, if you do the same thing over and over again, you begin to do it automatically.Lastly, you can become mentally addicted. I believed I was happier and more relaxed after having a cigarette, so I began to that I could only feel good when I smoked. I was addicted in all three ways, so it was very difficult to quit. But I did finally manage.
When I was young, I didnt know much about the harmful effects of smoking. I didnt know, for example, that it could do terrible damage to your heart and lungs or that it was more difficult for smoking couples to become pregnant. I certainly didnt know their babies may have a smaller birth weight or even be abnormal in some way. Neither did I know that my cigarette smoke could affect the health of non-smokers. However, what I did know was that my girlfriend thought I smelt terrible. She said my breath and clothes smelt, and that the ends of my fingers were turning yellow. She told me that she wouldnt go out with me again unless I stopped! I also noticed that I became breathless quickly, and that I wasnt enjoying sport as much. When I was taken off the school football team because I was unfit, I knew it was time t quit smoking. I am sending you some advice I found on the Internet It might help you to stop and strengthen your resolve. I do hope so because I want you to live as long and healthy a life as I have.
Love from
Grandad
亲爱的詹姆士：
今天这儿的天气很好。现在我正坐在花园尽头的那棵大树底下昵。我刚刚才回来，骑自行车跑了很长一段路，一直到了古城堡。感到惊奇吧，像我这样的年纪，身体健康而且能在一个下午骑车跑20公里。再过两个礼拜就是我82岁的生日了！我想我之所以长寿而且精力充沛，要归功于我的健康生活。
这就是我写信给你的真正原因，我亲爱的孙子。你妈妈告诉我，你已经开始吸烟了，而且还很难把它戒掉。相信我吧，我知道，吸烟容易戒烟难。你知道，当我还是一个十几岁的'孩子的时候，.我也吸过烟，而且还上了瘾。这儿我想顺便问你一个问题，你知道上癮有三个方面的原因吗？
你会在身体上对尼古丁有瘾，它是香烟里几百种化学物质之一。这就是说，过了一段时间以后，你的身体习惯了香烟里的尼古丁，一旦你的体内没有这种麻醉剂了，你就会感到不适、烦燥、甚至痛苦。你也可能因为习惯的原因而上瘾。你知道，如果你反反复复地傲同一件事情，你就会自动地做它。最后，上瘾还有心理上的原因。有的人认为，抽了一支烟后，他就会感到轻松愉快，于是就以为抽烟才能使感觉良好。我想我之所以上瘾是有着这三个方面的原因的，因此，要戒烟就很难。但是我终于还是戒掉了。
在我年轻的时候，关于吸烟的危害性我知道得并不多，当时，我不知道抽烟能严重侵害人的心脏和肺部，也不知道吸烟的夫妇生育能力会下降。我更不知道，我自己吸烟还会损害那些不吸烟人的健康。然而我的的确确知道，我的女朋友觉得我的烟味很难闻。：她说载的呼吸我的衣服都有味道，我的手指头都变黄了。她说在我把烟戒掉之前她是不会同我一起外出的。我也笨现我跑得不如以前那么快，也不像以前那样爱好运动了。而当我因为动作慢而被^足球队除名之后，我^知道该是我戒烟的时候了。
我把我从网上找到的一些忠告寄给你，也许对你戒烟会有所帮助。我的确希望你把它戒掉，因为我希望你能像我这样活得健康长寿。
爱你的爷爷
Unit 4 THE EARTH IS BECOMIG WARMER-BUT DOES IT MATTER? 全球在变暖会带来什么影响吗？
During the 20th century the temperature of the earth rose about one degree Fahrenheit. That probably does not seem much to you or me, but it is a rapid increase when compared to other natural changes. So how has this come about and does it matter? Earth cares Sophie Armstrong explores these questions. There is no doubt that the earth is becoming warmer(see Graph 1) and that it is human activity that has caused this global warmig rather than a random but natural phenomenon.
All scientists subscribe to the view that the increase in the earths temperature is due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and oil to produce energy. Some byproducts of this process are called “greenhouse” gases, the most important one of which is carbon dioxide. Dr Janice Foster explains: “There is a natural phenomenon that scientists call the “greenhouse effect”.This is when small amounts of gases in the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour, trap heat from the sun and therefore warm the earth. Without thegreenhouse effect the earth would be about thirty-three degrees Celsciu cooler than it is. So, we need those gases. The problem begins when we add huge quantities of extra carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It means that more heat energy tends to be trapped in the atmosphere causing the global temperature to go up.
We know that the levels of carbon dioxide have increased greatly over the last 100 to 150 years. It was a scientist called Charles Keeling, who made accurate measurements of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from 1957 to 1997. He found that between these years the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere went up from around 315 parts to around 370 parts per million(see Graph 2) All scientists accept this data. They also agree that it is the burning of more and more fossil fuels that has resulted in this increase in carbon dioxide. So how high will the temperature increase go? Dr Janice Foster says that over the next 100 years the amount of warming could be as low as 1 to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but it could be as high as 5 degrees.
However, the attitude of scientists towards this rise in completely different. On the one hand, Dr Foster thinks that the trend which increases the temperature by 5 degrees would be a catastrophe. She says, “ We cant predict the climate well enough to know what to expect, but it could be very serious.” Others who agree with her think there may be a rise of several metres in the sea level, or predict severe storms, floods, droughts, famines, the spread of diseases and the disappearance of species. On the other hand, there are those, like George Hambley, who are opposed to this view, believe that we should not worry about high levels of carbon dioxide in the air. They predict that any warming will be mild with few bad environmental consequences. In fact, Hambley states, “More carbon dioxide is actually a positive thing. It will make plants grow quicker; crops will produce more; it will encourage a greater range of animals-all of which will make life for human beings better.”
Greenhouse gases continue to build up in the atmosphere. Even if we start reducing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, the climate is going to keep on warming for decades or centuries. No one knows the effects of global warming. Does that mean we should do nothing? Or, are the risks too great?
在20世纪期间，地球温度大约升了华氏1度。这个数值对你我来说很可能是无所谓的，但是跟多数自然变化相比较而言，这却是一种快速的增长。这种温度的增长是怎么产生的呢？会产生什么影响呢?"关爱地球"组织的阿姆斯特朗就在探究这些问题。
毫无疑问，地球是在变暖（见表一:略)。但是全球变暖的原因是人为的昵，或者仅仅是一种自然现象呢？对于这个问题存在着激烈的争辩。
许多科学家认为，人们为了生产能量而燃烧化石燃料〖如煤、天然气和石油等），从而引起了地球温度的升高。这个升温过程的副产品就叫做"温室"气体，其中最重要的就是二氧化碳。福斯特博士解释说："你知道，有一种科学家称之为‘温室效应’的自然现象。这种现象发生在大气层中少量的气体（如二氧化碳、甲烷、水蒸汽等）吸收太阳的热量，因而使地球变暖的时候。如果没有这种温室效应，地球的温度将比现在的温度还要低33摄氏度左右。因此，我们需要这些气体。而当我们因为烧化石燃料而使大—层中增加了大量额外的二氧化碳时，问题就来了。二氧化碳含量的增加意味着更多的热量被困在大气层中，从而引起全球温度上升。"
我们知道，在过去100—150年期间，二氧化碳的含量急剧增加了。有一位名叫査尔斯奎林的科学家曾经把1957—1997年期间大气层中二氧化碳的含量作了精确的统计。他发现，在这些年里，大气层中的二氧化碳含量从百万分之315上升到百万分之370。（见表二，略）所有科学家都接受这个数据。他们还认为，正是由于燃烧的化石燃料越来越多而导致了二氧化碳的增加。然而，科学家们在对待这个问题的态度上却是大不相同的。福斯特博士说，在今后的100年里，全球变暖的量可能低到1—1.5摄氏度，但是也有可能高达5摄氏度。"我荽说，气温升高五度可能是一场大灾难。对于未来的气候，我们不可能作出精确的预测，但是那时的天气可能是很糟糕的。"多么糟糕呢？有人认为，全球变暖会导致海平面上升好几米,也有人预言会出现严重的风暴、干旱、饥荒、疫病和物种的绝灭。
在另一方面，还有一些人，像科学家乔治，汉布利，他们认为我们不必担心空气中会有高含量的二氧化碳。他们还认为，科学家对全球变暖的关注只不过是一种推测罢了。他预言说，变暖的情况不会很严重，対环境的影响也不会太坏。他实际上是这样说的："二氧化碳含量的增加实际上是件好事，它使植物成长更快，庄稼产量更高，还会促进动物的生长——所有这些都能改善人类的生活。"
温室气体继续在大气层中聚集。即使我们开始减少二氧化碳及其它温室气体的含量，在未来几十年或几个世纪内，气候仍会持续升温。没有人知道全球变暖会带来什么样的影响。这是不是意味着我们就不必采取任何措施昵？还是说，这样不采取任何措施危险性会很大呢？
Unit 5 AN EXCITING JOB一项具有剌激性的工作
I have the greatest job in the world. I travel to unusual places and work alongside people from all over the world. Sometimes working outdoors, sometimes in an office, sometimes using scientific equipment and sometimes meeting local people and tourists, I am never bored. Although my job is occasionally dangerous, I dont mind because danger excites me and makes me feel alive. However, the most important thing about my job is that I help protect ordinary people from one of the most powerful forces n earth-the volcano.
I was appointed as volcanologist information for a database about Mount Kilauea, which is one of the most active volcanoes in Hawaii. Having collected and evaluated the information, I help other scientists to predict where lava from the volcano will flow next and how fast. Our work has saved man lives because people in the path of the lava can be warned to leave their houses. Unfortunately, we cannot move their homes out of the way, and many houses have been covered with lava or burned to the ground.
我的工作是世界上最伟大的工作。我胞的地方是稀罕奇特的地方，我见到的人是世界各地饶有趣味的人。有时在室外工作，有时在办公室里，有时工作中要用科学仪器，有时要会见当地百姓和旅游人去。但是我从来不感到工作烦人。虽然我的工作偶尔也有危险，但是我并不在乎，因为危险能激励我，使我感到有活力。然而，最重要的是，通过我的工作能保护人民免遭火山的威胁一这是世界上最大的自然威力之一。
我是一名火山学家，在夏威夷火山观测站（HVO)工作。我的主要任务是收集有关基拉韦厄山的信息，这是夏威夷最活跃的火山之一。收集和评估了这些信息之后，我就帮助其他科学家一起预测下次火山熔岩将往何处流去，流速是多少。我们的工作拯救了许多人的生命，因为熔岩要流经之地，老百姓都可以得到离开家园的通知。遗憾的是，我们不可能把他们的家搬离岩浆流过的地方，因此，许多房屋被熔岩淹没，或者焚烧殆尽。
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