一个可以将文本内容朗读出来的网站
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Read the Words是一个Text to Speech的网站，它基于Web 2.0技术，可以将文本内容朗读出来，同时还可以把相应的音频保存为MP3文件供下载。提供手动粘贴或输入文字、上传文本文件、网页以及RSS四种在线转换方式。有15个虚拟人物可供选择，值得一提的是，该网站不但提供英语的朗读方式，还提供了法语和西班牙语两种语言的朗读（文本内容可以不是法文或西班牙文，也就相当于在线翻译了），功能十分强大。
这个网站可以作为一个不错的练习听力的地方，不用再去苦苦搜索听力资源了。而且最重要的是转换之后的朗读效果不论从发音、语气语调、重音上来说都是做得不错的。我在科学美国人上随便找了一篇文章，将文章的一部分转换为了MP3文件，除了语速有点快之外（语速在转换之前可以调整）整体感觉效果是不错的。你可以将文本与转换之后的朗读效果对比一下：
声音文件：
文本：
What should we do about climate change? The question is an ethical one. Science, including the science of economics, can help discover the causes and effects of climate change. It can also help work out what we can do about climate change. But what we should do is an ethical question.
Not all “should” questions are ethical. “How should you hold a golf club?” is not, for instance. The climate question is ethical, however, because any thoughtful answer must weigh conflicting interests among different people. If the world is to do something about climate change, some people—chiefly the better-off among the current generation—will have to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases to save future generations from the possibility of a bleak existence in a hotter world. When interests conflict, “should” questions are always ethical.
Climate change raises a number of ethical questions. How should we—all of us living today—evaluate the well-being of future generations, given that they are likely to have more material goods than we do? Many people, some living, others yet to be born, will die from the effects of climate change. Is each death equally bad? How bad are those deaths collectively? Many people will die before they bear children, so climate change will prevent the existence of children who would otherwise have been born. Is their nonexistence a bad thing? By emitting greenhouse gases, are the rich perpetrating an injustice on the world’s poor? How should we respond to the small but real chance that climate change could lead to worldwide catastrophe?
Many ethical questions can be settled by common sense. Sophisticated philosophy is rarely needed. All of us are to some extent equipped to face up to the ethical questions raised by climate change. For example, almost everyone recognizes (with some exceptions) the elementary moral principle that you should not do something for your own benefit if it harms another person. True, sometimes you cannot avoid harming someone, and sometimes you may do it accidentally without realizing it. But whenever you cause harm, you should normally compensate the victim.
