Lesson 50 New Year resolutions

I went downstairs and sat in front of the television pretending to read.

便來(lái)到樓下坐在電視機(jī)前假裝看書(shū)。

Lesson 50 New Year resolutions

That proved to be my undoing, for I soon got back to my old bad habit of dozing off in front of the screen.

這下我可完了，因?yàn)椴灰粫?huì)兒，我就恢復(fù)了以前的壞習(xí)慣，在屏幕前打起瞌睡來(lái)。

Lesson 50 New Year resolutions

I still haven't given up my resolution to do more reading.

但我還沒(méi)有放棄多看些書(shū)的決心。

Lesson 50 New Year resolutions

In fact, I have just bought a book entitled How to Read a Thousand Words a Minute.

事實(shí)上，我剛買(mǎi)來(lái)一本叫《一分鐘讀一千字的訣竅》的書(shū)。

Lesson 50 New Year resolutions

Perhaps it will solve my problem, but I just haven't had time to read it!

也許這本書(shū)能解決我的問(wèn)題，但我一直還沒(méi)時(shí)間去看這本書(shū)！

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

Predicting the future is notoriously difficult.

眾所周知，預(yù)測(cè)未來(lái)是非常困難的。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

Who could have imagined, in the mid 1970s, for example, that by the end of the 20th century, computers would be as common in people's homes as TV sets?

舉個(gè)例子吧，在20世紀(jì)70年代中葉又有誰(shuí)能想得到在20世紀(jì)末的時(shí)候，家庭用的計(jì)算機(jī)會(huì)像電視機(jī)一樣普遍？

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

In the 1970s, computers were common enough, but only in big business, government departments, and large organizations.

在70年代，計(jì)算機(jī)已經(jīng)相當(dāng)普及了，但只用在大公司，政府部門(mén)和大的組織之中，

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

These were the so-called mainframe machines.

它們被稱為主機(jī)。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

Mainframe computers were very large indeed, often occupying whole air-conditioned rooms,

計(jì)算機(jī)主機(jī)確實(shí)很大，常常占據(jù)了裝有空調(diào)的多間房間，

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

employing full-time technicians and run on specially-written software.

雇用專職的技師，而且得用專門(mén)編寫(xiě)的軟件才能運(yùn)行。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

Though these large machines still exist, many of their functions have been taken over by small powerful personal computers, commonly known as PCs.

雖然這種大計(jì)算機(jī)仍然存在，但它們的許多功能已被體積小但功能齊全的個(gè)人電腦——即我們常說(shuō)的PC機(jī)——所代替了。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

In 1975, a primitive machine called the Altair, was launched in the USA.

1975年，美國(guó)推出了一臺(tái)被稱為“牛郎星”的原始機(jī)型。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

It can properly be described as the first 'home computer' and it pointed the way to the future.

嚴(yán)格地說(shuō)起來(lái)，它可以被稱為第一臺(tái)“家用電腦”，而且它也指了今后的方向。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

This was followed, at the end of the 1970s, by a machine called an Apple.

70年代末，在牛郎星之后又出現(xiàn)了一種被稱為“蘋(píng)果”的機(jī)型。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

In the early 1980s, the computer giant, IBM produced the world's first Personal Computer.

80年代初，計(jì)算機(jī)行業(yè)的王牌公司美國(guó)國(guó)際商用機(jī)器公司（IBM）生產(chǎn)出了世界上第一臺(tái)個(gè)人電腦。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

This ran on an 'operating system' called DOS, produced by a then small company named Microsoft.

這種電腦采用了一種被稱為磁盤(pán)操作系統(tǒng)（DOS）的工作程序，而這種程序是由當(dāng)時(shí)規(guī)模不大的微軟公司生產(chǎn)的。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

The IBM Personal Computer was widely copied.

IBM的個(gè)人電腦被大規(guī)模地模仿。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

From those humble beginnings, we have seen the development of the user-friendly home computers and multimedia machines which are in common use today.

從那些簡(jiǎn)陋的初級(jí)階段，我們看到了現(xiàn)在都已普及的、使用簡(jiǎn)便的家用電腦和多媒體的微機(jī)的發(fā)展。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

Considering how recent these developments are, it is even more remarkable that as long ago as the 1960s, an Englishman, Leon Bagrit, was able to predict some of the uses of computers which we know today.

想一想這些發(fā)展的時(shí)間多么短，就更覺(jué)得英國(guó)人萊昂。巴格瑞特有著非凡的能力。他在60年代就能預(yù)言我們今天知道的計(jì)算機(jī)的一些用途。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

Bagrit dismissed the idea that computers would learn to 'think' for themselves and would 'rule the world', which people liked to believe in those days.

巴格瑞特根本不接受計(jì)算機(jī)可以學(xué)會(huì)自己去“思考”和計(jì)算可以“統(tǒng)治世界”這種想法，而這種想法是當(dāng)時(shí)的人們都愿意相信的。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

Bagrit foresaw a time when computers would be small enough to hold in the hand,

巴格瑞特預(yù)示有一天計(jì)算機(jī)可以小到拿在手上，

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

when they would be capable of providing information about traffic jams and suggesting alternative routes, when they would be used in hospitals to help doctors to diagnose illnesses, when they would relieve office workers and accountants of dull, repetitiv

計(jì)算機(jī)可以使辦公室人員和會(huì)計(jì)免除那些枯燥、重復(fù)的勞動(dòng)。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

All these computer uses have become commonplace.

計(jì)算機(jī)的所有這些功能現(xiàn)在都變得很平常。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

Of course, Leon Bagrit could not possibly have foreseen the development of the Internet, the worldwide system that enables us to communicate instantly with anyone in any part of the world by using computers linked to telephone networks.

當(dāng)然了，萊昂。巴格瑞特根本沒(méi)有可能預(yù)測(cè)到國(guó)際交互網(wǎng)——就是把計(jì)算機(jī)連結(jié)到電話線路上，以便和世界上任何一個(gè)地方的人立即進(jìn)行聯(lián)系的一個(gè)世界范圍的通訊系統(tǒng)——的發(fā)展。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

Nor could he have foreseen how we could use the Internet to obtain information on every known subject, so we can read it on a screen in our homes and even print it as well if we want to.

他也無(wú)法預(yù)測(cè)到我們可以利用國(guó)際交互網(wǎng)獲取有關(guān)任何已知專題的信息，以便在家里的屏幕上閱讀，如果愿意的話甚至可以將其打印出來(lái)。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

Computers have become smaller and smaller, more and more powerful and cheaper and cheaper.

計(jì)算機(jī)已經(jīng)變得體積越來(lái)越小，功能越來(lái)越多，價(jià)格越來(lái)越低，

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

This is what makes Leon Bagrit's predictions particularly remarkable.

這就是萊昂。巴格瑞特的預(yù)測(cè)非凡的地方。

Lesson 51 Predicting the future

If he, or someone like him, were alive today, he might be able to tell us what to expect in the next fifty years.

如果他或是像他的什么人今天還活著的話，他大概可以告訴我們下一個(gè)50年后會(huì)發(fā)生什么事情。

Lesson 52 Mud is mud

My cousin, Harry, keeps a large curiously-shaped bottle on permanent display in his study.

我的堂兄哈里在他的書(shū)房里一直擺著一只形狀古怪的大瓶子。