上外版大学英语写作精选第六册(9)

    What a list！ Something old and something new， something cosmic yet something trivial too， for the creative worrier must forever blend the pedestrian with the immemorial. If the sun burns out， will the Mets be able to play their entire schedule at night？ If cryogenically frozen human beings are ever revived， will they have to re-register to vote？ And if the little toe disappears， will field goals play a smaller part in the National Football League？

    Actually， I've never had a worry as worrisome as the universe-destroying black holes. I mean， the universe is where I do all my worrying， and if it suddenly disappears I may not be able to relocate. My only hope comes from a first principle of worry that I have learned in a lifetime of anxiety； i.e.， some of the biggest problems are half of a self-cancelling pair. A nice example is that dreaded polar ice cap， which some scientists say isn't starting to melt at all but instead will shortly begin to enlarge rapidly， giving birth to a new ice age that soon will cover the entire United States. I worried about this ice layer form last February 9th until about Labor Day， by which time my worry about the price of bottom round had reduced it to the size of a rink. Lately， however， I have turned my mind back to the ice again， and I have been worrying about the fact that you cannot have ice that is growing and melting at the same time. One of these terrors is a dud， and the job of the dedicated worrier is to find out which one it is.

    Applying this principle to the black holes， I wonder if there may not be some white holes in space as well —— pretty， glowing things that won't digest a universe but may prefer to spit it out again. All I need is a new flash from the Institute about one of these， and then perhaps I will be able to start worrying about chinch bugs and the male menopause and all the other gentle terrors my grandfather could endorse.

    Is that the right way to spell "chinch bugs"？

    Phrases & Expressions

    suck up draw liquids etc. up a tube by making a vacuum at its upper end

    but then but on the other hand； but at the same time

    at hand coming soon； almost here； nearby

    turn back cause to go back

    look up to admire； regard with respect

    get through be successful in； manage to do， complete， etc.

    drop dead die suddenly

    make room for provide space for

    run out of finish； exhaust

    ease off do with less severity or intensity； become less severe

    burn out use up its fuel

    play a part do a share； have an effect on

    Proper Names Ralph Schoenstein拉尔夫。舍恩斯坦

    Vogue《时尚》半月刊

    Atlantic， the大西洋

    Saskatchewan萨斯喀彻温

    Brazil巴西

    Central America中美洲

    Panama巴拿马

    Boston波士顿

    Mel Ott梅尔。奥特

    Eleanor Roosevelt埃莉诺。罗斯福

    Gunnar Myrdal冈纳尔。迈达尔

    Bloomingdale布卢明代尔百货公司

    Connecticut康涅狄克州

    National Football League全国橄榄球联赛