2017公共英語二級閲讀文章

儘管2017年上半年的公共英語二級考試已經結束，但是不少的考生已經在為下半年的公共英語二級做準備了。小編這兒為大家整理了兩篇2017公共英語二級閲讀文章，供大家使用。

The modern age is an age of electricity. People are so used to electric lights, radio, televisions, and telephones that it is hard to imagine what life would be like without them. When there is a power failure, people grope about in flickering candlelight, cars hesitate in the streets because there are no traffic lights to guide them, and food spoils in silent , people began to understand how electricity works only a little more than two centuries ago. Nature has apparently been experimenting in this field for millions of years. Scientists are discovering more and more that the living world may hold many interesting secrets of electricity that could benefit humanity.

All living cells send out tiny pulses of electricity. As the heart beats, it sends out pulses of record; they form an electrocardiogram, which a doctor can study to determine how well the heart is working. The brain, too, sends out brain waves of electricity, which can be recorded in an electroencephalogram. The electric currents generated by most living cells are extremely small —— often so small that sensitive instruments are needed to record them. But in some animals, certain muscle cells have become so specialized as electrical generators that they do not work as muscle cells at all. When large numbers of these cells are linked together, the effects can be astonishing.

The electric eel is an amazing storage battery. It can send a jolt of as much as eight hundred volts of electricity through the water in which it lives. (An electric house current is only one hundred twenty volts.) As many as four-fifths of all the cells in the electric eel's body are specialized for generating electricity, and the strength of the shock it can deliver corresponds roughly to the length of its body.

當今時代是電氣時代。人們對電燈、收音機、電視和電話早已司空見慣以致很難想象沒有它們生活會變成什麼樣。當停電時，人們在搖曳不定的燭光下暗中摸索;因沒有紅綠燈的指示，汽車在道路上遲疑不前;冰箱也停止工作，導致食物變質。人們只是在兩個世紀前一點才開始瞭解電的使用原理，自然界卻顯然在這方面經歷過了數百萬年。科學家不斷髮現許多生物世界裏可能有益於人類的關於電的有趣祕密。所有生物細胞都會發出微小的電脈衝。當心髒跳動時，把它發出的脈衝記錄下來就成了心電圖，這可讓醫生了解心臟的工作狀況。大腦也發出腦電波，這可在腦電圖上記錄下來。許多生物細胞發出的電流都是極微小的，小到要用靈敏儀器才能記錄和測量。但一些動物的某些肌肉細胞能轉化成一個個發電機，以致完全失去肌肉細胞的功能。這種細胞大量地連接在一起時產生的效果將是非常令人吃驚的。電鰻就是一種令人驚異的蓄電池。它可以在水中發出相當於800伏特電壓電流(家庭用户的電壓只有120伏特)。在電鰻的身體裏，多至五分之四的細胞都專門用來發電，而且發出的`電流的強度大約和它身體的長度成正比。

Television —— the most pervasive and persuasive of modern technologies, marked by rapid change and growth —— is moving into a new era, an era of extraordinary sophistication and versatility, which promises to reshape our lives and our world. It is an electronic revolution of sorts, made possible by the marriage of television and computer technologies.

The word "television", derived from its Greek (tele: distant) and Latin (visio: sight) roots, can literally be interpreted as sight from a distance. Very simply put, it works in this way: through a sophisticated system of electronics, television provides the capability of converting an image(focused on a special photoconductive plate within a camera) into electronic impulses, which can be sent through a wire or cable. These impulses, when fed into a receiver (television set), can then be electronically reconstituted into that same image.

Television is more than just an electronic system, however. It is a means of expression, as well as a vehicle for communication, and as such becomes a powerful tool for reaching other human beings.

The field of television can be divided into two categories determined by its means of transmission. First, there is broadcast television, which reaches the masses through broad-based airwave transmission of television signals. Second, there is nonbroadcast television, which provides for the needs of individuals or specific interest groups through controlled transmission techniques.

Traditionally, television has been a medium of the masses. We are most familiar with broadcast television because it has been with us for about thirty-seven years in a form similar to what exists today. During those years, it has been controlled, for the most part, by the broadcast networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, who have been the major purveyors of news, information, and entertainment. These giants of broadcasting have actually shaped not only television but our perception of it as well. We have come to look upon the picture tube as a source of entertainment, placing our role in this dynamic medium as the passive viewer.

以快速變化與發展為標誌的最普遍、最具有影響力的一項現代技術，正在步入一個極端複雜化與多樣化的新時代。這個時代承諾重新塑造我們的生活和我們的世界。這可以稱得上是又一次電子革命，其關鍵在於電視技術與計算機技術的結合。

“電視”這個詞來源於希臘語詞根(tele：遠)和拉丁語詞根(vision：景象)，可以從字面上理解為來自遠處的景象。簡單説來，電視是以這種方式工作的，通過一個複雜的電子系統，電視能夠將一幅圖像(這幅圖像被聚焦在一部攝像機內的一塊特殊的光導底片上)轉換成能經過導線或電纜發送出去的電子脈衝信號。當這些電子脈衝信號被輸入一部接收機(電視機)時，就可以用電子學的方法把脈衝信號重新恢復成同一幅圖像。

但是，電視不僅僅是一個電子系統，它還是一種表達工具和傳播渠道。因此，電視成了一個對其他人發生影響的強大工具。

電視這個領域可以根據其發射方式分為兩類。第一類為廣播電視，通過電視信號的寬帶無線電波發射展現在大眾面前;第二類為非廣播電視，使用受控的發射技術來滿足個人以及某些特殊利益羣體的需要。

電視早已成為大眾媒介。我們熟悉廣播電視，因為廣播電視已經以類似目前的方式存在了大約37年。在那些年頭中，電視絕大部分一直由ABC、NBC、CBS這些廣播電視公司控制着，這些廣播電視公司一直是新聞、信息和娛樂的主要提供者。這些廣播業的巨頭實際上不僅塑造了電視，而且也塑造了我們對電視的理解。我們漸漸把顯像管看作是娛樂的來源，讓自己成為這個生動的媒介的被動觀眾。、NBC、CBS這些廣播電視公司控制着，這些廣播電視公司一直是新聞、信息和娛樂的主要提供者。這些廣播業的巨頭實際上不僅塑造了電視，而且也塑造了我們對電視的理解。我們漸漸把顯像管看作是娛樂的來源，讓自己成為這個生動的媒介的被動觀眾。