[2018年10月自考英语二真题]2018年10月自考英语（二）阅读强化辅导【12-16】

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【篇一】

Predicting Earthquakes

　　Can earthquakes be predicted? Scientists are working on programs to predict where and when an earthquake will occur. They hope to develop an early warning system that can be used to forecast earthquakes so that lives can be saved.

　　Earthquakes are the most dangerous and deadly or all natural events. They occur in many parts of the world. Giant earthquakes have been recorded in Iran, China, Guatemala, Chile, India, and Alaska. Two of the biggest earthquakes that were ever recorded took place in China and Alaska. These earthquakes measured about 8.5 on the Richter Scale.

　　The Richter Scale was devised by Charles Richter in 1935, and compares the energy level of earthquakes. An earthquake that measures a 2 on the scale can be felt but causes little damage. One that measures 4.5 on the scale can cause slight damage, and an earthquake that has a reading of over 7 can cause major damage. It is important to note that a reading of 4 indicates an earthquake ten times as strong as one with a reading of 3. Scientists want to be able to predict those earthquakes that have a reading of over 4 on the Richter Scale.

　　How do earthquakes occur? Earthquakes are caused by the shifting of rocks along cracks, or faults, in the earth's crust. The fault is produced when rocks near each other are pulled in different directions. The best-known fault in North America is the San Andreas fault in the state of California in the United States.

　　The nations that are actively involved in earthquake prediction programs include Japan, China, Russia, and the United States. These countries have set up seismic networks in areas of their countries where earthquakes are known to occur. These networks are on the alert for warning signs that show the weakening of rock layers that can precede an earthquake. Many kinds of seismic instruments are used by the networks to monitor the movements of the earth's crust. The scientists also check water in deep wells. They watch for changes in the water level and temperature that are associated with movement along faults.

　　Scientists in China, Russia, and the United States measure radon in ground water. Radon is a gas that comes from the radioactive decay of radium in rocks. The gas flows through the ground and dissolves in underground streams and wells. Scientists speculate that the amount of radon increases in the ground when rocks layers shift, exposing new rock, and thus more radon.Chinese and Russian scientists have reported that in places where stress is building up, the radon levels of the water build up too. When the radon levels of the water subside and drop back to normal readings, an earthquake may occur. United States scientists have also placed radon monitoring stations in earthquake zones, particularly California. However, all the scientists agree that more data is necessary to prove that radon levels in water are associated with the possible birth of an earthquake.

　　Earthquake prediction is still a young science. Everyone agrees that earthquakes cannot be predicted with any reliability. Scientists have only a partial understanding of the physical processes that cause earthquakes. Much more research has to be done. New and more up to-date methods have to be found for collecting earthquake data and analyzing it. However, scientists have had some success in predicting earthquakes. Several small earthquakes were predicted in New York State, in the eastern part of the United States. Chinese scientists predicted a major one in Haicheng in 1975, and Russian scientists predicted a major one in Garm in 1978. While this is a small start, it is still a beginning.

　　预测地震

　　地震可以预报吗?科学家们正致力于研究预报何时何地会发生地震的计划，他们希望开发一种早期报警系统用来预报地震，以挽救人们的生命。

　　地震是自然灾害中最危险的最致命的，发生在世界许多地方。伊朗、中国、危地马拉、智利、印度和阿拉斯加都有过大地震的记录。有记载的两次地震是发生在中国和阿拉斯加。这两次地震经测量约为里氏8.5级。里氏震级是1935年查尔斯·里克特发明的，用来比较地震的能量等级。里氏地震级测出的2 级地震可以感觉到，但几乎没什么破坏;测出的4.5级地震能够造成轻微破坏，读数超过7级的地震会带来重大破坏。必须注意的是，读数为4级的地震表明其强度是读数为3级的10倍。科学家想预测那些读数超过里氏4级的地震。

　　地震是怎么发生的呢?地震是由地壳中的裂缝，或称断层处的岩石发生移位而引起的。当邻近岩石受到不同方向的拉力时便产生了断层。北美洲最的断层是位于美国加利福尼亚的圣安德烈亚斯断层。积极参与地震预测计划的国家包括日本、中国、俄罗斯和美国。这些国家在已知发生地震的地区建立了地震网络，这些网络一直处于戒备状态，搜索着告警的迹象，这些迹象显示出在地震前可能发生的岩层松动的状况。这些网络使用多种地震仪器来监测地壳的运动。科学家还检查深井里的水，观察与断层运动有关的水位与温度的变化。

　　中国、俄罗斯和美国的科学家测量地下水的氡含量。氡是来自岩石中镭辐射衰变而产生的气体。这种气体溢出地面并溶解到地下溪流和井里。科学家推测当岩层移位时，新岩石露出，产生更多的氮，这样地层中的氡数量就增加了。中国和俄罗斯报告说压力增加的地方，水中氡的含量也会增加。当水中氡的含量下降，回到正常读数时，地震就可能发生。美国科学家也在地震区，特别是加利福尼亚，设置了检测站。不过，所有的科学家都一致认为，需要更多的资料才能证明水中氡的含量和可能发生的地震有关。

　　地震预测仍然是一门年轻的科学。人们都认为地震不可能可靠地预测。科学家对引起地震的物理过程只是部分了解，还必须作更多的研究，必须找到新的和更先进的方法收集地震数据并加以分析。不过，科学家已经在地震预测方面取得了一些成功：美国东部纽约州的几次小地震就已预测到了，1975年中国科学家预测到了海城大地震，1978年俄罗斯科学家预测了加尔姆大地震。虽然这只是个小小的起步，但毕竟是一个开端。

【篇二】

Jet Lag: Prevention and Cure

　　The problem of Jet Lag is one every international traveller comes across at some time. But do you have to suffer? Understand what it is, and how a careful diet can minimize its worst effects, and your flights will be less stressful.

　　The effects of rapid travel on the body are actually far more disturbing than we realize. Jet Lag is not a psychological consequence of having to readjust to a different time zone. It is due to changes in the body's physiological regulatory mechanisms, specifically the hormonal systems, in a different environment.

　　Confused? So was John Foster Dulles, the American Secretary of State, when he flew to Egypt to conduct negotiations on the Aswan Dam.

　　He later blamed his poor judgement on Jet Lag.

　　The effects can be used to advantage, too. President Johnson once conducted an important meeting in Guam and kept the entire proceedings at Washington DC time. The White House working personnel were as fresh as paint, while the locals, in this case, were jet-lagged.

　　Essentially, they had been instantaneously transported to America.

　　Now that we understand what Jet Lag is, we can go some way to overcoming it. A great number of the body's events are scheduled to occur at a certain time of day. Naturally these have to be regulated, and there are two regulatory systems which interact.

　　One timing system comes from the evidence of our senses and stomachs, and the periodicity we experience when living in a particular time zone. The other belongs in our internal clocks (the major one of which may be physically located in a part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus) which, left alone, would tie the body to a 25 hour - yes, 25 - rhythm. Normally the two timers are in step, and the external cues tend to regularise the internal clocks to the more convenient 24 hour period.

　　If, however, you move the whole body to a time zone which is four hours different, the two clocks will be out of step, like two alarm clocks which are normally set together, but which have been reset a few hours apart. Whereas the two clocks would normally sound their alarms together, now they ring at different times. Similarly, the body can be set for evening while the sun is rising.

　　In time the physiological system will reset itself, but it does take time. One easily monitored rhythm is palm sweating. A man flown to a time zone different by 10 hours will take eight days to readjust his palm sweat. Blood pressure, which is also rhythmical, takes four days to readjust.

　　One reason for this discrepancy is that different bodily events are controlled by different factors. The hormone cortisol, which controls salt and water excretion, is made in the morning, wherever the body is. But the growth hormone is released during sleep, whenever in the day that sleep occurs. Normally these two hormones are separated by seven or eight hours, but if the body arrives at a destination in the early morning (local) and goes to sleep as soon as possible, the two hormones will be released simultaneously.

　　What can we do about it? It is not feasible to wait four days until the body is used to the new time zone. Fortunately there is a short cut. It relies on two things - the power of the stomach to regulate the timing of other events, and the pharmacological actions of coffee.

　　The basic assumptions are:

　　Coffee delays the body clock in the morning, and advances it at night. Coffee at mid-afternoon is neutral.

　　Protein in meals stimulates wakefulness, while carbohydrates promote sleep.

　　Putting food into an empty stomach helps synchronize the body clock.

　　时差综合症的预防和治疗

　　高速飞行时因时差而引起的生理节奏的推敲是每一个跨国旅行者有时会遇到的问题。但你必须得忍受吗?如果你了解它是怎么回事，并且知道如何注意饮食才可以将其最坏影响减到最小程度，你的飞行就不会那么紧张了。

　　快速旅行对身体的影响实际上比我们所意识到的更加令人不安。调整的习行因时差而引起的生理节奏的破坏不是必须重新调整去适合不同时区的心理影响。它是由人体内的生理调节结构，特别是荷尔蒙系统在不同环境的变化引起的。感到困惑了吗?美国国务卿约翰·福斯·特杜勒斯飞往埃及进行关于阿斯旺大坝的谈判时也是这样。后来，他把他的不理想的判断归咎于时差反应的不良影响。

　　时差的影响也可以加以利用。约翰逊总统曾经在关岛召开重要会议，其所有活动都按华盛顿时间进行。白宫工作人员个个精神焕发，而在这种情况下，当地人却受时差反应之苦。实际上，好像他们刚刚被飞机送到美国一样。

　　既然我们懂得了什么是高速飞行时差综合症。很自然，这些活动不得不加以调节，人体现人有两套相互影响的调节系统。

　　一个定时系统表现在我们的感觉和胃以及居住在一个特定时区时，我们所经历的周期。另一个定时系统在我们的人体时钟内，这些人体时钟在不受干扰时，会使人体有一个25小时，是的25小时的生理节奏。一般情况下，这两种定时器是步调一致的。外部信号常常调节人体时钟命使之达到更为便利的24小时周期。

　　然而，如果你将整个身体转移到相差四个小时的时区，这两个小时钟就不协调了。就像两个闹钟通常一起设置，但被重新设置时相差了好几个小时。虽然这两个时钟通常会一起闹时，但现在它们在不同时刻响起。类似的，当太阳升起时身体可能被设定为晚上。

　　经过一段时间以后，生理系统将会重新调整过来。但这的确需要时间。一个容易监测的节律是手掌出汗的节律。血压也是有节律的，需要四天时间才能得到重新调整。

　　形成这种差异的百不同的身体活动由不同因素的支配。不管身在何处，控制盐和水分排泄的皮质醇激素是早上产生的。但不论何时睡眠，生长激素是在睡眠中释放的。通常这两种激素相隔七、八个小时释放，但如果人体在一大早到达目的地，并且尽快入睡，这两种激素将同时释放。

　　关于这点我们能做些什么呢?等待几天直到身体适应新的时区是不可取的。幸好，有一条捷径。它依靠两点――胃调节其他活动定时的能力和咖啡的药物作用。

　　基本的道理是：

　　咖啡在早上可以延迟人体时钟，在晚间可以提早人体时钟。咖啡在下午三点左右是中性的。食物中的蛋白质使人不眠，而碳水化合物却使人易于入睡。空腹吃食物帮助人体时钟准时。

【篇三】

CONCENTRATION IS CENTERING YOUR ATTENTION

　　Psychologically defined, concentration is the process of centering one's attention over a period of time. In practical application, however, concentration is not as simple to deal successfully with as the definition may imply. For this reason, it is helpful to keep the following points in mind.

　　Your attention span variesEven with the greatest effort, our span of attention fluctuates.

　　You can demonstrate for yourself this fluctuation of attention. In a quiet room, place a watch so that it can just scarcely be heard.

　　Listen carefully and notice how the ticking increases in apparent intensity, fades to a point where it cannot be heard, and then increases again. This phenomenon reveals how our span of attention fluctuates, for the intensity of the ticking is actually constant.

　　You pay attention to one thing at a timeEvidence to date indicates that you attend to one idea at a time.

　　It is possible for your attention to shift so rapidly that it seems that you attend to several concepts at once. But apparently this is only an illusion. In high concentration the shift from the focus of attention is of short duration and relatively infrequent.

　　An illustration of periods of high, moderate, and low attention High attention has long periods of attending and short distraction periods. In low attention the periods of attending are short and the distraction periods long. In moderate attention there is a mixture of the extremes. Thus it is easy to see that it is highly unlikely that the student who has most of his attention centered on fancying at large will be able to recall even the major points of a lecture.

　　Lack of concentration is a symptom, not the cause, of difficulty.

　　When a student says "I can't concentrate", what he is really saying is, "I can't attend to the task at hand because my distractors are too strong."

　　DISTRACTORS ARE OF TWO SORTS - PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL

　　A distractor is anything which causes attention to vary from a central focal point. In the study situation distractors may be thought of as either psychological or physical in nature. Both types of distractors must be understood before the student can attempt to remedy his lack of concentration.

　　Emotions are the most powerful distractors .

　　The angry man forgets the pain of injury, the fearful man finds it difficult to enjoy pleasure and the tense or anxious person may react violently to the smallest of matters. In the student's life there are many psychological pressures and tensions which block effective productivity. The fears about making the grade, the doubts of the friendliness of a friend's behaviour and the pressures of limited finances - these are only a few of the emotional forces which affect the student.

　　Emotional reaction varies greatly from person to person. Some persons gain goal and direction from their tensions and actually do better because of them. Others fall apart under pressure, while a few people do well despite the pressure.

　　Physical distractors are always present and rarely understood.

　　Our environment is much more important to how we feel and react than we often think. Particularly is this true of the effect of physical distractors on mental tasks. One research report has shown that comprehension and retention of reading were decreased when students listened to lively music. However, rate of reading was not affected, so that many students were not aware that they were affected by the background distractor. Another study found that the ability to recall accurately was affected by distracting conditions. Most of the evidence indicates that noise affects adversely higher mental task output. Still, the effect of distractors is seldom fully appreciated by students.

　　ROUTING AND REASONING TASKS ARE AFFECTED DIFFERENTLY BY DISTRACTORS

　　Typically when students are faced with the evidence on distractors the argument is given that their cousin, friend, or classmate can study in "Grand Central Station." And he makes "all A's" too! There is evidence, of course, that motivation plays an important role in overcoming the effects of distractors and that there are considerable differences in individual spans of attention. Either of these factors could account for some individuals being able to do well using inefficient methods. The fact that some exceptional people do well under adverse conditions scarcely justifies your assuming that you are exceptional in the same manner. Your chances of success are higher if you avoid the distractors which are known to hinder the typeical student.

　　控制你的注意力

　　聚精会神就是集中你的注意力

　　按心理学定义，专心是一段时间内集中注意力的过程。然而，在实际应用中，成功地对待专心这个问题并不像定义中所说的那么简单。正因为这样，把以下几点记在心里是有帮助的。

　　你的注意力范围是变化的即使付出努力，我们注意力的范围还是波动的。你可以自己证明这种注意力的变化。在一个安静的房间里，把一块表放在刚刚能听到它声音的地方，仔细听，注意到嘀嗒声是如何明显地提高强度，继而，衰弱到听不到，然后又提高了。这种现象揭示了我们注意力范围是如何波动的，因为嘀哒声的强度实际上并无变化。

　　你在同一时刻注意一件事情至今为止的资料表明，在同一时刻你只能注意到一个念头。你的注意力可能转移得很快，似乎能立刻注意到几个概念。但显然这只是一个错觉。在注意力集中时，注意力的焦点转移是在很短时间内，而且比较而言是很少发生的。

　　高度、适度、低注意力的说明高度注意有较强的注意期和很短的注意力分散期。在低注意力下，注意到短期而注意力分散期长。适度注意力融合了两种极端。因此，显而易见，把自己的注意力集中在胡思乱想上的学生甚至不可能回想出讲课的要点。

　　缺乏注意力是困难的征兆，而不是起因。当一个学生说"我无法集中注意力"时，他其实在说，"因为分散我的注意力的东西太强，我不能专心手头的工作"

　　注意力的干扰有两种：心理上的和物质上的。

　　干扰物是任何可以使注意力偏离中心焦点的东西。在学习的情况下，干扰物实际上可以被认为是心理的或者是物质的。在学生尝试补救自己注意力缺乏之前，应当首先了解这两种干扰物。

　　情绪是大的干扰。

　　生气的人会忘记伤害的疼痛，恐惧的人会发现很难享受快乐，紧张、焦虑的人可能对极小的事情反应强烈。在学生生活里，有许多心理压力和紧张，严重影响学习效率。对是否能取得好成绩的担忧，对朋友行为是否友好的怀疑和经济能力有限而造成的压力――这些仅仅只是几种影响学生的精神压力。

　　每个人情绪的反应大不相同。一些人从他们的紧张中获得目标和方向，实际上却因此做得更好。基他人在压力下崩溃了，而一些人尽管有压力却做得很好。

　　物质干扰时常存在，却难以理解解。

　　我们的环境对我们如何感受和反应比我们通常认为的重要得多。对脑力劳动的物质干扰的效果而言，尤其如此。一项研究报告表明，在听轻快的音乐时读书的理解力和记忆力降低了。然而，读书的速度未受影响。另一项研究发现准确回忆的能力受到纷杂环境的影响。许多迹象表明噪音对较高级脑力工作成果有不利影响。干扰物的影响仍没有得到学生们的充分重视。

　　日常的推理性的工作受到干扰的不同影响。

　　许多日常工作能够在有干扰的背景下完成，结果受到很小影响或无任何不利影响。许多学生从自身经历中发现这是一个事实。他们中学时可能有过这样的作业，练习或仅仅是抄写。在放着最新的唱片或演着电视的背景下，做这些作业是可能的。经过一段时间后，这些学生觉得自己肯定能用同样的方式做所有的工作 ――日常工作或解决问题的工作。证据却表明了相反的结论。

　　例外会误导你，典型的情况是，当要求学生们拿出关于干扰物的证据时，他们提出自己的表兄弟、朋友或同学能在纽约的"中央火车站"学习，而且考试可以得"全优"。当然，有证据表明动机在克服干扰物的影响方面起了重要的作用。个人的注意力范围也有相当大的区别。这些事实中的任何一个都可以解释一些个别人能用低效的方法做得很好。一些例外的人在不利条件下做得很好的事实不能证明在同一方式下你也是例外的假设。如果你避开那些已知的妨碍一般学生的干扰物，你的成功机会就更大些。

【篇四】

Sacrificed to Science?

　　Professor Colin Blakemore works at Oxford University Medical School doing research into eye problems and believes that animal research has given humans many benefits:The use of animals has been central to the development of anaesthetics, vaccines and treatments for diabetes, cancer, developmental disorders…most of the major medical advances have been based on a background of animal research and development.

　　There are those who think the tests are simply unnecessary. The International Association Against Painful Experiments on Animals is an organization that promotes the use of alternative methods of research which do not make animals suffer. Their spokesman Colin Smith says:

　　Animal research is irrelevant to our health and it can often produce misleading results. People and animals are different in their reactions to drugs and in the way their bodies work. We only have to look at some of the medical mistakes to see this is so.

　　But Professor Blackmore stresses:It would be completely irresponsible and unethical to use drugs on people that had not been thoroughly tested on animals. The famous example of thalidomide is a case for more animal testing, not less.

　　The birth defects that the drug produced were a result of inadequate testing. If thalidomide were invented today, it would never be released for human use because new tests on pregnant animals would reveal the dangers.

　　Another organization that is developing other methods of research is FRAME. This is the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments. It recognises that many experiments still have to be done on animals and is aiming for Reduction, Refinement and Replacement of animals in experiments. In 1981, it established a research programme to improve and expand non-animal testing. Increasingly, new technology is making it easier for us to find alternative methods of testing.

　　Computer models can be used to simulate the way that cells work and to try to predict the toxicity of chemicals. Data from previous animal experiments is used to develop a computer model which will predict what will happen if you add a chemical with an unknown biological effect to a substance. The eventual aim of computer modeling is to reduce the number of animals used in experiments.

　　The Lethal Dose 50 test (LD50) may also be replaced. In the original test, all the animals in a test group are given a substance until half of them die. The test indicates toxicity. A method using a fixed amount, which gives the same eventual information but uses fewer animals and does not require that they die, may replace the LD50. Many other new techniques are now available that enable more research to be done in the test tube to see if chemicals produce harmful biological effects.

　　The number of animals used in laboratory tests has declined over the last 20 years. This is partly due to alternatives and partly to the fact that experiments are better disigned so fewer need to be used - healthier animals provide better experimental results. For example, it used to take 36 monkeys to test a sample of polio vaccine, now it takes only 22. Also, lack of money has reduced the number of animals used - they are expensive to buy and expensive to keep.

　　Birmingham University now has Britain's first department of Biomedical Ethics. Professor David Morton of the department is involved in animal research and is concerned with reducing animal suffering as much as possible. Animals spend 95% of their time in their cages and refinement also means making their lives better when not undergoing tests. This includes keeping them in more suitable cages, allowing social animals like dogs to live together and trying to reduce the boredom that these animals can experience.

　　In Professor Morton's laboratory, rabbits live together in large runs, filled with deep litter and boxes that they can hide in. The researchers have also refined some experiments. In the US, one experiment in nerve regeneration involves cutting a big nerve in a rat's leg, leaving its leg paralysed. In Morton's lab, the researcher cuts a small nerve in the foot. He can see if it can regrow and the rat can still run around its cage.

　　Even with these new developments in research, only a tiny proportion of all tests are done without using animals at some stage. The use of animals in experiments cannot stop immediately if medical research is to continue and consumer products are to be properly tested, and Professor Blakemore believes that sometimes there are no alternatives:

　　Wherever possible, for both ethical and scientific reasons, we do not use animals. But cells live in animals and we can only really see how they behave when they are inside animals. We cannot possibly reproduce in a test tube or a computer model all the complex reactions of the body to a drug or a disease. When it comes to research into heart disease and its effects on the body, or diseases of the brain for example, we do not have adequate substitutes for the use of animals.

　　As research techniques become more advanced, the number of animals used in experiments may decrease, but stopping testing on animals altogether is a long way away.

　　为科学而献身

　　科林·布莱克默教授在牛津大学医学院工作，从事眼睛疾病的研究。他相信对动物的研究已使人类获益匪浅。

　　使用动物对于麻醉学和疫苗的发展，对糖尿病、癌症和紊乱的治疗等极其重要。多数重要的医学都是以动物研究和开发的背景为基础的。

　　有些人认为这些实验毫无必要。国际反动物痉实验协会是一个提倡使用不使动物痉的替代方法的组织。他们的发言人科林·史密斯说：对动物的研究和我们的健康无关，它常常产生令人误入歧途的结果。人和动物对药物的反应及他们身体运作的方式都不同。我们只要看一看医疗失误就会明白。但布莱克默说：没有认真在动物身上实验的药物大人身上使用，是完全不负责和不合道理的。萨力多*就是一个的例子。它证明需要更多的动物实验而不是更少的动物实验。这种药物引起的先天性畸形是缺乏实验的结果。如果萨力多*是现在发明的，它就不会被批准为人类使用，因为在有孕的动物身上实验会提示其危险。

　　另一个开发其他研究办法的组织是FRAME，"替代动物医学实验基金会"的简称。它认识到许多实验仍然不得不使用动物，该基金会旨在减少使用动物，改良使用动物，甚至替代动物。在1981年，它们设立了一个改进和扩大无动物实验的研究项目。渐渐地，新科技使我们更易于找到进行实验可供选择的办法。电脑模型可以用来模拟细胞的活动方式和预测化学制品的毒性。以前的动物数据用来开发一个电脑模型，它能预测如果一种物质中加入某种未知生物作用的化学药品会发生什么。电脑模型的最终目标是减少用于实验的动物数量。

　　致死计量50实验(LD50)也可以被代替。在过去的实验中，实验群中所有的动物被喂给一种物质，直到其中一半死亡。这个实验表明其毒性。一种用固定的数量可以得到相同的结论，但是使用较少动物而且不使它们死亡的方法可能代替LD50。现在已有许多其他的技术，可使更多的研究工作在试管中进行，从而发现化学药品是否产生有害的生物作用。

　　过去的20年里，实验室里实验中使用的动物数量减少;其部分原因是由于可供选择的方法多了，另外部分是由于实验设计得更好，因为使用更健康的动物能产生更好的实验结果，所以用的动物减少了。例如，过去常用36只猴子来实验脊髓质炎疫苗样本，现在只用22只。缺少资料已使所使用的动物数量减少了 ――购买和使用动物都很昂贵。

　　伯明翰大学现在设有英国首家生物医学伦里学系。系里的大卫·莫顿教授从事动物研究，并对尽可能地减少动物的痉很关心。动物们在笼子里度过了他们 95%的时间，改良也意味阒不进行实验时使它和得更好些。这包括在更舒适的笼子里喂养它们，允许像狗那类喜欢合群的动物生活在一起，尽量减少这些动物可能经历的烦恼。

　　在莫顿教授的实验室里，大批兔子一起生活，到处是厚厚的干草和箱子供它们躲藏。者们还改进了一些实验。在美国，神经再生方面的发切断鼠脚里的一条小神经。他可以看到神经是否可以再生，而老鼠仍在笼子里四处跑。

　　尽管这些研究有了新成果，所有的裕只有极少数在某一阶段不使用动物。

　　如果医学实验研究还要继续，消费性门牌号学要严格地进行检验，这样在实验中使用动物就不会立即停止。布莱克莫教授相信有时是无可选择的。

　　无论在何处，有可能的话，基于*和科学的原因，我们不应使用动物做实验。但是细胞生活在动物体内，只有当细胞在动物体内时我们才能真正看清它们是如何活动的。我们不可能在试管中或电脑模型里复制出身体对疾病或芗的所有复杂反应。涉及到研究心脏病和它对身体的影响时，例如脑内疾病，我们没有代替使用动物的合适的替代物。

　　随着研究技术变得更先进，实验中使用的动物数量可能会减少，但完全停止在动物身上实验还有很长的路要走。

【篇五】

Let's Stop Keeping Pets

　　Pets are lovable, frequently delightful. The dog and the cat, the most favored of pets, are beautiful, intelligent animals. To assume the care for them can help bring out the humanity in our children and even in us. A dog or a cat can teach us a lot about human nature; they are a lot more like us than some might think. More than one owner of a dog has said that the animal understands everything he says to it. So a mother and father who have ever cared for pets are likely to be more patient and understanding with their children as well, and especially to avoid making negative or rude remarks in the presence of a child, no matter how young.

　　It is touching to see how a cat or dog - especially a dog - attaches itself to a family and wants to share in all its goings and comings. If certain animal psychologists are right, a dog adopts his family in a most literal way - taking it for granted that the family is the band of dogs he belongs to.

　　It is sometimes said that the cat "takes all and gives nothing."

　　But is that really true? A cat can teach us a valuable lesson about how to be contented, how to be serene and at ease, how to sit and contemplate. Whereas a dog's constant pleas for attention become, sometimes, a bit too much. Nevertheless it is the dog who can teach us lessons of loyalty and devotion that no cat ever knew.

　　So there's plenty to be said in favor of keeping pets. But with all that in mind, I still say let's stop keeping pets. Not that a family should kill its pets. Very few could bring themselves to do that. To be practical, I am suggesting that if we do not now have a pet we should not acquire one; second, that if we now have a pet, we let it be our last one. I could never say that pets are bad. I am saying, let's give up this good thing - the ownership of a pet - in favor of a more imperative good.

　　The purchase, the health care, the feeding and housing and training of a pet - and I chiefly mean the larger, longer-lived pets - cost time and money. Depending on the animal's size and activity, it's special tastes and needs, and the standard of living we establish for it, the care of a pet can cost form a dollar a week to a dollar or more a day. I would not for a moment deny it is worth that.

　　But facts outside the walls of our home keep breaking in on our awareness. Though we do not see the poverty-stricken people of India and Africa and South America, we can never quite forget that they are there. Now and then their faces are shown in the news, or is the begging ads of relief organizations. Probably we send a donation whenever we can.

　　But we do not, as a rule, feel a heavy personal responsibility for the afflicted and deprived for we are pretty thoroughly formed by the individualistic, competitive society we live in. The first dime we ever made was ours to spend in any way we chose. No one thought of questioning that. That attitude, formed before we had learned to think, usually prevails through our life: "I made my money. I can spend it any way I like."

　　But more and more we are reading that the people of the "Third World" feel bitter at us in the developed countries (with the United States far more developed than any of the others) for our seizing hold of two-thirds of the world's wealth and living like kings while they work away all day to earn a bare living.

　　The money and the time we spend on pets is simply not our own to spend as we like in a time of widespread want add starvation. A relief organization advertises that for $33 a month they can give hospital care to a child suffering from kwashiorkor - the severe dificiency disease which is simply a starving for protein. Doing without such a pet, and then sending the money saved to a relief organization would mean saving a life - over the years, several human lives.

　　Children not suffering from such a grave disease could be fed with half that amount - not on a diet like ours, but on plain, basic, life-sustaining food. It is not unreasonable to believe that the amount of money we spend on the average pet dog could keep a child alive in a region of great poverty. To give what we would spend on a cat might not feed a child, but it would probably pay for his medical care or basic education. The point needs no laboring. That is all that need be said.

　　让我们停止养宠物

　　宠物是可爱的，又常讨人喜欢。狗和猫――人们最喜爱的宠物，是漂亮和聪明的动物。担当起照料它们的责任有助于我们在孩子身上甚至在我们自己身上培养人情味。一只狗或一只猫能教给我们许多关于人类的本性的东西。它们比某些人想象的更像人类。不止一个养狗的人曾经说过狗理解他对它说的一切话。所以曾经照顾过宠物的父母可能也会对他们的孩子更有耐心和理解，特别是能避免在孩子面前做否定和不礼貌的评论，不管他年龄多小。

　　看到猫和狗――特别是狗――对一个家庭是如何地依恋，如何地想要分享家里发生的一切事情，是十分感人的。如果某些动物心理学家是对的，狗以最忠实的方式接受它的家庭――理所当然地认为家即是它所属的那一群狗。

　　有时人们说猫"索取一切，什么都不给予"。但那是真的吗?关于如何满足，如何安详自在，如何静坐深思，猫可以给我们上有价值的一课。而狗不断寻求人们和注意，有时太过分了。尽管如此，狗能教给我们忠诚和献身，这是猫从不知道的。

　　于是人们便有许多理由赞成养宠物。但尽管心里明白所有这些理由，我依然要说让我们停止养宠物吧。并不是说一个家庭应该杀死他们的宠物，很少有人能使自己做这样的事。实际上，我是在建议如果我们现在没有养宠物，我们就不要弄一个;第二，如果我们现在有一只宠物，就让它成为我们的最后一只吧。我怎么也不会说宠物很坏;我是说，让我们放弃这个好东西，去支持一个更紧迫的有益的事业吧。

　　购买一只宠物，照顾它的健康、喂养它、给它提供住处、训练它――我主要指的是较大的、较长寿的宠物――花费时间和钱财。根据动物的体形大小、活动，其特殊口味和需要，我们为之建立起生活标准，照顾一只宠物的花费可能从一周一美元到一天一美元或更多。我从不否认喂养它的价值。

　　但是我们房子外的事实却不断闯入我们的意识。虽然我们没有看到印度、非洲和南美洲穷困潦倒的人们，我们决不能完全忘记他们的存在。他们的面容不时出现在新闻里或救济组织的求援广告里。也许我们有能力时也送去了一份捐助。

　　但我们通常并不感到对贫穷的人们负有重大的个人责任，因为我们几乎完全是由我们生活于其中的这个个人主义的、竞争的社会所塑造成的。我们曾经挣得的第一个十分硬币是自己的，我们可以选择花掉它的任何一种方式。没人想到对此提出质疑，那种态度形成于我们学会思考之前，通常会贯穿我们的一生："我挣自己的钱，我可以以我喜欢的任何方式花掉它。"但我们越来越多地在阅读中了解到"第三世界"的人们怀恨发达国家的我们，因为我们占有了世界2/3的财富，生活得像国王一样，而他们整天工作以求糊口。

　　我们花在宠物身上的金钱和时间在广泛渴望帮助和饥饿遍布的时代绝对不是我们可以随心所欲花费的私有物。一个救援组织做广告说，每个月捐献33美元就可使一个患营养不良症的孩子住院治疗――这是一种仅仅由于缺乏蛋白质而产生的严重营养不良疾病。不养宠物，然后把节省下来的钱捐给救援组织将意味着挽救一条生命――几年后，就能挽救几条生命。

　　没有遭到那种严重疾病的孩子可以用那个数目的半数糊口――不是们那样的食物，只是一般的、基本的、维持生命的食物。相信我们平均花在宠物狗身上的钱能够养活一个特别贫穷地区的孩子是不过分的。拿出我们花在猫身上的钱可能养活不了一个孩子，但它们可能付清他的医疗费或基本教育费。这一点无须详述，这就是所有要说的。

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