新概念第一冊老師

新概念英語第四冊句子學習：知識和進步

課文22 知識和進步

376. Why does the idea of progress loom so large in the modern world?

為什么進步這個概念在現(xiàn)代世界顯得如此突出?

377. Surely progress of a particular kind is actually taking place around us and is becoming more and more manifest.

無疑是因為有一種特殊的進步實際上正在我們周圍發(fā)生，而且變得越來越明顯。

378. Although mankind has undergone no general improvement in intelligence or morality,

雖然人類有智力和道德上沒有得到普遍提高，

379. it has made extraordinary progress in the accumulation of knowledge.

但在知識積累方面卻取得了巨大的進步。

380. Knowledge began to increase as soon as the thoughts of one individual could be communicated to another by means of speech.

人一旦能用語言同別人交流思想，知識的積累便開始了。

381. With the invention of writing, a great advance was made, for knowledge could then be not only communicated but also stored.

隨著書寫的發(fā)明，又邁進了一大步，因為這樣一來，知識不僅能交流，而且能儲存了。

382. Libraries made education possible, and education in its turn added to libraries:

藏書使教育成為可能，而教育反過來又豐富了藏書，

383. the growth of knowledge followed a kind of compound interest law,

因為知識的增長遵循著一種“滾雪球”的規(guī)律。

384. which was greatly enhanced by the invention of printing.

印刷術的發(fā)明又大大提高了知識增長的速度。

385. All this was comparatively slow until, with the coming of science, the tempo was suddenly raised.

所有這些發(fā)展都比較緩慢，而隨著科學的到來，增長的速度才突然加快。