新概念英語(yǔ)作為一套世界聞名的英語(yǔ)教程，以其全新的教學(xué)理念，有趣的課文內(nèi)容和全面的技能訓(xùn)練，深受廣大英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)者的歡迎和喜愛(ài)。為了方便同學(xué)們的學(xué)習(xí)，為大家整理了全面的新概念第四冊(cè)課文翻譯及學(xué)習(xí)筆記，希望為大家的新概念英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)提供幫助!
Lesson13
【課文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽(tīng)錄音，然后回答以下問(wèn)題。
What do oilmen want to achieve as soon as they strike oil?
The deepest holes of all are made for oil, and they go down to as much as 25,0000 feet. But we do not need to send men down to get the oil out, as we must with other mineral deposits. The holes are only borings, less than a foot in diameter. My particular experience is largely in oil, and the search for oil has done more to improve deep drilling than any other mining activity. When it has been decided where we are going to drill, we put up at the surface an oil derrick. It has to be tall because it is like a giant block and tackle, and we have to lower into the ground and haul out of the ground great lengths of drill pipe which are rotated by an engine at the top and are fitted with a cutting bit at the bottom.
The geologist needs to know what rocks the drill has reached, so every so often a sample is obtained with a coring bit. It cuts a clean cylinder of rock, from which can be seen the strata the drill has been cutting through. Once we get down to the oil, it usually flows to the surface because great pressure, either from gas or water, is pushing it. This pressure must be under control, and we control it by means of the mud which we circulate down the drill pipe. We endeavour to avoid the old, romantic idea of a gusher, which wastes oil and gas. We want it to stay down the hole until we can lead it off in a controlled manner.
T.F.GASKELL The Search for the Earth's Minerals from Discovery
【New words and expressions 生詞和短語(yǔ)】
mineral adj. 礦物的
boring n. 鉆孔
derrick n. 井架
block and tackle 滑輪組
haul v. 拖，拉
rotate v. 使轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)
cutting bit 鉆頭
geologist n. 地質(zhì)學(xué)家
coring bit 取芯鉆頭
cylinder n. 圓柱體
strata n. 巖層[復(fù)]([單]stratum或strata [誤用])
circulate v. 注入，環(huán)流
gusher n. 噴油井
【課文注釋】
1.they go down to as much as 25,0000 feet，as much as意為“多達(dá)”，“達(dá)到(量)”。
as+形容詞+as表示“……達(dá)”，例如：as long as長(zhǎng)達(dá)……，as tall as高達(dá)……，as expensive as貴至……。
例句：The rain could last for as long as several weeks in summer.
夏天的雨下起來(lái)可以長(zhǎng)達(dá)幾周。
2.as we must with other mineral deposits，must后面省去了與上句中相同的部分send men down。
3.a foot in diameter，直徑一英尺。
4.every so often，時(shí)常。
例句：I no longer see John regularly, but every so often he drops in at my office.
我不再經(jīng)?？匆?jiàn)約翰了，但他偶爾還到我辦公室來(lái)。
5.obtain a sample，取樣。
To obtain something means to get it or achieve it. (FORMAL)獲得，取得某物。
例句：Where can I obtain a copy of her latest book?
在哪里能買到她新出版的書?
例句：He always manages to obtain what he wants.
他總是有辦法得到他想要的東西。
形容詞形式為obtainable：If something is obtainable, it is possible to get or achieve it.
例句：The timetable is obtainable post-free from the airline office.
航班時(shí)刻表可以向航空公司免費(fèi)索取。
6.be under control處于控制之下。
例句：The fire has been brought under control.
火勢(shì)已受到控制。
例句：You must get your spending under control.
你必須節(jié)制開(kāi)支。
7.by means of，用……，靠……手段。
例句：They succeeded by means of hard working.
他們依靠努力工作而獲得成功。
例句：They were able to position the yacht by means of radar.
他們能夠用雷達(dá)測(cè)定快艇的方位。
8.endeavour to，努力去，盡力去。
If you endeavour to do something, you try very hard to do it. 同義詞組喂strive to。
例句：They endeavoured to make her happy but in vain.
他們盡量使她快樂(lè)，卻徒勞無(wú)功。
例句：Strive to build China into a powerful socialist country!
為把中國(guó)建成社會(huì)主義強(qiáng)國(guó)而奮斗!
【參考譯文】
在所有洞穴中，為尋找石油所鉆出的洞是深的，這些洞可深達(dá)25,000英尺。但是，我們不必像開(kāi)采其他礦藏那樣，把人送到地下去把石油取出。這些洞只不過(guò)是一些鉆孔，直徑不到1英尺。我是專門搞石油的，尋找石油比其他任何采礦業(yè)對(duì)改進(jìn)鉆探作的貢獻(xiàn)都要大。當(dāng)確定鉆孔地點(diǎn)后，我們就在那里豎起一個(gè)井架。井架必須很高，因?yàn)樗褚粋€(gè)巨型滑輪組。我們必須把很長(zhǎng)的鉆桿一節(jié)節(jié)地鉆入地下，然后再?gòu)牡叵吕鰜?lái)。鉆桿頂部安裝的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)帶動(dòng)鉆桿旋轉(zhuǎn)，它的底部裝有鉆頭。
地質(zhì)學(xué)家需要知道鉆頭已以到達(dá)什么樣的巖層，因此時(shí)常要用芯鉆頭取樣。這種鉆頭能切割一段光滑的圓柱形巖石，從中能看出所鉆透的地層。一旦到達(dá)油層，石油就會(huì)由于地下巨大的壓力流到地面上來(lái)，這種巨大的壓力來(lái)自地下天然氣或水。這種壓力必須加以控制，我們讓泥槳順著鉆桿向下循環(huán)，用這種方法來(lái)控制壓力。我們盡量避免使用陳舊天真的噴井方法，那樣會(huì)浪費(fèi)石油和天然氣。我們要讓石油留在井下，直到我們能用一種有控制的方法把它引上來(lái)為止。
Lesson14
【課文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽(tīng)錄音，然后回答以下問(wèn)題。
Why do small errors make it impossible to predict the weather system with a high degree of accuracy?
Beyond two or three days, the world's best weather forecasts are speculative, and beyond six or seven they are worthless.
The Butterfly Effect is the reason. For small pieces of weather -- and to a global forecaster, small can mean thunderstorms and blizzards -- any prediction deteriorates rapidly. Errors and uncertainties multiply, cascading upward through a chain of turbulent features, from dust devils and squalls up to continent-size eddies that only satellites can see.
The modern weather models work with a grid of points of the order of sixty miles apart, and even so, some starting data has to be guessed, since ground stations and satellites cannot see everywhere. But suppose the earth could be covered with sensors spaced one foot apart, rising at one-foot intervals all the way to the top of the atmosphere. Suppose every sensor gives perfectly accurate readings of temperature, pressure, humidity, and any other quantity a meteorologist would want. Precisely at noon an infinitely powerful computer takes all the data and calculates what will happen at each point at 12.01, then 120.2, then 12.03...
The computer will still be unable to predict whether Princeton, New Jersey, will have sun or rain on a day one month away. At noon the spaces between the sensors will hide fluctuations that the computer will not know about, tiny deviations from the average. By 12.01, those fluctuations will already have created small errors one foot away. Soon the errors will have multiplied to the ten-foot scale, and so on up to the size of the globe.
JAMES GLEICK, Chaos
【New words and expressions 生詞和短語(yǔ)】
forecast n. 預(yù)報(bào)
speculative adj. 推測(cè)的
blizzard n. 暴風(fēng)雪
deteriorate v. 變壞
multiply v. 增加
cascade v. 瀑布似地落下
turbulent adj. 狂暴的
dust devil 小塵暴，塵旋風(fēng)
squall n. 暴風(fēng)
eddy n. 旋渦
grid n. 坐標(biāo)方格
sensor n. 傳感器
humidity n. 溫度
meteorologist n. 氣象學(xué)家
Princeton n. 普林斯頓(美國(guó)城市名)
New Jersey n. 新澤西(美國(guó)州名)
fluctuation n. 起伏，波動(dòng)
deviation n. 偏差
【課文注釋】
1.beyond two or three days，超過(guò)兩三天。
beyond這個(gè)介詞有很多用法：
①在或向(某物)的遠(yuǎn)處。
例句：The road continues beyond the village up into the hills.
這條路綿延不斷越過(guò)村子直入山中。
②遲于或超過(guò)(某一時(shí)間)。
例句：It won't go on beyond midnight.
這不會(huì)持續(xù)到午夜以后。
③越出(某事物)范圍;超越。
例句：The bicycle is beyond repairis.=The bicycle is too badly damaged to repair.
這輛自行車已不能修理了。
④除(某事物)以外;除了。
例句：He's got nothing beyond his state pension.
除了國(guó)家發(fā)的養(yǎng)老金，他一無(wú)所有。
2.deteriorate 變壞，惡化。
If something deteriorates, it becomes worse in some way.和improve是反義詞。
例句：Food is apt to deteriorate in summer.
食物在夏天容易變質(zhì)。
例句：The discussion deteriorated into a bitter quarrel.
這場(chǎng)討論演變成了激烈的爭(zhēng)吵。
3.multiply乘;增多，增加;繁殖。
①表示兩數(shù)相乘。
例句：2 and 3 multiply to make 6.
2和3相乘得6。
②增多，增加。
例句：Our problems have multiplied since last year.
自去年以來(lái)我們的問(wèn)題增多了。
這篇文章中“errors and uncertainties multiply”的multiply就是增加、增多的意思。
③繁殖，增殖。
例句：It is possible to multiply bacteria and other living organisms in the laboratory.
在實(shí)驗(yàn)室能夠繁殖細(xì)菌和其他生物。
4.cascade，瀑布
①作名詞，瀑布;如瀑布般的。
例句：The water formed a cascade down the mountain.
水沿山瀉下，形成一條瀑布。
②in cascades/cascades of，像瀑布一樣。
例句：Climbing plants with their bright flowers hung in cascades over the garden wall.
開(kāi)出鮮艷花朵的爬藤植物瀑布般懸掛在花園墻上。
③作動(dòng)詞，如瀑布似的落下。
例句：Her golden hair cascaded down her back.
她的金發(fā)像瀑布似的披在背后。
5.a chain of，一系列，一連串。
例句：It is as if a single unimportant event set up a chain of reactions.
仿佛一件小事引起了一連串連鎖反應(yīng)似的。
例句：The enemy tank car caught fire and set off a chain of explosions.
敵人的油車著了火，引起了一連串的爆炸。
6.of the order of，大約。
7.all the way to，一直，完全。
例句：The two runners contested the race closely it was nip and tuck all the way.
那兩個(gè)賽跑選手競(jìng)爭(zhēng)激烈，在賽程中一直不相上下。
例句：I'll back you up all the way.
我完全支持你。
【參考譯文】
世界上好的兩三天以上的天氣預(yù)報(bào)具有很強(qiáng)的猜測(cè)性，如果超過(guò)六七天，天氣預(yù)報(bào)就沒(méi)有了任何價(jià)值。
原因是蝴蝶效應(yīng)。對(duì)于小片的惡劣天氣 -- 對(duì)一個(gè)全球性的氣象預(yù)報(bào)員來(lái)說(shuō)，“小”可以意味著雷暴雨和暴風(fēng)雪 -- 任何預(yù)測(cè)的質(zhì)量會(huì)很快下降。錯(cuò)誤和不可靠性上升，接踵而來(lái)的是一系列湍流的徵狀，從小塵暴和暴風(fēng)發(fā)展到只有衛(wèi)星上可以看到的席卷整塊大陸的旋渦。
現(xiàn)代氣象模型以一個(gè)坐標(biāo)圖來(lái)顯示，圖中每個(gè)點(diǎn)大約是間隔60英里。既使是這樣，有些開(kāi)始時(shí)的資料也不得不依靠推測(cè)，因?yàn)榈孛婀ぷ髡竞托l(wèi)星不可能看到地球上的 每一個(gè)地方。假設(shè)地球上可以布滿傳感器，每個(gè)相隔1英尺，并按1英尺的間隔從地面一直排列到大氣層的頂端。再假定每個(gè)傳感器都極極端準(zhǔn)確地讀出了溫度、氣 壓、溫度和氣象學(xué)家需要的任何其他數(shù)據(jù)。在正午時(shí)分，一個(gè)功能巨大的計(jì)算機(jī)搜集了所有的資料，并算出在每一個(gè)點(diǎn)上12：01、12：02、12：03時(shí)可 能出現(xiàn)的情況。
計(jì)算機(jī)無(wú)法推斷出1個(gè)月以后的某一天，新澤西州的普林斯頓究竟是晴天還是雨天。正午時(shí)分，傳感器之間的距離會(huì)掩蓋計(jì)算機(jī)無(wú) 法知道的波動(dòng)、任何偏平均值的變化。到12：01時(shí)，那些波動(dòng)就已經(jīng)會(huì)在1英尺遠(yuǎn)的地方造成偏差。很快這種偏差會(huì)增加到尺10英的范圍，如此等等，一直到 全球的范圍。
Lesson15
【課文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽(tīng)錄音，然后回答以下問(wèn)題。
Why is secrecy particularly important in the chemical industries?
Two factors weigh heavily against the effectiveness of scientific research in industry. One is the general atmosphere of secrecy in which it is carried out, the other the lack of freedom of the individual research worker.In so far as any inquiry is a secret one, it naturally limits all those engaged in carrying it out from effective contact with their fellow scientists either in other countries or in universities, or even, often enough, in other departments of the same firm. The degree of secrecy naturally varies considerably. Some of the bigger firms are engaged in researches which are of such general and fundamental nature that it is a positive advantage to them not to keep them secret. Yet a great many processes depending on such research are sought for with complete secrecy until the stage at which patents can be taken out. Even more processes are never patented at all but kept as secret processes. This applies particularly to chemical industries, where chance discoveries play a much larger part than they do in physical and mechanical industries. Sometimes the secrecy goes to such an extent that the whole nature of the research cannot be mentioned. Many firms, for instance, have great difficulty in obtaining technical or scientific books from libraries because they are unwilling to have their names entered as having taken out such and such a book, for fear the agents of other firms should be able to trace the kind of research they are likely to be undertaking.
J.D. BERNAL The Social Function of Science
【New words and expressions 生詞和短語(yǔ)】
secrecy n. 秘密
effectiveness n. 成效，效力
inquiry n. 調(diào)查研究
positive adj. 確實(shí)的
process n. 過(guò)程
patent n. 專利;v. 得到專利權(quán)
agent n. 情報(bào)人員
【課文注釋】
1.weigh against，不利于……。
①例句：His criminal record weighed heavily against him.
他的前科關(guān)系重大，對(duì)他很不利。
②weigh against也有權(quán)衡、斟酌的意思。
If you weigh against sth, you consider carefully the relative value or importance of sth.
例句：He needs no longer weigh reasons for and against his emigration.
他不必再去考慮要不要離開(kāi)故鄉(xiāng)的問(wèn)題了。
③weigh sb down: make sb feel anxious or depressed使某人感到憂慮或沮喪。
例句：The responsibilities of the job are weighing her down.
她工作責(zé)任很重，把她壓得無(wú)精打采。
2.the lack of...缺乏……
①If there is a lack of something, there is not enough of it or it does not exist at all.
例句：Despite his lack of experience, he got the job.
盡管他缺乏經(jīng)驗(yàn)，他還是得到了那份工作。
②lack也可以單獨(dú)作動(dòng)詞使用。
例句：They lacked the money to send him to university.
他們沒(méi)錢送他上大學(xué)。
③lack作名詞，表示對(duì)某物的缺乏。
例句：The project had to be abandoned for lack of funds.
工程因資金匱乏只得放棄。
3.in so far as...，就……而言。
4.engage in，從事，參與。
①If you engage in an activity, you do it or are actively involved with it.
例句：I have no time to engage in gossip.
我無(wú)暇閑聊。
②engage to sb，與某人訂婚。
例句：She's engaged to Peter. 她與彼得訂了婚。
5.or even, often enough，這里是個(gè)插入語(yǔ)，把often enough拿掉句子仍然成立，只是意思稍有變化。
6.which are of such general and fundamental nature，其中to be of有“具有”的意思。
例句：My advice may be of use for you.
我的意見(jiàn)也許對(duì)你有用。
7.are sought for with complete secrecy，極端秘密地探索。
8.such and such a book。某一本書。
9.for fear (of doing sth/that...)，唯恐，以免。
例句：The nurse walked on tiptoe for fear of waking the patient.
護(hù)士踮著腳走惟恐會(huì)吵醒病人。
例句：He told us to keep quiet for fear that we might disturb others.
他讓我們保持安靜，以免打擾別人。
【參考譯文】
有兩個(gè)因素嚴(yán)重地妨礙工業(yè)中科學(xué)研究的效率：一是科研工作中普遍存在的保密氣氛;二是研究人員缺乏個(gè)人自由。任何一項(xiàng)研究都涉及到保密，那些從事科研的人員自然受到了限制。他們不能和其他國(guó)家、其他大學(xué)、甚至往往不能與本公司的其他部門的同行們進(jìn)行有效的接觸。保密程度自然差別很大。某些大公司進(jìn)行的研究屬于一般和基礎(chǔ)的研究，因此不保密對(duì)他們才有利。然而，依賴這種研究的很多工藝程序是在完全保密的情況下進(jìn)行的，直到可以取得專利權(quán)的階段為止。更多的工藝過(guò)程根本就不會(huì)取得專利權(quán)，而是作為秘方保存著。在這化學(xué)工業(yè)方面尤為突出。同物理和機(jī)械工業(yè)相比，化學(xué)工業(yè)中偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)的機(jī)會(huì)要多得多。有時(shí)，保密竟達(dá)到了這樣的程度，即連研究工作的整個(gè)性質(zhì)都不準(zhǔn)提及。比如，很多公司向圖書館借閱科技書籍時(shí)感到困難，因?yàn)樗鼈儾辉缸屓思矣浵滤鼈児镜拿趾徒栝喌哪骋槐緯?。他們生怕別的公司的情報(bào)人員據(jù)此摸到他們可能要從事的某項(xiàng)科研項(xiàng)目。
Lesson13
【課文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽(tīng)錄音，然后回答以下問(wèn)題。
What do oilmen want to achieve as soon as they strike oil?
The deepest holes of all are made for oil, and they go down to as much as 25,0000 feet. But we do not need to send men down to get the oil out, as we must with other mineral deposits. The holes are only borings, less than a foot in diameter. My particular experience is largely in oil, and the search for oil has done more to improve deep drilling than any other mining activity. When it has been decided where we are going to drill, we put up at the surface an oil derrick. It has to be tall because it is like a giant block and tackle, and we have to lower into the ground and haul out of the ground great lengths of drill pipe which are rotated by an engine at the top and are fitted with a cutting bit at the bottom.
The geologist needs to know what rocks the drill has reached, so every so often a sample is obtained with a coring bit. It cuts a clean cylinder of rock, from which can be seen the strata the drill has been cutting through. Once we get down to the oil, it usually flows to the surface because great pressure, either from gas or water, is pushing it. This pressure must be under control, and we control it by means of the mud which we circulate down the drill pipe. We endeavour to avoid the old, romantic idea of a gusher, which wastes oil and gas. We want it to stay down the hole until we can lead it off in a controlled manner.
T.F.GASKELL The Search for the Earth's Minerals from Discovery
【New words and expressions 生詞和短語(yǔ)】
mineral adj. 礦物的
boring n. 鉆孔
derrick n. 井架
block and tackle 滑輪組
haul v. 拖，拉
rotate v. 使轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)
cutting bit 鉆頭
geologist n. 地質(zhì)學(xué)家
coring bit 取芯鉆頭
cylinder n. 圓柱體
strata n. 巖層[復(fù)]([單]stratum或strata [誤用])
circulate v. 注入，環(huán)流
gusher n. 噴油井
【課文注釋】
1.they go down to as much as 25,0000 feet，as much as意為“多達(dá)”，“達(dá)到(量)”。
as+形容詞+as表示“……達(dá)”，例如：as long as長(zhǎng)達(dá)……，as tall as高達(dá)……，as expensive as貴至……。
例句：The rain could last for as long as several weeks in summer.
夏天的雨下起來(lái)可以長(zhǎng)達(dá)幾周。
2.as we must with other mineral deposits，must后面省去了與上句中相同的部分send men down。
3.a foot in diameter，直徑一英尺。
4.every so often，時(shí)常。
例句：I no longer see John regularly, but every so often he drops in at my office.
我不再經(jīng)?？匆?jiàn)約翰了，但他偶爾還到我辦公室來(lái)。
5.obtain a sample，取樣。
To obtain something means to get it or achieve it. (FORMAL)獲得，取得某物。
例句：Where can I obtain a copy of her latest book?
在哪里能買到她新出版的書?
例句：He always manages to obtain what he wants.
他總是有辦法得到他想要的東西。
形容詞形式為obtainable：If something is obtainable, it is possible to get or achieve it.
例句：The timetable is obtainable post-free from the airline office.
航班時(shí)刻表可以向航空公司免費(fèi)索取。
6.be under control處于控制之下。
例句：The fire has been brought under control.
火勢(shì)已受到控制。
例句：You must get your spending under control.
你必須節(jié)制開(kāi)支。
7.by means of，用……，靠……手段。
例句：They succeeded by means of hard working.
他們依靠努力工作而獲得成功。
例句：They were able to position the yacht by means of radar.
他們能夠用雷達(dá)測(cè)定快艇的方位。
8.endeavour to，努力去，盡力去。
If you endeavour to do something, you try very hard to do it. 同義詞組喂strive to。
例句：They endeavoured to make her happy but in vain.
他們盡量使她快樂(lè)，卻徒勞無(wú)功。
例句：Strive to build China into a powerful socialist country!
為把中國(guó)建成社會(huì)主義強(qiáng)國(guó)而奮斗!
【參考譯文】
在所有洞穴中，為尋找石油所鉆出的洞是深的，這些洞可深達(dá)25,000英尺。但是，我們不必像開(kāi)采其他礦藏那樣，把人送到地下去把石油取出。這些洞只不過(guò)是一些鉆孔，直徑不到1英尺。我是專門搞石油的，尋找石油比其他任何采礦業(yè)對(duì)改進(jìn)鉆探作的貢獻(xiàn)都要大。當(dāng)確定鉆孔地點(diǎn)后，我們就在那里豎起一個(gè)井架。井架必須很高，因?yàn)樗褚粋€(gè)巨型滑輪組。我們必須把很長(zhǎng)的鉆桿一節(jié)節(jié)地鉆入地下，然后再?gòu)牡叵吕鰜?lái)。鉆桿頂部安裝的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)帶動(dòng)鉆桿旋轉(zhuǎn)，它的底部裝有鉆頭。
地質(zhì)學(xué)家需要知道鉆頭已以到達(dá)什么樣的巖層，因此時(shí)常要用芯鉆頭取樣。這種鉆頭能切割一段光滑的圓柱形巖石，從中能看出所鉆透的地層。一旦到達(dá)油層，石油就會(huì)由于地下巨大的壓力流到地面上來(lái)，這種巨大的壓力來(lái)自地下天然氣或水。這種壓力必須加以控制，我們讓泥槳順著鉆桿向下循環(huán)，用這種方法來(lái)控制壓力。我們盡量避免使用陳舊天真的噴井方法，那樣會(huì)浪費(fèi)石油和天然氣。我們要讓石油留在井下，直到我們能用一種有控制的方法把它引上來(lái)為止。
Lesson14
【課文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽(tīng)錄音，然后回答以下問(wèn)題。
Why do small errors make it impossible to predict the weather system with a high degree of accuracy?
Beyond two or three days, the world's best weather forecasts are speculative, and beyond six or seven they are worthless.
The Butterfly Effect is the reason. For small pieces of weather -- and to a global forecaster, small can mean thunderstorms and blizzards -- any prediction deteriorates rapidly. Errors and uncertainties multiply, cascading upward through a chain of turbulent features, from dust devils and squalls up to continent-size eddies that only satellites can see.
The modern weather models work with a grid of points of the order of sixty miles apart, and even so, some starting data has to be guessed, since ground stations and satellites cannot see everywhere. But suppose the earth could be covered with sensors spaced one foot apart, rising at one-foot intervals all the way to the top of the atmosphere. Suppose every sensor gives perfectly accurate readings of temperature, pressure, humidity, and any other quantity a meteorologist would want. Precisely at noon an infinitely powerful computer takes all the data and calculates what will happen at each point at 12.01, then 120.2, then 12.03...
The computer will still be unable to predict whether Princeton, New Jersey, will have sun or rain on a day one month away. At noon the spaces between the sensors will hide fluctuations that the computer will not know about, tiny deviations from the average. By 12.01, those fluctuations will already have created small errors one foot away. Soon the errors will have multiplied to the ten-foot scale, and so on up to the size of the globe.
JAMES GLEICK, Chaos
【New words and expressions 生詞和短語(yǔ)】
forecast n. 預(yù)報(bào)
speculative adj. 推測(cè)的
blizzard n. 暴風(fēng)雪
deteriorate v. 變壞
multiply v. 增加
cascade v. 瀑布似地落下
turbulent adj. 狂暴的
dust devil 小塵暴，塵旋風(fēng)
squall n. 暴風(fēng)
eddy n. 旋渦
grid n. 坐標(biāo)方格
sensor n. 傳感器
humidity n. 溫度
meteorologist n. 氣象學(xué)家
Princeton n. 普林斯頓(美國(guó)城市名)
New Jersey n. 新澤西(美國(guó)州名)
fluctuation n. 起伏，波動(dòng)
deviation n. 偏差
【課文注釋】
1.beyond two or three days，超過(guò)兩三天。
beyond這個(gè)介詞有很多用法：
①在或向(某物)的遠(yuǎn)處。
例句：The road continues beyond the village up into the hills.
這條路綿延不斷越過(guò)村子直入山中。
②遲于或超過(guò)(某一時(shí)間)。
例句：It won't go on beyond midnight.
這不會(huì)持續(xù)到午夜以后。
③越出(某事物)范圍;超越。
例句：The bicycle is beyond repairis.=The bicycle is too badly damaged to repair.
這輛自行車已不能修理了。
④除(某事物)以外;除了。
例句：He's got nothing beyond his state pension.
除了國(guó)家發(fā)的養(yǎng)老金，他一無(wú)所有。
2.deteriorate 變壞，惡化。
If something deteriorates, it becomes worse in some way.和improve是反義詞。
例句：Food is apt to deteriorate in summer.
食物在夏天容易變質(zhì)。
例句：The discussion deteriorated into a bitter quarrel.
這場(chǎng)討論演變成了激烈的爭(zhēng)吵。
3.multiply乘;增多，增加;繁殖。
①表示兩數(shù)相乘。
例句：2 and 3 multiply to make 6.
2和3相乘得6。
②增多，增加。
例句：Our problems have multiplied since last year.
自去年以來(lái)我們的問(wèn)題增多了。
這篇文章中“errors and uncertainties multiply”的multiply就是增加、增多的意思。
③繁殖，增殖。
例句：It is possible to multiply bacteria and other living organisms in the laboratory.
在實(shí)驗(yàn)室能夠繁殖細(xì)菌和其他生物。
4.cascade，瀑布
①作名詞，瀑布;如瀑布般的。
例句：The water formed a cascade down the mountain.
水沿山瀉下，形成一條瀑布。
②in cascades/cascades of，像瀑布一樣。
例句：Climbing plants with their bright flowers hung in cascades over the garden wall.
開(kāi)出鮮艷花朵的爬藤植物瀑布般懸掛在花園墻上。
③作動(dòng)詞，如瀑布似的落下。
例句：Her golden hair cascaded down her back.
她的金發(fā)像瀑布似的披在背后。
5.a chain of，一系列，一連串。
例句：It is as if a single unimportant event set up a chain of reactions.
仿佛一件小事引起了一連串連鎖反應(yīng)似的。
例句：The enemy tank car caught fire and set off a chain of explosions.
敵人的油車著了火，引起了一連串的爆炸。
6.of the order of，大約。
7.all the way to，一直，完全。
例句：The two runners contested the race closely it was nip and tuck all the way.
那兩個(gè)賽跑選手競(jìng)爭(zhēng)激烈，在賽程中一直不相上下。
例句：I'll back you up all the way.
我完全支持你。
【參考譯文】
世界上好的兩三天以上的天氣預(yù)報(bào)具有很強(qiáng)的猜測(cè)性，如果超過(guò)六七天，天氣預(yù)報(bào)就沒(méi)有了任何價(jià)值。
原因是蝴蝶效應(yīng)。對(duì)于小片的惡劣天氣 -- 對(duì)一個(gè)全球性的氣象預(yù)報(bào)員來(lái)說(shuō)，“小”可以意味著雷暴雨和暴風(fēng)雪 -- 任何預(yù)測(cè)的質(zhì)量會(huì)很快下降。錯(cuò)誤和不可靠性上升，接踵而來(lái)的是一系列湍流的徵狀，從小塵暴和暴風(fēng)發(fā)展到只有衛(wèi)星上可以看到的席卷整塊大陸的旋渦。
現(xiàn)代氣象模型以一個(gè)坐標(biāo)圖來(lái)顯示，圖中每個(gè)點(diǎn)大約是間隔60英里。既使是這樣，有些開(kāi)始時(shí)的資料也不得不依靠推測(cè)，因?yàn)榈孛婀ぷ髡竞托l(wèi)星不可能看到地球上的 每一個(gè)地方。假設(shè)地球上可以布滿傳感器，每個(gè)相隔1英尺，并按1英尺的間隔從地面一直排列到大氣層的頂端。再假定每個(gè)傳感器都極極端準(zhǔn)確地讀出了溫度、氣 壓、溫度和氣象學(xué)家需要的任何其他數(shù)據(jù)。在正午時(shí)分，一個(gè)功能巨大的計(jì)算機(jī)搜集了所有的資料，并算出在每一個(gè)點(diǎn)上12：01、12：02、12：03時(shí)可 能出現(xiàn)的情況。
計(jì)算機(jī)無(wú)法推斷出1個(gè)月以后的某一天，新澤西州的普林斯頓究竟是晴天還是雨天。正午時(shí)分，傳感器之間的距離會(huì)掩蓋計(jì)算機(jī)無(wú) 法知道的波動(dòng)、任何偏平均值的變化。到12：01時(shí)，那些波動(dòng)就已經(jīng)會(huì)在1英尺遠(yuǎn)的地方造成偏差。很快這種偏差會(huì)增加到尺10英的范圍，如此等等，一直到 全球的范圍。
Lesson15
【課文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽(tīng)錄音，然后回答以下問(wèn)題。
Why is secrecy particularly important in the chemical industries?
Two factors weigh heavily against the effectiveness of scientific research in industry. One is the general atmosphere of secrecy in which it is carried out, the other the lack of freedom of the individual research worker.In so far as any inquiry is a secret one, it naturally limits all those engaged in carrying it out from effective contact with their fellow scientists either in other countries or in universities, or even, often enough, in other departments of the same firm. The degree of secrecy naturally varies considerably. Some of the bigger firms are engaged in researches which are of such general and fundamental nature that it is a positive advantage to them not to keep them secret. Yet a great many processes depending on such research are sought for with complete secrecy until the stage at which patents can be taken out. Even more processes are never patented at all but kept as secret processes. This applies particularly to chemical industries, where chance discoveries play a much larger part than they do in physical and mechanical industries. Sometimes the secrecy goes to such an extent that the whole nature of the research cannot be mentioned. Many firms, for instance, have great difficulty in obtaining technical or scientific books from libraries because they are unwilling to have their names entered as having taken out such and such a book, for fear the agents of other firms should be able to trace the kind of research they are likely to be undertaking.
J.D. BERNAL The Social Function of Science
【New words and expressions 生詞和短語(yǔ)】
secrecy n. 秘密
effectiveness n. 成效，效力
inquiry n. 調(diào)查研究
positive adj. 確實(shí)的
process n. 過(guò)程
patent n. 專利;v. 得到專利權(quán)
agent n. 情報(bào)人員
【課文注釋】
1.weigh against，不利于……。
①例句：His criminal record weighed heavily against him.
他的前科關(guān)系重大，對(duì)他很不利。
②weigh against也有權(quán)衡、斟酌的意思。
If you weigh against sth, you consider carefully the relative value or importance of sth.
例句：He needs no longer weigh reasons for and against his emigration.
他不必再去考慮要不要離開(kāi)故鄉(xiāng)的問(wèn)題了。
③weigh sb down: make sb feel anxious or depressed使某人感到憂慮或沮喪。
例句：The responsibilities of the job are weighing her down.
她工作責(zé)任很重，把她壓得無(wú)精打采。
2.the lack of...缺乏……
①If there is a lack of something, there is not enough of it or it does not exist at all.
例句：Despite his lack of experience, he got the job.
盡管他缺乏經(jīng)驗(yàn)，他還是得到了那份工作。
②lack也可以單獨(dú)作動(dòng)詞使用。
例句：They lacked the money to send him to university.
他們沒(méi)錢送他上大學(xué)。
③lack作名詞，表示對(duì)某物的缺乏。
例句：The project had to be abandoned for lack of funds.
工程因資金匱乏只得放棄。
3.in so far as...，就……而言。
4.engage in，從事，參與。
①If you engage in an activity, you do it or are actively involved with it.
例句：I have no time to engage in gossip.
我無(wú)暇閑聊。
②engage to sb，與某人訂婚。
例句：She's engaged to Peter. 她與彼得訂了婚。
5.or even, often enough，這里是個(gè)插入語(yǔ)，把often enough拿掉句子仍然成立，只是意思稍有變化。
6.which are of such general and fundamental nature，其中to be of有“具有”的意思。
例句：My advice may be of use for you.
我的意見(jiàn)也許對(duì)你有用。
7.are sought for with complete secrecy，極端秘密地探索。
8.such and such a book。某一本書。
9.for fear (of doing sth/that...)，唯恐，以免。
例句：The nurse walked on tiptoe for fear of waking the patient.
護(hù)士踮著腳走惟恐會(huì)吵醒病人。
例句：He told us to keep quiet for fear that we might disturb others.
他讓我們保持安靜，以免打擾別人。
【參考譯文】
有兩個(gè)因素嚴(yán)重地妨礙工業(yè)中科學(xué)研究的效率：一是科研工作中普遍存在的保密氣氛;二是研究人員缺乏個(gè)人自由。任何一項(xiàng)研究都涉及到保密，那些從事科研的人員自然受到了限制。他們不能和其他國(guó)家、其他大學(xué)、甚至往往不能與本公司的其他部門的同行們進(jìn)行有效的接觸。保密程度自然差別很大。某些大公司進(jìn)行的研究屬于一般和基礎(chǔ)的研究，因此不保密對(duì)他們才有利。然而，依賴這種研究的很多工藝程序是在完全保密的情況下進(jìn)行的，直到可以取得專利權(quán)的階段為止。更多的工藝過(guò)程根本就不會(huì)取得專利權(quán)，而是作為秘方保存著。在這化學(xué)工業(yè)方面尤為突出。同物理和機(jī)械工業(yè)相比，化學(xué)工業(yè)中偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)的機(jī)會(huì)要多得多。有時(shí)，保密竟達(dá)到了這樣的程度，即連研究工作的整個(gè)性質(zhì)都不準(zhǔn)提及。比如，很多公司向圖書館借閱科技書籍時(shí)感到困難，因?yàn)樗鼈儾辉缸屓思矣浵滤鼈児镜拿趾徒栝喌哪骋槐緯?。他們生怕別的公司的情報(bào)人員據(jù)此摸到他們可能要從事的某項(xiàng)科研項(xiàng)目。