新概念英语第四册必背优秀文章：Lesson-22--Knowledge-and-progress.docx

新概念英语第四册必背优秀文章：Lesson 22 Knowledge and progressWhy does the idea of progress loom so large in the modern world? Surely because progress of a particular kind is actually taking place around us and is becoming more and more manifest．Although mankind has undergone no general improvement in intelligence or morality, it has made extraordinary progress in the accumulation of knowledge．|| Knowledge began to increase as soon as the thoughts of one individual could be communicated to another by means of speech．With the invention of writing, a great advance was made,for knowledge could then be not only communicated but also stored．Libraries made education possible, and education in its turn added to libraries: the growth of knowledge followed a kind of compound-interest law,which was greatly enhanced by the invention of printing．All this was comparatively slow until, with the coming of science, the tempo was suddenly raised．Then knowledge began to be accumulated according to a systematic plan．The trickle became a stream; the stream has now become a torrent．|| Moreover, as soon as new knowledge is acquired, it is now turned to practical account．What is called‘modern civilization’is not the result of a balanced development of all man”s nature, but of accumulated knowledge applied to practical life．The problem now facing humanity is: What is going to be done with all this knowledge? As is so often pointed out, knowledge is a two-edged weapon which can be used equally for good or evil．It is now being used indifferently for both．Could any spectacle, for instance, be more grimly whimsical than that of gunners using science to shatter men”s bodies while, close at hand, surgeons use it to restore them? We have to ask ourselves very seriously what will happen if this twofold use of knowledge, with its ever-increasing power,continues.||为什么进步这个概念在现代世界显得如此突出？无疑是由于有一种特别的进步实际上正在我们四周发生，而且变得越来越明显。

虽然人类在智力和道德上没有得到普遍提高，但在学问积存方面却取得了巨大的进步人一旦能用语言同别人沟通思想，学问的积存便开头了随着书写的创造，又迈进了一大步，由于这样一来，学问不仅能沟通，而且能储存了藏书使训练成为可能，而训练反过来又丰富了藏书，由于学问的增长遵循着一种“滚雪球”的规律印刷术的创造又大大提高了学问增长的速度全部这些进展都比拟缓慢，而随着科学的到来，增长的速度才突然加快于是，学问便开头有系统有打算地积存起来涓涓细流汇成了小溪，小溪现已变成了奔腾的江河而且，新学问一旦获得，便得到实际应用所谓“现代文明”并不是人的天性平衡进展的结果，而是积存起来的学问应用到实际生活中的结果现在人类面临的问题是：用这些学问去做什么？正像人们经常指出的，学问是一把双刃刀，可以用于造福，也可用来为害人们现在正漫不经心地把学问用于这两个方面，例如：炮兵利用科学毁坏人的身体、而外科医生就在四周用科学抢救被炮兵毁坏的人体，还有什么情景比这更可怕、更怪诞的吗？我们不得不严厉地问问我们自己：随着日益增长的学问的力气，假如我们连续利用学问的这种双重性，将会发生什么样的状况呢？。