新概念英语4册第16课

The Modern City

In the organization of industrial life the influence of the factory upon the physiological and mental state of the workers has been completely neglected. Modern industry is based on the conception of the maximum production at lowest cost, in order that an individual or a group of individuals may earn as much money as possible. It has expanded without any idea of the true nature of the human beings who run the machines, and without giving any consideration to the effects produced on the individuals and on their desendants by the artificial mode of existence imposed by the factory. The great cities have been built with no regard for us. The shape and dimensions of the skyscrapers depend entirely on the necessity of obtaining the maximum income per square foot of ground, and of offering to the tenants offices and apartments that please them. This caused the construction of gigantic buildings where too large masses of human beings are crowded together. Civilized men like such a way of living. While they enjoy the comfort and banal luxury of their dwelling, they do not realize that they are deprived of the necessities of life. The modern city consists of monstrous edifices and of dark, narrow streets full of petrol fumes, coal dust, and toxic gases, torn by the noise of the taxi-cabs, lorries and buses, and thronged ceaselessly by great crowds. Obviously, it has no been planned for the good of its inhabitants.

在工业化生活的组织里工厂的影响要在生理之上，而工人的精神状态完全被忽视了。现代工业建立在使用最低成本获取最大产量的概念上，因此每个人或者群体都尽可能地挣钱。这扩展到不考虑运行机器的工人的实际情况，也不考虑工厂的人工环境可能对个人及其后代造成的影响。城市建设不会考虑我们。摩天大楼的形状与尺寸完全取决于获得在每平方英尺的土地上获得最大的收益，并提出出租办公室和住宅取悦他们。这造成了建造一些有许多人聚集在那里的巨大建筑。城市里的人喜欢这样的生活。他们喜欢舒适平庸而奢华的住所，但他们没有认识到缺少了生活的必需品。巨大的大厦、阴暗狭窄的街道，充满了汽油味，煤灰，有毒气体，充斥着出租车、卡车、公共汽车的噪音，不断涌来的人群，这些构成了现代城市。显然，这些对它的居民没有好处。