-
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，
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。
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。
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.
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，< br>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。
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、
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。
$$
课文
16
现代城市
226. In the organization of industrial life the influence of the factory upon the physiological and
mental state of the workers has been completely neglected.
在工业生活的组织中，工厂对工人的生理和精神状态的影响完全被忽视了。
227. Modern industry is based on the conception of the maximum production at lowest cost, in
order that an individual or a group of individuals may earn as much money as possible.
现代工业的基本概念是：
以最低成本获 取最多产品，
为的是让某个个人或某一部分
人尽可能多地赚钱。
228.
It
has
expanded
without
any
idea
of
the
true
nature
of
the
human
beings
who
run
the
machines,
现代工业发展起来了，却根本没想到操作机器的人的本质。
229. and without giving any consideration to the effects produced on the individuals and on their
descendants by the artificial mode of existence imposed by the factory.
工厂把一种人为的生存方式强加给工 人，
却不顾及这种生存方式给工人及其后代带
来的影响。
230. The great cities have been built with no regard for us.
大城市的建设毫不关心我们。
231. The shape and dimensions of the skyscrapers depend entirely on the necessity of obtaining
the
maximum
income
per
square
foot
of
ground,
and
of
offering
to
the
tenants
offices
and
apartments that please them.
摩天大楼完全是按这样的需要修建的 ：
每平方英尺地皮取得最大收入和向租房人提
供使他满意的办公室和住房。
232. This caused the construction of gigantic buildings where too large masses of human beings
are crowded together.
这样就导致了许多摩天大厦拔地而起，大厦内众多的人挤地一起。
233. Civilized men like such a way of living.
文明人喜欢这样一种生活方式。
234. While they enjoy the comfort and banal luxury of their dwelling, they do not realize that
they are deprived of the necessities of life.
在享受自己住宅的舒适和庸俗的豪华时，
却没有意识到被剥夺了生活所必需的东西。
235.
The
modern
city
consists
of
monstrous
edifices
and
of
dark,
narrow
streets
full
of
petrol
fumes
and
toxic
gases,
torn
by
the
noise
of
the
taxicabs,
lorries
and
buses,
and
thronged
ceaselessly by great crowds.
大得吓人的高楼和阴暗狭窄的街道组成了今日现代化的城市。
街道上充斥着汽油味< br>和有毒气体，出租汽车、卡车、公共汽车的噪音刺耳难忍，络绎不绝的人群挤来挤去。
236. Obviously, it has not been planned for the good of its inhabitants.
显然，现代化的城市不是这居民的利益而规划的。
$$
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
地把它翻过来。< br>
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？
$$
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，< br>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，< br>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,
< br>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，< br>
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。< br>
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。< br>
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
船在水面行驶的大 量动力，从而限制了船的速度。
531. His answer was to lift the vessel out of the water by a great number of ring
-
shaped air jets
on the bottom of the craft.
他的解决办法是把船体提离水面，让船在一个气垫上行驶，气垫只有一两英尺厚。
船 底装上大量环状喷气嘴以实现这一目的。
532.
It
'flies',
therefore,
but
it
cannot
fly
higher
--
its
action
depends
on
the
surface,
water
or
ground, over which it rides.
这样，船就能飞了，但飞不高。它的飞行限决于它所悬浮的水面或地面。
533. The first tests on the Solent in 1959 caused a sensation.
1959
年，在苏伦特海峡进行的首次试航引起了轰动，
534. The hovercraft travelled first over the water, then mounted the beach, climbed up the dunes,
and sat down on a road.
气垫船先是在水面上行驶，后又登上海岸，爬上沙丘，最后停在路上。
535. Later it crossed the Channel, riding smoothly over the waves, which presented no problem.
后来气垫船跨越英吉利海峡，平衡地在波浪上方行驶，波浪不再产生阻力。
536. Since that time, various types of hovercraft have appeared and taken up regular service.
从那以后，各种各样的气垫船出现了，并开始了定期航行服务。
537. The hovercraft is particularly useful in large areas with poor communications such as Africa
or Australia;
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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