1. There are, of course, exceptions. Small--minded officials, rude waiters, and ill mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet it is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment.
[参考译文] 当然，例外是存在的。在美国，心胸狭窄的官员，粗鲁的传者，和没有 礼貌的出租车司机也并不少见。然而人们常常得出这样的观察意见，这使得它值得被讨论一下。
2. We live in a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances (drugs) is pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves.
[参考译文] 我们生活在一种药品(毒品)的医学用途和社会用途都很广泛的社会里： 一片用来止头痛的阿斯匹林，一些用来社交的葡萄酒，早上自己提提神所喝的咖啡，一支用来定神的香烟。