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Passage 1 Equal Rights
This is supposed to be an enlightened age, but you wouldn’t think so if you could hear what the average man thinks of the average woman. Women won their independence long ago. After a long, bitter struggle, they now enjoy the same educational opportunities as men in most parts of the world. They have proved repeatedly that they are equal and often superior to men in almost every field.
你会认为这应该是一个摆脱了偏见的时代，可当听到一名普通男子谈论他对一名普通女子的看法时，你就不会这样认为了。妇女早已赢得了独立。她们经过长期艰苦的斗争，在全球大部分地区可以与男子享有同等的教育机会。她们一次又一次地证明，妇女在几乎所有领域里都不比男子差，甚至还常常胜过男子。
The hard-fought battle for recognition has been won, but it is by no means over, it is men, not women, who still carry on the sex war because the attitude of many men remains basically hostile. In many countries and regions, women there continue to be regarded as second-rate citizens. To hear some men talk, you’d even come to the horrible conclusion that men and women belonged to different species.
这场艰苦的女性能力认可战虽已打赢，却远未终结。延续这场战斗的是男性而非女性，因为许多男子对女子的态度基本上仍然是敌视性的。许多国家和地区的妇女仍然被视为二等公民。如果听信一些男人所言，你甚至会得出男女两性非同种同类的可怕结论。
On the surface, the comments made by these men about women’s abilities seem light-hearted. This apparent light-heartedness does not conceal the real contempt that many men feel for women. However much men sneer at women, their claims to superiority are not borne out by facts. Let’s consider the matter of driving, for instance. We all know that women cause far fewer accidents than men. They are generally very conscientious and in fact, have succeeded in any job you care to name. As politicians, soldiers, doctors, factory-hands, university professors, farmers, managers, lawyers, scientists and presidents of countries, they have often put men to shame with their achievements. And we must remember that they frequently succeed brilliantly in all these fields in addition to bearing and rearing children.
从表面上看，这些男人对女性能力的评论似乎只是一种戏言，可这表面现象却无法掩饰许多男人对女性所抱的鄙视态度。无论这些男子怎样讥讽妇女，他们那种自认为比女性优越的看法是没有事实根据的。我们现以驾车为例。 我们都知道，女性开车时所出的车祸远远少于男性驾驶员的车祸。妇女通常非常谨慎小心，事实上她们已能胜任任何一种你能叫得出名字的职业。政治家、士兵、医生、工人、大学教授、农民、经理、律师、科学家、国家元首中的女性成员所作出的成就常常使许多男性感到羞愧。我们不可忘记，女性在这些领域里取得辉煌成就的同时开肩负着生儿育女的重任呢。
Passage 2 Meeting New People
People from different cultures sometimes do things that make each other uncomfortable – without meaning to or sometimes without even realizing it.
不同文化背景的人在一起有时会做出一些令对方感到不舒服的事――他们并非故意要这样做，有时甚至连自己都未察觉。
Most Americans have never been out of the country and have very little experience with foreigners. But they are usually spontaneous, friendly and open, and enjoy meeting new people, having guests and bringing people together formally or informally. They tend to use first names in most situations and speak freely about themselves. So if your American hosts do something that makes you uncomfortable, try to let them know how you feel. Most people will appreciate your honesty and try not to make you feel uncomfortable again.
大多数美国人从未走出国门，几乎没有同外国人打交道的经验。但是这些美国人通常主动、友好、坦率，喜欢结识人，欢迎客人来访，愿意召集正式的或非正式的聚会。他们在大部分场合倾向于直呼其名，毫无拘束地谈论自己。所以，要是你的美国主人做出了使你感到不舒服的事，你应该设法让他们知道你的感受。大多数人会喜欢你的诚实态度，尽量不做令你不快的事。
Many travelers find it easier to meet people in the United States than in other countries. They may just come up and introduce themselves or even invite you over before they really know you. Sometimes Americans are said to be superficially friendly. Perhaps it seems so, but they are probably just having a good time. Just like anywhere else, it takes time to become real friends with people in the United States.
许多旅行者感到在美国结识人比在其他国家来得容易，美国人可能会直接向你走去，向你做自我介绍，甚至在未真正认识你之前便邀请你去作客。有时美国人的友善被认为是一种表面现象，或许真是这么一回事，也许他们喜欢这样做。同在其他地方一样，与美国人结成真正的朋友需要一段时间。
When you stay with American friends, they will probably enjoy introducing you to their friends and family. They usually make a point of trying to make you feel comfortable and relaxed. On the whole, they tend to be informal. Men shake hands, but usually only when they are introduced. When a woman and a man are introduced, shaking hands is up to the woman. Americans rarely shake hands to say good-bye, except on business occasions.
当你同美国人在一起时，他们或许喜欢把你介绍给朋友和家人。美国人通常会尽力使你感到舒服、自在。总的说来，他们往往不拘礼节。男子被相互介绍时，他们通常会主动握手，而男女被相互介绍时，是否握手得取决于女方的态度。美国人告别时很少握手，除非在公务场合。
House guests may bring gifts when they come to visit, and they often offer to help in some ways. As a guest, you may want to ask your host or hostess if there’s anything you can do to help in the kitchen. In many cases, the gesture is more important than actually.
拜访家庭时，客人可以携带礼品上门。客人常常会主动表示在某方面做主人的帮手。做客时你可以问主人厨房里有无你可以帮忙的事。在许多情况下，这种主动帮忙的表示比实际行动显得更重要。
Passage 3 Geographical Environment
The geographical location of a country and its physical characteristics are very important to its development and progress. The United States is very fortunate in this respect.
一个国家的地理位置及其环境特征对于这个国家的发展和进步十分重要。美国在这方面是一个幸运的国家。
First of all, it has a good climate. In almost all sections of the country it is possible to live comfortably during the whole year. It is true in the south it sometimes gets very hot, and in the north very cold, but the people who live in these regions become accustomed to the climate and never suffer very much when the weather is either very hot or very cold.
首先，美国有良好的气候。几乎在美国任何一个地方，一年四季都可以过得很舒服。不错，这个国家的南部有时很炎热，北部很寒冷，但是这些地区的居民已适应了那种气候，无论炎热还是寒冷，他们都不会感到难受。
In a large country there is usually a great variety of different physical characteristics. In the United States, there are wide plains and high mountains, thousands of lakes and rivers of all sizes, cool forests and hot deserts, and a coastline several thousand miles long.
一个大国通常有各种不同的地理环境。美国有广袤的平原、高大的山脉、数以千计形状各异的江河湖泊、凉爽的森林、炎热的沙漠，以及长达数千英里的海岸线。
The many lakes and rivers, as well as the long coastline, have been of great importance to the development of the country, since they made possible the easy transportation of people and all the things people need. Transportation by water is still necessary and important. In modern times, however, trains, automobiles, trucks and airplanes are doing much of the work, which was formerly done by ships and boats.
众多的江河湖泊和漫长的海岸线为人和物提供了便利的运输条件，对国家的发展起着重要作用。时至今日，水路运输依然是不可缺少的重要交通工具。不过昔日大部分的船运任务现已由火车、汽车、卡车和飞机来承担。
Passage 4 A Square Peg in a Round Hole
Sometimes we say that someone we know is “a square peg in a round hole”. This simply means that the person we are talking about in not suited for the job he is doing. He may be a bookkeeper who really wants to be an actor or a mechanic who likes cooking. Unfortunately, many people in the world are “square pegs”; they are not doing the kind of work they should be doing, for one reason or another. As a result they probably are not doing a very good job and certainly they are not happy.
有时我们说某个熟人是“插在圆孔中的一根方料”，意思是我们所说的这个人不适合做他所从事的工作。他也许是一名簿记员，却很想当演员； 他或许是一名技工，却很想当厨师。不幸的是，世界上许多人都是方料子，由于各种各样的原因，他们所从事的职业并非是他们的所好。其结果他们可能做不好工作，他们一定感到不快乐。
Choosing the right career is very important. Most of us spend a great part of our lives at our jobs, and for that reason we should try to find out what our talents are and how we can use them. We can do this through attitude tests, interviews with specialists, and study of books in our field of interest.
选择合适的职业很重要。我们中间大部分人会将很大一部分时间花在自己的工作上。 正因为此，我们应该了解自己的才能，懂得如何使用自己的才能。我们可以通过能力测试、同专家面谈、研读我们感兴趣的领域里的书籍来达到上述目的。
There are many careers open to each of us. Perhaps we like science. Then we might prepare ourselves to be chemists, physicists, or biologists. Maybe our interests take us into the business world and such work as accounting, personnel management or public relations. Of course, there are persons who find their place in government service. Teaching, journalism, medicine, engineering – these and many other fields offer fascinating careers to persons with talent and training.
我们每个人面前都有许多职业可以去干。也许我们喜欢科学，那么我们可以把自己培养成化学家、物理学家或生物学家。也许我们的兴趣会把自己带入商界，从事诸如会计、人事管理或公共关系之类的工作。当然有些人会选择公务员的工作。教育、新闻、医学、工程等领域都可以向有才能、经过培训的人士提供引人入胜的职业。
Passage 5 Carrying Money when Traveling
The best way to carry money while traveling is to have a major credit card like Visa, MasterCard or American Express. Credit cards can be canceled if they are lost or stolen. Because major credit cards such as those are widely accepted, it is easy to use them for lodging, transportation, meals and things you want to buy from larger stores.
在外旅行时携带钱的最佳方式是持有一张如“威莎”、“万事达”或“美国运通”之类的主要信用卡。信用卡遗失或被窃后可以挂失。由于上述这类信用卡被广泛认可，人们可以用它们来支付住宿费、交通费或餐饮费，也可以用来购买大商店里的物品。
When you pay for something with your credit card, the salesperson will take your card and fill out a form using a computer or a machine. He or she will ask you to sign the form and then give you a copy. The credit card company sends you a bill once a month that shows the purchases you made and any balance left to pay from the month before. Usually you have thirty days to pay before they charge you interest.
当你用信用卡付费时，服务员会接过你的卡，然后用电脑或某种机器填单子。服务员会要求你在单子上签名，然后将其中一联交给你。信用卡公司按月寄帐单给你，帐单上写明你购物用款以及上月的未付款余额。在通常情况下，你可以在30天之内向信用卡公司交纳钱款，过期未交纳钱款者得付利息。
Another way to carry money safely while you’re traveling is to carry travelers’ checks, which are insured against loss. You can use traveler’s checks almost anywhere – in restaurants, stores, or ticket offices – without having to go to a bank. If you run out of them, you can buy more at most banks. Their service charge will vary, though.
旅行时的另一种携带钱的方法是持旅行支票，旅行支票都登记过丢失保险。你几乎可以在任何地方使用旅行支票，如餐馆、商店或票房，不必上银行取钱。如果你用完了旅行支票，可以去银行购买新的旅行支票。大多数银行都有这类业务，当然所收取的服务费可能有所不一。
Some travelers use personal checks, which may not always be accepted. If you write a personal check and it bounces, you will have to pay the bank high service charge on it. So be sure you always have enough money in your account to cover any checks you write.
有些旅行者也使用私人支票，担不是所有地方都愿意接受私人支票。如果你开出的私人支票因透支而被视为无效，你必须付给银行一笔高额的服务费。所以你要确保自己银行的帐户里有足够的存款来支付所开支票的钱款。
Passage 6 The One-Eyed Monster
Television is a one-eyed monster that has occupied almost all our spare time. Whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly, There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of the programs are so bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well. When millions watch the same programs, the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions, which obtain in preliterate communities. We become utterly dependent on the tow most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.
电视是头几乎占去了我们全部业余时间的独眼恶魔。一代又一代人在成长中患上电视瘾症。世界上创造力的资源是有限的。电视每天在大口大口的吞噬创造才华。电视无法在及时满足需求的同时又保持很高的水准，这就是为什么大部分电视节目如此糟糕的缘由。当数以百万计的人在观看同一节目时，全世界成了一个地球村，社会回归到原始的文盲部落状态。我们完全倚赖最原始的两大交际手段，即图画与言语。
Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never found it difficult to occupy our spare time. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theaters, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events. We used to read books and newspapers, and listen to music and broadcast talks. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the “goggle box”. We rush home or gulp down our meals to be in time for this or that program. We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meals, exchanging the news of the day.
在我们准许这头独眼兽进入家庭之前，我们从未感到业余时间难以打发。例如，我们有自己的爱好，我们会招待朋友，也接受朋友的招待，我们外出娱乐，上剧院，上影院，上餐馆，看体育比赛。我们读书看报，听音乐，听广播。可这一切都已成为历史。现在我们的业余时间都由这头“独眼匣”来调度。我们匆匆忙忙的赶回家，又匆匆忙忙的扒下饭，只为能及时收看这个或那个节目。我们甚至再也不围桌而坐，不从容不迫的享受晚餐，交流一天的信息。
Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become contend with second-hand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world. We get so lazy, we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than to go out into the world itself. Television may be a splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other. We only become aware of the fact that how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountains, far away from civilization.
电视使我们的娱乐成了一种被动活动。我们满足于二手经历，坐在沙发里看别人的行动太轻松舒适不过了。电视逐渐把我们同真实世界分隔开来。我们太懒惰了，在晴好的日子我们选择了半明半暗的环境，弃外面的世界于不顾，却同电视机如漆似胶地粘在一起。电视也许是一种优秀的交际工具，但它却妨碍着我们相互间的交流。只有当我们远离现代文明之地去海边或上山度假时，我们才会意识到电视原来是一种与真实生活毫不相干的东西。
Passage 7 Medical Services away from Home
Getting ill away from home is a very frightening thought, but it’s something you can sometimes be prepared for. Unless you are planning to immigrate into Britain, check with your country’s own health services or your health insurance agency before you leave home. People who take medication regularly should bring enough with them for their entire stay.
一想到在异乡患病就会令人不寒而栗，不过有时你也可以为这类事的发生预先做些准备工作。除非你计划到英国移民，不然出国前你可以到国内卫生部门或健康保险公司去检查身体。定期服用药物者应该带足可供自己在国外整个逗留期间需要服用的药剂。
In Britain pharmacists in one town will not fill prescriptions from other towns, nor those from other countries. If you run out of medicine while you’re in Britain, you’ll have to be examined by a doctor and get a new prescription. Some medications – such as aspirin and other mild painkillers, cold medicines and nasal decongestants, vitamins, cough syrups and sore throat tablets, as well as medication for indigestion, nausea and diarrhea – is available without a prescription. You can even get these drugs over the counter at convenience stores or supermarkets.
在英国，某城镇的药剂师不会为另一城镇或另一国家的药剂师所开的处方开药。如果你在英国期间用完了药，你得让医生做检查，开新的处方。购买有些药，如阿司匹林这类轻微止痛药、感冒药、鼻通药、维他命、止咳药、咽喉药，以及医治消化不良、恶心、腹泻等现象的药都无需处方。你甚至可以在便利商店或超市的柜台上随意购买。
If you need a doctor for your illness, you should be prepared to pay for office calls, emergency room treatment and even hospital stays, as most doctors and hospitals will want you to pay when you are treated. Hospitals usually required a deposit of money or the name of someone who will promise to pay in case you don’t. In any case, make arrangement with your health or travel insurance company before you leave, or take some extra money with you in case of any emergency.
如果你需要医生给你看病，或门诊，或急诊，或住院，你都要做好付费的准备。因为大多数医生和医院都要病人就诊时付费。医院通常要求你付上一笔押金，或要求你告诉院方某个可以代你付费的人的姓名。不管怎样，你都应该在出国前与你的医疗保险公司或旅游公司作出某种安排，或者多带些钱出国，以防万一。
Passage 8 Against Segregated Schools
I vote against the idea of a girls’ or boys’ school, one of the chief aims of education is to equip future citizens with all they require to take their place in adult society. Now adult society is made up of men and women, so how can a segregated school possibly offer the right sort of preparation for it? Anyone entering adult society after years of segregation can only be in for a shock.
我反对男女学生分校就读的主张。学校的主要目的之一是未来的国民具备进入成人社会后发挥各自作用时所需具备的一切条件。既然现在的成人社会是由男男女女共同组建而成的，那么一所学生性别单一的学校又如何能提供进入成人社会所需要的那种准备呢？任何一个学生在接受多年男女分校的教育之后，在成人社会里都会感到无所适从。
A co-educational school offers children nothing less than a true version of society in miniature. Boys and girls are given the opportunity to get to know each other, to learn to live together from their earliest years. They are put in a position where they can compare themselves with each other in terms of academic ability, athletic achievement and many of the extracurricular activities, which are part of school life. What a practical advantage it is to be able to put on a school in which the male parts will be taken by boys and the female parts by girls! What nonsense co-education makes of the argument that boys are cleverer than girls or vice-versa. When segregated, boys and girls are made to feel that they are a race apart. Rivalry between the sexes is fostered. In a co-educational school, everything falls into its proper place.
一所男女同校的学校让孩子们看到的是一个微型的真实世界。男女生之间有机会了解彼此，有机会从人生的早期便开始学习如何相互共处。他们有机会对彼此的学习能力、体育业绩以及作为校园生活组成部分的许多课外活动进行比较。对于一所男女学生角色分明的学校来说，这方面的优势是有现实意义的。男女同校教育可以使那种认为男孩比女孩聪明的论点或女孩比男孩聪明的论点成为无稽之谈。男女分校教育的结果是让孩子们感到男生和女生从属不同的种族，性别之争却得以强化。然而在一所男女同校的学校里，一切都有其合理的位置。
But perhaps the greatest contribution of co-education is the healthy attitude to life it encourages. Boys don’t grow up believing that women are mysterious creatures – airy goddesses, more like book-illustrations to a fairy-tale, than human beings. Girls don’t grow up imaging that men are romantic heroes. The awkward stage of adolescence brings into sharp focus some of the physical and emotional problems involved in growing up. These can better be overcome in a co-educational environment. Segregated schools sometimes provide the right conditions for sexual deviation, which is hardly possible under a co-educational system. When the time comes for the pupils to leave school, they are fully prepared to enter society as well-adjusted adults. They have already had years of experience in coping with many of the problems that face men and women.
也许男女同校教育的最大贡献在于其提倡健康的人生观。 男生在成长过程中视女性为凡人，而不是神秘的人物、天上的仙女或童话插图中的女神。女生在成长过程中也不把男性视为浪漫的英雄。青春期这令人尴尬的阶段使孩子成长过程中出现的一些生理问题和情感问题变得尤为突出。这些问题可以在男女同校教育的环境中得到较好的解决。男女分校有时为畸形的性观念的形成提供了温床，而这种情况几乎难以在男女同校的环境中发生。男女同校的学生毕业后，他们已是调整到位的成年人，为进入社会做好了一切准备。他们在处理男女所面临的许多问题方面已积累了多年的经验。 |
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发表于 2006-1-25 20:31:17
