发布时间 : 星期三 文章自考英语阅读二课文及翻译更新完毕开始阅读70a72ee916fc700aba68fc8c
进入竞争激烈的就业市场，女士最终可能不再具有现在统计数字上的优势。
WHEN ARE YOU MOST LIKELY TO DEVELOP MENTAL DISORDERS? From 30 to 35.This surprisingly narrow peak is very real. The National Institute of Mental Health (INMH) reports that more than half of the patients in mental hospitals, male and female, are in this age group (men leading women by about 20%)什么时候你最容易患精神错乱病症？是３０到３５岁之间。这种十分短暂的患这种病的高峰期是千真万确的。全国精神健康研究所的报告称：在精神病医院里，在这个年龄段内的男女患者超过总数的一半（男性比女性高２０％） But if we are most neurotic (a. 患神经病的) between 30 and 35, apparently we recover quickly. Admissions to mental hospitals drop sharply around age 40 and stay down until age 65. Yet, say psychologists, between 40 and 55, more people report they “feel” on the verge (n. 边缘) of a nervous breakdown. Relatively few actually occur. “We become veterans (n. a person who has had long experience 老手，有经验的人) at coping,” says psychologist Marvin Marlins.但如果我们在３０到３５岁之间最易患神经病，很明显，我们会很快康复。精神病医院接纳的４０岁左右的病人数量急剧减少，而且一直持续到６５岁的患者都很少。不过心理学家说，在４０到５５岁之间的人罗多的人说他们“感到”处在神经崩溃的边缘，实际发生的却相对很少。心理学家马文.卡林斯说：“我们在处置这类情况时很有经验。”
Suicide, a measure of mental problems, peaks from 20 to 24 and then again around 70. Incidences of suicide are smallest among people with intact marriages, highest among the divorced.自杀是精神问题的一种，高峰期出在２０到２４岁之间和７０岁左右。完整婚姻中的自杀率最低，而在离异家庭中自杀率最高。
WHEN ARE YOU HAPPIEST? You have the best physical sense of yourself from 15 to 24; the best professional sense from 40 to 49. Pessimism (n. tendency to look at the worst aspect of things 悲观主义) peaks between 30 and 39. San Diego State University psychologists Marilyn Barges and Linda Dutton found that before age 24, we believe that our happiest years are yet to come; over 30, we believer that they’re behind us. A National Health Survey agrees: After age 30, we “become more realistic and do not view happiness as a goal in itself. If we maintain our health, achieve professional and emotional goals, then happiness, we feel, we follow.”你什么时候最幸福？你对自己的身体状况感到最满意是１５至２４岁，对事业感到最满意是４０至４９岁，悲观情结最严重是３０至３９。对地亚哥州立大学心理学家玛里琳.博格斯与琳达.达顿发现，24岁之前，我们认为我们最幸福的日子还没到来；过了３０岁，我们又认为最幸福的日子已经过去了。国家健康调查报告认为，过了３０岁以后，我们“变得较为现实，而且并不把幸福就当作目的本身。如果我们保持身体健康，实现了事业和感情的目标，那么我们就会感到我们获得了幸福。”
The American Institute of Public Opinion says that the pessimism peak occurs when we realize that talent and determination aren’t enough to guarantee (v. to assure, ensure保证，担保) success. Lady Luck must help.美国公共舆论研究所认为，当我们认识到才能与意志并不足以保证我们获得成功时，严重的悲观情绪就会产生了，此时就要靠“运气女神”帮忙了。
Also, youth’s good physical sense of self apparently does little to foster happiness. “Parents who tell their teenage children, ‘ These are the happiest years,’” says Lagged, “couldn’t be more wrong. Adolescence is very difficult. Only when you are 49 and looking back does youth look blissful (a.
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extremely happy 非常幸福的，极其快乐的).”另外，年轻人对自己的身体状况感觉良好很明显并不能产生幸福感。“父母对他们未成年的孩子说：‘这是最幸福的岁月。’”利格特说：“这样说就大错特错了。青春时期，荆刺遍地。只有当你４０岁回首往事时才会发现青春是极为美好的。
WHEN ARE YOU MOST CREATIVE? Generally between 30 to 39, but the peak varies with different professions.
Mozart wrote a symphony and four sonatas (奏鸣曲) by age eight, and Mendelssohn composed his best-known work, A Midsummer Night’s dream, at 17. Psychologist H. C. Lehman presents the years for peak work in many fields. Though the peak in most fields comes early---most Nobel Prize winners did their top research in their late 20’s and 30’s----creative people continue to produce quality work throughout their lives.你什么时候最富有创造力？一般说是在３０至39岁之间，但其高峰期又因职业而异 。莫扎特８岁时即创作出一部交响曲和四首奏鸣曲。门德尔松17岁时谱写了他的广为人知的作品《仲夏夜之梦》。心理学家H.C.莱曼描绘了许多领域里高峰期代表作的不同年龄。尽管在大多数领域中，这种高峰期均来得很早－大多数诺贝尔奖获得者都是在其３０岁前那几年和３０至４０岁之间作出了最突出的成就－但具有创造力的人终其一生都能做出高质量的工作。
By viewing life’s various peaks, we can easily get the feeling that we are part of a giant give-and –take plan. Though statistically the plan is there, we must remember that every peak has many exceptions. Says Mulish, “The human life journey cannot be charted by a single curving line.”通过观察一生中不同的高峰期，我们很容易得到这种印象，即我们都是一项放庞大的（给予与索取）计划中的一部分。虽然从统计上看确有这么一个计划，我们必须记住，所有的高峰期都具有例外的。麦克利什说:“人的生命历程不能用单一的曲线来勾划。” Text 4
Our disappearing wildlife
Animal life first appeared on the earth about 400 million years ago. Through the passing millennia (millennium n. a period of 1,000 years), thousands of animal species have come and gone. Until recently, this process was gradual, the result of change in climate, in habitat (the natural home of a plant or animal ), or in the genes of the animals themselves, but the tremendous expansion of modern civilization now threatens to upset the natural balance, putting unprecedented (a. 无前例的) pressure on the survival of our wildlife.大约４０亿年前，地球上就有了动物。经过数千年，成千上万的物种繁衍灭绝。直到最近，由于气候、栖息地或动物本身基因的变化而引起的，这一物种灭绝的过程是逐步而缓慢的，但如今现代文明的大规模入侵似将破坏这种平衡，从而为我们野生动物的挽救工作带空前的压力。
This imbalance can be traced to many causes. Most arise in the greed and poor planning of man himself. With each increase in man’s population, the wilderness areas where the animals live get smaller. The use of pesticides （杀虫剂） to control injurious (a. causing harm) insect also harms wild birds and animals. Water pollution kills fish in our rivers, lakes, and oceans, Hunters have almost exterminated (v. destroy utterly) many of the larger animals like the bighorn sheep (大角羊)
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and the grizzly bear（灰熊）. And farmers destroy smaller animals like the prairie dog (草原犬鼠) and coyote(郊狼，小狼). As a result of this unrelenting pressure, our wildlife is disappearing at the rate of one species or subspecies per years.这种不平衡可溯自很多原因。而大多数都源于人类自身的贪婪和缺乏计划性，人口的每一次增长都会导致野生环境的缩小。用杀虫剂控制害虫的同时也危害着野生鸟类和兽类。水污染会毒死江河湖海里的鱼类。狩猎者几乎灭绝了象大角羊、灰熊这样形体较大些的动物。农民们则去消灭象草原犬鼠和狡狼那类小一些的动物。正是这种未减弱的压力导致我们的野生动物正在以每年一处物种或亚种的速度消亡。 of all the continents, the most drastic reduction in wildlife has occurred in north America, where the transition from a rural to a highly industrialized society has been most rapid. Among the victims are birds, mammals and fish. We will never again see the passenger pigeon or the eastern elk( n. 麋). They have been wiped out. Of many other species, only a few representatives still survive in the wild. The U.S. Department of the Interior has put no fewer than 109 species on the endangered species list. (An endangered species is one with poor prospects for survival and in need of protection.) This list includes everything from the timber wolf （林狼） to the whooping crane（鸣鹤）. Even the bald eagle, our national symbol, is threatened.在各大州中，北美洲的野生动物减少幅度最大，因为它由乡村向高度工业化社会转变得最快。鸟类、哺乳动物、鱼类就是其中的受害者。我们再也见不到旅鸽和麋了，因为它们已经灭绝。在许多其他的物种中，也只有几个代表仍幸存于荒野。美国内务部将不下１０９个物种列入面临灭绝的物种名单（面临灭绝的物种指那种生存前景不乐观，需要保护的物种）。这个名单包括了所有象林狼和鸣鹤那样的稀有动物。就连我国的象征－秃鹰也受到了威胁。 Animals that kill other game for food are called predators.（n. 捕食者） The predators include the wolf, mountain lion, fox, babcat, and bear. Attack against these animals began with the arrival of the first European settlers, who wished to protect their livestock (n. animals kept on a farm 家畜，牲畜). Eventually, a reward was offered to hunters for every predator that was killed, this reward is called a bounty（n. money given for reward）. Ironically, the Federal government is the chief funder of predator control programs.
捕食其他猎物的动物叫做食肉动物。食肉动物包括狼、美洲狮、狐狸、野猫和熊等。对这些动物的捕杀始于第一批欧洲移民的到来，因为他们希望能保住自己的牲畜。捕猎者只要杀死一个食肉动物就会得到一份奖赏。这种奖赏叫作赏金。具有讽刺意味的是联邦政府是食肉动物控制项目的主要资金提供者。
the settlers also brought with them their old world fears and superstitions concerning predators. Whether preying on livestock or not, predators were shot on sight. This attitude continues to this day for coyotes, eagles, foxes, mountain lions, and bobcats, and is largely responsible for placing the eastern timber wolf, grizzly bear, and bald eagle on the endangered species list.
这些移民还带来了在欧洲时那种对食肉动物所怀有的恐惧和迷信。他们只要看见食肉动物就开枪打死，不管它们是否在捕食家畜。直至今日，这种观点对于郊狼、鹰、狐狸、美洲狮和野猫还同样奏效。东部林狼、灰熊和秃鹰被列入面临灭绝的物种名单也主要是这种观点作用的结果。
yet every animal, including the predator, has its place in nature’s grand design. Predators help maintain the health of their prey species by eliminating the diseased, young, old, and injured.
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Predators like the mountain lion and the wolf help to keep the deer herds healthy. Their kill also provider food for scavengers (n. 食腐动物) that feed on carrion. Occasional loss of livestock must be weighed against the good these animals do in maintaining the balance of nature.
然而，每种动物，包括食肉动物，在大自然的总体设计中都有一席之地。食肉动物除掉老幼病残的动物会有助于维持所猎动物的健壮。像美洲狮和狼这样的食肉动物就能保持鹿群的健壮。被它们弄死的猎获物还为靠吃腐肉为生的食腐动物提供了食物。因此我们必须把家畜的偶尔损失与这些动物对保持生态平衡所做的贡献加以权衡考虑。
the mountain lion has especially suffered from trapping and hunting. This great cat had the widest distribution of any mammal in the western hemisphere. Its range extended from northern British Columbia to the tip of South America. And from the Atlantic to the Pacific. But by the turn of 19th century this splendid animal was almost extinct in the eastern United States. In the West, the pattern of persecution was similar to that suffered by other predators. As the sheep and cattle empires grew, so did the war on the mountain lion.
美洲狮尤其遭到了诱捕和追杀。这种狮子在西半球哺乳动物中分布得最广。其分布范围从不列颠哥伦比亚北部一赶延伸到南美洲之端，从大西洋延伸到太平洋。但以１９世纪末２０世纪初时，这种威武的动物几乎在美洲东部绝迹。在西部捕杀的方式同其他食肉动物所遭受的相似。随着羊群和牛群的增加，对美洲狮的捕杀也在升级。
overhunting an animal is an obvious form of extermination, but there are more subtle processes that often have the same fatal result. One of these is destruction of habitat. When farmers introduced sheep and cattle to North America, the domestic animals competed with the wild animals for the available grazing land. Animals like the buffalo and the pronghorn antelope（叉角羚）, which once roamed the plains in countless numbers, were either killed or pushed off the grasslands. Today, a few remnants (n. a part that remains) of these giant hers are protected from hunters in national game preserves and wildlife refuges.
过量地捕杀一种动物是致使其灭绝的明显的形式，还有一些更隐晦的过程带有同样致命的后果。其中之一就是对野生动物栖息地的破坏。农民们一将羊和牛引入北美，家畜和野兽就为争夺可食草地展开了竞争。象野牛、叉角羚这样曾经数以万计地漫步在草原上的动物不是被杀死就是被成群逐出了草地。如今，这些大兽群中的为数不多的残存者被留在国家鸟兽禁猎区和野生动物保护区以免受狩猎者的追杀。
pesticides have also taken their toll. In 1947 a new chemical poison called DDT was introduced. It proved very effective in controlling insect pests like the potato beetle and the boll weevil (棉铃象鼻虫). But pesticides, which decompose（分解） very slowly, accumulate in animals which feed on pest or their predators, and the accumulated poisons attack their nervous systems. Pesticides also interfere with the formation of calcium in birds, which then lay eggs with very thin shells or no shell at all. When wildlife fail to reproduce, it isn’t very long before they disappear. The bald eagle, 12 species of hawks, and the pelican have been seriously reduced by chemicals.
杀虫剂也使鸟兽遭受了死亡。１９４７年，一种新的化学毒药滴滴涕被引进并证实在控制象马铃薯甲虫、棉铃象虫等方面很有效。但由于杀虫剂分解得很慢，所以会聚积在以吃这些害虫为生的动物体内或与这些动物为敌的食肉动物身上。杀虫剂还影响鸟类钙的形成，致使鸟
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