河海大学研究生英语 unit25 A Science of Society 中文翻译.docxVIP

A Science of Society Sociology shouldn’t be confused with social philosophy. It is not a point of view about the way things ought to be. Rather, sociology deals with the way things are. Moreover, sociology is more than just an opinion about the way things are. 社会学不应该与社会哲学混淆。 社会学不是对事情应该是怎样的一个观点。 相反，社会学是解决事情是什么。 此外，社会学不仅仅是对事情的看法。 Sociology is a science of social life. Like other sciences, sociology has a logical / empirical basis. This means that, to be accepted, assertions must (1) make sense and (2) correspond to the facts. In this sense, sociology can be characterized by a current buzzword： critical thinking. The simple fact is that most of us, most of the time, are uncritical in our thinking. Much of the time we simply believe what we read or hear. Or, when we disagree, we do so on the basis of ideological points of view and prejudices that are not very well thought out. 社会学是社会生活的一门科学。 像其他科学一样，社会学有逻辑/经验基础。 这意味着要被人们所接受，其论述必须（1）有意义，（2）符合事实。 在这个意义上，社会学的特征可以用当前流行语表示：批判性思维。 简单的事实是，我们中的大部分人，大多数时候，并没有进行评判性思考。 很多时候我们只是相信我们看到的或听到的。 或者，我们不同意某一事实，往往是因为我们未经深思熟虑或存有偏见。 I Suppose you were talking with a friend about the value of going to college. Your friend disagrees: “College is a waste of time. You should get a head start in the job market instead. Most of today’s millionaires never went to college, and there are plenty of college graduates pumping gas or out of work altogether.” That’s the kind of thing people sometimes say and it can be convincing—especially if it’s said with conviction. But does it stand up to logical and empirical testing? 设想你正在和一个朋友谈论上大学的价值。 你的朋友不同意：“上大学浪费时间。 相反，你应该在就业市场上领先一步。 今天的大多数百万富翁从来没有上过大学，有大量毕业生在加油站工作或失业。”人们有时会说这种话，可能会令人信服——尤其是有人自信满满地说。但是它是否符合逻辑和经验测试？ Logically, it doesnt seem to make much sense. A college education would seem to give a person access to high-paying occupations not open to people with less education. 逻辑上，这似乎没有什么意义。接受过大学教育的人似乎能找到高薪职业，而这些职业并不向受教育程度较低的人开放。 How does the assertion stack up empirically? Table 1 lists the median incomes