大學英語book2課文翻譯
導語：翻譯是在準確、通順的基礎上，把一種語言信息轉變成另一種語言信息的行為。下面，是大學英語book2課文翻譯的內容，提供給大家參考學習！
Unit 1 Are You a 1960s Type Student? 大學已不再特別了
If you can remember anything about the 1960s, you weren't really there," so the saying goes. It may be true for those who spent their college years in a haze of marijuana smoke. But there is one thing everyone remembers about the 1960s: Going to college was the most exciting and stimulating experience of your life.
In the 1960s, California's colleges and universities had transformed the state into the world's seventh largest economy. However, Berkeley, the University of California's main campus, was also well-known for its student demonstrations and strikes, and its atmosphere of political radicalism. When Ronald Reagan ran for office as governor of California in 1966, he asked if Californians would allow "a great university to be brought to its knees by a noisy, dissident minority". The liberals replied that it was the ability to tolerate noisy, dissident minorities which made universities great.
On university campuses in Europe, mass socialist or communist movements gave rise to increasingly violent clashes between the establishment and the college students, with their new and passionate commitment to freedom and justice. Much of the protest was about the Vietnam War. But in France, the students of the Sorbonne in Paris managed to form an alliance with the trade unions and to launch a general strike, which ultimately brought about the resignation of President de Gaulle.
It wasn't just the activism that characterized student life in the 1960s. Everywhere, going to college meant your first taste of real freedom, of late nights in the dorm or in the Junior Common Room, discussing the meaning of life. You used to have to go to college to read your first forbidden book, see your first indie film, or find someone who shared your passion, for Jimi Hendrix or Lenny Bruce. It was a moment of unimaginable freedom, the most liberating in your life:
But where's the passion today? What's the matter with college? These days political, social and creative awakening seems to happen not because of college, but in spite of it. Of course, it's true that higher education is still important. For example, in the UK, Prime Minister Blair was close to achieving his aim of getting 50 per cent of all under thirties into college by 2010 (even though a cynic would say that this was to keep them off the unemployment statistics). Yet college education is no longer a topic of great national importance. Today, college is seen as a kind of small town from which people are keen to escape. Some people drop out, but the most apathetic stay the course because it's too much effort to leave.
Instead of the heady atmosphere of freedom which students in the1960s discovered, students today are much more serious. The British Council has recently done research into the factors which help international students decide where to study. In descending order these are: quality of courses, employability prospects, affordability, personal security issues, lifestyle, and accessibility. College has become a means to an end, an opportunity to increase one's chances on the employment market, and not an end in itself, which gives you the chance to imagine, just for a short while, that you can change the world.
The gap between childhood and college has shrunk, and so has the gap between college and the real world. One of the reasons may be financial. In an uncertain world, many children rely on their parents' support much longer than they used to. Students leaving university in the 21st century simply cannot afford to set up their own home because it's too expensive. Another possible reason is the communications revolution. Gone are the days when a son or daughter rang home once or twice a term. Today students are umbilically linked to their parents by their cell phones. And as for finding like-minded friends to share a passion for obscure literature or music, well, we have the Internet and chat rooms to help us do that.
"Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,
But to be young was very heaven!"
Wordsworth may have written these lines about the French Revolution; but they were also true for the students of the 1960s. So why aren't they true for the students of today?
有這麼一種説法：“要是你能記得20世紀60年代的任何事情，你就沒有真正經歷過那段歲月。”對於在麻地煙霧中度過大學時光的那些人，這話可能是真的。但是，20世紀60年代有一件事人人都記得，那就是：上大學是你一生中最激動人心、最刺激的經歷。
20世紀60年代，加州的高校把本州變成了世界第七大經濟實體。然而，加州大學的主校園伯克利分校也以學生不上課以及激進的政治氛圍而著名。1966年，羅納德·里根競選加州州長，他問加州是否允許“一所偉大的大學被喧鬧的、唱反調的少數人征服。”自由派人士回答説，大學之所以偉大正是因為它們有能力容忍喧鬧的、唱反調的少數人。
在歐洲的大學校園裏，大學生以新的姿態和激情投人到爭取自由和正義的事業中去，大規模的社會主義或共產主義運動引發了他們與當權者之間日益升級的暴力衝突。許多抗議是針對越南戰爭的。可是在法國，巴黎大學的學生與工會聯盟，發動了一場大罷工，最終導致戴高樂總統辭職。
20世紀60年代大學生活的特點並不僅僅是激進的行動。不論在什麼地方，上大學都意味着你初次品嚐真正自由的滋味，初次品嚐深更半夜在宿舍或學生活動室裏討論人生意義的滋味。你往往得上了大學才能閲讀你的第一本被禁止閲讀的書，看你的第一部獨立影人電影，或者找到和你一樣痴迷吉米·亨德里克斯或蘭尼·布魯斯的志同道合者。那是一段難以想象的自由時光，你一生中最無拘無束的時光。
可如今那份激情哪兒去了？大學怎麼了？現在，政治、社會和創造意識的覺醒似乎不是憑藉大學的助力，而是衝破其阻力才發生的。當然，一點不假，高等教育仍然重要。例如，在英國，布萊爾首相幾乎實現了到2010年讓50％的三十歲以下的人上大學的目標（即使憤世嫉俗的人會説，這是要把他們排除在失業統計數據之外）。不過，大學教育已經不再是全民重視的話題了。如今，大學被視為人們急於逃離的一種小城鎮。有些人輟學，但大多數已經有些麻木，還是堅持混到畢業，因為離開學校實在是太費事了。
沒有了20世紀60年代大學生所發現的令人頭腦發熱的自由氣氛，如今的大學生要嚴肅得多。英國文化協會最近做了一項調查，研究外國留學生在決定上哪所大學時所考慮的因素。這些因素從高到低依次是：課程質量、就業前景、學費負擔、人身安全
問題、生活方式，以及各種便利。大學已變成實現目的的手段，是在就業市場上增加就業機率的一個機會，上大學本身不再是目的，不再是給你提供一個機會，讓你暫時想象一下：你能夠改變世界。
童年與大學之間的距離已縮小了，大學與現實世界之間的距離也縮小了。其中的一個原因可能和經濟有關。在一個沒有保障的世界裏，現在的許多孩子依賴父母資助的時間比以前的孩子更長。21世紀的學生大學畢業後根本無法自立門户，因為那太昂貴了。另一個可能的原因是通訊革命。兒子或女兒每學期往家裏打一兩回電話的日子一去不復返了。如今，大學生通過手機與父母保持着臍帶式聯繫。至於尋找痴迷無名文學或音樂的同道好友，沒問題，我們有互聯網和聊天室來幫助我們做到這一點。
“幸福啊，活在那個黎明之中，．年輕更是如進天堂！
華茲華斯的詩句説的可能是法國大革命，但是對於20世紀60年代的大學生而言，這樣的詩句同樣真實生動。可是為什麼對於如今的大學生來説，它們就不真實了呢？
Unit 2 This is Sandy 這位是桑迪
I love it when my friends introduce me to new people, although I never let on. I love the proud and honorable expression they wear when they say “This is Sandy — she's deaf”, as if I were evidence of their benevolence. I also love the split-second shocked expression on the new people, the hasty smiles and their best imitations of what they think of as their “normal faces”. If they do the ritual well enough I turn my head ever so slightly and tuck my hair behind one of my ears, whichever one's closer to them. They never fail to say something nice about my pink hearing aids, while my regular friends beam on.
I'm thinking of starting a hearing aid collection, actually. They'd make better accessories than earrings: I once saw a catalog for clip-on hearing aids and hearing aid covers, and the products were most definitely fashion statements in various shapes and hues. It'd be like the exquisitely expensive handbag Esther's dad got her when we were in high school. The rest of us could only admire, but could not, imitate, because our dads weren’t rich enough to spoil us that way. And now, only I can wear hearing aids: My friends can do nothing but gush.
To be honest, I quite like my deafness. It wasn't easy the first few years after the car accident and the stupid exploding airbag, but now it's become something that makes me special among my friends. None of my close friends are hearing-impaired; simply because I wasn’t born deaf. By the time I lost my hearing; I'd already accumulated a fixed circle of people, and they mostly rushed to participate in the drama.
You know how when you talk about your friends, you refer to them as Drew the Bartender, Carol the Feminist, Greg the Guy Who Can Knot a Cherry Stem with His Tongue and so on? I'm Sandy the Deaf Girl. I like it. I don’t have any other particularly outstanding traits or skills. Never did.
It's more than just standing out; too: I'm sure a lot of important events in my life wouldn't have happened or worked out quite the same way if I weren't wearing pink hearing aids. For example, the thing with Colin.
I first met Colin at an apartment party. When Carol the Feminist introduced us to each other, I tucked my hair behind both my ears and leaned closer, not because he did the ritual particularly well; but because he was a stud: You should have seen his recovery smile after the inevitable surprise.
We went in search of drinks after the handshakes, and somewhere between what was functioning as the wine bar and the couch, we lost Carol.
“Do you usually read lips like this? Or do you sign, too?” he asked after a while.
“I mostly just read lips because it was easier to pick up than signing, although that's not the only reason I was staring at your lips," I told him.
He laughed. We talked more, and then the host upped the music volume and dimmed the lights for the “dance floor”; and I had to lean in much, much closer to be able to continue reading his lips in the semi-darkness. And read his lips I did.
We did the usual and exchanged numbers, and a week later Colin did the unthinkable and called. We went out, satisfied ourselves that the other person still looked good in sober daylight, and read more lips. Within two months Colin and I were dating.
我的朋友向生人介紹我的時候，雖然我嘴上從不説什麼，但我心裏喜歡得很。我喜歡他們説“這位是桑迪—她是聾子”的時候臉上那副驕傲和榮耀的表情，就好像我證明了他們的仁德善心一樣。我也喜歡生人臉上那瞬間的震驚表情、匆忙的微笑和他們竭力裝出的“正常臉色”。如果他們這套儀式做得夠好，我就會微微轉過頭，把頭髮掖到離他們較近的那隻耳朵後面。他們總會説些好話，誇我的粉紅色助聽器，我的朋友們則在一旁燦爛地微笑。
實際上，我在考慮開始收藏助聽器。它們是比耳環更好的首飾。我曾經看到過一款“一夾得”帶罩助聽器的廣告圖片，產品有各種各樣的形狀和顏色，絕對時髦。那就像我們上高中的時候，埃斯特的爸爸給她買的精美昂貴的手提包一樣。那時，我們其他人只有羨慕的份兒，卻無法仿效，因為我們的老爸沒那麼多錢去嬌慣我們。而現在，只有我能戴助聽器。朋友們也就只有羨慕的份兒了。
説實話，我挺喜歡耳聾的。在那次車禍和愚蠢的安全氣囊破裂之後的頭幾年，日子不好過，但是現在，耳聾讓我在朋友中顯得很特別。我的好朋友沒有一個是聽力殘障的，因為我不是天生耳聾，在我失去聽覺的時候，我已經有了一個固定的朋友圈。他們中的多數人都熱心積極地參加這場“表演”。
你知道，在你談論朋友時，你會把稱他們為“酒吧侍者德魯”、“女權主義者卡羅爾”、‘能用舌頭給櫻桃梗打結的傢伙格雷格”等等。我是“聾女桑迪”。我喜歡這個稱呼。我沒有任何其它突出的個性或能耐。從來沒有過。
還不僅僅是與眾不同。我確信，假如我不戴粉紅色助聽器的話，我生活中的許多重大事件就不會以同樣的方式發生或產生同樣的結果。例如，跟柯林之間的事兒。
我初次遇見柯林是在一次公寓派對上。女權主義者卡羅爾給我們彼此做了介紹之後，我把頭髮攏到兩耳之後，湊得更近些，不是因為他把那套儀式做得特別好，而是因為他是個情種。誰都能注意到在不可避免的驚訝之後他臉上恢復的微笑。
握手之後，我們去拿喝的。在臨時搭建的吧枱和沙發之間的某個地方，卡羅爾不見了。 “你通常都像這樣讀脣語嗎？還是也用手語？”過了一會兒他問。
我告訴他説：“我多數時間只讀脣語，因為這比用手語更容易，但這不是我一直盯着你的嘴脣的唯一原因。”
他大笑起來。我們又説了一會兒話。後來，主人放大音樂的音量，調暗“舞池”的燈光；我不得不湊近他，很近很近，以便能在昏暗中接着讀他的脣語。我的確讀到了他的脣語。 我們照例交換了電話號碼。一星期之後，柯林做了件讓人無法相信的事：他打來了電話。我們出去玩了，發現對方在大白天依然好看，因此彼此感覺滿意。我又讀了更多的脣語。在兩個月之內，柯林和我就開始約會了。
Unit 3 Stolen Identity 竊取的身份
“Frank never went to pilot school, medical school, law school, ... because he's still in high school.”
That was the strapline of the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can, which tells the story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), a brilliant young master of deception who at different times impersonated a doctor, a lawyer, and an airplane pilot, forging checks worth more than six million dollars in 26 countries. He became the youngest man to ever make the FBI’s most-wanted list for forgery. Hunted and caught in the film by fictional FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), Abagnale later escaped. He eventually became a consultant for the FBI where he focused on white-collar crime.
It's a great film, but could it happen in real life? In fact, Catch Me If You Can is based on the true story of Frank Abagnale, whose career as a fraudster lasted about six years before he was caught, who escaped from custody three times (once through an airplane toilet), and who spent a total of six years in prison in France, Sweden and the US. He now runs a consultancy advising the world of business how to avoid fraud. He has raised enough money to pay back all his victims, and is now a multi-millionaire.
Since 2003, identity theft has become increasingly common. Few people could imagine how important things like taking mail to the post office and not leaving it in the mailbox for pickup, shredding documents instead of throwing them out with the trash, even using a pen costing a couple of bucks, have become to avoid life-changing crimes.
More and more people are becoming anonymous victims of identity theft. We spend many hours and dollars trying to recover our name, our credit, our money and our lives. We need to look for different ways to protect ourselves. We can improve our chances of avoiding this crime, but it will never go away.
It's not just a list of do's and don'ts, we need to change our mindset. Although online banking is now commonplace, there's a significant group of people in the country — the baby boomers, 15 per cent of the population —who still prefer to use paper. What's more, 30 per cent of cases of fraud occur within this group. A check has all the information about you that an identity thief needs. If you use a ballpoint pen, the ink can be removed with the help of a regular household
chemical and the sum of money can be changed. More than 1.2 million bad checks are issued every day, more than 13 per second.
Check fraud is big business ... and growing by 25 per cent every year. Criminals count on our mistakes to make their jobs easier. So how can we prevent identity theft before it happens to us?
Take a few precautions. Don't leave your mail in your mailbox overnight or over the weekend. Thieves wait for the red flag to go up, so they can look through your outgoing mail for useful personal information or checks. Use a gel pen for checks and important forms, the ink is trapped in the fiber of the paper, and it can’t be removed with chemicals: Also, shred or tear up all documents which contain personal information before you put them in the trash.
Remember that there are plenty of online opportunities for thieves to create a false identity based on your own. We’re all aware of the risks to personal information on computer databases by hacking and Trojan horses. But choosing someone and doing a Google search can also yield large amounts of personal information, and so can online social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo. And just as we take our pocketbook with us when we leave the office to go to the bathroom, it's also worth logging off your computer to avoid opportunistic theft.
Finally, if you get robbed in a more traditional way — in the street—canceling your credit cards is obviously the first thing to do. But don't forget that even after they’re reported lost, they can be used as identification to acquire store cards ... and you get the criminal record.
Identity fraud can go on for years without the victim’s knowledge. There is no escaping the fact that right now fraudsters are finding identity crime all too easy. If you haven’t had your identity stolen, it's only because they haven’t got to you yet. Your turn will come.
“弗蘭克從未上過飛行學院、醫學院、法學院?因為他都還在上高中。”
這是2002年的電影《有種來抓我》的劇情簡介。影片講述了小弗蘭克·阿巴格納爾（萊昂納多·迪卡普里奧飾演）的故事。影片主人公是一位聰明絕頂的年輕騙術大師，曾在不同時間扮演醫生、律師和飛行員的角色，在26個國家偽造了價值600萬美元以上的支票。他成了聯邦調查局有史以來偽造罪頭號通緝令名單上最年輕的通緝犯。在影片中，阿巴格納爾被虛構的聯邦調查局特工卡爾·漢拉提（湯姆·漢克斯飾演）追捕，但後來逃脱了。他最終成了聯邦調查局專攻白領犯罪的顧問專家。
《有種來抓我》是一部很棒的電影，但影片中的事情會在現實生活中發生嗎？其實，《有種來抓我》是根據弗蘭克·阿巴格納爾的真實故事改編的，他的行騙生涯持續了大約六年；被抓後，曾三次逃脱監管（有一次是從飛機的廁所逃走的）；在法國、瑞典和美國的監獄中總共度過了六年時光。他現在經營一家諮詢事務所，為企業界提供防造假諮詢。他掙到了足夠的錢，賠付了所有的受害者，如今已是大富豪。
2003年以來，身份盜竊案變得越來越常見。很少有人會想象到，為了預防這種改變人生的犯罪，採取一些預防措施有多麼重要，比如把郵件拿到郵局去寄而不是丟在信箱裏等人來取、把文件切碎而不是直接把它們連同垃圾一道扔出去，甚至使用幾美元一支的（特效）
筆等等。
越來越多的人正在成為身份盜竊案的無名受害者。我們花費許多時間和金錢，去努力挽回我們的姓名、我們的信用、我們的錢和我們的生活。我們需要想方設法來保護自己。我們可以減少此類犯罪的機會，但是它永遠不會消失。
這不僅僅是要求我們列一份“該做”和“不該做”事項的清單，我們還需要改變心態。雖然網上銀行現在很常見，但國內有一大羣人—即占人口15％的生育高峯時期出生的一代人—還是更喜歡用紙。而且，30%的詐騙案都發生在這羣人當中。支票上有身份盜賊所需的你的全部信息。如果你用圓珠筆，筆跡可以用一般的家用化學藥品除去，錢數可以更改。每天發出的空頭支票高達120萬張以上，平均每秒13張以上。
支票造假是個大產業??每年以25％的速率增長。犯罪分子指望我們犯錯誤，好讓他們更容易得手。那麼我們怎樣才能防患於未然呢？
採取一些預防措施。不要把你的郵件留在郵箱裏過夜或過週末。小偷就等着看你家信箱的小紅旗（注：在美國，信箱上插上小紅旗表示有郵件需要投遞），以便通過你要投遞的郵件找尋有用的個人信息或支票。要用簽字筆填寫支票和重要表格，（因為）簽字筆的墨水會滲進紙張的纖維中，無法用化學藥品除去。還有，切碎或撕碎含有個人信息的所有文件，然後再把它們丟進垃圾桶。
記住，網上有大量機會可以被小偷利用。他們根據你的身份偽造假身份。我們都知道黑客行為和木馬軟件對電腦數據庫中個人信息的威脅。但是在谷歌上搜索某人也會透露大量個人信息，在線社交網站（如“我的空間”、“相冊”和“畢波”）也一樣。正如我們離開辦公室去廁所時要隨身帶上錢包一樣，離開電腦時也應該註銷你的電腦以防臨時起意的盜竊。
最後一點，假如你遭遇較傳統方式的搶劫一比如在大街上一掛失你的信用卡顯然是要做的第一件事。但是別忘了，即使掛了失，信用卡也可以用作身份證件來獲得購物卡??那你就有了犯罪記錄。
身份偽造可以肆行多年而不為受害者所知。一個無法迴避的事實是：現在的詐騙者覺得身份犯罪簡直是太容易了。如果你的身份尚未失竊，那只是因為他們還沒有對你動手。就會輪到你的。
Unit 4 The death of Newspaper 報紙的末日？
For years it started the day for millions of people: the sound of the newspaper hitting the front door, the window or the neighbor's dog. With a cup of coffee, maybe some breakfast, the ritual of reading the newspaper was the quiet before the storm, a moment of pleasure and peace before the working day began.
But all over the English-speaking world, newspaper editors are facing the same problem: Circulation has declined, as more and more readers turn to the Internet for their news. This means that the revenue from advertising is also declining, and the cover price of the newspaper is rising, so they can make the same amount of money. And of course, a price-sensitive product like a newspaper could lose readers, and the vicious circle continues. So what does the future hold? Is it the death of the newspaper?
The decline is a long-term trend of 20 or more years, predating the Internet. Four-fifths of Americans once read newspapers. Today, it seems that fewer than half do. Among adults,
between 1990 and 2000, daily readership fell from 52.6 per cent to 37.5 per cent. Among the young, the situation is even worse: Only 19 per cent of those between the ages of 18 and 34 claim to read a daily newspaper. A mere nine per cent trusted the information the newspaper contains.
Advertising on the Internet works differently than in print. The advertiser can monitor minute by minute if their ads are working, and no longer has to rely on circulation figures. The greater number of outlets which the Internet can offer encourages ferocious competition for advertising revenue, while printing and production costs have risen remorselessly. As a result, The New York Times Company has downsized by 700 jobs among its various papers. The Baltimore Sun is closing down its foreign news bureaux. In the UK most newspapers have reduced the newspaper to tabloid size, in a bid to capture younger readers, although because "tabloid" has a connotation of "downmarket", some of the papers refer to the new size as "compact’.
All large circulation newspapers have established strong websites. The Internet provides an easy outlet for anyone with an opinion, and there's nothing a newspaper editor likes more for reassurance about their work than feedback and opinions, as diverse as possible. Teenagers today don't remember a time when they didn't have the Internet, and reading a newspaper is something they only do if they have an assignment to write about the specific medium of print journalism.
It's hard to deny the environmental impact of newspapers. Nearly four billion trees worldwide are cut down annually for paper, representing about 35 percent of all harvested trees. It has to be said that many of the trees used for paper come from special estates where they're planted and replaced on a regular basis. Furthermore, yesterday's newspaper is often recycled and turned back into today's. Nevertheless, paper mills are among the worst polluters to air, water and land of any industry in the US.
But the daily or weekend newspaper is still a great tradition for many people. "Sunday wouldn't be Sunday without the Sunday newspapers," is a comment which occurs regularly in UK-based surveys. Other opinions draw attention to the convenience of the paper over the laptop: "My newspaper's battery never dies," "If I drop my newspaper, it doesn't break," "The flight attendant has never told me to put my newspaper away," and, reminding us of the traditional wrapping of the UK's national takeaway food, "You can swat flies with them, and they can still be used to wrap fish."
So maybe the newspaper won't die without a struggle. Trends for the future of newspaper include an increased demand for local news, and the continued exploitation of lifestyle journalism, which began in the late 1980s, especially within personal finance and travel, will create new revenue streams. Some commentators recommend that, instead of dumbing down, which is the usual way of increasing one's market share, newspapers should smarten up, that is to say, honor the principles of integrity and impartiality of their coverage. A newspaper with editorial positions which are respected by its readers will surely have more influence and prestige than the same reports read one by one on the Internet.
Moreover, the small-town newspaper will always be meaningful for the parents whose child's photo is news for a few days. And reading the traditional Sunday newspapers in an armchair while everyone else takes the day off is going to be a hard habit to break.
But is it enough? Or will we one day see the death of the newspaper?
多年來，數以百萬計的人在報紙擊中前門、窗户或鄰居的狗的叫聲中開始了一天的生活。對着一杯咖啡，也許還有早餐，看報的儀式是風暴之前的平靜，是工作日開始之前的愉快安寧。
可是，在所有講英語的國家，報紙編輯們正面臨着同一個問題：發行量下滑了，因為越來越多的讀者轉向互聯網閲讀新聞。這意味着同時下滑的廣告收入，以及隨之上漲的報紙定價，因為只有這樣他們才能掙到一樣多的錢。當然，像報紙這樣價格敏感的產品可能會失去讀者，惡性循環會不斷加劇。那麼將來會怎樣？報紙是否走上了末路？
這種下滑是20多年來的長期趨勢，在互聯網問世之前就已出現。從前，五分之四的美國人看報，而如今似乎只有不到一半。1990至2000年間，成年人每天看報的人數從52.6%下降到37.5%。年輕人中情況更槽：18至34歲的年輕人只有19%自稱每天看報。而僅有9%的人相信報紙上的信息。
互聯網廣告的運作方式與報紙廣告不同。廣告商可以逐分逐秒地監視廣告是否在起作用，而不再需要依賴報紙的發行量。互聯網可提供的更多的窗口使廣告收入之戰更加激烈，印刷和生產成本卻不可遏制地上漲。結果，《紐約時報》公司旗下各種報紙已裁減了700份工作。《巴爾的摩太陽報》即將關閉其駐外新聞機構。在英國，多數報紙都縮版成為小報開本，意在吸引年輕讀者，但是因為“小報”有“低檔廉價”之嫌，有些報紙就稱新開本為“縮編版”。
所有發行量大的報紙都建立了強大的網站。 互聯網為任何有意見的人提供了一個便利的窗口；報紙編輯最喜歡的莫過於給他們提供各種不同的反饋和意見，他們能從中得到安慰。如今十幾歲的少年已不記得曾經沒有互聯網的日子了；只有在寫關於印刷新聞這一特定媒體的作業時他們才去看報紙。
不可否認報紙對環境的影響。世界上每年有近40億裸樹木被砍伐用來造紙，約佔全部木材砍伐量的35%。但必須承認，許多用來造紙的樹木是在特別的種植園出產的，它們是定期砍伐和栽種的。而且，舊報紙常被回收利用，變成新的報紙。儘管如此，在美國，造紙廠是對空氣、水體和土地污染最嚴重的行業之一。
但是，對於許多人來説，日報或週報依然是個偉大的傳統。“沒有禮拜天版報紙的禮拜天就不是禮拜天，”這樣的評語常見於在英國所做的調查。其他評語則提到報紙比筆記本電腦更方便之處：“我的報紙永遠不會沒電，”“假如我的報紙掉到地上，它不會摔破，”“空姐從來不會叫我把報紙收起來，”此外，還有評語讓我們想到英國全國的外賣食品的傳統包裝方式，“你可以用它們來打蒼蠅，還可以用來包魚。”
如此看來，報紙是不會輕易消失的。未來報紙發展的趨勢包括對本地新聞需求的日益增長，而始於20世紀80年代後期的對生活方式新聞的持續開發利用—尤其在個人理財和旅遊方面—將會創造新的收入來源。有些評論者建議，報紙不應粗製濫造（儘管這是增加市場份額的通常做法），而應該精工細作。也就是説，尊崇以正直、誠實和不偏不倚的態度從事新聞報道的原則。具有為讀者所敬重的辦報立場的報紙肯定比互聯網上零散閲讀的同類報道享有更大的影響力和聲望。
此外，小城鎮報紙對於為人父母者總是意味深長，因為其子女的照片也許會在上面刊登，幾天都是新聞。人人都放假的時候，坐在扶手椅上看傳統的禮拜天版報紙，這將是難以打破的習慣。
但是這樣是否足夠？或者，有朝一日我們一定會看到報紙的消亡？
Unit 5 The Story of Anne Frank’s Diary 安妮·弗蘭克日記的故事
“13 June 1944. Another birthday has gone by so now I'm 15. I've received quite a few presents, an art history book, a set of underwear, two belts, and a handkerchief, two pots of yogurt, a pot of jam and two small honey biscuits ... Peter and I have both spent years in the annexe — we often discuss the future, the past and the present, but ... I miss the real thing, and yet I know it exists.”
Anne Frank wrote these words in her now famous diary while she and her family were in hiding in "the secret annexe", a few rooms in the back of her father's office in Amsterdam, Holland.
The Franks were in fact refugees, Jews from Germany who had emigrated to Holland, settling in Amsterdam to escape from Nazi persecution. But when, in May 1940 the German army invaded and occupied Holland, the persecution of the Dutch Jews very quickly began there too.
Like all Jews, Anne and her sister Margot were forbidden to attend school, to ride their bikes, even to travel in a car. They were only allowed to go into certain shops, and at all times they had to wear a yellow star on their clothing to show they were Jewish. The star of David, an important religious symbol, was transformed into a badge of shame by the Nazis.
By 1941, the Nazis were arresting large numbers of Jewish people, and sending them to labor camps which quickly became death camps. Otto Frank, Anne's father, decided to conceal his family, and the family of his business partner.
The Franks went into hiding on 6 July 1942, just a few weeks after Anne started her diary, and were joined by the second family, the Van Pels a week later. For the next two years, eight people were confined to just six small rooms and could never go outside. There was rarely enough to eat, and the families lived in a state of poverty.
Throughout her time in hiding, Anne continued to write her diary. She describe the day-to-day activity in the annexe but she also wrote about her dreams and aspirations. It was very hard for her to plan for a future; she and the others knew what was happening to the Jews who had been caught.
"Our many Jewish friends and acquaintances are being taken away in droves. The Gestapo is treating them very roughly and transporting them in cattle cars to Westerbork, the big camp in Drenthe to which they're sending all the Jews ... If it's that bad in Holland, what must it be like in those faraway and uncivilized places where the Germans are sending them? We assume that most of them are being murdered. The English radio says they’re being gassed." —October 9, 1942
Despite being an ordinary teenager in many ways, curious, self-critical and moody, Anne was also an honest writer of considerable talent who fought for the right to live and this is what gives the diary such power:
"It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all of my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet, I cling to them because I still believe in spite of everything that people are truly good at heart ...I must hold to my ideals. Perhaps the day will come when I will be able to realize them.
It's utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly turned into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more ... I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out." — July 15, 1944
Writing these words, Anne was not displaying simple childish optimism. It was more a declaration of her principles and of the right to human dignity. The voice that comes across is of a solitary young girl writing for herself, yet at the same time it is the cry of all those innocent victims of evil whose fate was to suffer in the Second World War. That is why Anne Frank's diary has achieved fame as the voice of the Holocaust in which six million Jews were murdered: She speaks for all of humanity.
In August 1944, the hiding place was stormed, and Nazi officers arrested everyone. They were taken to a transit camp and forced to do hard labor. From there they were taken by train to a concentration camp at Auschwitz. A month later, Anne and Margot were moved to Bergen-Belsen camp in Germany. They both died of typhus and starvation in March 1945. Anne Frank was 15, her sister was 19. Out of the eight people in hiding, Otto Frank was the only survivor, and when he found his daughter's diary after the war, he arranged for its publication in recognition of her courage.
When Anne wrote in her diary "I hope that you will be a great support and comfort to me", she couldn't have known that her writing would also be a support and comfort to the whole world after her death.
“1944年6月13日。又一個生日過去了，我現在15歲了。我收到了不少禮物：一本藝術史、一套內衣、兩根腰帶、一幅手帕、兩罐酸奶、一罐果醬和兩小塊蜂蜜餅乾??彼得和我在藏身所裏待了兩年了一我們經常談論將來、過去和現在，可是??我想念外面真實的世界，而且我知道它存在。”
安妮·弗蘭克在她現已出名的日記中寫下了這些話，當時她和她的家人躲在“祕室”裏，那是她父親在荷蘭阿姆斯特丹的辦公室後面的幾間屋子。
弗蘭克一家實際上是難民，是從德國移民到荷蘭的猶太人，定居在阿姆斯特丹以逃避納粹的迫害，但是在1940年5月，當德國軍隊入侵併佔領了荷蘭之後，對荷蘭猶太人的迫害也很快就開始了。
像所有的猶太人一樣，安妮和姐姐瑪戈被禁止上學、騎自行車、甚至坐汽車。德軍只允許他們進有些店鋪，任何時候都要在衣服上帶着一顆黃星以表示他們是猶太人。大衞之星，一種重要的宗教象徵，被納粹變成了一種恥辱的標誌。
到1941年，納粹開始大量逮捕猶太人，把他們送往勞改集中營，勞改集中營很快就變成了死亡集中營。安妮的父親奧托·弗蘭克決定把家人和生意夥伴的家人藏起來。
1942年，7月6日，就在安妮開始寫日記數週後，弗蘭克一家躲了起來，一星期後，範·佩爾一家人也加入進來。在其後的兩年裏，八個人就關在六個小房間裏，絕不能外出。兩家人生活在貧困狀態之中，連足夠的食物都沒有。
在躲藏的日子裏，安妮一直堅持寫日記。她逐日敍述“祕室”裏的日常活動，也記述自己的夢想和憧憬。她很難設想未來；她和別的人都清楚，猶太人被捉住會有什麼下場。
“我們的許多猶太人朋友和熟人都被成羣地帶走了。蓋世太保對他們非常粗暴，用運牲口的拖車把他們運送到德倫特最大的集中營威斯特伯克，他們把所有猶太人都遣送到那裏。??如果説在荷蘭都這麼槽，那麼在德國人送他們去的那些遙遠的蠻荒之地又會是什麼樣呢？我們猜想他們中的大多數正在被殺害。英國廣播説他們正在被毒氣薰死。”1942年10月9日
儘管安妮在許多方面都是個普通的十幾歲少女，好奇、自我批評而且喜怒無常，但她還是個相當有天賦的誠實的作者，為生存的權利而鬥爭着。正是這一點賦予了她的日記如此強大的力量：
“我沒有放棄所有理想，這簡直是奇蹟；它們顯得那麼荒唐和不切實際。然而，我緊緊抓着它們，因為我仍然相信，不管怎麼樣，人們的內心都是真正善良的??我必須堅持我的理想。也許在將來的某一天我的理想會實現。
我完全不可能把我的生活建立在混亂、苦難和死亡的基礎上。我眼看着這世界正慢慢地變成荒野；我耳聽着那逼近的雷霆，終有一天也會把我們摧毀；我感受着數百萬人的苦難。然而，仰望天空的時候，我不知為什麼覺得一切都將變好，這殘酷的現實也將結束，和平和安寧將再度迴歸??我必須捍衞我的理想，因為也許我能夠實現它們的時候就要到了。”1944年7月15日
安妮寫這些話，並非在展示簡單幼稚的樂觀主義。那是她的信念和人類尊嚴權利的宣言。它傳來的'是一個孤獨少女的聲音，她為自己寫作，但同時也是所有無辜受邪惡迫害者的吶喊，他們的命運就是在第二次世界大戰期間受難。這就是安妮·弗蘭克的日記被譽為猶太人大屠殺（其間有六百萬猶太人被殺害）之聲的原因：她的話代表了全人類的心聲。
1944年8月，他們的藏身處被突襲了，納粹官員逮捕了每一個人。他們被帶往一個過渡性集中營，被迫做苦工。從那裏，他們又被火車送往奧斯威辛。一個月後，安妮和瑪戈被轉移到德國的貝爾根一貝爾森集中營。她倆均於1945年3月死於斑疹傷寒和飢餓。安妮·弗蘭克時年15歲；她的姐姐19歲。在躲藏的八個人中，唯一倖存者是奧托·弗蘭克。他在戰後發現了女兒的日記，設法出版了它，以表彰她的勇氣。
當安妮在日記中寫下“我希望你對我會是極大的支持和安慰”這句話時，她不可能知道，在她死後，她的文字也會是對全世界的支持和安慰。
Unit 6 My Dream Comes True夢想成真
The rain had started to fall gently through the evening air as darkness descended over Sydney. Hundreds of lights illuminated Stadium Australia, and the noise was deafening. As I walked towards the track I glanced around me at the sea of faces in the stands, but my mind was focused. The Olympic gold medal was just minutes away, hanging tantalizingly in the distance.
My heart was beating loudly, my mouth was dry and the adrenaline was pumping. I was so close
to the realization of my childhood dream and the feeling was fantastic; it was completely exhilarating, but also terrifying. I knew I would have to push myself beyond my known limits to ensure that my dream came true.
I tried to keep composed, telling myself not to panic, to stick to the plan and run my own race. I knew the Russian girls would set off quickly — and I had to finish this race fewer than ten seconds behind the Russian athlete Yelena Prokhorova. If I could do that, the title would be mine.
I looked out along the first stretch of the 400m track and caught my breath. The 800m race had punished me so much over the years— in the World, Commonwealth and European Championships —and now it stood between me and the Olympic title.
The British supporters were cheering so loudly it seemed as if they were the only fans there. I could hear my name being called. I could hear the shouts of encouragement and the cries of hope. Union Jacks fluttered all around the vast, beautiful stadium. I felt unified with the crowd — we all had the same vision and the same dream.
My ankle was bandaged against an injury I had incurred in the long jump just a couple of hours earlier, but I shut out all thoughts of pain. I tried to concentrate on the crowd. They were so vocal. My spirits lifted and I felt composed.
I knew I would do my best, that I would run my heart out and finish the race. I felt the performer in me move in and take over. I had just two laps to run, that was all. Just two laps until the emotional and physical strain of the past two days and the last 28 years would be eclipsed by victory or failure. This race was all about survival. It's only two minutes, I kept telling myself, anyone can run for two minutes.
The starting gun was fired, and the race began. The first lap was good, I managed to keep up with the group, but I was feeling much more tired than I usually did, and much more than I'd anticipated. Both the long, hard weeks of training that had led up to this championship, and the exhaustion from two days of grueling competition were showing in my performance. Mental and physical fatigue were starting to crush me, and I had to fight back.
Prokhorova had set the pace from the start. It was important that I didn’t let her get too far in front. I had to stay with her. At the bell I was 2.3 seconds behind her. Just one lap to go. One lap. I could do it. I had to keep going. In the final 150 meters I could hear the roar of the crowd, giving me a boost at exactly the moment I needed it the most — just when my legs were burning and I could see the gap opening between me and the Russian. Thankfully, my foot was holding out, so now it was all down to mental stamina.
Prokhorova was pulling away. I couldn't let her get too far; I had to stay with her. I began counting down the meters I had left to run; 60m, 50m, 40m, 2om. I could see the clock. I could do it, but it would be close. Then finally the line appeared. I crossed it, exhausted. I had finished.
As I crossed the line my initial thought was how much harder the race had been than expected, bearing in mind how, only eight weeks before, I had set a new personal best of two minutes 12.2 seconds. Then my mind turned to the result. Had I done it? I thought I had. I was aware of where the other athletes were, and was sure that I'd just made it. But, until I saw it on the scoreboard, I wouldn't let myself believe it. As I stood there, staring up and waiting for confirmation, I tried hard to keep negative thoughts from my mind - but I couldn’t help thinking, what if I have just missed out? What if I’ve been through all this, and missed out?
In the distance I could hear the commentary team talking about two days of tough competition, then I could almost hear someone say, "I think she's done enough." The next thing I knew, Sabine Braun of Germany came over and told me I'd won. They had heard before me, and she asked what it felt like to be the Olympic champion. I smiled, still not sure.
Then, the moment that will stay with me for the rest of my life —my name in lights. That was when it all hit me. Relief, a moment of calm, and a thank you to my inner self for taking me through these two days. I felt a tingle through the whole of my body. This was how it is meant to be —arms aloft and fists clenched.
I looked out at the fans, who were waving flags, clapping and shouting with delight. I was the Olympic champion. The Olympic champion.
當夜幕降臨悉尼時，雨也開始悄悄地從夜空中飄落。幾百盞燈把澳大利亞體育場照得燈火通明，場內的聲音震耳欲聾。走向跑道時我看了一眼四周看台上無數的臉，但我的注意力還是很集中。再過幾分鐘奧運金牌的歸屬就要見分曉了，它懸掛在遠處，很誘人。
我的心在劇烈地跳動，口乾舌燥，腎上腺素猛增。童年的夢想就要實現了，這種感覺真是太奇妙了：令人非常興奮，又膽戰心驚。我知道，為了確保能夢想成真我必須強迫自己超越已知的極限。
我極力保持鎮靜，告誡自己不要緊張，要堅持按原計劃做，按自己的節奏跑。我知道那些俄羅斯姑娘起跑很快—這場比賽我落後俄羅斯運動員葉蓮娜·普羅科霍洛娃不能超過十秒。如果我做到這一點，冠軍就是我的了。
我望着四百米跑道的起跑點，屏住了呼吸。這些年來，在世錦賽、英聯邦錦標賽以及歐洲錦標賽的八百米賽跑中我屢戰屢敗，飽受挫折。現在，它再次橫在我與奧運冠軍頭銜之間。
我的英國支持者在為我歡呼，聲音特別大，就好像看台上只有他們是我的狂熱支持者。我聽到他們喊我的名字，為我鼓勁加油，聽到他們充滿希望的吶喊。寬闊美麗的體育場上到處飄揚着大不列顛聯合王國的國旗，我感覺自己和觀眾融為了一體：我們有着同樣的期盼，同樣的夢想。！
幾個小時前，我的腳踩在跳遠時受了傷，纏上了繃帶，但是我忘掉傷痛，儘量把注意力集中在觀、眾身上。他們的叫喊聲勢浩大，使我精神振奮，我感到鎮定自若。
我知道自己會全力以赴，拼盡全力跑完全程。我感覺自己已經進入最佳狀態。我只要跑兩圈就行了，就兩圈。跑完這兩圈，過去兩天以及28年來所有情感和身體上的辛苦付出就將被勝利或者失敗所淹沒。這一跑真是生死攸關。我不斷地告訴自己：也就是跑兩分鐘，誰都能跑兩分鐘。
發令槍響了，比賽正式開始。第一圈還好，我跟其他人跑得一樣快，但我覺得比平時要累得多，比我預想的要累得多。這次錦標賽賽前長達數週的艱苦訓練以及這兩天激烈的比賽所帶來的疲勞在我的賽跑過程中顯現出來。精神和肉體的疲倦開始向我襲來，我不得不反擊。
普羅科霍洛娃一開始就領先。最重要的是我不能被她甩得太遠，我得緊緊地跟着她。最後一圈的鈴聲響起時，我比她落後2.3秒。只剩最後一圈了，就一圈，我能贏，我必須堅持跑下去。到最後150米的時候我聽見觀眾高聲叫喊，在我最需要的時候為我加油助威一這時我的腿疼得要命，我看見我和那個俄羅斯運動員之間的距離正在加大。令人欣喜的是我的腳都還在繼續往前邁，這時候就全靠精神毅力來支撐了。
我聽見遠處轉播比賽的解説員在談論兩天來的艱難賽事，我好像聽見有人説：“我覺得她做得夠好了。”接下來，來自德國的薩拜因·布勞恩走過來告訴我我贏了，他們在我之前打聽到了消息，她問我當奧運冠軍是什麼滋味。我笑了，但還是不敢肯定。
接下來的那一刻將讓我銘記一生：計分牌上我的名字亮了。那一刻我驚呆了。如釋重負，平靜了一會兒，感謝我內在的自我幫我度過了這兩天。我感到全身一陣振顫，這時候該做的事是：高舉雙手，緊握雙拳。
我向我的支持者望去，他們正興高采烈地揮舞旗幟，鼓掌吶喊。我是奧運冠軍，奧運會的冠軍。
Unit 7 Are Animals Smarter Than We Think? 動物比我們想象的更聰明嗎？
What does an elephant see when it looks in the mirror? Itself, apparently. Previously, such self-awareness was thought to be limited to humans, primates and the great celebrities of the world of animal intelligence, dolphins. At first, elephants in studies with mirrors will explore the mirror as an object. Eventually, they may realize they are looking at themselves. They will repeatedly touch a mark painted on their heads that they wouldn't see without the mirror. Diana Reiss of Hunter College believes these are compelling signs of self-awareness.
Scientists used to believe that animals were like machines programmed to react to stimuli. They were not considered capable of feeling or thinking, and certainly not of understanding abstract concepts. However, any dog owner will disagree. They know, when they see the love in their pet's eyes, that it has feelings. A dog can be trained to respond to commands and perform useful tasks. It can recognize different people and make choices about what to eat or which path to take. But does this mean that an animal is capable of thinking and, if so, can it be proved? Our perceptions of animals are filtered through our own human understanding of the world and we often project human feelings and thoughts onto other creatures.
One of the first scientists to try to investigate the animal mind was the British naturalist Charles Darwin. In his book The Descent of Man, published in 1871, he questioned whether higher mental abilities such as self-consciousness and memory, were limited to human beings. Darwin speculated that human and non-human minds aren't all that different. Animals, he argued, face the same general challenges and have the same basic needs as humans: to find food and a mate, to navigate through the sky, the woods or the sea. All these tasks require the ability to problem-solve and to categorize. Birds, for example, need to be able to distinguish colors so they know when a
fruit is ripe, what is safe to eat and what is not. Knowing the shapes of predators helps them to escape danger. Having a concept of numbers helps them to keep track of their flock, and to know which individuals have a mate.
All these skills require, not just instinct, but cognitive ability, argues Irene Pepperberg, who has worked on animal intelligence since 1977.
She studied an African grey parrot called Alex from the age of one for 30 years. Parrots are well-known for their ability to imitate speech and in her experiments; Pepperberg used this talent to find out about Alex's understanding of the world. Her aim was to teach him to reproduce the sounds of the English language so that she could then have a dialogue with him. "I thought if he learned to communicate, I could ask him questions about how he sees the world."
Memory, language, self-awareness, emotions and creativity are key indications of higher mental abilities. Scientists have, bit by bit, uncovered and documented these talents in other species. Pepperberg discovered that Alex could count, distinguish shapes, sizes, colors and materials such as wood, wool and metal. Until recently, only higher mammals, such as primates, have been thought capable of understanding concepts of "same" and "different". But parrots, like primates, live for a long time in complex societies, so abstract mental ability would seem to be a valuable survival skill for them, too.
Darwin argued that animals' minds, like their bodies, have evolved to suit their environment. He went so far as to suggest that even worms have some hint of intelligence since he observed them making judgments about the kinds of leaves they used to block their tunnels. Many scientists in the 20th century dismissed such findings as unreliable, usually influenced by anthropomorphism, in other words, judging animals by human attributes. However, the pendulum is now swinging away from thinking of animals as machines without intelligence, and back towards Darwin's ideas. A wide range of studies on animals suggests that the roots of intelligence are deep, widespread across the animal kingdom and highly changeable.
People were surprised to find that chimpanzees and other primates were smart. They make tools. Orangutans use leaves as rain hats and protect their hands when climbing spiky trees. Scientists put this down to the fact that primates and humans share a common ancestor. What is surprising them now however, is' that intelligence doesn't seem to be limited to those species with whom; we have a common ancestor. It appears that evolution can reinvent similar forms of consciousness indifferent species; and that to an astonishing degree, this intelligence is not reserved only for higher mammals. One vital question is thrown up by the current research: If all this is true and animals have feelings and intelligence, should it affect the way we humans treat them?
大象照鏡子時到底看到了什麼？顯然是它自己。以前，人們認為這樣的自我意識僅存於人類、靈長類動物以及動物智慧世界的明星—海豚。在這項大象和鏡子的研究裏，大象起初只把鏡子當作物品來把玩。最後，它們可能意識到它們在鏡子裏看到了自己。它們會反覆觸碰畫在它們頭上的印記，這是一些沒有鏡子就不可能看見的印記。亨特大學的戴安娜·雷斯認為，這是自我意識的很有力的説明。
過去，科學家認為動物和機器一樣，能根據事先編排好的程序對外界的刺激作出反應。還認為它們不具備感受和思考能力，絕對沒有理解抽象概念的能力。但是，養狗的人是不會同意這種看法的。他們在寵物狗的眼睛裏看到了愛，知道它有情感。狗能通過訓練接受指令做有益的事情。它會認人、選擇食物、識別道路。但這是否意味着它有思維能力呢？如果有的話，又如何證實呢？我們對動物的認知是經過過濾的，是建立在人類對世界的理解的基礎上的，我們經常把人類的情感和思想投射到其它動物身上。
最早研究動物心智的科學家之一是英國博物學家查爾斯·達爾文。在1871年出版的《人類的起源》一書中，他質疑是否只有人類才具有高級思維能力—如自我意識和記憶。達爾文猜測人腦和動物腦沒有那麼大的差別。他認為，動物和人一樣面對相同的常規挑戰和相同的基本需求：尋找食物和伴侶，在天空、森林和海洋中旅行時不迷失方向。要完成這些任務，就需要有解決問題和甄別分類的能力。例如鳥類必須有分辨顏色的能力，以確定果實什麼時候成熟，什麼東西能吃，什麼東西不能吃。瞭解捕食動物的形狀能幫助它們避開危險，有數字概念可幫助他們瞭解本鳥羣的情況，瞭解哪些鳥已有伴侶。
從1977年起就從事動物智慧研究的艾琳·佩拍伯格認為，所有這些技巧不僅需要本能，還需要認知能力。
她研究一隻叫“亞歷克斯”的非洲灰鸚鵡，從它一歲開始整整研究了30年。鸚鵡以模仿語言的能力著稱；在她的實驗裏，佩拍伯格利用鸚鵡這方面的才能來了解亞歷克斯對世界的理解。她的目標是教會它英語，以便能夠和它對話。“我想如果它學會如何交流，我即可問它是如何看待這個世界的了。”
記憶、語言、自我意識、情感和創造性是高智力的關鍵標誌。科學家已經一點一滴地揭示並記錄了其他物種在這些方面的才能。佩拍伯格發現亞歷克斯不僅能夠數數，還能分辨形狀、大小、顏色及材料（如木頭、羊毛和金屬）。直到最近，只有高等哺乳動物，如靈長類，才會被認為具有理解“相同”和“不同”這些概念的能力。但鸚鵡和靈長類一樣長期生活在複雜社會裏，因此抽象的智力對它們而言似乎也同樣是有價值的生存技巧。
達爾文認為，動物的心智和它們的身體一樣因為要適應環境而進化了。他甚至説：即便是蟲子也有一點點智慧，因為他觀察到蟲子能判斷什麼樣的葉子適合用來堵它們的洞口。許多20世紀的科學家輕視這些發現，認為它們不可靠，這是受了擬人説的影響，即根據人的特徵來判斷動物。但是，現在輿論的天平已不再向那些認為動物像機器一樣沒有智慧的觀點傾斜了，而是向達爾文的觀點傾斜。大範圍的動物研究表明：智慧之根在動物界的分佈既深又廣，變化多端。
人們吃驚地發現黑猩猩及其他靈長類動物都很聰明，它們會製造工具。紅毛黑猩猩能用樹葉當斗笠擋雨；在爬帶刺的樹時，它們知道如何保護自己的手。科學家把這種現象歸結為靈長類動物和人類擁有共同祖先這一事實。但是，現在讓他們吃驚的是智慧似乎並不僅僅體現在與人同祖的物種身上。進化似乎能夠在不同物種身上重新創造出相似的意識形式。令人吃驚的是，這種智慧並非高等哺乳動物的專利。目前的研究提出了一個重大的問題：如果這一切都是真的，如果動物具有情感和智力，這會改變人類對待動物的方式嗎？
