新东方考博英语作文背诵经典５０篇（带翻译）之一
管理提醒: 本帖被 kidy008 执行加亮操作(2008-09-18)
新东方背诵经典５０篇（带翻译）珍贵值得收藏
>01 The Language of Music
A painter hangs his or her finished picture on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer writes a work, but no one can hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players have great responsibilities, for the
composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of music needs as long and as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor. Most training is concerned with technique, for
musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an athlete or a ballet dancer. Singers practice breathing every day, as their vocal chords would be inadequate without controlled muscular support. String players practice moving the fingers of the left hand up and down, while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm -- two entirely different movements.
Singers and instrumentalists have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are spared this particular anxiety, for the notes are
already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner's responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But they have their own difficulties: the hammers that hit the strings have to be coaxed not to sound
like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound clear.
This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student
conductors: they have to learn to know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these sounds with fanatical but selfless authority.
Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge
and understanding. Great artists are those who are so thoroughly at home in
the language of music that they can enjoy performing works written in any
century.
01 音乐的语言
画家将已完成的作品挂在墙上，每个人都可以观赏到。 作曲家写完了一部作品，得由
演奏者将其演奏出来，其他人才能得以欣赏。因为作曲家是如此完全地依赖于职业歌手和职 业演奏者，所以职业歌手和职业演奏者肩上的担子可谓不轻。
一名学音乐的学生要想成为 一名演奏者，需要经受长期的、严格的训练，就象一名医科的学生要成为一名医生一样。 绝 大多数的训练是技巧性的。
音乐家们控制肌肉的熟练程度，必须达到与运动员或巴蕾舞演 员相当的水平。 歌手们每天都练习吊嗓子，因为如果不能有效地控制肌肉的话，他们的声
带将不能满足演唱的要求。 弦乐器的演奏者练习的则是在左手的手指上下滑动的同时，用
右手前后拉动琴弓--两个截然不同的动作。歌手和乐器演奏者必须使所有的音符完全相同协 调。 钢琴家们则不用操这份心，因为每个音符都已在那里等待着他们了。
给钢琴调音是调 音师的职责。 但调音师们也有他们的难处： 他们必须耐心地调理敲击琴弦的音锤，不能让
音锤发出的声音象是打击乐器，而且每个交叠的音都必须要清晰。如何得到乐章清晰的纹理
是学生指挥们所面临的难题：他们必须学会了解音乐中的每一个音及其发音之道。 他们还
必须致力于以热忱而又客观的权威去控制这些音符。除非是和音乐方面的知识和悟性结合起 来，单纯的技巧没有任何用处。
艺术家之所以伟大在于他们对音乐语言驾轻就熟，以致于 可以满怀喜悦地演出写于任何时代的作品。 >02 Schooling and Education
It is commonly believed in the United States that school is where people
go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today
children interrupt their education to go to school. The distinction
between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.
Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling.
Education knows no bounds. It can take place anywhere, whether in the
shower or in the job, whether in a kitchen or on a tractor. It includes
both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole
universe of informal learning. The agents of education can range from a
revered grandparent to the
people debating politics on the radio, from a child to a distinguished
scientist.
Whereas schooling has a certain predictability, education quite often
produces surprises. A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person
to discover how little is known of other religions. People are engaged in
education from infancy on. Education, then, is a very broad, inclusive
term. It is a lifelong process, a process that starts long before the start
of school, and one that should be an integral part of one's entire life.
Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose
general pattern varies little from one setting to the next.
Throughout a country, children arrive at school at approximately
the same time, take assigned seats, are taught by an adult, use similar
textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on. The slices of reality that
are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the
workings of government, have usually been limited by the boundaries of the
subject being taught. For example, high school students know that they are
not likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems
in their communities or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with.
There are definite conditions surrounding the formalized process of
schooling.
上学与受教育
在美国，人们通常认为上学是为了受教育。 而现在却有人认为孩子们上学打断了他们 受教育的过程。 这种观念中的上学与受教育之间的区别非常重要。
与上学相比，教育更具 开放性，内容更广泛。 教育不受任何限制。 它可以在任何场合下进行，在淋浴时，在工作 时，在厨房里或拖拉机上。
它既包括在学校所受的正规教育，也包括一切非正规教育。 传 授知识的人可以是德高望重的老者，可以是收音机里进行政治辩论的人们，可以是小孩子，
也可以是知名的科学家。 上学读书多少有点可预见性，而教育往往能带来意外的发现。 与 陌生人的一次随意谈话可能会使人认识到自己对其它宗教其实所知甚少。
人们从幼时起就 开始受教育。 因此，教育是一个内涵很丰富的词，它自始至终伴随人的一生，早在人们上 学之前就开始了。
教育应成为人生命中不可缺少的一部分。然而，上学却是一个特定的形 式化了的过程。 在不同场合下，它的基本形式大同小异。 在全国各地，孩子们几乎在同一
时刻到达学校，坐在指定的座位上，由一位成年人传授知识，使用大致相同的教材，做作业， 考试等等。
他们所学的现实生活中的一些片断，如字母表或政府的运作，往往受到科目范 围的限制。
例如，高中生们知道，在课堂上他们没法弄清楚他们社区里政治问题的真情， 也不会了解到最新潮的电影制片人在做哪些尝试。
学校教育这一形式化的过程是有特定的 限制的。
>03 The Definition of "Price"
Prices determine how resources are to be used. They are also the means by
which products and services that are in limited supply are rationed among
buyers. The price system of the United States is a complex network composed
of the prices of all the products bought and sold in the economy as
well as those of a myriad of services, including labor,
professional, transportation, and public-utility services. The
interrelationships of all these prices make up the
"system" of prices. The price of any particular product or service is
linked to a broad, complicated system of prices in which everything seems
to depend more or less upon everything else. If one were to ask a group
of randomly selected individuals to define "price", many would reply that
price is an amount of money paid by the buyer to the seller of a product or
service or, in other words, that price is the money value of a
product or service as agreed upon in a market transaction. This
definition is, of course, valid as far as it goes. For a complete
understanding of a price in any particular transaction, much more than
the amount of money involved must be known. Both the buyer and the seller
should be familiar with not only the money amount, but with the amount and
quality of the product or service to be exchanged, the time and place at
which the exchange will take place and payment will be made, the form of
money to be used, the credit terms and discounts that apply to the
transaction, guarantees on the product or service, delivery terms, return
privileges, and other factors. In other words, both buyer and seller should
be fully aware of all the factors that comprise the total "package" being
exchanged for the asked-for amount of money in order that they may
evaluate a given price.
"价格"的定义 价格决定资源的使用方式。 价格也是有限的产品与服务在买方中的配给 手段。
美国的价格系统是复杂的网状系统，包括经济生活中一切产品买卖的价格，也包括 名目繁多的各种服务，诸如劳动力、专职人员、交通运输、公共事业等服务的价格。
所有 这些价格的内在联系构成了价格系统。 任何一种个别产品或服务的价格都与这个庞大而复 杂的系统密切相关，而且或多或少地受到系统中其它成份的制约。如果随机挑选一群人，问
问他们如何定义"价格"，许多人会回答价格就是根据卖方提供的产品或服务，买方向其付出 的钱数。 换句话说，价格就是市场交易中大家认同的产品或服务的货币量。 该定义就其本 身来说自有其道理。 但要获得对价格在任何一桩交易中的完整认识，就必须考虑到大量" 非货币"因素的影响。 买卖双方不但要清楚交易中的钱数，而且要非常熟悉交易物的质量和
数量，交易的时间、地点，采用哪种形式付款，有怎样的缓付和优惠，对交易物的质量保证、 交货条款、退赔权利等等。
也就是说，为了能估算索价，买卖双方必须通晓构成交易物价 格的通盘细节。
>04 Electricity
The modern age is an age of electricity. People are so used to electric
lights, radio, televisions, and telephones that it is hard to imagine what
life would be like without them. When there is a power failure, people
grope about in flickering candlelight, cars hesitate in the streets because
there are no traffic lights to guide them, and food spoils in silent
refrigerators.
Yet, people began to understand how electricity works only a little more
than two centuries
ago. Nature has apparently been experimenting in this field for millions of
years. Scientists are discovering more and more that the living world may
hold many interesting secrets of electricity that could benefit humanity.
All living cells send out tiny pulses of electricity. As the heart beats,
it sends out pulses of record; they form an electrocardiogram, which a
doctor can study to determine how well the heart is working. The brain,
too, sends out brain waves of electricity, which can be recorded in an
electroencephalogram. The electric currents generated by most living
cells are extremely small -- often so small that sensitive instruments are
needed to record them. But in some animals, certain muscle cells have
become so specialized as electrical generators that they do not work as
muscle cells at all. When large numbers of these cells are linked
together, the effects can be astonishing.
The electric eel is an amazing storage battery. It can send a jolt of as
much as eight hundred volts of electricity through the water in which it
lives. (An electric house current is only one hundred twenty volts.) As
many as four-fifths of all the cells in the electric eel's body are
specialized for generating electricity, and the strength of the shock it
can deliver corresponds roughly to the length of its body.
电 当今时代是电气时代。 人们对电灯、收音机、电视和电话早已司空见惯以致很难想 象没有它们生活会变成什么样。
当停电时，人们在摇曳不定的烛光下暗中摸索； 因没有红 绿灯的指示，汽车在道路上迟疑不前；冰箱也停止工作，导致食物变质。人们只是在两个世
纪前一点才开始了解电的使用原理，自然界却显然在这方面经历过了数百万年。 科学家不
断发现许多生物世界里可能有益于人类的关于电的有趣秘密。所有生物细胞都会发出微小的 电脉冲。 当心脏跳动时，把它发出的脉冲记录下来就成了心电图，这可让医生了解心脏的 工作状况。大脑也发出脑电波，这可在脑电图上记录下来。
许多生物细胞发出的电流都是 极微小的，小到要用灵敏仪器才能记录和测量。 但一些动物的某些肌肉细胞能转化成一个 个发电机，以致完全失去肌肉细胞的功能。
这种细胞大量地连接在一起时产生的效果将是 非常令人吃惊的。电鳗就是一种令人惊异的蓄电池。 它可以在水中发出相当于 800 伏特电
压电流(家庭用户的电压只有 120 伏特)。 在电鳗的身体里，多至五分之四的细胞都专门用 来发电，而且发出的电流的强度大约和它身体的长度成正比。
>05 The Beginning of Drama
There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece.
The one most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama
evolved from ritual. The argument for this view goes as follows. In the
beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world - even the
seasonal changes - as unpredictable, and they sought through various means
to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which
appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated
until they hardened into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which
explained or veiled the mysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals
were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths, persisted and provided
material for art and drama.
Those who believe that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those
rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks,
and costumes were almost always used. Furthermore, a suitable site had
to be provided for performances and when the entire community
did not participate, a clear division was usually made between
the "acting area" and the
"auditorium." In addition, there were performers, and, since
considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the
enactment of rites, religious leaders usually assumed that task. Wearing
masks and costumes, they often impersonated other people, animals, or
supernatural beings, and mimed the desired effect -- success in hunt or
battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun -- as an actor might.
Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious
activities.
Another theory traces the theater's origin from the human interest in
storytelling. According to this view tales (about the hunt, war, or other
feats) are gradually elaborated, at first through the use of impersonation,
action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each
of the roles by a different person. A closely related theory traces theater
to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that
are imitations of animal movements and sounds.
戏剧的起源 关于古希腊戏剧的起源存在着多种理论，其中一个最普遍为人接受的理论 假设认为戏剧从仪式演化而来。
这个观点是这样进行论证的：一开始，人类把世界上的自 然力量，甚至季节的变化都看成是不可预料的。 他们试图通过各种方式去控制这些未知的、
令人恐惧的力量。 那些似乎带来了满意结果的手段就被保留下来并且重复直到这些手段固 化为不变的仪式，最后产生了能够解释或者掩盖这些仪式神秘性的故事。
随着时间的推移， 一些仪式被废弃了，但这些后来被称作神话的故事流传下来并且为艺术和戏剧提供了素材。
认为戏剧从仪式演化而来的人们还认为那些仪式包含了戏剧的基本因素，因为音乐、舞蹈、
面具和服装几乎经常被使用，而且，必须为演出提供一个合适的地点；如果不是整个社区共 同参加演出，经常在"演出区"和"观众席"之间划分出明显的分界。
另外，仪式中还有演员， 而且宗教领袖通常承担演出任务，因为在仪式的执行中避免错误的发生被认为有相当大的重
要性；他们经常带着面具，穿着服装象演员那样扮演其它人、动物或超自然的生灵，用动作
来表演以达到所需要的效果，比如打猎的成功或战斗的胜利、将至的雨、太阳的复活。 最 后这些戏剧性的表演从宗教活动中分离了出来。
另一个追溯戏剧起源的理论认为它来自人 们对叙述故事的兴趣。 根据这个观点，故事(关于狩猎、战争或者其它伟绩)是逐渐丰富起 来的。
首先通过一个讲解人来运用模仿、表演和对话，然后再由不同的人扮演各自的角色；
另一个与之紧密相关的理论将戏剧的起源追溯至舞蹈，这些舞蹈大体上是有节奏感的和体操 式的那一类，或者是对动物动作和声音的模仿。
>06 Television
Television -- the most pervasive and persuasive of modern technologies,
marked by rapid change and growth -- is moving into a new era, an era
of extraordinary sophistication and versatility, which promises to reshape
our lives and our world. It is an electronic revolution of sorts, made
possible by the marriage of television and computer technologies.
The word "television", derived from its Greek (tele: distant) and Latin
(visio: sight) roots, can literally be interpreted as sight from a
distance. Very simply put, it works in this way: through a sophisticated
system of electronics, television provides the capability of
converting an image
(focused on a special photoconductive plate within a camera) into
electronic impulses, which can be sent through a wire or cable. These
impulses, when fed into a receiver (television set), can then be
electronically reconstituted into that same image.
Television is more than just an electronic system, however. It is a means
of expression, as well as a vehicle for communication, and as such becomes
a powerful tool for reaching other human beings.
The field of television can be divided into two categories
determined by its means of transmission. First, there is broadcast
television, which reaches the masses through broad-based airwave
transmission of television signals. Second, there is nonbroadcast
television, which provides for the needs of individuals or specific
interest groups through controlled transmission techniques.
Traditionally, television has been a medium of the masses. We are
most familiar with broadcast television because it has been with us for
about thirty-seven years in a form similar to what exists today. During
those years, it has been controlled, for the most part, by the broadcast
networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, who have been the major purveyors of news,
information, and entertainment. These giants of broadcasting have actually
shaped not only television but our perception of it as well. We have
come to look upon the picture tube as a source of entertainment, placing
our role in this dynamic medium as the passive viewer.
电视电视--以快速变化与发展为标志的最普遍、最具有影响力的一项现代技术，正在步 入一个极端复杂化与多样化的新时代。
这个时代承诺重新塑造我们的生活和我们的世界。 这可以称得上是又一次电子革命，其关键在于电视技术与计算机技术的结合。"电视"这个词
来源于希腊语词根(tele：远)和拉丁语词根(vision：景象)，可以从字面上理解为来自远处的 景象。 简单说来，电视是以这种方式工作的，通过一个复杂的电子系统，电视能够将一幅
图像(这幅图像被聚焦在一部摄像机内的一块特殊的光导底片上)转换成能经过导线或电缆 发送出去的电子脉冲信号。
当这些电子脉冲信号被输入一部接收机(电视机)时，就可以用 电子学的方法把脉冲信号重新恢复成同一幅图像。但是，电视不仅仅是一个电子系统，它还
是一种表达工具和传播渠道。 因此，电视成了一个对其他人发生影响的强大工具。电视这 个领域可以根据其发射方式分为两类。
第一类为广播电视，通过电视信号的宽带无线电波 发射展现在大众面前；第二类为非广播电视，使用受控的发射技术来满足个人以及某些特殊
利益群体的需要。电视早已成为大众媒介。 我们熟悉广播电视，因为广播电视已经以类似 目前的方式存在了大约 37 年。
在那些年头中，电视绝大部分一直由 ABC、NBC、CBS 这 些广播电视公司控制着，这些广播电视公司
一直是新闻、信息和娱乐的主要提供者。 这些
广播业的巨头实际上不仅塑造了电视，而且也塑造了我们对电视的理解。 我们渐渐把显像 管看作是娱乐的来源，让自己成为这个生动的媒介的被动观众。
>07 Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie, known as the King of Steel, built the steel industry in
the United States, and, in the process, became one of the wealthiest men in
America. His success resulted in part from his ability to sell the product
and in part from his policy of expanding during periods of economic
decline, when most of his competitors were reducing their investments.
Carnegie believed that individuals should progress through hard
work, but he also felt strongly that the wealthy should use their
fortunes for the benefit of society. He opposed charity, preferring
instead to provide educational opportunities that would allow
others to help themselves. "He who dies rich, dies disgraced, " he
often said.
Among his more noteworthy contributions to society are those that bear his
name, including
the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, which has a library, a museum of fine
arts, and a museum of national history. He also founded a school of
technology that is now part of Carnegie-Mellon University. Other
philanthropic gifts are the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
to promote understanding between nations, the Carnegie Institute of
Washington to fund scientific research, and Carnegie Hall to provide a
center for the arts.
Few Americans have been left untouched by Andrew Carnegie's generosity. His
contributions of more than five million dollars established 2,500 libraries
in small communities throughout the country and formed the nucleus of the
public library system that we all enjoy today.
安德鲁?卡内基 被称作钢铁大王的安德鲁?卡内基在美国建立了钢铁工业。 在这个过 程中，他变成了美国最富有的人之一。
他的成功，部分来自于他销售产品的能力，部分来 自于经济萧条时期的扩充策略。 在萧条时期，他的多数对手都在缩减投资。卡内基认为个
人应该通过努力工作来获得进展，但他也强烈地感到有钱人应该运用他们的财富来为社会谋 取福利。 他反对施舍救济，更愿意提供教育机会，使别人自立。
卡内基经常说："富有着 死去的人死得可耻。"他对社会的较重要的贡献都以他的名字命名。 这些贡献包括匹兹堡卡 内基学校。
这个学校有一个图书馆，一个美术馆和一个国家历史博物馆；他还创立了一所 技术学校，这所学校现在是卡内基 梅隆大学的一部分；其他的慈善捐赠有为促进国家间了
解的"卡内基国际和平基金"，为科学研究提供经费的华盛顿卡内基学院以及给各种艺术活动
提供活动中心的卡内基音乐厅。安德鲁?卡内基的慷慨大度几乎影响到每个美国人的生活。 由于他超过五百万美元的捐款，2500
个图书馆得以建立起来，遍布在美国各地的小村镇， 形成了我们今天还在享用的公共图书馆系统的核心。 >08 American Revolution
The American Revolution was not a revolution in the sense of a radical or
total change. It was not a sudden and violent overturning of the
political and social framework, such as later occurred in France
and Russia, when both were already independent nations.
Significant changes were ushered in, but they were not
breathtaking. What happened was accelerated evolution rather than
outright revolution. During the conflict itself people went on working and
praying, marrying and playing. Most of them were not seriously disturbed by
the actual fighting, and many of the more isolated communities scarcely
knew that a war was on. America's War of Independence heralded the birth of
three modern nations. One was Canada, which received its first large
influx of English-speaking population from the thousands of loyalists who
fled there from the United States. Another was Australia, which became a
penal colony now that America was no longer available for prisoners and
debtors. The third newcomer -- the United States -- based itself squarely
on republican principles.
Yet even the political overturn was not so revolutionary as one might
suppose. In some states, notably Connecticut and Rhode Island, the
war largely ratified a colonial self-rule already existing. British
officials, everywhere ousted, were replaced by a home-grown governing
class, which promptly sought a local substitute for king and Parliament.
美国革命 美国革命其实并不算是一场革命，因为它并未导致完全的和彻底的变化。 这
次革命并不是对政治和社会框架的一次突然和猛烈的颠覆，象后来在已经是独立国家的法国 和俄国所爆发的革命那样。
革命带来了重大的变化，但并非翻天覆地，所发生的只是进化 的加速，而不是一场彻底的革命；在冲突期间，人们仍然上班、做礼拜、结婚、玩耍。 多
数人并没有受到实际战斗的严重影响。 许多较闭塞的社区对这场战争几乎一无所知。美国 独立战争宣布了三个现代国家的诞生，其中一个是加拿大。
加拿大的第一大批讲英语的流 入人口来自于成千上万英王的效忠者， 这些人从美国逃到了加拿大。 另一个国家是澳大利
亚，因为美国不再是容纳罪犯和欠债者的国度了，澳大利亚就变成了一个惩治罪犯的殖民地
(注：独立战争前，英国政府将罪犯流放到美国)。 第三个国家就是美国，它完全建立在共
和原则基础上。即使政治上的颠覆也不如人们可能想象的那样具有革命性。 在一些州，特 别是康涅狄格和罗德岛，战争基本上只是承认了已经存在的殖民地的自治。
四处被驱逐的 英国官员都被本土的统治阶级所替代，这个统治阶级迅速地以地方权力机关来替代国王和议 会。
>09 Suburbanization
If by "suburb" is meant an urban margin that grows more rapidly than its
already developed interior, the process of suburbanization began during the
emergence of the industrial city in the second quarter of the nineteenth
century. Before that period the city was a small highly compact cluster in
which people moved about on foot and goods were conveyed by horse and cart.
But the early factories built in the 1830's and 1840's were
located along waterways and near railheads at the edges of cities,
and housing was needed for the thousands of people drawn by the prospect of
employment. In time, the factories were surrounded by proliferating mill
towns of apartments and row houses that abutted the older, main
cities. As a defense against this encroachment and to enlarge their
tax bases, the cities appropriated their industrial neighbors. In
1854, for example, the city of Philadelphia annexed most of
Philadelphia County. Similar municipal maneuvers took place in Chicago
and in New York. Indeed, most great cities of the United States achieved
such status only by incorporating the communities along their borders.
With the acceleration of industrial growth came acute urban crowding and
accompanying social stress -- conditions that began to approach disastrous
proportions when, in 1888, the first commercially successful electric
traction line was developed. Within a few years the horse-drawn
trolleys were retired and electric streetcar networks crisscrossed and
connected every major urban area, fostering a wave of
suburbanization that transformed the compact industrial city into a
dispersed metropolis.This first phase of mass-scale suburbanization was
reinforced by the simultaneous emergence of the urban Middle
Class, whose desires for homeownership in neighborhoods far from the
aging inner city were satisfied by the developers of single-family housing
tracts.
郊区的发展 如果"郊区"指的是比已建好的城市内部发展更为迅速的城市边缘地带，那 么郊区化可以说始于 1825 年至 1850 年工业化城市出现期间。
在这之前，城市只是高度密 集的小聚居群。 在其中，人们步行走动，商品靠马车来运送。 但是建于 18 世纪三四十年
代的早期工厂位于城边的航道和铁路附近，被工作机会吸引到这里的成千上万的人们需要住 房。 渐渐地，在与旧有的主要城区相毗邻的地方，不断涌现出由排房和公寓楼组成的工人
聚居区，包围了工厂。作为对这种侵蚀的自卫，也为了扩大它们收税的地域范围，城市吞并 了工业化的临
近地带，比如 1854
年费城的城区就兼并了费县的绝大部分地区。 相似的城市 化也发生在芝加哥和纽约。 今天很多美国的大城市其实就是靠吞并它们附近的边缘地区而
变成大都会的。随着工业化的加速发展，城市里出现了严重拥挤和相伴而来的社会压力。 当
1888 年第一条商业上成功的电气化铁轨被制造出来时，压力开始接近危机的程度。 几年之
内，马车就被废弃了，电车网相互交织连接着各个重要的城区，从而形成了一种郊区化的潮 流，即密集的工业城市转变成了分散的都市。
此时城市中产阶级的出现进一步加强了第一 波大规模郊区化。 这些中产阶级希望在远离老旧城市的地区拥有住宅，单一家庭住宅地区 的开发者满足了他们的愿望。
31 British Columbia -~ Ae?I'\
)0-2r b9na
British Columbia is the third largest Canadian provinces, both in area and population. It is nearly
1.5 times as large as Texas, and extends 800 miles(1,280km) north from the United States border. It includes Canada’s entire west coast and the islands just off the coast. ?q?xp<M??? dM ?w~?G<M
Most of British Columbia is mountainous, with long rugged ranges running north and south. Even the coastal islands are the remains of a mountain range that existed thousands of years ago. During the last Ice Age, this range was scoured by glaciers until most of it was beneath the sea. Its peaks now show as islands scattered along the coast. ?"bH =b?<Z
o???%9)0H
The southwestern coastal region has a humid mild marine climate. Sea winds that blow inland from the west are warmed by a current of warm water that flows through the Pacific Ocean. As a result, winter temperatures average above freezing and summers are mild. These warm western winds also carry moisture from the ocean. }Lh 0ecSj-
Y1%Dl?C?"#
Inland from the coast, the winds from the Pacific meet the mountain barriers of the coastal ranges and the Rocky Mountains. As they rise to cross the mountains, the winds are cooled, and their moisture begins to fall as rain. On some of the western slopes almost 200 inches (500cm) of rain fall each year. C?e?QP$14m
S?}Wmnx ?%
More than half of British Columbia is heavily forested. On mountain slopes that receive plentiful rainfall, huge Douglas firs rise in towering columns. These forest giants often grow to be as much as 300 feet(90m) tall, with diameters up to 10 feet(3m). More lumber is produced from these trees than from any other kind of tree in North America. Hemlock, red cedar, and balsam fir are among the other trees found in British Columbia. 0mo?l s-?^
9??W2T_
YG
`e??)yr]|Q
32 Botany *xM
,?2(
~?n? X-?o
Botany, the study of plants, occupies a peculiar position in the history of human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest of insights. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but form what we can observe of pre-industrial societies that still exist a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things even for other plants. They have always been enormously important to the welfare of people not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, dyes, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes. Tribes living today in the jungles of the Amazon recognize literally hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them, botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of “ knowledge” at all. ?'D,/B wp[
'e?>:<c@{d
Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid. When our Neolithic ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer yields the next season the first great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the marvel of agriculture: cultivated crops. From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild- and the accumulated knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and intimacy with plants in the wild would begin to fade away. (-?M\G?Yh
lW4@4,2-/c
?sC{d%?Q?
33 Plankton浮游生物. / 'plжηktэn; `plжηktэn/ ??>Dx?FG.0
#NW; Hm?
Scattered through the seas of the world are billions of tons of small plants and animals called plankton. Most of these plants and animals are too small for the human eye to see. They drift about lazily with the currents, providing a basic food for many larger animals. ??sS5
N|o
?=k??^"`;{
Plankton has been described as the equivalent of the grasses that grow on the dry land continents, and the comparison is an appropriate one. In potential food value, however, plankton far outweighs that of the land grasses. One scientist has estimated that while grasses of the world produce about 49 billion tons of valuable carbohydrates each year, the sea’s plankton generates more than twice as much. D I4IFz?~'
?E )?z+/
Despite its enormous food potential, little effect was made until recently to farm plankton as we farm grasses on land. Now marine scientists have at last begun to study this possibility, especially as the sea’s resources loom even more important as a means of feeding an expanding world population. { $?0?lfv3
?? d
gzcLL
No one yet has seriously suggested that “ plankton-burgers” may soon become popular around the world. As a possible farmed supplementary food source, however, plankton is gaining considerable interest among marine scientists. vq?[,?_Nz
su 7?Anr|
One type of plankton that seems to have great harvest possibilities is a tiny shrimp-like creature called krill. Growing to two or three inches long, krill provides the major food for the great blue whale, the largest animal to ever inhabit the Earth. Realizing that this whale may grow to 100 feet and weigh 150 tons at maturity, it is not surprising that each one devours more than one ton of krill daily. ,-Q%B?KZ}
L\_J\h>7'{
{?kp&+*??C
34 Raising Oysters D^%I?c5???
?T*ZJD-1?
In the oysters were raised in much the same way as dirt farmers raised tomatoes- by transplanting them. First, farmers selected the oyster bed, cleared the bottom of old shells and other debris, then scattered clean shells about. Next, they ”planted” fertilized oyster eggs, which within two or three weeks hatched into larvae. The larvae drifted until they attached themselves to the clean shells on the bottom. There they remained and in time grew into baby oysters called seed or spat. The spat grew larger by drawing in seawater from which they derived microscopic particles of food. Before long, farmers gathered the baby oysters, transplanted them once more into another body of water to fatten them up. `&
`"v??>P
mb-?c8NhtZ
Until recently the supply of wild oysters and those crudely farmed were more than enough to satisfy people’s needs. But today the delectable seafood is no longer available in abundance. The problem has become so serious that some oyster beds have vanished entirely. u?u*=%?@?? VAG3V?t.vg
Fortunately, as far back as the early 1900’s marine biologists realized that if new measures were not taken, oysters would become extinct or at best a luxury food. So they set up well-equipped hatcheries and went to work. But they did not have the proper equipment or the skill to handle the eggs. They did not know when, what, and how to feed the larvae. And they knew little about the predators that attack and eat baby oysters by the millions. They failed, but they doggedly kept at it. Finally, in the 1940’s a significant breakthrough was made. "[nU8+$P6?
{ 'kSF?o=1
The marine biologists discovered that by raising the temperature of the water, they could induce oysters to spawn not only in the summer but also in the fall, winter, and spring. Later they developed a technique for feeding the larvae and rearing them to spat. Going still further, they succeeded in breeding new strains that were resistant to diseases, grew faster and larger, and flourished in water of different salinities and temperatures. In addition, the cultivated oysters tasted better! 7a?|jf`"?H
TE?c?7S?b?
^Qm#Q>Lw,R
35.Oil Refining i?U??!5h(
\ Z4kB|d[4
An important new industry, oil refining, grew after the Civil war. Crude oil, or petroleum – a dark, thick ooze from the earth – had been known for hundreds of years, but little use had ever been made of it. In the 1850’s Samuel M. Kier, a manufacturer in western Pennsylvania, began collecting the oil from local seepages and refining it into kerosene. Refining, like smelting, is a process of removing impurities from a raw material. XG{=G?~ 8
[M-N~}2??{
Kerosene was used to light lamps. It was a cheap substitute for whale oil, which was becoming harder to get. Soon there was a large demand for kerosene. People began to search for new supplies of petroleum. 7iA???=;'|
?/3z???s*v
The first oil well was drilled by E.L. Drake, a retired railroad conductor. In 1859 he began drilling in Titusville, Pennsylvania. The whole venture seemed so impractical and foolish that onlookers called it “ Drake’s Folly”. But when he had drilled down about 70 feet(21 meters), Drake struck oil. His well began to yield 20 barrels of crude oil a day. W4BnXo? ?
J?"??W?B2?
News of Drake’s success brought oil prospectors to the scene. By the early 1860’s these wildcatters were drilling for “ black gold” all over western Pennsylvania. The boom rivaled the California gold rush of 1848 in its excitement and Wild West atmosphere. And it brought far more wealth to the prospectors than any gold rush. L-4F?cD
A7
:??= Msx/
Crude oil could be refined into many products. For some years kerosene continued to be the principal one. It was sold in grocery stores and door-to-door. In the 1880’s refiners learned how to make other petroleum products such as waxes and lubricating oils. Petroleum was not then used to make gasoline or heating oil. UL?;"f!.f?
n?s\I~P-Gr
??g r?I3H?
36.Plate Tectonics and Sea-floor Spreading hC$[L|<aAr
#kB&|e?zfF
The theory of plate tectonics describes the motions of the lithosphere, the comparatively rigid outer layer of the Earth that includes all the crust and part of the underlying mantle. The lithosphere(n.[地]岩石圈)is divided into a few dozen plates of various sizes and shapes, in general the plates are in motion with respect to one another. A mid-ocean ridge is a boundary between plates where new lithospheric material is injected from below. As the plates diverge from a mid-ocean ridge they slide on a more yielding layer at the base of the lithosphere. NH?5MQ?|? k(o?vmxz#s
Since the size of the Earth is essentially constant, new lithosphere can be created at the mid-ocean ridges only if an equal amount of lithospheric material is consumed elsewhere. The site of this destruction is another kind of plate boundary: a subduction zone. There one plate dives under the edge of another and is reincorporated into the mantle. Both kinds of plate boundary are associated with fault systems, earthquakes and volcanism, but the kinds of geologic activity observed at the two boundaries are quite different. 2&6o-mc>^{
?cbv?&7,}?
The idea of sea-floor spreading actually preceded the theory of plate tectonics. In its original version, in the early 1960’s, it described the creation and destruction of the ocean floor, but it did not specify rigid lithospheric plates. The hypothesis was substantiated soon afterward by the discovery that periodic reversals of the Earth’s magnetic field are recorded in the oceanic crust. As magma rises under the mid-ocean ridge, ferromagnetic minerals in the magma become magnetized in the direction of the magma become magnetized in the direction of the geomagnetic field. When the magma cools and solidifies, the direction and the polarity of the field are preserved in the magnetized volcanic rock. Reversals of the field give rise to a series of magnetic stripes running parallel to the axis of the rift. The oceanic crust thus serves as a magnetic tape recording of the history of the geomagnetic field that can be dated independently; the width of the stripes indicates the rate of the sea-floor spreading. t>GkJFB ?
N?J9Qb36?Q
%Atl [?FmD
37 Icebergs l07iY%N ?T
]})O4.~?$T
Icebergs are among nature’s most spectacular creations, and yet most people have never seen one.
A vague air of mystery envelops them. They come into being ----- somewhere ------in faraway, frigid waters, amid thunderous noise and splashing turbulence, which in most cases no one hears or sees. They exist only a short time and then slowly waste away just as unnoticed. ?E>t P?Qp: ?ud*~+ 5 R
Objects of sheerest beauty they have been called. Appearing in an endless variety of shapes, they may be dazzlingly white, or they may be glassy blue, green or purple, tinted faintly of in darker hues. They are graceful, stately, inspiring ----- in calm, sunlight seas. ?, ? AX ;
_?`BR4%,!"
But they are also called frightening and dangerous, and that they are ---- in the night, in the fog, and in storms. Even in clear weather one is wise to stay a safe distance away from them. Most of their bulk is hidden below the water, so their underwater parts may extend out far beyond the visible top. Also, they may roll over unexpectedly, churning the waters around them. AQPDi" ?pR
e?&`?JMok)
Icebergs are parts of glaciers that break off, drift into the water, float about awhile, and finally melt. Icebergs afloat today are made of snowflakes that have fallen over long ages of time. They embody snows that drifted down hundreds, or many thousands, or in some cases maybe a million years ago. The snows fell in polar regions and on cold mountains, where they melted only a little or not at all, and so collected to great depths over the years and centuries. q~*nU?"X_@ h$ ?%???N?
As each year’s snow accumulation lay on the surface, evaporation and melting caused the snowflakes slowly to lose their feathery points and become tiny grains of ice. When new snow fell on top of the old, it too turned to icy grains. So blankets of snow and ice grains mounted layer upon layer and were of such great thickness that the weight of the upper layers compressed the lower ones. With time and pressure from above, the many small ice grains joined and changed to larger crystals, and eventually the deeper crystals merged into a solid mass of ice. feg???]??f ????;Nz!uz
?L+?N\(0 ?
38 Topaz D?\>x%x1?
??o[6uJLLq
Topaz is a hard, transparent mineral. It is a compound of aluminum, silica, and fluorine. Gem topaz is valuable. Jewelers call this variety of the stone “precious topaz”. The best-known precious topaz gems range in color from rich yellow to light brown or pinkish red. Topaz is one of the hardest gem minerals. In the mineral table of hardness, it has a rating of 8, which means that a knife cannot cut it, and that topaz will scratch quartz. #S ER-Mb?0
n$D?)`}??|
The golden variety of precious topaz is quite uncommon. Most of the world’s topaz is white or blue. The white and blue crystals of topaz are large, often weighing thousands of carats. For this reason, the value of topaz does not depend so much on its size as it does with diamonds and many other precious stones, where the value increases about four times with each doubling of weight. The value of a topaz is largely determined by its quality. But color is also important: blue topaz, for instance, is often irradiated to deepen and improve its color. -?~tGA^?-?
q)??l6??KO
Blue topaz is often sold as aquamarine and a variety of brown quartz is widely sold as topaz. The quartz is much less brilliant and more plentiful than true topaz. Most of it is variety of amethyst: that heat has turned brown. ?/<tOe??AN
&?rS[,x -?
NOTE: j?M\!Cra){
topaz / 'tэupжz; `topжz/ n (a) [U] transparent yellow mineral 黄玉（矿物）. S&}vD4ok. (b) [C] semi-precious gem cut from this 黄玉; 黄宝石. *&_zG-v3\e
d2L?!"-
/
[N}P?Y~<g?
39 The Salinity of Ocean Waters #FZ?(kKH?A
??<:io?|<3
If the salinity of ocean waters is analyzed, it is found to vary only slightly from place to place. Nevertheless, some of these small changes are important. There are three basic processes that cause a change in oceanic salinity. One of these is the subtraction of water from the ocean by means of evaporation--- conversion of liquid water to water vapor. In this manner the salinity is increased, since the salts stay behind. If this is carried to the extreme, of course, white crystals of salt would be left behind. Sy?W; ?7
RL ??6t@+
The opposite of evaporation is precipitation, such as rain, by which water is added to the ocean. Here the ocean is being diluted so that the salinity is decreased. This may occur in areas of high rainfall or in coastal regions where rivers flow into the ocean. Thus salinity may be increased by the subtraction of water by evaporation, or decreased by the addition of fresh water by precipitation or runoff. zN??u>Yp,t
l46}Fuk>3(
Normally, in tropical regions where the sun is very strong, the ocean salinity is somewhat higher than it is in other parts of the world where there is not as much evaporation. Similarly, in coastal regions where rivers dilute the sea, salinity is somewhat lower than in other oceanic areas. ZbwL` =<US
};\7JhW?5>
A third process by which salinity may be altered is associated with the formation and melting of sea ice. When sea water is frozen, the dissolved materials are left behind. In this manner, sea water directly materials are left behind. In this manner, sea water directly beneath freshly formed sea ice has a higher salinity than it did before the ice appeared. Of course, when this ice melts, it will tend to decrease the salinity of the surrounding water. 3S??8 ;y9'
B1k@[3md!?
In the Weddell Sea Antarctica, the densest water in the oceans is formed as a result of this freezing process, which increases the salinity of cold water. This heavy water sinks and is found in the deeper portions of the oceans of the world. +d eUih?9
QW?3P$XZ T
NOTE： *?g??*JB}-
salinity / sэ'linэti; sэ`linэti/ T:O;<hlFwB
n [U] the high salinity of sea water 海水的高含盐量. /1?,(g??-G
-?>>saline / 'seilain; US -li:n; `selin/ 5~?-p?77c?
1.adj [attrib 作定语] (fml 文) containing salt; salty 含盐的; 咸的: <{h?rt?Kl
* a saline lake 盐湖 * saline springs 盐泉 m?t@^Ye>;a
* saline solution, eg as used for gargling, storing contact lenses, etc 盐溶液（如用于漱喉、存放隐形眼镜等）. Db?GN?d9pL
2. n [U] (medical 医) solution of salt and water 盐水. 6\TdEI f?t
&u/(_
?&
'xm1S]G*?x
40 Cohesion-tension Theory ??;MgS'@Mn
[(?KlC?Yfg
Atmospheric pressure can support a column of water up to 10 meters high. But plants can move water much higher; the sequoia tree can pump water to its very top more than 100 meters above the ground. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the movement of water in trees and other tall plants was a mystery. Some botanists hypothesized that the living cells of plants acted as pumps. But many experiments demonstrated that the stems of plants in which all the cells are killed can still move water to appreciable heights. Other explanations for the movement of water in plants have been based on root pressure, a push on the water from the roots at the bottom of the plant. But root pressure is not nearly great enough to push water to the tops of tall trees. Furthermore, the conifers, which are among the tallest trees, have unusually low root pressures. U?4T<o?:gf <^QdU2>> B
If water is not pumped to the top of a tall tree, and if it is not pushed to the top of a tall tree, then we may ask: how does it get there? According to the currently accepted cohesion-tension theory, water is pulled there. The pull on a rising column of water in a plant results from the evaporation of water at the top of the plant. As water is lost from the surface of the leaves, a negative pressure, or tension, is created. The evaporated water is replaced by water moving from inside the plant in unbroken columns that extend from the top of a plant to its roots. The same forces that create surface tension in any sample of water are responsible for the maintenance of these unbroken columns of water. When water is confined in tubes of very small bore, the forces of cohesion (the attraction between water molecules) are so great that the strength of a column of water compares with the strength of a steel wire of the same diameter. This cohesive strength permits columns of water to be pulled to great heights without being broken.
免费考博论坛：