(2020年7月整理)新视野大学英语读写教程2-(第三版)-unit-2-课文原文及翻译.doc

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The humanities: Out of date?

人文学科：过时了吗？

When the going gets tough, the tough takeaccounting. When the job market
worsens, manystudents calculate they can't major in English orhistory. They
have to study something that booststheir prospects of landing a job.

当形势变得困难时，强者会去选学会计。当就业市场恶化时，许多学生估算着他们不 能再主
修英语或历史。他们得学一些能改善他们就业前景的东西。

The data show that as students have increasingly shouldered the ever-rising c
ost of tuition,they have defected from the study of the humanities and toward
applied science and
er words, a college education is more andmore seen as a means for economic
betterment rather than a means for human is a trend that i
s likely to persist and even accelerate.

数据显示，随着学生肩负的学 费不断增加，他们已从学习人文学科转向他们相信有益于将来
就业的应用科学和“硬”技能。换言之，大 学教育越来越被看成是改善经济而不是提升人类自
身的手段。这种趋势可能会持续，甚至有加快之势。< br>
Over the next few years, as labor markets struggle, the humanities will proba
bly continue theirlong slide in succession. There already has been a nearly 50
percent decline in the portion ofliberal arts majors over the past generatio
n, and it is logical to think that the trend is boundto continue or even accel
erate. Once the dominant pillars of university life, the humanities nowplay li
ttle roles when students take their college tours. These days, labs are more vi
vid andcompelling than libraries.

在未来几年内，由于劳动力市场的不景气，人文学科可能会 继续其长期低迷的态势。在上一
代大学生中，主修文科的学生数跌幅已近 50%。这种趋势会持续、甚 至加速的想法是合情
合理的。人文学科曾是大学生活的重要支柱，而今在学生们参观校园的时候，却只是 一个小
点缀。现在，实验室要比图书馆更栩栩如生、受人青睐。

Here, please allow me to stand up for and promote the true value that the h
umanities add topeople's lives.

在这儿，请允许我为人文学科给人们的生活所增添的真实价值进行支持和宣传。

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Since ancient times, people have speculated aboutthe mystery of those inner
forces that drive somepeople to greatness and others to
s inner drive has been called many things over thecenturies. The famous psy
chologist, SigmundFreud, called it the unconscious mind
y, instinct

自古以来，人们一直在 思索人类自身具有什么神奇的内力使一些人变得崇高伟大，而使另一
些人走向自我毁灭。几个世纪以来， 这股内力被称作很多东西。著名的心理学家西格蒙德·弗
洛伊德称之为“潜意识”，或更为人熟知的“本 能”。

From the beginning of time, this inner aspect of our being, this drive that can
be constructiveor destructive, has captured our imagination. The stories of
this amazing struggle have formedthe basis of cultures the world over. Histor
ians, architects, authors, philosophers and artistshave captured the words, im
ages and meanings of this inner struggle in the form of story,music, myth, p
ainting, architecture, sculpture, landscape and traditions. These men andw
omen developed artistic understand these aspirati
ons and alsoeducate generations. This fertile body of work from ancient time
s, the very foundation ofcivilization, forms the basis of study of the humaniti
es.

从一开始，人类这股可以是建设性也可以是毁灭性的内在驱 动力，就令我们心驰神往。这些
惊人的、充满内心挣扎的故事形成了世界文化的基础。历史学家、建筑师 、作家、哲学家和
艺术家们以故事、音乐、神话、绘画、建筑、雕刻、风景画和传统的形式，捕捉到了这 些撞
击心灵的文字、形象及内涵。这些男男女女创造出了具有艺术性的“语言”，帮助我们了解人
类的这些强烈愿望，并用以教育一代又一代人。从古时起开始的这些充满想象的大量作品，
正是文明的 底蕴，它奠定了人文研究的基础。

Studying the humanities improves our ability to read and write. No matter wh
at we do in life, wewill have a huge advantage if we can read complex ideas
and understand their meaning. Wewill have a bright career if we are the per
son in the office who can write a clear and elegantanalysis of those ideas!

学习人文学科会提高我们的阅读和写作能力。无论我们这一生中从事什么职业， 如果我们能
读懂复杂的思想并理解它们的内涵，我们都会受益匪浅。如果我们是在办公室里能对这些思< br>想写出既明确又简洁的分析的人，我们会有光明的职业前景。

Studying the humanities makes us familiar with thelanguage of emotion and t
he creative process. In aninformation economy, many people have the abilit
y toproduce a useful product such as a new MP3 , very few people
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have the ability to create aspectacular brand: the iPod. Most importantly,st
udying the humanities invests us with greatinsight and self- awareness, the
reby releasing ourcreative energy and talent in a positive andconstructive
manner.

学习人文学科会让我们熟悉表达情感的语言及进行创造的过程。在信 息经济中，很多人都有
能力创造出一个如新的 MP3 播放器那样的有用产品。然而，仅有很少的人具有能力创造出
一个如 iPod 那样的精彩品牌。最重 要的是，学习人文学科使我们具有伟大的洞察力和自我
意识，从而以积极和建设性的方式来发挥我们的创 造力和才艺。

Perhaps the best argument in favor of the humanities is the scope of possibili
ties that arewidely open to us. Did you know that James Cameron, world-fam
ous director of the movie,Titanic, graduated with a degree in the humanities
? So did Sally Ride, the first woman in did actors Bruce Lee, Gwynet
h Paltrow, Renee Zellweger and Matt Damon. Dr. HaroldVarmus, who won a N
obel Prize for Medicine, studied the humanities. Even Michael Eisner,Chairman
of the Disney Company, majored in the humanities. Famous people who stud
ied thehumanities make a long list indeed. It's easy to see that the humanitie
s can prepare us formany different careers and jobs we can undertake, wheth
er medicine, business, science orentertainment.

也许，支持人文学科的最好论点是，人文学科为我们提供 了广阔的机会。你知道世界闻名的
电影《泰坦尼克号》的导演詹姆斯·卡梅隆拿的是人文学科的学位吗？ 第一个登上太空的女
宇航员萨利·赖德拿的也是人文学科的学位。还有电影演员李小龙、格温妮丝·帕特 洛·蕾妮·齐
薇格及马特·达蒙，也都如此。获诺贝尔医学奖的哈罗德·瓦慕斯博士也学过人文学科。甚 至
迪士尼公司的总裁迈克尔·艾斯纳也主修人文学科。学习人文学科的有名人士确实可以列出
一 长串。显而易见，人文学能为我们从事许多不同的职业做准备，不管是医学、商务、科学
或娱乐。

If we study only mathematics, it's likely we will be acandidate only for jobs a
s a mathematician. If weinclude studying the humanities, we can makebreakt
hroughs on many barriers and are limited onlyby our effort and imagination.

如果我们仅学习数学，我们很可能只能申请数学家之类的工作。如 果我们还学了人文学科，
那我们就能突破许多障碍，只要我们愿意付出努力，敢于想象。

Of course, nowadays, if we study the humanitiesalone, we are liable to miss
many one of us needs to become as technically and profes
sionally skilled as possible to helpmeet the needs of modern life. In fact, incre
asingly a pairing of technical knowledge and innerinsight is seen as the idea
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l in the establishment of a career. If I were the Dean of Admissionsat a med
ical school and two people applied to our school, both having the required bas
icscientific courses, one a philosophy major and the other solely a pre-med st
udent, thephilosophy applicant would be chosen.

当 然，在当下，如果我们单学人文学科，可能会失去很多机会。我们每个人都需要尽可能变
得技能化、职业 化，以满足现代生活的需要。事实上，技术知识和内在洞察力的结合越来越
被看成是建立职业生涯的理想 搭配。如果我是某个医学院的招生部主任，有两个人同时申请
我们学校，这两个人都学过基础的科学课程 ，一个主修哲学，另一个仅是医学院的预科生，
我会选择那位哲学专业的申请者。

In summary, the humanities help to create well-rounded human beings with
insight andunderstanding of the passions, hopes and dreams common to all
humanity. The humanities,the ancient timeless reservoir of knowledge, teac
h us to see things differently and broadenour horizons. They are as useful an
d relevant in our modern age as they have always 't it make sen
se to spend some time in the company of the humanities, our outstandingan
d remarkable treasure of knowledge? Who knows how famous YOU might be
come!

总之，人文学科帮助造就全面发展的人，这些人具有洞 察力，并理解全人类共有的激情、希
望和理想。人文学科，这个古老、永恒的知识储蓄库，教我们如何以 不同的方式看待事物，
同时也拓宽我们的视野。在现代社会中，人文学科一如既往地同生活息息相关，也 发挥着重
要作用。我们在学习中花一些时间与人文学科——我们杰出、非凡的知识宝藏——相伴，这难道不是明智的吗？谁知道你将来会变得多有名气呢！


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