第一篇：Text 1
1. In an essay entitled “Making It in America,” the author Adam Davidson relates a joke from cotton country about just how much a modern textile mill has been automated.
翻译：亚当·戴维森在一篇叫《在美国制造》的文章里，讲了棉花产区的一个笑话，说的是现代纺织厂自动化程度有多高。
2. The answer is: “Two. A man and a dog.”
翻译：答案是：“两个。一个人和一条狗。”
3. The man is there to feed the dog, and the dog is there to keep the man away from the machines.
翻译：人在那儿是为了喂狗，狗在那儿是为了防止人碰机器。
4. Davidson’s article is one of a number of pieces that have recently appeared making the point that the reason we have such stubbornly high unemployment and declining middle-class incomes today is largely because of the big drop in demand because of the Great Recession, but it is also because of the advances in both globalization and the information technology revolution, which are more rapidly than ever replacing labor with machines or foreign workers.
翻译：戴维森的文章是最近出现的多篇文章之一，它们指出：如今失业率居高不下、中产阶级收入下降，主要原因是大萧条导致需求大幅下降，但同时全球化与信息技术革命的进步也让机器或外国工人比以往更快地取代人力。
第二篇：Text 2
1. In the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, the icy chief of a fashion magazine, scolds her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesn’t affect her.
翻译：2006年电影《穿普拉达的女王》里，时尚杂志冷酷主编米兰达·普瑞斯特利责骂她不起眼的助理，因为助理认为高级时尚影响不到自己。
2. Priestly explains how the deep blue color of the assistant’s sweater descended from the runways of fashion shows to department stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.
翻译：普瑞斯特利解释说，助理毛衣的深蓝色是如何从时装秀T台传到百货商店，再传到折扣区的——这可怜女孩无疑是在那儿买到她的衣服。
3. This passage is meant to show the power of trends and the importance of recognizing them.
翻译：这段话是为了展示潮流的力量以及认识到它们的重要性。
第三篇：Text 3
1. Scientists have found that although we are prone to snap overreactions, if we take a moment and think about how we are likely to react, we can reduce or even eliminate the negative effects of our quick, hard-wired responses.
翻译：科学家发现，虽然我们容易突然过度反应，但如果花点时间想想自己可能会怎么反应，就能减少甚至消除我们快速、本能反应的负面影响。
2. Snap decisions can be important defense mechanisms; if we are judging whether someone is dangerous, our brains and bodies are hard-wired to react very quickly, within milliseconds.
翻译：瞬间决定可能是重要的防御机制；如果判断某人是否危险，我们的大脑和身体本能地会在几毫秒内快速反应。
第四篇：Text 4
1. Europe is not a gender-equality heaven.
翻译：欧洲并非性别平等的天堂。
2. In particular, the corporate workplace will never be completely family-friendly until women are part of senior management decisions, and Europe’s top corporate-governance positions remain overwhelmingly male.
翻译：尤其企业职场永远不会完全顾及家庭，除非女性参与高管决策，而欧洲顶尖企业治理职位仍绝大多数是男性。
3. It is the European Commission that is taking action to press companies to accept gender balance.
翻译：正是欧盟委员会在采取行动迫使公司接受性别平衡。
全文完。每句直译，不加解释，按原文顺序排列。