英语一阅读翻译2007-USB迷|专注于互联网分享

2024年8月26日发(作者：鞠正平)

2007 Text 1

①If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player in 2006’s World Cup

tournament, you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk: elite soccer players are more likely to have

been born in the earlier months of the year than in the late months. ②If you then examined the

European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professional ranks, you would find this

strange phenomenon to be ever more pronounced.

如果你打算在2006年世界杯锦标赛上调查所有足球运动员的出生证明，那么你很有可能发现

一个引人注目的巧合：优秀足球运动员更可能出生于每年的前几个月而不是后几个月。如果你接

着调查世界杯和职业比赛的欧洲国家青年队的话，那么你会发现这一奇怪的现象甚至更明显。

③What might account for this strange phenomenon? Here are a few guesses: a) certain astrological

signs confer superior soccer skills; b) winter born babies tend to have higher oxygen capacity, which

increases soccer stamina; c) soccer-mad parents are more likely to conceive children in springtime, at the

annual peak of soccer mania; d) none of the above.

什么可以解释这一奇怪的现象呢？下面是一些猜测：a）某种占星术征兆使人具备更高的足球

技能；b）冬季出生的婴儿往往具有更高的供氧能力，这增加了踢足球的持久力；c）热爱足球的

父母更可能在春季（每年足球狂热的鼎盛时期）怀孕；d）以上各项都不是。

Anders Ericsson, a 58-year-old psychology professor at Florida State University, says he believes

strongly in ―none of the above.‖ Ericsson grew up in Sweden, and studied nuclear engineering until he

realized he would have more opportunity to conduct his own research if he switched to psychology. His

first experiment, nearly 30 years ago, involved memory: training a person to hear and then repeat a

random series of numbers. ―With the first subject, after about 20 hours of training, his digit span had

risen from 7 to 20,‖ Ericsson recalls. ―He kept improving, and after about 200 hours of training he had

risen to over 80 numbers.‖

58岁的安德斯•埃里克森是佛罗里达州立大学的一名心理学教授，他说，他坚信―以上各项都

不是‖这一猜测。在瑞典长大的埃里克森，一直研究核工程，直到他认识到，如果他转向心理学领

域，他将会有更多机会从事自己的研究。他的首次试验是在大约30年以前进行的，与记忆相关：

训练一个人先听一组任意挑选的数字，然后复述这些数字。―在经过大约20小时的训练之后，第

一个试验对象（复述）的数字跨度从7个上升到20个，‖ 埃里克森回忆说。―该试验对象不断进

步，在接受大约200个小时的训练后，他复述的数字已经达到80多个。‖

④This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically

determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an

intuitive one. In other words, whatever inborn differences two people may exhibit in their abilities to

memorize, those differences are swamped by how well each person ―encodes‖ the information. And the

best way to learn how to encode information meaningfully, Ericsson determined, was a process known

as deliberate practice. Deliberate practice entails more than simply repeating a task. Rather, it involves

setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and concentrating as much on technique as on

outcome.

这一成功，连同后来证明的记忆本身不是遗传决定的研究，使得埃里克森得出结论，即记忆

过程是一种认知练习，而不是一种本能练习。换句话说，无论两个人在记忆力能力上可能存在怎

样的天生差异，这些差异都会被每个人如何恰当地―解读‖所记的信息所掩盖。埃里克森确信，了

解如何有目的地解读信息的最佳方法就是一个为人所知的有意练习过程。有意练习需要的不仅仅

是简单地重复一个任务。相反，它包括确定明确的目标、获得即时的反馈以及技术与结果的浓缩。

Ericsson and his colleagues have thus taken to studying expert performers in a wide range of

pursuits, including soccer. They gather all the data they can, not just performance statistics and

biographical details but also the results of their own laboratory experiments with high achievers. ⑤

Their work makes a rather startling assertion: the trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Or,

put another way, expert performers – whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer

programming–are nearly always made, not born.

因此，埃里克森和他的同事开始研究包括足球领域在内的广泛领域中专业执行者。他们收集

了能够收集的所有资料，不只是表现方面的统计数据和传记详细资料，还包括他们自己对取得很

高成就的人员进行的实验室实验结果。他们的研究得出了一个非常令人惊奇的结论——我们通常

称为天分的特征被高估了。或者，换句话说，专业执行者――无论是在记忆还是手术方面，在芭

蕾还是计算机编程领域――几乎总是培养的，而不是天生的。

2007 Text 2

For the past several years, the Sunday newspaper supplement Parade has featured a column called

―Ask Marilyn.‖ People are invited to query Marilyn vos Savant, who at age 10 had tested at a mental

level of someone about 23 years old; that gave her an IQ of 228 – the highest score ever recorded. IQ

tests ask you to complete verbal and visual analogies, to envision paper after it has been folded and cut,

and to deduce numerical sequences, among other similar tasks. So it is a bit confusing when vos Savant

fields such queries from the average Joe (whose IQ is 100) as, What’s the difference between love and

fondness? Or what is the nature of luck and coincidence? ①It’s not obvious how the capacity to

visualize objects and to figure out numerical patterns suits one to answer questions that have eluded

some of the best poets and philosophers.

在过去的几年，《星期日报》的增刊《漫步》开设了一个名为―询问玛丽琳‖的专栏。人们被邀

请去询问玛丽琳•沃斯•萨文特，玛丽琳•沃斯•萨文特在10岁时测试的智力水平达到别人23岁时的

水平，这使得她的智商高达228――是有记录的最高水平。智商测试要求你完成口头和视觉分析，

要求你在纸张被折叠、剪切后想象它的形状，要求你推论数字的顺序，还有其他类似的项目。所

以，当沃斯•萨文特面对普通人（智商为100）提出的像―热爱与喜爱之间的区别是什么？‖或者―运

气与巧合的特征是什么？‖这样的问题时，她感到有点困惑。设想物体、判断数字模式的能力如何

使一个人能够回答难倒了一些最杰出的诗人和哲学家的问题，这可并不那么显而易见。

Clearly, intelligence encompasses more than a score on a test. Just what does it mean to be smart?

How much of intelligence can be specified, and how much can we learn about it from neurology,

genetics, computer science and other fields?

毫无疑问，智力包含的不仅仅是一次测试所得的分数。而聪明意味着什么？可以明确显示智

力有多少？我们能够从神经学、遗传学、计算机科学以及其他领域了解的智力又有多少？

The defining term of intelligence in humans still seems to be the IQ score, even though IQ tests are

not given as often as they used to be. The test comes primarily in two forms: the Stanford-Binet

Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler Intelligence Scales (both come in adult and children’s version).

Generally costing several hundred dollars, they are usually given only by psychologists, although

variations of them populate bookstores and the World Wide Web. ②Superhigh scores like vos Savant’s

are no longer possible, because scoring is now based on a statistical population distribution among age

peers, rather than simply dividing the mental age by the chronological age and multiplying by 100. Other

standardized tests, such as the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the Graduate Record Exam (GRE),

capture the main aspects of IQ tests.

人类有关智力的定义性术语似乎仍然是智商分数，即使人们并不像以前那样经常进行智商测

试。智商测试主要表现为两种形式：斯坦福—比奈特智力衡量表和威斯勒智力衡量表（两种都包

含成人和儿童测试类型）。由于这些测试一般要花费几百美元，因此通常只有心理学家才进行这些

测试，尽管这些测试的变种存在于书店和环球网上。像沃斯•萨文特得到这样的超高分数也再不可

能，因为现在的分数依据的是相同年龄者的统计学群体分布状况，而不是简单地通过实足年龄乘

以100来划分智能年龄。其他标准测试，比如学术能力检测以及研究生入学考试，包含了智商测

试的主要方面。

Such standardized tests may not assess all the important elements necessary to succeed in school

and in life, argues Robert J. Sternberg. In his article ―How Intelligent Is Intelligence Testing?‖, ③

Sternberg notes that traditional test best assess analytical and verbal skills but fail to measure creativity

and practical knowledge, components also critical to problem solving and life success. Moreover, IQ test

do not necessarily predict so well once populations or situations change. Research has found that IQ

predicted leadership skills when the tests were given under low-stress conditions, but under high-stress

conditions, IQ was negatively correlated with leadership – that is, it predicted the opposite. Anyone who

has toiled through SAT will testify that test-taking skill also matters, whether it’s knowing when to guess

or what questions to skip.

罗伯特•杰•斯顿伯格认为，这样的标准测试不可能评估在学校和生活中取得成功所需的所有

重要因素。在其名为―智力测试如何明智？‖的文章中，斯顿伯格指出，传统的测试最恰当地评估

了分析能力和语言表达能力，但没有测量创造性和实际知识，这些也是解决问题和在生活中取得

成功的关键因素。而且，一旦种群或环境发生变化，智商测试就不一定预测得那么准确。研究发

现，如果在低压力状况下进行智商测试，那么这种测试就可以预测出领导才能，但是，在高压力

状况下，智商测试所得的结果与领导才能的关系是否定的，也就是说，它预测的结果是相反的。

任何经历过学术能力检测的人都会认为，应试能力也很重要，无论是知道何时应该进行推测，还

是知道应该忽略什么问题。

2007 Text 3

①During the past generation, the American middle-class family that once could count on hard

work and fair play to keep itself financially secure had been transformed by economic risk and new

realties. Now a pink slip, a bad diagnosis, or a disappearing spouse can reduce a family from solidly

middle class to newly poor in a few months.

在过去的十几年里，美国那些曾经可以依靠辛勤劳动和公平条件以维持其收入稳定的中产阶

层家庭被经济风险和新现实改变了。如今，一份解雇通知书、一个不利的诊断结果或者配偶的去

世都可能在几个月之内将一个家庭从稳定的中产阶层家庭降格成为一个新贫困家庭。

In just one generation, millions of mothers have gone to work, transforming basic family economics.

②Scholars, policymakers, and critics of all stripes have debated the social implications of these changes,

but few have looked at the side effect: family risk has risen as well. Today’s families have budgeted to

the limits of theirs new two-paycheck status. ③As a result, they have lost the parachuted they once had

in times of financial setback – a back-up earner (usually Mom) who could go into the workforce if the

primary earner got laid off or fell sick. ④This ―added-worker effect‖ could support the safety net

offered by unemployment insurance or disability insurance to help families weather bad times. But today,

a disruption to family fortunes can no longer be made up with extra income from an

otherwise-stay-at-home partner.

在仅仅一代人的时间里，数百万母亲出去工作，改变了基本的家庭经济状况。学者、决策者

以及各类批评人士对这些变化的社会意义争论不休，但是，很少有人关注这些变化的副作用：家

庭的风险增加了。如今的家庭根据其新的双收入限度安排开支。因此，它们失去了它们在经济萧

条时期曾经有过的缓解举措——一个后备挣钱者（通常是妈妈），如果家庭的主要挣钱者失业了或

者病倒了，她可以出去工作。这种―额外工人效应‖可以支撑失业保险或残疾保险提供的安全网，

以便帮助家庭渡过难关。但现在，家庭财产的损失再也不可能通过呆在家里的其他伴侣的额外收

入弥补了。

During the same period, families have been asked to absorb much more risk in their retirement

income. ⑤Steelworkers, airline employees, and now those in the auto industry are joining millions of

families who must worry about interest rates, stock market fluctuation, and the harsh reality that they

may outlive their retirement money. ⑥For much of the past year, President Bush campaigned to move

Social Security to a saving-account model, with retirees trading much or all of their guaranteed

payments for payments depending on investment returns. For younger families the picture is not any

better. ⑦Both the absolute cost of healthcare and the share of it borne by families have risen – and

newly fashionable health-saving plans are spreading from legislative halls to Wal-Mart workers, with

much higher deductibles and a large new dose of investment risk for families’ future healthcare. ⑧Even

demographics are working against the middle class family, as the odds of having a weak elderly parent –

and all the attendant need for physical and financial assistance – have jumped eightfold in just one

generation.

在同一时期，要求家庭在其退休收入中承担更多风险。钢铁厂的工人、航空公司的职员以及

汽车产业工人加入了数百万不得不担心利率、股市波动以及可能比其退休收入存在时间更长的严

酷现实家庭。在去年的大部分时间里，布什总统一直致力于将社会保险体制转变成一种储蓄存款

账户模式，要求退休人员将其大多数或所有保障报酬用来交换依靠投资回报所得的报酬。对于更

年轻的家庭来说，前景不容乐观。卫生保健和家庭承担份额的绝对成本都上涨了——而且，最近

实施的健康储蓄计划正在从立法机关扩展到沃尔玛员工，包含大量更高的减免，并且给家庭未来

的卫生保健带来许多新投资风险。甚至人口统计状况也对中产阶层家庭不利，因为有一个体弱、

年迈的父母——以及由此而产生的所有物资和经济援助——就在仅仅一代人的时间里增长了8

倍。

⑨From the middle-class family perspective, much of this, understandably, looks far less like an

opportunity to exercise more financial responsibility, and a good deal more like a frightening

acceleration of the wholesale shift of financial risk onto their already overburdened shoulders. The

financial fallout has begun, and the political fallout may not be far behind.

从中产阶层家庭的角度来看，大多数情况是可以理解的，这根本不像一种发挥更多支付能力

的机会，而是像一种将经济风险大规模转向那些已经负担过重的家庭的令人恐惧的加速行为。经

济副作用已经开始，政治副作用可能也将开始。

2007 Text 4

It never rains but it pours. ①Just as bosses and boards have finally sorted out their worst

accounting and compliance troubles, and improved their feeble corporation governance, a new problem

threatens to earn them – especially in America – the sort of nasty headlines that inevitably lead to heads

rolling in the executive suite: data insecurity. ②Left, until now, to odd, low-level IT staff to put right,

and seen as a concern only of data-rich industries such as banking, telecoms and air travel, information

protection is now high on the boss’s agenda in businesses of every variety.

不鸣则易，一鸣惊人（本来从不下雨的,却下起了倾盆大雨）。就在老板和董事会用最终挑选

出其最严重的清算帐目和顺从问题以及改善其无效的公司管理之际，一个新的问题预示着让他们

——特别是在美国——赢得那种令人不愉快的头条新闻的危险，这些头条新闻不可避免地给这些

领导者带来管理方面的附属效应：信息的不安全性。迄今为止，信息保护工作一直被留给临时的、

低层次的信息技术人员承担，并且只被看成是信息资源丰富产业所关切的一个方面，比如银行业、

电信业以及航空旅行业，如今，信息保护则成为各类商业老板议事日程中需要优先考虑的问题。

③Several massive leakages of customer and employee data this year – from organizations as

diverse as Time Warner, the American defense contractor Science Applications International Corp and

even the University of California, Berkeley – have left managers hurriedly peering into their intricate IT

systems and business processes in search of potential vulnerabilities.

今年，好几次消费者和员工信息的重大泄密事件使得管理人员匆忙检查其复杂的信息系统和

商业程序，以便寻找潜在的弱点——这些泄密事件发生在像时代华纳、美国国防部承包的科学应

用国际公司以及加州大学伯克利分校这样的不同机构。

―Data is becoming an asset which needs to be guarded as much as any other assets, says Haim

Mendelson of Stanford University’s business school. ―The ability to guard customer data is the key to

market value, which the board is responsible for on behalf of shareholders.‖ Indeed, just as there is the

concept of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), perhaps it is time for GASP, Generally

Accepted Security Practices, suggested Eli Noam of New York’s Columbia Business School. ―Setting

the proper investment level for security, redundancy, and recovery is a management issue, not a technical

one,‖ he says.

斯坦福大学商学院的海姆•门德尔森认为―信息正在成为一种需要像保护其他财产一样而保护

的财产‖。―保护消费者信息的能力是市场价值的关键因素，这是董事会应该为了股东的利益而承

担的责任‖。纽约哥伦比亚商学院的埃尼•诺姆暗示，事实上，正如存在公认会计原则的观念一样，

或许可能应该是采取公认安全措施的时候了。他表示―为安全、备份以及恢复确定适当的投资标准

是一个管理问题，不是技术问题。‖。

The mystery is that this should come as a surprise to any boss. Surely it should be obvious to the

dimmest executive that trust, that most valuable of economic assets, is easily destroyed and hugely

expensive to restore – and that few things are more likely to destroy trust than a company letting

sensitive personal data get into the wrong hands.

其神秘在于，对任何老板来说，这可能是一个意外。然而，对于最迟钝的管理人员来说，显

而易见的应该是，作为最珍贵经济财产的诚信被轻易破坏，而要恢复诚信却代价高昂，而且，很

少有什么比一个公司让敏感的个人信息落入不妥当人之手更可能破坏诚信的了。

The current state of affaires may have been encouraged – though not justified – by the lack of legal

penalty (in America, but not Europe) for data leakage. Until California recently passed a law, American

firms did not have to tell anyone, even the victim, when data went astray. That may change fast: lots of

proposed data-security legislation is now doing the rounds in Washington, D.C. ④Meanwhile, the theft

of information about some 40 million credit-card accounts in America, disclosed on June 17

overshadowed a hugely important decision a day earlier by America’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

that puts corporate America on notice that regulators will act if firms fail to provide adequate data

security.

这类事情的现状可能受到缺乏有关信息泄露的法律处罚（在美国，不是在欧洲）的激励，尽

管还没有的到证实。直到加利福尼亚最近通过了一项法律，美国的公司不必告知任何人信息何时

泄露，甚至包括受害人。这种情况可能迅速改变：如今，许多被提议的信息保护立法正在华盛顿

特区讨论。同时，6月17日有关偷窃大约4000万信用卡账户信息事件的披露给得此前一天美国

商务委员会的一个重要决定蒙上阴影，该决定请全美国注意，如果公司没有提供适当的信息安全

保护措施，那么监管人员就会采取行。