Passage one

When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label ‘Legless(无腿的) Man’.

Histories of the time will go （叙述）something like this:

Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. This situation was forced upon earth dwellers(居民) of that time because of miles（英里） each day.

The future history books might also record（记录） that we were deprived of （剥夺）the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to （失败）see anything on the way.

Air travel gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world – or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get（到达） in your way.

Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with 着迷的the urge 冲动to go on and on: they never want to stop.

And as for （至于关于 就~~~方面来说）sea travel, it hardly deserves mention.

You mention the remotest（remote遥远的）, most evocative（引起回忆的 唤起感情的） place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is bound to 一定say ‘I’ve been there’ – meaning, ‘I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else. ’

But actual arrival, when it is achieved达到，实现, is meaningless. By traveling like this, you suspend(停止 终止) all experience; the present ceases to 停止be a reality: you might just as well倒不如 be dead. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes.

He experiences the present 现在moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. 疲劳He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travellers.

Passage two

We may speak contemptuously蔑视地 鄙视 of the poor贫困的 低劣的 old Romans because they relished享受，欣赏 the orgies狂欢 of slaughter 屠杀that went on in their arenas竞技场.

Are we any less blood-thirsty残忍的 嗜血的?

Why do boxing matches拳击比赛, for instance, attract 吸引such universal广泛universe宇宙 interest?

The only difference between ourselves and the Romans is that while they were honest enough to admit 承认that they enjoyed watching hungey lions tearing people apart撕碎 and eating them alive活生生的, we find all sorts of sophisticated 老练的，经验多的arguments to defend辩护

sports which should have been banned long age; sports which are quite as barbarous野蛮的 as, say, public hangings公众绞刑 or bearbaiting逗熊游戏.

in this day and age

sit back袖手旁观

unmoved by the sight 看见of

pay vast大量的 sums of money

A world heavyweight championship match世界重量级冠军争霸赛, for instance, is front page news.

Millions of people are disappointed失望 if a big fight is over in two rounds 回合instead of fifteen.

They feel disappointment because they have been deprived of the exquisite精美的 pleasure of witnessing 目击prolonged 延长torture折磨，拷打 and violence.

For centuries世纪 man has been trying to improve改变 himself spiritually and emotionally情感的 – admittedly 承认地with little success. But at least we no longer tolerate (忍受 容忍)the sight情景 madmen cooped up把~~关在笼子里 in cages, or public floggings鞭打 of any of the countless other barbaric 野蛮的practices which were common正常 in the past.

Big efforts努力 are being made to distribute分配 wealth 财富fairly.

We would recognize认出 意识到 that violence is degrading丢脸的 and unworthy无价值的，羞耻的 of human beings.

human beings is

1. It can be inferred 推断from the passage that the author’s opinion of nowadays’ human

beings is

A. not very high. B. high.

C. contemptuous.蔑视的 D. critical.批判性的

2. That the author mentions the old Romans is

A. To compare the old Romans with today’s people.

B. to give an example.

C. to show human beings in the past know nothing better.

D. to indicate暗示 human beings are used to bloodthirsty.

Passage three

Advertisers tend to倾向于 think big and perhaps

Their critics评论员 seem to resent对……感到愤怒 them

that this entirely 完全，totally,complety.unproductive没收益的 industry工业 (if we can call it that) should absorb 吸收millions of pounds 磅each year. It only goes to show how much profit利润 the big companies are making.

He’d have to pay a great deal 大量more if advertising didn’t create 创造mass 大的markets for products.

It is precisely精确地 because of the heavy advertising 广告that consumer消费者 goods are so cheap.

Just think what a railway station火车站 or a newspaper would be like without advertisements. Would you like to read only closely printed columns 柱子，专栏of news in your daily paper? We must not forget, either任何一个,

Newspapers, commercial 商业的radio and television companies could not subsist生存 without this source of revenue税收.

Just think what a newspaper would cost 花费if we had to pay its full price全价!

Another thing we mustn’t forget is the ‘small ads.小广告’ which are in virtually 实际上every newspaper and magazine杂志.

Just about anything can be accomplished达到 through通过 these columns. 专栏

For instance例如, you can find a job, buy or sell a house, announce宣称 a birth, marriage 结婚or death in what used to be called the ‘hatch密谋, match比赛 and dispatch新闻报道’ column but by far 迄今为止the most fascinating有魅力的 有吸引力的 section is the personal or ‘agony’ column. No other item条款 in a newspaper provides提供 such entertaining reading or offers提供 such a deep insight深刻的洞察 into human nature. It’s the best advertisement for advertising there is!

Passage four

Since因为 it touches 联系almost every facet面，方面 of our life, educated 受教育的people need at least至少 some acquaintance 熟悉with its structure结构 and operation.

They should also have an understanding of the subculture亚文化群（指在一个社会或一种文化内具有独特性的一群人） in which scientists live and the kinds of people they are. An understanding of general characteristics特点 of science as well as 也specific 具体的scientific 科学的concepts概念 is easier to attain实现，达到 if one knows something about the things that excite and frustrate 挫折，frustration 挫折the scientist.

The book can be used to supplement补充，增刊 a course 课程，一道菜in any science, to accompany 伴随，陪伴any course that attempts to 尝试give an understanding of the modern world, or – independently 独立的of any course – simply to provide a better understanding of science.

It will give them an awareness 意识and understanding of the relationship关系 between science and our culture and an appreciation 欣赏，鉴赏of the roles角色 science may play in our culture.

We have tried to present呈现 in this book an accurate精确地 and up-to-date最新的 picture of the scientific community and the people who populate居住于……中，在……中占一席之地it. This increasing增长的 role of women in the scientific subculture is not an unique 特别的incident事件 but, rather反而, part of the trend趋势 evident明显的 in all segments部分，片段 of society as more women enter traditionally传统的 male-dominated fields 领域and make significant重要的 contributions.