考研英語閱讀和翻譯1997passage1

1、1997 Passage 1  It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia's Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients

2、who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group's on-line service, Death NET. Says

3、Hofsess: "We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn't just something that happened in Australia. It's world history."The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with it

4、s moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia where an aging population, lif

5、e-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.Und

6、er the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death probably by a deadly injection or pill to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a "cooling off" period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request

7、. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. "I'm

8、not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I'd go, because I've watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks," he says.1997 Passage 2 A report consistently brought back by visitors to the US is how friendly,

9、courteous, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada 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

10、the US. Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment.For a long period of time and in many 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 an

11、other. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of diversion, and brought news of the outside world.The harsh 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 settlem

12、ent. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or merely a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected the harshness of daily life: if you didn't 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 situ

13、ation.Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the weary traveler. Yet, the old tradition 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

14、 talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner amazing." Such observations reported by visitors 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 artificia

15、l, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition.As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals, assumptions, and conventions underlies all social interrelationships. And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone unde

16、rstands social and cultural patterns. Visitors who fail to "translate" cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions. 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 visitor'

17、s language and culture. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to distinguish between courteous convention and individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers.1997 Passage 3 Technically, any substance other tha

18、n food that alters our bodily or mental functioning is a drug. Many people mistakenly believe the term drug refers only to some sort of medicine or an illegal chemical taken by drug addicts. They don't realize that familiar substances such as alcohol and tobacco are also drugs. This is why the m

19、ore neutral term substance is now used by many physicians and psychologists. The phrase "substance abuse" is often used instead of "drug abuse" to make clear that substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine.We live in a society in

20、 which the medicinal and social use of substances (drugs) is pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves. When do these socially acceptable and apparently constructive uses of a substance become misuses? First of

21、 all, most substances taken in excess will produce negative effects such as poisoning or intense perceptual distortions. Repeated use of a substance can also lead to physical addiction or substance dependence. Dependence is marked first by an increased tolerance, with more and more of the substance

22、required to produce the desired effect, and then by the appearance of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued.Drugs (substances) that affect the central nervous system and alter perception, mood, and behavior are known as psychoactive substances. Psychoactive substances are

23、 commonly grouped according to whether they are stimulants, depressants, or hallucinogen. Stimulants initially speed up or activate the central nervous system, whereas depressants slow it down. Hallucinogens have their primary effect on perception, distorting and altering it in a variety of ways inc

24、luding producing hallucinations. These are the substances often called psychedelic (from the Greek word meaning "mind-manifestation") because they seemed to radically alter one's state of consciousness.1997 Passage 4 No company likes to be told it is contributing to the moral decline o

25、f a nation. "Is this what you intended to accomplish with your careers?" Senator Robert Dole asked Time Warner executives last week. "You have sold your souls, but must you corrupt our nation and threaten our children as well?" At Time Warner, however, such questions are simply t

26、he latest manifestation of the soul-searching that has involved the company ever since the company was born in 1990. It's a self-examination that has, at various times, involved issues of responsibility, creative freedom and the corporate bottom line.At the core of this debate is chairman Gerald

27、 Levin, 56, who took over for the late Steve Ross in 1992. On the financial front, Levin is under pressure to raise the stock price and reduce the company's mountainous debt, which will increase to $ 17.3 billion after two new cable deals close. He has promised to sell off some of the property a

28、nd restructure the company, but investors are waiting impatiently.The flap over rap is not making life any easier for him. Levin has consistently defended the company's rap music on the grounds of expression. In 1992, when Time Warner was under fire for releasing Ice-T's violent rap song Cop

29、 Killer, Levin described rap as lawful expression of street culture, which deserves an outlet. "The test of any democratic society," he wrote in a Wall Street Journal column, "lies not in how well it can control expression but in whether it gives freedom of thought and expression the

30、widest possible latitude, however disputable or irritating the results may sometimes be. We won't retreat in the face of any threats."Levin would not comment on the debate last week, but there were signs that the chairman was backing off his hard-line stand, at least to some extent. During

31、the discussion of rock singing verses at last month's stockholders' meeting. Levin asserted that "music is not the cause of society's ills" and even cited his son, a teacher in the Bronx, New York, who uses rap to communicate with students. But he talked as well about the "

32、;balanced struggle" between creative freedom and social responsibility, and he announced that the company would launch a drive to develop standards for distribution and labeling of potentially objectionable music.The 15-member Time Warner board is generally supportive of Levin and his corporate

33、 strategy. But insiders say several of them have shown their concerns in this matter. "Some of us have known for many, many years that the freedoms under the First Amendment are not totally unlimited," says Luce. "I think it is perhaps the case that some people associated with the com

34、pany have only recently come to realize this."1997 Passage 5 Much of the language used to describe monetary policy, such as "steering the economy to a soft landing" or "a touch on the brakes", makes it sound like a precise science. Nothing could be further from the truth. Th

35、e link between interest rates and inflation is uncertain. And there are long, variable lags before policy changes have any effect on the economy. Hence the analogy that likens the conduct of monetary policy to driving a car with a blackened windscreen, a cracked rearview mirror and a faulty steering

36、 wheel.Given all these disadvantages, central bankers seem to have had much to boast about of late. Average inflation in the big seven industrial economies fell to a mere 2.3% last year, close to its lowest level in 30 years, before rising slightly to 2.5% this July. This is a long way below the dou

37、ble-digit rates which many countries experienced in the 1970s and early 1980s.It is also less than most forecasters had predicted. In late 1994 the panel of economists which The Economist polls each month said that America's inflation rate would average 3.5% in 1995. In fact, it fell to 2.6% in

38、August, and is expected to average only about 3% for the year as a whole. In Britain and Japan inflation is running half a percentage point below the rate predicted at the end of last year. This is no flash in the pan; over the past couple of years, inflation has been consistently lower than expecte

39、d in Britain and America.Economists have been particularly surprised by favourable inflation figures in Britain and the United States, since conventional measures suggest that both economies, and especially America's, have little productive slack. America's capacity utilisation, for example,

40、 hit historically high levels earlier this year, and its jobless rate (5.6% in August) has fallen below most estimates of the natural rate of unemployment the rate below which inflation has taken off on the past.Why has inflation proved so mild? The most thrilling explanation is, unfortunately, a li

41、ttle defective. Some economists argue that powerful structural changes in the world have upended the old economic models that were based upon the historical link between growth and inflation.1997 Passage 1 凌晨3:45進行了最終表決。經(jīng)過6個月爭論和最后16個小時的國會激烈辯論，澳大利亞北部地區(qū)（澳北州）成為世界上第一個允許醫(yī)生根據(jù)絕癥病人個人意愿來結束其生命的

42、合法當局。這一法案是以令人信服的15票對10票通過。幾乎同時，該消息就出現(xiàn)在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上。身處地球另一端的加拿大死亡權利執(zhí)行主席約翰·霍夫塞斯在收到該消息后便通過協(xié)會的在線服務“死亡之網(wǎng)”發(fā)了公告。他說：“我們整天都在發(fā)布公告，因為這件事的意義不在于它是在澳大利亞發(fā)生的事情，而是因為這是世界歷史的一件大事?！币浞掷斫膺@一法案的深刻意義可能需要一段時間。澳北州晚期病人權利法使得無論是內(nèi)科醫(yī)生還是普通市民都同樣地力圖從道義和實際意義兩方面來對待這一問題。一些人如釋重負，另一些人，包括教會，生命權利組織以及澳大利亞醫(yī)學會成員都對這一決議及其倉促的通過進行了猛烈的抨擊。但這一潮流已無法逆轉(zhuǎn)。在

43、澳大利亞，人口老齡化，延長壽命技術和公眾態(tài)度的變化都發(fā)揮著各自的作用。其他州也將考慮制定類似的法律來處理安樂死問題。在美國和加拿大，死亡權利運動正在積蓄力量。觀察家們正在等待多米諾骨牌產(chǎn)生的效應。根據(jù)澳北州所通過的這項新法案，成年病人可以要求安樂死可能是通過注射致死藥劑或服用致死藥片來結束痛苦。但此前病人必須由兩名醫(yī)生診斷其確實已病入膏肓，然后再經(jīng)過7天的冷靜思考期，方可簽署一份申請證明。48小時后，才可以滿足其安樂死的愿望。對于居住于達爾文現(xiàn)年54歲的肺癌患者利奧德·尼克森來說，這個法律意味著他可以平靜地生活下去而無須整天懼怕即將來臨的苦難：因呼吸困難而在煎熬中痛苦地死去?！皬乃枷?/p>

44、上說，我并不害怕死，但我怕的是怎樣死，因為我在醫(yī)院看到過病人在缺氧時苦苦掙扎，用手抓他們的面罩時的情景?！彼f。 1997 Passage 2 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。無聊、孤獨是居住相對

45、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?！眮砻绹穆每驼務摯祟愂录芷毡?/p>

46、，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。 1997 Passage 3&

47、#160;從專業(yè)角度說，除食品外，任何能改變我們生理和心理機能的物質(zhì)都是藥物。很多人錯誤地認為“藥物”這個詞僅僅指某些藥品或是吸毒者服用的違禁化學品。他們沒有意識到諸如酒精、煙草這些我們熟悉的物質(zhì)也是藥物。這也是現(xiàn)在許多內(nèi)科醫(yī)生和心理學家使用“物質(zhì)”這個更加中性的詞的原因。他們常用“物質(zhì)濫用”而不用“藥物濫用”來清楚表明濫用酒精、煙草這樣的物質(zhì)如同濫用海洛因和可卡因一樣有害。我們生活在一個物質(zhì)（藥物）在醫(yī)療和社交方面的使用都很廣泛的社會里：用來緩解頭痛的阿斯匹林，用來應酬的酒，早晨用來提神的咖啡，還有定神用的香煙。使用這些物質(zhì)得到了社會認可，且顯然具有積極的作用，但什么時候就變成濫用了呢？首先，大多數(shù)物質(zhì)的過量使用都會產(chǎn)生負面影響，如中毒或嚴重的感知錯亂。反復使用一種物質(zhì)可以導致成癮或?qū)υ撐镔|(zhì)的依賴。依賴的最初表現(xiàn)是不斷增長的耐藥量，要產(chǎn)生預期的效果需要的藥劑量越來越大，而一旦中斷使用就會出現(xiàn)難受的停藥癥狀。影響中樞神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)、改變感知覺和行為的藥物（物質(zhì)）屬于對神經(jīng)起顯著作用的物質(zhì)，它們通常分為興奮劑、鎮(zhèn)靜劑和幻覺劑。興奮劑主要起到加速或激活中樞神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)的作用，而鎮(zhèn)靜劑則相反：減緩它的活動?；糜X劑主要影響人的感知，通過多種方式對感知加以扭曲或改變，其中包括產(chǎn)生幻覺。這些物質(zhì)常被認為能“引起幻覺”（psychedelic一詞源于希臘語，意為“心靈顯現(xiàn)”），因為它們似乎能改變?nèi)?/p>