[英语学习]自考英语二下册.doc

A decision is a choice made from among alternative courses of action that are available. The purpose of making a decision is to establish and achieve organizational goals and objectives. The reason for making a decision is that a problem exists, goals or objectives are wrong, or something is standing in the way of accomplishing them. 决策是一种选择，来自可以获得的、任择其一的行动步骤。作决策的意图是要确立和实现机构的目标和目的。作决策的原因是有问题存在、目标和目的不正确、或者有某种东西妨碍目标或目的的实现。Thus the decision-making process is fundamental to management. Almost everything a manager does involves decisions, indeed, some suggest that the management process is decision making. Although managers cannot predict the future, many of their decisions require that they consider possible future events. Often managers must make a best guess at what the future will be and try to leave as little as possible to chance, but since uncertainty is always there, risk accompanies decisions . Sometimes the consequence s of a poor decision are slight; at other times they are serious. 因此，作决策的过程对管理人员来说至关重要。管理者所做的每件事几乎都与决策有关，事实上，有些人认为管理过程就是作决策。尽管管理者不能预测未来，但他们所作的许多决策都要求他们考虑将来可能发生的事情。通常情况下，管理者必须对未来情况作出最佳估测，并且努力要使偶然事件尽可能少地发生，但是，由于不确定的因素一直存在，所以，决策总是与风险为伴。有时候，拙劣决策的后果并不严重，但在另外一些时候则是非常严重了。Choice is the opportunity to select among alternatives. If there is no choice, there is no decision to be made. Decision making is the process of choosing, and many decisions have a broad range of choice. For example, a student may be able to choose among a number of different courses in order to implement the decision to obtain a college degree. For managers, every decision has constraints based on policies, procedures, laws, precedents, and the like. These constraints exist at all levels of the organization. 选择是指从多个可能性中挑选的机会。如果没有选择，就毋须作决策。作决策就是挑选的过程，许多决策的选择范围很广。例如，一个学生为了获得学位，他可能会从许多不同的课程中选择从而作出决策。对管理者来说，每项决策都受到基于政策、程序、法律、惯例等等因素的制约，这些制约存在于各个层次的机构中。Alternatives are the possible courses of action from which choices can be made. If there are no alternatives, there is no choice and, therefore, no decision. If no alternatives are seen, often it means that a thorough job of examining the problems has not been done. For example, managers sometimes treat problems in an either/or fashion; this is their way of simplifying complex problems. But the tendency to simplify blind s them to other alternatives. 抉择是从中可以作出选择的可能的行动步骤。假如没有可供选择的可能性，这就意味着没有做过对问题进行彻底调查的工作。例如，管理者有时用两者择一的方式来处理问题，即他们简化复杂问题的手法。但是，这种简化的倾向使他们看不到其他可供选择的可能性。At the managerial level, decision making includes limiting alternatives as well as identify ing them, and the range is from highly limited to practically unlimited. 在管理层，作决策包括了限定和鉴别可供选择的可能性，其限定范围从非常有限到基本无限。Decision makers must have some way of determining which of several alternatives is best that is, which contributes the most to the achievement of organizational goals. An organizational goal is an end or a state of affairs the organization seeks to reach. Because individuals (and organizations) frequently have different ideas about how to attain the goals, the best choice may depend on who makes the decision. Frequently, departments or units within an organization make decisions that are good for them individually but that are less than optimal for the larger organization. Called suboptimization, this is a trade-off that increases the advantages to one unit or function but decreases the advantages to another unit or function. For example, the marketing manager may argue effective ly for an increased advertising budget. In the larger scheme of things, however, increased funding for research to improve the products might be more beneficial to the organization. 决策者必须具备从多个可供选择的可能性中确定最佳选择即：最有助于实现机构的目标的手段。机构目标是该机构竭力要达到的最终目标或理想状态。因为个人（和机构）常常对达到目标有着不同的主意，所以，最佳选择就取决于决策者了。在同一机构内的部门或单位经常会作出有利于他们自己而对大单位不甚理想的决策。被称为局部最优化的权衡加强了某一单位或某一功能的优势，却削弱了另一单位或另一功能的优势，例如，市场营销经理会极力要求增加广告预算。然而，在更大的事情策划中，为改进产品而增加科研经费可能会更有益于该机构。These trade-offs occur because there are many objectives that organizations wish to attain simultaneously. Some of these objectives are more important than others, but the order and degree of importance often vary from person to person and from department to department .Different managers define the same problem in different term s. When presented with a common case, sales managers tend to see sales problems, production managers see production problems, and so on. 这些权衡的产生是因为机构希望同时达到多个目标。有些目标比其他的目标更重要，但其重要性的先后顺序和等级却因人而异、因部门而异。不同的管理者对同一个问题持不同的看法。面对一件日常事件时，销售经理常易看到销售问题，生产经理则常易看到生产问题等等。The ordering and importance of multiple objectives is also based, in part, on the values of the decision maker. Such values are personal; they are hard to understand, even by the individual, because they are so dynamic and complex. In many business situations different peoples values about acceptable degrees of risk and profitability cause disagreement about the correctness of decisions. 多种目标的顺序和重要性也部分地基于决策者的价值观，这些价值观带有个人特色，他人很难理解，因为价值观是不断变化的、极为复杂的。在许多商情中，不同的人对于风险的可接受程度有着不同的价值观，这就造成了决策正确与否的不同意见。People often assume that a decision is an isolated phenomenon. But from a systems point of view, problems have multiple causes, and decisions have intended and unintended consequences. An organization is an ongoing entity, and a decision made today may have consequences far into the future. Thus the skilled manager looks toward the future consequences of current decisions. 人们常常以为决策是一个孤立的现象。但从系统的观点来看，问题具有多种原因，故而决策有意料中的结果和非意料中的结果。一个机构是一个发展中的实体，今天所作的决策可能会对将来产生深远的影响。因此，有经验的管理者着眼于当前决策的将来效果。Unit Two Black Holes 黑洞 What is a black hole ? well, its difficult to answer this question , since the terms we would normally use to describe a scientific phenomenon are inadequate here. Astronomers and scientists think that a black hole is a region of space (not a thing ) into which matter has fallen and from which nothing can escape not even light. So we cant see a black hole. A black hole exerts a strong gravitational pull and yet it has no matter . It is only space or so we think. How can this happen? 黑洞是什么？这个问题很难回答，因为我们通常用来描述某一科学现象的术语不足以回答这个问题。天文学家和科学家都认为黑洞是一个太空区域（不是一种事物），落人其中的任何物质都无法逃逸甚至包括光。所以我们看不见黑洞。一个黑洞能产生强大的吸力，但它却没有物质。它只是空间或许是我们这么想的。这种现象是怎样发生的呢？The theory is that some stars explode when their density increases to a particular point; they collapse and sometimes a supernova occurs. From earth, a supernova looks like a very bright light in the sky which shines even in the daytime. Supernova were reported by astronomers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Some people think that the Star of Bethlehem could have been a supernova. The collapse of a star may produce a White Dwarf or a neutron star a star, whose matter is so dense that it continually shrinks by the force of its own gravity. But if the star is very large (much bigger than our sun) this process of shrinking may be so intense that a black hole results. Imagine the earth reduced to the size of a marble, but still having the same mass and a stronger gravitational pull, and you have some idea of the force of a black hole . Any matter near the black hole is sucked in. It is impossible to say what happens inside a black hole. Scientists have called the boundary area around the hole the event horizon. We know nothing about events which happen once object s pass this boundary. But in theory, matter must behave very differently inside the hole. 从理论论来说，当某些恒星的密度增大到某种程度时就会发生爆炸，爆炸使它们崩溃，有时会产生超新星。从地球上看，一颗超新星看上去像是天空中的一盏明灯，甚至在白天也闪闪发光。超新星是由十七、十八世纪的天文学家发现的。有人认为圣诞星可能是一颗超新星。一颗超新星的崩溃可能会产生白矮星或中子星，其物资的密度非常大以至于在其自身重力的作用下持续收缩。但是，假如这颗恒星非常大（比我们的太阳大得多），那么，这种收缩的过程可能会非常强烈，其结果导致了黑洞的产生。想像一下地球收缩小到有弹球那么大，但仍具有同样的质量和更强的吸力，你就会对黑洞的力量有某种概念。靠近黑洞的任何物质都会被吸入，根本说不出黑洞里究竟发生了什么、科学家把黑洞的边缘区域称为“事界”。对物质通过这个界线时发生的情况我们一无所知。从理论上来说，黑洞里面物质的表现一定是不大相同的。For example, if a man fell into a black hole, he would think that he reached the center of it very quickly. However an observer at the event horizon would think that the man never reached the center at all. Our space and time law s dont seem to apply to objects in the area of a black hole. Einsteins relativity theory is the only one which can explain such phenomena. Einstein claimed that matter and energy are interchangeable, so that there is no absolute time and space. There are no constants at all, and measurements of time and space depend on the position of the observer. They are relative. We do not yet fully understand the implications of the relativity theory; but it is interesting that Einsteins theory provided a basis for the idea of black holes before astronomers started to find some evidence for their existence. It is only recently that astronomers have begun specific research into black holes. In August 1977, a satellite was launched to gather data about the 10 million black holes which are thought to be in the Milky Way. And astronomers are planning a new observatory to study the individual exploding stars believed to be black holes. 例如，假如一个人落人黑洞，他可能会认为自己很快就会到达黑洞的中心。然而，位于“事界”上的观察者则认为这个人永远不会到达黑洞的中心。我们的时空法则似乎不适用于黑洞区内的物体。爱因斯坦的相对论是惟解释这种现象的理论。爱因斯坦宣称物质和能量是互换的，因此不存在“绝对的”时间和空间。根本没有不变的事物，时间和空间的衡量取决于观察者的位置，是相对的。我们还没有能完全理解相对论的蕴涵。但有趣的是爱因斯坦的相对论为黑洞的假说提供了理论基础，早于天文学家找到黑洞存在的证据。天文学家只是在最近才开始对黑洞作具体的研究。1977年8月，人类发射了一颗卫星收集有关被认为处于银河系中的1000万个黑洞的信息。而且天文学家正在设计一座新天文台，用来研究被认为是黑洞的爆炸恒星。 The most convincing evidence of black holes comes from research into binary star systems. Binary stars, as their name suggests, are twin stars whose position in space affects each other. In some binary systems, astronomers have shown that there is an invisible companion star, a partner to the one which we can see in the sky. Matter from the one which we can see is being pulled towards the companion star. Could this invisible star, which exerts such a great force, be a black hole? Astronomers have evidence of a few other stars too, which might have black holes as companions. 有关黑洞的最有说服力的证据来自对双星系的研究。双星，顾名思义，就是彼此之间的空间位置相互影响的成双恒星。天文学家已证实在某些双子星座里有一颗隐匿的伴星，即我们从天空上能看到的某颗星的“伙伴”。我们能看见的那颗星被其伴星所吸引，难道产生这么大吸引力的隐匿的恒星就是黑洞？天文学家也还有另外几颗恒星的证据，这几颗恒星也可能有黑洞作伴。The story of black holes is just beginning. Speculations about them are endless. There might be a massive black hole at the center of our galaxy swallowing up stars at a very rapid rate. Mankind may one day meet this fate. On the other hand, scientists have suggested that very advanced technology could one day make use of the energy of black holes for mankind. These speculations sound like science fiction . But the theory of black holes in space is accepted by many serious scientists and astronomers. They show us a world which operates in a totally different way from our own and they question our most basic experience of space and time. 有关黑洞的故事刚刚开头，各种各样的假说层出不穷。在我们的星系中心可能存在一个以极快速度吞噬恒星的巨大黑洞。人类总有一天要遭此命运。另一方面，科学家已表明，总有一天，人类会使用非常先进的技术来利用黑洞的能量。这些假说听起来像科幻小说，但宇宙黑洞理论却被许多严肃的科学家及天文学家所接受。他们给我们展示了一个跟我们截然不同的世界，他们对时空的基本认识提出了疑问。 Unit Three Euthanasia : For and Against安乐死赞成和反对 We mustnt delay any longer . swallowing is difficult . and breathing, thats also difficult. Those muscles are weakening too . we mustnt delay any longer. “我们不能再拖了吞咽困难呼吸困难。那部分肌肉也在萎缩我们不能再拖了。” These were the words of Dutchman Cees van Wendel de Joode asking his doctor to help him die. Affected with a serious disease, van Wendel was no longer able to speak clearly and he knew there was no hope of recovery and that his condition was rapidly deteriorating. 以上是荷兰人齐思范万德尔，德尤德请求医生帮他结束自己生命时说过的话了，患有严重疾病的范万德尔当时已不再能够清楚地说话了，他知道自己没有康复的希望，他的病情正在迅速恶化。Van Wendels last three months of life before being given a final, lethal injection by his doctor were filmed and first shown on television last year in the Netherlands . The programme has since been bought by 20 countries and each time it is shown, it starts a nationwide debate on the subject. 范万德尔在接受其医生给他打最后致命的一针之前的3个月的情况被制作成影片，去年首次在荷兰电视上播出。此后，该影片被20个国家购买，每次播放时都引起一场全国性的有关安乐死的大讨论。The Netherlands is the only country in Europe which permits euthanasia, although it is not technically legal there. However, doctors who carry out euthanasia under strict guidelines introduced by the Dutch Parliament two years ago are usually not prosecuted. The guideline s demand that the patient is experiencing extreme suffering , that there is no chance of a cure, and that the patient has made repeated requests for euthanasia . In addition to this, a second doctor must confirm that these criteria have been met and the death must be reported to the police department. 尽管安乐死在荷兰并未合法化，但荷兰仍然是欧洲惟一允许安乐死的国家。两年前在荷兰议会制定的严格标准下实施安乐死的医生通常不会被起诉。这此指导原则要求：病人正在经受极度的痛苦；没有治愈的机会；病人一再提出安乐死的请求。除此之外，还需有另外一位医生确认是否已达到安乐死的标准，而且，必须向警方提出死亡报告。Should doctors be allowed to take the lives of others? Dr, Wilfred van Oijen, Cees van Wendels doctor, explains how he looks at the question: Well, its not as if Im planning to murder a crowd of people with a machine gun. In that case, killing is the worst thing 1 can imagine. But thats entirely different from my work as a doctor. I care for people and I try to ensure that they dont suffer too much. Thats a very different thing. 是不是应该允许医生结束病人的生命呢？齐思范万尔德的医生威尔费雷德范奥仁博上解释了对这个问题的看法： “情况并不像我计划用机关枪屠杀一大群人似的，倘若那样，屠杀是我所能想像到的最坏的事情，这与我的医生职业风马牛不相及。我关怀病人并努力使他们不至于遭受太多的痛苦。这完全是两码事。” Many people, though, are totally against the practice of euthanasia, Dr. Andrew Ferguson, Chairman of the organization Healthcare Opposed to Euthanasia, says that in the vast majority of euthanasia cases, what the patient is actually asking for is something else. They may want a health professional to open up communication for them with their loved ones or family theres nearly always another question behind the question. 然而，许多人完全反对安乐死。反对安乐死保健组织主席安德鲁福格森博士说：“在大量安乐死的病例中，病人实际所要求的是别的东西。他们或许是想要保健专业人员为他们打开与亲人或家人开展思想交流的渠道可能请求之后另有他求”。Britain also has a strong tradition of hospices special hospitals which care only for the dying and their special needs. Cicely Saunders, President of the National Hospice Council and a founder member of the hospice movement, argues that euthanasia doesnt take into account that there are ways of caring for the dying. She is also concerned that allowing euthanasia would undermine the need for care and consideration of a wide range of people: Its very easy in society now for the elderly, the disabled and the dependent to feel that they are burdens, and therefore that they ought to opt out. I think that anything that legally allows the shortening of life does make those people more vulnerable. 英国对晚期病人收容所的做法有着根深蒂固的传统。收容所就是指那些关怀临终之人和照顾他们特殊需要的专门医院。英国收容所理事会主席及收容所运动创始人之一的茜茜莉桑德斯认为，安乐死没有考虑其他关怀临终病人的途径。她还担心允许安乐死会减弱大众对关怀和照顾的需求：“当前社会中的那些老年人、残疾人和受赡养的人很容易感到自已是个负担从而脱离社会。我认为任何法律允许缩短生命的行为都必定使这些人更容易受到伤害”。 Many find this prohibition of an individuals right to die paternalistic. Although they agree that life is important and should be respected, they feel that the quality of life should not be ignored. Dr. van Oijen believes that people have the fundamental right to choose for themselves if they want to die: What those people who oppose euthanasia are telling me is that dying people havent the right. And that when people are very ill, we are all afraid of their death. But there are situations where death is a friend. And in those cases, why not? 许多人认为这种禁止个人生死权利的做法是家长作风。尽管他们同意生命是重要的、应该受到尊重，但是他们感到生命的质量不应该被漠视。范奥仁博十认为人们具有自己选择生死的基本权利：“那些反对安乐死的人告诉我的是临终之人没有这个权利。当人们病重的时候，我们都害怕他们死亡。但是，在某些情况下，死亡是一位朋友。如果这样，为什么不呢？” But why not? is a question which might cause strong emotion . The film showing Cees van Wendels death was both moving and sensitive. His doctor was clearly a family friend; his wife had only her husbands interests at heart. Some, however, would argue that it would be dangerous to use this particular example to support the case for euthanasia. Not all patients would receive such a high level of individual care and attention.然而，“为什么不呢？”是一个引起强烈感情的问题。展示齐思范万德尔死亡的影片既动人又敏感。他的医生显然是他们家的一位朋友；他的妻子心中只有她丈夫的利益。那么，有人就会争辩说用这样一个特殊的例子来支持安乐死是危险的，并非所有的病人都会受到如此高水平的关怀和照料。Slavery on Our Doorstep家庭雇佣奴役 There are estimate d to be more than 20,000 overseas domestic servants working in Britain (the exact figure is not known because the Home Office, the Government department that deals with this, does not keep statistics). Usually, they have been brought over by foreign businessmen, diplomats or Britons returning from abroad. Of these 20,000, just under 2,000 are being exploited and abused by their employers, according to a London-based campaigning group which helps overseas servants working in Britain.据统计，在美国工作的外籍家庭佣人有两万多人（由于处理该项事务的政府部门内政部没有做过统计，精确数字不得而知）。通常，他们是由外国商人、外交官员和归国英侨带来的。根据设在伦敦的帮助在伦敦工作的外籍家庭佣人的政治组织说，在两万多外籍家庭佣人中几乎有2000人正遭受雇主的剥削和虐待。 The abuse can take several forms. Often the domestics are not allowed to go out, and they do not receive any payment . They can be physically , sexually and psychologically abused. And they can have their passports removed, making leaving or escaping virtually impossible.虐待有几种形式家庭佣人常常不允许外出，又得不到任何报酬。他们在身体上、性和心理上遭受凌辱。他们还会被收去护照，使得出走或“逃跑”根本不可能。 The sad condition of women working as domestics around the world received much media attention earlier this year in several highly publicise d cases. In one of them, a Filipino maid was executed in Singapore after being convicted of murder, despite protests from various quarter s that her guilt had not been adequately established. Groups like Anti-Slavery International say other, less dramatic, cases are equally deserving of attention, such as that of Lydia Garcia, a Filipino maid working in London: 今年年初，几个透明度颇高的案例中有关世界各地的家庭女佣的悲惨状况受到新闻媒体的关注。其中一个案例是讲一位菲律宾女佣因被指控犯有谋杀罪在新加坡被处死，尽管有来自各地的抗议认为她的罪名不足以成立。诸如“反对奴隶制国际组织”之类的团体说，一些不那么戏剧化的其他案例也应同样受到人们的关注，比如莉迪亚加西亚，一位在伦敦工作的菲律宾女佣的案例。 I was hired by a Saudi diplomat directly from the Philippines to work in London in 1989. I was supposed to be paid 120 but I never received that amount. They always threatened that they would send me back to my country.“我是1989年由一位沙特外交官直接从