托福阅读素材：人文科学应该被支持的原因

　　My second reason: We need people conversant with the humanities to help reach wise publicpolicy decisions, even about the sciences. Technology companies must constantly weighethical decisions: Where should Facebook set its privacy defaults, and should it tolerateglimpses of nudity? Should Twitter close accounts that seem sympathetic to terrorists? Howshould Google handle sex and violence, or defamatory articles?

　　我的第二个理由：我们需要通晓人文学科的人来帮忙做出明智的公共政策决策——甚至是和科学有关的决策。科技公司必须不断对伦理决策进行权衡：Facebook的默认隐私设置应该是什么样的，该容忍些许裸体影像的存在吗?Twitter该关停似乎对恐怖分子颇为同情的账号吗?谷歌(Google)该如何处理关于性与暴力的内容以及诽谤性文章?

　　In the policy realm, one of the most important decisions we humans will have to make iswhether to allow germline gene modification. This might eliminate certain diseases, easesuffering, make our offspring smarter and more beautiful. But it would also change ourspecies. It would enable the wealthy to concoct superchildren. It’s exhilarating and terrifying.

　　在政策领域，我们人类必须做出的一个最为重要的决定：是否允许修正人类生殖细胞基因。人类生殖细胞基因修正或许可以消灭特定种类的疾病，减少痛苦，让我们的后代更聪明、更美丽。但它同时也会改变我们这个物种，会让富人有机会炮制出犹如超人的子女。这真是既令人振奋，又透着恐怖。

　　To weigh these issues, regulators should be informed by first-rate science, but also by first-rate humanism. After all, Homer addressed similar issues three millenniums ago.

　　要权衡这类问题，监管者不仅要具有一流的科学素质，还要具有一流的人文素质。毕竟，早在3000年前，荷马(Homer)就提出过类似的问题。

　　In “The Odyssey,” the beautiful nymph Calypso offers immortality to Odysseus if he will stay onher island. After a fling with her, Odysseus ultimately rejects the offer because he misses hiswife, Penelope. He turns down godlike immortality to embrace suffering and death that areessential to the human condition.

　　在《奥德赛》(The Odyssey)中，美丽的仙女卡吕普索(Calypso)向奥德修斯(Odysseus)许诺，只要留在她的岛上，他就可以长生不老。跟仙女有了一段风流韵事之后，奥德修斯最终拒绝了这个提议，因为他思念自己的妻子佩涅洛佩(Penelope)。他拒绝像神一样永生，选择面对人类必须面对的痛苦和死亡。

　　Likewise, when the President’s Council on Bioethics issued its report in 2002, “Human Cloningand Human Dignity,” it cited scientific journals but also Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man andthe Sea.” Even science depends upon the humanities to shape judgments about ethics, limitsand values.

　　同样地，总统生物伦理委员会(President's Council on Bioethics)2002年发布题为《人的克隆与人类尊严》(Human Cloning and Human Dignity)的报告时，既援引了科学杂志的内容，也提到了欧内斯特·海明威(Ernest Hemingway)的《老人与海》(The Old Man and the Sea)。即便事关科学，在做出涉及伦理、限度和价值等方面的判断时，也要借助人文学科。

　　Third, wherever our careers lie, much of our happiness depends upon our interactions withthose around us, and there’s some evidence that literature nurtures a richer emotionalintelligence.

　　第三，不论从事什么职业，我们的幸福在很大程度上都取决于我们如何跟周围的人交流。有一些证据表明，涉猎文学有助于提高情商。

　　Science magazine published five studies indicating that research subjects who read literaryfiction did better at assessing the feelings of a person in a photo than those who readnonfiction or popular fiction. Literature seems to offer lessons in human nature that help usdecode the world around us and be better friends.

　　在《科学》杂志上发表过的五项研究表明，比起阅读非虚构类作品或者通俗小说的研究对象，阅读文艺小说的研究对象能够更好地评估照片上的人处于何种情绪之中。文学似乎提供了与人的本质有关的课程，帮助我们解读周围的世界，帮助我们更好地与人相处。

　　Literature also builds bridges of understanding. Toni Morrison has helped all Americaunderstand African-American life. Jhumpa Lahiri illuminated immigrant contradictions. KhaledHosseini opened windows on Afghanistan.

　　文学还可以架设起理解的桥梁。托妮·莫利森(Toni Morrison)帮助整个美国理解非裔美国人的生活。裘帕·拉希里(Jhumpa Lahiri)阐明了移民群体面对的种种矛盾。卡勒德·胡赛尼(Khaled Hosseini)打开了观察阿富汗的窗口。

　　In short, it makes eminent sense to study coding and statistics today, but also history andliterature.

　　总而言之，在当下这个时代，学习编程和统计学固然意义重大，学习历史和文学同样十分重要。

　　John Adams had it right when he wrote to his wife, Abigail, in 1780: “I must study Politicks andWar that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought tostudy Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History and Naval Architecture,navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting,Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine.”

　　1780年，约翰·亚当斯(John Adams)在给妻子的一封信里写道：“我必须修习政治学与战争学，才能让我们的后代拥有修习数学和哲学的自由;我们的后代必须修习数学、哲学、地理学、博物学、造船学、航海学、商学及农学，才能让他们的后代拥有修习绘画、诗歌、音乐、建筑、雕刻、绣织和瓷艺的权利。”这话一点没错。