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Years ago in America, it was customary for
families to leave their doors unlocked,
day and night.
In
this essay, Greene regrets that people can no
longer trust
each other and have to
resort to elaborate security systems to protect
themselves and their possessions.
许多年前，
在美国，
家家户户白天黑夜不锁门是司空见惯的。
在本文中，
格
林叹惜人们不再
相互信任，不得不凭借设计周密的安全设备来保护自己和财产。
The Land of the LockBob
Greene
R T
1. In
the house where I grew up, it was our custom to
leave the front door
on the
latch
at night. I don't know if that
was a local term or if it is
universal
;
the
latch
the last one in for the evening
would
close up
, and that was
it.
锁之国
鲍
勃
·
格林<
/p>
小时候在家里，
我们的前门总是夜不落
锁。
我不知道这是当地的一种说法还是大家都这么说
的；
“
不落锁
”
的意思是
掩上门，但不锁住。我们谁都不带钥匙；晚上最后一个回家的人把门
关上，这就行了。<
/p>
. Those days are over. In
rural
areas as well as in
cities, doors do not stay
unlocked
, even for part of
an evening.
那样的日子已经一去不复返了。
在乡
下，
在城里，
门不再关着不锁上，
哪怕
是傍晚一段时间
也不例外。
3.
Suburbs
and country areas
are, in many ways, even more
vulnerable
than
well-patroled
urban
streets.
Statistics
show the crime
rate rising more
dramatically
in those
allegedly
tranquil
areas than in
cities. At any rate, the
era
of leaving the front door on the latch
is over.
在许多方面，
郊区和农村甚至比巡查严密的
城市街道更易受到攻击。
统计显示，
那些据称是
安宁的地区的犯罪率上升得比城镇更为显著。
不管怎么说，
前门虚掩不落锁的时代是一去不
复返了。
4. It has been replaced by
dead-bolt locks
, security
chains,
electronic
alarm
systems
and
trip
wires hooked up
to
a police
station or
private guard firm. Many
suburban families have sliding glass
doors on their
patios
, with
steel bars
elegantly
built in
so no one can
pry
the doors open.
< br>取而代之的是防盗锁、防护链、电子报警系统，以及连接警署或私人保安公司的报警装置。
郊区的许多人家在露台上安装了玻璃滑门，
内侧有装得很讲究的钢条，
这样就没人能把门撬
开。
5. It is not uncommon, in the most
pleasant of homes, to see
pasted
on the
windows small notices announcing that
the
premises
are under
surveillance
by
this security force or that guard
company.
在最温馨的居家，
也常常看得到窗上贴着小
小的告示，
称本宅由某家安全保卫机构或某个保
安公司负责监管
。
6. The lock is the new
symbol of America.
Indeed, a recent
public-service
advertisement by a large
insurance company
featured
not
charts
showing how
much at risk we are, but a picture of a
child's bicycle with the now-usual
padlock
attached
to it.
锁成了美国的新的象征。
的确如此，
一家大保险公司最近的一则公益广告没有用图表表明我
们所处的危险有多大
，而是用了一幅童车的图片，车身上悬着如今随处可见的挂锁。
R T
7. The
ad
pointed out that, yes, it
is the insurance companies that pay for
stolen goods, but who is going to pay
for what the new
atmosphere
of distrust
and fear is doing to our
way of life? Who is going to make the
psychic
payment
for the
transformation
of America
from the Land of the Free to the Land of the
Lock?
广告指出，
没错，
确是保险公司理赔失窃物品，
但谁来赔偿互不信任、
< br>担心害怕这种新氛围
对我们的生活方式所造成的影响呢？谁来对美国从自由之国到
锁之国这一蜕变作出精神赔
偿呢？
8. For that is what has happened.
We have become so used to defending
ourselves against the new atmosphere of
American life, so used to
putting
up
barriers
, that
we have not had time to think about what it may
mean.
因为那就是现状。
我们已
经变得如此习惯于保护自己不受美国生活新氛围的影响，
如此习惯
于设置障碍，以致无暇考虑这一切意味着什么。
9.
For some reason we are satisfied when we think we
are well-protected;
it
does
not occur to us to ask ourselves: Why has this
happened? Why are we
having to
barricade
ourselves against
our neighbors and fellow citizens, and
when, exactly, did this start to take
over our lives?
出于某种原因，
当我们觉得
防范周密时才安心；
我们没有想到问问自己：
为什么会出现这种
情况？为什么非得把自己与邻居和同住一城的居民隔绝开来，
这
一切究竟是从什么时候开始
主宰我们生活的？
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