新大学英语综合教程unit457课文原文及翻译.pdfVIP

Unit 4 When we abuse animals, we debase ourselves 人类虐待动物就是在贬损自己 Moving a cow by chaining it to a tractor and dragging it by its leg says a lot about how we perceive and value animals. When the Humane Society video that showed this and other brutal slaughterhouse treatment made the rounds on the Internet a few weeks ago, it caused public shock and led to a federal investigation. But theres a deeper lesson that all of us – eat meat – need to take to heart: we degrade ourselves when we degrade animals. 将一头牛锁在一辆拖拉机上然后拖动很好地表明了我们对动物的看法和感受。当人道协会 的这个展现了这样场面等其它屠宰场里残忍对待的录像片在数周前网上散布后它引起了公 众的震惊，导致联邦政府开展调查。但是对我们所有人来说这还是一个更为深刻的教训 --不 论我们是否吃肉 --应该铭刻在心中：在贬低动物的同时我们在贬低自己。 Much as bullies demoralize themselves when they dominate or ride roughshod over those who are meek, vulnerable, or defenseless, it should be obvious that human beings are the ones demoralized by the commission of inhumane acts. 正如那些欺负者们当控制那些温顺、脆弱或没有抵抗力的人们或骑在他们头上是在将自己 的道德败坏一样去进行那些残忍的虐待动物的活动中人类的道德也被这种非人道的行为所 败坏。 Over the years, many have been caught up in the debate over what is, or is not, mans obligation to animals. But the debate is transcended by the growing realization that neither our civilization nor our planet will survive unless human beings grow richer in moral qualities like mercy, kindness, compassion, and temperance. 长期以来让许多人纠缠不清的是到底哪些是哪些不是人类对动物的义务。不过人们越来越 认识到除非人类在怜悯、 善良、 同情和节制上提高否则我们的文明或地球都将不复存在。 这 个观点已经超略了前面的争论。 Yet in order to establish a platform for speaking out against cruel and painful laboratory experiments and slaughtering techniques, animal rights advocates are often asked to prove that animals have a moral sense and can feel physical and emotional pain. 然而为了建立一个疾呼反对残忍和痛苦的试验及屠宰方式的平台，动物权利提倡者往往被 要求证明动物有道德感；能感到身体或感情的痛苦。 But even if animals could be proved amoral and immune to pain, human beings would have no basis for