全新版大学英语课文lifeinthefastlane翻译.docxVIP

Come on, admit it -- you like living at breakneck speed. 好了，承认吧――你就喜环忙得团团转。 Life in the Fast Lane James Gleick 1 We are in a rush. We are making haste. A compression of time characterizes many of our lives. As time-use researchers look around, they see a rushing and scurrying everywhere. Sometimes culture resembles one big stomped anthill, say John P. Robinson and Geoffrey Godbey in their book Time for Life. 人在快车道 詹姆斯 ·格利克 我们东奔西忙。我们急急匆匆。时间紧迫是我们许多人的生活特点。时间利用研究者环顾四周，只见人人 忙乱，处处步履匆匆。 有时文明就像是 “一个被踩瘪的大蚁冢 ”，约翰 ·P·鲁宾逊和杰弗里 ·戈德比在 《生活时 间》一书中写道。 2 (1) Instantaneity rules. Pollsters use electronic devices during political speeches to measure opinions on the wing, before they have been fully formed; fast-food restaurants add express lanes. Even reading to children is under pressure. The volume One-Minute Bedtime Stories consists of traditional stories that can be read by a busy parent in only one minute. 即时行为主宰着一切。 人们发表政治演说时， 听众尚未形成看法， 民意调查人员就利用电子 装置进行当场测定；快餐店增设了快速通道。甚至给孩子念故事也得赶时间。 《一分钟临睡前的故事》一书收的都是让忙碌的家长仅用一分钟就能讲完的老故事。 3 There are places and objects that signify impatience. The door-close button in elevators, so often a placebo used to distract riders to whom ten seconds seems an eternity. Speed-dial buttons on telephones. Remote controls, which have caused an acceleration in the pace of films and television commercials. 许多场所和物件都表明人们有急躁情绪。 电梯里的关门按钮常常起心理安慰作用， 好让那些 10 秒钟都觉得漫长难捱的乘梯人分散注意力。还有电话机的快拨键。还有可使影片和电视广告快速播放的遥控器。 4 Time is a gentle deity, said Sophocles. Perhaps it was, for him. These days it cracks the whip.(2) We humans have chosen speed, and we thrive on it -- more than we generally admit. Our ability to work and play fast gives us power. It thrills us. 时间之神温雅从容， 索福克勒斯如是说。 他那时或许如此。当今社会时间扬鞭催人。我们人 类选择了速度， 凭借着速度而繁荣兴旺――其程度超过人们所普遍承认的那样。 我们快节奏工作、娱乐的本领赋予我们力量。我们为此兴奋不已。 5 And if haste is the accelerator pedal, multitasking is overdrive. These days it is possible to drive, eat, listen to a book and talk on the phone -- all at once, if you dare. David Feldman, in New York, schedules h