02 科学技术

  发明创造

  dialogue

  carl feels pitiful that steve jobs died of disease.

  史蒂夫·乔布斯因病去世，卡尔为此觉得很遗憾。

  carl: it's really a great pity about the death of steve jobs. he is such an outstanding man.

  卡尔：史蒂夫·乔布斯的离世真是一个很大的遗憾，他是一位如此杰出的人！

  henry: as the ceo and one of the cofounders of apple, he had made great contributions to the world.

  亨利：作为苹果公司的首席执行官和创始人之一，他对世界做出了很大的贡献。

  carl: have you got the apple's products?

  卡尔：你用过苹果的产品吗？

  henry: yes, i bought an ipod last year. it is very good. the tone quality is excellent.

  亨利：是的，我去年买了一个ipod。它很好，音质非常出色。

  carl: the iphone 4s is on the market now. the functions of this mobile phone are rather powerful. there's no need of a pc any more if you have this. i'm eager to get one. but i just got a cell phone several months ago.

  卡尔：iphone 4s现在已经上市了，这部手机的功能相当强大。如果有了它，就用不着电脑了。我很想要一个，但是我几个月前刚买了一个手机。

  henry: the ipad is good as well, very portable and easy to operate.

  亨利：ipad也很不错，便于携带，操作也很简单。

  carl: i'm waiting for the unveiling of the ipad 3.

  卡尔：我在等ipad 3的问世呢。

  henry: yes, it is worth expecting. but jobs's death may have some influences to this new product.

  亨利：嗯，很值得期待。但是乔布斯的去世可能会对这个新产品造成一些影响。

  carl: maybe, hoping the ipad 3 also can be designed following jobs' theory.

  卡尔：也许会，希望ipad 3也能按照乔布斯的理念来设计。

  notes

  1. outstanding [aut?st?ndi?] adj. 杰出的，显著的

  2. cofounder [k?u'faund?] n. 共同开办人，共同创立人

  3. function [?f??k??n] n. 功能；v. 运行，起作用

  4. portable [?p?:t?b?l] adj. 便于携带的，手提式的，轻便的

  5. operate [??p?reit] v. 操作，运转；动手术；经营

  6. unveil [??n?veil] v. 揭露

  小贴士

  i believe apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. and i look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

  ——steven jobs

  我相信，苹果的未来将更加光明，更具创造力。我期待未来苹果的成功，也将为此尽自己的绵薄之力。

  ——史蒂夫·乔布斯

  基因问题

  dialogue

  dan meets across kent in a street.

  丹在街上遇到了肯特。

  kent: what did you do at your weekend?

  肯特：你周末干什么了？

  dan: i watched a movie last night, really exciting. the title is the sixth day.

  丹：我昨晚看了一部电影，非常令人兴奋，片名叫《第六日》。

  kent: the sixth day? who's the starring? what's the plot?

  肯特：《第六日》？是由谁主演的？什么情节？

  dan: the hero is acted by schwarzenegger. it is mainly about the problems caused by clone technology.

  丹：男主角是由施瓦辛格扮演的。主要是关于克隆技术引发的问题。

  kent: it must be very cool and fantastic. i really love this muscle man. was schwarzenegger be cloned?

  肯特：那一定酷毙了，我非常喜欢这个肌肉男。施瓦辛格被克隆了吗？

  dan: you are right. he found a man in his house who was the same with him one evening. then he was confused and tried to dig this out.

  丹：你说对了。一天晚上他发现有一个和他一模一样的人在他家里，他很困惑，决心把一切搞明白。

  kent: did he kill the clone man in the end?

  肯特：他最后把那个克隆人杀死了吗？

  dan: no, they became friends at last and they punished the wicked scientist together.

  丹：没有，他们最后成为了朋友，一起惩罚了那个缺德的科学家。

  kent: clone is really a complicated thing. i think i will be threatened to death if another myself stand in front of me.

  肯特：克隆确实是一个很复杂的问题。如果另一个自己出现在我面前的话，我想我会被吓死的。

  dan: then the world will be totally in a mass. we can't distinguish who is the original one. it is really absurd.

  丹：那这个世界就会完全混乱了。我们分不清楚哪个才是真人，那真是太荒唐了。

  kent: i also think so. it is against the law of natural reproduction.

  肯特：我也这么想。这是违背自然繁衍规律的。

  dan: hope this is just a science fiction and would never happen in real world.

  丹：希望这只是一部科幻小说，永远不要在现实世界发生。

  notes

  1. title [?taitl] n. 题目；称号；片名

  2. plot [pl?t] n. 故事情节；密谋

  3. clone [kl?un] n. 无性繁殖，克隆；复制品；v. 克隆

  4. confused [k?n'fjuzd] adj. 困惑的，惶惑的；混乱的，乱七八糟的，杂乱的

  5. fantastic [f?n?t?stik] adj. 奇异的；极好的；不现实的

  6. wicked [?wikid] adj. 邪恶的，恶劣的，缺德的；淘气的

  7. absurd [?b?s?:d] adj. 荒谬的，荒唐的

  8. reproduction [?ri:pr??d?k??n] n. 繁育，生殖；复制

  小贴士

  the advantages and disadvantages of genetically modified food:

  转基因食品的利弊：

  advantages: it can increase crop output per unit of area to reduce producing transgenic technology can increase the pest-resistant and antiviral ability of the crop. it can also improve the storability of the agricultural products, and extend the refreshing time.

  优点：可增加作物单位面积产量；可以降低生产成本；通过转基因技术可增强作物抗虫害、抗病毒等的能力；提高农产品的耐贮性，延长保鲜期。

  disadvantages: a number of studies show that genetically modified foods will damage the immune function of mammals.

  弊端：多项研究表明，转基因食品对哺乳动物的免疫功能造成伤害。

  航天技术

  dialogue

  it's time for lunch. kim and matt are talking while walking to the dining hall.

  该吃午饭了。金和马特在去餐厅的路上边走边聊。

  kim: it is said that the shenzhou-8 manned spaceship launched in november.

  金：据说神州八号在11月份发射升空了。

  matt: yeah, i've heard of it. the aeronautical technology of our country is developing at a very fast speed now. the tiangong-1 have just launched successfully in september.

  马特：是啊，我听说过了。我们国家的航天技术现在发展得非常快，天宫一号9月份刚刚发射成功。

  kim: tiangong-1 is the first unmanned space module in china. it is really a breakthrough.

  金：天宫1号是中国第一艘无人太空舱。这真是一个突破。

  matt: yes, it is worth memorizing. and the shenzhou-8 and the tiangong-1 completed the first space docking.

  马特：对，很值得纪念。神州八号和天宫一号完成了第一次太空对接。

  kim: i think it is very amazing and fantastic. how can two objects which are far away from earth can complete different actions as precisely as we wish?

  金：我觉得这真是太巧妙太不可思议了，两个离地球如此遥远的物体怎么能够如此精确地按照人类的意愿完成各种动作。

  matt: this is the power of knowledge. people are awesome.

  马特：这就是知识的力量。人类是了不起的。

  kim: maybe one day we would reach out of the solar system and search the outer space.

  金：也许有一天我们能够走出太阳系，探索外太空。

  matt: yes, and then we can cross the universe and visit different planets easily.