美国语文读本(4)

This series of schoolbooks teaching reading and moral precepts, originally prepared by William Holmes who was a professor at Miami University McGuffey, had a profound influence on public education in the United States.The eclectic readers, meaning that the selections were chosen from a number of sources, were considered remarkably literary works and probably exerted a greater influence upon literary tastes in the United States more than any other book, excluding the Bible. It is estimated that at least 120 million copies of McGuffey's Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster's Dictionary. Since 1961 they have continued to sell at a rate of some 30,000 copies a year. No other textbook bearing a single person's name has come close to that mark. McGuffey's Readers are still in use today in some school systems, and by parents for home schooling purposes. The fourth reader was an introduction to good literature. It contained British poetry and used the Bible among its selections. This text was addressed to the highest grade in schools, its difficulty compared to that of American secondary schools. It discussed Napoleon Bonaparte, Puritan fathers, women, God, education, religion and philosophy.

威廉·H·麦加菲，美国著名教育家。1800年出生于宾夕法尼亚州，1826年毕业于华盛顿大学杰斐逊学院。在数十年教育生涯中，他曾担任过迈阿密大学语言学教授，俄亥俄大学校长。自1845年开始任弗吉尼亚大学道德哲学教授。他还帮助组建了俄亥俄州公立学校体系。 早在19世纪初期，麦加菲就意识到，应该给那些孤独的垦荒者和欧洲移民的后代提供普遍的教育，于是他利用自己作为演讲家与教育工作者的天赋，开始为孩子们编写系列教材。这套教材共7册，从学龄前至第6年级。他前后花费了20多年的时间才完成全套教材的编写。这套教材面世后就被美国很多学校选为课本。在75年间销量高达1.22亿，直到今天仍以各种版本流行于西方，被美国《出版周刊》评为“人类出版史上第三大畅销书”，对美国青年的心灵塑造与道德培养产生了史无前例的影响。

LESSON 1 PERSEVERANCE LESSON 2 TRY, TRY AGAIN LESSON 3 WHY THE SEA IS SALT LESSON 4 WHY THE SEA IS SALT (CONCLUDED.) LESSON 5 POPPING CORN LESSON 6 SMILES LESSON 7 LAZY NED LESSON 8 THE MONKEY LESSON 9 MEDDLESOME MATTY LESSON 10 THE GOOD SON LESSON 11 TOMORROW LESSON 12 WHERE THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY LESSON 13 PICCOLA LESSON 14 TRUE MANLINESS LESSON 15 TRUE MANLINESS (CONCLUDED.) LESSON 16 THE BROWN THRUSH LESSON 17 A SHIP IN A STORM LESSON 18 THE SAILOR’S CONSOLATION LESSON 19 TWO WAYS OF TELLING A STORY LESSON 20 FREAKS OF THE FROST LESSON 21 WASTE NOT, WANT NOT LESSON 22 JEANNETTE AND JO LESSON 23 THE LION LESSON 24 STRAWBERRIES LESSON 25 HARRY’S RICHES LESSON 26 IN TIME’S SWING LESSON 27 HARRY AND HIS DOG LESSON 28 THE VOICE OF THE GRASS LESSON 29 THE EAGLE LESSON 30 THE OLD EAGLE TREE LESSON 31 ALPINE SONG LESSON 32 CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES LESSON 33 THE NOBLEST REVENGE LESSON 34 EVENING HYMN LESSON 35 HOW MARGERY WONDERED LESSON 36 THE CHILD’S WORLD LESSON 37 SUSIE’S COMPOSITION LESSON 38 THE SUMMER SHOWER LESSON 39 CONSEQUENCES OF IDLENESS LESSON 40 ADVANTAGES OF INDUSTRY LESSON 41 THE FOUNTAIN LESSON 42 COFFEE LESSON 43 THE WINTER KING LESSON 44 THE NETTLE LESSON 45 THE TEMPEST LESSON 46 THE CREATOR LESSON 47 THE HORSE LESSON 48 EMULATION LESSON 49 THE SANDPIPER LESSON 50 THE RIGHT WAY LESSON 51 THE GOLDEN RULE LESSON 52 THE SNOW MAN LESSON 53 ROBINSON CRUSOE’S HOUSE LESSON 54 ROBINSON CRUSOE’S DRESS LESSON 55 SOMEBODY’S DARLING LESSON 56 KNOWLEDGE IS POWER LESSON 57 GOOD WILL LESSON 58 A CHINESE STORY LESSON 59 THE WAY TO BE HAPPY LESSON 60 THE GIRAFFE, OR CAMELOPARD LESSON 61 THE LOST CHILD LESSON 62 WHICH? LESSON 63 THE PET FAWN LESSON 64 ANNIE’S DREAM LESSON 65 MY GHOST LESSON 66 THE ELEPHANT LESSON 67 DARE TO DO RIGHT LESSON 68 DARE TO DO RIGHT (CONCLUDED.) LESSON 69 THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS LESSON 70 ANECDOTES OF BIRDS LESSON 71 THE RAINBOW PILGRIMAGE LESSON 72 THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET LESSON 73 THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT LESSON 74 THE YOUNG WITNESS LESSON 75 KING SOLOMON AND THE ANTS LESSON 76 RIVERMOUTH THEATER LESSON 77 ALFRED THE GREAT LESSON 78 LIVING ON A FARM LESSON 79 HUGH IDLE AND MR. TOIL LESSON 80 HUGH IDLE AND MR. TOIL (CONCLUDED.) LESSON 81 BURNING THE FALLOW LESSON 82 THE DYING SOLDIERS LESSON 83 THE ATTACK ON NYMWEGEN LESSON 84 THE SEASONS LESSON 85 BRANDYWINE FORD LESSON 86 BRANDYWINE FORD (CONCLUDED.) LESSON 87 THE BEST CAPITAL LESSON 88 THE INCHCAPE ROCK LESSON 89 MY MOTHER’S GRAVE LESSON 90 A MOTHER’S GIFT—THE BIBLE