首页 -> 2006年第3期

新年的思考

作者:思 晴




  春节刚过,在欢乐过后,静下心来,反思一下对错与得失,或许也是个不错的选择!拥有悠长假期是件多么美妙的事情啊,不要虚度光阴,抓紧每一寸光阴,认真思考,规划未来,努力实现,这时你会觉得未来的路好宽好宽……
  
  Most of us look away[1] when we pass[2] strangers. It is the expectional person who stops to help the woman maneuvering[3] her kids and groceries up the staircase[4]. We rarely give up in line or on the subway or bus. Locked into our automobiles[5], we prefer gridlock to giving way.
  
  当我们与陌生人擦肩而过时,多数人往往把目光移开。要是有人停下来,热心帮妇女哄孩子,并帮她把食品搬上楼梯,反而会被人看成另类。无论是排队还是乘地铁或公车,我们很少让位于他人。坐在自己的汽车里,我们宁愿堵塞交通也不愿给人让路。
  
  These daily encounters[6], when they are angry or alien[7], diminish our lives. When they are pleasant, we feel buoyed[8]. Yet when we sit at home and make resolutions, we think about what we can accomplish[9] in private spaces[10]:home, work. Too many have given up the belief[11] that they control the shared, the public world.
  
  在人与人的这些日常的接触中,怒气冲冲和背道而驰,都会减少我们生活的乐趣。而友善友爱,则会使我们精神振奋。然而,当我们坐在家里做出各种决定的时候,我们考虑的仅是,在个人的空间里,诸如在家庭、工作中,我们能实现什么目标。太多的人已经放弃了信念,不再相信自己能支配共享的公众世界。
  
  As individuals we can change the contour[12] of a day, the mood of a moment, the way people feel. The demolition[13] and reconstruction[14] of public life is the result of personal decisions made every day:the decision to give up a seat[15] on the bus;the decision to be patient or pleasant against all odds;the decision to let that jerk[16] take a left-hand turn from a right-hand lane without rolling down the window[17] and calling him a jerk.
  
  作为公众的一员,我们可以改变一天的面貌,一时的情绪,以及人们的感受。公共生活的毁坏和重建,是人们每日所做的种种个人决定的综合结果。这些决定包括:公共汽车上让座,以容忍或乐观的态度面对逆境,让那个笨蛋从右车道往左拐而不摇下车窗骂他蠢货。
  
  It's the resolution[18] to be a civil, social creature. This may be a peak period for the battle against the spread of a waistline[19] and creeping cholesterol[20]. But it is also within our will power to fight the spread of urban rudeness[21] and creeping hostility[22]. Civility doesn't put a roof over the head of the homeless[23]. But it makes a difference in the shape of a community, as surely as lifting weights[24] can make a difference in the shape of a human torso[25].
  
  这是做一个文明的社会一员的决定。今天也许是人们为减少腰围和降低胆固醇而斗争的高峰期。然而,反对城市野蛮行为和人际敌对态度的蔓延,也是我们力所能及的事。有礼貌不能为无家可归者提供栖身之所,但它的确能改变一个社会群体的面貌,犹如举重定能改变一个人的体形一样。
  
  【细节链接】
  [1] look away:转移视线,看向一旁。
  [2] pass:经过。这个单词在我们校园生活中出现的频率还是很高的,考试之后,同学们最关心的问题大概就是到底pass没有吧?对了,pass也表示“通过、过关、及格”的意思。
  [3] maneuver:有“耍花招,用策略,为达到目的而采用策略”的意思。在这里,maneuver a child表示“哄孩子”的意思。
  [4] staircase: 楼梯。
  [5] automobile:汽车。
  [6] encounter:相遇、接触。
  [7] alien: 外国的、相异的、背道而驰。
  [8] buoyed:备受鼓舞、精神振奋。
  [9] accomplish:完成、达到、实现。
  [10] private space:私人空间。
  [11] belief:信念、信仰。
  [12] contour:这里当作“轮廓、面貌”讲。
  [13] demolition:破坏, 毁坏。
  [14] reconstruction:重建、重塑。
  [15] give up a seat:让座位。
  [16] jerk:行为古怪的人,蠢货、笨蛋。
  [17] roll down the window:摇下车窗。
  [18] resolution:决心、决定。
  [19] waistline:腰围。
  [20] cholesterol:胆固醇。
  [21] rudeness:无礼、粗鲁。rude:粗鲁的,无礼的。加上ness便把形容词形式变成了名词形式。
  [22] hostility:恶意、敌意。
  [23] homeless:无家可归的。
  [24] lifting weight:举重。
  [25] torso:人体的躯干。