专6模考翻译2.doc

Versatile ManDa Vinci was so busy with him numerous inventions, that he barely found the time to complete his painting; Sidney, who died in battle when he was only thirty-two years old, was not only a great soldier, but a brilliant scholar and poet as well. Both these men came very near to fulfilling the Renaissance ideal of the “universal man”, the man who was proficient at everything.Today, we rarely, if ever, hear that a musician has just invented a new type of submarine. Knowledge has become divided and sub-divided into countless, narrowly-defined compartments. The specialist is venerated, the versatile person, far from being admired, is more often regarded with suspicion. The modern world is a world of highly-skilled “experts” who have had to devote the greater part of their lives to a very limited field of study in order to compete with their fellows.With this high degree of specialization, the frontiers of knowledge are steadily being pushed back more rapidly than ever before. But this has not been achieved without considerable cost. The scientist, who outside his own particular subject is little more than a moron, is a modern phenomenon; as is the man of letters who is barely aware of the tremendous strides that have been made in technology. Similarly, specialization has indirectly affected quite ordinary people in every walk of life. Many activities which were once pursued for their own sakes, are often given up in despair; they require techniques, the experts tell us, which take a life-time to master. Why learn to play the piano, when you can listen to the worlds greatest pianists in your own drawing-room?达.芬奇搞着他那众多的发明，忙的几乎没有时间来完成他的画；三十二岁就战死沙场的西德尼不仅是一个勇敢的战士，也是一个才华横溢的学者和诗人。他们很接近文艺复兴时期对理想人物的要求“万能的人”，即精通一切的人。今天，我们极其难得听说到一个音乐家刚刚发明了一种新型的潜水艇。知识领域被分了又分，分成无数个范围狭窄的部分。受人崇敬的是专家；而多面手非但不受人钦佩，反而常常不为人信服。当今的世界是精通业务的“专家”的世界，这些专家都不得不用自己一生的大部分时间研究一个十分狭小的领域，这样才能与同行竞争。随着专业化程度的提高，各门知识的边界正以前所未有的速度往里收缩。但这种收缩是付出了相当大的代价才做到的。现在一个科学家离开了他自己的专业就不会比一个傻子强多少，正像一个文学家对科技方面的重大进展几乎一无所知一样，都是现代才有的怪现象。同样地，专业化也间接影响到了各行各业中的普通人。以