研究生英语阅读教程基础级2版课文05与其翻译.docx

研究生英语阅读教程基础级2版课文05与其翻译.docx

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研究生英语阅读教程基础级2版课文05与其翻译

ScienceandTechnology（->technique）

ByJudithRaughman（Editor）

[1]（optimistic->）Optimismandempowerment.Asthecenturydrewtoaclose（end）,thepotentialforhumaninventionandunderstandingappeared（seemed）boundless（limitless）.Scientificunderstandingexpandeddaily,fromthefundamental（basic）buildingblocksofmattertothesourcecodeofalllifetotheorigins,andperhapstheeventual（finally）demise（end）,oftheuniverse.Thetechnologicaladvances（progresses）ofthe1990susheredin（ledto）whatappearedtobeasocialandeconomicrevolutionthatwouldrival（match/competewith）theIndustrialRevolutiontwocenturiesearlier（informationrevolution）,creatinganewsocietyoftechnologicallyconnectedcitizenswithaworldofdigitizedinformation,commerce,andcommunicationatitsfingertips.Thenew"DigitalAge",representedbythe"InformationSuperhighway"wasnotall-inclusive,threatenedtoleavemany（people）behind,includingoldercitizensandthose（people）whocouldnotafford（payfor）thenewtechnology.Still（Furthermore）,by1999morethanthree-quartersoftheU.S.populationwas"pluggedin"tothenewdigitalsociety（age）,andmostAmericansfeltthattechnologicaladvanceswereimprovingtheirqualityoflife.Optimismwasthereigningtone[key-notespeaker/speech]ofthedecade.Newadvancesinscienceandtechnologyseemedtopromiseeventual（final）solutionstoproblemsrangingfromeliminatingtoxic（poisonous）wastetogroceryshopping—geneticengineersdevelopedmicrobesthatwouldeatindustrialsludgeandresearchersattheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology's（MIT）MediaLabworkedtodevise（design）arefrigeratorthatcouldsense（feel）whenitwasoutofmilkandusetheInternettoordermore.The1990sallayed（relieved/reduced）thefearthatatechnologicallyadvancedsocietywasnecessarilyheavilycentralized,withBigBrotherwatchingeverymove（=movement）.Instead（Onthecontrary）,withthecreationoftheInternetandtheWorldWideWeb,andtheiremphasisondecentralization,equality,andtheopensharingofresources,manyindividualsfoundthatgreateraccess（right）toinformationincreasedtheirsense（feeling）ofpersonalfreedomandpower.

[2]EthicsandtheNatural.Withtheexplosionofknowledgecamepublicconcern（worry）overwhereallofthesenewdiscoveriesandtechnologiesmightbetakingsociety.Thecloningofananimalin1997suggested（show）thathumancloninghadbecomeviable（feasible）aswell（too）,raisingconcerns—nolongerquitetheoretical—thathumanitymightbemovingtowarda"brave（adventurous）newworld"ofgeneticallyengineeredpeople.TheHumanGenomeProject,launchedin1990withamission（missionary/task）todecodetheentirehumangeneticmakeup,held（raise）promises（hope）foranend（terminate）togeneticdisorders,butthreatenedtoopenthewayfor"designerbabies",whocouldbegeneticallyalteredtosuittheirparents'wishes.Whilemany（people）arguedthatplantandanimalbreedershadbeenfoolingaroundwithgeneticsforcenturiesinordertobetter（improve）thelotofhumankind,otherspointedoutthatnewadvances（progresses）ingeneticsallowedresearcherstocrossboundariessetbynature,implantinghumangenesinanimalsinordertoturnthemintomedicinefactories,creatingplantsthatproducedplasticsandglowedinthedark,evenattempting（trying）tocreate“terminator"seedsthatstifled（suppress）theirownreproductivecapacity（ability）inordertomaintain（keep）theseedmanufacturer'scashflow.Thequestionofwhatwas"natural"cameunderseriousconsideration（discussion）,asnoaspectoftheenvironmentandtheorganismsinitseemedsafefromgenetictinkering.Yet,whileexperimentswithhumancloningorcustomizingachild'sgeneticmakeupseemedabhorrent（horrible/terrible）tomostAmericans,therewasgeneralsupportforgeneticresearchthatcouldhelptoidentify（recognize）andcuregeneticdiseasesormakefoodsourceshealthierandmoreplentifulforagrowingglobalpopulation.

[3]（private->）Privacy.Privacywasanoverarching（mostimportant）concern（worry）withmanyofthetechnologicalandscientificadvancesofthe1990s.TheInternetwasanamazing（surprising）newtoolforsharinginformation,yetitwasalsoapowerfulmeans（tools）forfindinginformationthatwasintendedtobeprivate,includinggovernmentandmilitarysecrets,thesourcecodestoproprietary（private）software,andevenaneighbor'ssocialsecuritynumber.Companiesandindividualsalike（ad.similarly）worriedthattheirprivateinformationwouldbecompromisedwhen（since）sophisticatedcomputertechnologistscould"hack"intoprotectedcomputersystemsanderaseorstealimportantdata.Computerviruses,self-replicatingcodes（program）writtenbymaliciousindividuals,couldstealintopersonalcomputersystemsthroughe-mailortheWebandwreakhavocwith（makeamessof）thedatastoredthere.ProtectingprivacyovertheInternetwasnoteasy,andmanypeopleworriedthatgovernmentattempts（try）tointervenewouldonlycripple（disable/paralyze）thedevelopmentoftheInternet.Similarfearsweresparked（vt.sparkled）whenconcerned（relevant）groupslobbied（persuade）thegovernmenttooutlawpornographyandotherdisturbingmaterialsontheWebinthenameof"protectingthechildren".WhilemostAmericansagreedthatchildrenshouldnotbeexposedto（touch/watch）suchmaterial,attempts（efforts）toregulate（control）thecontentofindividualWebpagesandnewsgroupsconflictedwiththeideaoftheInternetasanopen,decentralizedmassmedium,whereeventhemostabsurdorrepellant（disgusting）ideascouldreceiveahearing（havesomeaudience）.Digitalsurveillanceintheworkplacealsobecameanissue（problem）,as（when）somecompaniesspiedon（watch）theirworkers'useoftheInternetande-mail.[sur-:

above;fromabove]

[4]GeneticsandPrivacy.Advances（progresses）ingeneticsalsothreatenedpersonalprivacy.WiththeHumanGenomeProjectscheduled（planned）tobefinishedearlyinthetwenty-firstcentury,andprivatecompaniescompetingtowinpatentsongeneticdiscoveries,manyindividualsworriedaboutwhatscientistsmightdowithacompleteunderstandingofthehumangeneticcode.Whilegeneticdiseasescouldbediscoveredandperhapscured,thisinformationmightalsobeusedtodiscriminateagainstpeoplepredisposed（inclinedto）tocertaingeneticmalfunctions,ortogroup（vt./classify）individualsbasedontheirgeneticdata.Theideathatscientistswouldownpatentsonthehumangeneticcodewasdisturbing,aswell,as（for/since）itmeantthathumanlifecouldbecomeaproprietary（private）resource（property）.

[5]BigScienceAndLittleScience.TheNationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration（NASA）continuedtowow（surprise）theworld,sendingthegiantHubbleTelescopeintoorbittogatherandtransmitnever-before-seenimages（picture）ofdeepspacethatoffered（gave）increasinglytantalizing（attractive）cluestotheoriginsoftheuniverse.Thesearchforextraterrestriallifecontinuedduringthedecade,asNASAscientistsfoundpossibleevidenceofbacteriallifeinameteorfromMars,anddistantplanetswerediscoveredthatmightcontainwater.NASAsentspaceprobes（n./vt.）tolandonthesurfaceofMars,sentnationalheroJohnHerschelGlennJr.backintospacetostudyaging,andmadeplanstobuildanInternationalSpaceStationwithresearchteamsfromothercountries.Still（Furthermore）,somecriticswonderedifallofthemoneyspentonspaceresearchmightnotbebetterusedtofundnewdiscoverieshereonEarth,almostasifthe（divide->）diversionofspacewasnolongerasnecessarywhen（since）thereweresomanynewandinterestingprojectsgoingonrighthere.Oneofthemostfascinating（attractive）newrealms（world/field）ofstudywasnanotechnology,afieldofresearchthatattemptedtomanipulatematteratthemolecularlevel,buildingnewdevices（equipment）atombyatomthatcouldbeusedinminiaturizedmanufacturing,drug-deliverysystem,andtiny（small）minicomputers.Withthediscoveryofanewfamilyofcarbonmoleculesknownasfullerenes,nanotechnologyresearchershadanewrawmaterialtoworkwith（process）.Thesciencewasstillveryexperimentalattheturn（beginning）ofthecentury,butresearchersandgovernmentofficialssawgreatpotentialforthisscienceofthetiny（small）.（1,151words）

delivermilk/ababy

ABOUTTHETEXT

ThistextisexcerptedfromthebookAmericanDecades1990-1999,editedbyJudithBaughman（Editor）,VictorBondi（Editor）,VincentTompkins（Editor）andGaleGroup,whichisthelastvolumeoftheAmericanDecades1900-2000Series.TheseriesisthelatestinstallmentoftheGaleseriesdocumentingthehistoryandsocialtrendsoftheUnitedStatesofAmericaduringthe20thcentury.Thecurrenttextistheoverview（summary）ofthebook'sonechapteronScienceandTechnology.

EXERCISES

I.ReadingComprehension

Answerthefollowingquestionsorcompletethefollowingstatements.

1.Thisarticleismainlyabout_____.

A.howtotackletheproblemsinthenew"DigitalAge"

B.thedirectionofscientificandtechnologicaldevelopment

C.boththepositiveandnegativeeffectsofthetechnologicaladvances

D.thegreatimpactonourethicsandprivacybroughtbythetechnologicaladvances

2.The"newsociety"mentionedinthefirstparagraphreferstoasocietywhich_____.

A.representsthedigitalageB.emphasizesonhumanity

C.ishighlycivilizedD.benefitseveryoneexceptoldercitizens

3.Thephrase"pluggedin"inthefirstparagraphisclosestinmeaningto_____.

A.interestedinB.accustomedtoC.fascinatedbyD.connectedto

4.WhichofthefollowingisNOT