全新版大学英语综合教程 B4 U6 文本.docx
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全新版大学英语综合教程B4U6文本
IntegratedCourseBook4Unit6
Listentotherecordingtwoorthreetimesandthenthinkoverthefollowingquestions:
1.Doyoukeepadiary?
Whatsortofthingsdoyouwriteabout?
2.Howdoesthesingertreathisdiary?
Why?
3.Whatdoesthesingerthinkabouthowotherpeoplespendtheirtime?
4.Canweinferwhatattitudethesingertakestowardsthepaceoflifetoday?
Inthesongyouareabouttolistentowehearwhatthesingeristhinkingashewriteshisdiary.Likemanypeoplewhokeepadiary,hetreatsitlikeafriendtowhomhecanpourouthisinmostfeelings.Fromtheconfidencesheentruststohisdiarywelearnofwhathethinksofthewaymostpeoplelive.Hethinkstheyspendtheirdaysinarush,somuchsothattheyhavenotimeforhim.Ashesays:
Somanypeoplebythescore.
Rushingaroundsosenselessly.
Theydon'tnoticethere'speoplelikeme.
Perhapshe'sright,perhapspeoplearetoomuchinarushtospareenoughtimeforoneanother.Thoughonesuspectstheymayhaveotherreasonsfornotsparingthesingertime.Hesoundsaltogetherself-centred,lookingattheworldonlyfromhisownnarrowpointofview.Wehearthisattheendofthesong,whenhepasseslightlyoveranH-bombexplosionassomethingofnoconcerntohimasnobodyheknewwasinvolved.Givenhisoutlook,itisprobablyjustaswellhehashisdiaryasafriend,asothersmightfinditabithardtoputupwithhim.
DearDiary
TheMoodyBlues
Deardiary,whatadayit'sbeen
Deardiary,it'sbeenjustlikeadream
Wokeuptoolate.Wasn'twhereIshouldhavebeen
Forgoodnesssakewhat'shappeningtome
Writelightly,yourstruly,deardiary
Itwascoldoutsidemydoor
Somanypeoplebythescore
Rushingaroundsosenselessly
Theydon'tnoticethere'speoplelikeme
Writelightly,yourstruly,deardiary
Theydon'tknowwhatthey'replaying
They'venowayofknowingwhatthegameis
Stilltheycarryondoingwhattheycan
Outsideme,yourspolitely,deardiary
It'sover.Willtomorrowbethesame
Iknowthatthey'rereallynottoblame
Iftheyweren'tsoblindthensurelythey'dsee
There'samuchbetterwayforthemtobe
Insideme,yourstruly,deardiary
SomebodyexplodedanH-bombtoday
Butitwasn'tanyoneIknew
TextA
Asthepaceoflifeintoday'sworldgrowseverfaster,weseem
foreveronthego.Withsomuchtodoandsolittletimetodoitin,how
arewetocope?
RichardTomkinssetsaboutuntanglingtheproblemand
comesupwithananswer.
随着当今世界生活节奏日益加快,我们似乎一直在不停奔忙。
事情那么多,时间却那么少,我们该怎么办?
里查德·汤姆金斯着手解决这一问题,并提出了建议。
OldFatherTimeBecomesaTerror
RichardTomkins
1Onceuponatime,technology,wethought,wouldmakeourlives
easier.Machineswereexpectedtodoourworkforus,leavinguswith
ever-increasingquantitiesoftimetowasteawayonidlenessandpleasure.
时间老人成了可怕的老人
理查德·汤姆金斯
从前,我们以为技术发展会使我们的生活变得更安逸。
那时我们觉得机器会替代我们工作,我们则有越来越多的时间休闲娱乐。
2Butinsteadofliberatingus,technologyhasenslavedus.Innovations
areoccurringatabewilderingrate:
asmanynowarriveinayearasonce
arrivedinamillennium.Andaseachinventionarrives,iteatsfurther
intoourtime.
但技术发展没有把我们解放出来,而是使我们成为奴隶。
新技术纷至沓来,令人目不暇接:
一年涌现的技术创新相当于以前一千年。
而每一项新发明问世,就进一步吞噬我们的光阴。
3Themotorcar,forexample,promisedunimaginablelevelsofpersonal
mobility.Butnow,trafficincitiesmovesmoreslowlythanitdidinthe
daysofthehorse-drawncarriage,andwewasteourlivesstuckintraffic
jams.
比如,汽车曾使我们希望个人出行会方便得让人难以想象。
可如今,城市车辆运行得比马车时代还要慢,我们因交通堵塞而困在车内,徒然浪费生命。
4Theaircraftpromisednewhorizons,too.Thetroubleis,itdelivered
them.Itsveryexistencecreatedademandfortime-consumingjourneysthat
wewouldneverpreviouslyhavedreamedofundertaking--thetransatlantic
shoppingexpedition,forexample,orthetriptoaconventionontheother
sideoftheworld.
飞机也曾有可能为我们拓展新天地。
问题是,飞机提供了新的天地。
其存在本身产生了对耗时的长途旅行的需求,这种旅行,如越洋购物,或远道前往地球的另一半参加会议,以前我们是根本无法想象的。
5Inmostcases,technologyhasnotsavedtime,butenabledustodo
morethings.Inthehome,washingmachinespromisedtofreewomenfrom
havingtotoiloverthelaundry.Inreality,theyencouragedustochange
ourclothesdailyinsteadofweekly,creatingseventimesasmuchwashing
andironing.Similarly,theweeklybathhasbeenreplacedbythedaily
shower,multiplyingthehoursspentonpersonalgrooming.
在大多数情况下,技术发展并未节省时间,而是使我们得以做更多的事。
在家里,洗衣机可望使妇女摆脱繁重的洗衣劳作。
但事实上,它们促使我们每天,而不是每星期换一次衣服,这就使熨洗衣物的工作量变成原来的7倍。
同样地,每周一次的沐浴为每日一次的淋浴所代替,使得用于个人穿着打扮的时间大大增加。
6Meanwhile,technologyhasnotonlyallowedworktospreadintoour
leisuretime--thelaptop-on-the-beachsyndrome--butaddedthenew
burdenofdealingwithfaxes,e-mailsandvoicemails.Ithasalsoprovided
uswiththeopportunitytospendhoursfixingsoftwareglitchesonour
personalcomputersorfillingourheadswithuselessinformationfromthe
Internet.
与此同时,技术发展不仅听任工作侵入我们的闲暇时间──带着便携式电脑去海滩综合症──
而且添加了收发传真、电子邮件和语音邮件这些新的负担。
技术发展还向我们提供机会,在个人电脑上一连几小时处理软件故障,或把因特网上那些无用的信息塞进自己的大脑。
7Technologyapart,theInternetpointsthewaytoasecondreasonwhy
wefeelsotime-pressed:
theinformationexplosion.
除去技术发展,因特网指出了我们为何感到时间如此紧迫的第二个原因:
信息爆炸。
8Acoupleofcenturiesago,nearlyalltheworld'saccumulated
learningcouldbecontainedintheheadsofafewphilosophers.Today,
thoseheadscouldnothopetoaccommodatemorethanatinyfractionofthe
informationgeneratedinasingleday.
几个世纪以前,人类积累的几乎所有知识都能装在若干哲人的大脑之中。
如今,这些大脑休想容纳下一天中产生的新信息中的小小一部分。
9News,factsandopinionspourinfromeverycorneroftheworld.The
televisionsetoffers150channels.TherearemillionsofInternetsites.
Magazines,booksandCD-ROMsproliferate.
各种消息、事实和见解从世界各个角落大量涌入。
电视机能收到150个频道。
因特网网址多达千百万。
杂志、书籍和光盘只读存储器的数量也激增。
10"Inthewholeworldofscholarship,therewereonlyahandfulof
scientificjournalsinthe18thcentury,andthepublicationofabookwas
anevent,"saysEdwardWilson,honorarycuratorinentomologyatHarvard
University'smuseumofcomparativezoology."Now,Ifindmyself
subscribingto60or70journalsormagazinesjusttokeepmeupwithwhat
amountstoaminuteproportionoftheexpandingfrontiersofscholarship."
“在18世纪,整个国际学术界总共只有屈指可数的几家科学刊物,出版一本书是件了不起的大事,”哈佛大学比较动物学博物馆昆虫馆名誉馆长爱德华·威尔逊说。
“如今,我本人就订阅了60或70种期刊杂志,以便自己跟上不断拓展的学术前沿中一个微小部分的发展动向。
”
11Thereisanotherreasonforourincreasedtimestresslevels,too:
risingprosperity.Asever-largerquantitiesofgoodsandservicesare
produced,theyhavetobeconsumed.Drivenonbyadvertising,wedoour
besttooblige:
webuymore,travelmoreandplaymore,butwestruggleto
keepup.SowesufferfromwhatWilsoncallsdiscontentwithsuper
abundance--theconfusionofendlesschoice.
我们产生日益加重的时间紧迫感还有一个原因:
日渐繁荣富足。
由于生产的物品与提供的服务越来越多,我们必须去消费。
在广告的推动下,我们努力照办:
我们多多购买多多旅游多多玩儿,但得尽力坚持下去。
于是我们就深受威尔逊所谓的对极大富足不满之苦
──即无休止的选择所造成的困惑。
12Ofcourse,noteveryoneisoverstressed."It'saconvenient
shorthandtosaywe'realltime-starved,butwehavetorememberthatit
onlyappliesto,say,halfthepopulation,"saysMichaelWillmott,
directoroftheFutureFoundation,aLondonresearchcompany.
当然,并非人人感到时间过度紧迫。
“说我们都缺少时间只是随意讲讲,我们应该记住,这种说法大约只适用于一半人,”未来基金公司
──一家伦敦研究公司──的经理迈克尔·威尔莫特说。
13"You'vegotpeopleretiringearly,you'vegottheunemployed,you've
gototherpeoplemaybeonlyperipherallyinvolvedintheeconomywhodon't
havethissituationatall.Ifyou'reunemployed,yourproblemisthat
you'vegottoomuchtime,nottoolittle."
“有些人早早退休了,有些人失业了,有些人或许只与经济活动沾点边,根本不会有这种情况。
如果失业了,那你的问题就是时间太多,而不是太少。
”
14PaulEdwards,chairmanoftheLondon-basedHenleyCentreforecasting
group,pointsoutthatthefeelingofpressurescanalsobeexaggerated,
orself-imposed."Everyonetalksaboutitsomuchthatabout50percentof
unemployedorretiredpeoplewilltellyoutheyneverhaveenoughtimeto
getthingsdone,"hesays."It'salmostgottothepointwherethere's
stressenvy.Ifyou'renotstressed,you'renotsucceeding.Everyonewants
tohavealittlebitofthisstresstoshowthey'reanimportantperson."
总部设在伦敦的亨利中心预测小组组长保罗·爱德华兹指出,压力感也可能被夸大,或者被强加于自身。
“人人都大谈压力,以至于多达半数的失业者或退休人员都会跟你说,他们根本来不及把事情做完,”他说。
“这几乎是到了羡慕压力的程度。
没有感到有压力,就不是成功者。
人人都想表现几分时间紧迫感,以显示自己的重要。
”
15Thereisanotheraspecttoallofthistoo.Hour-by-hourlogskept
bythousandsofvolunteersoverthedecadeshaveshownthat,intheU.K.,
workinghourshaverisenonlyslightlyinthelast10years,andinthe
U.S.,theyhaveactuallyfallen--evenforthoseinprofessionaland
executivejobs,wheretheperceptionsofstressarehighest.
这一切还有另外一个方面。
几十年来由数千名志愿者所作的钟点日志表明,英国在最近十年中工作时间只略微增加,而在美国,即使对工作压力最大的专业人士和管理人员而言,工作时间实际上减少了。
16IntheU.S.,JohnRobinson,professorofsociologyattheUniversity
ofMaryland,andGeoffreyGodbey,professorofleisurestudiesatPenn
StateUniversityfoundthat,sincethemid-1960s,theaverageAmericanhad
gainedfivehoursaweekinfreetime--thatis,timeleftafterworking,
sleeping,commuting,caringforchildrenanddoingthechores.
在美国,马里兰大学社会学教授约翰·鲁宾逊和宾夕法尼亚州立大学研究闲暇问题的教授杰弗里·戈德比发现,自20世纪60年代中期以来,普通美国人每周增加了5小时空余时间,即工作、睡眠、乘车上下班、照料孩子和家务劳动之余的时间。
17Thegains,however,wereunevenlydistributed.Thepeoplewho
benefitedthemostweresinglesandempty-nesters.Thosewhogainedthe
least--lessthananhour--wereworkingcoupleswithpre-school
children,perhapsreflectingthetrendforparentstospendmoretime
nurturingtheiroffspring.
但增加的时间分配得并不均匀。
受惠最多的是未婚者和子女不在身边的人。
得益最少的──增加了不足1个小时──
是有学前子女的双职工夫