我首次進大城市
【內容提示】
請為下面一篇文章寫一段摘要：
Impressions Made on Me by My First Visit to a Big Town
I vividly recall my first visit, as a boy of twelve, to a big town. I had hardly been outside the confines (邊緣) of the village where I was born and I had met and talked to no more than a few hundred people; but those few hundred I knew very well. Of course we did sometimes see a strange face, but visitors from the outside world, whose coming always aroused great excitement, were few and far between (稀少). When I reached the town that I mentioned I was first overcome by the striking change from the slow and quiet life I had been used to. Surely those swiftly (迅速地) moving vehicles (車輛) must inevitably collide (必然碰撞) with each other----or with us----at any moment, and those tall building collapse (倒坍) and crush (壓碎) us all! But I soon forgot those fears and began to notice something even more amazing (令人驚奇的) ----the crowds of people on the pavements (人行道) who were hurrying past each other without a smile. It gradually dawned on me (我漸漸明白) that not only were they not interested in one another; they were strangers, and apparently (明顯地) quite content (滿意地) to remain so. It was the lack of friendliness among them which most deeply distressed (使痛苦)me.
I know that if we are to profit from the innumerable mechanical inventions (獲益于無數機械發明) of this scientific age it is necessary for us to live together in large communities (社區). We are thus enabled (使能夠) to provide and enjoy material benefits (利益) which are rarely available (少有的) in small villages----such amenities (令人愉快的事情) as good sanitation (環境衛生), cheap transport (交通), well-stocked (貨物貯備充足的) shops----and in addition the very fact of our living together in large numbers makes it possible for us to live a richer social and cultural life. Yet it seems to me that the mechanical inventions demand from ordinary men and women so much of their time and attention that they have none left for their fellow human beings. When I think of those crowded pavements and of those thousands of people hurrying to and fro (來來往往) apparently with no thought for others I cannot help wondering whether the so-called (所謂的) benefits of civilization (文明) in a mechanical age are not being purchased (購買)at too high a price.
【作文示範】
The Price of Living in a Mechanical Age
The writer first visited a big town in boyhood, spent previously in the limited society of his native village with few visitors to provide excitement. His never-forgotten impressions were first the speed and noise of town, and his fears that the vehicles① meet and strike and the high buildings fall down; then the painful understanding that town people neither knew nor cared to know each other.
The pleasant things provided by science, seldom able to be got in villagers, give joys to those living in big towns, where life could be richer socially and culturally. But the writer, fearing that town people were too filled with the thoughts of machines to think of their fellows, wondered if the so-called benefits② of modern civilization were not expensive. (126words)
【詞語解釋】
①vehicle["vi:ikl]n. 機動車輛
②so-called benefits["benifits]所謂的利益
【寫法指要】
本摘要對原文從三方面作了變更和壓縮：
1.用表示原文主題思想的一個片語“the price of living in a mechanical age”代替了原文的題目，這就使文章的主題更加突出了。
2.把原文中的第一人稱換成了第三人稱，從摘要筆者的視角去觀察原文作者的意圖，這樣就更有說服力。
3.省略了許多細節，如“I had met and talked to no more than a few hundred people.”，“We did sometimes see a strange face.”等;多處用片語代替從句和句子，如“his native village”代替了“thevillage where I was born”，“few visitors”代替了“visitors from the outside world…”等。