21世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語(yǔ)讀寫教程第三冊(cè)Unit4大學(xué)壓力
導(dǎo)語(yǔ)：很多人都以為上了大學(xué)就可以放松，那只不過(guò)是高中老師的謊言，其實(shí)大學(xué)也有壓力，下面是一篇講述21世紀(jì)大學(xué)英語(yǔ)讀寫教程第三冊(cè)Unit4大學(xué)壓力，歡迎大家學(xué)習(xí)。
Pre-reading Activities
1. As you listen to the passage, fill in as much information as you can about Annette's plans.
Friday evening:
During the coming month:
Next term:
In the fall:
Next spring:
2. How did you feel while you were listening to Annette? What was it like trying to keep up with her? How do students like Annette make you feel?
College Pressures
I am master of Branford College at Yale. I live on the campus and know the students well. (We have 485 of them.) I listen to their hopes and fears — and also to their stereo music and their piercing cries in the dead of night ("Does anybody care?"). They come to me to ask how to get through the rest of their lives.
Mainly I try to remind them that the road ahead is a long one and that it will have more unexpected turns than they think. There will be plenty of time to change jobs, change careers, change whole attitudes and approaches. They don't want to hear such news. They want a map — right now — that they can follow directly to career security, financial security, social security and, presumably, a prepaid grave.
What I wish for all students is some release from the grim grip of the future. I wish them a chance to enjoy each segment of their education as an experience in itself and not as a tiresome requirement in preparation for the next step. I wish them the right to experiment, to trip and fall, to learn that defeat is as educational as victory and is not the end of the world.
My wish, of course, is naive. One of the few rights that America does not proclaim is the right to fail. Achievement is the national god, worshipped in our media — the million-dollar athlete, the wealthy executive — and glorified in our praise of possessions. In the presence of such a potent state religion, the young are growing up old.
I see four kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure. It's easy to look around for bad guys — to blame the colleges for charging too much money, the professors for assigning too much work, the parents for pushing their children too far, the students for driving themselves too hard. But there are no bad guys, only victims.
Today it is not unusual for a student, even one who works part time at college and full time during the summer, to have accumulated $5,000 in loans after four years — loans that the student must start to repay within one year after graduation (and incidentally, not all these loans are low-interest, as many non-students believe). Encouraged at the commencement ceremony to go forth into the world, students are already behind as they go forth. How can they not feel under pressure throughout college to prepare for this day of reckoning? Women at Yale are under even more pressure than men to justify their expensive education to themselves, their parents, and society. For although they leave college superbly equipped to bring fresh leadership to traditionally male jobs, society hasn't yet caught up with this fact.
Along with economic pressure goes parental pressure. Inevitably, the two are deeply intertwined. I see students taking premedical courses with joyless determination. They go off to their labs as if they were going to the dentist. It saddens me because I know them in other corners of their life as cheerful people.
"Do you want to go to medical school?" I ask them.
"I guess so," they say, without conviction, or, "Not really."
"Then why are you going?"
"My parents want me to be a doctor. They're paying all this money and..."
Peer pressure and self-induced pressure are also intertwined, and they begin from the very start of freshman year. "I had a freshman student I'll call Linda," one instructor told me, "who came in and said she was under terrible pressure because her roommate, Barbara, was much brighter and studied all the time. I couldn't tell her that Barbara had come in two hours earlier to say the same thing about Linda."
The story is almost funny — except that it's not. It's a symptom of all the pressures put together. When every student thinks every other student is working harder and doing better, the only solution is to study harder still. I see students going off to the library every night after dinner and coming back when it closes at midnight. I wish they could sometimes forget about their peers and go to a movie. I hear the rattling of typewriters in the hours before dawn. I see the tension in their eyes when exams are approaching and papers are due: "Will I get everything done?"
Probably they won't. They will get sick. They will sleep. They will oversleep. They will bug out.
I've painted too grim a portrait of today's students, making them seem too solemn. That's only half of their story; the other half is that these students are nice people, and easy to like. They're quick to laugh and to offer friendship. They're more considerate of one another than any student generation I've ever known. If I've described them primarily as driven creatures who largely ignore the joyful side of life, it's because that's where the problem is — not only at Yale but throughout American education. It's why I think we should all be worried about the values that are nurturing a generation so fearful of risk and so goal-obsessed at such an early age.
I tell students that there is no one "right" way to get ahead — that each of them is a different person, starting from a different point and bound for a different destination. I tell them that change is healthy and that people don't have to fit into pre-arranged slots. One of my ways of telling them is to invite men and women who have achieved success outside the academic world to come and talk informally with my students during the year. I invite heads of companies, editors of magazines, politicians, Broadway producers, artists, writers, economists, photographers, scientists, historians — a mixed bag of achievers.
I ask them to say a few words about how they got started. The students always assume that they started in their present profession and knew all along that it was what they wanted to do. But in fact, most of them got where they are by a circuitous route, after many side trips. The students are startled. They can hardly conceive of a career that was not preplanned. They can hardly imagine allowing the hand of God or chance to lead them down some unforeseen trail.
New Words
campus
n. the grounds of a university, college or school; a university 大學(xué)校園，學(xué)校校園;大學(xué)
piercing
a. (of voices, sounds, etc.) very sharp, esp. in an unpleasant way (聲音等)尖厲的，刺耳的
pierce
vi. make a hole in or through (sth.) with a sharp point 刺穿，戳穿
presumably
ad. it may be supposed; probably 假定;可能
* presume
v. believe sth. to be true without direct proof but with some feeling of being certain; suppose (沒(méi)有根據(jù)地)相信;推測(cè)
grave
n. the place where a dead person is buried 墳?zāi)?/p>
a. serious or solemn in manner; (of a situation) serious and worrying 嚴(yán)肅的，莊嚴(yán)的;(形勢(shì))嚴(yán)重的
gravity
n. 1. 嚴(yán)肅，莊嚴(yán);嚴(yán)重
2. 重力;地心引力
grip
n. a firm hold; control 緊握;控制
vt. 1. take a very tight hold (of) 握緊，緊握
2. take hold of the attention or feelings of 吸引;引起
* segment
n. a part of sth. 部分
preparation
n. arrangement for a future event 準(zhǔn)備
wealthy
a. rich 富有的
glorify
vt. praise highly 頌揚(yáng)，贊頌
glory
n. great fame, honor, and admiration 光榮;榮譽(yù)
potent
a. powerful, strong, forceful or effective 強(qiáng)有力的;有權(quán)勢(shì)的;有效力的
self-induced
caused or brought about by oneself 自己導(dǎo)致的
* induce
vt. lead or cause (sb.) to do sth.; persuade or influence (sb.) to do sth. 導(dǎo)致;勸使，誘導(dǎo)
* incidentally
ad. by the way 順便說(shuō)一句
commencement
n. 1. (AmE) a ceremony at which university or college students are given their degrees or diplomas (美)畢業(yè)典禮;學(xué)位授予典禮
2. beginning of sth. 開(kāi)始
commence
v. begin; start 開(kāi)始;著手
ceremony
n. 典禮，儀式
commencement ceremony
(AmE) a college or university graduation ceremony (美)畢業(yè)典禮
reckoning
n. settlement of an account or a bill; (fig.) punishment 結(jié)帳;(喻)算帳，懲罰
reckon
vt. 1. calculate; add up (an amount, cost, etc.) 計(jì)算;算出(數(shù)量、費(fèi)用等)
2. consider, regard 認(rèn)為，把…看作
day of reckoning
(a Biblical reference) the time when one must eventually be punished for what one has done wrong (源自《圣經(jīng)》)清算日，最后審判日
equip
vt. prepare (sb.) for dealing with a particular situation by providing necessary tools, education, etc.; suply (sb./ sth. with what is needed for a particular purpose) (智力、體力上)使有準(zhǔn)備;配備，裝備
inevitably
ad. 不可必免地;必然發(fā)生地
inevitable
a. which cannot be avoided or prevented from happening; certain to happen 不可避免的;必然發(fā)生的
intertwined
a. joined tightly together; very closely connected 互相纏結(jié)的，纏繞在一起的
premedical
a. preparing for the study of medicine 醫(yī)學(xué)預(yù)科的
* dentist
n. a doctor trained to take care of people's teeth 牙醫(yī)
cheerful
a. in good spirit; causing a happy feeling 興高采烈的;使人愉快的
conviction
n. a firm opinion or belief 深信，確信;把握
roommate
n. 住在同室的人，室友
typewriter
n. 打字機(jī)
* bug
vt. 1. (AmE) (infml) trouble (sb.) continually (美俚)煩擾，糾纏
2. (infml) fit with a secret listening apparatus (口)在…裝qie聽(tīng)器
n. (AmE) a tiny insect, esp. one that causes damage; (infml) a fault or difficulty (美)蟲(chóng)子;(口)故障;毛病
considerate
a. careful not to hurt or trouble others; thoughtful 考慮周到的;替人著想的
fearful
a. afraid, anxious 懼怕的，憂慮的
goal-obsessed
a. extremely eager to realize one's goals 一心要實(shí)現(xiàn)目標(biāo)的
pre-arranged
a. planned or prepared in advance 預(yù)先準(zhǔn)備好的
arrange
vt. 1. plan in advance; prepare 安排，準(zhǔn)備
2. set in good or pleasing order 整理;排列
* slot
n. 1. a place or position in a schedule, list or series (口)(在機(jī)構(gòu)、名單、程序等中的)位置，職位
2. a narrow opening in a tool or machine 狹長(zhǎng)孔;狹槽
informally
ad. 非正式地;不拘禮節(jié)地
economist
n. an expert in economics 經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家
a mixed bag
a group of people or things of different kinds and different qualities (人或物的)混合體;大雜燴
circuitous
a. indirect 迂回的，繞行的
circuit
n. 1. 環(huán)行;環(huán)行道
2. 電路;線路
circular
a. 1. 環(huán)行的，圓形的
2. 循環(huán)的
trail
n. a path, often through a forest or across rough ground (荒野中的)小徑，小道
Phrases and Expressions
in the dead of night
in the quietest part of the night 夜深人靜之時(shí)
get through
complete successfully; manage to live through (a difficult experience or period of time) 完成;消磨，度過(guò)(時(shí)間)
right now
immediately; at this moment 立刻，馬上
in itself
considered as a complete thing or experience, without thinking of effects, consequences, etc. 本身，實(shí)質(zhì)上
in the presence of sb.
in the place where sb. is; with sb. there 在某人面前，當(dāng)著某人的面
work on
affect; influence 對(duì)…起作用;影響
go forth (into)
set out 出發(fā)
under pressure
influenced by need or necessity; suffering stress 被催逼;在壓力下
put together
(used after a noun or nouns referring to a group of people or things) combined; in total 合在一起
bug out
(AmE sl.) become mentally unbalanced (美俚)煩惱，困惑
be considerate of/to/toward sb.
pay attention to sb. 's needs, wishes, or feelings 替某人著想，體貼某人
be fearful of
be afraid of 懼怕
be bound for
intending to go to; going to 準(zhǔn)備到…去;開(kāi)往
fit into
be the right size or shape for; be suitable for 與…相符，與…相適應(yīng)
all along
all the time; from the beginning 一直，始終;從一開(kāi)始就
conceive of
think of 構(gòu)想出;設(shè)想
Proper Names
William Zinsser
威廉·津瑟(男子名)
Branford College
布蘭福德學(xué)院(美國(guó)耶魯大學(xué)寄宿制學(xué)院之一)
Yale
(美國(guó))耶魯大學(xué)
Linda
琳達(dá)(女子名)
Barbara
巴巴拉(女子名)
Broadway
百老匯大街(美國(guó)紐約市的一條大街，為戲院、夜總會(huì)等娛樂(lè)場(chǎng)所的集中地)
全新版大學(xué)英語(yǔ)綜合教程
Steve Shladover outlines the benefits to be gained from vehicles that could drive themselves and discusses how this could be achieved.
斯蒂夫·施多弗闡述了能自動(dòng)運(yùn)行的車輛的諸多裨益，并詳細(xì)論述了如何將其變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)實(shí)。
Intelligent Vehicles
智能車輛
Steve Shladover
斯蒂夫·施多弗
Even when cars were still young, futurists began thinking about vehicles that could drive themselves, without human help. Perhaps the best known of these conjectures was the General Motors Futurama, the hit of the New York World's Fair. Now, at the start of the new century, it's worth taking a fresh look at this concept and asking how automation might change transportation and the quality of our lives.
還在汽車問(wèn)世之初，未來(lái)學(xué)家就開(kāi)始設(shè)想無(wú)需人來(lái)操縱便能自動(dòng)運(yùn)行的車輛將是什么樣兒的。這類設(shè)想最出名的或許是年紐約世界博覽會(huì)上轟動(dòng)一時(shí)的由通用汽車公司推出的“未來(lái)城市風(fēng)光”。今天，在世紀(jì)之初，以新的目光去審視這樣的設(shè)想，去探討自動(dòng)化將如何改變交通以及我們的生活質(zhì)量，是頗具價(jià)值的。
Consider some of the implications of cars that could drive themselves.
且來(lái)看一看能自動(dòng)運(yùn)行的汽車意味著什么。
We might eliminate the more than ninety percent of traffic crashes that are caused by human errors such as misjudgments and inattention.
我們或許能消除%以上由于判斷失誤以及疏忽等人為因素造成的交通事故。
We might reduce antisocial driving behavior such as road rage, thereby significantly reducing the stress of driving.
我們或許能減少野蠻開(kāi)車這類有害公眾利益的開(kāi)車行為，從而大大減輕行車壓力。
The entire population, including the young, the old, and the infirm, might enjoy a higher level of mobility without requiring advanced driving skills.
社會(huì)全體成員，包括老老少少與體弱者，也許都不需習(xí)得嫻熟的駕車技巧就能較為自由地奔馳了。
The luxury of being chauffeured to your destination might be enjoyed by all, not just the wealthiest individuals.
被開(kāi)車接送也許會(huì)成為世人共同的享受，而不僅僅是最富裕階層的一種奢侈。
Fuel consumption and pollution might be reduced by smoothing traffic flow and running vehicles close enough to each other to benefit from aerodynamic drafting.
車流通暢，相互緊隨行駛的車輛能利用前車產(chǎn)生的較小的空氣阻力，這些都可能減少油耗和污染。
Traffic-management decisions might be based on firm knowledge of vehicle responses to instructions, rather than on guesses about the choices that drivers might make.
交通管理將會(huì)建立在充分了解車輛對(duì)指令的應(yīng)變能力的基礎(chǔ)上，而非基于對(duì)車輛駕駛者可能采取的行動(dòng)的粗略估測(cè)。
The capacity of a freeway lane might be doubled or tripled, making it possible to accommodate growing demands for travel without major new construction, or, equivalently, today's level of congestion might be reduced, enabling travelers to save time.
高速公路的車容量會(huì)增加一倍或二倍，使其不必大興土木就能適應(yīng)不斷增長(zhǎng)的行車需求;或者，同樣重要地，目前交通擁堵的程度能得到緩解，以使行車者節(jié)省時(shí)間。
Is it feasible?
是否可行?
This is now a realistic prospect. With advances in technology we can readily visualize your trip on an automated highway system.
目前這已成為一個(gè)可以實(shí)現(xiàn)的希望。隨著技術(shù)的進(jìn)步，我們不難設(shè)想自動(dòng)化公路系統(tǒng)上的行車過(guò)程。
Imagine leaving work at the end of the day and needing to drive only as far as the nearest on-ramp to the local automated highway. At the on-ramp, you press a button on your dashboard to select the off-ramp closest to your home and then relax as your car's electronic systems, in cooperation with roadside electronics and similar systems on other cars, guide your car smoothly, safely, and effortlessly toward your destination. En route you save time by maintaining full speed even at rush-hour traffic volumes. At the end of the off-ramp you resume normal control and drive the remaining distance to your home, better rested and less stressed than if you had driven the entire way.
且來(lái)設(shè)想，工作一天下班后，只需開(kāi)車至最近的一個(gè)自動(dòng)公路入口匝道。到了入口匝道，在儀表板上按一下按鈕選擇離家最近的出口匝道，隨后就休息放松，由車上的電子系統(tǒng)與路旁的電子裝置以及其他車輛上類似的系統(tǒng)合作，把車平穩(wěn)、安全、順暢地開(kāi)往目的地。即使是在車流量的高峰時(shí)段，也能一路全速行駛，從而節(jié)省時(shí)間。下了出口匝道，再照平常那樣駕駛，開(kāi)過(guò)余下的路程回家，那要比自己全程駕駛省力輕松許多。
Although many different technical developments are necessary to turn this image into reality, none requires exotic technologies, and all can be based on systems and components that are already being actively developed in the international motor vehicle industry. These could be viewed as replacements for the diverse functions that drivers perform every day: observing the road, observing the preceding vehicles, steering, accelerating, braking, and deciding when and where to change course.
要把這一景象變成現(xiàn)實(shí)固然需要各種不同的技術(shù)發(fā)展，但也無(wú)需什么匪夷所思的技術(shù)，所有的技術(shù)都能以國(guó)際車輛制造業(yè)正在積極開(kāi)發(fā)研制的各種系統(tǒng)和部件作為基礎(chǔ)。這些技術(shù)可以被看作是車輛駕駛者日常開(kāi)車所起各種作用的替代：觀察路況，留意前行車輛，掌握方向，加速，剎車，變道。
Observing the road
觀察路況
Researchers have developed a road-reference and sensing system that makes it possible to determine accurately a vehicle's position and orientation relative to the lane's center. Cheap permanent magnets are buried at four-foot intervals along the lane centerline and detected by magnetometers mounted under the vehicle's bumpers. . These meters provide the information used by the vehicle's control computer to determine its exact position of the vehicle.
研究人員開(kāi)發(fā)了一種路況參考及傳感系統(tǒng)，這些能準(zhǔn)確判斷車輛的方位及所在車道中心的相應(yīng)定位。價(jià)格低廉的永磁體以英尺的間隔埋設(shè)在車道中心線上，車輛保險(xiǎn)桿下安裝著的磁強(qiáng)計(jì)能夠測(cè)知。這些磁強(qiáng)計(jì)向車上的計(jì)算機(jī)控制臺(tái)提供信息，以斷定車輛的確切方位。
Other researchers have used computer vision systems to observe the road. () These are vulnerable to weather problems and provide less accurate measurements, but they do not require special roadway installations, other than well-maintained lane markings.
其他研究人員利用計(jì)算機(jī)圖像系統(tǒng)觀察路況。這類系統(tǒng)易受氣候變化的影響，提供的數(shù)據(jù)不夠精確，但它們不需要特別的道路設(shè)置，只需要將路面標(biāo)志維護(hù)好就行了。
Observing preceding vehicles
留意前行車輛
The distances and closing rates to preceding vehicles can be measured by a radar or a laser rangefinder. Both technologies have already been implemented in commercially available systems in Japan and Europe. The laser systems are currently less expensive, but the radar systems are more effective at detecting dirty vehicles and operating in adverse weather conditions. As production volumes increase and unit costs decrease, the radars are likely to find increasing favor.
與前行車輛的車距及接近時(shí)的速度可用雷達(dá)或激光測(cè)距儀測(cè)定。這兩項(xiàng)技術(shù)已經(jīng)在日本和歐洲投入商業(yè)運(yùn)用。目前激光系統(tǒng)比較便宜，但雷達(dá)系統(tǒng)能更加有效地測(cè)知野蠻行駛的車輛，能更加安全地在天氣惡劣時(shí)操作。隨著產(chǎn)量的提高，成本的降低，雷達(dá)系統(tǒng)將會(huì)越來(lái)越受歡迎。
Steering, accelerating and braking
掌握方向、加速和剎車
The equivalents of these driver muscle functions are electromechanical devices installed in the automated vehicle. They receive electronic commands from the onboard control computer and then apply the appropriate steering angle, throttle angle, and brake pressure by means of small electric motors. Early versions of these devices are already being introduced into production of vehicles, where they receive their commands directly from the driver's inputs to the steering wheel and pedals. These decisions are being made for reasons largely unrelated to automation. Rather they are associated with reduced energy consumption, simplification of vehicle design, enhanced ease of vehicle assembly, improved ability to adjust performance to match driver preferences, and cost savings compared to traditional direct mechanical control devices.
相當(dāng)于車輛駕駛者肌功能的是安置在自動(dòng)車輛上的電動(dòng)機(jī)械裝置。它們接收車上計(jì)算機(jī)控制臺(tái)發(fā)出的電子指令，再憑借小型電力發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)恰當(dāng)?shù)乜刂品较颉⒂烷T大小以及剎車緊急程度。車輛生產(chǎn)已經(jīng)采用這類裝置的最初樣本，它們通過(guò)駕駛者給方向盤和踏板的輸入信息直接獲得指令。決定開(kāi)發(fā)這類產(chǎn)品大都與自動(dòng)化無(wú)關(guān)。與之有關(guān)的因素有降低能耗、簡(jiǎn)化車輛設(shè)計(jì)、進(jìn)一步提高車輛裝配效率、改善根據(jù)車輛駕駛者的喜好調(diào)節(jié)性能的能力，以及低于傳統(tǒng)的機(jī)械直控裝置的成本等。
Deciding when and where to change course
決定何時(shí)何處變道
Computers in the vehicles and those at the roadside have different functions. Roadside computers are better suited for traffic management, setting the target speed for each segment and lane of roadway, and allocating vehicles to different lanes of a multilane automated facility. The aim is to maintain balanced flow among the lanes and to avoid obstacles or incidents that might block a lane. The vehicle's onboard computers are better suited to handling decisions about exactly when and where to change lanes to avoid interference with other vehicles.
車用計(jì)算機(jī)與路邊裝置的計(jì)算機(jī)功能不同。路邊設(shè)置的計(jì)算機(jī)更適用于交通管理，如為不同路段和車道設(shè)定限速，通過(guò)多車道自動(dòng)化設(shè)施為車輛安排不同的車道。其目的是使各車道的車流量保持平衡，避免可能堵塞車道的障礙或事故。車用計(jì)算機(jī)更適用于精確地判斷在什么時(shí)間和位置改變車道，以避免與其他車輛碰撞。
Remaining challenges
尚存的挑戰(zhàn)
There remain a number of difficulties to be overcome. These are mainly technical, but there are in addition a number of nontechnical challenges that need to be addressed. These involve issues of liability, costs, and perceptions.
尚有許多困難有待克服。主要是技術(shù)性難題，但此外也有不少非技術(shù)性的挑戰(zhàn)需要面對(duì)，其中包括行車責(zé)任、成本以及觀念等問(wèn)題。
Automated control of vehicles shifts liability for most crashes from the individual driver (and his or her insurance company) to the designer, developer, and vendor of the vehicle and roadway control systems. Provided the system is indeed safer than today's driver-vehicle-highway system, overall liability exposure should be reduced. But its costs will be shifted from automobile insurance premiums to the purchase or lease price of the automated vehicle and toll for use of the automated highway facility.
車輛的自動(dòng)控制把大多數(shù)事故的責(zé)任從車輛駕駛者個(gè)人(及其保險(xiǎn)公司)轉(zhuǎn)移到設(shè)計(jì)者、研制者以及車輛和道路控制系統(tǒng)的經(jīng)銷商身上。如果這一系統(tǒng)的確比當(dāng)今的車輛駕駛者—車輛—公路系統(tǒng)安全，總體責(zé)任風(fēng)險(xiǎn)就會(huì)減少。但其成本會(huì)從汽車保險(xiǎn)金轉(zhuǎn)移到自動(dòng)車輛的售價(jià)或租金，以及自動(dòng)公路設(shè)施的使用費(fèi)上來(lái)。
All new technologies tend to be costly when they first become available in small quantities, then their costs decline as production volumes increase and the technologies mature. We should expect vehicle automation technologies to follow the same pattern. They may initially be economically viable only for heavy vehicles (transit buses, commercial trucks) and high-end passenger cars. However, it should not take long for the costs to become affordable to a wide range of vehicle owners and operators, especially with many of the enabling technologies already being commercialized for volume production today.
任何新技術(shù)在最初小批量供應(yīng)時(shí)都相對(duì)昂貴，以后隨著產(chǎn)量的增長(zhǎng)與技術(shù)的完善，成本就會(huì)降低。我們相信車輛自動(dòng)控制技術(shù)也將遵循這一模式。從經(jīng)濟(jì)角度考慮，這類技術(shù)在最初階段或許只能應(yīng)用于重型車輛(如公交車、貨運(yùn)卡車)和高級(jí)客車。然而，不用多久，其成本就能為廣大車輛擁有者和駕駛者所接受，尤其是目前不少可以應(yīng)用的技術(shù)已經(jīng)走向市場(chǎng)，開(kāi)始了批量生產(chǎn)。
The largest impediment to introduction of electronic chauffeuring may turn out to be the general perception that it's more difficult and expensive to implement than it really is. If political and industrial decision makers perceive automated driving to be too futuristic, they will not pay it the attention it deserves and will not invest their resources toward accelerating its deployment. The perception could thus become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
電子駕駛應(yīng)用的障礙可能在于一種普遍的觀念，認(rèn)為這一技術(shù)的應(yīng)用比實(shí)際情況更困難，更昂貴。如果政治決策者和企業(yè)決策者認(rèn)為自動(dòng)駕駛過(guò)于超前，他們就不會(huì)予以應(yīng)有的關(guān)注，就不會(huì)投入資源，促使其早日為人們利用。這樣的話，這一觀念就可能成為一種終將實(shí)現(xiàn)的預(yù)言。
It is important to recognize that automated vehicles are already carrying millions of passengers every day. Most major airports have automated people movers that transfer passengers among terminal buildings. Urban transit lines in Paris, London, Vancouver, Lyon, and Lille, among others, are operating with completely automated, driverless vehicles; some have been doing so for more than a decade. Modern commercial aircraft operate on autopilot for much of the time, and they also land under automatic control at suitably equipped airports on a regular basis.
重要的是，要看到，每天已有千百萬(wàn)人乘坐自動(dòng)化車輛。大多數(shù)頗具規(guī)模的機(jī)場(chǎng)都有自動(dòng)控制的客車把乘客從一個(gè)航站樓轉(zhuǎn)到另一個(gè)航站樓。不少城市公交線路，如巴黎、倫敦、溫哥華、里昂和里爾等，都是由全自動(dòng)控制的無(wú)人駕駛車輛運(yùn)行的，有些已運(yùn)行了十多年�，F(xiàn)代商用飛機(jī)大多時(shí)間是由自動(dòng)駕駛儀操縱的，在裝備完善的機(jī)場(chǎng)，這些飛機(jī)一向在自動(dòng)控制指揮下著陸。
Given all of this experience in implementing safe automated transportation systems, it is not such a large leap to develop road vehicles that can operate under automatic control. That should be a realistic goal for the next decade. The transportation system will thus gain substantial benefits from the revolution in information technology.
考慮到所有這些安全運(yùn)用自動(dòng)化交通運(yùn)輸系統(tǒng)的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，開(kāi)發(fā)由自動(dòng)控制操縱的公路車輛算不上什么大的飛躍。這應(yīng)該是未來(lái)十年中的一個(gè)現(xiàn)實(shí)目標(biāo)，交通運(yùn)輸系統(tǒng)也就會(huì)大大得益于信息技術(shù)革命。
大學(xué)英語(yǔ)自學(xué)教程(上冊(cè)) unit 23 課文譯文參考
If anyone asked you what were the main means of communication between people, what would you say? That isn’t a catch question. The answer is simple and obvious. It would almost certainly refer to means of communication that involve the use of words. Speakers and listeners-oral communication, and writers and readers-written communication. And you’d be quite right. There is, however, another form of communication which we all use most of the time, usually without knowing it. This is sometimes called body language. Its more technical name is non-verbal communication. Non-verbal, because it does not involve the use of words. NVC for short.
When someone is saying something with which he agrees, the average European will smile and nod approval. On the other hand, if you disagree with what they are saying, you may frown and shake your head. In this way you signal your reactions, and communicate them to the speaker without saying a word. I referred a moment ago to "the average European”, because body language is very much tied to culture, and in order not to misunderstand, or not to be misunderstood, you must realize this. A smiling Chinese, for instance, may not be approving but somewhat embarrassed.
Quite a lot of work is now being done on the subject of NVC, which is obviously important, for instance, to managers, who have to deal every day with their staff, and have to understand what other people are feeling if they are to create good working conditions. Body language, or NVC signals, are sometimes categorized into five kinds: 1.body and facial gestures; 2.eye contact; 3.body contact or "proximity"; 4.clothing and physical appearance; and 5.the quality of speech. I expect you understood all those, except perhaps "proximity." This simply means "closeness". In some cultures-and I am sure this is a cultural feature and not an individual one-it is quite normal for people to stand close together, or to more or less thrust their face into yours when they are talking to you. In other cultures, this is disliked; Americans, for instance, talk about invasion of their space.
Some signals are probably common to all of us. If a public speaker (like a professor, for example) is all the time fiddling with a pencil, or with his glasses, while he is talking to you, he is telling you quite clearly that he is nervous. A person who holds a hand over his mouth when he is talking is signaling that he is lacking in confidence. If you start wriggling in your chairs, looking secretly at your watches or yawning behind your hands, I shall soon get the message that I’m boring you. And so on. I'm sure you could make a whole list of such signals-and it might be fun if you did.
All the signals I have mentioned so far can be controlled. If you are aware that you are doing these things, you can stop. You can even learn to give false signals. Most public speakers are in fact nervous, but a good speaker learns to hide this by giving off signals of confidence. Other kinds of NVC are not so easy to control. Eye contact, for instance. Unless you are confessing intense love, you hardly ever look into someone else’s eyes for very long. If you try it, you’ll find they will soon away, probably in embarrassment.
I’ve already mentioned proximity, so just a brief word now about our last two categories, which concern the way people dress and the way they speak. These are both pretty obvious signals. People may dress casually and speak casually, which signals that they are relaxed. Or they can dress formally and speak formally, showing their tenseness. In fact, non-verbal communication can, as the saying goes, speak volumes.
【課文譯文】
如果有人問(wèn)你人與人之間最主要的交際手段是什么，你會(huì)怎么說(shuō)?這倒不是一個(gè)難以回答的問(wèn)題。答案簡(jiǎn)單明了。幾乎可以肯定地說(shuō)，它指的是運(yùn)用語(yǔ)言進(jìn)行交際。說(shuō)話者和聽(tīng)話者之間是口頭交際，作者和讀者之間是書面交際。你的回答已經(jīng)相當(dāng)正確。但是，還有另一種交際手段，這一手段我們多數(shù)時(shí)間在使用，卻又常常忽視。它有時(shí)被叫作體勢(shì)語(yǔ)。更專業(yè)些的名字是非言語(yǔ)交際。之所以稱之為非言語(yǔ)交際，是因?yàn)樗簧婕把栽~。非言語(yǔ)交際的縮略語(yǔ)為NVC。
一般的歐洲人，在聽(tīng)別人說(shuō)他贊同的事情時(shí)，會(huì)微笑并點(diǎn)頭表示贊許。如果不同意別人的話，他會(huì)皺眉、搖頭。用這種方式無(wú)需言詞就可以把自己的態(tài)度傳達(dá)給說(shuō)話者。筆者剛才提到“一般的歐洲人”，是因?yàn)轶w勢(shì)語(yǔ)與文化密切相關(guān)。為了不誤解別人，也不被人誤解，了解這一點(diǎn)非常必要。例如，中國(guó)人的微笑可能是表示某種不安而不是贊許。
關(guān)于NVC這個(gè)課題，現(xiàn)在正進(jìn)行著大量的研究工作。這些研究工作顯然很重要。比如，對(duì)管理者來(lái)說(shuō)，他們每天與員工打交道，為了創(chuàng)造良好的工作環(huán)境，他們必須了解員工們的感覺(jué)。人們有時(shí)把體勢(shì)語(yǔ)或稱NVC信號(hào)分為五種：1.身體姿勢(shì)和面部表情；2.目光接觸；3.身體接觸或“親近程度”；4.著裝與外貌；5.語(yǔ)言特點(diǎn)。筆者認(rèn)為大家明白上述除“親近程度”以外的各條�！坝H近程度”簡(jiǎn)單來(lái)說(shuō)就是“親密程度”。在有些文化中——筆者非常肯定，“親近程度”是一種文化特征而非個(gè)體特征——人們站得很近是很正常的；同樣，人們?cè)谡勗挄r(shí)不時(shí)地把臉湊近你的臉，也是正常的。但在另一些文化中，上面這些行為就不受歡迎。比如，美國(guó)人會(huì)說(shuō)這侵犯了他們的個(gè)人空間。
一些體勢(shì)語(yǔ)信號(hào)非常普遍。如果在公共場(chǎng)所講話的人(如大學(xué)教授)一直在玩弄鉛筆或眼鏡，說(shuō)明他很緊張。說(shuō)話時(shí)把手放在嘴上的人說(shuō)明他缺乏信心。如果聽(tīng)講的人開(kāi)始在椅子上扭來(lái)扭去，偷偷地看手表或用手捂住嘴打哈欠，講話的人很快就得到這樣的信息：“我的話令人厭煩”。如此種種，不勝枚舉。筆者相信讀者可以列出一長(zhǎng)串這樣的體勢(shì)語(yǔ)信號(hào)。試試吧，會(huì)很有趣的。
上面所提到的體勢(shì)語(yǔ)信號(hào)，都是可以控制的。如果意識(shí)到自己在那樣做，可以停下來(lái)。甚至可以給出虛假的信號(hào)，實(shí)際上，多數(shù)在公共場(chǎng)合講話的人都會(huì)感到緊張，好的講話者學(xué)會(huì)了通過(guò)發(fā)出有信心的信號(hào)來(lái)掩蓋緊張情緒。其他的NVC信號(hào)就不容易控制。比如，目光接觸。除非有強(qiáng)烈的愛(ài)，否則，人們很難長(zhǎng)久地注視別人的眼睛。如果試一下你就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，別人會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)移目光，看別處，而且可能會(huì)局促不安。
筆者已經(jīng)提到過(guò)親近程度，現(xiàn)在來(lái)簡(jiǎn)短地談?wù)勛詈髢煞N體勢(shì)語(yǔ)信號(hào)，它們與人們的著裝與說(shuō)話方式有關(guān)。這兩種信號(hào)都很明顯。衣著隨便、談吐自然的人很放松，衣著正規(guī)、談吐嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)娜饲榫w緊張。事實(shí)上，正如常言所說(shuō)，非言語(yǔ)交際此時(shí)無(wú)聲勝有聲。
大學(xué)英語(yǔ)自學(xué)教程(上冊(cè)) unit 01 怎樣成為一名成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者
01-A. How to be a successful language learner?
“Learning a language is easy, even a child can do it!”
Most adults who are learning a second language would disagree with this statement. For them, learning a language is a very difficult task. They need hundreds of hours of study and practice, and even this will not guarantee success for every adult language learner.
Language learning is different from other kinds of learning. Some people who are very intelligent and successful in their fields find it difficult to succeed in language learning. Conversely, some people who are successful language learners find it difficult to succeed in other fields.
Language teachers often offer advice to language learners: “Read as much as you can in the new language.”“ Practice speaking the language every day. ”“Live with people who speak the language.”“Don’t translate-try to think in the new language.”“ Learn as a child would learn; play with the language.”
But what does a successful language learner do? Language learning research shows that successful language learners are similar in many ways.
First of all, successful language learners are independent learners. They do not depend on the book or the teacher; they discover their own way to learn the language. Instead of waiting for the teacher to explain, they try to find the patterns and the rules for themselves. They are good guessers who look for clues and form their own conclusions. When they guess wrong, they guess again. They try to learn from their mistakes.
Successful language learning is active learning. Therefore, successful learners do not wait for a chance to use the language; they look for such a chance. They find people who speak the language and they ask these people to correct them when they make a mistake. They will try anything to communicate. They are not afraid to repeat what they hear or to say strange things; they are willing to make mistakes and try again. When communication is difficult, they can accept information that is inexact or incomplete. It is more important for them to learn to think in the language than to know the meaning of every word.
Finally, successful language learners are learners with a purpose. They want to learn the language because they are interested in the language and the people who speak it. It is necessary for them to learn the language in order to communicate with these people and to learn from them. They find it easy to practice using the language regularly because they want to learn with it.
What kind of language learner are you? If you are a successful language learner, you have probably been learning independently, actively, and purposefully. On the other hand, if your language learning has been less than successful, you might do well to try some of the techniques outlined above.
【課文譯文】
怎樣成為一名成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者
“學(xué)習(xí)一門語(yǔ)言很容易，即使小孩也能做得到。”
大多數(shù)正在學(xué)習(xí)第二語(yǔ)言的成年人會(huì)不同意這種說(shuō)法。對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)，學(xué)習(xí)一門語(yǔ)言是非常困難的事情。他們需要數(shù)百小時(shí)的學(xué)習(xí)與練習(xí)，即使這樣也不能保證每個(gè)成年語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者都能學(xué)好。
語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)不同于其他學(xué)習(xí)。許多人很聰明，在自己的領(lǐng)域很成功，但他們發(fā)現(xiàn)很難學(xué)好一門語(yǔ)言。相反，一些人學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言很成功，但卻發(fā)現(xiàn)很難在其他領(lǐng)域有所成就。
語(yǔ)言教師常常向語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者提出建議：“要用新的語(yǔ)言盡量多閱讀”，“每天練習(xí)說(shuō)這種語(yǔ)言”，“與說(shuō)這種語(yǔ)言的人住在一起”，“不要翻譯——盡量用這種新的語(yǔ)言去思考”，“要像孩子學(xué)語(yǔ)言一樣去學(xué)習(xí)新語(yǔ)言”，“放松地去學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言�！�
然而，成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者是怎樣做的呢?語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)研究表明，成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者在許多方面都有相似之處。
首先，成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者獨(dú)立學(xué)習(xí)。他們不依賴書本和老師，而且能找到自己學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言的方法。他們不是等待老師來(lái)解釋，而是自己盡力去找到語(yǔ)言的句式和規(guī)則。他們尋找線索并由自己得出結(jié)論，從而做出正確的猜測(cè)。如果猜錯(cuò)，他們就再猜一遍。他們都努力從錯(cuò)誤中學(xué)習(xí)。
成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)是一種主動(dòng)的學(xué)習(xí)。因此，成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者不是坐等時(shí)機(jī)而是主動(dòng)尋找機(jī)會(huì)來(lái)使用語(yǔ)言。他們找到(說(shuō))這種語(yǔ)言的人進(jìn)行練習(xí)，出錯(cuò)時(shí)請(qǐng)這些人糾正。他們不失時(shí)機(jī)地進(jìn)行交流，不怕重復(fù)所聽(tīng)到的話，也不怕說(shuō)出離奇的話，他們不在乎出錯(cuò)，并樂(lè)于反復(fù)嘗試。當(dāng)交流困難時(shí)，他們可以接受不確切或不完整的信息。對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)，更重要的是學(xué)習(xí)用這種語(yǔ)言思考，而不是知道每個(gè)詞的意思。
最后，成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者學(xué)習(xí)目的明確。他們想學(xué)習(xí)一門語(yǔ)言是因?yàn)樗麄儗?duì)這門語(yǔ)言以及說(shuō)這種語(yǔ)言的人感興趣。他們有必要學(xué)習(xí)這門語(yǔ)言去和那些人交流并向他們學(xué)習(xí)。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)經(jīng)常練習(xí)使用這種語(yǔ)言很容易，因?yàn)樗麄兿肜眠@種語(yǔ)言來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)。
你是什么樣的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者?如果你是一位成功的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者，那么你大概一直在獨(dú)立地、主動(dòng)地、目的明確地學(xué)習(xí)。另一方面,如果你的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)一直不太成功,你不妨試試上面提到的一些技巧。
大學(xué)英語(yǔ)自學(xué)教程(上冊(cè)) unit 02 稅、稅、還是稅
02-A. Taxes, Taxes, and More Taxes
Americans often say that there are only two things a person can be sure of in life: death and taxes, Americans do not have a corner on the "death" market, but many people feel that the United States leads the world with the worst taxes.
Taxes consist of the money which people pay to support their government. There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal, state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes.
Salaried people who earn more than a few thousand dollars must pay a certain percentage of their salaries to the federal government. The percentage varies from person to person. It depends on their salaries. The federal government has a graduated income tax, that is, the percentage of the tax (14 to 70 percent) increases as a person's income increases. With the high cost of taxes, people are not very happy on April 15, when the federal taxes are due.
The second tax is for the state government: New York, California, North Dakota, or any of the other forty-seven states. Some states have an income tax similar to that of the federal government. Of course, the percentage for the state tax is lower. Other states have a sales tax, which is a percentage charged to any item which you buy in that state. For example, a person might want to buy a packet of cigarettes for twenty-five cents. If there is a sales tax of eight percent in that state, then the cost of the cigarettes is twenty-seven cents. This figure includes the sales tax. Some states use income tax in addition to sales tax to raise their revenues. The state tax laws are diverse and confusing.
The third tax is for the city. This tax comes in two forms: property tax (people who own a home have to pay taxes on it) and excise tax, which is charged on cars in a city. The cities use these funds for education, police and fire departments, public works and municipal buildings.
Since Americans pay such high taxes, they often feel that they are working one day each week just to pay their taxes. People always complain about taxes. They often protest that the government uses their tax dollars in the wrong way. They say that it spends too much on useless and impractical programs. Although Americans have different views on many issues, they tend to agree on one subject: taxes are too high.
【課文譯文】
稅、稅、還是稅
美國(guó)人常說(shuō)，人的一生有兩件事可以肯定會(huì)發(fā)生：死亡和稅收。美國(guó)人并不壟斷死亡市場(chǎng)，但許多人卻感到美國(guó)以最重的賦稅領(lǐng)先于世界。
稅指人們?yōu)橹С终U納的資金。在美國(guó)通常有三級(jí)政府：聯(lián)邦政府，州政府及市政府，因此就存在三種稅。
收入超過(guò)幾千元的工薪人士必須向聯(lián)邦政府繳納一定比率的稅金。這一比率因人而異，取決于各人的工資數(shù)。聯(lián)邦政府實(shí)行累進(jìn)收入所得稅制，也就是說(shuō)，稅率(14%～70%)隨個(gè)人收入的增加而增加，由于高額稅收，人們?cè)?月15日很不愉快，因?yàn)檫@一天是繳納稅款的日子。
第二種稅是繳納給州政府的，這些州包括紐約，加利福尼亞，北達(dá)科他以及其他47個(gè)州中的任何一個(gè)。一些州的收入所得稅的收取辦法同聯(lián)邦政府的相似，當(dāng)然其稅率要低一些。一些州設(shè)有銷售稅，即對(duì)你在該州所購(gòu)買的任何商品所收的一定比率的稅金。比如，某人想買一包25美分的煙。如果該州收取8%的銷售稅，那么買這包煙要花27美分，這一錢數(shù)就包括銷售稅。一些州利用收入所得稅外加銷售稅的辦法來(lái)提高稅收，各州的稅收法規(guī)五花八門，令人費(fèi)解。
第三種稅是向市政府繳納的。這種稅有兩種：一種是財(cái)產(chǎn)稅(擁有房屋的人都必須交稅)，另一種是本國(guó)消費(fèi)稅，即對(duì)城市汽車所征收的稅金。城市將這些資金用于教育、警察和消防部門、公共設(shè)施及市政建設(shè)。
由于美國(guó)人須付高額稅金，所以他們經(jīng)常感到每周有一天純粹是在為繳稅而工作。人們總是在抱怨稅收太高。他們常�？棺h政府濫用他們的稅金。他們說(shuō)政府將太多的錢花在無(wú)用且不符合實(shí)際的項(xiàng)目上了。盡管美國(guó)人在很多問(wèn)題上有不同的看法，但他們?cè)谝粋�(gè)話題上的意見(jiàn)總是一致的：稅收太高。
大學(xué)英語(yǔ)自學(xué)教程(上冊(cè)) unit 03 大西洋
03-A. The Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is one of the oceans that separate the Old World from the New. For centuries it kept the Americas from being discovered by the people of Europe.
Many wrong ideas about the Atlantic made early sailors unwilling to sail far out into it. One idea was that it reached out to "the edge of the world." Sailors were afraid that they might sail right off the earth. Another idea was that at the equator the ocean would be boiling hot.
The Atlantic Ocean is only half as big as the Pacific, but it is still very large. It is more than 4,000 miles (6,000 km) wide where Columbus crossed it. Even at its narrowest it is about 2, 000 miles (3,200 km) wide. This narrowest place is between the bulge of south America and the bulge of Africa.
Two things make the Atlantic Ocean rather unusual. For so large an ocean it has very few islands. Also, it is the world's saltiest ocean.
There is so much water in the Atlantic that it is hard to imagine how much there is. But suppose no more rain fell into it and no more water was brought to it by rivers. It would take the ocean about 4,000 years to dry up. On the average the water is a little more than two miles (3.2 km) deep, but in places it is much deeper. The deepest spot is near Puerto Rico. This "deep" 30, 246 feet - almost six miles (9.6 km).
One of the longest mountain ranges of the world rises the floor of the Atlantic. This mountain range runs north and south down the middle of the ocean. The tops of a few of the mountains reach up above the sea and make islands. The Azores are the tops of peaks in the mid-Atlantic mountain range.
Several hundred miles eastward from Florida there is a part of the ocean called the Sargasso Sea. Here the water is quiet, for there is little wind. In the days of sailing vessels the crew were afraid they would be becalmed here. Sometimes they were.
Ocean currents are sometime called "rivers in the sea." One of these "river" in the Atlantic is called the Gulf Stream. It is a current of warm water. Another is the Labrador Current - cold water coming down from the Arctic. Ocean currents affect the climates of the lands near which they flow.
The Atlantic furnishes much food for the people on its shores. One of its most famous fishing regions, the Grand Banks, is near Newfoundland.
Today the Atlantic is a great highway. It is not, however, always a smooth and safe one. Storms sweep across it and pile up great waves. Icebergs float down from the Far North across the paths of ships.
We now have such fast ways of traveling that this big ocean seems to have grown smaller. Columbus sailed for more than two months to cross it. A fast modern steamship can make the trip in less than four days. Airplanes fly from New York to London in only eight hours and from South America to Africa in four!
【課文譯文】
大西洋
大西洋是將歐洲和美洲分隔開(kāi)的海洋之一。它使南北美洲長(zhǎng)達(dá)幾個(gè)世紀(jì)之久都未被人發(fā)現(xiàn)。
人們對(duì)大西洋有許多誤解，這使得早期的海員不愿意遠(yuǎn)航駛?cè)氪笪餮�。一種想法是大西洋遠(yuǎn)抵“世界的邊緣”，海員們擔(dān)心他們會(huì)一直航行到地球邊上掉落下去。另一個(gè)想法是在赤道處，大西洋的海水是滾燙的。
大西洋的面積只是太平洋的`一半，但也非常遼闊。哥倫布穿越過(guò)的地方寬達(dá)4000多英里(6000公里)。即使最窄的地方寬度也有大約2000英里(3200公里)，這是一片位于南美洲最東端與非洲最西端之間的水域。
大西洋有兩點(diǎn)非同尋常。其一是在如此遼闊的海洋里少有島嶼。另外，大西洋是世界上含鹽量最高的海洋。
大西洋海水量很大，人們無(wú)法想像到底有多少水。但如果假設(shè)不再有降雨和河水注入，則需4000年大西洋才會(huì)干涸。大西洋平均水深有2英里(3.2公里)多一點(diǎn)，但有些地方要深得多。最深處在波多黎各島附近，深達(dá)30246英尺——約6英里(9.6公里)。
世界上最長(zhǎng)的山脈之一從大西洋海底隆起，這條山脈沿海底中部向南北延伸，幾座山峰露出海面，形成島嶼。亞速爾群島就是大西洋中部山脈露出水面的幾座山峰。
佛羅里達(dá)州向東幾百英里有一處海域叫馬尾藻海，這里由于很少刮風(fēng)，海面很平靜。在使用帆船的時(shí)代，船員們擔(dān)心他們會(huì)因無(wú)風(fēng)而在此處無(wú)法航行。有時(shí)他們確實(shí)會(huì)遇到這種情況。
海流有時(shí)被稱作“海洋中的河流”。大西洋有一條這種“河流”，叫做墨西哥灣流，這是一股暖水流；另外一條是拉布拉多海流——這是來(lái)自北冰洋的冷水流。洋流對(duì)流域附近大陸的氣候有影響。
大西洋為兩岸的人們提供了豐富的食物。大淺灘是最著名的捕魚區(qū)之一，位于紐芬蘭附近。
今天，大西洋是一條重要的航路，這條航路并不總是風(fēng)平浪靜，毫無(wú)危險(xiǎn)。暴風(fēng)雨會(huì)掠過(guò)洋面，堆起大浪。從北冰洋漂來(lái)的冰山也會(huì)橫穿航道。
我們現(xiàn)在有快捷的旅行方式，這個(gè)大洋似乎也變小了。哥倫布橫越大西洋用了兩個(gè)多月的時(shí)間，一艘現(xiàn)代化快輪不到4天就可完成這一航程，而乘飛機(jī)從紐約到倫敦只用8小時(shí)，從南美到非洲只用4小時(shí)。
大學(xué)英語(yǔ)自學(xué)教程(上冊(cè)) unit 04 改善你的記憶力
04-A. Improving Your Memory
Psychological research has focused on a number of basic principles that help memory: meaningfulness, organization, association, and visualization. It is useful to know how these principles work.
Meaningfulness affects memory at all levels. Information that does not make any sense to you is difficult to remember. There are several ways in which we can make material more meaningful. Many people, for instance, learn a rhyme to help them remember. Do you know the rhyme “Thirty days has September, April, June, and November…? ” It helps many people remember which months of the year have 30 days.
Organization also makes a difference in our ability to remember. How useful would a library be if the books were kept in random order? Material that is organized is better remembered than jumbled information. One example of organization is chunking. Chunking consists of grouping separate bits of information. For example, the number 4671363 is more easily remembered if it is chunked as 467,13,63. Categorizing is another means of organization. Suppose you are asked to remember the following list of words: man, bench, dog, desk, woman, horse, child, cat, chair. Many people will group the words into similar categories and remember them as follows: man, woman, child; cat, dog, horse; bench, chair, desk. Needless to say, the second list can be remembered more easily than the first one.
Association refers to taking the material we want to remember and relating it to something we remember accurately. In memorizing a number, you might try to associate it with familiar numbers or events. For example, the height of Mount Fuji in Japan - 12, 389 feet - might be remembered using the following associations: 12 is the number of months in the year, and 389 is the number of days in a year (365) added to the number of months twice (24).
The last principle is visualization. Research has shown striking improvements in many types of memory tasks when people are asked to visualize the items to be remembered. In one study, subjects in one group were asked to learn some words using imagery, while the second group used repetition to learn the words. Those using imagery remembered 80 to 90 percent of the words, compared with 30 to 40 percent of the words for those who memorized by repetition. Thus forming an integrated image with all the information placed in a single mental picture can help us to preserve a memory.
【課文譯文】
改善你的記憶力
心理研究集中在有助于記憶力的幾個(gè)基本原則，即富有意義、組織、聯(lián)想和想像。知道這些原則如何發(fā)揮作用是非常有益的。
富有意義從各個(gè)方面影響記記力。你很難記住對(duì)你毫無(wú)意義的信息，我們可以用幾種辦法使材料變得更有意義。例如，很多人學(xué)會(huì)用韻音來(lái)幫助他們記憶。你知道“九、四、六、十一有30天……”這首押韻詩(shī)嗎?它幫助人們記住一年中哪些月份有30天。
信息的組織也對(duì)我們的記憶能力造成差異。圖書館的書如果陳列得雜亂無(wú)章對(duì)我們還會(huì)有什么幫助嗎?組織過(guò)的材料比混雜的信息更容易記住。組織信息的一個(gè)例子就是組塊。組塊是將一個(gè)個(gè)單獨(dú)的信息組織成信息塊。例如，4671363這組數(shù)字如果被組塊成467 13 63就更容易記住。分類是另一種組織方法。假定要求你記住一組詞：男人、凳子、狗、書桌、女人、馬、孩子、貓、椅子。很多人會(huì)將這些詞分成相似種類的幾組，即男人、女人、孩子；貓、狗、馬；凳子、椅子、書桌。不用說(shuō)第二種排列比第一種排列更容易記憶。
聯(lián)想指將我們要記憶的材料和我們已準(zhǔn)確記住的信息聯(lián)系起來(lái)。在記憶數(shù)字時(shí)，可以將這一數(shù)字與我們所熟悉的數(shù)字或事件聯(lián)系起來(lái)，例如，日本富士山的高度為12，389英尺，這一數(shù)字可以用下面的聯(lián)想法記�。�12是一年中的月份數(shù)，389是一年的天數(shù)(365)加月數(shù)的兩倍(24)。
最后一個(gè)基本原則是想像。研究表明，如果人們把需要記憶的東西進(jìn)行想像，各種記憶能力都會(huì)有顯著的提高。在一項(xiàng)研究中，一組受試者被要求使用想像法學(xué)習(xí)一些生詞，而另外一組用重復(fù)法學(xué)習(xí)生詞。用想像法記憶單詞的一組記住了80%～90%的生詞，相比之下，用重復(fù)法記憶單詞的一組只記住了30%～40%的生詞。因此，將所有的信息放在一幅內(nèi)心的圖畫里，從而形成一個(gè)整體形象，可以幫助我們保存記憶。
大學(xué)英語(yǔ)自學(xué)教程(上冊(cè)) unit 05 對(duì)食物的錯(cuò)誤看法
05-A. Fallacies about Food
Many primitive peoples believed that by eating an animal they could get some of the good qualities of that animal for themselves. They thought, for example, that eating deer would make them run as fast as the deer. Some savage tribes believed that eating enemies that had shown bravery in battle would make them brave. Man-eating may have started because people were eager to become as strong and brave as their enemies.
Among civilized people it was once thought that ginger root by some magical power could improve the memory. Eggs were thought to make the voice pretty. Tomatoes also were believed to have magical powers. They were called love apples and were supposed to make people who ate them fall in love.
Later another wrong idea about tomatoes grew up - the idea that they were poisonous. How surprised the people who thought tomatoes poisonous would be if they could know that millions of pounds of tomatoes were supplied to soldiers overseas during World War II.
Even today there are a great many wrong ideas about food. Some of them are very widespread.
One such idea is that fish is the best brain food. Fish is good brain food just as it is good muscle food and skin food and bone food. But no one has been able to prove that fish is any better for the brain than many other kinds of food.
Another such idea is that you should not drink water with meals. Washing food down with water as a substitute for chewing is not a good idea, but some water with meals has been found to be helpful. It makes the digestive juices flow more freely and helps to digest the food.
Many of the ideas which scientists tell us have no foundation have to do with mixtures of foods. A few years ago the belief became general that orange juice and milk should never be drunk at the same meal. The reason given was that the acid in the orange juice would make the milk curdle and become indigestible. As a matter of fact, milk always meets in the stomach a digestive juice which curdles it; the curdling of the milk is the first step in its digestion. A similar wrong idea is that fish and ice cream when eaten at the same meal form a poisonous combination.
Still another wrong idea about mixing foods is that proteins and carbohydrates should never be eaten at the same meal. Many people think of bread, for example, as a carbohydrate food. It is chiefly a carbohydrate food, but it also contains proteins. In the same way, milk, probably the best single food, contains both proteins and carbohydrates. It is just as foolish to say that one should never eat meat and potatoes together as it is to say that one should never eat bread or drink milk.
【課文譯文】
對(duì)食物的錯(cuò)誤看法
很多原始民族認(rèn)為吃某種動(dòng)物可以使他們獲得這種動(dòng)物的一些好的品質(zhì)。例如，他們認(rèn)為吃鹿可以使他們跑得像鹿一樣快。一些野蠻部落相信，吃戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中表現(xiàn)勇敢的敵人會(huì)使他們勇敢。吃人現(xiàn)象開(kāi)始發(fā)生可能是因?yàn)槿藗兛释兊孟袼麄兊臄橙四菢訌?qiáng)壯、勇敢。
一些文明人曾經(jīng)認(rèn)為，姜根有某種魔力，能改善他們的記憶力。蛋能美化他們的聲音。也有人認(rèn)為西紅柿有魔力。西紅柿被稱為愛(ài)的蘋果，他們認(rèn)為吃西紅柿能使人墜入愛(ài)河。
后來(lái)又出現(xiàn)了另一個(gè)關(guān)于西紅柿的錯(cuò)誤觀點(diǎn)——西紅柿有毒。如果認(rèn)為西紅柿有毒的人知道二戰(zhàn)中數(shù)百萬(wàn)磅的西紅柿提供給了在海外的戰(zhàn)士們，他們會(huì)多么吃驚!
甚至在今天也有很多關(guān)于食物的錯(cuò)誤看法，其中一些看法很普遍。一種想法認(rèn)為魚是最佳益腦食物。魚是有益于大腦的食物，就像它對(duì)肌肉、皮膚、骨骼一樣有益。但是沒(méi)有人能夠證明對(duì)于大腦來(lái)說(shuō)魚比其他種類的食物更好。
另外一種想法認(rèn)為，吃飯的時(shí)候不應(yīng)該喝水。雖然用水把食物沖下去來(lái)代替咀嚼不是個(gè)好主意，但是人們發(fā)現(xiàn)吃飯時(shí)喝點(diǎn)水是有益的。水能使消化液更自由地流動(dòng)，有助于消化食物。
很多想法是關(guān)于食物混在一起吃的，而科學(xué)家告訴我們，這些想法毫無(wú)根據(jù)。幾年前有一種很普遍的看法，認(rèn)為不能在同一餐中喝桔子汁和牛奶，其理由是桔子汁中的酸性物質(zhì)能使牛奶凝結(jié)而難以消化。事實(shí)上，牛奶在胃里總會(huì)遇到一種使它凝結(jié)的消化液，而這種凝結(jié)是消化的第一步。類似的一種錯(cuò)誤想法認(rèn)為在同一餐中吃魚和冰淇淋會(huì)形成一種有毒的化合物。
還有一種關(guān)于食物混在一起吃的錯(cuò)誤想法，即不能在同一餐中吃蛋白質(zhì)食物和淀粉質(zhì)食物。例如，很多人認(rèn)為面包是一種淀粉質(zhì)食物。雖然面包主要是一種淀粉質(zhì)食物，但它也含有蛋白質(zhì)。同樣，牛奶可能是最好的單一食物，但它也含有蛋白質(zhì)和淀粉。不要吃面包喝牛奶，這種說(shuō)法是愚蠢的，就像說(shuō)不要把肉類和土豆一起食用一樣。
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