精选全国职称英语英汉对照上百例(第二十七篇)
|
27. Money, Real and Counterfeit. 27、真币和伪币、 1. Without looking, tell me whose picture is on a one dollar bill. What about a five dollar bill? If you know these, maybe you know the pictures on a ten, twenty or even a fifty dollar bill. If you're not sure, someone could give you a "phony" bill with the wrong picture and you'd never know the difference. 1、在不看的情况下，告诉我在一美元钞票上是谁的头像?五美元钞票呢?如果你知道这些的话，那你可能也知道十美元、二十美元甚至五十美元钞票上的像。如果你不能确定的话，就有可能当别人给你一张印错头像的伪钞时，而你却不知道其中的差异。 2. Do you know where the pictures on money came from? In the early days people made payments by the weight of their silver or gold. (Just think how much time you save now by paying for things with a coin or bill. You don't have to weigh out so many ounces of gold. That would surely slow down the normal pace of business today.) 2、你知道在钱上印人头像出自哪里吗?在早期，人们通过他们的银子或金子的重量宋进行支付。(想想看，你现在用硬币或钞票来购买物品可以节省多少时间。你无需称量那么多盎司的黄金。今天那样做无疑会减慢正常交易的速度。) 3. However, the ancient Greeks and Romans used coins of a definite value like our dime or quarter. At that time, animals were pictured on the coins. You won't think that this is so unusual if you examine a nickel and see the buffalo on the back of it. 3、不过，古希腊人和古罗马人也使用类似我们的一角硬币或二角五分硬币那样有确实价值的硬币。不过在那时，硬币上画着动物图案。如果你查看一个背面有牦牛像的五分镍币时，不要以为它非同寻常。 4. A little later, though, the Greeks and Romans began to put pictures of famous people on their coins. It took some time to develop a central money-making business. Because of this, people would sometimes put pictures of their own ancestors on their coins. Even though this may have been confusing at times, it's easier than trading animals for things that you need. Imagine receiving a cow as change for something you have just bought! It's much simpler to carry a purse or a wallet than to exchange one thing for another. 4、然而不久以后，希腊和罗马人开始把名人像放在他们的硬币上。这使得建立和发展中央货币制造业颇费了一些时间。因为人们有时会把他们自己祖先的像放在自己的钱上。尽管这样做有时会引起迷惑，但这总比用动物来换取你想要的东西来得容易。设想一下，当你买了什么东西后，找回的零钱竟是一头母牛!带个钱包或皮夹出门看来比用一件东西换另一件要简单许多了。 5. The use of coins and money grew just as civilization advanced. As time passed, civilization became much more complicated. Now a person works for a certain amount of money so that he can pay for food and clothing. He does not need to grow his own food. We're in an age of specialization. We don't have time to make our own clothes and shoes, so money is a way of trading today. 5、硬币和货币的使用随着人类文明的进化而发展。随着时间的流逝，人类文明变得十分复杂。现在，人为了获得一定数量钱而工作，因而他能够买食物和衣服而不需要自己种植食物。我们正处在一个专业化的时代。我们没有时间去制造自己的衣服和鞋，因此货币成为当今交易的必须方式。 6. When we use money today, however, the actual value of the coin itself does not equal its face value. For example, a dime may not have ten cents' worth of silver in it. The paper in a dollar bill may not be worth a full dollar. Well, you might ask, how is it worth anything? The answer is that money is like a medal. It's not the money itself, but what it stands for, that gives it its value. An Olympic runner wins a medal. It is actually not worth very much, but it's the idea behind it that counts to him. It's like the half dollar in your pocket. It's what it will buy that counts, not its actual weight. 6、但是，当我们今天使用货币的时候，硬币本身的实际价值并不等同其面值。举个例子，一角硬币里也许没有价值十美分的银子。一美元钞票所用的纸也并不值整整一个美元。这样一来，你也许会问：那它是怎么代表东西的价值的呢?答案是货币就像奖章，不是货币本身，而是它代表什么，这就是它价值的来源。一位奥林匹克长跑运动员获得了一枚奖章。奖章本身并不值多少钱，但是，奖章所具有的意义却与运动员的价值相符。这一切就像一个沉掂掂的半美元硬币在你口袋里，它所代表的是它所能购买的东西，并非其实际的重量。 7. Money making is much more complicated now than it has ever been. That's one reason why it's harder to get away with making counterfeit money these days. 7、现在货币的制造比以往复杂得多。这也是为什么现在更难制造伪钞的原因之一。 |
