英语中级职称课文.pdf

《英语中级职称课文.pdf》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《英语中级职称课文.pdf（49页珍藏版）》请在淘文阁 - 分享文档赚钱的网站上搜索。

1、Unit 1 UFOsNot long ago,an aeroplane was flying over Newzealand.There was a television camera crew on board.Suddenly,out in the night sky,abright sphere came into view.Everyone on board saw it and everyone thought,“UFO unidentified flying object.The camera crew wentinto action and started filming.Th

2、at week people all over the world saw the film of this mysterious light on their television screens.What was it?Was it a spaceship full of visitors from another planet?The captain of the aeroplane and the film crew believed it was.Other observers had many different explanations.Some said it was venu

3、s.Others said it was just a trick of light.不久以前，有一架飞机在新西兰上空飞过。机上有个电视摄制组。突然，机外的夜空中有个发光的圆球映入眼帘。机内的人都目睹这一景象，大家都认为这就是不明飞行物。摄制组人员立即行动起来，进行拍摄。在那一周内，全世界的人都在电视屏幕上看到这一神秘发光体的镜头。这究竟是什么东西呢？是来自其他星球的满载旅客的宇宙飞船吗？机长和摄制组人员认为是的。另一些目击者则众说纷纭，有些人说这是金星，另一些人认为这不过是光造成的幻觉而已。A n air traffic controller also saw it on his radar

4、 screen.He thought that a flock of birds was causing dots on his radar screen whenthe“UFO”appeared.一个机场导航员在雷达屏幕上也看到了这个不明飞行物。当这个不明飞行物在他的雷达屏幕上出现时，他以为这是一群鸟在他的屏幕上形成的光点。M ost astronomers now believe that what these people saw was almost certainly the planet venus.A t that time of year it is very brightan

5、d easy to see.A nd from a moving aeroplane it can appear to be moving fast.So far there is no proof that UFOs or spaceships fromother planets do exist.These years investigators of UFOs have investigated thousands of sightings-or occasions when people said theysaw a UFO.Ninety per cent of these turne

6、d out to have a simple explanation.大多数天文学家现在都认为这些人所看到的几乎肯定是金星。在每年的这个时候，金星正好十分明亮，容易看到。而且从飞行着的飞机上看去，金星可能象在快速运行。究竟有没有不明飞行物或来自其他行星的宇宙飞船，到目前为止尚无法证实。这些年来，不明飞行物的研究者对成千上万起人们自称亲眼目睹的事例进行了调查。结果是对其中百分之九十都能作简单的解释。However,its a good idea to keep an open mind.Scientists in some countries are trying to persuade the

7、ir governments to help them studyUFOs.A nd they are planning to co-operate internationally on reporting and investigating sightings of UFOs.A fter all,it is quite possible that there is life out there in the universe.A nd if something is alive,it is quite possible that itwill come to visit us不过，对这个问

8、题最好是不抱偏见。有些国家的科学家们正在努力劝说各自的政府为研究不明飞行物提供帮助。他们计划在报告和调查不明飞行物的行踪方面进行国际合作。总之，在外层空间很可能存在着生物。而如果真有某种生物存在的话，那就完全有可能来访问我们。(A)Flying SaucersA material has fallen from the skies in many places.This material is white,and it sometimes falls in strips about ten metres long.It disappears completely in a very short

9、 time.It is said that this material often falls soon after flying saucers are seen.For thisreason many people believe that it comesfrom flying saucers.But some people think that it is material blown from a cloth factory.在许多地方有一种物质从空中飘落下来。这种物质是白色的。它有时形成十米左右的长带飘然下降，很快就消失得无影无踪。据说这种物质往往是在飞碟出现之后不久降落的，因此许

10、多人认为它是从飞碟上落下来的。但是有些人则认为那是从织布厂刮过来的物质。On November 9,1965 a complete blackout of lights covered the northeastern part of A merica.M illions of people were without lights fromlate afternoon until the next morning.It was as if a great black blanket had been thrown over all the cities,towns,and homes.Some

11、people were reported to have seen flying saucers that same evening.They believed that flying saucers were real flying things controlledby intelligent beings,and came from another planet.1965年 11月 9 日，美国东北部电灯完全熄灭。数百万人从接近傍晚的时候一直到第二天早晨都没有电灯，好象是一条巨大的黑色毯子覆盖在所有的城镇和住户的上空。据报道，有些人就在当天晚上看到了飞碟。他们认为飞碟是一种来自另一行星的

12、由智慧生物操纵的真实飞行器。Some scientists think that people should be taught about things that they see in the skies.Since 95 percent of the findings on unidentifiedflying objects have been explained as signs of nature,these signs should be explained to people.They think that teaching people tounderstand these

13、things will be a great task for the scientists.有些科学家认为，必须使人们对他们在天空中所见到的东西有所了解。既然百分之九十五的有关不明飞行物的发现被解释为自然征兆，那么就该向人们解释这些征兆。他们认为，教人们理解这些现象将是科学家的一项巨大任务。Other scientists feel that more research is necessary before any definite conclusions are reached.其他一些科学家认为，需要进行更多的研究才能得出确切的结论。(B)Life in the UniverseOne

14、 of the most exciting questions to which scientists are seeking an answer is,uare there living things anywhere in the universe?Is the earth the only in the whole enormous universe where human beings or anything like human beings exist?”(B)宇宙中的生命科学家们正在寻求解答的最为激动人心的问题之一是：“宇宙中是否有生物存在？在无边无际的宇宙中，地球是不是有人类和

15、类似人类的生物存在的唯一天体？”Living things,like everything else,are made up of atoms,and these atoms are grouped into molecules.The molecules of living thingsare made up of hundreds or thousands of atoms arranged in different,complicated patterns.If they become too hot,these complicated molecules of living thing

16、s break up into their separate atoms and cease to be living.Thereforethere cannot be life on the sun or any of the stars.生物和别的东西一样，是由原子组成的，而这些原子乂集合成分子。生物的分子则由儿百或儿千个原子按各不相同的复杂的方式排列而成。如果生物的这些复杂分子温度太高，它们就分裂成单个的原子而不再生存。因此在太阳或任何恒星上不可能有生命。Living things need energy to grow or move.On earth plants and anima

17、ls get their energy from the light and heat of the sun.Thereforeplanets that are very far from the sun and extremely cold are not places where living things could exist.生物需要能量才能生长和运动。地球上的动植物从太阳的光和热中获得能量。因此远离太阳和极端寒冷的行星不是生物可以生存的地方。A ll plants and animals can live only on planets that have a suitable a

18、tmosphere.But neither mars nor Venus has a suitable atmosphere.It seems that there are no intelligent beings in our solar system except on the earth.一切动植物只能在有适当大气层的行星上生存。但是不论是在火星上还是在金星上都没有这种适宜的大气层。因此在我们的太阳系中，看来除了在地球上以外，是不会有智慧生物的。But if there are planets round the sun,why should there not be planets

19、around other stars?M ay not some of these be placed,like theearth,at just the right distance from their sun to have a suitable atmosphere and to be neither too hot nor too cold for life?Somewherein space,millions and millions of miles away,there may be other creatures,with brains as well-developed a

20、s ours,who are also reachingout in space to discover what else exists in this wonderful universe.但是既然太阳周围有行星，为什么在其他恒星周围不能有行星呢？难道不可能有一些行星和地球一样，距离它们的太阳不远不近，既有合适的大气层，又不冷不热，适宜于生物生存吗？在亿万英里以外的太空中，有可能存在着智力和我们一样发达的其他生物，他们也正在太空中四处探索，想要查明在这个奇妙的宇宙中是否还存在着什么其他生物。Unit 2 A new light in the worldIn 1960 an A merica

21、n physicist built an interesting new apparatus to produce a very strong beam of light.This new light was named“laser”.The principle of the laser is that the atoms of a crystal like the ruby crystal can be excited by strong light and can then store thislight,amplify it and emit an immensely powerful

22、beam.This light is particularly powerful because it travels in coherent waves,thatis,waves which are all the same length and which move in step.For this reason,too,this light consists of only one colour,and notof many colours like sunlight.UNIT 2 激 光I960年有一位美国物理学家制成了一种有趣的新型仪器，来产生很强的光束，这种新的光源被命名为“激光”

23、。激光的原理是：有些晶体（如红宝石）的原子可以受强光激发，然后把这种光储存起来，加以放大，并发射出功率极为强大的光束。这种光束的功率之所以特别强大是因为它是以相干波的形式传输的。所谓相干波是所有波的波长均相同，而且同步。也由于这一原因，这种光只有一种颜色，而不象太阳光那样有许多颜色。Light of this strength can be very useful and has already found many different applications in science.One important use of lasersis to measure distances.The

24、astronauts on one A pollo mission set up a reflector on the moon to catch“laser beams projected fromthe earth and to return them to our planet.By measuring the time the beam takes to go to the moon and come back,scientists can calculatethe precise distance.这种高强度的光非常有用，并已在科学上有多种不同用途。激光的一个重要用途是测距。有一次执

25、行阿波罗飞行任务的宇航员曾经在月球上安装了一个反射器，用 来“扑捉”从地球上发射出去的激光束。科学家通过测量激光在地球与月球之间往返一次的时间，就能计算出地球与月球之间的精确距离。A nother use of lasers is to measure time.The fact that laser beams are so coherent means that their pulses can be used to divide asingle second into fantastically smal1 parts.In fact,pulses of laser light that

26、 last only one pico-second have already been produced.激光的另一用途是测时。激光束相干性极好的意义在于激光的脉冲可以用来把一秒钟分割为无数极小的瞬间。事实上人们现在已能产生仅仅持续一微微秒的激光脉冲。Laser beams can also be used in communications.A laser beam travelling through an enclosed tube can carry as much information as 80million TV channels!Laser,like radio and T

27、V before it,will probably change many aspects of our lives before the end of the twentieth century.激光束也可用于通讯。在一个封闭管道中传输的激光束能传送多达八千万个电视频道的信.息。激光，和在它以前的收音机、电视机一样，在本世纪结束之前大概会使我们生活的许多方面发生变化。(A)For Good or EvilA quite important application of lasers is in holography(the production of three-dimensional ph

28、otographs),invented by a Hungarian-bornscientist in 1948,before laser.Some people have suggested that holograms should be made of all famous works of art.Then the hologramscould be exhibited,looking just the same as the original,which would be stored in a safe place.Our works of art would certainly

29、besafer,but perhaps we would not feel the same if we knew we were looking at a hologram!(A)是造福还是作恶激光的一个十分重要的用途是用在全息(拍摄立体照片)方面。全息摄影是在激光发明以前由一位匈牙利出生的科学家在1948年发明的。有人建议把所有著名的艺术品拍摄成全息照相。然后，可以把这些全息照相在展览会上展出，它们看上去与原作一-模一样。而原作可以珍藏在安全的地方。这样,我们的艺术品当然要安全多了，但是，如果我们知道我们所看到的只是全息照相，感受或许就会不一样了。However,the hologram

30、is already being used in Disneyland,in California,to amuse people.There are some rooms in Disneyland whichare full of surprising people-flying,eating,talking,some of them too big and others too small-and they are all green!A lthough youcan walk through them,you cannot touch them.They are holograms p

31、rojected into the rooms from outside.然而，全息照相已经在美国加利福尼亚州的狄斯耐游乐场中用来供人们娱乐了。在狄斯耐游乐场里有儿个房间，里面全是一些令人惊奇的人物-有的在飞，有的在吃东西，有的在谈话，有些人大得出奇，有些人小得惊人-而他们都是绿色的。虽然你能够在他们中间走过去，但你却摸不到他们。他们都是从房间外面投射到房间里去的全息照相。The laser is really an important scientific discovery in man，s history.It can be very useful,but it could also b

32、e a killing weapon.A lready laser guns are being developed which could kill an enemy,or bring down an airplane or a missile at a great distance.Perhapsthis is the“death ray”,which we often read about in science fiction.Once again,man will have to decide whether he uses an inventionfor good or evil.激

33、光在人类历史上实在是一项极为重要的科学发现。它可以有很多用处，但也可能成为一种杀人的武器。能在远处杀死敌人、击落飞机或导弹的激光炮已在研制之中，这也许就是我们在科学幻想小说里经常读到的那种“死光”。人类再一次不得不作出决定：把一项发明用于造福还是用于作恶。(B)Light Waves that Work M iraclesThe important thing about laser light is that it is coherent.Its rays are all of the same wave length or colour,and are all in step.When l

34、ight waves travel in step,they can work miracles.The reason is that their energy is concentrated as the beam travels.(B)创造奇迹的光波激光的重要特性在于它是一种相干光。这些光线的波长或颜色都相同，而且同步。当激光器发出的光波同步传播时，它们就能创造奇迹。原因是当光束向外传播时，这些光波的能量集中了。Three of the many wonderful applications of the laser show how the properties of coherent

35、light can be put to work.Since its light does not spread out even at great distances a laser can light the surface of the moon with only a two-mile-wide circleof light.Since its energy is concentrated at a very small point,it can send a light into the human eyeball to weld the retina back into place

36、.A nd since its radiation is so intense,it can burn holes in a steel plate 0.125 mm thick at a distance of several feet.在激光的许多奇妙用途中，有三个用途都说明可以怎样利用相干光的这些特性：激光即使经过很远的距离也不会扩散，因此它照射在月球表面上的光照范围只是一个直径为两英里的圆。激光的能量集中在非常小的一点上，因此它能把光射入人的眼球，熔接视网膜使其复位。激光辐射十分强烈，因此在几英尺以外就能把0.125毫米厚的钢板烧出洞来。These properties make la

37、ser light very useful.For example,in outer space,where there is no atmosphere to absorb the light,the laser,like radio,will be used for space communication.Lasers can cut metal and other materials.They are being used in machining metals.A laser can also weld metals.But here,its use is for precise wo

38、rk,as in making micro-electronic circuits.这些性质使得激光非常有用。例如，在外层空间没有大气吸收光线，激光和无线电一样可用于太空通讯。激光能切割金属和其他材料，但是激光决不能取代车床。激光正用于金属的机械加工，也用于焊接金属，但是这类用途仅限于精密加工，如制造微电子电路等方面。Unit 3 M an or M achine?Form time to time we have to do rather tricky jobs and feel that one of our fingers is getting in the way.We say tha

39、t we are”allthumbs”,meaning that our fingers seem to be too clumsy for the work.It is possible that on these occasions a specially designed artificiallimb would be more efficient.Scientists in many countries are studying ways of increasing the power of the human limb,or rather of its muscles.K nown

40、as auman-amplifier,a machine under development at an A merican aeronautical laboratory consists of a framework or suit which the operatorwears.Every movement he makes is repeated by the steel framework he is wearing,but the power which moves the parts of the frame comesfrom hydraulic motors.UNIT 3 人

41、，还是机器？我们常常需要干些复杂的工作，这时往往会觉得某个手指碍事。我们常说自己“笨手笨脚”，意思是说我们的手指太笨拙，干不了某件工作。在这种情况下，采用一种特别设计的人工肢体可能会有效一些。许多国家的科学家正在研究增加四肢能力，更确切地说，是增加四肢肌肉能力的方法。美国一所航空实验室正在研制台机器，叫 做“人力放大器”。这台机器由一个供操作人员套的框架结构或称操作服构成。操作人员所套着的钢铁框架能重复他的一举一动，不过驱动框架各部件的动力是由液压发动机供给的。If the operator bends down to pick something up,the machine repeats

42、 his movement,lifting as heavy a weight as 450 kilograms in eachhand.A nother machine is being made with feet and legs,which will enable its user to walk across the countryside very quickly as the strideof this walking machine is much greater than an ordinary man，s.Besides military uses,such devices

43、 will obviously be useful to astronautsworking on the moon.假如操作人员弯腰拾东西，那机器就重复这一动作，每只手提起重达450公斤的重物。另外一台正在制造中的机器，有脚有腿，它能帮助使用者迅速穿越乡村田野，因为这类步行机的步子比一般人的大得多。除了军事用途外，这种机器显然对在月球上工作的宇航员很有用处。Just as the operations of a distant unmanned spacecraft circling the moon can be controlled by radio signals,so such de

44、vices,properlydesigned,can be radio-controlled.A n astronaut exploring an unknown planet can do part of his exploration without leaving his spacecraft.He can send out a robot which will work on the unknown planet,collecting rocks and minerals,putting up a permanent observation stationor travelling f

45、ar and wide.正如远在太空绕月球飞行的无人驾驶宇宙飞船可用无线电信号操纵一一 样，这种专门设计的装置，也可以用无线电操纵。探索陌生行星的宇航员不用离开飞船就能进行部分考察工作，他可以派出机器人在这颗陌生的行星上工作，收集岩石和矿物；建立永久性观察站，或到四面八方去走动。(A)They A re A ll RobotsYou see robots at work around your home every day although you may not have thought of them as such.But,according to one definition,wash

46、ing machines electric heaters,etc.A re all robots.Robots can also be designed to do the dangerous work in research laboratoriesor in outer space.(A)它们都是机器人你每天看到机器人在你家里到处工作，虽然你也许没想到它们是机器人。但是，按照某种意义来说，洗衣机、电炉等都是机器人。也可以设计出一些机器人，在科研实验室和外层空间里从事危险工作。A ll the satellites launched into outer space have had ro

47、bots on board.These robots have sent back to their masters on earth,by wayof radio,such important information on space as temperature,radiation,and so on.From their high position in space they have eventaken photographs of the earth and other planets.When the first spaceship lands on mars and Venus,

48、it will probably have on board robots rather than human beings.Robots can map thesurfaces of these heavenly bodies,make necessary geological studies,explore unknown places,and even build landing areas for futurespaceships.发射到外层空间去的所有卫星上都有机器人。这些机器人通过无线电将宇宙中的温度、辐射等重要资料发回给它们地球上的主人。它们甚至可以从空中居高临下地拍摄地球和其它

49、行星的照片。当第一艘飞船在火星和金星上着陆时，飞船上将很可能只有机器人而没有真人。机器人能绘制这些天体表面的地图，进行必要的地质研究，探索陌生地区，甚至还可以未来的飞船建造着陆场地。Of all the robots that we have with us today,those with electronic brains,called computers,are playing the most wonderful part inrevolutionizing our way of life.Computers were first developed to help in the so

50、lution of certain scientific problems,and now theyhave turned out to be so generally useful that they are being used in many different types of work.They have freed humans from heavywork and offer much more free time to their human masters.在我们今天所拥有的机器人中，那些装有电脑（即计算机）的机器人在彻底改革我们的生活方式方面正起着极为奇妙的作用。计算机最初