四级真题阅读翻译连载（三）

　　Passage One

　　原文

　　Unless we spend money to spot and prevent asteroids (小行星) now, one might crash into Earth and destroy life as we know it, say some scientists.

　　Asteroids are bigger versions of the meteoroids (流星) that race across the night sky. Most orbit the sun far from Earth and don’t threaten us. But there are also thousands of asteroids whose orbits put them on a collision course with Earth.

　　Buy $50 million worth of new telescopes right now. Then spend $10 million a year for the next 25 year5s to locate most of the space rocks. By the time we spot a fatal one, the scientists say, we’ll have a way to change its course.

　　Some scientists favor pushing asteroids off course with nuclear weapons. But the cost wouldn’t be cheap.

　　Is it worth it? Two things experts consider when judging any risk re: 1) How likely the event is; and 2) How bad the consequences if the event occurs. Experts think an asteroid big enough to destroy lots of life might strike Earth once every 500,000 years. Sounds pretty rare―but if one did fall, it would be the end of the world. “If we don’t take care of these big asteroids, they’ll take care of us,” says one scientist. “It’s that simple.”

　　The cure, though, might be worse than the disease. Do we really want fleets of nuclear weapons sitting around on Earth? “The world has less to fear from doomsday (毁灭性的)rocks than from a great nuclear fleet set against them,” said a New York Times article.

　　译文

　　某些科学家说，正如我们所知道的，除非我们现在花钱为小行星定位并防范它们，否则，它们就会碰撞地球并摧毁生命。

　　小行星是掠过夜空的大型流星。它们大多数远离地球，环绕太阳运行，对我们没有威胁。但是也有成千上万颗小行星的轨道把它们引上与地球碰撞的方向。

　　马上买一批价值5000万美元的新型望远镜。然后25年内每年花1000万美元测定大多数宇宙巨石的位置。科学家说，等到我们发现一颗毁灭性的小行星时，我们有办法改变它的运行方向。

　　有些科学家造赞成用核武器使小行星偏离运行方向。但成本会很高。

　　值得吗？当判断会有什么风险时专家所考虑的两件事是：1）如果这种事件发生的可能性有多大；2）如果这种事件发生了，后果会多么严重。专家认为：一颗大到足以毁灭许多生命的小行星可能每五十万年才能撞击地球一次。听起来很少--但是，如果真有一颗掉下来，那就将是地球的末日。有一位科学家说：“如果我们不照顾这些大型小行星，它们就会来‘照顾’我们。”事情就这么简单。

　　然而，“治”可能比这“病”还糟糕。你真要核武器群布满全世界？纽约时报的一篇文章说：“世人对冲着它们所布置的庞大核武器的恐惧更甚于毁灭性巨石的恐惧。”

　　Passage Two

　　原文

　　Believe it or not, optical illusion (错觉)can cut highway crashes.

　　Japan is a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly 75 percent using a simple optical illusion. Bent stripes, called chevrons (人字形), painted on the roads make drivers think that they are driving faster than they really are, and thus drivers slow down.

　　Now the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington D.C. is planning to repeat Japan’s success. Starting next year, the foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes.

　　Excessive speed plays a major role in as much as one fifth of all fatal traffic accidents, according to the foundation. To help reduce those accidents, the foundation will conduct its tests in areas where speed-related hazards are the greatest―curves, exit slopes, traffic circles, and bridges.

　　Some studies suggest that straight, horizontal bars painted across roads can initially cut the average speed of drivers in half. However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bars.

　　Chevrons, scientists say, not only give drivers the impression that they are driving faster than they really are but also make a lane appear to be narrower. The result is a longer lasting reduction in highway sped and the number of traffic accidents.

　　译文

　　信不信由你，眼睛的错觉能减少公路交通事故。

　　日本就是一个恰当的例子。日本用一种简单的视错减少了某些公路上75%的交通事故。漆在马路上的人字形线条使驾驶员认为他们驾驶得比这实际快，所以驾驶员就放慢了速度。

　　华盛顿的美国汽车协会交通安全基金会正在计划效仿日本的成功之举。从明年开始，该基金会将在全国一些选定的公路漆上人字形线条和其他图案来测试减少公路交通事故的效果。

　　根据基金会，五分之一的致命车祸是由于超速。为帮助减少这些事故，基金会将在因超速而导致车祸最多的地方--弯道、出口下坡道、环岛和桥梁进行检测。

　　有些研究表明在马路上漆的横直线起初能将司机的速度平均减少一半。然而，往往几个月后车辆又恢复全速，因为司机已习惯看到那些横线。

　　科学家说，人字形线不仅使司机感到开得比实际上开得快，而且还使得车道显得窄。其结果能较长期降低汽车在公路上的行驶速度和减少交通事故的次数。

　　Passage Three

　　原文

　　Amtrak (美国铁路客运公司) was experiencing a downswing in ridership(客运量) along the lines comprising its rail system. Of major concern to Amtrak and its advertising agency DDB Needham, were the long-distance western routes where ridership had been declining significantly.] At one time, trains were the only practical way to cross the vast areas of the west. Trains were fast, very luxurious, and quite convenient compared to other forms of transportation existing at the time. However, times change and the automobile became America’s standard of convenience. Also, air travel had easily established itself as the fastest method of traveling great distances. Therefore, the task for DDB Needham was to encourage consumers to consider other aspects of train travel in order to change their attitudes and increase the likelihood that trains would be considered for travel in the west.

　　Two portions of the total market were targeted: 1) anxious fliers―those concerned with safety, relaxation, and cleanliness and 2) travel-lovers―those viewing themselves as relaxed, casual, and interested in the travel experience as part of their vacation. The agency then developed a campaign that focused on travel experiences such as freedom, escape, relaxation, and enjoyment of the great western outdoors. It stressed experiences gained by using the trains and portrayed western train trips as wonderful adventures.

　　Advertisements showed pictures of the beautiful scenery that could be enjoyed along some of the more famous western routes and emphasized the romantic names of some of these trains (Empire Builder, etc.). These ads were strategically placed among family-oriented TV shows and programs involving nature and America in order to most effectively reach target audiences. Results were impressive. The Empire Builder, which was focused on in one ad, enjoyed a 15 percent increase in profits on its Chicago to Seattle route.

　　译文

　　美国铁路客运公司正在经历铁路系统沿线客运量下降的趋势。美国铁路客运公司和它的广告代理商DDB Needham主要关心的是客运量一直显著下降的西部长途线路。

　　火车曾一度是穿越西部广大地区的惟一实际的交通手段。与当时存在的其他运输方式相比，火车最快、最豪华，并且相当方便。然而，随着时代变迁，汽车遂成为美国舒适方便的标准。航空旅行也轻易确立了它是长途旅行最快方式的地位。所以，为改变乘客的态度和增加考虑乘火车到西部旅行的可能性，DDB Needham的任务就是鼓励乘客考虑火车旅行其他方面的优点。

　　他们瞄准整个市场的两部分：1）对飞机感到担心的人--关心安全、放松和清洁的人：2）旅行爱好者--自认为是放松、随便的和对旅行经历感兴趣并视其为部分假期的人。然后广告代理商开展了一项以自由、消遣、放松和欣赏大西部户外风景为焦点的广告攻势。它强调乘火车的经历，并把西部火车之旅描绘成美妙的历险。

　　广告展示了沿某些知名的西部线路的美丽风景的图片，并且突出一些火车的浪漫名字（如“边疆开拓者”等）。为最有效地展示给目标听众，他们颇有策略地将这些广告放在面向家庭、表现大自然和美丽的节目中去。结果这给人留下深刻印象。在一条广告重点描写的“边疆开拓者”芝加哥--西雅图线上，利润增加了15%。

　　Passage Four

　　原文

　　Why does cram go bad faster than butter? Some researchers think they have the answer, and it comes down to the structure of the food, not its chemical composition―a finding that could help rid some processed foods of chemical preservatives.

　　Cream and butter contain pretty much the same substances, so why cream should sour much faster has been a mystery. Both are emulsions―tiny globules (小球体) of one liquid evenly distributed throughout another. The difference lies in what’s in the globules and what’s in the surrounding liquid, says Brocklehurst, who led the investigation.

　　In cream, fatty globules drift about in a sea of water. In butter, globules of a watery solution are locked away in a sea of fat. The bacteria which make the food go bad prefer to live in the watery regions of the mixture. “This means that in cream, the bacteria are free to grow throughout the mixture,” he says.

　　When the situation is reversed, the bacteria are locked away in compartments (隔仓室) buried deep in the sea of fat. Trapped in this way, individual colonies cannot spread and rapidly run out of nutrients (养料). They also slowly poison themselves with their waste products. “In butter, you get a self-limiting system which stops the bacteria growing,” says Brocklehurst.

　　The researchers are already working with food companies keen to see if their products can be made resistant to bacterial attack through alterations to the food’s structure. Brocklehurst believes it will be possible to make the emulsions used in salad cream, for instance, more like that in butter. The key will be to do this while keeping the salad cream liquid and not turning it into a solid lump.

　　译文

　　为什么奶油比黄油坏得快？一些研究者认为他们有了答案，这归因于食物的结构，而不是其化学成分--这一新发现可以帮助某些加工食品摆脱防腐剂。

　　奶油和黄油含有很多同样的物质，所以，为什么奶油比黄油酸得快就是一直是个不解之谜。它们都是乳脂--均匀地分布在另一种液体中液态小球体。领导这项调查研究的Brocklehurst说：差别在于小球体内是什么和周围液体里的是什么。

　　在奶油中，脂肪质小球体在很多水中到处漂荡。在黄油中水溶液的小球体藏在很多脂肪之中。使食物变坏的细菌喜欢生活在这种混合物水域内。他说：“这就是说，这些细菌在奶油这种混合物中到处可以滋生。”

　　反过来，细菌就被藏在深埋于在脂肪的海洋之中的隔仓室里。孤立的细菌陷于这样的状态就不能展开，很快就耗尽养料。它们也渐渐地因自己的排泄物而中毒。Brocklehurst说：“在黄油中，有一个阻止细菌繁殖的自我限制系统。”

　　研究人员已经与渴望看到能通过改变食物结构将其产品制成抗菌食品的公司合作。Brocklehurst认为有可能将奶油乳脂（例如在沙拉酱晨面所使用的）做得更像黄油当中的乳脂。关键是这样做时要使沙拉酱保持液态状态，而不是把它变成固态块。

　　Part IV Cloze

　　译文

　　在对2000多位成年人进行的电话调查中，有21%人说他们认为太阳是围绕地球旋转的。另有7%的人不知道究竟哪个围绕哪个转。我毫不怀疑实际上所有这些人在学校里都曾学过地球是围绕太阳转的，他们甚至还在考卷上写过。但是他们却从来没有改变他们头脑里的关于行星运行的不正确模式，因为他们每天观察到的情况和老师教给他们的并不一致：人们看到的是太阳从早到晚横越天空，而与与同时，地球却似乎是静止的。

　　学生可以在课堂上记住确的答案，但从不将其与他们头脑里的世界运转模式结合起来。教授所接受的客观上正确的答案与学生对世界的个人理解并存着，互不影响。

　　在课外，学生仍然运用自己头脑里的固有模式，因为它们在那个环境里总是行得通的。除非教授们指出学生们对世界模式个人认识上的具体错误，否则学生们不太可能运用正确的认识来取代它们。