词汇提示

1.literary 人文

2.and vice versa 反之亦然

3.intellectuals 知识分子

4.reluctance 不情愿

5.desire 愿望

6.cultivate 培养

7.controversial 争议

8.mindset 心态

原文

The Two Cultures

In 1956, English writer and scientist C. P. Snow wrote an essay on "The Two Cultures.

By this, he meant that in the West there is a scientific culture and a literary culture.

Scientists do not talk very much to literary men and vice versa.

Neither group seems to know, nor want to know, very much about the other.

Snow argues that the scientific people and the literary people are moving further and further apart.

Few scientists or engineers read literature, very few writers or intellectuals know or care anything about science.

Literary culture seems to be anti-science and anti-technology.

This affects Western reluctance to train more scientists and engineers.

The standard of living in the West, and throughout the world, depends on having scientists and engineers.

Nonetheless, relatively little effort is given to encouraging and developing these areas of education.

Westerners, who are part of the literary culture, do not encourage or understand the scientific revolution.

As a result, they are insensitive to the desire of Third World peoples to improve their lives through technology.

Snow talks about how the standard of living in England has improved since 1800.

Snow's grandfather did not go far in school, but did learn to read and write.

Living in 1900, he realized that he was better off than his grandfather who lived in the early 1800s

Snow's great-great-grandfather was a farm laborer who didn't know how to read or write.

Snow feels that a similar transformation could happen even in very poor countries.

It could happen in a short time if the West supplied capital and engineers.

Snow believes that it is the industrial revolution that has transformed the West.

This is what has allowed the farm laborers to go to school and to learn employable skills.

In 1800, only a small proportion of society could expect to live well.

Now nearly everyone has access to education and training.

The same industrial revolution can happen in Third World countries.

Snow agrees that most scientists and engineers do not read novels or cultivate the arts.

However, he doesn't consider this to be as dangerous as when literary people ignore science and technology.

Science and technology are too important to our standard of living to be ignored; our education systems have to be changed to reflect our need of them.

Snow's article was quite controversial.

Not everyone agreed with him that science and technology are being ignored by our educational system.

But Snow certainly has a point when he says that scientific people and literary people view the world differently.

These two different mindsets often lead to conflict in the workplace.

Snow may be right that it is too easy for literary-minded students to ignore science, and scientifically minded students to ignore literature.

翻译

两种文化

1956年，英国作家兼科学家C·P·斯诺写了一篇关于“两种文化”的文章。
他的意思是，西方有科学文化和人文文化。
科学家们不怎么与文学家交谈，反之亦然。
这两组人似乎都不太了解，也不想了解对方。
斯诺认为，科学界人士和文学界人士的距离越来越远。
很少有科学家或工程师阅读文学，很少有作家或知识分子了解或关心科学。
人文文化似乎是反科学和反技术的。
这影响了西方不愿培养更多的科学家和工程师。
西方和全世界的生活水平取决于拥有科学家和工程师。
然而，鼓励和发展这些教育领域的努力相对较少。
西方人是人文文化的一部分，他们不鼓励或理解科学革命。
因此，他们对第三世界人民通过技术改善生活的愿望不敏感。
斯诺谈到了自1800年以来英国的生活水平是如何提高的。
斯诺的祖父在学校没走多远，但确实学会了阅读和写作。
生活在1900年的他意识到自己比生活在19世纪初的祖父过得更好
斯诺的曾曾祖父是一名农场工人，不知道如何阅读或写作。
斯诺认为，即使在非常贫穷的国家，也可能发生类似的转变。
如果西方提供资本和工程师，这可能在短时间内发生。
斯诺认为，正是工业革命改变了西方。
这就是让农场工人上学和学习就业技能的原因。
在1800年，只有一小部分社会能够过上好日子。
现在几乎每个人都能接受教育和培训。
同样的工业革命也可能发生在第三世界国家。
斯诺同意大多数科学家和工程师不读小说或培养艺术。
然而，他认为这不像文学界忽视科学技术那样危险。
科学和技术对我们的生活水平非常重要，不容忽视；我们的教育体系必须改变，以反映我们对它们的需求。
斯诺的文章颇有争议。
并非所有人都同意他的观点，即我们的教育系统正在忽视科学和技术。
但斯诺说科学界人士和文学界人士对世界的看法是不同的，这当然是有道理的。
这两种不同的心态往往会导致职场冲突。
斯诺说得对，有文学头脑的学生很容易忽视科学，有科学头脑的学生也很容易忽视文学。

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Level 4-Day 37.The Two Cultures