呈现于读者面前的这套《美国语文读本》,亦名《麦加菲读本》,其编者威廉·H·麦加菲曾先后任美国迈阿密大学语言学教授和俄亥俄大学校长。
《美国语文读本》从19世纪中期至20世纪中叶,一直被广泛用作美国学校的语文教材,据称有10000多所美国学校拿它当作教材。美国著名汽车制造商亨利·福特称赞这套书是他儿童时代最有兴趣的读物,后来他自费大量印刷这套书,分发给很多学校。到了21世纪,西方一些私立学校(Private School)和家庭学校(Homeschool(仍用它作为教材,足见这套书的价值与影响力。
这套读本的英文原版共分七级,包括启蒙读本和第1-6级。本书为《美国语文读本》第4册。书中均是比较正式的课文,每一课包括词汇和课文,对一些生词有英文解释,让学生学会通过简单英文理解生词,养成用英语理解和思维的习惯。从所选课文的英文难易程度来看,该册跟国内小学毕业程度相近。另外,本书还附有课后思考练习,这些练习可以帮助学生更好理解文章,引发孩子们的思考。本书对国内中学生真正感受英语这一西方语言的魄力是大有帮助的。
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.
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