Thoreau's Ideas About Train托福聽力原文翻譯及問題答案

Thoreau's Ideas About Train托福聽力原文翻譯及問題答案

一、Thoreau's Ideas About Train托福聽力原文：

NARRATOR:Listen to part of a lecture in a literature class.The professor is discussing Henry David Thoreau.

MALE PROFESSOR:Nowadays,trains are pretty much taken for granted.But in the United States,in the first part of the nineteenth century when Thoreau lived,the railroad was a big deal,a technological revolution.It was kinda earth-shattering to ride in a mechanical conveyance at 50 kilometers an hour in the 1830s.

The train—or“iron horse,”as people called it—unlocked all sorts of new experiences of time,space…Thoreau himself praised trains for changing the way people experienced their own bodies…for stirring the imagination in new ways.So,in Thoreau’s famous book,Walden…As,uh,you know,Walden is one of the central literary texts of the United States from that time period.And in it,Thoreau offers both praise and criticisms of trains.

Um,Thoreau is sometimes seen as being anti-modern,but he's not.He uses poetic language,descriptive metaphors to inspire,to awe his readers,to communicate the fact that the railroad was a feat of human ingenuity.

Thoreau also associates trains with commerce and trade.Though his attitudes toward commerce are complicated,he credits trains for delivering goods that feed and clothe society…things that improve human life.

But Thoreau also critiques trains on what we could call philosophical grounds.He points out that riding on trains distorts people's experiences of the natural world;trees…wildlife…landscapes just zip right past you.And this is a real problem for him.Thoreau also worries that trains had become an“institution”regulating a whole country.

He worries about people doing things in“railroad fashion”…conforming to the train's timetable,letting their lives be governed by this mechanical device that’s making its way into the fabric of society.And he extends this critique to other inventions of the day,like,uh,the penny press,this very fast,steam-driven press.He talks about popular literary genres,like penny newspapers and dime novels,which were being published in mass quantities.

He worries about people no longer thinking for themselves and uncritically accepting all this cheap,popular literature…and the trivial details of the news.So,Thoreau is offering here a critique of technology that might be relevant for our own times…and I think it's important to take it seriously.When there's a new invention—a new computer or mobile phone technology,some new gadget—there's a tendency to think that we need to have that thing…just as people were doing in the nineteenth century with respect to railroads—accepting them as a necessity without considering the possible negative consequences or trade-offs that can flow from them.OK,can anybody offer an example of what I'm talking about?Debra?

FEMALE STUDENT:Yeah.There was this new computer game that my brother just had to have.So,he saved his money and bought it,wh-which was good,I guess,that he saved his money and all.But now,he spends like all his spare time playing that game instead of riding bikes with his friends or reading books,like he used to do.And it’s causing some friction between him and our parents.

MALE PROFESSOR:Perfect example,Debra.So this is one way to think about Thoreau's text—not just as an important book in its time—for what it tells us about the nineteenth century—but also as a text that can teach us certain things about ourselves in contemporary society.

二、Thoreau's Ideas About Train托福聽力中文翻譯：

旁白：在文學(xué)課上聽講座的一部分。教授正在討論亨利·大衛(wèi)·梭羅。

男教授：現(xiàn)在，火車幾乎被認(rèn)為是理所當(dāng)然的。但在美國，在梭羅生活的十九世紀(jì)上半葉，鐵路是一場重大的技術(shù)革命。19世紀(jì)30年代，以每小時50公里的速度乘坐機(jī)械運(yùn)輸工具，真是驚天動地。

人們稱之為火車或“鐵馬”的火車開啟了時間、空間的各種新體驗(yàn)……梭羅本人稱贊火車改變了人們體驗(yàn)自己身體的方式……以新的方式激發(fā)了想象力。所以，在梭羅的名著《瓦爾登湖》中……正如，呃，你知道的，《瓦爾登湖》是那個時期美國的中心文學(xué)文本之一。在這本書中，梭羅對火車既有贊揚(yáng)也有批評。

梭羅有時被認(rèn)為是反現(xiàn)代的，但他不是。他用詩意的語言和描述性的隱喻來激發(fā)讀者的靈感，讓讀者敬畏，來傳達(dá)這樣一個事實(shí)，即鐵路是人類智慧的結(jié)晶。

梭羅還將火車與商業(yè)和貿(mào)易聯(lián)系在一起。雖然他對商業(yè)的態(tài)度很復(fù)雜，但他相信火車能為社會提供衣食住行的商品……改善人類生活的東西。

但梭羅也從我們可以稱之為哲學(xué)的角度對火車進(jìn)行了批判。他指出，乘火車扭曲了人們對自然界的體驗(yàn)；樹木……野生動物……風(fēng)景就從你身邊掠過。這對他來說是個真正的問題。梭羅還擔(dān)心火車已經(jīng)成為一個管理整個國家的“機(jī)構(gòu)”。

他擔(dān)心人們以“鐵路方式”做事……遵守火車時刻表，讓他們的生活受這種正在融入社會結(jié)構(gòu)的機(jī)械裝置支配。他將這種批判延伸到了當(dāng)時的其他發(fā)明，比如，呃，便士印刷機(jī)，這種非?？斓恼羝?qū)動印刷機(jī)。他談到了流行的文學(xué)體裁，比如正在大量出版的便士報紙和廉價小說。

他擔(dān)心人們不再獨(dú)立思考，不加批判地接受所有這些廉價、通俗的文學(xué)作品……以及新聞的瑣碎細(xì)節(jié)。因此，梭羅在這里對技術(shù)提出了批評，這可能與我們這個時代有關(guān)……我認(rèn)為認(rèn)真對待這一點(diǎn)很重要。當(dāng)出現(xiàn)一項(xiàng)新發(fā)明——一種新的計算機(jī)或手機(jī)技術(shù)，一些新的小玩意時，就會有一種傾向，認(rèn)為我們需要這些東西……就像十九世紀(jì)人們所做的那樣，鐵路將其視為必需品，而不考慮其可能帶來的負(fù)面后果或權(quán)衡。好的，誰能舉個例子來說明我在說什么？黛布拉？

女生：是的。有一款新的電腦游戲是我弟弟必須擁有的。所以，他把錢存起來買了下來，我想這很好，他把錢都存起來了。但現(xiàn)在，他把所有的業(yè)余時間都花在玩那個游戲上，而不是像過去那樣和朋友們一起騎自行車或看書。這在他和我們的父母之間造成了一些摩擦。

男教授：很好的例子，黛布拉。因此，這是一種思考梭羅文本的方式，它不僅是一本重要的書，它告訴了我們19世紀(jì)的情況，而且是一本可以教會我們當(dāng)代社會中某些關(guān)于我們自己的東西的文本。

三、Thoreau's Ideas About Train托福聽力問題：

Q1:1.What does the professor mainly discuss?

A.Thoreau's use of train metaphors.

B.Thoreau's complex attitude toward trains.

C.Events that inspired Thoreau to write his book Walden.

D.Reasons that Thoreau's book Walden was popular in the nineteenth century.

Q2:2.In Walden,Thoreau describes some benefits of trains.What benefits does the professor mention?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.Trains helped people feel more connected to their national culture.

B.Trains made life more convenient for many people.

C.Trains stimulated the imagination in new ways.

D.Trains cost less to use than other modes of transportation.

Q3:3.According to Thoreau,what is the relationship between trains and nature?

A.Trains can distort passengers'perceptions of nature.

B.Trains make the landscape more visually interesting.

C.Trains can transport people to natural settings.

D.Trains cause damage to the environment.

Q4:4.According to the lecture,what point does Thoreau emphasize about trains and the penny press?

A.Penny-press publications were read by average citizens,but trains were used mainly by the wealthy

B.Trains delivered penny-press publications to a broad national audience.

C.Both trains and the penny press threatened people's individualism.

D.Both trains and the penny press enhanced people's understanding of the world.

Q5:5.What does the professor imply when he discusses modern technology?

A.It is better to wait until a new technology is perfected before adopting it.

B.A new technology that has more disadvantages than advantages is unlikely to succeed.

C.People are more skeptical of new technology now than in Thoreau's time.

D.People should consider possible negative consequences of a new technology before adopting it.

Q6:6.What is the professor's opinion about Walden as it relates to the world today?

A.Walden is of interest mainly for its descriptions of nineteenth-century life.

B.The issues that Walden addresses remain relevant today.

C.Mass transportation has changed too much for Walden to be relevant today.

D.Walden correctly predicted that trains would be replaced by other technologies.

四、Thoreau's Ideas About Train托福聽力答案：

A1:正確答案：B

A2:正確答案：BC

A3:正確答案：A

A4:正確答案：C

A5:正確答案：D

A6:正確答案：B

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