70、 _______________
A.There remained, however, the "easier" labor--the labor that required the human eyes, ears, judgment andmind but no sweating. It nevertheless had its miseries, for it tended to be dull, repetitious, and boring.And there is always the sour sense of endlessly doing something unpleasant under compulsion.
B.For one thing, much of human effort that is today put into "running the world" will be unnecessary. Withcomputers, robots and automation, a great dead of the daily grind will appear to be running itself. This isnothing startling. It is a trend that has been rapidly on its way ever since World War]I.
C.And now we stand at the brink of a change that will be the greatest of all, for work in its old sense will dis-appear altogether. To most people, work has always been an effortful exercising of mind or body--com-pelled by the bitter necessity of earning the necessities of life--plus an occasional period of leisure in whichto rest or have fun.
D.Clearly there will be a painful period of transition, one that is starting already, and one that will be in full swing as the 21st century begins.
E.In the first place, the computer age will introduce a total revolution in our notions of education, and is begin-ning to do so now. The coming of the computer will make learning fun, and a successfully stimulated mindwill learn quickly. It will undoubtedly turn out that the "average" child is much more intelligent and creativethan we generally suppose. There was a time, after all, when the ability to read and write was confined to avery small group of "scholars" and almost all of them would have scouted the notion that just about anyonecould learn the intricacies of literacy. Yet with mass education general literacy came to be a fact.
F.This means that the dull, the boring, the repetitious, the mind-stultifying work will begin to disappear fromthe job market--is already beginning to disappear. This, of course, will introduce two vital sets of prob-lem-is already introducing them.
71、 A.The Imperial Palace
What strikes one first in a bird' s-eye viewof Beijing proper is a vast tract of golden roofs flashing bril-liantly in thesun with purple walls occasionally emerging amid them and a stretch ofluxuriant tree leaves flanking oneach side. That is the former Imperial Palace,popularly known as the Forbidden City, from which twenty-four em-perors of theMing and Qing Dynasties ruled China for some 500 years--from 1420 to 1911. TheMing Emperor Yong Le, who usurped the throne from his nephew and made Beijing thecapital, ordered its construction, on whichapproximately I0,000 artists and amillion workmen toiled for 14 years from 1406 to 1420. At present, the Palaceisan elaborate museum that presents the largest and most complete ensemble oftraditional architecture complex andmore than 900, 000 pieces of courttreasures in all dynasties in China.
Located in the center of Beijing, the entirepalace area, rectangular in shape and72 hectares in size, is surroun-ded bywalls ten meters high and a moat 52 meters wide. At each comer of the wallstands a watchtower with adouble-eave roof covered with yellow glazed tiles.
The main buildings, the six great halls, onefollowing the other, are set facing south along the central north-south axisfrom the Meridian Gate, the south entrance, to Shenwumen, the great gatepiercing in the north wall. Oneither side of the palace are many comparativelysmall buildings. Symmetrically in the northeastern section lie the sixEasternPalaces and in the northwestern section the six Western Palaces. The Palacearea is divided into two parts:the Outer Court and the Inner Palace. The formerconsists of the first three main hails, where the emperor receivedhis courtiersand conducted grand ceremonies, while the latter was the living quarters forthe imperial residence. Atthe rear of the Inner Palace is the Imperial Gardenwhere the emperor and his family sought recreation.
B.The Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven was initially built inYongle Year 18 of the Ming Dynasty ( in 1420). Situatedin the southern part ofthe city, it covers the total area of 273 hectares. With the additions andrebuilding during theMing, Qing and other Dynasties, this grand set ofstructures look magnificent and glorious; the dignified environ-ment appearssolemn and respectful. It is the place for both Ming and Qing Dynasty' sEmperors to worship Heavenand pray for good harvest. The northern part of theTemple is circular while the southern part is square, implying"sky isround and earth is square" to better symbolize heaven and earth. The wholecompound is enclosed by twowalls, dividing the whole Temple into inner andouter areas, with the main structures enclosed in the inner area. Themostimportant constructions are the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, the CircularMound Altar, Imperial Heaven,The Imperial Vault of Heaven, Heaven Kitchen, LongCorridor and so on, as well as the Echo Wall, the Triple-Sound Stone, theSeven-Star Stone and others of historic interest and scenic beauty. The Templeof Heaven is acomprehensive expression of the unique construction techniquesfrom Ming and Qing Dynasties; it is China' s mosttreasured ancientarchitecture; it is also the world' s largest architectural complex forworshipping heaven. In 1998,it was included in the "list of the worldheritages" by the United Nation' s Educational, Scientific and CulturalOr-ganization.
