Thoreau's Ideas About Train托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

Thoreau's Ideas About Train托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

一、Thoreau's Ideas About Train托福听力原文：

NARRATOR:Listen to part of a lecture in a literature class.The professor is discussing Henry David Thoreau.

MALE PROFESSOR:Nowadays,trains are pretty much taken for granted.But in the United States,in the first part of the nineteenth century when Thoreau lived,the railroad was a big deal,a technological revolution.It was kinda earth-shattering to ride in a mechanical conveyance at 50 kilometers an hour in the 1830s.

The train—or“iron horse,”as people called it—unlocked all sorts of new experiences of time,space…Thoreau himself praised trains for changing the way people experienced their own bodies…for stirring the imagination in new ways.So,in Thoreau’s famous book,Walden…As,uh,you know,Walden is one of the central literary texts of the United States from that time period.And in it,Thoreau offers both praise and criticisms of trains.

Um,Thoreau is sometimes seen as being anti-modern,but he's not.He uses poetic language,descriptive metaphors to inspire,to awe his readers,to communicate the fact that the railroad was a feat of human ingenuity.

Thoreau also associates trains with commerce and trade.Though his attitudes toward commerce are complicated,he credits trains for delivering goods that feed and clothe society…things that improve human life.

But Thoreau also critiques trains on what we could call philosophical grounds.He points out that riding on trains distorts people's experiences of the natural world;trees…wildlife…landscapes just zip right past you.And this is a real problem for him.Thoreau also worries that trains had become an“institution”regulating a whole country.

He worries about people doing things in“railroad fashion”…conforming to the train's timetable,letting their lives be governed by this mechanical device that’s making its way into the fabric of society.And he extends this critique to other inventions of the day,like,uh,the penny press,this very fast,steam-driven press.He talks about popular literary genres,like penny newspapers and dime novels,which were being published in mass quantities.

He worries about people no longer thinking for themselves and uncritically accepting all this cheap,popular literature…and the trivial details of the news.So,Thoreau is offering here a critique of technology that might be relevant for our own times…and I think it's important to take it seriously.When there's a new invention—a new computer or mobile phone technology,some new gadget—there's a tendency to think that we need to have that thing…just as people were doing in the nineteenth century with respect to railroads—accepting them as a necessity without considering the possible negative consequences or trade-offs that can flow from them.OK,can anybody offer an example of what I'm talking about?Debra?

FEMALE STUDENT:Yeah.There was this new computer game that my brother just had to have.So,he saved his money and bought it,wh-which was good,I guess,that he saved his money and all.But now,he spends like all his spare time playing that game instead of riding bikes with his friends or reading books,like he used to do.And it’s causing some friction between him and our parents.

MALE PROFESSOR:Perfect example,Debra.So this is one way to think about Thoreau's text—not just as an important book in its time—for what it tells us about the nineteenth century—but also as a text that can teach us certain things about ourselves in contemporary society.

二、Thoreau's Ideas About Train托福听力中文翻译：

旁白：在文学课上听讲座的一部分。教授正在讨论亨利·大卫·梭罗。

男教授：现在，火车几乎被认为是理所当然的。但在美国，在梭罗生活的十九世纪上半叶，铁路是一场重大的技术革命。19世纪30年代，以每小时50公里的速度乘坐机械运输工具，真是惊天动地。

人们称之为火车或“铁马”的火车开启了时间、空间的各种新体验……梭罗本人称赞火车改变了人们体验自己身体的方式……以新的方式激发了想象力。所以，在梭罗的名著《瓦尔登湖》中……正如，呃，你知道的，《瓦尔登湖》是那个时期美国的中心文学文本之一。在这本书中，梭罗对火车既有赞扬也有批评。

梭罗有时被认为是反现代的，但他不是。他用诗意的语言和描述性的隐喻来激发读者的灵感，让读者敬畏，来传达这样一个事实，即铁路是人类智慧的结晶。

梭罗还将火车与商业和贸易联系在一起。虽然他对商业的态度很复杂，但他相信火车能为社会提供衣食住行的商品……改善人类生活的东西。

但梭罗也从我们可以称之为哲学的角度对火车进行了批判。他指出，乘火车扭曲了人们对自然界的体验；树木……野生动物……风景就从你身边掠过。这对他来说是个真正的问题。梭罗还担心火车已经成为一个管理整个国家的“机构”。

他担心人们以“铁路方式”做事……遵守火车时刻表，让他们的生活受这种正在融入社会结构的机械装置支配。他将这种批判延伸到了当时的其他发明，比如，呃，便士印刷机，这种非常快的蒸汽驱动印刷机。他谈到了流行的文学体裁，比如正在大量出版的便士报纸和廉价小说。

他担心人们不再独立思考，不加批判地接受所有这些廉价、通俗的文学作品……以及新闻的琐碎细节。因此，梭罗在这里对技术提出了批评，这可能与我们这个时代有关……我认为认真对待这一点很重要。当出现一项新发明——一种新的计算机或手机技术，一些新的小玩意时，就会有一种倾向，认为我们需要这些东西……就像十九世纪人们所做的那样，铁路将其视为必需品，而不考虑其可能带来的负面后果或权衡。好的，谁能举个例子来说明我在说什么？黛布拉？

女生：是的。有一款新的电脑游戏是我弟弟必须拥有的。所以，他把钱存起来买了下来，我想这很好，他把钱都存起来了。但现在，他把所有的业余时间都花在玩那个游戏上，而不是像过去那样和朋友们一起骑自行车或看书。这在他和我们的父母之间造成了一些摩擦。

男教授：很好的例子，黛布拉。因此，这是一种思考梭罗文本的方式，它不仅是一本重要的书，它告诉了我们19世纪的情况，而且是一本可以教会我们当代社会中某些关于我们自己的东西的文本。

三、Thoreau's Ideas About Train托福听力问题：

Q1:1.What does the professor mainly discuss?

A.Thoreau's use of train metaphors.

B.Thoreau's complex attitude toward trains.

C.Events that inspired Thoreau to write his book Walden.

D.Reasons that Thoreau's book Walden was popular in the nineteenth century.

Q2:2.In Walden,Thoreau describes some benefits of trains.What benefits does the professor mention?[Click on 2 answers.]

A.Trains helped people feel more connected to their national culture.

B.Trains made life more convenient for many people.

C.Trains stimulated the imagination in new ways.

D.Trains cost less to use than other modes of transportation.

Q3:3.According to Thoreau,what is the relationship between trains and nature?

A.Trains can distort passengers'perceptions of nature.

B.Trains make the landscape more visually interesting.

C.Trains can transport people to natural settings.

D.Trains cause damage to the environment.

Q4:4.According to the lecture,what point does Thoreau emphasize about trains and the penny press?

A.Penny-press publications were read by average citizens,but trains were used mainly by the wealthy

B.Trains delivered penny-press publications to a broad national audience.

C.Both trains and the penny press threatened people's individualism.

D.Both trains and the penny press enhanced people's understanding of the world.

Q5:5.What does the professor imply when he discusses modern technology?

A.It is better to wait until a new technology is perfected before adopting it.

B.A new technology that has more disadvantages than advantages is unlikely to succeed.

C.People are more skeptical of new technology now than in Thoreau's time.

D.People should consider possible negative consequences of a new technology before adopting it.

Q6:6.What is the professor's opinion about Walden as it relates to the world today?

A.Walden is of interest mainly for its descriptions of nineteenth-century life.

B.The issues that Walden addresses remain relevant today.

C.Mass transportation has changed too much for Walden to be relevant today.

D.Walden correctly predicted that trains would be replaced by other technologies.

四、Thoreau's Ideas About Train托福听力答案：

A1:正确答案：B

A2:正确答案：BC

A3:正确答案：A

A4:正确答案：C

A5:正确答案：D

A6:正确答案：B

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