利用英语经典美文开展阅读教学,是培养学生阅读能力的有效形式。下面是小编带来的关于优秀四级英文美文阅读，欢迎阅读!

关于优秀四级英文美文阅读篇一

Out of the Office Closet

站出来，承认自己是同性恋

If you're gay or lesbian and you're closeted at your office, you're not alone. Despite major strides in acceptance over the last 15 years, many still struggle with the decision to come out at work.

如果你是个同性恋，又在办公室掩饰自己性取向的话，那你并不是孤单的。尽管过去15年社会对同性恋的态度有了巨大进步，但很多人仍然对是否在办公重“出柜”犹豫不决。

A recent Harris poll conducted with Out & Equal and Witeck-Combs Communications indicated that 44% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender(LGBT) participants feel unable to talk freely to co-workers about their partners, and up to 78% don't feel comfortable bringing their partners to corporate social functions.

美国哈里斯舆论调查所近期携手反歧视组织Out & Equal以及卫特康公关与广告公司进行的一次调查显示，44%的女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋者与跨性别者(LGBT)都觉得无法自由和同事谈论他们的伴侣，而至多达78%的人都觉得将伴侣带去公司活动会不自在。

Thirty-one-year-old Bozman of Chicago has been out to his close friends since college, but remained closeted while rising through the ranks at Starbucks' corporate headquarters. "I didn't know if telling people I was gay would limit my ability to move up in the company, "he says. "I was intimidated and at the same time jealous of people who could just be themselves. I'd make up stories about being with women, and if a co-worker drove me home, I'd have him drop me off down the street so he wouldn't know I lived in a gay neighborhood."

芝加哥31岁的博茨曼从大学时代就对他的好朋友公开了性取向，但尽管他在星巴克(Starbucks)公司总部的职位不断上升，他仍然没有出柜。博茨曼说，我不知道如果我告诉别人自己是同性恋，这是否会影响到我在公司的晋升。我很为难，同时又羡慕那些可以公开自己性取向的人。我编造自己和女人的风流韵事，如果同事开车送我回家的话，我会在附近街道下车，不想让他知道我住在一个同性恋社区。

"No One Cared"

“没人在意。”

Eventually, after returning to his roots as a Starbucks store manager and working for a boss who was also gay, Mr. Bozman decided to stop lying. "When people asked me about my personal life or where I was on the weekend, 1just told the truth. It turned out that no one cared, and I was happier and much more comfortable."

最后，在重新做回一名星巴克门店经理，而且发现上司也是个同性恋后，博茨曼决定不再撒谎掩盖自己的秘密。他说，当人们问到我的个人生活，或是我周末做什么的时候，我会告诉他们真相。结果根本就没人在意，然后我就觉得更加快乐，大大放松了下来。

Many experts agree that Mr. Bozman and other LGBT individuals are correct to have reservations about making their sexual orientation public. "There's no federal law that safeguards people from being fired because are gay, and only 16 states have such protections," says Mustanski, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "While the constant stress of monitoring themselves can take its toll, LGBT people have to balance the freedom to be themselves with their employability."

很多专家认为，博茨曼和其他LGBT人群在公开他们性取向一事上有所保留是正确的。芝加哥伊利诺伊大学精神病学助理教授穆斯坦斯基表示，美国没有联邦法律保护同性恋不会因为出柜而被解雇，只有16个州有这样的保护规定。他说，尽管持续压抑自己不是好事，但LBGT人群必须在公开性取向和工作之间作出平衡。

Is Your Office Gay Friendly?

你的办公室对同性恋宽容吗?

In deciding whether to come out at work, what are the most important considerations?

在决定是否在办公室么可刊主取向的时候，什么考虑因素是最重要的?

First, make sure it's a safe thing for you to do. "Assess anti-gay sentiment at your workplace beforehand," says Dr. Mustanski. "You don't want to be the victim of violence." The Human Rights Campaign Web site is an excellent resource evaluate whether your organization is LGBT-friendly.

首先，确保你这么做是安全的。穆斯坦斯基说，你需要事先评估下你的工作场所对同性恋的抵触态度。你不想成为暴力的受害者。人权运动组织网站是你评估你的组织是否对LGBT人群宽容的最好资源。

Your next step is to choose who you want to tell and the most suitable way to bring up the subject with those people. "Social practices vary by office, so use heterosexual relationship as a benchmark," suggests Dr. Mustanski. "How do non-LGBT people discuss their personal matters? Can you just work it into the conversation? You do want to practice how to respond to inappropriate question, and be prepared that some co-workers may be hurt that you didn't confide in them sooner."

接下来你要做的是，选择把自己的性取向告诉哪些人以及和他们说这个话题的最合适方式。穆斯坦斯基说，各个办公室的社交方式各有不同，因此你可以把异性关系作为基准。那些非LBGT的人是怎么讨论他们的个人事情的?你是否可以把出柜穿插进谈话?你确实需要练习一下如何应对不适合的问题，做好心理准备一些同事可能会因为你以前不说实话而觉得伤心。

Finally, make sure you 're ready. "Don't allow yourself to feel pressured, because once you do it, there's no going back. It has to be the right time for you, and it has to be something that's going to make your day easier," says Mr. Bozman.

最后，确信你已经准备好了。博茨曼说，别让自己感到压抑，因为你一旦出柜，就没有回头路了。这必须是你选择的正确时刻，必须是能让你生活轻松的事情。

关于优秀四级英文美文阅读篇二

Why aren't women happier these days?

现在女性的幸福感为什么下降了?

That's the question raised by a thought-provoking study, The Paradox 01 Declining Female Happiness, released last month. The research showed that over the past 35 years women's happiness has declined, both compared to the past and relative to men even though, by most objective measures,the lives of women in the US have improved in recent decades.

五月公布的一项发人深思的调查《女性幸福感下降之诡辩》提出了上述问题。这项研究显示，在过去的35年中，无论是纵向与过去相比，还是横向与男性相比，女性的幸福感都下降了——尽管按照大多数客观标准看，过去几十年来美国女性的生活改善了。

The research, by University of Pennsylvania economists Stevenson and Wolfers, and released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found the decline in happiness to be pervasive among women across a variety of demographic groups. The researchers, for instance, measured similar declines in happiness among women who were single Parents and married parents, "casting doubt on the hypothesis that trends in marriage and divorce, single parenthood or work/family balance are at the root of the happiness declines among women," they wrote.

这项研究由宾夕法尼亚大学经济学家史蒂文森和沃尔弗斯进行，Bureau ofEconomic由美国国家经济研究局(NationalResearch)公布。研究发现，在各类女性群体中，幸福感都普遍下降。举例来讲，研究人员发现，单身母亲和已婚母亲中幸福感的下降幅度类似，他们写道：“这对一种假说提出了质疑，这种假说认为，婚姻、离婚、单身母亲或工作/家庭平衡等问题中的发展趋势是导致女性幸福感下降的根源。”

One theory for the decline in happiness is that expectations for workplace and general advancement were raised too high by the women's movement and women might feel inadequate for not "having it all," as a Los Angeles Times columnist recently put it.

正如《洛杉矶时报》一位专栏作家最近所写的，关于幸福感下降的一个理论是，对工作和总体发展的期望值被妇女运动推得过高，如果没有拥有一切，女性可能就觉得有所欠缺。

The researchers acknowledge that's a possibility:

研究人员承认这是一种可能。

"If the women's movement raised women's expectations faster than society was able to meet them," the paper says, "they would be more likely to be disappointed by their actual experienced lives." But they add, things could change for the better: "As women's expectations move into alignment with their experiences, this decline in happiness may reverse."

研究报告说，如果妇女运动提高女性期望值的速度高于社会满足她们期望值的速度，那么她们将更有可能对实际经历的生活感到失望。不过研究人员说，形势也可能峰回路转。他们写道，随着女性期望值与自身的经历更加贴近，幸福感的下降可能会逆转。

Readers, why do you think women are unhappier than in the past? Do you think that if expectations for "having it all" were lowered to "move into alignment with experiences," women might be happier?

读者朋友们，你认为女性为什么没有过去幸福了?你认为，如果对“拥有一切”的期望值被降低到“与经历相符的程度”，女性是否可能更幸福?

关于优秀四级英文美文阅读篇三

The Rise of the Poorgeoise

横空出世的装穷族

Brooks dubbed them "BoBos," the "bourgeois bohemians" who created a new antiestablishment establishment. They were the specialty-cheese-eating, sport-utility vehicle-driving environmentalists who railed against the elite even as they became one of themselves.

布鲁克斯称他们为“披波族(又译布波族)”，即“中产阶级波希米亚人”，他们创建了新的反正统的正统体制。他们吃着特制的奶醋、开着SUV，还标榜自己是环保主义者，他们苛责精英阶层，即便自己就是其中之一。

They were, in a sense, the antirich rich.

在某种意义上，他们是仇富的富人。

Now, they are calling them the "Poorgeoise," affluent entrepreneurs and executives who prefer to look like starving artists. An article in the Guardian says the financial crisis has made the Poorgeoise more common than ever.

现在，他们称自己为“装穷族”，本是富有的企业家和公司高管，却喜欢装的像是忍饥挨饿的艺术家。《卫报》的一篇文章说，金融危机令装穷族比以往任何时候都常见。

"They're rich and they love to spend, but they like to pretend they're having as hard a time as the rest of us," the article says.

文章中说，他们很有钱，也喜欢花钱，但他们却乐于假装自己跟其他人一样也在艰难度日。

It's the latest must-have term, fresh in from Brooklyn and Portland where the streets are paved anew with poorgeoise hipsters. The poorgeoisie are the countercultural rich who have adopted a form of consumerism look as though they haven't spent. It's a new way for rich people who don't want to seem rich to buy their way out of the guilt and shame of having money at a time of mass economic woe.

文章中说，这是最新的必备术语，刚刚在布鲁克林和波特兰流行开来，那里的街道如同换了副新气象，满是想赶装穷族这个时髦的人。装穷族是反文化的富人，表面上反对消费主义，实际上他们自己的所做所为仍然是消费主义的一种形式，他们花钱把自己弄成好像没钱花的样子。在许多人都陷入经济困境的情况下，富人因为自己有钱而产生罪恶感和愧疚感，不想露富的富人通过这种方式，花钱让自己摆脱这种感觉。

According to the article, they drive hybrids, have creative jobs and grow their own vegetables.

文章中说，富人转而开混合动力车，从事创造性的工作，还自己种菜。

I wonder, though, whether the Poorgeoise are all that new, or all that real. Even before the crisis, many of the wealthy liked to drape themselves in the camouflage of the proletariat-boarding tbe G5 jet in jeans, T-shirts and sneakers. They preferred to be around "thought leaders" and creative artists rather than other rich people.

不过我很怀疑装穷族是不是最近才出现，或者有没有那么真实。即便在危机之前，许多富人也喜欢把自己打扮成下层阶级的样子——穿着牛仔裤、T恤和运动鞋登上G5私人飞机。他们喜欢跟“精神领袖”和有创见的艺术家在一起，而不是跟其他的富人一块儿。

They were the Google guys or the art-buying hedge-fund managers in Greenwich, Conn.

谷歌那帮高管以及在康涅狄格州格林威治购买艺术晶的那帮对~基金经理，这些人都属于这个行列。

Bobos and Poorgeoise and those who pretend to be less wealthy have been with us for years. What has changed is that many of them no longer have to pretend.

波波族，装穷族，还有假装自己没那么有钱的那些人，全都已经存在了很多年。真正发生改变的地方在于：他们中的很多人现在确实没钱了，不必再装了。