TED演讲:哲学早餐俱乐部(8)

 　　It's shocking to realize that only 28 percent of American adults 你们或许会惊讶于，只有28%的美国成年人

　　have even a very basic level of science literacy,  具备基本的科学知识，

　　and this was tested by asking simple questions like,  而测试用的问题都是非常简单的：

　　"Did humans and dinosaurs¹ inhabit the Earth at the same time?"  例如“人类和恐龙是生活在一个时代的么？”

　　and "What proportion of the Earth is covered in water?" “地球表面有多少部分覆盖着水？”

　　Once scientists became members of a professional group,  一旦科学家变成一个专业的团体，

　　they were slowly walled off from the rest of us.  他们就开始慢慢的跟大众脱离了。

　　This is the unintended consequence of the revolution that started with our four friends. 这是我们这四位朋友开启革命时没有想到的。

　　Charles Darwin said, "I sometimes think that general and popular treatises² 达尔文说过：“我时常想到，通俗和大众的科普文章的重要性

　　are almost as important for the progress of science as original work." 跟科学领域的原创工作应该是同等重要的。”

　　In fact, "Origin of Species" was written for a general and popular audience, 事实上，《物种起源》面向的就是通俗和普通的读者，

　　and was widely read when it first appeared.  并且在初次发表之后得到了广泛传阅。

　　Darwin knew what we seem to have forgotten, that science is not only for scientists. Thank you. 达尔文知道我们似乎忘记了一点：科学不仅仅是科学家的事情。谢谢。

1 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 treatises   

n.专题著作，专题论文，专著( treatise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many treatises in different languages have been published on pigeons. 关于鸽类的著作，用各种文字写的很多。 来自辞典例句
• Many other treatises incorporated the new rigor. 许多其它的专题论文体现了新的严密性。 来自辞典例句