Contents 1
1 Civilization and History 文明与历史 C．E．M．Joad 1
2 The Fun They Had 前人享有的乐趣 Isaac Asimov 17
3 Big Numbers and Infinities 大数和无穷数 George Gamow 33
4 Oil 油 G.C.Thornley 49
5 An Observation and an Explanation 观察与解释 Desmond Morris 65
6 A Robot about the House 家用机器人 M.W.Thring 80
7 A Wrong Man in Workers' Paradise 误入工人天堂的人 Rabindranath Tagore 97
8 Making Surgery Safe Horace Shipp 保障外科手术安全 115
9 Using Land Wisely 合理地使用土地 L．Dudley Stamp 138
10 The Karburator 碳化装置 Karel？apek 155
11 Work and Play 工作和娱乐 Herbert Read 172
12 Three Days to See 若能重见光明三日 Helen Keller 193
13 The Laws of Nature 自然法则 J．B．S．Haldane 214
14 Spaceship? 宇宙飞船？ J．B．Priestley 233
15 The Wisdom of Socrates 苏格拉第的智慧 255
16 Snapshot of a Dog 一只狗的快照 James Thurber 273
17 Individuals and Masses 个人和大众 Aldous Huxley 293
18 Ckildren at Play 玩耍的孩子们 Rumer Godden 310
19 Symptoms 症状 Jerome K．Jerome 331
20 How to Avoid Foolish Opinions 如何避免愚蠢的见解 Bertrand Russell 348
Appendix 附录 367
Ⅰ．Language Poiuts dealt with in Exercises 习题里的语言要点 367
Ⅱ．Vocabulary 385
词汇表 407
参考文献 407