Old-Father-Time-Becomes-a-Terror课文译文

OldFatherTimeBecomesaTerror时间老人成了可怕的老人RichardTomkins理查德·汤姆金斯1Onceuponatime,technology,wethought,wouldmakeourliveseasier.Machineswereexpectedtodoourworkforus,leavinguswithever-increasingquantitiesoftimetowasteawayonidlenessandpleasure.从前，我们以为技术发展会使我们的生活变得更安逸。那时我们觉得机器会替代我们工作，我们则有越来越多的时间休闲娱乐。2Butinsteadofliberatingus,technologyhasenslavedus.Innovationsareoccurringatabewilderingrate:asmanynowarriveinayearasoncearrivedinamillennium.Andaseachinventionarrives,iteatsfurtherintoourtime.但技术发展没有把我们解放出来，而是使我们成为奴隶。新技术纷至沓来，令人目不暇接：一年涌现的技术创新相当于以前一千年。而每一项新发明问世，就进一步吞噬我们的光阴。3Themotorcar,forexample,promisedunimaginablelevelsofpersonalmobility.Butnow,trafficincitiesmovesmoreslowlythanitdidinthedaysofthehorse-drawncarriage,andwewasteourlivesstuckintrafficjams.比如，汽车曾使我们希望个人出行会方便得让人难以想象。可如今，城市车辆运行得比马车时代还要慢，我们因交通堵塞而困在车内，徒然浪费生命。4Theaircraftpromisednewhorizons,too.Thetroubleis,itdeliveredthem.Itsveryexistencecreatedademandfortime-consumingjourneysthatwewouldneverpreviouslyhavedreamedofundertaking--thetransatlanticshoppingexpedition,forexample,orthetriptoaconventionontheothersideoftheworld.飞机也曾有可能为我们拓展新天地。问题是，飞机提供了新的天地。其存在本身产生了对耗时的长途旅行的需求，这种旅行，如越洋购物，或远道前往地球的另一半参加会议，以前我们是根本无法想象的。5Inmostcases,technologyhasnotsavedtime,butenabledustodomorethings.Inthehome,washingmachinespromisedtofreewomenfromhavingtotoiloverthelaundry.Inreality,theyencouragedustochangeourclothesdailyinsteadofweekly,creatingseventimesasmuchwashingandironing.Similarly,theweeklybathhasbeenreplacedbythedailyshower,multiplyingthehoursspentonpersonalgrooming.在大多数情况下，技术发展并未节省时间，而是使我们得以做更多的事。在家里，洗衣机可望使妇女摆脱繁重的洗衣劳作。但事实上，它们促使我们每天，而不是每星期换一次衣服，这就使熨洗衣物的工作量变成原来的7倍。同样地，每周一次的沐浴为每日一次的淋浴所代替，使得用于个人穿着打扮的时间大大增加。6Meanwhile,technologyhasnotonlyallowedworktospreadintoourleisuretime--thelaptop-on-the-beachsyndrome--butaddedthenewburdenofdealingwithfaxes,e-mailsandvoicemails.IthasalsoprovideduswiththeopportunitytospendhoursfixingsoftwareglitchesonourpersonalcomputersorfillingourheadswithuselessinformationfromtheInternet.与此同时，技术发展不仅听任工作侵入我们的闲暇时间――带着便携式电脑去海滩综合症――而且添加了收发传真、电子邮件和语音邮件这些新的负担。技术发展还向我们提供机会，在个人电脑上一连几小时处理软件故障，或把因特网上那些无用的信息塞进自己的大脑。7Technologyapart,theInternetpointsthewaytoasecondreasonwhywefeelsotime-pressed:theinformationexplosion.除去技术发展，因特网指出了我们为何感到时间如此紧迫的第二个原因：信息爆炸。8Acoupleofcenturiesago,nearlyalltheworld'saccumulatedlearningcouldbecontainedintheheadsofafewphilosophers.Today,thoseheadscouldnothopetoaccommodatemorethanatinyfractionoftheinformationgeneratedinasingleday.几个世纪以前，人类积累的几乎所有知识都能装在若干哲人的大脑之中。如今，这些大脑休想容纳下一天中产生的新信息中的小小一部分。9News,factsandopinionspourinfromeverycorneroftheworld.Thetelevisionsetoffers150channels.TherearemillionsofInternetsites.Magazines,booksandCD-ROMsproliferate.各种消息、事实和见解从世界各个角落大量涌入。电视机能收到150个频道。因特网网址多达千百万。杂志、书籍和光盘只读存储器的数量也激增。10Inthewholeworldofscholarship,therewereonlyahandfulofscientificjournalsinthe18thcentury,andthepublicationofabookwasanevent,saysEdwardWilson,honorarycuratorinentomologyatHarvardUniversity'smuseumofcomparativezoology.Now,Ifindmyselfsubscribingto60or70journalsormagazinesjusttokeepmeupwithwhatamountstoaminuteproportionoftheexpandingfrontiersofscholarship.“在18世纪，整个国际学术界总共只有屈指可数的几家科学刊物，出版一本书是件了不起的大事，”哈佛大学比较动物学博物馆昆虫馆名誉馆长爱德华·威尔逊说。“如今，我本人就订阅了60或70种期刊杂志，以便自己跟上不断拓展的学术前沿中一个微小部分的发展动向。”11Thereisanotherreasonforourincreasedtimestresslevels,too:risingprosperity.Asever-largerquantitiesofgoodsandservicesareproduced,theyhavetobeconsumed.Drivenonbyadvertising,wedoourbesttooblige:webuymore,travelmoreandplaymore,butwestruggletokeepup.SowesufferfromwhatWilsoncallsdiscontentwithsuperabundance--theconfusionofendlesschoice.我们产生日益加重的时间紧迫感还有一个原因：日渐繁荣富足。由于生产的物品与提供的服务越来越多，我们必须去消费。在广告的推动下，我们努力照办：我们多多购买多多旅游多多玩儿，但得尽力坚持下去。于是我们就深受威尔逊所谓的对极大富足不满之苦――即无休止的选择所造成的困惑。12Ofcourse,noteveryoneisoverstressed.It'saconvenientshorthandtosaywe'realltime-starved,butwehavetorememberthatitonlyappliesto,say,halfthepopulation,saysMichaelWillmott,directoroftheFutureFoundation,aLondonresearchcompany.当然，并非人人感到时间过度紧迫。“说我们都缺少时间只是随意讲讲，我们应该记住，这种说法大约只适用于一半人，”未来基金公司――一家伦敦研究公司――的经理迈克尔·威尔莫特说。13You'vegotpeopleretiringearly,you'vegottheunemployed,you'vegototherpeoplemaybeonlyperipherallyinvolvedintheeconomywhodon'thavethissituationatall.Ifyou'reunemployed,yourproblemisthatyou'vegottoomuchtime,nottoolittle.“有些人早早退休了，有些人失业了，有些人或许只与经济活动沾点边，根本不会有这种情况。如果失业了，那你的问题就是时间太多，而不是太少。”14PaulEdwards,chairmanoftheLondon-basedHenleyCentreforecastinggroup,pointsoutthatthefeelingofpressurescanalsobeexaggerated,orself-imposed.Everyonetalksaboutitsomuchthatabout50percentofunemployedorretiredpeoplewilltellyoutheyneverhaveenoughtimetogetthingsdone,hesays.It'salmostgottothepointwherethere'sstressenvy.Ifyou'renotstressed,you'renotsucceeding.Everyonewantstohavealittlebitofthisstresstoshowthey'reanimportantperson.总部设在伦敦的亨利中心预测小组组长保罗·爱德华兹指出，压力感也可能被夸大，或者被强加于自身。“人人都大谈压力，以至于多达半数的失业者或退休人员都会跟你说，他们根本来不及把事情做完，”他说。“这几乎是到了羡慕压力的程度。没有感到有压力，就不是成功者。人人都想表现几分时间紧迫感，以显示自己的重要。”15Thereisanotheraspecttoallofthistoo.Hour-by-hourlogskeptbythousandsofvolunteersoverthedecadeshaveshownthat,intheU.K.,workinghourshaverisenonlyslightlyinthelast10years,andintheU.S.,the