阅读基础能力训练
Text 1
At all ages and at all stages of life，fear presents a problem to almost everyone.“We are largely the playthings of our fears，”wrote the British author Horace Walpole many years ago. “To one，fear of the dark；to another，of physical pain；to a third，of public ridicule；to a fourth，of poverty；to a fifth，of loneliness—for all of us our particular creature waits in a hidden place.”
Fear is often a useful emotion.When you become frightened，many physical changes occur within your body.Your heartbeat and responses quicken；your pupils expand to admit more light；large quantities of energy-producing adrenaline are poured into your bloodstream. Confronted with a fire or accident，fear can fuel life-saving flight.Similarly，when a danger is psychological rather than physical，fear can force you to take self-protective measures.It is only when fear is disproportional to the danger at hand that it becomes a problem.
Some people are simply more vulnerable to fear than others.A visit to the newborn nursery of any large hospital will demonstrate that，from the moment of their births，a few fortunate infants respond calmly to sudden fear-producing situations such as a loudly slammed door.Yet a neighbor in the next bed may cry out with profound fright.From birth，he or she is more prone to learn fearful responses because he or she has inherited a tendency to be more sensitive.
Further，psychologists know that our early experiences and relationships strongly shape and determine our later fears.A young man named Bill，for example，grew up with a father who regarded each adversity as a temporary obstacle to be overcome with imagination and courage.Using his father as a model，Bill came to welcome adventure and to trust his own ability to solve problems.
Phil’s dad，however，spent most of his time trying to protect himself and his family.Afraid to risk the insecurity of a job change，he remained unhappy in one position.He avoided long vacations because“the car might break down”.Growing up in such a home，Phil naturally learned to become fearful and tense.
重点词汇：
present 现在；现在的；展示（n./adj./v.）
plaything 玩物（n.）
ridicule 愚弄（n./v.）
poverty 贫穷（n.）
emotion 情绪（n.）
adrenaline 肾上腺素（n.）
slam （砰地）关上（v.）
confront 面临，遭遇（v.）
flight 逃离（n.）
disproportional 不匀称的（adj.）
vulnerable 脆弱的（adj.）
demonstrate 展示，显示；说明（v.）
adversity 逆境（n.）
temporary 暂时的（adj.）
obstacle 障碍（n.）
adventure 冒险（n.）
be prone to 倾向于
inherit 继承（v.）
tendency 倾向，趋势（n.）
vacation 节日，假期（n.）
tense 时态；紧张的（n./adj.）
难句解析：
①“We are largely the playthings of our fears，”wrote the British author Horace Walpole many years ago.“To one，fear of the dark；to another，of physical pain；to a third，of public ridicule；to a fourth，of poverty；to a fifth，of loneliness—for all of us our particular creature waits in a hidden place.
【结构分析】解析本句要注意前后照应。并列结构to one
to another
to a third
to a fourth
to a fifth
后的of介宾结构，变成完整结构应该是we are playthings of fear of
the dark/physical pain/public ridicule/poverty/loneliness.
②It is only when fear is disproportional to the danger at hand that it becomes a problem.
【结构分析】本句为强调句，强调句型为“it is+被强调的部分+that+句子的其他部分”。
如果去掉it is和that，句子结构仍然是完整的，那么就可以判断此句为强调句。本句强调的是时间状语从句。要注意本句中disproportional to
的意思是“与……不匀称”，暗含“超过”或者“小于”的意思。
③A visit to the newborn nursery of any large hospital will demonstrate that，from the moment of their births，a few fortunate infants respond calmly to sudden fear-producing situations such as a loudly slammed door.
【结构分析】句子主干为a visit will demonstrate that
。that引导的宾语从句中主语为infants，谓语为respond，such as
是situation的后置定语。from the moment of their births是插入语。
④From birth，he or she is more prone to learn fearful responses because he or she has inherited a tendency to be more sensitive.
【结构分析】he or she是主语，谓语动词用单数形式；如果主语为he and she，谓语动词则用复数形式。be prone to的意思是“更易于，倾向于”，与have a tendency to 的含义相近。sensitive的意思是“敏感的”，与sensible“理智的”要区分开。
⑤A young man named Bill，for example，grew up with a father who regarded each adversity as a temporary obstacle to be overcome with imagination and courage.
【结构分析】young man是主语，named Bill是过去分词做后置定语，for example为插入语。grew up为谓语，who引导定语从句充当father的后置定语。定语从句中的谓语部分为固定搭配regard
as，to be overcome是动词不定式充当obstacle的宾语补足语。
全文翻译：
在人生的各个年龄和每个阶段，恐惧几乎是人人都要面临的问题。“在很大程度上我们是自身恐惧的玩偶，”英国作家贺瑞斯·沃波尔许多年前曾写道，“有人恐惧黑暗，有人恐惧肉体的病痛，有人恐惧被嘲弄，有人恐惧贫困，有人则恐惧孤独——对所有人来说，我们对某种事物特殊的恐惧就隐藏在某个地方。”
通常情况下，恐惧是一种有用的情绪。当受到惊吓的时候，你的体内会产生很多生理变化。如心跳加速、反应加快；瞳孔放大以吸收更多的光线；大量有助于产生能量的肾上腺素涌入血液。在面对火灾或突发事件时，恐惧能够使你快速逃离以自救。同样，当危险来自心理而非生理因素时，恐惧也能迫使你采取自我保护的措施。只有当恐惧与即将来临的危险不相称时，恐惧才会成为一个问题。
有些人就是会比其他人对恐惧更加敏感。参观任何大医院的新生儿保育室都能说明这个问题，从他们出生的那刻起，只有一些幸运的婴儿能冷静地回应那些突然产生的恐惧情境，比如关门的巨大声响。而邻床的婴儿可能会因为巨大的恐惧而大哭。从刚出生开始，他或她就比别人更倾向于（学习）对恐惧做出反应，因为他或她继承了一种较为敏感的心理倾向。
此外，心理学家们确信，我们早期的经历和社会关系强有力地塑造并决定了我们日后的恐惧情绪。例如，一位名叫比尔的年轻人跟着父亲长大，他的父亲将每次挫折都看作是用想象力和勇气就可以克服的暂时的困难。比尔将父亲当作榜样，逐渐变得敢于冒险，并相信自己解决问题的能力。
然而，菲尔的父亲把自己绝大部分时间都用在努力保护自己和家庭上。由于害怕变换工作而带来的不稳定因素，他始终坚守一个职位，却工作得不开心。他逃避长途旅行，因为“轿车可能会发生故障”。在这样的家庭环境里长大，菲尔自然变得易于恐惧和紧张。
Text 2
Scientists are hoping to eliminate malaria（疟疾）by developing a genetically modified mosquito that cannot transmit the disease.Malaria has long troubled the populations of South America，Africa，and Asia，where mosquito bites infect up to 500 million people a year with this serious and sometimes fatal parasitic blood disease.For generations，scientists have been trying to eliminate malaria by developing new drugs and using pesticides（杀虫剂）to wipe out local mosquito populations.But these measures aren’t working—and some scientists，like Greg Lanzaro，say that because of drug resistance and population changes，malaria is actually more prevalent now than it was 20 years ago.Lanzaro says he has a better way to stop the spread of malaria：genetically modify mosquitoes so they are unable to carry the disease.
Lanzaro and his colleagues are planning a multi-year project to produce malaria-resistant mosquitoes—and he thinks they can do it within five years.“We can get foreign genes into mosquitoes and they go where they’re supposed to go，”Lanzaro says，pointing out that scientists have already succeeded in genetically engineering mosquitoes that cannot transmit malaria to birds and mice.And，he says，scientists are quickly making progress on genes that block transmission of the disease to humans as well.
The most difficult part scientifically，Lanzaro says，is figuring out how to get the lab-engineered mosquitoes to spread their genes into natural populations.After all，he points out，it’s useless to engineer mosquitoes in the lab that can’t transmit malaria when there are millions out in the wild.To solve this problem，Lanzaro wants to load up a mobile piece of DNA with the malaria-resistant gene，and then insert it into a group of mosquito embryos. The malaria-resistant gene would be integrated directly into the mosquitoes’DNA，making it impossible for those mosquitoes to transmit the parasite that causes malaria.In this way a small group of lab-raised mosquitoes could be released into the wild，and by interbreeding with wild mosquitoes，eventually transmit the beneficial gene to the entire population.
重点词汇：
eliminate 消除（v.）
malaria 疟疾（n.）
genetically modified 转基因的
transmit 传播；传递（v.）
infect 感染，传染（v.）
fatal 致命的（adj.）
parasitic 寄生的（adj.）
pesticide 杀虫剂（n.）
resistance 抵抗（n.）
prevalent 流行的；普遍的（adj.）
embryo 胚胎（n.）
block 阻碍（v./n.）
release 发放；发行；释放（v./n.）
难句解析：
①But these measures aren’t working—and some scientists，like Greg Lanzaro，say that because of drug resistance and population changes，malaria is actually more prevalent now than it was 20 years ago.
【结构分析】破折号连接了两个分句，第一个分句为these measures aren’t working，此处work的意思是“起作用”。第二个分句中主语为scientists，谓语为say，宾语为that引导的从句。该从句中表语为比较级，是malaria流行程度now与20 years ago的比较，because of
是宾语从句中的原因状语。
②“We can get foreign genes into mosquitoes and they go where they’re supposed to go，”Lanzaro says，pointing out that scientists have already succeeded in genetically engineering mosquitoes that cannot transmit malaria to birds and mice.
【结构分析】本句的主干为Lanzaro says，pointing out是现在分词充当伴随状语，out后面是that引导的宾语从句，宾语从句的主干为scientists have succeeded in engineering mosquitoes，that cannot transmit malaria to birds and mice是mosquitoes的定语从句。
③After all，he points out，it’s useless to engineer mosquitoes in the lab that can’t transmit malaria when there are millions out in the wild.
【结构分析】本句的主干是“it is+形容词+to do”结构。it为形式主语，动词不定式为真正的主语。在动词不定式中，that引导的定语从句修饰先行词mosquitoes。 when引导从句充当定语从句中的时间状语。
④The malaria-resistant gene would be integrated directly into the mosquitoes’DNA， making it impossible for those mosquitoes to transmit the parasite that causes malaria.
【结构分析】本句中的making it impossible结构是现在分词充当伴随状语。此处的it是形式宾语，后面的动词不定式为真正的宾语。for those mosquitoes to
中的mosquitoes为动词不定式中动作的逻辑主语。
全文翻译：
科学家们希望通过培育出能够阻止病毒传播的转基因蚊子来根除疟疾。疟疾长期困扰着南美洲、非洲和亚洲的居民。在这些地方每年有多达5亿的人口因蚊子叮咬而传染上这种严重的、有时甚至是致命的寄生虫性血液疾病。历代的科学家们一直试图通过研制新药或使用杀虫剂来消灭当地蚊子的方法来根除疟疾。但是这些方法都没有奏效——一些科学家，如格雷格·兰萨罗说，因为蚊子的抗药性以及其种群的演变，实际上疟疾现在的传播程度比20年前有过之而无不及。兰萨罗说他有一套更好的办法可以切断疟疾的传播：对蚊子进行基因改造，这样它们就无法携带疟疾的病原体。
兰萨罗和他的同事正在规划一个为期多年的项目，培育携带疟疾抗体的蚊子——他认为他们能够在五年内培育成功。兰萨罗说：“我们可以把异体基因植入蚊子体内，然后让它们飞到指定的地方。”兰萨罗指出科学家已经成功地在蚊子身上进行了基因改造，使它们无法将疟疾传播给鸟类和老鼠。同时他还说，科学家们正在很快地在研究基因方面取得进展，以杜绝蚊子将疟疾也传播给人类。
兰萨罗说，科技上最困难的部分是想办法使抗疟疾基因从在实验室内接受了疟疾基因改造工程的蚊子传播到蚊子的自然种群中去。他指出，毕竟，当数百万的蚊子还能在野外传播疟疾时，在实验室中改造蚊子基因，使其不传播疟疾是没有用的。为了解决这个问题，兰萨罗打算将携带动态单体DNA的抗疟疾基因植入一组蚊子的胚胎中。抗疟疾基因将会直接和蚊子的DNA结合在一起，这就阻断了疟疾致病菌的传播。这样一来，一小群实验室培育的蚊子被释放到野地中，然后通过与野生蚊子交配繁殖，最终将有益的基因传播到整个种群中。
Text 3
All day long，you are affected by large forces.Genes influence your intelligence and willingness to take risks.Social dynamics unconsciously shape your choices.Instantaneous perceptions set off neural reactions in your head without you even being aware of them.
Over the past few years，scientists have made a series of exciting discoveries about how these deep patterns influence daily life.Nobody has done more to bring these discoveries to public attention than Malcolm Gladwell.
Gladwell’s new book Outliers seems at first glance to be a description of exceptionally talented individuals.But in fact，it’s another book about deep patterns.Exceptionally successful people are not lone pioneers who created their own success，he argues.They are the lucky beneficiaries of social arrangements.
Gladwell’s non-controversial claim is that some people have more opportunities than others.Bill Gates was lucky to go to a great private school with its own computer at the dawn of the information revolution.
Gladwell’s book is being received by reviewers as a call to action for the Obama Age. It could lead policy makers to finally reject policies built on the assumption that people are coldly rational profit-maximizing individuals.It could cause them to focus more on policies that foster relationships，social bonds and cultures of achievement.
Yet，I can’t help but feel that Gladwell and others who share his emphasis are preoccupied with the coolness of the discoveries.They’ve lost sight of the point at which the influence of social forces ends and the influence of the self-initiating individual begins.
Most successful people begin with two beliefs：the future can be better than the present，and I have the power to make it so.They were often showered by good fortunes，but relied at crucial moments upon achievements of individual will.These people also have an extraordinary ability to consciously focus their attention.Control of attention is the ultimate individual power.People who can do that are not prisoners of the stimuli around them.They can choose from the patterns in the world and lengthen their time horizons.
Gladwell’s social determinism overlooks the importance of individual character and individual creativity.And it doesn’t fully explain the genuine greatness of humanity’s talents.As the classical philosophers understood，examples of individual greatness inspire achievement more reliably than any other form of education.
重点词汇：
dynamics 动力（n.）
instantaneous 即时的（adj.）
perception 观点（n.）
neural 神经的（adj.）
pattern 模式（n.）
exceptionally 例外地；尤其地（adv.）
talent 天才；天赋（n.）
beneficiary 受益者（n.）
non-controversial 没有争议的（adj.）
revolution 革命（n.）
assumption 假设（n.）
are preoccupied with 被占据
self-initiating 自我激发的（adj.）
crucial 关键的（adj.）
难句解析：
①It could lead policy makers to finally reject policies built on the assumption that people are coldly rational profit-maximizing individuals.
【结构分析】主语为it，谓语为could lead，宾语为policy makers。built on为过去分词短语充当policies的后置定语，that引导assumption的同位语从句。profit-maximizing的意思是“利益最大化”。
②It could cause them to focus more on policies that foster relationships，social bonds and cultures of achievement.
【结构分析】主语为it，谓语为could cause，宾语为them。that引导的定语从句修饰
policies。foster的意思是“培育，培养”。relationships，social bonds and cultures of achievement为并列结构，充当定语从句中的宾语。
③They’ve lost sight of the point at which the influence of social forces ends and the influence of the self-initiating individual begins.
【结构分析】主干为they’ve lost sight。at which引导介词前置的定语从句，从句为and引导的并列句。
全文翻译：
一天到晚你都在受到巨大力量的影响。基因会影响你的智商、倾向冒险的程度；社会动态潜移默化地决定了你的选择；瞬时的感知也在不知不觉中触发你头脑中的神经反应。
过去数年，科学家们在这些深层模式如何影响日常生活方面有着一系列激动人心的发现。马尔科姆·格莱德威尔在将这些发现引起大众关注上所做的工作超过了任何人。
格莱德威尔的新书《不凡者》乍看上去似乎是在描述那些拥有非凡才华的个体。而事实上，它还是一本关于“深度模式”的书籍。作者认为异常成功的人们并不是创造出自己成功的孤独先锋，而是社会安排中的幸运受益者。
格莱德威尔的一个没有引来争议的主张是有些人比另外一些人拥有更多的机会。比尔·盖茨在信息化革命到来之时就读于一所拥有自己的计算机的优秀私立学校，那是他的幸运。
格莱德威尔的书被评论家们看作奥巴马时代的行动呼吁，可能让决策者最终拒绝采纳那些建立在假设人们都是冷漠、理智、极端利益化的个体之上的政策，而更多地关注那些能巩固关系、加强社会关系以及创造文化成就的政策。
然而，我只是觉得格莱德威尔和那些认同他观点的人们被新发现的好处冲昏了头脑。他们已经看不见在社会影响力和个人主动影响力之间的“临界点”。
多数成功人士的出发点中有两个信念：未来会比现在更好，我能够让它实现。虽然他们经常是好运当头，但在关键时刻依靠的还是个体意志力的成功。这些人还具备有意识地集中注意力的超凡能力。控制注意力是最基本的个人力量。那些能做到这一点的人们不会成为周围刺激的囚徒。他们能从整个世界的各种模式中进行选取并延长它们的时间跨度。
格莱德威尔的社会决定论忽视了个体个性及个体创造力的重要性。而且它没有充分说明人类中那些不凡者的真正伟大之处。正如古典哲学家的观点，个体伟大的典范比任何形式的教育更能激发人们创造出成就。
Text 4
Loneliness has been linked to depression and other health problems.Now，a study says it can also spread.A friend of a lonely person was 52%more likely to develop feelings of loneliness.And a friend of that friend was 25%more likely to do the same.Earlier findings showed that happiness，fatness and the ability to stop smoking can also grow like infections within social groups.The findings all come from a major health study in the American town of Framingham，Massachusetts.
The study began in 1948 to investigate the causes of heart disease.Since then，more tests have been added，including measures of loneliness and depression.
The new findings involved more than 5，000 people in the second generation of the Framingham Heart Study.The researchers examined friendship histories and reports of loneliness.The results established a pattern that spread as people reported fewer close friends.
For example，loneliness can affect relationships between next-door neighbors.The loneliness spreads as neighbors who were close friends now spend less time together.The study also found that loneliness spreads more easily among women than men.
Researchers from the University of Chicago，Harvard and the University of California， San Diego，did the study.The findings appeared last month in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The average person is said to experience feelings of loneliness about 48 days a year. The study found that having a lonely friend can add about 17 days.But every additional friend can decrease loneliness by about 5%，or two and a half days.
Lonely people become less and less trusting of others.This makes it more and more difficult for them to make friends—and more likely that society will reject them.
John Cacioppo at the University of Chicago led the study.He says it is important to recognize and deal with loneliness.He says people who have been pushed to the edges of society should receive help to repair their social networks.
The aim should be to aggressively create what he calls a“protective barrier”against loneliness. This barrier，he says，can keep the whole network from coming apart.
重点词汇：
loneliness 孤独（n.）
depression 压抑；萧条（n.）
infection 感染（n.）
investigate 调查（v.）
additional 额外的；富余的（adj.）
aggressively 强有力地；有敌意地（adv.）
barrier 障碍（n.）
难句分析：
①Earlier findings showed that happiness，fatness and the ability to stop smoking can also grow like infections within social groups.
【结构分析】主干为findings showed that，that引导宾语从句，从句的主语为并列结构happiness，fatness and the ability，ability后面的动词不定式做后置定语，从句的谓语为can also grow。
②This makes it more and more difficult for them to make friends—and more likely that society will reject them.
【结构分析】本句中的it为形式宾语，to make friends为真正的宾语，for them中的them是make friends的逻辑主语。and more likely是与more and more difficult并列的成分。
③The aim should be to aggressively create what he calls a“protective barrier”against loneliness.
【结构分析】句子主干为the aim should be to create，what引导的名词性从句做create的宾语从句，he calls的意思是“他所谓的；他所说的”。
全文翻译：
孤独感会引发抑郁症以及其他疾病。而现如今，一项研究表明孤独感也会传染。孤独人士的朋友有52%的可能会产生孤独感。同时，这个朋友的朋友有25%的可能会有相同感觉。早期的发现表明：幸福感、肥胖症以及戒烟能力会像传染病一样在社会群体内传播。这些发现都出自一项在美国马萨诸塞州弗雷明汉镇展开的主要健康研究。
这项旨在调查心脏病起因的研究开始于1948年。从那时开始，更多的试验被列入其中，包括孤独感和抑郁症的测定。
这项新发现调查涉及5000多人，这些人都是弗雷明汉镇心脏病研究受众的子女。研究人员调查了他们的友谊史以及关于孤独感的记录。研究结果建立了一个模式——孤独感在仅拥有较少朋友的人当中传播。
比如：孤独感会影响邻里之间的关系。当曾经是亲密友人的邻居逐渐疏远时，孤独感会蔓延。研究还表明，比起男性，孤独感更容易在女性中传播开。
来自芝加哥大学、哈佛大学以及加州大学圣地亚哥分校的研究人员进行了这项研究。研究结果于上个月发表在《人格与社会心理》杂志上。
据说，普通人一年有48天会产生孤独感。研究发现，拥有一个孤独的朋友，孤独感会增加17天。但是，每多一个朋友，可以消除约5%或者是两天半的孤独感。
孤独的人变得越来越不信任其他人。这让他们交朋友变得越来越难——而这个社会也更有可能与他们格格不入。
来自于芝加哥大学的约翰·卡乔波是这项研究的领头人。他说，认识并处理好孤独感是很重要的。他认为曾被社会所孤立的人们应该接受帮助以修复他们的社会关系。
目标应该是积极创建他所称的用来抵制孤独的“防护栏”。他说，防护栏可以保护整个社会关系不会瓦解。
Text 5
Doctors in Britain are warning of an obesity time bomb，when children who are already overweight grow up.So，what should we do？Exercise more？Eat less？Or both？The government feels it has to take responsibility for this expanding problem.
The cheerful Mr.Pickwick，the hero of the novel by Charles Dickens，is seen in illustrations as someone who is plump and happy.In 18th century paintings beauty is equated with rounded bodies and soft curves.But nowadays being overweight is seen as indicating neither a cheerful character nor beauty but an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
So what do you do？Diet？Not according to England’s chief medical officer，Sir Liam Donaldson.He says that physical activity is the key for reducing the risks of obesity，cancer and heart disease.And the Health Secretary John Reid even said that being inactive is as serious a risk factor in heart disease as smoking.
So，having bought some cross trainers，how much exercise should you do？According to Sir Liam Donaldson，at least 30 minutes of moderate activity five days a week.Is going to the gym the answer？Luckily for those who find treadmills tedious，the Health Development Agency believes that physical activity that fits into people’s lives may be more effective.They suggest taking the stairs rather than the lift，walking up escalators，playing active games with your children，dancing or gardening.And according to a sports psychologist，Professor Biddle， gyms“are not making the nation fit”，and may even cause harm.
There’s new scientific evidence that too much exercise may actually be bad for you. Scientists at the University of Ulster have found that unaccustomed exercise releases dangerous free radicals that can adversely affect normal function in unfit people.The only people who should push their bodies to that level of exercise on a regular basis are trained athletes.
So，should we forget about gyms and follow some experts’advice to increase exercise in our daily life？After all，getting off the bus a stop early and walking the rest of the way can’t do any harm！One final thought.How come past generations lacked gym facilities but were leaner and fitter than people today？
重点词汇：
obesity 肥胖（n.）
cheerful 高兴的（adj.）
curve 曲线（n.）
illustration 例证（n.）
plump 胖乎乎的（adj.）
stroke 中风（n.）
treadmill 跑步机（n.）
radical 极端的；极端分子（adj./n.）
adversely 不利地（adv.）
athlete 运动员（n.）
①The cheerful Mr.Pickwick，the hero of the novel by Charles Dickens，is seen in illustrations as someone who is plump and happy.
【结构分析】主语部分为“N1，N2+后置定语”结构，Mr.Pickwick与the hero为同位语，is seen as是谓语部分，someone是介词as的宾语，who引导定语从句修饰someone。
②But nowadays being overweight is seen as indicating neither a cheerful character nor beauty but an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
【结构分析】主语为动名词结构being overweight，谓语部分为被动语态is seen as，介词as后面的宾语结构为neither
nor
but（既不是……也不是……而是）。
③They suggest taking the stairs rather than the lift，walking up escalators，playing active games with your children，dancing or gardening.
【结构分析】本句是个简单句，主干为“they suggest+宾语”，宾语由doing形式的短语充当。在宾语中有两个并列结构，第一个为大并列taking the stairs，walking up escalators，playing active games，dancing or gardening，这个并列结构的一个成分中还有一个由rather than引导的并列结构，一定要注意区分。
④Scientists at the University of Ulster have found that unaccustomed exercise releases dangerous free radicals that can adversely affect normal function in unfit people.
【结构分析】主语为Scientists，谓语为have found，that引导宾语从句。宾语从句中主语为exercise，谓语为releases，宾语为radicals，后面又有that引导的从句，做定语修饰radicals。定语从句中主语为that（radicals），谓语为can affect，宾语为function。因此这是个从句里含从句的句子。
全文翻译：
英国的医生提醒人们，当那些体重已经超重的孩子长大以后，警惕“肥胖”这一定时炸弹。那我们应该做些什么？多运动？少吃饭？抑或是两者兼顾？英国政府觉得应当为这一不断扩大的问题负起责任。
狄更斯小说当中的主人公——快乐的匹克威克先生被塑造成一个胖乎乎又很开心的角色。在18世纪，画中的美人都被赋予丰满的体态和柔美的曲线。而现如今，体重超重却不再被视为快乐或是美丽，而是罹患心脏病和中风的风险。
那么你该如何应对？节食吗？英国政府首席医疗官利亚姆·唐纳森先生并不这么认为。他说，体育锻炼才是减少超重、癌症以及心脏病风险的关键。卫生大臣约翰·里德甚至说，怠惰就像吸烟一样，是引发心脏病的危险因素。
因此，如果已经购买了一些健身器材，你的运动量应该多大呢？亚姆·唐纳森先生说，每周五次至少三十分钟的中等强度的活动。得去健身房锻炼吗？那些发现跑步机很乏味的人们是很幸运的。英国卫生发展局认为，融入人们生活中的运动才更有效果。他们建议以爬楼梯取代乘坐电梯；沿着扶梯向上走；和孩子们玩一些竞技类游戏；跳跳舞或者种种花。运动心理学家比德尔教授认为，健身房“不但不能让人们保持健康”，甚至会带来危害。
有新的科学证据表明，过多的运动其实是有害的。阿尔斯特大学的科学家们发现不寻常的运动会释放危险的自由基，对不健康人群的正常身体机能有不良影响。只有经过长期训练的运动员，才可以让他们的身体经受那种水平的运动。
那么，我们是不是应该忘记健身房，并按照专家们的建议在日常生活中进行锻炼呢？毕竟提前一站下车然后步行走完剩下的路不会有半点危害！最后再想想，为何过去的人们缺乏健身设施，却比现在的人们苗条，比现在的人们健康呢？
Text 6
People are living longer than ever，but for some reason，women are living longer than men.A baby boy born in the United States in 2003 can expect to live to be about 73；a baby girl，about 79.This is indeed a wide gap，and no one really knows why it exists.The greater longevity of women，however，has been known for centuries.It was，for example，described in the seventeenth century.However，the difference was smaller then—the gap is growing.
A number of reasons have been proposed to account for the differences.The gap is greatest in industrialized societies，so it has been suggested that women are less susceptible to work strains that may raise the risk of heart disease and alcoholism.Sociologists also tell us that women are encouraged to be less adventurous than men（and this may be why they are more careful drivers，involved in fewer accidents）.
Even smoking has been implicated in the age discrepancy.It was once suggested that working women are more likely to smoke and as more women entered the work force，the age gap would begin to close，because smoking is related to earlier deaths.Now，however， we see more women smoking and they still tend to live longer although their lung cancer rate is climbing sharply.
One puzzling aspect of the problem is that women do not appear to be as healthy as men.That is，they report far more illnesses.But when a man reports an illness，it is more likely to be serious.
Some researchers have suggested that men may die earlier because their health is more strongly related to their emotions.For example，men tend to die sooner after losing a spouse than women do.Men even seem to be more weakened by loss of a job.（Both of these are linked with a marked decrease in the effectiveness of the immune system.）Among men，death follows retirement with an alarming promptness.
Perhaps we are searching for the answers too close to the surface of the problem. Perhaps the answers lie deeper in our biological heritage.After all，the phenomenon is not isolated to humans.Females have the edge among virtually all mammalian species，in that they generally live longer.Furthermore，in many of these species the differences begin at the moment of conception；there are more male miscarriages.In humans，after birth，more baby boys than baby girls die.
重点词汇：
gap 差距（n.）
longevity 长寿（n.）
account for 解释
strain 压力（n.）
susceptible 容易受影响的（adj.）
alcoholism 酗酒（n.）
adventurous 冒险的（adj.）
implicate 牵涉（v.）
discrepancy 差异，不符合（之处）（n.）
spouse 配偶（n.）
immune system 免疫系统
alarming 令人担忧的（adj.）
promptness 敏捷，迅速（n.）
biological heritage 生物遗传
virtually 几乎（adv.）
mammalian 哺乳动物的（n.）
species 物种（n.）
miscarriage 流产（n.）
难句分析：
①The gap is greatest in industrialized societies，so it has been suggested that women are less susceptible to work strains that may raise the risk of heart disease and alcoholism.
【结构分析】这是一个主从复合句，so表示结果状况。it has been suggested翻译成“人们/有人建议……”，it是形式主语，真正的主语是that women are less susceptible to work strains，strains后又有一个that引导的定语从句。
②Sociologists also tell us that women are encouraged to be less adventurous than men （and this may be why they are more careful drivers，involved in fewer accidents）.
【结构分析】这里需要注意的是括号中的内容。此处括号表示对主句内容的补充，this为主语，may be为谓语部分，why引导表语从句，involved in fewer accidents是drivers的后置定语。
全文翻译：
人们比以往任何时候活得都长，但是由于一些原因，女性比男性活得更长。2003年在美国出生的男婴，预期可能活到73岁，但是女婴大约会活到79岁。这的确是一个很大的差距，但是没有人知道它为什么会存在。女性的长寿几个世纪以来都被人们熟知。例如，17世纪它就已经被描述过了。然而，那时的差异较小，而现在的差距在不断加大。
许多原因都被提出来解释这种差异。在工业社会，差距更大了，所以有人提出女性不易被工作压力所影响，而这些压力会增加患心脏病和酗酒的风险。社会学家也说女性比男性更少受鼓励去冒险（这可能就是为什么女性开车更小心，更少被卷入车祸中的原因）。
甚至吸烟也被牵扯到年龄差距上来了。有人曾经提出随着更多的女性进入职场，职业女性更有可能吸烟，这使得年龄差距开始接近，因为吸烟与早逝有关。然而，现在我们看到更多的女性吸烟，但是她们仍然倾向于活得更长久，尽管她们得肺癌的概率在急剧上升。
令人百思不得其解的是女性看起来似乎不像男性那样健康。更确切地说，她们得病的次数更多。但是，男性一旦得病，就会很严重。
一些研究者提出男性的过早死亡可能与他们的情绪有关。例如，在失去配偶后，男性比女性更早地死亡。男性在失去工作后也更为脆弱（这些都与明显的免疫系统功能下降有关）。在男性中，退休后的死亡率很令人担忧。
也许我们追寻的答案与问题的表象很接近。也许更深层次的答案在于我们的生物遗传上。毕竟，这一现象并不孤立存在于人类当中。几乎所有哺乳动物中的雌性都拥有这一优势，这使它们通常活得更久。因此，许多物种的差异开始于胚胎时期，有更多的雄性动物流产。人类在出生之后，男婴比女婴夭折的人数多。
Text 7
On how the world has changed over the last 50 years，not all of it has been good.As you are looking for organic food information，you have obviously become aware that a better alternative exists and you are taking a critical look at the source and production practices of the companies producing the world’s food supplies.
The purpose of organic food information is to give you an understanding of what is going into your food.You will see that there are many benefits to organic food that you didn’t know before.The basis behind knowing about organic food information is the fact that farmers are resorting to using artificial fertilizers and pesticides to control disease and insect attack in order to produce more crops to satisfy growing demand.These artificial fertilizers leave something poisonous in and on the fruit and vegetables we consume which in turn is absorbed and stored by our bodies.
Even the quality of food has gone down in recent years.Today’s fruits have nowhere near the Vitamin C levels they did at one time.However，with organic food information you learn that organic food has fifty percent more nutrients，minerals and vitamins than any other form of produce that has been grown under intensive farming.If you are eating non-organic produce you will have to eat more fruit in order to make up for this deficiency.But then the dangerous cycle continues since you will be eating more chemicals that are worse for your health than they are good for you.
Another aspect of organic food information is the production of meat and poultry.Most only consider produce when it comes to organic food information disregarding the antibiotics and hormones that are given to both cattle and poultry that are being force-fed.Ask yourself what happens to all these antibiotics and hormones when the animal is killed，and the remaining of these antibiotics and growth hormones reside in the meat which are then consumed，digested and stored in human bodies.There is no way that an animal that isn’t kept in healthy conditions can produce healthy food for humans to eat.
You have nothing to lose by trying organic product，not only will it be healthy for you but you will also be able to eat produce and meat the way they are supposed to be.You will likely be so impressed with the taste of organic fruit that you will never return to the mass-produced fruit again.While cost and availability can be a big issue for some，you can do a bit of research online and find a local store that stocks organic produce for a reasonable price.
重点词汇：
alternative 选择；二择其一的（n./adj.）
critical 挑剔的（adj.）
resort to 借助于
artificial 人工的（adj.）
pesticide 杀虫剂（n.）
consume 食用；消费（v.）
deficiency 不足（n.）
disregard 不考虑（v.）
mass-produced 批量生产的（adj.）
availability 可获得（n.）
poultry 家禽（n.）
难句分析：
①As you are looking for organic food information，you have obviously become aware that a better alternative exists and you are taking a critical look at the source and production practices of the companies producing the world’s food supplies.
【结构分析】本句的主干为you have become aware that
and you are taking a look at
，As引导时间状语从句。主干中第二个并列分句主干为you are taking a critical look at the source and practices，of结构是practices的后置定语，producing为现在分词充当companies的后置定语。
②The basis behind knowing about organic food information is the fact that farmers are resorting to using artificial fertilizers and pesticides to control disease and insect attack in order to produce more crops to satisfy growing demand.
【结构分析】本句主干为the basis is the fact，that
为fact的同位语从句。同位语从句中to control disease and insect attack为using artificial fertilizers and pesticides的目的状语，in order to produce
为control的目的状语。
③These artificial fertilizers leave something poisonous in and on the fruit and vegetables we consume which in turn is absorbed and stored by our bodies.
【结构分析】本句主干为These fertilizers leave something，we consume为省略了that的定语从句，修饰fruit and vegetables，which引导第二个定语从句修饰something poisonous。
④However，with organic food information you learn that organic food has fifty percent more nutrients，minerals and vitamins than any other form of produce that has been grown under intensive farming.
【结构分析】本句主干为you learn that
，that引导宾语从句。从句中有比较结构more
than，将有机食品（organic food）所含有的nutrients，minerals and vitamins与其他形式的农产品进行比较。produce在这里是名词，意为“农产品”，第二个that引导定语从句修饰produce。with organic food information为方式状语。
⑤Most only consider produce when it comes to organic food information disregarding the antibiotics and hormones that are given to both cattle and poultry that are being force-fed.
【结构分析】本句主干为Most consider produce，when引导时间状语从句，come to的意思是“谈及，谈到”。disregarding为现在分词充当状语，该状语中第一个that引导定语从句修饰antibiotics and hormones，第二个that引导定语从句修饰cattle and poultry。
全文翻译：
对于世界过去50年是如何变化的这一问题，答案并非全是正面的。当你在寻找有机食品信息时，很明显你已经意识到有一个更好的选择，从而对生产世界食品供给的公司的原料和制造行为进行挑剔的审视。
有机食品信息的目的是告知你食物里面有什么。你会看到前所未知的很多益处。知悉有机食品信息的基础在于这样一个事实：农民借助于人工肥料和杀虫剂，从而控制疫病、虫害，生产出更多的粮食以此满足越来越大的需求。这些人工肥料遗留了某些有毒物质在我们食用的蔬菜和水果的里里外外，反过来这些有毒物质会被我们的身体吸收并储存。
近年来甚至食品的质量都有所下降。如今的水果根本无法达到过去的维生素C的含量水平。然而，根据有机食品信息可知，有机食品所含的营养物、矿物质和维生素比其他精耕形式的农产品高出50%多。如果你食用非有机产品，你不得不多吃，从而弥补营养含量的不足。但是这样一来危险的循环就会持续，因为你也食用了更多的化学物质，从而对你的身体造成更大的伤害。
有机食品信息的另一个方面是肉类和家禽的生产。提及有机食品信息，很多人只考虑到农作物，而没有考虑到强行喂养家畜和家禽时加入的抗生素和激素。问问自己，当动物被宰杀后，这些抗生素和激素去了哪儿？它们会留存在肉里，然后被我们食用、消化，并在身体里储存起来。在不健康的条件下喂养的动物是不可能为人类创造出健康食品的。
尝试有机产品，你不会损失什么，它不仅对你的健康有益，你还能以原本应该的方式来食用农产品和肉类。你可能会对有机水果的味道印象非常深刻，以至于不会再去食用批量生产的水果。尽管成本和获取渠道对某些人来讲是个比较大的问题，但你可以在网上找一找，在本地找到一家价格合理的出售有机食品的商店。
Text 8
Facelift followed by a week on a beach in Thailand？Hip surgery with a side of shopping in Singapore？Over the last 10 years，Asia’s rise on the medical tourism scene has been quick.Eastern nations dominate the global scene.Now Bali wants a slice of the action.
The Indonesian island recently opened its first facility specifically targeting medical tourists with packages and services，Bali International Medical Centre（BIMC）Nusa Dua. BIMC already has an international hospital in Kuta，which opened in 1998.
The new internationally managed facility offers surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures and dental care.
Unlike most of the region’s hospitals，BIMC is designed to feel more like a spa or resort than a medical facility.
The 50-bed hospital has a 24-hour medical emergency entrance and hotel-like lobby at the front of the building servicing the hospital’s medical，and dental centres.
If you’re a celebrity who doesn’t want everyone to know you’re here for a bit of lipo（吸脂术），no worries.There’s a private entrance that leads to the CosMedic Centre，which offers views of a golf course.
BIMC has even teamed up with the nearby Courtyard by Marriott Bali，which provides specific after-care services like tailor-made meals and wellness programs for patients.
Latest technology and cool interiors are a start，but breaking into a regional industry that already has some of the world’s top international hospitals will be tough，says Josef Woodman， CEO of U.S.-based medical travel consumer guide Patients Beyond Borders（PBB）.
“As a newcomer，Bali faces stiff competition from nearby international healthcare providers. To compete，Bali will need to demonstrate a quality level of care and promote its services to the region and the world.On the positive side，Bali is blessed as one of the region’s safest，most popular tourist destinations，with a built-in potential to attract medical travelers.”
The Indonesian island couldn’t have picked a better time to get into the game，says PBB.“The world population is aging and becoming wealthier at rates that surpass the availability of quality healthcare resources，”says the company’s research.
重点词汇：
facelift 紧肤术（n.）
surgery 手术（n.）
tourism 旅游业（n.）
dominate 控制，主导（v.）
target 目标；瞄准（n./v.）
cosmetic 化妆的，美容的（adj.）
dental 牙齿的（adj.）
emergency 紧急（n.）
resort 度假村（n.）
celebrity 名人（n.）
specific 具体的（adj.）
tailor-made 定制的（adj.）
stiff 坚硬的（adj.）
demonstrate 显示（v.）
surpass 超过（v.）
①The 50-bed hospital has a 24-hour medical emergency entrance and hotel-like lobby at the front of the building servicing the hospital’s medical，and dental centres.
【结构分析】主干为hospital has entrance and lobby，servicing the hospital’s medical， and dental centres是现在分词充当后置定语，修饰emergency and lobby。这里service为动词。
【理解难点】emergency entrance的中心词为entrance，当两个名词在一起时，中心名词为第二个名词。同时要注意本句中的并列结构entrance and lobby， medical and dental。
②BIMC has even teamed up with the nearby Courtyard by Marriott Bali，which provides specific after-care services like tailor-made meals and wellness programs for patients.
【结构分析】主干为BIMC has teamed
，which引导定语从句修饰先行词BIMC。定语从句中的主干为which provides services，此处的services为名词，like tailor-made meals and wellness programs为services的后置定语。
【理解难点】tailor-made meal的意思是“定制餐”，wellness的意思是“康健，康复”。
③Latest technology and cool interiors are a start，but breaking into a regional industry that already has some of the world’s top international hospitals will be tough，says Josef Woodman，CEO of U.S.-based medical travel consumer guide Patients Beyond Borders（PBB）.
【结构分析】本句为宾语从句提前，主谓在最后says Josef Woodman
，CEO为同位语，of
为CEO的名词扩展。宾语从句为并列句，由but连接。第一个分句的主干为technology and i nteriors are a start，第二个分句的主干为breaking into a regional industry will be tough。第二个分句的主语由动名词充当，定语从句that already has some of the world’s top international hospitals修饰先行词industry。
④The world population is aging and becoming wealthier at rates that surpass the availability of quality healthcare resources.
【结构分析】本句的主干为population is aging and becoming wealthier，at rates为状语，that引导定语从句修饰rates。
全文翻译：
接受紧肤术后在泰国海滩上享受一周？接受提臀术后在新加坡购物一周？在过去10年间，亚洲医疗旅行的增长景象十分迅速。亚洲东部的国家控制着这种全球景象。现在巴厘想来分一杯羹。
印度尼西亚群岛最近开设了第一家机构——巴厘努沙杜瓦国际医疗中心，专门针对“打包”享受医疗和服务的医疗旅行者。该中心已于1998年在库塔开设了一家国际医院。
这个新的国际化管理机构提供外科手术与非手术美容项目及牙齿护理。
与该地区多数医院不同，BIMC的设计更像是一个水疗吧或者度假村，而不是一家医疗机构。(https://www.daowen.com)
这家拥有50个床位的医院有24小时急诊通道，大楼前的大厅就像酒店一样服务医院的医疗和牙科中心。
如果你不想公众知道你是在这里做吸脂术的名人，不用担心。有一条私人通道带你进入医学美容中心，还能让你看到高尔夫球场的全景。
BIMC甚至与附近的巴厘万怡庭院度假酒店联盟，这还能给你提供细致的后续服务，比如定制餐和病人康复服务项目。
最新科技和酷炫的内饰只是开始，但要进入已经拥有世界顶级国际化医院的地区是艰难的。以美国为基地的医疗旅游客服指导中心PBB首席执行官约瑟夫·乌德曼说。
“初来乍到，巴厘面临严酷的、来自附近国际化医疗保健服务供应商的竞争。要想赢得竞争，巴厘需要显示医疗保健服务的高质量水平，将服务提升到地区和世界领先水平。从积极的一面来看，巴厘被认为是该地区最安全、最受欢迎的旅游胜地之一。”
PBB说，印度尼西亚群岛挑了一个最佳时间参与竞赛。“世界人口老龄化与财富增加速度，超过了可利用的优质医疗保健资源的增长速度，”该公司的调研如是说。
Text 9
In a purely biological sense，fear begins with the body’s system for reacting to things that can harm us—the so called fight-or-flight response.“An animal that can’t detect danger can’t stay alive，”says Joseph LeDoux.Like animals，humans evolved with an elaborate mechanism for processing information about potential threats.At its core is a cluster of neurons deep in the brain.
LeDoux studies the way animals and humans respond to threats to understand how we form memories of significant events in our lives.The amygdala receives input from many parts of the brain，including regions responsible for retrieving memories.Using this information，the amygdala appraises a situation—I think this dog wants to bite me—and triggers a response by radiating nerve signals throughout the body.These signals produce the familiar signs of distress：trembling，perspiration and fast-moving feet，just to name three.
This fear mechanism is critical to the survival of all animals，but no one can say for sure whether beasts other than humans know they’re afraid.That is，as LeDoux says，“if you put that system into a brain that has consciousness，then you get the feeling of fear.”
Humans，says Edward M.Hallowell，have the ability to call up images of bad things that happened in the past and to anticipate future events.Combine these higher thought processes with our hardwired danger-detection systems，and you get a near-universal human phenomenon：worry.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing，says Hallowell.“When used properly，worry is an incredible device，”he says.After all，a little healthy worry is okay if it leads to constructive action like having a doctor look at that weird spot on your back.
Hallowell insists，though，that there’s a right way to worry.“Never do it alone，get the facts and then make a plan，”he says.Most of us have survived a recession，so we’re familiar with the belt-tightening strategies needed to survive a slump.
Unfortunately，few of us have much experience dealing with the threat of terrorism，so it’s been difficult to get facts about how we should respond.That’s why Hallowell believes it was okay for people to indulge some extreme worries last fall by asking doctors for Cipro and buying gas masks.
重点词汇：
biological 生物的，生物学的（adj.）
react 反应，回应（v./n.）
elaborate 复杂的；精密的（adj.）
mechanism 机制（n.）
potential 潜在的；潜力（adj./n.）
neurons 神经元（n.）
amygdala 杏仁体（n.）
retrieve 搜索（v.）
trembling 颤抖（n.）
perspiration 出汗；汗水（n.）
anticipate 期待（v.）
incredible 难以置信的（adj.）
indulge 沉浸，沉溺（v.）
难句解析：
①Using this information，the amygdala appraises a situation—I think this dog wants to bite me—and triggers a response by radiating nerve signals throughout the body.
【结构分析】该句主干为the amygdala appraised a situation，Using this information是现在分词充当方式状语，破折号后的内容为对situation的解释。I think后的this dog wants to
为宾语从句
【理解难点】根据对并列结构的认知，trigger做appraise的并列谓语，and并列的前后成分一致，形式一致。
②Combine these higher thought processes with our hardwired danger-detection systems，and you get a near-universal human phenomenon：worry.
【结构分析】本句的结构是“祈使句+and+句子”，意思是“如果……那么……”，祈使句相当于一个if引导的条件状语从句。combine
with是固定搭配，意思是“……与……相结合”。
③That’s why Hallowell believes it was okay for people to indulge some extreme worries last fall by asking doctors for Cipro and buying gas masks.
【结构分析】本句的主干为主系表结构，表语为why引导的从句，表语从句中的主干为 Hallowell believes。it was okay
为believes的宾语从句，从句为“it was+形容词+for sb.+to do sth.”句型，by asking
and buying是方式状语。
全文翻译：
从纯粹的生物学意义上讲，恐惧始于身体系统对可能伤害我们的事物做出反应也就是所谓的战斗或逃跑反应。“一个动物不能察觉到危险就无法生存下去，”勒杜说。像动物一样，人类进化出了精密的机制来处理关于潜在威胁的信息。其核心是位于大脑深处的一束神经元。
勒杜研究动物和人类应对威胁的方式，以理解我们对生活中的重要事件是如何形成记忆的。杏仁体从大脑中的很多部位接受输入的信息包括负责提取记忆的区域。杏仁体利用这些信息评定一个现象：我认为狗想要咬我，触发器响应辐射整个身体的神经信号。这些信号产生熟悉的痛苦的迹象，颤抖、出汗和快速移动脚，或者三个迹象同时发生。
所有动物的这种恐惧机制对生存都是很重要的，但是没有人能确定除了人类，野兽是否也知道害怕。正如勒杜说：“如果你把这个系统变成一个大脑意识，那么你会感觉到恐惧。”
爱德华·哈洛威尔说，人类有能力调用过去发生的糟糕的事情图像和未来的预期事件。把这些高级思维过程与我们固有的危险探测系统相联系，你会获得一个几乎是人类所共有的现象：担心。
“这并不一定是坏事，”哈洛威尔说。“如果使用恰当，担忧是一个难以置信的策略。”毕竟，一些健康的担忧是正常的，如果它带来建设性的行动，比如你背上出现奇怪的斑点，那就得让医生检查一下。
然而，哈洛威尔坚持认为，可以以一种正确的方式去担心。“不能只是担心，要了解事实，然后制订一个计划，”他说。我们大多数人都在经济衰退中幸存了下来，所以我们熟悉度过低潮的节约攻略。
不幸的是，很少有人有很多处理恐怖主义威胁的经验，因此，很难得到关于应该如何回应的事实。这就是为什么哈洛威尔相信允许人们去年秋天沉溺于一些极端的担忧是可以的，比如要求医生开环丙沙星和买防毒面具。
Text 10
Do you remember all those years when scientists argued that smoking would kill us but the doubters insisted that we didn’t know for sure？That the evidence was inconclusive，the science uncertain？That the antismoking lobby was out to destroy our way of life and the government should stay out of the way？Lots of Americans bought that nonsense，and over three decades，some 10 million smokers went to early graves.
There are upsetting parallels today，as scientists in one wave after another try to awaken us to the growing threat of global warming.The latest was a panel from the National Academy of Sciences，enlisted by the White House，to tell us that the Earth’s atmosphere is definitely warming and that the problem is largely man-made.The clear message is that we should get moving to protect ourselves.The president of the National Academy，Bruce Alberts，added this key point in the preface to the panel’s report“Science never has all the answers.But science does provide us with the best available guide to the future，and it is critical that our nation and the world base important policies on the best judgments that science can provide concerning the future consequences of present actions.”
Just as on smoking，voices now come from many quarters insisting that the science about global warming is incomplete，that it’s OK to keep pouring fumes into the air until we know for sure.This is a dangerous game：by the time 100 percent of the evidence is in，it may be too late.With the risks obvious and growing，a prudent people would take out an insurance policy now.
Fortunately，the White House is starting to pay attention.But it’s obvious that a majority of the president’s advisers still don’t take global warming seriously.Instead of a plan of action，they continue to press for more research—a classic case of“paralysis by analysis”.
To serve as responsible stewards of the planet，we must press forward on deeper atmospheric and oceanic research but research alone is inadequate.If the Administration won’t take the legislative initiative，Congress should help to begin fashioning conservation measures.A bill by Democratic Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia，which would offer financial incentives for private industry，is a promising start.Many see that the country is getting ready to build lots of new power plants to meet our energy needs.If we are ever going to protect the atmosphere，it is crucial that those new plants be environmentally sound.
重点词汇：
inconclusive 非结论性的，不确定的（adj.）
lobby 门厅，接待室（n.）
antismoking 禁止吸烟（n.）
nonsense 胡说，废话（n.）
grave 墓穴，坟墓（n.）
panel 面板；座谈小组；全体陪审员（n.）
definitely 明确地；肯定地（adv.）
parallel 类似的事物；平行线（n.）
pour 倾泻，涌出；倒（v.）
fume [浓烈或难闻的]烟，气味；愤怒，生气（n./v.）
prudent 审慎的，谨慎的（adj.）
paralysis 瘫痪（n.）
steward 管家，管事；服务员，乘务员（n.）
legislative 立法的（adj.）
initiative 主动的行动；首创精神（n.）
crucial 至关重要的，决定性的（adj.）
negligence 疏忽（n.）
aggravate 使恶化，加重（v.）
难句解析：
①The latest was a panel from the National Academy of Sciences，enlisted by the White House，to tell us that the Earth’s atmosphere is definitely warming and that the problem is largely man-made.
【结构分析】主干部分是The latest was a panel，表语panel后接有两个定语成分：from介词短语和enlisted过去分词短语，意思为“白宫召集的、来自国家科学院的专家团”。不定式结构to tell us
表目的，即“为了告诉我们……”。
【句子翻译】最近的行动是由白宫召集了一批来自国家科学院的专家团，他们告诉我们，地球气候毫无疑问正在变暖，而这个问题主要是人为造成的。
②But science does provide us with the best available guide to the future，and it is critical that our nation and the world base important policies on the best judgments that science can provide concerning the future consequences of present actions.
【结构分析】该句的主干是由and连接的两个并列句，前一个分句的主干是science does provide us with guide；后一个分句的主干是it is critical，其中it为形式主语，真正的主语是that引导的主语从句。从句的主干是our nation and the world base policies on judgments，judgments后接两个定语结构，一个是that引导的定语从句，另一个是concerning分词结构。
【句子翻译】但是科学确实为我们的未来提供了最好的指导，关键是我们的国家和整个世界在做重要决策时，应该以科学能够提供的关于人类现在的行为对未来影响的最好判断为依据。
③Just as on smoking，voices now come from many quarters insisting that the science about global warming is incomplete，that it’s OK to keep pouring fumes into the air until we know for sure。
【结构分析】该句的主干是voices now come from many quarters，句首Just as结构做比较状语，意为“正如……一样”。insisting引导的分词结构做定语修饰主语voices，分词结构中含有两个并列的由that引导的宾语从句，第二个宾语从句的真正主语是不定式结构to keep
。
【句子翻译】就像吸烟问题一样，来自不同领域的声音坚持认为有关全球变暖的科学资料还不完整，在我们确定全球变暖之前还是可以继续将浓烟排放到空气中的。
④Do you remember all those years when scientists argued that smoking would kill us but the doubters insisted that we didn’t know for sure？That the evidence was inconclusive， the science uncertain？That the antismoking lobby was out to destroy our way of life and the government should stay out of the way？
【结构分析】这里有三个问句，第一个问句的主干是Do you remember all those years
，后面的when引导定语从句修饰前面的名词years，定语从句由but连接的两个句子组成；第二个问句和第三个问句句首的that都引导一个宾语从句，承接第一个问句，that前省略了主句Do you remember all those years when scientists argued that smoking would kill us but the doubters insisted；the science uncertain承前省略了was。
【理解难点】通过结构分析我们知道这几个句子都是围绕第一个问句的主干部分展开的并列疑问句，因此我们在阅读中应弄清楚句子的层次，逐一分析。
⑤Instead of a plan of action，they continue to press for more research—a classic case of“paralysis by analysis”.
【结构分析】instead of表示否定；破折号后面的部分不是修饰前面的名词research，而是说明前面的整个句子。paralysis by analysis的意思是“分析导致瘫痪”，就是无休止地研究一件事，致使最终没有任何行动。
全文翻译：
还记得科学家们认为吸烟会致人死亡，而那些怀疑者们却坚持认为我们无法对此得出定论的时候吗？还记得怀疑者们坚持认为缺乏决定性的证据，科学也不确定的时候吗？还记得怀疑者们坚持认为反对吸烟的游说是为了毁掉我们的生活方式，而政府应该置身事外的时候吗？许多美国人相信了这些胡言乱语，在三十多年里，差不多有一千万烟民早早地进了坟墓。
现在出现了与吸烟类似的令人感到难过的事情。科学家们前仆后继，试图使我们意识到全球气候变暖所带来的日益严重的威胁。最近的行动是由白宫召集了一批来自国家科学院的专家团，他们告诉我们，地球气候毫无疑问正在变暖，而这个问题主要是人为造成的。明确的信息是我们应该立刻着手保护自己。国家科学院院长布鲁斯·艾伯茨在专家团报告的前言中加上了这一重要观点：“科学解答不了所有问题。但是科学确实为我们的未来提供了最好的指导，关键是我们的国家和整个世界在做重要决策时，应该以科学能够提供的关于人类现在的行为对未来影响的最好判断为依据。”
就像吸烟问题一样，来自不同领域的声音坚持认为有关全球变暖的科学资料还不完整。在我们证实这件事之前可以向大气中不断地排放气体。这是一个危险的游戏：到了有百分之百的证据的时候，可能就太晚了。随着风险越来越明显，并且不断增加，一个谨慎的民族现在应该准备一份保单了。
幸运的是，白宫开始关注这件事了。但是显然大多数总统顾问并没有认真看待全球气候变暖这个问题。他们没有出台行动计划，相反只是继续迫切要求进行更多的研究——这是一个经典的“分析导致瘫痪”的案例。
为了成为地球上有责任心的一员，我们必须积极推进对于大气和海洋的深入研究。但仅有研究是不够的。如果政府不争取立法上的主动权，国会就应该帮助政府开始采取保护措施。西弗吉尼亚州民主党议员罗伯特·伯德提出一项议案，建议从经济上激励私企，就是一个良好的开端。许多人看到这个国家正准备修建许多新的发电厂，以满足我们的能源需求。如果我们准备保护大气，关键要让这些新发电厂对环境无害。
Text 11
Of all the components of a good night’s sleep，dreams seem to be least within our control. In dreams，a window opens into a world where logic is suspended and dead people speak. A century ago，Freud formulated his revolutionary theory that dreams were the disguised shadows of our unconscious desires and fears；by the late 1970s，neurologists had switched to thinking of them as just“mental noise”—the random byproducts of the neural-repair work that goes on during sleep.Now researchers suspect that dreams are part of the mind’s emotional thermostat，regulating moods while the brain is“off-line”.And one leading authority says that these intensely powerful mental events can be not only harnessed but actually brought under conscious control，to help us sleep and feel better.“It’s your dream，”says Rosalind Cartwright， chair of psychology at Chicago’s Medical Center.“If you don’t like it，change it.”
Evidence from brain imaging supports this view.The brain is as active during REM （rapid eye movement）sleep—when most vivid dreams occur—as it is when fully awake， says Dr.Eric Nofzinger at the University of Pittsburgh.But not all parts of the brain are equally involved，the limbic system（the“emotional brain”）is especially active，while the prefrontal cortex（the center of intellect and reasoning）is relatively quiet.“We wake up from dreams happy or depressed，and those feelings can stay with us all day’”says Stanford sleep researcher Dr.William Dement.
The link between dreams and emotions shows up among the patients in Cartwright’s clinic.Most people seem to have more bad dreams early in the night，progressing toward happier ones before awakening，suggesting that they are working through negative feelings generated during the day.Because our conscious mind is occupied with daily life we don’t always think about the emotional significance of the day’s events—until，it appears，we begin to dream.
And this process need not be left to the unconscious.Cartwright believes one can exercise conscious control over recurring bad dreams.As soon as you awaken，identify what is upsetting about the dream.Visualize how you would like it to end instead，the next time it occurs，try to wake up just enough to control its course.With much practice people can learn to，literally，do it in their sleep.
At the end of the day，there’s probably little reason to pay attention to our dreams at all unless they keep us from sleeping or“we wake up in a panic”，Cartwright says.Terrorism， economic uncertainties and general feelings of insecurity have increased people’s anxiety. Those suffering from persistent nightmares should seek help from a therapist.For the rest of us，the brain has its ways of working through bad feelings.Sleep—or rather dream—on it and you’ll feel better in the morning.
重点词汇：
neurologist 神经病学家，神经科医师（n.）
switch 转变，转向（n./v.）
random 随机的，任意的（adj.）
byproduct 副产品（n.）
thermostat 调温器（n.）
regulate 调节；管理，控制（v.）
harness 治理；利用（n./v.）
occur 出现；发生（v.）
limbic system [大脑]边缘系统（n.）
prefrontal cortex [大脑]前额叶皮层（n.）
recur 反复出现，再发生（v.）
visualize 想象；使形象化（v.）
significance 重要性；重要的状态或性质（n.）
persistent 持续的；坚持不懈的（adj.）
nightmare 梦魇，噩梦（n.）
therapist 治疗学家（n.）
难句解析：
①And one leading authority says that these intensely powerful mental events can be not only harnessed but actually brought under conscious control，to help us sleep and feel better.
【结构分析】该句的主干是one leading authority says，其宾语是that引导的宾语从句。宾语从句的主干是these events can be not only harnessed but actually brought
，其中并列连词结构not only
but（also）连接两个过去分词，表示“不仅被驾驭……而且被有意识地加以控制”。不定式在宾语从句中做结果状语。
【句子翻译】一名主要的权威人士说，梦这种异常强烈的精神活动不仅能被驾驭，事实上还可以有意识地加以控制，以帮助我们得到更好的睡眠和感受。
②The brain is as active during REM（rapid eye movement）sleep—when most vivid dreams occur—as it is when fully awake，says Dr.Eric Nofzinger at the University of Pittsburgh.
【结构分析】该句是一个倒装句，句首是间接引语的宾语从句，主谓结构后置，即says Dr.Eric。宾语从句的主干是个比较结构The brain is as active during REM as it is when fully awake。两个破折号之间是插入语，做定语从句，修饰REM sleep，即“出现清晰梦境的快速动眼睡眠”。
【句子翻译】匹兹堡大学的埃里克博士说，在出现清晰梦境的快速动眼睡眠中大脑和完全清醒时一样活跃。
③Most people seem to have more bad dreams early in the night，progressing toward happier ones before awakening，suggesting that they are working through negative feelings generated during the day.
【结构分析】该句的主句后跟有两个现在分词结构，第一个分词结构表伴随，其动作和主句中的动作几乎同时发生；第二个分词结构表结果，即“因此表明……”。
【句子翻译】大多数人似乎在晚上入睡的较早阶段做更多不好的梦，而在快睡醒前会逐渐做开心一些的梦，这说明人们在梦里渐渐克服了白天的不良情绪。
④A century ago，Freud formulated his revolutionary theory that dreams were the disguised shadows of our unconscious desires and rears；by the late 1970s，neurologists had switched to thinking of them as just“mental noise”—the random byproducts of the neural-repair work that goes on during sleep.
【结构分析】本句由分号分为两部分，其中第一部分的主干是Freud formulated his revolutionary theory
，宾语theory后面是一个以that引导的同位语从句，说明theory的内容；在第二部分中，代词them指代的是dreams，破折号后面的部分the random byproducts of the neural-repair work
进一步解释什么是mental noise，work后面的that引导一个定语从句，修饰work。
⑤Now researchers suspect that dreams are part of the mind’s emotional thermostat， regulating moods while the brain is“off-line”.
【结构分析】suspect后面是that引导的宾语从句；逗号之后的现在分词短语regulating moods
做定语，解释thermostat的意思，句末的while引导一个时间状语从句。
⑥At the end of the day，there’s probably little reason to pay attention to our dreams at all unless they keep us from sleeping or“we wake up in a panic”，Cartwright says.
【结构分析】句首的At the end of the day是时间状语，there’s probably little reason to pay attention to our dreams at all是主句，后面的unless引导条件状语从句，其中包含以or连接的两个并列分句。
【理解难点】在英语中，如果要表示一句话或一个观点是某个人说的，这个说话的人通常出现在句子中间或者句子的末尾。
全文翻译：
在高质量睡眠的所有因素中，梦似乎是最无法控制的一个。在梦中窗户通向的世界里，逻辑暂时失去了效用，死人会开口说话。一个世纪前，弗洛伊德阐述了革命性的理论，即梦是人们潜意识中欲望和恐惧经伪装后的预示；到了20世纪70年代末期，神经病学家们转而认为梦是“精神噪声”，即睡眠时进行的神经修复活动的一种杂乱的副产品。目前，研究人员猜想梦是大脑情感自动调节系统的组成部分，会在大脑处于“掉线”状态时对情绪进行调整。一名主要的权威人士说，梦这种异常强烈的精神活动不仅能被驾驭，事实上还可以有意识地加以控制，以帮助我们得到更好的睡眠和感受。芝加哥医疗中心心理学系主任罗莎琳德·卡特赖特说：“梦是你自己的，如果你不喜欢，就改变它。”
大脑造影的证据支持了以上观点。匹兹堡大学的埃里克博士说，在出现清晰梦境的快速动眼睡眠中大脑和完全清醒时一样活跃。但并非大脑的所有部分都一样，脑边缘系统（“情绪大脑”）异常活跃，而前额皮层（思维和推理的中心地带）则相对平静。斯坦福睡眠研究员威廉·德蒙特博士说：“我们从梦中醒来，或者高兴或者沮丧，这些情绪会伴随我们一整天。”
梦和情绪之间的联系在卡特赖特诊所里的病人身上显露出来了。多数人似乎在晚上入睡的较早阶段做更多不好的梦，而在快睡醒前会逐渐做开心一些的梦，这说明人们在梦里渐渐克服了白天的不良情绪。因为清醒时我们的头脑被日常琐事占据着，所以并不会总是想着白天发生的事情对我们情绪的影响，直到我们开始做梦，这种影响才出现。
这一过程不一定是无意识的。卡特赖特认为人们可以练习有意识地控制噩梦的重现。你一醒来就立刻确定梦中有什么在困扰你，设想一下你所希望的梦的结局，下次再做同样的梦时，试图醒过来以控制它的进程。通过多次练习，人们完全可以学会在梦中这样做。
卡特赖特说，说到底，只要梦不使我们无法睡眠或“从梦中惊醒”，就没有理由太在意所做的梦。恐怖主义、经济不稳定及通常的不安全感都增加了人们的焦虑。那些长期受到噩梦折磨的人应该寻求专家帮助，而对其他人来说，大脑有自动消除不良情绪的方法。安心睡觉甚至做梦，早上醒来时你会感觉好多了。
Text 12
Americans today don’t place a very high value on intellect.Our heroes are athletes， entertainers，and entrepreneurs，not scholars.Even our schools are where we send our children to get a practical education—not to pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Symptoms of pervasive anti-intellectualism in our schools aren’t difficult to find.
“Schools have always been in a society where practical is more important than intellectual，”says education writer Diane Ravitch.“Schools could be a counterbalance.” Ravitch’s latest book，Left Back：A Century of Failed School Reforms，traces the roots of anti-intellectualism in our schools，concluding they are anything but a counterbalance to the American distaste for intellectual pursuits.
But they could and should be.Encouraging kids to reject the life of the mind leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and control.Without the ability to think critically，to defend their ideas and to understand the ideas of others，they cannot fully participate in our democracy.Continuing along this path，says writer Earl Shorris，“We will become a second-rate country.We will have a less civil society.”
“Intellect is resented as a form of power or privilege，”writes historian and professor Richard Hofstadter in Anti-Intellectualism in American Life，a Pulitzer Prize winning book on the roots of anti-intellectualism in US politics，religion，and education.From the beginning of our history，says Hofstadter，our democratic and populist urges have driven us to reject anything that smells of elitism.Practicality，common sense，and native intelligence have been considered more noble qualities than anything you could learn from a book.
Ralph Waldo Emerson and other Transcendentalist philosophers thought schooling and rigorous book learning put unnatural restraints on children：“We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for 10 or 15 years and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing.”Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn exemplified American anti-intellectualism.Its hero avoids being civilized—going to school and learning to read—so he can preserve his innate goodness.
Intellect，according to Hofstadter，is different from native intelligence，a quality we reluctantly admire.Intellect is the critical，creative，and contemplative side of the mind. Intelligence seeks to grasp，manipulate，re-order，and adjust，while intellect examines， ponders，wonders，theorizes，criticizes and imagines.
School remains a place where intellect is mistrusted.Hofstadter says our country’s educational system is in the grips of people who“joyfully and militantly proclaim their hostility to intellect and their eagerness to identify with children who show the least intellectual promise”.
重点词汇：
intellect 才学，学识（n.）
athlete 运动员，体育家（n.）
entertainer 专业演员（n.）
entrepreneur 企业家（n.）
pursue 追赶；追求；继续；从事（v.）
symptom 征兆；表现（n.）
pervasive 到处弥漫的；普遍的（adj.）
counterbalance 平衡力；使平衡（n./v.）
distaste 厌恶（n/v.）
vulnerable 易受攻击的；脆弱的（adj.）
resent 愤恨，怨恨（v.）
privilege 特权（n.）
populist 平民主义者（n.）
elitism 精英统治论，精英主义（n.）
rigorous 严格的，严厉的（adj.）
restraint 抑制，克制（n.）
bellyful 满肚子（n.）
exemplify 例证（v.）
contemplative 沉思的（adj.）
manipulate [熟练地]操作，[巧妙地]处理（v.）
ponder 沉思，考虑（v.）
theorize 建立理论，理论化（v.）
militantly 好战的（adj.）
hostility 敌意，敌对（n.）
proclaim 声明；宣布（v.）
identify 识别，鉴别（v.）
难句分析：
①Ravitch’s latest book，Left Back：A Century of Failed School Reforms，traces the roots of anti-intellectualism in our schools，concluding they are anything but a counterbalance to the American distaste for intellectual pursuits.
【结构分析】句子的主干是Ravitch’s latest book traces the roots
。Left Back：A Century of Failed School Reforms是book的同位语，concluding引导的是状语。
【理解难点】其中they指代前面的schools；anything but在此处的意思是“绝不，远非”，counterbalance的意思是“抗衡”，distaste的意思是“讨厌”。注意concluding
后面的宾语从句中各个词之间的肯定和否定关系。
【句子翻译】莱维西的最新著作《落后：一个世纪的失败学校改革》探索了学校里反智主义倾向的根源，书中的结论是：美国学校根本未能制衡美国人对学识追求的厌恶。
②Encouraging kids to reject the life of the mind leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and control.Without the ability to think critically，to defend their ideas and to understand the ideas of others，they cannot fully participate in our democracy.
【结构分析】第一句话的谓语动词是leaves，动名词短语充当句子的主语。第二句话中三个平行的动词不定式to think，to defend，to understand做ability的后置定语。
③“Intellect is resented as a form of power or privilege，”writes historian and professor Richard Hofstadter in Anti-Intellectualism in American Life，a Pulitzer Prize winning book on the roots of anti-intellectualism in US politics，religion，and education.
【结构分析】句子主干为一个直接引语，“Intellect is resented as a form of power or privilege，”writes historian and professor Richard Hofstadter后面连接的in Anti-Intellectualism in American Life做状语，斜体部分为书名，a Pulitzer Prize winning book为同位语。
【句子翻译】历史学家兼教授理查德·霍夫斯塔特在《美国生活中的反智主义》一书中写道：“学识被看作一种权力或特权而遭厌恶。”该书探讨了美国政治、宗教和教育中的反智主义的根源，曾获普利策图书奖。
④Hofstadter says our country’s educational system is in the grips of people who“joyfully and militantly proclaim their hostility to intellect and their eagerness to identify with children who show the least intellectual promise”.
【结构分析】本句的主干是Hofstadter says
，后面是says的宾语从句our country’s educational system is in the grips of people
。其中people后面的who引导一个定语从句who“joyfully and militantly proclaim their hostility to intellect and their eagerness to identify with children
，而children后面又有一个who引导的定语从句。
译文：
今天的美国人不是很看重学识。我们的英雄不是学者而是运动员、演艺圈明星和企业家。甚至我们的学校也只是我们送孩子去接受实用教育的地方，而不是让他们为了知识而去追求学问。在学校里不难发现反智主义的普遍表现。
教育学作家戴安·莱维西说：“学校始终处于实用重于学识的社会之中。”“学校本来可以发挥制衡作用。”莱维西的最新著作《落后：一个世纪的失败学校改革》探索了学校里反智主义倾向的根源，书中的结论是：美国学校根本未能制衡美国人对学识追求的厌恶。
但学校是能够并应该做到这一点的。鼓励孩子们排斥精神生活使得他们极易被利用和控制。如果不能批判地思考、不能捍卫自己的思想、不能理解他人的思想，他们就不能充分地参与我们的民主。作家厄尔·绍利斯说，沿着这条路线发展下去，“我们将变为二流国家。我们的社会将不再那么文明。”
历史学家兼教授理查德·霍夫斯塔特在《美国生活中的反智主义》一书中写道：“学识被看作一种权力或特权而遭厌恶。”该书探讨了美国政治、宗教和教育中的反智主义的根源，曾获普利策图书奖。霍夫斯塔特说：自我们的历史之初，我们对民主化和大众化的渴望就驱使我们排斥任何带有精英优越论味道的东西。实用性、常识以及与生俱来的智力这些素质一直被视作比可以从书本里学到的任何东西都高贵。
拉尔夫·瓦尔多·爱默生和其他一些先验主义哲学家认为学校教育和僵化的书本学习限制了孩子们的天性。“我们被关在中小学和大学的背书室里十年或十五年，最后出来时满肚子单词，却什么都不懂。”马克·吐温笔下的《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》就是美国反智主义的例证。书中的主人公逃避教化——不上学、不学习读书写字——因此他才得以保持善良的天性。
按照霍夫斯塔特的观点，学识不同于天生的智力，它是一种我们不太情愿去赞赏的品质。学识是精神世界中的批评、创造和沉思的一面。智力力求理解、运用、整合和调节，而学识力求审视、思考、探究、形成理论、批判和想象。
学校仍然是学识备受怀疑的地方。霍夫斯塔特说，掌握我们国家教育体系的人“沾沾自喜地、霸气十足地公然宣称敌视学识，迫不及待地认同那些看来在学识方面最难造就的孩子”。
Text 13
It’s a rough world out there.Step outside and you could break a leg slipping on your doormat.Light up the stove and you could burn down the house.Luckily，if the doormat or stove failed to warn of coming disaster，a successful lawsuit might compensate you for your troubles.Or so the thinking has gone since the early 1980s，when juries began holding more companies liable for their customers’misfortunes.
Feeling threatened，companies responded by writing ever-longer warning labels，trying to anticipate every possible accident.Today，stepladders carry labels several inches long that warn，among other things，that you might—surprise！—fall off.The label on a child’s Batman cape cautions that the toy“does not enable user to fly”.
While warnings are often appropriate and necessary—the dangers of drug interactions， for example—and many are required by state or federal regulations，it isn’t clear that they actually protect the manufacturers and sellers from liability if a customer is injured.About 50 percent of the companies lose when injured customers take them to court.
Now the tide appears to be turning.As personal injury claims continue as before，some courts are beginning to side with defendants，especially in cases where a warning label probably wouldn’t have changed anything.In May，Julie Nimmons，president of Schutt Sports in Illinois，successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player who was paralyzed in a game while wearing a Schutt helmet.“We’re really sorry he has become paralyzed，but helmets aren’t designed to prevent those kinds of injuries，”says Nimmons.The jury agreed that the nature of the game，not the helmet， was the reason for the athlete’s injury.At the same time，the American Law Institute—a group of judges，lawyers，and academics whose recommendations carry substantial weight—issued new guidelines for tort law stating that companies need not warn customers of obvious dangers or bombard them with a lengthy list of possible ones.“Important information can get buried in a sea of trivialities，”says a law professor at Cornell Law School who helped draft the new guidelines.If the moderate end of the legal community has its way，the information on products might actually be provided for the benefit of customers and not as protection against legal liability.
重点词汇：
compensate 补偿，赔偿（v.）
misfortune 不幸；灾难（n.）
anticipate 预料，期望（v.）
stepladder 一种通常在顶端有个小平台的活动梯子（n.）
interaction 互相作用（n.）
regulation 调整；校准；规章（n.）
defendant 被告（n.）
recommendation 推荐（n.）
guideline 指导方针（n.）
tort 民事侵权行为（n.）
bombard 炮轰；攻击（v.）
triviality 琐事（n.）
难句解析：
①Or so the thinking has gone since the early 1980s，when juries began holding more companies liable for their customers’misfortunes.
【结构分析】Or so the thinking has gone since the early 1980s中的thinking是“一种思想”的意思，指的是上面所说的人们对于通过法律获得赔偿的思想。gone的本意是“消失”，但是从前后文看，这个gone不是否定，所以应该是开始的意思，也就是说应该翻译成“这种思想已经开始形成了”。
②While warnings are often appropriate and necessary—the dangers of drug interactions，for example—and many are required by state or federal regulations，it isn’t clear that they actually protect the manufacturers and sellers from liability if a customer is injured.
【结构分析】在这个主从复合句中，前一个分句是由While引导的让步从句，这个从句由两个并列句组成，中间用and连接。破折号之间的部分是举例说明warnings的内容，and后面的many省略了warnings，state与federal共用regulations。主句部分本身也是一个主从复合句，主句用了一个形式主语it，真正的主语是that引导的从句，注意这个从句中有个动词短语protect...from...，后面是一个if引导的条件从句。
【理解难点】首先要把握这个句子的主旨，那就是主句中所阐明的warnings对manufacturers and sellers的保护作用还很不明朗。并注意破折号之间的部分对warnings的解释作用以及it作为形式主语的替代作用。
③As personal injury claims continue as before，some courts are beginning to side with defendants，especially in cases where a warning label probably wouldn’t have changed anything.
【结构分析】在这个主从复合句中，前一个分句是由As引导的伴随状语从句，注意这里的claims是个名词；主句的时态用的是现在进行时，表示这种状况正在开始。especially in cases
是主句的一个较长的状语短语，cases后面跟了一个where引导的定语从句修饰cases，这个定语从句的主干是a warning label wouldn’t have changed anything，解释的是什么样的cases。
【理解难点】主句依然是抓住句子大意的关键，该句所要表达的就是some courts are beginning to side with defendants，此外要注意cases后面的定语从句指出了哪类cases。
④In May，Julie Nimmons，president of Schutt Sports in Illinois，successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player who was paralyzed in a game while wearing a Schutt helmet.
【结构分析】这个句子的主干是...Julie Nimmons...fought a lawsuit...。句子的主语是Julie Nimmons，后面逗号之间的部分是她的职位。宾语部分a lawsuit后有一个较长的现在分词involving所引导的短语，involving的宾语是a football player，后面跟了一个who引导的定语从句，这个定语从句中又有一个while引导的时间状语，还原成句子就是while he was wearing a Schutt helmet。
【理解难点】找出句子的关键部分：...Julie Nimmons...fought a lawsuit involving a football player...paralyzed...while wearing a Schutt helmet.
⑤At the same time，the American Law Institute—a group of judges，lawyers，and academics whose recommendations carry substantial weight—issued new guidelines for tort law stating that companies need not warn customers of obvious dangers or bombard them with a lengthy list of possible ones.
【结构分析】这个看起来很长的句子其实是一个简单句，主干是...the American Law Institute...issued new guidelines for tort law...。其中破折号之间的内容说明的是这个Institute的人员构成，并且用一个whose引导的定语从句说明了这些成员的权威。tort law后面的现在分词stating有一个相当长的宾语从句，这个从句的主语是companies，而谓语为两个以or连接的动词结构，一个是warn...of...，另一个是bombard...with...，叙述了guidelines的内容。
【理解难点】这个句子的要点是stating后面的that从句，对其中两个动词结构warn... of...和bombard...with...的正确理解决定了对整个句子的理解。
⑥If the moderate end of the legal community has its way，the information on products might actually be provided for the benefit of customers and not as protection against legal liability.
【结构分析】在这个复合句中，if引导的是一个条件从句，主句部分的谓语用了被动形式，谓语动词provide for有两个宾语，一个是the benefits of customers，另一个是protection against legal liability，not决定了两者的取舍关系：取前者，舍后者。
【理解难点】从句给出了前提条件，注意has its way的意思是can be achieved；理解主句部分的关键在于provide for的两个宾语的取舍关系。
全文翻译：
外面是一个危险的世界。如果你走出去，可能会滑倒在门垫上，摔伤一条腿。如果你点燃炉灶，可能会把房子烧掉。但是假如门垫或炉灶上没有警示语告诉你可能发生的危害，那么你或许可以就自己所受的伤害通过法律诉讼，成功地获得赔偿。大约自80年代初以来人们就开始这样认为了，当时陪审团已开始认为更多的公司应对其顾客所遭受的不幸负责。
公司因此感到了威胁，便做出了反应，写出越来越长的警示标识语，力图预先标明种种可能发生的事故。如今，梯子上的警告标签有几英寸长，除了警告你其他可能发生的意外情况外，还警告你可能会摔下来，简直是莫名其妙！印在儿童蝙蝠侠披风上的标识语竟然也告诫说，本玩具“无法让用户飞行”。
虽然警示语常常是合理且必要的，如对药物相互作用产生的危险的警示语，并且很多是州或联邦法规所要求的，但是当消费者受伤，这些警示语能否真正保护制造商和销售商使之免于责任，这还很难说。被受伤的消费者告上法庭的公司中，大约一半的情况是公司败诉。
现在这种趋势正在改变。尽管个人伤害指控一如既往地继续着，但有些法庭已开始站到被告一方，特别是在处理那些有警示语也无法避免伤害的案件时。五月份，伊利诺伊州的Shutt体育公司总裁朱利·尼蒙斯就成功地打赢了这样一场官司。一名橄榄球队员戴着该公司的头盔在一场比赛中受伤瘫痪，遂将该公司告上法庭。公司总裁朱利·尼蒙斯说：“他瘫痪了，我们非常难过，但头盔不是设计用来预防这类伤害的。”陪审团也认为导致该运动员受伤的是这项运动本身的危险性，而不是头盔。与此同时，美国法学会——该学会由一群举足轻重的法官、律师、学者所组成——签署了新的民事侵权法纲要，宣布公司不必警示顾客那些显而易见的危险，或者给顾客列出一份冗长的可能造成的危险的清单。康奈尔大学法学院一位参与起草新纲要的教授说，“重要的信息会淹没在无用的琐碎信息之中”。如果该法律团体的这一适中的目的能够实现，产品上提供的警示信息实际上是用来保护消费者利益的，而不是让公司规避法律责任的。
Text 14
It was 3：45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken.After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates，Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die.The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10.Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up，half a world away，by John Hofsess， executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada.He sent it on via the group’s on-line service，Death NET.Says Hofsess：“We posted bulletins all day long，because of course this isn’t just something that happened in Australia.It’s world history.”
The full import may take a while to sink in.The NT Rights of the TerminallyⅢlaw has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief，others，including churches，right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association，bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage.But the tide is unlikely to turn back.In Australia—where an aging population，life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part—other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia.In the US and Canada，where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength，observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.
Under the new Northern Territory law，an adult patient can request death—probably by a deadly injection or pill—to put an end to suffering.The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors.After a“cooling off”period of seven days，the patient can sign a certificate of request.After 48 hours the wish for death can be met.For Lloyd Nickson，a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer，the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering：a terrifying death from his breathing condition.“I’m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view，but what I was afraid of was how I’d go，because I’ve watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks，”he says.
重点词汇：
parliamentary 议会的，国会的（adj.）
incurably 不可治愈地（adv.）
turn back 逆转；往回走
euthanasia 安乐死（n.）
domino 多米诺骨牌（n.）
diagnose 诊断（v.）
certificate 证书；证明（n.）
objection 反对（n.）
sink in 被了解
cool off 使冷静
难句解析：
①After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates， Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die.
【结构分析】句子的主体结构是Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority...。句首是表示时间的介词词组做状语：After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates，后面的动词不定式to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die相当于定语从句which allows doctors to...，修饰legal authority，who引导定语从句who wish to die修饰前面的patients。
【理解难点】理解句子的关键在于剔除庞杂的修饰成分，抓住句子的主干。
②Some have breathed sighs of relief，others，including churches，right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association，bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back.
【结构分析】第一句话中，逗号松散地连接两个表示对比的句子：Some have breathed...others...bitterly attacked...。others之后是介词词组including churches，right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association对others进行进一步的解释。its passage中的its指代前面提到的the bill。第二句与第一句是转折关系。
【理解难点】tide的本意是“潮水，潮汐”的意思，这里的引申含义是“趋势，趋向”；turn the tide是“使形式转变，改变局面”的意思。bill在这里是“法案”的意思。另外还要理解some和others的对比关系。
③In Australia—where an aging population，life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part—other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia.
【结构分析】这个句子的主体结构是...other states are going to consider...。句首的In Australia是介词词组做地点状语，后面的where引导定语从句where an aging population，life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part，进一步解释Australia的具体情况。
【理解难点】注意两个破折号中间的句子说各种因素都发挥了作用，是针对其他州考虑制定关于安乐死法律这件事而言的。另外注意consider的用法，consider后面一般接v.-ing形式或that引导的宾语从句。
④After a“cooling off”period of seven days，the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met.
【结构分析】两个句子都是简单句。第一句话中前面是介词词组做时间状语：After a“cooling off”period of seven days。第二句使用了被动语态。
【理解难点】“cooling off”这里是指“给病人充足的考虑时间以做出冷静的决定”。meet在这里是“满足”的意思，可以和wish，demand，need，requirement等词连用。
全文翻译：
凌晨3：45进行了最终表决。经过6个月的争论和最后16个小时的国会激烈辩论，澳大利亚北部地区（澳北州）成为世界上第一个允许医生根据绝症病人的个人意愿来结束其生命的合法当局。这一法案以令人信服的15票对10票通过。几乎同时，该消息就出现在互联网上。身处地球另一端的加拿大死亡权利协会执行主席约翰·霍夫塞斯在收到该消息后便通过协会的在线服务“死亡之网”发了公告。他说：“我们整天都在发布公告，因为这件事的意义不在于它是在澳大利亚发生的事情，而是因为这是世界历史上的一件大事。”
要充分理解这一法案的深刻意义可能需要一段时间。澳北州晚期病人权利法使得无论是内科医生还是普通市民都同样地力图从道义和实际意义两方面来对待这一问题。一些人如释重负，另一些人，包括教会、生命权利组织以及澳大利亚医学会成员都对这一决议及其仓促的通过进行了猛烈的抨击。但这一潮流已无法逆转。在澳大利亚，人口老龄化、延长寿命技术和公众态度的变化都发挥着各自的作用。其他州也将考虑制定类似的法律来处理安乐死问题。在美国和加拿大，死亡权利运动正在积蓄力量。观察家们正在等待多米诺骨牌产生的效应。
根据澳北州所通过的这项新法案，成年病人可以要求安乐死——可能是通过注射致死药剂或服用致死药片——来结束痛苦。但此前病人必须由两名医生诊断其确实已病入膏肓，然后再经过7天的冷静思考期，方可签署一份申请证明。48小时后，才可以满足其安乐死的愿望。对于居住在达尔文市的现年54岁的肺癌患者利奥德·尼克森来说，这一法案意味着他可以平静地生活下去而无须整天惧怕即将来临的苦难：因呼吸困难而在煎熬中痛苦地死去。“从思想上说，我并不害怕死，但我怕的是怎样死，因为我在医院看到过病人在缺氧时苦苦挣扎，用手抓他们的面罩时的情景，”他说。
Text 15
Technically，any substance other than food that alters our bodily or mental functioning is a drug.Many people mistakenly believe the term drug refers only to some sort of medicine or an illegal chemical taken by drug addicts.They don’t realize that familiar substances such as alcohol and tobacco are also drugs.This is why the more neutral term substance is now used by many physicians and psychologists.The phrase“substance abuse”is often used instead of“drug abuse”to make clear that substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine.
We live in a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances（drugs）is pervasive：an aspirin to quiet a headache，some wine to be sociable，coffee to get going in the morning，a cigarette for the nerves.When do these socially acceptable and apparently constructive uses of a substance become misuses？First of all，most substances taken in excess will produce negative effects such as poisoning or intense perceptual distortions. Repeated use of a substance can also lead to physical addiction or substance dependence. Dependence is marked first by an increased tolerance，with more and more of the substance required to produce the desired effect，and then by the appearance of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued.
Drugs（substances）that affect the central nervous system and alter perception，mood，and behavior are known as psychoactive substances.Psychoactive substances are commonly grouped according to whether they are stimulants，depressants，or hallucinogens.Stimulants initially speed up or activate the central nervous system，whereas depressants slow it down.Hallucinogens have their primary effect on perception，distorting and altering it in a variety of ways including producing hallucinations.These are the substances often called psychedelic（from the Greek word meaning “mind-manifestation”）because they seemed to radically alter one’s state of consciousness.
重点词汇：
substance 物质；实质；财产（n.）
addict 使成瘾；成瘾者（vt./n.）
psychologist 心理学家（n.）
cocaine 可卡因（n.）
pervasive 普遍的（adj.）
sociable 社交的（adj.）
negative 否定的；消极的（adj.）
poisoning 中毒；毒害（n.）
distortion 扭曲；曲解（n.）
tolerance 宽容；忍受（n.）
symptom 症状（n.）
psychoactive 药物等对心理起作用的（adj.）
depressant 抑制剂；镇静剂（n.）
hallucinogen 致幻剂（n.）
psychedelic 迷幻剂（n.）
难句解析：
①The phrase“substance abuse”is often used instead of“drug abuse”to make clear that substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine.
【结构分析】句子的主干是句子的前半部分The phrase“substance abuse”is often used... to make clear...，to make clear that...是动词不定式做状语，表示目的。that后面接的是宾语从句，做动词make clear的宾语。
【重要考点】注意“make+sth.+adj.”结构，make clear that...，因为sth.是一个that引导的从句，所以放在了形容词clear的后面。另外注意as...as的用法。
②We live in a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances（drugs）is pervasive：an aspirin to quiet a headache，some wine to be sociable，coffee to get going in the morning，a cigarette for the nerves.
【结构分析】句子的主干是We live in a society...，后面的which引导定语从句in which the medicinal and social use of substances（drugs）is pervasive，修饰society。冒号后面的部分是表示并列关系的名词词组，用于举例说明前面提出的观点，开始可以忽略不看。
【重要考点】注意冒号后面列举的前三个名词词组中的动词不定式都相当于定语成分，修饰前面的中心名词，表示其功效。
③Dependence is marked first by an increased tolerance，with more and more of the substance required to produce the desired effect，and then by the appearance of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued.
【结构分析】句子的主干结构是Dependence is marked first by...，and then by...，中间逗号隔开的成分是“with+n.+过去分词”结构：with more and more of the substance required to produce the desired effect，做状语，用于进一步解释药物依赖的第一种表现。when the substance is discontinued是表示时间的状语从句。
【重要考点】注意and连接的两个by介词词组是并列关系，这样就能抓住句子的主干了。另外注意名词在这里的特殊意义：dependence指“对药物的依赖”，withdrawal的意思是“停止用药”。
④Psychoactive substances are commonly grouped according to whether they are stimulants，depressants，or hallucinogens.
【结构分析】句子的主干部分是Psychoactive substances are...grouped according to...，使用了被动语态。其中whether引导宾语从句whether they are stimulants，depressants，or hallucinogens，做介词according to的宾语。
【重要考点】group在句中用作动词，是“分类”的意思。
全文翻译：
从专业角度来说，除食品外，任何能改变我们生理和心理机能的物质都是药物。很多人错误地认为“药物”这个词仅仅指某些药品或是吸毒者服用的违禁化学品。他们没有意识到诸如酒精、烟草这些我们熟悉的物质也是药物。这也是现在许多内科医生和心理学家使用“物质”这个更加中性的词的原因。他们常用“物质滥用”而不用“药物滥用”来清楚表明滥用酒精、烟草这样的物质如同滥用海洛因和可卡因一样有害。
我们生活在一个物质（药物）在医疗和社交方面的使用都很广泛的社会里：用来缓解头痛的阿司匹林、用来应酬的酒、早晨用来提神的咖啡，还有定神用的香烟。使用这些物质得到了社会认可，且显然具有积极的作用，但什么时候就变成滥用了呢？首先，大多数物质的过量使用都会产生负面影响，如中毒或严重的感知错乱。反复使用一种物质可以导致成瘾或对该物质的依赖。依赖的最初表现是不断增长的耐药量，要产生预期的效果需要的药剂量越来越大，而一旦中断使用就会出现难受的停药症状。
影响中枢神经系统、改变感知、情绪和行为的药物（物质）属于对神经起显著作用的物质，它们通常分为兴奋剂、镇静剂和致幻剂。兴奋剂主要起到加速或激活中枢神经系统的作用，而镇静剂则相反：减缓它的活动。致幻剂主要影响人的感知，通过多种方式对感知加以扭曲或改变，其中包括产生幻觉。这些物质常被认为能“引起幻觉”（psychedelic一词源于希腊语，意为“心灵显现”），因为它们似乎能彻底改变人的意识状态。