发布时间:2022-06-25 19:38:29来源:励普网
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语是一种语言工具,学习英语的最终目标就是能利用这种工具与别人自由流畅的交流。
如果生命再来一次
When the late Nadine Stair of Louisville, Kentucky, was 85 years old, she was asked what she would do if she had her life to live over again.
在肯塔基州路易斯维尔,有位已故的老人,她叫Nadine Stair ,在她85岁高龄的时候,有人问她,如果她再有一次生命的话,她会做些什么。
I"d make more mistakes next time, she said. "I"d relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been on this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I"d have fewer imaginary ones.
“下次我犯的错误会更多,”她回答到。“我应该会很放松;我会把身子锻炼得很柔软;我应该会比现在还傻;我会更加温和地处理问题;我会抓住更多的机会;我会爬很多高山,游更多的河流;我会吃很多的冰激凌,少吃点大豆;也许,我会碰到很多的现实生活中的麻烦事,但是,一些想象中的麻烦事将不会更多了。”
You see, I"m one of those people who live sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I"ve had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I"d have more of them. In fact, I"d try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I"ve been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, and a raincoat. If I had to do it over again, I would travel lighter than I have.
“你也知道,我是那种每一秒都活得很理性的人。哦,我度过了生命中的光阴,如果再让我过一次的话,我将会拥有更多的时间。可事实上,除了这些我一无所有。只是几多片刻,一个接一个地,并不是在每天前已经生活了很多年。如果他们不带寒暑表,不带热水壶,不带一件雨衣的话,他们就不会去任何地方,我以前曾经就是这幅样子。但是,如果我可以再走一次人生的话,我就会轻装上阵,旅行得更远。
If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds and I would pick more daisies.
“如果我再有一次生命的话,我就会从早春赤脚到深秋,我会多跳几次舞,我会多骑几次旋转木马,还有,我会多采些雏菊花……”。
Predicting the future预测未来
Predicting the future is notoriously difficult. Who could have imagined, in the mid 1970s, for example, that by the end of the 20th century, computers would be as common in people"s homes as TV sets? In the 1970s, computers were common enough, but only in big business, government departments, and large organizations. These were the so-called mainframe machines. Mainframe computers were very large indeed, often occupying whole air-conditioned rooms, employing full-time technicians and run on specially-written software. Though these large machines still exist, many of their functions have been taken over by small powerful personal computers, commonly known as PCs.
In 1975, a primitive machine called the Altair, was launched in the USA. It can properly be described as the first "home computer" and it pointed the way to the future. This was followed, at the end of the 1970s, by a machine called an Apple. In the early 1980s, the computer giant, IBM produced the world"s first Personal Computer. This ran on an "operating system" called DOS, produced by a then small company named Microsoft. The IBM Personal Computer was widely copied. From those humble beginnings, we have seen the development of the user-friendly home computers and multimedia machines which are in common use today.
Considering how recent these developments are, it is even more remarkable that as long ago as the 1960s, an Englishman, Leon Bagrit, was able to predict some of the uses of computers which we know today. Bagrit dismissed the idea that computers would learn to "think" for themselves and would "rule the world", which people liked to believe in those days. Bagrit foresaw a time when computers would be small enough to hold in the hand, when they would be capable of providing information about traffic jams and suggesting alternative routes, when they would be used in hospitals to help doctors to diagnose illnesses, when they would relieve office workers and accountants of dull, repetitive clerical work. All these computer uses have become commonplace. Of course, Leon Bagrit could not possibly have foreseen the development of the Internet, the worldwide system that enables us to communicate instantly with anyone in any part of the world by using computers linked to telephone networks. Nor could he have foreseen how we could use the Internet to obtain information on every known subject, so we can read it on a screen in our homes and even print it as well if we want to. Computers have become smaller and smaller, more and more powerful and cheaper and cheaper. This is what makes Leon Bagrit"s predictions particularly remarkable. If he, or someone like him, were alive today, he might be able to tell us what to expect in the next fifty years.
众所周知,预测未来是非常困难的。举个例子吧,在20世纪70年代中叶又有谁能想得到在20世纪末的时候,家庭用的计算机会像电视机一样普遍?在70年代,计算机已经相当普及了,但只用在大公司,政府部门和大的组织之中,它们被称为主机。计算机主机确实很大,常常占据了装有空调的多间房间,雇用专职的技师,而且得用专门编写的软件才能运行。虽然这种大计算机仍然存在,但它们的许多功能已被体积小但功能齐全的个人电脑——即我们常说的PC机——所代替了。
1975年,美国推出了一台被称为“牛郎星”的原始机型。严格地说起来,它可以被称为第一台“家用电脑”,而且它也指了今后的方向。70年代末,在牛郎星之后又出现了一种被称为“苹果”的机型。80年代初,计算机行业的王牌公司美国国际商用机器公司(IBM)生产出了世界上第一台个人电脑。这种电脑采用了一种被称为磁盘操作系统(DOS)的工作程序,而这种程序是由当时规模不大的微软公司生产的。IBM的个人电脑被大规模地模仿。从那些简陋的初级阶段,我们看到了现在都已普及的、使用简便的家用电脑和多媒体的微机的发展。
想一想这些发展的时间多么短,就更觉得英国人莱昂.巴格瑞特有着非凡的能力。他在60年代就能预言我们今天知道的计算机的一些用途。巴格瑞特根本不接受计算机可以学会自己去“思考”和计算可以“统治世界”这种想法,而这种想法是当时的人们都愿意相信的。巴格瑞特预示有一天计算机可以小到拿在手上,计算机可以使办公室人员和会计免除那些枯燥、重复的劳动。计算机的所有这些功能现在都变得很平常。当然了,莱昂.巴格瑞特根本没有可能预测到国际交互网——就是把计算机连结到电话线路上,以便和世界上任何一个地方的人立即进行联系的一个世界范围的通讯系统——的发展。他也无法预测到我们可以利用国际交互网获取有关任何已知专题的信息,以便在家里的屏幕上阅读,如果愿意的话甚至可以将其打印出来。计算机已经变得体积越来越小,功能越来越多,价格越来越低,这就是莱昂.巴格瑞特的预测非凡的地方。如果他或是像他的什么人今天还活着的话,他大概可以告诉我们下一个50年后会发生什么事情。
Mud is mud
My cousin, Harry, keeps a large curiously shaped bottle on permanent display in his study. Despite the fact that the bottle is tinted a delicate shade of green, an observant visitor would soon notice that it is filled with what looks like a thick greyish substance. If you were to ask Harry what was in the bottle, he would tell you that it contained perfumed mud. If you expressed doubt or surprise, he would immediately invite you to smell it and then to rub some into your skin. This brief experiment would dispel any further doubts you might entertain. The bottle really does contain perfumed mud. How Harry came into the possession of this outlandish stuff makes an interesting story which he is fond of relating. Further- more, the acquisition of this bottle cured him of a bad habit he had been developing for years.
Harry used to consider it a great joke to go into expensive cosmetic shops and make outrageous requests for goods that do not exist. He would invent fanciful names on the spot. On entering a shop, he would ask for a new perfume called "Scented Shadow" or for "insoluble bath cubes". If a shop girl told him she had not heard of it, he would pretend to be considerably put out. He loved to be told that one of his imaginary products was temporarily out of stock and he would faithfully promise to call again at some future date, but of course he never did. How Harry managed to keep a straight face during these performances is quite beyond me.
Harry does not need to be prompted to explain how he bought his precious bottle of mud. One day, he went to an exclusive shop in London and asked for "Myrolite". The shop assistant looked puzzled and Harry repeated the word, slowly stressing each syllable. When the girl shook her head in bewilderment, Harry went on to explain that "myrolite" was a hard, amber-like substance which could be used to remove freckles. This explanation evidently conveyed something to the girl who searched shelf after shelf. She produced all sorts of weird concoctions, but none of them met with Harry"s requirements. When Harry put on his act of being mildly annoyed, the girl promised to order some for him. Intoxicated by his success, Harry then asked for perfumed mud. He expected the girl to look at him in blank astonishment. However, it was his turn to be surprised, for the girl"s eyes immediately lit up and she "fetched several botties which she placed on the counter for Harry to inspect. For once, Harry had to admit defeat. He picked up what seemed to be the smallest bottle and discreetly asked the price. He was glad to get away with a mere five guineas and he beat a hasty retreat, clutching the precious bottle under his arm. From then on, Harry decided that this little game he had invented might prove to be expensive. The curious bottle which now adorns the bookcase in his study was his first and last purchase of rare cosmetics.
我的堂兄哈里在他的书房里一直摆着一只形状古怪的大瓶子。尽管那只瓶子呈淡绿色,但细心的客人很快就会发现瓶里装的是一种看上去黏稠,颜色发灰的东西。要是你问哈里瓶里装着什么,他会告诉你是香水泥。如果你表示怀疑或惊奇,他会立即请你闻一闻,然后取出一些抹在你的皮肤上。这一简单的试验会消除你可能存有的一切疑虑。瓶里装的的确是香水泥。哈里如何得到这种稀奇古怪的东西的,这里有个有趣的故事,而且他挺爱把它讲给别人听。此外,得到这瓶香水泥还治好了他多年的一个坏习惯。
哈里曾认为走进一家名贵化妆品商店,荒.唐地提出要买一种根本不存在的商品是件开心的事儿。他会当场编造出一些稀奇古怪的货名。他走进商店后,会提出要一种名叫“香影”的新型香水或什么“不溶浴皂”。要是女售货员告诉他从未听说过这些东西,他会装出十分遗憾和不安的样子。他爱听售货员说他想像出来的那种东西暂时脱销,于是他就煞有介事地许诺改天再来光顾。当然,他再也不会来了。我实在想像不出哈里在这些表演中是怎样装出一本正经的样子的。
毋须暗示哈里就会向你讲起他买下那瓶珍贵香水泥的经过。一天,他去伦敦一家高级商店要买一种叫“密诺莱特”的东西,店员露出诧异的神色。哈里又慢慢地,一字一顿说了一遍这个词,那个女售货员还是迷惑不解地摇了摇头。哈里便进一步解释“密诺莱特”是一种质地坚硬、状似琥珀的东西,可以用来除去雀斑。他的解释显然对女售货员有些启示。她一个货架接着一个货架地寻找,拿出各种各样稀奇古怪的化妆品,但没有一样能够符合哈里的要求。哈里装出不高兴的样子时,女售货员答应为他定货。哈里为他的骗术而感到洋洋得意,又提出要买香水泥。他原想女售货员会惊奇地望着他,不知所措,没料到这回该轮到他自己吃惊了。因为那女售货员听完哈里的话后,马上眼睛一亮,拿出几瓶东西放在柜台上让哈里挑选。哈里只好认输。他挑出一个看上去最小的瓶子,谨慎地问了价。他庆幸自己只破费了20英镑便得以脱身。他把那宝贵的瓶子放在腋下夹着,溜之大吉。从那以后,他认识到自己发明的小小恶作剧是要付出很大的代价的。在他书房的书柜里摆着那瓶形状古怪的香水泥就是他第一次也是最后一次购买的稀有化妆品。
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