全新版大学英语综合教程-1-Unit8-课文正文电子书及翻译
翠鸟的图片-高考作文指导
全新版大学英语综合教程
-1-Unit8-课文正文电子书及翻
译
———————————————————————————————— 作者：
———————————————————————————————— 日期：
2
Benjamin Stein weaves a tale
to bring home to young Americans the need to
change the way they
think about education.
Read it and see whether you think it holds any
lessons for us as well.
本杰明·斯坦编了一个故事，以使
美国青年彻底认识他们必须改变对教育的态度。读
一读这个故事，看看你是否认为它对我们大家同样也有
教育意义。
Fable of the Lazy Teenager
Benjamin Stein
1 One day last
fall, I ran out of file folders and went to the
drugstore to buy more. I put a
handful of
folders on the counter and asked a teenage
salesgirl how much they cost. don't
know,
关于懒散少年的寓言故事
本杰明·斯坦
去年
一个秋日，我文件夹用完了，便去杂货店买。我拿了一大把文件夹搁在柜台上，
问一个十几岁的售货员多
少钱。“不知道，”她回答说，“反正单价12美分。”
2 I
counted the folders.
我数了数文件夹。“二十三个，单价12美分，总共2.76美金，不含税，”我说。
3
“你心算的？”她惊奇地问道，“你怎么会算出来的？”
4
“靠魔力，” 我说。
5 “真的？” 她问。
6 No
modestly educated adult can fail to be upset by
such an experience. While our children
seem
better-natured than ever, they are so ignorant ─
and so ignorant of their ignorance ─ that
they
frighten me. In a class of 60 seniors at a private
college where I recently taught, not one
student could write a short paper without
misspellings. Not one.
略受教育的成年人没有谁不会为这样
的经历难过。虽然我们的孩子似乎比以往任何时
候都要温厚和气，他们却如此无知 ——
对自己的无知状况也如此无知 —— 以至使我感到
可怕。在我最近任教的一所私立大学，一个六十人的
四年级班上，没有一个学生写短文时不
犯拼写错误。没有一个学生例外。
7
But this is just a tiny slice of the problem. The
ability to perform even the simplest
calculations is only a memory among many
students I see, and their knowledge of world
history or
geography is nonexistent.
但这只是问题的一小部分。在我所见过的许多学生中，再也没有过去学生都有的哪怕
是进行最简单的计算的能力，他们对世界历史和地理都一无所知。
8 Moreover, there is a chilling
indifference about all this ignorance. The
attitude was summed
up by a friend's bright,
lazy 16-year-old son, who explained why he
preferred not to go to U.C.L.A.
更有甚
者，他们对这种种的无知却毫不在乎，实在令人不寒而栗。一位朋友的聪明但
却很懒散的十六岁儿子在解
释他为什么不想上加州洛杉矶分校时说的话是对这种态度的高
度概括。“我不想去那儿跟亚洲人竞争，”
他说，“他们用功，什么都知道。”
9 In fact, this
young man will have to compete with Asians whether
he wants to or not. He
cannot live forever on
the financial, material and human capital
accumulated by his ancestors. At
some point
soon, his intellectual laziness will seriously
affect his way of life. It will also affect the
rest of us. A modern industrial state cannot
function with an idle, ignorant labor force.
Planes will
crash. Computers will jam. Cars
will break down.
其实，无论他是否愿意，这位年轻人都将不得不去
跟亚洲人竞争。他不能永远躺在先
辈积累的经济、物质与人力资本上。用不了多久，他懒于用脑的结果将
严重影响他的生活方
式，也将影响我们其他所有的人。一个现代工业化国家无法靠一支懒散、无知的劳动
大军运
行。飞机会坠落。计算机会出故障。汽车会抛锚。
10 To
drive this message home to such young Americans, I
have a humble suggestion: a
movie, or TV
series, dramatizing just how difficult it was for
the country to get where it is ─ and
how
easily it could all be lost. I offer the following
fable.
为使这样的美国青年彻底认识到这一点，我的愚见是：拍一部电影，或电
视连续剧，
生动地描述我们国家的今天如何来之不易 ——
而要丧失这一切又何其容易。下面我奉献一
篇寓言故事。
11 As
the story opens, our hero, Kevin Hanley 1990, a
17-year-old high school senior, is
sitting in
his room, feeling bitter. His parents insist he
study for his European history test. He
wants
to go shopping for headphones for his portable CD
player. The book he is forced to read ─
The
Wealth of Nations ─ puts him to sleep.
故事开始时，我们的主人公凯文·汉利1990，一名十七岁的高三学生，正坐在自己
房间里，心情痛苦
。他父母一定要他准备欧洲史考试。而他则想去买一副激光唱片随身听的
耳机。他被迫要读的书 ——
《各国的财富》 —— 让他打瞌睡。
12 Kevin dreams
it is 1835, and he is his own great-great-great-
grandfather at 17, a peasant in
County Kerry,
Ireland. He lives in a small hut and sleeps next
to a pig. He is always hungry and
must search
for food. His greatest wish is to learn to read
and write so he might get a job as a clerk.
With steady wages, he would be able to feed
himself and help his family. But Hanley's poverty
allows no leisure for such luxuries as going
to school. Without education and money, he is
powerless. His only hope lies in his children.
If they are educated, they will have a better
life.
凯文进入梦乡，时值1835年，他是他本人的曾太祖父，十七岁，是爱尔
兰克雷郡的
一个农民。他住在小小的陋室里，睡在一头猪旁。他老是挨饿，总是要找吃的。他最大的心<
br>愿是学会读书写字，以便找一个职员的工作。有了固定的工资，他就能养活自己，贴补家用。
但汉利的贫穷使他无从享受上学这样的奢侈。没有教育，没有钱，他无能为力
。他惟一的希
望寄托在孩子身上。如果他们能接受教育，他们就会生活得好一些。
13 Our fable fast-forwards and Kevin Hanley
1990 is now his own great-grandfather, Kevin
Hanley, 1928. He, too, is 17 years old, and he
works in a steel mill in Pittsburgh. His father
came
to America from Ireland and helped build
the New York City subway. Kevin Hanley 1928 is far
better off than either his father or his
grandfather. He can read and write. His wages are
far better
than anything his ancestors had in
Ireland.
我们的寓言故事快速展开。现在凯文·汉利1990成了他自己的曾
祖父，凯文·汉利
1928。他也是十七岁，在匹兹堡一家钢铁厂工作。他的父亲从爱尔兰来到美国，参
加过纽约
地铁的修建。凯文·汉利1928比自己的父亲和祖父境遇好多了。他能读书写字。他的工资<
br>比先辈在爱尔兰时的收入高多了。
14 Next Kevin
Hanley 1990 dreams that he is Kevin Hanley 1945,
his own grandfather,
fighting on Iwo Jima
against a most determined foe, the Japanese army.
He is always hot, always
hungry, always
scared. One night in a foxhole, he tells a friend
why he is there:
his son can live in peace and
security. When I get back, I'll work hard and send
my boy to college
so he can live by his brains
instead of his back.
接下来凯文·汉利1990梦见自己成了他
自己的祖父凯文·汉利1945。他正在硫黄岛
与死敌日本军队作战。他总是又热又饿又害怕。一天晚上
他在散兵坑里与一个朋友讲自己为
什么在那儿作战：“这样我的儿子、孙子就能生活在和平安全的环境里
。等我回国了，我要
勤奋工作，让儿子上大学，这样他就可以干脑力活儿，而不是靠卖苦力生活。”
15 Then Kevin Hanley 1990 is his own
father, Kevin Hanley 1966, who studies all the
time so
he can get into college and law
school. He lives in a fine house. He has never
seen anything but
peace and plenty. He tells
his girl friend that when he has a son, he won't
make him study all the
time, as his father
makes him.
接着凯文·汉利1990成了他自己的父亲凯文·汉利1966
。他终日用功，这样就可以
上大学，进法学院。他住在漂亮的房子里。他一生在和平环境中过着富裕的生
活。他对女朋
友说，等他有了儿子，他不会像他父亲逼他那样逼自己的儿子整天读书。
16 At that point, Kevin Hanley 1990 wakes
up, shaken by his dream. He is relieved to be
away from Ireland and the steel mill and Iwo
Jima. He goes back to sleep.
就在这时， 凯文·汉
利1990被自己的梦惊醒了。他离开了爱尔兰，离开了那家钢铁
厂，离开了硫黄岛，不由松了口气。他
又睡着了。
17 When he dreams again, he is
his own son, Kevin Hanley 2020. There is gunfire
all day and
all night. His whole generation
forgot why there even was law, so there is none.
People pay no
attention to politics, and
government offers no services to the working
class.
他接着做梦，这次成了他自己的儿子凯文·汉利2020。枪声日夜不停
。他那整个一
代人忘却了过去为什么要有法律，因此现在没有法律了。人们丝毫不关心政治，政府不为工
人阶级提供服务。
18 Kevin 2020's
father, who is of course Kevin 1990 himself, works
as a cleaner in a factory
owned by the Japanese. Kevin 2020 is a porter
in a hotel for wealthy Europeans and Asians.
Public education stops at the sixth grade.
Americans have long since stopped demanding good
education for their children.
凯文202
0的父亲，自然就是凯文1990本人，在日本人开的一家工厂当清洁工。凯文
2020在一家专为有钱
的欧洲人和亚洲人开的酒店里当行李工。公共教育到六年级为止。美
国人早就不再要求自己的孩子接受良
好的教育。
19 The last person Kevin 1990
sees in his dream is his own grandson. Kevin 2050
has no
useful skills. Machines built in Japan
do all the complex work, and there is little
manual work to
be done. Without education,
without discipline, he cannot earn an adequate
living wage. He lives
in a slum where there is
no heat, no plumbing, no privacy and survives by
searching through trash
piles.
凯文19
90最后梦见的是他自己的孙子。凯文2050没有有用的技能。日本制造的机器
包揽了所有复杂的工作
，没有什么体力活可做。没有受过教育，没有受过训练，他挣不到足
够的钱养活自己。他住在贫民窟，没
有暖气，没有卫生设备，无法不受四邻干扰，靠搜捡破
烂度日。
20
In a word, he lives much as Kevin Hanley 1835 did
in Ireland. But one day, Kevin Hanley
2050 is
befriended by a visiting Japanese anthropologist
studying the decline of America. The man
explains to Kevin that when a man has no
money, education can supply the human capital
necessary to start to acquire financial
capital. Hard work, education, saving and
discipline can do
anything. is how we rose
from the ashes after you defeated us in a war
about a hundred
years ago.
总之，他的生活就像
凯文·汉利1835在爱尔兰时一模一样。可是有一天，凯文·汉
利2050与一位研究美国衰亡史的来
访日本人类学家交上了朋友。那人跟凯文解释说，如果
一个人没有钱，教育能提供积累金融资本所必需的
人力资本。勤奋、教育、节俭、纪律能成
就一切。“我们就是这样从一百多年前你们打败我们的战争废墟
中站起来的。”
21
Brazil defeating the
United States would sound in 1990. Kevin 2050
swears that if he ever has
children, he will
make sure they work and study and learn and
discipline themselves.
to make a living by
one's mind instead of by stealing,
“美国在战
争中打败日本？”凯文2050问道。他惊讶之极。这听起来就像说巴西在
1990年打败美国一样不可
思议。凯文2050发誓，如果他有孩子的话，他一定要让他们工作、
上学、学习并约束自己。“能凭自
己的脑力，而不是靠偷窃为生，”他说，“那将会是个奇迹。”
22
When Kevin 1990 wakes up, next to him is his copy
of The Wealth of Nations. He opens it
and the
first sentence to catch his eye is this:
faculties of a man is, if possible, more
contemptible than even a coward.
凯文1990醒
了过来，身旁放着他的那本《各国的财富》。他打开书，跳入眼帘的第一
句话就是：“一个不能恰当运用
人类智力的人极可能比懦夫更可鄙。”
23 Kevin's father
walks in.
凯文的父亲走了进来。“好了，儿子，”他说，“咱们去看耳机吧。”
24
“抱歉了，爸爸，”凯文1990说，“我得看书学习了。”
Do you
think the use of calculators in learning math is a
good idea? If you do, perhaps this
article
will change your mind.
你认为学数学时使用计算器好吗？如果你认为好，也许这篇文章会改变你的看法。
Ditch the Calculator
Diane Hunsaker
1 I sigh inwardly as I watch yet
another student, this one a ninth grader, struggle
with an
advanced math problem that requires
simple multiplication. He mentally battles with
5×6, looks
longingly at the off-limits
calculator on the corner of my desk and finally
guesses the answer:
扔了计算器
黛安·亨萨克
看着又一个学生，这次是个九年级学生，费劲地解一道
需要运用简单的乘法运算的高
级数学题，我暗自叹气。他苦苦地心算着5×6，眼巴巴地望着我桌头那个
可望不可及的计
算器，最后凭空猜测了一个答案：35。
2 The
growth in the use of calculators in the classroom
amazes me. The students I tutor tell
me
regularly that their teachers allow unlimited
access to this tool. The National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics actively encourages
its use. Recently I attended a math seminar where
the instructor casually stated that teachers
were no longer reluctant to permit calculators in
the
classroom. Now agrees on their importance,
she said. (1)The more I hear from the
education establishment about the benefits of
these devices in schools, the less surprised I am
when middle- and high-school students who have
difficulty with arithmetic call for tutoring in
algebra and geometry. Having worked six years
as an electrical engineer before switching to
teaching, I often suggest to my students that
they consider technical and scientific careers,
but I'm
discouraged when I see an increasing
number of kids who lack simple math skills.
课堂上使用计算器越来越多，这令我惊讶。我辅导的学生常常告诉我，他们的老师允
许无限制地使用这一
工具。全国数学教师协会积极鼓励使用计算器。最近我参加了一个数学
研讨会，会上一位教师随口说，教
师已不再不愿意让学生在课堂上使用计算器了。目前“人
人”都认识到了计算器的重要性，她说。(1)
我听到教育机构谈论学校里使用这些工具的好
处，听到越多，对于算术有困难的初、高中生需要家庭教师
辅导几何、代数一事，我就越觉
得不足为怪了。由于改行教书前我曾当过六年电气工程师，因此常常建议
学生将来从事技术
或科学工作，但看到越来越多的孩子缺乏基本的数学运算技能，我不由深感失望。
3 Educators have
many arguments in defense of calculators, but each
one ignores the reason
that we teach math in
the first place. Math trains the mind. By this I
mean that students learn to
think logically
and rationally, to proceed from known information
to desired information and to
become competent
with both numbers and ideas. These skills are
something that math and science
teach and are
essential for adolescents to become thinking,
intelligent members of society.
教育工作者有诸
多理由为使用计算器辩解，但每每都忽略了我们教数学的首要理由。
数学能培养智力。我是说，学生能学
会逻辑地、理性地思维，学会根据已知信息找到所需信
息，进而变得既会运算又善于思维。这类技能是通
过数学和科学课程传授的，对青少年成长
为善于思考的、有才智的社会成员有着重要意义。
4 Some teachers argue that calculators let
students concentrate on how to solve problems
instead of getting tied up with tedious
computations. (2)Having a calculator doesn't make
it any
easier for a student to decide how to
attack a math problem. Rather, it only encourages
him to try
every combination of addition,
subtraction, multiplication or division without
any thought about
which would be more
appropriate. Some of my elementary-school children
look at a word
problem and instantly guess
that adding is the correct approach. When I
suggest that they solve the
problem this way
without a calculator, they usually pause and think
before continuing. A student is
much more
likely to cut down his work by reflecting on the
problem first if he doesn't have a
calculator
in his hand. Learning effective methods for
approaching confusing problems is essential,
not just for math but for life.
有教师争辩道，计算器使学生集中精力解题，而不为繁琐的运算拖累。(2) 计算器并
不能方便学生确
定解数学题的方法。相反，计算器只会鼓励他乱试加减乘除的各种组合，而
不去考虑哪种组合更加适当。
我的一些小学生一看某道应用题立刻就猜测加法是正确的运算
方法。当我建议他们不依赖计算器用加法解
题时，他们往往在继续运算前先思考一番。如果
手里没有计算器，学生更有可能停下来先对问题思考一番
，以减少运算工作。学会用有效的
方法解决复杂的问题是必要的，不仅学数学如此，在生活中也一样。
5 A middle-school teacher once said
to me,
him a calculator, and he'll be
fine.
problem solving fell to such a low
priority in education circles. How could we
possibly
communicate with each other, much
less create new ideas, without the immense store
of
information in our brains? 一位中学教师曾对我说
：“学生不会运算长除法又怎么样？
给他个计算器，他就有办法了。”我不敢苟同。我不知道，从什么时
候起，背诵和反复解题
在教育界变得如此不受重视。没有大脑中储存的大量信息，我们如何相互交流？更
不用说创
新出主意了。
6 Math is as much
about knowing why the rules work as knowing what
the rules are. A
student who cannot do long
division obviously does not comprehend the
principles on which it is
based. A true
understanding of why often makes learning by rote
unnecessary, because the student
can figure
out the rules himself. My students who view the
multiplication tables as a list of
unrelated
numbers have much more difficulty in math than
those who know that multiplication is
simply
repeated addition. Calculators prevent students
from seeing this kind of natural structure
and
beauty in math.
数学要讲有哪些规则，更要讲这些规则为什么成立。不会做长除法的学生显然不理解
长除法所依据的原理。真正理解了所以然常常使得死记硬背毫无必要，因为学
生自己就能算
出这些规则。我的那些把乘法表看作一串不相关数字的学生在数学上的困难远比那些懂得乘
法只是连加的学生多得多。计算器妨碍学生认识数学中这类自然结构和美。
7
A student who learns to handle numbers mentally
can focus on how to attack a problem and
then
complete the actual calculations easily. He will
also have a much better idea of what the
answer should be, since experience has taught
him
numbers.
学会心算的学生能把注意力集中到如何解题上，然
后轻而易举地完成实际运算。他对
答案该是个什么样儿心里也更有数，因为经验使他把握了“数字感”，
或者说数字间的关系。
8 A student who has grown
up with a calculator will struggle with both
strategies and
computations. When youngsters
used a calculator to solve 9×4 in third grade,
they are still using
one to solve the same
problem in high school. By then they are also
battling with algebra.
(3)Because they never
felt comfortable working with numbers as children,
they are seriously
disadvantaged when they
attempt the generalized math of algebra.
Permitting extensive use of
calculators
invites a child's mind to stand still. If we don't
require students to do the simple
problems
that calculators can do, how can we expect them to
solve the more complex problems
that
calculators cannot do?
一个伴着计算器长大的学生既要对付
解题策略又要对付实际运算。三年级时借助计算
器算出9×4的孩子到了高中仍在借助计算器做同样的运
算。届时他们还得应付代数。(3) 因
为他们在孩提时代对数字计算从未感到过轻松，当他们试图攻读
代数这一广义数学时就会处
于极其不利的地位。允许广泛使用计算器会使孩子的智力发展停滞不前。如果
我们不让学生
做那些计算器能代劳的简单的运算，又怎么能期待他们去解决计算器解决不了的更为复杂的
问题呢？
9 Students learn far more
when they do the math themselves. I've tutored
youngsters on
practice SAT exams where they
immediately reach for their calculators. If they'd
take a few
seconds to understand the problem
at hand, they most likely would find a simpler
solution without
needing a stick to lean on. I
have also watched students incorrectly enter a
problem like 12 + 32
into their calculators as
112 + 32 and not bat an eye at the obviously
incorrect answer. After all,
they used a
calculator, so it must be right.
学生自己进行
数学运算所获得的收益远比依赖计算器多。我辅导过孩子做学业能力倾
向测试的模拟试题，他们一坐下就
拿计算器算。如果他们对手头的题目略加思考，就很可能
不需要倚靠拐杖就能找到一种更简单的解题方法
。我还观察到学生错把12＋32 当作112＋
32输入计算器，对算出的明显错误的答案连眼都不眨
一下。毕竟，他们用的是计算器，所
以，一定没错。
10
Educators also claim that calculators are so
inexpensive and commonplace that students
must
become competent in using them. New math texts
contain whole sections on solving
problems
with a calculator. Most people, including young
children, can learn its basic functions in
about five minutes. Calculators do have their
place in the world outside school and, to a
limited
extent, in higher-level math classes,
but they are hardly education tools.
教育家们还声称，计算器如此便宜而又普遍，学生必须学会熟练使用。新的数学教材
有整节整节关于用计算器解题的内容。大多数人，包括年幼的孩子们，用大约
五分钟就能掌
握计算器的基本功能。计算器在学校之外的社会中的确有其地位，在高等数学课堂上也有一
定的作用，但它们很难算得上是教育工具。
11 Many
teachers as well as students insist, shouldn't we
use calculators? They will
always be around,
and we'll never do long division in real
life.
math. Not many of us need to figure the
circumference of a circle or factor a quadratic
equation
for any practical reason. But that's
not the sole purpose of teaching math. (4) We
teach it for
thinking and discipline, both of
which expand the mind and increase the student's
ability to
function as a contributing
individual in society: the ultimate goals of
education.
不少老师以及学生坚持认为，“我们为什么不能用计算器？计算
器永远就在身边，我
们在实际生活中根本不会做长除法运算。”这或许是事实。大多数数学运算也都如此
。我们
当中没有多少人会出于实际需要而计算圆的周长或求解一项二次方程的因子。但那并非数学
教学的惟一目的。(4) 我们为培养思维和训练而教数学，这两者都能扩展思维，增强学生为
社会作
贡献的能力：这是教育的终极目的。