研究生英语第二册翻译

研究生英语第二册翻译

Unit one Unit two I dated a woman for a while — literary type, well-read, lots of books in her place — whom I admired a bit too extravagantly, and one Christmas I decided to give her somethin

g unusually nice and, I’m afraid, unusually expensive. I bought her a set of Swift’s Works — not just any set but a scarce early eighteenth-century edition; then I wrapped each leather-bound volume separately and made a card for each volume, each card containing a carefully chosen quotation from Swift himself. I thought it was terribly romantic; I had visions of her opening the set, volume by volume, while we sat by the fire Christmas Eve sipping cognac and listening to the Brandenburg Concertos. How stupid I am sometimes! She, practical woman that I should have known she was, had bought me two pairs of socks and a shirt, plus a small volume of poems by A. R. Ammons. She cried when she opened the Swift. I thought they were tears of joy, but they weren’t. “I can’t accept this,” she said. “It’s totally out of proportion.” She insisted that I take the books back or sell them or keep them for myself. When I protested she just got more upset, and finally she asked me to leave and to take the books with me. Hurt and perplexed, I did. We stopped seeing each other soon after that. It took me weeks to figure out what I had done wrong. “There’s a goat in all of us,” R. P. Blackmur wrote somewhere, “a stupid, stubborn goat.” To my credit, I’m normally more perspicacious about the gifts I give, and less of a show-off. But I have it in me, obviously, to be, as my ex-girlfriend said, totally out of proportion: to give people things I can’t afford, or things that betoken an intimacy that doesn’t exist, or things that bear no relation to the interests or desires of the person I’m giving them to. I’ve kicked myself too often not to know it’s there, this insensitivity to the niceties of gift-giving. Unit six The most infuriating conversation is the one where the parent clearly seeks a decisive, career-validating moment of emotional closure. Such individuals believe that securing admission to a top-flight university provides a child with an irrevocable passport to success, guaranteeing a life of uninterrupted economic mirth. Parents such as these upwardly mobile chuckleheads exude an almost Prussian belligerence when announcing their children’s destinations, congratulating themselves on a job well done, while issuing a sotto voce taunt to parents of the less gifted. For them, the hard part of child rearing is now over. Junior went to the right prep school, made the right friends, signed up for the right activities and is now headed for the right school. Now we can get the heck out of here and move to Tuscany. But in reality, life doesn’t end at age 17. Or 21. In real life, some children get the finest educations but still become first-class screw-ups. My own profession is filled with people who went to the right school but ended up in the wrong career. (They should have been flacks; the phone ringing in the next room is not and never will be the Pulitzer committee.) Some of those boys and girls most likely to succeed

are going to end up on welfare or skid row. At which point they’ll need parental input. Or cash. A parent’s responsibility doesn’t end once the kids leave. A parent’s responsibility never ends. That’s why Nature gives you the job. Unit seven As I look over what I have written, I feel that I have presented an excessively bleak picture of an inherently glorious event. Though the misbehavior described is tragic but true, I still do not share the pessimism of the writer whose most famous work has given him a near-franchise on the digit “1984.” George Orwell viewed the Olympics as “bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence; in other words, it is a war without the shooting.” This is going much too far. The Olympics are nothing more or less than a reflection of everything that is good as well as bad in human nature. The anecdotes of ancient Greek skulduggery prove that the Games have always suffered from what we might benevolently call “human frailty.” And one might argue that our own age can actually claim a tiny bit of moral superiority over classical Greece. Very few of us, I think, would subscribe to the view of a European coach, who was recently quoted as saying: “As long as you are still alive for the victory ceremony, you should get your reward. There is no room for ethics in sports anymore.” Unit eight The art of pleasing is a very necessary one to possess, but a very difficult one to acquire. It can hardly be reduced to rules; and your own good sense and observation will teach you more of it than I can. “Do as you would be done by,” is the surest method that I know of pleasing. Observe carefully what pleases you in others, and probably the same things in you will please others. If you are pleased with the complaisance and attention of others to your humors, your tastes, or your weaknesses, depend upon it, the same complaisance and attention on your part to theirs will equally please them. Take the tone of the company that you are in, and do not pretend to give it; be serious, gay, or even trifling, as you find the present humor of the company; this is an attention due from every individual to the majority. Do not tell stories in company; there is nothing more tedious and disagreeable; if by chance you know a very short story, and exceedingly applicable to the present subject of conversation, tell it in as few words as possible; and even then, throw out that you do not love to tell stories, but that the shortness of it tempted you. Of all things banish the egotism out of your conversation, and never think of entertaining people with your own personal concerns or private affairs; though they are interesting to you, they are tedious and impertinent to everybody else; besides that, one cannot keep one’s own private affairs too secret. Whatever you think your own excellencies may be, do not affectedly display them in company; nor labor, as many people do, to give that turn to the conversation, which may supply you with an opportunity of exhibiting them. If they are real, they will infallibly be

discovered, without your pointing them out yourself, and with much more advantage. Never maintain an argument with heat and clamor, though you think or know yourself to be in the right; but give your opinion modestly and coolly, which isthe only way to convince; and, if that does not do, try to change the conversation, by saying, with good-humor, “We shall hardly convince one another; nor is it necessary that we should, so let us talk of something else.” Unit nine “Women’s language” is that pleasant, euphemistic, never-aggressive way of talking we learned as little girls. Cultural bias was built into the language we were allowed to speak, the subjects we were allowed to speak about, and the ways we were spoken of. Having learned our linguistic lesson well, we go out in the world, only to discover that we are communicative cripples — damned if we do, and damned if we don’t. If we refuse to talk “like a lady,” we are ridiculed and criticized for being unfeminine. (“She thinks like a man” is, at best, a left-handed compliment.) If we do learn all the fuzzy headed, unassertive language of our sex, we are ridiculed for being unable to think clearly, unable to take part in a serious discussion, and therefore unfit to hold a position of power. It doesn’t take much of this for a woman to begin feeling she deserves such treatment because of inadequacies in her own intelligence and education. “Women’s language” shows up in all levels of English. For example, women are encouraged and allowed to make far more precise discriminations in naming colors than men do. Words like mauve, beige, lavender, and so on, are unremarkable in a woman’s active vocabulary, but largely absent from that of most men. I know of no evidence suggesting that women actually see a wider range of colors than men do. It is simply that fine discriminations of this sort are relevant to women’s vocabularies, but not to men’s; to men, who control most of the interesting affairs of the world, such distinctions are trivial — irrelevant. Unit ten Certainly a man’s home is no longer his castle, or, if it is, the moat is dry and the portcullis is always up. Nothing can stanch the daily tide of impersonal mail posing as personal mail, of salesmen at the door and strangers on the telephone. In the hands of the inconsiderate the telephone is a deadly weapon, but if a man dons armor against it by refusing to have his number listed in the directory, he must now pay a penalty. The New York Telephone Company has almost half a million of these diehards on its rolls — a figure which suggests that the urge for privacy is still alive, even if the respect for it is not. A few years ago the company became impatient with its unlisted patrons and put an extra charge on their monthly bill, hoping thereby to force them back into the listed world of good fellowship. Modern architecture has also done its share to abolish privacy. The picture window was first designed by men like Frank Lloyd Wright to frame a scene of natural beauty. Today millions of Americans look out of picture windows into other

picture windows and busy streets. The contractor has no sooner finished installing the picture window than the decorator is summoned to cover it with expensive curtains against an inquisitive world. Even then, privacy is uncertain. In many modern houses the rooms have yielded to “areas” that merge into each other, so that the husband trying to work in the “reading area” (formerly den) is naked to the blasts from the “recreation area” (formerly rumpus room) a few feet away.

Unit one

我想了片刻，觉得世界上讲西班牙语的人最善于辞令，也许可以从他们身上 学到点什么。 你对他们中的一个人赞叹道， 这是我曾经见到过的最漂亮的房子” “ ， 他立刻回应道， “您大驾光临，更使蓬荜生辉。 ”让你站在那儿，一脸尴尬。要想 回敬他们是没有用的——不管说什么，最后他们总会占上风的。 有一点很清楚：所有得体的社交最根本的就在于保持镇定。Eliza. W. Farrar， 写过一本美国最早的关于礼仪方面的书。 她在书中讲述了在新英格兰举行的一次 高雅的宴会上主人切鹅的故事，阐述了保持镇定的重要性。鹅不慎脱手，滑出了 盘子，落在一位贵妇人的衣裙上。要是我遇到这种情况，我会感到极度地窘迫， 恨不得悄悄地找根绳子去上吊。可是，这位主人却泰然自若。他极为平静而庄重 地说， “夫人，如果您把那鹅还给我，我将感激不尽。 ”如果我们的行为举止都能 保持这种风度，摆脱局促不安，那我们的社交生活就会有趣得多。 如果我们牢记这一点，我们就会显得更加镇定自如：每当有人恭维你时，他 可能只是想和你说说话。 唯一明智的回答就是由八个小小的字母构成的两个简洁 的小词：Thank you ！ Unit two 有一段时间，我曾与一个女子约会——她是爱好文学的那一类、博览群书、 其寓所藏书甚丰——我非常羡慕她。 在一次圣诞节我决定赠送她一件非同寻常的 好东西，当然，恐怕也是非同寻常地昂贵。我给她买了一套斯威夫特文集——不 是一套一般性的集子，而是十八世纪早期的珍本；然后我将每卷皮装书单独包起 来，每一卷附有一张书卡，卡上写有精心挑选的斯威夫特的语录。我觉得真是浪 漫极了；我甚至想象到在圣诞节前夕，当我们坐在壁炉旁呷饮法国白兰地和欣赏 着勃兰登堡协奏曲时，她把文集一卷卷地打开时的那种情景。 我有时是多么傻啊！她，一个我本应了解的讲究实惠的女人，给我买了两 双袜子、一件衬衫外加一本阿曼斯小诗集。她翻开斯威夫特文集时哭了起来。我 以为那是快乐的眼泪，但却不是。 “我不能接受这个礼物， ”她说。 “这实在太不 合适了。 ”她坚持让我把礼物收回，或者把它们卖了或者自己留着。当我对此表 示异议时， 她变得更加烦躁， 最后她请我离开并把书一齐带走。 我照她的话做了， 但心灵受到了伤害而且感到迷惑不解。我花了几个星期才搞明白自己所犯的错 误。布莱克默曾在某处这样写过， “在我们所有人身上都有一股傻劲——愚蠢而 又固执。 ” 使我感到荣耀的是，在送礼方面我一般还是比较明智的，不是一个爱炫耀 自己的人，但是炫耀在我身上依然存在，正如我以前的女友所说，我做事太没有 分寸，如给人送超出自己财力的礼物，或馈赠象征着根本不存在的亲密关系的礼 物，或赠送与受礼者的兴趣与心愿毫不相干的礼物。我对送礼的奥妙简直是麻木 不仁，我经常因不了解这一点而痛责自己。 Unit six 最让人愤怒的谈话就是做父母的明显要从感情上全部包揽，寻找一个决定性 的、 确定未来职业的时刻。 这些人都认为让孩子获准进入一流的大学， 就安全了， 给孩子提供了一张通往成功的不可撤销的护照， 保证一辈子财运亨通， 不会中断。 像这些社会地位向上流动的傻瓜家长们在宣告自己孩子的目标、 庆贺自己干了件 好事的同时，也在不知不觉地流露出一副普鲁士似的好战，无声地奚落了那些不 是很有天赋孩子们的家长。对他们来说，抚养孩子最艰难的部分完成了。中学上

完后，上了合适的预备学校，交上正当的朋友，签名参加合适的活动，现在又上 了合适的学校。嗨，现在我们可以离开这儿了，搬到托斯卡纳区享受去。 但是，现实生活并不是停止在 17 岁。或 21 岁。实际生活中，有些孩子受到 了最好的教育，但是仍然把事情弄得很糟糕。我自己的这行职业中，就有许多人 上了很好的学校，但结果职业却很不理想（他们本应该就是宣传品；可是隔壁房 间里响起的电话不是，而且永远都不会是普利策委员会打来的） 。那些最有可能 成功的男孩女孩中，有些结果不是靠政府福利生活，就是沦落在贫民区。这时， 他们需要父母的投入或者现金。 父母的责任并不因为孩子离开了， 就可以了结了， 父母的责任永远不会终止。这就是为什么大自然赋予你这种工作。 Unit seven 读完我写下的这些文字，我感到自己把这项历史性的辉煌盛事描述的过于晦 暗。尽管文中所述的这些可悲的舞弊行为是真实存在的，但我从内心深处仍不赞 同那位因一部名著而对“1984”这个数字几乎享有特权的作家所持的悲观态度。 乔治·奥维尔认为，奥运会“交织着仇恨、妒忌、夸耀、对规则的藐视，以及从 观看暴力行为中获得的变态的快感。换句话说，这是一场没有硝烟的战争。 ” 他的话过于偏激了。奥运会反映的只是人性中一切美好和丑陋的方面。对古 希腊体育运动中的欺诈行为的记载证明了奥运会总是不断地受到所谓的 “人性的 弱点”的影响。 也许有人会提出，现代人在道德水准上要略高于古希腊人。我想，很少有人 会赞同一位欧洲教练近来发表的观点， “只要你还活着为胜利而庆贺，就应该得 到报酬。体育比赛中没有伦理道德的位置。 ”

Unit eight 讨人喜欢是一门是很有必要掌握、但又是很难学会的艺术。它几乎无法被归 纳成为几条规则； 你本人敏锐的意识和观察能力， 比我更能教会你这些东西。 “别 人如何待你，你就如何待人” 这是我所知道的最可靠的讨人喜欢的方法。你仔 细观察别人身上什么东西讨你喜欢，那么你身上同样的东西就可能讨别人喜欢。 如果别人对你的幽默、情趣和不足所给予的恭维和关注，令你高兴，那么毫无疑 问，你给予他们相同的恭维和关注，也同样会令他们高兴。与朋友相聚时说话要 随众人的调子，你不要装模作样地定调子；你是严肃、快乐、或是开点玩笑，要 根据所处朋友间的气氛而定，这是每一个个人对大多数人应有的礼貌。你不要在 朋友中讲故事，没有比这种做法更令人乏味和不快的了。如果你碰巧知道一则短 小的故事，而且又特别适合当时的话题，那就用最简洁的语言把它表达出来；然 后婉转地说你并不喜欢讲故事，但这则故事短小精悍，使你欲罢不能。 在所有的事情中，最重要的是在谈话中摒弃言必称“我”的做法。千万别打 算用自己所关心的事或个人私事去取悦他人；尽管你对这些事情感兴趣，对别人 来说，它们却是单调乏味和无关紧要的，而且个人私事应尽量保密。无论你认为

自己多么优秀，千万不要在众人面前自我炫耀；即使谈话为你提供了展示这些优 点的机会，你也不要像许多人那样，拼命地把它们转移到话题中去。如果这些优 点是真实的，那它们肯定会被人发现，你无须自己去指出它们，由别人发现对你 更加有利。即便你认为自己的论点是正确的，也不要情绪激动地固执己见；而应 该谦虚冷静地阐述自己的观点，这是说服别人的唯一途径；如果这样做行不通， 就设法换个话题，可以心平气和地说： “我们难以互相说服，其实也没有必要这 样做。让我们谈点别的事情吧。 ” Unit nine “女性的语言”，就是我们还是小姑娘时所学的那种悦耳、委婉、从不盛气凌人的 谈话方式。文化偏见造就了允许我们讲的那种话，允许我们谈论的那些话题，以 及别人谈论我们所采用的方式。学完语言课程之后，我们走向社会，结果发现自 己在交际方面存在严重缺陷 —— 我们这样说不行，不这样说也不行。 如果我们说话不肯“如淑女般”，就会因缺乏女人味而遭到嘲讽和批评。 （“她 思考问题像个男人”充其量只是一种言不由衷的恭维。 ）如果我们真的学会了 所有模棱两可又明确表达自己观点的女性使用的语言，又会遭到冷嘲热讽， 说我们思路不清，不能参与重要讨论，因而不适合掌权。 女性无须承受如此之多非议，就已开始觉得自己理应受到这般待遇，因为她 们本身在智力和所受教育方面存在着许多缺陷。 “女性的语言”体现在英语的各个层面中。比如，在命名颜色方面，人们助长 并听任女性区分各种颜色比男性更为精确。 像“mauve （深紫色） beige 、 （米黄色） 、 lavender（淡紫色）”等这些词，在女性的常用词汇中已司空见惯，而在大多男性 的常用词汇中却极为匮乏。我无法考证女性是否确实比男性更能“识别”多种颜 色。这仅仅是因为如此细微的区分与女性使用的词汇有关，而与男性使用的词汇 却无关；对于掌管世间众多趣事的男性而言，如此区分颜色微不足道 —— 与他 们毫无相干。 Unit ten 诚然，一个人的家不再是他的城堡，或者即便是，护城河也是干的，吊门总是 高悬着的。没有任何东西能够阻挡每日如潮水般涌来貌似私人信件的广告邮件、上门 的推销员以及陌生人打来的电话。电话到了不替别人着想的那些人手里，便成了致命 的武器。 但如果一个人想采取措施保护自己， 拒绝将自己的电话号码登记在电话簿上， 他就得自食苦果。纽约电话公司的用户名册上有近 50 万不愿登记号码的顽固分子。 这个数字表明，人们依然渴望保护隐私，尽管对隐私的尊重已不复存在。几年前，该 公司对未登记号码的主顾感到很恼火，就在他们每月的帐单上增收额外的费用，希望 以此来迫使他们回到登记在册好的用户队伍中来。 现代建筑在破坏隐私方面也有一份责任。观景窗最初是由弗兰克·劳埃德·怀 特这样的人设计出来的，用以观赏大自然美景。现今数以百万计的美国人从自家的观 景窗往外看，一直看到别人家的观景窗内的情形以及繁忙的街景。承包商刚刚安装完 观景窗装， 装潢人员就被召来用昂贵的窗帘将其遮挡起来， 以防外界窥视。 即使这样， 隐私仍然难以确保。在许多现代房屋中，房间已被相互融为一体的“区域” 所替代。 这样一来，丈夫想在“阅读区” （以前的书房）工作，数英尺之外的“娱乐区” （以前 的活动室）发出的喧闹声，就会毫无遮挡地传到他的耳中。