[1997年考研阅读真题翻译1.docVIP

1997年考研阅读真题翻译——BY 李剑（新东方阅读老师） Text 1 It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group’s on-line service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: “We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn’t just something that happened in Australia. It’s world history.” 凌晨3点45分是最后的投票表决。经过半年的争辩和最后16个小时的国会激烈辩论，澳大利亚北部地区成为世界上第一个允许医生根据绝症病人的个人意愿来结束其生命的合法地区。这一法案是以15票对10票的无可争议的结果通过的。该消息几乎同时出现在互联网上。身处地球另一端的加拿大死亡权利协会执行主席John Hofsess在看到该消息后便通过协会的在线服务网站“死亡之网”发布了公告。他说：“我们这一整天都在发布公告，因为这件事的意义不仅仅是澳大利亚发生的事情，而是世界的历史 ” The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia —— where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part —— other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling. 这一法案的深刻意义要得到人们的深刻理解可能还需要一段时间。澳北州通过的晚期病人权益法使得无论是内科医生还是普通市民都同样地力图从道义和实际意义两方面来看待这一问题。有一些人感到如释重负，而另一些人，包括教会，生命权利组织以及澳大利亚医学会成员都对这一决议进行了猛烈的抨击，并批评如此草率地通过决议。但是安乐死这一潮流已无法逆转。在澳大利亚，人口老龄化，延长寿命技术和公众态度的变化都发挥着各自的作用。其他州也将考虑制定类似的法律法规来处理安乐死问题。在美国和加拿大，死亡权利运动正在积蓄力量，观望者们正在等待多米诺骨牌效