2019年翻譯資格考試英語筆譯初級模擬題：研究

英譯漢

The differences in relative growth of various areas of scientific research have several causes.

Some of these causes are completely reasonable results of social needs. Others are reasonable consequences of particular advances in science being to some extent self-accelerating. Some , how-ever , are less reasonable processes of different growth in which preconception of the form scientific theory ought to take, by persons in authority, act to alter the growth pattern of different areas.

This is a new problem probably not yet unavoidable; but it is a frightening trend. This trend began during the Second World War, when several govemments came to the conclusion that the specific demands that a government wants to make of its scientific establishment cannot generally be foreseen in detail. It can be predicted, however, that from time to time questions will arise which will require specific scientific answers. It is therefore generally valuable to treat the scien-

tific establishment as a resource or machine to be kept in functional order.This seems mostly effectively done by supporting a certain amount of research not related to immediate goals but of possible consequence in the future.

This kind of support , like all government support , requires decisions about the appropriate recipients of funds. Decisions based on utility as opposed to lack of utility are straightforward. But a decision among projects none of which has immediate utility is more difficult. The goal of the supporting agencies is the praisable one of supporting "good " as opposed to "bad" science, but a valid determination is difficult to make. Generally, the idea of good science tends to become confused with the capacity of the field in question to generate an elegant theory. However, the world is so made that elegant systems are in principle unable to deal with some of the world's more fascinating and delightful aspects. New forms of thought as well as new subjects for thought must arise in the future as they have in the past, giving rise to new standards of elegance.

參考譯文

科學(xué)研究的各種領(lǐng)域的相關(guān)發(fā)展，存在若干原因。在這些原因中，有些完全是自然而然地來自社會需求。另一些則是由于科學(xué)在一定程度上自我加速而產(chǎn)生某些特定發(fā)展的必然結(jié)果。然而，有些發(fā)展速度的差異其原因就不盡合理，這是因為某些權(quán)威人干對科學(xué)理論研究應(yīng)采取何種形式有先入為主的想法，這些想法起了改變不同科學(xué)領(lǐng)域的發(fā)展模式的作用。這是一個新問題，也許并非是不可避免的問題，但其趨勢卻令人擔(dān)憂。這種趨勢始于第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間，當(dāng)時一些國家的政府得出結(jié)論:政府要向科研機構(gòu)提出的具體要求通常是無法詳盡預(yù)見的。然而，人們可以預(yù)見，往往會出現(xiàn)一些問題要求科學(xué)做出具體的回答。因此，將科研機構(gòu)視為一種資源或一臺機器，應(yīng)維持其良好的運行狀態(tài)。這樣做通常是很有價值的。給某些與當(dāng)前目標(biāo)無關(guān)但將來可能產(chǎn)生影響的科研以支持，看來通常能有效地解決這個問題。

此種資助也與所有政府資助一樣，需要決定合適的投資對象。根據(jù)某一項目是否有效來做出決策是明確無誤的。但是在幾個都沒有直接效用的項目中，要做出抉擇就特別困難。資助機構(gòu)的目標(biāo)是支持“好”的科學(xué)，而不資助“壞”的科學(xué)，那是值得贊揚的。然而要做出正確的抉擇卻是困難的。人們往往將好科學(xué)與該科學(xué)是否有能力提出一套完美的理論混淆起來。然而，世界就是如此，完美的體系一般是無法解決世上某些更加引人入勝的課題的。同過去一樣，將來必然會出現(xiàn)新的思維方式和新的思維對象，給完美以新的標(biāo)準。