Despite a spell of initial optimism in the 1960s and 1970s when it appeared that transistor circuits and microprocessors might be able to copy the action of the human brain by the year 2010, researchers lately have begun to extend that forecast by decades if not centuries.（Text2. 2002）
spell / spel / n.一段时间 v.拼写；拼成；招致
initial / iˈniʃl / adj.最初的；开始的
optimism / ˈɔptimizəm / n.乐观；乐观主义
appear / əˈpiə(r) / v.似乎；显得；出现
transistor / trænˈzistə(r) / n.晶体管
circuit / ˈsə:kit / n.电路；线路
microprocessor / ˌmaikrəuˈprəusesə(r) / n.微处理器
copy / ˈkɔpi / v.复制
forecast / ˈfɔ:kɑ:st / n.预测；预报
结构分析（点击可放大图片）
你需要知道
1. appear在这里是“似乎，看起来”的意思，同义词seem，itappeared that 相当于it seemed that，it为形式主语，that引导主语从句。
2. if not centuries中的“if not”在这里表示更大的可能性。如：They cost thousands ifnot millions of pounds to build. 建设要耗费数千英镑,甚至可能是数百万英镑。原句中...researchers lately have begun to extend that forecast by decadesif not centuries. 意为：但最近研究人员己开始将这个预测延后数十年，甚至数百年。
翻译
尽管在20世纪60年代和70年代有过一段最初的乐观时期，那时侯晶体管电路和微处理器的发展似乎使人们相信到2010年就能实现复制人脑，但最近研究人员己开始将这个预测延后数十年，甚至数百年。
预告明日长难句
What they found, in attempting to model thought, is that the humanbrain’s roughly onehundred billion nerve cells are muchmore talented — andhuman perception farmore complicated — thanpreviously imagined.（Text2. 2002）
That ballooned into a crisis starting in February, when a former employee wrote a blog post detailing what she said was a history of sexual harassment and lack of response from management at the company. The post set off a deluge of other complaints from staff about Uber’s culture, exposing a toxic environment.
这发展成了一场始于2月的危机。当时，一名前雇员写了一篇博客，详述自己在优步遭到性骚扰、管理层却毫无回应的经历。文章引发了员工对优步文化如潮水般的其他抱怨，揭露了一个不良环境。
本段包含的词汇
balloon [bə’luːn] v.激增 n.气球
*former [‘fɔːmə] adj.从前的；前任的
*detail [‘diːteɪl] v.详细说明 n.细节
harassment ['hærəsm(ə)nt; hə’ræsm(ə)nt] n.骚扰；烦恼
(harass ['hærəs; hə’ræs] v.骚扰)
*response [rɪ’spɒns] n.反应
*set off 引发，激起；使爆炸
deluge [‘deljuːdʒ] n.泛滥
*expose [ɪk'spəʊz; ek-] v.使显露；揭露
*toxic [‘tɒksɪk] adj.有毒的
Uber has since moved to clean up the situation. It has fired 20 employees in the last few months for transgressions(n. 越轨) including sexual harassment. Emil Michael, a top lieutenant(助理人员) of Kalanick’s, left the company this week. And many other executives have departed, leaving something of a leadership void at the company.
自那以后，优步采取了清理环境的行动。过去几个月里，该公司因包括性骚扰在内的过失解雇20名员工。本周，卡兰尼克的左膀右臂埃米尔·迈克尔(Emil Michael)离开优步。其他很多高管也离开了，导致优步出现了某种领导真空。
本段包含的词汇
clean up 收拾干净
*fire [‘faɪə] v.解雇 n.火
*depart [dɪ’pɑːt] v.离开，出发；离职
void [vɒɪd] n.空白 adj.缺乏，空的
“Implementing these recommendations will improve our culture, promote fairness and accountability, and establish processes and systems to ensure the mistakes of the past will not be repeated,” Liane Hornsey, Uber’s chief of human resources, said in a statement.
“实施这些建议将改善我们的文化、促进公正和责任并建立相应的程序和制度，以确保过去的错误不会重演，”优步首席人力资源官利亚纳·霍恩西(Liane Hornsey)在一份声明中说。
本段包含的词汇
*implement [‘ɪmplɪm(ə)nt] v.实施；执行
*fairness [‘feənɪs] n.合理，公正
*accountability [ə,kaʊntə’bɪlɪtɪ] n.应负责任
