Unit 1
Text A Never, ever give up!
永不言弃！
1 As a young boy, Britain's great Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, attended a public school called Harrow. He was not a good student, and had he not been from a famous family, he probably would have been removed from the school for deviating from the rules. Thankfully, he did finish at Harrow and his errors there did not preclude him from going on to the university. He eventually had a premier army career whereby he was later elected prime minister. He achieved fame for his wit, wisdom, civic duty, and abundant courage in his refusal to surrender during the miserable dark days of World War II. His amazing determination helped motivate his entire nation and was an inspiration worldwide.
英国的伟大首相温斯顿·丘吉尔爵士，小时候在哈罗公学上学。当时他可不是个好学生，要不是出身名门，他可能早就因为违反纪律被开除了。谢天谢地，他总算从哈罗毕业了，在那里犯下的错误并没影响到他上大学。后来，他凭着军旅生涯中的杰出表现当选为英国首相。他的才思、智慧、公民责任感以及在二战痛苦而黑暗的时期拒绝投降的无畏勇气，为他赢得了美名。他非凡的决心，不仅激励了整个民族，还鼓舞了全世界。
2 Toward the end of his period as prime minister, he was invited to address the patriotic young boys at his old school, Harrow. The headmaster said, "Young gentlemen, the greatest speaker of our time, will be here in a few days to address you, and you should obey whatever sound advice he may give you." The great day arrived. Sir Winston stood up, all five feet, five inches and 107 kilos of him, and gave this short, clear-cut speech: "Young men, never give up. Never give up! Never give up! Never, never, never, never!"
在他首相任期即将结束时，他应邀前往母校哈罗公学，为满怀报国之志的同学们作演讲。校长说：“年轻的先生们，当代最伟大的演说家过几天就会来为你们演讲，他提出的任何中肯的建议，你们都要听从。”那个激动人心的日子终于到了。温斯顿爵士站了起来——他只有5英尺5英寸高，体重却有107公斤。他作了言简意赅的讲话：“年轻人，要永不放弃。永不放弃！永不放弃！永不，永不，永不，永不！”
3 Personal history, educational opportunity, individual dilemmas — none of these can inhibit a strong spirit committed to success. No task is too hard. No amount of preparation is too long or too difficult. Take the example of two of the most scholarly scientists of our age, Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. Both faced immense obstacles and extreme criticism. Both were called "slow to learn" and written off as idiots by their teachers. Thomas Edison ran away from school because his teacher whipped him repeatedly for asking too many questions. Einstein didn't speak fluently until he was almost nine years old and was such a poor student that some thought he was unable to learn. Yet both boys' parents believed in them. They worked intensely each day with their sons, and the boys learned to never bypass the long hours of hard work that they needed to succeed. In the end, both Einstein and Edison overcame their childhood persecution and went on to achieve magnificent discoveries that benefit the entire world today.
个人经历、教育机会、个人困境，这些都不能阻挡一个全力以赴追求成功的、有着坚强意志的人。任务再苦，准备再长，难度再大，都不能让他放弃自己的追求。就以本时代最有学问的两位科学家——阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦和托马斯·爱迪生为例，他们都曾面临巨大的障碍和极端的批评，都曾被说成“不开窍”，被老师当成笨蛋而放弃。托马斯·爱迪生还曾逃学，因为老师嫌他问的问题太多而经常鞭打他。爱因斯坦一直到将近9岁才能流利地说话，学习成绩太差，有些人认为他都已经学不好了。然而，这两个男孩的父母都相信他们。他们坚持不懈地每天和儿子一起努力，孩子们也了解到，要想成功，就绝不要怕付出长期而艰辛的努力。最终，爱因斯坦和爱迪生都摆脱了童年的困扰，进而作出了造福当今全世界的伟大发现。
4 Consider also the heroic example of Abraham Lincoln, who faced substantial hardships, failures and repeated misfortunes in his lifetime. His background was certainly not glamorous. He was raised in a very poor family with only one year of formal education. He failed in business twice, suffered a nervous breakdown when his first love died suddenly and lost eight political elections. Later in life, he suffered profound grief over the tragic death of three of his four children. Yet his strong will was the spur that pushed him forward, strengthening his optimism, dedication and determination. It intensified and focused his efforts and enabled him to triumph over the overwhelming failures and profound difficulties in his life. A hundred years later, people from around the world commend Abraham Lincoln as the greatest American president of all time.
再如亚伯拉罕·林肯这个英雄的典范，他一生面临了无数艰辛、失败和接二连三的不幸。他的出身和经历真是一点也算不上光鲜。他在一个非常贫困的家庭长大，只受过一年正规教育。经商两度失败，初恋爱人的突然离世也使他精神崩溃，还在八次政治选举中落马。此后，他的四个孩子有三个不幸去世，令他悲痛欲绝。然而，坚强的意志鞭策着他，推动他前进，使他更加乐观、投入、坚毅。这让他得以全力以赴，一次次战胜生命中的巨大困难和挫折。一百年之后，世界各地的人们都赞颂亚伯拉罕·林肯，认为他是有史以来最伟大的美国总统。
5 Just like Churchill and Lincoln, only those who "keep their eyes on the prize", those who uphold a committed and focused will and spirit, will find their endeavors successful. Many artists, statesmen, writers and inventors have had the same experience. They achieved prosperity because they possessed a fierce will to keep preparing and working and a passion to succeed. They attained success, not because it was easy, but because they had the will to overcome profound obstacles and to work diligently in the pursuit of their goals.
与丘吉尔和林肯一样，只有那些“执著地追求成功”的人，那些保持始终如一的精神意志的人，才会通过自身的努力，获得成功。许多艺术家、政治家、作家和发明家都有同样的经历。他们之所以能取得这样的成就，是因为他们拥有强烈的意愿，不懈地准备、奋斗，并保持对成功的激情。他们取得了成功，并不是因为成功很容易，而是因为他们拥有克服重重障碍的意志，为了追求目标而勤奋努力。
6 After growing up on a cattle ranch without running water or electricity, Sandra Day O'Connor fought to achieve the best education possible. Consistently graduating at the top of her class, she worked her way into Stanford Law School, where she graduated with honors. But despite all of her hard work, Sandra Day O'Connor was still a woman in the 1950s. Even with the prestige of her degree from Stanford, she was rejected from the entire law circuit as firms preferred to hire less qualified men rather than risk hiring a female lawyer, which was unprecedented. Yet Sandra Day O'Connor refused to give up on her dreams. Through sheer persistence she was eventually nominated and then appointed the first woman Supreme Court Justice of the United States of America. There, she acted as a crucial vote on issues like abortion and women's rights.
桑德拉·戴·奥康纳成长于既没自来水也没电的养牛场，她努力学习以使自己接受到最好的教育。她的学习成绩在班上始终名列前茅，一路奋斗终于进入了斯坦福大学法学院，并以优异的成绩从法学院毕业。尽管奥康纳勤奋刻苦，但在20世纪50年代，她仍然受到女人身份的制约。即使斯坦福大学的学位有良好的声誉，她仍被整个法律界拒之门外，因为事务所宁愿聘请才干稍逊的男性，也不愿冒险破例雇佣一位女律师。然而，桑德拉·戴·奥康纳并未放弃梦想。她执著地坚持下去，终于得到提名并被任命为美国第一位女性最高法院大法官。她任职期间，对很多问题，例如堕胎和妇女权利，都起到了极为关键的作用。
7 Many people simply say that they want something, but they do not expend the substantial effort required to achieve it. Many people let the threat of failure stop them from trying with all of their heart. The secret of success is based upon a burning inward desire — a robust, fierce will and focus — that fuels the determination to act, to keep preparing, to keep going even when we are tired and fail. As a wise saying goes: "It's not how many times you fall down that matters. It's how many times you get back up that makes success!"
很多人只是嘴上说他们想要什么东西，但并不真正地付出大量努力去实现。很多人因为害怕失败而不敢全心尝试。而成功的秘诀在于内心燃烧的欲望——一种坚定不移的意志和专注力——从而激发行动的决心，即使疲惫，即使失败，也会继续准备，继续前进。正如一句箴言所说：“你摔倒了多少次并不要紧；你能多少次重新站起来对成功才至关重要！”
8 Focus on becoming more knowledgeable. Focus on gradual, consistent progress. Maintain the strong will to keep going — even when you are tired and want to slack or the odds seem too large. "Keep your eyes on the prize!" "Where there's a will, there's a way!" With hard work, determination, dedication and preparation, you can transcend any handicap, accomplish any feat, and achieve success!
专注于汲取更多的知识，争取持之以恒地渐进，保持永不言退的坚强意志——即使在你疲惫想要松懈的时候，或者困难重重之时。“执著地追求成功！”“有志者，事竟成！”只要刻苦努力，意志坚决，专心投入，准备充分，你就能跨越一切障碍，完成所有壮举，取得成功！
Unit 1
Text B Chance favors the prepared
机遇偏爱有准备之人
1 Les Brown and his twin brother were adopted by Mamie Brown, a kitchen worker, shortly after their birth in a poverty-stricken Miami neighborhood.
莱斯·布朗和其孪生兄弟出生于迈阿密一个异常贫困的街区，出生后不久就一起被厨工玛米·布朗收养。
2 Because of his overactive behavior and nonstop talking as a child, Les was placed in special education classes for the learning disabled all the way through high school. Upon graduation, he became a garbage collector. The prospective opportunities for his future looked slim to others, but not to Les. He had a passion, a dream — a big dream that he was ready to work hard for. He was destined to be a disc jockey, also known as a "DJ", one of the radio celebrities mixing music broadcasts for the whole city.
由于儿时过度好动，还爱不停地说话，莱斯被送到专为学习困难儿童而设的特殊教育班，并一直读到了高中。一毕业，他就成了一名垃圾清运工。大家都觉得他将来不会有什么好前途，但他自己却不这么想。他有激情，有梦想——一个让他为之奋斗的伟大梦想。他觉得自己一定会成为电台音乐唱片节目主持人，通常也叫“DJ”，那可是电台名人，专门为面向全市的广播制作音乐节目。
3 At night he would take a radio to bed so he could indulge his dream by listening to the local DJs. He created an imaginary radio station in his tiny bedroom. A hairbrush served as his microphone as he energetically practiced speaking his masterpieces to his imaginary listeners.
一到晚上，他就带着收音机上床睡觉，这样他就可以一边听着当地DJ的节目，一边沉浸在自己的梦想里。他在自己的小卧室里营造了一个假想电台。他把梳子当麦克风，劲头十足地对着想象中的听众练习自己的杰作。
4 He aggravated his friends with his constant practicing. They all told him that he didn't have a chance and he would never be a DJ. They scorned him and said to stop dreaming and focus on the real world. Nonetheless, Les didn't let their negativity stop him. He kept his goals close to his heart and remained wrapped up in his own world, completely absorbed in preparing for his future, preparing to live his dream as a renowned DJ.
他无休止地练习让朋友们不胜其烦。他们都说他根本没有机会，永远都不可能成为DJ。他们嘲弄他，告诉他别做白日梦，要面对现实。然而，这些负面影响并没有让莱斯停止追求。他心中一直铭记自己的目标，继续沉浸在自己的世界里，全身心投入到对未来的准备中，去实现他成为著名DJ的梦想。
5 One day Les decided to take the initiative and begin with this enterprise. He boldly went to the local radio station and told the station manager he understood the layout of the station and was ready to be a disc jockey.
一天，莱斯决定主动出击，开始自己的事业。他大胆地来到当地电台，告诉经理他熟悉电台布局环境，完全可以成为一名DJ。
6 The manager looked dubiously at the untidy young man in overalls and a straw hat and inquired, "Do you have any expertise in broadcasting?"
经理满腹狐疑地看着这个一身工作服还戴着顶草帽的邋遢年轻人，问他：“你了解播音的专业知识吗？”
7 Les replied, "No sir, I don't."
莱斯回答说：“不，先生，我不了解。”
8 "Well, son, I'm afraid we don't have a job for you then," he responded bluntly. So, Les' first chance at success had been a complete bust.
“哦，孩子，那恐怕我们没法雇用你，”经理直截了当地回应。就这样，莱斯对成功的第一次尝试完全以失败告终。
9 Les was determined. He adored his adoptive mother, Mamie Brown, and was careful with his money to try and buy her nice things. Despite everyone's discouragement, she believed in him and had taught him to pursue his goals and persist in his dreams no matter what others said.
莱斯十分坚定。他很爱自己的养母玛米·布朗，还精打细算攒钱为她买喜欢的东西。尽管人人都打击他，但她却十分信任他，告诉他不管别人怎么说，都要追求自己的目标，坚持自己的梦想。
10 So, in spite of what the station manager had originally said, Les returned to the station every day for a week. His persistence was very persuasive, and the station manager finally gave in and took Les on to do small tasks — at no pay. Les brought coffee and food. He catered to their every need at work and worked overtime whenever necessary. Eventually, his enthusiasm won their confidence and they would send Les in their Cadillac to pick up celebrities, not knowing that he didn't even have a driver's license!
因此，不管电台经理之前怎么说，莱斯每天还是会去电台，这样持续了一周。他的坚持很能打动人，电台经理终于让了步，让他做一些小事情——不过没有报酬。莱斯负责给大家提供咖啡和吃的东西。他在工作中尽力满足大家的每一个要求，而且只要有需要，任何时候都可以加班。最后，他的工作热情赢得了大家的信任，他们让莱斯开着凯迪拉克去接送名人，居然不知道他连驾照都没有。
11 While hanging out with the station's real DJs, Les taught himself their posture and hand movements on the control panel. He stayed around the studio, soaking up whatever knowledge he could. He was disciplined; back in his bedroom at night, he faithfully practiced in anticipation of the opportunity he knew would come.
与电台真正的DJ相处时，莱斯自学他们操作调音台的姿势和手势。他徘徊在播音间，力所能及地汲取全部知识。他非常自律，晚上一回到房间，就满怀着期待不懈地练习，他知道机遇终会降临。
12 One afternoon at work, the DJ named Rock started to feel very sick while on the air. Les was the only person around, and he realized that Rock was coughing and losing his voice. Les stayed close in case there was some way he might help alleviate his co-worker's distress. He also worried that the illness was sure to doom this broadcast.
一天下午，工作期间，一个名叫洛克的DJ在直播时突然病得厉害。周围只有莱斯，而他意识到洛克正在咳嗽，都快不能说话了。莱斯凑近他，看看有什么办法能帮助同事减轻痛苦。他也担心这病肯定会让广播无法进行下去。
13 Finally, when the phone rang, Les grabbed it. It was the station manager, as he knew it would be.
最后，电话铃响了，莱斯抓起电话。正是电台经理，对此他已有预感。
14 "Les, this is Mr. Klein. I don't think Rock can finish his program."
“莱斯，我是克莱因。我觉得洛克没办法做完这期节目了。”
15 "Yes," he murmured, "I know."
“是的，”他低声说，“我知道。”
16 "Would you call one of the other deejays to come in and take over?"
“你能打电话叫其他DJ来接替他吗？”
17 "Yes, sir, I sure will."
“好的，先生，我一定去叫。”
18 But try as he might, none of the regular DJs were available. MC Cormick and DJ Slick were both out of town for the weekend and DJ Neil was also feeling sick. It seemed that the radio station was in big trouble.
但他找了个遍，却发现一个正式DJ都找不到。主持人考密克和DJ斯雷克都出城度周末去了，尼尔身体也不舒服。似乎电台的麻烦大了。
19 Frantic with distress, Les called the general manager. "Mr. Klein, I can't find nobody," Les said.
莱斯无计可施，几欲抓狂，只好给总经理打电话。“克莱因先生，一个人都找不到，”莱斯说。
20 Mr. Klein then asked, "Young man, do you know how to work the controls in the studio?"
克莱因先生于是问道：“小伙子，你知道怎么操作播音间里的调音台么？”
21 "Yes sir," replied Les, grinning with the sudden opportunity. He didn't even blink before he called his mother and his friends. "You all go out on the front porch and turn up the radio because I'm about to come on the air!" he said.
“我知道的，先生，”莱斯回答，为突如其来的机会笑了。他一刻都不耽搁，马上给母亲和朋友们打了电话。“你们都到前廊去，打开收音机，我马上要直播了！”他说。
22 Les rushed into the booth, hoisted Rock onto a nearby couch, and sat down in his place. He was ready. He flipped on the microphone and eloquently rapped, "Look out! This is me, LB, Les Brown! There were none before me and there will be none after me. Therefore, that makes me the one and only. Young and single and love to mingle. Qualified to bring you satisfaction, a whole lot of action. Look out, baby, I'm your lovin' man."
莱斯冲进播音间，把洛克扶到附近的沙发上，然后坐上了他的位置。他已做好准备。打开麦克风，他流利地开始了一段说唱：“注意啦！我是莱布，莱斯·布朗！空前绝后的莱斯·布朗，独一无二的莱斯·布朗。我青春年少，单身无挂，喜爱结交；我会让你心满意足，动能无限。来吧，亲爱的，我就是你喜爱的那个人。”
23 Because of his preparation, Les was ready. He had dazzled the audience and heard applause from his general manager. From that fateful beginning, Les was propelled to become an icon in broadcasting, politics, public speaking and television.
正因为莱斯勤于准备，他才能一切就绪。听众为之折服，经理为之鼓掌。在那决定命运的一刻后，莱斯不断前进，成为在广播、政治、演讲和电视等领域的一位偶像级人物。
Unit 2
Text A Swimming through fear
游越恐惧
1 I was on a tour of France with my friends when our car pulled to a stop at the beach and we saw the Mediterranean Sea. Massive waves surged against large rocks that formed a waterproof jetty. People said this beach was known for its notorious rip currents. I shivered with fear. Nothing scared me as much as water.
当时我和朋友正在法国旅行，我们把汽车停在海滩，眼前就是地中海。巨浪翻滚击打着构筑起防波堤的偌大岩石。人们说这里的海滩以其可怕的裂流而著称。恐惧让我不寒而栗。没有什么比水让我更害怕了。
2 Just the sight of the sea made me sick to my stomach.
只是看到了海就已经让我觉得反胃。
3 I'd always loved water and been a good swimmer until last summer, when I'd decided to climb up to the highest diving board at the pool. I'd hopped from that height and hit the water with an incredible impact. The air was ousted from my lungs and I blacked out. The next thing I knew, my brother was pulling my feeble body out of the pool. From then on, my fear wouldn't recede; I was absolutely terrified of water.
我曾经一直都是喜欢水的，并且直到去年夏天我都还是一名游泳好手。那时，我决定爬上游泳池边上最高的跳板来跳水。我从那么高的地方跳下，重重地撞击到水面上。我肺里的空气一下子全被挤出去了，马上不省人事。醒来时发现哥哥正把我虚弱的身体从游泳池里拖出来。从那时起，我对水的恐惧就没有消退过，我怕极了水。
4 "Jason, are you coming?" my friend, Matt, called.
“贾森，你要过来吗？”我的朋友马特朝我喊道。
5 "Yeah," I said. "Just enjoying the view," from dry land, I added silently, worried they might deem my fear pathetic if they knew.
我说：“好，就是欣赏一下景色”，又在心里默默加了一句——在岸上欣赏。担心如果他们知道我害怕水而可怜我。
6 Suddenly I heard shouting in French. A mob of people were running into the sea, fully clothed. That's odd, I thought.
突然，我听到有人用法语喊叫。接着看见一群人没脱衣服，就冲到海里。我心想，这真是太奇怪了。
7 I glimpsed something moving up and down amid the waves, past the end of the jetty. I gasped, realizing the catastrophe with horror. That's a little boy out there! The would-be rescuers fought against the tide, but the situation was bleak. With the water's tow, they'd never get to him in time.
我瞥见防波堤尽头的海浪中有个东西在上下浮动。我惊恐地意识到大事不妙，倒吸了一口凉气，那居然是个小男孩！前去救落水男童的人们搏击着海浪，但情况却不乐观。由于水的拉拽，他们根本不可能及时游到小男孩身边。
8 I looked back at the boy. His head popped up, then a wave crashed over him and he disappeared for a moment; I had to intervene.
我扭头看看那小男孩。他的头刚露出水面，然后一个浪头打过来，好一阵不见踪影——我不得不做点什么了。
9 I appraised the situation and realized — the jetty! The boy was close to it; maybe I could help from there. I raced down the beach, out onto the jetty, and it hit me: Water! My palms got sweaty and my stomach felt sick, symptoms of my fear. I stopped short.
我估计了当下的情形后注意到了——对，那防波堤！小男孩靠近那个地方，也许我可以从那儿帮忙。我冲下海滩，跑上防波堤，但突然我想起了什么——水！顿时有了恐惧的症状：我手心冒汗，胃里感觉不适。我一下子停下来。
10 The people in the water had underestimated the waves and weren't making any progress. I was the only one who saw that going out on the jetty was the fastest way to reach the drowning boy. Yet in the midst of this tragedy, I was extremely terrified. I tried to remember the lifeguard training I'd had as a teenager.
水里的那些人低估了海浪的威力，救援工作没有任何进展。只有我注意到了跑到防波堤上是到达溺水男童的最快的路径。然而在此性命攸关之际，我极度恐慌。我努力去回想十几岁时所接受的救生员训练。
11 I was paralyzed with fear, but I forced myself to move forward with this impromptu rescue. I don't want this. Surely someone else can save him before I have to.
我因恐惧而全身瘫软，但我强迫自己向前移动，展开这场突发的救援行动。我不想做这些，在我施救之前肯定会有别人救他吧。
12 At the ridge of the jetty, I whirled around, convinced I'd see an athletic swimmer plowing through the rough water toward the boy. To my dismay, no one was there. I turned back out to the sea to see the boy battered by vicious waves about 25 yards away from me. Sucking in a deep breath, I threw myself into the water. As soon as I jumped in, I felt like I was back in that pool, breathless, struggling, terrified. Salt stung my eyes. Focus, I shouted in my head. Where is he?
我在防波堤的边上迅速转过身来，深信会看见某个游泳健将正向着小男孩劈波斩浪。但是让我沮丧的是，一个人也没有。我回身面向大海，看见25码开外恶浪击打着小男孩。我深吸一口气，纵身跃入水中。一跳进水里，我感觉仿佛又回到了当年的那个游泳池，我喘不过气，拼命挣扎，惊恐万分。咸水刺痛了我的双眼。“集中注意力，”我在心里喊道。“他在哪里？”
13 Then, with clarity, I saw a thin arm waving weakly a few yards away. I swam with all my strength, reaching the boy just as he sank below the surface. I grabbed his arm and pulled. He popped back up, eyes wide with terror, pawing and twisting against me. "Repose (Calm down)!" I commanded the boy in French. His struggling would derail any rescue attempt, and we'd both perish. "Repose!" I commanded again. Thankfully, this time he listened, and was still.
然后我清楚地看到一只细小的手臂在离我几码处微弱地挥动着。我拼尽全力游过去，在他刚要没水之时赶到了。我抓住他的手臂拉他。他冒出水面，眼睛因恐惧瞪得很大，胡乱抓扯着我。我用法语命令他：“别慌！”他这样挣扎会阻碍救援，那我们俩就都死定了。我再次命令他：“别慌！”谢天谢地，这次他听话了，不动了。
14 When I turned back toward shore a wave pounded over us. The jetty was further away! The rip current! It was forcibly dragging us out to the sea. I fought to get us back to land, but made little progress. I knew I'd never be able to escort him back like this.
当我转身朝岸边游去的时候，一个浪劈头盖脸打来。我们离防波堤更远了！是裂流！它强行把我们拽往大海深处。我挣扎着想带他游回岸上，但进展甚微。我知道这种游法根本没法护着他返回岸边。
15 Desperate to survive, I remembered what I'd learned in my life saving class: Never, ever swim against the rip current! Swim sideways to the pull of the current and slowly make your way back toward shore. It was an odd-looking but practicable solution. Swim sideways and float to rest. Swim sideways and float to rest. We did that over and over. We slowly made our way to safety. "Jason, you can do it!" I heard Matt say as he stood on the jetty. I hadn't even noticed how close we were, only about seven feet left to go.
强烈求生欲望之下，我想起了在救生课上所学到的知识：永远不要与裂流相对而游！要顺其方向朝侧边游，慢慢地靠向岸边。这个办法尽管看上去很荒谬，但却管用。朝侧边游，浮起休息。朝侧边游，浮起休息。我们重复着这个方法，慢慢地游到了安全区。“贾森，你能行的！”我听到站在防波堤上的马特对我说。我甚至没有注意到我们离防波堤这么的近，只剩下大约7英尺的距离了。
16 And, as we made our way to safety I realized something incredible: I was no longer afraid. That absence of fear was a moment of triumph!
后来我们到达安全水域时，我觉得有些不可思议：我不再怕水了。恐惧没了，这一刻我胜利了！
17 Matt jumped into the water. I tossed the boy to him. Just as I let go, a big wave picked him up and carried him all the way to Matt.
马特跳进水里。我把男孩抛给他。我刚一松手，一个大浪托起他直接把他送到了马特身边。
18 On the brink of collapse, I stopped fighting, just letting myself go. My hand hit the jetty. It was like an electric shock that brought me back to my senses. Someone grabbed for me.
我全身都快虚脱了，我不再划水，就这样放松自己顺水而漂。我的手碰上了防波堤，仿佛触电一般，我重新恢复了神志。有人抓住了我。
19 I felt strong arms lift me. I ascended not only from the sea onto the secure rocks of the jetty — but also to my salvation, leaving behind the terrible fear that had gripped me for so long. I turned my head and saw the boy was hugged tightly by his mother. I looked out to the sea. Weary as I was, the water had never looked so beautiful.
我感觉到强壮有力的手臂将我托起。我不仅从海里爬上防波堤的磐石，而且完成了自我拯救，摆脱了困扰已久的恐惧。我扭过头看见小男孩被母亲紧紧拥入怀中。虽已疲惫不堪，但放眼大海，我感觉海水比任何时候看起来都更美。
Unit 2
Text B When courage triumphed over fear
当勇气战胜恐惧
1 I know what courage looks like. I saw it on a flight I took six years ago, and only now can I speak of it without tears filling my eyes at the memory.
我知道勇气是什么样子。我六年前在乘坐的一架航班上就见识了。只到现在，凭记忆述说这件事的时候，我才不致热泪盈眶。
2 When our plane left New York that Friday morning, we were a talkative, high-energy group. The early-morning transcontinental flight hosted mainly professional people going to San Francisco for a day or two of business. As I looked around, I saw lots of designer suites, CEO-level expensive haircuts, designer briefcases and all the trimmings of lofty business travelers. I settled back with my paperback novel for some light reading and the brief flight ahead.
那是星期五的早上，当我们的飞机从纽约起飞时，我们这帮人还高谈阔论、劲头十足。这趟横贯大陆的清晨航班主要搭载了一些前往旧金山出差一两天的职业人士。我向四周打量一下，看到的多是名贵西装、经理人式的考究发型、名牌公文包以及气宇轩昂的商务旅行者们的各种装束。我身子往后一靠，拿出一本简装小说准备轻松阅读一下，度过时下这短暂的飞行。
3 Immediately upon take-off, long before we had reached our cruising altitude, it was clear that something was wrong. The aircraft was bumping vertically up and down and tilting left to right. All the experienced travelers, including me, looked around with knowing grins. We had experienced minor problems and turbulence on prior flights. If you fly very much, you see these things and learn to act relaxed about them.
飞机刚一起飞，远未达到巡航高度时，我们就明显感到有什么不对劲。飞机直上直下颠簸、忽左忽右倾斜。我们这些有出门经验的人都四下环顾着，会心地笑了笑。在以前的飞行中，我们都经历过一些小问题和气流颠簸。如果你飞机坐多了，这类事情见多了，你也就学会泰然处之了。
4 It wasn't long before our relaxed attitudes began to evaporate. Minutes after we were in flight, our plane began dipping wildly and one wing plunged downward. The plane climbed higher but that didn't help our plight. The pilot soon provided some grave news regarding the flight.
没过多久我们放松的心情就开始消失了。飞行才几分钟，飞机就失控下坠，而且一只机翼向下倾斜。尽管飞机爬高了些，但于事无补。飞行员很快通报了这次飞行的严重事态。
5 "We are having some difficulties," he said. "At this time, it appears we have no nose-wheel steering. Our indicators show that our landing system has failed, which necessitates that we abort the flight and return to New York. Because of the problems with the mechanism o, if you look out the windows, you will see that we are dumping fuel from the airplane. We want to have as little on board as possible in the event of a rough touchdown."
“我们现在遇到了一些麻烦，”他说。“目前看来前轮转向装置无法运转；指示器显示，我们的着陆系统失灵了。我们必须放弃飞行，返回纽约。由于机械装置出现了问题，我们的起落架可能无法锁住，因此乘务人员将帮助大家做好准备，预防着陆时的颠簸。还有，如果大家看一下窗外，就会看见我们正在倾倒飞机上的燃油。我们想尽量减轻飞机的负荷，以应对飞机硬着陆。”
6 In other words, we were about to crash. No sight has ever been so sobering as that fuel, hundreds of gallons of it, streaming past my window out of the plane's tanks. The flight attendants scrambled to get people into position and comforted those who were instantaneously hysterical.
也就是说，我们要坠机了。从飞机油箱里倒出的成百上千加仑的汽油就从舷窗外飞流直下，没有什么比这种景象更能让人感到事态的严重。乘务人员急于让大家各归其位，还尽力安抚那些顷刻之间歇斯底里的乘客。
7 As I looked at the faces of my fellow business travelers, I was stunned by the changes I saw. Many looked visibly frightened now. Even the most sophisticated looked vulnerable and grim. Their faces actually looked panicked. There wasn't a single exception, and I realized that no one faces death without fear; no one is immune to its terror.
我看了看这些出门公干的旅伴们，惊讶地发现他们已经神色大变。此时许多人显然吓坏了。甚至那些饱经世故的人们也显得神经脆弱、神情严肃。他们其实已经慌神了。无一例外！由此，我意识到面对死神谁都害怕——无人能免俗。
8 Then, somewhere in my proximity, I overheard a still calm voice underlying the panic. It was a woman's voice, speaking in an absolutely normal conversational tone. Despite the circumstance, there was no angry emotion or tension, and this calm voice evoked a calm in me that quieted some of my initial fears. It became imperative that I find her.
就在此时，在我附近某个地方，我听到一个淹没在恐慌之中的依旧从容的声音。这是一位女性的声音，说话语调完全就像普通聊天一样正常。尽管形势危急，这个平静的声音既没有愤怒之情也没有紧张，唤醒了我内心的镇静，抚平了我最初的恐惧。我急需找到她。
9 All around the cabin, people cried. Many moaned and screamed. A few of the men maintained their appearance of calm by bracing against their armrests and grinding their teeth, but their fear was written all over them.
整个机舱都是人们的哭喊声。许多人呻吟着、尖叫着。几个男人死死撑住座位扶手，咬紧牙关，竭力保持镇静，但是浑身上下都透出惶恐。
10 Try as I might, I could not have spoken so calmly, so sweetly at that moment as the fabulous voice I heard. Finally, I saw her.
尽管我竭尽全力，但此刻我怎么也不可能像我听到的那个美妙的声音那样，讲话如此镇定、如此动听。终于，我看到了她。
11 In the midst of all the chaos, a mother was talking, just talking to her child. The woman, in her mid-30's and unremarkable looking in any other way, was staring full into the face of her daughter, who looked about four years old. The child listened closely, sensing that her mother's words were invaluable. The mother's gaze held the child so fixed and intent that the child seemed untouched by the sounds of grief and fear all around her.
混乱之中，一位母亲正在讲话，她就只对着自己的孩子讲。这名妇女35岁左右，无论怎么看都相貌平平。她正目不转睛地盯着女儿的脸，女儿看起来大约四岁。孩子仔细聆听，意识到母亲的话语的分量。母亲凝视的目光让孩子听得聚精会神，似乎一点也不为周围人们哀伤和惊恐的声音所动。
12 I strained to hear what this mother was telling her child. I relished the sound of calm confidence amongst the terror. Finally, I hovered nearby and by some miracle could hear her soft, sure, confident voice say in a calming tone over and over again, "I love you so much. Do you know for sure that I love you more than anything?"
我竭力想听清这位母亲在跟孩子讲些什么。我喜欢这恐惧中的淡定之声。最后，我凑得近了些。幸运的是，我听清了这温柔、沉着而自信的声音。她用平静的语调一遍遍地说：“我十分爱你。你相信我爱你胜过一切么？”
13 "Yes, Mommy," the little girl said.
“是的，妈咪，”小姑娘答道。
14 "And remember, no matter what happens, that I love you always; and that you are a good girl. Sometimes things happen that are not your fault. You are my beloved, good girl and my love will always be with you."
“不管发生什么事情，都要记住我永远爱你，你是个好孩子。有些事情的发生并不是你的错。你是我的乖女儿，我的爱将永远伴随着你。”
15 As her first concern was for her daughter's well-being, the mother then put her body over her daughter's, strapping the seat belt over both of them to save her daughter from a possible wreckage.
母亲首先心系女儿的安危，她俯身挡在女儿身上，用安全带系住她们俩人，以免女儿被可能的失事残片所伤。
16 Then, for no earthly reason, our landing gear held and we glided to a gentle stop. It was all over in seconds. Our touchdown was smooth and easy; the tragedy we had feared was not our destiny.
而后，天知道什么原因，我们的起落架居然锁住了，飞机滑行，平稳停下。几秒钟后一切都过去了。我们着地顺利、轻松；我们所恐惧的悲剧并没有成为我们的宿运。
17 The voice I heard that day never hesitated, never acknowledged dread, and maintained an evenness that seemed emotionally and physically impossible. During that descent, not one of the hardened business people could have spoken without a hint of fear in their voice. Only the greatest courage, with a foundation of even greater love, had brought that mother up and lifted her above the chaos around her.
那天我听到的那个声音没有丝毫的动摇，没有流露出半点惧怕，保持了一份平和。那份平和无论从感情上还是从生理上来讲都令人难以置信。在飞机下坠的过程中，见惯世事的商人们当时说话声中无不流露出恐惧。只有最伟大的勇气，以更伟大的爱为根基，才支撑起这位母亲，使她超然于周围的混乱之上。
18 That mom showed me the amazing power of love. And for those few minutes, I heard the voice of true courage.
那位母亲给我展现了爱的惊人力量。在那短短几分钟里，我听到了真正勇气的声音。
Unit 3
Text A Audrey Hepburn — A true angel in this world
奥黛丽·赫本——人间天使
1 Audrey Hepburn thrilled audiences with starring roles in noteworthy films like Breakfast at Tiffany's, Sabrina, Roman Holiday, My Fair Lady, War and Peace, and Always.
奥黛丽·赫本在《蒂凡尼的早餐》、《龙凤配》、《罗马假日》、《窈窕淑女》、《战争与和平》和《直到永远》等出色电影中主演的许多角色让观众为之陶醉。
2 Despite her success in the film domain, the roles she most preferred portraying were not in movies. She was an exemplary mother to her two sons and a UNICEF (the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) Ambassador of Goodwill serving victims in war-torn countries.
尽管在电影界获得成功，但她最愿意塑造的角色却并不在影片中，而是做两个儿子的模范母亲和联合国儿童基金会亲善大使，为饱受战争蹂躏的人们服务。
3 As a young girl during the Nazi occupation of her native Holland, Audrey Hepburn was aware of the brutality, death, and destruction of war. She was hungry and malnourished, as her family was bankrupted as a result of the invasion. Audrey's father abandoned the family, and two of her uncles were taken captive and killed. Audrey was grabbed off the street by Nazis and placed in line to be sent to a work camp. When the guards glanced away she darted off, barely escaping, and huddled in a cold, foul basement full of rats.
作为一名在纳粹占领下的祖国荷兰生活的小女孩，奥黛丽·赫本清楚战争所带来的野蛮、死亡和破坏。由于受到侵略，家庭破产，奥黛丽经常食不果腹，营养不良。她的父亲抛弃了家庭，两个舅舅也被俘，并且惨遭杀害。奥黛丽被纳粹分子从大街上抓走，与准备被押往劳役营的人放在一起。趁卫兵不注意，她飞快地跑开，惊险逃脱了，蜷缩着躲在一个满是耗子、又冷又脏的地下室里。
4 The little girl who would become the world's most magical actress began as an anonymous refugee confronting life's horrors and fragility firsthand. But she refused to allow her spirit to be afflicted by the desperate reality of her young life. Instead, she transcended those challenges but never forgot what it felt like to suffer, to be hungry, alone and helpless.
这个日后将成为世界上最具魅力女星的小女孩刚开始只是一个无名难民，直面生命中的恐惧和脆弱。不过她并没有让自己的精神受到幼年生活中残酷现实的影响。相反，她克服了种种挑战，而又从没忘记那种受苦挨饿、孤立无助的感觉。
5 After the war, Audrey and her mother left Holland, arriving in London as poor immigrants. Her dream of becoming a prime dancer drove her into a rigorous schedule at a famous ballet school. Later, she was spotted by a producer and eventually landed a role in the film Roman Holiday starring Gregory Peck, one of Hollywood's top leading men.
战后，奥黛丽和母亲离开荷兰，到达伦敦，成了贫穷的移民。奥黛丽梦想成为一名一流的舞蹈家，这驱使她去了一所著名的芭蕾舞学校，接受严苛的训练安排。后来，她被一位制片人发现，并最终得到机会，在好莱坞顶级男演员格列高利·派克主演的电影《罗马假日》中饰演一角。
6 Soon, Audrey was transformed from a malnourished immigrant to an internationally famous movie star. Director Billy Wilder complimented her, saying, "Audrey walked beautifully, she spoke beautifully." Although she won many Academy Awards and other honors for acting, Audrey felt that her most significant work was humanitarian work with those in need, and as the mother to her two sons. She suffered through two divorces and from her memories of the war. Yet, Audrey never let her sadness overcome her or jeopardize her hope for a brighter future. Audrey finally met her soul mate, Robert Wolders, and spent the last 12 years of her life with him.
很快，奥黛丽就从营养不良的移民变成了国际知名的影星。导演比利·怀尔德称赞她说：“奥黛丽行姿优美，言谈优雅。”尽管她数度获得奥斯卡金像奖和其他演艺荣誉，奥黛丽觉得自己最重要的工作还是为那些需要帮助的人开展人道主义服务，以及当好两个儿子的母亲。她经历了两次离婚，并忍受着战争记忆带给她的悲伤，然而，奥黛丽从不让这些悲伤支配自己，或者影响自己对美好未来的向往。最后，奥黛丽遇到了她的灵魂伴侣，罗伯特· 沃尔德斯，并和他一起度过了人生的最后12年。
7 Becoming famous never changed Audrey's generous and compassionate character. She felt a deep sense of responsibility to alleviate suffering of those in need, especially children. Friends said Audrey had a complete lack of ego and accepted and appreciated others as they were.
成名从没改变奥黛丽慷慨大方、慈悲为怀的性格。她怀有一种强烈的责任感，要减轻生活困难的人——特别是儿童——的痛苦。朋友们说，奥黛丽一点都不自我，并且接受和欣赏别人的一切。
8 Though she became very wealthy, she owned only one home in Switzerland. For Audrey it was a paradise where she could hide from the world with her beloved family, work in her garden and take long walks in nature.
尽管她十分富有，但奥黛丽只有一套住房，在瑞士。对奥黛丽而言，它是一个天堂。在那里她可以和心爱的家人一起避开尘世，在花园劳作，在大自然里悠然散步。
9 In 1988, Audrey was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF designed to provide emergency food and healthcare to children suffering the destruction of war or other catastrophes. In that role, her lifelong passion for helping those in need, found its greatest calling.
1988年，奥黛丽被任命为联合国儿童基金会亲善大使，这个基金会专门为受到战争或其他大灾难伤害的儿童提供紧急食品援助和卫生保健。亲善大使这个角色让她毕生帮助有困难的人的热情化为了神圣的使命。
10 She turned down three million dollars to pen her autobiography and instead accepted one dollar a year in the more conscientious role as diplomat for UNICEF. For seven months out of each of her last five years, she and Robby left the peace and beauty in their cozy home to embark on outreach trips into some of the most difficult places on earth. From Bangladesh, Sudan, India, Vietnam, Kenya, Ethiopia, Central and South America, to Somalia, Audrey Hepburn traveled representing UNICEF, making over 50 emotionally draining and physically dangerous missions into bleak destinations to raise world awareness of wars and droughts. Having been a victim of war, she understood the blessing of being the beneficiary of food, clothing, and, most of all, hope.
别人出三百万美金请她写自传，她拒绝了。但她却接受了每年一美元的联合国儿童基金会大使这个更需责任心的角色。在生命的最后五年里，每年她和罗比都有七个月离开他们温馨居所的静谧和美丽，启程外出到地球上最困难的一些地方去。从孟加拉国、苏丹、印度、越南、肯尼亚、埃塞俄比亚、中南美洲到索马里，奥黛丽·赫本代表联合国儿童基金会四处奔走，承担了五十多项劳心劳力、危及生命安全的任务，深入到荒凉之地，唤起世界人民对战争和旱灾的关注。因为自己曾经也是战争受害者，她理解得到食品和衣物的援助，尤其是获得希望，是多大的幸福。
11 Audrey felt it was wicked that billions of children were deprived of simple joys and drowned in overwhelming misery. She believed deeply in the ideology that all people share in the duty to care for those in need. Audrey Hepburn was always ready to lead by example. She said: "When you deny childhood, you deny life." She saw UNICEF's work as an integral, sacred force in people's lives and said of UNICEF's results, "Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist."
奥黛丽觉得，太多的儿童被剥夺了简单的快乐而陷入无边的痛苦之中，这是一种罪恶。她坚信一个理念：所有人都有责任去关心那些需要帮助的人。奥黛丽·赫本始终都身为表率。她说：“当你放弃童年，你就放弃了生命。”她将联合国儿童基金会的工作看作人们生活中不可分割、神圣的力量，谈到其成果时她说：“任何不相信奇迹的人都不是一个现实主义者。”
12 In 1992, Audrey was stricken by cancer. She, Robby and her two sons returned to their home in Switzerland for their last Christmas together.
1992年，奥黛丽患了癌症。她和罗比、两个儿子回到他们在瑞士的家，一起度过了最后一个圣诞节。
13 Audrey's long-time friend and world-famous French fashion designer, Hubert de Givenchy, spoke to his cherished friend for the last time, just before she died. He said she was "... serene at the end because she knew she had achieved everything with perfection".
奥黛丽的老朋友、世界著名的法国时装设计师于贝尔·德·纪梵希在她去世前，最后一次和他的挚友说话。他说她“……最后是安详的，因为她知道她已经完美地实现了一切”。
14 Audrey Hepburn's passion for service was enduring. Even as her life ended at 63 years of age, she remained a gracious woman who perpetually signified simplicity, charity, charm and kindness.
奥黛丽· 赫本对服务的热情是持久的。即使在她63岁生命终止的时候，她仍然充满着关爱，永远象征着纯朴、仁爱、魅力和善良。
15 The majesty of Audrey Hepburn's spirit of social responsibility and dedication lives on in her words: "Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm. As you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others." And "For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."
奥黛丽的社会责任感和奉献的伟大精神在她的话语中得以传扬：“记住，如果你在任何时候需要一只手来帮助你，你可以在自己手臂的末端找到它。随着你的成长，记住你还有一只手，一只用来帮助自己，另一只用来帮助别人。”“要想有美丽双眸，就要善于发现他人优点；要想双唇动人，只说和善之辞；要想镇定自信，谨记自己始终与大家同行。”
Unit 3
Text BA life in film
斯皮尔伯格的电影人生
Steven had to face rejections and obstacles in his film-creating efforts, but his persistence and dedication transformed the obstacles into an alternative route to success.
史蒂文在拍摄电影的努力过程中不得不面对无数拒绝和障碍，但他的坚持和付出将困难转变成了一条成功之道。
1 At 12 years old, Steven Spielberg was already visiting film shootings at Universal Studios in his office suit, a packed lunch tucked into his briefcase. The young boy tried to immerse himself in film in any way possible. He had been given an administrative job at Universal Studios from a friend of his father's, and every day, even though he didn't have a legitimate security pass, he would try to manipulate his way past the guards and into his personal paradise. Such persistence is hardly surprising from a boy whose lifelong conviction was to "Make sure you are right and go on!" (adopted from a 1954 Disney film).
年仅12岁，史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格就已身着办公制服，公文包里带着午餐，光顾环球影视公司的电影拍摄了。这个男孩尽力通过各种方法让自己融入电影。他父亲的一位朋友曾给他一份在环球影视公司的行政工作。每天，即使他没有合法安检通行证，他依然设法绕过看守，进入自己的天堂。对于一位终身信念是“确定你是对的，然后勇往直前！”（出自一部1954年迪斯尼影片）的小男孩而言，这种坚持并不让人意外。
2 When Steven was eight years old, his father gave him a Brownie 8 mm film camera as his birthday present. Steven immediately began collecting footage of family events, and he simulated action scenes with his miniature toy spacecraft, populating his films with his neighborhood friends as actors. People quickly began to recognize his terrific talent, and he won a prize for cinematography for his early westernThe Last Gunfight; years later, he won a national contest for his film Escape to Nowhere. His film Firelight was twice analyzed by a national newspaper and was presented in the city theater as if it were a Hollywood premiere. By the time he was 17 years old, Steven had established himself as a director with the artistic intuition of a man twice his age.
史蒂文8岁时，父亲送给他一部布朗尼8毫米电影摄像机作为生日礼物。史蒂文马上着手收集家庭事件的镜头，用自己的微型玩具飞船模拟动作场景，并让街坊朋友在他的影片中做演员。人们很快开始发现他惊人的才能：凭借早期西部片《最后的枪战》，他赢得一项摄影奖；几年后又凭电影《无处容身》在全国比赛中获胜。他的电影《火光》得到一家全国性报纸的两次评析，并在当地电影院像首映的好莱坞大片一样放映。到17岁时，史蒂文已经确立了自己导演的地位，并具有年龄大自己一倍的人才有的艺术直觉。
3 His achievements are certainly related to the personal obstacles and setbacks he faced from an early age. Steven's family moved often, so that he was constantly trying to find his place in a turbulent environment with new people. Despite his natural intelligence, Steven had a carefree attitude and put little effort into school. He consistently earned only a C average, or lower. Socially, he wasn't athletic or popular, and since his conspicuous interest in film made him seem eccentric, classmates shunned and mocked him.
他的成就和他早年经历的那些障碍和挫折息息相关。史蒂文的家庭经常搬迁，于是他总要在动荡的环境、陌生的人群中寻找自己的位置。尽管天生聪明，史蒂文却态度散漫，对学业并不上心，平均成绩一直只能得C或更低。在社交方面，他体育上不擅长，也不受人欢迎。由于他的兴趣明显都在电影上，他看上去古里古怪，同学们不是躲着他就是取笑他。
4 His home life was not ideal either, as his father's rigid engineering temperament could not understand his or his mother's artistic personalities. Steven would miss his father when he was gone for long work trips, and then reverted to furiously arguing with him as soon as he returned. Finally, when he was in high school, his parents ended their unhappy marriage with a divorce. The theme of the lack of a father figure consistently infected Steven's films.
由于工科出身的父亲性格呆板，不理解他和母亲的艺术个性，他的家庭生活也不理想。在父亲外出工作的漫长期间，史蒂文也会想念他，但一回家两人就又狂暴地争吵。最后，在他上高中时，父母离婚，结束了他们不幸福的婚姻。缺少父亲形象的主题一直影响着史蒂文的影片。
5 Unfriendly surroundings at home and school made Steven strive even harder to achieve in the film world. He applied to two of the best film schools in the country: the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles. But even with a formidable 10 years of experiences in filmmaking and his friends at Universal Studios endorsing him, his grades were too poor, and he was flatly turned down at both institutions.
家庭和学校的冷漠环境让史蒂文更加努力，以期在电影界有所成就。他申请了两家国内最好的电影院校，南加州大学和加州大学洛杉矶分校。尽管有十年丰富的电影制作经验和环球影视公司朋友的支持，但是由于成绩太差，他仍被两个大学断然拒绝。
6 Unwilling to give up, Steven entered the California State University, where he hoped the program in TV and radio might open his way to Hollywood. Unfortunately, the university was not suited to his experience, and one academician recalled, "Steven knew more about cameras, mounts, and lenses than anyone else in the department. He could teach there." Despite his manifest talent, his low grades sabotaged transfer attempts, forcing real film schools to withhold acceptance.
史蒂文不愿意就此放弃，去了加州州立大学。他希望在那里广播电视的专业学习能打开他通往好莱坞的道路。不幸的是，这所大学并不适合他这种经历的人。一位学者回忆道：“史蒂文比系里的任何人都更懂摄像机、底座、镜头等相关知识，他完全可以在那里任教。”尽管他才华出众，但学业成绩太低使他转学受挫，真正的电影学校都不接纳他。
7 Steven contrived to rectify the situation on his own by diverting his attention away from academics. He cleaned his old suit and briefcase and returned to visiting Universal Studios where he had worked as a boy. He discreetly sneaked into any department he could, such as shooting rooms, editing and sound-mixing studios, and he quietly watched until he was discovered and ordered to leave. Introducing himself under the pretext of being either an actor, director, or producer, he would invite people to dinner to make connections and learn as much as he could. Even though he was caught and expelled at least once a day, he always returned to smuggle himself back in again.
史蒂文设法自己改变处境，将注意力从学业转移开来。他清理好旧制服和公文包，重新回到儿时曾工作过的环球影视公司。他悄悄地溜进任何他能进入的部门，像拍摄间、剪辑间、音效间等，静静地观看，直到被人发现并被赶走。他假装介绍自己是演员、导演或制片人，邀请别人一起吃饭来积攒人脉，并尽可能地学习。即使他每天至少有一次会被逮到并被赶走，但他总是回来再偷偷混进去。
8 Steven repeatedly tried to prove himself to the Universal executives, while working in a cafeteria to save up money for equipment. He would discretely create scenes and then shoot and re-shoot his movies. He kept upgrading from 8 to 16 and finally 35 mm film before he was allowed a screening. Finally, his film Amblin was given a chance in front of the executives. It was a short, silent film and the plot differed greatly from the sci-fi and combat films that would later predominate Steven's career. Still, the short film was awesome enough to win Steven, only 21 years old, a seven-year contract with Universal Studios.
史蒂文一边再三向环球公司管理层证明自己，一边在餐厅打工攒钱买设备。他将各场景单独进行创作，一次又一次地拍摄。在得到放映机会前，他不断升级胶片，从8毫米到16毫米，再到35毫米。最后，他的影片《漫步前行》终于有机会出现在管理层面前。这是一部无声短片，情节和史蒂文日后职业生涯中的主流科幻片和战争片大相径庭。不过那个短片依然足够精彩，为年仅21岁的史蒂文赢得了环球的七年合约。
9 After directing smaller TV dramas and low-budget projects, Steven earned the chance to direct his big Hollywood debut: a thriller film starring a shark! Jaws was a box office hit and it made Steven famous. He continued his relationship with Universal Studios to produce the notable movies E.T., Jurassic Park, and Schindler's List.
在执导了多部小型电视剧和低成本项目后，史蒂文得到机会导演他的第一部好莱坞大片，一部关于鲨鱼的惊悚片！《大白鲨》成为了票房冠军，让史蒂文一举成名。他和环球继续合作，又拍摄了《外星人》、《侏罗纪公园》和《辛德勒的名单》等著名影片。
10 As his first producer said, "It is not by any coincidence that Steven is in his present position." Instead, it is Steven's committed spirit that has strengthened him in standing fast against all rejections, prejudice and skepticism and driven him to keep moving onward.
正如他的第一个制片人所言：“史蒂文能达到目前的地位绝非偶然。”相反，是史蒂文执著的精神让他能够脚踏实地，直面所有拒绝、偏见和怀疑，并推动他持续向前。
Unit 4
Text A The surprising purpose of travel
令人惊奇的旅行目的
1 It's 4:15 in the morning, and my alarm clock has just stolen away a lovely dream. I almost return back to sleep before my eye catches my packed suitcase and I groan, remembering that I'm going to the airport. The taxi is late and then lost, and I'm getting increasingly nervous that I'll miss my flight. I run in when we arrive, stagger through security and finally get to my gate. After all the trouble of this morning, my flight is canceled and I'm stuck in this terminal for the next 218 minutes, and my only consolation is a cup of complimentary airport coffee. This is traveling, a burdensome series of running and waiting, and after countless hours, finally getting there.
早晨四点一刻，闹钟把我从美梦中惊醒，要不是突然看见早已收拾好的行李箱，我几乎又要睡着。想起来还要去机场，我叹了口气。出租车来晚了，并且在途中迷了路，我越来越担心会赶不上飞机。出租车一到机场我就冲进去，跌跌撞撞通过安检处，终于，我来到了登机口。经历这一早所有的麻烦事，我乘坐的航班却被取消了。在接下来的218分钟里，我被困在了机场，唯一觉得安慰的是机场提供的一杯免费咖啡。这就是旅行，让人心烦的跑跑停停。最终，在不知经过多少小时之后，终于到达要去的地方。
2 Why do we travel? I don't mind the actual flying, the wonder of being airborne in a dense metal bird. The rest of the journey, however, can feel like a tedious lesson in the ills of modernity, from the predawn x-ray screening to the sad airport malls selling clusters of keepsakes. It's the result of a globalized world, and it sucks.
我们为什么要旅行？其实，我并不介意飞行本身，在这样一个密实的金属大鸟中飞行，让我感到很奇妙。然而，旅程其余的部分，从一大早X光检查到出售大堆纪念品的糟糕的机场商场，感觉就像是关于现代社会弊病的乏味课程。这是全球化的结果，它糟糕透了。
3 Sometimes, of course, we travel because we need to. Because in this digital age, there is still something important about the handshake at a business luncheon. Or eating mom's special food on Thanksgiving. Or seeing your girlfriend on your 2-year anniversary.
当然，有时候我们旅行是因为我们需要去旅行。因为即使在这个数字化时代，我们仍然有一些很重要的事情要去做，比如在商务午餐中与生意伙伴握手，或是在感恩节这天吃上妈妈特别准备的食物，或是在你和你女朋友的两周年纪念日这天去看她。
4 But most travel is decidedly optional. Only corporate travel, about 30% of trips over 50 miles, is truly compulsory. Instead, we travel because we want to, because the annoyances of the airport are offset by the thrill of being someplace new. Because work is stressful and our blood pressure is too high and we need a vacation somewhere tropical. Because home is boring. Because the flights are on sale. Because Paris is Paris.
但是大多数旅行是可去可不去的，在超过50英里的旅行中，只有30%属于真正必需的商务旅行。我们旅行是因为我们想要去旅行，因为到一个新地方的兴奋和激动可以抵消在机场的各种烦心事；因为工作压力太大，我们的血压太高，我们要去热带地区度假；因为在家实在太无聊；因为航班都在打折；因为巴黎毕竟是巴黎。
5 Thanks to modern aviation, we can now move through space at an inhuman speed. For the first time in human history, we can outrun the sun and move from one hemisphere to another in a single day. Of course, it's not enough to simply get on a plane. If we want to realize the creative benefits of travel, then we have to re-think its overall purpose. Most people, after all, escape to Paris so they don't have to think about those troubles they left behind. But here's the irony: Our mind is most likely to solve our most stubborn problems while we are sitting in luxury in a Left Bank café. So, instead of contemplating that buttery dessert, we should be conscious of those domestic issues we just can't solve.
多亏了现代航空技术，我们现在可以以非凡的速度在空中穿梭。在人类历史中，这是我们第一次超过太阳——在短短一天中从一个半球到达另一个半球。当然，仅仅往飞机上一坐是不够的。我们要想认识到旅行在提高创新力方面的价值，还得再全面考虑其目的。毕竟，大多数人逃到巴黎，是因为这样他们就可以不必考虑家里的那些烦心事。但是，具有讽刺意味的是，当我们坐在豪华的左岸咖啡馆时，我们的脑子极有可能能解决那些最棘手的问题。因此,我们应该考虑那些在家里解决不了的问题，而不是琢磨那些奶油甜点。
6 The larger lesson, though, is that our thoughts are saturated with the familiar. The brain is a space of near infinite possibility, which means that it spends a lot of time and energy choosing what not to notice. As a result, creativity is traded away for efficiency; we think in finite, literal prose, not symbolic verse. A bit of distance, however, helps loosen the cognitive chains that imprison us, making it easier to mingle the new with the old; the mundane is grasped from a slightly more abstract perspective. According to research, the experience of an exotic culture endows us with a valuable open-mindedness, making it easier to realize that even a trivial thing can have multiple meanings. Consider the act of leaving food on the plate: In China, this is often seen as a compliment, a signal that the host has provided enough to eat. But in America the same act is a subtle insult, an indication that the food wasn't good enough to finish.
但更应该知道的是我们的思想被熟悉的东西所充满。大脑是一个几乎具有无限可能性的空间，这就意味着它花了大量的时间和精力选择不去注意什么。因此,我们牺牲创造力来换取效率。我们以字义明确的散文方式思考，而非以具有象征意义的诗歌方式思考。然而，一点的距离就可以帮助我们放松禁锢我们认知的链条，使新旧思想的结合更容易，对平淡无奇的事情可从更抽象的角度加以认知。有研究指出，体验异国文化可以赋予我们宝贵的开放性思维，使我们更容易明白即使是微不足道的事物也可以有多种意义。想一想把食物剩在盘子里这个行为:在中国，这通常被看成是一种赞美，说明主人提供了足够的食物。但是在美国，同样的行为却暗含侮辱，表明食物不够好，人们不愿意吃完。
7 Such multicultural contrasts mean that seasoned travelers are open to ambiguity, willing to realize that there are decidedly different (and equally valid) ways of interpreting the world. This, in turn, allows them to expand the circumference of their "cognitive inputs" as they refuse to settle for their first answers and initial guesses.
这种多元文化对比说明，经验丰富的旅行者会接受对事物的多样性解读，他们欣然认识到对这个世界可以有截然不同（但却同样有效）的方式进行解释。这也从而让他们扩大了“认知输入”的范围，因为他们拒绝仅仅满足于他们的最初答案和先前的猜测。
8 Of course, this mental flexibility doesn't come from mere distance, a simple change in latitude and longitude. Instead, this renaissance of creativity appears to be a side effect of difference: We need to change cultures, to experience the disorienting diversity of human traditions. The same facets of foreign travel that are so confusing (Do I tip the waiter? Where is this train taking me?) turn out to have a lasting impact, making us more creative because we're less insular. We're reminded of all that we don't know, which is nearly everything; we're surprised by the constant stream of surprises. Even in this globalized age, we can still be amazed at all the earthly things that weren't included in the Let's Go guidebook and that certainly don't exist back home.
当然，这种思维的灵活性不仅仅来自纯粹的距离变化，即简单的经纬度的变化。相反，这种创造力的复兴似乎是差异所带来的副产品: 我们需要处于不同的文化中，体验人类传统中纷繁复杂的多样性。在国外旅行中让人迷惑的同一个方面的问题（如我该给服务生小费吗？火车要把我带到哪里？)，产生了一种持久的影响,使我们更加具有创造性,因为我们不再那么视野狭隘了。我们了解了我们不知道的东西，而这些东西几乎涵盖了一切；我们对接连不断的惊喜感到惊奇。即使在这个全球化的时代，我们仍然会对所有未包括在《旅行指南》中的、平常的东西感到惊奇，而这些东西在自己家中也不存在。
9 So, let's not pretend that travel doesn't have its drawbacks, or that we endure jet lag for pleasure. We don't spend 10 hours lost in the Louvre because we like it, and the view from the top of Machu Picchu probably doesn't make up for the trouble of lost luggage. (More often than not, I need a vacation after my vacation.) We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret cornerstones of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything.
当然，我们也并不是假装旅行没有缺点，或是说我们忍受飞行时差综合反应只是为了消遣。在卢浮宫我们迷路十个小时，那不是因为我们喜欢迷路。我们站在马丘比丘古城遗址顶端俯瞰的风景可能也并不能弥补我们丢失行李的麻烦。（通常，我在假期结束后还需要一个休假。）我们旅行是因为我们需要旅行，因为距离与差异是创造力的秘密基石。我们回家后，家还是那个家，但是我们的思维已经有所改变，而这就可以改变一切。
Unit 4
Text B Traveling solo — A blessing overall!
独自旅行——总体来说是好事
1 So you're ready to travel. Pick a place, any place. Let's say you've always wanted to go to China. You've seen pictures of the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tian'anmen Square. You've always been fascinated with Chinese aesthetics and culture, with red, fragrant temples and venerable statues. You have a chunk of money saved and extra vacation time earned. Now is the time to go!
现在你准备去旅行，挑一个地方，任何地方都可以。比如你一直想去中国，你已经看过了长城、紫禁城、天安门广场的照片。你一直被中国的美学艺术和文化所深深吸引，那里有香烟缭绕的红色寺庙，有庄严的塑像。你早就省下了一笔钱，挤出了点时间，现在，该出发了！
2 But maybe you haven't traveled much. You've never been to an exotic place where you can't speak the language or read the signs. A place where you'll have to do all the research for yourself, find hotels, get yourself around, buy locomotive or bus tickets, order your own food. You must figure all of this out while looking at the unfamiliar notation which you see wherever you look or go.
但也许你以前旅行不多。你从来没去过异国他乡，你不会讲当地语言，也看不懂任何标志。在这里，你得亲自研究所有的事情，自己找旅店，自己到处逛，自己买火车票或汽车票，自己点餐。所有这一切，无论你身处何处，你都得盯着那些不熟悉的符号自己搞定。
3 So now you're ready to realize your dream to explore China, and find, for yourself, the soul of the country. Unfortunately, right from the onset, none of your friends share that dream. Your sister is pregnant and can't travel. Your best friend just got a new job and can't take time off. So what do you do? You could ask everyone you know — friends, acquaintances, co-workers. You could join a tour. Or, you could go alone.
所以，现在你整装待发，去实现探索中国的梦想，亲自去发现这个国家的灵魂所在。但是不幸的是，刚一开始就没有朋友分享你的梦想。你姐姐怀孕了，不能去旅行；你最好的朋友刚刚找到新工作，没办法休假。你该怎么办呢？你可能会询问认识的每一个人——朋友，熟人，同事。你可以参团旅游。或者，你也可以自己一个人去。
4 To travel alone is a difficult decision for anyone, though especially for women. For me, it came naturally. I made that trip to China, and then zigzagged on a multinational excursion through Indonesia, Thailand, England and France.
对于任何人来说，独自旅行都是一个艰难的决定。对女性来说尤其如此。而对我而言，这个决定却再自然不过。我先去了中国，然后再辗转到了印度尼西亚、泰国、英国和法国，经历了一次多国之旅。
5 But the reactions I've gotten, from people I know, fellow travelers, and especially, from the natives of the countries I've visited, showed me that solo traveling is strange, and even considered inconceivable or reckless by many people. People ask me if the isolation makes me sad or even if I'm more susceptible to violent or dangerous situations.
但是，我从认识的人、旅友，尤其是所到国家的居民的反应中得知，很多人觉得独自旅行很怪异，甚至会觉得不可思议和欠考虑。人们问我单独一人会不会觉得难过，甚至问我是不是更容易遭遇暴力或者危险情况。
6 This has been sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse. I remember searching desperately for accommodations in Taiwan. The university listed in my booklet no longer had dormitories for travelers, and I was lucky when the desk clerk called a young woman out of a nearby office. As it turned out, she was offering to let me stay at her flat and even had a friend come show me around the city the next day.
单独旅行有时是件好事，有时则不然。我想起曾经有一次在台湾绝望地寻找住处的经历。我的手册上列出的大学已经没有宿舍提供给旅游者了。幸运的是，接待人员从旁边办公室叫出一个年轻女孩儿。结果，这个女孩儿让我在她的公寓住了一晚，甚至第二天还让她的一个朋友带我在这座城市转了转。
7 Also in Taiwan, I met two girls who smuggled me into their hotel room, gave me one of the beds (they shared the other), and took me to a feast with their tour group. When they heard my next stop was their hometown, they arranged for a bilingual friend to pick me up at the train station.
还是在台湾，我遇见两个女孩儿。她们偷偷地把我带进旅店的房间，让我睡其中的一张床（她们俩挤另一张床），还带我和她们的旅行团一起吃了顿丰盛的饭。当她们听说我下一站要去她们的家乡时，又安排了一个会说两种语言的朋友到火车站接我。
8 But there has also been the downside of those not-so-pleasant experiences. In Indonesia, a cute boy gave me a ride on his motorbike, and thought that gave him license to grope me illicitly. Many times in Indonesia, boys menaced me, assuming I was willing to pay for their company. In Japan, I was picked up by a young man who refused to drop me at my Youth Hostel; he insisted I stay with his friends. The friends turned out to be four girls; I was safe, but one snored like a lawnmower, and it took me two days to escape.
当然也有一些不太愉快的负面经历。在印度尼西亚，一个长相可爱的男孩儿让我搭乘了他的摩托车，认为这样他就可以非礼我。在那里，常常有一些男孩儿威胁我，认为我同意付钱让他们陪游。在日本，一个年轻男人让我搭车，却拒绝让我在青年旅馆下车，他坚持让我和他的朋友们呆在一起。结果我发现，他的朋友是四个女孩儿。我很安全，但是其中一个人打呼噜就像割草机一样。我花了两天时间才逃走。
9 I've been irritated and perplexed many times — not speaking a language, not understanding or being understood. Once, in Italy, a hotel clerk tried to overcharge me and only gave up after 10 minutes of arguing. Another time in China, a taxi driver insisted I pay more, and I was rescued by the doorman of a fancy hotel.
很多时候，我很苦恼，感觉不知所措，因为不懂当地的语言，不能理解别人的意思，别人也听不懂我说的话。有一次在意大利，一个旅店接待员试图问我多要钱，争论了十分钟他才放弃。还有一次在中国，一个出租车司机坚持问我多要钱，最后还是一个豪华宾馆的门卫帮我解了围。
10 Having a companion might have helped safeguard me from some of those problems. But it would have suppressed other opportunities — a long afternoon in Thailand all alone in the back of a hay wagon and then seven days in the back of a truck with a Brit, two Aussies and two Norwegians! Eating ethnic food on my way through eastern Korea with four youthful Japanese salarymen. Getting sick in China, and being nursed with chocolate bars and tissues by a couple from Texas.
如果身边有一个同伴陪着我，也许就能使我避免刚刚讲的那些问题。但是这也会使我错失其他的机会，比如我在泰国装干草的马车后面独自坐了整个下午，然后和一个英国人、两个澳大利亚人、两个挪威人在一辆卡车的后车厢里呆了七天；我在去韩国东部的路上和四个年轻的日本上班族品尝了民族风味的食物；在中国生病了，有一对来自得克萨斯州的夫妻照顾我，给我吃巧克力棒，递纸巾。
11 The few times I have traveled with a companion, I haven't had the same ample opportunities to meet people. Other travelers can swap stories with you about the local folklore of the places they've been to and often have credible insights into the place you're visiting. Locals are also more likely to see you as approachable and be upfront with you when you're on your own.
在我为数不多的几次结伴旅行中，我就没有那么多的机会结识那么多的人。其他旅游者会给你讲他们到过的地方的民间风情，对于你正在旅行的地方，他们也有令人信服的见解。当你独自一人旅行时，当地人也会觉得你更容易接近，从而愿意和你坦诚相对。
12 Of course you have to be careful not to endanger yourself by throwing caution to the wind. Watch your back, but don't presume the worst and be overly fearful. Be friendly with people, but watch out for those who are too friendly with you. Don't disregard your instincts. If you hear stories about criminals on a road, take the road – just don't take much cash, and don't accept Coca Cola from strangers.
当然，你必须当心，不要因为大意而使自己处于危险的境地。要处处提防，但是也不要把什么事都想成最坏的，过于担惊受怕。要对人友善，但需防备那些对你过于友好的人。别忽视你的直觉。如果你听说某条公路上曾经有坏人出现，你可以走这条路——只是不要带太多的现金，不要喝陌生人给你的可乐。
13 The key to solo travel is to open your mind, close your eyes and leap in! Everything that happens to you is an experience, and good, bad or neutral, they will all benefit you in some way. Take those little annoyances, those inefficiencies, and those boring bureaucrats with a laugh. If you despise something, just remember: You don't live there, you can leave anytime, and you'll never have to deal with this again!
单独旅行的关键是敞开心扉，闭上眼睛，投入其中!所有发生在你身上的事情都是一种经历，无论是好的、坏的，或是不好不坏的，将来总会对你有益。把那些小烦恼、那些拖拉低效的作风、那些令人厌恶的官僚主义都抛在脑后，一笑置之。如果反感某些东西，请记住:你不是住在那里，你随时可以离开，你以后再也不用管它了!
14 Don't ever let a lack of companionship constrain you from doing what you really want to do. Once you go solo, you'll be amazed at how sensational your travel experiences will be.
永远不要因为缺少同伴而不去做你真正想做的事情。一旦你独自一人去旅行，你会惊奇地发现你的旅行经历将会是多么美好。
Unit 5
Text AWill you be a worker or a laborer?
你想做工作者还是劳役者？
1 To be truly happy, a person must feel both free and important. People are never happy if they feel compelled by society to do work they do not enjoy, or if what they do enjoy is ignored by society as having no value or importance. In a society where slavery in the strict sense has been abolished, the social indications around work, the value of work and the salary, have degraded many laborers into modern slaves — "wage slaves".
一个人要想真正快乐，必须觉得自己既自由又重要。如果觉得自己是受社会逼迫而做自己不喜欢的工作，或者自己喜欢的工作被认为没价值或不重要而遭社会忽视，那他绝不会快乐。在一个奴隶制度严格说来已经被废除的社会里，工作的社会含义、工作的价值和薪水，已经把许多劳役者降格为现代奴隶——“薪奴”。
2 People are considered laborers if their job has an adverse effect on them, yet they feel compelled to continue working by the necessity of conforming to societal expectations and earning the revenue to support themselves and their families. The polar opposite of labor is play. When we play a game, we enjoy what we are doing, but it is a purely private pastime; society does not care when or whether we play.
如果人们的工作对自己有负面的影响，但为了遵从社会的期望或者挣钱养家糊口而被迫必须继续工作，那么他们就被认为是劳役者。劳役的对立面是玩乐。当我们玩游戏时，我们很享受正在做的事情，但这仅仅是个人娱乐。社会对我们何时玩乐或者是否玩乐并不关心。
3 Between labor and play stands work. People are labeled as workers if their personal interests coincide with the jobs society pays them to do; what is necessary labor from the point of view of society is voluntary play from the individual's personal point of view. Whether a job is to be designated as labor or work depends, not on the job itself, but on the tastes of the individual who undertakes it. The difference does not, for example, correlate with the difference between a manual and mental job or between jobs of low or high esteem; a gardener covered in dirt in a greenhouse may be a worker while a well-dressed city mayor may prove to be an unhappy laborer!
处于劳役和玩乐之间的就是工作。如果人们的个人兴趣跟社会付酬让他们做的工作相吻合，他们就被称为工作者。社会上看来一定是苦工的事情对个人来说却是自在的玩乐活动。一份活到底应定为工作还是劳役并不取决于其本身，而是承担这份活的个人感受。比如，二者的区别与是体力活还是脑力活或尊严的高低没有关联。温室里满身尘土的园丁可能是工作者，而衣冠楚楚的市长则可能是一个不开心的劳役者！
4 People's attitude toward their work determines everything. To workers, leisure means simply the hours they need to relax and rest in order to work efficiently. Workers are therefore more prone to dedicate more time to working, taking too little leisure rather than too much. To laborers, on the other hand, leisure means autonomy from compulsion, so it is natural for them to imagine that the fewer hours they have to spend laboring, and the more hours they have free for play, the better.
人们对自己工作的态度决定了一切。对工作者而言，闲暇只是为了更有效地工作而需要放松休息的时间。因此，工作者更倾向于投入更多的时间工作，而花在休闲上的时间并非很多，而是很少。而对劳役者而言，休闲意味着从被迫状态中得到自主。因此，他们自然会想，花在劳作上的时间越少，自在玩乐的时间越多，则越好。
5 Besides the mere hours spent in leisure, workers and laborers differ in the amount of personal satisfaction they derive from their jobs. Workers who enjoy their jobs will be happier, less stressed, and generally more satisfied with their lives. They will also work with more diligence and precision because they have fostered a sense of personal pride in their jobs. On the other hand, laborers, whose sole incentive is earning their livelihood, feel that the time they spend on the daily grind is wasted and doesn't contribute to their happiness. Instead of valuing all 24 hours of their day as enjoyable and productive hours, they gauge only the time spent in leisure and play as meaningful. Unfortunately, laborers are all too commonplace, and only a small percentage of the population is in the lucky position of being workers.
除了花在闲暇上的时间不同，工作者和劳役者的区别还在于他们从工作中获得的个人满足感不同。工作者喜欢自己的工作，感觉更快乐，更轻松，通常对自己的生活更满意。他们工作起来也会更勤奋，更精细，因为他们对自己的工作已经产生了一种自豪感。相反，由于劳役者的唯一动力是挣生活费，他们觉得每天花在苦差上的时间是一种浪费，不会让自己快乐。他们不把每天的24小时都当作愉快有用的时光，认为只有花在休闲娱乐上的时间才是有意义的。不幸的是，劳役者太常见了，只有一小部分人能有幸成为工作者。
6 In recent decades, technological innovation and the division of labor have caused major economic changes by eliminating the need for special strength or skill in many fields and have turned many paid occupations with enjoyable work into boring labor. Increasing productivity with automated machines, such as robots, has reduced the number of necessary laboring hours. It is possible to imagine an upcoming society in which the majority of the population will have almost as much leisure time as in earlier times was enjoyed by the medieval aristocracy. The medieval aristocrats had an abundance of leisure time but often wasted it in trivial pursuit of games and fashion. Likewise, modern-day laborers with too much leisure time may find it difficult to refrain from the addictive and trivial pursuits of celebrity gossip, extravagant fashion, and excessive video games and TV — similar bad habits that waste valuable time.
近几十年，技术创新和劳动分工使许多领域不再需要专长或特殊技能，导致了重大经济变革，把许多可以通过开心工作来挣钱的职业变成了枯燥的劳役。随着自动化机器如机器人的使用，日益提高的生产力减少了必要的劳作时间。可以想象，在即将到来的社会中，大多数人会拥有同早期中世纪贵族一样多的闲暇时间。中世纪贵族有大量的闲暇时间，但却往往耗费在玩游戏和对时尚的无聊追求上。同样，有太多闲暇时间的现代劳役者们会觉得很难摆脱那些无聊又易上瘾的追求，像名人八卦、奢华时尚、过度电子游戏和电视等诸如此类浪费宝贵时间的坏习惯。
7 However, it's not necessary to take such a toxic attitude toward such a positive thing as leisure time. In fact, in many countries, people now use their leisure time to improve their minds and their working conditions to create a happier, more contented life. Lifelong learning can make the difference between being bored, unhappy laborers and workers who find meaning and joy in their employment and life. "Continuing education" or "experiential learning" can offer an array of classes from pleasant diversions such as sports, art classes or music to leadership development, advanced accounting skills, or CAD (computer-aided design), to name only a few.
不过，没必要对休闲这种正面的事情采取如此否定的态度。事实上，目前在很多国家，人们利用闲暇时间去提高认识，改善工作环境，以创造更快乐安逸的生活。终身学习对做一个乏味不开心的劳役者，还是成为一个从职业和生活中发现意义和乐趣的工作者有重要的影响。“继续教育”或“体验学习”能提供一系列课程，略举几例，如从运动、艺术或音乐等休闲娱乐课程到领导力拓展、高级会计或CAD（计算机辅助设计）等。
8 Whatever the job, people who enjoy their work find time passes quickly. They hurl their passion into their work, be it physical like the work of a smith, or more mental like that of a scientist or an artist. Even purely mental work can suffice as an outlet, as aptly expressed by the phrase "sinking one's teeth into a problem".
不管是什么工作，喜欢自己工作的人总发现时间过得飞快。不管是铁匠的体力活，还是像科学家或艺术家从事的偏脑力的活，他们在工作中都会投入激情。即便是纯脑力活也足以让他们挥洒激情，恰如短语表达的那样，“全身心投入问题中”。
9 Eventually, everyone has to find a job and earn a living. Laborers are slaving away at a job they don't enjoy for a small monetary reward, waiting all day until they go home and play. But while laborers are counting down the hours, workers are energized and focused, taking optimum pleasure in the task at hand. By choosing a job that is both useful to society and personally fulfilling, workers maintain a simultaneous sense of purpose and enthusiasm that improves their whole lives. So in the end, whatever job you choose, you must contend with this essential question: Will you be a laborer or a worker?
最终，每个人都得找一份工作谋生。劳役者仅为了一点金钱报酬，像奴隶一样做自己并不喜欢的工作，一天到晚等着回家玩乐。但是当劳役者倒数着时间之时，工作者则干劲十足，全神贯注，从手头的任务中享受到最大的快乐。他们通过选择一份有益社会、成就自我的工作，怀揣着一种使命感和热情，提升了自己的整个生活。因此到头来，不管你选择什么工作，都必须面对这个根本问题:“你想做一名劳役者还是工作者？”
Unit 5
Text B The joy of a prideful tradition
光荣传统带来的欢乐
1 I first met him in 1965, when I rushed into his little shop to have the heels of my shoes repaired. He greeted me with a cheerful smile and instant hospitality. "You're new in this neighborhood, aren't you?"
第一次见他是在1965年，当时我匆匆进入他的小店去修我的鞋跟。他露出开心的笑容，马上热情地招呼我，“你刚搬到这附近，是吗？”
2 Indeed, I had moved into a house at the end of the street only a week before.
的确，一周前我才刚搬进街道尽头的那栋房子。
3 "This is a fine neighborhood," he said. "You'll be happy here."
“这一带挺好的，”他说，“你生活在这儿会开心的。”
4 I sat there with my shoes off, watching as he got ready to stitch up my shoes I'd entrusted to him. He looked sadly at the leather covering the mount of the heel. It was worn through because I had failed to have the shoes patched a month ago. I grew a little impatient, for I was rushing to meet a friend. "Please hurry," I begged.
我脱了鞋坐在那儿，看着他准备动手缝补我交给他的鞋。他惋惜地看着包鞋跟底的皮革。一个月前鞋就该补了，现在那块皮已经磨穿了。因为还要急着去见一位朋友，我有点不耐烦了。“请快点儿，”我请求道。
5 He looked at me over his spectacles. "Now, don't worry. I won't be long. This handicraft is my specialty and I want to do a good job." He was silent a moment. "You see, I have a tradition to live up to."
他从眼镜上方看了看我。“别急，要不了多久的。这手艺是我最拿手的，我想做好点。”他沉默了一会儿。“你知道，我得遵守传统。”
6 A tradition? In this simplistic little shop that was no different from so many other shoe-repair shops on the residential side streets of Washington? The thought seemed a bit absurd.
传统？就这家和华盛顿住宅区那么多街边修鞋店没什么区别的简陋小铺子？这想法好像有点荒唐。
7 He must have sensed my bias, for he smiled with a gleam in his eyes as he went on. "Yes, I inherited a tradition. My father always told me, 'Son, do the best job on every shoe that comes into the shop, and be proud of your fine work. If you work with dedication, you'll always have happiness and money.'"
他准是觉察到了我的不屑，因为他两眼闪烁着光芒，微笑着继续说道：“是的，我继承了一个传统。我父亲总对我说：‘儿子，每只拿到店里的鞋都要修到最好，并且为自己的细活骄傲。如果你尽心工作，就总会拥有快乐和金钱。’”
8 As he handed me the finished shoes, he said, "These will last a long time. I've utilized good leather."
把修好的鞋递给我时，他说：“这鞋能穿很长时间，我用的是好皮料。”
9 I left in a hurry but I had a warm and grateful feeling. On my way home I passed the little shop again. There he was, sitting amongst his tools, still working. He saw me, and he waved and smiled, as cordial as could be. That was the beginning of our friendship, a fellowship that came to mean more and more to me as time passed.
我急匆匆地离开了，但觉得既温暖又感激。回家途中我又经过那家小店，他坐在工具中间，还在工作。看见我，他热诚友好地挥手微笑致意。从此我们的友谊就开始了，这是一段随着时间流逝对我越来越重要的交情。
10 Thereafter, we waved to each other in a friendly greeting when I passed his shop every day. At first I went in only when I had repair work to be done. Then I found myself lingering in his store or dropping in every few days, just to chat with him for the joy he would impart.
从那以后，我每天经过他的店的时候，我们都友好地彼此挥手问好。刚开始我只是在有东西要修的时候才进去，后来我发现自己呆在他的店里或隔几天去拜访一下完全是为了和他聊天，享受他带来的快乐。
11 He was a tall man, bent from long years of work. What little hair he had was gray; his face was deeply lined. His personality was clear, but never stern. And, I remember best his fine dark eyes, alive with his charitable, carefree, and humorous spirit.
他身材高大，多年工作弄得有点驼背，不多的头发已经灰白，脸上皱纹纵横。他个性鲜明，但从不严苛。此外，我尤其记得他那双动人的黑眼睛，洋溢着和善、快乐与幽默。
12 He was the happiest man I've ever known. Often, as he stood in front of his door overseeing the street, working at a pair of shoes, he sang a beautiful melody in a high, clear voice. Neighbors nicknamed him "the singing cobbler". The neighborhood children loved him. He'd periodically pause his work to referee arguments or give out candy. He had no patience for bullying and would insist the children play fair in front of his store.
他是我见过的最快乐的人。经常，他站在店门口，朝着大街，一边修理鞋子，一边高声清晰地唱着动听的曲子。街坊们戏称他为“鞋匠歌手”。周边的孩子都喜欢他，他时不时会停下工作去调解争吵或者分发糖果。他不能容忍欺凌弱小，坚持让孩子们在他店前面公平游戏。
13 One day, I came away from my house filled with fury because of a poor job some painters had done on my house. My friend waved to me as I walked by, so I went into his shop to vent my frustration. He let me speak angrily about the poor work and carelessness of present-day workmen. "They had no pride in their work," I said. "They just wanted to collect money for doing nothing! The undutiful attitude these days is almost a sin."
有一天，因为几个油漆匠把我的房子弄得不像样子，我怒气冲冲地从家里出来。路过他的小店时，已是朋友的他冲我招手，我便走进他的店里发泄郁闷。他听我气愤地诉说现今工人工作糟糕，粗心马虎。“他们对自己的工作没有荣誉感，”我说，“他们只想挣钱却不想做事。如今这种不负责的态度简直就是一种罪过。”
14 He consoled me, saying, "There's a lot of that kind around, but maybe we should not blame them too rashly. Maybe their parents had no pride in their work. That's hard on a child. It keeps a child from learning what's important."
他安慰我说：“身边有许多那样的人，不过我们或许不要太急于怪罪他们。可能他们的父母就对自己的工作没有自豪感。这对孩子来说很不好，让他们没法知道什么东西才是重要的。”
15 "What can be done about it?" I asked.
“对此我们能做什么呢？”我问。
16 He pondered that for a minute before answering. Then he looked at me seriously. "There is only one way. Every man or woman who hasn't inherited a prideful tradition must start building one. In this country, each of us can make our own contribution to the fabric of society, and we must endeavor to make it a good one. No matter what sort of work a person does, if we give it our best each day, we're starting a tradition for our children to live up to. When a person amends their ways and learns to take pride in their work, a lifetime of happiness will ensue."
回答之前他想了一会儿，然后认真地看着我，“只有一个办法。一个人如果没有光荣传统可以继承，那他/她就必须开始去建立一个。在这个国家，我们每个人都能为社会建设做出自己的贡献，我们必须努力把它做好。不管一个人做什么样的工作，只要我们每天都把它做到最好，我们就在为自己的孩子建立一个可遵循的传统。当一个人修正自己的方式并学会以自己的工作为荣时，快乐的一生就会随之而来。”
17 I traveled for a few months on business, and shortly after my return, I walked down the street, looking forward to seeing my friend again. Yet when I arrived, I found the door closed. There was a little sign: "Call for shoes at shop next door."
我在外出差了几个月，一回来就上街，期望再见到我的朋友。可是我那儿时却发现门关着，一张小告示上写着“取鞋请到隔壁店”。
18 I went into the next shop, and what I heard pierced my heart. Yes, the old man had passed away. He was stricken with an infectious illness two weeks before and died two days later.
我走进隔壁店里，听到的消息让我心如刀绞。是的，这位老人已经过世了。两周前他突然患了传染病，两天后就去世了。
19 I went away with a wretched void in my heart. I would miss him, terribly. But he had left me something, an important piece of wisdom I will invariably remember: "If you have inherited a prideful tradition, you must carry it on; if you haven't, then start building one now."
离开时，我心里空落落的，痛苦不已。我会很怀念他，非常地怀念。不过他已给我留下了一些东西——一句我将永远牢记的隽语：“如果你继承了一个光荣传统，就必须把它传承下去；如果你没有，那现在就开始建立一个。”
Unit 6
Text AUnder the bombs: 1945
1945：在炮火攻击下
1 Today, when I look back, I'm surprised that I recall the beginning so vividly; it's still clearly fixed in my mind with all its coloring and emotional intensity. It begins with my suddenly noticing 12 distant silver points in the clear brilliant sky filled with an unfamiliar abnormal hum. I'm seven years old, standing in a meadow, and staring at the points barely moving across the sky.
如今，当我回首往事，我很惊讶我居然能如此生动地回忆起轰炸开始的情况，那天的色彩和紧张的情绪仍然清晰地印在我的脑海中。那天，我突然发现在晴朗的天空中出现了12个银色的小点儿，离我很远，发出不正常的嗡嗡声，这种声音我以前从来没听过。那年我七岁，就这样站在一片草地上，盯着天空中几乎不怎么移动的小点儿。
2 Suddenly, nearby, at the edge of the forest, there's the tremendous roar of bombs exploding. From my standpoint, I see gigantic fountains of earth spraying upward. I want to run toward this extraordinary spectacle; it terrorizes and fascinates me. I have not yet grown accustomed to war and can't relate into a single chain of causes and effects these airplanes, the roar of the bombs, the earth radiating out from the forest, and my seemingly inevitable death. Unable to conceive of the danger, I start running toward the forest, in the direction of the falling bombs. But a hand claws at me and tugs me to the ground. "Stay down," I hear my mother's trembling voice, "Don't move!" And I remember that my mother, pressing me to her, is saying something that I don't yet know exists, whose meaning I don't understand: That way is death.
突然，就在附近，森林的边缘，我听到有巨大的炸弹爆炸的声音。在我这个小孩的眼里，我看到的是泥土像巨大的喷泉一样冲到天上。我想跑过去看看这个特别的景象，它让我感到害怕，但是也让我着迷。我还没有习惯战争，也不能把这些飞机、炸弹的轰鸣、森林那边飞溅开来的泥土以及我看似必然的死亡联系成单一的因果关系。没考虑有危险，我开始朝着投下炸弹的森林方向跑。这时一只手拉住了我，把我拽倒在地上。“趴下来，”我听到母亲发抖的声音，“不要动!”我还记得母亲把我紧紧贴在她身边，说的一些东西我并不知道，也并不理解其含义: 那是一条死路。
3 It's night and I'm sleepy, but I'm not allowed to sleep. We have to evacuate the city and run away in the night like convicts. Where to, I don't know; but I do understand that flight has suddenly become some kind of higher necessity, some new form of life, because everyone is running away. All highways, roads, and even country paths are a tangle of wagons, carts, and bicycles, with bundles and suitcases, and innumerable terrified, helplessly wandering people. Some are running away to the east, others to the west, north, south; they run in circles, fall from profound fatigue, sleep for a moment, then begin anew their aimless journey. I clasp my younger sister's hand firmly in mine. We mustn't get lost, my mother warns; but even without her telling me, I sense that some form of dangerous evil has permeated the world.
到了晚上，我很困，但是我不能睡。我们不得不撤离这座城市，像囚犯一样在夜间逃亡。到哪儿去，我不知道，但是我知道逃跑突然变成了某种必须要做的事情，一种新的生存方式，因为每个人都在逃跑。所有公路、大路、甚至是乡间小路上都是混乱的马车、拉车、自行车，上面装着包裹和箱子，还有数不清的吓坏了的人，他们无助地游走着。一些人向东边跑，另一些人向西边、北边、南边跑;他们徒劳地跑着，实在累了就躺下来，睡一会儿，然后重新开始他们漫无目的的旅程。我紧紧地把妹妹的手握在手里。我母亲警告过，我们不能走失；但就算她没告诉我，我也能感觉到某种危险的灾难弥漫了整个世界。
4 I'm walking with my sister beside a wagon. It's a simple ladder wagon, lined with hay, and high up on the hay, on a cotton sheet, rests my grandfather. He can't move; he is paralyzed, another casualty of a landmine. When an air raid begins, the entire group dives into ditches; only my grandfather remains on the deserted road. He sees the airplanes flying at him, sees them violently dip and aim, sees the fire of ammunition, hears the roar of the engines passing over his head. When the planes disappear, we return to the wagon and my mother wipes the sweat from my grandfather's flushed face. Sometimes, there are air raids several times a day. After each one, sweat pours from my grandfather's tired face.
我和妹妹在马车边走着。这是一辆简易马车，车里铺着干草，在干草上，铺着一条棉布床单，我的祖父躺在上面。他不能动，已经瘫痪了；也是地雷的受害者。空袭一来时，所有人都冲到了壕沟里，只有我祖父留在没人的马路上。他看着飞机向自己猛扑过来，看着它们猛地俯冲瞄准，看着弹药喷出烈焰，听着轰鸣的引擎从他的头上飞过。当飞机消失后，我们回到马车边，母亲擦去祖父通红的脸上的汗水。有时，一天会有好几次空袭，每次空袭过后，汗水都会渗满我祖父疲惫的脸。
5 We're entering an increasingly appalling landscape. There's smoke on the horizon, the blaze of battle fading. We pass by deserted villages, solitary, burned-out houses. We pass battlefields dense with the garbage of abandoned war equipment, bombed-out railway stations, overturned cars. It smells of gunpowder, and of burning, decomposing meat after a massacre. Everywhere are the corpses of horses, too defenseless in this human war.
我们正在踏入一个越来越可怕的场景。地平线上浓烟滚滚，战火在慢慢熄灭。我们经过了废弃的村庄和孤零零的被烧毁的房屋。我们经过了战场，这里到处都是垃圾，有丢弃的武器装备、被炸毁的火车站、翻倒的车辆。空气中都是火药味和大屠杀后尸体烧焦和腐烂的味道。到处都是马的死尸，在人类战争中它们是孱弱无力的。
6 When winter comes, we stop running from the bombs so we can hide from the severe elements. Winter is but another season for those in normal conditions, but for the poor during wartime, winter is a disaster, a pervasive and constant threat. We find an apartment in the slums that provides a minimal coverage from the snow but we still can't afford to heat the furnace; we can't buy fuel nor risk stealing it. Death is the punishment for the robbery of coal or wood — human life is now worth next to nothing.
当冬季来临的时候，我们停了下来，不再逃避轰炸，这样我们就可以躲过恶劣的天气了。对正常情况下的人们来说，冬天只不过是另一个季节。但对于战时的穷人来说，冬天是一个灾难，一个无处不在、持续不断的威胁。我们在贫民窟里找了套房子，勉强在风雪中栖身，但我们生不起火；我们既买不起燃料，也不敢冒险去偷。偷盗燃煤和木料是要处死的——人的生命在此时一文不值。
7 We have nothing to eat. My mother stands brooding at the window for hours; I can see her fixed stare. I can see other residents staring out into the street from many windows, as if they were waiting for something. I weave my way around the backyards with a gang of stray boys; it's something between play and searching for a scrap of anything edible.
我们什么吃的也没有。我母亲在窗边愁闷着，一站就是几个小时，我能看到她呆滞的眼神。我能看到很多人从窗口旁盯着下面的街道看，好像在等待着什么。我和一群流浪的孩子在后院来回跑着玩儿，这既是游戏，也是在寻找一点吃的东西。
8 One day we hear that they'll be giving out candy in a store near the warehouse. Immediately we make a long queue of cold and hungry children. We stand in the frost all night and the following day, huddled together to summon a bit of warmth. Finally, they open the store. But instead of candy, we are each granted an empty metal container that once held some fruit drops. Weak and stiff from the cold, yet at this moment happy, I carry my treasure home, guarding it jealously. It's valuable; the inside wall of the can still has a sugar residue. My mother heats some water and pours it into the can. We have a dilute, sweet drink: Our only nutrition for days.
有一天，听说他们会在仓库附近的一家商店散发糖果，我们这群饥寒交迫的孩子立即排了一条长队。我们在严寒中站了整整一夜以及第二天一整天，挤在一起以获得一丝暖意。终于，商店开门了，但发给我们每个人的却不是糖果，而是一个装过水果糖的空金属罐子。我虚弱不堪、冻得僵硬，但此刻却很开心，我带着我的宝贝回到家，小心地呵护着。它很珍贵，因为它的内壁上还有糖渣。我母亲烧了些水，把水倒进去，稀释成了甜甜的饮料：这是我们这些天唯一的营养。
9 I can't quite remember when or how the war ended for us; my mind is always drawn back to that first day in the meadow, the explosions destroying the peaceful flowers and the naive days of my childhood. Try as I might, I still can't understand what we could have done to justify all the suffering war inevitably inflicts.
我不太记得战争是何时结束的，如何结束的。我的记忆总是被拉回到第一天草地上的情形，那天，爆炸破坏了花丛的宁静，也打破了我童年的纯真时光。无论我如何努力，我还是不清楚当初到底我们做了什么，要让我们承受战争不可避免带来的所有这些伤害。
Unit 6
Text B Smith and Luis
史密斯上尉和路易的故事
1 Ever since the arrival of the American military, Luis Dutarte's world had changed. Overnight, a military camp had sprung to life on the empty field just below his home in Normandy. For a seven-year-old orphan, it was in essence a dream come to life. His keeper Mrs. Bijeaux, had to drag him in at night from his terrace on the cliff overlooking the beach.
自从美国军队到来后，路易·迪塔尔特的世界发生了变化。一夜之间，在诺曼底他家下面的空地上，一个军营就矗立了起来。对一个七岁的孤儿来说，其实是梦境成真了。他家门前的大露台位于峭壁上，可以俯瞰沙滩，到了晚上，他的监护人比诺夫人得把他从那儿拽回屋。
2 Now he watched, wide-eyed, as jeeps roared up the road and men scrambled about, emptying trucks loaded with guns, ammunition, food, and giant army bags. He yawned as the scent of crisp bacon, eggs, coffee, and the smell of toast came from the kitchen tent. He tilted his small head back, breathing in the fragrance. His stomach moaned.
现在，他眼睛睁得大大的，看着吉普车咆哮着沿路而上，士兵们来回奔忙，正在从卡车上卸载枪支、弹药、食物和巨大军用口袋。他打了个呵欠，这时闻到一阵脆培根、鸡蛋、咖啡和烤面包的香味从厨房帐篷传来。他扬起了小脑袋，闻着传来的香味。他的肚子在咕噜咕噜地叫。
3 Ronald Smith, a lieutenant in the Seabees, the US Navy's Construction Battalion, held a clipboard and checked off the morning's accomplishments. The hospital tent was complete, as was the new shower.
罗纳德·史密斯，美国海军工程营上尉，拿着一块笔记板，在核对早晨任务完成的情况。医护帐篷已建成，新的淋浴室也完工了。
4 Smith and his top sergeant had been busy since dawn, and it was now noon. He dispatched him, then took a moment and touched the breast pocket that held the photo of his wife and two young sons. It had been more than a year since he'd been deployed and last seen them.
史密斯和他的军士长从早晨一直忙到现在，都已经是中午了。他打发走了军士长，抽出时间，从胸前的口袋里摸出了他的妻子和两个年幼儿子的合照。他上一次见到他们之后，被派到这里已经过了一年多了。
5 When the lieutenant turned to go, he saw something in the tall grass on the hill. He waved. A small hand waved back. There was a moment of hesitation; then, the boy timidly made his way down.
上尉正要转身离开，他发现小山丘上的茂草丛中有什么东西。他挥了挥手，一只小手也挥了挥。犹豫了片刻，小男孩怯怯地走了下来。
6 Smith tried out his high school French, hoping he could remember the right wording: "Comment t'appelles-tu?" (What is your name?)
史密斯试着用高中学过的法语，希望自己记得的法语表达是正确的：“你叫什么名字?”
7 The boy blushed and his eyes shone. "Luis," he said.
小男孩儿脸红了，眼睛闪着光，说：“路易。”
8 Smith shook his hand. This little guy looked like he could use a good meal, and the camp had more than enough food. In his halting French, Smith invited Luis to have lunch. When the boy nodded, Smith lifted him onto his hip, as he might have done with one of his own sons, and walked briskly toward the tent.
史密斯跟他握了握手。这个小家伙看起来可以在这儿饱餐一顿，营地有足够多的食物。史密斯用他结结巴巴的法语邀请路易去吃午餐。小男孩点点头，史密斯把他背到背上，就像对他自己的儿子那样，然后快步向帐篷走去。
9 Inside, dozens of young soldiers ate and talked. Smith piled two plates high with roast beef, carrots, and apple pie sprinkled with sugar.
帐篷里，一群年轻的士兵在边吃边聊，史密斯给他盛了两盘堆得高高的烤牛肉、胡萝卜，还有撒着糖的苹果派。
10 After lunch, Smith held Luis' hand, and they walked into the June sunlight. He knelt beside the boy and explained that he had to go back to work. Luis nodded and ran back up the path to the tall grass, turning around to wave.
午饭过后，史密斯牵着路易的手，走进六月的阳光里。他跪在小男孩儿旁边，解释说他得回去工作了。路易点点头，沿路跑回到了茂草丛，转身挥了挥手。
11 At 18:00 hours, as Smith was again heading for the mess tent, he saw Luis sitting in the same spot. He motioned, and Luis ran to him.
傍晚六点，史密斯再次前往那个用餐的帐篷，看见路易坐在同一个地方。他向路易招了招手，路易就跑了过来。
12 Dinner was fried chicken, potatoes, and peanut cookies. Smith again filled two plates, but Luis didn't eat as much as he had at lunch; it was clear that the boy wasn't used to so much food. But he clutched Smith's hand and smiled his shy smile. After dinner, Smith knelt close to Luis. "Bonsoir," he said. "A demain." (Goodnight. See you tomorrow.) He watched the boy walk up the path and out of sight.
晚饭是炸鸡、土豆、花生饼干。史密斯又给他盛了两盘，但这次路易吃的没午饭多。很明显，小男孩还不习惯吃这么多的食物。但他抓住史密斯的手，害羞地朝他微笑。晚饭后，史密斯跪在路易旁边说：“晚安，明天见。”他看着小男孩沿路走远，消失在视线中。
13 Henceforth, Luis ate with Smith all of the time. The other soldiers didn't mind; in fact, the boy helped ease their homesickness. Luis giggled when Smith carried him aloft on his shoulders and soon began riding along in the jeep down to the beach, where Smith supervised the unloading of freight from the ships and took inventory. When Smith oversaw construction projects in the camp, Luis tagged along. If Smith left the radius of the camp to rebuild a road or to repair a bridge, Luis waited in the vicinity for his return.
从此以后，路易就整天和史密斯一起吃饭了。其他士兵也并不介意，事实上，这个小男孩儿可以帮助减轻他们的思乡之苦。当史密斯把他高举在自己的肩上时，路易就咯咯地笑，接着，他又跟史密斯一道坐着吉普车来到海滩，史密斯在这里监督货物从船上卸下来并清点货物。当史密斯视察营地的建设工程时，路易就寸步不离。如果史密斯离开营地去重建道路或是重修桥梁时，路易就在附近等他回来。
14 As the summer of 1944 passed, Smith's French improved, and Luis learned to say hello, goodbye, jeep, ship, and ice cream, even though their conversations stayed pretty concise.
1944年的夏天过去了，史密斯的法语水平有所提高，而路易也学会了用英语说“你好”，“再见”，“吉普车”，“轮船”和“冰淇淋”，尽管他们的谈话内容仍然很简练。
15 In mid-October, when Smith received orders to leave France, he drove to the local authorities to make some inquiries. He ascertained that Luis had been abandoned at birth and had no living relatives. But when he petitioned to adopt him and become his legal guardian, the answer was straightforward and firm: no.
十月中旬，史密斯接到了命令要离开法国，他开车到地方当局做了一些咨询。他查明了路易在出生时就被遗弃了，没有亲人在世。但当他申请收养路易，成为他的法定监护人时，得到的答案直接而明确：不行。
16 Notwithstanding the regulations, Smith enclosed Luis in a hug and promised to return for him later. The two had grown so close amongst the trials of war, and Smith 174 New Horizon College English Third Edition knew he would never forget the boy. What Smith could never have imagined was that he would never see Luis again.
虽然有规定，史密斯还是紧紧地把路易抱在怀里，答应以后一定会回来找他。在战争的磨难中两人变得愈发亲近，史密斯知道自己是永远不会忘记这个男孩的，但是史密斯绝对没有想到的是他再也见不到路易了。
17 After the war ended, Smith took a multitude of trips returning to France looking for Luis. But try as he might, the familiar landmarks were gone. France was a country torn apart by the bombs of the war and then pieced back together again. Each day Smith would grieve. Yet, he remained dogged in his search for Luis. Smith knew in his heart that Luis was still alive and waiting, but he simply could not find any remnant of the boy he had come to love like a son. He combed through phone books and even hired a private investigator. His repeated failures haunted him as he repeatedly asked himself punishing questions: Why have I failed Luis? What could I have done differently?
战争结束后，史密斯曾多次返回法国寻找路易。尽管他竭尽全力，熟悉的标志却都消失了。法国被战争的炮火撕碎，然后又被重新拼凑起来。史密斯每天都十分悲痛。然而，他仍坚持不懈地在寻找路易。史密斯心里坚信路易还活着，还在等他，但是他就是找不到这个他曾经当亲生儿子对待的男孩的一点点踪迹。他翻遍了电话簿，甚至雇了一个私家侦探。他一次次地失败，他不停地问一直在折磨着自己的问题：为什么我会让路易失望呢? 我当时如果做了不同的选择又会怎样？
18 As he grew older, Smith's pain increased. Finally, old age forced him to stop traveling, but Smith dwelled more and more on his one broken promise and lifelong regret.
随着史密斯的老去，他的痛苦在逐渐加重。最终，他因为年龄太大无法再长途旅行了，但是他越来越纠结于自己这个无法实现的诺言和终生的遗憾。
19 In his final will, Smith instructed his children to continue where he had left off, pleading with them to find Luis.
在他的遗愿中，史密斯让他的孩子们继续他没完成的事情，恳求他们找到路易。
Unit 7
Text A Surviving an economic crisis
经济危机中求生存
1 The economic slump so many people suffered through originated in the United States, with a regulatory failure of mortgages rated less risky than they turned out to be. As large numbers of homeowners proved unable to repay their loans, the companies that had the oversight and those that owned the loans (as well as their subsidiaries and their shareholders) lost sizable amounts of money. The effects of these drastic losses soon spiraled into the US job market as layoffs and terminations. The rebound was slow in coming. Many people experienced long months of struggles just like the character in this story.
许许多多的人正经历的这场经济萧条发端于美国。对抵押贷款监管不力，致使当时的风险评估远低于现在的最终结果。由于大量的房产所有人无法偿还贷款，负责监管的公司、放贷的公司（以及其子公司及股份持有者）都损失了大笔的金钱。这些巨额亏损的后果很快就影响到美国就业市场，造成下岗或解雇。经济复兴迟迟不来。许多人几个月来都是苦苦挣扎，正如下面故事中的主人公那样。
2 Facing tenant eviction after several months of unpaid rent, Sue Johnson packed up whatever she could fit into her two-door automobile and drove out of town.
苏·约翰逊有好几个月都未付房租了，面临着被逐出的境地，她把能塞进她的那辆双门轿车的东西都打包收拾好，离城而去。
3 She wound up at a motel, putting down the $260 she had managed to scrape together from friends and from selling her living room set. It was all the money Sue had left after her unemployment benefits had expired. She faced life as a migrant, a previously unimaginable situation for a woman who, not that long before, had held a corporate job in a large metropolitan city and was enrolled in a graduate business school.
她最后在一家汽车旅馆落脚，交付了260美元的定金，这还是她设法从朋友那儿以及卖掉家具后凑齐的，是苏在失业救济金被终止后所有的余钱。她面临流浪生活，这在以前是难以想象的，而她不久以前都还在大都市里一家公司供职，并就读于商学院研究生班。
4 Sue knew that in all likelihood, she would end up living in her car. She was part of a hard-luck group of jobless people who called themselves "99ers", because they had exhausted the maximum 99 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits that they could claim.
苏明白自己最终很可能以车为家。她如今已成为倒霉的失业群体中的一份子，他们自称“99周人”，因为他们已经领完至多99周的失业保险救济金。
5 Long-term unemployment was at record levels, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Modest payments of unemployment benefits were a lifeline that enabled people who were out-of-work to maintain at least an appearance of normalcy, keeping a roof over their heads, putting gas in their cars, paying electric and phone bills.
根据劳动统计局的数据，长期失业率已达到创纪录的水平。些许的失业救济金对那些失去工作的人来说可是救命钱，这使他们不至于形貌落魄，无立锥之地；不至于无钱加油，缴不起电费话费。
6 Without the checks, people like Sue, who once was a director of client services at a technology company, began to tumble over the economic cliff. The last aspects of their former working-class or middle-class lives were gone, and all of them faced unsure futures.
一旦收不到失业救济支票，哪怕是像苏这样曾经贵为技术公司客服经理的人，也会日益跌入经济窘迫的深渊；原有工薪阶层或中产阶级的最后一抹荣光也已消逝不在，所有人都前途未卜。
7 When Sue received her last unemployment check, she felt a wave of profound grief. With no income to deposit, Sue's checking account deteriorated into negative balances. Her car was on the verge of being repossessed. And, the constant harassment of the financing company for her car loan added to her daily stress. Each day, like a ping pong ball, Sue went back and forth between resolve and despair.
当苏收到最后一笔失业救济支票时，阵阵悲凉涌上心头。由于没有收入进账，苏的活期账户余额转为负值。汽车行将被收回！而且信贷公司不断骚扰，催还车贷，让她成天压力倍增。每天，苏就像乒乓球一样在信心和绝望之间起落不定。
8 It was a sickening plunge considering that only a short year and a half before, Sue was earning $56,000 a year at her old job, enjoyed vacationing in places like Mexico and the Caribbean, and had started business school at an excellent university.
生活境遇真是令人痛心地一落千丈！想想仅在短短的一年半之前，苏在原有工作岗位上可挣到56,000美元的年薪，可在像墨西哥、加勒比那样的地方度假，还就读于名校商学院。
9 Initially, Sue had tried to finish her university certification remotely, but finally dropped out because of the stress from her sinking finances. She applied for every possible job in the employment spectrum, from minimum-wage retail jobs to director positions.
最初，苏还试图通过远程教育完成学业，但是由于自己经济状况每况愈下，最后只好辍学。她通过各种就业渠道求职，不管是起薪干起的零售活儿还是部门经理。
10 Sue should have been evicted from her two-bedroom apartment for non-payment several months before she was, but, thankfully, the process was delayed by paperwork and bureaucracy. Eventually, the bureaucracy caught up with her and a municipal council gave her 10 days to leave her apartment for good. She had no choice but to comply.
由于未付房租，苏早在几个月前就应被逐出她那两居室的公寓。不过，谢天谢地，这一过程因为繁琐的文件手续和官僚主义作风而拖延至今。最终政府机构还是找上了她，市政委员会限定她十天内彻底走人。除了遵从，她别无选择。
11 That last day of her old life, Sue wept as she drove away. She wondered if she would ever again be able to reclaim that life of comfort and respect. Sue even considered turning the steering wheel of her car into a tree and ending her life story right there.
就在告别昔日生活的最后一天，苏流着泪驾车离去。她不知道自己还能否重温那舒适而又受人尊敬的生活。苏甚至想过打转方向盘一头撞向大树，就此了结一生。
12 Friends came to her aid. One friend wired her $200 while she was driving away from her old apartment, enabling her to find refuge in a motel along the way. But Sue worried there wouldn't be any more charity for the money and gas she desperately needed.
朋友们及时施以援手。就在她驾车离开公寓的路上，一位朋友给她电汇来200美元，使得她能够在沿途的一家汽车旅馆觅得栖身之所。但是她担心不会再有人来援助自己急需的钱和汽油了。
13 Helped by gas cards donated by a church, Sue decided to return to her hometown. She figured the health-care safety net there was better, as well as the job market. She contacted a local shelter but learned there was a waiting list. Welfare was not an option, because she didn't have young children. And, Sue knew that none of her three adult sons were in a position to help her.
有了教堂赠送的加油卡，苏打算返回家乡。她想那儿的医疗保障体系会好一些，找工作也容易些。她联系了当地的收容所，但是得到的回答是先得排队等着。领取福利救济没有她的份，因为她没有未成年的孩子。苏知道她的三个已成年的儿子也帮不了她。
14 "I knew the only help I was going to get was from me myself," Sue said. "I thought to myself: I have to take care of myself. I really, really need to get work. I need a job. I don't want to be seen as a parasite."
“我知道，只有自己才能帮自己，”苏说。“我告诉自己：我得养活自己。我确实得干活，我要找份工作，我可不想被人看成寄生虫。”
15 Sue's motel room was depressing. Lining the shelves underneath the television were her food supplies: rice and noodles that she mixed with water in the motel's ice bucket and heated up in a microwave; peanut butter and jelly; a loaf of white bread — the subsistence of a desperate person. Sue's days were spent surfing Internet job indexes, applying for jobs where the silent "No." "No." "No." gave way to a feeling of helplessness.
苏在汽车旅馆的房间极其窘迫。电视下面的壁橱里存放着几样食物：大米和面条，这两样她可在旅馆的冰镇桶里与水和在一起，然后在微波炉里加热；另外还有花生酱、果冻和一条白面包——这些食物也就供一个走投无路的人勉强度日而已。苏连日来都在上网查找各种工作指南，四处求职；但一次次无声的拒绝让她陷于无助。
16 Sue had all new struggles and obstacles to deal with too, like what to do for an address for job applications. She worried about what would happen when her cell phone was cut off for non-payment, and calls to her number would disappear into an invisible world she could not reach.
苏还有新的烦心事要应付：比如求职信的通信地址该如何填写。她还担心要是手机因为欠费停机了怎么办？别人拨打她的号码，就如石沉大海，她无法接听。
17 Finally, an old friend sent Sue a ray of hope, a small miracle: $300 cash — just enough for another brutal week of struggle.
终于，一位老朋友送来一缕希望，一个小小的惊喜：300美元的现金——勉强够她再苦撑一周。
Unit 7
Text B Economic bubbles: Causes and conditions
经济泡沫：成因与条件
1 Economic bubbles occur when, for any number of reasons, excessive investment in commodities (such as oil), securities (such as stocks and bonds), real estate, or collectibles drives up prices well beyond the item's intrinsic value. The inevitable result of this boom in price is a crash or bust. The price falls sharply once it becomes clear that it has grown far beyond the purchasing power of potential customers.
不管因为何种原因，一旦人们对于商品（如石油）、证券（如股票、债券）、房地产或收藏品过度投资从而推高其价格，使其远远超过商品的内在价值，经济泡沫就会产生。而这种价格暴涨不可避免的结果就是经济的崩溃或破灭。一旦价格大大超过潜在消费者购买力的趋势明了，价格就会急剧下跌。
2 Speculators risk money in such investments because they hope that the price of an asset they purchased will quickly increase. Since most speculators are nervous about where they invest their money, bubbles are by no means the norm. After all, every investment entails the risk that it is overpriced. They also know that rising prices will encourage either greater production of a commodity or greater willingness of current owners to sell. Either of these conditions can serve as a "negative feedback" mechanism that adjusts prices downward. As an analogy, think of negative economic feedback like your eyes. As the light gets brighter, your pupils get smaller and let in less light. But what if, instead, your eyes worked as a "positive feedback" mechanism? In sunlight, your pupils would open wide and damage your eyes.
投机者们因为希望购买的资产价格能够急剧上涨才进行这样的风险投资。由于大多数的投机者对资金的投向都有所顾虑，因此泡沫的产生绝非常态。毕竟每笔投资都包含估价过高的风险。他们也知道价格上涨要么会推动商品产量的进一步扩大，要么促使现有的持有者更愿意卖出。不管哪种情况都会有助于形成促使价格下行的“负面反馈”机制。打个比方，把负面经济反馈比作人的眼睛，光线越强，瞳孔越小，摄入的光亮就会越少。但要是人的眼睛发挥的是“正面反馈”机制作用，结果会怎样呢？在太阳光下，瞳孔就会张大，从而对眼睛造成伤害。
3 Economic bubbles occur when prices trending sharply upward spur positive, rather than negative, feedback. For whatever reason (fear of shortages, greed, an excessively optimistic attitude toward the future, or flaws in the analysis of an asset's underlying value), buyers believe that the value of the asset will continue to rise. If the price rises, overly enthusiastic speculators buy more, or those who missed out on the lower price flock to buy before the price rises any higher. The foremost explanation is the "greater fool theory": Buyers justify their purchases by assuring themselves they will find "a greater fool" who will pay even more. Buyer enthusiasm infects other buyers, amplifying the effect even further. Under the right conditions, prices can reach dizzying heights before falling. One famous example is the tulip-buying bubble which happened in Amsterdam in the 1630s when a single tulip bulb could cost a year's salary.
如果价格急剧上行引起的是正面而非负面反馈，就会产生经济泡沫。因为担心供应不足，因为贪心，或是对其未来过分乐观，或是因为对资产的内在价值的分析存在疏漏——不管何种原因，购买者相信其价值会持续上行。如果价格上涨，狂热的投机者就会买入更多，或者那些错过低价买入的人就会在价格进一步攀升之前蜂拥入市。对此现象的解释莫过于“博傻理论”：买入方深信自己能找到下一个甘愿出更高价格的冤大头，从而认为自己的买卖是合理的。抢购热会相互感染，从而会进一步放大此种效应。在合适的条件下，价格会一路飙升至令人目眩的高位，然后下跌。人尽皆知的例子就是17世纪30年代发生在阿姆斯特丹的郁金香抢购泡沫，当时，一株郁金香球茎的价格相当于一年的工资。
4 Most bubbles are easily assimilated or averted by an elastic market. Provided the bubble is small enough, the losers earn wisdom in retrospect, and the winners earn a lot of money. But the effects of a bubble might become cumulative if many owners of an overpriced asset feel rich and spend foolishly, especially in a period of deregulation. Imagine this: You buy a house for $200,000, for which you borrowed $160,000 beforehand. You have $40,000 in equity in the house. Over the next five years, the market appraisal rises to $500,000. Now you have $340,000 in equity ($500,000–$160,000), so you borrow another $240,000 from a bank using this equity to secure the loan. You still have $100,000 in equity in your home, and you have $240,000 to spend. You suddenly feel less need to be economical with your purchases and allocate more money for things like a vacation home, a new car, etc.
大多数的泡沫容易被弹性市场加以消化或转移。只要这种泡沫不是很大，输家花钱买聪明，赢家则赚得盆满钵满。但如果资产虚高，持有人恃富而挥霍无度，这种泡沫效应就会不断积累，尤其在市场缺乏监管之时。试想一下：你以200,000美元购买一套房子，事先贷款160,000美元，则房产净值为40,000美元。五年过后，市场估价上升到500,000美元。现在你获得的房产净值就是340,000美元（即$500,000-$160,000），于是你以此作担保，再贷款240,000美元。你依然持有100,000美元的房产净值，还有240,000美元可供花销。顿时，你会觉得没有必要节省开支，还能抽出更多钱来购置度假屋及新车等等。
5 But equity is not revenue. The market holds long enough for you to spend the money. Then it crashes and the value of your home falls to $325,000. Now you have negative equity and owe the bank almost $400,000. So you default on your loan and give your house, car, and vacation home to the bank. If this situation is widespread, it can culminate in the failure of those banks and a severe crackdown on the lending needed to grow the economy.
但房产净值并不是收益。市场长期保持稳定，让你有足够的时间花钱。后来，市场崩溃，你的房屋价值跌至325,000美元。你现在持有的房产净值为负，倒欠银行将近400,000美元。为此，你就停止还款，将房子、车子和度假屋等交给银行。此种情形一旦蔓延，终会让银行难以为继，并最终沉重打击发展经济所需的贷款业务。
6 There are also stock market bubbles. In a normal market, investors buy stock in a company because they anticipate that future profits will become dividends and they believe the value of the company's assets will increase. Sometimes, though, a "herd mentality" sets in and too many brokers rush to buy, driving prices like mercury up a thermometer to levels that prove unrealistic. Eventually it becomes clear that further increases are not forthcoming and price deterioration develops, followed by a swift drop. When this happens to too many companies in aggregate, it is called a stock market crash.
股票市场也有泡沫。在正常市场上，投资者购买一个公司的股票是因为他们预期公司未来的利润会成为红利，相信公司的资产能增值。不过，有时由于“羊群效应”，众多经纪人蜂拥热购，股价就像温度计里的水银被一路推至虚高。最终，形势变得明了：股价不再上涨，演变为股价下挫，暴跌也随之而来。当这种情况集中爆发于众多的公司时，就被称为股市崩盘。
7 A recent stock market bubble was the "dot-com" bubble. The buzz about the economic possibilities of the Internet encouraged investors to fund the creation of many dot-com companies — too many it turned out. For several years, dozens of entrepreneurs sought to duplicate for themselves the results of those that had come before. Many investors envisaged wealth for any business with a website that could advertise on TV or billboards, even if their actual services were ambiguous. Instead, on March 10,2000, the dot-com boom reached its peak when the stock index hit 5,132.52. Over the next two and a half years, the index dropped to as low as 1,108. Very few companies bucked the trend. Most had blundered into awful financial difficulties, selling off their assets to healthier companies.
最近一次股市泡沫就是互联网泡沫。对互联网经济前景的看好促使投资者们出资创建众多网络公司——最终证明是太多了。几年内，众多的创业者寻求复制以前网络公司的成功经验。许多投资者设想在电视和广告牌上给网站打广告来开展任意业务以牟取财富，尽管他们对自身实际业务都还模糊不清。然而，在2000年3月10日股票指数到达5,132.52的最高点时，网络公司的繁荣到达顶峰。在紧接着的两年半时间里，指数持续跌落，低至1,108点。很少有公司能在颓势中挺住，大多数公司都陷入糟糕的财务困境，只好将其资产廉价脱手给更健康的公司。
8 Bubbles are not limited to the arena of real estate or "get rich" stock offerings. In 1996, a series of stuffed animal toys called Ty Beanie Babies™ became such a fad that speculators bought up large quantities, assuming that their value as collectibles would continue to rise. Did anyone make money on that fad? Maybe, but why not see for yourself? Check out the price of Beanie Babies in an online auction site and decide if any of these sellers have struck it rich.
泡沫并不局限于房地产领域或“赚钱”的股票发行。在1996年，名为豆豆娃（Ty Beanie Babies™）系列的布绒玩具迅速走红，有投机者大量买进，认为作为藏品，其价值会持续攀升。有人靠此种时尚赚钱了吗？也许吧！但何不亲自看看呢？到在线拍卖网站核实其价格就能断定是否有卖家借此发财。
Unit 8
Text A Reflections of a Chinese mother in the West
一位西方华裔母亲的思考
1 A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such successful kids. They are baffled that these parents produce so many children with an abundance of talent and whether they too could raise such a child.
很多人想了解中国父母是如何培养出如此成功的孩子的。他们想知道，为什么这些中国父母能养育出那么多天分极佳的孩子，他们是否也能培养出这样的孩子呢？
2 The fact is that Chinese parents do things that seem provocative, unimaginable, even illegal, to opinionated Westerners. Chinese mothers can dispense with formal courtesies and say to an obese child who gorges on food, "Hey fatty, lose some weight." By contrast, Western parents must be humane, tiptoe around the issue, talk in terms of "health", and never ever mention the f-word. And still their kids end up in therapy for eating disorders and a negative self-image. I've thought long and hard about how Chinese parents can get away with what they do, and I think there are three ideological differences between Chinese and Western parents.
事实是，中国父母的做法，对固执己见的西方人来说，令人愤慨，难以想象，甚至是违法的。中国母亲可以不客气地对正在狼吞虎咽的肥胖孩子说:“喂，小胖子，你要减肥了。”与此相反，西方父母必须体谅地、小心翼翼而拐弯抹角地谈及“健康”，而且永远都不会提及“胖”字。结果，孩子还是因为饮食紊乱和消极的自我评价得去求医问药。长期以来我一直苦思冥想，中国父母这样做是如何能够全身而退的，我认为中西方的父母之间存在三种意识形态上的差异。
3 First, I've noticed Western parents cradle their children's self-esteem to insulate them from criticism. They worry about how their children will feel if they fail, and constantly try to solve their children's worries, regardless of how badly they perform. The presumption is that the child is tender, not strong, and as a result Western parents behave very differently than Chinese parents.
首先，我注意到西方父母呵护子女的自尊，使他们免受一切批评。他们担心孩子失败后的感受，于是不断尽其所能解除子女的忧虑，而不管其表现如何糟糕。西方父母认为孩子是娇弱的，不够坚强，因此他们的行为也就与中国父母大相径庭了。
4 For example, if a child comes home with an A-minus on a test, a Western parent will most likely praise the child. For a Chinese mother an A-minus is no milestone; she will gasp in displeasure and ask what went wrong. If the child comes home with a B, some Western parents, though hesitant, will still praise the child. Other Western parents will express disapproval, but they won't question the child's intellect or risk insecurities calling the child "stupid", "worthless" or "gross". Privately, Western parents may worry about their child, but they will never tell the child.
举个例子，如果一个孩子考试得了个A–回家，西方父母很可能会表扬孩子。而对中国母亲来说，A–根本不算什么好成绩；她还会不快地叹气，问到底出了什么问题。如果孩子得了B回家，一些西方父母尽管十分不情愿，仍然会表扬孩子。其他西方父母会表达出不满，但不会质疑孩子的智力，或贸然说孩子“笨蛋”、“一文不值”或“太可恶了”。而私下里，西方父母可能会感到担心，但绝不会让孩子们知道。
5 If a Chinese child gets a B, irrespective of the subject, there would first be a screaming, hair-tearing explosion. The Chinese mother would intensify her efforts and get dozens, maybe hundreds of practice tests and use every tool at her disposal, to get her child's grade up to an A.
如果中国孩子得了B，不管什么科目，首先面临的就是一声尖叫和恼怒的爆发。中国母亲会更加不遗余力地找来几十也许几百套的测验题，不惜采取手头任何办法来让自己孩子的成绩提高到A。
6 Chinese parents demand perfect grades because they take it for granted that their child can get them, and grades are a more important measure of success than "self-esteem". If their child doesn't get all A's, the Chinese parents assume it's because the child didn't work hard enough. That's why the solution to substandard performance is always to punish and shame the child. Chinese parents believe that their child is hardy enough to take the shaming and to improve from it.
中国父母要求完美的成绩，因为他们理所当然地认为孩子完全可以做到，而且分数是比“自尊”更为重要的衡量成功的标准。如果孩子没拿到全A，中国父母就认为这是因为孩子不够努力。这就是为什么对表现欠佳的孩子，父母总是会施以惩罚和辱骂。中国家长相信孩子足够坚强，能够承受羞辱，并会由此进步。
7 Second, Chinese parents believe their kids owe them everything. The reason for this isn't clear, but it's probably a combination of the Confucian doctrine of loyalty and the fact that parents have sacrificed so much for their children; so, Chinese children must spend their lives repaying their parents by obeying them and making them proud.
其次，中国父母认为孩子欠他们一切。这种看法的原因尚不清楚，也许是儒家“忠”的信条，再加上父母为子女牺牲诸多这一事实。因此，中国孩子必须听从父母教导，使他们自豪，终其一生回报他们。
8 Another area where Chinese and Westerners clash is that most Westerners don't believe offspring must show permanent gratitude to parents. My Western husband actually has this opposite view. "Children don't choose their parents," he once said to me. "They don't even choose to be born. It's parents who force life on their kids, so it's the parents' responsibility to provide for them. Kids don't owe their parents anything. Their duty will be to their own kids." This strikes me as a terrible deal for the Western parents.
中西方理念碰撞的另一领域是，西方人大多认为子女无须永远感激父母。我丈夫是个西方人，实际上就持有这种相反观点。“孩子又不能选择自己的父母，”他曾对我说过。“他们连要不要出生都没法选择，是父母强行给了他们生命，所以父母有责任抚养他们。孩子一点都不欠父母的，他们只对自己的子女负责任。”这话让我觉得西方父母受到的待遇真差。
9 Third, Chinese parents believe they know what's best for their children and therefore have ultimate authority over their children's desires and preferences. Chinese children have no rights to infringe, which is why Chinese daughters can't have boyfriends in high school and there are no late curfews or trips to sleep-away camps. Also even the slightest defiance or indignation, anything less than unquestioning obedience, is extinguished, and punished into submission. Don't get me wrong — it's not that Chinese parents don't care about their children. In fact, just the opposite! Chinese parents give up anything and everything to help their children. They just have an entirely different parenting model.
第三，中国父母相信他们知道什么最适合自己的孩子，因此对子女的愿望和喜好有着至高无上的权威。中国孩子没有什么父母不能侵犯的权利，所以中国孩儿在高中不能交男朋友，孩子们不能晚回家，不能参加在外过夜的野营旅行。哪怕一丁点的反抗或愤慨，只要不是绝对地服从，都会被根除，直至压服。不要误会我——这并非中国父母不关心孩子，事实恰恰相反！中国父母放弃了他们一切的一切，来帮助自己的子女。这只是教育模式完全不同而已。
10 Western propaganda often paints a portrait of Asian mothers as scheming, indifferent, militant people unconcerned with their kids' true interests. For their part, many Chinese secretly believe they care more about their children and are willing to sacrifice more for them than Westerners, who seem perfectly content to let their children turn out badly and shame their tradition and heritage. I think this is a misunderstanding on both sides. Of course there is also some overlap — all decent parents want to do what's best for their children. It's the methodology that's different.
西方的宣传往往把亚洲母亲描绘为工于心计、冷漠无情，还喜欢动武，而对孩子的真正兴趣不管不顾。对许多中国人来说，他们私下里都认为自己比西方人更关心孩子，而且愿意为他们牺牲更多，而西方人似乎都乐见孩子变坏、有辱家风。我想双方都有误解。当然也有部分共同之处——普天下称职的父母都想为孩子做最好的安排，只是方式方法不同而已。
11 Westerners preach respecting the children's individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing a positive and nurturing environment. But while Western children may have a high opinion of themselves and glowing self-esteem, how do they perform in the real world? Chinese parents protect their children by armoring them for the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and conferring upon them skills, work habits, and inner confidence that no one can ever take away. When the time comes to perform, Chinese children have a blueprint for success; they know how to compete with the best the world has to offer. The proof is in the pudding!
西方人宣扬尊重孩子的个性，鼓励他们去追求真正的激情，支持他们的选择，并提供积极有益的环境。但西方孩子在自视甚高、自尊极强的同时，在现实世界又会表现如何？中国父母如此磨砺子女为将来计，让其了解自己的所能，并赋予他们技能、工作习惯和内在信心这些没人能拿走的东西，这样来对孩子进行保护。到表现时机来临时，中国孩子已经成竹在胸；他们知道该如何利用自己在这个世界上所能学到的最好的本事去竞争。“布丁”好坏，一试便知！
Unit 8
Text B A Western mother's response
一位西方母亲的回应
1 In the days since the newspaper published the column by the Chinese mother, I have thought of what I would say to her if I met her. I might point out, as others have, that Asian-American girls aged 15 to 24 have above average rates of suicide and eating disorders. I might question the arrogance of ascribing her child's success to the Chinese child-rearing techniques of criticism and name-calling when it could just as likely have resulted from genetic or economic blessings. But I have a feeling that she knows that.
报纸上刊登出一位中国母亲的专栏之后的几天中，我曾经想过，要是能碰到她，我会对她说些什么。我也许会像其他人一样指出，15岁至24岁的亚裔美国女孩自杀和饮食失调的比例高于平均值。我也许会质疑她把自己孩子的成功归结于中国式批评和谩骂的养育技巧，这种想法实在傲慢，孩子的成功可能只是源于良好的遗传基因或经济条件。不过，我觉得这点她是知道的。
2 More importantly, if I did make such contentions, I'd risk being called a liar by my own children. Sophie, my oldest, would remind me of the recent evening when I stared in stony silence at her report card, sniffing in contempt at her father's happy congratulations.
更重要的是，如果我确实持此观点，就得冒着被自己孩子说成骗子的风险。索菲，我的长女，会提醒我就在不久前的一个晚上，我盯着她的成绩单一言不发，毫无表情，并对她父亲高兴的祝贺嗤之以鼻。
3 "What?" she said. "I got 5 solid As."
“怎么了？”她说。“我可是得了5个A啊。”
4 I shrugged.
我耸耸肩。
5 "Come on," my husband complained.
“别这样，”我丈夫抱怨道。
6 My daughter narrowed her eyes at me. She knew what was coming.
女儿眯起眼睛看我，她知道接下来会发生什么。
7 I pointed at the remaining three grades, sociology, biochemistry and intermediate aesthetics, none a solid A. I certainly didn't think it warranted the "screaming, hairtearing explosion" that the author informs us would have greeted the daughter of a Chinese mother. However, I articulated my displeasure clearly enough. The word "garbage" was not uttered. But, it was only because I feared my husband's reproach that I refrained from telling my own daughter, when she collapsed in tears, that she was acting like an idiot.
我指着余下的三门课的成绩，社会学、生物化学和中级美学，没有一个是A。我当然不认为对此应该“尖叫和恼怒地爆发”，就像作者说的中国妈妈对待女儿的那样。不过，我也足够清晰地表达了自己的不满，只是没说“垃圾”这个词。她痛哭失声，我忍住了没说她像个白痴，但那也只是因为我担心丈夫的责备而已。
8 The difference, I suppose, between proud Chinese mothers and Western ones is that I felt ashamed that I didn't subordinate my anger to my pride in what she did accomplish. Admittedly (and I am ashamed to say this too), I also did not then go out and get hundreds of practice tests and work through them with my daughter far into the night, doing whatever it took to get her the A. I would leave those tasks for a tutor to administer.
自负的中国母亲与西方母亲之间的差异，我觉得，在于我很羞愧自己并未对女儿取得的成绩感到自豪，而是任由自己的怒气发泄。诚然（对此我也很惭愧），我之后也并没有去找数百套的测验题，然后与女儿一起做题到深夜，千方百计让她拿到A。我会把那些工作留给家教来做。
9 I am, actually, grateful to the author, and for the insights she gave me. Reading her essay definitely put some Chinese iron into my Western spine, and though I eventually apologized to my daughter for failing to acknowledge, right off the bat, all those tough classes last semester in which she had done phenomenally well, and for expressing my disappointment at the others too vigorously, I have also vowed that she will clamp down on those three subjects in which she is "underperforming". Her father and I are unanimous in this.
其实，我很感谢作者，感谢她让我增长了见识。读她的文章确实让我这西方的头脑融入了一些中国元素，尽管我最终向女儿道了歉，因为我没有一开始就认可上学期她在那些很难的课程上所取得的异常优秀的成绩，并对其他课程表示了过于强烈的失望，但我也立誓要帮她攻克成绩不够好的三门课。对此她父亲和我看法是一致的。
10 But Chinese methods, I think, do still need some scrutiny. My daughter Rosie is mildly dyslexic, a learning difficulty that means she automatically reads words backward. By the time the psychiatrist diagnosed her, in second grade, she was lagging far behind her classmates. For years I forced her to spell words in the bathtub with foam letters, to do worksheets, to subdivide words into sounds and take practice tests. My criticism and forced rehearsing was redundant, it turns out — inside, she was all ready to punish herself, and I was only prolonging her misery and shattering her confidence. Eventually, and totally out of character, she even stopped loving school. She lost her sparkle. She started to suffer from constant stomachaches and broke down in tears almost every day. At last we heard about a reading program where students spent four hours every day in a small room under a supervisor with a specialization in dyslexia, drilling in letters and sight words. It sounded awful, but Rosie insisted on it. She loved books and stories. She wanted to read.
但中国的方法，我认为，确实仍然需要推敲。我女儿罗西有轻度阅读障碍，她会不由自主地逆读，这是她读二年级时精神科医生诊断出来的，那时她已经远远落后于她的同学。多年来，我强迫她在浴缸里用泡沫塑料字母拼写单词，做活页练习，把单词细分为读音，做各种练习测试。我批评她以及强迫她不断练习是多余的，原来——在她内心，她早已准备好惩罚自己，我只不过是在延长她的痛苦，粉碎她的信心。最后，她甚至不再爱上学了，这与她的性格全不相符。她失去了活力，开始不断地肚子难受，几乎每天都会流泪痛哭。后来，我们听说有一个阅读课程，学生在专攻阅读困难的专家的引导下，每天在小房间里花四个小时进行字母和常见单词练习。这听起来很可怕，但罗西执意要去。她喜欢书籍和小说，她想要阅读。
11 Every day when we picked her up, her face would be red with tears, her eyes hollow and exhausted. Every day we asked her if she wanted to quit. Neither her father nor I wanted to make a unilateral decision when she was the one who suffered, so we asked her. But every day she returned to the trenches, her little shoulders bent under the weight of her struggle. Rosie has a process she follows when she's scared — "Overcome your fears," she whispers to herself. I don't know where she learned it. Maybe from one of those television shows I shouldn't let her watch.
每天我们去接她时，她的脸总是红红的，满是泪水，两眼无神，疲惫不堪。我们每天都问她，要不要退出。无论是她父亲还是我都不想单方面替她作出决定，因为她才是遭受痛苦的人，所以我们问她的意见。而每天，她都回到课程训练现场，挣扎于重压之下，她的小肩膀都弯了。每当害怕的时候，罗西有一套自己的办法——她会对自己轻声说“要战胜恐惧”。我不知道她是从哪里学来的，也许是某个我不该让她看的电视节目。
12 At the end of a grim and brutal month, Rosie learned to read. Not because we sat like watchdogs and forced her to drill and practice and repeat, not because we dragged her kicking and screaming, or denied her food, or kept her from using the bathroom, but because she forced herself. Because of this, she emerged with a conception of herself as a powerful, versatile person.
在一个月严厉苛刻的学习结束时，罗西掌握了阅读。这不是因为我们像看守似地盯着她，强迫她练习、实践和重复，也不是因为我们拽着她又踢又叫，或者不给她饭吃，不让她上厕所，而是因为她自己逼着自己学。正因为如此，她开始意识到自己是一个意志坚强、多才多艺的人。
13 I have a feeling when Chinese children are underdeveloped or suffer from learning disabilities like Rosie's, their parents channel their admirable passion into finding a solution that works. They are just as dogged and determined, but in an entirely different way. In some scenarios roaring like a tiger turns children into pianists who debut at Carnegie Hall, but in others it only limits, constricts, and reins them in. Positive enthusiasm gives some the excuse to fail and others the chance to succeed. Wherever we reside on our big green, blue planet, Chinese mothers and I both understand that our job as mothers is to be the type of tigress that each of our different children needs.
我觉得中国孩子如果发育存在问题或者像罗西这样有学习障碍时，他们的父母会投入令人钦佩的热情去寻找可行的解决方案。他们同样是不屈不挠，无比坚定，只不过用的是完全不同的方式。某些情形下，咆哮如虎能让孩子成为在卡内基音乐厅首演的钢琴家，但其他情况下这只会限制、压迫、束缚他们。热切的关注会成为一些孩子失败的原因，也会给其他孩子成功的机会。这碧绿而又蔚蓝的广袤星球上，无论我们居于何处，中国母亲和我都明白，我们作为母亲的职责是成为每个孩子各自所需要的母老虎类型。
