Methodolgy is a term that remains inherently ambiguous in the historical profession. (74) There is no agreement whether methodology refers to the concepts peculiar to historical work in general or to the research techniques appropriate to the various branches of historical inquiry. Historians, especially those so blinded by their research interests that they have been accused of “tunnel method,” frequently fall victim to the “technicist fallacy.” Also common in the natural sciences, the technicist fallacy mistakenly identifies the discipline as a whole with certain parts of its technical implementation. (75) It applies equally to traditional historians who view history as only the external and internal criticism of sources, and to social science historians who equate their activity with specific techniques.

考研英语2000年英译汉试题

Governments throughout the world act on the assumption that the welfare of their people depends largely on the economic strength and wealth of the community. (71) Under modern conditions, this requires varying measures of centralized control and hence the help of specialized scientists such as economists and operational research experts. (72)Furthermore, it is obvious that the strength of a country's economy is directly bound up with the efficiency of its agriculture and industry, and that this in turn rests upon the efforts of scientists and technologists of all kinds. It also means that governments are increasingly compelled to interfere in these sectors in order to step up production and ensure that it is utilized to the best advantage. For example, they may encourage research in various ways, including the setting up of their own research centers; they may alter the structure of education, or interfere in order to reduce the wastage of natural resources or tap resources hitherto unexploited; or they may cooperate directly in the growing number of international projects related to science, economics and industry. In any case, all such interventions are heavily dependent on scientific advice and also scientific and technological manpower of all kinds.

(73)Owing to the remarkable development in mass communications, people everywhere are feeling new wants and are being exposed to new customs and ideas, while governments are often forced to introduce still further innovations for the reasons given above. At the same time, the normal rate of social change throughout the world is taking place at a vastly accelerated speed compared with the past. For example, (74) in the early industrialized countries of Europe the process of industrialization—with all the far reaching changes in social patterns that followed—was spread over nearly a century, whereas nowadays a developing nation may undergo the same process in a decade or so. All this has the