新概念英语第四册49-01

第45课

New words and expressions 生词短语

infant ：婴儿(会说点话)

baby ：婴儿(不会说话)

the infant industry ：新兴产业

in its infancy ： 在它的初始阶段

vulnerable ：脆弱的

be vulnerable to...： 受不了...

fragile ：脆弱

barefaced ：厚颜无耻的

defenceless ：脆弱的(不设防的,无保护的)

imperceptible ：感觉不到的

(大多数 p 开头的形容词，反义词加 im)

invisible ：看不到的

indiscernible： 观察不到的

minute ：微小的

subtle ：细微的

steep ：急转直下的（陡峭的）

steep demand ：苛刻的要求

ageing ：老化

aged wine： 陈酿

odds ：可能性

likelihood ：可能性

It’s odds that…

The odds are…

There are odds… ： …有可能

odd : 怪异的 奇数的 剩余的

virtual : 实际的

robust ：强健的 （乐百氏）

muscular ：强壮的

athletic ：壮的

thickset : 粗壮的

Lesson45

At the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous. It has yet to reach its full size and strength, and its owner his or her full intelligence; but at this age the likelihood of death is least. Earlier we were infants and young children, and consequently more vulnerable; later, we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigour and resistance which, though imperceptible at first, will finally become so steep that we can live no longer, however well we look after ourselves, and however well society, and our doctors, look after us. This decline in vigour with the passing of time is called ageing. It is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we must decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and diseases we shall eventually die of old age, and that this happens at a rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy odds in favour of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and eighty. Some of us will die sooner, a few will live longer-- on into a ninth or tenth decade. But the chances are against it, and there is a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and robust we are.

Normal people tend to forget this process unless and until they are reminded of it. We are so familiar with the fact that man ages, that people have for years assumed that the process of losing vigour with time, of becoming more likely to die the older we get, was something self-evident, like the cooling of a hot kettle or the wearing-out of a pair of shoes. They have also assumed that all animals, and probably other organisms such as trees, or even the universe itself, must in the nature of things 'wear out'. Most animals we commonly observe do in fact age as we do if given the chance to live long enough; and mechanical systems like a wound watch or the sun, do in fact run out of energy in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics (whether the whole universe does so is a moot point at present). But these are not analogous to what happens when man ages A run-down watch is still a watch and can be rewound. An old watch, by contrast, becomes so worn and unreliable that it eventually is not worth mending. But a watch could never repair itself it does not consist of living parts, only of metal, which wears away by friction. We could, at one time, repair ourselves well enough, at least, to overcome all but the most instantly fatal illnesses an accidents. Between twelve and eighty years we gradually lose this power; an illness which at twelve would knock us over, at eighty can knock us out, and into our grave. If we could stay as vigorous as we are at twelve, it would take about 700 years for half of us to die, and another 700 for the survivors to be reduce by half again.

ALEX VOMFORT The Process of Ageing

参考译文

十二岁时，人体处于茁壮成长时期。这时人的身材和力量尚未长足，他或她的智力也有待完善；但在这个年龄死亡的可能性最小。在此之前，人们还是婴儿和小孩，因此较为脆弱，在此之后

人们将经历精力和抵抗力的日趋衰退，虽然起初难以觉察，终将急转直下而频临死亡，不管人们对自己多么当心，也不管社会和医生对人们照顾得多么周到，都将无济于事。这种与时俱来的精力

衰退称为老化。它是我们无一例外都要作出的最不愉快的发现之一，发现我们必然会如此这般地衰老，发现就算我们躲过了战争、意外事故和疾病，我们也终将“老死”，还发现其发生率并不因

人而异，以至于我们死于65岁至80岁之间的机会极大。我们当中的一些人会早一些死，少数会活得长一些——活到八旬或九旬。这种机遇不多，人们的期望年龄存在事实上的极限，不管人们有多么幸运和健壮。

正常人要是不被提醒，往往会忘记这个过程。我们对人会老化这一事实熟悉之深，以致多年来人们就认为精力与日俱减和越老越容易死是不言自明的事，正像热锅变凉或是鞋子会穿破一样。

人们还假定所有的动物以及或许是树木之类的有机体甚至连宇宙本身，一定都具有“耗尽”的性质。我们平常看到的大多数动物，如果让它们活得够长的话，也都会像我们那样老化；上紧发条的表

之类的机械系统，或是太阳，也会按照热力学第二定律耗尽能量（整个宇宙是否也会这样，目前还有争论）。但这一切都不能同人老化时的情况相比。发条松掉的表仍是一块表，可以再上足发条。

而旧表磨损已甚且不可靠，终至不值得再修。表永远不会修复自身——它不是由有生命的部件组成，而是用金属制成的，金属会因磨擦而损耗。我们则在某时期能修复自身——至少还能战胜除

急性致命以外的各种疾病和意外事故。从12岁到80岁，我们逐渐失去这种能力；12岁时能使我们病倒的疾病，在80岁时可能会使我们一蹶不振而进入坟墓。如果我们能一直像12岁时那样精力充沛，那就需要700年我们中的一半才会死去，而剩下的要减少一半又得再过700年。