英译汉专项练习
「习题一」
1
What is color？ Why do some objects look red， others green， others blue？
Color is caused by reflected light rays. We see color because objects reflect light. Something that is red reflects mostly red light. （It reflects a little green of blue light， too， but we do not see it.） In the same way， a green object reflects mostly green light. White objects reflect all colors of light Black objects do not reflect any light.
What happens to the colors of light that are not reflected？ They are absorbed by the object. The darker the color， the less light is reflected and the more light is absorbed. Light that is absorbed is turned into heat. For this reason， dark-colored clothes are warmer in the sunlight than light-colored clothes.
2
The sum spent on books and magazines seems small. Most families take at least one daily newspaper and a Sunday paper. They may take several weekly magazines， usually including the Radio Times （《无线电节目报》）。 This gives them the weekly programmers of the B.B.C. The small sum spent on books does not mean that people do very little reading. Millions of cheap， paper-backed（平装的） books are bought every month. There are good public libraries everywhere from which books may be borrowed. Over one million books are taken out from these libraries every week-day. In some homes， however， there is less serious reading now than there was fifty years ago. Many people prefer to listen to the radio， or look at films or television. Many people seem to prefer popular picture magazines to magazines that contain serious reading.
3
Astronomers（天文学家） can tell just how hot the surface of the moon gets. The side of the moon toward the sun gets two hundred degrees hotter than boiling water. The night side reaches 243 degrees below zero.
In the eclipse（月食）， the earth‘s shadow fails on the moon. Then the moon’s temperature may drop 300 degrees in a very short time.
A temperature change like this cannot happen on the earth. Why does it happen on the moon？ Astronomers think that the surface of the moon is dust. On the earth， rocks store heat from the sun. When the sun goes down， the rocks stay warm. But the dust of the moon cannot store heat. So when the moon gets dark， the heat escapes quickly. The moon gets very cold.
4
Water is very important to living things. Without water there can be no life on Earth. All animals and plants need water. Man also needs water. We need water to drink， to cook our food and to clean ourselves. Water is needed in offices， factories and schools. Where else is water needed？
Water covers about seventy percent of the Earth‘s surface. There is water is seas， rivers， lakes， springs（泉） and wells.
Water is found almost everywhere. Even in the driest part of the world there is some water in the air. You cannot see it or feel it when it is part of the air. The water in oceans and lakes and streams is a liquid. The water in the air is not a liquid but a gas. We call it water vapor.
Clouds are made of water. They may be made of tiny drops of water. They may also be made of snow crystals. Snow crystals are tiny crystals of ice. Ice is frozen water or water that has become solid.
「习题一答案」
1 颜色是什么？为什么有些东西看起来是红色，另一些是绿色，还有些是蓝色的呢？
颜色是由反射出的光线引起的。我们能看出颜色，是因为物体能反射光。红色物体主要反射红光。（它也反射一点绿光或蓝光，但我们看不见。）同样，绿色物体主要反射绿光。白色物体反射所有颜色的光。黑色物体不反射任何光。
那些没有被反射的光的颜色怎么样了呢？他们被物体吸收了。颜色越深，反射的光就越少，吸收的光也就越多。被吸收的光变成热。正因如此，在阳光下，深色衣服比浅色衣服更保暖。
2 用于购买书籍杂志的钱看来很少，大多数家庭至少订一份日报和一份周日版的报纸。他们也可能订几份周刊，通常包括《无线电节目报》。这就可以使他们知道 BBC每周的节目。在书籍上开销少，并不是说人们不怎么看书。每月都出数以百万计的平装廉价书。各处都有良好的公共图书馆，可以从中借书。这些图书馆每个工作日都借出一百多万册书籍。然而比起五十年前，有些家庭读书不那么认真了。许多人情愿听广播或者看电影或电视。许多人似乎情愿看通俗画报，而不看刊载严肃读物的杂志。
3 天文学家能说出月球表面有多热。月球面对太阳的那一面要比沸水热200度。黑夜的那一面达到零下243度。
月食时，地球阴影落在月球上。月球温度可以在短时间内下降300度。
像这样的温度变化不可能发生在地球上。它为什么会出现在月球上呢？天文学家认为，月球表面上是尘埃。在地球上，岩石贮存来自太阳的热量。太阳落山后，岩石仍保持一定温度。但是月球的尘埃不能贮存热量。因此当月球变黑以后，热量很快消散。月球就变得非常寒冷。
4 水对生物来说是至关重要的。没有水，地球上就不可能有生命。一切动植物都需要水。人也需要水。我们要喝水，用水烧饭和洗澡。机关、工厂和学校也需要水。还有别的什么地方需要水呢？
水约占地球表面总面积的百分之七十。海洋、河流、湖泊、泉眼和井里都有水。
水几乎到处可见。即使在世界上最干旱的地方，空气中也有水。当水存在于空气中时是看不见摸不着的。海洋、湖泊和溪流中的水呈液态。空气中的水不是液态，而是气态，我们管它叫水蒸汽。
云是由水形成的。它们可能是由小水滴形成的，也可能是由雪晶形成的。雪晶是细小的冰晶。冰是冻结的水或是已变成固态的水。
「习题二」
1 Finding enough meat was a problem for primitive man （原始人） . Keeping it for times when it was scarce （短缺的）was just as hard. Three ways were found to keep meat from spoiling： salting， drying and freezing.
People near salty waters salted their meat. At first they probably rubbed dry salt on it， but this preserved only the outside. Later they may have pickled （腌制） their meat by soaking it in salt water.
In hot， dry lands， men found that they could eat meat that had dried while it was still on the bones. They later learned to cut meat into strips and hang it up to dry in the hot air.
Men in cold climates found that frozen meat did not spoil. They could leave their meat outside and eat it when they pleased.
2 Strange things happen to time when you travel， because the earth is divided into twenty-four time zones （时区）， one hour apart. You can have days with more or fewer than twenty-four hours， and weeks with more or fewer than seven days.
If you make a five-day drip across the Atlantic Ocean（大西洋）， your ship enters a different time zone every day. As you enter each zone， the time changes one hour. Traveling west， you set your clock back； traveling east， you set it ahead. Each day of your trip has either twenty-five or twenty-three hours.
If you travel by ship across the Pacific（太平洋）， you cross the international date line（国际日期变更线）。 By agreement， this is the point where a new day begins. When you cross the line， you change your calendar one full day， backward or forward. Traveling east， today becomes yesterday； traveling west， it is tomorrow！
3 Volcanoes have been erupting（喷发） on the earth for millions of years. More than five hundreds still erupt today. These are called active volcanoes. Volcanoes are located in belts or chains. They are found where the earth‘s crust is weak. The weak spots let the hot rock escape when the volcano erupts.
Many volcano belts are mountain ranges along the edges of continents. One pest runs along the western coast of South American up through tire western part of the United States. Other volcanoes are found in ocean basins（盆地）。
About three-fifths of all active volcanoes in the world are in the Pacific Ocean（太平洋）。 Many of these volcanoes erupt under the water. The Hawaiian Island（夏威夷群岛） were built by volcanoes that began erupting under water and finally reached the surface of the ocean.
4 In order to provide a home， food and clothing for himself and his family， every worker needs a job at a reasonable wage. He joins a trade union（工会） because the trade union helps him. An important duty of the trade union is to help their members when they are unable to work because of illness， or accidents at work， and when they become too old to continue working. In the early days of the trade union movement， before the State provided health and unemployment insurance and old age pensions（养老金）， this kind of help was much more important than it is today.
Every member of a trade union pays a small sum of money each week， called his subscription（会费）。 This covers the coast of organizing the union， and provides the found to help the members. From this fund members also receive help if they go on strike against their employers， or are locked out（解雇） by them.
「习题二答案」
1 对原始人来说，找到足够的肉食是一个问题。把肉食保存起来以备短缺之需同样困难。人们发现有三种方法可以使肉食不会变质：盐腌、风干和冷冻。
住在咸水域附近的人把肉腌起来。起初他们大概是把盐粒涂擦在肉上，但这只能保存肉的外层。后来，他们可能使用盐水浸渍的方法把肉腌起来。
在炎热干早的地区，人们发现可以吃到还带着骨头的已经风干的肉。他们后来又学会了把肉切成薄片，挂在炎热的空气中风干。
生活在寒冷气候下的人们发现，冻肉不会变质。他们可以把肉露天放置，随时使用。
2 你旅行时在时间上会发生很多奇怪的事，因为地球分为24个时区，一区相差一小时。有些天可能多于或少于24小时，有些星期可能多于或少于7天。
如果你用五天时间横渡大西洋，你乘的船每天都进入一个不同的时区。你进入每一时区，时间就改变一小时。向西行，你把钟往后拨；向东行，则往前拨。你旅行的每一天都有25或23小时。
如果你乘船横渡太平洋，你就会越过国际日期变更线。根据协议，这是新一天开始的地方。你越过该线，就得把你的日历向后或向前改动—整天。向东行，今天变成了昨天；向西行，今天变成了明天！
3 亿万年来，地球上的火山一直在喷发。至今还有五百多座火山在喷发。这些叫做活火山。火山是以带状或链状排列的。它们都处在地壳薄弱的地方。火山喷发时，这些薄弱的地点能使热岩喷出。
许多火山带都是沿各大陆边缘的山脉。有一处火山带是沿南美洲西海岸延伸，穿越美国西部。还有—些火山则位于大洋盆底。
世界上大约五分之三的活火山位于太平洋中。许多这样的火山是在水下喷发的。夏威夷群岛就是由火山形成的，它开始在水下喷发，最后达到大洋表面。
4 为了给自己和家庭提供住房、食物和服装，每个工人都需要有一份报酬合理的工作。他参加工会，因为工会能帮助他。工会的一个重要职责是，当会员因病不能工作，或出了工伤事故，或年老失去劳动力时，向他们提供帮助。在工会运动的早期，国家当时还没有提供健康保险和失业保险，也没有发放养老金，那时工会的帮助比现在更重要。
每个工会会员每周缴付一小笔钱，称为会费。它包括组织工会的费用，并提供基金以帮助会员。会员如果举行反对雇主的罢工或被雇主解雇，他们也能从这笔基金中得到帮助。
「习题三」
1
For every man in the Civil War（内战） who died in battle， two or three man died of disease， Doctor of that time knew very little about causes of sickness or ways of preventing it. Thousands of men in poor health became soldiers. Hundreds of others had never had childhood diseases. Many of these soldiers could not withstand the epidemics（传染病） of measles（麻疹）， mumps（流行性腮腺炎）， and whooping cough（百日咳） that went through the camps.
Army life was hard. Soldiers got few fruits or vegetables. There was no milk unless they happened to find a cow. Neither their clothes nor their shelters protected the troops from rain， snow， and cold. Sickness and disease were spread by insects， rats， and impure drinking water. Often the men drank straight from muddy streams.
Gunshot wounds（枪伤） were serious， ns in any war， but they did not cause as much death and suffering as disease did.
2
In ancient times no women allowed to take part in any sports. In the Victorian era（维多利亚时代）， people thought it was unlady-like for a woman to be involved in any sport activity.
There have been changes in the view of women in the modern world. These changes have allowed many more women to participate in sports. Many women now take part in sports and games of different kinds and enjoy doing so.
Women also are more active in sports now because of two changes. First， in the early twentieth century， women began to compete regularly in the Olympics. Also， the number of events for women in the Olympics has been growing quite steadily. In more recent years， many women‘s competitions have been on TV. Seeing women in professional sports on TV has made certain sports much more popular among women， as amateurs（业余运动员） and professionals（专业运动员）。
3
Can machines be as intelligent as human beings？ There is a lot of discussion these days about artificial（人工的） intelligence machines and their relation to human intelligence. People in many different occupations（职业） are involved in this discussion. They want to know how artificial intelligence will improve their lives. They also want to know how artificial intelligence will improve their lives. They also want to know if “intelligent” machines can be harmful to them. They would like to know what scientists predict for their future.
Human beings are a unique species. They have more complex brains than any other beings. They have the gift of speech and can communicate their thoughts， ideas， and feelings. Human beings are interested in the past and can learn from past experiences. They study their present problems carefully and try to find the best solutions. They look to the future and plan their next activities. They invent tools and machines to help them in their work.
4
Do you want to say what you think in a letter to the President of the United States？ You‘ll get a reply from him-written in ink， not typed-after only a few days.
The President gets about 4，000 letters every week. He answers everyone who writes to him on special White House（白宫） paper. But he doesn‘t need a lot of time for it. In fact， he only gives 20 minutes a week to looking at his personal correspondence. He has the most modern secretary in the world to help him.
It‘s a computer， which has its own rooms on the first floor of the White House. It has a bank of（一堆，许多） electronic pens which write like the President writes， in his favorite light blue ink， Each letter the President receives gets a number， according to the type of answer it needs. The pens then write the correct reply for it， according to the number. Each letter takes less than a second to write.
「习题三答案」
1
国内战争时，在战斗中每死亡一人，就有两三个人死于疾病。当时的医生不大了解病因或防病的方法。成千上万身体很差的人当了兵。还有成千上万的人从未得过幼儿多发病症。这些士兵中的很多人都忍受着军营中流行的麻疹，流行性腮腺炎和百日咳一类的传染病。
部队生话是艰苦的。土兵们几乎吃不到水果和蔬菜。也没有牛奶，除非偶尔找到一头母牛。不论是他们的衣服还是他们的住处都无法使部队避雨、避雪和避寒。疾病是由昆虫、老鼠和不洁的饮水引起的，土兵常常从泥泞的小溪中直接饮水。
在任何战争中枪伤都是严重的，但他们并不像疾病那样引起那么多的死亡和痛苦。
2
在古代，不许女人参加任何体育活动。在维多利亚时代，人们认为女人参加任何体育活动都有失大家闺秀的风范。
在当代世界，对女人的这种看法已有变化。这些变化允许更多的女人参加体育活动。现在有许多女人参加各种体育活动和竞赛，并且乐此不疲。
女人现在也更加积极地参加体育活动，这是由两种变化引起的。首先，在二十世纪初，女人开始定期角逐奥运会。其次，奥运会中女子比赛的项目一直在不断增加。近年来，许多女子竞赛项目已经在电视上播出。在电视上看到女子参加专业运动会，就使某些体育项目在女子中更加普及，不论她们是业余的还是专业的。
3
机器能象人一样聪明吗？近年来很多人探讨了人工智能机及其对人类智能的关系。各行各业的人都参与了这场讨论。他们想要知道人工智能机会怎样改变人类的生活。他们也想知道“智能”机是否与人类有害。他们还想知道科学家们对人类的未来有什么预言。
人类是独特的物种，他们有比其它任何生物都更复杂的大脑。他们有语言天赋，能交流思想、想法和感受。人类对过去感兴趣，而且能汲取过去的经验。他们仔细研究当前的问题并试图找到最佳解决方案。他们展望未来并计划下一步的行动。他们发明机器来帮助自己工作。
4
你是否想给美国总统写一封信说说你的想法呢？过不了几天你就会收到他的回信-是用墨水写的，不是用打字机打的。
总统每周收到大约四千封信。他用白宫专用信纸给每个给他写信的人回信。但是他做这件事并不需要很多时间。事实上，他每周只抽出二十分钟来看一看写给他个人的信。他有世界上最现代化的秘书帮他做这件工作。
这就是一台计算机，它设在白宫第一层的专用房间里。它有许多电子钢笔，写的字和总统写的一样，用的是总统喜爱的那种浅蓝色墨水。总统收到的每一封信都编上号，编号是根据该信需要哪一类回复。然后这些钢笔就根据编号写出正确的回信。写一封信不到一秒钟。