1、课文 1 发现化石人1. We can read of things that happened 5,000 years ago in the Near East, where people first learned to write.我们从书籍中可读到 5,000 年前近东发生的事情，那里的人最早学会了写字。2. But there are some parts of the world where even now people cannot write.但直到现在,世界上有些地方，人们还不会书写。3. The only way that they can preserve their
2、history is to recount it as sagas - legends handed down from one generation of story tales to another.他们保存历史的唯一办法是将历史当作传说讲述，由讲述人一代接一代地将史实描述为传奇故事口传下来。4. These legends are useful because they can tell us something about migrations of people who lived long ago,这些传说是有用的，因为他们告诉我们很久以前生活在这里的移民的一些事情。5. but
3、none could write down what they did.但是没有人能写下来。6. Anthropologists wondered where the remote ancestors of the Polynesian peoples now living in the Pacific Islands came from.人类学家过去不清楚如今生活在太平洋诸岛上的波利尼西亚人的祖先来自何方，7. The sagas of these people explain that some of them came from Indonesia about 2,000 years a
4、go.当地人的传说却告诉人们：其中一部分是约在 2,000 年前从印度尼西亚迁来的。8. But the first people who were like ourselves lived so long ago that even their sagas,if they had any, are forgotten.但是，和我们相似的原始人生活的年代太久远了，因此，有关他们的传说既使有如今也失传了。9. So archaeologists have neither history nor legends to help them to find out where the first mo
5、dern men came from.于是，考古学家们既缺乏历史记载，又无口头传说来帮助他们弄清最早的“现代人”是从哪里来的。10. Fortunately, however, ancient men made tools of stone, especially flint,然而， 幸运的是，远古人用石头制作了工具，特别是用燧石，11. because this is easier to shape than other kinds.因为燧石较之其他石头更容易成形。12. They may also have used wood and skins, but these have rotte
6、d away.他们也可能用过木头和兽皮，但这类东西早已腐烂殆尽。13. Stone does not decay, and so the tools of long ago have remained when even the bones of the men who made them have disappeared without trace.石头是不会腐烂的。因此，尽管制造这些工具的人的骨头早已荡然无存，但远古时代的石头工具却保存了下来。$课文 2 不要伤害蜘蛛14. Why, you may wonder, should spiders be our friends?你可能会觉得奇
7、怪， 蜘蛛怎么会是我们的朋友呢？15. Because they destroy so many insects, and insects include some of the greatest enemies of the human race.因为它们能消灭那么多的昆虫，其中包括一些人类的大敌，16. Insects would make it impossible for us to live in the world;昆虫就会使我们无法在地球上生活下去，17. they would devour all our crops and kill our flocks and herds,
8、昆虫会吞食我们的全部庄稼，杀死我们的成群的牛羊。18. if it were not for the protection we get from insect-eating animals.要不是人类受一些食虫动物的保护，19. We owe a lot to the birds and beasts who eat insects but all of them put together kill only a fraction of the number destroyed by spiders.我们要十分感谢那些吃昆虫的鸟和兽，然而把它们所杀死的昆虫全部加在一起也只相当于蜘蛛所消灭的一
9、小部分。20. Moreover, unlike some of the other insect eaters, spiders never do the harm to us or our belongings.此外，蜘蛛不同于其他食虫动物，它们丝毫不危害我们和我们的财物。21. Spiders are not insects, as many people think, nor even nearly related to them.许多人认为蜘蛛是昆虫，但它们不是昆虫，甚至与昆虫毫无关系。22. One can tell the difference almost at a glanc
10、e,人们几乎一眼就能看出二者的差异，23. for a spider always has eight legs and insect never more than six.因为蜘蛛都是 8 条腿，而昆虫的腿从不超过 6 条。24. How many spiders are engaged in this work no our behalf?有多少蜘蛛在为我们效力呢？25. One authority on spiders made a census of the spiders in grass field in the south of England,一位研究蜘蛛的权威对英国南部一块
11、草坪上的蜘蛛作了一次调查。26. and he estimated that there were more than 2,250,000 in one acre;他估计每英亩草坪里有 225 万多只蜘蛛。27. that is something like 6,000,000 spiders of different kinds on a football pitch.这就是说，在一个足球场上约有 600 万只不同种类的蜘蛛。28. Spiders are busy for at least half the year in killing insects.蜘蛛至少有半年在忙于吃昆虫。29.
12、 It is impossible to make more than the wildest guess at how many they kill,它们一年中消灭了多少昆虫，我们简直无法猜测，30. but they are hungry creatures, not content with only three meals a day.它们是吃不饱的动物，不满意一日三餐。31. It has been estimated that the weight of all the insects destroyed by spiders in Britain in one year woul
13、d be greater than the total weight of all the human beings in the country.据估计，在英国蜘蛛一年里所消灭昆虫的重量超过这个国家人口的总重量。$课文 3 马特霍恩山区人32. Modern alpinists try to climb mountains by a route which will give them good sport,现代登山运动员总想找一条能够给他们带来运动乐趣的路线来攀登山峰。33. and the more difficult it is, the more highly it is regar
14、ded.他们认为， 道路愈艰险愈带劲儿。34. In the pioneering days, however, this was not the case at all.然而，在登山运动的初期，全然不是这种情况。35. The early climbers were looking for the easiest way to the top,早期登山者所寻找的是通往山顶的最方便的途径，36. because the summit was the prize they sought, especially if it and never been attained before.因为顶峰特别
15、是前人未曾到过的顶峰 - 才是他们寻求的目标。37. It is true that during their explorations they often faced difficulties and dangers of the most perilous nature,确实，在探险中他们经常遇到惊心动魄的困难和危险，38. equipped in a manner with would make a modern climber shudder at the thought,而他们装备之简陋足以使现代登山者一想起来就胆战心惊。39. but they did not go out of
16、 their way to court such excitement.但是，他们并非故意寻求这种刺激，40. They had a single aim, a solitary goal-the top!他们只有一个目标，唯一的目标 - 顶峰！41. It is hard for us to realize nowadays how difficult it was for the pioneers.我们今天很难想像昔日的登山先驱们是多么艰苦。42. Except for one or two places such as Zermatt and Chamonix, which had ra
17、pidly become popular,除了泽曼特和夏蒙尼等一两个很快出了名的地方外，43. Alpine village tended to be impoverished settlements cut off from civilization by the high mountains.阿尔卑斯山山区的小村几乎全是高山环抱、与世隔绝的穷乡僻壤。44. Such inns as there were generally dirty and flea-ridden;那里的小客栈一般都很肮脏，而且跳蚤猖獗。45. the food simply local cheese accompani
18、ed by bread often twelve months old, all washed down with coarse wine.食物是当地的干酪和通常存放了一年之久的面包，人们就着劣酒吞下这种食物。46. Often a valley boasted no inn at all, and climbers found shelter wherever they could山谷里常常没有小客栈，登山者只好随遇而安。47. sometimes with the local priest (who was usually as poor as his parishioners),有时同当
19、地牧师 （他通常和他的教民一样穷）住在一起，48. sometimes with shepherds or cheese-makers.有时同牧羊人或制乳酪的人住在一起。49. Invariably the background was the same: dirt and poverty, and very uncomfortable.无论住在哪儿，情况都一样：肮脏、贫穷，极其不舒适。50. For men accustomed to eating seven-course dinners and sleeping between fine linen sheets at home, the
20、 change to the Alps must have very hard indeed.对于过惯了一顿饭吃 7 道菜、睡亚麻细布床单的人来说，变换一下生活环境来到阿尔卑斯山山区，那一定是很艰难的。$课文 4 能看见东西的手51. Several cases have been reported in Russia recently of people who can read and detect colours with their fingers,俄罗斯最近报导了几个事例，有人能用手指看书识字和辨认颜色，52. and even see through solid doors and
21、 walls.甚至能透过厚实的门和墙看到东西。53. One case concerns and eleven-year-old schoolgirl, Vera Petrova,其中有一例谈到有一个名叫维拉.彼托洛娃的 11 岁学生。54. who has normal vision but who can also perceive things with different parts of her skin, and through solid walls.她的视力与常人一样，但她还能用皮肤的不同部位辨认东西，甚至看穿坚实的墙壁。55. This ability was first n
22、oticed by her father.是她父亲首先发现她这一功能的。56. One day she came into his office and happened to put her hands on the door of a locked safe.一天，维拉走进父亲的办公室，偶然把手放在一个锁着的保险柜的门上，57. Suddenly she asked her father why he kept so many old newspapers locked away there, and even described the way they were done up in
23、bundles.她突然问父亲为什么把这么多的旧报纸锁在柜子里，还说了报纸捆扎的情况。58. Veras curious talent was brought to the notice of a scientific research institute in the town of Ulyanovsk, near where she lives,维拉的特异功能引起了她家附近乌里扬诺夫斯克城一个科研单位的注意。59. and in April she was given a series of tests by a special commission of the Ministry of H
24、ealth of the Russian Federal Republic.4 月里，俄罗斯卫生部一个特别委员会对她进行了一系列的测试。60. During these tests she was able to read a newspaper through an opaque screen and,在这些测试中，她能隔着不透明的屏幕读报纸。61. stranger still, by moving her elbow over a childs game of Lotto she was able to describe the figures and colours printed o
25、n it;更为奇怪的是，她把肘部在儿童玩的“罗托” 纸牌上移动一下，便能说出印在纸牌上的数字和颜色。62. and, in another instance, wearing stockings and slippers, to make out with her foot the outlines and colours of a picture hidden under a carpet.还有一次，她穿着长筒袜子和拖鞋，能用脚步识别出藏在地毯下面的一幅画的轮廓和颜色。63. Other experiments showed that her knees and shoulders had
26、a similar sensitivity.其他实验表明，她的膝盖和双肩有类似的感觉能力，64. During all these tests Vera was blindfold;在所有这些实验中，维拉的双眼都是蒙着的。65. and, indeed, except when blindfold she lacked the ability to perceive things with her skin.如果不蒙上双眼她的皮肤就不再具有识别物体的能力。66. It was also found that although she could perceive things with her
27、 fingers this ability ceased the moment her hands were wet.这是千真万确的。同时还发现，尽管她能用手指识别东西，但她的手一旦弄湿，这种功能便会立即消失。$课文 5 青年67. People are always talking about the problem of youth.人们总是在谈论“青年问题 ”。68. If there is one - which I take leave to doubt - then it is older people who create it, not the young themselves
28、.如果这个问题存在的话 - 请允许我对此持怀疑态度 - 那么，这个问题是由老年人而不是青年人造成的。69. Let us get down to fundamentals and agree that the young are after all human beings - people just like their elders.让我们来认真研究一些基本事实：承认青年人和他们的长辈一样也是人。70. There is only one difference between an old man and a young one:老年人和青年人只有一个区别：71. the young ma
29、n has a glorious future before him and the old one has a splendid future behind him:青年人有光辉灿烂的前景，而老年人的辉煌已成为过去。72. and maybe that is where the rub is.问题的症结恐怕就在这里。73. When I was a teenager, I felt that I was just young and uncertain - that I was a new boy in a huge school,我十几岁时，总感到自己年轻，有些事拿不准 - 我是一所大学里
30、的一名新生，74. and I would have been very pleased to be regarded as something so interesting as a problem.如果我当时真的被看成像一个问题那样有趣，我会感到很得意的。75. For one thing, being a problem gives you a certain identity, and that is one of the things the young are busily engaged in seeking.因为这至少使我得到了某种承认，这正是年轻人所热衷追求的。76. I f
31、ind young people exciting.我觉得年轻人令人振奋，77. They have an air of freedom, and they not a dreary commitment to mean ambitions or love of comfort.他们无拘无束。既不追逐卑鄙的名利，也不贪图生活的舒适。78. They are not anxious social climbers, and they have no devotion to material things.他们不热衷于向上爬，也不一味追求物质享受。79. All this seems to me
32、to link them with life, and the origins of things.在我看来，所有这些使他们与生命和万物之源联系在了一起。80. Its as if they were, in some sense, cosmic beings in violent and lovely contrast with us suburban creatures.从某种意义上讲，他们似乎是宇宙人，同我们这些凡夫俗子形成了强烈而鲜明的对照。81. All that is in my mind when I meet a young person.每逢我遇到年轻人，脑子里就想到82.
33、He may be conceited, ill-mannered, presumptuous or fatuous,这些年轻人也许狂妄自负，举止无理，傲慢放肆，愚昧无知，83. but I do not turn for protection to dreary cliches about respect of elders但我不会用应当尊重长者这一套陈词滥调来为我自己辨护，84. as if mere age were a reason for respect.似乎年长就是受人尊敬的理由。85. I accept that we are equals, and I will argue w
34、ith him, as an equal, if I think he is wrong.我认为我和他们是平等的。如果我认为他们错了，我就以平等的身份和他们争个明白。$课文 6 体育的精神86. I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport creates goodwill between the nations,我总是惊愕不已。当我听人们说体育运动可创造国家之间的友谊，87. and that if only the common peoples of the would could meet one another at f
35、ootball or cricket,还说各国民众若在足球场或板球场上交锋，88. they would have no inclination to meet on the hattlefield.就不愿在战场上残杀的时候，89. Even if one didnt know from concrete examples一个人即使不能从具体的事例90. (the 1936 Olympic Games, for instance)（例如 1936 年的奥林匹克运动会）91. that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatre
36、d, one could deduce it from general principles.了解到国际运动比赛会导致疯狂的仇恨，也可以从常理中推断出结论。92. Nearly all the sports practised nowadays are competitive.现在开展的体育运动几乎都是竞争性的。93. You play to win, and the game has little meaning unless you do your utmost to win.参加比赛就是为了取胜。如果不拚命去赢，比赛就没有什么意义了。94. On the village green, w
37、here you pick up sides and no feeling of local patriotism is involved,在乡间的草坪上，当你随意组成两个队，并且不涉及任何地方情绪时，95. it is possible to play simply for the fun and exercise:那才可能是单纯的为了娱乐和锻炼而进行比赛。96. but as soon as the question of prestige arises,可是一量涉及到荣誉问题，97. as soon as you feel that you and some larger unit wi
38、ll be disgraced if you lose,一旦你想到你和某一团体会因为你输而丢脸时，98. the most savage combative instincts are aroused.那么最野蛮的争斗天性便会激发起来。99. Anyone who has played even in a school football match knows this.即使是仅仅参加过学校足球赛的人也有种体会。100. At the international level, sport is frankly mimic warfare.在国际比赛中，体育简直是一场模拟战争。101. But
39、the significant thing is not the behaviour of the players but the attitude of the spectators:但是，要紧的还不是运动员的行为，而是观众的态度，102. and, behind the spectators, of the nations who work themselves into furies over these absurd contests,以及观众身后各个国家的态度。面对着这些荒唐的比赛，参赛的各个国家会如痴如狂，103. and seriously believe - at any ra
40、te for short periods - that running, jumping and kicking a ball are tests of national virtue.甚至煞有介事地相信 - 至少在短期内如此 - 跑跑、跳跳、踢踢球是对一个民族品德素质的检验。$课文 7 蝙蝠104. Not all sounds made by animals serve as language,动物发出的声音不都是用作语言交际。105. and we have only to turn to that extraordinary discovery of echo-location in
41、bats to see a case in which the voice plays a strictly utilitarian role.我们只要看一看蝙蝠回声定位这一极不寻常的发现，就可以探究一下声音在什么情况下有绝对的实用价值。106. To get a full appreciation of what this means we must turn first to some recent human inventions.要透彻理解这句话的意义，我们应先回顾一下人类最近的几项发明。107. Everyone knows that if he shouts in the vici
42、nity of a wall or a mountainside, an echo will come back.大家都知道，在墙壁或山腰附近发出的喊声，就会听到回声。108. The further off this solid obstruction, the longer time will elapse for the return of the echo.固体障碍物越远。回声返回所用时间就越长。109. A sound made by tapping on the hull of a ship will be reflected from the sea bottom,通过敲击空船发
43、出的声音将会从海底反射回来。110. and by measuring the time interval between the taps and the receipt of the echoes, the depth of the sea at that point can be calculated.测出回声间隔的时间，便可算出该处海洋的深度。111. So was born the echo-sounding apparatus, now in general use in ships.这样就产生了目前各种船舶上普遍应用的回声探测仪。112. Every solid object w
44、ill reflect a sound, varying according to the size and nature of the object.任何固体者反射声音，反射的声音因物体的大小和性质的不同而不同。113. A shoal of fish will do this.鱼群也反射声音。114. So it is a comparatively simple step from locating the sea bottom to locating a shoal of fish.从测定海深到测定鱼群，这一进展比较容易。115. With experience, and with i
45、mproved apparatus,根据经验和改进了的仪器，116. it is now possible not only to locate a shoal but to tell if it is herring, cod, or other well-known fish, by the pattern of its echo.不仅能够确定鱼群的位置，而且可以根据鱼群回声的特点分辨出是鲱鱼、鳕鱼，这是人们所熟悉的其他鱼。117. It has been found that certain bats emit squeaks and by receiving the echoes,人们
46、发现，某些蝙蝠能发出尖叫声，并能通过回声118. they can locate and steer clear of obstacles - or locate flying insects on which they feed.来确定并躲开障碍物，或找到它们赖以为生的昆虫。119. This echo-location in bats is often compared with radar, the principle of which is similar.蝙蝠这种回声定位常常可与雷达相比较，其原理是相似的。$课文 8 标准120. Chickens slaughtered in th
47、e United States, claim officials in Brussels, are not fit to grace European tables.布鲁塞尔的官员说，在美国屠宰的鸡不适于用来装点欧洲的餐桌。121. No, say the American: our fowl are fine, we simply clean them in a different way.不，美国人说，我们的家禽很好，只是我们使用了另一种清洗方式。122. These days, it is differences in national regulations, far more tha
48、n tariffs, that put sand in the wheels of trade between rich countries.当前，是各国管理条例上的差异，而不是关税阻碍了发达国家之间的贸易。123. It is not just farmers who are complaining.并不仅仅是农民在抱怨。124. An electric razor that meets the European Unions safety standards must be approved by American testers before it can be sold in the
49、United States,一把符合欧洲联盟安全标准的电动剃须刀必须得到美国检测人员的认可，方可在美国市场上销售；125. and an American-made dialysis machine needs the EUs okay before is hits the market in Europe.而美国制造的透析仪也要得到欧盟的首肯才能进入欧洲市场。126. As it happens, a razor that is safe in Europe is unlikely to electrocute Americans.碰巧在欧洲使用安全的剃须刀不大可能使美国人触电身亡，127. So, ask businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, why have two lots of tests where one would do?因此，大西洋两岸的企业都在问，当一套测试可以解决问题时，为什么需要两套呢？128. Politicians agree, in principle, so America and the EU have been trying to reach a deal which would eliminate the need to doub
