职称英语综合类阅读理解第二十三篇The Only Way Is Up逐句翻译.doc

The Only Way Is Up只好向上Think of a modern city and the first image that come to mind is the skyline.想到一个现代化的城市首先进入脑海的就是它的空中轮廓线。It is full of great buildings, pointing like fingers to heaven. 幢幢高楼如根根插入天空的手 指一般。It is true that some cities dont permit buildings to go above a certain height. But these are cities concerned with the past.确实有些城市不允许建筑物超出一定的高度，因不愿改变城市固有的风格。 The first thing any city does when it wants to tell the world that it has arrived is to build skyscrapers.但任何一个 城市想要引起世界关注，第一件事就是建造摩天大楼。When people gather together in cities, they create a demand for land.当人口在城市聚集时，就产生了对土地的需求。 Since cities are places where money is made, that demand can be met. 城市是资本的聚集地，对土地的需求可以实 现。And the best way to make money out of city land is to put as many people as possible in a space that covers the smallest amount of ground. 而在城市利用土地赚钱最好的方法就是在最小的土地面积上居住最多的人。That means building upwards.这就意味着要建 高楼。The technology existed to do this as early as the 19th century. 早在19世纪建造高楼的技术已经存在，But the height of buildings was limited by one important factor. 但楼房的高度还受一个很重要的因素的制约。They had to be small enough for people on the top floors to climb stairs. People could not be expected to climb a mountain at the end of their journey to work, or home.那就是 楼房必须能让顶层的居民上下方便，人们下班回家后肯定不想像爬山那样去爬楼梯。Elisha Otis, a US inventor, was the man who brought us the liftor elevator, as he preferred to call it. 美国发明家艾莉莎?奥的斯为我们创造了电梯，他更喜欢叫它升降机。However, most of the technology is very old.其实其中大部分技术 都是很古老的， Lifts work using the same pulley system the Egyptians used to create the Pyramids. 电梯使用的是跟埃及人修建金字塔同样的滑轮系统。What Otis did was attach the system to a steam engine and develop the elevator brake, which stops the lift falling if the cords that hold it up are broken. 奥的斯所作的贡献是将滑轮 系统与一个蒸汽机连接起来制成一个刹车装置确保电梯上的链条断开时电梯不会坠落。It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention. 正是这项 技术赢得了人们对这项新发明的信心。In fact, he spent a number of years exhibiting lifts at fairgrounds, giving people the chance to try them out before selling the idea to architects and builders.事实上他在游乐场里让大家试乘了几年才把这个想法出售 给建筑师和营造商。A lift would not be a very good theme park attraction now. 电梯在现代社会肯定不能成为主题公园的看点了，Going in a lift is such an everyday thing that it would just be boring. 乘电梯也成了再普通不过的事情，有时甚 至会让人觉得厌烦。Yet psychologists and others who study human behavior find lifts fascinating.然而心理学家及其他研究人类行为的学者则发现了电梯的妙处。 The reason is simple. Scientists have always studied animals in zoos. The nearest they can get to that with humans is in observing them in lifts.原因很简单。 科学家经常在动物园里研究动物，而对于研究人类来说，最接近的方式就是在电梯里观察他们。It breaks all the usual conventions about the bubble of personal space we carry around with us - and you just cant choose to move away, “电梯空间狭小，人们想要享受私人空间的要求在 这里成了幻想，你不可能选择随意离开那里。（它打破了所有的通常规矩关于私人空间的幻想，我们随身携带的）”says workplace psychologist, Gary Fitzgibbon.工作场所心理学家贾利?菲茨基波恩说。 Being trapped in this setting can create different types of tensions, he says. 他还指出人被封闭在这个小空间里会产生很多不 同的情绪。Some people are scared of them. Others use them as an opportunity to get close to the boss. 有些人会感到害怕，有些人则把它当作接近老板的好机会。Some stand close to the door. Others hide in the corners. Most people try and shrink into the background.有些人喜欢站在靠门的地 方,有些人则藏在角落里。大部分的人试图混在人群里， But some behave in a way that makes others notice them.而有些人特意表现以引起别人的注意， There are a few people who just stand in a corner taking notes. 还有的人索性靠在角落记笔记。Dont worry about them. They are probably from a university.不要担心，他们可能只是大学里的研究者。36. .these are cities concerned with the past in the first paragraph refer to cities thatA) are worried about their past.B) have a glorious past to be proud of.C) want to maintain their traditional image.D) are very interested in their own history.37. The difficulty in constructing tall buildings in the 19th century lies inA) the shortage of money.B) the lack of a device to carry people upward.C) backward technology.D) mountains taking up land space.38. When Otis came up with the idea of a lift,A) he sold it to the architects and builders immediatelyB) the Egyptians used it to build the Pyramids.C) it was accepted favorably by the public.D) most people had doubt about its safety.39. Which of the following best describes the experience of going in a lift now?A) Fascinating.B) Uninteresting.C) Frightening.D) Exciting.40. Psychologists find the lift a good place where they can study human behaviour becauseA) here humans behave the way animals do.B) people in a lift are all scared.C) here some people take notes.D) in a lift the bubble of personal space breaks.第1段提到的“以往关注的那些城市”是_。在19世纪建造高楼的困难在于_。当Otis 提出电梯想法_。最能描述乘坐现在电梯的一句话是_。心理学家发现电梯是一个能够研究人们举止行为的好地方原因是_。答案：