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Text 1 The beauty and the yak
Information related to the text
Snowman: humanlike creature so named because it is
associated with the perpetual snow region of the Himalayas. A figure unknown
except through tracks ascribed to it and through alleged encounters, it is
described as being 6 to 8 ft (1.8 to 2.4 m) tall and covered with long, dark
hair. Attempts after the 1950s to verify the authenticity of its tracks (notably
by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1960) have yielded no conclusive results. Most scholars
dismiss the existence of the creature. A somewhat similarly described creature
of W North America is known as Bigfoot or Sasquatch.
Language notes
1)
These peaks
all straddle the boundary between Nepal and China or Nepal and India.
（所有这些险峻的峰峦都座落在尼中或尼印边界上。）
This part means that these
peaks are located on both sides of the border between Nepal
and China or Nepal and India.
2)
A wooden
stairway, equipped with the luxury of a handrail, led upstairs.
（一段楼梯已经磨损，溜滑的木质楼梯直通楼上，楼梯居然还装有扶手。）
This sentence can be paraphrased
as though very simple and crude, the stairway unexpectedly
had a handrail that seemed not well matched with the crudeness
of it.
3)
And then, no doubt, breaking every rule of Sharpa etiquette....
（接着，我无疑打破了夏巴人礼节上的一切清规戒律……）
Etiquette means
customs. This part means: and then, doubtlessly, acting against
the customs of Sharpa tribe......
4) That night
sleep confused me.
（那天晚上我难以成眠。）
The sentence means that night, I didn't
sleep well.
5)
At this moment
my flashlight went completely dead, and neither shaking or cajoling could revive
it.
（就在这时，我的手电筒灭了。无论我如何摆弄，就是不亮。）
To cajole means
to coax or persuade someone to do something.
To revive it means
to make it light up again.
6)
On the fourth
step down I slipped, fell, and was just barely able, with my right hand, to
check my slide.
（刚走下4级，我就滑了一跤，幸而右手抓着扶手才算没滑下楼去。）
To check my slide means
to prevent me from sliding further down.
e.g. The government is
determined to check the growth of public spending.
7)
Then my flashlight banged against a step and, miraculously, the light sprang
back to life.
（手电筒在楼梯上碰了一下，这时竟突然奇迹般地亮了。）
The light sprang back
to life means the flashlight suddenly lit up again.
8)
My budget was
tight, yet I handed him a $20 bill.
（我手头并不宽裕，但我还是给了他一张20美元的钞票。）
This sentence means that
although I haven't got much extra money apart from the money
I planned to spend during the trip, I handed him a $20 bill.
9)
Then my trek
mates and our crew came, and soon a boiled potato gathering was in full swing.
（旅伴们和随行的人们随后也都到了，不久人们又聚集在一起，热热闹闹地煮土豆吃。）
In full swing means
fully active.
e.g. The party was in full
swing when he arrived.
Text 2 A New Future
for Dorah
Information related to the text
1)
South Africa
It is
a country blessed with an abundance of natural resources including
fertile farmlands and unique mineral resources. South African
mines are world leaders in the production of diamonds and
gold as well as strategic metals such as platinum. The climate
is mild, reportedly resembling the San Francisco bay area
weather more than anywhere in the world.
2)
Apartheid in Africa
Racial segregation and the supremacy of whites
had been traditionally accepted in South Africa prior to 1948,
but in the general election of that year, Daniel F. Malan
officially included the policy of apartheid in the Afrikaner
Nationalist party platform, bringing his party to power for
the first time. Although most whites acquiesced in the policy,
there was bitter and sometimes bloody strife over the degree
and stringency of its implementation.
The
purpose of apartheid was separation of the races: not only
of whites from nonwhites, but also of nonwhites from each
other, and, among the Africans (called Bantu in South Africa),
of one group from another. In addition to the Africans, who
constitute about 75% of the total population, those regarded
as nonwhites include those people known in the country as Coloured
(people of mixed black, Malayan, and white descent) and Asian
(mainly of Indian ancestry) populations.
Under
the prime ministership of Hendrik Verwoerd apartheid developed
into a policy known as "separate development," whereby
each of the nine African (Bantu) groups was to become a nation
with its own homeland, or Bantustan. An area totaling about
14% of the country's land was set aside for these homelands,
the remainder, including the major mineral areas and the cities,
being reserved for the whites.
In
1962 the South African government established the first of
the Bantustans, the Transkei, as the homeland of the Xhosa
people, and granted it limited self-government in 1963, later
becoming "independent." Bophuthatswana, Ciskei,
and Venda were also granted "independence," but
no nation other than South Africa recognized them. Lebowa,
Kangwane, Gazankulu, Qwaqwa, KwaZulu, and KwaNdebele were
declared “self-governing” in the 1970s.
None
of the reserves were viable nations; they were made up of
broken tracts of poor-quality land, riddled with erosion and
incapable of supporting their large designated populations.
With no industry, opportunities for employment were few. Urban
wage earners attempted to contribute to the support of their
families in the reserves, but the level of black wages was
so low that this was barely feasible. In 1994 the Bantustans
were abolished and the territories were reabsorbed into the
nation of South Africa.
Despite
public demonstrations, UN resolutions, and opposition from
international religious societies, apartheid was applied with
increased rigor in the 1960s. In 1961 South Africa withdrew
from the Commonwealth of Nations rather than yield to pressure
over its racial policies, and in the same year the three South
African denominations of the Dutch Reformed Church left the
World Council of Churches rather than abandon apartheid. Although
the policy of apartheid was continued under Prime Minister
John Vorster there was some relaxation of its pettier aspects,
and this accelerated under his successor, P. W. Botha.
Probably
the most forceful pressures, both internal and external, eroding
the barriers of apartheid were economic. International sanctions
severely affected the South African economy, raising the cost
of necessities, cutting investment, even forcing many American
corporations to disinvest, for example, or, under the Sullivan
Rules, to employ without discrimination. In addition, the
severe shortage of skilled labor led to lifting limits on
African wages, and granting Africans the right to strike and
organize unions. Unions, churches, and students organized
protests throughout the 1970s and 80s. Moreover, political,
economic, and military pressures were exerted by the independent
countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
As
a result of these pressures, many lesser apartheid laws -
such as those banning interracial marriage and segregating
facilities - were repealed or fell into disuse by 1990. In
1991 President de de Klerk Klerk obtained
the repeal of the remaining apartheid laws and called for
the drafting of a new constitution. In 1993 a multiracial,
multiparty transitional government was approved, and fully
free elections were held in 1994, which gave majority representation
to the African National Congress.
Language notes
1)
At the end of 1997 doctors in South Africa recommended that her eyes should be
removed to prevent infection.
（1997年岁末,南非的医生建议割除她的双眼以防止感染。）
Note
in this sentence recommend is followed by a sentence
in the subjunctive mood, and should can be omitted.
e.g.
His wife recommended that he resign.
2)
It has also raised £76 000 in donations - people wrote from as far afield
as Australia and New York.
（由此我们筹措了76000镑的捐款——连远在澳大利亚和纽约的读者也给我们来过信。）
Raise
here means manage to obtain.
e.g.
They are raising funds for charity.
3)
Margaret was raised mainly by her frail grandmother....
（玛格丽特主要是由祖母抚养大的......）
Raise
in this case means to bring up.
4)
She has no positive role models to encourage her to do so.
（她也没有可以仿效的正面榜样鼓励她这么做。）
Positive
here means tending toward improvement.
e.g.
Positive progress has been achieved during the negotiations.
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