7 .... In reaction / response / answer to theevent / phenomenon / idea / question , somepeople say / think ....

 

But do they realize...?

 

7.1 Now most people get their news and informationabout the things that are happening at home andabroad from television. They believe the things theyhear and see on television. Probably most of theinformation is true, and we can believe it. But shallwe always believe the information which television gives us? Do we never suspect that the giveninformation might be slanted, distorted or the truth totally denied?

现在大多数人都是从电视上知道国内外发生的事和新闻的。他们都相信在电视上看到和听到的事。大多数消息可能是真的，我们能相信。但是我们是否总是要相信电视给我们的消息呢?难道我们从不怀疑所给的消息可能有偏见，或已歪曲了，或真相已被彻底隐瞒了?

 

7.2 In the past few years big business has fallen to a low level in public esteem. A recent Galluppoll shows that big business came in last, in terms of the quality of the products, among allthe enterprises which sell household appliances in Shanghai; at the top of the list were smallbusiness or business from small towns. in response to the poll, many businessmen argue thatthis public attitude is due to the inadequacy of their advertising and can be cured by steppingup their advertising campaigns. They are only fooling themselves. Do they realize that the realproblem for their loss of public respect is what they have been doing, not what they have beensaying about themselves?

在过去几年里，大企业在公众中的信誉已下降到一个低水平。最近的盖洛普民意测验表明，就产品质量来说在上海出售家用电器的所有企业中，大企业位居榜末，而小企业或乡镇企业名列前茅。对此许多大企业人士认为公众的这种态度是由于广告宣传不够造成的，只要加大广告宣传声势，就会扭转局面。这是在自欺欺人。难道他们没有认识到失去公众信誉的真正问题在于他们所做的，而不是所说的?

 

8 The / Its method / way / value / wisdom s nowbeing questioned / challenged by more and morepeople.

 

8.1 Throwing criminals in jail is an ancient andwidespread method of punishment, but is it a wiseone? It does seem reasonable to keep wrongdoersin a place where they find fewer opportunities to hurtinnocent people, and where they might discoverthat crime doesn't pay. The system has long beenconsidered fair and sound by those who want to seethe guilty punished and society protected. Yet thevalue of this form of justice is now being questioned by more and more people.

把罪犯丢进监狱是个古老又被广泛采用的惩罚方法。但这个方法是否明智?把做坏事的人关在一个地方，使他们没有机会再损害无辜的人，使他们感到犯罪划不来，似乎确实有道理。这种制度一直被那些希望罪恶得到惩罚，社会得到保护的人视为公平而有效。但是这种司法形式的合理性现在正受到越来越多的人的质疑。

 

8.2 Required class attendance, like an old custom, is so common in in Chinese colleges anduniversities that many teachers and even students themselves simply assume it is a goodthing. But is it a wise method? It does contribute to the rise in the number of studentsattending class. But is there any proven co-relation between attendance and performance in acourse? The value of required attendance is now being questioned by more and more teachersand students.

上课点名制，如同一种古老习俗，在中国的大学里非常普遍，许多教师甚至学生自己都认为这种做法是对的。但这种方法是否明智?上课点名确实有助于学生出勤率的上升，但是到教室上课和这个学生在这门课上的学习表现，两者之间是否已证实有联系?上课点名制度的合理性已受到越来越多的教师和学生的怀疑。

 

9 These days we often hear about....

 

They claim / argue / say that....

 

But has / is it?

 

Close examination / analysis / scrutiny doesn'tbear out the claim. / argument.

 

9.1 These days we often hear about "the classlesssociety". They say that all men are equal, and theycan enjoy the same educational and job opportunities, and the distinction between rich andpoor has lost. But has it? Close examination doesn't bear out the claim.

近来我们一直听到关于“无阶级社会”的说法。他们称人人平等他们都享受同等的教育机会和工作机会;穷人和富人的界限已经消失。果真如此吗?略细分析一下，就证明这种观点站不住脚。

 

9.2 These days I have heard many exasperated students and working adults alike express astrong desire to take an English course and a computer course. They believe that suchknowledge will enhance their job opportunities or promotion opportunities. But will it? Theinformation I've collected over last few years leads me to believe that this knowledge may beless useful than most people think.

这些日子我听到不少因学习或工作而感到痛苦的学生和工人表示要上英语课或电脑课的强烈愿望。他们认为这些知识会增加他们找工作、晋级的机会。是这样吗?从我最近几年得到的材料来看，我认为这些知识并不像大多数人认为的那么有用。

 

10. We are often shown / told these days that....

 

But is this really the case?

 

10.1 We are often told that technological know-how, acquired in exploring space, will be utilized to make life better on earth. Is this really the case? What has the space exploration done to relieve the suffering of the earth's starving millions? In what way has it raised the standard of living of anyone of us? Man may put human beings on the moon, but there is growing skepticism about his ability to solve human problems closer to home.

我们经常听说在探索空间中获得的技术知识将用来改善我们地球上的人的生活。情况真的如此吗?太空探索对减轻地球上正在挨饿的千百万人的痛苦到底做了什么呢?它从什么方面提高了我们的生活水平呢?人类能够把人自己送上月球，但人们越来越怀疑其解决地球上人自己问题的能力。

 

11 Recently the rise in / phenomenon of /problem of / question of ... has drawn /aroused public / popular / grave / world-wide attention / caused /aroused wide / general /considerable / international concern / arisen/loomed up /cropped up as controversial /as note worthy/more distinctly for settlement

 

11.1 Recently, the alarm about the problem of the use of genetic technologies on human beings have caused wide public concern, and understandably so. With nuclear energy threatening global catastrophe and with so many other technological advances visibly damaging the quality of life, who would wish to have scientists tampering with man's inner nature? Indeed, fear of such manipulation may amuse even more anxiety than fear of death.

最近，有关把遗传技术用于人类自身而产生的问题的警示已引起了公众的广泛关注。这是可以理解的。核能开发正威胁着全球的生存，其它许多技术进步也正明显地危害生活的质量。在这种情况下，谁还会希望科学家来任意改变人体内部机能呢?确实，害怕对人的操纵所引起的担忧可能会超过对死亡的害怕。

 

11.2 Recently psychologists have found only about two percent of adults use their creativity, compared with ten percent of seven-year-old children. When five-year-olds were tested, the result soared to ninety percent! The findings set off many people thinking. Curiosity and originality are daily occurrences for the small child, but somehow most of us lose the freedom and flexibility of the child as we grow older. The need to follow "directions" and "do-it-right", plus the many societal constraints we put on ourselves, prevent us from using our creative potential.

最近，心理学家发现在使用自己创造力方面，成人只有2%，而7岁的儿童竟有10%。如果在5岁的儿童中测试，这个数上升到90%。这些发现引起许多人思索。好奇心和创造性每天可在小孩子身上发现，而当我们逐步长大成人，多数人丧失了孩子的那种自由和灵活性。“按常规去做”，“按正确的去做”，以及种种社会的清规戒律把我们束缚住了，使我们无法发挥自己的创造潜力。

 

12 Recently the issue / problem / question of... has been in the limelight. / brought into focus. / brought to public attention. / posed among the general public.

 

12.1 The problem of development vs. environment has now been in the limelight. Nowhere is the clash more visible than in China, where the world's largest population faces pollution, deforestation and acid rain on a large scale.

现在发展与环境的问题已成为人们议论的中心。在中国这对矛盾表现得尤为明显。这个世界上人口最多的国家正面临着大量的环境污染、森林减少以及酸雨的袭击。