加载中…2000年考研阅读passage2 全文翻译，长难句分析，重点词汇解析
(2011-09-30 21:08:55)
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考研新东方英语阅读周雷真题教育 |
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2000 Passage 2
Being a man has always been dangerous. There are about 105 males born for every 100 females, but this ratio drops to near balance at the age of maturity, and among 70-year-olds there are twice as many women as men. But the great universal of male mortality is being changed. Now, boy babies survive almost as well as girls do. This means that, for the first time, there will be an excess of boys in those crucial years when they are searching for a mate. More important, another chance for natural selection has been removed. Fifty years ago, the chance of a baby (particularly a boy baby) surviving depended on its weight. A kilogram too light or too heavy meant almost certain death. Today it makes almost no difference. Since much of the variation is due to genes, one more agent of evolution has gone.
There is another way to commit evolutionary suicide: stay alive, but have fewer children. Few people are as fertile as in the past. Except in some religious communities, very few women has 15 children. Nowadays the number of births, like the age of death, has become average. Most of us have roughly the same number of offspring. Again, differences between people and the opportunity for natural selection to take advantage of it have diminished. India shows what is happening. The country offers wealth for a few in the great cities and poverty for the remaining tribal peoples. The grand mediocrity of today — everyone being the same in survival and number of offspring — means that natural selection has lost 80% of its power in upper-middle-class India compared to the tribes.
For us, this means that evolution is over; the biological Utopia has arrived. Strangely, it has involved little physical change. No other species fills so many places in nature. But in the past 100,000 years — even the past 100 years — our lives have been transformed but our bodies have not. We did not evolve, because machines and society did it for us. Darwin had a phrase to describe those ignorant of evolution: they "look at an organic being as a savage looks at a ship, as at something wholly beyond his comprehension." No doubt we will remember a 20th century way of life beyond comprehension for its ugliness. But however amazed our descendants may be at how far from Utopia we were, they will look just like us.
55. What used to be the danger in
being a man according to the first
paragraph?
[A] A lack of
mates.
[B] A fierce
competition.
[C] A lower survival
rate.
[D] A defective gene.
56. What does the example of India
illustrate?
[A] Wealthy people tend to have fewer
children than poor people.
[B] Natural selection hardly works
among the rich and the poor.
[C] The middle class population is
80% smaller than that of the tribes.
[D] India is one of the countries
with a very high birth rate.
57. The author argues that our bodies
have stopped evolving because________.
[A] life has been improved by
technological advance
[B] the number of female babies has
been declining
[C] our species has reached the
highest stage of evolution
[D] the difference between wealth and
poverty is disappearing
58. Which of the following would be
the best title for the passage?
[A] Sex Ration Changes in Human
Evolution.
[B] Ways of Continuing Man's
Evolution.
[C] The Evolutionary Future of
Nature.
[D] Human Evolution Going
Nowhere.
重点词汇：
maturity /mE5tjuEriti/ （成熟）←matur(e)+ity，mature（成熟的v.成熟），-ity名词后缀。Love is quiet understanding and the mature acceptance of imperfection.爱情是静静的理解和对不足之处的成熟接受。maturity — ①behaviour determined by the plans other people have in mind ②a high price for growing 成熟——①按照别人脑子里的计划决定自己的行为 ②成长的高昂代价。
mortality /mC:5tAliti/ （死亡率）←mortal+ity，mortal（致命的；凡人），-ity名词后缀。If I laugh at any mortal thing, it's that I may not weep.如果我笑任何mortal事物，那是为了我可以免于哭泣。←此处mortal的中文意思guangxian不知如何表达。
survive /sE5vaiv/ （v.幸存；比……活的长）即sur+vive，sur-(=super-)前缀“超”，vive词根“活的”，于是“超过别人活的长度”→比别人活得长→幸存；survival /sE5vaivEl/ （n.幸存；幸存者）←surviv(e)+al名词后缀。同根词：revive（v.恢复；复苏），见2003年Text 1。I have observed that only those plants in nature which are strongest survive and reproduce themselves. It seems to me that hardiness is the chief essential for success.我观察到，自然界中只有最强壮的植物才能存活并繁衍。看来坚韧是成功的基本要素。The survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection', or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life.我在这里一直想要以机械论术语表达的适者生存，就是达尔文先生说过的“自然选择”，或者说是优越种族在生存斗争中的保存。guangxian注：英特尔前任总裁Andrew S. Grove的一本极具影响力的书就叫“Only the Paranoid Survive”。此书名一直被译作《只有偏执狂才能生存》，导致上世纪九十年代后期以来无数强烈渴望成功的创业者（IT界为甚）以将“偏激固执”作为人生信条而自豪。但就像很多人已指出的那样，“paranoid”不是指上述意义的“偏执狂”，而是指“迫害妄想狂”，其典型症状是——认为周围所有人都想加害自己而终日惶恐不安。Grove在书的前言中说：Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction. The more successful you are, the more people want a chunk of your business and then another chunk and then another until there is nothing left. I believe that the prime responsibility of a manager is to guard constantly against other people's attacks and to inculcate this guardian attitude in the people under his or her management.企业的成功包含着自身毁灭的种子。你越是成功，对你垂涎三尺的人就越多，他们会一块块地夺取你的生意，直到最后一点都不剩。所以管理者的首要职责就是始终保持警惕以防范他人袭击，并把这种防范意识灌输给下属人员。
evolution /7evE5lu:FEn/ （n.进化；发展），动词形式为evolve /i5vClv/；evolutionary /7evE5lU:FEnEri/ （进化的）←evolution+ary形容词后缀；另revolution（见2003年Text 1）可看作r+evolution，r看作镰刀，于是“用镰刀使其发展”→“拿着镰刀闹革命”→革命。Evolution is not the force but a process, not a cause but a law.进化不是动力而是过程，不是原因而是法则。
opportunity /7CpE5tju:niti/ （机会）即op+port+un(e)+ity，op-前缀=to，port港口，-une后缀，-ity后缀，有港口的地方都是很发达的，因此人们都到港口去寻找“机会”。Opportunity makes the thief.大意失荆州。（←妙！）A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.智者创造的机会要比他发现的多。opportunity — a bird that never perches 机遇——一只不落的鸟。
diminish /di5miniF/ （v.缩小，减少）即di+min+ish，di-前缀“使”，min词根“小”=mini，-ish动词后缀。Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, just as the wind blows out a candle and fans a fire.离别减弱浅薄的感情而增强深厚的感情，正如风吹灭蜡烛而煽旺火焰。
poverty /5pCvEti/ （贫穷）记其中有over←“人贫穷就完了”（即使物质贫穷，在精神上也不能贫穷）。Poverty is not vice, but an inconvenience.贫穷不是罪恶，而是一种不便。poverty — ①having enough money to buy all the things you ever wanted to have if only you hadn't got children ②the most effective way to keep out robbers and thieves 贫穷——①假如没有孩子，你的钱就能买得起你想要的任何东西 ②把强盗和小偷拒之门外的最有效方法。
mediocrity /7mi:di5Ckriti/ （平常）可看作medi+ocr+ity，medi-前缀“中间”（如medium→medi+um后缀→中间的；媒介），ocr看作Optical Character Recognition（光学字符识别），-ity名词后缀，用中等(medi)识别率OCR的效果是平常(medicocrity)的。
upper-middle-class 上中阶层。
Utopia /ju:5tEupjE/ （乌托邦）是英国空想社会主义者托马斯·莫尔(Thomas More)所著书名的简称，书中描写了作者所想象的没有阶级的幸福社会——乌托邦，意即“没有的地方”。Utopia — ①a place where men are severely punished for all odours and noises they expel ②the place where all women get married, and all men remain bachelors 乌托邦——①在那个地方，人类因其散发的气味和制造的噪音而受到惩罚 ②所有女人都结了婚，而所有男人却仍然单身的地方。
involve /in5vClv/ （v.陷入；涉及）←in+volve，in-前缀=into，volve词根“卷”，“把东西卷到里面”。参revolution词条（含revolve），2003年Text 1。Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the co-operation of many minds.伟大的发展和改进总是牵涉到许多富于才智的人的协作。The power of choice must invovle the possibility of error — that is the essence of choosing.选择的权力必须包括出错的可能——这是选择的精髓。
transform /trAns5fC:m/ （v.转变；改造）即trans+form，trans-前缀“改变”，form词根“形状”。Marriage is the miracle that transform a kiss from a pleasure into a duty, and a life from a luxury into a necessity.婚姻是个奇迹，它把接吻从快乐化为义务，把生活从享乐化为必需。
describe /dis5kraib/ （v.描述，形容）←de向下+scribe写，“写下来”，名词为description。A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another's.在描述另一个人的性格时，人最清楚地显露自己的性格。
descendant /di5send(E)nt/ （后裔）即de+scend+ant，de-向下，scend词根“爬”，-ant名词后缀表“人”。同根词：descend→de+scend→“向下爬”→下降；ascend→a+scend→“向上爬”→攀登。One of the best things people could do for their descendants would be to sharply limit the number of them.人们能为后代做的最好的事情之一大概就是严格限制自己的数量。
难句解析：
①There are about 105 males born for
every 100 females, but this ratio drops to near balance at the age
of maturity, and among 70-year-olds there are twice as many women
as men.
▲该句是由三个递进关系的简单句组成的并列句，句法结构比较清晰。
△第一个分句的关键词在born，表明该比数是婴儿出生时的性别比例；第二个分句的关键词在near balance（接近持平）和at the age of
maturity，表示性别比例的持平状态发生在成年时期；第三个分句的70-year-olds指代的是“70岁的人们”，作名词。
②Again, differences between people and
the opportunity for natural selection to take advantage of it have
diminished.
▲注意differences between
people和the opportunity for natural selection
to take advantage of it是两个并列的主语，千万不要理解成people与the opportunity是between的并列宾语。
△and连接的两个并列部分是differences between
people和the opportunity for natural selection
to take advantage of it，而不是people和the opportunity。另外注意句中的it指代的是differences between
people。
③The grand mediocrity of today
— everyone being the same in survival
and number of offspring — means that natural selection has lost
80％ of its power in upper-middle-class
India compared to the tribes.
▲该句的主语是The grand
mediocrity，谓语是means，其后跟着that引导的宾语从句that natural selection has lost
80％ of its power in upper-middle-class
India compared to the tribes，其中compared to the
tribes是分词结构作状语，省略了if/when being。破折号中间everyone being the same in survival
and number of offspring是典型的插入语，其中survival和number of
offspring都是介词in的宾语。
△grand在此处不是“宏伟，壮丽”的意思，而是“程度很深”；mediocrity也非“平庸，平常”，而是“平均化”或“折衷”；offspring是“后代”。另外要理解natural selection has lost
80％ of its power in upper-middle-class
India的意思，这里是指在原来的社会不平等的情况下，印度中上层阶级拥有一些能使自己在自然选择中处于优势的特权，而随着医疗和卫生条件的改变，下层人民也拥有同样的生存条件，因此中上层阶级就丧失了80％的自然选择中的优势。
④Darwin had a phrase to describe those
ignorant of evolution: they "look at an organic being as a savage
looks at a ship, as at something wholly beyond his
comprehension."
▲冒号后的句子是主句中a phrase的同位语。该同位语从句中的结构是A does something as B does
something（A做某事的样子正像B做某事的样子）。
△those ignorant of
evolution指对生物进化过程一无所知的人，其后的they也指代这些人。最后的his指代前面的a savage。beyond his
comprehension超出了他的理解范围。
试题解析：
55. [C] 意为；较低的存活率。
第一段第一、二句指出，做男人总是有危险的。出生时男孩比例高于女孩，到成熟期时男女比例已持平，到70岁时男人仅剩女人数量的一半了。
A意为：配偶的缺乏。第一段第四、五句提到，现在，男孩的存活率几乎与女孩一样了，这意味着，到寻找配偶的关键年龄时，就会有多余的男孩（找不到配偶）。这两句话仅是论据，说明本段第三句指出的现象：过去普遍存在的男人死亡率高的现象正在改变。
B意为：激烈的竞争。
D意为：有缺陷的基因。第一段最后一句指出，既然其中的差别都是由基因造成的，另一个进化因素不复存在了。这里并未提到基因的缺陷造成男人的高死亡率。
56. [B] 意为：自然选择的法则基本不适用于穷富的差别。
印度的例子用于说明第二段第六句指出的观点：不同的人面对自然选择时所可利用的优劣势差别已经变小。根据下文．这一句应理解为：在存活率问题上，富人和穷人几乎面临着同样的机会，即富人已渐失其优势。另请参阅本段最后一句。
A意为：富人（家庭）一般比穷人孩子少。虽然这也许是事实，但文章井未提到这一点。
C意为：中产阶级人口数量比部落人口少80％。第二段最后一句的意思是：今天的总平均趋势——存活率和孩子数量的平均化——意味着自然选择在印度的中高层家庭人口中——与部落人口相比——已失去80％的控制力；即：中高阶层不再拥有绝对的生存优势。
D意为：印度是出生率很高的国家之一。这是文章没有提到的。
57. [A] 意为：技术的进步改进了生命（的质量）。
第三段第四、五句指出，在过去的10万年乃至100年中，我们的生活得到了改变，但是身体却没有改变，我们（的身体）没有进化的原因是机器和社会使其然。这里所说的“机器”当指技术。
B意为：女婴数量减少了。参阅第55、56题题解。
C意为：我们这种物种（指人）已达到最高进化阶段。虽然在第三段中作者的确提到了进化已经结束(evolution is
over)，但是造成这种现象的原因却只有在第五句中才提到。
D意为：贫富差别正在逐渐消失。即使在第二段，文章也没有提到贫富差别的消失，提到的只是贫富家庭在婴孩存活率和孩子平均数量上差别正在缩小。
58. [D] 意为：人的进化已穷尽。
在第一段阐述男人死亡率降低的原因时，作者就指出了进化机制已不再起作用，第二段在讨论每个家庭孩子平均数量减少这一现象时，作者再次指出自然进化机制已不能再左右人口的出生率，即：人不再通过多生孩子来保持人口的均衡。在总结全文的第三段时，作者直截了当地指出，进化已经结束。
A意为：人的进化过程中性别比例的改变。这一点仅在第一段提到了，所以，该选择项不足以概括全文内容。
B意为：保持人类进化的方法。
C意为：大自然未来的进化。本文侧重点在于探讨人口的结构变化与进化过程的关系，而不是泛泛地谈论大自然的进化。
全文翻译：
做男人总是充满危险，出生时男女比例大约是105:100，但到了成熟期，这一比例几乎持平，而在70岁的老人中女性是男性的两倍，但是男性死亡率普遍偏高这种情况正在改变，现在男婴存活率几乎同女婴一样高。这就意味着男孩到了寻找伴侣的关键年龄将首次出现男孩过剩现象。更重要的是，又一次自然选择的机会不复存在了。50年前，婴儿（尤其是男婴）存活的机会取决于体重，过轻或过重几乎意味着必死无疑。今日体重几乎不起什么作用，因为大部分差异是由基因引起的，又一个进化的因素消失了。进化自杀还有另一种方法：存活，但少生孩子。现在没有几个人像过去那样具有旺盛的生育力。除了在一些宗教社区之外，没有几名妇女有15个孩子。当今婴儿出生的数量同死亡年龄一样已趋于平均化，我们多数人的子女数量大致相同。人与人之间的差异和利用差异进行自然选择的机会再一次减少。印度可以说明正在发生的一切。这个国家给大城市里的少数人提供财富，而给其余的各部落民族以贫困。今天这种极其显著的平均化——每个人的生存机会和子女数量都相同——意味着与部落相比较，自然选择在印度中、上层已经失去了80％的效力。
对我们来说，这意味着进化已经结束；生物学上的乌托邦已经降临。奇怪的是，这一过程几乎丝毫没有牵涉到身体上的变化，没有其他物种充斥着自然中如此多的空间。但在过去的10万年——甚至过去的100年中，我们的生活发生了变化，但我们的身体却没变。我们没有进化。因为机器和社会替我们办了这一切。达尔文有一句话描述那些对进化一无所知的人，他们“看有机的生命如同野人看船，好像看某种完全不能理解的东西”。毫无疑问，我们将记住20世纪的生活方式，尽管对其丑陋之处不得其解，但是，不管我们的子孙后代对我们离乌托邦的理想境界还差多远感到有多么惊讶，他们的样子会同我们差不了多少。
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