新概念英语第四册Lesson23~25课文翻译及词汇

新概念英语第四册Lesson23~25课文翻译及词汇

新概念英语第四册Lesson23课文翻译及词汇

Bird flight

鸟的飞行方法

What are the two main types of bird flight described by the author?

No two sorts of birds practise quite the same sort of flight; the varieties are infinite; but two classes may be roughly seen. Any shi that crosses the Pacific is accompanied for many days by the smaller albatross, Which may keep company with the vessel for an hour without visible or more than occasional movement of wing. The currents of air that the walls of the ship direct upwards, as well as in the line of its course, are enough to give the great bird with its immense wings sufficient sustenance and progress. The albatross is the king of the gliders, the class of fliers which harness the air to their purpose, but must yield to its opposition. In the contrary school, the duck is supreme. It comes nearer to the engines with which man has 'conquered' the air, as he boasts. Duck, and like them the pigeons, are endowed with such-like muscles, that are a good part of the weight of the bird, and these will ply the short wings with such irresistible power that they can bore for long distances through an opposing gale before exhaustion follows. Their humbler followers, such as partridges, have a like power of strong propulsion, but soon tire. You may pick them up in

utter exhaustion, if wind over the sea has driven them to a long journey. The swallow shares the virtues of both schools in highest measure. It tires not, nor does it boast of its power; but belongs to the air, travelling it may be six thousand miles to and from its northern nesting home, feeding its flown young as it flies, and slipping through we no longer take omens from their flight on this side and that; and even the most superstitious villagers no longer take off their hats to the magpie and wish it good-morning.

WILLIAM BEACH THOMAS A Countryman's Creed

New words and expressions 生词和短语

albatross

n. 信天翁

sustenance

n. 支撑力

glider

n. 滑翔者

harness

v. 利用

endow

v. 赋有

ply

v. 持续地供给

gale

n. 大风

partridge

n. 鹧鸪

like

adj. 类似的

propulsion

n. 推动力

utter

adj. 完全的

slip

v. 滑行

adverse

adj. 逆的，相反的

omen

n. 预兆

参考译文

没有任何两种鸟的飞行方式是相同的。鸟的飞行方式千差万别，但大体上可分为两类。任何一艘横度太平洋的轮船都会有一种小信天翁伴随飞行很多天。它们随船飞行一小时也难得见其扇动一下翅膀。沿船体的上升的气流和沿航线向前的气流给这种巨翼大鸟以充足的浮力和推力。信天翁是滑翔飞行的鸟类，它能自如地驾驭空气，但必须顺气流飞行。与滑翔鸟相对的另一类鸟中，数野鸭本领。它更近乎于

人类自夸的“征服”了空气的发动机。野鸭及它们相似的鸽子有天赋的钢铁般的肌肉，占了体重的很大一部分。这些肌肉以巨大的力量扇动短小的翅膀，使这类鸟能顶着大风飞行很远的路才会疲劳。次于野鸭和鸽子的鸟，如鹧鸪，有相似的巨大推动力，但很快会疲劳。如果海风驱使它们飞行很长距离，你能够捡到一些因筋疲力尽而摔下来的鹧鸪。燕子充分兼有这两类鸟的长处，它既不疲劳，也不炫耀自己的飞翔力;在空中十分自如，能够飞行6，000英里，能够飞往北方做窝的老家，再从老家飞回;一边飞一边喂养会飞的雏燕，甚至在顶风时也能在气流中滑翔，似乎气流在帮它前进。这些鸟对我们是有益的，虽然我们不再从它们的飞翔姿态来占卜吉凶，连最迷信的村民也不再对喜鹊脱帽行礼，祝它早安了。

新概念英语第四册Lesson24课文翻译及词汇

Beatuy

美

what do glimpses of beauty, either in nature or art, often suggest to the human mind?

a young man sees a sunset and, unable to understand or to express the emotion that it rouses in him, concludes that it must be the gateway to world that lies beyond. it is

difficult for any of us in moments of intense aesthetic experience to resist the suggestion that we are catching a glimpse of a light that shines down to us from a different realm of existence, different and, because the experience is intensely moving, in some way higher. and, though the gleams blind and dazzle, yet do they convey a hint of beauty and serenity greater than we have known or imagined. greater too than we can describe; for language, which was invented to

convey the meanings of this world, cannot readily be fitted

to the uses of another.

that all great has this power of suggesting a world

beyond is undeniable. in some moods, nature shares it. there

is no sky in june so blue that it does not point forward to a bluer, no sunset so beautiful that it does not waken the

vision of a greater beauty, a vision which passes before it

is fully glimpsed, and in passing leaves and indefinable longing and regret. but, if this world is not merely a bad joke, life a vulgar flare amid the cool radiance of the stars, and existence an empty laugh braying across the mysteries; if these intimations of a something behind and beyond are not

evil humour born of indigestion, or whimsies sent by the

devil to mock and madden us. if, in a word, beauty means something, yet we must not seek to interpret the meaning. if we glimpse the unutterable, it is unwise to try to utter it, nor should we seek to invest with significance that which we cannot grasp. beauty in terms of our human meanings is meaningless.

new words and expressions 生词和短语

intense

adj. 强烈的

aesthetic

adj. 审美的

realm

n. 世界

serenity

n. 静谧

undeniable

adj. 不可否认的

indefinable

adj. 模糊不清的

vulgar

adj. 平庸的

radiance

n. 发光

intimation

n. 暗示

unutterable

adj. 不可言传的

invest

v. 赋予

参考译文

一个年轻人看到日落，因为无法理解和表达日落在他心中唤起的

激情，便得出结论：日落处想必是通往遥远世界的大门。无论是谁，

在强烈感受到美的时刻，心中都不禁油生一种遐想：我们似乎瞥见从

另一个世界射向我们的一线光芒，那个世界不但不同于我们这个世界，而且因为美感的强烈感染，在某些方面比我们这个世界更美好。虽然

这光芒令人眼花缭乱，但它确实给予我们一种不以前历和无法想象的

美感和静谧的启示。这种美感和静谧是我们无法描述的，因为我们发

明的语言是用来描述这个世界的含义，不能随便拿来去描述另一个世界。

不可否认，一切伟大的艺术都具有使人遐想到进入天外世界的魅力。在某种状态下，大自然也有这种魅力。六月蔚蓝的天空总使人遥

想一个更加蔚蓝的苍穹;美丽的落日总会引起一个更加绚丽的景象未及

饱览便一闪即逝，并在消逝中给人留下不可名状的渴望和惆怅。如果

这个世界不但仅一个拙劣的恶作剧，如果人生不但仅群星寒光中平凡

的一闪，如果存有不但仅对神秘事物的一种空虚的笑声，如果某种玄

妙事物的暗示不是消化不良引起的*情绪，也不是魔鬼为了捉弄我们，

使我们发狂而送给我们的邪念，一句话，如果美有某种意义的话，我

闪千万不要去阐明它的意义。如果我瞥见了只可意会不可言传的事物，企图把它说出来，那上不明智的;对于我们不理解的事物，我们也不应

该去赋予它某种意义。用对我们人类有意义的词解释美是没有意义的。

新概念英语第四册Lesson25课文翻译及词汇

Non-auditory effects of noise

噪音的非听觉效应

What conclusion does the author draw about noise and

health in this piece? May people in industry and the Services, who have practical experience of noise, regard any

investigation of this question as a waste of time; they are

not prepared even to admit

the possibility that noise affects people. On the other hand, those who dislike noise will sometimes use most inadequate evidence to support their pleas for a quieter society. This isa pity, because noise abatement really is a good cause, and it is likely to be discredited if it gets to

be associated with had science.

One allegation often made is that noise produces mental illness. A recent article in a weekly newspaper, for instance, was headed with a striking illustration of a lady in a state

of considerable distress, with the caption 'She was yet another victim, reduced to a screaming wreck'. On turning eagerly to the text, one learns that the lady was a typist

who found the sound of office typewriters worried her more

and more until eventually she had to go into a mental hospital. Now the snag in this sort of anecdote is of course that onemerely a symptom? Another patient might equally well complain that her neighbours were combining to slander her

and ersecute her, and yet one might be cautious about

believing this statement.

What is needed in case of noise is a study of large numbers of people living under noisy conditions, to discover whether they are mentally ill more often than other people are. Some time ago the United States Navy, for instance, examined a very large number of men working on aircraft carriers： the study was known as Project Anehin. It can be unpleasant to live even several miles from an aerodrome; if you think what it must be like to share the deck of a ship

with several squadrons of jet aircraft, you will realize that a modern navy is a good place to study noise. But neither psychiatric interviews nor objective tests were able to show any effects upon these American sailors. This result merely confirms earlier American and British studies： if there is any effect of noise upon mental health, it must be so small that present methods of psychiatric diagnosis cannot find it. That does not prove that it does exist： but it does mean

that noise is less dangerous than, say, being brought up in an orphanage -- which really is mental health hazard.

D.E.BROADBENT Non-auditory effects of noise from Science Survey

New words and expressions 生词和短语

auditory

adj. 听觉的

inadequate

adj. 不适当的

plea

n. 要求

abatement

n. 减少

discredit

v. 怀疑

allegation

n. 断言

caption

n. 插图说明

wreck

n. 残废人

snag

n. 疑难之处，障碍

anecdote

n. 轶闻

slander

v. 诽谤

persecute

v. *

squadron

n. 中队

psychiatric

adj. 精神病学的

diagnosis

n. 诊所

orphanage

n. 孤儿院

参考译文

在工业部门工作和在军队中服役的很多人对噪声音有切身的体会，他们认为对这个问题实行调查中浪费时间，甚至不愿承认噪音可能对

人有影响。另一方面，那些讨厌噪音的人有时会用不充分的证据来支

持他们希望有一个较为安静的社会环境的要求。要求减少噪音是件好事，但是如果与拙劣的科学掺杂在一起的话，就不会被人们所信任，

这是很遗憾的。

常见的一种指责是，噪音能引起精神病。例如，最近一家周报刊登了一篇文章，文章上方有一幅引人注目的插图，是一位表情沮丧的女子。图的文字说明：“她是又一个受害者，成了只会尖叫的可怜虫。”当人们急切地看完正文后，便知道这女子是个打字员，办公室打字机的声音使她越来越烦，最终住进了精神病医院。这类奇闻的疑难之处是无法区别因果关系。是噪音引起了(精神)病呢，还是(精神)病的症状之一是对噪音的抱怨?另有一位病人可能同样有理由抱怨说，她的邻居们正在联合起来对她实行诽谤和*，不过，人们不会轻信她的抱怨。

对于噪音问题，需要对大量生活在噪音中的人实行研究，看一看他们是否比其他人更易患精神病。例如，美国海军前些时候调查了很多在航空母航上工作的人，这次调查被称之为：“安内英工程”。即使住在离机场几英里以外的地方，机场的噪音也会使人难受。所以，如果你能想像出和几个中队的喷气机同在一个甲板上是什么滋味儿的话，你就会理解到现代海军是研究噪音的好地方。但是，不管实行精神病学的调查访问，还是实行客观的测试，都不能显示噪音对这些美国水兵有任何影响。这个结果只不过证实了美国和英国早些时候的研究结论：如果噪音对精神健康有影响的话，那也一定是微乎其微，以致现代的精神病诊断方法还发现不了。这并不是证实不存有噪音对健康的影响。但它确实说明，噪音的危险性，比如说，比在孤儿院长大所受的危害要小一些，孤儿院才是真正危害精神健康的地方。