考研英语阅读题源之经济学人精选文章之十二

《经济学家》读译参考 考研英语阅读题源之经济学人精选文章

TEXT 12

Not science fiction

Feb 23rd 2006

From The Economist print edition

THE recent stem-cell scandal in South Korea may have made front-page news across the world, but （1） Readers of “Intuition”, however, will battle with themselves over whether to savour Allegra Goodman's exquisite ★filleting[2] of character, as the scientists are themselves dissected like their experimental mice, or to rush ★headlong[3] to find out what h________① next.

In an under-funded Harvard laboratory, the ★dogged[4], unglamorous ★slog[5] towards finding a cure for cancer is u_______② way. Suddenly one research assistant's experiment ★bears [6]fruit. After mice infected with human breast-cancer cells are injected with Cliff's R-7 virus, their tumours melt away in 60% of the population. But are Cliff's results too good to be true? （2）

Ms Goodman follows the good novelist's ★credo[8] that plot ★proceeds from[9] character; and （3） All the researchers in “Intuition” are sympathetic, and they are all ★screwed up[12]. Sandy, co-director of the lab, is a ★charismatic[13] dynamo[14], but too enamoured with worldly glory. His brilliant, shy partner Marion has ★impeccable[15] research standards, but is undermined by chronic self-doubt. By contrast, Cliff is ★glibly[16] over-. Robin, R-7's ★whistle-blower[17] (also Cliff's former girlfriend), is a natural scientist, but her determination to uncover fraud may be driven by romantic disappointment. Robin is heeding her intuition, and “young researchers had their intuition ★tamped down[18] lest, like the ★sorcerer's[19] apprentice, they flood the lab with their conceits.”

What a relief to find a novel that does not take place in the literary salons of London or New York. （4） Her characters so live and breathe on the page that they could get up and m_______④ you a cup of coffee while you finish another chapter. （5“Intuition” is a ★stunning[20] achievement.

参考译文（TRANSLATED BY CHENJILONG）

并非科幻小说

韩国最近发生的干细胞丑闻或许已成为世界各地的头条新闻，不过几乎没有读者会相信，一本以实验室为背景、基于科学研究的小说到头来竟然让他们爱不释手。然而，读过《直觉》这本书的人心里很矛盾，小说里的科学家如同他们用作实验的小鼠一样被深刻剖析，因而读者们不知道是仔细品味一下阿列格拉 古德曼入木三分的人物描写呢，还是急于弄清接下来会发生什么事情。