TED演讲：语言如何改变人类(11)

 　　Now think of the absurdity¹ of this situation. 现在试想下这种奇怪的状况：

　　If 27 individuals from those 27 member states sat around table, speaking their 23 languages, 如果27个来自各个盟国的人围坐在桌边，说着23种语言

　　some very simple mathematics will tell you that you need an army of 253 translators to anticipate all the pairwise possibilities. 简单计算就可以知道，你需要一个253人的翻译队伍来保证配对说话的可能性

　　The European Union employs a permanent staff of about 2,500 translators. 欧盟雇了大约2500名永久编制的翻译

　　And in 2007 alone -- and I'm sure there are more recent figures -- 仅2007年一年--当然应该有最新的数据可查--

　　something on the order of 1.3 million pages were translated into English alone. 仅是翻译成英文的文件就大约为一百三十万页

　　And so if language really is the solution to the crisis of visual theft, 如果语言真是观察性窃取的解决方法

　　if language really is the conduit of our cooperation, 如果语言真是我们合作的媒介

　　the technology that our species derived² to promote the free flow and exchange of ideas, 是人类发明的用于促进思想无障碍流通和交换的技术

　　in our modern world, we confront a question. 那么在现代社会，我们碰上了难题

　　And that question is whether in this modern, globalized world 这就是在这个全球化的现代社会

　　we can really afford to have all these different languages. 我们是否承担得起使用如此多语言的代价

　　To put it this way, nature knows no other circumstance in which functionally³ equivalent traits coexist. 可以这样说，自然的法则是具有同等功能的特性是难以共存的

　　One of them always drives the other extinct. 其中的一个往往战胜其他的而存活下去

　　And we see this in the inexorable march towards standardization⁴. 我们在向着标准化的大步前进中可以清楚地看到这一点

　　There are lots and lots of ways of measuring things -- 在许多测量物体的方法中

　　weighing them and measuring their length -- but the metric system is winning. 包括称重和量长，公制计量制度赢了。

1 absurdity   

n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论

参考例句：

• The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
• The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

2 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 functionally   

adv.机能上地，官能地

参考例句：

• Objective To explore occlusion reconstruction by computer aided design (CAD) with functionally-generated pathway (FGP). 目的探索借助功能性？记录(functionally-generated pathway,FGP)技术进行口腔固定修复体计算机辅助设计(Computer aided Design,CAD)生理性建？的方法。 来自互联网
• In this respect, the proceeding was functionally similar to a comparative licensing adjudication. 在这一点上，手续在作用上即类似于比较许可证发放的裁断。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

4 standardization   

n.标准化

参考例句：

• Standardization of counseling techniques is obviously impossible. 很清楚，要想使研讨方法标准化是不可能的。
• In Britain, progress towards standardization was much slower. 在英国，向标准化进展要迟缓得多。