英語聽力小短文走遍全世界: 圖書館，再見？

英語聽力原文：

Amazon.com recent announcement that sales of e-books at the online megastore had overtaken sales of hardcover books came as no surprise. It had to happen sometime. But the news did conjure quite an interesting mental image: libraries that from now on will look smaller and less crowded. The habits of readers may not change. But their enviroments will. Theoretically, your space will be more spare, more serenely uncluttered. That's the theory, at least. My experience is that stuff expands to fill the space available. But you can dream.

亞馬遜網(wǎng)站最近宣布，這個超大網(wǎng)上書城的電子書銷量已經(jīng)超過精裝書，這不奇怪。這種情況早晚都會發(fā)生。但是，這條消息確實讓人們的腦海里出現(xiàn)一副有趣的畫面：從現(xiàn)在開始，圖書館會顯得更小一些，也不那么擁擠了。讀者的習(xí)慣也許不會改變，但他們的環(huán)境會改變。從理論上說，你的空間會更大，更整齊清爽。至少理論上如此。按照我的經(jīng)驗，東西會自動增加，去填取可用的空間，但你可以盡情想象。

With books, the absence of packaging does nothing to contents. I can buy a hardover copy of Moby Dick or download it into an e-reader, and Melville is still Melville. But I grew up loving Rockwell Kent's illustrations of that novel, and later Barry Moser's. It's hard to think of the book without them. I can do that, certainly, but some little is lost.

就書而言，沒有包裝對內(nèi)容毫無影響。我可以買一本精裝的《大白鯊》或把內(nèi)容下載到電子書上，梅爾維爾還是梅爾維爾。但是，我從小到大都喜歡羅克韋爾·肯特的這部小說配的插圖。難以想象這本書少了那些插圖。當然，我能接受，但是還是少了些什么。

I come from a generation for whom the books and records on the shelf signaled, in some way, who you were. If you visited a friend, you took the first chance you had to surrepititiously scan that friend's Kindle, but is that the same? And try that kind of snooping on a bus or in a coffee shop and you'll probably get arrested.

對我們這代人來說，架上的書和唱片在某種程度上標志著你是什么樣的人。如果去拜訪某一位朋友，你會抓住第一時機偷偷掃一眼朋友的書架，了解一下這個人。我猜，我也可以窺視朋友的“金讀”電子書，但是這一樣嗎?要是在公共汽車或咖啡店這樣探頭探腦，你大概會被抓。

The stuff of our lives is a comfort. We look up at the shelves and we see old friends.(Yes, there aare books on my shelves that aren't my friends, that I haven't finished or even started, but someday I will, I promise-my home library is a physical manifestation of ambivalence.) There is a comfort in the continuity of seeing the same books year after year. I guess there might be some of the same pleasure in scrolling through a digital librar or music playlist, but somehow I think something will be lost.

生活中的物件對我們是一種安慰。抬頭看一眼書架，我們看到的是老朋友。(不錯，書架上有些書不是我的朋友，我沒有讀完甚至壓根就沒讀過，但有朝一日我會讀 ——我的家庭圖書館是矛盾心理的有形體現(xiàn)。)年復(fù)一年看到同樣的書給人以安慰。我猜，滾動數(shù)字圖書館或音樂播放表或許也會產(chǎn)生類似的快樂，但不知怎么的，我還是覺得少點兒什么。

英語詞匯整理：

1. announcement n. 通告，宣布，聲明

eg: The Seattle Times publishes brief announcements of religious events every Saturday.

《西雅圖時報》每周六刊登簡短的宗教活動通告。

短語：

official announcement 正式通知;官方消息

officious announcement 半官方消息

announcement date 宣告日;公布日

2. megastore n. 大型商場

eg: There is a megastore nearby.

附近有大型商場。

短語：

currys megastore 商店

megastore madness 瘋狂百貨店

3. conjure vt. 令人想起

eg: I cannot but conjure up the memories of the good old days.

我不禁回憶起過去美好的日子。

短語：

conjure up 想起，使在腦海中顯現(xiàn)

conjure away 用魔法驅(qū)除

conjure down 用魔法召來

conjure out 念咒語時出現(xiàn)

conjure with 用……變戲法

conjure sth from 從……里變出……

conjure sth into 把……變成……

conjure sth out of 從……里變出……

conjure sb into to -ing 施魔法似的使某人做某事

4. serenely adv. 安詳?shù)?，寧靜地

eg: Everything including the air enjoys the tenderness of the moonlight gleaming serenely through the window.

月光安詳?shù)貜拇巴庹者M來，萬物和空氣在盡情地享受著它的溫柔。

俚語：

all serene 一切平常;平安無事

5. illustration n. 說明

eg: Illustration by example is better than explanation in words.

用實例說明比用詞語解釋清楚。

短語：

by way of illustration = as an example 舉例說明

advertising illustration 廣告面

target illustration 目標詳圖

Fashion illustration 時尚插畫;插圖插畫設(shè)計

6. surreptitiously adv. 偷偷摸摸地，暗中地

eg: One time, my brother and I surreptitiously made gunpowder.

有一次，我和我哥哥偷偷摸摸地制作了火藥。

同根詞：

surreptitious adj.秘密的;鬼鬼祟祟的;暗中的

同近義詞：

quietly/ underground/ wrong/ privately/ secretly adv.偷偷地;秘密地;不正當?shù)?/p>

7. snoop vi. 窺探，打聽

eg: You should not snoop around in other people's files.

不可偷看他人的檔案。

短語：

snoop around 巡視

snoop on 偷偷窺探

snoop device 監(jiān)看裝置

8. arrest vt. 逮捕，拘留

eg: Police arrested five young men in connection with one of the attacks.

警方逮捕了與其中一起襲擊事件有關(guān)的5名年輕男子。

短語：

under house arrest 在軟禁中

house arrest 軟禁

under arrest 被逮捕，被捕

put under arrest 被逮捕，被拘禁

arrest sb's attention 引起某人的注意

arrest on a charge of 指控犯……罪而逮捕

9. manifestation n. 表現(xiàn)

eg: Different animals in the colony had different manifestations of the disease.

同一群體的不同動物對同一疾病有不同的表現(xiàn)形式。

短語：

clinical manifestation 臨床表現(xiàn)

pattern of manifestation 表現(xiàn)形式

10. ambivalence n. 矛盾情緒，矛盾心理

eg: He understood the public's ambivalence, shown by every poll.

他了解每次民意測驗反映出來的公眾的矛盾心理。

短語：

ambivalence ambivalent 搖擺不定

emotional ambivalence 矛盾情緒

ambivalence about 有愛恨的矛盾心理

佳句采摘：

I guess there might be some of the same pleasure in scrolling through a digital librar or music playlist, but somehow I think something will be lost.

我猜，滾動數(shù)字圖書館或音樂播放表或許也會產(chǎn)生類似的快樂，但不知怎么的，我還是覺得少點兒什么。