电子书新概念英语第四册课文

2021年1月25日发(作者：copper)
电子书新概念英语第四册课文
.txt10
有了执著，
生命旅程上的寂寞可以 铺成一片蓝天；
有了
执著，孤单可以演绎成一排鸿雁；有了执著，欢乐可以绽放成满圆的鲜花。 课文
1
发现化
石人

1.
We
can
read
of
things
that
happened
5,000
years
ago
in
the
Near
East,
where
people
first learned to write.

我们从书籍中可读到
5,000
年前近东发生的事情，那里的人最早学会了写字。

2. But there are some parts of the world where even now people cannot write.

但直到现在
,
世界上有些地方，人们还不会书写。

3. The only way that they can preserve their history is to recount it as sagas --
legends handed down from one generation of story tales to another.

他们保存历史的唯一办法是将历史当作传说讲述，由讲述人一代接一代地将史 实描
述为传奇故事口传下来。

4. These legends are useful because they can tell us something about migrations of
people who lived long ago,

这些传说是有用的，因为他们告诉我们很久以前生活在这里的移民的一些事情。

5. but none could write down what they did.

但是没有人能写下来。

6.
Anthropologists
wondered
where
the
remote
ancestors
of
the
Polynesian
peoples
now
living in the Pacific Islands came from.

人类学家过去不清楚如今生活在太平洋诸岛上的波利尼西亚人的祖先来自何方，

7.
The
sagas
of
these
people
explain
that
some
of
them
came
from
Indonesia
about
2,000
years ago.

当地人的传说却告诉 人们：其中一部分是约在
2,000
年前从印度尼西亚迁来的。

8. But the first people who were like ourselves lived so long ago that even their
sagas,if they had any, are forgotten.

但是，和我们相似的原始人生活 的年代太久远了，因此，有关他们的传说既使有如
今也失传了。

9.
So
archaeologists
have
neither
history
nor
legends
to
help
them
to
find
out
where
the first 'modern men' came from.

于是，< br>考古学家们既缺乏历史记载，
又无口头传说来帮助他们弄清最早的
“现代人”
是 从哪里来的。

10. Fortunately, however, ancient men made tools of stone, especially flint,

然而，

幸运的是，远古人用石头制作了工具，特别是用燧石，

11. because this is easier to shape than other kinds.

因为燧石较之其他石头更容易成形。

12. They may also have used wood and skins, but these have rotted away.

他们也可能用过木头和兽皮，但这类东西早已腐烂殆尽。

13. Stone does not decay, and so the tools of long ago have remained when even the
bones of the men who made them have disappeared without trace.

石头是不会腐烂的。因此，尽管制造这些工具的人的骨头早已荡然无存，但远古时
代的石头工具 却保存了下来。

$$
课文
2
不要伤害蜘蛛

14. Why, you may wonder, should spiders be our friends?

你可能会觉得奇怪，

蜘蛛怎么会是我们的朋友呢？

15. Because they destroy so many insects, and insects include some of the greatest
enemies of the human race.

因为它们能消灭那么多的昆虫，其中包括一些人类的大敌，

16. Insects would make it impossible for us to live in the world;

昆虫就会使我们无法在地球上生活下去，

17. they would devour all our crops and kill our flocks and herds,

昆虫会吞食我们的全部庄稼，杀死我们的成群的牛羊。

18. if it were not for the protection we get from insect- eating animals.

要不是人类受一些食虫动物的保护，

19.
We
owe
a
lot
to
the
birds
and
beasts
who
eat
insects
but
all
of
them
put
together

kill only a fraction of the number destroyed by spiders.

我们要十分感谢那些吃昆虫的鸟和兽，然而把它们 所杀死的昆虫全部加在一起也只
相当于蜘蛛所消灭的一小部分。

20. Moreover, unlike some of the other insect eaters, spiders never do the harm to
us or our belongings.

此外，蜘蛛不同于其他食虫动物，它们丝毫不危害我们和我们的财物。

21.
Spiders
are
not
insects,
as
many
people
think,
nor
even
nearly
related
to
them.


许多人认为蜘蛛是昆虫，但它们不是昆虫，甚至与昆虫毫无关系。

22. One can tell the difference almost at a glance,

人们几乎一眼就能看出二者的差异，

23. for a spider always has eight legs and insect never more than six.

因为蜘蛛都是
8
条腿，而昆虫的腿从不超过
6
条。

24. How many spiders are engaged in this work no our behalf?

有多少蜘蛛在为我们效力呢？

25.
One
authority
on
spiders
made
a
census
of
the
spiders
in
grass
field
in
the
south
of England,

一位研究蜘蛛的权威对英国南部一块草坪上的蜘蛛作了一次调查。

26. and he estimated that there were more than 2,250,000 in one acre;

他估计每英亩草坪里有
225
万多只蜘蛛。

27.
that
is
something
like
6,000,000
spiders
of
different
kinds
on
a
football
pitch.

这就是说，在一个足球场上约有
600
万只不同种类的蜘蛛。

28. Spiders are busy for at least half the year in killing insects.

蜘蛛至少有半年在忙于吃昆虫。

29. It is impossible to make more than the wildest guess at how many they kill,

它们一年中消灭了多少昆虫，我们简直无法猜测，

30. but they are hungry creatures, not content with only three meals a day.

它们是吃不饱的动物，不满意一日三餐。

31. It has been estimated that the weight of all the insects destroyed by spiders
in
Britain
in
one
year
would
be
greater
than
the
total
weight
of
all
the
human
beings
in the country.

据估计，在英国蜘蛛一年里所消灭昆虫的重量超过这个国家人口的总重量。

$$
课文
3
马特霍恩山区人

32.
Modern
alpinists
try
to
climb
mountains
by
a
route
which
will
give
them
good
sport,

现代登山运动员总想找一条能够给他们带来运动乐趣的路线来攀登山峰。

33. and the more difficult it is, the more highly it is regarded.

他们认为，

道路愈艰险愈带劲儿。

34. In the pioneering days, however, this was not the case at all.

然而，在登山运动的初期，全然不是这种情况。

35. The early climbers were looking for the easiest way to the top,

早期登山者所寻找的是通往山顶的最方便的途径，

36. because the summit was the prize they sought, especially if it and never been
attained before.

因为顶峰特别是前人未曾到过的顶峰
--
才是他们寻求的目标。

37. It is true that during their explorations they often faced difficulties and
dangers of the most perilous nature,

确实，在探险中他们经常遇到惊心动魄的困难和危险，

38. equipped in a manner with would make a modern climber shudder at the thought,

而他们装备之简陋足以使现代登山者一想起来就胆战心惊。

39. but they did not go out of their way to court such excitement.

但是，他们并非故意寻求这种刺激，

40. They had a single aim, a solitary goal-- the top!

他们只有一个目标，唯一的目标
--
顶峰！

41. It is hard for us to realize nowadays how difficult it was for the pioneers.

我们今天很难想像昔日的登山先驱们是多么艰苦。

42.
Except
for
one
or
two
places
such
as
Zermatt
and
Chamonix,
which
had
rapidly
become
popular,

除了泽曼特和夏蒙尼等一两个很快出了名的地方外，

43. Alpine village tended to be impoverished settlements cut off from civilization
by the high mountains.

阿尔卑斯山山区的小村几乎全是高山环抱、与世隔绝的穷乡僻壤。

44. Such inns as there were generally dirty and flea-ridden;

那里的小客栈一般都很肮脏，而且跳蚤猖獗。

45. the food simply local cheese accompanied by bread often twelve months old, all
washed down with coarse wine.

食物是当地的干酪和通常存放了一年之久的面包，人们就着劣酒吞下这种食物。

46. Often a valley boasted no inn at all, and climbers found shelter wherever they
could

山谷里常常没有小客栈，登山者只好随遇而安。

47. sometimes with the local priest (who was usually as poor as his parishioners),

有时同当地牧师

（他通常和他的教民一样穷）住在一起，

48. sometimes with shepherds or cheese-makers.

有时同牧羊人或制乳酪的人住在一起。

49.
Invariably
the
background
was
the
same:
dirt
and
poverty,
and
very
uncomfortable.


无论住在哪儿，情况都一样：肮脏、贫穷，极其不舒适。

50.
For
men
accustomed
to
eating
seven-course
dinners
and
sleeping
between
fine
linen
sheets at home, the change to the Alps must have very hard indeed.

对于过惯了一顿饭吃
7
道菜、睡亚麻细布床单的人来说，变 换一下生活环境来到阿
尔卑斯山山区，那一定是很艰难的。

$$
课文
4
能看见东西的手

51. Several cases have been reported in Russia recently of people who can read and
detect colours with their fingers,

俄罗斯最近报导了几个事例，有人能用手指看书识字和辨认颜色，

52. and even see through solid doors and walls.

甚至能透过厚实的门和墙看到东西。

53. One case concerns and eleven-year-old schoolgirl, Vera Petrova,

其中有一例谈到有一个名叫维拉
.
彼托洛娃的
11
岁学生。

54. who has normal vision but who can also perceive things with different parts of
her skin, and through solid walls.

她的视 力与常人一样，
但她还能用皮肤的不同部位辨认东西，
甚至看穿坚实的墙壁。

55. This ability was first noticed by her father.

是她父亲首先发现她这一功能的。

56. One day she came into his office and happened to put her hands on the door of
a locked safe.

一天，维拉走进父亲的办公室，偶然把手放在一个锁着的保险柜的门上，

57.
Suddenly
she
asked
her
father
why
he
kept
so
many
old
newspapers
locked
away
there,
and even described the way they were done up in bundles.

她突然问父亲为什么把这么多的旧报纸锁在柜子里，还说了报纸捆扎的情况。

58.
Vera's
curious
talent
was
brought
to
the
notice
of
a
scientific
research
institute
in the town of Ulyanovsk, near where she lives,

维拉的特异功能引起了她家附近乌里扬诺夫斯克城一个科研单位的注意。

59.
and
in
April
she
was
given
a
series
of
tests
by
a
special
commission
of
the
Ministry
of Health of the Russian Federal Republic.
4
月里，俄罗斯卫生部一个特别委员会对她进行了一系列的测试。

60.
During
these
tests
she
was
able
to
read
a
newspaper
through
an
opaque
screen
and,

在这些测试中，她能隔着不透明的屏幕读报纸。

61. stranger still, by moving her elbow over a child's game of Lotto she was able
to describe the figures and colours printed on it;

更为奇怪的是，她把肘部在儿童玩的“罗托”纸牌上移动一下，便能说出印在纸牌
上的数字和颜色。< br>
62. and, in another instance, wearing stockings and slippers, to make out with her
foot the outlines and colours of a picture hidden under a carpet.

还有一次，她穿着长筒袜 子和拖鞋，能用脚步识别出藏在地毯下面的一幅画的轮廓
和颜色。

63.
Other
experiments
showed
that
her
knees
and
shoulders
had
a
similar
sensitivity.

其他实验表明，她的膝盖和双肩有类似的感觉能力，

64. During all these tests Vera was blindfold;

在所有这些实验中，维拉的双眼都是蒙着的。

65.
and,
indeed,
except
when
blindfold
she
lacked
the
ability
to
perceive
things
with

her skin.

如果不蒙上双眼她的皮肤就不再具有识别物体的能力。

66.
It
was
also
found
that
although
she
could
perceive
things
with
her
fingers
this
ability ceased the moment her hands were wet.

这是千真万确的。同时还发现，尽管她能用手指识别东西，但她的手一旦弄湿 ，这
种功能便会立即消失。

$$
课文
5
青年

67. People are always talking about 'the problem of youth'.

人们总是在谈论“青年问题”
。

68. If there is one -- which I take leave to doubt -- then it is older people who
create it, not the young themselves.

如果这个问题存在的话
--
请允许我对此持怀疑态度
--
那么，这个问题是由老年
人而不是青年人造成的。

69.
Let
us
get
down
to
fundamentals
and
agree
that
the
young
are
after
all
human
beings
-- people just like their elders.

让我们来认真研究一些基本事实：承认青年人和他们的长辈一样也是人。

70. There is only one difference between an old man and a young one:

老年人和青年人只有一个区别：

71. the young man has a glorious future before him and the old one has a splendid
future behind him:

青年人有光辉灿烂的前景，而老年人的辉煌已成为过去。

72. and maybe that is where the rub is.

问题的症结恐怕就在这里。

73. When I was a teenager, I felt that I was just young and uncertain -- that I was
a new boy in a huge school,

我十几岁时，总感到自己年轻，有些事拿不准
--
我是一所大学里的一名新生，

74. and I would have been very pleased to be regarded as something so interesting
as a problem.

如果我当时真的被看成像一个问题那样有趣，我会感到很得意的。

75. For one thing, being a problem gives you a certain identity, and that is one of
the things the young are busily engaged in seeking.

因为这至少使我得到了某种承认，这正是年轻人所热衷追求的。

76. I find young people exciting.

我觉得年轻人令人振奋，

77. They have an air of freedom, and they not a dreary commitment to mean ambitions
or love of comfort.

他们无拘无束。既不追逐卑鄙的名利，也不贪图生活的舒适。

78.
They
are
not
anxious
social
climbers,
and
they
have
no
devotion
to
material
things.


他们不热衷于向上爬，也不一味追求物质享受。

79. All this seems to me to link them with life, and the origins of things.

在我看来，所有这些使他们与生命和万物之源联系在了一起。

80.
It's
as
if
they
were,
in
some
sense,
cosmic
beings
in
violent
and
lovely
contrast
with us suburban creatures.

从某种意义上讲，他们似乎是宇宙人，同我们这些凡夫俗子形成了强烈而鲜明的对
照。

81. All that is in my mind when I meet a young person.

每逢我遇到年轻人，脑子里就想到

82. He may be conceited, ill-mannered, presumptuous or fatuous,

这些年轻人也许狂妄自负，举止无理，傲慢放肆，愚昧无知，

83. but I do not turn for protection to dreary cliches about respect of elders

但我不会用应当尊重长者这一套陈词滥调来为我自己辨护，

84. as if mere age were a reason for respect.

似乎年长就是受人尊敬的理由。

85. I accept that we are equals, and I will argue with him, as an equal, if I think
he is wrong.

我认为我和他们是平等的。如果我认为他们错了，我就以平等的身份和他们争个明
白。

$$
课文
6
体育的精神

86.
I
am
always
amazed
when
I
hear
people
saying
that
sport
creates
goodwill
between
the nations,

我总是惊愕不已。当我听人们说体育运动可创造国家之间的友谊，

87.
and
that
if
only
the
common
peoples
of
the
would
could
meet
one
another
at
football
or cricket,

还说各国民众若在足球场或板球场上交锋，

88. they would have no inclination to meet on the hattlefield.

就不愿在战场上残杀的时候，

89. Even if one didn't know from concrete examples

一个人即使不能从具体的事例

90. (the 1936 Olympic Games, for instance)

（例如
1936
年的奥林匹克运动会）

91.
that
international
sporting
contests
lead
to
orgies
of
hatred,
one
could
deduce
it from general principles.

了解到国际运动比赛会导致疯狂的仇恨，也可以从常理中推断出结论。

92. Nearly all the sports practised nowadays are competitive.

现在开展的体育运动几乎都是竞争性的。

93. You play to win, and the game has little meaning unless you do your utmost to
win.

参加比赛就是为了取胜。如果不拚命去赢，比赛就没有什么意义了。

94.
On
the
village
green,
where
you
pick
up
sides
and
no
feeling
of
local
patriotism
is involved,

在乡间的草坪上，当你随意组成两个队，并且不涉及任何地方情绪时，

95. it is possible to play simply for the fun and exercise:

那才可能是单纯的为了娱乐和锻炼而进行比赛。

96. but as soon as the question of prestige arises,

可是一量涉及到荣誉问题，

97.
as
soon
as
you
feel
that
you
and
some
larger
unit
will
be
disgraced
if
you
lose,


一旦你想到你和某一团体会因为你输而丢脸时，

98. the most savage combative instincts are aroused.

那么最野蛮的争斗天性便会激发起来。

99. Anyone who has played even in a school football match knows this.

即使是仅仅参加过学校足球赛的人也有种体会。

100. At the international level, sport is frankly mimic warfare.

在国际比赛中，体育简直是一场模拟战争。

101.
But
the
significant
thing
is
not
the
behaviour
of
the
players
but
the
attitude
of the spectators:

但是，要紧的还不是运动员的行为，而是观众的态度，

102.
and,
behind
the
spectators,
of
the
nations
who
work
themselves
into
furies
over
these absurd contests,

以及观众身后各个国家的态度。面对着这些荒唐的比赛，参赛的各个国家会如痴如
狂，

103.
and
seriously
believe
--
at
any
rate
for
short
periods
--
that
running,
jumping
and kicking a ball are tests of national virtue.

甚至煞有介事地相信
--
至少在短期内如此
--
跑跑、跳跳、踢踢球是对一个民族
品德素质的检验。

$$
课文
7
蝙蝠

104. Not all sounds made by animals serve as language,

动物发出的声音不都是用作语言交际。

105. and we have only to turn to that extraordinary discovery of echo-location in
bats to see a case in which the voice plays a strictly utilitarian role.

我们只要看一看蝙蝠回声定位这一极不寻常的发现，就可以探究一下声音在什么情
况下有绝对的 实用价值。

106.
To
get
a
full
appreciation
of
what
this
means
we
must
turn
first
to
some
recent
human inventions.

要透彻理解这句话的意义，我们应先回顾一下人类最近的几项发明。

107. Everyone knows that if he shouts in the vicinity of a wall or a mountainside,
an echo will come back.

大家都知道，在墙壁或山腰附近发出的喊声，就会听到回声。

108.
The
further
off
this
solid
obstruction,
the
longer
time
will
elapse
for
the
return
of the echo.

固体障碍物越远。回声返回所用时间就越长。

109. A sound made by tapping on the hull of a ship will be reflected from the sea
bottom,

通过敲击空船发出的声音将会从海底反射回来。

110.
and
by
measuring
the
time
interval
between
the
taps
and
the
receipt
of
the
echoes,
the depth of the sea at that point can be calculated.

测出回声间隔的时间，便可算出该处海洋的深度。

111. So was born the echo-sounding apparatus, now in general use in ships.

这样就产生了目前各种船舶上普遍应用的回声探测仪。

112.
Every
solid
object
will
reflect
a
sound,
varying
according
to
the
size
and
nature
of the object.

任何固体者反射声音，反射的声音因物体的大小和性质的不同而不同。

113. A shoal of fish will do this.

鱼群也反射声音。

114. So it is a comparatively simple step from locating the sea bottom to locating
a shoal of fish.

从测定海深到测定鱼群，这一进展比较容易。

115. With experience, and with improved apparatus,

根据经验和改进了的仪器，

116.
it
is
now
possible
not
only
to
locate
a
shoal
but
to
tell
if
it
is
herring,
cod,

or other well-known fish, by the pattern of its echo.

不仅能够确定鱼群的位置，而且可以根据鱼群回声的特 点分辨出是鲱鱼、鳕鱼，这
是人们所熟悉的其他鱼。

117. It has been found that certain bats emit squeaks and by receiving the echoes,

人们发现，某些蝙蝠能发出尖叫声，并能通过回声

118.
they
can
locate
and
steer
clear
of
obstacles
--
or
locate
flying
insects
on
which
they feed.

来确定并躲开障碍物，或找到它们赖以为生的昆虫。

119.
This
echo-location
in
bats
is
often
compared
with
radar,
the
principle
of
which
is similar.

蝙蝠这种回声定位常常可与雷达相比较，其原理是相似的。

$$
课文
8
标准

120.
Chickens
slaughtered
in
the
United
States,
claim
officials
in
Brussels,
are
not
fit to grace European tables.

布鲁塞尔的官员说，在美国屠宰的鸡不适于用来装点欧洲的餐桌。

121. No, say the American: our fowl are fine, we simply clean them in a different
way.

不，美国人说，我们的家禽很好，只是我们使用了另一种清洗方式。

122. These days, it is differences in national regulations, far more than tariffs,
that put sand in the wheels of trade between rich countries.

当前，是各国管理条例上的差异，而不是关税阻碍了发达国家之间的贸易。

123. It is not just farmers who are complaining.

并不仅仅是农民在抱怨。

124. An electric razor that meets the European Union's safety standards must be
approved by American testers before it can be sold in the United States,

一把符合欧洲联盟安全标准的电动剃须刀必须得到美国检测人员的认可，方可在美
国市场上销售；

125. and an American-made dialysis machine needs the EU's okay before is hits the
market in Europe.

而美国制造的透析仪也要得到欧盟的首肯才能进入欧洲市场。

126.
As
it
happens,
a
razor
that
is
safe
in
Europe
is
unlikely
to
electrocute
Americans.

碰巧在欧洲使用安全的剃须刀不大可能使美国人触电身亡，

127. So, ask businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, why have two lots of tests
where one would do?

因此，
大西洋两岸的企业都在问，
当 一套测试可以解决问题时，
为什么需要两套呢？

128.
Politicians
agree,
in
principle,
so
America
and
the
EU
have
been
trying
to
reach

a deal which would eliminate the need to double-test many products.

政治家在原则上同意了，

因此，
美国和欧洲一直在寻求达成协议，
以便为许多产品
取消双重检查。

129. They hope to finish in time for a trade summit between America and the EU on
May 28TH.

他们希望尽早达成协议，
为
5
月
28日举行的美国和欧洲贸易的最高通级会议作准备。

130. Although negotiators are optimistic, the details are complex enough that they
may be hard-pressed to get a deal at all.

然谈判代表持乐观态度，但 协议细节如此复杂，他们所面临的困难很可能使他们无
法取得一致。

131. Why? One difficulty is to construct the agreements.

为什么呢？困难之一是起草这些协议。

132. The Americans would happily reach one accord on standards for medical devices
and
them
hammer
out
different
pacts
covering,
say,
electronic
goods
and
drug
manufacturing.

美国人很愿意就医疗器械的标准达成一个协议，然后推敲出不同的合同，用以涵盖

--
比如说
--
电子产品和药品的生产。

133. The EU -- following fine continental traditions -- wants agreement on general
principles, which could be applied to many types of products and perhaps extended
to other countries.

欧洲人遵循优良的大陆传统，则希望就普遍的原则取得一致，而这些原则适用于许
多不同产品， 同时可能延伸到其它国家。

$$
课文
9
谍报活动

134.
Alfred
the
Great
acted
his
own
spy,
visiting
Danish
camps
disguised
as
a
minstrel.


阿尔弗雷德大帝曾亲自充当间谍。他扮作吟游歌手到丹麦军队的营地里侦察。

135. In those days wandering minstrels were welcome everywhere.

当时，浪迹天涯的吟游歌手到处受欢迎，

136. They were not fighting men, and their harp was their passport.

他们不是作战人员，竖琴就是他们的通行证。

137. Alfred had learned many of their ballads in his youth, and could vary his
programme with acrobatic tricks and simple conjuring.

阿尔弗德年轻时学过许多民歌，
并能穿插演一些杂技和小魔术使自己的节目多样化。

138.
While
Alfred's
little
army
slowly
began
to
gather
at
Athelney,
the
king
himself
set out to penetrate the camp of Guthrum, the commander of the Danish invaders.

阿尔弗雷德人数不多的军队开始在阿塞尔纳慢慢集结时，他亲自潜入丹麦入侵司令
官古瑟罗姆的营地。< br>
139. There had settled down for the winter at Chippenham: thither Alfred went.

丹麦军已在切本哈姆扎下营准备过冬，阿尔弗雷便来到此地。

140.
He
noticed
at
once
that
discipline
was slack:
the
Danes
had
the
self-confidence
of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual.

他马上发现丹麦军纪律松弛，他们以征服者自居，安全措施马马虎虎。

141. They lived well, on the proceeds of raids on neighbouring regions.

他们靠掠夺附近的地区的财物过着舒适的生活。

142. There they collected women as well as food and drink, and a life of ease had
made them soft.

他们不仅搜刮吃的喝的，而且抢掠妇女，安逸的生活已使丹麦军队变得软弱无力。

143. Alfred stayed in the camp a week before he returned to Athelney.

阿尔弗雷德在敌营呆了一个星期后，回到了阿塞尔纳。

144. The force there assembled was trivial compared with the Danish horde.

他集结在那里的军队和丹麦大军相比是微不足道的，

145.
But
Alfred
had
deduced
that
the
Danes
were
no
longer
fit
for
prolonged
battle:


然而，阿尔弗雷德断定，丹麦人已不再适应持久的战争，

146.
and
that
their
commissariat
had
no
organization,
but
depended
on
irregular
raids.

他们的军需供应处于无组织状态，只是靠临时抢夺来维持。

147.
So,
faced
with
the
Danish
advance,
Alfred
did
not
risk
open
battle
but
harried
the enemy.

因此，面对丹麦人的进攻，阿尔弗雷德没有贸然同敌人作战， 而是采用骚扰敌人的
战术。

148. He was constantly on the move, drawing the Danes after him.

他的部队不停地移动，牵着敌人的鼻子，让他们跟着跑。

149. His patrols halted the raiding parties: hunger assailed the Danish army.

他派出巡逻队阻止敌人抢劫，因而饥饿威胁着丹麦军队。

150. Now Alfred began a long series of skirmishes -- and within a month the Danes
had surrendered.

这时，阿尔弗雷德发起一连串小规模的进攻，结果不出一个月，丹麦人就投降了。

151. The episode could reasonably serve as a unique epic of royal espionage!

这一幕历史可以说是王室谍报活动中最精彩的篇章。
.
$$
课文
10
硅谷

152. Technology trends may push Silicon Valley back to the future.

技术的发展趋势有可能把硅谷重新推向未来。

153.
Carver
Mead,
a
pioneer
in
integrated
circuits
and
a
professor
of
computer
science
at the California Institute of Technology,

卡弗
.
米德
--
集成电路的一位先驱，加州理工学院的计算机教授

154. notes there are now work-stations that enable engineers to design, test and
produce chips right on their desks, much the way an editor creates a newsletter on
a Macintosh.

注意到 ，现在有些计算机工作站使工程技术人员可以在他们的办公桌上设计、试验
和生产芯片，就像一位编辑在 苹果机上编出一份时事通讯一样。

155.
As
the
time
and
cost
of
making
a
chip
drop
to
a
few
days
and
a
few
hundred
dollars,

由于制造一块芯片的时间已缩短至几天，费用也只有几百美元，

156.
engineers
may
soon
be
free
to
let
their
imaginations
soar
without
being
penalized
by expensive failures.

因此，工程技术 人员可能很块就可充分发挥他们的想像力，而不会因失败而造成经
济上的损失。

157.
Mead
predicts
that
inventors
will
be
able
to
perfect
powerful
customized
chips
over a weekend at the office

米 德预言发明者可以在办公室用一个周末的时间生产了完美的、功能很强的、按客
户需求设计的芯片

158. 'We're got more garages with smart people,' Mead observes. 'We really thrive
on anarchy.'

“我们有更多的汽车间，那里有许多聪明人，
”米德说。
“我们确实是靠这种无政府
状态发展起来的。
”

159. And on Asians. Already, orientals and Asian Americans constitute the majority
of the engineering staffs at many Valley firms.

靠的是亚洲人。硅谷许多公司中工程技术人员的大多数是东方人和亚裔美国人。

160.
And
Chinese,
Korean,
Filipino
and
Indian
engineers
are
graduating
in
droves
from
California's colleges.

中国、韩国、菲律宾和印度的工程师一批批地从加州的大学毕业。

161. As the heads of next-generation start-ups, these Asian innovators can draw on
customs and languages to forge righter links with crucial Pacific Rim markets.

作为新掘起一代的带头人，亚 裔发明家可以凭借他们在习惯和语言上的优势，与关
键的太平洋沿岸市场建立起更加牢固的联系。

162. For instance, Alex Au, a Stanford Ph. D. from Hong Kong, has set up a Taiwan
factory to challenge Japan's near lock on the memory-chip market.

比如说，
亚历克斯
.
奥，
一位来自香港的斯坦福大学博士，
已经在台湾建厂，
对日本
在内存条市场上近似垄断 的局面提出了挑战。

163. India-born r Reddy's tiny California company reopened an AT & T chip
plant in Kansas City last spring with financing from the state of Missouri.

印度出生的
N.
达莫达
.
雷迪经营的小小的加州公司在堪萨斯城重新 启用了美国电话
电报公司的一家芯片工厂，并从密苏里州获取了财政上的支持。

164. Before it becomes a retirement village, Silicon Valley may prove a classroom
for building a global business.

在硅谷变成一个退休村之前，它很可能成为建立全球商业的一个教学场地。

$$
课文
11
如何安度晚年

165. Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death.

有些老年人因为怕死而感到烦恼。

166. In the young there is a justification for this feeling.

青年人有这种感觉是情有可原的。

167. Young men who have reason to fear that they will be killed in battle may
justifiably
feel
bitter
in
the
thought
that
they
have
cheated
of
the
best
things
that

life has to offer.

有理由害怕自己会死在战场上的年轻人，想到 自己被剥夺了生活所能给予的最美好
的东西时，感到痛苦，这是可以理解的。

168.
But
in
an
old
man
who
has
known
human
joys
and
sorrows,
and
has
achieved
whatever
work it was in him to do,

可是老年人已经饱尝了人间的甘苦，一切能做的都做了，

169. the fear of death is somewhat abject and ignoble.

如果怕死，就有点儿可怜又可鄙。

170. The best way to overcome it -- so at least it seems to me -- is to make your
interests gradually wider and more impersonal,

克服怕死的最好办法
--
至少在我看来是这样
--
就是逐渐使自己的兴趣更加广
泛，

171.
until
bit
by
bit
the
walls
of
the
ego
recede,
and
your
life
becomes
increasingly
merged in the universal life.

逐渐摆脱个人狭小的圈子，直到自我的围墙一点一点地倒塌下来，自己的生活 慢慢
地和整个宇宙的生活融合在一起。

172.
An
individual
human
existence
should
be
like
a
river
--
small
at
first,
narrowly
contained
within
its
banks,
and
rushing
passionately
past
boulders
and
over
waterfalls.

个人的存在应该像一 条河流，开始很小，被紧紧地夹在两岸中间，接着热情奔放地
冲过巨石，飞下瀑布。

173.
Gradually
the
river
grows
wider,
the
banks
recede,
the
waters
flow
more
quietly,

and
in
the
end,
without
any
visible
break,
they
become
merged
in
the
sea,
and
painlessly lose their individual being.

然后河面渐渐地变宽，两岸后撤，河水流得平缓起来，最后连绵不断地汇入大海，
毫无痛苦地失 去了自我的存在。

174.
The
man
who,
in
old
age,
can
see
his
life
in
this
way,
will
not
suffer
from
the
fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue.

上了年纪的人这样看待生命，就不会有惧怕死亡的心情了，因为自己关心的一切事
件都会继续下 去。

175. And if, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest
will be not unwelcome.

再者，
随着精力的衰退，
老年人的疲惫会增长，
有长眠的愿望未尝不是一件好事情，

176.
I
should
wish
to
die
while
still
at
work,
knowing
that
others
will
carry
on
what
I
can
no
longer
do,
and
content
in
the
thought
that
what
was
possible
has
been
done.


我希望工作到死为止，明 白了有人会继续我的未竟事业，想到能做的事都做了，也
就坦然了。

$$
课文
12
银行和顾客

177. When anyone opens a current account at a bank, he is lending the bank money,
repayment of which he may demand at any time, either in cash or by drawing a cheque
in favour of another person.

任何人在银行开一个活期账户，就等于把钱借给了银行。这笔钱他可以随时提 取，
提取的方式可以是取现金，也可以是开一张以他人为收款人的支票。

178. Primarily, the banker-customer relationship is that of debtor and creditor --
who
is
which
depending
on
whether
the
customer's
account
is
in
credit
or
is
overdrawn.

银行与储户的关系主要是债务人和债权人的关系。究竟谁是债务人谁是债权人，要
看储户是有结 余还是透支。

179. But, in addition to that basically simple concept, the bank and its customer
owe a large number of obligations to one another.

除了这一基本的简单的概念外，银行和储户彼此还需承担大量义务。

180.
Many
of
these
obligations
can
give
in
to
problems
and
complications
but
a
bank
customer,
unlike,
say,
a
buyer
of
goods,
cannot
complain
that
the
law
is
loaded
against
him.

其中许多义务往往引起问题和纠纷。但是储户不能像货物 的买主那样来抱怨法律对
自己不利。

181. The bank must obey its customer's instructions, and not those of anyone else.

银行必须遵照储户的嘱托办事，不能听从其他人的指令。

182.
When,
for
example,
a
customer
first
opens
an
account,
he
instructs
the
bank
to
debit his account only in respect of cheques draw by himself.

比如，
储户首次在银行开户时，
嘱咐银 行他的存款只能凭本世人签字的支票来提取。

183.
He
gives
the
bank
specimens
of
his
signature,
and
there
is
a
very
firm
rule
that
the
bank
has
no
right
or
authority
to
pay
out
a
customer's
money
on
a
cheques
on
which
its customer's signature has been forged.

他把自己签名的样本交给银行，对此有一条非常 严格的规定：银行没有任何权利或
理由把储户的钱让伪造储户的支票取走。

184. It makes no difference that the forgery may have been a very skilful one: the
bank must recognize its customer's signature.

即使伪造得很巧妙，也不能付款，因为银行有责任辨认出其储户的签名。

185. For this reason there is no risk to the customer in the practice, adopted by
banks, of printing the customer's name on his cheques.

因此，某些银行已采用把储户印在支票上的作法。这种做法对储户毫无风险。

186.
If
this
facilitates
forgery,
it
is
the
bank
which
will
lose,
not
the
customer.

如果因这种作法出现了伪造的话，受损失的将不是储户，而是银行。

$$
课文
13
探寻石油

187. The deepest holes of all made for oil, and they go down to as much as 25,0000
feet.
< br>在所有洞穴中，为寻找石油所钻出的洞是最深的，这些洞可深达
25,000
英尺。
188.
But
we
not
need
to
send
men
down
to
get
the
oil
our,
as
we
must
with
other
mineral
deposits.

但是，我们不必像开采其他矿藏那样，把人送到地下去把石油取出。

189. The holes are only borings, less than a foot in diameter.

这些洞只不过是一些钻孔，直径不到
1
英尺。

190.
My
particular
experience
is
largely
in
oil,
and
the
search
for
oil
has
done
more
to improve deep drilling than any other mining activity.

我是专门搞石油的，寻找石油比其他任何采矿业对改进钻探作的贡献都要大。

191. When is has been decided where we are going to drill, we put up at the surface
an oil derrick.

当确定钻孔地点后，我们就在那里竖起一个井架。

192. It has to be tall because it is like a giant block and tackle,

井架必须很高，因为它像一个巨型滑轮组。

193. and we have to lower into the ground and haul out of the ground great lengths
of
drill
pipe
which
are
rotated
by
an
engine
at
the
top
and
are
fitted
with
a
cutting
bit at the bottom.

我们必须把很长的钻杆一节节地钻入地下，然后再从地下拉出来。钻杆顶部安装的
发动机带动钻杆旋转 ，它的底部装有钻头。

194.
The
geologist
needs
to
know
what
rocks
the
drill
has
reached,
so
every
so
often
a sample is obtained with a coring bit.

地质学家需要知道钻头已以到达什么样的岩层，因此时常要用芯钻头取样。

195. It cuts a clean cylinder of rock, from which can be seen the strata the drill
has been cutting through.

这种钻头能切割一段光滑的圆柱形岩石，从中能看出所钻透的地层。

196.
Once
we
get
down
to
the
oil,
it
usually
flows
to
the
surface
because
great
pressure,
either from or water, is pushing it.

一旦到达油层，石油就会由于地下巨大的压力流到地面上来，这种巨 大的压力来自
地下天然气或水。

197.
This
pressure
must
be
under
control,
and
we
control
it
by
means
of
the
mud
which
we circulate down the drill pipe.

这种压力必须加以控制，我们让泥桨顺着钻杆向下循环，用这种方法来控制压力。

198. We endeavour to avoid the old, romantic idea of a gusher, which wastes oil and
gas.

我们尽量避免使用陈旧天真的喷井方法，那样会浪费石油和天然气。

199.
We
want
it
to
stay
down
the
hole
until
we
can
lead
it
off
in
a
controlled
manner.

我们要让石油留在井下，直到我们能用一种有控制的方法把它引上来为止。

$$
课文
14
蝴蝶效应

200. Beyond two or three days, the world's best weather forecasts are speculative,
and beyond six or seven they are worthless.

世界上最好的两三 天以上的天气预报具有很强的猜测性，如果超过六七天，天气预
报就没有了任何价值。

201. The Butterfly Effect is the reason.

原因是蝴蝶效应。

202. For small pieces of weather -- and to a global forecaster, small can mean
thunderstorms and blizzards -- any prediction deteriorates rapidly.

对于小片的恶劣天气
--
对一个全球性的气象预报员来说，
“小”
可以意味着雷暴雨
和暴风雪
--
任何预测的质量会很快下降。

203.
Errors
and
uncertainties
multiply,
cascading
upward
through
a
chain
of
turbulent
features,
from
dust
devils
and
squalls
up
to
continent-size
eddies
that
only
satellites can see.

错误和不可靠性上升，接踵而来的是一系列湍流的徵状，从小尘暴和暴风发展到只
有卫星上可以 看到的席卷整块大陆的旋涡。

204.
The
modern
weather
models
work
with
a
grid
of
points
of
the
order
of
sixty
miles
apart,

现代气象模型以一个坐标图来显示，图中每个点大约是间隔
60
英里。

205. and even so, some starting data has to guessed, since ground stations and
satellites cannot see everywhere.

既使是这样，有些开始时 的资料也不得不依靠推测，因为地面工作站和卫星不可能
看到地球上的每一个地方。

206.
But
suppose
the
earth
could
be
covered
with
sensors
spaced
one
foot
apart,
rising
at one-foot intervals all the way to the top of the atmosphere.

假设地球上可以布满传感器，每个 相隔
1
英尺，并按
1
英尺的间隔从地面一直排列
到大气层的顶端。< br>
207.
Suppose
every
sensor
gives
perfectly
accurate
readings
of
temperature,
pressure,
humidity, and any other quantity a meteorologist would want.

再假定每个传感器 都极极端准确地读出了温度、气压、温度和气象学家需要的任何
其他数据。

208.
Precisely
at
noon
an
infinitely
powerful
computer
takes
all
the
data
and
calculates what will happen at each point at 12.01, then 1202, then 12.03...

在正午时分，一个功能巨大的计 算机搜集了所有的资料，并算出在每一个点上
12
：
01
、
12：
02
、
12
：
03
时可能出现的情况。

209.
The
computer
will
still
be
unable
to
predict
whether
Princeton,
New
Jersey,
will

have sun or rain on a day one month away.

计算机无法推断出
1
个月以后的某一天，
新泽西州的普林斯顿究竟是晴天还是 雨天。

210.
At
noon
the
spaces
between
the
sensors
will
hide
fluctuations
that
the
computer
will not know about, tiny deviations from the average.

正午时分，
传感器之间的距离会掩盖计算机无法知道的波动、
任何偏平均值的变化。

211. By 12.01, those fluctuations will already have created small errors one foot
away.

到
12
：
01
时，那些波动就已经会在
1
英尺远的 地方造成偏差。

212.
Soon
the
errors
will
have
multiplied
to
the
ten-foot
scale,
and
so
on
up
to
the
size of the globe.

很快这种偏差会增加到尺
10
英的范围，如此等等，一直到全球的范围。

$$
课文
15
工业中的秘密

213. Two factors weigh heavily against the effectiveness of scientific research in
industry.

有两个因素严重地妨碍工业中科学研究的效率：

214. One is the general atmosphere of secrecy in which it is carried out,

一是科研工作中普遍存在的保密气氛；

215. the other the lack of freedom of the individual research worker.

二是研究人员缺乏个人自由。

216.
In
so
far
as
any
inquiry
is
a
secret
one,
it
naturally
limits
all
those
engaged
in
carrying
it
out
from
effective
contact
with
their
fellow
scientists
either
in
other
countries or in universities,

任何一项研究都涉及到保密，那些从事科研的人员自然受到了限制。他们不能和其
他国家、其他大学、< br>
217. or even, often enough, in other departments of the same firm.

甚至往往不能与本公司的其他部门的同行们进行有效的接触。

218. The degree of secrecy naturally varies considerably.

保密程度自然差别很大。

219. Some of the bigger firms are engaged in researches which are of such general
and
fundamental
nature
that
it
is
a
positive
advantage
to
them
not
to
keep
them
secret.

某些大公司进行的研究属于一般和基础的研究，因此不保密对他们才有利。

220.
Yet
a
great
many
processes
depending
on
such
research
are
sought
for
with
complete
secrecy until the stage at which patents can be taken out.

然而，依赖这种研究的很多工艺程序是在完全 保密的情况下进行的，直到可以取得
专利权的阶段为止。

221. Even more processes are never patented at all but kept as secret processes.

更多的工艺过程根本就不会取得专利权，而是作为秘方保存着。

222.
This
applies
particularly
to
chemical
industries,
where
chance
discoveries
play
a much larger part than they do in physical and mechanical industries.

在这化学工业方面尤为突出。同物理和机械工业相 比，化学工业中偶然发现的机会
要多得多。

223.
Sometimes
the
secrecy
goes
to
such
an
extent
that
the
whole
nature
of
the
research
cannot be mentioned.

有时，保密竟达到了这样的程度，即连研究工作的整个性质都不准提及。

224. Many firms, for instance, have great difficulty in obtaining technical or
scientific
books
from
libraries
because
they
are
unwilling
to
have
names
entered
as
having taken out such and such a book,

比如，很多公司向图书馆借阅科技书籍时感到困 难，因为它们不愿让人家记下它们
公司的名字和借阅的某一本书。

225.
for
fear
the
agents
of
other
firms
should
be
able
to
trace
the
kind
of
research
they are likely to be undertaking.

他们生怕别的公司的情报人员据此摸到他们可能要从事的某项科研项目。

$$
课文
16
现代城市

226. In the organization of industrial life the influence of the factory upon the
physiological and mental state of the workers has been completely neglected.

在工业生活的组织中，工厂对工人的生理和精神状态的影响完全被忽视了。

227.
Modern
industry
is
based
on
the
conception
of
the
maximum
production
at
lowest
cost, in order that an individual or a group of individuals may earn as much money
as possible.

现代工业的基本概念是：以最低成本获取最多产品，为的是让某个个人或某一部分
人尽可能多地 赚钱。

228.
It
has
expanded
without
any
idea
of
the
true
nature
of
the
human
beings
who
run
the machines,

现代工业发展起来了，却根本没想到操作机器的人的本质。

229.
and
without
giving
any
consideration
to
the
effects
produced
on
the
individuals
and
on
their
descendants
by
the
artificial
mode
of
existence
imposed
by
the
factory.

工厂把一种人为的生存方式强加给工人，却不顾 及这种生存方式给工人及其后代带
来的影响。

230. The great cities have been built with no regard for us.

大城市的建设毫不关心我们。

231. The shape and dimensions of the skyscrapers depend entirely on the necessity
of obtaining the maximum income per square foot of ground, and of offering to the
tenants offices and apartments that please them.

摩天大楼完全是按这样的需要修建的：每平方英尺地皮取得最大 收入和向租房人提
供使他满意的办公室和住房。

232. This caused the construction of gigantic buildings where too large masses of
human beings are crowded together.

这样就导致了许多摩天大厦拔地而起，大厦内众多的人挤地一起。

233. Civilized men like such a way of living.

文明人喜欢这样一种生活方式。

234. While they enjoy the comfort and banal luxury of their dwelling, they do not
realize that they are deprived of the necessities of life.

在享受自己住宅的舒适和庸俗的豪华时，
却没有意识到被剥夺了生活所必需的东西。

235.
The
modern
city
consists
of
monstrous
edifices
and
of
dark,
narrow
streets
full
of
petrol
fumes
and
toxic
gases,
torn
by
the
noise
of
the
taxicabs,
lorries
and
buses,
and thronged ceaselessly by great crowds.

大得吓人的高楼和阴暗狭窄的街道组成了今日现代化的城市。街道上充斥着汽油味
和有毒气体， 出租汽车、卡车、公共汽车的噪音刺耳难忍，络绎不绝的人群挤来挤去。

236. Obviously, it has not been planned for the good of its inhabitants.

显然，现代化的城市不是这居民的利益而规划的。

$$
课文
17
人为的疾病

237.
In
the
early
days
of
the
settlement
of
Australia,
enterprising
settlers
unwisely
introduced the European rabbit.

在澳大利亚移民初期，
一些有创业精神的移民不明智地把欧洲兔子引进了澳大利亚。

238.
This
rabbit
had
no
natural
enemies
in
the
Antipodes,
so
that
it
multiplied
with
that promiscuous abandon characteristic of rabbits.

这种兔子在澳大利亚及新西兰没有天敌，因此便以兔子所特有的杂乱交配迅猛繁殖
起来。

239. It overran a whole continent.

整个澳洲兔子成灾。

240.
It
caused
devastation
by
burrowing
and
by
devouring
the
herbage
which
might
have

maintained millions of sheep and cattle.

它们在地下打洞，吃掉本可以饲养数 百万头牛羊的牧草，给澳洲大陆造成了毁灭性
的破坏。

241. Scientists discovered that this particular variety of rabbit (and apparently
no other animal) was susceptible to a fatal virus disease, myxomatosis.

科学家们发现，这种特殊品种的兔子（显然不包括别的动物）易患一种叫“多 发性
粘液瘤”的致命毒性疾病。

242.
By
infecting
animals
and
letting
them
loose
in
the
burrows,
local
epidemics
of
this disease could be created.

通过让染上此病的动物在洞内乱跑，就可以使这种疾病在一个地区蔓延起来。

243.
Later
it
was
found
that
there
was
a
type
of
mosquito
which
acted
as
the
carrier
of this disease and passed it on to the rabbits.

后来又发现，有一种蚊子是传播这种疾病的媒介，能把此病传染给兔子。

244. So while the rest of the world was trying to get rid of mosquitoes, Australia
was encouraging this one.

因此，世界上其他地方在设法消灭蚊子的时候，澳大利亚却在促使这种蚊子大量繁
殖。

245.
It
effectively
spread
the
disease
all
over
the
continent
and
drastically
reduced
the rabbit population.

蚊子把这种疾病扩散到整个澳洲大陆，效果甚佳，结果兔子的数目在为减少。

246. It later became apparent that rabbits were developing a degree of resistance
to
this
disease,
so
that
the
rabbit
population
was
unlikely
to
be
completely
exterminated.

后来，明显看出，兔子对这种疾病已产生了一定程度的免疫力，所以兔子不可 能被
完全消灭。

247.
There
were
hopes,
however,
that
the
problem
of
the
rabbit
would
become
manageable.

但是，已有希望解决兔子所带来的问题。

248. Ironically, Europe, which had bequeathed the rabbit as a pest to Australia,
acquired this man-made disease as a pestilence.

具有讽刺意味的是，欧洲把这种兔子作 为有害动物传给澳洲，而欧洲自己却染上了
这种人为的瘟疫般的疾病。

249.
A
French
physician
decided
to
get
rid
of
the
wild
rabbits
on
his
own
estate
and
introduced myxomatosis.

一位法国内科医生决定除掉自己庄园内的野兔子，于是引进了这种多发性粘液瘤疾
病。

250. It did not, however, remain within the confines of his estate.

然而，这种疾病并未被局限在他的庄园内，

251. It spread through France,

结果在整个法国蔓延开来。

252.
Where
wild
rabbits
are
not
generally
regarded
as
a
pest
but
as
sport
and
a
useful
food supply,

野兔在法国一般不被当作有害动物，而被视为打猎取乐的玩物和有用的食物来源。

253. and it spread to Britain where wild rabbits are regarded as a pest but where
domesticated
rabbits,
equally
susceptible
to
the
disease,
are
the
basis
of
a
profitable fur industry.

这种疾病又 蔓延到了英国。在英国，野兔被当作有害的动物，可是家兔是赚钱的毛
皮工业的基础，然而家兔同样易感 染这种疾病。

254.
The
question
became
one
of
whether
Man
could
control
the
disease
he
had
invented.

现在的问题是，人类能否控制住这种人为的疾病。

$$
课文
18
海豚

255. There has long been a superstition among mariners

长期以来，海员中流传着一种迷信的说法，

256. that porpoises will save drowning men by pushing them to the surface,

认为海豚会把快要淹死的人托到水面，救人性命；

257. or protect them from sharks by surrounding them in defensive formation.

或在人们周围列队保护，使他们免遭鲨鱼伤害。

258. Marine Studio biologists have pointed out that,

海洋摄影室的生物学家指出，

259. however intelligent they may be,

无论海豚多么聪明，

260. it is probably a mistake to credit dolphins with any motive of lifesaving.

认为它们有救人的动机可能是错误的。

261. On the occasions when they have pushed to shore an unconscious human being

当它们偶尔把一个失去知觉的人推到岸边时，

262. they have much more likely done it out of curiosity or for sport,

更大的可能是出于好奇或游戏，

263. as in riding the bow waves of a ship.

就像它们追逐被船首犁开的浪花一样。

264. In 1928 some porpoises were photographer working like beavers to push ashore
a waterlogged mattress.
1928
年，有人拍摄到了海豚像海狸一样把浸透水的床垫推上岸的情景。

265. If, as has been reported, they have protected humans from sharks,

正如报道中所说，如果海豚保护人不受鲨鱼侵害，

266. it may have been because curiosity attracted them and because the scent of a
possible meal attracted the sharks.

那么它们可能是出于好奇；而鲨鱼可能是闻到了可以美食一顿的香味。

267. Porpoises and sharks are natural enemies.

海豚和鲨鱼是天然仇敌，

268. It is possible that upon such an occasion a battle ensued,

双方可能随之发生搏斗，

269. with the sharks being driven away or killed.

搏斗结果是海豚赶走或咬死鲨鱼。

270.
Whether
it
be
bird,
fish
or
beast,
the
porpoise
is
intrigued
with
anything
that
is alive.

海豚对凡是活的东西都感兴趣，不管是鸟、是鱼，还是野兽。

271. They are constantly after the turtles,

它们经常追逐海龟，

272. who peacefully submit to all sorts of indignities.

海龟则温顺地忍受着各种侮辱。

273.
One
young
calf
especially
enjoyed
raising
a
turtle
to
the
surface
with
his
snout


一只小海豚特别喜欢用鼻子把海龟推到水面，

274. and then shoving him across the tank like an aquaplane.

然后像滑水板一样把海龟从水池的这一边推到那一边。

275.
Almost
any
day
a
young
porpoise
may
be
seen
trying
to
turn
a
300-pound
sea
turtle
over
by
sticking
his
snout
under
the
edge
of
his
shell
and
pushing
up
for
dear
life.


几乎每天都可以看到一只小海豚把鼻子顶入一只
300
磅重的海龟的硬壳下面，拼命< br>地把它翻过来。

276. This is not easy, and may require two porpoises working together.

这并非易事，可能需要两只海豚合伙干才行。

277. In another game, as the turtle swims across the oceanarium,

在另一场游戏中，当海龟游过水族馆时，

278. the first porpoise swoops down from above and butts his shell with his belly.

第一只海豚从上方猛扑下去，用腹部撞击龟壳。

279. This knocks the turtle down several feet.

这一下子把海龟撞下去好几英尺。

280. He no sooner recovers his equilibrium than the next porpoise comes along and
hits him another crack.

海龟刚恢复平衡，第二只海豚又冲过来猛击一下。

281.
Eventually
the
turtle
has
been
butted
all
the
way
down
to
the
floor
of
the
tank.

这只海龟最终被撞到池底。

282. He is now satisfied merely to try to stand up,

此时的海龟，只要能站起来就满足了，

283. but as soon as he does so a porpoise knocks him flat.

但它刚站起来，就被一只海豚击倒。

284. The turtle at last gives up by pulling his feet under his shell and the game
is over.

海龟终于屈服了，将
4
条腿缩进壳内。游戏到此结束。

$$
课文
19
话说梦的本质

285. It is fairly clear that sleeping period must have some function,

很清楚，睡眠必然具有某种作用。

286. and because there is so much of it the function would seem to be important.

睡眠占去那么多时间，所以其作用似乎还是很重要。

287.
Speculations
about
is
nature
have
been
going
on
for
literally
thousands
of
years,

人们对睡眠作用的种种猜测，确实有数千年之久。

288. and one odd finding that makes the problem puzzling is that it looks very much
as if sleeping is not simply a matter of giving the body a rest.

一项使人对这个问题感到困惑的奇怪的发现是，睡眠在很大程度似乎并不仅仅是为
了使身体得到 休息。

289. 'Rest', in terms of muscle relaxation and so on,

“休息”
，从使肌肉得到放松等方面来看，

290. can be achieved by a brief period lying, or even sitting down.

只要稍微躺一躺，甚至坐一坐就能达到。

291. The body's tissues are self-repairing and self-restoring to a degree,

人体组织在一定程度上有自我修补和自我恢复的能力，

292. and function best when more or less continuously active.

有张有弛地连续活动时，其功能最佳。

293. In fact a basic amount of movement occurs during sleep

事实上，睡眠状态下仍有着基本的活动量，

294. which is specifically concerned with preventing muscle inactivity.

以防止肌肉活动停止。

295. If it is not a question of resting the body,

如果睡眠的功能不是在于使身体得到休息，

296. then perhaps it is the brain that needs resting?

那么也许是让大脑得以休息？

297. This might be a plausible hypothesis were it not for two factors.

若不是下面两点，这种假使似乎是有道理的。

298. First the electroencephalograph

第一点，脑电图记录仪

299. shows that while there is a change in the pattern of activity during sleep,

显示，人在睡眠时大脑活动的方式有变化，

300. there is no evidence that the total amount of activity is any less.

但没有迹象表明，其活动总量有任何减少。

301. The second factor is more interesting and more fundamental.

第二点更有意思，也更重要。

302.
Some
years
ago
an
American
psychiatrist
named
William
Dement
published
experiments dealing with the recording of eye-movements during sleep.

前些年，美国一位精神病学者发表了一篇报告，报告中记录了眼球在睡眠时的活动
情况。

303.
He
showed
that
the
average
individual's
sleep
cycle
is
punctuated
with
peculiar
bursts of eye-movements,

他指出，平常人的睡眠周期中不时伴有一阵阵奇怪的眼球队活动，

304. some drifting and slow, others jerky and rapid.

这些活动有的飘忽而缓慢，有的急剧而快速。

305.
People
woken
during
these
periods
of
eye-movements
generally
reported
that
they
had been dreaming.

在眼球活动期间被叫醒的人都说自己在做梦；

306. When woken at other times they reported no dreams.

在其他期间叫醒他们，则说没有做梦。

307.
If
one
group
of
people
were
disturbed
from
their
eye-movement
sleep
for
several
nights on end,

如果有两组人，一组人连续几夜在眼球队活动时被叫醒；

308.
and
another
group
were
disturbed
for
an
equal
period
of
time
but
when
they
were
no exhibiting eye-movements,

另一组人也是连续几夜被叫醒，但是在眼球队没活动时被叫醒的。

309. the first group began to show some personality disorders

结果，第一组人开始出现性格失常，

310. while the others seemed more or less unaffected.

而第二组人似乎没受什么影响。

311.
The
implications
of
all
this
were
that
it
was not
the
disturbance
of
sleep
that
mattered,but the disturbance of dreaming.

这一切暗示我们：睡眠受到干忧没关系，而做梦受到干忧是有问题的。

$$
课文
20
蛇毒

312. How it came about that snakes manufactured poison is a mystery.

蛇是怎样产生毒液的，这是一个谜。

313. Over the periods their saliva, a mild, digestive juice like our own,

蛇的唾液本来和我们人的消化液一样柔和，但经过漫长的时间，

314. was converted into a poison that defies analysis even today.

演变成了今天仍无法分析清楚的毒液。

315. It was not forced upon them by the survival competition;

毒液不是生存竞争强加给它们的，

316. they could have caught and lived on prey without using poison,

它们也可以不用毒液捕捉动物而生存，

317. just as the thousands of non-poisonous snakes still do.

就像今天成千上万的无毒蛇那样。

318. Poison to a snake is merely a luxury;

毒液对毒蛇来说只不过是一种舒适生存的优越手段，

319. it enables it to get its food with very little effort,

它使蛇不用费多大力气就能捕获到食物，

320. no more effort than one bite.

轻咬一口即可。

321. And why only snakes?

为什么只有蛇才有毒液呢？

322. Cats, for instance, would be greatly helped;

譬如说，如果猫有毒液，那对猫会大有帮助，

323. no running fights with large, fierce rats or tussles with grown rabbits

它就不必再和又大又凶的老鼠边跑边博斗了，也不必再和大兔子扭斗了，

324. In fact, it would be an assistance to all carnivores

因此，任何食肉动物有了毒液，都能从中获益。

325. though it would be a two-edged weapon when they fought each other.

不过，当它们相互撕打时，毒液就成了利弊参半的武器，可以 杀死对方，也可以被
对方的毒液杀死。

326. But, of the vertebrates, unpredictable Nature selected only snakes (and one
lizard).

然而，在脊椎动物中，大自然神秘模测地只选择了蛇（还有一种蜥蜴）
，

327.
One
wonders
saliva
into
why
Nature,
with
respect
from
that
of
others,
as
other
on the blood.

人们弄不清楚大自然为什么在某些蛇的身上调制出如此高效的毒液来。

328.
In
the
conversion
of
saliva
into
poison,
one
might
suppose
that
a
fixed
process
took place.

人们可能认为，唾液转变成毒液，其中有固定的程序。

329. It did not;

其实没有。

330.
some
snakes
manufacture
a
poison
different
in
every
respect
from
that
of
others,


有些蛇产生的毒液也在各方面与另外一些毒蛇产生的毒液不同，

331. as different as arsenic is from strychnine,

就像砒霜不同于马钱子碱一样。

332. and having different effects.

不同毒蛇产生的毒液产生的效果不同，

333. One poison acts on the nerves, the other on the blood.

一种毒液作用于神经，另一种毒液作用于血液。

334. The makers of the nerve poison include the mambas and the cobras

产生神经毒液的蛇有一种非洲树眼镜蛇和眼镜蛇，

335. and their venom is called neurotoxic.

它们的毒液称为神经毒素。

336. Vipers (adders) and rattlesnakes manufacture the blood poison,

蝰蛇（蝮蛇）和响尾蛇产生血液毒素，

337. which is known as haemolytic.

称为溶血性毒液。

338. Both poisons are unpleasant,

这两种毒液都很可怕，

339. but by far the more unpleasant is the blood poison.

但溶血性毒液尤其厉害。

340. It is said that the nerve poison is the more primitive of the two,

据说，神经毒液在两种毒液中是较为原始的一种，

341.
that
the
blood
poison
is,
so
to
speak,
a
newer
product
from
an
improved
formula.

而溶血性毒液，打个比方说，是根据改良配方生产的一种较新的产品。

342.
Be
that
as
it
may,
the
nerve
poison
does
its
business
with
man
far
more
quickly
than the blood poison.

不过，神经毒辣液比溶血性毒液在人身上起作用快得多。

343. This, however, means nothing.

但是，这没有什么关系，

344. Snakes did not acquire their poison for use against man

因为蛇有毒液不是用来对付人的，

345. but for use against prey such as rats and mice,

而是对付它的猎物，诸如鼠类，

346. and the effects on these of viperine poison is almost immediate.

毒液对这些猎物会立刻起作用。

$$
课文
21
威廉
.S.
哈特和早期限的‘西部’影片

347. William S. hart was, perhaps, the greatest of all Western stars,

威廉
.S.
哈特大概是美国西部电影明星中的佼佼者。

348. fro unlike Gary Cooper and John Wayne

他和加里
.
古柏、约翰
.
韦恩不同，

349. he appeared in nothing but Westerns.

他只在西部电影中扮演角色。

350. From 1914 to 1924 he was supreme and unchallenged.

在
1914
年至
1924
年期间，他首屈一指，独霸影坛。

351. It was Hart who created the basic formula of the Western film,

正是他创造了西部电影的基调，

352. and devised the protagonist he played in every film he made,

即在他自己的拍摄的影片中他所塑造的主人公形象：

353. the good- bad man, the accidental-noble outlaw,

被认为是坏人的好人，出人意料的高尚的逃犯，

354.
or
the
honest-but-framed
cowboy,
or
the
sheriff
made
suspect
by
vicious
gossip;

诚实却遭陷害的牛仔或因流言蜚语蒙受嫌疑的司法官。

355.
in
short,
the
individual
in
conflict
with
himself
and
his
frontier
environment.

总之，主人公是一个自相矛盾，又与他的拓荒环境相矛盾的人物。

356. Unlike most of his contemporaries in Hollywood,

哈特与大部分同时代在好莱坞的演员不同，

357. Hart actually knew something of the old West.

他确实了解西部早期拓荒生活的一些情况。

358. He had lived in it as a child when it was already disappearing,

作为一个孩子他曾在西部生活过，当时西部拓荒生活正在消失。

359. and his hero was firmly rooted in his memories and experiences,

他塑造的英雄人物深深地扎根于他本人的记忆和经历之中，

360. and in both the history and the mythology of the vanished frontier.

也扎根于有关已经消失的拓荒生活的历史和神话之中。

361. And although no period or place in American history has been more absurdly
romanticized,

虽然在美国历史上没有任何时期或地区像西部拓荒时期那样被荒谬地浪漫主义化
了，

362. myth and reality did join hands in at least one arena,

但神话和事实至少在某一个舞台上共存，

363. the conflict between the individual and encroaching civilization.

也就是存在于个人与渐渐闯入的文明这两者的冲突之中。

364.
Men
accustomed
to
struggling
for
survival
against
the
elements
and
Indians
were
bewildered by politicians, bankers and businessmen,

习惯与大自然和印第安人作斗争以求生存的拓荒者被政客、银行家和商人搞得晕头
转向，

365. and unhorsed by fences, laws and alien taboos.

最后被圈地、尖律我外来的清规戒律所击败。

366. Hart's good-bad man was always an outsider,

哈特扮演的被误为坏人的好人总是一个局外人，

367. always one of the disinherited,

总是一个被剥夺继承权的人。

368. and if he found it necessary to shoot a sheriff or rob a bank along the way,

如果他认为在进行过程中有必要枪击一个司法官或抢劫一个银行，

369. his early audiences found it easy to understand and forgive,

他的早期观众很容易接受，觉得应该原谅他，

370. especially when it was Hart who, in the end, overcame the attacking Indians.


特别是当哈特最后战胜了前来进攻的印第安人时，观众更能原谅他。

371. Audiences in the second decade of the twentieth century

生活在
20
世纪
20
年代的观众认为，

372. found it pleasant to escape to a time when life,though hard, was relatively
simple.

逃到一个即使艰苦但比较简朴的时代中去是件愉快的事，

373. We still do;

我们今天仍有这种感觉。

374. living in a world in which undeclared aggression, war, hypocrisy, chicanery,
anarchy and impending immolation are part of our daily lives,

如今，不宣而战的侵略、战争、虚伪、诈骗、无政府状态以及即将临头的毁灭 成了
我们日常生活的一部分，

375. we all want a code to live by.

我们都希望有一个赖以生存的行为准则。

$$
课文
22
知识和进步

376. Why does the idea of progress loom so large in the modern world?

为什么进步这个概念在现代世界显得如此突出？

377.
Surely
progress
of
a
particular
kind
is
actually
taking
place
around
us
and
is
becoming more and more manifest.

无疑是因为有一种特殊的进步实际上正在我们周围发生，而且变得越来越明显。

378.
Although
mankind
has
undergone
no
general
improvement
in
intelligence
or
morality,

虽然人类有智力和道德上没有得到普遍提高，

379. it has made extraordinary progress in the accumulation of knowledge.

但在知识积累方面却取得了巨大的进步。

380.
Knowledge
began
to
increase
as
soon
as
the
thoughts
of
one
individual
could
be
communicated to another by means of speech.

人一旦能用语言同别人交流思想，知识的积累便开始了。

381. With the invention of writing, a great advance was made, for knowledge could
then be not only communicated but also stored.

随着书写的发明，又迈进了一大步，因为这样一来，知识不仅能交流，而且能储存
了。

382.
Libraries
made
education
possible,
and
education
in
its
turn
added
to
libraries:

藏书使教育成为可能，而教育反过来又丰富了藏书，

383. the growth of knowledge followed a kind of compound interest law,

因为知识的增长遵循着一种“滚雪球”的规律。

384. which was greatly enhanced by the invention of printing.

印刷术的发明又大大提高了知识增长的速度。

385. All this was comparatively slow until, with the coming of science, the tempo
was suddenly raised.

所有这些发展都比较缓慢，而随着科学的到来，增长的速度才突然加快。

386. Then knowledge began to be accumulated according to a systematic plan.

于是，知识便开始有系统有计划地积累起来。

387. The trickle became a stream; the stream has now become a torrent.

涓涓细流汇成小溪，小溪现已变成了奔腾的江河。

388. Moreover, as soon as new knowledge is acquired, it is now turned to practical
account.

而且，新知识一旦获得，便得到实际应用。

389.
What
is
called
'modern
civilization'
is
not
the
result
of
a
balanced
development

of all man's nature.

所谓“现代文明”并不是人的天性平衡发展的结果，

390. but of accumulated knowledge applied to practical life.

而是积累起来的知识应用到实际生活中的结果。

391. The problem now facing humanity is: What is going to be done with all this
knowledge?

现在人类面临的问题是：用这些知识去做什么？

392. As is so often pointed out, knowledge is a two-edged weapon which can be used
equally for good or evil.

正像人们常常指出的，知识是一把双刃刀，可以用于造福，也可以用来为害。

393. It is now being used indifferently for both.

人们现在正漫不经心地把知识用于这两个方面，

394.
Could
any
spectacle,
for
instance,
be
more
grimly
whimsical
than
that
of
gunners

ourselves
very
seriously
what
will
happen
if
this
twofold
use
of
knowledge,
with
its
ever-increasing power, continues.

例如：炮兵利用科学毁坏人的身体、而外科医生就在 附近用科学抢救被炮兵毁坏的
人体，还有什么情景比这更可怕、更怪诞的吗？我们不得不严肃地问问我们 自己：随着日益
增长的知识的力量，如果我们继续利用知识的这种双重性，将会发生什么样的情况呢？< br>
$$
课文
23
鸟的飞行方法

395. No two sorts of birds practise quite the same sort of flight;

没有任何两种鸟的飞行方式是相同的。

396. the varieties are infinite; but two classes may be roughly seen.

鸟的飞行方式千差万别，但大体上可分为两类。

397. Any shi that crosses the Pacific is accompanied for many days by the smaller
albatross,

任何一艘横度太平洋的轮船都会有一种小信天翁伴随飞行许多天。

398.
Which
may
keep
company
with
the
vessel
for
an hour
without
visible
or
more
than
occasional movement of wing.

它们随船飞行一小时也难得见其扇动一下翅膀。

399. The currents of air that the walls of the ship direct upwards, as well as in
the line of its course, are enough to give the great bird with its immense wings
sufficient sustenance and progress.

沿船体的上升的气流和沿航线向前的气流给这种巨翼大鸟以足够的浮力和推力。

400. The albatross is the king of the gliders,

信天翁是滑翔飞行的鸟类之王，

401. the class of fliers which harness the air to their purpose, but must yield to
its opposition.

它能自如地驾驭空气，但必须顺气流飞行。

402. In the contrary school, the duck is supreme.

与滑翔鸟相对的另一类鸟中，数野鸭本领最高。

403. It comes nearer to the engines with which man has 'conquered' the air, as he
boasts.

它更近乎于人类自夸的“征服”了空气的发动机。

404. Duck, and like them the pigeons, are endowed with such-like muscles,

野鸭及它们相似的鸽子有天赋的钢铁般的肌肉，

405. that are a good part of the weight of the bird,

占了体重的很大一部分。

406. and these will ply the short wings with such irresistible power that they can
bore for long distances through an opposing gale before exhaustion follows.

这些肌肉以巨大的力量扇动短小的翅膀，使这类鸟能顶着大风飞行很远的路才会疲
劳。

407.
Their
humbler
followers,
such
as
partridges,
have
a
like
power
of
strong
propulsion, but soon tire.

次于野鸭和鸽子的鸟，如鹧鸪，有相似的巨大推动力，但很快会疲劳。

408. You may pick them up in utter exhaustion, if wind over the sea has driven them
to a long journey.

如果海风驱使它们飞行很长距离，你可以捡到一些因筋疲力尽而摔下来的鹧鸪。

409. The swallow shares the virtues of both schools in highest measure.

燕子充分兼有这两类鸟的长处，

410. It tires not, nor does it boast of its power;

它既不疲劳，也不炫耀自己的飞翔力；

411.
but
belongs
to
the
air,
travelling
it
may
be
six
thousand
miles
to
and
from
its
northern nesting home, feeding its flown young as it flies,

在空中十分自如，
可以飞行
6
，
000
英里，
可以飞往北方做窝的老家，
再从老家飞回；
一边飞一边喂养会飞的雏燕，甚至在顶风时也能在气流中滑翔，似乎气流在帮它前进。这些
鸟对我们是有 益的，

412.
and
slipping
through
we
no
longer
take
omens
from
their
flight
on
this
side
and
that;

虽然我们不再从它们的飞翔姿态来占卜吉凶，

413.
and
even
the
most
superstitious
villagers
no
longer
take
off
their
hats
to
the
magpie and wish it good-morning.

连最迷信的村民也不再对喜鹊脱帽行礼，祝它早安了。

$$
课文
24
美

414. A young man sees a sunset and, unable to understand or to express the emotion
that
it
rouses
in
him,
concludes
that
it
must
be
the
gateway
to
world
that
lies
beyond.

一个年轻人看到日落，
由于无法理解和表达日落在他心中唤起的激情，
便得出结论：
日落处想必是通往遥远世界的大 门。

415.
It
is
difficult
for
any
of
us
in
moments
of
intense
aesthetic
experience
to
resist
the
suggestion
that
we
are
catching
a
glimpse
of
a
light
that
shines
down
to
us
from
a different realm of existence,

无论是谁，在强烈感受到美的时 刻，心中都不禁油生一种遐想：我们似乎瞥见从另
一个世界射向我们的一线光芒，

416.
different
and,
because
the
experience
is
intensely
moving,
in
some
way
higher.


那个世界不仅不同于我们这个世界，而且 由于美感的强烈感染，在某些方面比我们
这个世界更美好。

417. And, though the gleams blind and dazzle, yet do they convey a hint of beauty
and serenity greater than we have known or imagined.

虽然 这光芒令人眼花缭乱，但它确实给予我们一种不曾经历和无法想象的美感和静
谧的启示。

418. Greater too than we can describe;

这种美感和静谧是我们无法描述的，

419. for language, which was invented to convey the meanings of this world, cannot
readily be fitted to the uses of another.

因为我们发明的语言是用来描述这个世界的含义，
不能随便拿来去描述另一个世界。

420. That all great has this power of suggesting a world beyond is undeniable.

不可否认，一切伟大的艺术都具有使人遐想到进入天外世界的魅力。

421. In some moods, Nature shares it.

在某种状态下，大自然也有这种魅力。

422. There is no sky in June so blue that it does not point forward to a bluer,

六月蔚蓝的天空总使人遥想一个更加蔚蓝的苍穹；

423. no sunset so beautiful that it does not waken the vision of a greater beauty,
a
vision
which
passes
before
it
is
fully
glimpsed,
and
in
passing
leaves
and
indefinable longing and regret.

美丽的落日总会引起一个更加绚丽的景象未及饱览便一闪即 逝，并在消逝中给人留
下不可名状的渴望和惆怅。

424. But, if this world is not merely a bad joke, life a vulgar flare amid the cool
radiance of the stars,

如果这个世界不只是一个拙劣的恶作剧，如果人生不只是群星寒光中平凡的一闪，

425. and existence an empty laugh braying across the mysteries;

如果存在不只是对神秘事物的一种空虚的笑声，

426.
if
these
intimations
of
a
something
behind
and
beyond
are
not
evil
humour
born
of indigestion, or whimsies sent by the devil to mock and madden us.

如果某种玄妙事物的暗示 不是消化不良引起的邪恶情绪，
也不是魔鬼为了捉弄我们，
使我们发狂而送给我们的邪念，
427. if, in a word, beauty means something, yet we must not seek to interpret the
meaning.

一句话，如果美有某种意义的话，我闪千万不要去阐明它的意义。

428. If we glimpse the unutterable, it is unwise to try to utter it,

如果我瞥见了只可意会不可言传的事物，企图把它说出来，那上不明智的；

429. nor should we seek to invest with significance that which we cannot grasp.

对于我们不理解的事物，我们也不应该去赋予它某种意义。

430. Beauty in terms of our human meanings is meaningless.

用对我们人类有意义的词解释美是没有意义的。

$$
课文
25
噪音的非听觉效应

431.
Many
people
in
industry
and
the
Services,
who
have
practical
experience
of
noise,

在工业部门工作和在军队中服役的许多人对噪声音有切身的体会，

432. regard any investigation of this question as a waste of time;

他们认为对这个问题进行调查中浪费时间，

433.
they
are
not
prepared
even
to
admit
the
possibility
that
noise
affects
people.


甚至不愿承认噪音可能对人有影响。

434. On the other hand,those who dislike noise will sometimes use most inadequate
evidence to support their pleas for a quieter society.

另一方面，

435.
those
who
dislike
noise
will
sometimes
use
most
inadequate
evidence
to
support
their pleas for a quieter society.

那些讨厌噪音的人有时会用不充分的证据来支持他们希望 有一个较为安静的社会环
境的要求。

436.
This
is
a
pity,
because
noise
abatement
really
is
a
good
cause,
and
it
is
likely
to be discredited if it gets to be associated with had science.

要求减少噪音是件好事，但是如果与拙劣的科学 掺杂在一起的话，就不会被人们所
信任，这是很遗憾的。

437. One allegation often made is that noise produces mental illness.

常见的一种指责是，噪音能引起精神病。

438.
A
recent
article
in
a
weekly
newspaper,
for
instance,
was
headed
with
a
striking
illustration of a lady in a state of considerable distress,

例如，最近一家周报刊登 了一篇文章，文章上方有一幅引人注目的插图，是一位表
情沮丧的女子。

439. with the caption 'She was yet another victim, reduced to a screaming wreck'.


图的文字说明：
“她是又一个受害者，成了只会尖叫的可怜虫。
”

440.
On
turning
eagerly
to
the
text,
one
learns
that
the
lady
was
a
typist
who
found
the sound of office typewriters worried her more and more until eventually she had
to go into a mental hospital.

当人们急切地看完正文后，便知道这女子是个打字员，办公室打字机的声音使她越
来越烦，最终住进了精 神病医院。

441. Now the snag in this sort of anecdote is of course that one merely a symptom?

这类奇闻的疑难之处是无法区别因果关系。是噪音引起了（精神）病呢，还是 （精
神）病的症状之一是对噪音的抱怨？

442.
Another
patient
might
equally
well
complain
that
her
neighbours
were
combining
to slander her and persecute her,

另有一位病人可能同样有理由抱怨说，她的邻居们正在联合起来对她进行诽谤和迫
害，

443. and yet one might be cautious about believing this statement.

不过，人们不会轻信她的抱怨。

444. What is needed in case of noise is a study of large numbers of people living
under noisy conditions,

对于噪音问题，需要对大量生活在噪音中的人进行研究，

445. to discover whether they are mentally ill more often than other people are.

看一看他们是否比其他人更易患精神病。

446.
Some
time
ago
the
United
States
Navy,
for
instance,
examined
a
very
large
number

of men working on aircraft carriers:

例如，美国海军前些时候调查了许多在航空母航上工作的人，

447. the study was known as Project Anehin.

这次调查被称之为：
“安内英工程”
。

448. It can be unpleasant to live even several miles from an aerodrome;

即使住在离机场几英里以外的地方，机场的噪音也会使人难受。

449.
if
you
think
what
it
must
be
like
to
share
the
deck
of
a
ship
with
several
squadrons
of jet aircraft,

因此，如果你能想像出和几个中队的喷气机同在一个甲板上是什么滋味儿的话，

450. you will realize that a modern navy is a good place to study noise.

你就会认识到现代海军是研究噪音的好地方。

451. But neither psychiatric interviews nor objective tests were able to show any
effects upon these American sailors.

但是，不管进行精神病学的调查访问，还是进行客观的测 试，都不能显示噪音对这
些美国水兵有任何影响。

452. This result merely confirms earlier American and British studies:

这个结果只不过证实了美国和英国早些时候的研究结论：

453. if there is any effect of noise upon mental health,

如果噪音对精神健康有影响的话，

454. it must be so small that present methods of psychiatric diagnosis cannot find
it.

那也一定是微乎其微，以致现代的精神病诊断方法还发现不了。

455. That does not prove that it does exist:

这并不是证实不存在噪音对健康的影响。

456. but it does mean that noise is less dangerous than, say, being brought up in
an orphanage -- which really is mental health hazard.

但它确实说明，
噪音的危险性
--
比如说
--
比在孤儿院长大所受的危害要小一些，
孤儿院才是真正危害精神健康的地方。

$$
课文
26
地球上的昔日生命

457. It is animals and plants which lived in or near water whose remains are most
likely to be preserved,

只有生活在水中或水边的动植物尸体最有可能被保存下来，

458. for one of the necessary conditions of preservation is quick burial,

因为保存的必要条件之一是迅速掩埋，

459. and it is only in the seas and rivers, and sometimes lakes,

所以只有在泥沙不停淤积的海洋和江河里，有时在湖泊里，

460.
where
mud
and
sit
have
been
continuously
deposited,
that
bodies
and
the
can
be
rapidly covered over and preserved.

尸体之类的东西才能被迅速地覆盖而保存下来。

461. But even in the most favourable circumstances

即使是在最有利的环境中，

462.
only
a
small
fraction
of
the
creatures
that
die
are
preserved
in
this
way
before
decay sets in or, even more likely, before scavengers eat them.

死去的生物中也只有一小部分 能在开始腐烂前，或更可能在被食腐动物吃掉之前，
被这样保存下来。

463. After all, all living creatures live by feeding on something else,

因为一切生物都是靠吃别的东西来活命的，

464. whether it be plant or animal, dead or alive,

不管这种东西是植物还是动物，死的还是活的，

465. and it is only by chance that such a fate is avoided.

因此，生物偶尔才能避免被吃掉的命运。

466. The remains of plants and animals that lived on land are much more rarely
preserved,

曾在陆地上生活过的动植物的遗体被保存下来的更为罕见，

467. for there is seldom anything to cover them over.

因为陆地上几乎没有什么东西覆盖它们。

468. When you think of the innumerable birds that one sees flying bout,

你可以想象出天上有看得见的飞来飞去、数不清的鸟，

469.
not
to
mention
the
equally
numerous
small
animals
like
field
mice
and
voles
which
you do not see,

地上有不显眼的无数的老鼠和田鼠之类的小动物，

470. it is very rarely that one comes across a dead body, except, of course, on the
roads.

但是，除非在路上，很少有人遇到这些动物的尸体，

471.
They
decompose
and
are
quickly
destroyed
by
the
weather
or
eaten
by
some
other
creature.

因为它们腐败之后很快就被风化掉，或被别的动物吃掉了。

472.
It
is
almost
always
due
to
some
very
special
circumstances
that
traces
of land
animals survive,

几乎总是由于某些特殊的条件，陆地动物的遗体才被存下来，

473. as by falling into inaccessible caves, or into an ice crevasse,

如掉进难以到达的洞穴，或掉进冰河裂缝里，

474. like the Siberian mammoths, when the whole animal is sometimes preserved, as
in a refrigerator.

或者像西伯利亚长毛象那样掉进冰窟中，有时 整个动物像被放在冰箱里一样被保存
下来，

475.
This
is
what
happened
to
the
famous
Beresovka
mammoth
which
was
found
preserved
and in good condition.

著名的那林索夫卡长毛象就是这样被保存下来的，而且保存得很好。

476. In his mouth were the remains of fir trees -- the last meal that he had before
he fell into the crevasse and broke his back.

它嘴里还留着冷杉
--
它掉进冰河裂隙折断脊椎柱之前的最后一顿饭。

477. The mammoth has now just a suburb of Los Angeles.

这头长毛象已被修复，现存于圣彼得堡古生物学博物馆。

478. Apparently what happened was that water collected on these tar pits, and the
bigger
animals
like
the
elephants
ventured
out
on
to
the
apparently
firm
surface
to
drink, and were promptly bogged in the tar.

有的动物掉进 天然沥清坑里被保存下来，如在兰桥
.
拉
.
布里
--
现 在是洛杉矶的郊
区发现的大象、剑齿虎和许多其他动物。显然，事情的经过是这样：沥青坑里积存了水， 大
象那样的大动物冒险到似乎坚固的水面上去饮水，立即掉进了沥青坑。

479.
And
then,
when
they
were
dead,
the
carnivores,
like
the
sabre-toothed
cats
and
the giant wolves, came out to feed and suffered exactly the same fate.

大象死后，
一些食肉动物，
如剑齿 虎和大灰狼就来吃大象，
结果遭到了同样的命运。

480. There are also endless numbers of birds in the tar as well.

沥青坑里还有无数只鸟的尸体。

$$
课文
27
“瓦萨”号

481.
From
the
seventeenth-century
empire
of
Sweden,
the
story
of
a
galleon
that
sank
at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the
sea.
1628年，
一艘大帆船在处女航时就沉没了，
这个从容不迫
7
世纪瑞典帝国流传 至今
的故事无疑是航海史上最离奇的事件之一。

482.
For
nearly
three
and
a
half
centuries
she
lay
at
the
bottom
of
Stockholm
harbour
until her discovery in 1956.

这 艘大船在斯德哥尔摩港口的海底躺了将近几年来个世纪之后，
直到
1956
年才被发< br>现。

483. This was the Vasa, royal flagship of the great imperial fleet.

这就是“瓦萨”号，帝国大舰的皇家旗舰。

484. King Gustavus Adolphus, 'The Northern Hurricane', then at the height of his
military
success
in
the
Thirty
Years'
War,
had
dictated
her
measurements
and
armament.


当时号称
“北方飓风”的国王古斯夫斯
.
阿道尔弗正处在
“三十年战争”
的军事鼎盛
阶 段，他亲自规定了这艘船的规模和武器配备。

485. Triple gun-decks mounted sixty-four bronze cannon.
3
层的火炮甲板上装着眼点
4
门青铜加农炮，

486. She was intended to play a leading role in the growing might of Sweden.

目的就是要在不断增长的瑞典势力中起主导作用。

487. As she was prepared of her maiden voyage on August 10, 1628, Stockholm was in
a ferment.
1628年
8
月
10
日，
“瓦萨”号准备首航时，斯德哥尔摩一片欢腾。

488. From the Skeppsbron and surrounding islands the people watched this thing of
beauty begin to spread her sails and catch the wind.

人们从斯开波斯布朗和周围的岛屿前来观着这艘美丽的战船扬帆起航，乘风前进。

489. They had laboured for three years to produce this floating work of art;

瑞典人辛辛苦苦干了
3
年才建成这件水上艺术品，

490. she was more richly carved and ornamented than any previous ship.

它比以往任何船只雕刻得都更加精美，装饰得都更加华丽。

491.
The
high
stern
castle
was
a
riot
of
carved
gods,
demons,
knights,
kings,
warriors,
mermaids, cherubs;

高耸的船楼上雕刻了令人 眼花缭乱的神仙、妖魔、骑士、国王、武士、美人鱼和小
天使，

492.
and
zoomorphic
animal
shapes
ablaze
with
rea
and
gold
and
blue,
symbols
of
courage,
power, and cruelty,

还有用红色、
金黄色、
蓝色绘制的光彩夺目的兽形图案，
象征着勇敢、
力量和残暴，

493.
were
portrayed
to
stir
the
imaginations
of
the
superstitious
sailors
of
the
day.


以激起汉时崇尚迷信的水手们的想像。

494.
Then
the
cannons
of
the
anchored
warships
thundered
a
salute
to
which
the
Vasa
fired in reply.

这时，停泊在港口的其他战船向“瓦萨”号鸣炮致礼，
“瓦萨”号也鸣炮回礼。

495. As the emerged from her drifting cloud of gun smoke with the water churned to
foam
beneath
her
bow,
her
flags
colour,she
presented
a
more
majestic
spectacle
than
Stockholmers had ever seen before.

当“瓦萨”号从弥漫的礼炮烟云中出现时，船头下浪花加溅，舰旗迎风招展，三角
旗随风飘动，
微风鼓起风帆，
金碧辉煌的船楼闪耀着灿烂的色彩。
“瓦萨”
号展现的壮观景 象
是斯德哥尔摩人从未见过的。船上的炮眼开着，炮口虎视眈眈地向外窥视着。

496. As the wind freshened there came a sudden squall and the ship made a strange
movement, listing to port.

当风力增强时，突然刮来一阵大风，
“瓦萨”号奇怪地摇晃了一下，便向左舷倾斜。

497. The Ordnance Officer ordered all the port cannon to be heaved to starboard to
counteract the list,

炮长命令把左舷上所有大炮搬到右舷上来以抵消船的倾斜，

498. but the steepening angle of the decks increased.

但甲板的倾斜度仍在增加。

499.
Then
the
sound
of
rumbling
thunder
reached
the
watchers
on
the
shore,
as
cargo,
ballast, ammunition and 400 people went sliding and crashing down to the port side
of the steeply listing ship.

当物口、压舱物、弹药和
400个人轰地一声滑向陡斜的左舷时，岸上的观众听到了
雷鸣般的轰响。

500.
The
lower
gun-ports
were
now
below
water
and
the
inrush
sealed
the
ship's
fate.

下层炮眼已淹没在水里，涌进船舱的水给“瓦萨”号带来了难以逃脱的厄运。

501. In that first glorious hour, the mighty Vasa, which was intended to rule the
Baltic, sank with all flags flying-in the harbour of her birth.

就这样，想要统治波罗的海的大型战舰“瓦萨”号，在它壮丽 的起航时刻，带着全
身飘扬的彩旗，沉没在了它诞生的港口。

$$
课文
28
病人与医生

502. This is a sceptical age,

这是一个怀疑一切的时代，

503.
but
although
our
faith
in
many
of
the
things
in
which
our
forefathers
fervently
believed has weakened,

可是虽然我们对我们祖先笃信的许多事物已不太相信，

504.
our
confidence
in
the
curative
properties
of
the
bottle
of
medicine
remains
the
same a theirs.

我们对瓶装药品疗效的信心仍与祖辈一样坚定。

505. This modern faith in medicines is proved the fact that the annual drug bill of
the
Health
Services
is
mounting
to
astronomical
figures
and
shows
no
signs
at
present
of ceasing to rise.

卫生部门的处度药费上升到了天文数字，并且目前尚无停 止上升的迹象，这个事实
证实了现代人对药物的依赖。

506.
The
majority
of
the
patients
attending
the
medical
out-patients
departments
of
our hospitals feel

在医院门诊部看病的大多数人觉得，

507. that they have not received adequate treatment unless they are able to carry
home with them some tangible remedy in the shape of a bottle of medicine,

如果不能带回一些看得见、摸得着的药物，如一瓶药水，一盒药丸、一小瓶药膏回
家的话，就没 算得到了充分的治疗。

508. a box of pills, or a small jar of ointment,and the doctor in charge of the
department is only too ready to provide them with these requirements.

负责门诊的医生也非常乐意为前来看病的人提供他们想要得到的药物，

509. There is no quicker method of disposing of patients then by giving them what
they are asking for,

病人要什么就给什么，没有比这样处理病人更快的方法了。

510. and since most medical men in the Health Services are overworked

因为卫生部门的大多数医生超负荷工作，

511.
and
have
little
time
for
offering
time-consuming
and
little-appreciated
advice
on such subjects as

所以没有多少时间提出一些既费时而又不受人欢迎的忠告，比如

512. diet, right living, and the need for abandoning bad habits etc., the bottle,
the box, and the jar are almost always granted them.
注意饮食、生活有规律，需要克服坏习惯等等，结果就是把瓶药、盒药、罐药开给
看病的人而完事大 吉。

513. Nor is it only the ignorant and ill-educated person who was such faith in the
bottle of medicine.

并不只是那些无知和没受过良好教育的人才迷信药瓶子。

514. It is recounted of Thomas Carlyle that when him in his pocket what remained of
a bottle of medicine formerly prescribed for an indisposition of Mrs. Carlyle's.

据说托马斯
.
卡莱尔有过这么一件 事：
他听说朋友亨利
.
泰勒病了，
就立刻跑去看他，
衣袋里装上了他 妻子不舒服时吃剩下的一瓶药。

515. Carlyle was entirely ignorant of what the bottle in his pocket contained,

卡莱尔不知道药瓶子里装的是什么药，

516. of the nature of the illness from which his friend was suffering,

不知道他的朋友得的是什么病，

517. and of what had previously been wrong with his wife,

也不知道妻子以前得的是什么病，

518. but a medicine that had worked so well in one form of illness would surely be
of equal benefit in another,

只知道一种药对一种病有好处，肯定对另一种病也会有好处。

519.
and
comforted
by
the
thought
of
the
help
he
was
bringing
to
his
friend,
he
hastened
to Henry Taylor's house.

想到能对朋友有所帮助，他感到很欣慰，于是急急忙忙来到了亨利
.
泰勒的家里，
520. History does not relate whether his friend accepted his medical help, but in
all probability he did.

他的朋友是否接受了他的药物治疗，历史没有记载，但很可能接受了。

521.
The
great
advantage
of
taking
medicine
is
that
it
makes
no
demands
on
the
taker
beyond that of putting up for a moment with a disgusting taste,

服药的最大优点是：
除了暂 时忍受一下令人作呕的味道外，
对服药人别无其他要求。

522. and that is what all patients demand of their doctors -- to be cured at no
inconvenience to themselves.

这也正是病人对医生的要求
--
病要治好，但不要太麻烦。

$$
课文
29
气垫船

523. Many strange new means of transport have been developed in our century,

本世纪已研制出许多新奇的交通工具，

524. the strangest of them being perhaps the hovercraft.

其中最新奇的要数气垫船了。

525. In 1953, a former electronics engineer in his fifties, Christopher Cockerell,
1953
年，有一位
50
多岁名叫 克里斯托弗
.
科克雷的原电子工程师，

526. who had turned to boat-building on the Norfolk Broads,

改行在诺福克郡的湖泊地区从事造船业，

527. suggested an idea on which he had been working for many years to the British
Government and industrial circles.

他向英国政府和工业界提出了他研究多年的一项计划。

528. It was the idea of supporting a craft on a 'pad', or cushion, of low-pressure
air, ringed with a curtain of higher pressure air.

他的设想是：用一个低压空气或软垫来支撑船体，软垫周围用高压空气环绕。

529.
Ever
since,
people
have
had
difficulty
in
deciding
whether
the
craft
should
be
ranged
among
ships,
planes,
or
land
vehicles --
for
it
is
something
in
between
a
boat
and an aircraft.

自那以后，人们很难决定是否 应该将这种运载工具列为轮船、飞机，或是陆上交通
工具，因为它是介于船和飞机之间。

530.
As
a
shipbuilder,
Cockerell
was
trying
to
find
a
solution
to
the
problem
of
the
wave resistance which wastes a good deal of a surface ship's power and limits its
speed.

作为一个船舶技师，科克雷尔在寻找解决波浪阻力的方法，因为波浪阻力浪费掉了