全新版大學(xué)英語(yǔ)綜合教程4課文原文及翻譯

1、OldFatherTimeBecomesaTerrorRichardTomkins1 Onceuponatime,technology,wethought,wouldmakeourliveseasier.Machineswereexpectedtodoourworkforus,leavinguswithever-increasingquantitiesoftimetowasteawayonidlenessandpleasure.時(shí)間老人成了可怕的老人理查德湯姆金斯從前,我們以為技術(shù)發(fā)展會(huì)使我們的生活變得更安逸。那時(shí)我們覺(jué)得機(jī)器會(huì)替代我們工作,我們則有越來(lái)越多的時(shí)間休閑娛樂(lè)。2 Butinste

2、adofliberatingus,technologyhasenslavedus.Innovationsareoccurringatabewilderingrate:asmanynowarriveinayearasoncearrivedinamillennium.Andaseachinventionarrives,iteatsfurtherintoourtime.但技術(shù)發(fā)展沒(méi)有把我們解放出來(lái),而是使我們成為奴隸。新技術(shù)紛至沓來(lái),令人目不暇接:一年涌現(xiàn)的技術(shù)創(chuàng)新相當(dāng)于以前一千年。而每一項(xiàng)新發(fā)明問(wèn)世,就進(jìn)一步吞噬我們的光陰。3 Themotorcar,forexample,promisedunim

3、aginablelevelsofpersonalmobility.Butnow,trafficincitiesmovesmoreslowlythanitdidinthedaysofthehorse-drawncarriage,andwewasteourlivesstuckintrafficjams., 城市車輛比如,汽車曾使我們希望個(gè)人出行會(huì)方便得讓人難以想象?？扇缃襁\(yùn)行得比馬車時(shí)代還要慢,我們因交通堵塞而困在車內(nèi),徒然浪費(fèi)生命。4 Theaircraftpromisednewhorizons,too.Thetroubleis,itdeliveredthem.Itsveryexistencec

4、reatedademandfortime-consumingjourneysthatwewouldneverpreviouslyhavedreamedofundertaking-thetransatlanticshoppingexpedition,forexample,orthetriptoaconventionontheothersideoftheworld.飛機(jī)也曾有可能為我們拓展新天地。問(wèn)題是,飛機(jī)提供了新的天地。其存在本身產(chǎn)生了對(duì)耗時(shí)的長(zhǎng)途旅行的需求,這種旅行,如越洋購(gòu)物,或遠(yuǎn)道前往地球的另一半?yún)⒓訒?huì)議,以前我們是根本無(wú)法想象的。5 Inmostcases,technologyhasn

5、otsavedtime,butenabledustodomorethings.Inthehome,washingmachinespromisedtofreewomenfromhavingtotoiloverthelaundry.Inreality,theyencouragedustochangeourclothesdailyinsteadofweekly,creatingseventimesasmuchwashingandironing.Similarly,theweeklybathhasbeenreplacedbythedailyshower,multiplyingthehoursspent

6、onpersonalgrooming.在大多數(shù)情況下,技術(shù)發(fā)展并未節(jié)省時(shí)間,而是使我們得以做更多的事。在家里,洗衣機(jī)可望使婦女?dāng)[脫繁重的洗衣勞作。但事實(shí)上,它們促使我們每天,而不是每星期換一次衣服,這就使熨洗衣物的工作量變成原來(lái)的7倍。同樣地,每周一次的沐浴為每日一次的淋浴所代替,使得用于個(gè)人穿著打扮的時(shí)間大大增加。6 Meanwhile,technologyhasnotonlyallowedworktospreadintoourleisuretime-thelaptop-on-the-beachsyndrome-butaddedthenewburdenofdealingwithfaxes,e

7、-mailsandvoicemails.IthasalsoprovideduswiththeopportunitytospendhoursfixingsoftwareglitchesonourpersonalcomputersorfillingourheadswithuselessinformationfromtheInternet.與此同時(shí),技術(shù)發(fā)展不僅聽(tīng)任工作侵入我們的閑暇時(shí)間帶著便攜式電腦去海灘綜合癥一一而且添加了收發(fā)傳真、電子郵件和語(yǔ)音郵件這些新的負(fù)擔(dān)。技術(shù)發(fā)展還向我們提供機(jī)會(huì),在個(gè)人電腦上一連幾小時(shí)處理軟件故障,或把因特網(wǎng)上那些無(wú)用的信息塞進(jìn)自己的大腦。7 Technologyapa

8、rt,theInternetpointsthewaytoasecondreasonwhywefeelsotime-pressed:theinformationexplosion.除去技術(shù)發(fā)展,因特網(wǎng)指出了我們?yōu)楹胃械綍r(shí)間如此緊迫的第二個(gè)原因:信息爆炸。8 Acoupleofcenturiesago,nearlyalltheworldsaccumulatedlearningcouldbecontainedintheheadsofafewphilosophers.Today,thoseheadscouldnothopetoaccommodatemorethanatinyfractionofthei

9、nformationgeneratedinasingleday.幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以前,人類積累的幾乎所有知識(shí)都能裝在若干哲人的大腦之中。如今這些大腦休想容納下一天中產(chǎn)生的新信息中的小小一部分。9 News,factsandopinionspourinfromeverycorneroftheworld.Thetelevisionsetoffers150channels.TherearemillionsofInternetsites.Magazines,booksandCD-ROMsproliferate.各種消息、事實(shí)和見(jiàn)解從世界各個(gè)角落大量涌入。電視機(jī)能收到150個(gè)頻道。因特網(wǎng)網(wǎng)址多達(dá)千百萬(wàn)。雜志、書(shū)

10、籍和光盤只讀存儲(chǔ)器的數(shù)量也激增。10 Inthewholeworldofscholarship,therewereonlyahandfulofscientificjournalsinthe18thcentury,andthepublicationofabookwasanevent,saysEdwardWilson,honorarycuratorinentomologyatHarvardUniversitysmuseumofcomparativezoology.Now,Ifindmyselfsubscribingto60or70journalsormagazinesjusttokeepmeupw

11、ithwhatamountstoaminuteproportionoftheexpandingfrontiersofscholarship.“在18世紀(jì),整個(gè)國(guó)際學(xué)術(shù)界總共只有屈指可數(shù)的幾家科學(xué)刊物,出版一本書(shū)是件了不起的大事，”哈佛大學(xué)比較動(dòng)物學(xué)博物館昆蟲(chóng)館名譽(yù)館長(zhǎng)愛(ài)德華威爾遜說(shuō)?！叭缃?我本人就訂閱了60或70種期刊雜志,以便自己跟上不斷拓展的學(xué)術(shù)前沿中一個(gè)微小部分的發(fā)展動(dòng)向?！?1 Thereisanotherreasonforourincreasedtimestresslevels,too:risingprosperity.Asever-largerquantitiesofgoodsa

12、ndservicesareproduced,theyhavetobeconsumed.Drivenonbyadvertising,wedoourbesttooblige:webuymore,travelmoreandplaymore,butwestruggletokeepup.SowesufferfromwhatWilsoncallsdiscontentwithsuperabundance-theconfusionofendlesschoice.我們產(chǎn)生日益加重的時(shí)間緊迫感還有一個(gè)原因:日漸繁榮富足。由于生產(chǎn)的物品與提供的服務(wù)越來(lái)越多,我們必須去消費(fèi)。在廣告的推動(dòng)下,我們努力照辦:我們多多購(gòu)買

13、多多旅游多多玩兒,但得盡力堅(jiān)持下去。于是我們就深受威爾遜所謂的對(duì)極大富足不滿之苦即無(wú)休止的選擇所造成的困惑12 Ofcourse,noteveryoneisoverstressed.Itsaconvenientshorthandtosaywerealltime-starved,butwehavetorememberthatitonlyappliesto,say,halfthepopulation,saysMichaelWillmott,directoroftheFutureFoundation,aLondonresearchcompany.當(dāng)然,并非人人感到時(shí)間過(guò)度緊迫?！罢f(shuō)我們都缺少時(shí)間只是

14、隨意講講,我們應(yīng)該記住,這種說(shuō)法大約只適用于一半人,”未來(lái)基金公司一家倫敦研究公司的經(jīng)理邁克爾威爾莫特說(shuō)。13 Youvegotpeopleretiringearly,youvegottheunemployed,youvegototherpeoplemaybeonlyperipherallyinvolvedintheeconomywhodonthavethissituationatall.Ifyoureunemployed,yourproblemisthatyouvegottoomuchtime,nottoolittle.“有些人早早退休了,有些人失業(yè)了,有些人或許只與經(jīng)濟(jì)活動(dòng)沾點(diǎn)邊,根本不會(huì)

15、有這種情況。如果失業(yè)了,那你的問(wèn)題就是時(shí)間太多,而不是太少?！?4 PaulEdwards,chairmanoftheLondon-basedHenleyCentreforecastinggroup,pointsoutthatthefeelingofpressurescanalsobeexaggerated,orself-imposed.Everyonetalksaboutitsomuchthatabout50percentofunemployedorretiredpeoplewilltellyoutheyneverhaveenoughtimetogetthingsdone,hesays.It

16、salmostgottothepointwheretheresstressenvy.Ifyourenotstressed,yourenotsucceeding.Everyonewantstohavealittlebitofthisstresstoshowtheyreanimportantperson.總部設(shè)在倫敦的亨利中心預(yù)測(cè)小組組長(zhǎng)保羅愛(ài)德華茲指出，壓力感也可能被夸大,或者被強(qiáng)加于自身?！叭巳硕即笳剦毫?以至于多達(dá)半數(shù)的失業(yè)者或退休人員都會(huì)跟你說(shuō),他們根本來(lái)不及把事情做完,”他說(shuō)?！斑@幾乎是到了羨慕壓力的程度。沒(méi)有感到有壓力,就不是成功者。人人都想表現(xiàn)幾分時(shí)間緊迫感,以顯示自己的重要?！?5

17、 Thereisanotheraspecttoallofthistoo.Hour-by-hourlogskeptbythousandsofvolunteersoverthedecadeshaveshownthat,intheU.K.,workinghourshaverisenonlyslightlyinthelast10years,andintheU.S.,theyhaveactuallyfallen-evenforthoseinprofessionalandexecutivejobs,wheretheperceptionsofstressarehighest.這一切還有另外一個(gè)方面。幾十年來(lái)

18、由數(shù)千名志愿者所作的鐘點(diǎn)日志表明,英國(guó)在最近十年中工作時(shí)間只略微增加,而在美國(guó),即使對(duì)工作壓力最大的專業(yè)人士和管理人員而言,工作時(shí)間實(shí)際上減少了。16 IntheU.S.,JohnRobinson,professorofsociologyattheUniversityofMaryland,andGeoffreyGodbey,professorofleisurestudiesatPennStateUniversityfoundthat,sincethemid-1960s,theaverageAmericanhadgainedfivehoursaweekinfreetime-thatis,time

19、leftafterworking,sleeping,commuting,caringforchildrenanddoingthechores.在美國(guó)，馬里蘭大學(xué)社會(huì)學(xué)教授約翰魯賓遜和賓夕法尼亞州立大學(xué)研究閑暇問(wèn)題的教授杰弗里戈德比發(fā)現(xiàn),自20世紀(jì)60年代中期以來(lái),普通美國(guó)人每周增加了5小時(shí)空余時(shí)間,即工作、睡眠、乘車上下班、照料孩子和家務(wù)勞動(dòng)之余的時(shí)間。17 Thegains,however,wereunevenlydistributed.Thepeoplewhobenefitedthemostweresinglesandempty-nesters.Thosewhogainedtheleast

20、-lessthananhour-wereworkingcoupleswithpre-schoolchildren,perhapsreflectingthetrendforparentstospendmoretimenurturingtheiroffspring.但增加的時(shí)間分配得并不均勻。受惠最多的是未婚者和子女不在身邊的人。得益最少的增加了不足1個(gè)小時(shí)是有學(xué)前子女的雙職工夫婦,這或許反映了父母在撫養(yǎng)子女方面花費(fèi)更多時(shí)間這一傾向。18 Thereis,ofcourse,agenderissuehere,too.Advancesinhouseholdappliancesmayhaveencour

21、agedwomentotakepayingjobs:butaswehavealreadynoted,technologydidnotendhouseholdchores.Asaresult,weseeappallinginequalitiesinthedistributionoffreetimebetweenthesexes.AccordingtotheHenleyCentre,workingfathersintheU.K.average48hoursoffreetimeaweek.Workingmothersget14.這里當(dāng)然也存在著性別問(wèn)題。家用器具的更新?lián)Q代或許鼓勵(lì)婦女去做有報(bào)酬的工作

22、,但正如我們已經(jīng)注意到的,技術(shù)發(fā)展并沒(méi)有掃除家務(wù)雜活。其結(jié)果是,我們發(fā)現(xiàn)男女空余時(shí)間的分配驚人地不平等。據(jù)亨利中心的調(diào)查,在英國(guó),有工作的父親平均每周有48小時(shí)的空余時(shí)間。有工作的母親只有14小時(shí)19 Inequalitiesapart,theperceptionofthetimefamineiswidespread,andhasprovokedavarietyofreactions.Oneisanattempttogainthelargestpossibleamountofsatisfactionfromthesmallestpossibleinvestmentoftime.Peopleto

23、daywantfastfood,soundbytesandinstantgratification.Andtheybecomeupsetwhentimeiswasted.除去不平等,缺乏時(shí)間的感覺(jué)也普遍存在,并引起了各種反應(yīng)。反應(yīng)之一是試圖投入最少的時(shí)間以獲取最大的滿足。如今人們需要快餐,需要電臺(tái)、電視臺(tái)播放簡(jiǎn)短片斷,還要即刻得到滿足。時(shí)間一旦被浪費(fèi),人們就會(huì)很不高興。20 Peopletalkaboutqualitytime.Theywantperfectmoments,saystheHenleyCentresEdwards.IfyoutakeyourkidstoamovieandMcDon

24、aldsanditsnotperfect,youvewastedanafternoon,anditsasensethatyouvelostsomethingprecious.Ifyoulosesomemoneyyoucanearnsomemore,butifyouwastetimeyoucannevergetitback.“人們談?wù)撝|(zhì)量時(shí)間。他們需要最佳時(shí)光,”亨利中心的愛(ài)德華茲說(shuō)。“如果你帶孩子去看電影或去麥當(dāng)勞,但度過(guò)的時(shí)光并不甜美,你浪費(fèi)了一個(gè)下午,感覺(jué)就像是你丟失了寶貴物品。錢丟失了還能掙回來(lái),但時(shí)間浪費(fèi)了就再也無(wú)法追回?！?1 Peoplearealsotryingtobuytim

25、e.Anythingthathelpsstreamlineourlivesisagrowthmarket.OneexampleiswhatAmericanscallconciergeservices-domestichelp,childcare,gardeninganddecorating.Andon-lineretailersareseeingbigincreasesinsales-thoughnot,asyet,profits.人們還試圖購(gòu)買時(shí)間。任何能幫助我們提高生活效率的事物都有越做越大的市場(chǎng)。美國(guó)人所謂的家政服務(wù)一一做家務(wù)，帶孩子，修剪花木，居家裝飾一一即為一例。網(wǎng)上零售商在看著銷售

26、額大幅增長(zhǎng)一一雖然利潤(rùn)尚未同樣大幅增長(zhǎng)。22 Athirdreactiontotimefaminehasbeenthegrowthoftheworklifedebate.Youhearmoreaboutpeopletakingearlyretirementorgivinguphighpressurejobsinfavourofoccupationswithshorterworkinghours.AndbodiessuchasBritainsNationalWork-LifeForumhavesprungup,urgingemployerstoendthelong-hourscultureamo

27、ngmanagersandtoadoptfamily-friendlyworkingpolicies.對(duì)時(shí)間匱乏的第三個(gè)反應(yīng)是有關(guān)人的一生應(yīng)該工作多少年的爭(zhēng)論增多。你比過(guò)去更常聽(tīng)到人們談?wù)撛缭缤诵?談?wù)摲艞墘毫Υ蟮墓ぷ魅氖鹿ぷ鲿r(shí)間短的工作。諸如英國(guó)全國(guó)工作年限論壇這樣的機(jī)構(gòu)像雨后春筍般出現(xiàn)了,敦促雇主終止讓管理人員長(zhǎng)時(shí)間加班的做法,而采取能適應(yīng)家庭生活的工作方式。23 Thetroublewithallthesereactionsisthatliberatingtime-whetherbymakingbetteruseofit,buyingitfromothersorreducingtheamountspentatwork-isfutileifthehoursgaine