科技英语精讲

第一讲 I. 科技英语的特点（一） 1. 概述：科技英语（English for Science and Technology—EST）是英语的各种文体中的一种。它是随着科学技术的产生、发展而出现的并且逐步地引起科学界和语言学界的关注和重视。现在许多国家设有科技英语研究中心，专门从事科技英语语言的研究。我国也分别在北京和上海设立了科技英语研究中心。国内外许多大学开设了科技英语这门课程，有的学校还专门设立了科技英语专业和系科。 2. 科技英语的分类：大致可分为七大类：1）科技著述，科技论文和报告，实验报告和；2）各类科技情报和文字资料；3）科技使用手段，包括仪器、仪、机械、工具等的结构描述和操作说明；4）有关科技问题的会议、会谈、交谈的用语：5）有关科技的影片、录象等有声资料的解说词；6）科技发明、发现的报道；7）科学幻想小说。 3．科技英语与普通英语的关系：科技英语虽然已发展成为一门独立的文体而为人们所研究，但在语言的本质上，即构成语言的三大要素---与普通英语没什么区别。 在语音上：科技英语与普通英语共有一个语音系统； 在词汇上：科技英语中虽有大量专业技术词汇和术语，但其基本词汇都是普通英语中固有的，一般的科技书刊中出现的绝大部分词汇都是普通词汇（通常称为半科技词汇）。即使在科技性极强的科技文章里，普通词汇的使用率也远远超过了专业词汇。此外，许多专业词多来源于普通词，虽被赋予新义，但仍能看出与基本词义相互的关系。例如：head一词，其基本意义为“头”，但在科技英语中根据不同的专业可译为“磁头”、“水头”、“源头”、“机头”、“弹头”、“船头”、“压力头”等。均未脱离该词的基本意义。 在语法上：科技英语虽然有明显的特点，如用被动句式，句子结构复杂冗长、多名词化结构等等，但都在英语语法规则范围之内，并没有构成新的语法规则，只不过是某些语法现象出现频率较高，从而形成了科技英语的特色而已。 换句话说，专业英语的核心还是普通英语。真正的专业词汇意思很单一，所以很好掌握，只要会查阅字典就行了。专业英语（科技英语）与通用英语的不同之处主要体现在文章的表达方式和半科技词汇的运用这两个方面。 4. 科技英语的文体：人们的语言活动总是在特定的语境中进行的（建筑工人在建筑施工现场进行交流），语境的差异大量地反映在词汇上。词汇是语言的建筑材料，文体也就是语言风格。文体就是一部分具有共同职业或兴趣的人为了实现一定的交际目的而使用的语言变体。科技文体就是自然科学家和社会技术人员从事专业活动时所使用的一种文体。同学们所见到的科学著作、学术论文、实验报告、产品，施工，贸易等都属于不同类别的科技文体。科技文体不以语言的艺术美为追求目标，而是讲求逻辑的条理清楚和叙述的准确严密。文体的特点通过其特定的词汇构成和组合得以体现。 1) The earth turns round once a day. 2) The earth rotates on its own axis once a day. 1) Food is digested as it passes along the long tube which begins at the mouth and ends at the anus. The process of digestion begins in the mouth where the food is crushed by the teeth and made wet by the juices in the mouth. After it is swallowed, it passes down the gullet (食道)，a tube having muscles and going to the stomach. 2) Food is digested as it passes along the alimentary canal (消化道). The process of digestion begins in the mouth where the food is chewed and moistened by the saliva. After being swallowed, it passes down the gullet, a muscular tube leading to the stomach. The long tube which begins at the mouth and ends at the anus = alimentary canal Is crushed by the teeth =. Is made wet =. The juice in the mouth = A tube having muscles =. There is nothing which more astonishes a foreigner, and frights a country squire, than the Cries of London. My friend Sir Roger often declares that he cannot get them out of his head or go to sleep for them, the first week that he is in town. (prose) Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. (verses) Rezulin should be taken with meals. If the dose is missed at the usual meal, it may be taken at the next meal, if the dose is missed on one day, the dose should not be doubled the following day. (Instructions) We manufacture a variety of products that are essential for a cleaner world. From our famous dust wand lambswool dusters to our floor, window and automotive care products, the Lambskin Specialties line meets a wide range of maintenance requirements. (Product Promotions) Founded in 1990, Fuan Bluesky Generating Equipment Factory is a comprehensive enterprise covering generator, electric machine and electric pump. Now it is a Chinese electric machinary export base enterprise. (Plant Introductions ) Join ChangeOneDiet.com to get the first-ever weight-loss plan from Readers’ Digest, a breakthrough program that helps you lose weight by making one small change a week. You won’t find any silly gimmicks (花招) here. The plan is simple---change one meal at a time, one week at a time. (Ads) Hydropower is the power generated by using water as the energy-supply agent. In this case, water is allowed to flow from a higher level to a lower level through a turbine where potential energy of water is converted into kinetic energy and the turbine, in turn, rotates a generator to produce electricity. (Electricity) They all took a standard personality test and were checked for high blood pressure, blood sugar, body fat and cholesterol levels. They were also asked whether they smoked, had diabetes or other known risk factors for heart disease. (Medicine) The flower has a special purpose. It enables the plant to reproduce itself. In the process of sexual reproduction the special male sex cells have to be carried to the female sex cells so that they can join together to form a new plant. The sex cells are called gametes（配子）and when they join, they form an embryo, which is a very young organism. This process of joining is called fertilization. (Agriculture) Software is the term used to describe the instructions that tell the hardware how to perform a task; without software instructions, the hardware doesn’t know what to do. (Computer) As we burn fossil fuels, we release carbon dioxide and other heat-absorbing gases that cause global warming and may bring about sea-level rises and catastrophic climate changes. (Environment Protection) 5. 科技英语词汇: 词汇按其意义和用途，大致可分为三类：一、技术词，即科技术语；二、半技术词，就是各科通用的基本词；三、非技术语，即各科通用的普通词。 EST词汇的文体基本特征是：以少量的技术词语为骨干，以较多的半技术词为实体，以非技术词为纽带，逻辑地、严密地组成篇章文字。 1). 科技词汇 (专业词汇Technical Words)：词义单一、具体，反映科学领域某一特定的概念。均为名词或名词词组。如： bulldozer, nuclear reactor, ozone, oxide, ampere (uint of measureing electric current), kilohertz (unit of frequency of electromagnetic waves), kilowatt (unit of electric power), nitrogen, phosphorus, insecticide, herbicide, alloy, zinc, database, Tuberculosis, cancer, diabetes, 2). 半科技词汇 (Semi-technical Words): 也称为次技术词（subtechnical words），是科技文体中应用最广泛的词。大部分来自于英语的普通词语（即源于本民族的词语），具有一定的技术含义，各科通用。如：gate, property, channel. 1) There is a large square at the gate of our school. 2) 5 outlet gates will be set up along the river to help flood diversion during the rainy seasons according to the original design. 3) The film, Titanic, has got a gate of over 200 million dollars. 1) Don’t touch those tools---they are not your property. 2) It seems a wise decision to invest one’s money in property, nowadays, rather than just deposit it in the bank. 3) Here are some of the properties which metals may have: 1. There has opened a subway between France and Britain through the English Channel. 2. Ships must follow the channel into the port. 3. Different TV channels has different programs. One can enjoy watching a lot of sports events and programs in Channel 5. 4. Channel excavation of the river is scheduled to be completed within a month. 3). 科技词汇的构成: A. 复合(compostion)。 把两个或两个以上的词按一定的次序排列构成新词. 是产生专业词语最主要的方法. 如: allowable error, navigation satellite system, non-reinforced concrete pipe, water discharge. Integrited circuit—very small electronic circuit made of a single small piece of semiconductor material (eg a silicon chip), designed to replace a conventional electric circuit of many parts. concrete dam, moisture content, vibrating compactor, channel excavation， slope protection, sulphur compound, speed governor. illumination intensity determination, breast cancer survey program evaluation. (n+n) B. 派生. 由词根派生而成. 分为: 前缀派生( anti-biotic, micro-economy, macromolecule) 后缀派生(psychology, ecology, futurology, anthropology, wireless, 前后缀派生(semi-conduct-or, micro-bio-logy)。大多由拉丁语和希腊语的词根构成。 英国人的祖先，盎格鲁撒克逊人（Anglo-Saxons）居住于欧洲大陆期间，长期与罗马人进行交往，从他们那里吸收了一些拉丁词汇。公元五世纪，他们在不列颠岛定居后，又从当地的凯尔特人（Celts）那里吸收了一些拉丁词汇。 公元六世纪，原本信奉异教的盎格鲁撒克逊人改信基督教。随着基督教的传入，有许多拉丁词语和拉丁化了希腊词语也传入了英语。 1066年，诺尔曼人（Normans）侵占了不列颠岛，成为英国的统治者。诺尔曼人所使用的古法语方言，在之后的数百年间，也大量地传入了英语。 因此，作为英国历史发展、变迁的一种见证，英语词汇便形成了自己独有的一大特点，那就是：几乎每一个基本的意义单位都有两种或两种以上的符号来表示。一种就是能够独立使用的单词---原生词（primitives），其数量仅占总词汇量的一小部分，另一种则是不能独立使用的词根（roots）。现举数例如下： 基本意义单位 第一种符号 第二、三种符号 （单词） （词根） 例词 man anthrop Anthrop-o-log-ist, phil-anthrop-ist, 时间 time chron Chronic, chronometer, Chron-o-logy 水 hydro hydro-electric, carbohydrate, dehydrate, desalt 石 stone lith，lite zoo-lith, areolith neolith, 土，地 earth ge (o) geo-metry, geologist geo-physics, geography 生命，生物 bio micro-bio-logy, autobiography 做 do Fact, fect bene-fact-or, manufacturer, infect, perfect 走，进 go gress pro-gress, aggressive, regress 写 write graph, scribe hydro-graphy，de-scribe, inscribe 看 See, look spect, vis in-spect-or，super-vis-or, suspect 说 speak dict，log pre-dict, eu-log-ize, monologue, 转 turn vers（vert） anni-vers-ary, convert, diverse, 星 astro astro-nomy, astrophysics, astronomer, asteroid 光，影 phot (o) photo-graph, photogenic, photoelectron, phototherapy 手 man（u），main manu-script, maintain 足 foot ped centi-pede, pedal, pedicure, C．转化（conversion）：将原属于某一类词性的词直接转化为另一种词性，即不加前缀或后缀。如： 1） Drop a few eyedrops a day will help curing your trachoma. 2） We usually iron our clothes with a steam iron. D. 缩略（abbreviation） AAA ISO COMSAT CAD WHO WFO 4）词的正式程度（Degree of formality）：根据使用的场合不同，英语可粗分为正式和非正式两种语体。正式程度不同的语体之间的差别，反映在词汇、语法和语音三个方面。有的词典在注释中标明“fml”和“infml”，说明该词在正式场合还是非正式场合使用。 在各种专用语体中，常用拉丁派生词（Latinate words）来代替同义的盎个鲁撒克逊（Anglo-Saxon words），以示高雅和正式，因此，前者常被称为“Big words”，如： additional--- alternation--- assistance--- application--- commence--- consequently--- magnify--- optimum--- prior to--- purchase--- vigorous--- termination--- 6. 科技英语的句法特点： 1） 被动结构的大量使用： As oil is found deep in the ground, its presence cannot be determined by a study of the surface, consequently, a geological survey of the underground rock structure must be carried out. If it is thought that the rocks in a certain area contain oil, a “drilling rig” is assembled. The most obvious part of a drilling rig is called “ a derrick”. It is used to lift sections of pipe, which are lowered into the hole made by the drill. As the hole is being drilled, a steel pipe is pushed down to prevent the sides from falling in. if oil is struck a cover is firmly fixed to the top of the pipe and the oil is allowed to escape through a series of valves. 2) 大量使用非谓语动词形式：分词，动名词，动词不定式。 Today the electronic computer is widely used in solving mathematical problems having to do with weather forecasting and putting satellites into orbit. 3）名词化倾向：广泛使用名词词组，这种词组往往起到从句的作用，通常被成为名词化结构。如： The testing of machines by this method entails some loss of power. The substitution of some rolling friction for sliding friction results in a very considerable reduction in friction. 第二讲 （计算机英语） 1． Read the following passage and answer the questions attached at the end. 2． Put the underlined sentences into Chinese as your homework. 3． Familiarize yourself with the computer terms followed with this passage. WHAT IS A COMPUTER SYSTEM The term computer is used to describe a device made up of a combination of electronic electromechanical (part electronic and part mechanical) components．By itself, a computer no intelligence and is referred to as hardware. A computer doesn’t come to life until iconnected to other parts of a computer system．A computer system is a combination of five elements (listed here in the order of how expensive it would be to replace them in a system，from least to most expensive)： ---Hardware ---Software ---Data/information ---Procedures ---People When one computer system is set up to communicate with another computer system，connectivity becomes a sixth system element．In other words，the manner in which the various individual systems are connected---for example, by phone lines，microwave transmission，or satellite---is an element of the total computer system． Software is the term used to describe the instructions that tell the hardware how to perform a task；without software instructions，the hardware doesn’t know what to do．People, however, constitute the most important component of the computer system．People operate the computer hardware：they create the computer software instructions and respond to the procedures that those instructions present．You will learn more about software and procedures later. Right now we want to discuss the importance of data and information． The purpose of a computer system is to convert data into information．Data is raw，unevaluated facts and figures，concepts，or instructions．This raw material is processed into useful information．In other words，information is the product of data processing．This processing includes refining, summarizing，categorizing，and otherwise manipulating the data into a useful form for decision making．For example, the facts and figures contained in a stack of customer orders waiting to be entered into a computer-based order entry system are data：after the data is entered and processed, an output report about how that data affected product inventory（目录） would be information1 People "capture" data in a variety of ways-for example，by reading，listening，or seeing. Then they may record the data on a document．For instance，Roger Shu records his name on an employee timecard by first entering the letter R．This letter, and each of the remaining letters in his name，is an element of data，as are the numbers 12/22 and 5，used to indicate the date and the number of overtime hours worked 2．By themselves，these data elements are useless：we must process them to make them mean something．The report produced when Roger’s data is run through a computer-based employee records system gives us information---for example, the amount of money due Roger for his overtime work.. Now we’11 discuss the basics about the hardware devices that convert data into information in a typical computer-based system． Computer Hardware if, at a job interview，you are asked about what kind of computer equipment you’ve used before or what you know about hardware，and you don’t have an answer, your interviewer will probably perceive you as a person who doesn’t take an active role in what’s going on around you---a perception that could dramatically hurt your chances of getting the job you want．In today’s business world，not knowing what computer hardware is and what typical hardware components do is similar to being a taxi driver and not knowing what a car is and that it has components such as an engine，doors，windows，and so on． We talk in detail about the different categories of computer hardware later. In this section， however, we provide a brief description of the components found in each category of hardware so that you can see how they relate to one another and how they fit into larger picture of computers in business．(Don’t try to memorize a lot of details now；focus on the large concepts．） Computer hardware can be divided into four categories：（1）input hardware，（2）storage hardware，(3) processing hardware，and (4) output hardware． Input Hardware The purpose of input hardware is to collect data and convert it into a form suitable for computer processing．The most common input device is a keyboard．It looks very much like a typewriter keyboard with rows of keys arranged in the typical typewriter layout, as well as a number of additional keys used to enter special computer-related codes．Although it isn’t the only type of input device available, the computer keyboard is the one most generally used by the business community． Storage Hardware The purpose of storage hardware is to provide a means of storing computer instructions and data in a form that is relatively permanent，or nonvolatile---that is，the data is not lost when the power is turned off---and easy to retrieve when needed for processing 3．Storage hardware servesthe same basic functions as do office filling systems except that it stores data as electromagneticsignals （电磁信号）or laser-etched spots （激光蚀刻），commonly on disk or tape，rather than on paper. Storage devices will be discussed later. Processing Hardware The purpose of processing hardware is to retrieve，interpret, and direct the execution of software instructions provided to the computer．The most common components of processing hardware are the central processing unit（中央处理器）and main memory（主内存）． The central processing unit (CPU) is the brain of the computer. It reads and interprets software instructions and coordinates the processing activities that must take place. The design of the CPU affects the processing power and the speed of the computer, as well as the amount of main memory it can use effectively．With a well-designed CPU in your computer, you can perform highly sophisticated tasks in a very short time． Main memory (also called internal memory，primary storage, or just memory) can be thought of as an electronic desktop．The more desk surface you have in front of you，the more you can place on it．Similarly, if your computer has a lot of memory, you can place more software instructions in it．The amount of memory available determines whether you can run simple or sophisticated software：a computer with a large memory is more capable of holding the thousands of instruction that are contained in the more sophisticated software programs 4．A large memory also allows you to work with and manipulate great amounts of data and information at one time．Quite simply，the more main memory you have in you computer, the more you can accomplish． Output Hardfvare The purpose of output hardware is to provide the user with the means to view information，produced by the computer system．Information is output in either hardcopy or softcopy form. Hardcopy output can be held in your hand---examples are paper with text (words or numbers) or graphics printed on it．Softcopy output is displayed on a monitor, a television---like screen on which you can read text and graphics． Computer Software A computer is an inanimate device that has no intelligence of its own and must be supplied with instructions so that it knows what to do and how and when to do it．These instructions are called software．The importance of software can’t be overestimated．You might have what most people consider the "best" computer sitting on your desk in front of you：however, without software to "feed" it, the computer will do nothing more than take up space 5． Software is made up of a group of related programs，each of which is a group of related instructions that perform very specific processing tasks．Software acquired to perform a general business function is often referred to as a software package （软件包）．Software packages，which are usually created by professional software writers，are accompanied by documentation---users’ manuals---that explains how to use the software． Software can generally be divided into two categories：（1）systems software and (2) applications software．Explores each of these categories in detail later，For now，some basic information will suffice． Systems Softfrare Programs designed to allow the computer to manage its own resources are called systems software．This software runs the basic operations：it tells the hardware what to do and how and when to do it．However, it does not solve specific problems relating to a business or a profession． For example，systems software will not process a prediction of what your company’s tax bill will be next year, but it will tell the computer where to store the data used during processing. Applications Software Any instructions or collection of related programs designed to be carried out by a computer to satisfy a user's specific needs are applications software 6．A group of programs written to perform payroll processing is one type of applications software，as are programs written to maintain personnel records，update an inventory system，help you calculate a budget，or monitor the incubation（孵化）temperatures at your poultry farm． Applications software can be purchased “off the shelf （现货） ”，or packaged---that is，already programmed，or written---or it can be written to order by qualified programmers．If, for example, a company’s payroll processing requirements are fairly routine，it can probably purchase one or more payroll applications software programs off the shelf to handle the job．However, if a company has unique payroll requirements, such as a need to handle t