大学英语精读1第三版课文英汉对照

UNIT 1

As we are at the start of the course, this seems a good moment to offer some advice on how to make the task of learning English easier.

课程开始之际，就如何使学习英语的任务更容易提出一些建议似乎正当其时。

Some Strategies for Learning English

Learning English is by no means easy. It takes great diligence and prolonged effort.

学习英语绝非易事。它需要刻苦和长期努力。

Nevertheless, while you cannot expect to gain a good command of English without sustained hard work, there are various helpful learning strategies you can employ to make the task easier. Here are some of them.

虽然不经过持续的刻苦努力便不能期望精通英语，然而还是有各种有用的学习策略可以用来使这一任务变得容易一些。以下便是其中的几种。

1. Do not treat all new words in exactly the same way. Have you ever complained about your memory because you find it simply impossible to memorize all the new words you are learning? But, in fact, it is not your memory that is at fault. If you cram your head with too many new words at a time, some of them are bound to be crowded out. What you need to do is to deal with new

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words in different ways according to how frequently they occur in everyday use. While active words demand constant practice and useful words must be committed to memory, words that do not often occur in everyday situations require just a nodding acquaintance. You will find concentrating on active and useful words the most effective route to enlarging your vocabulary.

1. 不要以完全同样的方式对待所有的生词。你可曾因为简直无法记住所学的所有生词而抱怨自己的记忆力太差？其实，责任并不在你的记忆力。如果你一下子把太多的生词塞进头脑，必定有一些生词会被挤出来。你需要做的是根据生词日常使用的频率以不同的方式对待它们。积极词汇需要经常练习，有用的词汇必须牢记，而在日常情况下不常出现的词只需见到时认识即可。你会发现把注意力集中于积极有用的词上是扩大词汇量最有效的途径。

2. Watch out for idiomatic ways of saying things. Have you ever wondered why we say, \"I am interested in English\asked yourself why native English speakers say, \"learn the news or secret\but \"learn of someone's success or arrival\"? These are all examples of idiomatic usage. In learning English, you must pay attention not only to the meaning of a word, but also to the way native speakers use it in their daily lives.

2．密切注意地道的表达方式。你可曾纳闷过，为什么我们说“我对英语感兴趣”是“I'm interested in English”，而说“我精于法语”则是“I'm good at French”？你可曾问过自己，为什么以英语为母语的人说“获悉消息或秘密”是“learn the news or secret”，而“获悉某人的成功或到来”却是“learn of someone's success or arrival”？这些都是惯用法的例子。在学习英语时，你不仅必须注意词义，还必须注意以英语为母语的人在日

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常生活中如何使用它。

3. Listen to English every day. Listening to English on a regular basis will not only improve your ear, but will also help you build your speaking skills. In addition to language tapes especially prepared for your course, you can also listen to English radio broadcasts, watch English TV, and see English movies. The first time you listen to a taped conversation or passage in English, you may not be able to catch a great deal. Try to get its general meaning first and listen to it over and over again. You will find that with each repetition you will get something more.

3．每天听英语。经常听英语不仅会提高你的听力，而且有助你培养说的技能。除了专为课程准备的语言磁带外，你还可以听英语广播，看英语电视和英语电影。第一次听录好音的英语对话或语段，你也许不能听懂很多。先试着听懂大意，然后再反复地听。你会发现每次重复都会听懂更多的东西。

4. Seize opportunities to speak. It is true that there are few situations at school where you have to communicate in English, but you can seek out opportunities to practice speaking the language. Talking with your classmates, for example, can be an easy and enjoyable way to get some practice. Also try to find native speakers on your campus and feel free to talk with them. Perhaps the easiest way to practice speaking is to rehearse aloud, since this can be done at any time, in any place, and without a partner. For instance, you can look at pictures or objects around you and try to describe them in detail. You can also rehearse everyday situations. After you have made a purchase in a shop or finished a meal in a restaurant and paid the check, pretend that all this happened in an English-speaking country and try to act

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it out in English.

4．抓住机会说。的确，在学校里必须用英语进行交流的场合并不多，但你还是可以找到练习讲英语的机会。例如，跟你的同班同学进行交谈可能就是得到一些练习的一种轻松愉快的方式。还可以找校园里以英语为母语的人跟他们随意交谈。或许练习讲英语最容易的方式是高声朗读，因为这在任何时间，任何地方，不需要搭档就可以做到。例如，你可以看着图片或身边的物件，试着对它们详加描述。你还可以复述日常情景。在商店里购物或在餐馆里吃完饭付过账后，假装这一切都发生在一个讲英语的国家，试着用英语把它表演出来。

5. Read widely. It is important to read widely because in our learning environment, reading is the main and most reliable source of lan

guage input. When you choose reading materials, look for things that you find interesting, that you can understand without relying too much on a dictionary. A page a day is a good way to start. As you go on, you will find that you can do more pages a day and handle materials at a higher level of difficulty.

5．广泛阅读。广泛阅读很重要，因为在我们的学习环境中，阅读是最重要、最可靠的语言输入来源。在选择阅读材料时，要找你认为有趣的、不需要过多依赖词典就能看懂的东西。开始时每天读一页是个好办法。接下去，你就会发现你每天可以读更多页，而且能对付难度更高的材料。

6. Write regularly. Writing is a good way to practice what you already know. Apart from compositions assigned by your teacher, you may find your own

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reasons for writing. A pen pal provides good motivation; you will learn a lot by trying to communicate with someone who shares your interests, but comes from a different culture. Other ways to write regularly include keeping a diary, writing a short story and summarizing the daily news.

6．经常写。写作是练习你已经学会的东西的好方法。除了老师布置的作文，你还可以找到自己要写的理由。有个笔友可以提供很好的动力；与某个跟你趣味相投但来自不同文化的人进行交流，你会学到很多东西。经常写作的其他方式还有记日记，写小故事或概述每天的新闻。

Language learning is a process of accumulation. It pays to absorb as much as you can from reading and listening and then try to put what you have learned into practice through speaking and writing.

语言学习是一个积累的过程。从读和听中吸收尽量多的东西，然后再试着把学到的东西通过说和写加以运用，定会大有收益。

UNIT 2

At sixty-five Francis Chichester set out to sail single-handed round the world. This is the story of that adventure.

弗朗西斯·奇切斯特在六十五岁时开始了只身环球航行。本文记述的就是这一冒险故事。

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Sailing Round the World

Before he sailed round the world single-handed, Francis Chichester had already surprised his friends several times. He had tried to fly round the world but failed. That was in 1931.

弗朗西斯·奇切斯特在独自驾船作环球航行之前，已有好几次让他的朋友们感到吃惊了。他曾试图作环球飞行，但没有成功。那是1931年。

The years passed. He gave up flying and began sailing. He enjoyed it greatly. Chichester was already 58 years old when he won the first solo transatlantic sailing race. His old dream of going round the world came back, but this time he would sail. His friends and doctors did not think he could do it, as he had lung cancer. But Chichester was determined to carry out his plan. In August, 1966, at the age of nearly sixty-five, an age when many men retire, he began the greatest voyage of his life. Soon, he was away in his new 16-metre boat, Gipsy Moth.

好多年过去了。他放弃了飞行，开始航海。他领略到航海的巨大乐趣。奇切斯特在首届横渡大西洋单人航海比赛中夺魁时，已经五十八岁。他周游世界的宿愿重又被唤起，不过这一次他是要驾船环游。由于他患有肺癌，朋友们和医生们都认为他不该去，但奇切斯特决意实施自己的计划。1966年8月，在他快满六十五岁的时候——许多人在这个年龄已经退休——他开始了一生中最了不起的一次航海。不久，他就驾着那艘16米长的新船吉普赛·莫思号启程出海了。

Chichester followed the route of the great nineteenth century clipper ships.

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But the clippers had had plenty of crew. Chichester did it all by himself, even after the main steering device had been damaged by gales. Chichester covered 14,100 miles before stopping in Sydney, Australia. This was more than twice the distance anyone had previously sailed alone.

奇切斯特沿着19世纪大型三桅帆船的航线航行。不过，三桅帆船拥有众多船员，而奇切斯特却是独个儿扬帆破浪，即使在主要转舵装置被大风刮坏之后仍是这样。奇切斯特一直航行了14 100英里，到了澳大利亚的悉尼港才停船靠岸。这段航程比以往单人驾舟航海的最远航程还多一倍多。

He arrived in Australia on 12 December, just 107 days out from England. He received a warm welcome from the Australians and from his family who had flown there to meet him. On shore, Chichester could not walk without help. Everybody said the same thing: he had done enough; he must not go any further. But he did not listen.

他于12月12日抵达澳大利亚，这一天正是他离开英国的第107天。他受到澳大利亚人和乘飞机专程前去迎接他的家人们的热烈欢迎。奇切斯特上岸后，得由人搀扶着才能行走。大家众口一词，说他已航行得够远了，不要再继续向前航行了。但他却置若罔闻。

After resting in Sydney for a few weeks, Chichester set off once more in spite of his friends' attempts to dissuade him. The second half of his voyage was by far the more dangerous part, during which he sailed round the treacherous Cape Horn.

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在悉尼休息了几周之后，他不顾朋友们的多方劝阻，再次扬帆出航。这后半段航程更为艰险，在此期间，他绕过了险情四伏的合恩角。

On 29 January he left Australia. The next night, the blackest he had ever known, the sea became so rough that the boat almost turned over. Food, clothes, and broken glass were all mixed together. Fortunately, the damage to the boat was not too serious. Chichester calmly got into bed and went to sleep. When he woke up, the sea had become calm again. Still, he could not help thinking that if anything should happen, the nearest person he could contact by radio, unless there was a ship nearby, would be on an island 885 miles away.

1月29日他驶离澳大利亚。第二天夜晚——这是他所经历过的最黑暗的一个夜晚——海面上波涛汹涌，小船几乎被风浪掀翻。食物、衣服、还有碎玻璃，全都混杂在一起了。幸好小船遭到的损坏还不算太严重。奇切斯特镇静地钻进被窝，睡着了。等他醒来时，大海又恢复了平静。然而，他仍禁不住想到，要是果真有什么意外，他能借无线电联系上的人，最近的也要在885英里以外的岛上，除非附近哪儿有条轮船。

After succeeding in sailing round Cape Horn, Chichester sent the following radio message to London: \"I feel as if I had wakened from a nightmare. Wild horses could not drag me down to Cape Horn and that sinister Southern Ocean again.\"

奇切斯特成功地绕过合恩角以后，便通过无线电给伦敦发去如下电文：“我觉得好像刚从噩梦中醒来。就是野马也休想再把我拖回到合恩角和那凶险莫测的南大洋去了。”

Just before 9 o'clock on Sunday evening 28 May, 1967, he arrived back in

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England, where a quarter of a million people were waiting to welcome him. Queen Elizabeth II knighted him with the very sword that Queen Elizabeth I had used almost 400 years earlier to knight Sir Francis Drake after he had sailed round the world for the first time. The whole voyage from England and back had covered 28,500 miles. It had taken him nine months, of which the sailing time was 226 days. He had done what he wanted to accomplish.

1967年5月28日，星期天，晚上将近9点，他回到了英国。有二十五万人等在那儿欢迎他。伊丽莎白女王二世手持宝剑敕封他为爵士。将近400

年前，伊丽莎白一世也曾手持同一把宝剑，把爵位赐予完成首次环球航行的弗朗西斯·德雷克爵士。从英国出发，再回到英国，整个航程长达28 500英里。奇切斯特一共花了九个月的时间，其中实际航行时间为226天。他终于完成了他想完成的伟业。

Like many other adventurers, Chichester had experienced fear and conquered it. In doing so, he had undoubtedly learnt something about himself. Moreover, in the modern age when human beings depend so much on machines, he had given men throughout the world new pride.

和许多别的冒险家一样，奇切斯特产生过恐惧而又战胜了恐惧。在这一过程中，他无疑对自身有了一些了解。此外，在当今这个人类如此依赖机器的时代，他赋予了全世界的人们以新的自豪感。

UNIT 3

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They say that blood is thicker than water, that our relatives are more important to us than others. Everyone was so kind to the old lady on her birthday. Surely her daughter would make an even bigger effort to please her?

人们说血浓于水，即我们的亲属比别人对我们更重要。老太太生日这天，所有的人都对她那么好。无疑她的女儿将会做出更大的努力使她高兴了？

The Present

It was the old lady's birthday.

这天是老太太的生日。

She got up early to be ready for the post. From the second floor flat she could see the postman when he came down the street, and the little boy from the ground floor brought up her letters on the rare occasions when anything came.

为了静心等候邮件，她一早就起床了。邮差打马路那头过来的时候，她从三楼的公寓套间里一眼就可以看到。她难得有信，偶尔有邮件寄来，总是由住在底楼的小男孩给她送上来。

Today she was sure there would be something. Myra wouldn't forget her mother's birthday, even if she seldom wrote at other times. Of course Myra was busy. Her husband had been made Mayor, and Myra herself had got a medal for her work for the aged.

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她相信今天肯定会有东西来。迈拉尽管在别的时候绝少写信，可母亲的生日她是不会忘记的。当然，迈拉很忙。她丈夫当上了，迈拉自己也由于悉心为老年人工作而获得一枚奖章。

The old lady was proud of Myra, but Enid was the daughter she loved. Enid had never married, but had seemed content to live with her mother, and teach in a primary school round the corner.

老太太颇以迈拉自豪，但她真心疼爱的女儿却是伊妮德。伊妮德始终没结婚，但她似乎以跟老母同住，并任教于附近的一所小学而心满意足。

One evening, however, Enid said, \"I've arranged for Mrs. Morrison to look after you for a few days, Mother. Tomorrow I have to go into hospital – just a minor operation. I'll soon be home.\"

然而一天傍晚，伊妮德却说：“妈妈，我已安排让莫里森太太来照顾你几天。明天我要去住院——只是动个小手术。我很快会回家来的。”

In the morning she went, but never came back – she died on the operating table. Myra came to the funeral, and in her efficient way arranged for Mrs. Morrison to come in and light the fire and give the old lady her breakfast.

第二天早上她去了，却再也没有回来——她死在了手术台上。迈拉来参加了葬礼，并以她特有的干练方式，安排莫里森太太来家生火，并为老太太准备早餐。

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Two years ago that was, and since then Myra had been to see her mother three times, but her husband never.

那是两年以前的事了，打那以后，迈拉来看过她母亲三次，可她丈夫却一次也

没来过。

The old lady was eighty today. She had put on her best dress. Perhaps – perhaps Myra might come. After all, eighty was a special birthday, another decade lived or endured just as you chose to look at it.

今天是老太太的八十寿辰。她穿上了她最好的衣裙。也许——也许迈拉会来的吧。不管怎么说，八十大寿毕竟非同一般——你又活了十年，或者说又熬过了十年，是活是熬，全在于你怎么看了。

Even if Myra did not come, she would send a present. The old lady was sure of that. Two spots of colour brightened her cheeks. She was excited – like a child. She would enjoy her day.

即便迈拉不来，她也会寄礼物来的。老太太对这点是拿得准的。脸颊上的两片红晕，使她满脸生辉。她心情激动——激动得像个小孩。她的这个生日一定会过得很快活。

Yesterday Mrs. Morrison had given the flat an extra clean, and today she had brought a card and a bunch of marigolds when she came to do the breakfast. Mrs. Grant downstairs had made a cake, and in the afternoon she was going down

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there to tea. The little boy, Johnnie, had been up with a packet of mints, and said he wouldn't go out to play until the post had come.

昨天，莫里森太太把这套公寓房间额外打扫了一遍。今天来准备早餐时还带来一张生日卡和一束万寿菊。楼下的格兰特太太特地做了一只蛋糕，下午老太太要下楼到她家去吃茶点。小男孩约翰尼也上楼来过，送来了一盒薄荷糖，还说要等她邮件来了以后再出去玩。

\"I guess you'll get lots and lots of presents,\" he said. \"I did last week when I was six. \"

“我猜你准会收到好多好多礼物，”他说。“上个礼拜我六岁生日，就收到好多好多。”

What would she like? A pair of slippers perhaps. Or a new cardigan. A cardigan would be lovely. Blue's such a pretty colour. Jim had always liked her in blue. Or a table lamp. Or a book, a travel book, with pictures, or a little clock, with clear black numbers. So many lovely things.

她想要样什么礼物呢？也许是一双拖鞋，或者是一件新的羊毛开衫。要真是一件羊毛开衫那就太好了，蓝盈盈的，那颜色该多么漂亮。过去吉姆就总喜欢她穿蓝的。再不就是一盏台灯，或者一本书，一本带照片的游记；一只小钟也行，钟面带醒目黑色数字的小钟。让人喜欢的东西可真多。

She stood by the window, watching. The postman turned round the corner on his bicycle. Her heart beat fast. Johnnie had seen him too and ran to the gate.

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她站在窗口张望着。邮差骑着自行车过了拐角。她心跳加快了。约翰尼也看到了邮差，立即向大门口跑去。

Then clatter, clatter up the stairs. Johnnie knocked at her door.

接着，楼梯上传来“得得

得”的脚步声。约翰尼敲了敲她的门。

\"Granny, granny,\" he shouted, \"I've got your post.\"

“奶奶，奶奶，”他叫着说，“我拿到你的信了。”

He gave her four envelopes. Three were unsealed cards from old friends. The fourth was sealed, in Myra's writing. The old lady felt a pang of disappointment.

他交给她四封信。三封没封口，是老朋友寄来的生日卡。第四封是封口的，上面的字迹出自于迈拉之手。失望的痛楚攫住了老太太的心头。

\"No parcel, Johnnie?\"

“没有包裹吗，约翰尼？”

\"No, granny.\"

“没有，奶奶。”

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Maybe the parcel was too large to come by letter post. That was it. It would come later by parcel post. She must be patient.

也许是包裹太大了，没有随信件邮班同来。对了，准是这个缘故。待会儿会有包裹邮班送来的。她一定要有耐心。

Almost reluctantly she tore the envelope open. Folded in the card was a piece of paper. Written on the card was a message under the printed Happy Birthday – Buy yourself something nice with the cheque, Myra and Harold.

她几乎是带着几分勉强之意撕开了信封。只见生日卡里夹着一张折叠起来的纸。卡上印有“生日快乐”的字样，下面写着一句附言——拿这张支票给自己买样称心的东西吧——迈拉和哈罗德。

The cheque fluttered to the floor like a bird with a broken wing. Slowly the old lady stooped to pick it up. Her present, her lovely present. With trembling fingers she tore it into little bits.

支票像只断了翅膀的小鸟似的飘落到地板上。老太太慢慢地弯下腰，把支票从地上捡了起来。她的礼物，她的可爱的礼物！她用颤抖的手指把支票撕了个粉碎。

UNIT4

Many people in the United States spend most of their free time watching television. Certainly, there are many worthwhile programs on television, including

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news, educational programs for children, programs on current social problems, plays, movies, concerts, and so on. Nevertheless, perhaps people should not be spending so much of their time in front of the TV. Mr. Mayer imagines what we might do if we were forced to find other activities.

在美国，许多人把大部分空闲时间花在看电视上。的确，电视里有很多值得一看的节目，包括新闻、儿童教育节目、讨论当前社会问题的节目、戏剧、电影、音乐会等等。然而，人们也许不该在电视机前花费那么多的时间。如果我们被迫要找一些其他的活动，那我们可以做些什么呢？对这一问题，梅耶先生做了一番想像。

Turning Off TV: A Quiet Hour Robert Mayer

I would like to propose that for sixty to ninety minutes each evening, right after the early evening news, all television broadcasting in the United States be prohibited by law.

我想建议每天晚上一播完晚间新闻，美国所有的电视台都依法停播六十至九十分钟。

Let us take a serious, reasonable look at what the results might be if such a proposal were accepted. Families might use the time for a real family hour. Without the distraction of TV, they might sit around together after dinner and actually talk to one another. It is well known that many of our problems – everything, in fact, from the generation gap to the high divorce rate to some forms of mental illness – are caused at least in part by failure to communicate. We do not tell each other what is disturbing us. The result is emotional difficulty of one kind or another. By

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using the quiet family hour to discuss our problems, we might get to know each other better, and to like each other better.

让我们认真而通情达理地看一下，如果这一建议被采纳的话，会有什么样的结果。千家万户也许会利用这段时间真正地团聚一番。没有电视机的干扰，他们晚饭后也许会围坐在一起，当真交谈起来。众所周知，我们的许多问题——事实上是所有的问题，从代沟、高离婚率到某些精神病——至少部分地是由于没能交流思想而引起的。我们谁也不把自己心头的烦恼告诉别人，结果感情上便产生了这样那样的问题。利用这安静的、全家聚在一起的时刻来讨论我们的各种问题，我们相互之间也许会更加了解，更加相爱。

On evenings when such talk is unnecessary, families could rediscover more active pastimes. Freed from TV, forced to find their own activities, they might take a ride together to watch the sunset. Or they might take a walk together (remember feet?) and see the neighborhood with fresh, new eyes.

有些晚上，如果没有必要进行这种交谈，那么各家各户也许会重新发现一些更为积极的消遣活动。如果他们挣脱开电视机的束缚而不得不另寻自己的活动，他们也许会合家驱车去看日落。或者也许会全家一起去散步（还记得自己长有双脚吗？），用新奇的目光观察住处周围的地区。

With free time and no TV, children and adults might rediscover reading. There is more entertainment in a good book than in a month of typical TV programming. Educators report that the generation growing up with television can barely write an English sentence, even at the college level. Writing is often learned from reading. A more literate new generation could be a product of the quiet hour.

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有了空闲时间而又没有电视可看，大人小孩便有可能重新发现阅读。一本好书里的乐趣，胜过一个月中所有典型的电视节目。教育家们报告说，伴随着电视长大的这一代人几乎写不出一句英语句子，甚至在大学一级受教育的人也是这样。写作往往是通过阅读学会的。每晚清静这么一个小时，可以造就出文化程度较高的一代新人。

A different form of reading might also be done, as it was in the past: reading aloud. Few pastimes bring a family closer together than gathering around and listening to mother or father read a good story. The quiet hour could become the story hour. When the quiet hour ends, the TV networks might even be forced to come up with better shows in order to get us back from our newly discovered activities.

也许还可以像过去那样进行另一种形式的阅读：高声朗读。没有多少娱乐比一家人聚在一起，听爸爸或妈妈朗读一篇优美的故事更能使一家人关系融洽和睦了。没有电视干扰的这一小时，可以成为朗读故事的时间。等这静悄悄的一小时过去后，想要再把我们从新发现的娱乐活动中拉回去，电视联播公司也许将被迫拿出些更好的节目来才行。

At first glance, the idea of an hour without TV seems radical. What will parents do without the electronic baby-sitter? How will we spend the time? But it is not radical at all. It has been only twenty-five years since television came to control American free time. Those of us thirty-five and older can remember childhoods without television, spent partly with radio – which at least involved the listener's imagination – but also with reading, learning, talking, playing games, inventing new activities. It wasn't that difficult. Honest. The truth is we had a ball.

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乍一看，停播一小时电视的想法似乎过于偏激。如果少了这位电子保姆，做父母的可怎么办呢？我们怎么来打发这段时间呢？其实这个想法一点也不偏激。电视开始主宰美国人的空闲时间，至今也不过才二十五年。我们之中那些年满和年过三十五岁的人，还能回

忆起没有电视相伴的童年，那时我们有一部分空闲时间以收音机为伴——听收音机至少还要发挥听者的想像力——但另外我们还看书、学习、交谈、做游戏、发明一些新的活动。日子也并不那么难过。真的。那时我们确实过得挺开心。

UNIT 5

Have you ever dreamed of becoming a writer, only to be put off by fears that you lacked the ability? If so, then reading Linda Stafford's story will have you reaching for your pen with renewed hope.

你是否曾梦想成为一名作家，却因为担心自己缺乏这方面的才能而却步？如果是这样，那么读一读琳达·斯塔福德的故事就会使你怀着重燃的希望拿起笔来。

I Never Write Right Linda Stafford

When I was 15, I announced to my English class that I was going to write and illustrate my own books. Half of the students nearly fell out of their chairs laughing.

在我十五岁的时候，我在我们英语课上宣布说我要写书并为自己的书作插图。当时有一半同学大笑不止，差一点从他们座位上摔出去。

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\"Don't be silly. Only geniuses can become writers,\" the English teacher said. \"And you are getting a D this semester.\"

“别犯傻了。只有天才能成为作家。”英语老师说，“而你这学期的英语只能得D。”

I was so embarrassed that I burst into tears. That night I wrote a short, sad poem about broken dreams and mailed it to the Capper's Weekly. To my astonishment they published it, and sent me two dollars. I was a published and paid writer! I showed my teacher and fellow students. They laughed.

我感到很难堪，一下子哭了起来。当天晚上我就写了一首短诗，抒发梦想破灭的悲哀，然后把它寄给了《卡珀周刊》。令我惊讶的是，他们竟发表了我的诗，还寄给了我两美元。我成了一个发表过作品拿到过稿费的作家了！我拿给老师和同学们看。他们都笑了。

\"Just plain dumb luck,\" the teacher said.

“纯粹是傻运气，”老师说。

I'd tasted success. I'd sold the first thing I'd ever written. That was more than any of them had done, and if it was \"just plain dumb luck,\" that was fine with me.

我已经尝到了成功的滋味。我已经卖掉了我的第一篇作品。这超过了他们任何人取得的成绩，就算它“纯粹是傻运气”，我也觉得很好。

During the next two years I sold dozens of poems, letters, jokes and recipes. By the time I graduated from high school (with a C-minus average), I had scrapbooks

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filled with my published work. I never mentioned my writing to my teachers, friends or my family again. They were dream killers. And if people must choose between their friends and dreams, they must always choose the latter.

在随后的两年里，我卖出去几十件作品，其中包括诗歌、信件、笑话和食谱。到我中学毕业时（平均分为Cˉ），我已经有了好几本剪贴簿，上面贴满了我发表过的作品。我再也没有对老师们、朋友们或家人谈起我写作的事。他们都是些扼杀梦想的人。而如果人们必须在朋友和梦想之间作出选择的话，

他们必须永远选择后者。

But sometimes you do find a friend who supports your dreams. \"It's easy to write a book,\" my new friend told me. \"You can do it.\"

但有时候你确实能找到一个支持你梦想的朋友。“写本书很容易，”我新交的朋友告诉我，“你能写书。”

\"I don't know if I'm smart enough,\" I said, suddenly feeling 15 again and hearing echoes of laughter.

“我不知道自己是不是够聪明，”我说，突然之间又感到自己回到了15岁的时候，听到了那些笑声在回响。

\"Nonsense!\" she said. \"Anyone can write a book if they want to.\"

“胡说！”她说，“任何人都能写书，只要他们想写。”

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I had four children at the time, and the oldest was only four. We lived on a goat farm in Oklahoma, miles from anyone. All I had to do each day was take care of four kids, milk goats, and do the cooking, laundry and gardening.

当时我已经有四个孩子，最大的一个才四岁。我们住在俄克拉何马的一个山羊饲养场里，离开任何人都很远。我每天要做的事就是照看四个孩子，挤羊奶，烧饭，洗衣和收拾果园。

While the children slept, I typed on my ancient typewriter. I wrote what I felt. It took nine months, just like a baby.

孩子们睡觉时，我就在我那台老式打字机上打字。我写我的亲身感受。一共花了九个月，就像生孩子一样。

I chose a publisher at random and put the manuscript in an empty diapers package, the only box I could find. The letter I enclosed read: \"I wrote this book myself, and I hope you like it. I also drew the illustrations. Chapters 6 and 12 are my favorites. Thank you.\"

我随便选了一个出版商，把手稿放进一只放尿布的空盒子里——我唯一能找到的盒子。我附了一封信，上面写道：“这本书是我自己写的，希望你喜欢它。插图也是我自己画的。我最喜欢第6章和第12章。谢谢。”

I tied a string around the diaper box and mailed it without a self-addressed stamped envelope, and without making a copy of the manuscript. A month later I

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received a contract, an advance on royalties and a request to start working on another book.

我用绳子扎好尿布盒就把它寄了出去，既没有附上一个写好回信地址贴好邮票的信封，也没有把手稿复印一份。一个月后我收到了一份合同和一笔预支的版税，他们还要求我开始动手写另一本书。

Crying Wind became a bestseller, was translated into 15 languages and sold worldwide. I appeared on TV talk shows during the day and changed diapers at night. I traveled from New York to California and Canada on promotional tours. My first book also became required reading in Native American schools in Canada.

《哭泣的风》成了一本畅销书，被译成15种文字在

全世界销售。我白天出现在电视台的访谈节目中，晚上则给孩子们换尿布。为推销我的书我到处旅行，从纽约到加利福尼亚，还去过加拿大。我的第一本书还成了加拿大印第安人学校的必读书。

It took six months to write my next book. My Searching Heart also became a bestseller. My next novel, When I Give My Heart, was finished in only three weeks.

我写第二本书花了半年时间。《我不断探索的心》也成了一本畅销书。我的下一部小说《当我交出我的心》只三个星期就完成了。

People ask what college I attended, what degree I have, and what

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qualifications I have to be a writer. The answer is none. I just write. I'm not a genius, I'm not gifted and don't write right. I'm not disciplined, either, and spend more time with my children and friends than I do writing.

人们问我读过什么大学，有什么学位，有什么资历成为一个作家。我的回答是什么都没。我只是写。我不是天才，我没有天赋，写作是野路子。我也没受过什么训练，而且在孩子和朋友们身上花的时间比写作还多。

I didn't own a thesaurus until four years ago and I use a small Webster's dictionary that I bought for cents. I use an electric typewriter that I paid $129 for six years ago. I've never used a word processor. I do all the cooking, cleaning and laundry for a family of six and fit my writing in a few minutes here and there. I write everything in longhand while sitting on the sofa with my four kids, eating pizza and watching TV. When the book is finished, I type it and mail it to the publisher.

直到四年前我才有了一本同类词汇编，我一直用一本美分买的韦氏小词典。我用的电动打字机是六年前花129美元买的。我从未用过文字处理机。我们一家六口，烧饭、洗衣、打扫卫生全是我一个人做，只能见缝插针地抽空写那么几分钟。我是跟四个孩子坐在沙发上边吃匹萨饼边看电视时以手写的方式写东西的。书写完后，再把它打出来寄给出版商。

I've written eight books. Four have been published, and three are still out with the publishers. One stinks.

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我已经写了八本书。四本已经出版，三本还在出版商手里。只有一本水平较差。

To all those who dream of writing, I'm shouting at you, \"Yes, you can! Yes, you can!\" I don't write right, but I've beaten the odds. Writing isn't difficult, it's fun, and anyone can write a book if they set their mind on it. Of course, a little dumb luck doesn't hurt.

对所有梦想着当作家的人，我要大声对你们说：“是的，你能！是的，你能！”我没有按正规路子在写作，但我已战胜了种种困难。写作并不困难，写作很有趣，只要下定决心任何人都能写书。当然，有一点小小的傻运气也没坏处。

UNIT 6

Sam set out to improve efficiency at the shirt factory but, as we find out later in this unit, his plans turned out not quite as he had expected.

萨姆着手提高衬衫厂的效率了，但正如我们将在本单元后半部分发现的，他的计划实施结果跟他原先预料的并不完全一样。

Sam Adams, Industrial Engineer

If you ask my mother how I happened to become an industrial engineer, she'll tell you that I have always been one.

如果你问我母亲，我怎么偏偏会成为一名工业管理工程师的，她就会告诉你，我一直就是这样一个人。

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She means that I have always wanted everything to be well organized and neat. When I was still in elementary school, I liked to keep my socks in the upper left-hand drawer of my bureau, my underwear in the upper right drawer, shirts in the middle drawer, and pants, neatly folded, in the bottom drawer.

她的意思是说，我一贯希望把样样东西都安排得井井有条，整整齐齐。还在上小学时，我就喜欢把袜子放在衣柜左上方的抽屉里，内衣放在右上方的抽屉里，衬衫放在当中的抽屉里，折得齐齐整整的裤子放在最下面的抽屉里。

In fact, I was the efficiency expert for the whole family. I used to organize my father's tools, my mother's kitchen utensils, my sister's boyfriends.

事实上，我那时一直是全家人的效率专家。父亲的工具、母亲的厨房用具以及姐姐的男朋友全由我统一安排。

I needed to be efficient. I wanted to be well organized. For me, there was a place for everything and everything was always in its place. These qualities gave me a good foundation for a career in industrial engineering.

我需要讲究效率。我希望有条不紊。对我来说，样样东西都有个固定的地方，样样东西总是放在适当的地方。这些素质为我日后从事工业管理打下了良好的基础。

Unfortunately, I was also a bit bossy and I wasn't a very good listener. You'll see what I mean when I tell you about the first project I ever did after I finished my bachelor's degree at the university.

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遗憾的是，我这个人也有一点专横，不太善于听取别人的意见。等我把在大学取得学士学位后承办第一项工程的情况告诉你以后，你就会明白我这话是什么意思了。

After graduation I returned home to my small town in Indiana. I didn't have a job yet. Mr. Hobbs, a friend of my father's, owned a small shirt factory in town. Within the past five years it had grown from twenty to eighty workers. Mr. Hobbs was worried that his plant was getting too big and inefficient, so he asked me to come in on a short-term basis as a consultant.

毕业后我回到家乡——印第安纳州的一个小镇上。当时我还没有找到工作。我父亲的一位朋友霍布斯先生在镇上有

一家小型衬衫厂。在过去五年里，厂里的工人从二十名增加到了八十名。霍布斯先生担心他的工厂规模变得太大了，效率变得太低了，便请我进厂当了个短期顾问。

I went to the plant and spent about a week looking around and making notes. I was really amazed at what I saw.

我来到厂里，花了一个星期左右的时间一边到处查看，一边做些笔记。说真的，我对看到的情况不胜惊讶。

Most curious of all, there was no quality control whatsoever. No one inspected the final product of the factory. As a result some of the shirts that were put in boxes for shipment were missing one or two buttons, the collar, even a sleeve sometimes!

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最为奇怪的是，厂里竟然没有任何质量控制。没有人检验工厂生产的成品。结果，有些装箱待运的衬衫不是缺了一两粒钮扣，就是少了衣领，有时甚至还会短只袖子。

The working conditions were poor. The tables where the workers sat were very high and uncomfortable. Except for a half hour at lunchtime, there were no breaks in the day to relieve the boring work. There was no music. The walls of the workrooms were a dull gray color. I was amazed that the workers hadn't gone on strike.

工厂的生产条件很差。工作台很高，工人坐在旁边很不舒服。除了吃中饭的半小时外，全天没有别的休息时间来调剂一下令人厌倦的工作。厂里也不播放音乐。工场间的墙壁全是一片暗灰色。使我感到惊奇的是，工人们竟然没有罢工。

Furthermore, the work flow was irregular. There was one especially absent-minded young man in the assembly line who sewed on buttons. After a while I recognized him as \"Big Jim,\" who used to sit behind me in math class in high school. He was very slow and all the shirts were held up at his position. Workers beyond him in line on his shift had to wait with nothing to do; therefore, a great deal of time and efficiency were lost as Big Jim daydreamed while he worked. All week I wondered why he wasn't fired.

此外，厂里的生产流程也时断时续。在装配线上有个缝钮扣的年轻人特别心不在焉。没有多久，我便认出了他，原来他就是在中学上数学课时坐在我后面的“大个子吉姆”。他动作很慢，所有的衬衫到了他这儿都被耽搁下来。装配线上他后面的同班工人只好等在那儿无事可干；因此，在“大个子吉姆”一边工作一边胡思乱想的时候，大量时间便白白

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流逝了，劳动效率大受损失。整个礼拜我都在纳闷，为什么他没有被解雇。

After I made observations for a week, Mr. Hobbs asked me for an oral report of my findings. I covered my major points by telling him the following:

我观察了一个星期后，霍布斯先生便要我就调查结果作一个口头汇报。我把要点概括了一

下向他汇报如下：

\"If you have a quality control inspection, you will greatly improve your finished product.\"

“如果实行质量检验，你们就会大大改进成品。”

\"If the assembly line is redesigned, a smooth work flow can be achieved and time and energy can be saved.\"

“如果把装配线重新设计一下，生产流程就会达到平稳，并能节省时间和精力。”

\"If you decrease the height of the worktables, the machine operators will work more comfortably.\"

“如果降低工作台的高度，机器操作工作业时就会舒服一些。”

\"If the management provides pleasant background music and beautifies the

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dull setting, the factory will be much more productive.\"

“如果厂方播放悦耳的背景音乐，美化一下单调的环境，工厂的生产率就可以大大提高。”

\"If the workers have a fifteen-minute coffee break in the morning and afternoon, they will be more efficient.\"

“如果工人们在上、下午各有一次十五分钟的休息时间喝咖啡，他们的效率就会更高。”

\"If excellent work results in frequent pay increases or promotions, the workers will have greater incentive to produce.\"

“如果工作出色能经常得到加薪提拔，工人们就会有更大的生产积极性。”

Mr. Hobbs thanked me for this report and told me he would talk over my suggestions with his brother, the co-owner and manager of the factory. \"We're interested in progress here,\" he said. \"We want to keep up with the times.\"

霍布斯先生对我的汇报表示感谢，并告诉我说他将和他的兄弟——该厂的另一位厂主兼经理——讨论我的建议。“我们关心工厂的发展，”他说。“我们要跟上时代的步伐。”

He also gave me a check for $100 and a box of shirts with his compliments.

他还送给我一张一百美元的支票并赠送给我一盒衬衫。

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UNIT 7

The author finds out that good intentions alone are not enough when his attempt to be kind to an old man leaves them both feeling worse than before.

作者想对一位老人表示一番好意，结果却使两个人都很难堪，这时他才认识到，光有善良的意愿是不够的。

The Sampler

In a certain store where they sell puddings, a number of these delicious things are laid out in a row during the Christmas season. Here you may select the one which is most to your taste, and you are even allowed to sample them before coming to a decision.

有一家出售布丁的商店，每年圣诞节期间都把许多这类美味的食品摆成一排供顾客选购。在这里你可以挑选最合你口味的布丁，甚至商店还允许你先把各色布丁品尝一番，然后再做出决定。

I have often wondered whether some people, who had no intention of making a purchase, would take advantage of this privilege. One day I asked this question of the shop girl, and I learned it was indeed the case.

我常常纳闷，会不会有一些根本无意购买的人利用这一优惠趁机揩油。有一天，我向女店员提出了这一问题，从她那儿得知事情果真如此。

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\"Now there's one old gentleman, for instance,\" she told me, \"he comes here almost every week and samples each one of the puddings, though he never buys anything, and I suspect he never will. I remember him from last year and the year before that, too. Well, let him come if he wants it, and welcome to it. And what's more, I hope there are a lot more stores where he can go and get his share. He looks as if he needed it all right, and I suppose they can afford it.\"

“比如说吧，有这样一位老先生，”她告诉我，“他差不多每个星期都要到这儿来，每只布丁他都要尝一尝，尽管他从来不买什么东西，而且我猜想他永远也不会买。我从去年，甚至前年就记住他了。哎，要是他想品尝就让他来吧，欢迎他来品尝。而且，我希望有更多的商店可以让他去品尝。他看上去似乎确实有这种需要，我想这点小意思他们是不在乎的。”

She was still speaking when an elderly gentleman limped up to the counter and began looking closely at the row of puddings with great interest.

就在她讲这话的时候，一位上了年纪的先生一瘸一拐地走到了柜台前，开始对着那排布丁兴致勃勃地仔细看了起来。

\"Why, that's the very gentleman I've been telling you about,\" whispered the shop girl. \"Just watch him now.\" And then turning to him: \"Would you like to sample them, sir? Here's a spoon for you to use.\"

“喏，这就是我刚刚对你说的那位先生，”店员轻声对我说。“现在你就看着他好了。”接着她就转过身去对老人说道：“先生，您想尝尝这些布丁吗？您可以用这把调羹。”

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The elderly gentleman, who was poorly but neatly dressed, accepted the spoon and began eagerly to sample one after another of the puddings, only breaking off occasionally to wipe his red eyes with a large torn handkerchief.

这位老先生衣着虽然破旧，但却十分整洁。他接过调羹，便开始急切地一只接一只地品尝起来，只是偶尔停下来，用一方大的破手绢擦擦他的红眼睛。

\"This is quite good.\"

“这种很好。”

\"This is not bad either, but a little too heavy.\"

“这种也不错，可是稍微腻了一点。”

All the time it was quite evident that he sincerely believed that he might eventually buy one of these puddings, and I am positive that he did not for a moment feel that he was in any way cheating the store. Poor old chap! Probably he had come down in the world and this sampling was all that was left him from the time when he could afford to come and select his favorite pudding.

有一点自始至终很明显：他真诚地相信自己最终也许会买一只布丁；而我也确信，他一点也不觉得自己是在欺骗商店。可怜的老头儿！很可能他已经家道败落。从前他是有钱来选购他最喜爱的布丁的，而今却只能这样来品尝一下布丁的味道了。

Amidst the crowd of happy, prosperous looking Christmas shoppers, the little

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black figure of the old man seemed pitiful and out of place, and in a burst of benevolence, I went up to him and said:

为圣诞节忙着采购商品的顾客个个喜形于色，看上去都很富裕。老人矮小的黑色身影在这群人中间显得很可怜，很不相称。我突然动了恻隐之心，走到他跟前说：

\"Pardon me, sir, will you do me a favor? Let me purchase you one of these puddings. It would give me such pleasure.\"

“请原谅，先生，能赏我个脸吗？让我为您买一只布丁吧。如果您肯收下，我将不胜欣慰。”

He jumped back as if he had been stung, and the blood rushed into his wrinkled face.

他往后一跳，仿佛被什么东西蜇了一下似地，他那张布满皱纹的脸顿时涨得通红。

\"Excuse me,\" he said, with more dignity than I would have thought possible considering his appearance, \"I do not believe I have the pleasure of knowing you. Undoubtedly you have mistaken me for someone else.\" And with a quick decision he turned to the shop girl and said in a loud voice, \"Kindly pack me up this one here. I will take it with me.\" He pointed at one of the largest and most expensive of the puddings.

“对不起，”他说，其神态之高傲，远非我根据其外表所能想像得出，“我想我跟您

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并不相识。无疑您是认错人了。”于是他当机立断，转向女店员，大声说道：“劳驾把这只替我包扎一下。我要带走的。”他指了指最大的、也是最贵的一只布

丁。

The girl took down the pudding from its stand and started to make a parcel of it, while he pulled out a worn little black pocketbook and began counting out shillings and pennies on to the counter. To save his \"honour\" he had been forced into a purchase which he could not possibly afford. How I longed for the power to unsay my tactless words! It was too late though, and I felt that the kindest thing I could do now would be walk away.

女店员从架子上取下那只布丁，动手包扎。这时，他掏出一只破旧的黑色小皮夹子，开始一个先令一个便士地数着硬币，把它们放在柜台上。为了保住“面子”，他被迫买下了他实在买不起的东西。我多么希望能收回我那些不得体的话啊！然而为时已晚，我感到此时惟有走开才是最积德的事。

\"You pay at the desk,\" the shop girl was telling him, but he did not seem to understand and kept trying to put the coins into her hand. And that was the last I saw or heard of the old man. Now he can never go there to sample puddings any more.

“请您到那边账台上去付款，”女店员告诉他，但他却好像没有听懂，只管把硬币往她手里塞。打这以后我再也没有看到这位老人，也没有听到过有关他的情况。现在他再也不会到那家商店去品尝布丁了。

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UNIT 8

The boy was at first delighted to discover the present his mother had hidden away as his Christmas gift. But then he began to worry that his mother would now no longer have the pleasure of giving him a surprise. What was he to do?

发现了母亲为他藏好的圣诞礼物男孩起先很高兴。但接着他就开始担心，妈妈将因此失去给他一个惊喜的喜悦。他该怎么办呢？

Magician at Stretching a Dollar Russell Baker 1RT That December, with Christmas approaching, she was out at work and Doris was in the kitchen when I let myself into her bedroom one afternoon in search of a safety pin. Since her bedroom opened onto a community hallway, she kept the door locked, but needing the pin, I took the key from its hiding place, unlocked the door and stepped in. Standing against the wall was a big, black bicycle with balloon tires. I recognized it instantly. It was the same second-hand bike I'd been admiring in a Baltimore Street shop window. I'd even asked about the price. It was a shock. Something like $15. Somehow my mother had scraped together enough for a down payment and meant to surprise me with the bicycle on Christmas morning.

那年的十二月，圣诞节临近了。一天下午，妈妈在外面上班，妹妹多丽丝在厨房里，我为了找一枚安全别针而开门走进了妈妈的卧室。因为她的卧室门正对着共用的走廊，她总是把门锁着，但我因为需要别针，便从藏钥匙的地方取出钥匙，打开门，走了进去。只见靠墙立着一辆低压轮胎的、大的黑色自行车。我一下子就认出了它。这正是那摆在巴尔的摩大街一家商店橱窗里一直让我羡慕不已的二手车。我甚至还问过这辆车的价钱。简直

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贵得吓人。差不多要十五块钱。妈妈想办法凑足了首付款，打算在圣诞节早晨拿这辆自行车给我一个惊喜。

I was deeply moved by the discovery and yet sickened by the knowledge that, bursting into her room like this, I had robbed her of the pleasure of seeing me astonished and delighted on Christmas day. I hadn't wanted to know her lovely secret; still coming upon it like this made me feel as though I'd struck a blow against her happiness. I backed out, put the key back in its hiding place, and thought over what to do.

这一发现让我深为感动，然而想到这样闯进她的卧室，从而剥夺了她在圣诞节那天见到我又惊又喜时的欢乐，我又感到厌恶。我本不想知道她这个可爱的秘密；但像这样偶然地发现了它仍然使我觉得好像重重地打击了她的欢乐一样。我从她的卧室退了出来，把钥匙放回原处，认真考虑着该怎么办才好。

I decided that between now and Christmas I must do nothing, absolutely nothing, to reveal the slightest hint of my terrible knowledge. I must avoid the least word that might reveal my possession of her secret. Nothing must deny her

the happiness of seeing me completely amazed on Christmas day.

我决定，在现在和圣诞节之前这段时间里，我必须不动声色，绝对不可露出一点蛛丝马迹暗示我已令人讨厌地知道了此事。我必须谨言慎行，不能让她知道我已掌握了她的秘密。必须想尽一切办法让她在圣诞节那天享受到看见我极为惊讶时的快乐。

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In the privacy of my bedroom I began composing and testing exclamations of delight: \"Wow!\" \"A bike with balloon tires! I don't believe it!\" \"I'm the luckiest boy alive!\" And so on. They all owed a lot to movies in which boys like Mickey Rooney had seen their wildest dreams come true. I soon realized that, with my lack of acting talent, all of them were going to sound false at the critical moment when I wanted to cry out my love spontaneously from the heart. Maybe it would be better to say nothing but appear to be shocked into such deep pleasure that speech had escaped me. I wasn't sure, though. I'd seen speechless gratitude in the movies too, and it never really worked until the actors managed to cry a few quiet tears. I doubted I could cry on cue, so I began thinking about other expressions of speechless amazement. In front of a hand-held mirror in my bedroom I tried the whole range of expressions; mouth open and eyes wide; hands slapped firmly against both cheeks to keep the jaw from falling off; ear-to-ear grin with all teeth fully exposed while hugging myself with both arms. These and more I practiced for several days without acquiring confidence in any of them. I decided to wait until Christmas morning and see if anything came naturally ...

在我不受干扰的卧室里，我开始构思并试验种种表示喜悦的惊叫：“哇噢！”“一辆低压轮胎的自行车！我真不敢相信！”“我是世界上最最幸运的男孩！”等等。这些话都大大归功于比如由米基·鲁尼主演的电影，片中男孩子看到他们最不着边际的梦想得以实现时都这么说。我很快便意识到，因为我缺乏演戏的天才，在我不由自主地想大声喊出发自肺腑的爱时，所有这些话听上去都会显得很虚假。或许最好是什么也不说，而是看上去惊喜得连话也说不出来了。不过，我也没有把握。我在电影里也看到过说不出话来的感激，但直到演员们设法哭出几滴无声的眼泪时才真正起到作用。我怀疑自己能否适时地哭出来，于是便开始思考别的表示无言惊讶的方式。在卧室里，我手拿镜子，试着做出各种各样的

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表情，嘴巴张得大大的，眼睛瞪得圆圆的；双手猛地捂住脸颊使下巴不至于落下来，双臂抱着自己，咧开嘴大笑，把全部牙齿都露出来。这些动作和一些别的动作我练了好几天，但对任何一个动作都没有把握。我决定等到圣诞节早晨再说，看能不能自然而然地做出什么动作来 ……

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hat Christmas morning she woke us early, \"to see what Santa Claus brought,\" she said with just the right tone of voice to indicate we were all old enough to know who Santa Claus was. I came out of my bedroom with my present for her and Doris, and Doris came with hers. My mother's has been placed under the tree during the night. There were a few small brightly wrapped packages, a big doll for Doris, but no bicycle. I must have looked disappointed.

那年的圣诞节早晨，妈妈一早就把我们叫醒了，“看看圣诞老人带来了什么，”她只是用一般的口吻说，借以表明我们都不小了，知道圣诞老人是谁了。我带着送给她和多丽丝的礼物从我的卧室里走了出来，多丽丝也带着她送给我们的礼物走了出来。妈妈送给我们的礼物已在夜里放在了圣诞树下。有几个用彩纸包好的小包，一个给多丽丝的大玩具娃娃，但却没有自行车。我当时看上去一定很失望。

\"It looks like Santa Claus didn't do too well by you this year, Buddy,\" she said, as I opened packages. A shirt. A necktie. I said something halfhearted like, \"It's the thought that counts,\" but what I felt was bitter disappointment. I supposed she'd found the bike just too expensive and sent it back.

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在我打开包的时候，妈妈说：“看来圣诞老人今年对你不太好吗，老弟。”果然这里只有一件衬衫和一根领带。我嘴上说了些半心半意的话，什么“重要的是这番情意”等等，但心里感到的却是极度的失望。我猜想也许是她发觉自行车太贵，又把它送了回去。

\"Wait a minute!\" she cried, snapping her fingers. \"There's something in my bedroom I forgot all about.\"

“等一下！”她大声喊道，一边还打了个榧子。“我睡房里还有样东西我竟忘了个一干二净。”

She went out, and a moment later came back wheeling the big black two-wheeler with balloon tires. I didn't have to pretend, after all. The three of us – Doris, my mother, and I – were people bred to hold back emotional expressions of love, but I did something that startled both my mother and me. I threw my arms around her spontaneously and kissed her.

她出去了，不一会儿就推着那辆低压轮胎的大的黑色自行车回来了。结果我也不必假装了。我们三个人——多丽丝、妈妈和我——都是那种性格内敛、不会感情激动地表达爱的人，但我还是做了一件让妈妈和我都大吃一惊的事。我情不自禁地伸出双臂搂住她，吻了她。

\"All right now, don't carry on about it. It's only a bicycle,\" she said.

“好了，好了，别大惊小怪了。只不过是一辆自行车嘛，”她说。

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Still, I knew that she was as happy as I was to see her so happy.

不过，我还是知道她很高兴，就像我看到她那么高兴我也高兴一样。

UNIT 9

Here we have a humorous essay. But after reading it you will surely find that the author is most serious in writing it.

这是一篇幽默小品。但读完以后你一定会发现，作者写这篇文章是极为严肃的。

Is There Life on Earth? Art Buchwald

There was great excitement on the planet of Venus this week. For the first time Venusian scientists managed to land a satellite on the planet Earth, and it has been sending back signals as well as photographs ever since.

本周金星上群情激动异常。金星上的科学家首次把一颗卫星成功地送上了地球，此后卫星便不断地发回信号和照片。

The satellite was directed into an area known as Manhattan (named after the great Venusian astronomer Prof. Manhattan, who first discovered it with his telescope 20,000 light years ago).

卫星对准发射的地区叫曼哈顿（是以金星上伟大的天文学家曼哈顿教授命名的，在两万光年之前该教授用望远镜首次发现了这个地区）。

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Because of excellent weather conditions and extremely strong signals, Venusian scientists were able to get valuable information as to the feasibility of a manned flying saucer landing on Earth. A press conference was held at the Venus Institute of Technology.

由于天气条件极为有利，信号极为清晰，金星科学家们从而获得了有关载人飞碟能否在地球上着陆的宝贵资料。于是，有关方面在金星理工学院举行了一次记者招待会。

\"We have come to the conclusion, based on last week's satellite landing,\" Prof. Zog said, \"that there is no life on Earth.\"

“根据上周发射的卫星所提供的资料，”佐格教授说，“我们已经得出结论：地球上没有生命。”

\"How do you know this?\" the science reporter of the Venus Evening Star asked.

“这您是怎么知道的呢?”《金星晚报》的科学记者问。

\"For one thing, Earth's surface in the area of Manhattan is composed of solid concrete and nothing can grow there. For another, the atmosphere is filled with carbon monoxide and other deadly gases and nobody could possibly breathe this air and survive.\"

“首先，曼哈顿地区的地球表面均由坚固的混凝土构成，那里什么东西也无法生长。另外，大气层中充满了一氧化碳和其他致命的气体，任何人呼吸了这种空气都不可能幸存

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下来。”

\"What does this mean as far as our flying saucer program is concerned?\"

“这对我们的飞碟计划来说又意味着什么呢?”

\"We shall have to take our own oxygen with us, which means a much heavier flying saucer than we originally planned.\"

“这意味着我们必须随身携带我们所需要的氧气，这样一来，飞碟就要比我们原先计划的重很多。”

\"Are there any other hazards that you discovered in yo

ur studies?\"

“你们在研究中有没有发现其他什么危险呢?”

\"Take a look at this photo. You see this dark black cloud hovering over the surface of Earth? We call this the Consolidated Edison Belt. We don't know what it is made of, but it could give us a lot of trouble and we shall have to make further tests before we send a Venus Being there.\"

“请看这张照片。诸位看到在地球表面上方飘浮的这片深黑色的云层吗？我们把它叫做爱迪生联合电气公司带。虽然我们还不知道它含有什么成分，但是它很可能会给我们带来许多麻烦，我们还必须做更多的试验，然后才能把金星人送往地球。”

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\"Over here you will notice what seems to be a river, but the satellite findings indicate it is polluted and the water is unfit to drink. This means we shall have to carry our own water, which will add even greater weight to the saucer.\"

“这边，诸位可以看到像是一条河似的东西，不过卫星探测的结果表明它已被污染，河水不适于饮用。这意味着我们必须自己带水，这就会给飞碟增加更多的重量。”

\"Sir, what are all those tiny black spots on the photographs?\"

“先生，照片上那些小小的黑点是什么?”

\"We're not certain. They seem to be metal particles that move along certain paths. They emit gases, make noise and keep crashing into each other. There are so many of these paths and so many metal particles that it is impossible to land a flying saucer without its being smashed by one.\"

“我们也不清楚。它们好像是一些沿着某些轨道运动的金属微粒。它们排放气体，发出噪音，而且不断地相互碰撞。那儿有很多这样的轨道，很多这样的金属微粒，要使飞碟在那儿着陆而不被某一颗微粒撞毁是很难办到的。”

\"What are those stalagmite projections sticking up?\"

“那些笔直竖立的石笋状凸出物是什么东西?”

\"They're some type of granite formations that give off light at night. Prof. Glom has named them skyscrapers since they seem to be scraping the skies.\"

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“它们是某种夜间会发光的花岗岩结构。格洛姆教授把它们叫做摩天大楼，因为它们好像已经擦到了天。”

\"If all you say is true, won't this set back the flying saucer program several years?\"

“如果您所说的都是事实，那飞碟计划不就要推迟好多年吗?”

\"Yes, but we shall proceed as soon as the Grubstart gives us the added funds.\"

“是的，但一俟格拉布斯塔特贷款基金会把追加的资金给我们，我们就会立即实施这一计划。”

\"Prof. Zog, why are we spending billions and billions of zilches to land a flying saucer on Earth when there is no life there?\"

“佐格教授，既然地球上没有生命，那我们为什么

还要花费亿万个零元向那儿发射飞碟呢?”

\"Because if we Venusians can learn to breathe in an Earth atmosphere, then we can live anywhere.\"

“因为如果我们金星人能学会在地球的大气层中呼吸的话，那我们就可以在任何地方生存了。”

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UNIT 10

I first heard this story a few years ago from a girl I had met in New York's Greenwich Village. Probably the story is one of those mysterious bits of folklore that reappear every few years, to be told anew in one form or another. However, I still like to think that it really did happen, somewhere, sometime.

我是在几年前，从在纽约格林尼治村碰到的一个女孩子那里第一次听到这个故事的。这故事很可能是那些每隔几年就会重新出现，以一种新的说法再被讲述一遍的神秘的民间传说中的一个。然而，我依然愿意相信这故事确实曾在某个地方、某个时间发生过。

Going Home

They were going to Fort Lauderdale – three boys and three girls – and when they boarded the bus, they were carrying sandwiches and wine in paper bags, dreaming of golden beaches and sea tides as the gray, cold spring of New York vanished behind them.

他们要去洛德代尔堡——三个男孩子和三个女孩子。他们用纸袋装着夹心面包和葡萄酒上了公共汽车。当纽约灰暗寒冷的春天在他们身后消失时，他们正梦想着金色的海滩和大海的潮水。

As the bus passed through New Jersey, they began to notice Vingo. He sat in front of them, dressed in a plain, ill-fitting suit, never moving, his dusty face masking his age. He kept chewing the inside of his lip a lot, frozen into complete

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silence.

公共汽车驶过新泽西州时，他们开始注意到了文戈。他坐在他们前面，穿着一套不合身的便服，一动不动。他风尘满面，让人看不出他有多大岁数。他不停地咬着嘴唇内侧，表情冷淡，默默无言。

Deep into the night, outside Washington, the bus pulled into Howard Johnson's, and everybody got off except Vingo. He sat rooted in his seat, and the young people began to wonder about him, trying to imagine his life: perhaps he was a sea captain, a runaway from his wife, an old soldier going home. When they went back to the bus, one of the girls sat beside him and introduced herself.

深夜，公共汽车驶抵华盛顿郊外，停进了霍华德·约翰逊餐馆。所有人都下了车，只有文戈除外。他像生了根似地坐在座位上，几个年轻人开始诧异起来，试图想像出他的身世：他或许是位海船船长，或是一个抛下妻子离家出走的人，再不就是一个回家的老兵。当他们回到车上时，一个女孩子便坐到他身边，作了自我介绍。

\"We're going to Florida,\" she said brightly. \"I hear it's really beautiful.\"

“我们要到佛罗里达去，”她兴高采烈地说。“听说那儿的确很美。”

\"It is,\" he said quietly, as if remembering something he had tried to forget.

“是的，”他轻声说道，仿佛想起了他一直想忘却的什么东西。

\"Want some wine?\" she said. He smiled and took a swig

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from the bottle. He thanked her and retreated again into his silence. After a while, she went back to the others, and Vingo nodded in sleep.

“想喝点酒吗？”她问。他微微一笑，就着瓶子喝了一大口。他谢了谢她，又缩回去一声不响了。过了一会儿，她回到自己一伙人身边，而文戈则打着盹睡着了。

In the morning, they awoke outside another Howard Johnson's, and this time Vingo went in. The girl insisted that he join them. He seemed very shy, and ordered black coffee and smoked nervously as the young people chattered about sleeping on beaches. When they returned to the bus, the girl sat with Vingo again, and after a while, slowly and painfully, he began to tell his story. He had been in jail in New York for the past four years, and now he was going home.

第二天早上，他们醒来，车已停在另一家霍华德·约翰逊餐馆外面。这一次文戈进去了。那女孩一定要他跟他们坐在一起。他好像很害羞，要了杯不加牛奶的清咖啡，在年轻人喋喋不休地议论着露宿沙滩的乐趣时，他却紧张不安地在抽烟。回到车上以后，那女孩又跟文戈坐在了一起。过了一会儿，他慢吞吞地、不胜心酸地讲起了他的身世。他在纽约坐了四年牢，现在要回家了。

\"Are you married?\"

“你有太太吗？”

\"I don't know.\"

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“不知道。”

\"You don't know?\" she said.

“你不知道？”她问。

\"Well, when I was in jail I wrote to my wife,\" he said. \"I told her that I was going to be away a long time, and that if she couldn't stand it, if the kids kept askin' questions, if it hurt her too much, well, she could just forget me. I'd understand. Get a new guy, I said – she's a wonderful woman, really something – and forget about me. I told her she didn't have to write me. And she didn't. Not for three and a half years.\"

“是这样的，我在坐牢的时候曾写信给我妻子，”他说。“我告诉她我要离开很长一段时间，要是她受不了，要是孩子们老是问这问那，要是这事太让她伤心，那她可以干脆忘掉我。我会理解的。我说，再找个男人，忘掉我吧——她是个很好的女人，真的挺不错。我告诉她不必给我写信。她没有写。三年半没有给我写信。”

\"And you're going home now, not knowing?\"

“你现在什么也不知道就这样回家？”

\"Yeah,\" he said shyly. \"Well, last week, when I was sure the parole was coming through, I wrote her again. We used to live in Brunswick, just before Jacksonville, and there's a big oak tree just as you come into town. I told her that if she didn't

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have a new guy and if she'd take me back, she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree, and I'd get off and come home. If she didn't want me, forget it – no handkerchief, and I'd go on through.\"

“嗯，”他羞答答地说。“噢，上个礼拜，当我得知我的假释即将获准时，我又给她写了封信。我们过去一直住在杰克逊维尔不远的布伦斯威克，就在镇口有一棵大橡树。我告诉她，要是她没有别的男人，要是她还想让我回去，就在树上系一条黄手绢，我就会下车回家。要是她不要我，就当没这回事好了——不要系手绢，我就跟着汽车一直到底。”

\"Wow,\" the girl exclaimed. \"Wow.\"

“哇，”女孩子叫了起来。“哇。”

She told the others, and soon all of them were in it, caught up in the approach of Brunswick, looking at the pictures Vingo showed them of his wife and three children – the woman handsome in a plain way, the children still unformed in the much-handled snapshots.

她告诉了别的人，很快大家全知道了，大家全都关注着布伦斯威克的到来。他们看着文戈拿给他们的几张照片，是他妻子和三个孩子的照片——从那几张触摸过多的快照上看，那女人自有一种朴实的美，孩子们还没有发育成熟。

Now they were 20 miles from Brunswick, and the young people took over window seats on the right side, waiting for the approach of the great oak tree. Vingo stopped looking, tightening his face, as if fortifying himself against still

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another disappointment.

他们离布伦斯威克只有二十英里了，年轻人都坐到了车右边靠窗的座位上，等待着那棵大橡树的出现。文戈不再张望，他绷紧脸，仿佛正在鼓足勇气准备迎接另一次失望似的。

Then Brunswick was 10 miles, and then five. Then, suddenly, all of the young people were up out of their seats, screaming and shouting and crying, doing small dances of joy. All except Vingo.

离布伦斯威克只有十英里了，只有五英里了。突然，所有年轻人都从座位上站了起来，尖叫着，呼喊着，大声嚷嚷着，跳起了欢乐的舞蹈。只有文戈除外。

Vingo sat there stunned, looking at the oak tree. It was covered with yellow handkerchiefs – 20 of them, 30 of them, maybe hundreds, a tree that stood like a banner of welcome billowing in the wind. As the young people shouted, the old con slowly rose from his seat and made his way to the front of the bus to go home.

文戈坐在那儿望着橡树惊呆了。树上挂满了黄手绢——二十条，三十条，或许有几百条，一棵树立在那儿就像欢迎的旗帜在迎风招展。在年轻人的欢呼声中，这位前犯人慢吞吞地从座位上站起来，向车子前部走去，准备回家。

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