【正文】 不管噪聲來自何方，有一點是肯定的：看來寂靜已變成一種珍貴的回憶。它竟然是鼾聲。新技術也為噪音作了它的貢獻。但是，還有一種更加隱蔽有害的污染，它專門影響城鎮(zhèn)地區(qū)，侵襲我們的日常生活，那就是噪音。工業(yè)化的農(nóng)作方式生產(chǎn)出廉價的肉類制品——牛肉、豬肉和雞肉。當我們開始考慮垃圾問題時，我們只有4種對付垃圾的方法：傾倒、焚燒、把垃圾變成再生材料或試圖少產(chǎn)生一些垃圾。.Before it is possible to drill this deep hole, scientists will have to overe a number of problems. Geological tests will be carried out to find the point at which the earth39。深草叢中的某個地方有一臺正在生銹的割草機，那就是我曾答應某日要修理的割草機。幾個星期過去了，草長了起來。我買來一根新鏈條后，面臨的就是如何把這些令人眼花繚亂的拼板重新組裝起來。于是，我決定把它拆開。在我看來，只需稍加調(diào)整即可。自己動手的例子中最糟糕的是，有時甚至是男人盡管接連失敗卻還誤以為自己什么都行，原因就是要面子。但不幸的是，我們并非人人都是能工巧匠。特別是男人，常利用空閑時間安裝壁爐、布置花園、建造車庫、制作家具。Last spring my wife suggested that I call in a man to look at our lawnmower. It had broken down the previous summer, and though I promised to repair it, I had never got round to it. I would not hear of the suggestion and said that I would fix it myself. One Saturday afternoon, I hauled the machine into the garden and had a close look at it. As far as I could see, it only needed a minor adjustment: a turn of a screw here, a little tightening up there, a drop of oil and it would be as good as new. Inevitably the repair job was not quite so simple. The mower firmly refused to mow, so I decided to dismantle it. The garden was soon littered with chunks of metal which had once made up a lawnmower. But I was extremely pleased with myself I had traced the cause of the trouble. One of the links in the chain that drives the wheels had snapped. After buying a new chain I was faced with the insurmountable task of putting the confusing jigsaw puzzle together again. I was not surprised to find that the machine still refusedto work after I had reassembled it, for the simple reason that I was left with several curiously shaped bits of metal which did not seem to fit anywhere. I gave up in despair. The weeks passed and the grass grew. When my wife nagged me to do something about it, I told her that either I would have to buy a new mower or let the grass grow. Needless to say our house is now surrounded by a jungle. Buried somewhere in deep grass there is a rusting lawnmower which I have promised to repair one day.他們成了商業(yè)化的受害者，因為他們的名字具有了市場價值。不但素昧平生的人寄來了大量的禮物，而且嬰兒食品、嬰兒肥皂制造廠商為了替自己產(chǎn)品做廣告也寄來了大量的禮物。五胞胎降生第二天，一架飛機飛抵阿拜丁，隨機帶來60名記者與攝影師。如果他們只添了1個孩子，這件事本來就不會引起任何人的注意。 下面這戶窮人一夜之間出名發(fā)財?shù)墓适聭騽⌒缘卣f明了新聞報道威力。我們都喜歡看關于別人生活的報道，但是否同樣喜歡看關于自己生活的報道，就很難說了。 to satisfy the curiosity of the public and to protect the family from inquisitive tourists. While the five babies were still quietly sleeping in oxygen tents in a hospital nursery, their parents were paying the price for fame. It would never again be possible for them to lead normal lives. They had bee the victims of mercialization, for their names had acquired a market value. The town itself received so much attention that almost every one of the inhabitants was affected to a greater or less degree.Lesson45 The power of pressIn democratic countries any efforts to restrict the freedom of the press are rightly condemned. However, this freedom can easily be abused. Stories about people often attract far more public attention than political events. Though we may enjoy reading about the lives of others, it is extremely doubtful whether we would equally enjoy reading about ourselves. Acting on the contention that facts are sacred, reporters can cause untold suffering to individuals by publishing details about their private lives. Newspapers exert such tremendous influence that they can not only bring about major changes to the lives of ordinary people but can even overthrow a government. The story of a poor family that acquired fame and fortune overnight, dramatically illustrates the power of the press. The family lived in Aberdeen, a small town of 23,000 inhabitants in South Dakota. As the parents had five children, life was a perpetual struggle against poverty. They were expecting their sixth child and faced with even more pressing economic problems. If they had only had one more child, the fact would have passed unnoticed. They would have continued to struggle against economic odds and would have lived in obscurity. But they suddenly became the parents of quintuplets, four girls and a boy, an event which radically changed their lives. The day after the birth of the five children, an aeroplane arrived in Aberdeen bringing sixty reporters and photographers. The news was of national importance, for the poor couple had bee the parents of the only quintuplets in America. The rise to fame was swift. Television cameras and newspapers carried the news to everyone in the country. Newspapers and magazines offered the family huge sums for the exclusive rights to publish stories and photographs. Gifts poured in not only from unknown people, but from baby food and soap manufacturers who wished to advertise their products. The old farmhouse the family lived in was to be replaced by a new $100,000 home. Reporters kept pressing for interviews so lawyers had to be employed to act as spokesmen for the family at press conferences. The event brought serious changes to the town itself. Plans were announced to build a huge new highway, as Aberdeen was now likely to attract thousands of tourists. Signposts erected on the outskirts of the town directed tourists not to Aberdeen, but to 39。你毫不費勁地飛越高山幽谷，你確能飽覽大地的風貌。幾小時之內(nèi)，你躺在扶手椅上，享受著旅途的歡樂。飛機另一個缺點是昂貴。如果大海肆虐起來，你就可能暈船，那種難受勁兒是任何一種別的旅行的方式都不會帶來的。在公路上還好，你至少能以相當快的速度安全地向前行。白天是忽睡忽醒，到了夜晚，你真想睡了，卻很難入睡。很少有人能夠真正喜歡坐幾個小時以上的火車。但是當波浪從河對岸折回來時，就有再次把盤子拖進水里的危險。這次，盤子必須垂直吊出水面，因為盤子的一邊緊靠著運河河岸。盤子慢慢浮出水面，被輕輕地拽向運河岸邊。他們沒費多大事兒就找到了盤子。他們跳起了舞，盤子難以承受。餡餅委員會確認運輸這只盤子的最佳方案是通過運河水運。如果你要舉辦一次露天游園會或盛宴，為避免碰上不好的天氣而遭受損失也同樣可以保險，不用說，保險公司承擔風險越大，你付的保險費也就越高。洞里有一種可怕的寂靜，唯一的可以聽見的聲響是高高的圓頂上不間斷地滴水的嘀嗒聲。后來他們發(fā)現(xiàn)這是由山洞頂部的一個小孔里噴出的水柱跌落到水潭中發(fā)出的聲音。他們跳入湖中，把各種器具裝上一只充氣的橡皮艇，聽任水流將他們帶往對岸。他們從高原上的窄縫進去，順著筆直陡峭的洞壁往下爬。此洞的洞口在丹芬阿爾卑斯山的高原上，僅6英尺寬，很難被發(fā)現(xiàn)。有時需要花費整整8天時間來搭起繩梯，建立供應基地，然后才能到一個很深的洞穴里。對洞穴探險者來說，洞穴有一種特殊的魅力，就像高山對登山者有特殊魅力一樣。 Everest. Though a number of descents have been made, much of it still remains to be explored. A team of potholers recently went down the Gouffre