CATTI二级口译精讲第32讲讲义

篇章练习（二）

人们怀着对和平、安宁、幸福和事业成功的憧憬迎接新千年的来临1。也有不少人仍然对未来 世纪存有忧伤、担心、疑虑和恐惧。的确,我们将带着20世纪遗留的不少未决问题进入新世纪2。//

科学界担心21世纪人口继续爆增，超过地球的承载能力。世界人口已过60亿，比上一千年末增 长了20倍，比100年前增加4倍。尽管世界人口自然增长率逐步下降，现在仍然高达每年1.5％。这样下 去，2050年再翻一番，2100年将达260亿。中国人口已到12.5亿。如果再翻一番，到25亿，中国人的后代将何处栖身3？//

二怕环境污染，人类家园荒废。新闻界每天都在发新闻，为地球的衰落提供证据4：温室气体 排放，气候变暖，海平面上升，臭氧洞扩大等5，搞得人心惶惶，成为联合国议事日程之首。天文学家百般努 力也帮不上忙，坚持说没找到地外绿洲，人类无处迁徙：金星太热，火星太冷，月亮上没有空气。//

最近的另一个太阳系是半人马座比邻星，离我们4.3光年，作飞船去几十年都飞不到，还不知 道那里有没有可停留的地方。总之，在未来的千年中，人类将被困在地球上，无处可逃。人们有理由对全球生态恶化感到忧惧。//

世界上10亿多人至今还在贫困饥饿中挣扎，为生存搏斗，为孩子们的前途忧伤。国际货币基金 组织前总裁最近说：“贫困是当今世界最严重的问题，而解决这一问题的速度是不能容忍的。

发达国家与发展中国家之间的差距已成为爆炸性问题，从根本上影响着社会的安定和人民的和平生活。”衣食足始知荣辱，仓廪满才识礼仪6。的确，如果被饥寒折磨着的人们得不到慰藉，看不到希望7，他们无心欣赏新世纪的曙光。//

最近几年，很多人对“全球化”有疑虑。发展中国家不少人怀疑那是资本主义为统治世界想出的新把戏，图谋侵犯别国主权，腐蚀民族文化，阻碍经济发展。20世纪刚从殖民主义桎梏中解放出来的人们余悸未消。//

马来西亚总理最近说，如果对全球化的力量不加控制，东南亚可能重新沦为殖民地。有人 喊：“殖民主义换了旗后又来了。”发达国家中对“全球化”抱有恐惧感的人也不少。去年他们闹翻了WTO西雅图会议，今年2月又 跟踪到曼谷闹事。//

4月分在华盛顿又发生了反对“全球化”的骚乱，指责国际货币基金组织和世界银行使穷人背上了越来越重的债务和备受剥削的政策8。联合国秘书长安南说：几个世界经济强国对世界贸易组织西雅图会议的失败负有完全责任。经济学家们普遍认为，全球化是双刃剑，对任何国家和人民都有利有弊。//

（摘自宋健在21世纪论坛上所作的《科技界张开双手欢迎“全球化”的到来》的讲话）

People are greeting the arrival of the new millennium, longing for peace, stability, happiness and success. But many watch it with distress, worry, misgivings and even terror. Indeed we are entering the new century laden with a multitude of unresolved issues left over from the 20th century. //

Scientists worry about the population explosion that may occur in the 21st century; the population size would surpass the carrying capacity of the earth. More than six billion people live on the earth today, 20 times as many as a millennium ago and a four times growth witnessed in the past century. Despite a gradual tapering down of the natural growth rate in the world, it remains as high as 1.5% per year. And at this rate the world population would double by the year 2050 and reach 26 billion by the year 2100. China has 1.25 billion people today and there would be no space for descendants to live in if the population doubles again. //

Another worry is environment pollution, the destruction of the homeland of humanity. Hardly does a day pass by without new reports for the doom of the world: exhaust fumes, ozone hole, global warming and sea level rising, etc. The worsening of the ecosystem makes people uneasy and tops the agenda of the United Nations. Astronomers work hard to seek after extraterrestrial oasis, but without success. Venus is too hot, Mars is too cold and the moon is void of air. //

The Proxima Centauri, closest neighbor of our solar system, is 4.3 light years away and astronauts cannot reach it within their lifetime by a most advanced spaceship, to say nothing of where to land and to live. Mankind will be bound to the earth, nowhere to escape to. There is sound reason for people to fret about the worsening of the global ecosystem. //

Today more than one billion people are struggling to get rid of starvation and poverty, fighting for subsistence and fretting about the future of their children. As former IMF president points out, poverty is the gravest issue in the world today and it is being tackled at an intolerable speed. //

The gap between the developed and the developing nations has become an explosive issue which is affecting social stability and people's peaceful life from the very foundation. A sense of honor comes from a decent material life; civility rests on affluence. When people are tortured by hunger and cold and see no light at the other end of the tunnel, how could they appreciate the aurora of the new century? //

Many people have misgivings about the "globalization" in recent years. Quite a few people in developing countries doubt whether it isn't a new trick of the capitalist powers for world domination, an attempt to encroach upon the sovereignty of other nations,corrupt their national culture, squeeze out their national industry and hamper their economic development. People who have shaken off the colonialist fetters in the 20th century are still fresh with their frightful memory of the past. //

As the Malaysian Prime Minister put it recently, Southeast Asia risks being colonized again unless the force of globalization is regulated. Some people even cried out: "The colonialists are coming back under a new flag!" Even in the developed countries, there is no lack of people who are doubtful about globalization. They made havoc of the WTO Seattle Conference last year and then followed it to Bangkok with demonstrations last February. //

A mass demonstration against "economic globalization" held in Washington D.C. last April accused the World Bank and IMF of keeping down the poor, shackled by increasing debt and exploited by unfavorable policies. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan pointed out on 12 February that the few economic powers were fully responsible for the failure of the WTO Seattle Meeting.

It is a general belief among economists that "globalization" is a double-edged sword which is beneficial and harmful to any nation and people at the same time. //

(Excerpt from Song Jian's speech "Scientists Greet Globalization with Open Arms" at CPPCC's "the 21st Century Forum")