全新版大学英语阅读教程三

15. Thanksgiving Introduction

对于最重视个人主义的美国人来说，有没有什么东西可以让他们回想起家庭的好呢？接下来的这篇文章给出的回答是“是的”。在美国感恩节这一天，大多数家庭成员汇聚在餐桌边享受一顿大餐。作者对于“我”和“我们”的关系以及在美国这个国家里家庭的重要性进行了深入的探讨。 Essay

再过不久，那些在自己和他人的生活中穿梭的人们又将聚到一起。这个包办旅行的季节吸引他们在这周举办家庭聚会。这周四的宴会节、家庭日、感恩节，最重视个人主义的美国人将例行公事聚到百万张餐桌边聚餐寻求归属感。

他们将通过一起吃晚餐的方式聚集起他们的家庭成员：每个人都有自己的个性就像越橘酱和南瓜派的不同一样。为了共同的晚餐，他们为彼此烹饪，为彼此忙碌，为彼此提供食物并且彼此谈论。他们点头示意对他们共同的文化传统、对其他亲人的狂热关心的共识。他们会评判他们共同的遗产——孩子。

所有的这些人，无论男的女的，老的少的，有着不同的梦想和失落，他们都对这个家族表示敬意，无论他们以前是不是这个家族的一份子。“家庭”和“个人”是“我们”和“我”的关系。作为标准的美国人，我们都在这两种理念之间徘徊。我们从伟大的美国个人主义价值观穿行到家庭观。我们疲于追赶，用速度来缩短这两种价值观之间的距离。

总会有一些鸿沟在个人与家庭之间。从我们一开始认识到我们每个人都是独立分开的，我们便开始设法对付个人主义与集体主义的矛盾。这些冲突时常会特别的尖锐。毕竟，我们是在家庭中被抚养成长为……个体的。这种双重信息将贯穿我们一生。我们被教导关于“我”的自由性与“我们”的安全感，“我”的孤独感与“我们”的侵扰，“我”的自私与“我们”的负担。 我们被教导安德烈·马尔罗所说的：“离开家庭，人们将在寒冷中发抖着独活于世。”我们也被教导了他所说的另一句话：“对于人类思想发展重要性的否认解释了许多对于家庭的反抗。”在理论上，世界赞扬个人、自我意识为“最重要的”。我们在我们的头脑中独自思考；我们伴随着放大了自我感受写下音乐和文字；我们按照我们自己的功过被认定毕业、给予何种报酬、是否被雇佣以及被解雇。最极端的个人主义在令人激动的同时也是残忍的。这里所指的是适者生存。

在另一的方面，家庭表现得很不一样。我们不需要努力获得家庭成员的认可。我们只要做自己就好。家庭成员间的关系并不是基于凭证，而是基于血缘。就如Malraux提出的，“朋友会因为你的才能而喜欢你，女友会因为你的魅力而喜欢你，但你的家庭给你的爱是不需要理由的：你生在这个家庭，血浓于水。”

家庭存在的意义，不是保护强者而是庇护弱势者。它并不是一个经济体但是一个情感体。这里不是人们残忍地互相竞争的地方，而是为他人付出的地方。家庭的的事务就是关心他人，当它运作的时候，无情不再，家庭就是充满了爱。

在家庭生活中有更少的英雄和明星。然而当外面的世界赞美个人时，家人总会不止一次地要求我们淹没忽略它。当这个世界抛弃我们时，家人总会不止一次地承诺保护我们。因此我们每天，每周，每年都在两个世界里穿梭。在一种被养育的家庭生活和一种令人窒息的生

活之间，在一个可以释放自己的生活和一个可以击败自己的生活之间。我们在两套完全不同的需求和可能之间摇摆。

周四将聚集在这张桌子周围的人都生活在这两个世界里，成为彼此生活中的一部分又彼此分离。运气好的话他们的两个世界里都会是富饶的领土，充满了关爱和空间。它会是一个“我”和“我们”相互影响的地方。至少在这一天，他们会带给彼此一些特殊和值得分享的东西：这些独立的自我。 16.

DADDY TUCKED THE BLANKET Introduction

For those living in a decent apartment or house ,it is rather difficult to imagine how poor housing can affect its inhabitants’ life and self-esteem. In this short autobiographical writing, Randall Williams recalls how his family’s shabby house had brought unhappy

changes in personal relationships, and explores the effects of poverty upon the psyche of his folks.

TEXT

About the time I turned 16, my folks began to wonder why I didn't stay home any more. I always had an excuse for them, but what I didn't say Was that I had found my freedom and I was getting out.

I went through four years of high school in semirural Alabama and became active in clubs and sports; I made a lot of friends and became a regular guy,if you know what I mean. But one thing was irregular about me: I managed those fouryears without ever a friend visit at my house. 译文

对于那些住在得体的公寓或者房子的人们来说，破败的房屋如何影响着人们的居住生活和自尊是他们难以想象的。在这篇简短的自传中，RANDALL WILLIAMS 回忆起他家的破败的房屋给他的人际关系带来的不良影响以及对贫穷给大众带来的心灵上的影响的探索。 正文

大约在我16岁的光景，我的相亲们开始怀疑我为什么不住在家里了。而我总是找个借口来搪塞他们,但是我真正不愿意说的是，我在外面找到了我想要的自由。

我结束了四年在阿拉巴马州半乡村地区的高校生活，同时在体育运动和俱乐部里面十分活跃。其中，我找到了很多朋友，自己也变成了一个受欢迎的一员，如果你能明白的话。但是有一件对我来说异乎寻常的事：我竟然在四年的时间里连一个朋友也没有带回家里去过. I was ashamed of where I

lived, I had been ashamed for as long as I had been conscious of class.

We had a big family. There were several of us sleeping in one room, But that's not so bad if you get along, and we always did. As you get older, though, it gets worse.

Being poor is a humiliating experience for a young person trying hard to be accepted. Even now-several yearsremoved-it is hard to talk about. And I resent the weakness of these words to make you feel waht it was really like.

We lived in a lot of old houses. We moved a lot because we were

always looking for something jst a little better than what we had. You have to understand that my folks worked harder than most people. My mother was always at home, but for her that was a full-time job-and not for fun, either.But my father worked his head off from the time I can remember in construction and

当我认识到了阶级的区别之后，我对我的家感到羞愧。

我有一个很大的家庭。一个房间里挤着好几个人。但是你们要是在一起相处的不错的话，那也就没有想象中的那么坏了，不出意外，我们相处的不错。然而我们逐渐长大了，事情变得更糟了。

贫穷对于一个年轻人来说是一段羞耻的事情，也是难以接受的。甚至是现在，好几年过去了，我也难以启齿那段经历。

我对那些能够让你感觉到事情真的发生过的字词感到愤怒。

我们住过很多破败的房屋。我们一直在搬家因为我们总是在寻找那些好一点的处所。你必须明白我的亲属们工作的比大多数人都辛苦。我的母亲一直在家里，但是对她来说这份全职工作不是娱乐的.从我能记起他在工地和商店里工作时，我的父亲就工作的极其艰辛。那是繁重的体力活。

shops. It was hard, physical work.

I tell you this to show that we weren’t shiftless .No matter how much money dad made, we never made much progress up the social ladder. I got out thanks to a college scholarship and because I was a little more articulate than average.

I have seen my Daddy wrap copper wire through the soles of his boots to keep them together in

the wintertime. He couldn't buy new boots because had used the money for food and shoes for us We lived like hell, but we went to school well-clothed and with a full stomach.

It really is hell to live in a house that was in bad shape 10 years before you moved in. And a big family puts a lot of wear and tear on a new house, too, so you can imagine how one goes downhill if it is teetering when you move in. But we lived in houses that were sweltering in summer and freezing in winter. I woke up every morning for a year and a half with plaster on my

我告诉你这些时来表明我们并非混日子而已。不论父亲赚取多少钱，我们并没有取得在社会阶梯上的进步。我多亏了大学奖学金才能出去，同时也是因为我会扯淡。

我看到过我父亲在大冬天用鞋子包裹着铜丝，因此来让他们裹在一起。他不能买新鞋子因为那些钱他需要去买食物和鞋子给我们。我们就像生活在地狱，但是去学校的时候，我们穿的体面，裹腹。

住在那么逼仄的小屋内真是像地狱一样，而且当你住进去时，它已经破败了十年之久。除此之外，一个大家庭又很大的磨损了新房子，所以，你可以想象这房子是多么得每况愈下，当你搬进去的时候，它好像就要塌掉了一样。但是那所房子夏热冬冷。每天我早上起来，我一半的脸上堆着夜里从天花板掉下来的石灰。

face where it had fallen out of the ceiling during the night.

This wasn't during the Depression; this was in the late 60's and early 70's.

When we boys got old enough to learn trades in school,we would try to fix up the old houses

we lived in. But have you ever tried to paint a wall that crumbled when emphasized the holes in the wall. You end up more frustrated than when you began, especially when you know that at best you might come up with only enough money to

improve one of the six rooms in the house. And we might move out soon after, anyway. The same goes for keeping a house like that clean. If you have a house full of kids and the house is deteriorating , you'll never keep it clean. Daddy used to yell at Mama about that, but she couldn't do anything. I think Daddy knew it inside, but he had to have an outlet for his rage somewhere, and at least yelling isn't as bad as hitting, which they 这并不是在大萧条时期，这是在60年代末期和70年代初期.

当我们这些男孩长大了，在学校学了一门手艺，我们会试着去修复老房子。但是你曾粉刷过那些滚筒一滚，墙皮就掉下来的墙面吗。最后，你愈加沮丧，特别是你知道你最好有了足够的钱才能去改善六个房间中的一个。也许，不论如何不久我们就需要搬走。

让这个屋子变得干净，也是同样的坑爹。如果你有一所住满着孩子的房子，那么这所房子肯定是越来越脏，你不可能打扫干净。父亲经常就这件事向母亲咆哮，但是她无能为力。我想父亲是明白的，但是他想要有一个让他脾气发泄的途径，至少咆哮没有殴打那么坏，而这个，他们互相从来没有发生过。 never did to each other.

But you have a kitchen which has no counter space and no hot

water and you will have dirty dishes stacked up. That sounds like an excuse, but try it. You'll go mad from the sheer sense of futility. It's the same thing in a

house with no closets. You can't keep clothes clean and rooms in order if they have to be stacked up with things.

Living in a bad house is generally worse on girls. For one thing, they traditionally help their mother with the housework. We boys could get outside and work in the field or cut wood or even play ball and forget about living conditions. The sky was still pretty. But the girls got pressure, and as they got older it became worse. Would they accept dates knowing they had to \peeling wallpapers and a cracked ceiling? You have to live ti to understand it, but it creates a shame which

但是，当你的厨房内没有一个放台面的地方和没有开水，那么脏盘子不得不堆起来。这听起来像是一个借口，（要是不信）你来试试。这些操蛋的徒劳会让你变疯掉。

家里没有壁橱也是这样。你不可能让你的衣服保持干净，房间也不可能有序，如果他们上面堆满了东西

大体来说，破败的房屋对女孩会产生更坏的影响。就拿一件事来说，她们会帮母亲做家务。我们男孩可以在外面，在田野里干活或者开木头，甚至踢球，这些可以忘记家里的惨状。那时，天空仍旧是蓝色的。

但是女孩会有压力，当她们老去就变得更坏了。她们的约会对象是否会知道这个女生不得不在一间又脏又破的房子里“接待”他？而这间房子的窗户破破烂烂、墙纸残缺不全，连天花板也满是裂痕。你必须身处其境才能明白这种感受，贫穷所带来的羞耻感会把一个年轻人变得内向。

drives the soul of a young person inward.

I'm thankful none of us ever blamed our parents for this, because it would have crippled our relationships. As it worked out, only the relationship between our parents was damaged, And I think the harshness which they expressed to each other was just on outlet to get rid of their anger at the trap their lives were in. It ruined their marriage because they had no one to yell at but each other. I knew other families where the kids got the abuse, but we were too much loved for that.

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