大学英语精读听力第四册 unit3
[00:00.00]Unit Three Text
[00:22.65]Can you prove that the earth is round?
[00:25.31]Go ahead and try!
[00:27.19]Will you rely on your senses or will you have to draw on the opinions of experts?
[00:27.25]WHY DO WE BELIEVE THAT THE EARTH IS ROUND? George Orwell
[00:32.29]Somewhere or other--I think it is in the preface to Saint Joan--
[00:37.36]Bernard Shaw remarks that we are more gullible and superstitious today
[00:41.80]than we were in the Middle Ages,
[00:43.44]and as an example of modern credulity
[00:46.18]he cites the widespread belief that the earth is round.
[00:49.87]The average man,says Shaw,
[00:52.32]can advance not a single reason for thinking that the earth is round.
[00:56.27]He merely swallows this theory because there is something about it
[01:00.45]that appeals to the twentieth-century mentality.
[01:03.43]Now,Shaw is exaggerating,but there is something in what he says,
[01:08.88]and the question is worth following up,
[01:10.92]for the sake of the light it throws on modern knowledge.
[01:14.03]Just why do we believe that the earth is round?
[01:17.32]I am not speaking of the few thousand astronomers,
[01:21.68]geographers and so forth who could give ocular proof,
[01:25.13]or have a theoretical knowledge of the proof,
[01:27.67]but of the ordinary newspaper-reading citizen,such as you or me.
[01:32.81]As for the Flat Earth theory, I believe I could refute it.
[01:36.68]If you stand by the seashore on a clear day,
[01:39.58]you can see the masts and funnels of invisible ships passing along the horizon.
[01:44.67]This phenomenon can only be explained by assuming that the earth\'s surface is curved.
[01:50.32]But it does not follow that the earth is spherical.
[01:53.89]Imagine another theory called the Oval Earth theory,
[01:52.89]which claims that the earth is shaped like an egg.
[01:55.74]What can I say against it?
[01:57.88]Against the Oval Earth man,
[01:56.88]the first card I can play is the analogy of the sun and moon.
[02:01.61]The Oval Earth man promptly answers that I don\'t know,
[02:05.19]by my own observation, that those bodies are spherical.
[02:09.13]I only know that they are round,
[02:11.51]and they may perfectly well be flat discs.
[02:14.67]I have no answer to that one.
[02:16.81]Besides,he goes on,
[02:18.46]what reason have I for thinking that the earth must be the same shape as the sun and moon?
[02:23.95]I can\'t answer that one either.
[02:26.35]My second card is the earth\'s shadow:
[02:29.75]when cast on the moon during eclipses,
[02:32.38]it appears to be the shadow of a round nobject.
[02:35.65]But how do I know, demands the Oval Earth man,
[02:39.12]that eclipses of the moon are caused by the shadow of the earth?
[02:42.88]The answer is that I don\'t know,
[02:45.47]but have taken this piece of information blindly from newspaper articles and science booklets
[02:51.92]Defeated in the minor exchanges,
[02:54.22]I now play my queen of trumps:
[02:54.29]the opinion of the experts.
[02:56.49]The Astronomer Royal, who ought to know, tells me that the earth is round.
[03:01.95]The Oval Earth man covers the queen with his king.
[03:00.95]Have I tested the Astronomer Royal\'s statement,
[03:04.19]and would I even know a way of testing it?
[03:06.67]Here I bring out my ace.
[03:08.55]Yes, I do know one test.
[03:10.74]The astronomers can foretell eclipses,
[03:13.43]and this suggests that their opinions about the solar system are pretty sound.
[03:18.29]I am,to my delight,
[03:20.07]justified in accepting their say-so about the shape of the earth.
[03:23.78]If the Oval Earth man answers--what I believe is true --
[03:28.06]that the ancient Egyptians, who thought the sun goes round the earth,
[03:31.93]could also predict eclipses,then bang goes my ace.
[03:36.47]I have only one card left:navigation.
[03:35.47]People can sail ships round the world,
[03:38.82]and reach the places they aim at,
[03:40.70]by calculations which assume that the earth is spherical.
[03:44.59]I believe that finishes the Oval Earth man,
[03:43.59]though even then he may possibly have some kind of counter.
[03:47.33]It\'ll be seen that my reasons for thinking that the earth is round are rather precarious ones
[03:46.33]Yet this is an exceptionally elementary piece of information.
[03:50.40]On most other questions I should have to fall back on the expert much earlier,
[03:55.23]and would be less able to test his pronouncements.
[03:58.29]And much the greater part of our knowledge is at this level.
[04:01.95]It does not rest on reasoning or on experiment,but on authority.
[04:06.70]And how can it be otherwise,
[04:08.71]when the range of knowledge is so vast that the expert himself
[04:12.42]is an ignoramus as soon as he strays away from his own specialty?
[04:17.05]Most people,if asked to prove that the earth is round,
[04:20.81]would not even bother to produce the rather weak arguments I have outlined above.
[04:25.35]They would start off by saying that "everyone knows" the earth to be round,
[04:30.29]and if pressed further, would become angry.
[04:30.34]In a way Shaw is right.
[04:33.01]This is a credulous age,
[04:34.34]and the burden of knowledge which we now have to carry is partly responsible.
[04:38.91]Unit three New Words
[04:41.68]preface
[04:42.36]n.前言,序
[04:43.04]gullible
[04:43.63]a.易受骗的;轻信的
[04:44.21]superstitious
[04:45.09]迷信的
[04:45.96]credulity
[04:46.68]n.轻信
[04:47.40]cite
[04:48.03]vt.举出;引用
[04:48.65]widespread
[04:49.61]a.分布广的;普遍的
[04:50.56]advance
[04:50.63]vt. 提出
[04:50.69]appeal
[04:51.31]vi.投合所好;有感染力;有吸引力
[04:51.92]mentality
[04:52.69]n.心理,思想;脑力
[04:53.46]exaggerate
[04:54.21]vt.夸张;夸大
[04:54.95]sake
[04:55.54]n.缘故
[04:56.13]geographer
[04:56.84]n. a specialist in geography
[04:57.56]ocular
[04:58.19]a.眼睛的;凭视觉的
[04:58.82]theoretical
[04:59.53]a. of or based on theory
[05:00.25]citizen
[05:00.97]n.公民;市民
[05:01.69]refute
[05:02.29]vt.驳斥
[05:02.89]mast
[05:03.71]n.桅杆
[05:04.54]funnel
[05:05.06]n.蒸汽机,轮船等的烟囱
[05:05.58]invisible
[05:06.30]a.that can not be seen
[05:07.02]horizon
[05:07.66]n.地平线
[05:08.30]phenomenon
[05:08.99](pl. phenomena) n.现象
[05:09.68]curve
[05:10.32]vt.使成曲线 n.曲线
[05:10.96]follow
[05:11.55]vi.结果产生;得出
[05:12.14]spherical
[05:13.05]a. 球形的
[05:13.97]oval
[05:14.53]n.& a.卵形的（东西）,椭圆的（东西)
[05:15.09]card
[05:15.72]n. 纸牌
[05:16.34]analogy
[05:16.93]n.类比;相似
[05:17.52]promptly
[05:18.34]ad.敏捷地;迅速地
[05:19.17]prompt
[05:19.66]及时地
[05:20.16]body
[05:20.86]n.天体
[05:21.57]disc
[05:22.14]n.圆盘
[05:22.72]cast
[05:23.28]vt.扔,投;投射
[05:23.84]eclipse
[05:24.69]n.天文学（日、月）食
[05:25.54]booklet
[05:26.06]n.小册子
[05:26.58]exchange
[05:27.21]vt. 交换
[05:27.84]trump
[05:28.56]n.王牌
[05:29.28]royal
[05:29.97]a.皇家的;王室的
[05:30.66]statement
[05:31.23]n.陈述;声明
[05:31.81]ace
[05:32.36]n.(纸牌中的)“A”牌,爱司
[05:32.91]foretell
[05:33.47]vt.预言
[05:34.03]solar
[05:34.07]a.of the sun
[05:34.10]the solar system:
[05:35.13]the sun and the planets which revolve round it
[05:36.16]justify
[05:36.16]vt.证明...是正当的 为...辨护
[05:36.16]say-so
[05:36.80]n.权威性声明无证据的断言
[05:37.44]Egyptian
[05:38.14]n.a.埃及人,埃及的
[05:38.83]predict
[05:39.40]vt.预言
[05:39.98]bang
[05:40.54]ad.砰地
[05:41.10]navigation
[05:41.87]航海 n.
[05:42.64]calculation
[05:43.48]n.计算
[05:44.32]calculate
[05:44.94]计算 vt.
[05:45.57]calculator
[05:46.35]n.计算器
[05:47.14]counter
[05:47.80]n.讨价还价的本钱;回击,反击
[05:48.47]precarious
[05:49.25]a.不安全的;根据不足的;靠不住的
[05:50.04]exceptionally
[05:50.75]ad. unusually
[05:51.47]authority
[05:52.26]n.权威;权力
[05:53.04]ignoramus
[05:53.92]n. 无知的人
[05:54.79]stray
[05:55.37]vi.走离;离题
[05:55.94]specialty
[05:56.61]n.专业
[05:57.27]outline
[05:57.89]vt.indicate the main ideas or facts of n. 提纲
[05:58.50]press
[05:59.17]vt.催促;逼迫
[05:59.83]credulous
[06:00.51]a.轻信的
[06:01.19]burden
[06:01.30]n.重负;负荷
[06:01.41]Phrases & Expressions
[06:04.46]follow up (sth.)
[06:04.62]深入研究或调查;采取进一步行动
[06:04.79]for the sake of
[06:05.52]为了…的利益;为了
[06:06.25]throw/shed light on
[06:07.96]使明白,使明朗;解释
[06:09.67]and so forth
[06:09.71]and so on
[06:09.75]as for
[06:10.55]至于
[06:11.34]may well (not)
[06:12.11]完全（不）可能
[06:12.88]bring out
[06:12.92]拿出;使显出;推出（新产品等）
[06:12.96]aim at
[06:13.80]have as one\'s target, objective,etc.
[06:14.63]fall back on
[06:15.60]求助于
[06:16.57]rest on
[06:17.21]depend on ,rely on
[06:17.85]stray away from
[06:19.02]偏离
[06:20.20]start off
[06:20.90]begin;depart
[06:21.61]in a way
[06:22.28]在某种程度上
[06:22.94]Proper Names
[06:26.51]Saint Joan
[06:27.12]圣女贞德
[06:27.73]Bernard Shaw
[06:28.92]萧伯纳 大学英语精读第四册unit4 大学英语精读第四册unit6 大学英语精读第四册unit7 大学英语精读二4unit 大学英语精读四unit4 大学英语精读四un
[00:22.65]Can you prove that the earth is round?
[00:25.31]Go ahead and try!
[00:27.19]Will you rely on your senses or will you have to draw on the opinions of experts?
[00:27.25]WHY DO WE BELIEVE THAT THE EARTH IS ROUND? George Orwell
[00:32.29]Somewhere or other--I think it is in the preface to Saint Joan--
[00:37.36]Bernard Shaw remarks that we are more gullible and superstitious today
[00:41.80]than we were in the Middle Ages,
[00:43.44]and as an example of modern credulity
[00:46.18]he cites the widespread belief that the earth is round.
[00:49.87]The average man,says Shaw,
[00:52.32]can advance not a single reason for thinking that the earth is round.
[00:56.27]He merely swallows this theory because there is something about it
[01:00.45]that appeals to the twentieth-century mentality.
[01:03.43]Now,Shaw is exaggerating,but there is something in what he says,
[01:08.88]and the question is worth following up,
[01:10.92]for the sake of the light it throws on modern knowledge.
[01:14.03]Just why do we believe that the earth is round?
[01:17.32]I am not speaking of the few thousand astronomers,
[01:21.68]geographers and so forth who could give ocular proof,
[01:25.13]or have a theoretical knowledge of the proof,
[01:27.67]but of the ordinary newspaper-reading citizen,such as you or me.
[01:32.81]As for the Flat Earth theory, I believe I could refute it.
[01:36.68]If you stand by the seashore on a clear day,
[01:39.58]you can see the masts and funnels of invisible ships passing along the horizon.
[01:44.67]This phenomenon can only be explained by assuming that the earth\'s surface is curved.
[01:50.32]But it does not follow that the earth is spherical.
[01:53.89]Imagine another theory called the Oval Earth theory,
[01:52.89]which claims that the earth is shaped like an egg.
[01:55.74]What can I say against it?
[01:57.88]Against the Oval Earth man,
[01:56.88]the first card I can play is the analogy of the sun and moon.
[02:01.61]The Oval Earth man promptly answers that I don\'t know,
[02:05.19]by my own observation, that those bodies are spherical.
[02:09.13]I only know that they are round,
[02:11.51]and they may perfectly well be flat discs.
[02:14.67]I have no answer to that one.
[02:16.81]Besides,he goes on,
[02:18.46]what reason have I for thinking that the earth must be the same shape as the sun and moon?
[02:23.95]I can\'t answer that one either.
[02:26.35]My second card is the earth\'s shadow:
[02:29.75]when cast on the moon during eclipses,
[02:32.38]it appears to be the shadow of a round nobject.
[02:35.65]But how do I know, demands the Oval Earth man,
[02:39.12]that eclipses of the moon are caused by the shadow of the earth?
[02:42.88]The answer is that I don\'t know,
[02:45.47]but have taken this piece of information blindly from newspaper articles and science booklets
[02:51.92]Defeated in the minor exchanges,
[02:54.22]I now play my queen of trumps:
[02:54.29]the opinion of the experts.
[02:56.49]The Astronomer Royal, who ought to know, tells me that the earth is round.
[03:01.95]The Oval Earth man covers the queen with his king.
[03:00.95]Have I tested the Astronomer Royal\'s statement,
[03:04.19]and would I even know a way of testing it?
[03:06.67]Here I bring out my ace.
[03:08.55]Yes, I do know one test.
[03:10.74]The astronomers can foretell eclipses,
[03:13.43]and this suggests that their opinions about the solar system are pretty sound.
[03:18.29]I am,to my delight,
[03:20.07]justified in accepting their say-so about the shape of the earth.
[03:23.78]If the Oval Earth man answers--what I believe is true --
[03:28.06]that the ancient Egyptians, who thought the sun goes round the earth,
[03:31.93]could also predict eclipses,then bang goes my ace.
[03:36.47]I have only one card left:navigation.
[03:35.47]People can sail ships round the world,
[03:38.82]and reach the places they aim at,
[03:40.70]by calculations which assume that the earth is spherical.
[03:44.59]I believe that finishes the Oval Earth man,
[03:43.59]though even then he may possibly have some kind of counter.
[03:47.33]It\'ll be seen that my reasons for thinking that the earth is round are rather precarious ones
[03:46.33]Yet this is an exceptionally elementary piece of information.
[03:50.40]On most other questions I should have to fall back on the expert much earlier,
[03:55.23]and would be less able to test his pronouncements.
[03:58.29]And much the greater part of our knowledge is at this level.
[04:01.95]It does not rest on reasoning or on experiment,but on authority.
[04:06.70]And how can it be otherwise,
[04:08.71]when the range of knowledge is so vast that the expert himself
[04:12.42]is an ignoramus as soon as he strays away from his own specialty?
[04:17.05]Most people,if asked to prove that the earth is round,
[04:20.81]would not even bother to produce the rather weak arguments I have outlined above.
[04:25.35]They would start off by saying that "everyone knows" the earth to be round,
[04:30.29]and if pressed further, would become angry.
[04:30.34]In a way Shaw is right.
[04:33.01]This is a credulous age,
[04:34.34]and the burden of knowledge which we now have to carry is partly responsible.
[04:38.91]Unit three New Words
[04:41.68]preface
[04:42.36]n.前言,序
[04:43.04]gullible
[04:43.63]a.易受骗的;轻信的
[04:44.21]superstitious
[04:45.09]迷信的
[04:45.96]credulity
[04:46.68]n.轻信
[04:47.40]cite
[04:48.03]vt.举出;引用
[04:48.65]widespread
[04:49.61]a.分布广的;普遍的
[04:50.56]advance
[04:50.63]vt. 提出
[04:50.69]appeal
[04:51.31]vi.投合所好;有感染力;有吸引力
[04:51.92]mentality
[04:52.69]n.心理,思想;脑力
[04:53.46]exaggerate
[04:54.21]vt.夸张;夸大
[04:54.95]sake
[04:55.54]n.缘故
[04:56.13]geographer
[04:56.84]n. a specialist in geography
[04:57.56]ocular
[04:58.19]a.眼睛的;凭视觉的
[04:58.82]theoretical
[04:59.53]a. of or based on theory
[05:00.25]citizen
[05:00.97]n.公民;市民
[05:01.69]refute
[05:02.29]vt.驳斥
[05:02.89]mast
[05:03.71]n.桅杆
[05:04.54]funnel
[05:05.06]n.蒸汽机,轮船等的烟囱
[05:05.58]invisible
[05:06.30]a.that can not be seen
[05:07.02]horizon
[05:07.66]n.地平线
[05:08.30]phenomenon
[05:08.99](pl. phenomena) n.现象
[05:09.68]curve
[05:10.32]vt.使成曲线 n.曲线
[05:10.96]follow
[05:11.55]vi.结果产生;得出
[05:12.14]spherical
[05:13.05]a. 球形的
[05:13.97]oval
[05:14.53]n.& a.卵形的（东西）,椭圆的（东西)
[05:15.09]card
[05:15.72]n. 纸牌
[05:16.34]analogy
[05:16.93]n.类比;相似
[05:17.52]promptly
[05:18.34]ad.敏捷地;迅速地
[05:19.17]prompt
[05:19.66]及时地
[05:20.16]body
[05:20.86]n.天体
[05:21.57]disc
[05:22.14]n.圆盘
[05:22.72]cast
[05:23.28]vt.扔,投;投射
[05:23.84]eclipse
[05:24.69]n.天文学（日、月）食
[05:25.54]booklet
[05:26.06]n.小册子
[05:26.58]exchange
[05:27.21]vt. 交换
[05:27.84]trump
[05:28.56]n.王牌
[05:29.28]royal
[05:29.97]a.皇家的;王室的
[05:30.66]statement
[05:31.23]n.陈述;声明
[05:31.81]ace
[05:32.36]n.(纸牌中的)“A”牌,爱司
[05:32.91]foretell
[05:33.47]vt.预言
[05:34.03]solar
[05:34.07]a.of the sun
[05:34.10]the solar system:
[05:35.13]the sun and the planets which revolve round it
[05:36.16]justify
[05:36.16]vt.证明...是正当的 为...辨护
[05:36.16]say-so
[05:36.80]n.权威性声明无证据的断言
[05:37.44]Egyptian
[05:38.14]n.a.埃及人,埃及的
[05:38.83]predict
[05:39.40]vt.预言
[05:39.98]bang
[05:40.54]ad.砰地
[05:41.10]navigation
[05:41.87]航海 n.
[05:42.64]calculation
[05:43.48]n.计算
[05:44.32]calculate
[05:44.94]计算 vt.
[05:45.57]calculator
[05:46.35]n.计算器
[05:47.14]counter
[05:47.80]n.讨价还价的本钱;回击,反击
[05:48.47]precarious
[05:49.25]a.不安全的;根据不足的;靠不住的
[05:50.04]exceptionally
[05:50.75]ad. unusually
[05:51.47]authority
[05:52.26]n.权威;权力
[05:53.04]ignoramus
[05:53.92]n. 无知的人
[05:54.79]stray
[05:55.37]vi.走离;离题
[05:55.94]specialty
[05:56.61]n.专业
[05:57.27]outline
[05:57.89]vt.indicate the main ideas or facts of n. 提纲
[05:58.50]press
[05:59.17]vt.催促;逼迫
[05:59.83]credulous
[06:00.51]a.轻信的
[06:01.19]burden
[06:01.30]n.重负;负荷
[06:01.41]Phrases & Expressions
[06:04.46]follow up (sth.)
[06:04.62]深入研究或调查;采取进一步行动
[06:04.79]for the sake of
[06:05.52]为了…的利益;为了
[06:06.25]throw/shed light on
[06:07.96]使明白,使明朗;解释
[06:09.67]and so forth
[06:09.71]and so on
[06:09.75]as for
[06:10.55]至于
[06:11.34]may well (not)
[06:12.11]完全（不）可能
[06:12.88]bring out
[06:12.92]拿出;使显出;推出（新产品等）
[06:12.96]aim at
[06:13.80]have as one\'s target, objective,etc.
[06:14.63]fall back on
[06:15.60]求助于
[06:16.57]rest on
[06:17.21]depend on ,rely on
[06:17.85]stray away from
[06:19.02]偏离
[06:20.20]start off
[06:20.90]begin;depart
[06:21.61]in a way
[06:22.28]在某种程度上
[06:22.94]Proper Names
[06:26.51]Saint Joan
[06:27.12]圣女贞德
[06:27.73]Bernard Shaw
[06:28.92]萧伯纳 大学英语精读第四册unit4 大学英语精读第四册unit6 大学英语精读第四册unit7 大学英语精读二4unit 大学英语精读四unit4 大学英语精读四un
版权声明
本文来自投稿，不代表本站立场，转载请注明出处。
下一篇：大学英语自学教程 上册 un01
