PETS三级考试必备阅读资料及参考译文(26)

　　Why study history?

　　I turned down the lights in my classroom and asked the students to close their eyes and， “Imagine you are at a beach on a sunny day.” With your mind‘s eye， look around you. You see the waves lapping at the shore. To your left you see children in colorful swimsuits building sand castles， laughing and splashing in the water. To the right you see a boat dock painted blue. Several small boats are tied to the dock. You are living in the present， observing your surroundings and feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin.

　　After spending some time sitting on the beach， you are becoming bored and hot， and you begin to think of the future. What do you want to do? How did you decide? Based on your past experience you know the water will be cool and refreshing， and playing in the waves will be fun， so you decide to go for a swim. Living in the present， you are making a plan for the future based on your knowledge of the past. The present， the future and the past are always tied together and are always with us.

　　It‘s getting later now， and the sun is beginning to set over the water. It is time to think about going home. You recall that you arrived at the beach on a boat and that you left the boat tied to the dock. You know how you will get home. This knowledge is comforting， and you decide to stay awhile longer and enjoy the sunset. As you can see， your decisions about the future are based on your knowledge of the past.

　　But， suddenly a spaceship falls from the sky knocking you unconscious. You awake with amnesia， remembering nothing of the past. You don‘t know why you are on a beach， where home is or how to get there. It’s getting dark and you are frightened. You groaned in agony because your loss of the past means you are hopelessly lost in trying to cope with the future.

　　Relax. You will probably never be struck by a falling spaceship… and you will learn what you need to know about beaches and swimming and getting home from your own personal experience. But， how will you learn of important thing that you cannot experience for yourself? How will you learn of the larger world outside your own personal experience?

　　This is why we have schools， so you can learn from the experiences of others gathered over centuries of human experience. Without this knowledge， you would suffer from a kind of amnesia that would leave you lost when it comes to understanding important matters in you future. For example， why would foreign terrorists want to attack you and other Americans? Should the United States go to war with Iraq? Should we try to stop global warming? Should we work for economic justice in the world? Should scientists be allowed to alter human genes?

　　You live in a free society， in a democracy， where citizens are expected to help decide these kind of issues and—the truth is—citizens DO help decide important issues in our country. It was the people， not the government， that brought the Vietnam War to an end. It was the people who led the way in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s; the government followed. The people of the United States， and their elected representatives， will decide if they can support a war against Iraq.

　　We all need knowledge from the past—whether it comes from personal experience or from studying history. It is our only guide to the future.

　　参考译文：

　　我将教室的灯光调暗并且叫学生们闭上眼睛，“想象这是阳光灿烂的一天，你在海边，”用你想象的眼睛去看看周围，你看见波浪在拍打着海岸。左边是穿着五颜六色泳衣的孩子，有的在用沙子做城堡，有的笑着，有的在戏水;右边有一个漆成蓝色的船坞，上面系着几艘船。你身处现在，一边观察着周围，一边感受着阳光照在身上的温暖。

　　在沙滩上坐了一会儿后，你觉得无聊了并且感觉热，然后你开始考虑接下来的事情。你想做什么?怎么决定的?据以往的经验你知道水将变凉而且使你精神振作，在水里玩玩肯定很有意思，所以你决定去游泳。你身在现在，但是却在根据以前的经验为将来作计划。现在，将来，过去，这三者总是连在一起也总是伴随着我们的。

　　天色渐晚了，太阳慢慢地隐没在水中。该是考虑回家的时候了。你记起来你是坐船来海边的，而且把船系在船坞上了，你知道怎么回家。想到这里你感到很欣慰，并且决定再多待一会儿，享受一下夕阳西下的美景。就像你所知道的，关于未来的决定是以过去的经验为基础的。

　　但是，突然一艘宇宙飞船从空中掉下来把你打晕了，你醒了过来但是失忆了，过去的事情什么都不记得了。你不知道自己为什么在海滩上，家在哪，怎么回去。天黑了，你感到很害怕。你痛苦的叹息，因为你失去了过去就意味着没有办法应付将来的事情。

　　放松，你也许永远也不会被掉下来的宇宙飞船砸中，而且你会从自身的经验中得到你需要知道关于海滩、游泳和回家的事情。但是你怎么学习那些自己无法亲身体会但是又很重要的事情呢?你怎么学习自己没经历过的外面的世界呢?

　　这就是为什么我们有学校，因为有学校所以我们可以学习几个世纪以来前人所积累的经验。没有这些知识，你可能要经历一种失忆的感觉，这种感觉会使你在将来面临很多重要的事情的时候感到迷失。例如说，为什么国外的恐怖分子想要袭击你和其他美国人?美国应该对伊拉克发动战争吗?我们应该阻止全球变暖吗?我们应该为世界经济的公正而努力吗?科学家应该修改人类的基因吗?

　　我们生活在一个自由民主的社会，在这样的社会中，公民应该协助政府在这些问题上作决定，事实上，我们国家的公民确实在这些问题上起了作用。结束越南战争的不是政府，而是人民。站在60年代民权运动最前面的也是人民，政府跟在后面。美国的人民以及他们所选出来的代表会决定是否应该支持对伊拉克的战争。

　　我们都需要过去的经验——不管是我们的亲身经验还是从历史中学来的，它是我们前进的唯一指导。