发布时间 : 星期日 文章全新版大学英语【第二版】综合教程1课文翻译更新完毕开始阅读35a50d39ea7101f69e3143323968011ca200f74e
and short.
无论我们是否愿意，我们生活的世界在过去一百年间已经变化了许多，而且在未来的一百年里可能变化更多。有人想中止这种种变化，回到那个他们认为更纯洁更朴素的时代。但正如历史所表明的，过去并非那么美妙。过去对享有特权的少数人不算太糟，但即便他们也无从享受现代医疗，而生育对妇女来说风险极大。对占人口大多数的民众而言，生命是艰难、残忍而又短暂的。
2 Anyway, even if one wanted to, one couldn't put the clock back to an earlier age. Knowledge and techniques can't just be forgotten. Nor can one prevent further advances in the future. Even if all government money for research were cut off ( and the present government is doing its best), the force of competition would still bring about advances in technology. Moreover, one cannot stop inquiring minds from thinking about basic science, whether or not they are paid for it. The only way to prevent further developments would be a global state that suppressed anything new, and human initiative and inventiveness are such that even this wouldn't succeed. All it would do is slow down the rate of change. 不管怎样，即使有人想这么做，他也无法将时钟拨回到早先的时代。知识与技术不可能说忘就忘了。也没有人能阻止未来的进一步发展。即使所有用于研究的政府资金都被取消（现政府正在为此努力），竞争的力量仍将继续带来技术的发展。更何况，没有人能阻止探究求索之士去思索基础科学，无论他们是否会为此得到酬劳。惟一能阻止进一步发展的办法或许是一个压制任何新事物的全球政府，但人类的进取心与创造力如此旺盛，即便这个政府也不会成功。它所能做到的只是延缓变化的速度。
3 If we accept that we cannot prevent science and technology from changing our world, we can at least try to ensure that the changes they make are in the right directions. In a democratic society, this means that the public needs to have a basic understanding of science, so that it can make informed decisions and not leave them in the hands of experts. At the moment, the public is in two minds about science. It has come to expect the steady increase in the standard of living that new developments in science and technology have brought to continue, but it also distrusts science because it doesn't understand it. This distrust is evident in the cartoon figure of the mad scientist working in his laboratory to produce a Frankenstein. It is also an important element behind support for the Green parties. But the public also has a great interest in science, particularly astronomy, as is shown by the large audiences for television series such as The Sky at Night and for science fiction.
如果我们承认，我们无法阻止科学技术改变我们的世界，我们至少可以努力确保科技带来的变化方向正确。在一个民主社会里，这意味着公众需要对科学有一个基本的了解，从而可以作出明达的决定，而不是把决定留给专家去作。目前，公众对科学存有矛盾之心。公众期望科技新发展带来的生活水准的稳定提高能继续，但又怀疑科学，因为他们不懂科学。那个在实验室里设法制造弗兰肯斯泰因的疯狂的科学家的卡通人物清楚地体现了公众的这种怀疑。这也是人们之所以支持各种绿色组织的一个重要因素。但公众同时也对科学深感兴趣，尤其是对天文学，诸如《夜空》之类的电视系列节目观众不少以及科幻小说读者甚多就是明证。
4 What can be done to harness this interest and give the public the scientific background it needs to make informed decisions on subjects like acid rain, the greenhouse effect, nuclear weapons, and genetic engineering? Clearly, the basis must lie in what is taught in schools. But in schools science is often presented in a dry and uninteresting manner. Children learn it by rote to pass examinations, and they don't see its relevance to the world around them. Moreover, science is often taught in terms of equations. Although equations are a brief and accurate way of describing mathematical ideas, they frighten most people. When I wrote a popular book recently, I was advised that each equation I included would halve the sales. I included one equation, Einstein's famous equation, E=mc2. Maybe I would have sold twice as many copies without it.
怎么样才能利用这种兴趣，向公众提供所需要的科学知识，以便其在酸雨、温室效应、核武器以及基因工程等问题上作出明达的决定呢？显然，必须把基础建立在学校课程上。但在学校里，科学往往被教得枯燥乏味。孩子们死记硬背应付考试，他们看不出科学与他们的周围世界的联系。更有甚者，科学常常是用公式来教的。虽然公式是阐述数学概念的一种简单而精确的方式，它们却使大多数人望而生畏。前不久我写了一本通俗读物，当时有人告诫我说，我每使用一个公式就会使销量减半。我只使用了一个公式，
即爱因斯坦那个著名的公式，E=mc2。如果不用这个公式的话，也许我能多卖出一倍的书。
5 Scientists and engineers tend to express their ideas in the form of equations because they need to know the precise values of quantities. But for the rest of us, a qualitative grasp of scientific concepts is sufficient, and this can be conveyed by words and diagrams, without the use of equations.
科学家和工程师倾向于用公式阐述观点，因为他们需要知道量的精确值。但对我们其余的人来说，对科学概念有个质的认识就已足够，这可以用文字和图表来表述，大可不必使用公式。
6 The science people learn in school can provide the basic framework. But the rate of scientific progress is now so rapid that there are always new developments that have occurred since one was at school or university. I never learned about molecular biology or transistors at school, but genetic engineering and computers are two of the developments most likely to change the way we live in the future. Popular books and magazine articles about science can help to put across new developments, but even the most successful popular book is read by only a small proportion of the population. Only television can reach a truly mass audience. There are some very good science programmes on TV, but others present scientific wonders simply as magic, without explaining them or showing how they fit into the framework of scientific ideas. Producers of television science programmes should realize that they have a responsibility to educate the public, not just entertain it.
人们在学校学到的科学知识可以提供一个基本的框架。但如今科学进步的速度如此之快，一个人离开学校或大学后新的发展层出不穷。我在学校从未学过分子生物学或晶体管，但基因工程和计算机是极有可能改变我们未来生活的两项发展。有关科学的通俗读物和杂志文章能帮助人们了解新发展，但即使是最畅销的科普读物也只有一小部分人阅读。只有电视能赢得真正广大的观众。电视上有一些相当优秀的科学节目，但其他的节目把科学奇迹简单地作为魔术播出，既不加以说明，也不展现它们与科学观念的整体框架的关系。电视科学节目的制片人应该认识到，他们负有教育民众的重任，而不仅仅是为他们提供娱乐。 7 The world today is filled with dangers, hence the sick joke that the reason we have not been contacted by an alien civilization is that civilizations tend to destroy themselves when they reach our stage. But I have sufficient faith in the good sense of the public to believe that we might prove this wrong.
当今世界充满危险，因此就有了那个令人毛骨悚然的玩笑，说我们尚未受到外星文明造访的原因在于：但凡文明发展到我们目前的程度，它们往往就自我毁灭了。然而我对公众的明智充满信心，因而相信，我们将证明这一说法是错误的。
·Main ideas
Part One ( Paras 1-3) To make informed decisions about changes, the public needs a basic understanding of science.
Part Two (Paras 4-6) What can be done to educate the public about science. Part Three (Para 7) With an informed public, human civilization will survive.
·In answering the question he brings up in Part Two, the author emphasizes two aspects. They are as follows:
1 The importance of the teaching of science in schools.
2 The role mass media can play, especially what television can do.
Unit 4
Tony Trivisonno's American Dream
Frederick C. Crawford
1 He came from a rocky farm in Italy, somewhere south of Rome. How or when he got to America, I don't know. But one evening I found him standing in the driveway, behind my garage. He was about five-foot-seven or eight, and thin.
托尼·特里韦索诺的美国梦
弗雷德里克·C·克罗弗德
他来自意大利罗马以南某地一个多岩石的农庄。他什么时候怎么到美国的，我不清楚。不过，有天晚上，我看到他站在我家车库后面的车道上。他身高五英尺七、八左右，人很瘦。 2 \ hard to comprehend his broken English. “我割你的草坪，”他说。他那结结巴巴的英语很难听懂。
3 I asked him his name. \gardener.
我问他叫什么名字。“托尼·特里韦索诺，”他回答说，“我割你的草坪。”我对托尼讲，本人雇不起园丁。
4 \days were difficult, but how could I turn away a person who had come to me for help?
“我割你的草坪，”他又说道，随后便走开了。我走进屋子，心里有点不快。没错，眼下这大萧条的日子是不好过，可我怎么能把一个上门求助的人就这么打发走呢？
5 When I got home from work the next evening, the lawn had been mowed, the garden weeded, and the walks swept. I asked my wife what had happened.
等我第二天晚上下班回到家，草坪已修整过了，花园除了草，人行道也清扫过了。我便问太太是怎么回事。
6 \hired him.\
“有个人把割草机从汽车库里推出来就在院子里忙活起来，”她回答说，“我还以为是你雇他来的。” 7 I told her of my experience the night before. We thought it strange that he had not asked for pay. 我就把前晚的事跟她说了。我俩都觉得奇怪，他怎么没提出要工钱。
8 The next two days were busy, and I forgot about Tony. We were trying to rebuild our business and bring some of our workers back to the plants. But on Friday, returning home a little early, I saw Tony again, behind the garage. I complimented him on the work he had done.
接下来的两天挺忙，我把托尼的事给忘了。我们在尽力重整业务，要让一部分工人回厂里来。但在星期五，回家略微早了些，我又在汽车库后面看到了托尼。我对他干的活夸奖了几句。 9 \ “我割你的草坪，”他说。
10 I managed to work out some kind of small weekly pay, and each day Tony cleaned up the yard and took care of any little tasks. My wife said he was very helpful whenever there were any heavy objects to lift or things to fix. 我设法凑了一小笔微薄的周薪，就这样托尼每天清扫院子，有什么零活，他都干了。我太太说，但凡有重物要搬或有什么要修理的，他挺派得上用场。
11 Summer passed into fall, and winds blew cold. \\
夏去秋来，凉风阵阵。“克罗先生，快下雪了，”有天晚上托尼跟我说，“等冬天到了，你让我在厂里干扫雪的活。”
12 Well, what do you do with such determination and hope? Of course, Tony got his job at the factory. 啊，对这种执着与期盼，你又能怎样呢？自然，托尼得到了厂里的那份活儿。
13 The months passed. I asked the personnel department for a report. They said Tony was a very good worker. 几个月过去了。我让人事部门送上一份报告。他们说托尼干得挺棒。
14 One day I found Tony at our meeting place behind the garage. \ 一天我在汽车库后面我们以前见面的地方看到了托尼。“我想做学徒，”他说。
15 We had a pretty good apprentice school that trained laborers. But I doubted whether Tony had the capacity to read blueprints and micrometers or do precision work. Still, how could I turn him down?
我们有个挺不错的培训工人的徒工学校。可我怀疑托尼是否有能力学会看图纸、用千分尺，是否胜任做精密加工工作。尽管如此，可我怎么能拒绝他呢？
16 Tony took a cut in pay to become an apprentice. Months later, I got a report that he had graduated as a skilled grinder. He had learned to read the millionths of an inch on the micrometer and to shape the grinding wheel with an instrument set with a diamond. My wife and I were delighted with what we felt was a satisfying end of the story.
托尼减了薪水当了徒工。几个月之后，我收到报告，他已从徒工学校毕业，成了熟练磨工。他学会了在千分尺上辨识一百万分之一英寸，会用镶嵌着金刚石的工具制作砂轮。我和太太都挺高兴，觉得他的事总算有了个令人满意的结局。
17 A year or two passed, and again I found Tony in his usual waiting place. We talked about his work, and I asked him what he wanted.
一两年过去了，我在托尼惯常等我的地方又看到了他。我们聊起了他的工作，接着我问他有什么要求。
18 \wreck.
“克罗先生，”他说，“我想买房。”在小镇边上，他看到有房出售，完全是幢破房。
19 I called on a banker friend. \you ever loan money on character?\I asked. \he said. \afford to. No sale.\
我去见一位当银行家的朋友。“人品贷款你干不干？”我问。“不干，”他说，“我们承担不起。没门。” 20 \He's got a good job. You're not getting a damn thing from your lot. It will stay there for years. At least he will pay your interest.\
“哎，等等，”我应道，“有个人干活勤勉，人品端正，这一点我担保。他有个好工作。眼下，你从你那块地上一分钱也得不到。那块地空在那儿要好多年呢。至少他会付你利息嘛。”
21 Reluctantly, the banker wrote a mortgage for $2,000 and gave Tony the house with no down payment. Tony was delighted. From then on, it was interesting to see that any discarded odds and ends around our place — a broken screen, a bit of hardware, boards from packing — Tony would gather and take home. 那位银行家勉强开了两千美金抵押贷款，没要托尼首付就把房子给了他。托尼乐不可支。从那以后，只要我家附近有什么被人扔弃的零星杂物，坏了的屏风啦，五金器具啦，包装纸板啦，托尼都要收起来拿回家，看他这个样子真是有意思。
22 After about two years, I found Tony in our familiar meeting spot. He seemed to stand a little straighter. He was heavier. He had a look of confidence.
约摸过了两年，我在我们见面的老地方又看到了托尼。他身子似乎挺直了些，人也见胖了，样子挺自信。
23\ “克罗先生，我卖房子！”他得意地说。“我得了八千美金。”
24 I was amazed. \ 我非常吃惊。“可是，托尼，没了房子你住哪儿呢？” 25 \ “克罗先生，我买农庄。”
26 We sat down and talked. Tony told me that to own a farm was his dream. He loved the tomatoes and peppers and all the other vegetables important to his Italian diet. He had sent for his wife and son and daughter back in Italy. He had hunted around the edge of town until he found a small, abandoned piece of property with a house and shed. Now he was moving his family to his farm.
我们坐下聊了起来。托尼告诉我说，拥有一个农庄是他的梦想。他喜欢番茄、辣椒以及意大利菜肴中相当重要的其它各种蔬菜。他把在意大利的妻子和儿子、女儿都接来了。他在小镇周边到处找，终于找