中级口译之英译汉模拟题02

Passage 6

The difference between a brain and a computer can be expressed in a single word, that is, complexity. The large mammalianbrain is the most complicated thing, for its size, known to us. The human brain weights 3 ponds, but in that 3 ponds are 10 billion neurons and a hundred billion smaller cells.// Even the most complicated computer man has yet built can't compare in intricacywith the brain. Computer switches and components number in the thousands rather than in the billions. What's more, the computer switch is just an on-off device, whereas the brain cell is itself possessed of a tremendously complex inner structure.// It is frequently said that computers solve problems only because they are “programmed” to do so. They can only do what men have them do. One must remember that human beings also can only do what they are “programmed” to do. Our genes “program” us and our potentialities are limited by that “program”.// Our “program” is so much more enormously complex, though, that we might like to define “thinking” in terms of our creativity in literature, art, science and technology. In that sense, computers certainly can't think.//

大脑与电脑的差别可以用“复杂性”这三个字来表明。哺乳动物硕大的脑子就其体积而言是我们所知道的最为复杂的东西。人脑的重量为3磅，而这3磅却包含着100亿个神经元和1000亿个更小的细胞。//就复杂性而言，世界上已生产出的最为复杂的电脑也无法与大脑的复杂性相提并论。电脑的开关和元件充其量只要数千个，而不是数千亿个。此外，电脑开关只是亿个离合装置，而大脑细胞却有着极其复杂的内部结构。//我们经常听到人们说，电脑处理问题是因为电脑设有能让其处理问题的程序，它们只能按人的指令行事。我们应该知道，人类也设有程序。我们的基因给我们编写了程序，我们的所作所为无不受制于这个“程序”。//我们大脑的程序极其复杂，我们或许可以从人类的文学、艺术、科学和技术上的创造力这些角度给“思考”下定义。从这个意义上说，电脑肯定无法思考。// 

Passage 7

In his book Brave New World, published in 1932, Aldous Huxley predicted a big biotechnological revolution about to take place: the hatching of people not in wombs but in test tubes; the drug which gave people instant happiness; the sensation which was simulated by implanted electrodes; and modification of behavior through the administration of various artificial hormones.// With 70 years of separating us from the publication of this book, we can see that Huxley's technological predictions are surprisingly accurate. Many of the technologies that Huxley envisioned are already here or just over the horizon. But this revolution has only just begun.// According to Huxley, the most significant threat posed by contemporary biotechnology is the possibility that it will alter human nature and thereby move us into a “posthuman” stage of history. This is important because human nature exists and defines us as a species with a stable continuity. It is what defines our most basic values.// Medical technology offers us in many cases a devil's bargain: longer life, but with reduced mental capacity; freedom from depression, together with freedom form creativity or spirit. It will blur the line between what we achieve on our own and what we achieve because of the levels of various chemicals in our brains.//

奥尔德斯.赫胥黎在其1932年出版的《奇妙新世界》一书中预言了一场即将发生的生物技术革命。赫胥黎预示：人类可以在试管里而不是在子宫里孕育；药物可以即刻给人以快感，植入体内的电极可以给人以刺激，输入不同的人造荷尔蒙可以改变人的行为。//此书问世70年后，我们看到赫胥黎对技术发展的预言是如此惊人的精确，所预言的许多技术已经诞生或即将诞生。但这场革命还只是刚拉开了序幕。//赫胥黎认为，当代生物技术对人类构成的最严重的威胁有可能改变人性，从而把我们带入“后人类”的历史阶段。赫胥黎的预警很重要，因为人性确实存在，人性界定着我们这个具有稳定延续性的物种，同时又界定着我们最基本的价值观。//医学技术在许多方面为我们提供了一种魔鬼交易：我们虽然延长了寿命，但是脑力却减退了。我们虽可免患忧郁症，但是也失去了创造力和灵气。我们无法区分哪些成就是我们自身努力的成果，哪些成果是由我们大脑里的化学物质造成的。//