2012江苏党校在职研究生-英语-复习纲要-短文翻译

Passage Translation

短文翻

译

(P41-46)

1

Researchers believe women with just one child have more spare time to earn

money and have become an important source of family income that helps improve

living standards and educate children.

They have consequently improved women's status in both the family and society.

The survey showed women with fewer children only spend 20 per cent of their

time on household chores, compared t0 38 per cent for women with more children.

The survey was carried out as part of national research on the result and benefit

of family planning.

2

Astronomers can tell just how hot the surface of the moon gets. The side of the

moon

toward

the

sun

gets

two

degrees

hotter

than

boiling

water.

The

night

side

reaches 243 degrees below zero.

In an eclipse, the earth's shadow falls on the moon. Then the moon's temperature

may drop 300 degrees in a very short time.

A temperature change like this cannot happen on the earth. Why does it happen

on the moon? Astronomers think that the surface of the moon is dust.

On the earth,

rocks store

heat from the sun.

When the

sun goes down, the rocks stay warm.

But the dust of the moon cannot store heat. So when the moon gets dark, the heat

escapes quickly.

The moon gets very cold.

3

But

in

1991,

under

pressure

from

environmentalists

around

the

world,

Brazil

reversed course. It ended tax favors that had encouraged clearing of the Amazon rain

forest, and agreed to a plan to finance new forest protection projects.

Cattle

farmers,

miners,

and

settlers

have

protested

the

move

and

continue

to

destroy the forests, although at a slower pace than before. The conflict enlarged last

year when miners killed a group of Amazon Indians in order to seize their land. The

government promises it will protect the region's native people, but questions remain

as to its true level of commitment.

4

American cities are similar to other cities around the world.

Cities contain the

very best aspects of a society. They also contain the very worst parts of a society.

American cities are changing, just as American society Js changing.

After

World

War

II,

city

people

became

wealthier.

They

had

more

children.

They needed more space.

They moved out of their apartments in the city to buy

their

own

houses.

They

bought

houses

in

the

suburbs.

During

the

1950s

the

American

Now

things

are

changing.

The

children

of

the

people

who

left

the

cities

in

1950s are now adults.

They, unlike their parents, want to live in the cities.

Many

of them are single; others are married, but often without children.

A new class is

moving into the city-a wealthier class.

5

Some new arrivals will come from cultures where it is considered impolite to

work too quickly. Unless a certain amount of time is allowed to elapse, it seems in

their eyes as if the task being considered were insignificant. not worthy of proper

respect.

Assignments

are,

consequently,

felt

to

be

given

added

weight

by

the

passage of time. In the U.S., however, it is taken as a sign of skillfulness or being

competent to solve a problem, or fulfill a job successfully, with speed. Usually, the

more important a task is, the more capital, energy, and attention will be poured into it

in order to

6

People who get to know the limit, I think, must have experienced what it is to

overdo a thing. The limit can be found after one has gone to extremes. If you haven't

had such experience, if you have never made mistakes, never cherished ideas of

rebellion, you will never find it. If you behave too well, neither overdo anything nor

make any mistakes, you will naturally fail to find what's most suitable to you.

The offspring of American-Chinese follow the same course of life almost without

exception. When they go to middle school they resent the Chinese way of education

their parents have given them and look down upon their peers with the same Chinese

background. During this period their parents are most nervous, quite at a loss, and

then examine themselves of their failure in educating their children.

7

Various newspapers of late carry letters from readers reflecting social conditions

or more often requesting solutions to knotty problems in life. I am fond of reading

them because they mirror the life and thought of people of all descriptions. The same

is true of foreign newspapers. Some of them have set up special columns with special

columnists in charge of answering questions. An American woman journalist named

Ann

Landers

was

once

put

in

charge

of

such

correspondence

for

over

800

newspapers respectively.

8

Of

course,

there's

a

big

difference

between

an

and

a

real

national

holiday.

To

that

end,

in

1966,

President

Lyndon

Johnson

signed

a

presidential

proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of every June as Father's Day. And in 1972,

Richard Nixon made Father's Day as a true national holiday-60 years after Mother's

Day had been declared a national holiday!

Father's Day is a day of commemoration and celebration of Dad. It is a day to

not only honor your father, but all men who have acted as a father figure in your

life-whether as Stepfathers, Uncles, Grandfathers, or

9

Many Americans find silence uncomfortable.

They will say anything to fill any

quietness

if

it

extends

for

more

than

a

moment.

Students

often

study

with

their

radios

blaring;

housewives

leave

televisions

on

for

the

'companionship'

of

sound

even though they may be working in some other room.

lf you are silent for long

periods, they will do their best to 'draw you out' or will ask if you feel all right or if

there is anything they can do to help you. One aspect of silence can be confusing;

however, if Americans disagree with what you are saying, Many of them will remain

quiet.

This

may

not

indicate

agreement;

often

it

only

means

that

they

consider

it

impolite to argue further.

1O

Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the

website you've visited. Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit

card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling

habits.

In fact, it's likely some of these things have already happened to you. Who would

watch you without your permission? It might be a girlfriend, a company, a boss, a cop

or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen.

11

Since

before

the

dawn

of

history,

man

has

been

able

to

make

his

own

heat.

He has been able to release the sun's heat that is trapped in things such as wood,

coal, and oil. And he has been able to use this heat.

Heat has made civilization possible. With heat, man could melt metals.

As man

learned to use metals and fuels, industries grew. As a result, engines were invented.

These are machines that change heat energy into mechanical energy. Engines can

do the work of many men. Without engines industrial civilization is impossible.

Yet when the first engines were built in the 17th century, men were still wondering

about the nature of heat. 'What is it?' they asked. Not until the early years of the 19

th

century did they find the right answer.