翻译题 When Stevens Institute of Technology hired me a decade ago, it installed me for several months in the department of physics, which had a spare office. Down the hall from me, Albert Einstein's electric-haired visage beamed from a poster for the "World Year of Physics 2005." 【F1】Passing the office of a physics professor who made the mistake of leaving his door open, I stopped and asked the question implicitly posed by the "Year of Physics" poster Will there ever be another Einstein? The physicist scrunched up his face and replied, "I'm not sure what that question means."
Let me try to explain. Einstein is the most famous and beloved scientist of all time. We revere him not only as a scientific genius but also as a moral and even spiritual sage. Abraham Pais, Einstein's friend and biographer, called him "the divine man of the 20th century." 【F2】To New York Times physics reporter Dennis Overbye, Einstein was an "icon" of "humanity in the face of the unknown." So to rephrase my question: Will science ever produce another figure who evokes such reverence?
Einstein took advantage of his fame to speak out on nuclear weapons, nuclear power, militarism and other vital issues through lectures, essays, interviews, petitions and letters to world leaders. When he spoke, people listened. It is hard to imagine any modern scientist, physicist or biologist, being lionized in this manner. One reason may be that science as a whole has lost its moral sheen. The public is warier than ever of the downside of scientific advances, whether nuclear energy or genetic engineering. 【F3】Moreover. as modern science has become increasingly institutionalized, it has started to resemble a guild that values self-promotion above truth and the common good.
Einstein also possessed a moral quality that set him apart even in his own time. 【F4】According to Robert Oppenheimer, the dark angel of nuclear physics, Einstein embodied "a wonderful purity at once childlike and profoundly stubborn."
The aspiring scientists and engineers I encounter at my school give me hope that science has a bright future. 【F5】But I suspect that we will never see Einstein's like again, because he was the product of a unique combination of time and temperament. Einstein, incidentally, didn't think he lived up to his own reputation. "I am no Einstein," he once said. On top of all his other qualities, the man was modest.
问答题 6.【F1】
【正确答案】路过忘了关门的物理教授的办公室门口,我停下来,问了他一个关于“物理年”海报隐含的问题:还将有另一个爱因斯坦出现吗?
【答案解析】①本句是复合句。句首的现在分词短语Passing the office…相当于when I passed the office…,作主句的时间状语。②who引导的定语从句修饰先行词professor。③过去分词短语implicitly posed by…poster作后置定语,修饰question;“Year of Physics”意为“物理年”。④冒号后的问句是question的同位语从句,补充说明“物理年”海报隐晦提出的问题。
问答题 7.【F2】
【正确答案】对于《纽约时报》的物理专栏记者丹尼斯-欧佛拜而言,爱因斯坦是“人类在面对未知事物”的“偶像”。
【答案解析】①此句为主系表结构的简单句,主干之外只有一个介宾短语,结构相对简单。②句首的介宾短语作状语,说明主干所述内容是针对何人而言;另一个介宾短语in the face of...意为“在……面前;面对”,作后置定语修饰humanity“人类”;the unknown是“定冠词+形容词”结构,通常表示一类人或物,此处可理解为“未知的事物”。
问答题 8.【F3】
【正确答案】此外,随着现代科学界变得日益机构化,它开始变得类似于一个重视自我标榜而非真理和公益的协会。
【答案解析】①Moreover意为“此外,而且”,表示此句与上句存在递进关系。②as在此意为“随着”,引导时间状语从句。③主句start to do sth.结构意为“开始做某事”。④that引导定语从句,修饰先行词guild;value A above B意为“把A的价值看得比B还高”。
问答题 9.【F4】
【正确答案】正如罗伯特·奥本海默这位核物理学家中的黑暗天使所言,爱因斯坦流露出“一种美好的纯净,这种纯净同时具有孩童的天真和极度的执拗”。
【答案解析】①本句结构不算复杂。主干为主谓宾结构;两个逗号间的the dark angel of nuclear physics是Robert Oppenheimer的同位语,解释其身份。②at once childlike and profoundly stubborn是修饰purity的后置定语,补充说明此purity的其他特点;at once意为“同时”。
问答题 10.【F5】
【正确答案】但是我猜测,我们不会再遇到像爱因斯坦一样的伟人,因为他是时代和秉性独特融合的产物。
【答案解析】①本句是复合句。主句主干为I suspect that…,that引导从句作suspect的宾语,表明“怀疑,猜测”的内容。②because引导主句的原因状语从句,说明主句所述猜测内容的原因。