新概念第3册全文翻译51-60.doc

--- lesson 51 Predicting the future 预测未来 1 Predicting the future is notoriously difficult.^众所周知，预测未来是非常困难的。 2 Who could have imagined, in the mid 1970s, for example, that by the end of the 20th century, computers would be as common in peoples homes as TV sets?^举个例子吧，在20世纪70年代中叶又有谁能想得到在20世纪末的时候，家庭用的计算机会像电视机一样普遍? 3 In the 1970s, computers were common enough, but only in big business, government departments, and large organizations.^在70年代，计算机已经相当普及了，但只用在大的公司，政府部门和大的组织之中， 4 These were the so-called mainframe machines.^它们被称为主机。 5 Mainframe computers were very large indeed, often occupying whole air-conditioned rooms,^计算机主机确实很大，常常占据了装有空调的多间房间， 6 employing full-time technicians and run on specially-written software.^雇用专职的技师，而且得用专门编写的软件才能运行。 7 Though these large machines still exist, many of their functions have been taken over by small powerful personal computers, commonly known as PCs.^虽然这种大计算机仍然存在，但是它们的许多功能已被体积小但功能齐全的个人电脑--即我们常说的PC机--所代替了。 8 In 1975, a primitive machine called the Altair, was launched in the USA.^1975年，美国推出了一台被称为“牛郎星”的原始机型。 9 It can properly be described as the first home computer and it pointed the way to the future.^严格地说起来，它可以被称为第一台“家用电脑”，而且它也指出了今后的方向。 10 This was followed, at the end of the 1970s, by a machine called an Apple.^70年代末，在牛郎星之后又出现了一种被称为“苹果”的机型。 11 In the early 1980s, the computer giant, IBM produced the worlds first Personal Computer.^80年代初，计算机行业的王牌公司美国国际商用机器公司（IBM）生产出了世界上第一台个人电脑。 12 This ran on an operating system called DOS, produced by a then small company named Microsoft.^这种电脑采用了一种被称为磁盘操作系统（DOS）的工作程序，而这种程序是由当时规模不大的微软公司生产的。 13 The IBM Personal Computer was widely copied.^IBM的个人电脑被大规模地模仿。 14 From those humble beginnings, we have seen the development of the user-friendly home computers and multimedia machines which are in common use today.^从那些简陋的初级阶段，我们看到了现在都已普及的、使用简便的家用电脑和多媒体的微机的发展。 15 Considering how recent these developments are, it is even more remarkable that as long ago as the 1960s, an Englishman,Leon Bagrit, ^想一想这些发展的时间多么短，就更觉得英国