1. The most thrilling explanation is, unfortunately, a little defective. Some economists argue that powerful structural changes in the world have upended the old economic models that were based upon the historical link between growth and inflation.

　　[参考译文]很不幸，这最令人震惊的解释有一点缺陷。一些经济学家认为世界经济结构的强有力的变化已经结束了那个以经济增长和通货膨胀的历史关联为基础的旧的经济模式。

　　2. The Aswan Dam, for example, stopped the Nile flooding but deprived Egypt of the fertile silt that floods left-all in return for a giant reservoir of disease which is now so full of silt that it barely generates electricity.

　　[参考译文]例如，阿斯旺大坝使得尼罗河不再洪水泛滥，但是它也夺去了埃及以前所享有的洪水留下的肥沃淤泥--这些换宋的就是这么个疾病滋生的水库，现在这个水库积满了淤泥，几乎不能发电了。

　　3. New ways of organizing the workplace--all that re-engineering and downsizing--are only one contribution to the overall productivity of an economy, which is driven by many other factors such as joint investment in equipment and machinery, new technology, and investment in education and training.

　　[参考译文]企业重组的新方法--所有那些重新设计、缩小规模的做法--只是对一个经济的整体生产力做出了一方面的贡献。这种经济还受许多其他因素的驱动，比如结合设备和机械上的投资、新技术，以及在教育和培训上的投资。

　　4. His colleague, Michael Beer, says that far too many companies have applied re-engineering in a mechanistic fashion, chopping out costs without giving sufficient thought to long-term profitability.

　　[参考译文]他的同事迈克尔?比尔说，有太多的公司已经用一种机械的方式实行公司内部的重新设计，在没有充分考虑长期赢利的能力下削减了成本。

　　5. Defenders of science have also voiced their concerns at meetings such as "The Flight from Science and Reason" , held in New York City in 1995, and "Science in the Age of (Mis) information, which assembled last June near Buffalo.

　　[参考译文]科学卫士们在会议上也表述了他们的关注，比如1995年在纽约市举行的 "逃离科学与理性"会议，以及去年6月在布法罗附近召开的"(错误)信息时代的科学"会议。