大学英语精读第6册课文全文翻译中英对照.docx
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大学英语精读第6册课文全文翻译中英对照
大学英语精读第6册全文课文翻译
THEQUESTFOREXTRATERRESTRIALINTELLIGENCE
Throughallofourhistorywehaveponderedthestarsandmusedwhetherhumanityisuniqueorif,somewhereelseinthedarkofthenightsky,thereareotherbeingswhocontemplateandwonderaswedo,fellowthinkersinthecosmos.Suchbeingsmightviewthemselvesandtheuniversedifferently.Somewhereelsetheremightbeveryexoticbiologiesandtechnologiesandsocieties.Inacosmicsettingvastandoldbeyondordinaryhumanunderstanding,wearealittlelonely;andwepondertheultimatesignificance,ifany,ofourtinybutexquisiteblueplanet.
Thesearchforextraterrestrialintelligenceisthesearchforagenerallyacceptablecosmiccontextforthehumanspecies.Inthedeepestsense,thesearchforextraterrestrialintelligenceisasearchforourselves.
Inthelastfewyears--inone-millionththelifetimeofourspeciesonthisplanet--wehaveachievedanextraordinarytechnologicalcapabilitywhichenablesustoseekoutunimaginablydistantcivilizationseveniftheyarenomoreadvancedthanwe.Thatcapabilityiscalledradioastronomyandinvolvessingleradiotelescopes,collectionsorarraysofradiotelescopes,sensitiveradiodetectors,advancedcomputersforprocessingreceiveddate,andtheimaginationandskillofdedicatedscientists.Radioastronomyhasinthelastdecadeopenedanewwindowonthephysicaluniverse.Itmayalso,ifwearewiseenoughtomaketheeffort,castaprofoundlightonthebiologicaluniverse.
Somescientistsworkingonthequestionofextraterrestrialintelligence,myselfamongthem,haveattemptedtoestimatethenumberofadvancedtechnicalcivilizations--definedoperationallyassocietiescapableofradioastronomy--intheMilkyWayGalaxy.Suchestimatesarelittlebetterthanguesses.Theyrequireassigningnumericalvaluestoquantitiessuchasthenumbersandagesofstars;theabundanceofplanetarysystemsandthelikelihoodoftheoriginoflife,whichweknowlesswell;andtheprobabilityoftheevolutionofintelligentlifeandthelifetimeoftechnicalcivilizations,aboutwhichweknowverylittleindeed.
Whenwedothearithmetic,thesortsofnumberswecomeupwithare,characteristically,aroundamilliontechnicalcivilizations.Amillioncivilizationsisabreathtakinglylargenumber,anditisexhilaratingtoimaginethediversity,lifestylesandcommerceofthosemillionworlds.ButtheMilkyWayGalaxycontainssome250billionstars,andevenwithamillioncivilizations,lessthanonestarin200,000wouldhaveaplanetinhabitedbyanadvancedcivilization.Sincewehavelittleideawhichstarsarelikelycandidates,wewillhavetoexamineaverylargenumberofthem.Suchconsiderationssuggestthatthequestforextraterrestrialintelligencemayrequireasignificanteffort.
Despiteclaimsaboutancientastronautsandunidentifiedflyingobjects,thereisnofirmevidenceforpastvisitationoftheEarthbyothercivilizations.Wearerestrictedtoremotesignalingand,ofthelong-distancetechniquesavailabletoourtechnology,radioisbyfarthebest.Radiotelescopesarerelativelyinexpensive;radiosignalstravelatthespeedoflight,fasterthanwhichnothingcango;andtheuseofradioforcommunicationisnotashort-sightedoranthropocentricactivity.RadiorepresentsalargepartoftheelectromagneticspectrumandanytechnicalcivilizationanywhereintheGalaxywillhavediscoveredradioearly--justasinthelastfewcenturieswehaveexploredtheentireelectromagneticspectrumfromshortgammaraystoverylongradiowaves.Advancedcivilizationsmightverywellusesomeothermeansofcommunicationwiththeirpeers.Butiftheywishtocommunicatewithbackwardoremergingcivilizations,thereareonlyafewobviousmethods,thechiefofwhichisradio.
ThefirstseriousattempttolistenforpossibleradiosignalsfromothercivilizationswascarriedoutattheNationalRadioAstronomyObservatoryinGreenbank,WestVirginia,in1959and1960.ItwasorganizedbyFrankDrake,nowatCornelUniversity,andwascalledProjectOzma,aftertheprincessoftheLandofOz,aplaceveryexotic,verydistantandverydifficulttoreach.Drakeexaminedtwonearbystarsforafewweekswithnegativeresults.Positiveresultswouldhavebeenastonishingbecauseaswehaveseen,evenratheroptimisticestimatesofthenumberoftechnicalcivilizationsintheGalaxyimplythatseveralhundredthousandstarsmustbeexaminedinordertoachievesuccessbyrandomstellarselection.
SinceProjectOzma,therehavebeensixoreightothersuchprograms,allatarathermodestlevel,intheUnitedStates,CanadaandtheSovietUnion.Allresultshavebeennegative.Thetotalnumberofindividualstarsexaminedtodateinthiswayislessthanathousand.Wehaveperformedsomethinglikeonetenthofonepercentoftherequiredeffort.
However,therearesignsthatmuchmoreseriouseffortsmaybemusteredinthereasonablynearfuture.Besides,handinhandwiththerecentspectacularadvancesinradiotechnology,therehasbeenadramaticincreaseinthescientificandpublicrespectabilityoftheentiresubjectofextraterrestriallife.AclearsignofthenewattitudeistheVikingmissionstoMars,whicharetoasignificantextentdedicatedtothesearchforlifeonanotherplanet.
Butalongwiththeburgeoningdedicationtoaserioussearch,aslightlynegativenotehasemergedwhichisneverthelessveryinteresting.Afewscientistshavelatelyaskedacuriousquestion:
Ifextraterrestrialintelligenceisabundant,whyhavewenotalreadyseenitsmanifestationsSkepticsalsoaskwhythereisnoclearevidenceofextraterrestrialvisitstoEarth.Wehavealreadylaunchedslowandmodestinterstellarspacecraft.Asocietymoreadvancethanoursshouldbeabletoplythespacesbetweenthestarsconvenientlyifnoteffortlessly.Overmillionsofyearssuchsocietiesshouldhaveestablishedcolonies,whichmightthemselveslaunchinterstellarexpeditions.WhyaretheynothereThetemptationistodeducethatthereareatmostafewadvancedextraterrestrialcivilizations--eitherbecausestatisticallyweareoneofthefirsttechnicalcivilizationstohaveemergedorbecauseitisthefateofallsuchcivilizationstodestroythemselvesbeforetheyaremuchfurtheralongthanwe.
Itseemstomethatsuchdespairisquitepremature.Allsuchargumentsdependonourcorrectlysurmisingtheintentionsofbeingsfarmoreadvancedthanourselves,andwhenexaminedmorecloselyIthinktheseargumentsrevealarangeofinterestinghumanconceits.WhydoweexpectthatitwillbeeasytorecognizethemanifestationsofveryadvancedcivilizationsIsoursituationnotclosertothatofmembersofanisolatedsocietyintheAmazonbasin,say,wholackthetoolstodetectthepowerfulinternationalradioandtelevisiontrafficthatisallaroundthemAlso,thereisawiderangeofincompletelyunderstoodphenomenainastronomy.Mightthemodulationofpulsarsortheenergysourceofquasars,forexample,haveatechnologicaloriginOrperhapsthereisagalacticethicofnoninterferencewithbackwardoremergingcivilizations.Perhapsthereisawaitingtimebeforecontactisconsideredappropriate,soastogiveusafairopportunitytodestroyourselvesfirst,ifwearesoinclined.Perhapsallsocietiessignificantlymoreadvancedthanourownhaveachievedaneffectivepersonalimmortalityandlosethemotivationforinterstellargallivanting,whichmay,forallweknow,beatypicalurgeonlyofadolescentcivilizations.Perhapsmaturecivilizationsdonotwishtopollutethecosmos.Thereisaverylonglistofsuch"perhaps,"fewofwhichweareinapositiontoevaluatewithanydegreeofassurance.
Thequestionofextraterrestrialcivilizationsseemstomeentirelyopen.Personally,Ithinkitfarmoredifficulttounderstandauniverseinwhichwearetheonlytechnologicalcivilization,oroneofaveryfew,thantoconceiveofacosmosbriningoverwithintelligentlife.Manyaspectsoftheproblemare,fortunately,amenabletoexperimentalverification.Wecansearchforplanetsofotherstars,seeksimpleformsoflifeonsuchnearbyplanetsasMars,andperformmoreextensivelaboratorystudiesonthechemistryoftheoriginoflife.Wecaninvestigatemoredeeplytheevolutionoforganismsandsocieties.Theproblemcriesoutforalong-term,open-minded,systematicsearch,withnatureastheonlyarbiterofwhatisorisnotlikely.
THELIBRARYCARD
OnemorningIarrivedearlyatworkandwentintothebanklobbywheretheNegroporterwasmopping.IstoodatacounterandpickeduptheMemphisCommercialAppealandbeganmyfreereadingofthepress.IcamefinallytotheeditorialpageandsawanarticledealingwithoneH.L.Mencken.IknewbyhearsaythathewastheeditoroftheAmericanMercury,butasidefromthatIknewnothingabouthim.ThearticlewasafuriousdenunciationofMencken,concludingwithone,hot,shortsentence:
Menckenisafool.
IwonderedwhatonearththisMenckenhaddonetocalldownuponhimthescornoftheSouth.TheonlypeopleIhadeverheardenouncedintheSouthwereNegroes,andthismanwasnotaNegro.ThenwhatideasdidMenckenholdthatmadeanewspaperliketheCommercialAppealcastigatehimpubliclyUndoubtedlyhemustbeadvocatingideasthattheSouthdidnotlike.
Now,howcouldIfindoutaboutthisMenckenTherewasahugelibraryneartheriverfront,butIknewthatNegroeswerenotallowedtopatronizeitsshelvesanymorethantheyweretheparksandplaygroundsofthecity.Ihadgoneintothelibraryseveraltimestogetbooksforthewhitemenonthejob.Whichofthemwouldnowhelpmetogetbooks?
Iweighedthepersonalitiesof