考研英語閱讀及翻譯

1、考研英語閱讀（1） To paraphrase 18th-century statesman Edmund Burke, "all that is needed for the triumph of a misguided cause is that good people do nothing." One such cause now seeks to end biomedical research because of the theory that animals have rights ruling out their use in research. Scient

2、ists need to respond forcefully to animal rights advocates, whose arguments are confusing the public and thereby threatening advances in health knowledge and care. Leaders of the animal rights movement target biomedical research because it depends on public funding, and few people understand the pro

3、cess of health care research. Hearing allegations of cruelty to animals in research settings, many are perplexed that anyone would deliberately harm an animal.For example, a grandmotherly woman staffing an animal rights booth at a recent street fair was distributing a brochure that encouraged reader

4、s not to use anything that comes from or is tested in animals-no meat, no fur, no medicines. Asked if she opposed immunizations, she wanted to know if vaccines come from animal research. When assured that they do, she replied, "Then I would have to say yes." Asked what will happen when epi

5、demics return, she said, "Don't worry, scientists will find some way of using computers." Such well-meaning people just don't understand.Scientists must communicate their message to the public in a compassionate, understandable way-in human terms, not in the language of molecular b

6、iology. We need to make clear the connection between animal research and a grandmother's hip replacement, a father's bypass operation a baby's vaccinations, and even a pet's shots. To those who are unaware that animal research was needed to produce these treatments, as well as new tr

7、eatments and vaccines, animal research seems wasteful at best and cruel at worst.Much can be done. Scientists could "adopt" middle school classes and present their own research. They should be quick to respond to letters to the editor, lest animal rights misinformation go unchallenged and

8、acquire a deceptive appearance of truth. Research institutions could be opened to tours, to show that laboratory animals receive humane care. Finally, because the ultimate stakeholders are patients, the health research community should actively recruit to its cause not only well-known personalities

9、such as Stephen Cooper, who has made courageous statements about the value of animal research, but all who receive medical treatment. If good people do nothing there is a real possibility that an uninformed citizenry will extinguish the precious embers of medical progress. 18世紀政治家埃德蒙·柏克曾說過類似這樣的

10、話，“被誤導的運動要想成功，所需的只是好人不作為?！爆F(xiàn)在，就有這樣一個運動正在尋求終止生物醫(yī)學的研究，因為有這樣一種理論說，動物享有權(quán)利禁止它們被用于實驗?？茖W家應該對動物權(quán)利鼓吹者做出強有力的回應，因為他們的言論混淆了公眾的視聽，從而威脅到衛(wèi)生知識和衛(wèi)生服務的進步。動物權(quán)利運動的領導者將矛頭指向生物醫(yī)學研究，原因在于它依賴公共資金的資助，并且很少有人懂得醫(yī)學研究的過程。當人們聽到醫(yī)學實驗虐待動物的指控時，許多人都不明白為什么有人會故意傷害動物。例如，在最近一次街頭集市上，一位老奶奶站在動物權(quán)利宣傳點前散發(fā)小冊子，規(guī)勸人們不要使用動物制品和動物實驗制品肉類，毛皮，藥物。當被問到她是否反對免疫接

11、種時，她問疫苗是否來自動物實驗。當被告知的確如此，她回答道，“那么我不得不說，是的，我反對接種”。當被問到瘟疫爆發(fā)怎么辦時，她說，“不用擔心，科學家會找到一種方法，用計算機來解決問題”。看，這樣好心的人們就是不明白?？茖W家必須把他們的意思傳達給公眾，并且要使用有同情心和通俗易懂的語言，一般人能夠明白的語言，而不要使用分子生物學的語言。我們需要說明動物實驗與祖母的髖骨更換、父親的心臟搭橋、嬰兒的免疫接種、甚至寵物的注射針劑都密切相關(guān)。許多人不明白獲得這些新的治療方法和疫苗都必須進行動物實驗。對于他們來說，動物實驗說得好是浪費，說得不好是殘忍。有很多事情可以做。科學家可以進入中學課堂，展示他們的實

12、驗結(jié)果。他們應該對報刊的讀者來信及時做出反應，以防止動物權(quán)利的誤導言論在毫無質(zhì)疑的情況下橫行，從而獲得一副真理的面容?？蒲袡C構(gòu)應該對外開放，讓人參觀，向人們展示實驗室里的動物獲得了人道的對待。最后，因為最終決定因素是病人，醫(yī)療研究機構(gòu)不僅應該積極爭取斯蒂芬?庫柏這樣的名人的支持他對動物實驗的價值勇敢地進行了肯定而且應該爭取所有接受治療的病人的支持。如果好人無所作為，一群不明真相的公眾真的有可能撲滅醫(yī)學進步的寶貴火種。（2） Science, in practice, depends far less on the experiments it prepares than on the prep

13、aredness of the minds of the men who watch the experiments. Sir Isaac Newton supposedly discovered gravity through the fall of an apple. Apples had been falling in many places for centuries and thousands of people had seen them fall. But Newton for years had been curious about the cause of the orbit

14、al motion of the moon and planets. What kept them in place? Why didn't they fall out of the sky? The fact that the apple fell down toward the earth and not up into the tree answered the question he had been asking himself about those larger fruits of the heavens, the moon and the planets. How ma

15、ny men would have considered the possibility of an apple falling up into the tree? Newton did because he was not trying to predict anything. He was just wondering. His mind was ready for the unpredictable. Unpredictability is part of the essential nature of research. If you don't have unpredicta

16、ble things, you don't have research. Scientists tend to forget this when writing their cut and dried reports for the technical journals, but history is filled with examples of it. In talking to some scientists, particularly younger ones, you might gather the impression that they find the "s

17、cientific method" a substitute for imaginative thought. I've attended research conferences where a scientist has been asked what he thinks about the advisability of continuing a certain experiment. The scientist has frowned, looked at the graphs, and said "the data are still inconclusi

18、ve." "We know that," the men from the budget office have said, "but what do you think? Is it worthwhile going on? What do you think we might expect?" The scientist has been shocked at having even been asked to speculate.What this amounts to, of course, is that the scientist

19、has become the victim of his own writings. He has put forward unquestioned claims so consistently that he not only believes them himself, but has convinced industrial and business management that they are true. If experiments are planned and carried out according to plan as faithfully as the reports

20、 in the science journals indicate, then it is perfectly logical for management to expect research to produce results measurable in dollars and cents. It is entirely reasonable for auditors to believe that scientists who know exactly where they are going and how they will get there should not be dist

21、racted by the necessity of keeping one eye on the cash register while the other eye is on the microscope. Nor, if regularity and conformity to a standard pattern are as desirable to the scientist as the writing of his papers would appear to reflect, is management to be blamed for discriminating agai

22、nst the "odd balls" among researchers in favor of more conventional tinkers who "work well with the team." 在實踐中，科學的進步依賴于做實驗，但更依賴于實驗的觀察者（即做實驗的人）的心理是否有足夠的準備。艾薩克·牛頓爵士通過蘋果落地發(fā)現(xiàn)了萬有引力。多少個世紀以來，蘋果一直在許多地方落到地面，也有成千上萬的人看到過蘋果落地。多年來牛頓一直對月球和行星繞軌道運行的起因好奇不已。是什么使它們處于現(xiàn)在的位置呢？它們?yōu)槭裁床宦涞教炜罩饽?？蘋果向下落

23、到地面不是向上飛到樹上，這一事實回答了他長期以來一直對天空中更大果實月球和行星所存有的疑問。多少人會考慮過蘋果向上飛到樹上的可能性呢？牛頓考慮過，因為他不想對任何事情進行預測。他只是懷有好奇心。他的思想在準備思考不可預測的事。不可預測性是科學研究不可或缺的一個重要特征。如果沒有不可預測現(xiàn)象的產(chǎn)生就無所謂科學研究了?？茖W家們在為科學雜志撰寫千篇一律的報告時常常忘記這一點，而歷史上這樣的例子卻比比皆是。在和一些科學家，特別是年輕科學家交談時，你可能會有這樣一種印象：他們認為“科學方法”可以代替創(chuàng)造性思維。我出席過一些科研會議，會上有人問一位科學家繼續(xù)某項實驗是否是明智之舉。那位科學家皺了皺眉，又看

24、了看圖表，然后說：“數(shù)據(jù)還是不夠充分?！鳖A算部門的人說：“這點我們知道，但你的意見如何？你覺得值得做下去嗎？你覺得我們可以期待什么呢？”這位科學家感到很震驚，他沒有料到人們會讓他做出臆測。當然，這幾乎等于說：那位科學家成了他自己論文的受害者。他所提出的種種論斷是如此不容置疑、如此一致，以至于不僅他自己相信了，而且也說服了工商界的管理者相信其正確性。假如科學實驗像科學雜志登載的科學報告顯示的那樣完全按事先的計劃去規(guī)劃和實施，那么，對管理層來說，期待研究能夠產(chǎn)生可以用金錢衡量的結(jié)果是完全合理的。審計人員也完全有理由相信，確切知道自己的目標并知道如何實現(xiàn)這一目標的科學家們根本沒必要用一只眼盯著現(xiàn)金計

25、數(shù)器的同時，還要用另一只眼睛盯著顯微鏡。如果像他們的論文所反映的那樣，科學家也想看到規(guī)律性和與某種標準模式的一致性，那么如果管理人員歧視研究人員中的“標新立異者”，而贊賞“善于合作”的具有傳統(tǒng)思維模式的人，那也是無可指摘的。（3） A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly, courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Ca

26、nada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are of course, exceptions. Small minded officials, rude waiters, and ill mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment. For a long period of time and in m

27、any parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world. The ha

28、rsh realities of the frontier also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest cabin or settlement. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers

29、. It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didnt take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation. Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the weary traveler. Yet, the old t

30、radition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist trails. “I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner amazing.” Such observations reported by visi

31、tors to the US are not uncommon, but are not always understood properly. The casual friendliness of many Americans should be interpreted neither as superficial nor as artificial, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition. As is true of any developed society, in America a compl

32、ex set of cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies all social interrelationships. And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily meant that someone understands social and cultural patterns. Visitors who fail to “translate” cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclus

33、ions. For example, when an American uses the word “friend”, the cultural implications of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitors language and culture. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to distinguish between courteous convention and individual interest. Yet, bei

34、ng friendly is a virtue that many American value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers. 去美國訪問的人經(jīng)常帶回報告說，大多數(shù)美國人對他們友善、好客、樂于助人。公正的說，人們對加拿大人也有這樣的評論，因而，應當認為這是北美普遍的現(xiàn)象。當然也有例外。在美國，心胸狹隘的官員，舉止粗魯?shù)恼写秃翢o禮貌的出租車司機也并非罕見。盡管有不如意的地方，但因為人們常常得出美國人好客的觀察意見，因而也就值得議論一番了。 過去很長一段時間，在美國很多地方，旅行者的到來因暫時打破原本的單調(diào)生活而受人歡迎

35、。無聊、孤獨是居住相對遙遠的家庭的普遍問題。陌生人和旅行者很受歡迎，他們帶來了娛樂消遣，還帶來了外面世界的消息。 開拓者的嚴酷生活現(xiàn)實也促成了這一好客的傳統(tǒng)。單獨旅行時，如果挨餓、受傷或生病，通常只能向最近的小屋或村落求助。對旅行者來說，這不是一個選擇的問題；而對當?shù)鼐用駚碚f，這也并非是行善的一時沖動。它反映了日常生活的嚴酷：如果你不收留他，那他便無處求助了。請記住，有一天你也可能處于相同的境遇。 如今，有了很多的慈善組織專門幫助疲憊的旅行者。不過，熱情接待陌生人的傳統(tǒng)在美國仍然很盛行，尤其是在遠離旅游熱線的小城鎮(zhèn)?！拔抑皇锹愤^，和這個美國人聊了聊。很快，他就請我到他家吃飯這真令人驚奇。”來美

36、國的旅客談論此類事件很普遍，但并非總能得到正確理解。很多美國人不經(jīng)意表現(xiàn)的友好不應被看做是表面或虛假的應酬，而應該看成是文化傳統(tǒng)的歷史發(fā)展結(jié)果。 同任何發(fā)達國家一樣，一系列復雜的文化特征，信念和習俗構(gòu)成了美國所有社會交往的基礎。當然，會講一種語言并不意味著就理解該語言的社會和文化模式。不能正確“詮釋”文化含義的旅行者往往得出錯誤的結(jié)論。例如，美國人所說的“朋友”一詞，其文化含義可能與旅行者語言和文化中的“朋友”大相徑庭。要想正確區(qū)分禮貌是出于文化習俗還是個人興趣，單憑一次公共汽車上的偶遇是不夠的。不過，友好是很多美國人推崇的美德，同時希望鄰居和陌生人也能如此。（4） That experien

37、ces influence subsequent behaviour is evidence of an obvious but nevertheless remarkable activity called remembering. Learning could not occur without the function popularly named memory. Constant practice has such as effect on memory as to lead to skilful performance on the piano, to recitation of

38、a poem, and even to reading and understanding these words. So-called intelligent behaviour demands memory, remembering being a primary requirement for reasoning. The ability to solve any problem or even to recognize that a problem exists depends on memory. Typically, the decision to cross a street i

39、s based on remembering many earlier experiences.Practice (or review) tends to build and maintain memory for a task or for any learned material. Over a period of no practice what has been learned tends to be forgotten; and the adaptive consequences may not seem obvious. Yet, dramatic instances of sud

40、den forgetting can be seen to be adaptive. In this sense, the ability to forget can be interpreted to have survived through a process of natural selection in animals. Indeed, when one's memory of an emotionally painful experience lead to serious anxiety, forgetting may produce relief. Neverthele

41、ss, an evolutionary interpretation might make it difficult to understand how the commonly gradual process of forgetting survived natural selection.In thinking about the evolution of memory together with all its possible aspects, it is helpful to consider what would happen if memories failed to fade.

42、 Forgetting clearly aids orientation in time, since old memories weaken and the new tend to stand out, providing clues for inferring duration. Without forgetting, adaptive ability would suffer, for example, learned behaviour that might have been correct a decade ago may no longer be. Cases are recor

43、ded of people who (by ordinary standards) forgot so little that their everyday activities were full of confusion. This forgetting seems to serve that survival of the individual and the species. Another line of thought assumes a memory storage system of limited capacity that provides adaptive flexibi

44、lity specifically through forgetting. In this view, continual adjustments are made between learning or memory storage (input) and forgetting (output). Indeed, there is evidence that the rate at which individuals forget is directly related to how much they have learned. Such data offers gross support

45、 of contemporary models of memory that assume an input-output balance.過去的經(jīng)歷會影響日后的行為，這就表明存在著一種明顯但卻非凡的腦力活動記憶。如果沒有大家稱之為記憶的功能，學習便不能發(fā)生。反復練習對記憶有很大影響，可以使人們熟練地演奏鋼琴、背誦詩歌、乃至總結(jié)和理解這些詞句。用于解決問題或是辨別出有問題存在的所謂的智力行為需要記憶，記憶能力是推理的一個基本需求。解決任何問題，甚至是識別問題存在的能力都取決于記憶。最典型的是，決定過街也要憑借許多對以前經(jīng)歷的記憶。 實踐（或稱復習）就是建立并保持對某一任務或所學材料的記憶。有一

46、段時間不實踐，學到的東西往往就會忘記（漸進性地遺忘）；其適應性結(jié)果也就顯得不太明顯。然而戲劇性地突然遺忘的例子也可被看做具有適應性。從這個意義上說，遺忘能力可解釋為動物在自然選擇的過程中幸存下來的能力。的確，如果記住一段痛苦的情感經(jīng)歷會導致嚴重的焦慮，那么遺忘倒可以使人得到解脫。然而，進化論的解釋可能會使人難以理解普遍的漸進遺忘過程是如何在自然選擇中幸存下來的。 在考慮記憶的進化及其所有可能的方面時，思考一下如果記憶不會消失會產(chǎn)生什么結(jié)果是很有用處的。顯然，遺忘有助于時間的定位，因為舊的記憶淡忘，新的記憶往往就突出，從而為推算持續(xù)的時間提供線索。沒有遺忘，適應會受影響，例如，已學會的行為十年前

47、可能是正確的，現(xiàn)在則不然了。有記錄表明，有些人（按一般標準）忘的太少，以致日常生活?；靵y不堪。因此遺忘似乎有助于個體及物種的存活。 另一種思路則假定人的記憶存儲系統(tǒng)儲量有限，這個系統(tǒng)專門通過遺忘提供適應的靈活性。根據(jù)這個觀點，在學習或記憶儲存（輸入）和遺忘（輸出）之間要不斷進行調(diào)整。的確，表明個人的遺忘速度與學習東西的多少有直接的關(guān)系。這些數(shù)據(jù)為假定輸入輸出持衡的當代記憶模式提供了明確的證據(jù)。（5） Discoveries in science and technology are thought by “untaught minds” to come in blinding flashes

48、or as the result of dramatic accidents. Sir Alexander Fleming did not, as legend would have it, look at the mold on a piece of cheese and get the idea for penicillin there and then. He experimented with antibacterial substances for nine years before he made his discovery. Inventions and innovations

49、almost always come out of laborious trial and error. Innovation is like soccer; even the best players miss the goal and have their shots blocked much more frequently than they score. The point is that the players who score most are the ones who take the most shots at the goaland so it goes with innovation in any field of activity. The prime difference between innovators and others is one of approach. Everybody gets ideas, but innovators work consciousl