大学英语周记范文30篇

Passage 13(91)
The First Calendar
Future historians will be in a unique position when they come to record the history of our own times. They will hardly know which facts to select from the great mass of evidence that steadily accumulates. What is more, they will not have to rely solely on the written word. Films, videos, CDs and CD-ROMs are just some of the bewildering amount of information they will have. They will be able, as it were, to see and hear us in action. But the historian attempting to reconstruct the distant past is always faced with a difficult task. He has to deduce what he can from the few scanty clues available.
Up to now, historians have assumed that calendars came into being with the advent of agriculture, for then man was faced with a real need to understand something about the seasons. Recent scientific evidence seems to indicate that this assumption is incorrect.
Historians have long been puzzled by dots, lines and symbols which have been engraved on walls, bones, and the ivory tusks of mammoths. The nomads who made these markings lived by hunting and fishing during the last Ice Age which began about 35,000 B.C. and ended about 10,000 B.C. By correlating markings made in various parts of the world, historians have been able to read this difficult code. They have found that it is connected with the passage of days and the phases of the moon. It is, in fact, a primitive type of calendar. It seems that man was making a real effort to understand the seasons 20,000 years earlier than has been supposed.

Passage 14
How to Ask for a Raise
One of the most intimidating things to do in the business world is to ask for a raise at your current job. Sometimes, the boss just does not pay you enough money. So what do you do about it? There is a way to request a raise, but you had better be careful when doing that.
The best way to make more money within a company is to be in the direct flow of the cash. Companies will want to keep you around if you have some leverage. Being a direct cause of their profits is a great way to gain some leverage.
One mistake that people always seem to make is that they are never sure exactly how much money to ask for. If you are going to ask for a raise, then you should have some figure in mind of how much more you want. If you are successful in meeting with your boss and making your case, then it will look awful if you sit there with a blank stare as he asks you how much you want. Consider a realistic percentage, but be willing to negotiate in discuss. Do some research and figure out exactly  how much folks make in your profession that have had similar experience and success.
Do not ask for a raise based solely upon your personal needs. Instead, concentrate solely on your achievements, merits, and worth concerning the company. By doing this, you will create a professional environment in which you will establish some leverage.

Passage 15
Police and Communities
Few institutions are more important to an urban community than its police, yet there are few subjects historians know so little about. Most of the early academic interests developed among political scientists and sociologists, who usually examined their own contemporary problems with only a nod toward the past. Even the public seemed concerned only during crime waves, periods of blatant corruption, or after a particularly grisly episode. Party regulars and reformers generally viewed the institution from a political perspective; newspapers and magazines — the nineteenth century’s media — emphasized the vivid and spectacular.
Yet urban society has always vested a wide, indeed awesome, responsibility in its police. Not only were they to maintain order, prevent crime, and protect life and property, but historically they were also to fight fires, suppress vice, assist in health services, supervise elections, direct traffic, inspect buildings, and locate truants and runaways. In addition, it was assumed that the police were the special guardians of the citizens’liberties and the community’s tranquility. Of course, the performance never matched expectations. The record contains some success, but mostly failure; some effective leadership, but largely official incompetence and betrayal. The notion of a professional police force in America is a creation of the twentieth century; not until our own time have cities begun to take the steps necessary to produce modern departments.