杨凡写作每周背诵日积月累(2)

以下内容选自“杨凡英语学习丛书-拓展写作思路”

With the development of science and technology the telephone will serve people even better.
随着科学技术的日益发展，电话将会给人类提供更好的服务。

Every city has a closely-knit telephone network.
每个城市都有一个紧密联系在一起的电话网络。

Mobile phones are much more convenient than the fixed phones.
移动电话比固定电话方便得多。

By contrast, letter-writing is a formal way of communication: most of important notifications, such as those of acceptance, are made by letters.
相比较而言，写信是一种正式的交流方式：大多数像大学录取通知书这样的重要通知，都是使用写信的方式。

Also, every letter communication has a record and can be kept for further reference when needed.
再者，每一份信件往来日后一旦需要，都有案可查。

Yet, here again there is a disadvantage in it: it may take weeks for a letter to lead your information to a far destination.
然而，写信也有不足之处：那就是路途花费的时间太长。

Therefore, both ways of communication have their own strengths and weakness, just as everything is two-sided. Personally, we should not overestimate or deny either of them. The most important thing is to know when to use the telephone or the letter to produce the best effect.
因此，两种交流方式和其他任何事物一样既有优点，又存在不足。依我之见，我们不应过高地估价或拒绝任何一种。重要的是知道何时使用电话何时利用写信，以得到最好的效果。

Almost every day we see something in the papers about the latest exciting developments in the space race.
我们几乎每天都在报章上读到太空竞争方面最新、最激动人心的进展。

Photographs are regularly flashed to the earth from thousands and even millions of miles away. They are printed in our newspapers and shown on our television screens as a visible proof of the man’s newest achievements. The photographs neatly sum up the results of these massive efforts to ‘conquer space’ and at the same time they exposed the absurdity of the undertaking.
不断有照片从几千英里甚至几百万英里外发回地球。它们作为人类最新成就的明证登在报纸上，出现在电视屏幕上。这些照片充分反映了人类付出巨大的努力去“征服太空”所取得的结果，同时也揭示了这种做法的荒谬性。

All we can see is an indistinguishable blob which is supposed to represent a planet seen from several thousand miles away. We are going to end up with a little moon-dust and a few stones which will be put behind glass in some museum.
我们所看到的一个模糊不清的小圆块，据说那便是一个从几千英里以外看到的星球。我们最后的收获将是一点月尘和几块石头，把它们放在某个博物馆的玻璃后面展览。

This is hardly value for money when you think that our own earth can provide countless sights which are infinitely more exciting and spectacular.
为这些东西花钱实在不徝得，因为你知道，我们自己的地球就可以提供无数比这更壮观、更激动人心的景观。