2020年考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解全文翻

1、Text1Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd,” William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the ever-changing 21st century, even the w

2、ord “habit” carries a negative connotation. So it seems antithetical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. 習(xí)慣是件有趣的事情。我們無(wú)意識(shí)間養(yǎng)成了一些習(xí)慣，我們的大腦是自動(dòng)運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)的，輕松進(jìn)入熟知套路所帶來(lái)的不自覺舒適狀態(tài)。“這并非選擇，而是習(xí)慣控制了那些沒有思想的人”，這是威廉華茲華斯（William Wordsworth）19世紀(jì)時(shí)說(shuō)的話。在現(xiàn)在這個(gè)日新月異的21世紀(jì)，甚至習(xí)慣這個(gè)詞本身也帶有負(fù)面涵義。因此，在創(chuàng)造和革新的背

3、景下來(lái)談?wù)摿?xí)慣，似乎顯得有點(diǎn)矛盾。But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks. But dont bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of

4、 procedure are worn into the hippocampus, theyre there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately ingrain into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.但大腦研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)我們有意識(shí)地培養(yǎng)新的習(xí)慣的時(shí)候，我們創(chuàng)建了平行路徑，甚至是全新的腦細(xì)胞，可以讓我們的思路跳轉(zhuǎn)到新的創(chuàng)新軌道上來(lái)。但是，不必費(fèi)心試圖擯棄各種舊習(xí)慣；一旦這些程序慣例融進(jìn)大腦，它們就會(huì)留在那里。相反，我們刻意培養(yǎng)的

5、新習(xí)慣會(huì)創(chuàng)建平行路徑能避開原來(lái)那些老路?！癟he first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author of “The Open Mind” and an executive change consultant for Professional Thinking Partners. “But we are taught instead to decide, just as our president calls himself the Decider. ” She

6、adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”開放思想一書的作者Dawna Markova說(shuō)：“革新所需要的第一樣?xùn)|西，就是一種對(duì)好奇的著迷。然而我們被教導(dǎo)去做決定，就像我們的總裁稱呼自己為決策者那樣。”她補(bǔ)充道，“但是，決定意味著否決一切可能性而只保留一種。一個(gè)優(yōu)秀的具有革新精神的思想者總是在探尋許多其它的可能?！盇ll of us wor

7、k through problems in ways of which were unaware, she says. Researchers in the late 1960 covered that humans are born with the capacity to approach challenges in four primary ways: analytically, procedurally, relationally (or collaboratively) and innovatively. At puberty, however, the brain shuts do

8、wn half of that capacity, preserving only those modes of thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.她說(shuō)，我們都是通過一些自己沒有意識(shí)到的方法解決問題的。研究人員在20世紀(jì)60年代末發(fā)現(xiàn)人類天生主要用四種方法應(yīng)對(duì)挑戰(zhàn)。這四種方法是分析法，程序法，關(guān)聯(lián)（或合作）法和創(chuàng)新法。但是在青春期結(jié)束的時(shí)候，大腦關(guān)閉一半的能力，僅僅保留了那些大約在生命最開始的十幾年時(shí)間里似乎是最有價(jià)值的思維方式。The current emphasis on

9、 standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that few of us inherently use our innovative and collaborative modes of thought. “This breaks the major rule in the American belief system that anyone can do anything,” explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006 book “This Year I Will.” a

10、nd Ms. Markovas business partner. “Thats a lie that we have perpetuated, and it fosters commonness. Knowing what youre good at and doing even more of it creates excellence.” This is where developing new habits comes in.目前標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化測(cè)試主要強(qiáng)調(diào)分析和程序的能力，也就是說(shuō)，我們中很少有人會(huì)本能地使用創(chuàng)新和合作的思維方式。M.J.Ryan是2006年出版的著作今年我將.一書的作者以及M

11、arkova女士的商業(yè)合作伙伴，她解釋說(shuō)：“這打破了美國(guó)信念體系里的主要規(guī)則任何人都可以做任何事。這是一個(gè)我們已經(jīng)使之永恒的謊言，這造就了平庸。了解你擅長(zhǎng)什么并且多去實(shí)踐就會(huì)成就卓越?！边@就是培養(yǎng)新習(xí)慣的目的。Text 2 It is a wise father that knows his own child, but today a man can boost his paternal (fatherly) wisdom or at least confirm that hes the kids dad. All he needs to do is shell our $30 for pa

12、ternity testing kit (PTK) at his local drugstore and another $120 to get the results.More than 60,000 people have purchased the PTKs since they first become available without prescriptions last years, according to Doug Fog, chief operating officer of Identigene, which makes the over-the-counter kits

13、. 再聰明的父親也未必了解自己的孩子，但是如今男人可以提升其為人之父的智慧，至少可以確認(rèn)他是孩子的父親。他所要做的就是在當(dāng)?shù)厮幍昀镏Ц?0美元買一個(gè)父子關(guān)系測(cè)試包（PTK），然后另支付120美元以獲得該測(cè)試的各項(xiàng)結(jié)果。Doug Fogg是Identigene (生產(chǎn)這種在藥店可以出售的測(cè)試包的公司)的首席運(yùn)營(yíng)官，他說(shuō)，自從去年P(guān)TK不需要處方就能購(gòu)買以來(lái)，已經(jīng)有超過6萬(wàn)人購(gòu)買了該產(chǎn)品。More than two dozen companies sell DNA tests Directly to the public , ranging in price from a few hundred

14、dollars to more than $2500.Among the most popular : paternity and kinship testing , which adopted children can use to find their biological relatives and latest rage a many passionate genealogists-and supports businesses that offer to search for a familys geographic roots .超過24家公司直接向公眾出售DNA檢測(cè)工具，價(jià)格從幾

15、百美元到2500多美元不等。其中最受歡迎的是父子和血緣關(guān)系檢測(cè)，被收養(yǎng)的孩子可以利用它找到自己的有血緣關(guān)系的親屬，而家庭也可以用它來(lái)找到被人收養(yǎng)的孩子。DNA檢測(cè)也得到了許多熱心的家譜學(xué)專家的推崇，還為那些尋找家族地域根源的服務(wù)公司提供了支持。Most tests require collecting cells by webbing saliva in the mouth and sending it to the company for testing. All tests require a potential candidate with whom to compare DNA. Bu

16、t some observers are skeptical, “There is a kind of false precision being hawked by people claiming they are doing ancestry testing,” says Trey Duster, a New York University sociologist. 多數(shù)測(cè)試需要從口腔唾液中獲取細(xì)胞，并將唾液送至公司進(jìn)行檢測(cè)。所有的測(cè)試都需要一個(gè)潛在的對(duì)照者，以便進(jìn)行DNA對(duì)比。但是，一些觀察家們持懷疑態(tài)度。紐約大學(xué)的社會(huì)學(xué)家Troy Duster說(shuō)，“那些聲稱可以進(jìn)行血統(tǒng)測(cè)試的人在散播一

17、種虛假的精確信息”。 He notes that each individual has many ancestors-numbering in the hundreds just a few centuries back. Yet most ancestry testing only considers a single lineage, either the Y chromosome inherited through men in a fathers line or mitochondrial DNA, which a passed down only from mothers. Thi

18、s DNA can reveal genetic information about only one or two ancestors, even though, for example, just three generations back people also have six other great-grandparents or, four generations back, 14 other great-great-grandparents.他注意到每個(gè)人都有許多祖先，僅幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以前就有好幾百個(gè)。但是大多數(shù)血統(tǒng)檢測(cè)只考慮單一的血統(tǒng)，要么只考慮來(lái)自父親的男性遺傳Y染色體，要么只考

19、慮遺傳自母親的線粒體DNA。這個(gè)DNA只能顯示一兩個(gè)祖先的基因信息，即使是這樣，僅僅上溯到3代之前，舉個(gè)例子來(lái)說(shuō)，人們還有6個(gè)曾祖父母，或者上溯到4代以前，人們還有14個(gè)曾曾祖父母（的基因信息是顯示不出的）。Critics also argue that commercial genetic testing is only as good as the reference collections to which a sample is compared. Databases used by some companies dont rely on data collected systemat

20、ically but rather lump together information from different research projects. This means that a DNA database may differ depending on the company that processes the results. In addition, the computer programs a company uses to estimate relationships may be patented and not subject to peer review or o

21、utside evaluation. 批評(píng)家們還認(rèn)為，商業(yè)性基因檢測(cè)實(shí)際上也就是比對(duì)樣本的參考資料庫(kù)。一些公司使用的數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)里的數(shù)據(jù)并非系統(tǒng)收集所得，而是將不同研究項(xiàng)目的信息整合在一起。這意味某個(gè)DNA數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)可能會(huì)從某些地區(qū)收集到很多信息，而別的地區(qū)卻沒有收集到任何信息，所以一個(gè)人的測(cè)試結(jié)果會(huì)隨著測(cè)試公司的不同而不同。此外，公司用來(lái)評(píng)估血緣關(guān)系的軟件程序可能是其專利，所以這些軟件缺乏同類比較或外界評(píng)估。Text 3 The relationship between formal education and economic growth in poor countries is widely m

22、isunderstood by economists and politicians alike progress in both area is undoubtedly necessary for the social, political and intellectual development of these and all other societies; however, the conventional view that education should be one of the very highest priorities for promoting rapid econ

23、omic development in poor countries is wrong. 貧窮國(guó)家中正規(guī)教育與經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展之間的關(guān)系為經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家及政治家們普遍誤解。毫無(wú)疑問，在這兩個(gè)方面都有所進(jìn)步對(duì)于這些國(guó)家及其他國(guó)家的社會(huì)、政治及學(xué)術(shù)發(fā)展而言是必要的，但是那種認(rèn)為“教育應(yīng)該是促進(jìn)貧窮國(guó)家經(jīng)濟(jì)快速發(fā)展的重要因素之一”的傳統(tǒng)觀點(diǎn)是錯(cuò)誤的。We are fortunate that is it, because new educational systems there and putting enough people through them to improve economic performa

24、nce would require two or three generations. The findings of a research institution have consistently shown that workers in all countries can be trained on the job to achieve radical higher productivity and, as a result, radically higher standards of living.我們慶幸這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)觀點(diǎn)的確是錯(cuò)誤的，因?yàn)閯?chuàng)立新的教育體制，讓足夠多的人接受教育以推動(dòng)經(jīng)濟(jì)

25、發(fā)展需要兩代或三代人來(lái)完成。一家研究機(jī)構(gòu)的研究成果一再表明所有國(guó)家的工人都可以進(jìn)行（非正規(guī)）培訓(xùn)上崗以大幅度提高生產(chǎn)率，從而提高生活水平。Ironically, the first evidence for this idea appeared in the United States. Not long ago, with the country entering a recessing and Japan at its pre-bubble peak. The U.S. workforce was derided as poorly educated and one of primary

26、cause of the poor U.S. economic performance. Japan was, and remains, the global leader in automotive-assembly productivity. 具有諷刺意味的是，這一觀點(diǎn)的首個(gè)證據(jù)出現(xiàn)在美國(guó)。不久前，隨著美國(guó)進(jìn)入衰退，日本正處于泡沫破滅前的高峰期，美國(guó)工人被嘲諷沒有受過良好教育，并且被認(rèn)為這是美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣的主要原因之一。在全球，不管過去還是現(xiàn)在，日本一直是汽車組裝生產(chǎn)力的領(lǐng)袖。Yet the research revealed that the U.S. factories of Hond

27、a Nissan, and Toyota achieved about 95 percent of the productivity of their Japanese countere pants a result of the training that U.S. workers received on the job.More recently, while examing housing construction, the researchers discovered that illiterate, non-English- speaking Mexican workers in H

28、ouston, Texas, consistently met best-practice labor productivity standards despite the complexity of the building industrys work.然而，研究表明本田、尼桑和豐田位于美國(guó)工廠的生產(chǎn)率大約是日本同行的95%，這是美國(guó)工人接受在職培訓(xùn)的結(jié)果。最近，在進(jìn)行住房建設(shè)檢查時(shí)，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)在德克薩斯州的休斯頓，盡管建筑行業(yè)的工作復(fù)雜，但是未受過教育的，英語(yǔ)不是母語(yǔ)的墨西哥工人總是能夠達(dá)到最佳的勞動(dòng)生產(chǎn)率的各項(xiàng)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。What is the real relationship betw

29、een education and economic development? We have to suspect that continuing economic growth promotes the development of education even when governments dont force it. After all, thats how education got started. When our ancestors were hunters and gatherers 10,000 years ago, they didnt have time to wo

30、nder much about anything besides finding food. Only when humanity began to get its food in a more productive way was there time for other things.教育與經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展之間的真正關(guān)系到底是什么？我們不得不懷疑，即使政府不強(qiáng)迫發(fā)展教育，經(jīng)濟(jì)持續(xù)增長(zhǎng)也會(huì)促進(jìn)教育事業(yè)的發(fā)展。畢竟，教育就是那樣開始的。一萬(wàn)年前當(dāng)我們的祖先還在狩獵和采集野果時(shí)，除了尋找食物他們沒有時(shí)間想其它很多的東西。只有當(dāng)人類能夠更高效地獲取食物時(shí)，才有時(shí)間做其它的事情。As education i

31、mproved, humanitys productivity potential, they could in turn afford more education. This increasingly high level of education is probably a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for the complex political systems required by advanced economic performance. Thus poor countries might not be able t

32、o escape their poverty traps without political changes that may be possible only with broader formal education. 隨著教育的進(jìn)步，人類的生產(chǎn)潛力也增加了。當(dāng)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的環(huán)境推動(dòng)我們的祖先實(shí)現(xiàn)這一生產(chǎn)潛力，他們反過來(lái)，又有能力獲得更多的教育機(jī)會(huì)。先進(jìn)的經(jīng)濟(jì)水平要求復(fù)雜的政治制度，越來(lái)越高的教育水平可能是這種復(fù)雜政治制度的必要的，但不是充分的條件。因此，政治改革才可以使貧窮國(guó)家擺脫貧困陷阱，而政治改革則只能靠更廣泛的正規(guī)教育實(shí)現(xiàn)。A lack of formal education, howev

33、er, doesnt constrain the ability of the developing worlds workforce to substantially improve productivity for the forested future. On the contrary, constraints on improving productivity explain why education isnt developing more quickly there than it is.但是，發(fā)展中國(guó)家的勞動(dòng)力在可預(yù)見的未來(lái)充分提高生產(chǎn)力的能力沒有因缺乏正規(guī)教育而受到限制。相反

34、，正是因?yàn)樯a(chǎn)力的提高受到了各種限制，所以發(fā)展中國(guó)家的教育發(fā)展速度不能更快地發(fā)展。Text 4 The most thoroughly studied in the history of the new world are the ministers and political leaders of seventeenth-century New England. According to the standard history of American philosophy, nowhere else in colonial America was “So much important at

35、tached to intellectual pursuit” According to many books and articles, New Englands leaders established the basic themes and preoccupations of an unfolding, dominant Puritan tradition in American intellectual life.在新大陸的歷史上，被研究的最徹底的學(xué)者是17世紀(jì)新英格蘭的牧師和政治領(lǐng)袖們。根據(jù)美國(guó)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)哲學(xué)史的記載，在美洲殖民地中，沒有任何地方比新英格蘭地區(qū)“更重視對(duì)學(xué)術(shù)的追求?！睋?jù)許多

36、書籍及文章認(rèn)為，新英格蘭的領(lǐng)袖們?cè)诿绹?guó)學(xué)術(shù)界中確立了正在發(fā)展、后來(lái)成為主流的清教傳統(tǒng)的基本主題和關(guān)注點(diǎn)。To take this approach to the New Englanders normally mean to start with the Puritans theological innovations and their distinctive ideas about the church-important subjects that we may not neglect. But in keeping with our examination of southern in

37、tellectual life, we may consider the original Puritans as carriers of European culture adjusting to New world circumstances. 通過這條途徑來(lái)了解新英格蘭人，通常意味著要首先研究清教徒的神學(xué)創(chuàng)新和對(duì)于教會(huì)的獨(dú)特看法這是我們不可忽略的重要課題。但是為了與我們對(duì)南部思想生活的研究保持一致，我們可以將最初的清教徒們視作歐洲文化的傳遞者，他們根據(jù)新大陸的情況進(jìn)行了調(diào)整。The New England colonies were the scenes of important epi

38、sodes in the pursuit of widely understood ideals of civility and virtuosity. The early settlers of Massachusetts Bay included men of impressive education and influence in England. Besides the ninety or so learned ministers who came to Massachusetts church in the decade after 1629,There were politica

39、l leaders like John Winthrop, an educated gentleman, lawyer, and official of the Crown before he journeyed to Boston. 在追求一些廣泛認(rèn)同的文化藝術(shù)理想過程中，新英格蘭殖民地發(fā)生了許多重要的事情。馬薩諸塞州的最早定居者包括那些在英格蘭接受過良好的教育并深具影響力的英國(guó)人。在1629年之后的十年間，除了90多位來(lái)到馬薩諸塞教堂的有學(xué)識(shí)的牧師，還有像約翰溫斯羅普（John Winthrop）這樣的政治領(lǐng)袖，他是一位受過良好教育的紳士、律師，到波士頓之前曾是皇室官員。There men

40、 wrote and published extensively, reaching both New World and Old World audiences, and giving New England an atmosphere of intellectual earnestness. We should not forget , however, that most New Englanders were less well educated. While few crafts men or farmers, let alone dependents and servants, l

41、eft literary compositions to be analyzed, The in thinking often had a traditional superstitions quality. 這些人大量撰寫、出版書籍，在新舊大陸都有讀者，這給新英格蘭帶來(lái)了熱衷思想研究的氛圍。但是，我們不應(yīng)該忘記，大多數(shù)新英格蘭人沒有接受過良好教育。雖然，幾乎沒有工匠或農(nóng)民（更不用說(shuō)其家人及仆人）給我們留下一些文學(xué)作品以供分析，但是，很明顯他們的觀點(diǎn)并不具有太大的思想性。他們的思想中往往有一種傳統(tǒng)的迷信色彩。A tailor named John Dane, who emigrated in the late 1630s, left an account of his reasons for leaving England that is filled with signs. sexual confusion, economic frustrations , and religious hope-all name together in a decisive moment when he opened the Bib