①但是，原子在汽车的引擎盖下静静地燃烧，这种像科幻小说一
样的情景可能吗？②理论上是可能的，原子已经用于驱动潜艇，已经有了原子能引擎。③但是，专家们指出，要把这样的引擎实际安装在汽车上，还有问题有待解决。
①Now what exactly are these problems that stand between you and a car that you will never have to refuel? ②Frankly, most of them can be summed up in one word — radiation. ③An atomic reactor, the kind of engine that would produce energy by atom-splitting, throws off radiation, extremely dangerous radiation. ④These rays are just as dangerous as when they are released from an atomic bomb. ⑤This radiation penetrates anything except the thickest concrete and lead, with fatal results for anybody in its path. ⑥Thus, at the moment any car carrying an atomic engine would also have to carry many tons of lead in order to prevent the radiation from escaping.
①现在究竟是什么问题妨碍我们研制出根本不用加油的引擎
呢？②事实上，大多数的问题可以归结为一个词——辐射。③原子能反应堆（这是一种通过原子裂变产生能量的引擎）会产生辐射，而且是极其危险的辐射。④其危险程度相当于原子弹爆炸时的辐射线。⑤可以穿透除最厚的钢筋混凝土和铅以外的任何物体，所到之处对任何人都是致命的伤害。⑥这样，任何装备了原子能引擎的汽车为了防止核辐射，都必须同时携带数吨重的铅容器。
①Since a car made up of tons of lead is rather impracticable, the
only answer at the moment seems to be the discovery or invention of a metal that will be strong enough to hold in the rays, but at the same time light enough for a vehicle to carry with ease and economy. ②Most likely this metal would have to be synthetic, since no natural metal except lead has yet proved fit for the job. ③When this light metal is invented, the motoring world will be well on the way to an atomic car. ④However, even after the invention of a protective but light metal, two other problems still remain, those of economics and safety.
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①既然用几吨铅制造汽车很不切实际，那么眼下唯一的办法就是
找到或发明一种新型金属材料。②这种金属既要有足够的强度，可以遏制辐射射线，同时还要足够轻，可以让汽车轻松负载，而且价格还要适中。③这最有可能是一种合成金属，因为除了铅之外没有一种金属符合这个条件。④这种金属发明以后，世界才更有可能进入原子汽车时代。⑤但是，即使发明了这种具有防护作用的轻金属，仍然存在两个问题，即经济问题和安全问题。
①It is extremely doubtful whether at the beginning a really economic
engine could be made, that is, one cheap enough to make it worth putting in a car. ②But it seems safe to say that eventually, as techniques and mass production come in atomic engines, the price will go down. ③This is basic economics, and manufacturers should eventually be able to produce something that will at least be cheaper than having to pay for petrol during the lifetime of the car.
①现在人们极其怀疑，能否造出来一台真正经济适用，即价格足
以低廉可以安装到汽车上的原子能引擎。②但是，现在似乎可以说，随着技术的进步，以及原子能引擎产量的扩大，价格最终会降下来。这是最基本的经济考量。③有关厂家最终应该能生产出比较理想的原子能引擎，这种引擎的价格至少要低于普通汽车在其使用年限内必须支付的全部汽油费的总和。
①But then this third problem still remains, that of safety. ②Suppose
that there is a road accident involving one, or perhaps two, atomic cars, and that the atomic reactor or its protective covering were damaged.
③Any explosion would be equal to that of a very small atomic bomb. ④The effects of such an explosion would be felt for several miles around. ⑤As will be realized, this is perhaps the biggest problem of all to
overcome. ⑥Is it possible to make an atomic engine that will be really safe in every circumstance?
①但是，还存在第三个问题，即安全问题。②试想发生一起道路
交通事故，涉及一台或两台原子能汽车，而且该车的原子能反应堆或其保护装臵遭到了破坏，那么任何一次爆炸都相当于一个小型原子
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弹，其爆炸的声音周围几英里范围内都可以听到。③众所周知，这很可能是所有亟待解决的问题中最大的问题。④现在有可能造出来一台在任何情况下都安全可靠的原子能引擎吗？
From an article in Ford Times 出自《福特时代》
结 束
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Unit 8 [见教材P88] On Buying Books
关于买书 Robert Best 罗伯特. 贝斯特
①Time spent in a bookshop can be most enjoyable, whether you are
a book-lover or merely there to buy a book as a present. ②You may even have entered the shop just to find shelter from a sudden shower.
③Whatever the reason, you can soon become totally unaware of your surroundings. ④The desire to pick up a book with an attractive dust-jacket is irresistible, although this method of selection ought not to be followed, as you might end up with a rather dull book. ⑤You soon become engrossed in some book or other, and usually it is only much later that you realize you have spent far too much time there and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointment — without buying a book, of course.
①不管你是因为喜欢书，还是仅仅为了买书送人，逛逛书店都可
能让人非常愉悦，甚至哪怕你进书店只是为了避雨。②无论什么原因，你可能都会很快全然意识不到周围的一切。③你会情不自禁地拿起一本护封很漂亮的书，虽然这种选书的方式不值得效仿，因为你可能拿到的是一本很枯燥无聊的书。④你会很快专注于某本书，通常过了很久，你才意识到你已经在书店里待了很长时间，于是不得不匆匆离开，去赶赴某个被遗忘的约会——当然，你最终一本书也没有买。
①This opportunity to escape the realities of everyday life is, I think,
the main attraction of a bookshop. ②There are not many places where it is possible to do this. ③A music shop is very much like a bookshop.
④You can wander round such places to your heart?s content. ⑤If it is a
good shop, no assistant will approach you with the inevitable greeting: “Can I help you, sir?” ⑥You needn?t buy anything you don?t want. ⑦In a bookshop an assistant should remain in the background until you have
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finished browsing. ⑧Then, and only then, are his services necessary.
⑨Of course, you may want to find out where a particular section is, but
when he has led you there, the assistant should retire discreetly and look as if he is not interested in selling a single book.
①我认为，可以让人从日常的现实生活中获得暂时的解脱是书店
的主要魅力所在。②能做到这一点的地方不多，唱片店就非常类似于书店。③在这样的地方，你可以尽情地逛。④如果一家店很体贴，就不会有服务员来到你身边，例行公事地问你“先生，请问你需要什么？”⑤你不需要买你不想要的任何东西。⑥在书店里，售货员应该待在不显眼的地方，直到顾客浏览结束。⑦这时，也只有这时，他的服务才是必要的。⑧当然，你可能很想知道书店中某部分的位臵，但是在他把你领到那里之后，他就应该悄悄地退到一边，并且还要表现得并不仅仅是只对卖掉一本书感兴趣。
①You have to be careful not to be attracted by the variety of books in
a bookshop. ②It is very easy to enter the shop looking for a book on, say, ancient coins and to come out carrying a copy of the latest best-selling novel and perhaps a book about brass-rubbing — something which had only vaguely interested you up till then. ③This volume on the subject, however, happened to be so well illustrated and the part of the text you read proved so interesting, that you just had to buy it. ④This sort of thing can be very dangerous. ⑤Apart from running up a huge account, you can waste a great deal of time wandering from section to section.
①在书店里，你必须要非常小心，以免被种类繁多的书搞得头晕
眼花。②很可能，你进书店原本只是想找一本，比方说，关于古钱币的书，结果从书店出来时，却买了一本最新的畅销小说，也可能是一本关于拓印的书——而这本书只是你逛书店时才隐约引起你关注的。
③但是，由于关于这个主题的这卷书恰好插图非常美，而且你读到的
那一部分文字又很有趣，于是你只好买下来。④这可能非常危险，除了花掉很多钱，你在不同的区域转来转去还可能会浪费很多时间。
①Book-sellers must be both long-suffering and indulgent. ②There is a story which well illustrates this. ③A medical student had to read a
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