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高中课外阅读
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英语美文欣赏
15
（中英双语）
英语美文欣赏
15
个性的价值被高估了
Have
you ever thought about what your own personality
is like?
你有没有想过，你自己的个性到底是怎样的？
If
you
are
asked
to
describe
yourself
with
three
words,
which
three
words
would you choose?
如果让你用
3
个词来概括你自己，你会选择哪
3
个单词？
Or, do you
actually have no idea what your own personality is
like?
还是说，其实你自己并不清楚自己的个性是怎样的？
Are you actually a person with no
personality?
或者你其实是个没有什么个性的人？
But then again, is personality really
so important?
但是，话说回来，个性这个东西真的那么重要吗？
Kenya Hara, a leading design
personality in Japan, once said:
日本的设计大师原研哉有一句名言：
The value of personality, as well as
the explicit expression of likes and dislikes,
have been unnecessarily overestimated.
个性的价值，以及明确表达喜欢、不喜欢的态度，都被不必要地高估了。
It is a good thing that we live in
a society where all people are free to express
their desires.
我们身处一个所有人都能自由
表达其欲望的社会，这是一件好事。
But freedom
can also bring confusion.
但自由也会带来迷失。
What
some people are really seeking is not to enjoy the
freedom itself, but to
force others to
see their freedom.
有些人真正在寻求的已经不是享受自由本身，
而是强行让别人看见自己的
自由。
For exampl
e, “I want to eat
Mac Donald’s” and “Mac Donald’s will do” both
mean to eat Mac Donald’s.
例如，
“我想吃麦当劳”和“麦当劳就行”表达的本来都是去吃麦当
劳。
But it seems that the
former embodies a person’s independence, while the
latter
reflects the lack of
assertiveness.
但似乎前者体现了一个人的独立，而后者体现的是没主见。
However, is this really necessary?
然而，这样做真的有必要吗？
Is
one’s
daily
performance
of
independence
with
a
variety
of
acts
not
an
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高中课外阅读
--
英语美文欣赏
15
（中英双语）
embodiment of being not
independent?
每天用各种行为强行表现自己的独立，难道不恰好就是不独
立的表现？
An
independent
person
will
indeed
have
a
personality,
but
a
person
with
personality may not
necessarily be independent.
一个独立的人的确会是有
个性的，但一个有个性的人可并不一定有多独
立。
They might just be a slave of vanity,
craving the attention of others every day.
他们或许只是虚荣心的奴隶罢了，每天渴求着别人的注意力。
What
do
you
really
need, freedom
and
independence, or
a tag that hangs on
you?
你真正需要的东西，是自由和独立本身，还是一个挂
在身上的标签？
It seems that most
people have not figured out this issue.
很多人似乎并没有把这个问题想清楚。
自己的人生，只有自己能安排
On
a
bench
in
Regen
’s
Park,
London,
on
October
7,
1970,
a
young
man
studying
for
MBA
degree
at
London
Business
School
met
an
Irish
girl
who
first
arrived in London.
1970
年的
10
月
7
日，在伦敦摄政公园的一个长椅上，一位在伦敦商学院
读
< br>MBA
的小伙子，遇见了一位初到伦敦的爱尔兰姑娘。
The young man was about to graduate
from the business school and become a
nine-to-fiver.
男生马上要从商学院毕业，眼
看着就要过上“朝九晚五”的生活了。
As
a
matter
of
fact,
he
was
going
to
become
an
engineer
at
Chrysler
Corporation.
事实上，他正要去汽车公司克莱斯勒做一名工程师。
However, his life trajectory was about
to change because of the girl in front of
him.
然而，他的这个人生轨迹即将因为眼前的这个女孩而改变。
The two of them fell in love at first
sight and married a year later.
他们两人一见钟情，并在一年后结婚了。
Normally, they would probably
each
get
a stable
job
and live a middle-class
life day in and day out.
按照正
常的生活轨迹，他们大概会各自找一份安定的工作，然后过着每天
千篇一律的中产阶级生
活。
But they think they want
more freedom in their life.
但他们觉得，自己还没过够自由自在的生活。
As
a
result,
the
young
couple
bought
a
small
car
a
year
later
and
started
an
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高中课外阅读<
/p>
--
英语美文欣赏
15
< br>（中英双语）
overland journey
through Europe and Asia.
于是，这对小夫妻在一年后买了
一辆小破车，开始了一场横跨欧亚大陆的
旅行。
Eventually, they crossed the whole
Oceania and arrived in Australia.
最终，他们穿过大洋洲，来到了澳大利亚；
Here they met with many other people
who want to travel on their own, all of
whom are eager to know the details of
their travels.
在这里，他们碰到了其他很多也想自助旅行的人，这些
人都很急切地想知
道他们旅行的各种细节。
So the couple published a book to share
their travel experiences.
于是，这对小夫妻出版了一本书，来专门讲述自己的旅游经历。
In
the
end,
they
opened
a
company
that
popularized
all
kinds
of
travel
knowledge and experience and thus
became the richest backpackers in the world.
最终，他们开了一家公司，普及各种旅游知识、分享各种旅游经验，并因
此
成为了世界上最富有的背包客。
The young man
is called Tony Wheeler, and the Irish girl is
Mauren Wheeler.
这个男生，叫做托尼·惠勒，这个爱尔兰姑娘，叫做
莫琳·惠勒。
That is how Lonely
Planet was born.
孤独星球这家公司，就此诞生。
如果目标太远大，就不要注视它
You may know that Taylor Swift is a
creative and dramatic singer.
你可能知道霉霉是一个既有创意又有戏剧性的歌手。
You may know that she is also a
songwriter.
你可能也知道她还是个写歌人。
But if you assume that all her
commercial success came from herself, then you
are wrong.
但你如果以为霉霉的商业成功完全是因为她自己，那你就错了。
There are a lot of people who've made
great contribution to this icon's triumph.
她的辉煌，是很多人共同努力的结果。
And one of the most important ones of
them all is Jack Antonoff.
而这其中最重要的人之一，就是杰克·安托诺夫。
He is Taylor's producer and a musician
himself.
他是霉霉的制作人，同时自己也是一个音乐人。
Don't get me wrong. Jack is not just a
producer for Taylor Swift.
别搞错了，杰克并不是霉霉的“一个”制作人。
He is Taylor Swift's main producer.
他是霉霉的主要制作人。
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12
高中课外阅读
--
英语美文欣赏
15
（中英双语）
2017
has
been
a
fruitful
year
for
him,
because
besides
Taylor's
new
album
Reputation he also produced quite a lot
other eye-catching pop records like Lorde's
Melodrama and St. Vincent's
Masseduction.
2017
年对他来说是硕果累累的一年，因为他不光为霉霉创作了新专辑
Reputation
，同时还制作出了其他很多夺人眼球的流
行音乐，例如洛德的
Melodrama
以及圣文森特的
Masseduction
。
Being
creative
is
not
easy
for
anyone,
even
if
it's
someone
as
productive
as
Jack Antonoff that we're talking about.
想做个有创意的人并不是一件容易的事，这对谁来说都一样，即使是想杰
克·安托诺夫这样高产的人也不例外。
And
his advice is:
而他的建议是：
If it's too big, don't look at it.
如果目标太过远大，那就不要注视它。
“
If, on January 1, 2017,
someone laid out in front of me that I was going
to
make the Lorde record and the St.
Vincent record and the stuff with Taylor Swift,
I’d say I couldn’t do it.
“如果
2017
年的
1
月
有人说我会给洛德、圣文森特还有霉霉做出这些
大作，我肯定会说我做不到。
But I knew they were going to
get done. You slowly chip away at it one day at
a time and keep your head down.
但我当时知道这些事最终总肯定会被做出来。你所需要做的，
就是每天都
多做一点，闷头做就好了。
If it’s too big, don’t look at it.
如果目标太过远大，那就不要去注视它。
If you want to do
something
massive, don’t look at it, because all you’re
going
to see is why it won’t work.
如果你想完成一件大事，那就不要总是盯着它看，因为那样的
话你只能看
到做不到的理由。
The
killer of productivity is reality.”
创造力的头号杀手，是现实。
”
This is the advice that Antonoff
shared.
以上就是安托诺夫的建议。
And by the way, the time he usually
wakes up is between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.
啊，对了，他通常起床的时间是中午
11
点到
12
点之间。
Right, he is not an early bird. And
that's something to be despised by nearly all
the success books.
是的，他并不是一个
早起鸟。这是几乎所有成功学书籍里都在鄙视的。
But
apparently he is teaching a lesson way more
important than anything they
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高中课外阅读
--
英语美文欣赏
15
（中英双语）
taught in those books:
但是显然，
他教会我们的东西，比这些书里的任何东西都重要得多：
Life is a mess. It's already hard even
if someone gave you a plan to follow.
生
活就是一团乱麻，即使已经有人给你订好了计划，你过得也不会轻松。
It's much harder if your job is to
create something new.
而如果你的工作是创造新东西，那就更难了。
There is no shortcut for anything.
世上没有什么捷径可以走。
You
just try everything you can and deal with it when
something goes wrong.
你只能尽力尝试一切你能做到的东西，
然后在出问题的时候硬着头皮去应
对。
不要瞧不起稳定的生活
Chances are high that you’ve heard such
things:
你应该听过这样的论断吧：
Don’t
indulge
yourself in
safety. That’s
like boiling a frog in
warm
water.
It
will slowly kill
you and you won’t even notice it.
不要贪图安逸的环境，那是温水煮青蛙，会在不知不觉中杀死你；
You
should
get
out
of
your
comfort
zone.
Go
for
some
challenges.
Only
by
doing that can you grow
stronger.
走出自己的舒适区，去接受挑战，这样才能变强；
You can only really learn what’s useful
when you are facing immediate crisis.
Nobody grows in a stable environment. <
/p>
人只有在危机之中才能学到真正有用的东西，
在稳定的环境中是得
不到成
长的。
And I only
have one sentence for all these soup:
对于这些鸡汤，我只想说一句话：
Bullshit.
狗屁。
Don’t let yourself be fooled by those
them.
不要被它们冲昏了头脑。
And don’t despise a stable
life.
不要瞧不起稳定的生活。
This balanced state of life is a rare
treasure.
这种平衡的生活状态是一种非常珍贵的资源。
So
many
young
people
fight
like
hell
in
those
major
companies
not
because
they enjoy the
thrill of challenges but because they want to make
such balance for
themselves.
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高中课外阅读
--
英语美文欣赏
15
（中英双语）
多少年轻人在大公司里艰难求生，并不是在享受竞争的刺激，而是恳望能
达到这样的平衡。
The
ultimate
skill
for
survival
has
never
been
the
spirit
of
adventure
or
the
ability to endure suffering.
生存所需要的基本技能从来就不是冒险精神，也不是什么吃苦的能力；
It is the ability of managing risks.
而是管理风险的能力。
That’s
what you should learn.
这才是你该学的。
找准了前进方向，真的很幸福
I
remember there is a sentence in the movie Vicky
Cristina Barcelona.
我记得电影《午夜巴塞罗那》中有一句话：
< br>
“她并不知道她喜欢什么，她只知道她不喜欢什么。
”<
/p>
This sentence is describing
Cristina.
这句话是在形容克里斯蒂娜。
Back then
I found this
sentence really
attractive.
But
that
was when
I
was a
foolish
child and didn't know yet how hard life can be.
当时，
我觉得这句话真的很有吸引力。
但那
时的我只是个傻里傻气的孩子，
还不知道生活能有多艰难。
Now I find no charm in this expression.
I only see confusion and pain in it.
而现
在，我已经觉得这句话毫无魅力。我只在里面看到了困惑与痛苦。
Not knowing what to do is the greatest
suffering in the world.
不知道做什么，这真的是世上最大的苦难了。
I've suffered it, in my life and in my
career.
我承受过这种苦难，在生活中和事业中都承受过。
The
beauty
that
I
once
assumed
I
would
find
in
this
state
of
vacancy
never
existed. It only seems to be beauty
when you see it in someone else's life.
我曾经以为这种真空状态里蕴含的那种美，其实根本就不存在。它只有在
发生于别人身
上的时候，才看起来是美的。
When it
happens to you. Believe me. It's not beautiful at
all.
当它发生在你身上时，相信我，真的一点都不美。
Now I really cherish the goals that
I've found or set for myself.
现在，我真的很珍惜那些我为自己找到或者创造的目标。
Life can only be happy if you find
something to work for.
只有当你有奋斗目标的时候，生活才可能幸福。
So search for it when you still have
time. End your suffering while you can.
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