Unit12 课文翻译.doc

In the rich world the idea of progress has become impoverished. Through complacency and bitter experience, the scope of progress has narrowed. The popular view is that, although technology and GDP advance, morals and society are treading water or, depending on your choice of newspaper, sinking back into decadence and barbarism. On the left of politics these days, “progress” comes with a pair of ironic quotation marks attached; on the right, “progressive” is a term of abuse. 在一个富裕的世界，关于进步的观念则变得贫困。 现状引起的自满和经历带来的痛苦都使得进步的视野越变越狭窄。取决于你爱看哪种立场的报纸， 流行的看法是：尽管科技和GDP发展了，道德与社会却停滞不前，甚至可说是， 正在向颓废和野蛮沉沦。在当今政治的左翼，“进步”这两个字必定带有讽刺性的引号； 而对于政治的右翼，“进步人士”也是一个被滥用的术语。 It was not always like that. There has long been a tension between seeking perfection in life or in the afterlife. Optimists in the Enlightenment and the 19th century came to believe that the mass of humanity could one day lead happy and worthy lives here on Earth. Like Madach’s Adam, they were bursting with ideas for how the world might become a better place. 情况也并非一直都是这样糟糕。 长久以来， 是求今生圆满， 还是求来世完美，一直是不可得兼的难题。18世纪启蒙运动和19世纪中的乐观主义者相信在全人类总有一天能够在地球上过上幸福和有价值的生活。他们对如何改进世界充满了各种想法。 Some thought God would bring about the New Jerusalem, others looked to history or evolution. Some thought people would improve if left to themselves, others thought they should be forced to be free; some believed in the nation, others in the end of nations; some wanted a perfect language, others universal education; some put their hope in science, others in commerce; some had faith in wise legislation, others in anarchy. Intellectual life was teeming with grand ideas. For most people, the question was not whether progress would happen, but how. 一些人认为上帝应该带来一个新的耶路撒冷，另一些人则想从历史或进化论里查找答案。有些人认为人民在放任的状态下会自求改善， 另一些人则认为只有施加压力人民才会去争取自由； 有些人寄希望于民族国家， 另一些人则希望民族国家的终结；一些人想要一种完美的语言，另一些人则看重全民教育；一些人将希望寄托于科学，另一些则寄托于商业；有人忠于英明的立法，有人则倾向无政府主义。知识分子的生命充满了宏大的思考。对于大多数人，问题不是进步是否发生，而是怎如何发生。 The idea of progress forms the backdrop to a society. In the extreme, without the possibility of p