熊海虹主编《高等学校研究生英语综合教程 上》1-10单元原文+翻译(个人整理方便学习)
更新时间:2023-09-18 12:57:01 阅读量: 幼儿教育 文档下载
Unit One
TRAITS OF THE KEY PLAYERS
David G. Jensen
核心员工的特征
大卫·G.詹森
1 What exactly is a key player? A \during just about every search I've conducted. I asked a client - a hiring manager involved in a recent search - to define it for me. \expertise that you can count on to get the job done. On my team of seven process engineer and biologists, I've got two or three whom I just couldn't live without,\essential to my organization. And when we hire your company to recruit for us, we expect that you'll be going into other companies and finding just that: the staff that another manager will not want to see leave. We recruit only key players.\
1核心员工究竟是什么样子的?几乎每次进行调查时,我都会从雇主们那里听到“核心员工”这个名词。我请一位客户——一位正参与研究的人事部经理,给我解释一下。“每家公司都有少数几个这样的员工,在某个专业领域,你可以指望他们把活儿干好。
在我的小组中,有七名化工流程工程师和生物学家,其中有那么两三个人是我赖以生存的,”他说,“他们对我的公司而言不可或缺。当请你们公司替我们招募新人的时候,我们期待你们会去其他公司找这样的人:其他公司经理不想失去的员工。我们只招募核心员工。”
2 This is part of a pep talk intended to send headhunters into competitor's companies to talk to the most experienced staff about making a change. They want to hire a \another company. Every company also hires from the ranks of newbies, and what they're
looking for is exactly the same. \looks like they have these same traits, we'll place a bet on them.\
2这是一段充满了鼓动性的谈话,目的是把猎头们派往竞争对手的公司去游说经验丰富的员工们做一次职业变更。他们想从另一家公司招募核心员工。然而,每家公司也从新人中招人。他们要寻找的是完全一样的东西。“我们把他们和公司顶级员工表现出的特质进行对照。假如他们看起来有同样特征的话,我们就在他们身上赌一把。”只是这样有点儿冒险。
3 \help the hiring manager mitigate that risk. You need to help them identify you as a prospective \
3“这是一种有根据的猜测,”我的人事经理客户说。作为未来的一名员工,你的工作是帮助人事部经理降低这种风险,你需要帮助他们认定你有潜力成为一名核心员工。
4 Trait 1: The selfless collaborator
John Fetzer, career consultant and chemist, first suggested this trait, which has already been written about a great deal. It deserves repeating because it is the single most public difference between academia and industry. \lone-wolf and competitive, so signs of being collaborative and selfless stand out. You just can't succeed in an industry environment without this mindset\4特征1:无私的合作者
职业顾问和化学家约翰·费策尔最早提出了这个特征。关于这个特征,人们已经写了大量的文章。它之所以值得被反复谈及,是因为这一特征是学术界和企业间最明显的差别。“这里需要合作,”费策尔说,“企业的环境并不需要单打独斗,争强好胜,所以表现出合作和无私精神的员工就脱颖而出了。在企业环境中,没有这样的思维方式就不可能成功。” 5 Many peptides and grad students have a tough time showing that they can make this transition because so much of their life has involved playing the independent- researcher role and
outshining other young stars. You can make yourself more attractive to companies by working together with scientists from other laboratories and disciplines in pursuit of a common
goal—and documenting the results on your resume. This approach, combined with a liberal use of the pronoun \company's perception of you from a lone wolf to a selfless collaborator. Better still, develop a reputation inside your lab and with people your lab collaborates with as a person who fosters and initiates collaborations—and make sure this quality gets mentioned by those who will take those reference phone calls.
5许多博士后和研究生在进行这种过渡的过程中表现得相当费力。因为生命中有那么长一段时间他们都在扮演一个独立研究者的角色,并且要表现得比其他年轻的优秀人才更出色。你可以藉此提高在公司的吸引力:为追求一个共同的目标和来自其他实验室和学科的科学家们合作——并且为你的个人履历上的内容提供事迹证明。这个方法,加上你在描述业绩时开明地使用代词“我们”,而不是“我”,能使公司对你的看法从 “单干户”转变成“合作者”。更为有利的是,要在你实验室内部,以及在和你们实验室合作的人们之间,培养一个良好声誉:一个鼓励并发动合作的人——还要保证让那些会接听调查电话的人们谈及你的这个品质。 6 Trait 2: A sense of urgency
Don Haut is a frequent contributor to the aas.sciencecareers. org discussion forum. He is a former scientist who transitioned to industry many years ago and then on to a senior
management position. Haut heads strategy and business development for a division of 3M with more than $2.4 billion in annual revenues. He is among those who value a sense of urgency. 6特征2:紧迫感
唐-豪特是一位给aaas.sciencecareers@org 网站论坛频繁写稿的撰稿人。他之前是一名科学家。许多年前他转向了企业,并一直做到高级管理的职位。他在3M公司一个部门负责策略和商业开发工作,这个部门每年上缴的税收高达24亿多美元。他就是一个重视紧迫感的人。
7 \Haut. \have to mobilize all of the functions that support a business to move quickly, but you have to know how to decide where 'there' is! This creates a requirement not only for people who can act quickly, but for those who can think fast and have the courage to act on their convictions. This requirement needs to run throughout an organization and is not exclusive to management.\
7“一年365天,一周7天,一天24小时,生意始终在进行,那意味着一年365天,一周7天,一天24小时,竞争也同样在进行,”豪特说,“公司取胜的方法之一就是要更快地到达‘目的地’。这就是说,你不仅要把所有能支持公司快速运转的功能都调动起来,而且还得知道如何决定‘目的地’是哪里。这样,不仅对那些行动快速的人们,也对那些思维敏捷,并有勇气按自己的想法行事的人们都提出了要求。这需要全公司各部门的运作,而不仅仅是管理部门的工作。” 8 Trait 3: Risk tolerance
Being OK with risk is something that industry demands. \
demonstrated the ability to make decisions with imperfect or incomplete information. He or she must be able to embrace ambiguity and stick his or her neck out to drive to a conclusion,\one of my clients in a job description. 8特征3:风险容忍度
企业要求员工能承受风险。“一名求职者需要表现出仅凭不准确、不完整的信息就做出决策的能力。他或她必须能接纳不确定因素并冒着风险做出结论,”一位客户在职业描述中写道。
9 Haut agrees. \organizational, and financial. This creates a disconnect for many scientists because success in academia is really more about careful, studied research. Further, great science is often defined by how one gets to the answer as much as by the answer itself, so scientists often fall in love with the process. In a business, you need to understand the process, but you end up falling in love with the answer and then take a risk based on what you think that answer means to your business. Putting your neck on the line like this is a skill set that all employers look for in their best people.\
9豪特赞同这一说法。“商业成功通常有这样一个特质:那就是能接受不确定因素和风险——个人的,组织上的和财务上的。这就让许多科学家感到不适应,因为学术上的成功其实是依靠认真而严谨的研究。更进一步说,伟大的科学常常是由找寻答案的过程和答案本身两者同时来定义的。因此科学家们往往沉迷于过程。在企业里,你需要了解过程,但最终你会迷上答案,然后根据你认为该答案对你的企业所具有的意义来冒风险。像这样敢冒风险是一套技能组合,是所有雇主在他们最好的员工身上所寻找的东西。”
10 Another important piece of risk tolerance is a candidate's degree of comfort with failure. Failure is important because it shows that you were not afraid to take chances. So companies consistently look for candidates who can be wrong and admit it. Everyone knows how to talk about successes—or they should if they're in a job search—but far fewer people are comfortable talking about failures, and fewer still know how to bring lessons and advantages back from the brink. \and he or she needs to have real failures, not something made up for interview day. If not, that person has not taken enough risk.\
10风险容忍度的另外一个要点是求职者对失败的承受度。失败很重要,因为这表示你不怕冒险。所以各家公司总会寻找有可能犯错误并敢于承认错误的求职者。大家都知道如何谈论成功——或者当他们在寻找工作的时候应该知道。但很少有人乐意谈论失败,更少有人知道如何从失败的边缘吸取教训和获得经验。“对我的企业来说,求职者需要坦然地谈论他或她的失败,而且他或她需要有真正的失败经历,而不是特意为面试而杜撰的东西。如果做不到的话,那么这个人冒的风险还不够,”豪特说。 11 Trait 4: Strength in interpersonal relationships
Rick Leach is in business development for deCODE Genetics. Leach made the transition to industry recently, on the business side of things'\new business role, interpersonal abilities make the difference between success and failure.
\\—people skills. The scientist who is transitioning into the business world must prioritize his or her relationship assets above their technical assets. To suddenly be valued and measured by your mastery of human relationships can be a very scary proposition for a person who has been valued and measured only by his mastery of things,\11特征4:善于处理人际关系
瑞克·李奇在迪科德遗传工程公司从事业务拓展。李奇最近才转行到企业,做业务方面的工作。我向他咨询这个重要特征,是因为在他的新业务角色中,人际沟通能力在成功和失败之间发挥着很大的作用。“科学家毕生都在积累知识,培养技术上的敏锐感,”他说,“但为企业工作需要完全不同的东西——人际交往的能力。想转行到企业界的科学家们必须优先考虑他们的社会关系资源而不是技术资源。对一个以前一直根据专业知识水平被评价的人来说,突然之间要根据他的人际交往能力来评价他,真是十分令人恐惧。” 12 It would be a mistake, however, to assume that strong people skills are required only for business people like Leach. Indeed, the key players I've met who work at the bench in industry have succeeded in great measure because they've been able to work with a broad variety of personalities, up and down the organization.
12然而,如果认为只有像李奇那样的生意人才需要熟练的人际沟通技巧,那就错了。事实上,我所遇见的在企业工作的核心费工们之所以取得成功,很大程度上是因为他们能够与公司上下各种各样的人共事。
Unit Two
CULINARY DELIGHTS IN CHINA
中餐被公认为全球最佳美食之一,其种类之丰富,工艺之繁复,使其理所当然地成为游客大快朵颐的乐事之一。
中国美食
1 Chinese cuisine is a brilliant facet of Chinese culture, which is proven by the fact that Chinese restaurants are found scattered everywhere throughout the world. Today, the culinary industry is developing even more rapidly than before. A decade ago, Beijing had a few thousand restaurants, while today there are over 100,000 restaurants of different sizes in the city.
1中国美食是中国文化一道绚烂的风景线,这点从世界各地随处可见的中餐馆可以窥见。当今,烹饪业正以前所未有的速度在发展。10年前,北京只有几千家餐馆,而今天却有10万多家大小不等的餐馆遍布市内。 2 Regional Chinese Cuisines
It is widely acknowledged that from the Ming (1368-1644) dynasties onwards, there are eight major schools of Chinese based op regional cooking. They came from Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, and Anhui provinces. In addition to these
traditional cuisines, the culinary industry in China has undergone great changes, as almost every place has its own local specialties, and as the different cuisines gather together in big cities, such as Beijing. 2地方美食
众所周知,明朝以来出现了八大菜系,分别是山东菜、四川菜、广东菜、福建菜、江苏菜、浙江菜、湖南菜和安徽菜。除了这些传统菜系,中国的烹饪业也经历了巨大的变化:每个地方都形成了自己的特色菜,不同菜系汇集于诸如北京这样的大城市。
3 Sichuan, known as Nature's Storehouse, is also a storehouse of cuisine. Here, each and every restaurant provides delicious yet economical culinary fare. The ingredients for Sichuan cuisine are simple but the spices used are quite different. Sichuan cuisine is famous for its spicy and hot food, yet just being hot and spicy does not necessarily , distinguish it from other hot and spicy cuisines such as Hunan or Guizhou cuisines.
What is really special about Sichuan cuisine is the use of Chinese prickly ash seeds, the taste of which leaves a feeling of numbness on one's tongue and mouth. Besides this unique spice, Sichuan dishes are usually prepared with other spices such as chili pepper. Using fermented bean sauce and a set of unique cooking methods. Sichuan cuisine is now famous and popular across the world. In recent years, there have appeared many more renowned restaurants specializing in Sichuan cuisine, such as the Tan Family Fish Head restaurant.
3被誉为“天府之国”的四川也是个美食之都。在那里的任何一家餐馆都能找到既可口又经济实惠的美食。川菜的原料虽简单,但调料却大有讲究。川菜以口味辣著称,但仅是口味辣还不能使川菜区别于其他辣口味的菜系,比如湖南菜和贵州菜。川菜的特别之处在于花椒的使用。尝过花椒之后,人们的舌头和嘴巴会留下酥麻的感觉。除了花椒之外,川菜还常用辣椒粉之类的调料。因使用豆豉作配料,再加上一套独特的烹饪方式,如今川菜在全世界都十分有名和受欢迎。近几年涌现了一大批著名的专做川菜的餐馆,比如谭鱼头。
4 Guangdong Province is located in southern China, with a moderate climate and abundant produce all year round. As one of the earliest ports open to foreign trade, the province has developed a culinary culture with its own characteristics that has exerted a far-reaching
influence on other parts of China as well as throughout the world where it is the most commonly available Chinese cuisine. Guangdong cuisine is famous for its seafood as well as for its
originality and refined cooking processes. Various soups in this cuisine are loved by people all over the country.
4广东省在中国南部,全年气候温和,物产丰富。它还是最早对外开放的通商口岸之一。广东的餐饮文化独具特色,对中国其他地方乃至全世界产生了深远的影响。广东菜以其好生猛海鲜、追求新奇、细致考究的烹饪方法而著称。广东菜中的各式煲汤如今已深受全国各地人民喜爱。
5 Zhejiang cuisine is light and exquisite, and is typical of food from along the lower
Yangtze River. One famous dish is West Lake Vinegar Fish, which looks pretty and has the delicate refreshing flavors of nature. Many Chinese restaurants in China, as well as in other parts of the world, serve this dish, but often the flavor is less authentic compared to that found in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, which has unique access to the fish and water of West Lake.
5浙江菜口味清淡,精致玲珑,是长江下游区域菜肴的代表。西湖醋鱼是其中的一道名菜。这道菜鲜美,酥嫩,带着自然的清香。中国乃至世界各地的中餐馆大都能找得到这道菜,但口味往往不及在浙江杭州吃得那般纯正。因为只有杭州拥有来自西湖的鱼和水。 6 Every Dish Has a Story
The names of Chinese dishes are diverse, but behind each of the famous dishes is an interesting story explaining why it is popular. A good name can make the dish more interesting; however, some names are so eccentric that they may confuse people, both Chinese and foreigners. If you only translate the names literally with no explanation, you could make a fool of yourself. 6每道菜都有一段故事
中国菜名五花八门,而每道名菜都有一段有趣的故事,说明它如何博得人们的喜爱。一个好名字能使这道菜更有意思;但有些菜名太怪异了,听起来让人一头雾水,不要说外国人难以理解,就是中国人往往也不是很清楚。你要是望文生义,准得闹出笑话来。
7 Take Goubuli steamed buns in the city of Tianjin for example. These popular buns are all of the same size and handmade. When served in neat rows on a tray, they look like budding chrysanthemum flowers. The wrapping is thin, the fillings are juicy, the meat, tender and the taste delicious and not at all greasy. Then, why the name?
7拿天津“狗不理”包子来说吧。“狗不理”纯手工制作,大小均等,深受欢迎。这些包子整整齐齐地放在托盘上时,看上去就像是含苞欲放的菊花。皮儿很薄,馅儿饱蘸肉汁,口感柔软,香而不腻。可为什么叫“狗不理”呢?
8 There is an interesting story behind it. Goubuli steamed buns were first sold in Tianjin out 150 years ago. A local man by the name of Gouzi (Dog) worked as an apprentice in a shop selling baozi (steamed buns). After three years, he set up his own baozi shop. Because his buns were so delicious, he soon had a thriving business with more and more people coming to buy his buns. As hardworking as Gouzi was, he could not keep up with demand so his customers often had to wait a long time to be served. Impatient, some people would call out to urge him on, but as he was so busy preparing the buns, he didn't answer. People therefore came to call his buns
Goubuli, meaning \promotional effects, and has been used ever since. Goubuli is now a time-cherished brand name in Tianjin.
8“狗不理”的背后有一段有趣的故事。大约150年前,“狗不理”包子在天津初次亮相。当地有个小伙子,名叫狗子,在一家包子店当学徒。三年后,自己单独开了一家包子店。他做的包子味道鲜美,因此生意十分红火,吸引了越来越多的顾客。狗子工作十分卖力,可他还是满足不了大家的需要,顾客们只得等很长时间。有些顾客等得不耐烦了,就在外面嚷嚷着催他快点,可狗子忙着做包子呢,哪有时间搭理。后来人们就把他做的包子称作“狗不理”,意思是“狗子不搭理他们”。可就是这个有点怪里怪气的名字,反倒起了很好的广告作用,这个名字一直沿用到了今天。如今“狗不理”已经成为天津的老字号。 9 In Zhejiang cuisine, there is a well-known dish called Dongpo Meat. This dish of streaky pork is prepared over a slow fire where the big chunks of pork are braised with green onion, ginger cooking wine, soy sauce, and sugar. The finished dish is bright red in color and the meat is tender and juicy and, like the Goubuli buns, not at all greasy. This dish was named after Su Dongpo (1037-1101), a great poet of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), who created it when he was an official in Hangzhou. It is said that, when he was in charge of the drainage work for the West Lake, Su Dongpo rewarded workers with stewed pork in soy sauce, and people later named it Dongpo Meat, to commemorate this gifted and generous poet.
9浙江菜里有一道深受欢迎的菜,叫东坡肉。这道菜是把五花肉切成大块,配上青葱,在锅底放些生姜,然后加料酒、酱油和糖用慢火做出来的。这道菜色泽红亮,酥嫩多汁,如“狗不理”一样毫无肥腻之感。它以北宋时代大诗人苏东坡的名字命名。苏东坡在杭州做官时发明了这道菜。据说,他当时负责西湖的排污工程,经常拿红烧肉犒劳工人。后来为了纪念这位才华横溢、慷慨大方的诗人,人们就把它称作东坡肉。
10 Fujian cuisine boasts a famous dish called Buddha Jumping over the Wall, the number one dish of the province. This dish is prepared with more than 20 main ingredients including chicken, duck, sea cucumber, dried scallop, tendon, shark lip, fish maw and ham. All these
ingredients are placed into a ceramic pot, with cooking wine and chicken broth, and then cooked over a slow fire until the meat is tender and juicy and the soup becomes smooth and thick. Then it is served with more than a dozen garnishes such as mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots and pigeon eggs. It is famous for leaving a lingering aftertaste in the mouth. The story behind the name of the specialty goes as follows:
10佛跳墙是福建莱里的一道名菜,亦被称作福建第一菜。这道莱的主料不下20种,有鸡肉、鸭肉、海参、干贝、蹄筋、鱼唇、鱼肚、火腿配料10多种,有蘑菇、冬笋、鸽蛋等。所有的原料均放在一个陶罐里,加上料酒和鸡汤后,用文火炖,一直炖到肉汁鲜美,柔润细腻,汤味浑厚。轻舔一口,余香满口。这道特色菜的背后有这么一个故事:
11 Buddha Jumping over the Wall was created in a restaurant called Gathering Spring Garden in Fuzhou, Fujian, during the reign of the Qing Emperor, Guangxu (1875-1908). It was named Eight Treasures Stewed in a Pot and the name was later changed to blessing and Longevity. One day, several scholars carne to Gathering Spring Garden for a meal. When the dish was served, one of the scholars improvised a poem: \lifts, / One whiff and the Buddha Jumps the wall, abandoning the Zen precepts” Hence the name of the dish!
11佛跳墙是由福州市一个叫聚春园的餐馆在清朝光绪年间发明的,早先菜名为八珍锅,而后改为福寿全。一日,几位秀才到聚春园饮酒。菜上桌时,其中一位即兴赋诗一首“坛启荤香飘四邻,佛闻弃禅跳墙来。”佛跳墙这一菜名便由此得来。 12 Warmth and Hospitality Expressed by Food
In the eyes of Chinese, what is important about eating, especially at festivals, is to eat in a warm atmosphere. Often the young and old still sit in order of seniority, and the elders select food for the young while the young make toasts to the elders. Chinese people like to create a lively, warm, and harmonious atmosphere during meals. 12食物传达的温馨和盛情
在中国人看来,吃最重要的,尤其在过节时,莫过于是吃饭时的温馨气氛。吃饭时,年长的和年少的按照年龄大小依次坐好,在欢乐祥和的气氛中,说说笑笑。席间,长辈为晚辈夹菜,晚辈给长辈敬酒,营造出一派欢乐、温馨、和谐的气氛。
13 A hostess or host in China will apportion the best parts of the dishes to guests. Using a pair of serving chopsticks, she or he places the best part of a steamed fish or the most tender piece of meat on the plate of the most important guest. Such a custom is still popular, especially among the elder generation, as a way of expressing respect, concern and hospitality. 13在中国,主人会把最好的莱分给客人。他们用公筷把清蒸鱼最好的部分或最嫩的肉夹给最重要的来宾。这种习俗用来表达尊敬、关怀和好客之意,至今在老一辈的中国人中还是很流行。
14 Such culinary customs have had a certain influence on the character of the Chinese people. In a. sense, it has strengthened the collective spirit of the nation. At a party or a banquet, everyone first takes into consideration the needs of the group; with the eating process also being a time to show humility and concern for others.
14这种饮食习俗对中国人的性格也有几分影响。从某种意义上说,它增强了人们的集体主义精神。无论在聚会还是在宴席上,人们首先考虑大家的需求,把吃饭当成是谦卑有礼和关怀他人的场合。
15 In China, food eaten during festivals is particularly important. At different festivals, people partake of different fare. For example, on the eve of the Spring Festival, people in the north always eat. jiaozi, meat and vegetable dumplings, at family reunions. This is a way of bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the New Year. The Lantern Festival is a day of
celebration, and on this day people like to eat yuanxiao, sweet dumplings made of glutinous rice flour, to symbolize family reunion and perfection. At the Duanwu Festival, people eat zongzi, glutinous rice wrapped in triangular shape in reed leaves, to commemorate the beloved poet Qu Yuan (c.1339-c. 278 BC), who drowned himself in the Miluo River after being politically wronged. Legend has it that people at the time threw zongzi into the river in the hope that the dragon would not take him away. This later gradually developed into a custom of making and eating zongzi during the Duanwu Festival.
15中国人特别在乎过节时吃什么,不同的节日吃不同的食物。比如除夕夜全家团圆时,北方人吃肉饺或菜饺,象征辞旧迎新。元宵节吃元宵,元宵是糯米粉做的甜团子,象征家庭团圆、美满。端午节吃粽子,人们用芦苇叶子把糯米包成三角形的粽子是为了纪念受人爱戴的诗人屈原。屈原因遭政治迫害自沉于汨罗江。传说古时候人们把粽子投到江中,希望水中的龙不要带走他。之后,端午节包粽子和吃粽子的习俗就慢慢形成了。
Unit Three
Leisure without literature is death and burial alive. —Seneca, Roman philosopher
WHY HARRY'S HOT?
没有文学的休闲生活犹如死亡抑或活埋。 ——西尼加(古罗马哲学家)
《哈利波特》风行之迷
1 J. K. Rowling swears she never saw it coming. In her wildest dreams, she didn't think her Harry Potter books would appeal to more than a handful of readers. \people to like them,\obviously. It strikes a chord with an enormous number of people.\35 million copies in print, in 35 languages, the first three Harry Potter books have earned a conservatively estimated $480 million in three years. And that was just the warm-up. With a first printing of 5.3 million copies and advance orders topping 1.8 million, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth installment of the series, promises to break every bookselling record. Jack Morrissey, 12, plainly speaks for a generation of readers when he says, \books are like life, but better.\
1J.K.罗琳发誓说自己从来没有过这种预想。她做梦也没有想到会有那么多人对她的书感兴趣。“我从来没有指望过有这么多人喜欢它,”在最近的一次访谈中她仍然这样说,“可是,很显然,我大错特错了。它在许多人心中产生了共鸣。”她说得很委婉。《哈利波特》系列丛书的前三册被翻译成了35种语言,已出版3,500万册,据保守估计,这三册书在三年时间里已经赚了四亿八千万美金。而这还只是个开始。《哈里波特》系列丛书的第四册《哈利波特与火焰杯》初版530万册,加上高达180万册的订单,有望创造新的畅销书销售记录。12岁的杰克·莫里西的话很清楚地表达了他们这一代读者的想法。他说:“《哈利波特》就如同生活,但比生活更美好。”
2 Amazingly, Rowling keeps her several plotlines clear of each other until the end, when he deftly brings everything together in a cataclysmic conclusion. For pure narrative power, this is the best Potter book yet.
2让人称奇的是,罗琳让每一册书的情节相互独立,但最后,她却能够巧妙地把它们衔接起来,形成一个意想不到的结局。单从叙述能力而言,《哈利波特与火焰杯》也是《哈利波特》系列丛书中最好的一本。
3 When the book finally went on sale at 12:01 am. Saturday, thousands of children in Britain and North America rushed to claim their copies. Bookstores hosted pajama parties, hired
magicians and served cookies and punch, but nobody needed to lift the spirits of these crowds. In one case, customers made such a big, happy noise that neighbors called the cops. At a
Borders in Charlotte, N.C., Erin Rankin, 12, quickly thumbed to the back as soon as she got her copy. “I heard that a_ major character dies, and I really want to find out who,\minutes later she gave up. “I just can't do it. I can't read the end first.\
3当这本书终于在星期六午夜12:01面市时,在英国和北美,成千上万的孩子争相购买。书店举办了睡衣派对,邀请了一些魔术师表演,并提供曲奇饼和潘趣酒,可是没人需要这些,因为人们个个情绪高涨。有一次,顾客们发出了巨大的欢呼声,以致邻居们实在难以忍受而报了警。在美国北卡罗来纳州的夏洛特市“边界”连锁书店,12岁的艾琳·兰金一拿到书就快速翻到最后一页。“我听说有一个主角死了,我真的很想知道是谁,”她说。但是几分钟后她放弃了。“我做不到,我不能先看书的结尾。”
4 The only sour note in all the songs of joy over this phenomenon has come from some parents and conservative religious leaders who say Rowling advocates witchcraft. reading of the books has been challenged in 25 school districts in at least 17 states, and the books have been banned in schools in Kansas and Colorado. But that's nothing new, says Michael Patrick Hearn, a children's book scholar and editor of The Annotated Wizard, of Oz. \considered evil by some people,\in the mid-1980s.\
4在对“哈利波特”现象的一路欢歌中,出现的唯一一个不和谐音符来自干一些父母和保守的宗教领袖。他们认为罗琳在宣扬巫术。至少在17个州的25所学校校区内,阅读《哈利波特》受到了质疑,而在堪萨斯州和科罗拉多州的学校里,《哈利波特》系列丛书则被明令禁止。但是作为儿童图书专家和《绿野仙踪》的编辑,迈克尔·帕特里克·赫恩觉得这并不奇怪。“无论何种魔法都会被有些人视为邪恶,”他说,“《绿野仙踪》就曾经在80年代中期遭到正统派基督教徒们的抨击。”
5 But perhaps the most curious thing about the Potter phenomenon, especially given that it is all about books, is that almost no one has taken the time to say how good— or bad—these books are. The other day my 11-year-old daughter asked me if I thought Harry Potter was a classic. I gave her, I'm afraid, one of those adult-sounding answers when I said, \not an outright lie. There's no telling which books will survive from one generation to the next. But the fact is, I was hedging. What my daughter really wanted to know was how well J. K. Rowling stacks up against the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson or Madeleine L'Engle.
5但是对于“哈利波特”现象最让人感到好奇的事情可能是几乎没有人会花时间去讨论这些书有多好或者多糟,尤其是当这些评论仅仅涉及书本身的时候。有一天,11岁的女儿问我是否认为《哈利波特》是经典之作,我给出了一个恐怕听起来十分成人化的回答,“时间会证明一切的。”这不能算是一个彻头彻尾的谎言,因为谁也没有办法预测有哪一本书能够代代相传。但事实上,我在闪烁其词。我女儿真正想知道的是:与罗伯特·路易斯·史蒂文森和马德琳·英格这一类人相比较,罗琳到底有多棒。
6 I could have told her that I thought they were beautifully crafted works of entertainment, the literary equivalent of Steven Spielberg. I could also have told her I thought the Potter books were derivative. They share so many elements with so many children's classics that sometimes it seems as though Rowling had assembled her novels from a kit. However, these novels amount to, much more than just the sum of their parts. The crucial aspect of their appeal is that they can be read by children and adults with equal pleasure. Only the best authors—and they can be as different as Dr. Seuss and Philip Pullman\—can pull that off.
6我本可以告诉她我认为这些书是精心构思的通俗作品,是堪比史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格之电影的文学作品。本来我还可以告诉她我认为《哈利波特》系列丛书没有什么新意,它们与众多儿童经典作品有太多相似之处,所以有时候会给读者一种感觉,仿佛罗琳组装编织了这些故事。但是,这些故事绝对不仅仅是各个部分的简单相加。它们如此受欢迎的关键之处就在于无论是大人还是小孩都能够从阅读中获得乐趣。只有最好的作家——他们能够与苏斯博士和菲利普·普尔曼,当然还有罗琳一样与众不同——才能够做到这一点。
7 P. L. Travers, the author of the Mary Poppins books, put it best when she wrote, \chop off a section of your imaginative substance and make a book specifically for children, for—if you are honest— you have, in fact, no idea where childhood ends and maturity begins. It is all endless and all one. There is plenty for children and adults to enjoy in Rowling's books, starting with their language. Her prose may be unadorned, but her way with naming people and things reveals a quirky and original talent.
7《(欢乐满人间》的作者帕梅拉·林登·特拉弗斯概括得精辟至极。她写到,“你不能把你想象的东西砍掉一部分然后写成一本专给孩子看的书,坦白地说,因为事实上你根本无从知道童年究竟是什么时候结束,而成人期又是什么时候开始的。它们相互连接、浑然一体。”在罗琳的书中,从语言开始,就有足够多的让大人和孩子都喜欢的东西。也许她文风朴实,但是她给人和物取名的方式显示了独特的原创才能。
8 The best writers remember what it is like to be a child with astonishing intensity. Time and again, Rowling articulates just how defenseless even the bravest children often feel. Near the end of the second book Dumbledore, the wise and protective headmaster, is banished from Hogwarts. This terrifies Harry and his schoolmates—\as never before\—and it terrified me. And in all of Rowling's books there runs an undercurrent of sadness and loss. In the first book the orphaned Harry stares into the Mirror of Erised, which shows the viewer his or her utmost desires. Harry sees his dead parents. \what I'd written did I realize that that had been taken entirely- entirely- from how I felt about my mother's death,\say, is one of the central themes in all seven books.\intellectualism? Consciously, perhaps not. But I don't think the books would have their broad appeal if they were only exciting tales of magical adventure, and I know adults would not find them so enticing.
8优秀作家关注孩子特点的能力达到惊人的程度。罗琳不只一次地清楚表达出,即便是最勇敢的孩子也经常会表现得那么无助。在《哈利波特》(二)中,当那位智慧的、对学生呵护有加的魔法学校校长邓布利多被驱逐出霍格华兹时,哈利和他的同学们都感到恐惧万分。“邓布利多走了,前所未有的恐惧蔓延开来。”而这也让我很害怕。在罗琳所有的书中都流淌着一种潜在的伤感与迷失。在《哈利波特》(一)中,变成孤儿的哈利盯着那面能够说出每个人内心深处愿望的厄里斯魔镜看,他看见了逝去的双亲。“直到我自己重读我写过的东西,我才意识到这个情节完完全全——完完全全地——来自于我对于母亲去世的感觉,”罗琳说,“事实上,我可以说,死亡、丧亲之痛以及死亡意味着什么是所有这七册书的中心主题之一。”而年轻的读者们能够领会这一份深刻的理性吗?也许不能自觉地做到这一点吧。但是我认为,如果这些书只是一些有关魔幻之旅的有趣的故事,那么它们就不可能有这么广泛的吸引力。而且我知道,那样的话成人就不会被它吸引。
9 The Harry Potter books aren't perfect. What I miss most in these novels is the presence of a great villain. And by great villain I mean an interesting villain. Long. John Silver is doubly
frightening because he is both evil and charming. If he were all Bad, he wouldn't frighten us half as much. Voldemort is resistible precisely because he is just bad to the bone. That said, I should add that in the new book Rowling outdoes herself with a bad guy so seductive you'll never see him coming. And he is scary.
9《哈利波特》系列丛书不尽完美。在这些丛书中我最想看到的是一个绝妙的反面角色。我这里说的“绝妙的反面角色”是指“有趣的反面角色”。因为高个子约翰·希尔弗既邪恶又迷人,所以他才让人更觉害怕。如果他仅仅只是坏的话,他带给我们的恐怖感会减少一大半。伏地魔王让人抗拒就是因为他仅仅只是一个十足的坏蛋。这么一说,我想在罗琳超越自己的这本新书中加上这样一个反面角色。这个角色是如此的有魅力,你是永远也见不到的,而且他相当令人恐惧。
10 That quibble aside, Rowling’s novels are probably the best books children have ever encountered that haven't been thrust upon them by an adult. I envy kids reading these books, because there was nothing this good when I was a boy-nothing this good, I mean, that we found on our own, the way kids are finding Harry. We affectionately remember The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, but try rereading them and their charm fades away pretty quickly. Rowling may not be as magisterial as Tolkien or as quirky as Dahl, but her books introduce fledgling readers to a very high standard of entertainment. With three books left to go in the series, it's too early to pass final judgment. But considering what we've seen so far, especially in the latest volume, Harry Potter has all the earmarks of a classic. 10除了这些吹毛求疵的意见,罗琳的书可能是孩子们所接触到的最好的书,而且阅读这些书也不是家长强加的任务。我羡慕那些阅读这些书的孩子,因为在我还是个孩子的时候,可没有这么好的东西——我的意思是说,我们没有通过自己去发现有这么好的东西,不像现在的孩子,他们找到了哈利。我们深深地记着哈迪男孩和南茜·朱尔,但是当我们尝试着重新阅读这些角色的时候,他们的魅力很快就散去了。罗琳的书也许不如托尔金的书那么具有权威性,也不如达尔的作品那般跌宕起伏,但是她的书将涉世未深的读者带入了一个相当高的娱乐水准。(《哈利波特》系列丛书还有三册尚未出版,现在下定论还为时尚早。但是,就目前我们看到的情况来看,特别是在最后一册,《哈利波特》具备了经典作品的所有特征。
Unit Four
The following text is extracted from Marriages and Families by Nijole V. Benokraitis.
The book has been used as a textbook for sociology courses and women's studies in a number of universities in the United States. It highlights important contemporary changes in society and the family and explores the choices that are available to family members, as well as the constraints that many of us do not recognize. It examines the diversity of American families today, using cross-cultural and multicultural comparisons to encourage creative thinking about the many critical issues that confront the family of the twenty-first century.
下面的文章选自奈杰尔贝诺克瑞提斯的婚姻与家庭。此书在美国的一些大学里被用作社会学和妇女研究等课程的教材,它强调了在当代社会和家庭中所发生的重要变化,探索了家庭成员所面临的选择,以及我们很多人都还未意识到的种种约束。该书还审视了当今美国家庭的多样性,运用跨文化和多元文化的比较,以激发创造性思维来研究21世纪家庭所面临的许多严峻问题。
LOVE AND LOVING RELATIONSHIPS
Nijole V. Benokraitis
爱和情感连系
奈杰尔·贝诺克瑞提斯
1 Love- as both an emotion and a behavior- is essential for human survival- The family is usually our earliest and most important source of love and emotional support. Babies and
children deprived of love have been known to develop a wide variety of problems- for example, depression, headaches, physiological impairments, and neurotic and psychosomatic difficulties- that sometimes last a lifetime. In contrast, infants who are loved and cuddled typically gain more weight, cry less, and smile more. By five years of age, they have been found to have significantly higher IQs and to score higher on language tests.
1爱,对于人类的生存是不可或缺的。它既是一种情感,又是一种行为。家庭通常是我们最早和最重要的爱和情感支持的来源。众所周知,缺乏爱的婴幼儿会产生各种各样的问题,如抑郁症、头痛、生理残疾、神经质或身心疾病,这些病有时会伴随他们一生。而对比之下,拥有爱和拥抱的婴儿通常体重增加得快,哭得少,而笑得多。到了五岁时,他们的智商和语言测试的分数明显比前一类儿童高得多。
2 Much research shows that the quality of care infants receive affects how they later get along with friends, how well they do in school, how they react to new and possibly stressful situations, and how they form and maintain loving relationships as adults. It is for these reasons that
people's early intimate relationships within their family of origin1 are so critical. Children who are raised in impersonal environments (orphanage, some foster homes, or unloving families) show emotional and social underdevelopment, language and motor skills retardation, and mental health problems.
2很多研究发现婴儿获得关爱的质量会影响到他们以后的交友,在学校的表现,如何应对陌生的或可能充满压力的情况,以及他们成年后如何建立并且维系情感连系。正是因为这些原因,人们与家庭成员的早期亲密关系才如此至关重要。在人情冷漠的环境中(如孤儿院,某些寄养家庭,或缺乏关爱的家庭)长大的孩子会出现情感和社会性发育不良,语言和运动技能迟缓,以及精神健康问题。
3 Love for oneself, or self-love, is also essential for our social and emotional development. Actress Mae West once said, \such a statement may seem self-centered, it's actually quite insightful Social scientists describe self-love as an important oasis for self- esteem. Among other things, people who like themselves are more open to criticism and less demanding of others. Fromm (1956) saw self-love as a necessary prerequisite for loving others. People who don't like themselves may not be able to return love but may constancy seek love relationships to bolster their own poor self-images. But just what is love? What brings people together?
3对自己的爱,或者说自爱,对我们的社会性和情感发展也是至关重要的。女演员梅·韦斯特曾说过,“我从没有像爱自己那样爱过别人。”虽然这样的话听起来似乎有些以自我为中心,实际上却是相当有见地。社会学家将自爱描述为自尊的一个重要基础。从别的方面来说,自我喜欢的人更乐于接受批评,对别人的要求也不那么苛刻。弗罗姆(1956)认为自爱是爱别人的先决条件。不喜欢自己的人也许不懂得回报爱,而却有可能不停地寻找爱的关系来改变卑微的自我形象。那么到底什么是爱?是什么让人们走到一起?
4 Love is an elusive concept. We have all experienced love and feel we know what it is; however, when asked what love is, people give a variety of answers. According to a nine- year-old boy, for example, \What we mean by love depends on whether we are talking about love for family members, friends, or lovers. Love has been a source of inspiration, wry witticisms, and even political action for many centuries.
4爱是一个难以描述的概念。我们都经历过爱,觉得我们知道爱是什么,然而当被问到什么是爱时,人们给出的答案却不尽相同,比如一个九岁的男孩说,“爱像雪崩,你必须快跑才能活命。”爱对我们来说意味着什么,这取决于我们所指的是家人之间、朋友之间还是恋人之间的爱。几百年来爱都是灵感、俏皮的揶揄、甚至是政治活动的来源。
5 Love has many dimensions. It can be romantic, exciting, obsessive, and irrational- It can also be platonic, calming, altruistic, and sensible? Many researchers feel that love defies a single definition because it varies in degree and intensity and across social contexts. At the very least, three elements are necessary for a loving
relationship: (1) a willingness to please and accommodate the other person, even if this involves compromise and sacrifice; (2) an acceptance of the other person's faults and shortcomings; and (3) as much concern about the loved one's welfare as one's own. And, people who say they are \
5爱有很多层面,它可能是浪漫的,令人激动的,让人着迷的,或者是非理性的。它也可能是柏拉图式的,令人平静的,无私的,或者理智的。许多研究者觉得爱没有一个唯一的定义,它有程度和强度之分,并且跨越了社会背景。拥有恋爱关系至少需要具备三个元素:1)愿意取悦和迁就另一方,即使需要妥协或牺牲;2)能接受另一方的错误和缺点;3)关心爱人的幸福像关心自己一样。而且,说自己“处于恋爱中”的人们重视相互之间的关心、亲密和忠诚。
6 In any type of love, caring about the other person is essential. Although love may, involve passionate yearning, respect is a more important quality. Respect is inherent in all love: \ways, and not for the purpose of serving me.\ If respect and caring are missing, the relationship is not based on love. Instead, it is an unhealthy or possessive dependency that limits the lovers' social, emotional, and intellectual growth.
6不管是哪种类型的爱,关心另一方是非常必要的。虽然爱可能包含激情的渴望,然而相互尊重才是更重要的品质。相互尊重是所有爱的共性:“我想要我爱的人为他自己成长发展,并且用他自己的方式,而不是为了迎合我。”如果没有尊重和关怀,两人的关系就不是建立在爱的基础上;反而成为一种不健康的或者是具有占有欲的依赖,而这会限制爱的双方在社会、情感和智力方面的发展。
7 Love, especially long-term love, has nothing in common with the images of love or .frenzied sex that we get from Hollywood, television, and romance novels. Because of these images, many people believe a variety of myths about love. These misconceptions often lead to
unrealistic expectations, stereotypes, and disillusionment. In fact, \one author called \exciting nor thrilling but is relatively mundane and unromantic. It means paying bills, putting out the garbage, scrubbing toilet bowls, being up all night with a sick baby, and performing myriad other ' oatmeal\
7爱,特别是长久的爱,和我们从好莱坞、电视、或爱情小说中获得的对爱和狂热的性爱的印象完全不同。由于这些印象的缘故,许多人对爱有各种各样的误解,这些误解常常会导致不现实的期望、固定模式或幻觉破灭。事实上,“真”爱更接近于一位作家(约翰逊,1995)所称的“搅燕麦粥之爱”。这种爱既不令人激动也不能令人兴奋,但是它却是实实在在的,不浪漫的。它是付账单,倒垃圾,刷马桶,孩子生病时守夜,以及完成其他各种各样不那么性感的“搅燕麦粥”的任务。
8 Some partners take turns stirring the oatmeal. Other people seek relationships that offer
candlelit gourmet meals in a romantic setting. Whether we decide to enter a serious relationship or not, what type of love brings people together?
8有些伴侣们轮流来“搅燕麦粥”,其他人则寻求一种能带来浪漫的烛光美餐的恋爱关系。不管我们是否决定建立认真的恋爱关系,是什么样的爱让我们走到一起?
9 What attracts individuals to each other in the first place? Many people believe that \person out there that one is meant for\romantic but unrealistic. Empirical studies show that cultural norms and values, not fate, bring people together We will never meet millions of potential lovers because they are \by formal or informal rules on partner
eligibility due ton factors such as age, race, distance, Social class, religion, sexual orientation, health, or physical appearance.
9一开始让人相互吸引的是什么?许多人相信“世上有一个人是你为之而生的”,而且命运会将你俩带到一起。这样的想法很浪漫却不现实。实证研究发现,是文化标准和价值观而非命运,将人们连系在一起。我们错过了成千上万的可能的爱人,因为他们早就被正式的或非正式的挑选理想爱人的准则筛选出局,这些准则包括年龄、种族、地域、社会阶层、宗教、性倾向、健康状况或外表。
10 Beginning in childhood, parents encourage or limit future romantic liaisons by selecting certain neighborhoods and schools. In early adolescence, pear norms influence the adolescent's decisions about acceptable romantic involvements (\preteen years, romantic experiences are cultured in the sense that societal and group practices and expectations shape romantic experience. Although romance may cross cultural or ethnic borders, criticism and approval teach us what is acceptable romantic behavior and with whom. One might \there are strong cultural or group bans. 10从童年开始,父母们就通过选择某个街区和学校,或是鼓励或是限制孩子未来的情感关系。在青少年早期,同伴们的标准也会影响青少年决定哪些情感关系是可以接受的(“你想和谁约会?”)。甚至在13岁之前,情感经历就由社会和群体的活动和期望所决定和培养起来了。虽然爱情可以跨越文化和民族的界线,但批评和赞同教会了我们什么是可以接受的浪漫行为和与谁发生浪漫行为。一个人也许会对另一个人产生“欲望”,但是如果有强烈的文化或族群反对,我们中的大多数人即使有这样的渴望也不会因此而爱上某人的。 11 Regan and Berscheid (1999) differentiate between lust, desire, and romantic love. They describe lust as primarily physical rather than emotional, a condition that may be conscious or unconscious. Desire, in contrast, is a psychological in which one wants a relationship that one doesn't now have, or to engage in an activity in which one is not presently engaged. Desire may or may not lead to romantic love (which the authors equate with passionate or erotic low). Regan and Berscheid suggest that desire is an essential ingredient for initiating and maintaining romantic love. If desire disappears, a person is no longer said to be in a state of romantic love. Once desire
diminishes, disappointed lovers may wonder where the \and may reminisce regretfully (and longingly) about \
11里根和波谢德(1999)曾把贪欲、性欲和浪漫的爱加以区分。他们把贪欲描述为身体上的而非情感上的兴奋,是一种有意识的或无意识的状态。相反性欲是一种心理状态,在这种心理状态下,一个人想建立一种目前还不具有的恋爱关系,或者是想进行一种目前还没有进行的行为。性欲可能会成为或不会成为浪漫的爱情(作者把浪漫的爱情等同于充满激情或性欲的爱)。里根和波谢德认为:性欲是点燃并维持浪漫爱情的必要成分。一旦性爱消失了,一个人就不能再说成是还处在浪漫恋情中。一旦欲望消失了,失望的恋人就会诧异原来他们关系中的“火花”去哪儿了,他们可能会很遗憾地(而且渴望地)怀念“过去的美好时光”。
12 One should not conclude, however, that desire always culminates in physical intimacy or that desire is the same as romantic love. Married partners may love each other even though they rarely, or never, engage in physical intimacy. In addition, there are some notable differences between love- especially long-term love- and romantic love. Healthy loving
relationships, whether physical or not (such as love for family members), reflect a balance of caring, intimacy, and commitment. 12然而,我们不应就此得出性欲总是以身体的亲密接触告终,或性与浪漫爱情是同一回事的结论。结了婚的伴侣们可以深爱对方,即使很少或从来没有身体的亲密接触。此外,爱,尤其是长期的爱,和浪漫的爱是有很大区别的。健康的恋爱关系,不管它们是有性的或是无性的(比如对家人的爱)都反映了关怀、亲密和忠诚的平衡。
Unit Five
The term yoga comes from a Sanskrit word which means yoke or union. Traditionally, yoga is a method joining the individual self with the Divine, Universal Spirit, or Cosmic
Consciousness. Physical and mental exercises are designed to help achieve this goal, also called self-transcendence or enlightenment. On the physical level yoga postures, called asanas, are designed to tone, strengthen, ana align me body. These postures are performed to make the spine supple and healthy and to promote blood flow to all the organs, glands, and tissues, keeping all the bodily systems healthy. On the mental level, yoga uses breathing techniques (pranayama) and meditation (dydna) to quiet, clarify, and discipline the mind. However, experts are quick to point out that yoga is not a religion, but away of living with health and peace of mind as its aims.
“瑜伽”这个词源于梵语,意思是“结合”或“联合”,传统上瑜伽是一种把个人和神,万物之灵或无穷的意识联合在一起的方法。为了帮助达到这个也被称为“自我超越”或“启蒙”的目的,设计了身体上和精神上的锻炼方法。在身体上,设计了各种瑜伽姿势来使人的身体结实、强壮,有协调性,练习这些体位能使脊柱变得柔软健康,血液更通畅地到达各器官、腺或人体组织,从而使身体各系统更健康穹在精神上,瑜伽使用呼吸法和冥想使心境平和、澄净,精神得到很好的修养。但是专家们很快指出瑜伽不是一种宗教,而是将健康与平和的心境结合在一起的一种生活方式。
YOGA IN AMERICA
Douglas Dupler
瑜伽在美国
道格拉斯·多普勒
1 Yoga originated in ancient India and is one of the longest surviving philosophical systems in the world. Some scholars have estimated that yoga is as old as 5,000 years; artifacts detailing yoga postures have been found in India from over 3,000 B.C. Yogis claim that it is a highly developed science of healthy living that has been tested and perfected for all these years. Yoga was first brought to America in the late 1800s when Swami Vivekananda. an Indian teacher and yogi, presented a lecture on .meditation in Chicago. Yoga slowly began gaining followers, and flourished during the 1960s when there was a surge of interest in Eastern philosophy. There has since been a vast exchange of yoga knowledge in America, with many students going to India to study and many Indian experts coming here to teach, resulting in the establishment of a wide variety of schools.
1瑜伽起源于古印度,是世界上最古老的哲学体系之一。一些学者估计,瑜伽至少有5,000年的历史;印度曾出土过3,000年前的表现瑜伽姿势的手工艺品。瑜伽师们认为,经过几千年的考验和完善,瑜伽已经发展成为一门养生的成熟科学。19世纪晚期,印度学者、瑜伽师斯瓦米·维韦卡南达在芝加哥做了一场关于冥想的演讲,从此瑜伽传人了美国。慢慢地有人开始练习瑜伽,并在20世纪60年代东方哲学热盛行的时候形成了学习瑜伽的高潮。从此,瑜伽知识在美国传播开来,许多学徒专程前往印度学习,很多印度瑜伽师也来到美国教学,创办了大量瑜伽学校。
Today, yoga is thriving, and it has become easy to find teachers and practitioners throughout America. A recent Roper poll, commissioned by Yoga Journal, found that 11 million Americans do yoga at least occasionally\ Yoga stretches are used by physical therapists and professional sports teams, and the benefits of yoga are being touted by movie stars and Fortune 500 executives. Many prestigious schools of medicine have studied and introduced yoga techniques as proven therapies for illness and stress. Some medical schools, like UCLA, even offer yoga classes as part of their physician training program.
今天的美国,瑜伽已十分盛行,瑜伽教练和练习者随处可见。最近一项由《瑜伽月刊》委托洛普民调机构所做的调查显示,有1,100万的美国人至少会偶尔做一次瑜伽,另有600万的美国人会经常做瑜伽。瑜伽已被广泛应用于身体治疗和专业运动队的日常训练,做瑜伽的好处也被电影明星和《财富》杂志世界500强企业的总裁们争相吹捧。许多医学名校已经研究并提出能够有效缓解疾病和压力的瑜伽术了。包括加州大学洛杉矶分校在内的一些医学院甚至还为内科医学专业的学生开设了瑜伽课程。
2 There are several different schools of hatha yoga in America; the two most prevalent ones are Iyengar and Ashtanga yoga8. Iyengar yoga was founded by B.K.S. Iyengar, who is widely considered as one of the great living innovators of yoga. Iyengar yoga puts strict emphasis on form and alignment, and uses traditional hatha yoga techniques in new manners and sequences. Iyengar yoga can be good for physical therapy because it allows the use of props like straps and blocks to make it easier for some people to get into the yoga postures. Ashtanga yoga can be a more vigorous routine, using a flowing and dance-like sequence of hatha postures to generate body heat, which purifies the body through sweating and deep breathing.
2美国有许多不同的哈他(传统)瑜伽学派,其中影响最大的是艾扬格派和阿斯汤加派。艾扬格瑜伽的创立者是波·可·斯·艾扬格,他是世界上目前仍健在的最伟大的瑜伽改革者之一。艾扬格瑜伽十分注重姿势的精准,它采用新的方式和顺序练习传统瑜伽。艾扬格瑜伽有助于身体治疗,因为它允许练习者使用瑜伽伸展带、瑜伽砖等辅助器材来减少做瑜伽动作的难度。阿斯汤加瑜伽有着更精准的要求,练习者要用舞蹈般流畅的动作来练习传统瑜伽,从而使身体发热,并通过出汗和深呼吸来净化自己的身体。
3 Yoga routines can take anywhere from 20 minutes to two or more hours, with one hour being a good time investment to perform a sequence of postures and a meditation. Some yoga routines, depending on the teacher and school, can be as strenuous as the most difficult workout, and some routines merely stretch and align the body while the breath and heart rate are kept slow and steady. Yoga achieves its best results when it is practiced as a daily discipline, and yoga can be a life-long exercise routine, offering deeper and more challenging positions as a practitioner becomes more adept. The basic positions can increase a person's strength, flexibility and sense of well being almost immediately. but it can take years to perfect and deepen them, which is an appealing and stimulating aspect of yoga for many. 3做瑜伽没有场地的限制,一套瑜伽动作通常需要20分钟到两个小时或者更多的时间,而一个小时左右的时间则是一系列动作和冥想的最佳选择。根据瑜伽师和学派的不同,一些瑜伽动作做起来辛苦异常,而另一些却只是在呼吸和心跳平稳的情况下调整和伸展肢体。每天练习瑜伽会达到最好的效果,随着动作越来越熟练,你就可以加大强度和难度,这样瑜伽就能成为你相伴终生的日常锻炼方式了。练习基础的瑜伽动作即可收到增强力量,改善柔韧性并使人感到舒适的效果,但要想达到完美和高深的境界还是需要日积月累的练习,这也是瑜伽吸引人的地方之一。
4 Yoga is usually best learned from a yoga teacher or physical therapist, but yoga is simple enough that one can learn the basics from good books on the subject, which are plentiful. Yoga classes are generally inexpensive, averaging around 10 dollars per class, and students can learn basic postures in just a few classes. Many YMCAs, colleges, and community health
organizations offer beginning yoga classes as well, often for nominal fees. If yoga is part of a physical therapy program,' it can be .reimbursed by insurance.
4能向瑜伽教练或身体治疗师学习瑜伽是最好不过了,但因为瑜伽入门并不难,所以也可以从大量的介绍瑜伽的正规书籍中自学它的基本动作。瑜伽课的学费一般不贵,平均一堂课10美元,学员们在几节课内就能学会基础的瑜伽动作。许多地方的基督教青年会、大学和社区健康协会都开办有瑜伽入门学习班,而且通常只象征性地收取一点儿费用。如果是作为身体治疗项目的一部分,瑜伽费用还能算在医疗保险的范围之内。
5 Yoga can also provide the same benefits as any well-designed exercise program, increasing general health and stamina reducing stress. and improving those conditions brought about by sedentary lifestyles. Yoga has the added advantage of being a low- impact activity that uses only gravity as resistance, which makes it an excellent physical therapy routine: certain yoga postures can be safely used to strengthen and balance all parts of the body.
5瑜伽还能带来和精心设计的练习一样的效果,使人增强体质、焕发活力,并帮助人们舒缓压力和久坐带来的疲劳。瑜伽的另一个优点是,除了地心引力外,它不需承担额外的阻力,这使它成为身体治疗方法的不二之选;特定的瑜伽动作能安全有效地增强人的力量,提高身体的平衡度。
6 Meditation has been much studied and approved for its benefits in reducing stresses- related conditions. The landmark book, The Relaxation Response, by Harvard cardiologist Herbert Benson, showed that meditation and breathing techniques for relaxation could have the opposite effect of stress, reducing blood pressure and other indicators, Since then, much research has reiterated the benefits of meditation for stress reduction and general health. Currently, the American Medical Association recommends meditation techniques as a first step before medication for borderline hypertension cases.
6研究表明,冥想能帮助人们缓解压力。哈佛心脏医学家赫伯特·班森在他划时代的著作《放松反应》里说道,冥想和呼吸技巧能使身体放松,达到与压力相反的效果,并使血压等一系列指标回落。从那以后,越来越多的研究都重申了冥想对减压和身体健康的积极影响。现在,美国医学协会已推荐把冥想疗法替代药物治疗用于治疗疑似高血压的第一步了。 7 Modern psychological Studies have shown that even slight facial expressions can cause
changes in the involuntary nervous system; yoga utilizes the mind/body connection, that is, yoga practice contains the central ideas that physical posture and alignment can influence a person's mood and self-esteem, and also that the mind can be used to shape and heal the body. Yoga practitioners claim that the strengthening of mind/body awareness can bring eventual improvements in all facets of a person's life.
7现代心理学研究表明,即使细微的表情变化也会引起神经系统的自主改变;而瑜伽正是身体和心灵的绝妙结合——瑜伽练习的中心思想就是,身体的姿态将影响人的心情和自我意识,而人的精神又能塑造和治愈人的身体。瑜伽练习者认为,精神/体质的加强最终将为生活的各方面都带来好处。
8 Yoga can be performed by those of any age and condition, although not all poses should be attempted by everyone. Yoga is also a very accessible form of exercise; all that is needed is a flat floor surface large enough to stretch out on, a mat or towel, and enough overhead space to full raise the arms. It is a good activity for those who can't go to gyms, who don' t like other forms of exercise, or have, very busy schedules. Yoga should be done on an empty stomach, and teachers recommend waiting three or more hours after meals. Loose and comfortable clothing should he worn.
8虽然有些姿势并不适合所有人练习,但是任何年龄段的人在任何条件下都能练习瑜伽。练瑜伽的准备工作也很简单;只需一块可以伸展肢体的平地、一块草垫或毛巾和一个足以抬起手臂的空间就可以展开练习了。对去不了体育馆、不喜欢其他体育运动和十分忙碌的人来说,瑜伽是一项再好不过的活动了。练习时应穿着宽松舒适的服装并保持空腹,瑜伽师推荐饭后三小时以上为宜。
9 Beginners should exercise care and concentration when performing yoga postures, and not try to stretch too much too quickly, as injury could result. Some advanced yoga postures, like the headstand and full lotus position, can be difficult and require strength, flexibility, and gradual preparation, so beginners should get the help of a teacher before attempting them.
9初学者在练习时应集中注意力,小心动作不要做得太过太快,以免受伤。一些高阶的瑜伽动作,如头倒立式和全莲花坐式,需要有很好的力量、柔韧性和日积月累的练习作准备,因此初学者应在瑜伽师的指导下做这些动作。
10 Yoga is not a competitive sport; it does not matter how a person does in comparison with others, but how aware and disciplined one becomes with one's own body and limitations. Proper form and alignment should always be maintained during a stretch or posture, and the stretch or posture should be stopped when there is pain, dizziness, or fatigue. The mental component of yoga is just as important as the physical postures. Concentration and awareness breath should not be neglected. Yoga should be done with an open, gentle, and non-critical mind: when one stretches into a position, it can be thought of as accepting and working on one's limits. Impatience, self-criticism and comparing oneself to others will not help in this process of
self-knowledge. While performing the yoga of breathing (pranayama) and meditation (dyana), it is best to have an experienced teacher, as these powerful techniques can cause dizziness and discomfort when done improperly. 10瑜伽不是竞技体育;练瑜伽不需要和别人比,练瑜伽的目的是提高自己的觉悟和身心自律能力。做瑜伽必须保持姿势的正确,一旦感到疼痛、头晕或疲劳就必须停止。做瑜伽时,身体和精神一样重要,要注意集中精力去感受呼吸。练习时必须心胸开阔、平和;当你伸展肢体做每一个瑜伽动作时,你就是在接受挑战去达到自己的极限。不耐烦、自责和与他人相比都不利于这一过程中自我认识的实现。当练习呼吸法(调息)和冥想法(禅定)时,最好由经验丰富的瑜伽师来指导,因为一旦练习不当,这些技巧性很强的动作会使人感到头晕不适。
11 Although yoga originated in a culture very different from modern America, it has been accepted and its practice has spread relatively quickly. Many yogis are amazed at how rapidly yoga's popularity has spread in America, considering the legend that it was passed down secretly by handfuls or adherents tor many centuries.
11虽然瑜伽的发源地与现代美国文化迥异,但它却得到了认同,并很快地传播开来。许多世纪以来,瑜伽只是在极少信徒的言传身教中得以流传,而今它在美国快速普及,这使许多瑜伽师感到很惊异。
12 There can still be found some resistance to yoga, for active and busy Americans sometimes find it hard to believe that an exercise program that requires them to slow down, concentrate, and breathe deeply can be more effective than lifting weights or running, However, ongoing research in top medical schools is showing yoga's effectiveness for overall health and for specific problems, making it an increasingly acceptable health practice. 12也有一些人反对瑜伽,因为勤奋忙碌的美国人很难相信这项要他们放慢速度、集中精力进行深呼吸的运动会比举重或慢跑更有效。然而,越来越多的来自顶尖医学院的研究结果表明,瑜伽对全身健康和特殊病症都有好处,这也使越来越多的人接受这项健康的运动。
Unit Six
HERE IS NEW YORK
也许没有人像E.B.怀特那样抒情、那样成功地捕捉到纽约这个城市。这篇短文向仍然热爱纽约的人们展现了它永恒的经典特质。
这就是纽约
E.B.怀特
1 On any person who desires such queer prices. New York will bestow the gift of loneliness and the gut of privacy. It is this largess that accounts for the presence within the city's walls of a considerable section of the population; for me residents of Manhattan are to a large extent strangers who have pulled up stakes somewhere and come to town seeking sanctuary or fulfillment or some greater or lesser grail. The capacity to make such dubious gifts is a
mysterious quality of New York. It can destroy an individual, or it can fulfill him, depending a good deal on luck. No one should come to New York to live unless he is willing to be lucky. 1纽约将孤寂与独处当作赠礼,赐予所有向往这份奇特礼物的人们。纽约城内数量庞大的居民中,冲着这份赠礼而来此落脚的绝不在少数;曼哈顿也因此聚集了众多异乡客,他们背井离乡到此闯荡,有的为了寻求庇护,有的为了一展抱负,还有的为了实现心中或大或小的愿望。纽约之所以神秘,便在于它总能赐予这般扑朔迷离的馈赠,能使人万劫不复,也能让人飞黄腾达,皆为运气使然。如果有谁打算碰碰运气,不妨到纽约来。
2 New York is the concentrate of art and commerce and sport and religion and entertainment and finance, bringing to a single compact arena the gladiator, The evangelist, the promoter, the actor, the trader, and the merchant. It carries on its lapel the inexpugnable odor of the long past, so that no matter where you sit in New York you feel the vibrations of great times and tall deeds, of queer people and events and undertakings, I am sitting at the moment in a stifling hotel room in 90- degree heat, halfway down an air shaft, in midtown. No air moves in or out of the room, yet I am curiously affected by emanations from the immediate surroundings. I am 22 blocks from where Rudolph Valentino lay in state, eight blocks from where Nathan Hale was executed, five blocks from the publisher's office where Ernest Hemingway hit Max Eastman on the nose, four miles from where Walt Whitman sat sweating out editorials for the Brooklyn Eagle,34 blocks from the street Willa Cather lived in where she came to New York to write books about Nebraska, one block from where Marceline used to clown on the boards of the Hippodrome, 36 blocks from the spot where the historian Joe Gould kicked a radio to pieces in full view of the public, 13 blocks from where Harry Thaw shot Stanford White, five blocks from where I used to usher at the Metropolitan Opera and only 112 blocks from the spot where Clarence Day the elder was washed of his sins in the Church of the Epiphany (I could continue this list
indefinitely); and for that matter I am probably occupying the very room that any number of exalted and somewise memorable characters sat in, some of them on hot, breathless afternoons, lonely and private and full of their own sense of emanations from without.
2纽约集艺术、商业、体育、宗教、娱乐和金融于一城,城内拳击手、传教士、推销员、演员、经纪人、商人齐聚一堂,同场竞技。纽约的领口上弥漫着绵延悠长、挥之不去的历史气息,不管坐在纽约城的哪个角落,你都能感受到那些辉煌时代和宏伟业绩的搏动,那些奇妙人物、事件和活动的余音。此时此刻,我正坐在市中心一问令人窒息的旅馆客房里,它位于通风井中部,屋内温度高达华氏90度。房间里没法子通风,但说来也怪,我还是捕捉到了周遭事物散发出来的讯息。离这儿22个街区之外,鲁道夫·瓦伦帝诺在长眠;8
个街区之外,内森·黑尔曾被处以极刑;5个街区之外的出版社办公室中,欧内斯特·海明威的拳头同马科斯·伊斯特曼的鼻子来了一次亲密接触;4英里外,沃尔特·惠特曼呕心沥血地为《布鲁克林之鹰》写作社论;34个街区之外,威拉·凯瑟刚来纽约时曾居住于此,创作了许多以内布拉斯加州为题材的作品;1个街区之外,玛尔瑟琳在纽约剧院大楼里演出过丑角笑剧;36个街区之外,历史学家乔·古尔德在众目睽睽之下将一个收音机踢得粉碎;13个街区之外,哈里·索开枪击毙了斯坦福·怀特;5个街区之外是我曾做过领座员的大都会剧院;112个街区之外则矗立着老克拉伦斯·戴洗去罪恶的主显节教堂(类似的例子,我可以无限制地罗列下去)。这样想来,或许有一些显赫的大人物也曾在我现在栖身的屋子里住过,有的也许就是在某个热得让人喘不过气来的下午安坐于此,形单影只,与世隔绝,脑子里却满是各自捕捉到的屋子外边散发出来的讯息。
3 When I went down to lunch a few minutes ago I noticed that the man sitting next to me (about eighteen inches away along the wall) was Fred Stone. The 18 inches are both the connection and the separation that New York provides for its inhabitants. My only connection with Fred Stone was that I saw him in The Wizard of Oz around the beginning of the century. But our waiter felt the same stimulus from being close to a man from Oz, and after Mr. Stone left the room the waiter told me that when he (the waiter) was a young man just arrived in this country and before he could understand a word of English, he had taken his girl for their first theater date to The Wizard of Oz. It was a wonderful show, the waiter recalled—a man of straw, a man of tin. Wonderful! (And still only eighteen inches away.) \waiter thoughtfully, content with this fragile participation in destiny, this link with Oz.
3几分钟前,我下楼吃午饭,发现坐在我旁边的竟然是弗里德·斯通(他靠墙坐着,离我大约18英寸远)。18英寸是纽约为其居民之间设定的既联系又分隔的距离。我同弗里德·斯通之间的唯一联系就是我有幸在本世纪初上演的《绿野仙踪》里看过他的表演。没想到,招待我们的服务员竟也同我一样,为能同一个“绿野仙踪人士”如此亲密接触而兴奋不已;斯通离开后,他告诉我说,他(即服务员本人)刚到美国时年纪轻轻,甚至听不懂英语,但他同女朋友的首次剧院约会就是去看《绿野仙踪》。那是非常棒的演出,他回忆道——稻草人啊,铁皮人啊。真是棒极了!(还是在18英寸之外)“斯通先生的胃口总是那么好,”他还不无体贴地感叹,似乎为同“绿野仙踪”分享些许命运交集而心满意足呢。
4 New York blends the gift of privacy with the excitement of participation; and better than most dense communities it succeeds in insulating the individual (if he wants it, and almost everybody wants or needs it) against all enormous and violent and wonderful events that are taking place every minute. Since I have been sitting in this miasmic air shaft, a good many rather splashy events have occurred in town. A man shot and killed his wife in a fit of jealousy. It caused no stir outside his block and got only small mention in the papers. I did not attend. Since my arrival, the greatest air show ever staged in all the world took place in town. I didn't attend and neither did most of the eight million other inhabitants, although they say there was quite a crowd. I didn't even hear any planes except a couple of westbound commercial airliners that habitually use this air shaft to fly over. The biggest oceangoing ships on the North Atlantic arrived and departed. I didn't notice them and neither did most other New Yorkers. I am told this is the greatest seaport in the world, with 650 miles of waterfront, and ships calling here from many exotic lands, but the only boat I've happened to notice since my arrival was a small sloop tacking out of the East River night before last on the ebb tide when I was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. I heard the Queen Mary blow one midnight, though, and the sound carried the
whole history of departure and longing and loss. The Lions have been in convention. I've see not one Lion. A friend of mine saw one and told me about him. (He was lame, and was wearing a bolero.) At the ball grounds and horse parks the greatest sporting spectacles have been enacted. 1 saw no ballplayer, no race horse. The governor came to town. I heard the siren scream, but that was all there was to that- an 18- inch margin again. A man was killed by a falling cornice. I was not a party to the tragedy, and again the inches counted heavily.
4纽约城赐予人们独处孤居之礼的同时,也奉上一份参与的兴奋;同其他人口稠密的社区相比,纽约能更好地将个人与每时每劾在他周围发生的重大的、猛烈的、奇妙的事件隔离开来(只要他需要,而几乎每个人都想要或需要这种隔离)。自打我搬进这乌烟瘴气的通风井以来,城里已发生了好些惹人注目的事件。妒火中烧之下,一个男人开枪打死了自己的妻子,但此事却并未在他所处街区以外的地方引起任何反响,报纸上也只是稍稍提到几笔。我当时并不在现场。我来到城里以后,世界上规模空前的飞行表演恰好在纽约举行。当时我并没到场,城中800万居民也大多没有去观摩,尽管据宣称,到现场捧场的观众不在少数。我甚至没有听到飞机的轰鸣声,只是间或有几架西行的商业航班从通风井上空飞过。北大西洋上最大的远洋轮船在纽约进进出出,可我并没有留意,大多数纽约人也没有注意到。纽约港被称为世界上最大的港口,沿港码头绵延650英里,停泊着来自他乡异域的船只,但我来到纽约之后,只有在前天夜里经过布鲁克林大桥时看到过一艘单桅帆船罢了,其时,它正抢在退潮前急急驶出东河。不过,一天半夜里我还听到了玛丽女王号的汽笛声,这一声长鸣传达了“离行--期许--惘然”这一完整过程。狮子会会员们齐聚集会,我却连他们的人影都没看到过。我的一位朋友倒是撞见一个,并告诉过我(据他描述,那人瘸着脚,身穿一件短开衫)。棒球场和赛马场上如火如荼的比赛也已拉开序幕,我却连一个球员、一匹赛马都没见着。州长驾临城中,我听到警报尖鸣,但仅此而已——又是18英寸的距离使然。有人被从天而降的一截房檐砸中,死于非命。我却并未卷入这场惨剧,究其原因,还是这18英寸的距离使然。
5 I mention these events merely to show that New York is peculiarly constructed to absorb almost anything that comes along (whether 1,000-foot liner out of the East or a
20,000-man convention out of the West) without inflicting the event on its inhabitants so that every event is, in a sense, optional, and the inhabitant is in the happy position of being able to choose his spectacle and so conserve his soul. In most metropolises, small and large, the choice is often not with the individual at all. He is thrown to the Lions. The Lions are overwhelming the event is unavoidable. A cornice falls, that it hits every citizen on the head, every last man in town. I sometimes think that the only event that hits every New Yorker on the head is the annual St. Patrick's Day parade, which is fairly penetrating- the Irish are a hard race to tune out, there are 500,000 of them in residence, and they have the police force right in the family.
5我提到这些,仅仅为了表明纽约城是一座建构奇特的城市,这里发生的事件包罗万象(城东1,000英尺长的班轮也好,城西2万人的集会也罢),但种种事件却又未被强加到每个居民身上。因此,从某种意义上说,每个事件都有可供选择的余地,居民们大可随心所欲地选择心仪的场景来体味,保护其灵魂免受侵害。在许多都市里,无论是大都会还是小城市,个人往往没有这种选择的自由。他必然会同狮子会会员们狭路相逢。狮子会会员无处不在,各种事件避无可避。一截房檐从天而降,必然会砸到每个市民头上,无一幸免。我有时想,能够砸到每个纽约人头上的事件恐怕只有一年一度的圣帕特里克节游行,其影响之广,可
谓无孔不入——爱尔兰是一个不可小觑的民族,纽约城中居住的爱尔兰人有50万之众,他们还拥有自己的武装力量。
6 The quality in New York that insulates its inhabitants from life may simply weaken them as individuals. Perhaps it is healthier to live in a community where, when a cornice falls, you feel the blow; where, when the governor passes, you see at any rate his hat.
6在将居民同其周边生活隔离开来的同时,纽约也会弱化他们作为个体的存在。也许,生活在一个普通社区里,生活反而会健全些:在那里,当一截房檐从天而降时,你总会感受到疼痛;在那里,当州长经过时,至少他的帽子会映入你的眼帘。
7 I am not defending New York in this regard. Many of its settlers are probably here merely to escape, not face, reality. But whatever it means, it is a rather rare gift, and I believe it has a positive effect on the creative capacities of New Yorkers- for creation is in part merely the business of forgoing the great and small distractions.
7说到这点,我并不是在为纽约辩护。很多人选择这里落脚也许只是为了逃避现实,而不是面对现实。但无论如何,这都是非常希罕的礼物,而且我也相信这给纽约客的创造力带来了积极的影响——因为在一定程度上,创造就是将大大小小令人分心的事物抛之脑后的过程。
8 Although New York often imparts a feeling of great forlornness or forsakenness it seldom seems dead or unresourceful; and you always feel that either by shifting your location 10 blocks or by reducing your fortune by five dollars you can experience rejuvenation. Many people who have no real independence or spirit depend on the city's tremendous variety and sources of excitement for spiritual sustenance and maintenance of morale. In the country there are a few chances of sudden rejuvenation- a shift in weather, perhaps, or something arriving in the mail. But in New York the chances are endless. I think that although many persons are here from some excess of spirit, (which caused them to break away from their small town), some, too, are here from a deficiency of spirit, who finds in New York a protection, or an easy substitution. 8尽管纽约常常带给人一种强烈的失落感或被遗弃感,但她却很少显得死气沉沉或乏味无趣,你总会生出如下想法:只需变换一下位置,搬到10个街区以外,或者稍稍破一下财,花掉5美元,你就能立刻重获生机,神采奕奕。许多缺乏自主精神的人纷纷从纽约城的多姿多彩及令人兴奋的活动中寻求支柱,支撑和维系他们的精神和信念。在这个国家的其他地方,这种立竿见影的“重生”机会少之又少——或许只有天气的变化或新到的邮件才能带来些许惊喜。但在纽约,这种机会却是无穷无尽的。在我看来,尽管有不少人来到纽约是因为他们活力过剩,无法宣泄(这促使他们背井离乡,来到纽约),同时,也不乏一些人是因为精神匮乏才来到纽约,在这里寻求庇护或某种轻而易举就能得到的替代品。
Unit Seven
ON HUMAN NATURE Frank and Lydia Hammer
我对人类的了解越多,对他们的期望就越低。和以前相比,我现在常常以较宽松的标准把一个人叫做好人。 ——塞缪尔·约翰逊博士 论人性 弗兰克,莉迪亚·汉默尔 1 Human nature is the basis of character, the temperament and disposition; it is that
indestructible matrix upon which the character is built, and whose shape it must take and keep throughout life. This we call a person's nature.
1人性是性格、气质和性情的基础,性格正是基于这种牢不可破的基质之上的,它必须以这种基质的形式存在,并将它保留终生,这种基质,我们称之为一个人的本性。 2 The basic nature of human beings does not and cannot change. It is only the surface that is capable of alteration, improvement and refinement; we can alter only people's customs, manners, dress and habits. A study of history reveals that the people who walked this
earth in antiquity were moved by the same fundamental forces, were swayed by the same
passions, and had the same aspirations as the men and women of today. The pursuit of happiness still engrosses mankind the world over.
2人类的本性不会也不能改变,只有一些表面特征才会变化、改善和进一步提升;我们可以改变人们的风格、举止、衣着和习惯。一项历史研究表明,曾经行走在地球上的古人们和今天的男男女女们受着同样的基本力量驱使,被同样的激情左右并有着同样的抱负,时至今日,对幸福的追求仍然是全世界人类全身心投入的事业。
3 Moreover no one wishes his nature to change. One may covet the position of President or King, but would not change places with them unless, it meant the continuance of his own
identify. Each man sees himself as unique, and so far as he is concerned the hub of the universe, different from any other individual. Apologies are in order when Mr. Smith is mistaken for Mr. Jones.
3此外,没有人希望改变自己的本性,有人可能会觊觎总统或国王的职位,但不会和他们交换位置,除非那意味着他自己身份的继续。每个人都把自己看成是独特个体,而且,就他而言,他就是宇宙的中心,有别于其他任何人。如果有人把史密斯先生误认作琼斯先生,这人就该道歉。
4 Every man unfolds a distinct character over which circumstances and education have only the most limited control. No two people will ever draw the same conclusions from the same
experiences, but each must interpret events and fit them into the mosaic of his own life's pattern. Human nature is ever true itself, not to systems of faith or education. Each holds to the structure of the mold into which the soul was cast at the time of its individualization. The qualities born in one remain as potentials whether they have a chance to develop or not. Under pressure, or
change of interest, they can partially or wholly disappear from view, tor considerable periods of time; but nothing can permanently modify them, nothing can obliterate them.
4每个人都表现出一种与众不同的性格,而环境和教育对性格的影响都极其有限。两个人从相同的经历中也不会得出相同的结论,但是两个人会各自分析这些事件并将它们融合到自己丰富的生活模式中去。人性总是忠于它本身,而不受信仰或教育体制左右。一个人的个性和他独特的天性在出生时就已经形成了,而且不会改变。一个人与生俱来的品质,无论是否有机会发展,都保持为潜力。在遭受压力或兴趣变化的情况下,他们会部分或全部地消失相当一段时间,但是没有什么能永久地改变他们,也没有什么能把他们抹去。
5 The constancy of human nature is proverbial, as no one believes that a man can fundamentally change his nature. This is why it is so difficult for one who has acquired
an unsavory reputation to re-establish himself in public confidence. People know from experience that an individual who in one year displays knavish characteristics- seldom
in the next becomes any different. Nor does a thief become a trustworthy employee, or a miser a philanthropist. Nor does a man change and become a liar, coward or traitor at fifty or sixty; if he is one then, he has been one ever since his character was formed. Big criminals are first little criminals, just as giant oaks are first little acorns.
5人性的恒定性是众所周知的,因为没有人相信一个人能够从根本上改变他的本性。这就是为什么一个恶名远扬的人很难重建公众对他的信心。人们凭经验知道某一年中表现出无赖性格的人不太可能在第二年有任何改观。小偷也不会变成值得信赖的员工。吝啬鬼也不可能变成慈善家。而且,一个人不会在五六十岁的时候变成谎话精、懦夫或叛徒,如果那时候他是,那么早在他性格形成的时候他就已经是了。大罪犯最初都是小罪犯,正如大橡树最初都是小橡果。
6 Although man is potentially perfect he is far from being actually so. If he were actually perfect there would be nothing for preachers and humanitarians to do; no use for churches, schools, courts and prisons. Therefore while it is impossible to change human nature, it can be studied, controlled and directed, and this should be the supreme function of our religious, educational and social institutions.
6尽管人类有完美的潜质,但事实上他远远没有达到完美。如果事实上他已经是完美的,那么那些神父、教师和人道主义者便会无事可做;那些教堂、学校、法庭和监狱便会无所用处。因此虽然人性是不可能改变的,但是人们可以研究它、控制它和引导它。而且这应该是我们的宗教机构、教育机构和社会机构的最高职能。
7 Man is perfect as a seed is perfect, germinally. The spirit is perfect, but when it inhabits
human structures, it participates in the imperfections of the later; and during its association with matter takes on the mortal weakness, desires and limitations. But the spirit, the inner man, remains untouched and undefiled by evil. Only the outer man- the personality and the physical body- becomes imperfect, due to ignorance, wrong thinking and violation of the law of being. The outer man, too, was originally perfect, but man has so desecrated and abused it that today it is a far cry from the original model.
7人类在胚胎期是完美的,就好比一粒种子,在幼芽期是完美的一样。精神是完美的,但它栖居到人类肉体结构中后,便参与其中,表现出后者的不完美。在它与物质的联系过程中呈现出凡人的弱点、欲望和局限。但是精神,也就是人的内在,却仍能免遭邪恶的染指和玷污。只有外在的人——个性和躯体,由于无知、思想错误和违反自然规律而变得不完美。外在的人,原本也是完美的,但是由于人类如此的亵渎和滥用,今天,它已经与原型相去甚远。
8 Man's majesty and nobility are taken for granted, although his faults and weaknesses are
constantly paraded before our eyes. Only when behavior deviates from the normal does it attract attention. The good neighbor, the conscientious citizen, the kind father and faithful husband pass unnoticed. But the murderer, robber or wife beater is singled out for ublicity, because such conduct is unusual.
8人们想当然地认为人类是伟大和高尚的,尽管他的过错和弱点不断地暴露在我们面前。只有当人类行为偏离常规时才会引起人们的注意。人们对好邻居、良民、慈父和贞夫视而不见,但杀人犯、抢劫犯或殴打妻子的人却成为公众瞩目的焦点。因为这些行为非同寻常。 9 Man's inherent goodness, moreover, is revealed by his countless acts of heroism, unselfishness and sacrifice. Daily one reads of men saving others at the peril of their
own lives. One plunges into the surf and rescues a swimmer from drowning; another dashes into a burning house and carries a stranger to safety; others snatch a child from the wheels of death; many give their blood so that others may live. Countless unnamed and
unrecorded men have given their lives for their fellowmen, not only on the battlefront but on the home- front as well.
9人类固有的优点还体现在不计其数的英雄主义行为、充满无私和牺牲精神的举动上,每天我们都会读到人们冒着生命危险挽救他人生命的事迹:有人跃入水中拯救溺水的泳者;有人冲进火场将陌生人带出险境;有人从死亡的车轮下救出孩子;许多人献出鲜血使他人生命得以延续。数不胜数的不知姓名、不被记载的人们,不仅在战场上,而且还在战争的大后方,为了他们的同胞献出了生命。
10Human nature does not and cannot change but unfolds its inherent pattern. Man has a nature and its laws can be known. We can only endeavor to understand man as he is. 10人性不会也不能改变,它只展现它固有的模式。它有天性而且这种天性的规律是可知的。我们只能尽力去了解人类的真实面貌。
Unit Eight
It's almost a common sense that wearing a seat belt can keep passengers from being injured or being killed in a car accident. But recent research done by John Adams shows more complicated statistics. More car accidents are caused by the reckless drivers who wear seat belts.
THE HIDDEN DANGER OF SEAT BELTS David Bjerklie
安全带可以避免乘客在车祸中受伤或死亡,这几乎是常识。但是,约翰.亚当斯最近所做的研究得出了更加复杂的统计数据。当司机系着安全带时,他们开车无所顾忌,更多车祸因此而发生。
座椅安全带的隐患
大卫·布杰克里
1 Seat belts still decrease our risk of dying in an accident, but the statistics are not all black and white. In fact, according to one researcher, seat belts may actually cause people to drive more recklessly.
1座椅安全带固然能降低我们在车祸中死亡的危险,但从统计数据看,情况并不是那么绝对。事实上,据一位研究者说,安全带可能会使人们在驾车时更加肆无忌惮。
2 If there's one thing we know about our risky world, it's that seat belts save lives. And they do, of course. But reality, as usual, is messier and more complicated than that. John Adams, risk expert and emeritus professor of geography at University College London, was an early skeptic of the seat belt safety mantra. Adams first began to look at the numbers more than 25 years ago. What he found was that contrary to conventional wisdom, mandating the use of seat belts in 18 countries resulted in either no change or actually a net increase in road accident deaths.
2对于这个有危险的世界,如果有一件事我们还算了解,那就是座椅安全带可以救命。当然,它确实可以救命。但实际情况通常要更混乱、更复杂。伦敦大学学院的风险专家、地理学荣誉教授约翰·亚当斯早就质疑安全带能保证驾车安全的信条。亚当斯最早开始查看统计数字是早在25年前的事了。他的发现与人们的普遍看法恰恰相反——在18个强制使用安全带的国家,要么交通事故死亡率根本没有变化,要么实际上反而导致了死亡率的净增长。
3 How can that be? Adams' interpretation of the data rests on the notion of risk compensation, the idea that individuals tend to adjust their behavior in response to what they perceive; as changes in the level of risk. Imagine, explains Adams, a driver negotiating a curve in the road. Let's make him a young male. He is going to be influenced by his perceptions of both the risks and rewards of driving a car. The considerations could include getting to work or meeting a mend for dinner on time, impressing a companion with his driving skills, bolstering his image of himself as an accomplished driver. They could also include his concern for his own safety and desire to live to a ripe old age, his feelings of responsibility for a toddler with him in a car seat, the cost of banging up his shiny new car or losing his license. 3怎么会这样?亚当斯用风险补偿的概念来解释这些数据资料,这个概念就是:人们往往会根据他们意识到的风险程度的改变来相应地调整自己的行为。亚当斯解释说,假设一位司机驾车途中要过一个窄弯道,这名司机是个男青年,那么他会受到自己对以下两方面认知的影响:驾车的风险和驾车的回报。他所考虑的东西可能包括:能够准时上班或准时赶赴朋友的饭局、让同伴对他的驾车技术留下深刻印象、使自己作为熟练驾车手的形象更加巩固。他还可能考虑到自身的安全问题、长命百岁的愿望、对车上年幼乘客的责任感、撞毁自己的漂亮新车或驾驶证被没收的代价。
Nor will these possible concerns exist in a vacuum. He will be taking into account the weather and the condition of the road, the amount of traffic and the capabilities of the car he is driving. But crucially, says Adams, this driver will also be adjusting his behavior in response to what he perceives are changes in risks. If he is wearing a seat belt and his car has front and side air bags and anti-skid brakes to boot, he may in turn drive a bit more daringly.
这些可能的担心也不是孤立存在的。他还要考虑到天气和路况、交通拥挤的程度和所驾车子的性能。但亚当斯说,关键的是这个司机还将根据他对风险变化的判断来调整自己的行为。如果他系上了安全带,而他的车子带有前、侧气囊和防滑刹车系统,他驾起车来可能会更大胆。
4 The point, stresses Adams, is that drivers who feel safe may actually increase the risk that they pose to other drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians and their own passengers (while an average of 80% of drivers buckle up, only 68% of their rear-seat passengers do). And risk compensation is
hardly confined to the act of driving a car. Think of a trapeze artist, suggests Adams, or a rock climber or motorcyclist. Add some safety equipment to the equation- a net, rope or helmet
respectively- and the person may try maneuvers that he or she would otherwise consider foolish. In the case of seat belts, instead of a simple, straightforward reduction in deaths, the end result is actually a more complicated redistribution of risk and fatalities. For the sake of argument, offers Adams, imagine how it might affect the behavior of drivers if a sharp stake were mounted in the middle of the steering wheel? Or if the bumper were packed with explosives. Perverse, yes, but it certainly provides a vivid example of how a perception of risk could modify behavior.
4亚当斯强调说,问题就在于自我感觉安全的司机们实际上对其他司机、骑自行车者、行人和自己车上的乘客来说是更大的危险(平均80%的司机系安全带,而同车后座的乘客只有68%系安全带)。风险补偿绝不仅限于驾车行为。亚当斯说,类似的还有表演高空秋千的艺人、攀岩者或摩托车手。如果在他们的安全等式上增添某种安全装置——比如说分别给他们一张救生网、一根保险绳或一个头盔——这个人可能就会试着做些平时认为很愚蠢的技巧性表演。因此,安全带并非简单、直截了当地减少死亡人数,而是对风险和死亡事故进行了更加复杂的再分配。为了说明其中的道理,亚当斯提出人们可以想象一下,如果在方向盘中间安一个尖头的木桩,司机开车时会受到怎样的影响?或者在保险杠上装满炸药呢?这简直是丧心病狂,是的,不过这确实提供了一个生动的例子,来说明人们如何根据对风险的判断来调整行为。
5 In everyday life, risk is a moving target, not a set number as statistics might suggest.
In addition to external factors, each individual has his or her own internal comfort level with risk- taking. Some are daring while others are cautious by nature. And still others are fatalists who may believe that a higher power devises mortality schedules that fix a predetermined time when our number is up. Consequently, any single measurement assigned to the risk of driving a car is bound to be only the roughest sort of benchmark.
5日常生活中,风险是不断移动的靶子,而并不像统计数据那样是个固定数字。除了外部因素外,每个人对于冒险都有自己内在的安全尺度。有些人天生大胆而有些人天生谨慎,还有些人是宿命论者,他们会认为,有一种更强大的力量设计了死亡时间表,预先确定了我们的死期。因此,对驾车风险做任何单一的测算所得到的肯定只是最粗略的基准数据。
Adams cites, as an example the statistical fact that a young man is 100 times more likely to be involved in a severe crash than is a middle-aged woman. Similarly, someone driving at 3:00 a.m. Sunday is more than 100 times more likely to die than someone driving at 10:00 a.m. Sunday. Someone with a personality disorder is 10 times more likely to die. And let's say he's also drunk. Tally up All these factors and consider them independently says Adams, and you could arrive at. a statistical prediction that a disturbed, drunken young man driving in the middle of the night is 2.7 million times more likely to be involved in a serious accident than would a sober, middle-aged woman driving to church seven hours later.
亚当斯引用了这样的统计事实作例子:青年男子发生严重撞车事故的概率比中年妇女高100倍。同样,在星期天凌晨3点钟驾车的人比同一天上午10点钟驾车的人死亡风险高出100多倍,有人格障碍的人比一般人死亡风险高10倍。亚当斯说,假如这个人还喝醉了,汇总所有这些因素并分别加以考虑,就会得到一个具有统计性的预测:一位心理失常又喝醉酒的青年男子在午夜驾车,7个小时后一位头脑清醒的中年妇女驾车去教堂,前者发生严重交通事故的概率比后者高270万倍。
6 The bottom line is that risk doesn't exist in a vacuum and that there are a host of factors that come into play, including the rewards of risk, whether they are financial, physical or emotional. It is this very human context which risk exists. That is key, says Adams, who titled one of his recent blogs: What Kills You Matters- Not Numbers. Our reaction to risk very much depends on the degree to which it is voluntary (scuba diving), unavoidable (public transit) or imposed (air quality), the degree to which we feel we are in control (driving) or at the mercy of others (plane travel), and the degree to which the source of possible danger is benign (\indifferent (nature) or malign, (murder and terrorism). We make dozens of risk calculations daily, but you can book odds- that most of them are so automatic or visceral- that we barely notice them.
6问题的要点就在于风险并不是孤立存在的,它会受到许多因素的影响,包括承担风险所带来的种种回报——无论是财产方面的、身体方面的,还是情感方面的。这正是风险赖以存在的真实的人类社会。亚当斯说,这才是问题的关键,正如他把近期的一篇博客题目定为《关键的是置人于死地的东西,而不是数字》。我们对风险的反应多半取决于它在多大程度上是自发的行为(如戴水肺潜水)、是不可避免的(如公共交通)、还是强加给我们的(如空气质量);取决于我们认为在多大程度上是我们能控制的(如驾驶)或是由别人控制的(如乘飞机);还取决于这种潜在危险在多大程度上是出于好意(如医生的指令)、无意的(如自然因素)或恶意的(如谋杀和恐怖活动)。我们每天要做几十遍风险计算,但是可以确信的是,多数时候人们对风险的计算自然而然或者说是出自本能,以至于我们几乎注意不到我们在做计算。
Unit Nine
THE HOUSING CRISIS GOES SUBURBAN
住房危机走向郊区
迈克尔·格伦沃尔德
在过去的五年里,弗吉尼亚州费尔法克斯县的住房价格增长速度是家庭收入增长速度的12倍.今天,该县中等家庭不得不将其收入的54%用于购买位于该县的普通住房;在2000年,这个数字是26%。形势如此严峻,以至于费尔法克斯县最近开始对年收入90,000美元的家庭提供住房补贴;很快,这个数字可能提高到110,000美元。
1 Seventy years after President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that the Depression had left one-third of the American people \well-clothed and increasingly over nourished. But the scarcity of affordable housing is a deepening national crisis, and not just for inner-city families on welfare. The problem has
climbed the income ladder and moved to the suburbs, where service workers cram their families into overcrowded apartments, college graduates have to crash with their parents, and firefighters, police officers and teachers can't afford to live in the communities they serve.
1富兰克林·罗斯福总统曾经说经济大萧条造成1/3的美国人住房简陋、衣衫褴褛、营养不良,然而70年后的今天,美国人却是穿着考究、营养日益过剩。但是,廉价房稀缺是一场日益加深的民族危机,而不仅仅是依靠福利为生的城市家庭的危机。这个问题已经波及中产阶级,并向郊区蔓延,在那里服务工作者及其家属挤在过于狭小的公寓里,大学毕业生不得不借宿在父母家,而消防队员、警察和教师在他们所服务的社区也买不起房。 2 Home ownership is near an all-time high, but the gap is growing between the Owns and the Own-Nots —as well as the Owns and the Own-80-Miles-From-Work. One-third of Americans now spend at least 30% of their income on housing, the federal definition of an \burden, and half the working poor spend at least 50% of their income on rent, a \The real estate boom of the past decade has produced windfalls for Americans who owned before it began, but affordable housing is now a serious problem for more low- and moderate-income Americans than taxes, Social Security4 or gas prices.
2住房拥有率接近历史最高位,但有房户和无房户之间的差距越来越大,有房户和房子离工作单位80英里远的有房户之间的差距也越来越大。现在,1/3的美国人花费至少30%的收入用于住房,联邦政府将这种情况定义为“无力支付”的负担,而有一半的穷打工仔花费至少50%的收入用于租房,这种情况被称为“极其严重”的负担。在过去10年里,房地产迅猛发展,这使得在此之前就已经购置房产的美国人大赚特赚了一把,但现在廉价房对中、低收入的美国人来说,是一个比税收、社会保险、汽油价格更严重的问题。
3 America used to care a lot about affordable housing. Roosevelt signed housing legislation in 1934 and 1937, providing mortgages, government apartments and construction jobs for workers down on their luck. In 1949, Congress .set an official goaljjf \
living environment for every American family,\offering subsidized rent vouchers to millions of low-income tenants in private housing. For half a century, most housing debates in Washington revolved around how much to expand federal assistance.
3美国曾经非常关注廉价房问题。1934年和1937年,罗斯福签署了住房立法,提供抵押贷款、政府公寓,并为那些穷困潦倒的工人提供建筑工作。1949年,国会树立了官方目标——“让每一个美国家庭都能拥有一个体面的家和宜居环境,”而到了1974年,尼克松总统开始对数以百万计的低收入租户在私有住房方面提供租金补贴凭单。半个世纪以来,在华盛顿发生的大多数住房方面的辩论都围绕着一个主题:即应该在多大程度上扩大联邦政府的资助。
4 But for the past two decades, the only new federal housing initiative has been HOPE VI5, a Clinton administration program that has demolished 80,000 units of the worst public housing and built mixed-income developments in their place. The program has eliminated most of the high-rise hellholes that gave public housing a bad name and has revived some urban neighborhoods. But it has razed more subsidized apartments than it has replaced. 4但在过去20年中,唯一的联邦住房新提案就是HOPE VI,也就是克林顿政府拆毁80,000单位的最差公共住房,重建混合收入寓所来取而代之。该计划已经拆除了大部分高度危险的房子,它们曾使公共住房声名狼藉,并已重建了一些城市的社区。但是它更多的是把享有补贴的公寓房夷为平地而不是取而代之。
5 Overall, the number of households receiving federal aid has flatlined since the early 1990s, despite an expanding population and a ballooning budget. Congress has rejected most of President Bush's proposed cuts, but there has been virtually no discussion of increases; affordable-housing advocates spend most of their time fighting to preserve the status quo. 5总的来说,自90年代初以来,接受联邦援助的家庭数已经降到最低,尽管人口不断增加、预算不断膨胀。美国国会已经拒绝了美国总统布什提出的大部分的削减计划,但几乎没有讨论过增加计划;廉价房的倡导者花费的大部分时间都被用于努力争取保持现状。 6 And it's a tough status quo. Today, for every one of the 4.5 million low-income families that receive federal housing assistance, there are three eligible families without it. Fairfax County has 12,000 families on a waiting list for 4,000 assisted apartments. \one—nobody wants to give it up,\It sounds odd, but the victims of today's housing crisis are not people living in \people who aren't even that lucky.
6而现状真是很艰难。今天,有450万低收入家庭享受联邦住房救助,还有3倍于此的家庭符合被救助资格,却拿不到救助。费尔法克斯县有12,000户家庭在排队轮候4,000套救助公寓。“这太宝贵了,一旦拥有,没有人愿意放弃。”费尔法克斯住房委员会主席康拉德·艾根这样说。这听起来奇怪,但如今住房危机的受害者不是那些已经享受“救助计划”的人,而是那些没那么幸运去享受这个计划的人。
7 Some liberals6 dream of extending subsidies to all eligible low-income families, but that $100 billion-a-year solution was unrealistic even before the budget deficit ballooned again. So even some housing advocates now support time limits on most federal rent aid. The time limits included in welfare reform 10 years ago were controversial, but studies suggest they've helped motivate recipients to get off the dole. And unlike welfare, housing aid is not a federal
entitlement, so taking it away from one family after a few years would provide a break for an equally deserving family.
7一些自由派人士梦想着对所有合格的低收入家庭都给予补贴,但是这个每年要斥资上千亿美元的解决办法很不现实,即便是在预算赤字再度膨胀之前也不现实。因此,即使一些曾经主张住房政策的人,现在也支持对大多数联邦租房救济金实行时间限制。人们对10年前福利改革中所涉及的时限问题有争议,但研究表明,这些时限有助于激励受助人摆脱对福利的依赖。和福利不同的是,住房救济金不是联邦所赋予的权利,因此几年后对一个家庭停止供给意味着给另一个同样需要救济的家庭一个喘息的机会。
8 \sustain the internal contradiction of no limits.\
8“这是显而易见的事,”大卫·史密斯——波士顿的一位廉价房的倡导者说,“你不能让内在矛盾无限地延续。”
9 The root of the problem is the striking mismatch between the demand for and the supply of affordable housing —or, more accurately, affordable housing near jobs. Fifteen million families now spend at least half their income on housing, according to Harvard's
Joint_CenterfOTHousing Studies: many skimp on health care, child care and food to do so. Others reduce their rents by overcrowding, which studies link to higher crime rates, poorer
academic performance and poorer health; Los Angeles alone has 620.000 homes with more than one person per room. Other workers are enduring increasingly long commutes from less expensive communities, a phenomenon known as \
9问题的根源是廉价房的供需,或者更准确地说,工作地点附近的廉价房的供需之间极不协调。据哈佛大学住宅联合研究中心提供的数据,现在有1,500万个家庭至少把他们一半的收入用于支付住房费用;许多人为了住房甚至在医疗保健、照顾儿童和食品等方面节省开支。其他人为了减少租金,居住条件极为拥挤,研究表明,拥挤的居住条件与高犯罪率、学习成绩差、以及健康状况不佳紧密相关;仅洛杉矶就有62万户家庭多人共居一室。其他工作者居住在较为便宜的社区,忍受着越来越长距离的交通往返,这种现象被称为“驾驶以保生活质量”。
10 This creates all kinds of lousy outcomes—children who don't get to see their parents, workers who can't make ends meet when gas prices soar, exurban sprawl, roads clogged with long-distance commuters emitting greenhouse gases. \communities by forcing people into their cars four hours a day,\
chairwoman of the housing committee for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Affordable housing also helps make communities competitive; it's not clear how Fairfax can keep creating jobs if workers can't afford to live there.
10这造成各种不良结果——孩子们看不到父母;当汽油价格飙升、城市向外扩张、道路上堵满了长途通勤的打工者、他们的汽车排放着温室气体,劳动者根本就入不敷出。费尔法克斯县监督委员会的会长凯西·哈金斯说:“我认为如果我们迫使人们平均每天四个小时呆在汽车里,我们就无法建立强大的社区。”廉价房也可以使社区具有竞争力;如果打工者没钱住在那里,我们还真不知道费尔法克斯县怎能一直创造就业机会。
11 The best thing local officials can do to promote affordable housing is to get out of the way—stop requiring one-acre lots and two-car garages, and stop blocking low-income and high-density projects. 11为促进廉价房,地方官员最好不要挡在路上——不要要求一英亩最小面积和两车位的车库、不要阻止低收入和高密度的项目。
12 Washington politicians, on the other hand, have the federal budget at their disposal. But
Congress hasn't supported new construction since the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit of 1986, which creates nearly 100,000 units of affordable housing a year, enough to replace half the units that are torn down or converted to market rents. Bush proposed a home-ownership tax credit during his 2000 and 2004 campaigns, but it turned out to be the rare tax cut he didn't pursue. A bill pending in Congress would divert a percentage of profits from federally chartered
institutions such as Fannie Mae to a national affordable-housing trust fund8, but it seems stalled. The only affordability ideas with any traction at the national level are not really housing ideas; for example, one way to make housing more affordable to workers would be to raise their
incomes—through higher minimum wages, lower payroll taxes or an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit.
12另一方面,联邦预算由华盛顿政界人士决定。但是,美国国会自1986年施行低收入住房税收抵免政策以来没有再支持过新的建设项目,该政策每年造就近100,000套廉价住房,足以取代被拆除或被转变为市场化招租的那些住房总数的一半。布什在2000年和2004年的竞选中提出了房屋所有权税收抵免政策,这是一项极好的政策,但是他最终竟然没有实行。一项等待国会投票的法案可能会把一些联邦特许机构——如房利美——的利润按照一定的百分比转移到国家廉价房信托基金名下,但这项法案似乎停滞不前。唯一的用国家力量促进支付能力的办法并不是有关住房的办法;例如,有一个方法可以让劳动者更能够负担得起住房费用,那就是提高他们的收入——通过提高最低工资、降低工资税或扩大收入税收抵免等方式。
13 There is one clear solution to the affordable-housing crisis: a real estate crash. It's the one housing issue that attracts media attention—because it would hurt the Owns. But while an
easing of prices could be devastating for lower-income Owns with risky mortgages, it probably wouldn't bring home ownership within reach for many Own- Nots. Prices have too far to fall; in 2000, two-thirds of the home sales in Fairfax were for $250,000 or less, but last year, fewer than one-twentieth were. And even a modest price slump could trigger a construction slowdown that would make shortages of affordable housing for moderate-income families even worse. 13解决廉价房危机的一个明确办法:房地产市场崩溃。这是一个能够吸引媒体关注的住房问题——因为这会伤害有房户。但是对于使用风险贷款的低收入房屋所有人来说放松价格可能是毁灭性的,另一方面对于无房者来说,它也不会带来居者有其屋的结果。价格下降还有很大的空间;在2000年,费尔法克斯2/3的房屋销售价格不高于$250,000,但去年只有不到1/20的房屋以此价格出售。即便价格小幅下滑都可能引发建设减速,从而使中等收入家庭缺乏廉价房的局面变得更糟糕。
14 Eventually, politicians may rediscover housing—not as an urban poverty issue, but as a middle-class quality-of-life issue, like gas prices or health care. Home ownership is often
described as the American dream, but these days many workers would settle for a decent rental that won't bankrupt their families. 14最终,政治家可能重新发现住房问题不是一个城市贫困问题,而是一个中产阶级的生活质量问题,正如燃油价格或医疗保健一样。居者有其屋通常被称为是美国梦,但如今许多劳动者为了使他们的家人不至于破产,宁愿租一所体面的房子居住。
Unit Ten
ACADEMY IN TIMES OF CRISIS
普林斯顿大学校长在其任职演说中提到:与接受高等教育这项权利相伴的是各种义务。
危机时代,大学该扮演的角色
雪莉·M.泰夫曼
1 Today the academy holds a highly privileged place in American society because of a about the long-standing national consensus about the value of education. One of my predecessors,
President Harold Dodds, said in his inaugural address in 1933 that \for education, public or private, so lavishly as does the United States. Americans have an almost childlike faith in what formal education can do for them.\that the vitality of the United States, its creative and diverse cultural life, its is national
security and the robustness of its democratic institutions owe much to the quality of institutions of higher education. 1今天,由于长期以来美国人对教育价值的共识,大学在美国社会中占有得天独厚的地位。一位前任校长哈罗德·多兹1933年在就职演说中曾提到,“没有哪个国家像美国这样,不论对公立教育还是私立教育的投入都是如此地慷慨大方。美国人民对正规教育所能起到的作用抱有一种近乎天真的信念。”这一信念是在这样一个深信不疑的基础上确立的,即美国的活力、它富有创造性和多样化的文化生活、它具有惊人独创力的经济、它的国家安全以及它健全的民主制度——极大地依赖于其高等教育机构的质量。
2 Our society’s confidence in its institutions of higher education is expressed through the generous investments of the federal and state government in basic and applied research,
investment that wisely couple support for research with support for graduate education. It is also expresses through federal and state investments that subsidize the cost of higher education for those who cannot afford to pay, investments by private foundations and charities who see
collegesand universities as the best routes for achieving their strategic goals, and investments by individuals and by the private sector, who see universities as the incubators of future health and prosperity. In return for this broad support, society rightfully expects certain things from us. It expects the generation of new ideas and the discovery of new knowledge, the exploration of complex issues in an open and collegial manner and the preparation of the next generation of citizens and leaders. In times of trouble, it is especially important that we live up to these expectations.
2我国社会对高等教育机构的信心通过以下几点表现出来:联邦政府和州政府对基础研究和应用研究给予大量投资,这些投资明智地将对研究的支持与对研究生教育的支持结合起来;联邦政府和州政府对无力负担高等教育学费的学生给予资助;一些私人基金会和慈善机构给予投资,他们认为高等院校是达成其战略目标的最佳途径;一些个人和私人部门给予投资,他们认为高等院校是未来健康发展和富裕繁荣的孵化器。社会当然期望我们能有所作为以回报这种广泛的支持。社会期望我们产生新思想,开发新知识,以一种开放和共同协作的方式探索复杂的问题,培养未来一代公民和领导者。当处于困境的时候,我们不辜负这些期望就尤为重要。
3 The medieval image of the university as an ivory tower, with scholars turned inward in solitary contemplation, immunized from the cares of the day, is an image that has been
superseded by the modern university constructed not of ivory, but of a highly porous material, one that allows free diffusion in both directions. The academy is of the world, not apart from it. Its ideals, crafted over many generations, are meant to suffuse the national consciousness. Its scholars and teachers are meant to move in and out of the academy in pursuit of opportunities to use their expertise in public service, in pursuit of creative work that will give us illumination and insight and in pursuit of ways to turn laboratory discoveries into useful things. Our students engage the world with a strong sense of civic responsibility, and when they graduate they become alumni who do the same. This is as it should be.
3中世纪大学的形象是一座象牙塔,学者们远离社会进行孤独的沉思,不关心窗外之事——这一形象已被现代大学所取代——现代大学不是象牙构筑的,而是高度开放的机构,允许内外自由交流。高校是属于社会的,而不是游离于社会之外的。高校的理想,经由多少代人的铸造,旨在渗入国民意识之中。学者和教师必定要周旋于学院内外以寻觅运用他们的才能为公众服务的机会,寻觅能给我们带来启发和见识的创造性工作,寻觅把实验室的研究发现转化为实际应用的途径。我们的学生在从事社会活动时怀有一种强烈的公民责任意识,并且当他们毕业若干年后成为老校友时仍然会这样做。这些都是理所当然的。 4 The search for new ideas and knowledge is not and cannot be motivated by utilitarian
concerns. Rather it depends on the ability to think in new and creative ways. When the Nobel laureate John Nash developed the mathematical concepts underlying non- cooperative game theory8 as a graduate student at Princeton, he could not foresee that those concepts would be used today to analyze election strategies and the causes of war and to make predictions about how people will act. When Professor of Molecular Biology Eric Wieschaus' set out as a young scientist to identify genes that pattern the body plan of the fruit fly embryo, he could not know that he would identify genes that play a central role in the development of human cancer. We have learned that we cannot predict with any accuracy how discoveries and scholarship will influence future generations. We also have learned that it is unwise to search only in predictable places, for new knowledge often depends upon preparing fertile ground in^obscure places where serendipity and good luck, as well as deep intelligence, can sprout. Freedom of inquiry, which is one of our most cherished organizing principles, is not just a moral imperative, it is a practical necessity.
4探索新思想和新知识不是依靠也不应该依靠功利主义动机,而是依靠以新颖的和创造性的方式进行思考的能力。当诺贝尔奖获得者约翰·纳什在普林斯顿大学读研究生时推动了构成“非合作博弈论”基础的数学概念的发展时,他可能根本不会想到这些概念会在今天被用于分析选举策略、战争起因及预测人的行为表现等方面。当还是一名年轻科学家的分子生物学教授埃里克·维绍斯着手识别决定果蝇胚胎身体结构模式的基因时,他可能不知道他会识别出在推动对人类癌症的研究中起到关键性作用的基因。由此得知,我们无法准确地预测科学发现及学术成就将如何影响未来一代又一代的人们。同时,我们也得知,只在可预知的领域来挖掘知识是不明智的,因为新知识往往依赖于在未知领域准备好肥沃的土壤,在那些领域,好运气同深奥的智慧一样能开花结果。我们最珍视的组织原则之一——探索的自由,不仅仅从道德上说是必需的,而且它也是一个实际需要。
5 Just as we have an obligation to search widely for knowledge, so we also have an obligation to ensure that the scholarly work of the academy is widely disseminated, so that others can correct it when necessary, or build on it, or use it to make better decisions, develop better products or construct better plans. In the days ahead, I hope that our country's decision-makers will draw on the knowledge that resides on our campuses, on historians who can inform the present through deep understanding of the past, philosophers who can provide frameworks for working through issues of right and wrong, economists whose insights can help to get the economy back on track, engineers who know how to build safer buildings, scientists who can analyze our vulnerabilities to future attack and develop strategies for reducing those vulnerabilities, and scholars in many fields who can help us understand the motivations of those who would commit acts of terrorism here and throughout the world.
5就像我们有义务广泛寻求新知识一样,我们也有义务确保我们的学术研究能够被广泛地传播。只有这样,别人才能对其做出必要的修正,或将其发扬光大,或依据它来作出更好的决定,开发出更好的产品,或构建出更好的规划。在日后的岁月中,我希望我们国家的决策者根据留存于大学的知识来做决定,咨询能通过对过去的深刻理解而洞悉现在的历史学家们;咨询能提供明辨是非原则的哲学家们;咨询能以其洞察力使经济回归正轨的经济学家们;咨询知道如何建造更安全建筑的工程师们;咨询能分析我们容易招致未来袭击的软肋并能制订出弥补这些弱点的战略的科学家们;以及咨询能帮助我们弄清恐怖分子在我国及世界各地实施恐怖行动的动机的多个领域的学者们。
6 Let me now turn to the third obligation that we have to society: the education of the next generation of citizens and leaders. Princeton's view of what constitutes a liberal arts education was expressed well by Woodrow Wilson, our 13th President, whose eloquent words I read at Opening Exercises:\itself as the spirit of learning. It consists in the power to distinguish good reasoning from bad, in the power to digest and interpret evidence, in the habit of catholic observation and a preference for the non-partisan point of view, in an addiction to clear and logical processes of thought and yet an instinctive desire to interpret rather than to stick to the letter of reasoning, in a taste for knowledge and a deep respect for the integrity of the human mind.\
6现在,请允许我来阐述一下我们应对社会所尽的第三项义务:培育下一代的公民与领导者。普林斯顿大学所提倡的对大学文科教育的见解,我校第13任校长伍德罗。威尔逊曾作过精辟的表述,我在开学典礼上曾诵读过他的雄辩的语句:“在大学里我们应当努力传授的,与其说是知识本身还不如说是做学问的精神。它包括:辨别正确推理与错误推理的能力,消化与阐释论据的能力,广泛观察的习惯,对于持客观见解的偏好,执着于清晰有条理的思维过程,本能地热衷于阐释内涵而不拘泥于推论的字面意思,对知识的鉴赏力,对人类健全心智的无限尊重。”
7 Wilson, and the presidents who followed him, rejected the narrow idea of a liberal arts
education as preparation for a profession. While understanding the importance of professional education, they made it clear that at Princeton we should first and foremost cultivate the qualities of thought and discernment in our students in the belief that this will be most conducive to the health of our society. Thus we distinguish between the acquisition of
information, something that is essential for professional training, and the development of habits of mind that can be applied in any profession. Consequently we celebrate when the classics scholar goes to medical school, the physicist becomes a member of Congress, or the historian teaches primary school. If we do our job well as educators, each of our students will take from a Princeton education a respect and appreciation for ideas and values, intellectual openness and rigor, practice in civil discourse and a sense of civic responsibility. During these troubled times, our students and our alumni will be called upon to exercise these qualities in their professions, their communities and their daily lives. By so doing, and through their leadership, their vision and their courage, they will help to fulfill Princeton's obligation to society and bring true meaning to our motto, \
7威尔逊及其继任者们拒绝这一狭隘的观念:即大学文科教育只限于为某种职业做准备。他们在了解职业教育重要性的同时,更清楚在普林斯顿首先应该培养学生的思考能力和洞察力,坚信这才最有益于社会健全发展。因此我们对以下两方面做了区分:对职业素质的培养有重要作用的信息获取和能够应用于任何职业的思维习惯的发展。所以,当古典文学家走进医学院、物理学家成为国会议员或历史学家执教小学的时候,我们便感到庆幸。如果我们作为教育家做好我们的工作,我们的每一个学生将从普林斯顿的教育中学会尊重和欣赏各种理念与价值、思维的开放与严谨、社交实践与公民责任感。在这困难重重的年代,我们将号召我们的学生和校友们在他们的职业中、在他们的团体和日常生活中实践这些品质。通过这样做,通过他们的领导力、洞察力和勇气,他们将帮助履行普林斯顿对社会的义务和实践我们的座右铭:“普林斯顿——为国家服务,为世界服务!”
正在阅读:
熊海虹主编《高等学校研究生英语综合教程 上》1-10单元原文+翻译(个人整理方便学习)09-18
2015年高考地理二轮复习专题十一 自然资源与人类活动03-03
煤矿工作总结(精选多篇)09-27
中山大学2016年硕士研究生招生考试范围或参考书目05-21
学校教研工作总结文本参考04-25
打造高素质干部人才队伍的探索与思考06-01
汽车比赛对汽车新技术的推动06-29
体育实习心得2篇05-25
敬业杯听课随想 眼高手低 - 图文11-19
- 元旦晚会节目单
- 学案
- 光电显示技术期末复习资料 - 图文
- p2p与供应链结合案例
- 2016--2017学年度第二学期五年级班主任工作计划
- 尔雅2017年西藏的历史和文化期末考试满分答案解析
- 智慧树创新工程实践期末考试答案
- 六年级下美术教案-有趣的纸浮雕广西版
- 设备操作规程汇编
- 通信综合实训系统实验报告
- 南京财经大学金融学期末考试简答题
- 现代服务业发展规划研究 - 图文
- 锚杆支护工知识竞赛题
- 实验五
- 债权法习题集及详细解答
- 上海寺庙大全 - 图文
- 机会成本在企业决策中的应用研究
- 高考总复习语文选择题百题精炼第一季专题01 识记现代汉语字音(教师版)
- A9785-B中文资料
- 56m连续梁主墩冷却管布置技术交底
- 海虹
- 英语
- 高等学校
- 原文
- 主编
- 单元
- 研究生
- 整理
- 方便
- 翻译
- 教程
- 学习
- 综合
- 个人
- 10
- 学士学位英语翻译句子练习60题
- 2018“两工地”起重机械检测实施细则 - 图文
- 饱和塔流程三段式全低变工艺催化剂升温硫化方案
- 放射科质量与安全管理工作方案介绍
- 浅谈如何提高数学课堂教学的有效性
- 股权转让意向书(英文版)
- 双效真空蒸发器及辅助设备的设计选择(精)
- 第四组刑事案件庭审现场
- Starbucks is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle
- 利润与销量之间的函数关系
- 郑州大学现代远程教育《信息管理学》
- 财务业务一体化练习题 - 图文
- 染色体变异导学案上课教案
- 顾家北100句翻译简版 - 图文
- 六年级分数单位“1”经典例题
- 51单片机热敏电阻测温查表程序
- 2016小学一二年级数学兴趣班第5次课:找规律 - 切蛋糕(教) - 图文
- 高频复习提纲
- 关于提高宣传思想文化工作科学化水平的几点思考
- 《功能性食品概述》课程标准