综英6课文翻译

Unit 1 Technology in Reverse

Let me introduce you retarded technology. It’s the opposite of advanced technology. Advanced technology enables us to do useful new things or to do old things more efficiently. By contrast, retarded technology creates new and expensive ways of doing things that were once done simply and inexpensively. Worse, it encourages us to do things that don’t need doing at all. It has made waste respectable, elaborate alluring and even fun.

1.让我给你介绍落后科技。它是先进科技的对立面。先进的科技让我们更有效地利用新事物或是旧事物。相反，落后科技则会使那些本来简单快捷的做事方式变成新和浪费。更糟糕的是，它会鼓励我们做那些不需要的事，使浪费变得可敬，值得做，诱人，甚至是有趣。 Just the other week, NEWSWEEK reported a boom in electronic books. The idea is to put books onto discs that you can plug into your customized book-displaying computer. Here's a swell idea of retarded technology. On the one hand, you can buy a $900 or $9,000 book-reading computer that you can feed with $20 discs of your favorite books. It's cumbersome. If you take it to the beach, it gets clogged with sand. You can't use it as a pillow. If it slips off the kitchen counter, it smashes.

2.几个星期前，新闻周刊报道了电子书的一个爆炸新闻。这个创意是你可以把书装在可以接通你电子书电脑的光盘上。这是落后科技的极佳创意。一方面，你得买个价值900美元或900美元的，可以装满20本你最喜欢阅读书的书本阅读电脑。这很繁琐。如果你带它去沙滩，它可能会摔在地上。你不能把当做枕头去用。如果在厨房柜台上滑倒，还会打碎。 On the other hand, you can buy an old-fashioned book. It's cheaper, more mobile, less fragile and more durable. You can lend it, even to casual friends. If you don't like it, you can stop reading without hating yourself for ever buying it. Losing it is not a traumatizing event.

3.另一方面，你可以买本旧书。它会便宜，更方便，不容易碎，还很耐用。你可以借出去，甚至是陌生人。如果你不喜欢它，可以不去考虑你曾经买了它而恨自己去不读。弄丢了，也不是件多么伤心的事。

The pro-technology comeback is that computers will someday compress entire libraries onto chips or discs and, thereby, open vast vistas of information to almost anyone. The trouble with this is arithmetic and common sense. A school library with 2,000 books can theoretically serve 2,000 readers simultaneously. A school library with one computer terminal that can call up 200,000 books can serve only one reader at a time. The computer creates a bottleneck. Sure, the library can buy more computers, but they're costlier and bulkier than books. Finally, there's common sense: do most people really need access to, say, the entire collection of the New York Public Library?

4.支持科技回归是因为电脑有一天将整个图书馆压缩在芯片或是光盘上，从而，给几乎任何人开放巨大信息的影像。带来的麻烦是算术和常识问题。一个藏书2000册的学校图书馆理论上可以同时服务两千人。而装有一个搜索200000册图书的电脑终端的学校图书馆一次只能服务一个读者。电脑成了瓶颈。当然，图书馆可以买更多的电脑，但那比图书更笨重和浪费。最终形成一个共识：大多数人真的需要这种途径，比如说，纽约公共图书管的整个收藏吗？

Here's another example of technology racing backward: the video press release. In my business, we're bombarded with press releases for products, politicians and policies. And now there are promotional videos. Instead of a 10-cent press release that took two days to prepare and 29 cents to mail, I get a $4.50 tape that cost $2 to mail and two months to prepare. I can read standard press releases in 10 or 15 seconds before tossing 99 percent of them. But the videos get tossed immediately. To view them would require finding a VCR and wasting five to 10 minutes watching.

Sorry, no sale. The video costs more and does less.

5.另一个科技倒退的例子是新闻稿录像。就我而言，我们总是围绕在产品，政治和治安的新闻下。还有一些促销新闻录像。代替一张10美分的新闻，它的花费是两天去准备，并花29美分去邮寄，我可以得到一个4.5美元的磁带，它的花费是2美元邮寄，2个月去准备。在没有完全了解前，我可以在10到15秒内阅读一份标准的新闻稿。但录像可以直接扔。去游览它们需要一台录像机，花5到10分钟去观看。不好意思，没有销售。这个录像得不偿失。 I am not about to argue that all technology is bad. Heavens, no. Ours is an era of conspicuous technological upheaval. But the purported gains of new technology --rising incomes, greater productivity-- seem to elude us. Somehow, the paradox must be explained. One theory holds that we're still in the primitive stages of, say, the computer revolution, whose full benefits will soon burst upon us. Maybe. (A corollary is that techno-dopes like me are holding back progress.) 6.我不准备去争论所有科技都不好。上帝，没有。我们身处显而易见科技的巨变下。但新科技的预想收获，增加收入，丰富产品，看起来离我们渐行渐远。不管怎么样，我们需要求知。一个理论说明我们仍处于，比方说，电脑革命的初级阶段，它的收获将会在我们身上爆发。可能吧（一个推论是像我一样的科技笨蛋正在阻碍进步。）

But to this theory, I would add the notion of retarded technology. Yup, the gains from new technologies are plentiful and real. But the benefits are being crudely offset by a lot of technology-inspired waste. Technology is often misused because the reasons people embrace it can be fairly frivolous. To wit:

7.但对于这种理论，我想补充落后科技的理论。是的，从新科技得到的是巨大和真实的。但这种收获却被一大堆希望科技垃圾粗辱地抵消。科技在被滥用，因为理性的人在相当愚蠢地使用它。比如说：

Social Status. Suppose your brother in Honolulu gets a car phone. He might even need it for work. Can you then be without one? Obviously not. Need isn't an issue. (Since 1985, the number of cellular subscribers has leaped from 340,000 to about 8 million.)

社会地位。假如你的一位在夏威夷的兄弟得到一部车载电话。他仅仅是为了工作需要它。你不想要一部吗？很显然不是。需求不是一个问题（自1985年，移动电话的数量从34万陡增到800万部。）

Adult Play. New machines are often grown-up toys, successors to Legos and dolls. A woman I know well (my wife) recently exulted after creating invitation cards on her personal computer. (I dared not ask how long this took.) ―I know I could have gone out and bought Hallmark cards,\she says. \idle chitchat into an all-day affair.

成人娱乐。新机器往往是成长玩具，乐高积木和玩偶的使用者。一个我非常了解的女人（我的妻子）最近很高兴，她在自己的个人电脑上制作了邀请函。（我不敢去问她花了多久。）“我知道我本可以出去，买张豪马卡片”，她说。“但我很自豪，很兴奋。”在办公室，电脑邮件已经让空虚的无聊转变成一整天的事务。

The Mount Everest Effect. Every new technology inspires the temptation to see what it will do-no matter how inane or time-consuming the task. This is the technological equivalent of \climbing that mountain because it's there.\Hence, the video press release. Entire areas of academic life (political science, economics and even history) are now increasingly given over to number crunching. Computers allow numbers to be easily crunched; so they are. Genuine thought is discouraged. The same thought-deadening process afflicts American managers. 珠峰效应。每项新科技会产生诱惑来看它能做什么，不管它多么愚蠢或是花了多长时间实验。

这就是“我们在爬向那座在那的大山”的对等物。今后，则是录像新闻稿。学术生活（政治学，经济甚至历史）的整个范围正在极大的数量在运算。电脑允许数字很容易运算。它们确实是。天才的想法是不被鼓励的。同样坏想法的加工折磨着美国用户。

The survival of stupid technology is ordained by ego and money. New technologies often require a hefty investment. Once investments are made, they can't easily be unmade. To do so would be embarrassing. Old and inexpensive ways of doing things are eliminated to help pay for new and expensive methods. Retarded technology becomes institutionalized and permanent.

8.愚蠢科技的存在是被自我和金钱而制定的。新科技往往需要一大笔巨额投资。一旦投资，它们则不容易被制造。这样做将会很尴尬。旧的便宜的方法被淘汰来帮助新的昂贵的方法。落后的科技正逐渐有组织和长久。、

This is routinely denied, because people won't admit they're frivolous or wasteful. One survey of cellular-phone owners found that 87 percent said their phones raised their productivity by an average of 36 percent. More than half (54 percent) said the phone had improved their marriages. Imagine if these gains were generalized to the entire population: our economy's output would instantly leap from $6 trillion to $8 trillion; divorce rates would plunge, and \values\would triumph. What we need are cellular subsidies so everyone can have one.

9.这是正常的否定，因为人们不会承认自己很愚蠢和奢侈。一项关于移动手机拥有者得调查显示87%的用户说手机平均提高了他们的生产量36%。一半以上（54%）说手机提高了他们 的婚姻质量。假设这些被广泛普及到整个人群。我们经济的出口量将会立马从6万亿增长到8万亿。离婚率将会锐减，家庭价值观会和谐。我们需要做的是让每个人成为手机用户。 The beat goes on. Apple Computer recently announced Newton, the first of a generation of handheld \you scribble something on its small display screen. This seems impressive. You scrawl \Smith,\anything else you've put in Joe's tiny file. Just like a Rolodex.

10.步伐继续着。苹果电脑最近发布newton，第一代个人型掌上电脑。苹果说，newton将会认可你的书写方式当你在小小屏幕随意几笔时。这让人印象深刻。你乱写出“joe smith”，newton将会从存储中提取“joe smith”，告诉你joe的电话号码及其你记录关于joe的个人文件，像名片盒一样。

Hey, maybe a Rolodex is better. It's cheaper. How about a standard notebook or address book? They already accept handwriting. Even fancy address books cost only $15 or $20. Apple says Newton (which will also act as a pager and send messages over phone lines) will be priced %under $1,000.\

11.喂，可能名片盒更好些。它很便宜。一个普通笔记本和地址薄怎么样？它们可以书写。每个奇特的地址薄只需15到20美元。苹果宣布newton（可以像纸一样并通过电话线发送短信）将会定位在1000元下的合理价格。这将是个了不起的成就。

Unit 2 A Class Act

Growing up in bomb-blitzed Manchester during the Second World War meant times were tough, money was short, anxiety was rife and the pawnshop was a familiar destination for many families, including mine.

1.成长在二战期间战火连天的曼彻斯特意味着生活艰辛，金钱紧缺，整日焦虑不安，当铺成了大多数家庭经常去的地方，当然也包括我家。

Yet I could not have asked for more enterprising and optimistic parents. They held our family together with hard work, dignity and bucket loads of cheer. My sturdy and ingenious father could turn his hand to almost anything and was never short of carpentry and handyman work. He even participated in the odd bout of backstreet boxing to make ends meet. For her part, our Mom was thrifty and meticulously clean, and her five children were always sent to school well fed, scrubbed and attired spotlessly, despite the trying conditions.

2.然而，我不能对已经很有进取心和积极乐观的父母有更多的要求了。他们艰辛地工作，用尊严和快乐来支撑着这个家庭。我刚毅而又智慧的父亲几乎无所不能，而且从不缺木匠和手工艺活。为了满足家庭开支，他甚至参加了非法组织的拳击比赛。至于我的母亲，她勤劳节约，极爱干净。即使条件艰苦，在母亲的照料下，她的五个孩子总能吃得饱饱地，穿得干干净净地去学校。

The trouble was, although my clothes were ironed to a knife-edge, and shoes polished to a gleam, not every item was standard school uniform issue. While Mom had scrimped and saved to obtain most of the gear, I still didn't have the prescribed blue blazer and hat band.

3.尽管我的衣服熨得很平整，鞋子擦得发亮，还是不符合学校的着装标准。尽管妈妈勤俭持家，想办法为我们做衣服，但是我还是没有学校指定的蓝色校服和帽徽。

Because of the war, rationing was in place and most schools had relaxed their attitude towards proper uniforms knowing how hard it was to obtain clothes. Nevertheless, the girls' school I attended made it strict policy that each of its students was properly attired, and the deputy headmistress who ran the daily assembly made it her mission to teach me a lesson.

4.由于战争，政府实施定量配给制。很多学校都放宽了对学生着装的要求，因为他们知道在那个时候弄到衣服是一件很困难的事情。尽管如此，我所在的女子学校对着装的要求依旧很严格，每个学生必须要穿学校指定的校服。所以，每天主持校会的副校长就把教我一个人如何着装当成了他的工作。

Despite my attempts at explaining why I couldn't comply, and despite the fact that I was making slow progress towards the full uniform, every day I would be hauled out of line and made to stand on the stage as a shining example of what not to wear to school.

5.虽然我努力地向老师说明我不能遵守的理由，并且事实上，我也在努力地改进，但是每天老师都会把我从队伍中拉出来，然后让我站到台上，作为不穿校服到学校的学生的典型。 Every day I would battle back tears as I stood in front of my peers, embarrassed and, most often, alone. My punishment also extended to being barred from the gym team or to not taking part in the weekly ballroom dancing classes, which I adored. I desperately wished that just one teacher in this horrid school would open their eyes and see all I could do, rather than constantly telling me what I couldn't do.

6.每天，当我独自一人尴尬地站在同学们的面前时，我都会强忍住泪水。为了惩罚我，老师甚至不允许我参加体操队，也不允许我参加我最喜欢的每周一次的交易舞会。我多么希望在这所可怕的学校里，能有这样一位老师，他会睁开双眼，然后看看我会做什么，而不是不断地告诉我不能做什么。

However, in my 12-year-old mind I had no choice but to see the punishment through. I knew it was very important not to let my well-meaning mother know about this ritual humiliation. I didn't dare risk her coming to the school to speak up for me as I knew the blinkered, hard-nosed staff would similarly mortify her and that would mean two of us unhappy and indignant. And, heaven forbid, if she ever told my father he would have instantly been on the warpath in my defence. 7.然而，在我十二岁的记忆中，除了接受惩罚我别无选择。不要让我善良的母亲知晓这种惯

例的惩罚对我而言是很重要的，我不敢冒险让她来学校为我说情，因为我知道心胸狭隘、不讲情面的教员会同样地使她难堪，那意味着我们俩都会不愉快、会有失颜面。千万不要啊，如果她告诉我父亲的话，他将会立即为我大动干戈。

Then one day our family won a newspaper competition for a free photographic portrait sitting. I was beside myself with excitement: my imagination fuelled by glamorous shots of the popular Hollywood temptresses. I couldn't wait to tell my friends the thrilling news.

8.后来有一天，我们家赢得了一个报刊比赛，可以免费照相。当我想到著名好莱坞影星华丽的照片时，我非常兴奋。我迫不及待地想要把这个令人激动的消息告诉我朋友。

That was, until Mam told me that I would have to wear my best, lace trimmed bright green dress to school that day, as the portrait sitting was straight after classes. She had no hint of torment I faced.

9.直到那天，妈妈说我必须穿我最好的浅绿色的镶有蕾丝花边的裙子去学校时，我知道我的想法破灭了，因为拍照正好在课后，而她却没察觉到我所面临的困窘。

There was none of my usual pleasure in putting on the cherished dress that day. Heavy-hearted, I dragged myself to school, an emerald green target in a sea of blue. At assembly I didn't bother to wait for the command but trudged up to the stage of my own accord to endure the sniggers of the other girls and the beady eyes of the deputy head.

10.到了这一天，我漫不经心地穿上了那条珍爱的裙子，心情沉重地拖着脚步去了学校。在校会上，没等到罚站的命令，我就径直地走上了站台，再一次忍受着同辈的嘲笑和副校长的冷眼。

Tears of frustration threatened to break free as I wondered for the umpteenth time why the callous teacher couldn't look past my clothes for once and see the obedient and eager-to-participate young girl beneath.

11.当我无数次地想到那个冷酷无情的老师对我的衣服连看都不看一眼，并对坐在下面乖巧且渴望加入年轻女孩队伍的我视而不见时，委屈的泪水忍不住的想流下来。

After assembly our first class was English Literature, my favourite lesson with my favourite teacher. I consoled myself that I could at least lose myself in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities for a while at the back of the class to recuperate and regain my composure. Imagine my dismay when, immediately the class began, Miss McVee ordered me to come and sit in the front row, directly before her. I slowly rose and, blinking back tears, headed to the front of the class. Surely Miss McVee hadn't crossed into the enemy camp, too?

12.校会结束以后，第一节课是英国文学，这是我最喜欢的一门课，上课的老师是我最喜欢的老师。为了能使我的内心平静下来，我安慰自己至少我还能在教室的后面享受品读查尔斯·狄更斯的《双城记》。当我还在假想的时候，却突然上课了，迈克·维让我做到教室的前面，难道迈克·维已经加入了敌方阵营？

With downcast eyes and bowed head, tears once again threatened to betray my dejection, even though I had always tried my hardest not to show how miserable I was at being singled out time after time.

13.尽管在我一次又一次被挑出去站着的时候，我都尽力掩饰我有多么痛苦，但我低垂的眼，低下的头和流出的泪又一次泄露了我的沮丧。

As I took my seat at the front, Miss McVee cocked her head to one side and looked me up and down carefully. And then she came out with the most welcome sentence I had ever heard at that mean-spirited place.

14.由于我坐在前排，迈克·维小姐抬起头从上到下仔细打量了我一番，之后她说出了在这

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