第二十三篇

The Only Way Is Up

Think of a modem city and the first image that come to mind is the skyline. It is full of great buildings, pointing like fingers to heaven. It is true that some cities don't permit buildings to go above a certain height. But these are cities concerned with the past. The first thing any city does when it wants to tell the world that it has arrived is to build skyscrapers.

When people gather together in cities, they create a demand for land. Since cities are places where money is made, that demand can be met. And the best way to make money out of city land is to put as many people as possible in a space that covers the smallest amount of ground. That means building upwards.

The technology existed to do this as early as the 19th century. But the height of buildings was limited by one important factor. They had to be small enough for people on the top floors to climb stairs. People could not be expected to climb a mountain at the end of their journey to work, or home.

Elisha Otis, a US inventor, was the man who brought us the lift - or elevator, as he preferred to call it. However, most of the technology is very old. Lifts work using the same pulley system the Egyptians used to create the Pyramids. What Otis did was attach the system to a steam engine and develop the elevator brake, which stops the lift falling if the cords that hold it up are broken. It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention1. In fact, he spent a number of years exhibiting lifts at fairgrounds, giving people the chance to try

them out before selling the idea to architects and builders.

A lift would not be a very good theme park attraction now. Going in a lift is such an everyday thing that it would just be boring. Yet psychologists and others who study human behavior find lifts fascinating. The reason is simple. Scientists have always studied animals in zoos. The nearest they can get to that with humans is in observing them in lifts2.

"It breaks all the usual conventions about the bubble of personal space3 we carry around with us -- and you just can't choose to move away," says workplace psychologist, Gary Fitzgibbon. Being trapped in this setting can create different types of tensions, he says. Some people are scared of them. Others use them as an opportunity to get close to the boss. Some stand close to the door. Others hide in the comers. Most people try and shrink into the background. But some behave in a way that makes others notice them. There are a few people who just stand in a comer taking notes.

Don't worry about them. They are probably from a university.

词汇：

Skyline n.空中轮廓线

pulley n.滑轮

fairground n.集市场地

bubble n.幻想、妄想

tension n.紧张

注释：

1. It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention.正是这一点在赢得公众对新发明的信心上起了最大的作用。本局使用了强调句型It is…that… 被强调的是this，所指代的是上文中所说的Otis发明了电梯刹车的事。

2. The nearest they can get to that with humans is in observing them in lifts. 他们对人所能做的最接近于此的事就是在电梯里观察他们。句中的 that 指的是上一句中提到的科学家一直对动物园里的动物进行观察。

3. about the bubble of personal space 有关私人空间的幻想