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新概念英語第四冊原文及翻譯Lesson7
Bats
蝙蝠
In what way does echo-location in bats play an utilitarian role?
Not all sounds made by animals serve as language, and we have only to turn to that extraordinary discovery of echo-location in bats to see a case in which the voice plays a strictly utilitarian role.
To get a full appreciation of what this means we must turn first to some recent human inventions. Everyone knows that if he shouts in the vicinity of a wall or a mountainside, an echo will come back. The further off this solid obstruction, the longer time will elapse for the return of the echo. A sound made by tapping on the hull of a ship will be reflected from the sea bottom, 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. So was born the echo-sounding apparatus, now in general use in ships. Every solid object will reflect a sound, varying according to the size and nature of the object. A shoal of fish will do this. So it is a comparatively simple step from locating the sea bottom to locating a shoal of fish. With experience, and with improved apparatus, 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.
It has been found that certain bats emit squeaks and by receiving the echoes, they can locate and steer clear of obstacles -- or locate flying insects on which they feed. This echo-location in bats is often compared with radar, the principle of which is similar.
MAURICE BURTON Curiosities of animal life
New words and expressions生詞和短語
bat
n. 蝙蝠
strictly
adv. 明確地
utilitarian
adj.實用的
appreciation
n. 理解
elapse
v. 障礙物
hull
n. 消逝
interval
n. 船體
receipt
n. 間隔
apparatus
n. 收到
shoal
n. 儀器
herring
n. 魚群
cod
n. 鱈魚
squeak
n. 尖叫聲
參考譯文
動物發(fā)出的聲音不都是用作語言交際。我們只要看一看蝙蝠回聲定位這一極不尋常的發(fā)現(xiàn)，就可以探究一下聲音在什么情況下有絕對的實用價值。
要透徹理解這句話的意義，我們應先回顧一下人類最近的幾項發(fā)明。大家都知道，在墻壁或山腰附近發(fā)出的喊聲，就會聽到回聲。固體障礙物越遠。回聲返回所用時間就越長。敲打船體所發(fā)了的聲音會從海底傳回來，測出回聲間隔的時間，便可算出該處海洋的深度。這樣就產(chǎn)生了目前各種船舶上普遍應用的回聲探測儀。任何固體者反射聲音，反射的聲音因物體的大小和性質(zhì)的不同而不同。魚群也反射聲音。從測定海深到測定魚群，這一進展比較容易。根據(jù)經(jīng)驗和改進了的儀器，不僅能夠確定魚群的位置，而且可以根據(jù)魚群回聲的特點分辨出是鯡魚、鱈魚，這是人們所熟悉的其他魚。
人們發(fā)現(xiàn)，某些蝙蝠能發(fā)出尖叫聲，并能通過回聲來確定并躲開障礙物，或找到它們賴以為生的昆蟲。蝙蝠這種回聲定位常�？膳c雷達相比較，其原理是相似的。
新概念英語第四冊原文及翻譯Lesson8
Trading standards
貿(mào)易標準
What makes trading between rich countries difficult?
Chickens slaughtered in the United States, claim officials in Brussels, are not fit to grace European tables. No, say the American: our fowl are fine, we simply clean them in a different way. These days, it is differences in national regulations, far more than tariffs, that put sand in the wheels of trade between rich countries. It is not just farmers who are complaining. An electric razor that meets the European Union's safety standards must be approved by American testers before it can be sold in the United States, and an American-made dialysis machine needs the EU's okay before is hits the market in Europe.
As it happens, a razor that is safe in Europe is unlikely to electrocute Americans. So, ask businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, why have two lots of tests where one would do? Politicians agree, in principle, so America and the EU have been trying to reach a deal which would eliminate the need to double-test many products. They hope to finish in time for a trade summit between America and the EU on May 28TH. Although negotiators are optimistic, the details are complex enough that they may be hard-pressed to get a deal at all.
Why? One difficulty is to construct the agreements. The Americans would happily reach one accord on standards for medical devices and them hammer out different pacts covering, say, electronic goods and drug manufacturing. The EU -- following fine continental traditions -- wants agreement on general principles, which could be applied to many types of products and perhaps extended to other countries.
From: The Economist, May 24th, 1997
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
slaughter
v. 屠宰
fit
adj. 適合
grace
v. 給...增光
tariff
n. 關(guān)稅
standard
n. 標準
dialysis
n. 分離，分解;透析，滲析
electrocute
v. 使觸電身亡
eliminate
v. 消滅
accord
n. 協(xié)議
device
n. 儀器，器械
hammer out
v. 推敲
pact
n. 合同，條約，公約
參考譯文
布魯塞爾的官員說，在美國屠宰的雞不適于用來裝點歐洲的餐桌。不，美國人說，我們的家禽很好，只是我們使用了另一種清洗方式。當前，是各國管理條例上的差異，而不是關(guān)稅阻礙了發(fā)達國家之間的貿(mào)易。并不僅僅是農(nóng)民在抱怨。一把符合歐洲聯(lián)盟安全標準的電動剃須刀必須得到美國檢測人員的認可，方可在美國市場上銷售;而美國制造的透析儀也要得到歐盟的首肯才能進入歐洲市場。
碰巧在歐洲使用安全的剃須刀不大可能使美國人觸電身亡，因此，大西洋兩岸的企業(yè)都在問，當一套測試可以解決問題時，為什么需要兩套呢?政治家在原則上同意了， 因此，美國和歐洲一直在尋求達成協(xié)議，以便為許多產(chǎn)品取消雙重檢查。他們希望盡早達成協(xié)議，為5月28日舉行的美國和歐洲貿(mào)易的通級會議作準備。然談判代表持樂觀態(tài)度，但協(xié)議細節(jié)如此復雜，他們所面臨的困難很可能使他們無法取得一致。
為什么呢?困難之一是起草這些協(xié)議。美國人很愿意就醫(yī)療器械的標準達成一個協(xié)議，然后推敲出不同的合同，用以涵蓋 -- 比如說 -- 電子產(chǎn)品和藥品的生產(chǎn)。歐洲人遵循優(yōu)良的大陸傳統(tǒng)，則希望就普遍的原則取得一致，而這些原則適用于許多不同產(chǎn)品，同時可能延伸到其它國家。
新概念英語第四冊原文及翻譯Lesson9
Royal espionage
王室諜報活動
What important thing did King Alfred learn when he penetrated the Danish camp of Guthrum?
Alfred the Great acted his own spy, visiting Danish camps disguised as a minstrel. In those days wandering minstrels were welcome everywhere. They were not fighting men, and their harp was their passport. Alfred had learned many of their ballads in his youth, and could vary his programme with acrobatic tricks and simple conjuring.
While Alfred's little army slowly began to gather at Athelney, the king himself set out to penetrate the camp of Guthrum, the commander of the Danish invaders. There had settled down for the winter at Chippenham: thither Alfred went. He noticed at once that discipline was slack: the Danes had the self-confidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual. They lived well, on the proceeds of raids on neighbouring regions. There they collected women as well as food and drink, and a life of ease had made them soft.
Alfred stayed in the camp a week before he returned to Athelney. The force there assembled was trivial compared with the Danish horde. But Alfred had deduced that the Danes were no longer fit for prolonged battle: and that their commissariat had no organization, but depended on irregular raids.
So, faced with the Danish advance, Alfred did not risk open battle but harried the enemy. He was constantly on the move, drawing the Danes after him. His patrols halted the raiding parties: hunger assailed the Danish army. Now Alfred began a long series of skirmishes -- and within a month the Danes had surrendered. The episode could reasonably serve as a unique epic of royal espionage!
BERNARD NEWMAN Spies in Britain
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
espionage
n. 間諜活動
Alfred
公元871-899 年間任英國國王
Danish
adj. 丹麥的，丹麥人的，丹麥語的
minstrel
n. 中世紀的吟游歌手
wandering
adj. 漫游的
harp
n. 堅琴
ballad
n. 民歌
acrobatic
adj. 雜技的
conjuring
n. 魔術(shù)
Athelney
n. 阿塞爾納(英國一個小島)
Chippenham
n. 切本哈姆(英國一個城市)
thither
adv. 向那里
Dane
n. 丹麥人
slack
adj. 渙散的
conqueror
n. 征服者
casual
adj. 馬虎的，隨便的
precaution
n. 預防，警惕
proceeds
n. 所得
assemble
v. 集合
trivial
adj. 微不足道的
prolonged
adj. 持久的
commissariat
n. 軍糧供應
episode
n. 一個事件，片斷
epic
n. 史詩
harry
v. 騷擾
assail
v. 襲擊
skirmish
n. 小規(guī)模戰(zhàn)斗
參考譯文
阿爾弗雷德大帝曾親自充當間諜。他扮作吟游歌手到丹麥軍隊的營地里偵察。當時，浪跡天涯的吟游歌手到處受歡迎，他們不是作戰(zhàn)人員，豎琴就是他們的通行證。阿爾弗德年輕時學過許多民歌，并能穿插演一些雜技和小魔術(shù)使自己的節(jié)目多樣化。
阿爾弗雷德人數(shù)不多的軍隊開始在阿塞爾納慢慢集結(jié)時，他親自潛入丹麥入侵司令官古瑟羅姆的營地。丹麥軍已在切本哈姆扎下營準備過冬，阿爾弗雷便來到此地。他馬上發(fā)現(xiàn)丹麥軍紀律松弛，他們以征服者自居，安全措施馬馬虎虎。他們靠掠奪附近的地區(qū)的財物過著舒適的生活。他們不僅搜刮吃的喝的，而且搶掠婦女，安逸的生活已使丹麥軍隊變得軟弱無力。
阿爾弗雷德在敵營呆了一個星期后，回到了阿塞爾納。他集結(jié)在那里的軍隊和丹麥大軍相比是微不足道的，然而，阿爾弗雷德斷定，丹麥人已不再適應持久的戰(zhàn)爭，他們的軍需供應處于無組織狀態(tài)，只是靠臨時搶奪來維持。
因此，面對丹麥人的進攻，阿爾弗雷德沒有貿(mào)然同敵人作戰(zhàn)，而是采用騷擾敵人的戰(zhàn)術(shù)。他的部隊不停地移動，牽著敵人的鼻子，讓他們跟著跑。他派出巡邏隊阻止敵人搶劫，因而饑餓威脅著丹麥軍隊。這時，阿爾弗雷德發(fā)起一連串小規(guī)模的進攻，結(jié)果不出一個月，丹麥人就投降了。這一幕歷史可以說是王室諜報活動中最精彩的篇章。
