大学英语精读第6册课文全文翻译-中英对照

THE QUEST FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE 这个问题的许多方面可以经得起实践的检验。我们能够搜寻其它恒星，寻找象火星这样离我们很近的行星上的简单生命形式，并且在实验室中可Through all of our history we have pondered the stars and 以对生命起源的化学机理作更广泛的研究。我们mused whether humanity is unique or if, somewhere else in the 还可以更深入地研究生物和社会的进化原理。这dark of the night sky, there are other beings who contemplate 个问题需要人们长期地、不带偏见地、系统地去探索，而只有大自然才是什么可能、什么不可能and wonder as we do, fellow thinkers in the cosmos. Such beings 的唯一仲裁者。 might view themselves and the universe differently. Somewhere else there might be very exotic biologies and technologies and societies. In a cosmic setting vast and old beyond ordinary human understanding, we are a little lonely; and we ponder the ultimate significance, if any, of our tiny but exquisite blue planet. The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the search for a generally acceptable cosmic context for the human species. In the deepest sense, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is a search for ourselves. In the last few years -- in one-millionth the lifetime of our species on this planet -- we have achieved an extraordinary technological capability which enables us to 借书证 一天早上，我上班到得早，便走进银行的门廊，里面有一个黑人清洁工在拖地。我站在柜台边，拿了一份孟菲斯《商业呼声报》，读起了免费报纸。我最后翻到社论版，上面登了一篇写关于一名叫.门肯的人的文章。我听说门肯是《美国信使》报的编辑。不过除此之外，对他毫无别的了解。该文言辞激烈地遣责门肯，文章结尾时用了一句辛辣的短句：门肯是个傻子。 我在想这位门肯先生到底做了什么事以至于seek out unimaginably distant civilizations even if they are 引得南方对他嘲弄。我所听说过在南方唯一受到no more advanced than we. That capability is called radio 谴责的人就是黑人。而此人不是黑人。那么门肯持有什么样的观点使得象《商业呼声》这样的报astronomy and involves single radio telescopes, collections 纸公开攻击他不用说，他一定是在宣扬南方所不or arrays of radio telescopes, sensitive radio detectors, 喜欢的思想。 advanced computers for processing received date, and the imagination and skill of dedicated scientists. Radio 那么我怎样能够弄清楚门肯其人江边有一大型图书馆，但我知道，正如不许黑人进入城里的公园和运动场一样，他们也同样不被允许进入图astronomy has in the last decade opened a new window on the 书馆。我曾经几次去过那儿，帮正在干活的白人physical universe. It may also, if we are wise enough to make the effort, cast a profound light on the biological universe. 借书。 他们中有哪个人能帮我借书呢？ 我反复琢磨着这些白人的人品。有一个犹太Some scientists working on the question of 人叫唐，但我信不过他。他的情况并不比我好多extraterrestrial intelligence, myself among them, have 少，而且我知道他这个人总是不安分没有安全感。attempted to estimate the number of advanced technical civilizations -- defined operationally as societies capable 他待我总是满不在乎、傲气十足，对我的轻视几乎也不加掩饰。我不敢要他去帮我借书。他特别渴望表示自己在与白人团结一致反对黑人，这使of radio astronomy -- in the Milky Way Galaxy. Such estimates 他有可能会出卖我。 are little better than guesses. They require assigning numerical values to quantities such as the numbers and ages 那么老板如何样呢不成。他是个浸礼会教徒，我有这样的怀疑，就是他可能不大会明白为什么一个黑人孩子想去读门肯的书。上班的还有一些of stars; the abundance of planetary systems and the 别的白人，但他们的态度明确地表明他们要么是likelihood of the origin of life, which we know less well; 三K党徒，要么是其支持者，要他们帮忙是不可and the probability of the evolution of intelligent life and the lifetime of technical civilizations, about which we know very little indeed. When we do the arithmetic, the sorts of numbers we come up with are, characteristically, around a million technical 能的。 仅剩一人了，他的态度不属于反黑人的范畴，因为我曾经听白人们叫他为“拍教皇马屁的人”。他是爱尔兰的天主教徒，南方白人不喜欢他。我知道他常读书。因为我曾经有几次帮他去图书馆借过书。因为他也是白人仇视的对象，我感到他也许会拒绝我但不大可能出卖我。我拿不civilizations. A million civilizations is a breathtakingly 准，只在心里反复琢磨，反复权衡着这无法估计large number, and it is exhilarating to imagine the diversity, 的事情。 一天早上，我来到这位天主教徒的桌子边停lifestyles and commerce of those million worlds. But the Milky 下。 Way Galaxy contains some 250 billion stars, and even with a million civilizations, less than one star in 200,000 would have a planet inhabited by an advanced civilization. Since we have little idea which stars are likely candidates, we will have to examine a very large number of them. Such considerations suggest that the quest for extraterrestrial intelligence may require a significant effort. “我想请你帮个忙。”我低声对他说。 “什么忙” “我想借书。我从图书馆中借不到书。 我不知道你可否让我用一用你的借书证” 他满心怀疑地看着我。 “我的证大部分时间都借满了，”他说。 “我知道。”我边说边等待着，用沉默来提出我的问题。 “你不是想给我惹麻烦，对吗，小伙子”他Despite claims about ancient astronauts and unidentified 两眼瞪着我。 flying objects, there is no firm evidence for past visitation of the Earth by other civilizations. We are restricted to remote signaling and, of the long-distance techniques available to our technology, radio is by far the best. Radio telescopes are relatively inexpensive; radio signals travel “噢，不，先生。” “你想借什么书” “.门肯写的。“ “哪一本” “我不知道。他写过不止一本书吗” “他写了好几本。” “我以前不知道。” at the speed of light, faster than which nothing can go; and the use of radio for communication is not a short-sighted or anthropocentric activity. Radio represents a large part of the electromagnetic spectrum and any technical civilization anywhere in the Galaxy will have discovered radio early -- just as in the last few centuries we have explored the entire electromagnetic spectrum from short gamma rays to very long radio waves. Advanced civilizations might very well use some other means of communication with their peers. But if they wish to communicate with backward or emerging civilizations, there are only a few obvious methods, the chief of which is radio. The first serious attempt to listen for possible radio signals from other civilizations was carried out at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Greenbank, West Virginia, in 1959 and 1960. It was organized by Frank Drake, now at Cornel University, and was called Project Ozma, after the princess of the Land of Oz, a place very exotic, very distant and very difficult to reach. Drake examined two nearby “你为什么想读门肯的书” “噢，我刚刚在报纸上看到他的名字。”我说。 “你想读书是不错的，”他说， “不过，你应该读一些好的书。” 我什么也没说。他会不会要监督我的阅读呢？ “让我想一下，我会想出办法的。”他说。 我转过身走开，他把我叫了回来。 有些不解地盯着我说： “理查德，不要对其他的白人讲此事。” “我知道，我是一个字也不会说的。” 几天后，他把我叫了过去。 “我用我妻子的名义搞了张借书证，”他说。“我的这张就给你了。” “谢谢你，先生。” “你认为自己能成功吗” “我会搞妥的。”我说。 “如果他们怀疑上你，你就麻烦了。”他说。 “我会象你以前让我去借书时一样写张条子给图书馆。”我告诉他说， “我会签上你的名子的。” 他听后笑了起来。 “去吧。看看你能借到什么书。” 那天下午，我竭尽全力造了一张假便条。但stars for a few weeks with negative results. Positive results 是，.门肯写的书的书名都是什么呢我一点也不知would have been astonishing because as we have seen, even 道。最后，我写了一张自认为万无一失的条子：rather optimistic estimates of the number of technical civilizations in the Galaxy imply that several hundred 亲爱的夫人，请让这个小黑鬼——我使用了“黑鬼”这个词是为了让图书管理员不认为我写这张便条——借几本.门肯的书好吗在便条上我假冒thousand stars must be examined in order to achieve success 了这个白人的签名。 by random stellar selection. Since Project Ozma, there have been six or eight other 我象以往为白人跑腿借书时一样走进了图书馆，但不知怎么搞的，我总觉得自己不知会在什么地方出点岔子，最终暴露自己。我摘下帽子，such programs, all at a rather modest level, in the United 毕恭毕敬地站在离借书桌有一段距离的地方，显States, Canada and the Soviet Union. All results have been 出一副不会读书的样子，等着白人读者先借。桌negative. The total number of individual stars examined to 边已经空无一人了，我仍在等着。 白人管理员看着我问道： date in this way is less than a thousand. We have performed something like one tenth of one percent of the required effort. However, there are signs that much more serious efforts may be mustered in the reasonably near future. Besides, hand in hand with the recent spectacular advances in radio technology, there has been a dramatic increase in the scientific and public respectability of the entire subject of extraterrestrial life. A clear sign of the new attitude is the Viking missions to Mars, which are to a significant extent dedicated to the search for life on another planet. But along with the burgeoning dedication to a serious search, a slightly negative note has emerged which is nevertheless very interesting. A few scientists have lately “你想干什么，伙计” 像不会说话一样 我迈向前，一声也没作的把那张伪造的条子递了过去。 “他想借门肯的书”她问。 “我不知道，夫人。”我躲开了她的双眼。 “这张卡是谁给你的” “福尔克先生。” “他在哪儿” “他在工作。在M——光学仪器公司，”我说， “我以前在这儿给他借过书。” “我记得，”她说。“但他从未写过象这样的条子。” 噢，天啊！她有点怀疑了。也许她不会让我借这些书了。如果当时她转过身去的话，我一定会低头冲出门外，再也不回去了。这时，我想出了一个大胆的主意。 “你可以打电话问问他，夫人，”我说道，asked a curious question: If extraterrestrial intelligence 心里却紧张得砰砰狂跳。 “不是你自己用这些书吧”她直率地问。 is abundant, why have we not already seen its manifestations “噢，不会，夫人。我不会认字。” Skeptics also ask why there is no clear evidence of “我不知道他要门肯的什么书”她低声说extraterrestrial visits to Earth. We have already launched 道。此时，我知道成功了。她已经忘了种族问题，slow and modest interstellar spacecraft. A society more 在考虑其它的问题了。她走到书架前，又转过头来看过我一、两次，似乎仍对我有些怀疑。最后advance than ours should be able to ply the spaces between 她拿了两本书走了过来。“我借给他两本书。”the stars conveniently if not effortlessly. Over millions of 她说。 years such societies should have established colonies, which might themselves launch interstellar expeditions. Why are they not here The temptation is to deduce that there are at “但你要告诉福尔克先生，下次让他来，要不就告诉他要借的书的名字。我不清楚他借什么书。” 我什么也没有说。她在借书证上盖了章，然most a few advanced extraterrestrial civilizations -- either 后把书交给了我。我连看都没敢看一眼借到的书就走出了图书馆，生怕她会把我叫回去进一步地because statistically we are one of the first technical 盘问。走出一个街区后我打开其中一本书，看了civilizations to have emerged or because it is the fate of 一下书名：《序言集》。我马上就十九岁了，可我all such civilizations to destroy themselves before they are 不知道怎样发“序言”这个词的音。我用手指快much further along than we. 速地翻着，看到了一些奇怪的词和句子。我失望地摇了摇头。又去看另一本书。书名叫《偏见》。It seems to me that such despair is quite premature. All 我知道这个词的含义。我从小到大都一直在听到such arguments depend on our correctly surmising the intentions of beings far more advanced than ourselves, and 这个词。我由此一下子对门肯的书有了警觉。为什么一个人要把书名定为《偏见》呢这个词沾满了我对种族仇恨的所有记忆，我以致于无法想象when examined more closely I think these arguments reveal a 会有人以它作为书名。也许我错看了门肯一个带range of interesting human conceits. Why do we expect that 有偏见的人肯定是错的。 当我把书扔给福尔克先生看时，他望了望我it will be easy to recognize the manifestations of very 皱起了眉头。 advanced civilizations Is our situation not closer to that “图书管理员可能会给你打电话的。”我先of members of an isolated society in the Amazon basin, say, 给他提个醒。 who lack the tools to detect the powerful international radio and television traffic that is all around them Also, there “这好办。”他说，“但是当你读完这些书后，希望你能告诉我从中学到了些什么。” 那天晚上，有租来的房间里，我让热水冲着is a wide range of incompletely understood phenomena in 洗碗池里的猪肉烧豆罐头，一边打开那本《序言astronomy. Might the modulation of pulsars or the energy source of quasars, for example, have a technological origin 集》读了起来。我被书中的风格和它那干净、整齐，有力的句子给震惊了。他为什么要这样写呢又是怎样象这样写成的呢我把他想象成一个凶狠Or perhaps there is a galactic ethic of noninterference with 的魔鬼一样，用手中的笔奋力进攻，内心充满仇backward or emerging civilizations. Perhaps there is a 恨。对美国的一切进行抨击，而又竭力称颂欧洲或德国的一切东西。他嘲笑人性的弱点，嘲弄上waiting time before contact is considered appropriate, so as 帝和权威。这是怎么回事我站起来，试图弄明白to give us a fair opportunity to destroy ourselves first, if 隐藏在字眼后面的实际情况。是的，这个人一生we are so inclined. Perhaps all societies significantly more 在战斗，用他手中的笔作武器进行战斗。他就象advanced than our own have achieved an effective personal 别人使用棍棒一样使用文字。文字可以作为武器吗是的，因为在这儿就是如此。不，这种想法把immortality and lose the motivation for interstellar 我吓坏了。而是居然会有人有勇气说这些话。 gallivanting, which may, for all we know, be a typical urge only of adolescent civilizations. Perhaps mature civilizations do not wish to pollute the cosmos. There is a 我遇到了很多自己不知其意的词。有些我查了字典，有些词还没等我去查，就又遇见了，通过上下文词义清楚了。世界多么奇特啊！看完书后我得出一个结论，那就是不知由于什么原因，very long list of such \自己忽视了生活中一些重要的东西。我曾经试过position to evaluate with any degree of assurance. The question of extraterrestrial civilizations seems to 写作，也曾十分乐意去感受事物，让我那淳朴的想象云游四方。但人生的经历慢慢地磨灭了这些的冲动的梦想。现在它又冒了出来。我渴望看书，me entirely open. Personally, I think it far more difficult 期待着新的观察和理解世界的方法。这不是相信to understand a universe in which we are the only 或不相信自己所读到的东西的问题，而是一种对technological civilization, or one of a very few, than to 新的东西的感受，受到影响并使世界的面貌有的不同。