大家一起來啃新概念第四冊:第十課硅谷(上)

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Lesson 10 Silicon valley
    第十課硅谷
    from US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, October 2,1989
    10-1. Technology trends may push Silicon Valley back to the future.
    【譯文】技術(shù)的發(fā)展趨勢有可能把硅谷重新推向未來。
    10-2. Carver Mead, a pioneer in integrated circuits and a professor of computer science at the California Institute of Technology, notes there are now work-stations that enable engineers to design, test and produce chips right on their desks, much the way an editor creates a newsletter on a Macintosh.
    【譯文】集成電路先驅(qū)、加州理工學院計算機教授卡弗•米德注意到,現(xiàn)在有些計算機工作站使工程技術(shù)人員可以在他們的辦公桌上設(shè)計、試驗和生產(chǎn)芯片,如某編輯在蘋果機上編出時事通訊一樣。
    【講解】a pioneer in integrated circuits和a professor of…Technology并列作Carver Mead的同位語。enable engineers to …desks為定語從句,修飾work-stations。much the way an editor creates a newsletter on a Macintosh中the way前省略了介詞in,整個短語在句中作方式狀語。在非正式文體中,in the way中的介詞in 通常被省略,
    例如:
    You’re doing it (in)the wrong way.
    你做這件事的方法不對。
    Do it(in)any way you like.
    你想怎么做就怎樣做。
    an editor creates a newsletter on a Macintosh為定語從句,修飾the way,其前省略了that。在非正式文體中,that通常被用來代替the way后的in which或by which,但that也常常省略,
    例如:
    I don’t like the way (that)you talk to me.
    我可不喜歡你同我談話的方式。
    Let’s go the way(that)we went yesterday.
    讓我們走我們昨天走的那條路吧。
    10-3. As the time and cost of making a chip drop to a few days and a few hundred dollars, engineers may soon be free to let their imaginations soar without being penalized by expensive failures.
    【譯文】由于制造一塊芯片的時間已縮短至幾天,費用也僅有數(shù)百美元,因此工程技術(shù)人員可能很快就可充分發(fā)揮他們的想象力,而不會因失敗而造成經(jīng)濟上的重大損失。
    【講解】as為從屬連詞,引導原因狀語從句,但意為“因為、由于”。
    【單詞和短語】
    penalize:使處于不利地位(subject to a penalty; subject to some comparative disadvantage),妨礙,
    例如:
    Such a systempenalized the poor. 這種制度妨礙了窮人的利益。
    It would be unfair to penalize those without a job.
    失業(yè)人員待遇低下是不公平的。
    10-4. Mead predicts that inventors will be able to perfect powerful customized chips over a weekend at the office—spawning a new generation of garage start-ups and giving the U.S. a jump on its foreign rivals in getting new products to market fast.
    【譯文】米德預言發(fā)明者可以在辦公室用一個周末的時間生產(chǎn)完美的、功能強大的、按客戶需求設(shè)計的芯片——造就新一代從汽車間起家的技術(shù)人員,在把產(chǎn)品推向市場方面使美國把它的外國對手打個措手不及。
    【講解】破折號后并列的兩個現(xiàn)在分詞短語spawning…garage start-ups和 giving the U.S.…market fast為結(jié)果狀語,作為引導的賓語從句中inventors will be…at the office所產(chǎn)生的結(jié)果。
    【單詞和短語】
    spawn:大量產(chǎn)生(to make a series of things happen or start to exist),
    例如:
    Bureaucracy spawns many rules that complicate our life.
    官僚主義產(chǎn)生了許多使我們生活復雜化的條條框框。
    10-5. 'We're got more garages with smart people,' Mead observes. 'We really thrive on anarchy.'
    【譯文】“我們有更多的汽車間,那里有許多聰明人,”米德說?!拔覀兇_實是靠這種無政府狀態(tài)發(fā)展起來的?!?BR>    【單詞和短語】
    thrive on:興旺發(fā)達,繁榮;旺盛(to enjoy or be successful in a particular situation, especially one that other people find difficult or unpleasant),
    例如:
    Challenge is something we Americans thrive on.
    挑戰(zhàn)是我們美國人賴以興盛的奧秘。
    He’s the sort of person who thrives on hard work.
    他是苦干有成的那種人。
    10-6. And on Asians.
    【譯文】靠的是亞洲人。
    【講解】本句是省略句,也可將該句視為上一句的繼續(xù)。We really thrive on anarchy.是Mead的觀點,本句表達出本文作者不但贊成Mead的觀點,還補充了自己的觀點。作者另起一段以示對自己觀點的強調(diào)。