It's almost as if these authors had a crystal balltopeer into...

这些作者仿佛拥有能够窥探未来的水晶球……

crystal [ˈkrɪstl] n. 结晶; 晶体; 水晶(如石英，用于制作珠宝饰物); 水晶玻璃

peer [pɪr] n. 身份(或地位)相同的人; 同龄人; 同辈; (英国) 贵族成员; v. 仔细看; 端详

The Parable Series

寓言系列

parable [ˈpærəbl] n. (尤指《圣经》中的) 寓言故事

Though she died before completing the third book in the trilogy, science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler created a dystopian world in Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (1998) that featured the rise of a populist demagogue.

在完成其三部曲中的第三本书之前，科幻作家奥克塔维亚·E·巴特勒(Octavia E. Butler)就去世了，但她在《撒种者寓言》(1993)和《天才寓言》(1998)中创造了一个反乌托邦世界，主要讲述民粹主义煽动者的崛起。

feature [ˈfiːtʃər] n. 特色; 特征; 特点; 面容的一部分; (报章、电视等的) 特写，专题节目; v. 以…为特色; 由…主演; 以…为主要组成; 起重要作用; 占重要地位;

While the books were well-received when they were published, they have struck a chord with readers more recently.

虽然该系列出版时已经广受欢迎，但是最近又进一步引起了读者的共鸣。

strike v. 撞; 碰; 撞击; 碰撞; 打; 击; 击打，踢(球等); n. 罢工; 罢课; 罢市; 军事进攻; 袭击; (尤指) 空袭; 击; 打; 踢

chord [kɔːrd] n.和弦; 和音; 弦

given some stark similarities between the society Butler created and our reality today, including global warming, extremely influential corporations, and social inequality.

因为巴特勒笔下的社会和如今的现实存在明显相似之处，比如全球变暖、商业垄断巨头和社会不平等。

stark [stɑːrk] adj.了无修饰的; 荒凉的; 粗陋的; 严酷的; 赤裸裸的; 真实而无法回避的; (指区别) 明显的，鲜明的

corporation [ˌkɔːrpəˈreɪʃn] n.(大) 公司; 法人; 法人团体; 市政委员会

But the strangest parallel came in Parable of the Talents,where she writes about  a conservative evangelist who runs for president using the slogan “Make America Great Again.”

但最奇怪的巧合出现在《天才寓言》一书中，作者在书中写道，在竞选总统时，一位保守派传教士以“让美国再次伟大”作为口号。

parallel [ˈpærəlel] n. (尤指不同地点或时间的)极其相似的人(或情况、事件等) ; 相似特征; 相似特点; (地球或地图的) 纬线，纬圈

conservative [kənˈsɜːrvətɪv] adj. 保守的; 守旧的; (英国) 保守党的; 低于实际数量的

The Machine Stops

《机器休止》

In E.M. Forster 1909 book The Machine Stops, he imagined a future in which people live and work exclusively in their own rooms, communicating with each other entirely through electronic means.

在E.M.福斯特（E.M. Forster）1909年的著作《机器休止》中，他构想了这样的未来：人们在自己的房间生活和工作，只通过电子设备相互交流。

exclusively [ɪkˈskluːsɪvli] adv. 排他地; 独占地; 专有地; 完全地

The people in the book create and sustain their “friendships,” “groups” or “teams” entirely through electronic communications, and eventually become phobic about leaving their rooms or meeting other people in the flesh.

书中的人只通过电子通信来建立、维持他们的“友谊”、“团体”或“团队”。最终，他们恐惧于离开自己房间、和他人见面。

sustain [səˈsteɪn] v. 维持(生命、生存); 使保持; 使稳定持续; 遭受; 蒙受; 经受

phobic [ˈfoʊbɪk] n. 恐惧症患者; 极端仇视者; 恐惧…的; 仇恨…的; adj. 病态性恐惧的

in the flesh 本人; 亲自

And while the telephone did exist at this point, radio was virtually unknown and television not yet invented.

尽管那时确实发明了电话，但还没有收音机和电视。

virtually [ˈvɜːrtʃuəli] adv. 几乎; 差不多; 事实上; 实际上; 模拟; 虚拟; 以模拟现实技术

Until the Internet and social media, nobody thinks of Forster’s novella as prophetic.

（因此，）在互联网和社交媒体出现之前，没有人会觉得福斯特的中篇小说具有预言性质。

prophetic [prəˈfetɪk] adj. 正确预言的; 有预见的; 预言家的; 像预言家的; 似先知的

The Wreck of the Titan

《泰坦号的残骸》

wreck [rek] n. 沉船; 严重损毁的船; (事故中)遭严重毁坏的汽车(或飞机等) ; (身体或精神上) 受到严重损伤的人

Even though The Wreck of the Titan is one of the most well-known examples of books that predicted the future, it’s still hard to believe.

《泰坦号的残骸》是预言书中最著名的例子之一，但是它仍是令人难以置信。

predict [prɪˈdɪkt] v. 预言; 预告; 预报

Written by Morgan Robertson and originally published under the title Futility in 1898,

这部小说作者是摩根·罗伯逊(Morgan Robertson)，最初出版于1898年，书名为《徒劳》(Futility)，

futility [fjuːˈtɪləti] n. 无益; 无用; 徒劳

the novella tells the tale of a massive passenger ship named The Titan that hit an iceberg and sank in the frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean, killing thousands of people.

这部中篇小说讲述了一艘名为“泰坦”(Titan)的大型客船撞上冰山，沉入大西洋冰冷海水中，最终造成数千人死亡的故事。

massive [ˈmæsɪv] adj. 巨大的;大而重的;结实的;非常严重的

iceberg [ˈaɪsbɜːrɡ] n. 冰山(浮在海上的巨大冰块)

frigid [ˈfrɪdʒɪd] adj. 寒冷的; 严寒的; 冷淡的

Like the Titanic, the Titan was also described in Robertson’s book as “the largest ship of its time”.

就像泰坦尼克号一样，泰坦在罗伯逊的书中也被称为“当时最大的船”。

Aside from this, the Titan has also been described as one which has a shortage in lifeboats—just like the Titanic.

除此之外，泰坦也像泰坦尼克号一样，救生艇数量不足。

shortage [ˈʃɔːrtɪdʒ] n. 不足; 缺少; 短缺

The Titan was also glorified and named ‘unsinkable’ before it sank in April; again, just like the Titanic did.

泰坦在4月份沉没之前，也有“不沉之船”的美称：和泰坦尼克号一模一样。

glorify [ˈɡlɔːrɪfaɪ] v. 吹捧; 吹嘘; 美化; 颂扬，赞美，崇拜(上帝)