英汉短文翻译.doc

PASSAGE A
Since about 1800, near the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, coal, petroleum, and gas have been used at a rapidly increasing rate. The supply of these fuels is limited, and electric power is very scarce in many places. Some scientists believe solar energy is the only source which can meet the worlds’ enormous need for power. Great progress had been made in harnessing the sun. Not only is the sun now used in cooking, but it also supplies power for such things as beacon lights for ships and airplanes. It operates telephone lines, portable radios, electric clocks, hearing aids, and even communications satellites. Some homes and office buildings in the United States are now being heated with solar energy.
The three most significant types of solar equipment so far are the furnace, the still, and the cell. Solar furnaces heat water or air, which is then circulated through a building to make it comfortable. Solar stills are especially important because they can provide fresh water at a relatively cheap rate. Salt can be easily removed from sea water with a solar still.
The most highly developed is the solar cell. Some cells are so effective that they can turn 16 per cent of the energy they receive from the sun into electric energy. One of the cell’s biggest advantages is that it can be made either small enough to carry or large enough to produce a current that can run an automobile. Besides, it has a very long life. It is still too expensive for the average consumer. But when ways are discovered to produce it more cheaply, we can expect its use to be wide-spread.

PASSAGE B
Many theories concerning the causes of juvenile delinquency (crimes committed by young people) focus either on the individual or on society as the major contributing influence. Theories centering on the individual suggest that children engage in criminal behavior because they were not sufficiently penalized for previous misdeeds or that they have learned criminal behavior through interaction with others. Theories focusing on the role of society suggest that children commit crimes in response to their failure to rise above their socioeconomic status or as a rejection of middle-class values.
Most theories of juvenile delinquency have focused on children from disadvantaged families, ignoring the fact that children from wealthy homes also commit crimes. The latter may commit crimes for lack of adequate parental control. All theories, however, are tentative and are subject to criticism.
Changes in the social structure may indirectly affect juvenile crime rates. For example, changes in the economy, which lead to fewer job opportunities for youth and rising unemployment in general, make gainful employment increasingly difficult to obtain. The resulting discontent may in turn lead more youths into criminal behavior.
Families have also experienced changes these years. More families consist of one parent households or two working parents; consequently, children are likely to have less supervision at home than was common in the traditional family structure. This lack of parental supervision is thought to be an influence on juvenile crime rates. Other identifiable causes of offensive acts include frustration or failure in school, the increased availability of drugs and alcohol, and the growing incidence of child abuse and child neglect. All these conditions tend to increase the probability of a child committing a criminal act, although a direct causal relationship has not yet been established.

PASSAGE C
Believe it or not, optical illusion (错觉) can cut highway crashes.
Japan is a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly 75 percent using a simple optical illusion. Bent stripes, called chevrons (人字形) , painted on the roads make drivers think that they are driving faster than they really are, and thus drivers slow down.
Now the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington D. C. is planning to repeat Japan’s success. Starting next year, the foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes.
Excessive speed plays a major role in as much as one fifth of all fatal traffic accidents, according to the foundation. To help reduce those accidents, the foundation will conduct its tests in areas where speed-related hazards are the greatest—curves, exit slopes, traffic circles, and bridges.
Some studies suggest that straight, horizontal bars painted across roads can initially cut the average speed of drivers in half. However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bars.
Chevrons, scientists say, not only give drivers the impression that they are driving faster than they really are but also make a lane appear to be narrower. The result is a longer lasting reduction in highway speed and the number of traffic accidents.

PASSAGE D
Amtrak (美国铁路客运公司) was experiencing a down-swing in rider-ship (客运量) along the lines comprising its rail system. Of major concern to Amtrak and its advertising agency DDB Needham, were the long-distance western routes where rider-ship had been declining significantly.
At one time, trains were the only practical way to cross the vast areas of the west. Trains were fast, very luxurious, and quite convenient compared to other forms of transportation existing at the time. However, times change and the automobile became America’s standard of convenience. Also, air travel had easily established itself as the fastest method of traveling great distances. Therefore, tile task for DDB Needham was to encourage consumers to consider other aspects of train travel in order to change their attitudes and increase the likelihood that trains would be considered for travel in the west.
Two portions of the total market were targeted: 1) anxious fliers—those concerned with safety, relaxation, and cleanliness and 2) travel-lovers—those viewing themselves as relaxed, casual, and interested in the travel experience as part of their vacation. The agency then developed a campaign that focused on travel experiences such as freedom, escape, relaxation, and enjoyment of the great western outdoors. It stressed experiences gained by using the trains and portrayed western train trips as wonderful adventures.
Advertisements showed pictures of the beautiful scenery that could be enjoyed along some of the more famous western routes and emphasized the romantic names of some of these trains (Empire Builder, etc.) These ads were strategically placed among family-oriented TV shows and programs involving nature and America in order to most effectively reach target audiences. Results were impressive. The Empire Builder, which was focused on in one ad, enjoyed a 15 percent increase in profits on its Chicago to Seattle route.
PASSAGE E
People landing at London’s Heathrow airport have something new to look at as they fly over Britain’s capital city. It is striking, simple and a little strange. The Millennium Dome is a huge semi-circle of plastic and steel and it contains the largest public space in the world. It has been built to house an exhibition of all that is best in British life, learning and leisure. The Millennium Dome was designed by Sir Richard Rogers, one of Britain’s most famous architects. His work is more than just a spectacular thing to look at and walk around. It also points the way to new developments in architecture. Think of it as a giant clue to the buildings in which we will all be living and working in the near future.
But buildings are also a part of history. Walking around the Forbidden City gives us a storing impression of what life was like in imperial court of China. People make judgments about what it was like to live in a particular time and placed by the buildings it produced. They express the culture of the times.
British architects like Richard Rogers, Lord Norman Foster and Zahia Hadid are all aware of this responsibility. While they have different individual styles, their work also has a common theme. That is to express the values of the information age.
What is an “information age” building? The Dome is a good example. After the Millennium exhibition ends, it will be used for another purpose. Just as people no longer have “jobs for life”, modern buildings are designed for a number of different uses.
Another Richard Rogers building, the Pompidou Center in France, uses the idea that information is communication. Instead of being concealed in the walls, heating pipes and elevators are open to public view. The Pompidou Center is a very honest building. It tells you how it works. A typical information age building will contain large open spaces and use as much natural light as possible. It will not be shut away from the street. Instead it will share “public space.” The aim is to break down barriers and to encourage human contact and conversation.
Richard Rogers himself says, “We used to have a highly ritualistic life where everybody went to work very early in the morning, including Saturday, came home totally exhausted and went to bed. You went on dong this until you retired or died. Society is much more fluid than it used to be. People want to go where they please—to the cinema or museums or just to meet each other. Why can’t we meet our girlfriends or boyfriends in human spaces?”
For most of the 20th century, architecture was dominated by the idea of “modernism.” This was a philosophy of the industrial age which put efficiency before emotion. Factories were places to work and homes were machines for “living”. The new architectural thinking says that places should be adapted to people, not vice versa.

PASSAGE F
Every city has its own character and whilst each is different from its neighbors, all human settlements express in their architecture and urban design some of the most significant aspects of their development. Topography and climate, the availability of different building materials, perhaps even more the evolving political, social and economic circumstances and the advance of technology by which cultural progress is measured are reflected in the form and function of our buildings.
Historically some towns grew at the bridging points of rivers, some developed from military garrisons, centers of education and learning, or of religion. Some were planned but most were not. With industrialization new centers grew rapidly near the source of materials or the power to use them. Finally there were the entrepots and capitals of empires. But whatever the original reason of a city, influencing its initial form and architecture, other uses soon develop, urban prosperity and vitality depending on the quality and quantity of interaction between all the various activities, planned or unplanned, and particularly on the speed of response to changing circumstances as old industries decline only to give way to new ones.
In past centuries most buildings were made of local materials in form adapted to both society and climate, only the most important being designed by architects or specialist builders who then often used imported and more durable materials. With the development of mass communication over the years all that has changed. Building designs, methods and materials are now increasingly international and standardized, changing more often in accord with the dictates of fashion than the need for efficiency.
As the intended use of a building is (or should be) reflected in its design as well as the form and character of a city is a consequence of its economy and social structure. And just as buildings are altered, adapted or replaced the better to cater for new needs, often of a character quite different from earlier ones, it must be accepted that to ensure the prosperity of a community over time a human settlement, be it village, town or city, must change continually to reflect new circumstances, especially now that industries can generally be located wherever it suits the fancy or the finances of the manufacturer.
Sometimes change is welcomed because it is a consequence of increased wealth or social status; but opposition frequently arises quite illogically, perhaps from an apparent dislike of any alteration to what is familiar, or because of a fear of the future, overlooking the fact that evolutionary change is the single most enduring characteristic of cities. How to control that change in order to realize the most beneficial combination of old and new is a perpetual problem, especially as the impact on development of the ever accelerating rate of innovation in international communications and public alike, who by outlook and institution are better equipped to deal with past circumstances than preparing to take opportunities that may lie ahead.

PASSAGE G

PASSAGE H

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