學(xué)術(shù)綜合英語1-3-6課課文及翻譯

Presentingaspeech（做演講）Ofallhumancreations,languagemaybethemostremarkable.Throughlanguageweshareexperience,formulatevalues,exchangeideas,transmitknowledge,andsustainculture.Indeed,languageisvitaltothinkitself.[Contrarytopopularbelief],language|doesnotsimplymirrorrealitybutalsohelpstocreateoursenseofreality[bygivingmeaningtoevents].在人類所有的創(chuàng)造中，語言也許是影響最為深遠(yuǎn)的。我們用語言來分享經(jīng)驗(yàn)，表達(dá)(傳遞？)價(jià)值觀，交換想法，傳播知識，傳承文化。事實(shí)上，對語言本身的思考也是至關(guān)重要的。和通常所認(rèn)為的不同的是，語言并不只是簡單地反映現(xiàn)實(shí)，語言在具體描述事件的時(shí)候也在幫助我們建立對現(xiàn)實(shí)的感知?！Z序的調(diào)整。Goodspeakershaverespectforlanguageandknowhowitworks.Wordsarethetoolsofaspeaker’scraft.Theyhavespecialuses,justlikethetoolsofanyotherprofession.Asaspeaker,youshouldbeawareofthemeaningofwordsandknowhowtouselanguageaccurately,clearly,vividly,andappropriately.好的演講者對語言很重視，也知道如何讓它發(fā)揮更好的效果。詞語是演講者演講的重要“武器”，具有特殊的用途，這和任何其他的工作技藝沒什么兩樣。作為演講者，必須知道詞語的具體含義，也要懂得如何做到用詞準(zhǔn)確、清晰、生動(dòng)、適當(dāng)。Usinglanguageaccuratelyisasvitaltoaspeakerasusingnumbersaccuratelytoaaccountant.Neveruseawordunlessyouaresureofitsmeaning.Ifyouarenotsure,lookupthewordinthedictionary.Asyouprepareyourspeeches,askyourselfconstantly,“WhatdoIreallywanttosay?WhatdoIreallymean?”Choosewordsthatarepreciseandaccurate.演講者準(zhǔn)確地使用語言和會(huì)計(jì)準(zhǔn)確使用數(shù)字是一樣重要的。確定詞意后再措詞。如果不確定，請先查詞典。當(dāng)你在準(zhǔn)備演講的時(shí)候，要不斷地問自己：“我到底要說什么？我到底想表達(dá)什么意思？”用詞一定要精準(zhǔn)。Usinglanguageclearlyallowslistenerstograspyourmeaningimmediately.Youcanensurethis[byusingfamiliarwords（thatareknowntotheaveragepersonandrequirenospecializedbackground）;bychoosingconcretewordsinpreferencetomoreabstractones,andbyeliminatingverbalclutter].用詞清晰可以讓聽眾迅速理解你的意思（抓到你的點(diǎn)）。要做到這一點(diǎn)，就要盡量使用一般人都熟悉的不需要專業(yè)知識就能懂的詞語；多用具象詞匯少用抽象詞匯；還有要減少口誤。Usinglanguagevividlyhelpsbringyourspeechtolife.Oneway(tomakeyourspeechvivid)|isthroughimagery，orthecreationofwordpictures.Youcandevelopimagerybyusingconcretelanguage,simile,andmetaphor.Simileisanexplicitcomparisonbetweenthings（thatareessentiallydifferentyethavesomethingincommon）;italwayscontainsthewords“l(fā)ike”or“as”.Metaphorisanimplicitcomparisonbetweenthingsthataredifferentyethavesomethingincommon;itdoesnotcontainthewords“l(fā)ike”or“as”.生動(dòng)地用詞能讓演講鮮活起來！比喻，這種能產(chǎn)生文字圖像的修辭，可以使演講達(dá)到生動(dòng)的效果。比喻要用具象的語言，分為明喻和隱喻。明喻是指在本質(zhì)上有區(qū)別但仍然有相同點(diǎn)的事物之間做一個(gè)明確的比較，一般句中會(huì)含有“像”或“似”。隱喻則是一種隱藏的比較，不會(huì)出現(xiàn)like和as這些連接詞。Anotherwaytomakeyourspeechesvividisbyexploitingtherhythmoflanguage.Fourdevicesforcreatingrhythmareparallelism,repetition,alliteration,andantithesis.Parallelismisthesimilararrangementofapairorseriesofrelatedwords,phrases,orsentences.Repetitionistheuseofthesamewordorsetofwordsatthebeginningorendofsuccessiveclausesorsentences.Alliterationcomesfromrepeatingtheinitialconstantsoundsofcloseoradjoiningwords.Antithesisisthejuxtapositionofcontrastingideas,usuallyinparallelstructure.我們還可以充分利用語言的節(jié)奏感使演講更加生動(dòng)活潑。具體有以下四種方式——排比，反復(fù)，押頭韻和對偶。排比是指把一組或一系列相關(guān)的字詞句以相似結(jié)構(gòu)排列起來。反復(fù)是指在連續(xù)幾個(gè)從句或句子的開頭或結(jié)尾處使用相同的詞和詞組。押頭韻則是通過重復(fù)相鄰之間單詞首個(gè)輔音實(shí)現(xiàn)的。對偶通常是用平行的結(jié)構(gòu)將相反的想法并列在一起。Usinglanguageappropriatelymeansadaptingtotheparticularoccasion,audience,andtopicathand.Italsomeansdevelopingyourownlanguagestyleinsteadoftryingtocopysomeoneelse’s.Ifyourlanguageisappropriateinallrespects,yourspeechismuchmorelikelytosucceed.用語恰當(dāng)意味著遣詞造句要與特定的場合，觀眾以及談?wù)摰脑掝}相適應(yīng)。這也意味著你得建立自己的語言風(fēng)格，不能簡單抄襲他人。如果使用的語言與各方面都很契合，那么演講就更有可能取得成功。Goodspeechesarenotcomposedofhotairandunfoundedassertions.Theyneedstrongsupportingmaterialstobolsterthespeaker’spointofview.Infact,theskillfuluseofsupportingmaterialsoftenmakesthedifferencebetweenagoodspeechandapoorone.Thethreebasictypesofsupportingmaterialsareexamples,statisticsandtestimony.好的演講不能是空話連篇，也不能是一些毫無根據(jù)的論斷；而是需要有力的論據(jù)來支持演講者的觀點(diǎn)。事實(shí)上，能否有技巧地使用論據(jù)會(huì)造成演講效果的天壤之別。論據(jù)有以下三種基本形式：例子，統(tǒng)計(jì)資料，引用。Inthecourseofaspeechyoumayusebriefexamples—specificinstancesreferredtoinpassing—andsometimesyoumaywanttogiveseveralbriefexamplesinarowtocreateastrongerimpression.Extendedexamples—oftencalledillustrations,narrations,oranecdotes—arelongerandmoredetailed.Hypotheticalexamplesdescribeimagerysituationsandcanbequiteeffectiveforrelatingideastotheaudience.Allthreekindsofexampleshelptoclarifyideas,toreinforceideas,ortopersonalizeideas.Tobemoreeffective,though,theyshouldbevividandrichlytextured.在演講時(shí)可以簡單舉例——即附帶地提及幾個(gè)具體的例子——有時(shí)也需要接二連三舉例來加深印象。延伸舉例——也叫解釋、敘述或軼事——更長更詳盡。假設(shè)舉例描述的是想象的情景，能夠很好地把想法傳達(dá)給觀眾。這三種不同的例子都有助于演講者清晰地表達(dá)觀點(diǎn)，強(qiáng)調(diào)觀點(diǎn)并使之打上演講者的烙印。當(dāng)然，要想演講效果更好，演講本身必須生動(dòng)且結(jié)構(gòu)豐富！Statisticscanbeextremelyhelpfulinconveyingyourmessage,[aslongasyouusethemsparinglyandexplainthemsotheyaremeaningfultoyouraudience.]Aboveall,youshouldunderstandyourstatisticsandusethemfairly.Numberscaneasilybemanipulatedanddistorted.Makesure{thatyourfiguresarerepresentativeof{whattheyclaimtomeasure},thatyouusestatisticalmeasurescorrectly,andthatyoutakestatisticsonlyfromreliablesources.}統(tǒng)計(jì)資料非常有助于演講者傳遞信息，因?yàn)楫?dāng)演講者適量地運(yùn)用這些資料并加以解釋時(shí)，聽眾就能更好地理解其中的意義。最重要的是，演講者必須理解這些統(tǒng)計(jì)資料并恰當(dāng)使用。數(shù)字很容易被篡改、誤報(bào)，因此必須確保自己所使用的數(shù)據(jù)不是張冠李戴的；必須確保自己使用的統(tǒng)計(jì)措施是正確的；必須確保自己的統(tǒng)計(jì)資料來源是可靠的。Testimonyisespeciallyhelpfulforstudentspeakers,becausetheyareseldomrecognizedasexpectsontheirspeechtopics.Citingtheviewsofpeople（whoareexperts）isagoodwaytomakeyourideasmorecredible.Whenyouincludetestimonyinaspeech,youcaneitherquotesomeoneverbatimorparaphrasetheirwords.Aswithstatistics,thereareguidelinesforusingtestimony.Besuretoquoteorparaphraseaccuratelyandtocitequalifiedunbiasedsources.Ifthesourceisnotgenerallyknowntoyouraudience,becertaintoestablishhisorhercredentials.引用他人觀點(diǎn)看法對學(xué)生演講者來說尤其有用，因?yàn)閷W(xué)生很少會(huì)被視為他們演講相關(guān)主題方面的專家。引用專家的觀點(diǎn)可以讓你的想法更可信。引用的時(shí)候，既可以逐字摘抄也可以自己總結(jié)一下。和統(tǒng)計(jì)資料一樣，引用也有原則可循——引用摘抄準(zhǔn)確，來源合格無偏見。如果觀眾對引用來源不太熟悉，一定要（想辦法）取得他們的信任。Theimpactofaspeechisstronglyaffectedbyhowthespeechisdelivered.Youcannotmakeaspeechwithouthavingsomethingtosay.Buthavingsomethingtosayisnotenough.Youmustalsoknowhowtosayit.Gooddeliverydoesnotcallattentiontoitself.Itconveysthespeaker’sideasclearly,interestingly,and[withoutdistractingtheaudience].演講的效果如何很大程度上取決于演講是怎么做的。無話可說做不好演講，但要做好演講，僅僅有話可說也是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠的，還要知道如何說話才行。好的演講不是要喚起觀眾對演講本身的注意，而是要向觀眾清晰有趣地傳遞演講者的想法，同時(shí)還要有觀眾聚精會(huì)神地聆聽。Therearefourbasicmethodsofdeliveringaspeech:readingverbatimfromamanuscript,recitingamemorizedtext,speakingwithPowerPoint,andspeakingextemporaneously,orimpromptu.Thelastofthese—speakingextemporaneously—isthemethod(youprobablywilluseforclassroomspeechesandformostspeechesoutsidetheclassroom).Whenspeakingextemporaneously,youwillhaveonlyabriefsetofnotesoraspeakingoutline.SpeakingwithPowerPointiswidelyusednowandveryeffectiveindeed.演講有四種最基本的方法：照本宣科式；背誦式；ppt輔助演講式和即興演講式。最后一項(xiàng)即興演講是我們在課堂演講和大部分課外演講中都要用到的方法.即興演講時(shí)，我們手上只有簡單的筆記或演講提綱?，F(xiàn)在，用ppt輔助演講十分普遍，效果顯著。Certainlythereareotherfactorsyoushouldconsider,suchaspersonalappearance,bodilyaction,gestures,eyecontact,volume,pausesandsoon.Bypayingenoughattentiontowhatismentionedabove,youmaypresentaneffectivespeech.當(dāng)然還要考慮其他因素——譬如演講者的個(gè)人形象，肢體語言，眼神交流，聲音的抑揚(yáng)頓挫等等。盡量注意上述問題，演講就會(huì)成功！DoTrafficTicketsSaveLives?交通罰單能救命嗎？Pitythepoortrafficcop.He'sthelastguyyouwanttoseeinyourrear-viewmirrorwhenyou'respeedingdownthehighway.Whyisn'theoutlookingformurderersinsteadofnailingdriversforminorinfractionsofthelaw?哎，這可憐的交警。他是你在高速公路上疾馳時(shí)最不愿意在后視鏡里看見的人。他為什么不去抓那些殺人犯，卻在這兒為了一點(diǎn)兒芝麻大的交通違規(guī)對司機(jī)們窮追不舍？

Well,accordingtoamajorresearchprojectbyscientistsinCanadaandCalifornia,thatcopjustmightbesavingyourlife.Orthelifeofsomeoneelse.然而,根據(jù)加拿大和加利福尼亞科學(xué)家們的一項(xiàng)重要研究，那位警察也許恰恰是在救你的

命，或者救別的什么人的命。Theresearchershavefoundthatatrafficticketreducesadriver'schanceofbeinginvolvedinafatalaccidentbyawhopping35percent,atleastforafewweeks.Theeffectdoesn'tlastlong,however.Withinthreetofourmonths,theleadfootisbackonthepedalandtheriskofkillingyourselforsomeoneelseisbackuptowhereitwasbeforethatcopstaredyouintheeyeandwroteoutthatexpensivecitation.研究者們發(fā)現(xiàn)一張交通罰單能讓司機(jī)至少在幾周內(nèi)遭遇重大車禍的概率降低35%。似是這個(gè)作用不會(huì)持續(xù)很長。三四個(gè)月后，那只腳又會(huì)回到油門兒上去，置自己或別人于死地的危險(xiǎn)率又和警察瞪著你開出巨額罰單前一樣高了。

Thebottomline,accordingtotheresearch,publishedintheJune28issueofTheLancet,isthattrafficticketssavelives.Maybethousandsoflives,everyyear.Yettrafficlawsareenforcedsporadically,almostasifbywhim,partlybecausepeoplejustdon'tliketrafficcops,andtherearelotsofotherthingsforthegovernmenttospendmoneyonthanenforcinghighwaysafetylaws.根據(jù)6月28日發(fā)表在《柳葉刀》上的研究，最根本的一點(diǎn)就是交通罰單能救命，它很可能每年能救成千上萬條命。然而交通法規(guī)只是零星地被實(shí)施，就像心血來潮似的，部分原因是人們不喜歡罰單，而且除了實(shí)施髙速公路安全法，政府部門還有很多其他地方要花錢。TheGrimStatistics無情的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)椐Thatattitudeneedstobechanged,accordingtoDonaldA.RedelmeieroftheUniversityofTorontoandRobertJ.TibshiraniofStanfordUniversity.Bothmenaremedicalresearchers,andthisisn'tthefirsttimethey'vetakenahardlookathighwaysafety.Their1998studycausedastirwhentheylinkedcellphoneusagetotrafficaccidents.Nowthey'reback,sayingtrafficticketsaregoodforourhealth.多倫多大學(xué)的熱德爾美爾和斯坦福大學(xué)的提波施拉尼認(rèn)為這種態(tài)度需要改變。他們倆都是醫(yī)學(xué)研究者，這已不是他們第一次盯著高速公路安全問題了。他們倆1998年的研究引起了轟動(dòng)，當(dāng)時(shí)他們認(rèn)為打手機(jī)與交通事故有關(guān)聯(lián)?，F(xiàn)在他們又來了，說交通罰單對我們的健康有好處。

Theywereproddedintothisprojectbysomeverygrimstatistics.Eachyear,morethanamillionpersonsdieintrafficaccidentsworldwide.IfthatmanypeoplediedofSARSinayear,thepublicresponsewouldprobablyborderonhysteria,butwehavecometoaccepttrafficfatalitiesasawayoflife.他們之所以參與這個(gè)項(xiàng)目是受到一些殘酷無情的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)的驅(qū)使。每年，全世界有100多萬人死于交通事故。如果一年內(nèi)那么多人死于非典的話，大家很可能會(huì)恐懼得發(fā)瘋了，然而我

們對交通亊故死亡率卻習(xí)以為常了。

Inaddition,another25millionpeoplearoundtheworldarepermanentlydisabledbytrafficaccidents,andmanyofthem—aswellasthefatalities—arechildren.另外，還有2

500萬人因交通事故永遠(yuǎn)殘廢了，而且他們當(dāng)中(包括死去的)很多是孩子。TakingItEasyAfteraTicket?接到罰中處之泰然？WhenRedelmeierandTibshiraniandfellowresearcherLeonardEvanssetouttoseeiftrafficticketsreallydoanygood,theyfoundanenormousresourceintheCanadianprovinceofOntario.Thefulldrivingrecordofeverylicenseddrivertherewasmadeavailabletothem,wartsandall,givingtheresearchersahugedatabaseofmorethan10millionlicenseddrivers,8,975ofwhomwereinvolvedinafatalaccidentduringthe11-yearperiodcoveredbytheresearch,from1988through1998.當(dāng)熱德爾美爾、提波施拉尼和他們的共同研究人員倫納德

?伊凡斯研究交通罰單是否真能起到好作用時(shí)，他們在加拿大的安大略省發(fā)現(xiàn)了數(shù)量巨大的司機(jī)資料。他們在那兒能看到每個(gè)有駕照的人的全部記錄，這樣他們就有了一個(gè)良莠俱存的超過一千萬個(gè)持照司機(jī)的巨大數(shù)據(jù)庫。其中8

975個(gè)司機(jī)在此項(xiàng)研究覆蓋的1988-1998共11年中曾出過重大交通事故"Welookedatthemonthpriortoafatalaccident,andthenumberoftrafficconvictions,andthenthesamemonthintheyearbefore,"saysTibshirani,astatistician."Whatwefoundwasthattherewerefewerticketsinthemonthbeforeafatalaccidentthantherewereayearbefore,andthatsuggeststhere'saprotectiveeffectofhavingaticket."統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)家提波施拉尼說:“我們看了一下出重大事故前一個(gè)月的交通罰單數(shù)和前一年同一個(gè)月的罰單數(shù)，發(fā)現(xiàn)出重大事故前一個(gè)月的罰單要比前一年同一個(gè)月的罰單少，這說明罰單有保護(hù)作用。”Inotherwords,whenthenumberofcitationswentdown,thenumberoffatalaccidentswentupthefollowingmonth,andwhenthenumberofticketswentup,thenumberoffatalaccidentsdroppedthefollowingmonth.Theanalysisshowsthatfatalaccidentsdeclinedby35percentbecauseofcitations.換言之，當(dāng)罰單數(shù)下降時(shí)，重大事故率在接下來這個(gè)月就會(huì)上升；而當(dāng)罰單數(shù)上升時(shí)，重大事故率在接下來這個(gè)月就會(huì)下降。分析表明罰單能使重大事故率下降35%。Apparently,peoplejustdrovemorecautiouslyfollowingatrafficcitation,butthatonlylastedamaximumoffourmonths,theresearcherssay.Afterthatbriefrespite,itwasbacktobusinessasusualformostmotorists.顯然，人們在拿到交通罰單后開車會(huì)更謹(jǐn)慎，但這種謹(jǐn)慎最長只會(huì)持續(xù)4個(gè)月。對多數(shù)司機(jī)來說，經(jīng)過這短暫的歇息，一切又都恢復(fù)到從前了。Citations’EffectsConsistent罰單的持續(xù)作用Thescientistsalsoturnedupsomesurprisingresults."Mostofthecrashesdidnotinvolvealcoholandwerenotatanintersection,"theyreportintheirresearchpaper.Mostoccurredduringthesummermonthswhenthestreetsweredry(65percent)ratherthanwet(18percent)orcoveredwithsnow(17percent).科學(xué)家們還出示了一些令人吃驚的研究結(jié)果?！岸鄶?shù)撞車不是因?yàn)榫坪篑{車，也不是發(fā)生在十字路口，”他們在研究報(bào)告中這樣報(bào)道。多數(shù)事故發(fā)生在夏季，當(dāng)時(shí)的道路干燥（65%）而不濕滑（18%），也沒有雪覆蓋（17%）。Theyalsofoundthatthe"relativeriskreductionassociatedwithtrafficconvictionswasremarkablyconsistentamongsubgroupsoflicenseddrivers,"sothesameresultsapplytowomenaswellasmen,regardlessofage,priordrivingrecord,andotherpersonaldata.他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)“在有駕照的那組司機(jī)中拿到罰單后的事故減少率的持續(xù)性是顯著的"，因此同樣的結(jié)論適用于婦女和男人，而與年齡因素、以前的駕駛記錄和其他個(gè)人資料無關(guān)。

Men,however,wereinvolvedinfarmorefatalaccidentsthanwomen(73percentto27percent)andthemostaccident-proneagewasbetween30and50.Alcoholwasdetectedinonly7percentoftheaccidents.但是，男人要比女人更容易出嚴(yán)重交通亊故(73%比27%)，而且最容易出事故的年齡是在30-50歲之間。酒后駕車只占事故的7%。Theresearchersalsoaddressedthecommonlyheldbeliefthattrafficcitationscausemoreaccidentsthantheypreventbecausesomanypeoplearekilledduringpolicechases.Theyfoundthatonly24deathscouldbelinkedtowritingcitationsduringthe11-yearperiod.Thatincluded17suspects,fivebystandersandtwopoliceofficers."Thetypicalsuspectwhodiedwasa26-year-oldmanpursuedbypoliceafterfleeingaspotcheckforalcoholoraspeedingviolation,"theyreport.Thetwopoliceofficerswerekilledinseparateeventswhentheywerehitbyacarwhilewritingaticketforanothermotorist.研究者們還澄清了一種普遍的想法：交通罰單引起的交通事故比防止的多，因?yàn)楹芏嗳耸窃诰熳匪麄儠r(shí)喪生的。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)在過去的11年中只有24起死亡事故和罰單有關(guān)，這包括17個(gè)被追的司機(jī)、5個(gè)路人和2位警察。

“最典型的一例是一個(gè)26歲的男子，因想逃避酒精和超速違規(guī)的現(xiàn)場檢查而被警察窮追不舍，”他們報(bào)告說。有2位警察死于與這互不相關(guān)的事件中，當(dāng)時(shí)他們正在給另一個(gè)摩托車駕駛員開罰單。

WhoReallyPays?到底誰付出代價(jià)？

Theresearchersadmitthereareafewgapsintheirfindings.ThestatisticsdonotincludeOntariodriverswhomayhavebeeninvolvedinafatalaccidentsomewhereoutsidethatprovince.Norcantheysaythateverytrafficticketleadstoareductioninaccidents.Butthestatisticssuggestacorrelationbetweenthenumberofcitationsandthenumberoffatalities.研究者們承認(rèn)在他們的研究中有一些漏洞。統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)字不包括有可能在省外某地出嚴(yán)重交通事故的安大略省司機(jī)。他們也不能說每張交通罰單都能降低事故率。但是數(shù)據(jù)顯示交通罰單的數(shù)量和死亡率之間呈相關(guān)性。Theyalsopointoutthattheinnocentareoftenmadetopaythepriceforcarelessdrivers."Unlikeothercommondiseases,thevictimsareoftenyoungandneedsignificantsubsequentcarefordecades.Mostcrashesareunintended,unexpected,andcouldhavebeenpreventedbyasmalldifferenceindriverbehavior."Sothenexttimeyouseethatcopinyourrear-viewmirror,givehim,orher,abroadsmile.“他們還指出為粗心大意的司機(jī)付出代價(jià)的經(jīng)常是那些無辜受害者。和其他常見病不一樣，受害人通常很年輕，需要以后幾十年連續(xù)不斷的照顧。大多數(shù)事故是無意的，意料之外的，只要司機(jī)在駕駛上稍有不同就能避免。因此下次你要是在后視鏡里看見那位警察，一定要對他/她熱情微笑。FromKaifengtoNewYork－GloryIsasEphemeralas從開封到紐約——輝煌如過眼煙云SmokeandClouds Asthismillenniumdawns,NewYorkisconsideredtobethemostimportantcityintheworld,theunofficialcapitalofplanetEarth.ButbeforeNewYorkersbecometoofullofthemselves,itmightbeworthwhiletoglanceatdilapidatedKaifengincentralChina.新的千禧年到來之際，紐約市儼然已成全世界最重要的城市、全球非正式的首都。然而趁紐約人還沒過度躊躇滿志之前，不妨對華夏中原那座破落的開封城回眸一瞥。 Kaifeng,anancientcityalongthemud-cloggedYellowRiver,wasbyfarthemostimportantplaceintheworldinA.D.1000.Andifyou’veneverheardofit,that’sausefulwarningforAmericans.Asexpressedinthiscolumn’sheadline－translatedfromChinese,alanguageofthefuturethatmoreAmericansshouldstartlearning－“gloryisasephemeralassmokeandclouds.”開封，泥沙淤塞的黃河邊的一座古都，在公元1000年時(shí)曾是全世界無與倫比的重要城市。如果您對此聞所未聞，那這對美國人不啻為一個(gè)有益的警示——以廣大的美國人民都應(yīng)學(xué)習(xí)的未來的語言表達(dá)出來，一如前面中文標(biāo)題所示“輝煌如過眼煙云?！?Astheworld’sonlysuperpower,Americamaylooktodayasifglobaldominationisanentitlement.Butifyoulookbackatthesweepofhistory,it’sstrikinghowfleetingsupremacyis,particularlyforindividualcities.作為全世界獨(dú)一無二的超級強(qiáng)國，今天看來仿佛美國的獨(dú)霸全球乃是天經(jīng)地義之事。然而當(dāng)我們對歷史的洪流稍作回顧，便會(huì)驚覺世界的霸權(quán)是多么短暫，尤其是對各個(gè)城市而言。 Myvoteforthemostimportantcityintheworldintheperiodleadingupto2000B.C.wouldbeUr,Iraq.In1500B.C.,perhapsThebes,Egypt.Therewasnodominantplayerin1000B.C.,thoughonecouldmakeacaseforSidon,Lebanon.In500B.C.,itwouldbePersepolis,Persia;intheyear1,Rome;aroundA.D.500,maybeChang’an,China;in1000,Kaifeng,China;in1500,probablyFlorence,Italy;in2000,NewYork;andin2500,probablynoneoftheabove.如果要我選出公元2000年以前全世界最重要的一個(gè)城市，當(dāng)非伊拉克的烏爾莫屬。公元前1500年，也許應(yīng)是埃及的底比斯；公元前1000年時(shí)，沒有哪個(gè)城市獨(dú)領(lǐng)風(fēng)騷，不過也許勉強(qiáng)可以投一票給黎巴嫩的賽登；公元前500年，應(yīng)該是波斯的波西波里士；公元元年，是羅馬；公元500年左右，也許是中國的長安；到了1000年，是中國的開封；1500年，多半應(yīng)是意大利的佛羅倫薩；兩千年時(shí)，是紐約市；2500年時(shí)，極可能以上皆非。 Today,Kaifengisgrimyandpoor,noteventheprovincialcapitalandsominoritlacksevenanairport.Itssadstateonlyunderscoreshowfortuneschange.Inthe11thcentury,whenitwasthecapitalofSongDynastyChina,Kaifengreacheditspeakofimportance.Itwasacommercialandindustrialcenterattheintersectionoffourmajorcanals.Duringthistime,thecitywassurroundedbythreeringsofcitywallsandcommoditiesassembledfromallovertheworld.Itspopulationwasmorethanonemillion.Incontrast,London’spopulationthenwasabout15,000.今天的開封，臟亂而貧困，甚至連省會(huì)都不是，地位卑微到連一個(gè)飛機(jī)場都沒有。它能淪落到這步田地更凸顯了風(fēng)水輪流轉(zhuǎn)的道理。11世紀(jì)時(shí)，作為中國宋朝的國都，正是它最繁華的時(shí)候。它位于四大主要運(yùn)河的交匯處，是當(dāng)時(shí)的商業(yè)與工業(yè)中心。當(dāng)時(shí)開封城有三道城墻圍繞，來自世界各地的商品都在這里集散。它擁有百萬以上的人口。相比之下當(dāng)時(shí)倫敦的人口大約只有15000。 Anancientpaintedscroll,nowinthePalaceMuseuminBeijing,China,showsthebustleandprosperityofancientKaifeng.Hundredsofpedestriansjostleeachotheronthestreets,camelscarrymerchandiseinfromtheSilkRoad,andteahousesandrestaurantsdoathrivingbusiness.目前珍藏在北京故宮博物院的一幅古老卷軸，上面畫的是古都開封的熱鬧與繁榮。街道上成百上千的行人熙來攘往，成群的駱駝背負(fù)著來自絲綢之路的貨物進(jìn)城，林立的茶館酒肆高朋滿座。 Kaifeng’sstatureattractedpeoplefromallovertheworld,includinghundredsofJews.Eventoday,therearesomepeopleinKaifengwholooklikeotherChinesebutwhoconsiderthemselvesJewishanddonoteatpork.開封的盛名吸引了來自全世界的商賈游客，包括成百上千的猶太人。直至今日，開封城里還有一些居民相貌與中國人無異，卻自稱是猶太裔，而且拒食豬肉。 AsIroamedtheKaifengarea,askinglocalpeoplewhysuchaninternationalcenterhadsunksolow,IencounteredplentyofenvyofNewYork.OnemansaidhewasarrangingtobesmuggledintotheUnitedStatesillegally,bypayingagang$25,000,butmanylocalpeopleinsistedthatChinaisoncoursetobouncebackandrecoveritshistoricroleasworldleader.我在開封一帶漫游時(shí)，曾詢問當(dāng)?shù)匕傩諡楹萎?dāng)年的國際交流中心竟能沉淪到這個(gè)地步，我得到的響應(yīng)有不少是對紐約的羨慕。一個(gè)男子告訴我他正設(shè)法付某人蛇團(tuán)伙兩萬五千美元，以便偷渡到美國。但是許多當(dāng)?shù)匕傩諈s都強(qiáng)調(diào)中國正在復(fù)興，而且很快就能恢復(fù)它世界領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者的歷史角色。 “Chinaisboomingnow,”saidWangRuina,ayoungpeasantwomanontheoutskirtsoftown.“Giveusafewdecades,andwe’llcatchupwiththeUnitedStates,evenpassit.”“中國正蒸蒸日上，”住在城郊的年輕女農(nóng)民王瑞娜說道。“再給我們幾十年，我們一定能趕上美國，甚至超過它。” She’sright.TheUnitedStateshashadthebiggesteconomyintheworldformorethanacentury,butmostprojectionsshowthatChinawillsurpassitin