2000-2001年英语历年考研真题阅读翻译

2001Passage1Specialisationcanbeseenasaresponsetotheproblemofanincreasingaccumulationofscientificknowledge.Bysplittingupthesubjectmatterintosmallerunits,onemancouldcontinuetohandletheinformationanduseitasthebasisforfurtherresearch.Butspecialisationwasonlyoneofaseriesofrelateddevelopmentsinscienceaffectingtheprocessofcommunication.Anotherwasthegrowingprofessionalisationofscientificactivity.Noclear-cutdistinctioncanbedrawnbetweenprofessionalsandamateursinscience:exceptionscanbefoundtoanyrule.Nevertheless,thewordamateurdoescarryaconnotationthatthepersonconcernedisnotfullyintegratedintothescientificcommunityand,inparticular,maynotfullyshareitsvalues.Thegrowthofspecialisationinthenineteenthcentury,withitsconsequentrequirementofalonger,morecomplextraining,impliedgreaterproblemsforamateurparticipationinscience.Thetrendwasnaturallymostobviousinthoseareasofsciencebasedespeciallyonamathematicalorlaboratorytraining,andcanbeillustratedintermsofthedevelopmentofgeologyintheUnitedKingdom.AcomparisonofBritishgeologicalpublicationsoverthelastcenturyandahalfrevealsnotsimplyanincreasingemphasisontheprimacyofresearch,butalsoachangingdefinitionofwhatconstitutesanacceptableresearchpaper.Thus,inthenineteenthcentury,localgeologicalstudiesrepresentedworthwhileresearchintheirownright;but,inthetwentiethcentury,localstudieshaveincreasinglybecomeacceptabletoprofessionalsonlyiftheyincorporate,andreflecton,thewidergeologicalpicture.Amateurs,ontheotherhand,havecontinuedtopursuelocalstudiesintheoldway.Theoverallresulthasbeentomakeentrancetoprofessionalgeologicaljournalsharderforamateurs,aresultthathasbeenreinforcedbythewidespreadintroductionofrefereeing,firstbynationaljournalsinthenineteenthcenturyandthenbyseverallocalgeologicaljournalsinthetwentiethcentury.Asalogicalconsequenceofthisdevelopment,separatejournalshavenowappearedaimedmainlytowardseitherprofessionaloramateurreadership.Arathersimilarprocessofdifferentiationhasledtoprofessionalgeologistscomingtogethernationallywithinoneortwospecificsocieties,whereastheamateurshavetendedeithertoremaininlocalsocietiesortocometogethernationallyinadifferentway.AlthoughtheprocessofprofessionalisationandspecialisationwasalreadywellunderwayinBritishgeologyduringthenineteenthcentury,itsfullconsequenceswerethusdelayeduntilthetwentiethcentury.Insciencegenerally,however,thenineteenthcenturymustbereckonedasthecrucialperiodforthischangeinthestructureofscience.专业化可被视为针对科学知识不断膨胀这个问题所做出的反应。通过将学科细化，个人能够继续处理这些不断膨胀的信息并将它们作为深入研究的基础。但是专业化仅是科学领域内一系列影响交流过程的有关现象之一。另一现象是科学活动的日益职业化。在科学领域内，专业与业余之间没有绝对的区分：任何规律都有其例外。但是“业余”这个词的确具有特殊的含义，那就是所指的那个人没有完全融入某个科学家群体，具体地说，他可能并不完全认同这个群体的价值观。世纪的专业化的发展，以及随之而来的对训练的长期性和复杂性的要求，对业余人员进入科学界造成了更大的困难。特别是在以数学和实验室训练为基础的科学领域，这种倾向自然尤为明显，这可以通过英国的地质学发展过程得到证实。对过去一个半世纪的英国地质出版物进行比较，我们不但发现人们对研究的重视程度在不断增加，而且人们对可以接受的论文的定义也在不断变化。因此，在19世纪，局部的地质研究本身就可形成一种有价值的研究；而到了20世纪，如果局部的研究能够被专业人员接受，那么它越来越倾向于必须体现或思考更广阔的地质面貌。另一方面业余人员继续以旧的方式从事局部的研究。其整体的结果是使业余人员进入专业性地质学杂志更加困难，而审稿制度的全面引进使这个结果得到加强，这一制度开始是在19世纪的全国性杂志进行，进入20世纪后也在一些地方性地质杂志实行。这样发展的必然结果是出现了针对专业读者和业余读者的不同杂志。类似的分化过程也导致专业地质学家聚集起来，形成一两个全国性的团体，而业余地质学家则要么留在地方性团体中，要么以不同方式组成全国性的团体。虽然职业化和专业化过程在19世纪的英国地质学界中已经得到迅速发展，但是它的效果直到20世纪才充分显示出来。然而，从科学这个整体来看，19世纪必须被视为科学结构发生变化的关键时期。2001Passage2Agreatdealofattentionisbeingpaidtodaytotheso-calleddigitaldivide—thedivisionoftheworldintotheinfo(information)richandtheinfopoor.Andthatdividedoesexisttoday.MywifeandIlecturedaboutthisloomingdangertwentyyearsago.Whatwaslessvisiblethen,however,werethenew,positiveforcesthatworkagainstthedigitaldivide.Therearereasonstobeoptimistic.Therearetechnologicalreasonstohopethedigitaldividewillnarrow.AstheInternetbecomesmoreandmorecommercialized,itisintheinterestofbusinesstouniversalizeaccess—afterall,themorepeopleonline,themorepotentialcustomersthereare.Moreandmoregovernments,afraidtheircountrieswillbeleftbehind,wanttospreadInternetaccess.Withinthenextdecadeortwo,onetotwobillionpeopleontheplanetwillbenettedtogether.Asaresult,Inowbelievethedigitaldividewillnarrowratherthanwidenintheyearsahead.AndthatisverygoodnewsbecausetheInternetmaywellbethemostpowerfultoolforcombatingworldpovertythatwe'veeverhad.Ofcourse,theuseoftheInternetisn'ttheonlywaytodefeatpoverty.AndtheInternetisnottheonlytoolwehave.Butithasenormouspotential.Totakeadvantageofthistool,someimpoverishedcountrieswillhavetogetovertheiroutdatedanti-colonialprejudiceswithrespecttoforeigninvestment.Countriesthatstillthinkforeigninvestmentisaninvasionoftheirsovereigntymightwellstudythehistoryofinfrastructure(thebasicstructuralfoundationsofasociety)intheUnitedStates.WhentheUnitedStatesbuiltitsindustrialinfrastructure,itdidn'thavethecapitaltodoso.AndthatiswhyAmerica'sSecondWaveinfrastructure—includingroads,harbors,highways,portsandsoon—werebuiltwithforeigninvestment.TheEnglish,theGermans,theDutchandtheFrenchwereinvestinginBritain'sformercolony.Theyfinancedthem.ImmigrantAmericansbuiltthem.Guesswhoownsthemnow?TheAmericans.IbelievethesamethingwouldbetrueinplaceslikeBraziloranywhereelseforthatmatter.ThemoreforeigncapitalyouhavehelpingyoubuildyourThirdWaveinfrastructu