全国英语等级四级考试精选阅读材料
钢是在烈火和急剧冷却里锻炼出来的，所以才能坚硬和什么也不怕。我们的.一代也是这样的在斗争中和可怕的考验中锻炼出来的，学习了不在生活面前屈服。以下是小编为大家搜索整理的全国英语等级四级考试精选阅读材料，希望能给大家带来帮助!更多精彩内容请及时关注我们应届毕业生考试网!
part 1
Our son Owen was born just as Hurricane Katrina approached the Gulf Coast.
Two days later, as Katrina neared landfall, Owen began suffering seizures; he'd had a stroke.
I didn't follow the catastrophe on the Gulf Coast as closely as I might have,
but those weeks taught me some things about catastrophe and about the kindness of strangers.
All catastrophes are personal.
Some in the Gulf Coast sought survival; some sought to help others.
Some prayed; some prayed upon others.
At the hospital, we watched our son Owen sleep.
Despite the tubes dripping and the monitors beeping, he still slept his baby sleep.
My wife asked for the pastor; I asked for the doctor.
She prayed for him. I held the CAT scan up to the light and searched for answers.
No one can know what you will feel or fear in a time of need,
but I learned that in this, the most difficult time of my life,
the people our family depended upon most were people we had never met,
people who we would likely never see again—strangers.
We depended upon strangers, strangers who knew their duty was to help others.
We depended upon the nurses who cared so well for our son,
who cooed to him and caressed him, who watched me hold him through the night
and never seemed to notice how ugly a man is when he cries.
We depended upon the hostel that gave us a place to stay near the hospital,
upon the members of my union who believe caring for our child's health should not ruin us,
upon the doctors and clerks and ambulance drivers.
We depended upon a commitment made to helping others.
This commitment is a web that holds us together in times of need.
By the time we took Owen home, the worst effects of Katrina were evident.
I watched the images from the Gulf Coast, images of communities,
lives and families whose fabric had been torn apart.
I thought of that web of strangers that had embraced my family in our time of need,
and that it is the most fortunate among us who are served best by it.
I can only hope this web will be strong enough, that it will be spun wide,
that it will hold and care for many,
that we can all depend upon the kindness of strangers.
part 2
I'm 16. The other night while I was busy thinking about important social issues,
like what to do over the weekend, I overheard my parents talking about my future.
My dad was upset—not the usual stuff that he and Mom worry about,
like which college I'm going to, how far away it is from home and how much it's going to cost.
Instead, he was upset about the world his generation is turning over to mine.
He sounded like this: "There will be a pandemic that kills millions,
a devastating energy crisis, a horrible worldwide depression and a nuclear explosion set off in anger."
As I lay on the living room couch, starting to worry about the future my father was describing,
I found myself looking at some old family photos.
There was a picture of my grandfather in his uniform.
He was a member of the war class.
Next to his picture were photos of my great-grandparents.
Seeing those pictures made me feel a lot better.
I believe tomorrow will be better, not worse.
Those pictures helped me understand why.
I considered some of the awful things my grandparents and great-grandparents had seen in their lifetimes:
two world wars, killer flu, a nuclear bomb.
But they saw other things, too, better things:
the end of two world wars, the polio vaccine, passage of the civil rights laws.
I believe that my generation will see better things, too
—that we will witness the time when AIDS is cured and cancer is defeated;
when the Middle East will find peace, and the Cubs win the World Series—probably only once.
I will see things as inconceivable to me today as a moon shot was to my grandfather
when he was 16, or the Internet to my father when he was 16.
Ever since I was a little kid, whenever I've had a lousy day,
my dad would put his arm around me and promise me that "tomorrow will be a better day."
I challenged my father once, "How do you know that?"
He said, "I just do." I believed him.
As I listened to my Dad talking that night,
so worried about what the future holds for me and my generation,
I wanted to put my arm around him, and tell him what he always told me:
"Don't worry Dad, tomorrow will be a better day."
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