-
unit 1 Mr. Doherty Builds His Dream
Life
In America
many people have a romantic idea of life in the
countryside. Many living in towns
dream
of starting up their own farm, of living off the
land. Few get round to putting their dreams
into practice. This is perhaps just as
well, as the life of a farmer is far from easy, as
Jim Doherty
discovered when he set out
to combine being a writer with running a farm.
Nevertheless, as he
explains, he has no
regrets and remains enthusiastic about his
decision to change his way of life.
在美国，
不少人对乡村生活怀有浪漫的情感。
许多居住在城镇的人梦想着自己办个农
场，梦想着靠土地为生。很少有人真去把梦想变为现实。或许这也没有什么不好，因为，正
如吉姆·
多尔蒂当初开始其写作和农场经营双重生涯时所体验到的那样，<
/p>
农耕生活远非轻松
自在。但他写道，自己并不后悔，对自己作出的
改变生活方式的决定仍热情不减。
Mr. Doherty Builds His Dream Life
Jim Doherty
1
There are two things I have always
wanted to do
-- write and live on a
farm. Today I'm
doing both. I am not in
E. B. White's class as a writer or in my
neighbors' league as a farmer, but
I'm
getting by. And after years of frustration with
city and suburban living, my wife Sandy and I
have finally found contentment here in
the country.
多尔蒂先生创建自己的理想生活
吉姆·多尔蒂
有两件
事是我一直想做的――写作与务农。
如今我同时做着这两件事。
作为作家，
我
和
E
·
B
·怀特不属同一等级，作为农场主，我和乡邻也不是同
一类人，不过我应付得还行。
在城市以及郊区历经多年的怅惘失望之后，
我和妻子桑迪终于在这里的乡村寻觅到心灵的满
足。
2
It's a self-reliant sort of life. We
grow nearly all of our fruits and vegetables. Our
hens keep
us in eggs, with several
dozen left over to sell each week. Our bees
provide us with honey, and we
cut
enough wood to just about make it through the
heating season.
这是一种自力更生的生活。
我们食用
的果蔬几乎都是自己种的。
自家饲养的鸡提供鸡
蛋，每星期还能
剩余几十个出售。自家养殖的蜜蜂提供蜂蜜，
我们还自己动手砍柴，足可供
过冬取暖之用。
3
It's a satisfying life too.
In the summer we canoe on the river, go picnicking
in the woods
and take long bicycle
rides. In the winter we ski and skate. We get
excited about sunsets. We love
the
smell of the earth warming and the sound of cattle
lowing. We watch for hawks in the sky and
deer in the cornfields.
这也是一种令人满足的生活。
夏日里我们在河上荡舟，
在林子里野餐，
骑
着自行车长
时间漫游。
冬日里我们滑雪溜冰。我们为落日的余辉
而激动。
我们爱闻大地回暖的气息，爱
听牛群哞叫。我们守着看
鹰儿飞过上空，看玉米田间鹿群嬉跃。
4
But the good
life can get pretty tough. Three months ago when
it was 30 below, we spent
two miserable
days hauling firewood up the river on a sled.
Three months from now, it will be 95
above and we will be cultivating corn,
weeding strawberries and killing chickens.
Recently, Sandy
and I had to retile the
back roof. Soon Jim, 16 and Emily, 13, the
youngest of our four children,
will
help me make some long-overdue improvements on the
outdoor toilet that supplements our
indoor plumbing when we are working
outside. Later this month, we'll spray the
orchard, paint the
barn, plant the
garden and clean the hen house before the new
chicks arrive.
但如此美妙的生活有时会变得相当艰苦。就在三个月前，气温降到华氏零下
< br>30
度，
我们辛苦劳作了整整两天，
用一个雪橇沿着河边拖运木柴。
再过三个月，
气温会升到<
/p>
95
度，
我们就要给玉米松土，
在草莓地除草，
还要宰杀家禽。
前一阵子我和桑
迪不得不翻修后屋顶。
过些时候，四个孩子中的两个小的，
16
岁的吉米和
13
岁的埃米莉，会帮着我
一起把拖了很
久没修的室外厕所修葺一下，
那是专为室外干活修
建的。
这个月晚些时候，
我们要给果树喷
洒药水，要油漆谷仓，要给菜园播种，要赶在新的小鸡运到之前清扫鸡舍。
5
In
between such chores, I manage to spend 50 to 60
hours a week at the typewriter or doing
reporting for the freelance articles I
sell to magazines and newspapers. Sandy,
meanwhile, pursues
her own demanding
schedule. Besides the usual household routine, she
oversees the garden and
beehives, bakes
bread, cans and freezes, drives the kids to their
music lessons, practices with them,
takes organ lessons on her own, does
research and typing for me, writes an article
herself now and
then, tends the flower
beds, stacks a little wood and delivers the eggs.
There is, as the old saying
goes, no
rest for the wicked on a place like this -- and
not much for the virtuous either.
在
这些活计之间，
< br>我每周要抽空花五、
六十个小时，
不是打字撰文，
就是为作为自由撰稿人投
给报刊的文章进行采访。
桑迪则有她自己繁忙的工作日程。
除了日常的家务，
她还照
管菜园
和蜂房，烘烤面包，将食品装罐、冷藏，开车送孩子学音乐，和他们一起练习，自
己还要上
风琴课，为我做些研究工作并打字，自己有时也写写文章，还要侍弄花圃，堆摞
木柴、运送
鸡蛋。正如老话说的那样，在这种情形之下，坏人不得闲――贤德之人也歇不
了。
6
None of us will ever forget
our first winter. We were buried under five feet
of snow from
December through March.
While one storm after another blasted huge drifts
up against the house
and barn, we kept
warm inside burning our own wood, eating our own
apples and loving every
minute of it.
我们谁
也不会忘记第一年的冬天。从
12
月一直到
3
月底，我们都被深达
5
英尺的积
雪困着。暴风雪肆虐，一场接着一场，积雪厚厚地覆盖着屋子和谷仓，而室内，我们用自
己
砍伐的木柴烧火取暖，吃着自家种植的苹果，温馨快乐每一分钟。
7
When spring came, it brought two
floods. First the river overflowed, covering much
of our
land for weeks. Then the growing
season began, swamping us under wave after wave of
produce.
Our
freezer
filled
up
with
cherries,
raspberries,
strawberries,
asparagus,
peas,
beans
and
corn.
Then our canned-goods
shelves and cupboards began to grow with
preserves, tomato juice, grape
juice,
plums, jams and jellies. Eventually, the basement
floor disappeared under piles of potatoes,
squash and pumpkins, and the barn began
to fill with apples and pears. It was amazing.
开春后
，
有过两次泛滥。
一次是河水外溢，
我
们不少田地被淹了几个星期。
接着一次
是生长季节到了，
一波又一波的农产品潮涌而来，
弄得我们应接不暇。
< br>我们的冰箱里塞满了
樱桃、蓝莓、草莓、芦笋、豌豆、青豆和玉米。接着我们存放
食品罐的架子上、柜橱里也开
始堆满一罐罐的腌渍食品，有番茄汁、葡萄汁、李子、果酱
和果冻。最后，地窖里遍地是大
堆大堆的土豆、西葫芦、南瓜，谷仓里也储满了苹果和梨
。真是太美妙了。
8
The
next year we grew even more food and managed to
get through the winter on firewood
that
was
mostly
from
our
own
trees
and
only
100
gallons
of
heating
oil.
At
that
point
I
began
thinking seriously
about quitting my job and starting to freelance.
The timing was terrible. By then,
Shawn
and Amy, our oldest girls were attending expensive
Ivy League schools and we had only a
few thousand dollars in the bank. Yet
we kept coming back to the same question: Will
there ever
be a better time? The
answer, decidedly, was no, and so -- with my
employer's blessings and half a
year's
pay in accumulated benefits in my pocket -- off I
went.
第二年我们种了更多的作物，
差不多就靠着从自家树林砍斫的木柴以
及仅仅
100
加仑
的燃油过了冬。
其时，
我开始认真考虑起辞了职去从事自由撰稿的事来。
时机选得实在太差。
当时，
两个大的女儿肖恩和埃
米正在费用很高的常春藤学校上学，
而我们只有几千美金的银
行
存款。
但我们一再回到一个老问题上来：
真的会有更好的时机吗
？答案无疑是否定的。
于
是，带着老板的祝福，口袋里揣着作为
累积津贴的半年薪水，我走了。
9
There have been
a few anxious moments since then, but on balance
things have gone much
better than we
had any right to expect. For various stories of
mine, I've crawled into black-bear
dens
for Sports Illustrated, hitched up dogsled racing
teams for Smithsonian magazine, checked
out the Lake Champlain
wilderness area of Minnesota for
Destinations.
那以后有过一些焦虑的时刻，
但总的来说，
情况比我们料想的要好得多。
为了写那些
内容各不相同的文章，
我为《体育画报》爬进过黑熊窝；为《史密森期刊》替参赛的一组组
狗套上过雪橇；为《
科学文摘》调查过尚普兰湖水怪的真相；为《终点》杂志在明尼苏达划
着小舟穿越美、加
边界水域内的公共荒野保护区。
10
I'm not making anywhere
near as much money as I did when I was employed
full time, but
now
we
don't
need
as
much
either.
I
generate
enough
income
to
handle
our
$$600-a-month
mortgage payments plus the usual
expenses for a family like ours. That includes
everything from
music lessons and
dental bills to car repairs and college costs.
When it comes to insurance, we
have a
poor man's major-medical policy. We have to pay
the first $$500 of any medical fees for
each member of the family. It picks up
80% of the costs beyond that. Although we are
stuck with
paying
minor
expenses,
our
premium
is
low
--
only
$$560
a
year
--
and
we
are
covered
against
catastrophe.
Aside
from
that
and
the
policy
on
our
two
cars
at
$$400
a
year,
we
have
no
other
insurance. But we are setting aside
$$2,000 a year in an IRA.
我挣的钱远比不上担任全职工作时的收入，
< br>可如今我们需要的钱也没有过去多。
我挣
的钱足以应付每
月
600
美金的房屋贷款按揭以及一家人的日常开销。
那些开销包括了所有支
出，如音乐课学费、牙医账单、汽车维修以及大学
费用等等。至于保险，我们买了一份低收
入者的主要医疗项目保险。
我们需要为每一位家庭成员的任何一项医疗费用支付最初的
500
< br>美金。医疗保险则支付超出部分的
80
％。虽然我们仍要
支付小部分医疗费用，但我们的保
险费也低
--
每年只要
560
美金
--
而我们给自己生大病保了险。除了这一保险项目，以及两辆
汽车每年
400
美金的保险，我们就没有其他保险了。不过我们每年留出
2000
美元入个人退
休金账户。
11
We've been able to make up the
difference in income by cutting back without
appreciably
lowering
our
standard
of
living.
We
continue
to
dine
out
once
or
twice
a
month,
but
now
we
patronize local restaurants instead of
more expensive places in the city. We still attend
the opera
and ballet in Milwaukee but
only a few times a year. We eat less meat, drink
cheaper wine and see
fewer
movies.
Extravagant
Christmases
are
a
memory,
and
we
combine
vacations
with
story
assignments...
我们通过节约开支而又不明显降低生活水准的方式来弥补收入
差额。
我们每个月仍出
去吃一两次饭，
不过现在我们光顾的是当地餐馆，
而不是城里的高级饭店。
我们
仍去密尔沃
基听歌剧看芭蕾演出，不过一年才几次。我们肉吃得少了，酒喝得便宜了，电
影看得少了。
铺张的圣诞节成为一种回忆，我们把完成稿约作为度假的一部分……
12
I
suspect
not
everyone
who
loves
the
country
would
be
happy
living
the
way
we
do.
It
takes a couple of special qualities.
One is a tolerance for solitude. Because we are so
busy and on
such
a
tight
budget,
we
don't
entertain
much.
During
the
growing
season
there
is
no
time
for
socializing anyway. Jim and Emily are
involved in school activities, but they too spend
most of
their time at home.
我想，
不
是所有热爱乡村的人都会乐意过我们这种生活的。
这种生活需要一些特殊的
素质。
其一是耐得住寂寞。
由于我们如此忙碌，
手头又紧，
我们很少请客。
在作物生长季节
，
根本就没工夫参加社交活动。
吉米和埃米莉虽然参加学校的各
种活动，
但他俩大多数时间也
呆在家里。
13
The other
requirement is energy -- a lot of it. The way to
make self-sufficiency work on a
small
scale
is
to
resist
the
temptation
to
buy
a
tractor
and
other expensive
laborsaving
devices.
Instead, you do the
work yourself. The only machinery we own (not
counting the lawn mower) is
a little
three-horsepower rotary cultivator and a 16-inch
chain saw.
另一项要求是体力――相当大的体力。
小范围里实现自给自足的途径
是抵制诱惑，
不
去购置拖拉机和其他昂贵的节省劳力的机械。<
/p>
相反，你要自己动手。我们仅有的机器（不包
括割草机）是一台<
/p>
3
马力的小型旋转式耕耘机以及一架
16
英寸的链锯。
14
How much longer
we'll have enough energy to stay on here is
anybody's guess -- perhaps
for quite a
while, perhaps not. When the time comes, we'll
leave with a feeling of sorrow but also
with a sense of pride at what we've
been able to accomplish. We should make a fair
profit on the
sale of the place, too.
We've invested about $$35,000 of our own money in
it, and we could just
about double that
if we sold today. But this is not a good time to
sell. Once economic conditions
improve,
however, demand for farms like ours should be
strong again.
没人知道我们还能有精力在这里再呆多久
--
也许呆很长一阵子，也许不是。到走的时
候，
我们会怆然离去
，
但也会为自己所做的一切深感自豪。
我们把农场出售也会赚相
当大一
笔钱。
我们自己在农场投入了约
35
，
000
美金的资金，
要是现在售出的话价格差不多可以翻
一倍。
不过现
在不是出售的好时机。
但是一旦经济形势好转，
对我们这种农场
的需求又会增
多。
15
We
didn't
move
here
primarily
to
earn
money
though.
We
came
because
we
wanted
to
improve the quality of
our lives. When I watch Emily collecting eggs in
the evening, fishing with
Jim on the
river or enjoying an old-fashioned picnic in the
orchard with the entire family, I know
we've found just what we were looking
for.
但我们主要不是为了赚钱而移居至此的。
我们来此居住是因为想提高
生活质量。
当我
看着埃米莉傍晚去收鸡蛋，
跟吉米一起在河上钓鱼，
或和全家人一起在果园里享用老式的野
餐，我知道，我们找到了自己一直在寻求的生活方式。
Donna
Barron
describes
how
American
family
life
has
changed
in
recent
years.
She
identifies
three
forces
at
work.
What
are
they? Read
on
to
find out. Then
ask
yourself
whether
similar forces are at work within
China. Will family life here end up going in the
same direction?
唐娜·
巴伦描述了美国家庭生活近几
年来的变化。
她指出有三种力量在起作用。
是哪
三种力量？请读本文。
读后问一下自己，
同样的力量在
中国是否也在起作用。
中国的家庭生
活最终是否会朝着同一个方
向变化？
American Family Life: The Changing
Picture
Donna Barron
1
It's another evening in an American
household.
美国家庭生活：变化中的景象
唐娜·巴伦
这是美国家庭一个寻常的傍晚。
2
The door swings open at
5:30 sharp.
and tired after a long day
at the office. He is greeted by Mom in her apron,
three happy children,
and the aroma of
a delicious pot roast.
门在
5<
/p>
：
30
准时推开。
“嗨，亲爱的！我回来了！
”亲爱的老爸走了进来，他在办公
室上了一天的班，肚子饿了，人也累了。迎接他的是系着围裙的妈妈，
3
个快乐的孩子以及
炖肉诱人的香味。
3
After a leisurely meal together, Mom
does the dishes. That, after all, is part of her
job. The
whole family then moves to the
living room. There everyone spends the evening
playing Scrabble
or watching TV.
全家人
从容地吃完饭后，
妈妈就刷洗碗碟。
反正这是她的活。
接着全家人聚在起居室。
一个晚上大家玩玩牌，看看电视。
4
Then everyone is off to bed. And the
next morning Dad and the kids wake up to the
sounds
and smells of Mom preparing
pancakes and sausages for breakfast.
随后各自上床睡觉。第二天早上，
爸爸和孩子们在妈妈准备早餐发出的声响和薄饼、
香肠散发的香味中醒来。
5
(1) What? You
say that doesn't sound like life in your house?
Well, you're not alone. In fact,
you're
probably
in the
majority.
什么？你说那听起来不像你府上的
生活？其实，不仅
仅是你一个人这么想。事实上，大多数人很可能都跟你一样这么想的。
6
At one time in America, the above
household might have been typical. You can still
visit
such a home -- on television.
Just watch reruns of old situation comedies. (2)
Leave it to Beaver,
for example, shows
Mom doing housework in pearls and high heels. Dad
keeps his suit and tie on
all
weekend.
But
the
families
that
operate
like
Beaver
Cleaver's
are
fewer
and
fewer.
They're
disappearing because three parts of our
lives have changed: the way we work, the way we
eat, and
the
way
we
entertain
ourselves.
Becoming
aware
of
the
effects
of
those
changes
may
help
us
improve family life.
上面描
述的家庭可以说在美国曾一度相当典型。
如今你仍能见到这样的家庭――不过
得在电视里。只要看一看那些重播的情景剧老片子。例如，
《交给比弗吧》
一剧中妈妈带着
珍珠项链、穿着高跟鞋做家务。爸爸整个周末都穿着西装，戴着领带。但
像比弗·克立弗那
样的家庭越来越少了。
那样的家庭正在消失，
因为我们生活中的三个部分发生了变化：
我们
< br>的工作方式，
餐饮方式以及娱乐方式。
了解这些变化所带
来的影响也许有助于我们改善家庭
生活。
7
Let's look first at the changes in the
way we work. Today the words
might
not
be
spoken
by
dear
old
Dad.
Dear
old
Mom
is
just
as
likely
to
be
saying
them.
A
generation ago, most
households could get along on one paycheck --
Dad's. Mom stayed home, at
least until
the children started school. But today, over half
the mothers with young children go to
work.
An
even
greater
percentage
of
mothers
of
older
children
are
in
the
workforce.
And
the
number of single-parent
homes has mushroomed in the last thirty years.
我们先
来看一下我们工作方式的变化。今天，
“嗨，亲爱的，我回家了！
”这句话可能
不是出自亲爱的老爸之口。
亲爱的老妈也同样可
能说这句话。
在上一代，
大多数家庭可以靠
一份工资――爸爸的工资――维持。
妈妈呆在家里，至少在孩子上学前是如此。但今
天，一
半以上有幼儿的母亲外出工作。
在职人员中有大孩子的母
亲的比例更高。
而单亲家庭的数量
在过去
30
年中急剧增长。
8
These changes in work have affected
children as well as parents. When only Dad went
out
to work, children came home from
school to Mom. (In TV situation comedies, they
came home to
Mom and home-baked
cookies) Today, we'll find them at an after-school
program or a neighbor's
house.
Or
they
may
come
home
to
no
one
at
all.
In
every
community,
children
are
caring
for
themselves until their parents return
from work. Are these children missing out on an
important
part of childhood? Or are
they developing a healthy sense of self-reliance?
These are questions
that Mrs. Cleaver
never had to deal with.
工作方面的这些变化影响着家长以及孩子。
< br>当父亲一人外出上班时，
孩子们放学回家
有妈妈在。
（在情景电视剧里，他们回家有妈妈在，还有家里做的饼干）如今，我们会在晚
托班或邻居家里见到他们。
要不他们就回到空无一人的家。
< br>在各社区，
孩子们都自己照管自
己，
直到父母下班回家。
这些孩子会不会失去童年时期本应有的一些重要的东西？还是会
因
此培养起一种健康的自立意识？这些问题是克立弗太太过去从来不用操心的。
9
In addition, Dad and now
Mom are often gone from home longer than ever. Not
too long
ago, most men worked close to
home. The office or factory was just downtown. Dad
often walked
to work or hitched a ride
with a friendly neighbor. But no more.
此外，爸爸，如今还有妈妈，在外
的时间常常比以往任何时候都长。不多久前，大多
数男人还就近工作。
< br>办公室或者工厂就在市区。
爸爸经常走着去上班，
或者顺
路搭友好邻居
的车。但现在不一样了。
10
Today's working men and women are
commuters. They travel distances to work that
would
have made their parents gasp.
Commutes of forty-five minutes or an hour are
common. Workers
travel on buses,
subways, and crowded highways. Many leave their
suburban homes at dawn and
don't return
until dark. No running home for lunch for today's
commuter.
今天的上班男女都是坐车来回的。
他们上班距离之远会让他们的父母
惊讶得倒抽一口
凉气。
45
分钟或
1
小时的车程是常见的。上班族坐公共汽车、地铁，或开车行驶在交
通拥
挤的公路上。
不少人一清早就离开位于郊区的家，
一直要到天黑了才回来。
今天的通勤族不
再赶回
家吃午饭。
11
And speaking of lunch,
there's been a second big change in American
family life. If both
parents
are
away
from
home
for
long
hours,
who's
whipping
up
those
delicious
meals
in
the
kitchen?
The answer, more and more, is nobody.
说起午饭，
那正是美国家庭生活的第二大变化。
要是父母都长时间不在家，
那谁在厨
房里忙着准备美味的菜肴呢？越来越多听到的回答是没有人做饭。
12
These
days,
few
people
have
time
to
shop
for
and
prepare
meals.
The
Cleavers were used to
dinners of pot roast or chicken. Potatoes, salad,
and vegetables went with
the
main
course,
with
pie
or
cake
for
dessert.
But
this
kind
of
meal
takes
several
hours
to
fix.
People can't spend
hours in the kitchen if they get home at 5:30.
如今，
很少人有时间采购、烹制“家常”饭菜。克立弗一家常常吃炖肉或炖鸡，除主
菜外还有土
豆、
色拉、
蔬菜，
甜食是馅饼或蛋糕。
但烧这种饭菜要花几个小时。
要是人们
5
：
30
才回到家，就无法在厨房里呆
上几个小时。
13
So
what
do
working
families
eat?
They
choose
meals
that
are
easy
to
prepare
or
are
already
prepared.
Fast
food,
takeout,
and
heat-and-serve
dishes
make
up
much
of
the
modern
American diet. Dad
may arrive home with a bag of Big Macs and shakes.
Mom may phone out for
Chinese
food
or
ask
the
local
pizza
parlor
to
deliver.
And
more
and
more
people
rely
on
microwaves to thaw frozen food in
minutes.
那么双职工家庭吃什么呢？他们选择容易烹制或已经烹制好的食品。
快餐，
外卖食物，
加热即食的菜肴构成了当今美国食谱的很大一
部分。
爸爸可能带回家一大包巨无霸汉堡包和
饮料。
妈妈可能电话定购中国菜，或让附近的比萨店外送。越来越多的人依赖微
波炉在几
分钟内把冷冻食品解冻。
14
One consequence of these quickly
prepared meals is that families spend less time
dining
together. And classic fast
foods, like hamburgers and fries, are meant to be
eaten on the run, not
slowly enjoyed at
the dinner table. The modern family no longer
shares the evening meal. As a
result,
it no longer shares the day's news... or the
feeling of togetherness.
这些烹制简易的菜肴造成的后果之一是，
一家人一起坐下吃饭的时间少了。
传统的快
餐，如汉堡包，
炸薯条，是让人匆匆忙忙吃的，而不是坐在餐桌旁慢慢享用的。现代家庭不
再一起享用晚
餐。其结果是，大家不再相互交流一天的事，也感觉不到合家团聚的气氛。
15
Finally,
what
about
after
dinner?
Is
the
family
evening
at
least
something
the
Cleavers
could relate to?
最后一点，
晚饭之后又如何？晚上的家居生活总该跟克立弗家多少有几分相似了吧？
16
Not a chance.
没有丝毫相似之处。
17
We don't have to look outside the home
to see the changes. The modern American family
entertains itself in ways the Cleavers
would never have dreamed of.
我们不必走出家门去看有什么变化
。当今美国家庭的娱乐方式是克立弗家无从想像
的。
18
Thirty years ago, families gathered
around a radio each evening. Later, television
took over.
Most
families
had
just
one
set,
which
they
watched
together.
Today,
television
and
computers
bring a dizzying array of entertainment
into the home. Cable television provides
everything from
aerobics classes to
Shakespeare. VCRs expand the choices even more.
(3) If there's nothing good
on network
TV or cable, the video store offers the best and
worst of Hollywood: recent movies,
cartoons,
make viewers part
of the action, also provide excitement. Players
can compete in the Olympics,
search out
aliens, or wipe out entire civilizations on their
little screens.
三十年前，
家家户户每天晚上围坐着
听收音机。
后来电视机取而代之。
大多数家庭只
有一台电视机，
全家人一起收看。
如今，
电视机和电脑将多得令人眩目的娱乐活动带入家庭。
有线电视播出的节目从有
氧操到莎士比亚戏剧无所不有。
录像机更是扩大了选择性。
要是
网
络电视或有线电视没有中意的节目，录像制品商店可提供好莱坞制作的品质迥异的各种
节
目：新近发行的电影、动画片、
成人
电影、体育锻炼节目、旅游、体育以及入门指南录像
带。
让收看人参与其间的电脑游戏也提供了相当的刺激。
< br>游戏者能在奥运会上施展身手，
寻
找外星人，或者在小小
的屏幕上摧毁整个文明国家。
19
With
all
these
choices,
it
makes
sense
to
own
more
than
one
television
set.
The
two-or-more-TV family
used to be rare. (4) Nowadays, Dad might want to
rent an action movie
when Mom's cable
shopping service is on. Or Junior is playing a
let's-blow-up-Saturn video game
while
Sis wants to see The Simpsons. Why not invest in
several sets? Then each family member
can enjoy himself or herself in peace.
有了那
么多的选择，
拥有一台以上的电视机也就合乎情理了。
过去很少
有人家拥有一
台以上电视机。
如今，
妈
妈在看她的有线电视销售服务节目的时候，
爸爸可能想租一部动作
片。而在女儿想看《辛普森一家》时，儿子却在玩《让我们炸毁土星》的电子游戏。何不多
买几台呢？那样每一个家庭成员都可以互不干扰地看各自喜爱的节目。
20
What's wrong with this
picture of today's family?
当今家庭的这一景象有何弊端呢？
21
Only
this.
Today's
Cleavers
spend
their
evenings
in
front
of
their
separate
TV
screens.
Then
they go to bed. The next morning, they rush off to
their separate jobs (work and school).
They come home at separate times. They
eat separately. Finally, they return to their
separate TV
screens
for
another
evening's
entertainment.
During
all
these
times,
when
do
they
talk
to
each
other or even see each other? When are
they a family?
只有一个弊端。今天的克立弗一家晚上各自守着自己的电视机。随后他们各自上床。
第二天早上，他们匆匆忙忙各奔各的岗位（上班或上学）
。他们在各自不
同的时间回家。他
们分头吃饭。最后，
他们又各自回到自己的电
视机前，各自进行晚上的娱乐活动。
在所有这
些时段当中，他们
什么时候相互交谈或见面呢？家人什么时候才相聚呢？
22
Certain
realities of modern life cannot change. One is the
need, in most families, for both
parents to bring home a paycheck.
Another is the distance many of us must travel to
work or to
school. But must everything
change? And must we lose the family structure in
the process?
现代生活的某些现实无法改变。
其一是大多数家庭需要父母两个人的
工资收入。
其二
是许多人必得去较远处上班或上学。
可是，
非得为此改变一切吗？我们非得在这一过程中丧
失原有的家庭结构吗？
23
No one is suggesting that
we go back to the 1950s. The Cleaver household was
a fantasy
even
then,
not
reality.
But
we
might
borrow
one
important
lesson
from
the
Cleavers.
It
is
that
family life is just as
important as work or play. If we agree, we'll find
ways of spending more time
together.
We'll find things to share. And then there will be
something right with the picture.
没有人说我们应该回到五十年代去
。
克立弗家庭即使在当时也只是虚构而非现实。
但
我们或许能从这一人家获得一个重要的借鉴，
即家庭生活和工作、
娱乐同样重要。
如果我们
同意这一看法，
我们就能设法找到更多时间聚在一起。
我们就能找到共同的兴趣。
那样的话，
我们家庭生活的情景就颇为美妙了。
unit 2 The Freedom Givers
In 2004 a center in honor
of the
was
unusual.
It
sold
no
tickets
and
had
no
trains.
Yet
it
carried
thousands
of
passengers
to
the
destination of their dreams.
200
4
年，一个纪念“地下铁路”的中心将在辛辛那提州成立。这条铁路不同寻常，
它不出售车票，也无火车行驶。然而，它将成千上万的乘客送往他们梦想中的目的地。
The
Freedom Givers
Fergus M. Bordewich
1
A
gentle breeze swept the Canadian plains as I
stepped outside the small two-story house.
Alongside
me
was
a
slender
woman
in
a
black
dress,
my
guide
back
to
a
time
when
the
surrounding
settlement
in
Dresden,
Ontario,
was
home
to
a
hero
in
American
history.
As
we
walked toward a plain gray church,
Barbara Carter spoke proudly of her great-great-
grandfather,
Josiah Henson.
never gave up struggling for that
freedom.
给人以自由者
<
/p>
弗格斯·
M
·博得威奇
< br>
我步出
这幢两层小屋，
加拿大平原上轻风微拂。
我身边是一位苗条的黑
衣女子，
把我
带回到过去的向导。
那时
，
安大略省得雷斯顿这一带住着美国历史上的一位英雄。
我们前
往
一座普普通通的灰色教堂，芭芭拉·卡特自豪地谈论着其高祖乔赛亚·亨森。
“他坚信上帝
要所有人生来平等。他从来没有停止过争取这一自由权利的
奋斗。
”
2
Carter's devotion to her ancestor is
about more than personal pride: it is about family
honor.
For Josiah Henson has lived on
through the character in American fiction that he
helped inspire:
Uncle
Tom,
the
long-suffering
slave
in
Harriet
Beecher
Stowe's
Uncle
Tom's
Cabin.
Ironically,
that
character
has
come
to
symbolize
everything
Henson
was
not.
A
racial
sellout
unwilling
to
stand up for himself? Carter gets angry
at the thought.
she said firmly.
卡特对
其先辈的忠诚不仅仅关乎一己之骄傲，
而关乎家族荣誉。
因为乔
赛亚·
亨森至
今仍为人所知是由于他所激发的创作灵感使得一个
美国小说人物问世：
汤姆叔叔，
哈丽特·
比
彻·斯陀的小说《汤姆叔叔的小屋》中那个逆来顺受的黑奴。具有讽刺意味的是，这
一人物
所象征的一切在亨森身上一点都找不到。
一个不愿奋起力
争、
背叛种族的黑人？卡特对此颇
为愤慨。
“乔赛亚·亨森是个有原则的人，
”她肯定地说。
3
I had traveled here to Henson's last
home -- now a historic site that Carter formerly
directed
-- to learn more about a man
who was, in many ways, an African-American Moses.
After winning
his own freedom from
slavery, Henson secretly helped hundreds of other
slaves to escape north to
Canada -- and
liberty. Many settled here in Dresden with him.
我远道
前来亨森最后的居所――如今已成为卡特曾管理过的一处历史遗迹――是为
了更多地了解
此人，他在许多方面堪称黑人摩西。亨森自己摆脱了黑奴身份获得自由之后，
便秘密帮助
其他许多黑奴逃奔北方去加拿大――逃奔自由之地。
许多人和他一起在得雷斯顿
这一带定居了下来。
4
Yet this stop
was only part of a much larger mission for me.
Josiah Henson is but one name
on a long
list of courageous men and women who together
forged the Underground Railroad, a
secret web of escape routes and safe
houses that they used to liberate slaves from the
American
South. Between 1820 and 1860,
as many as 100,000 slaves traveled the Railroad to
freedom.
但此地只是我所承担的繁重使命的一处停留地。
乔赛亚·
亨森只是一长串无所畏惧的
男女名单中的一个名字，这些人共同创建了这条
“地下铁路”
，一条由逃亡线路和可靠的人
家组成的用以解放美
国南方黑奴的秘密网络。
在
1820
年
至
1860
年期间，
多达十万名黑奴经
由此路走向自由。
5
In
October
2000,
President
Clinton
authorized
$$16
million
for
the
National
Underground
Railroad Freedom
Center to honor this first great civil-rights
struggle in the U. S. The center is
scheduled to open in 2004 in
Cincinnati. And it's about time. For the heroes of
the Underground
Railroad remain too
little remembered, their exploits still largely
unsung. I was intent on telling
their
stories.
200
0
年
10
月，克林顿总统批准拨款
1600
万美元建造全国“地下铁路”
自由
中心，以此纪念美国历史上第一次伟大的民权斗争。中心计划于
2004
年在辛辛那提州
建成。
真是该建立这样一个中心的时候
了。
因为地下铁路的英雄们依然默默无闻，
他们的业
绩依然少人颂扬。我要讲述他们的故事。
6
John Parker tensed when he heard the
soft knock. Peering out his door into the night,
he
recognized the face of a trusted
neighbor.
Kentucky,
twenty
miles from the river,
man
whispered urgently. Parker didn't hesitate.
go,
听到轻轻的敲门声，约翰·帕克神情紧张起来。他开门窥望，夜色中认出是一位可靠
的邻居。
“有一群逃亡奴隶躲在肯塔基州的树林里，就在离河
20
英里的地方，
”那人用急迫
< br>的口气低语道。帕克没一点儿迟疑。
“我就去，
”他说着
，把两支手枪揣进口袋。
7
Born a slave two decades
before, in the 1820s, Parker had been taken from
his mother at age
eight
and
forced
to
walk
in
chains
from
Virginia
to
Alabama,
where
he
was
sold
on
the
slave
market.
Determined to live free someday, he managed to get
trained in iron molding. Eventually
he
saved enough money working at this trade on the
side to buy his freedom. Now, by day, Parker
worked
in
an
iron
foundry
in
the
Ohio
port
of
Ripley.
By
night
he
was
a
on
the
Underground Railroad,
helping people slip by the slave hunters. In
Kentucky, where he was now
headed,
there was a $$1000 reward for his capture, dead or
alive.
20
年前，即
19
世纪
20
年代，生来即为黑奴的帕克才
8
岁就被从母亲身边带走，被
迫拖着镣铐从弗吉尼亚走到阿拉巴
马，
在那里的黑奴市场被买走。
他打定主意有朝一日要过
自由的生活，
便设法学会了铸铁这门手艺。
后
来他终于靠这门手艺攒够钱赎回了自由。
现在，
帕克白天在俄亥
俄州里普利港的一家铸铁厂干活。
到了晚上，
他就成了地下铁路
的一位
“乘
务员”
，
< br>帮助人们避开追捕逃亡黑奴的人。
在他正前往的肯塔基州，
当局悬赏
1000
美元抓他，
活人死
尸都要。
8
Crossing
the Ohio River
on
that
chilly
night,
Parker
found
ten
fugitives
frozen
with
fear.
the river. They had almost
reached shore when a watchman spotted them and
raced off to spread
the news.
在那个
阴冷的夜晚，帕克渡过俄亥俄河，找到了十个丧魂落魄的逃亡者。
“拿好包裹
跟我走，
”他一边吩咐他们，一边带着这八男二女朝河边走去。就要到岸时
，一个巡夜人发
现了他们，急忙跑开去报告。
9
Parker
saw a
small
boat
and,
with
a
shout,
pushed
the
escaping
slaves
into it.
There
was
room
for all but two. As the boat slid across the
river, Parker watched helplessly as the pursuers
closed in around the men he was forced
to leave behind.
帕克看见一条小船，便大喝一声，
把
那些逃亡黑奴推上了船。大家都上了船，但有两
个人容不下。小船徐徐驶向对岸，帕克眼
睁睁地看着追捕者把他被迫留下的两个男人围住。
10
The others made it to the Ohio shore,
where Parker hurriedly arranged for a wagon to
take
them to the next
in Canada. Over the course
of his life, John Parker guided more than 400
slaves to safety.
其他的人都上了岸，
帕克急忙安排了
一辆车把他们带到地下铁路的下一
“站”
――他
们走向安全的加拿大之旅的第一程。
约翰·
帕克在有生
之年一共带领
400
多名黑奴走向安全
之地。
11
While
black
conductors
were
often
motivated
by
their
own
painful
experiences,
whites
were commonly driven
by religious convictions. Levi Coffin, a Quaker
raised in North Carolina,
explained,
color.
黑人去当乘务员常常是由于本人痛苦的经历，
而那些白人则往往是受了宗教信仰的感
召。在北卡罗来纳州长大的贵格会教徒利
瓦伊·科芬解释说：
“
《圣经》
上只是
要我们给饥者
以食物，无衣者以衣衫，但没提到过肤色的事。
”
12
In
the
1820s
Coffin
moved
west
to
Newport
(now
Fountain
City),
Indiana,
where
he
opened a store. Word spread that
fleeing slaves could always find refuge at the
Coffin home. At
times he sheltered as
many as 17 fugitives at once, and he kept a team
and wagon ready to convey
them on the
next leg of their journey. Eventually
three principal routes converged at the
Coffin
house, which came to be the
Grand Central Terminal of the Underground
Railroad.
在
19
世纪
20<
/p>
年代，科芬向西迁移前往印第安纳州的新港（即今天的喷泉市）
，
在那
里开了一家小店。
人们传说，
逃亡
黑奴在科芬家总是能得到庇护。
有时他一次庇护的逃亡者
就多达
17
人，他还备有一组人员和车辆把他们送往下一段行程。到后
来有三条主要路线在
科芬家汇合，科芬家成了地下铁路的中央车站。
13
For his efforts, Coffin
received frequent death threats and warnings that
his store and home
would
be
burned.
Nearly
every
conductor
faced
similar
risks
--
or
worse.
In
the
North,
a
magistrate
might
have
imposed
a
fine
or
a
brief
jail
sentence
for
aiding
those
escaping.
In
the
Southern states, whites were sentenced
to months or even years in jail. One courageous
Methodist
minister, Calvin Fairbank,
was imprisoned for more than 17 years in Kentucky,
where he kept a
log of his beatings:
35,105 stripes with the whip.
科芬经常由于他做的工作受到被杀
的威胁，
收到焚毁他店铺和住宅的警告。
几乎每一
个乘务员都面临类似的危险――或者更为严重。
在北方，
治安官会对帮助逃亡的人课以罚金，
或判以短期监禁。
在南
方各州，
白人则被判处几个月甚至几年的监禁。
一位勇敢的循道
宗牧
师卡尔文·费尔班克在肯塔基州被关押了
17
年多，他记录了自己遭受毒打的情况：总共被
鞭笞了
35,105
下。
14
As for the
slaves, escape meant a journey of hundreds of
miles through unknown country,
where
they were usually easy to recognize. With no road
signs and few maps, they had to put their
trust
in
directions
passed
by
word
of
mouth
and
in
secret
signs
--
nails
driven
into
trees,
for
example -- that conductors used to mark
the route north.
至于那些黑奴，
逃亡意味着数百英里
的长途跋涉，
意味着穿越自己极易被人辨认的陌
生地域。
没有路标，
也几乎没有线路图，
他们赶路全凭
着口口相告的路线以及秘密记号――
比如树上钉着的钉子――是乘务员用来标示北上路线
的记号。
15
Many slaves traveled under cover of
night, their faces sometimes caked with white
powder.
Quakers often dressed their
and
full
veils.
On
one
occasion,
Levi
Coffin
was
transporting
so
many
runaway
slaves
that
he
disguised them as a funeral procession.
许多黑
奴在夜色掩护下赶路，
有时脸上涂着厚厚的白粉。
贵格会教徒经
常让他们的
“乘
客”
不分男女穿上灰衣
服，
戴上深沿帽，
披着把头部完全遮盖住的面纱。
有一次，
利瓦伊·
科
芬运送
的逃亡黑奴实在太多，他就把他们装扮成出殡队伍。
16
Canada was the
primary destination for many fugitives. Slavery
had been abolished there
in 1833, and
Canadian authorities encouraged the runaways to
settle their vast virgin land. Among
them was Josiah Henson.
加拿大是许多逃亡者的首选终点站
。那儿
1833
年就废除了奴隶制，加拿大当局鼓励
逃亡奴隶在其广阔的未经开垦的土地上定居。其中就有乔赛亚·亨森。
17
As a boy in Maryland,
Henson watched as his entire family was sold to
different buyers,
and he saw his mother
harshly beaten when she tried to keep him with
her. Making the best of his
lot, Henson
worked diligently and rose far in his owner's
regard.
还是孩子的亨森在马里兰州目睹着全家人被卖给不同的主人，
看到母
亲为了想把自己
留在她身边而遭受毒打。亨森非常认命，干活勤勉，深受主人器重。
18
Money problems eventually compelled his
master to send Henson, his wife and children to
a
brother
in
Kentucky.
After
laboring
there
for
several
years,
Henson heard
alarming
news:
the
new master was planning
to sell him for plantation work far away in the
Deep South. The slave
would be
separated forever from his family.
经济困顿最终迫使亨森的主人将他
及其妻儿送到主人在肯塔基州的一个兄弟处。
在那
儿干了几年苦
工之后，
亨森听说了一个可怕的消息：
新主人准备把他卖到遥远
的南方腹地去
农庄干活。这名奴隶将与自己的家人永远分离。
19
There
was
only
one
answer:
flight.
knew
the
North
Star,
Henson
wrote
years
later.
只有一条路可走：逃亡。
“我会认北斗星，
”许多年后亨森写道。
“就像圣地伯利恒的
救星一样，它告诉我
在哪里可以获救。
”
20
At
huge
risk,
Henson
and
his
wife
set
off
with
their
four
children.
Two
weeks
later,
starving and exhausted, the family
reached Cincinnati, where they made contact with
members of
the Underground Railroad.
miles on our way by wagon.
亨森和妻子冒着极大的风险带着四
个孩子上路了。
两个星期之后，
饥饿疲惫的一家人
来到了辛辛那提州，
在那儿，
他们与地下铁路的成员
取得了联系。
“他们为我们提供了食宿，
非常关心，接着又用车
送了我们
30
英里。
”
21
The
Hensons
continued
north,
arriving
at
last
in
Buffalo, N. Y
. There
a
friendly
captain
pointed across the
Niagara River.
gave Henson a dollar and
arranged for a boat, which carried the slave and
his family across the
river to Canada.
亨森一
家继续往北走，
最后来到纽约州的布法罗。
在那儿，
一位友善的船长指着尼亚
加拉河对岸。
“
‘看见那些树没有？’他说，
‘它们生长在自由的土地上。
’
”他给了亨森一美
元钱，安排了一条小船，小船载
着这位黑奴及其家人过河来到加拿大。
22
several
who
were
present,
I
passed
for
a
madman.
'He's
some
crazy
fellow,'
said
a
Colonel
Warren.
“我扑倒在地，在沙土里打滚，手
舞足蹈，最后，在场的那几个人都认定我是疯子。
‘他是个疯子，
’有个沃伦上校说。
”
23
“
‘不，不是的！知道吗？我自由了！
’<
/p>
”
Jesse
Jackson,
a
well-known
leader
of
black
Americans,
reviews
the
progress
they
have
made in recent years.
Despite this, he argues, there is still much left
to be done before they enjoy
full
equality.
著名美国黑人领袖杰西·
杰克逊回顾了近几年来民权运动所取得的成
就。
成绩固然不
少，但他指出，要享受完全的平等权利，仍有许
多工作要做。
The Dream, the Stars and
Dr. King
Jesse Jackson
1
Last
week
in Memphis,
we
commemorated
the
death
of Dr.
Martin
Luther
King. He
was
struck down 27 years ago -- not a
dreamer, but a man of action. We have come a long
way since
then, in part as a fruit of
his labors.
梦想、星辰与金博士
杰西·杰克逊
上个星期在孟菲斯，我们纪念马丁·路德·金博士逝世。
27
年前他被击倒了――不
是作为一个梦想
家，
而是作为一个实干家。从那以后，我们取得了巨大进展，其中一部分是
他努力的结果。
2
In
less
than
30
years,
as
schools
opened
and
ceilings
lifted,
a
large
African
American
middle class has
been created. High school graduation rates, even
intelligence test results, grow
closer
between whites and blacks with each passing year.
在不到
30
年的时间内，由于兴办学校、种种限制被取消，一个为数众
多的非洲裔美
国中产阶级得以形成。
白人与黑人的高中毕业率，
甚至智力测试成绩，
也都一年比一年更接
近。
3
The civil-rights movement
that Dr. King led also helped women gain greater
opportunity.
The same laws that
guarantee equal opportunity for African Americans
apply to women, to other
minorities,
to
the
disabled.
(1)
Our
society
benefits
as
fewer
of
its
people
have
their
genius
suppressed or their talents wasted.
金博士领导的民权运动也帮助妇女获得更多的机会。保障非洲裔美国人平等机会的
法律同样适用于妇女、
其他少数民族以及残疾人。
如今天才遭受压抑、
才华被浪费的人数减
少了，我们的社会因此
而受益。
4
We have come a
long way -- but we have far to go. Commission
after commission, report
after report,
show that systematic discrimination still stains
our country.
我们取得了巨大进展――但我们还有大量的工作要做。
一个个委员会
的调查，
一份份
的报告都表明，蓄意的歧视依然玷污我们的国家
。
5
African
Americans
have
more
difficulty
obtaining
business
loans,
buying
homes,
getting
hired. Schools and housing patterns are
still largely separate and unequal. Women still
face glass
ceilings in corporate
offices. Ninety-seven percent of the corporate
CEOs of the Fortune 500 are
white
men.
That
does
not
result
from
talent
being
concentrated
among
males
with
pale
skin.
非洲裔美国人在商业贷款、
购房、
就业方面
遇到更多的困难。
学校与居住格局在很大程度上
仍黑白分隔，无
平等可言。妇女在企业管理阶层的发展仍面临着无形的限制。财富杂志
500
强企业名录中
97
％的首席执行官是男性白人。这
并不是白肤色男士具有才能优势的结果。
6
(2)Today, Dr.
King's legacy -- the commitment to take
affirmative actions to open doors and
opportunity -- is under political
assault. Dr. King worked against terrible odds in
a hopeful time.
America
was
experiencing
two
decades
of
remarkable
economic
growth
and
prosperity.
It
was
assumed, as the Kerner
Commission made clear, that the
reduce
poverty
and
open
opportunity
relatively
painlessly.
But
the
war
on
poverty
was
never
fought; instead, the dividend and the
growth were squandered in the jungles of Vietnam.
今天，金博士的遗产――采取积极行动打开大门、提供机会的承诺――正受到政治
上的攻击。金博士在一个充满希望的时代冲破重重困难奋力斗争。美国当时正经历着持续< p>
20
年的令人惊叹的经济增长与繁荣。正如克纳调查委员会所清楚表明的那
样，当时人们认
为，
“增长红利”会使我们相对来说较为容易地
减少贫困、创造机会。但从来不曾发起过消
除贫困的战争，相反，那些红利、那些经济增
长，都被耗在了越南的丛林之中。
7
Three
decades
later,
the
country
is
more
prosperous
but
the
times
are
less
hopeful.
Real
wages for working
people have been declining for 20 years. People
are scared for good reason, as
layoffs
rise to record levels even in the midst of a
recovery.
30
年之后，国家更加繁荣昌盛，但
时势不再那么充满希望。劳动者的实际工资连续
20
年一路下跌
。人们有充分的理由感到恐惧，因为即使在经济复苏之时，下岗人数仍达到
创纪录的高度
。
8
In this
context, prejudice flourishes, feeding on old
hates, keeping alive old fears. What else
could explain the remarkably dishonest
assault on affirmative-action programs that seek
to remedy
stubborn patterns of
discrimination?
在这种情形之下，
政治上掠夺成性者
利用宿怨和往昔的恐惧变得越发猖獗。
不然如何
解释对积极行动
计划如此颠倒是非的攻击呢？该计划旨在疗治歧视这一痼疾。
9
House Speaker
Newt Gingrich, a history professor, sets the tone
by simply erasing history.
The
Washington
Post
reported:
dismissed
the
argument
that
those
who
benefit
from
affirmative
action,
commonly
African
Americans,
have
been
subjected
to
discrimination
over
a
period of centuries. That
is true of virtually every American, Gingrich
said, noting that the Irish
were
discriminated against by the English, for
example.
众议院议长纽特·金里奇，一位历史教授，以完全抹杀历史的方式定下了基调。
《华
盛顿邮报》报道说：
“对于受益于积极行动计划
的人――通常是非洲裔美国人――几个世纪
以来遭受歧视的论点，金里奇拒不接受。
金里奇说，几乎每一个美国人都曾受到歧视。
他举
< br>例说，爱尔兰人曾受到英国人的歧视。
”
10
As
Roger
Wilkins
writes
in
a
thoughtful
essay
in
the
Nation
magazine,
this
is
breathtakingly
dishonest
for
a
history
professor.
Blacks
have
been
on
the
North
American
continent for
nearly 375 years. For 245 of those, the country
practiced slavery. For another 100 or
so,
segregation
was
enforced
throughout
the
South
and
much
of
the
North,
often
policed
by
home-grown
terrorists.
We've
had
only
30
years
of
something
else,
largely
the
legacy
of
the
struggle led by Dr. King.
正如罗杰·
威尔金斯在
《国家》
杂志上发表的一篇颇具思想深度的文章中
所写的那样，
对一位历史教授而言，这是骇人听闻的欺骗。黑人来到北美大陆将近
375
年了。其中的
245
< br>年中，美国实行奴隶制。在另外大约
100
年间，南方各
州及北方大部分地区实行种族隔离，
通常由地方恐怖分子监督实施。我们只有
30
年免受奴役、隔离的历史，而这在很大程度上
是金博士所领导的斗争的产物。
11
The
media
plays
up
the
African
Americans
supposedly
suffer
about
affirmative
action. I can
tell you this. Dr. King felt no guilt when special
laws gave us the right to vote. He felt
no
guilt
about
laws
requiring
that
African
Americans
have
the
opportunity
to
go
to
schools,
to
enter
universities,
to
compete
for
jobs
and
contracts.
This
supposed
guilt
is
at
best
a
luxurious
anxiety of those who now have the
opportunity to succeed or fail.
媒体渲染了所谓非洲裔美国人对于
积极行动心怀“愧疚”的说法。
我可以告诉你。
当
特别法令赋予我们投票权时，
金博士没有丝毫愧疚。
对于那些规定非洲裔美国人有上学、
读
大学、
< br>参与就业竞争与赢得合同竞争的平等机会的法律，
金博士没有丝毫愧疚。
这种臆想的
愧疚充其量是那些业已获得成功或失败的机会的人过分装模作
样的忧虑罢了。
12
If
Dr.
King
were
alive
today,
he
would
be
66,
younger
than
Senator
Bob
Dole
who
suggests
that
discrimination
ended
we
were
born.
Unlike
Dole,
Dr.
King
would
be
working
to bring people together, not drive them apart.
如果金
博士仍在人世，他今年
66
岁，比声称“早在我们出生之前”歧
视就不再存在
的参议员鲍伯·
多尔更年轻。
不同于多尔的是，
金博士会致力于团结人民，
而不是分裂人
民。
13
(3)
Modern-day
conservatives
haven't
a
clue
about
what
to
do
with
an
economy
that
is
generating
greater
inequality
and
reducing
the
security
and
living
standards
of
more
and
more
Americans. So they seek
to distract and divide.
今天的经济正造成更大的不平等，
并
使越来越多的美国人安全感减少、
生活水准降低；
对于如何应对
目前的这种经济形势，
当今的保守分子一无所知。
于是他们试图
分散人们的注
意力，分裂人民。
14
As Dole reaffirmed his abandonment of
affirmative action, fellow Republican Senator Phil
Gramm of Texas called for more cuts
from the poor.
正当多尔重申摒弃积极行动计划时，
得克萨斯州同样属于共和党的参
议员菲尔·
格拉
姆呼吁进一步削减对穷人的帮助。
15
As we head into
this troubling time, we would do well to remember
Dr. King's legacy. No
matter how
desperate things were, no matter how grave the
crisis, no matter how many times his
dreams were shattered, Dr. King refused
to grow bitter. (4) Men and women, he taught,
capacity to do right as well as wrong,
and [our] history is a path upward, not downward.
It's only
when it is truly dark that
you can see the stars.
我们正进入这样一个多难的时期，
此时此刻我们最好记取金博士的遗训。无论情况
多么糟糕，
无论
危机多么严重，
无论梦想多少次破碎，
金博士都决不会怨恨失望
。
他教导说，
人，
< br>无论是男是女，
“既有能力做好事，
也有能力做坏事，<
/p>
而我们的历史的道路是向上走的，
不是向下走的。
只有在天空漆黑的时候，你才能望见星星。
”
unit 3 The Land
of the Lock
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，不得不凭借精密的安
全设备来保护自己和财产。
The Land of the Lock
Bob Greene
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;
closed but
not locked. None of us carried keys; the last one
in for the evening would close up, and
that was it.
锁之国
鲍伯·格林
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；
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。
2
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.
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
机构或某个保安公司负责监管。
< br>
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，
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，车身上悬着如今无所不
在的挂锁。
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
、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，因而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
时就感到心满意足；
我们没有问过自己：
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相隔绝，
这一切究
竟是从什么
时候开始主宰我们生活的？
10
And it has taken over. If
you work for a medium- to large-size company,
chances are that
you don't just wander
in and out of work. You probably carry some kind
of access card, electronic
or
otherwise, that allows you in and out of your
place of work. Maybe the security guard at the
front desk knows your face and will
wave you in most days, but the fact remains that
the business
you work for feels
threatened enough to keep outsiders away via these
这一切
确是主宰了我们的生活。
如果你在一家大中型公司上班，
你上下
班很可能不好
随意进出。
你可能随身带着某种出入卡，
电子的或别的什么的，
因为这卡能让你进出工作场
所。也许前台的保安认识你这张脸，
平日一挥手让你进去，但事实明摆着，
你所任职的公司
深感面临威胁，因此要借助这些“钥匙”不让外人靠近。<
/p>
11
It
wasn't always like this. Even a decade ago, most
private businesses had a policy of free
access. It simply didn't occur to
managers that the proper thing to do was to
distrust people.
这一现象并非向来有之。
即使在十年
前，
大多数私营公司仍采取自由出入的做法。
那
时管理人员根本没想到过恰当的手段是不信任他人。
12
Look at the airports.
Parents used to take children out to departure
gates to watch planes
land and take
off. That's all gone. Airports are no longer a
place of education and fun; they are the
most sophisticated of security sites.
且看各
地机场。过去家长常常带孩子去登机口看飞机起飞降落。这种事再也没有了。
机场不再是
一个有趣的学习场所；它们成了拥有最精密的安全检查系统的场所。
13
With electronic X-ray equipment, we
seem finally to have figured out a way to hold the
terrorists, real and imagined, at bay;
it was such a relief to solve this problem that we
did not think
much about what such a
state of affairs says about the quality of our
lives. We now pass through
these
electronic friskers without so much as a sideways
glance; the machines, and what they stand
for, have won.
凭借着电子透视装置，
我们似乎终于
想出妙计让恐怖分子无法近身，
无论是真的恐怖
分子还是凭空臆
想的。
能解决这一问题真是如释重负，
于是我们不去多想这种状
况对我们的
生活质量意味着什么。
如今我们走过这些电子搜查器
时已经看都不看一眼了，
这些装置，
还
有它们所代表的一切已经获胜。
14
Our
neighborhoods are bathed in high-intensity light;
we do not want to afford ourselves
even
so much a luxury as a shadow.
我们的居住区处在强光源的照射下
；我们连哪怕像阴影这样小小的享受也不想给自
己。
15
Businessmen,
in
increasing
numbers,
are
purchasing
new
machines
that
hook
up
to
the
telephone and analyze a
caller's voice. The machines are supposed to tell
the businessman, with a
small margin of
error, whether his friend or client is telling
lies.
越来越多的商人正购置连接在电话机上、
能剖析来电者声音的新机器
。
据说那种机器
能让商人知道他的朋友或客户是否在撒谎，其出
错概率很小。
16
All
this
is
being
done
in
the
name
of
that
is
what
we
tell
ourselves.
We
are
fearful, and so we devise ways to lock
the fear out, and that, we decide, is what
security means.
所有这一切都是以“安全”的名义实施的：我们是这么跟自己
说的。我们害怕，于是
我们设法把害怕锁在外面，我们认定，那就是安全的意义。
17
But no; with
all this
civilized man. What better
word to describe the way in which we have been
forced to live? What
sadder reflection
on all that we have become in this new and
puzzling time?
其实不然；
我们虽然有了这一切安全措施，
但我们或许是人类文明史上最不安全的国
民。
还有什么更好的字
眼能用来描述我们被迫选择的生活方式呢？还有什么更为可悲地表明
我们在这个令人困惑
的新时代所感受到的惶恐之情呢？
18
We
trust
no
one.
Suburban
housewives
wear
rape
whistles
on
their
station
wagon
key
chains. We have become so smart about
self-protection that, in the end, we have all
outsmarted
ourselves. We may have
locked the evils out, but in so doing we have
locked ourselves in.
我们不信任任何人。
郊区的家庭主妇
在客货两用车钥匙链上挂着防强暴口哨。
我们在
自我防卫方面变
得如此聪明，
最终聪明反被聪明误。
我们或许是把邪恶锁在了门
外，
但在这
么做的同时我们把自己锁在里边了。
19
That may be the legacy we remember best
when we look back on this age: In dealing with
the unseen horrors among us, we became
prisoners of ourselves. All of us prisoners, in
this time of
our troubles.
那也许是我们将来回顾这一时代时
记得最牢的精神遗产：
在对付我们中间无形的恐惧
之时，我们成
了自己的囚徒。在我们这个问题重重的时代，所有的人都是囚徒。
Many
people
in
America
own
handguns.
Some,
like
Gail
Buchalter,
buy
a
gun
for
self-
defense.
Others,
like
her
friends,
refuse
to
do
so
because
they
think
that
guns
cause
more
problems than they solve. Gail used to
share her friends' views, but eventually changed
her mind.
Read what she has to say and
decide whether she made the right choice.
在美国，许多人拥有手枪。有人为了自卫买枪，如盖尔·巴卡尔特。另外一些人则
拒绝这么做，比如她的许多朋友，因为他们认为，
枪支引发的问题比解决的
更多。
以前盖尔
与她的朋友们持有相同的观点，
但后来她改变了看法。
读一读她所说的一切，
并判定她
的选
择是否明智。
Why I Bought A
Gun
Gail Buchalter
1
I was raised in one of Manhattan's
more desirable neighborhoods. My upper-
middle-class
background never involved
guns. If my parents felt threatened, they simply
put another lock on
the door.
我为什么买枪
盖尔·巴卡尔特
我在曼哈顿一个相当不错的社区长
大。
我的中上阶级的社会背景从来与枪支无涉。
我
的父母要是觉得有威胁存在，他们仅仅是在门上再加把锁。
2
By high school, I had
traded in my cashmere sweaters for a black arm
band. I marched for
Civil Rights,
shunned Civil Defense drills and protested the
Vietnam war. It was easy being 18 and
a
peacenik. I wasn't raising an 11-year-old child
then.
高中时，
我用一件开司米羊毛衫跟人换了个黑色的臂章。
我参加人权游行，
反对国防
演习，抗议越南战争。
作为妙龄
18
的少女，当一名反战分子，真是轻松自在。那时我
还没
有一个
11
岁的孩子要抚养。
3
(1)
Today,
I
am
typical
of
the
women
whom
gun
manufactures
have
been
aiming
at
as
potential buyers -- and
one of the millions who have taken the plunge.
时至今
日，我成了一个典型的被枪支制造商看重并视为其潜在买主的那种女人
--
成了
成千上万个采取这种行动的人中的一员。
4
I began questioning my pacifist beliefs
one Halloween night in Phoenix, where I had moved
when I married. I was almost home when
another car nearly hit mine head-on. With the
speed of a
New
York
cabbie,
I
rolled
down
my
window
and
screamed
curses
as
the
driver
passed.
He
instantly
made
a
U-turn,
almost
climbing
on
my
back
bumper.
By
now,
he
and
his
two
friends
were hanging out of the car windows,
yelling that they were going to rape, cut and kill
me.
一个万圣节的晚上，
在我婚后移居的凤凰城，
我开始怀疑自己的和平主义信条。
一辆
车与我的车差点迎头相
撞时，
我几乎都到家了。
我以纽约城出租车司机的敏捷，
快速摇下车
窗高声咒骂那位开车的。
他当即掉
转车头，几乎撞上我的车后保险杠。
这时，他和两个同伴
从车窗
伸出头来，嚷嚷着要强奸我，砍我，杀了我。
5
I
already
had
turned
into
our
driveway
when
I
realized
my
husband
wasn't
home.
I
was
trapped. The car had pulled in behind
me. I drove up to the back porch and got into the
kitchen,
where our dogs stood waiting
for me. The three men spilled out of their car and
into our
yard.
我开进车道才想起丈夫不在家。
这下我进退两难。
< br>那辆车尾随着跟了进来。
我把车开到后门
廊停下，冲进厨
房，
我家的那两条狗站在那儿等我。那三个家伙从汽车里一拥而出，进了院
子。
6
My heart was
pumping. I grabbed the collars of Jack, our
200-pound Irish wolfhound, and
his
140-pound malamute buddy, Slush. Then I kicked
open the back door -- I was so scared that I
became aggressive -- and actually dared
the three creeps to keep coming. With the dogs,
the odds
had changed in my favor, and
the men ran back to the safety of their car,
yelling that they'd be
back the next
day to blow me away. Fortunately, they never
returned.
我的心怦怦直跳。
我抓起杰克和斯露西的颈圈――一条是
200
磅重的爱尔兰狼狗，
另
一条是它的伙伴，
140
磅重的北极犬。
< br>随后我一脚踢开后门――我吓坏了，
变得暴躁好斗――
事
实上我要激那三人过来。有狗相助，局势变得对我有利，他们退回安全的车里，
嚷嚷着说
要明天来宰了我。总算幸运，他们没再露面。
7
A few years and one divorce later, I
headed for Los Angeles with my 3-year-old son,
Jordan
(the dogs had since departed).
When I put him in preschool a few weeks later, the
headmistress
noted that I was a single
parent and immediately warned me that there was a
rapist in my new
neighborhood.
几年后
，我离了婚，带着
3
岁的儿子乔丹前往洛杉矶（那两条狗也死了
）
。几个星期
后我送他去幼儿园，
老师
发现我是个单身母亲，
马上提醒我，
我刚搬入的居住区里有个强
奸
犯。
8
I
called
the
police,
who
confirmed
this
fact.
The
rapist
followed
no
particular
pattern.
Sometimes
he
would be
waiting
in
his
victim's
house;
other
times
he
would
break
in
while
the
person was asleep.
Although it was summer, I would carefully lock my
windows at night and then
lie there and
sweat in fear. Thankfully, the rapist was caught,
but not before he had attacked two
more
women.
我给警察局打了个电话，
他们证实了这一情况。
那个强奸犯没有什么特别的作案规律。
有时他在受害者家里等候，
< br>有时他趁人入睡时潜入。
当时正是夏天，
可夜间我还是谨
慎地锁
住窗户，然后躺在床上，吓得浑身是汗。谢天谢地，那个强奸犯被逮捕了，可那是
在他又强
暴了两名女子之后。
9
Soon
the
papers
were
telling
yet
another
tale
of
senseless
horror.
Richard
Bamirez,
who
became known as
(2) His alleged crimes were so brutal,
his desire to inflict pain so intense, that I
began to question
my beliefs about not
taking human life under any circumstances. The
thought of taking a human
life disgusts
me, but the idea of being someone's victim is
worse. And how, I began to ask myself,
do you talk pacifism to a murderer or a
rapist?
不久，
报纸上又报道起另一个丧心病狂的恐怖人物的事来。
此人名叫理查德·
巴米里，
人称“入室杀手”<
/p>
，被抓获前，一连几个月残害、杀死他人。据称他的犯罪行为非常野蛮，
< br>他加害于人的欲望非常强烈，这使我开始对自己在任何情况下决不杀人的信念产生了怀疑。
取人性命的想法令我憎恨，
但成为他人受害者的念头更可怕。
< br>我开始问自己，
你怎么跟一个
杀人犯或强奸犯来谈论和平
呢？
10
Finally, I
decided that I would defend myself, even if it
meant killing another person. (3) I
realized that the one-sided pacifism I
once so strongly had advocated could backfire on
me and
worse, on my son. Reluctantly, I
concluded that I had to insure the best option for
our survival. My
choices: to count on a
cop or to own a pistol.
最后，我决定要自我防卫，哪怕这意味着杀死他人。我意识到
，
自己曾积极提倡的一
厢情愿的和平主义会为害自身，
更糟的是，会为害我的儿子。
于是我极不情愿地决定：
< br>为了
我们的生存，我必须确保有一个最佳选择方案。我的选择：依靠警察，或拥有
一支枪。
11
I
called a man I had met a while ago who, I
remembered, owned several guns. He told me
he had a Smith & Wesson 38 Special for
sale and recommended it, since it was small enough
for
me to handle yet had the necessary
stopping power.
我给不久前认识的一个人打电话，
我
记得他有好几支枪。
他告诉我，
他有一支史密斯
－韦森
0.38
口径特种枪要出售，建议我买下，因为
那支枪小巧好使，又有必要的威慑力。
12
I bought the gun. That same day, I got
six rounds of special ammunition with plastic tips
that explode on impact. These are not
for target practice; these are for protection.
我买下
了枪。
在同一天，
我弄到了
6
发包着塑料头、一撞击就崩碎的特别的子弹。这
些子弹不是打靶练习用的
，是防身用的。
13
For
about $$50, I also picked up a metal safety box.
Its push-button lock opens with a touch
if you know the proper combination,
possibly taking only a second or two longer than
it does to
reach into a night-table
drawer. Now I knew that my son, Jordan, couldn't
get his hands on it while
I still
could.
花了大约
50
美元，我还买了个金属安全盒
。如果知道正确的暗码，它的按钮式锁一
碰就开，
大概比伸手去
床头柜抽屉取他只慢一两秒钟。
我知道儿子乔丹拿不到它，
但我
拿得
到。
14
When I brought the gun home, Jordan was
fascinated by it. He kept picking it up, while I
nervously watched. But knowledge, I
believe, is still our greatest defense. And since
I'm in favor
of education for sex, AIDS
and learning to drive, I couldn't draw the line at
teaching my son about
guns.
我把枪拿回家，乔丹兴奋得不得了
。他不停地拿起来看，我紧张地瞧着。但我相信，
知识仍是我们最有力的防范手段。
由于我主张对孩子进行性知识教育，
艾滋病知识教育，
以
及让孩子学会开车，我不能不赞成教儿子关于枪的知识。
< br>
15
Next, I took
the pistol and my son to the target range. I
rented a 22-caliber pistol for Jordan.
(A .38 was too much gun for him to
handle.) I was relieved when he put it down after
10 minutes
-- he didn't like the feel
of it.
随后，我携枪带儿子去射击场。我给乔丹租了一支
0.22
口径的手枪。
（
0.38
口径的他
摆弄不了。
）
10
分钟后他放下了枪，我不禁松了口气――他不喜欢握枪的感觉。
16
But that didn't prevent him
from asking me if he should use the gun if someone
broke into
our
house
while
I
wasn't
home.
I
shouted
so
loud,
we
both
jumped.
I
explained
that,
if
someone ever broke in,
he's young and agile enough to leap out the window
and run for his life.
但他并不因此不来问我，
如果我不在
家时有人闯入，他能不能用枪。
我大喝一声
“不
行！
”
，喊声响得把我们都吓得跳了起来。我解释说，
要是真有人闯入，他人小，又灵活，完
全可以跳窗逃生。
17
Today he couldn't care less
about the gun. Every so often, when were watching
television
in my room, I practice
opening the safety box, and Jordan times me. I'm
down to three seconds. I'll
ask him
what's the first thing you do when you handle a
gun, and he looks at me like I'm stupid,
saying:
sure
it's
unloaded.
But
I'm
not
to
touch
it
or
tell
my
friends
about
it.
Jordan's
already bored with it all.
如今他对那支枪早没了兴趣。
两人在我的卧室一起看电视时，
我常常练习开启安全盒，
乔丹替我计时。
我已经快到只需要
3
秒钟了。
我会问他，
拿枪时第一件要做的事是什么，
他
像看傻瓜似的看着我，说：
“要看看子弹是不是没上膛。不过
我是不会去碰它，也不会跟朋
友们说的。
”乔丹对枪已经厌倦了
。
18
I,
on
the
other
hand,
look
forward
to
Mondays
--
Night
at
the
target
range
--
when
I
get
to
shoot
for
free.
I
buy
a
box
of
bullets
and
some
targets
from
the
guy
behind
the
counter,
put
on
the
protective
eye
and
ear
coverings
and
walk
through
the
double
doors
to
the
firing lines.
而我则
盼着每个星期一――射击场的
“女士专场”
――我可以免费练习
射击。
我在柜
台上买一盒子弹，几个靶子，戴上护眼罩和护耳罩
，穿过双层门，来到射击区。
19
Once there, I load my gun, look down
the sights of the barrel and adjust my aim. I fire
six
rounds into the chest of a life-
sized target hanging 25 feet away. As each bullet
rips a hole through
the figure drawn
there, I realize I'm getting used to owning a gun
and no longer feeling faint when
I pick
it up. The weight of it has become comfortable in
my hand. And I am keeping my promise
to
practice. Too many people are killed by their own
guns because they don't know how to use
them.
到了那儿，我把子弹装上膛，看着枪管上的瞄准器调整瞄准方
向。我对着
25
英尺开
外的真人大小的
靶子的胸部连发
6
弹。
随着一发发子弹
洞穿对面画着的图像，
我意识到，
自
己
正在习惯拥有枪支，拿枪时不再害怕了。枪的重量在手上已觉得挺舒服。
我坚持练习。太
多的人由于不知如何使用枪而死在自己的枪下。
20
It took me years to decide
to buy a gun, and then weeks before I could load
it. It gave me
nightmares.
我花了好多年才决定买枪，
又花了好几个星期才学会把子弹装上膛。
枪让我恶梦不断。
21
One night I
dreamed I woke up when someone broke into our
house. I grabbed my gun and
sat waiting
at the foot of my bed. Finally, I saw him turn the
corner as he headed toward me. He
was
big and filled the hallway -- an impossible target
to miss. I didn't want to shoot, but I knew
my survival was on the line. (4) I
wrapped my finger around the trigger and finally
squeezed it,
simultaneously accepting
the intruder's death at my own hand and the relief
of not being a victim.
I woke up as
soon as I decided to shoot.
一天夜晚，我梦见自己醒来，发现
有人闯进屋子。我一把抓起枪，坐在床脚处等着。
最后我看着他拐过墙角朝我走来。
他很高大，
把过道都堵住了――根本不可能击不中。
我不
想开枪，但我知道生死在此一搏。我手指扣住扳机，最后用力一扣，准备在
亲手结束侵入者
性命的同时庆幸自己没有成为牺牲品。就在我决定开枪时我醒了。
22
I was tearfully
relieved that it had only been a dream.
我如释重负，不由得热泪长流，幸亏这只是个梦。
23
I never have
weighed the consequences of an act as strongly as
I have that of buying a gun
-- but,
then again, I never have done anything with such
deadly consequences. Most of my friends
refuse even to discuss it with me. They
believe that violence leads to violence.
我从来
没有像在买枪一事上对某种行为的后果如此反复权衡――可是，
我也从来没做
过后果如此严重的事。
我的大多数朋友甚至不肯跟我谈论这事。
他们认为，
暴力只能导致暴
力。
< br>
24
They're probably right.
他们或许是对的。
unit 4 The Watery Place
It was just an error, a stupid error,
the kind anyone could make. Only now Earth is
never
going to have another visitor
from space. Not ever.
这仅仅是一个错误，
一个愚蠢的错误
，
那种人人都可能犯的错误。
只是从今往后再也
不会有太空客前来访问地球了。再也不会了。
The
Watery Place
Issac Asimov
1
We're never going to have
visitors from space. No extraterrestrials will
ever land on Earth
-- at least, any
more.
水
乡
伊萨克·阿西莫夫
我们不会再有太空游客前来了。外
星人将不会登陆地球――至少是再也不会了。
2
I'm not just
being a pessimist. As a matter of fact,
extraterrestrials have landed. I know that.
Space ships are crisscrossing space
among a million worlds, probably, but they will
never come
here. I know that, too. All
on account of a ridiculous error.
我这不是悲观。事实上，
外星人登陆过地球。这个我知道。
在宇宙的千百万颗星球当
中穿梭往来的太空飞船可能有许多，
可它们永远不会再来我们这儿了。
这我也知道。
而这一
切都是由于一个荒唐的错
误导致的。
3
I'll explain.
且听我解释。
4
It
was
actually
Bart
Cameron's
error
and
you'll
have
to
understand
about
Bart
Cameron.
He's the sheriff at Twin Gulch, Idaho,
and I'm his deputy. Bart Cameron is an impatient
man and
he gets most impatient when he
has to work up his income tax. You see, besides
being sheriff, he
also
owns
and
runs
the
general
store,
he's
got
some
shares
in
a
sheep
ranch, he's
got
a
kind
of
pension
for
being
a
disabled
veteran
(bad
knee)
and
a
few
other
things
like
that.
Naturally,
it
makes his tax figures complicated.
这实际
上是巴特·
卡默伦的错，所以你得对巴特·
卡默伦这人有所了解
。他是爱达荷
州特温加尔奇的治安官，
我是他的副手。
巴特·卡默伦是个脾气暴躁的人，
到了他不得不整
理个人应缴多少所得税时更是容易光火。
你想，他除了当治安官，
还经营着一家杂货铺，并
拥有一家牧羊场的股份，
同时还享
有残疾退伍军人
（膝盖受过伤）
津贴，
以及其他某些类似
的津贴。这样一来他的个人所得税计算起来自然就变得复杂。
5
It
wouldn't
be
so
bad
if
he'd
let
a
taxman
work
on
the
forms
with
him,
but
he
insists
on
doing it himself and it
makes him a bitter man. By April 14, he isn't
approachable.
要是他
让税务人员帮他填表就不至于那么糟糕，
可他非得要自己填，<
/p>
于是填得他牢骚满腹。
每年到
了
4
月
14
日，他就变得
难以接近。
6
So it's too bad the flying
saucer landed on April 14, 1956.
那个飞碟在
1956
年
4
月
14
日这一天登陆真是大错特错。
7
I
saw
it
land.
My
chair
was
backed
up
against
the
wall
in
the
sheriff's
office,
and
I
was
looking at the stars
through the windows and wondering if I ought to
knock off and hit the sack or
keep
on
listening
to
Cameron
curse
real
steady
as
he
went
over
his
columns
of
figures
for
the
hundred twenty-seventh time.
我是看
着它降落的。当时我的椅子背靠着治安官办公室的墙，我正望着窗外的星星，
琢磨着是不
是该下班去睡觉，
还是继续听卡默伦骂个不停，
他正在第
127
次核对他在税单上
填写的一栏栏数字。
8
It looked like
a shooting star at first, but then the track of
light broadened into two things
that
looked like rocket exhausts and the thing came
down without a sound.
一开始像是颗流星，
可接着那轨迹越
来越亮，
变成两个光点，
就像是火箭喷出的气流，
那个东西一点没出声就着落了。
9
Two
men got out.
两个人走了出来。
10
I couldn't say anything or do anything.
I couldn't choke or point; I couldn't even bug my
eyes. I just sat there.
我没法说话，也无法做事。喉部肌
肉僵直，也没法用手示意，甚至眼睛都没法瞪大。
我就那么呆坐着。
11
Cameron? He never looked
up.
卡默伦？他压根儿就没抬起过头。
12
There was a knock on the door. It
opened and the two men from the flying saucer
stepped
in. I would have thought they
were city fellows if I hadn't seen the flying
saucer land. They wore
gray
suits,
with
white
shirts
and
dark
red-brown
ties.
They
had
on
black
shoes
and
black
hats.
They
had
dark
complexions,
black
wavy
hair
and
brown
eyes.
They
had
very
serious
looks
on
their
faces and were about five foot ten apiece. They
looked very much alike.
有敲门声。门开了，飞碟上的那两个人走了进来。
要不是我看着飞碟降落，
我还会以
为他们就是镇上
的人。两人身着灰套装、白衬衣，戴着深红棕色的领带。他们穿着黑皮鞋，
戴着黑帽子，
肤色黑黑的，卷曲的头发黑黑的，眼睛呈棕色。两人神情严肃，身高都在
5.10
英尺左右，看上去非常相象。
13
God, I was scared.
天哪，我害怕极了。
14
But Cameron just looked up when the
door opened and frowned. He said,
for
you, folks?
可卡默伦只是在门开的那会儿略一抬头，皱了皱眉头。
“有什么事吗，伙计？”他
边说边用手拍着税单，显然正忙着呢。
15
One of the two stepped forward. He
said,
long time.
那两人中的一个走上前说道：
“我们
对你们的人已经观察很久了。
”
他说话时小心翼翼
一字一顿的。
16
Cameron said,
卡默伦说：
“我们的人？我只有老婆一个人。她干什么来着？”
17
The fellow in the suit said,
isolated and peaceful. We know that you
are the leader here.
穿西装的那人说：
“我们选择此地作
为第一接触点，因为这里偏僻安静。我们知道您
是这里的首领。
”
18
“我是治安官，这是你要说的吧，有什么话就直说
,
你们遇到什么麻烦了？”
19
We have also learned your
language.
“我们非常谨慎，
沿用了你们的衣着模式，
甚至采用了你们的外貌。
我们还学习了你
们的语言。
”
20
You could see the light
break in on Cameron. He said,
didn't go
much for foreigners, never having met many outside
the army, but generally he tried to
be
fair.
你可以看到卡默伦脸上开始现出领悟的神情。他说：
“你俩是外国人
？”卡默伦不怎
么喜欢外国人，退伍后就没怎么见过外国人，不过总的来说他尽力做到为
人公正。
21
The man from the saucer
said,
your people call
Venus.
飞碟来人说：
“外国人？正是如此。我们来自你们称之为金星的水乡
。
”
22
Cameron
never
blinked
an
eye.
He
said,
right.
This
is
the
U.S.A.
We all
got
equal
rights regardless of race, color, or
nationality. I'm at your service. What can I do
for you?
卡默伦连眼也没眨一下便说：
“好吧。这里是美国。我们这儿不论种
族、肤色、国籍，
一律平等。我为你们效劳。你们有何贵干？”
23
U.S.A., as you call it, to
be brought here for discussions leading to your
people joining our great
organization.
“我们希望您马上与贵国，
即你们所
说的美国的要人联系，
前来此地商讨加入我们组
织的事宜。
”
24
Slowly,
Cameron
got
red.
people
join
your
organization.
We're
already
part
of
the
U.N. and God knows what else. And I
suppose I'm to get the President here, eh? Right
now? In
Twin Gulch? Send a hurry-up
message?
my face, but I couldn't as much
as fall down if someone had pushed the chair out
from under me.
卡默伦的脸色渐渐涨红。
“我们加入你们的组织。我们已经是联合国
的成员了，天知
道还有别的什么。
我想是让我把总统找来，
呃？就现在？前来特温加尔奇？要我送去一封加
快信？”他看了看我
，似乎想在我脸上看到一丝笑意，可此刻若有人从我身后把椅子抽开，
我也不会摔倒在地
。
25
The saucer man
said,
飞碟来人说：
“事不宜迟。
”
26
“你们想不想要国会也来？还有最高法院？”
27
“那也无妨，治安官。
”
28
And
Cameron
really
went
to
pieces.
He
banged
his
income
tax
form
and
yelled,
you're not helping me, and I
have no time for wise guys who come around,
especially foreigners.
If you don't get
the hell out of here straight away, I'll lock you
up for disturbing the peace and I'll
never let you out.
这下卡默伦真的气坏了。
他把税单向桌上重重地一摔，
叫道：
“好啊，<
/p>
你们跟我添乱，
我可没时间跟你们这些自作聪明的人纠缠，尤其是
外国人。要是你们不马上从这里滚出去，
我就以扰乱治安罪把你们关起来，永远不放你们
出来。
”
29
“您是要我们离开？”金星人问。
30
back. I don't want to see
you and no one else around here does.
“这就走！滚出去，滚回你们老家
去，别再回来。我不想见到你们，这儿谁都不想见
到你们。
”<
/p>
31
The
two men looked at each other.
那两人对望了一眼。
32
Then the one who had done
all the talking said,
mind that
you really
wish, with great
intensity, to be left alone. It is not our way to
force ourselves or our organization
on
people who do not wish us or it. We will respect
your privacy and leave. We will not return. We
will put a warning around your world
and none will enter.
一直作为发言人的那人于是说：
“看
得出您确实极其不愿受到打搅。我们从不愿将我
们自己或我们组织的意见强加于无意接受
者。
我们尊重您的私人自由，
马上离开。
我们将不
再返回。我们会在你们地球周围发布警告，不再会有人前来。
”
33
Cameron said,
卡默伦说：
“先生，够了，别再胡说八道了，我要开始数
3
――”
34
They turned and left, and I
just knew that everything they said was so. I was
listening to
them, you see, which
Cameron wasn't, because he was busy thinking of
his income tax, and it was
as though I
could hear their minds, know what I mean? I knew
that there would be a kind of fence
around earth, keeping others out.
那两人
转身离去，
我当然知道他们说的句句是实话。你知道，我一直在听他们说，卡
默伦可没有，
他一心只想着他的税单，
而且我似乎
知道了他们脑子里在想什么，
你明白我的
意思吗？我知道地球周
围会竖起一道屏障，使他人无法进入。
35
And when they left, I got my voice back
-- too late. I screamed,
they're from
space. Why'd you send them away?
他们走了之后，我才能又开口说话
――已经太迟了。我高声叫起来：
“天哪，
卡默伦，
他们是从太空来的。你为什么要赶他们走？”
36
“从太空来的！
”他两眼瞪着我。
37
I yelled,
I heaved him to
the window by his shirt collar.
我大喝一声：
“你看！
”我到现在都不明白是怎么一回事，他比我重了
2
5
英磅，可我
竟然扯着他的衣领把他拽到了窗前。
38
He was too surprised to
resist and when he recovered his wits enough to
make like he was
going to knock me
down, he caught sight of what was going on outside
the window and the breath
went out of
him.
他震惊之下都没有反抗，
等他回过神来想要把我击倒时，
正好看见窗外的情景，
顿时
气都喘不出来了。
39
They were
getting into the flying saucer, those two men, and
the saucer sat there, large,
round,
shiny and kind of powerful, you know. Then it took
off. It went up easy as a feather and a
red-orange
glow
showed
up
on
one
side
and
got
brighter
as
the
ship
got
smaller
till
it
was
a
shooting
star again, slowly fading out.
他们正在进入飞碟，就是那两人，
飞碟就在那儿，知道吗，大大的，
圆圆的，亮晶
晶的，挺有气势的。接着飞碟起飞了。它轻轻巧巧地上升，像根羽毛似的，一侧发出一道桔
红色的光芒，那光越来越强烈，飞碟变得越来越小，最后重新变成一颗流星渐渐消失。
40
And
I
said,
why'd
you
send
them
away?
They
had
to
see
the
President.
Now
they'll never come back.
我说：
“
治安官，你什么要赶他们走？他们要见总统。这下他们再也不会回来了。
”
41
Cameron said,
And they talked funny.
卡默伦说：
“我当他们是外国人。他们说的，要学我们的语言。而且他们说的话莫名
其妙。
”
42
“哼，得了，还外国人呢。
”
43
“他们说自己是外国人，两人看上去像是意大利人。我以为他们是意大利人。
”
44
could
they
be
Italian?
They
said
they
were
from
the
planet
Venus.
I
heard
them.
They said
so.
“他们
怎么会是意大利人呢？他们说他们是从金星来的。我听见的。他们是这么说
的。
”
45
“金星。
”他的眼睛瞪得越发圆了。
46
water on
it.
“他们
是这么说的。他们把它叫做水乡什么的。要知道，金星上多的是水。
”
< br>
47
But you see, it was just an
error, a stupid error, the kind anyone could make.
Only now
Earth is never going to have
another Venusian visit us. That dope, Cameron, and
his income tax!
所以你瞧，这仅仅是个错误，
一个愚
蠢的错误，那种人人都可能犯的错误。
只是从今
往后地球上再也
不会有任何金星人来访了。卡默伦这个笨蛋，还有他那该死的税单！
48
Because he whispered,
meant
Venice!
只听他嘀咕道：
“金星！他们说水乡的时候，我还以为他们指的是威
尼斯呢！
”
Is there life on other planets? Not on
those surrounding our sun, it seems. But what of
other
stars?
Do
they
have
planets
capable
of
supporting
life?
This
article
sets
out
to
explore
the
possibilities.
其他行
星上是否有生命存在？太阳周围的那些行星上似乎没有。
但在其他星系呢？它
们是否拥有能维持生命的行星？本文试图探索这种可能性。
Is
There Life on Planets Circling Other Stars?
Isaac Asimov
1
There is probably no life of our type
in the solar system outside Earth itself. But is
there life
on planets circling other
stars?
绕其他恒星运行的行星上有生命吗？
伊萨克·阿西莫夫
除了地球，
在太阳系或许没有类似我
们这样的生命的存在。
可是，
环绕其他恒星运行
的星球上有生命吗？
2
Before we can really try to answer
that, we have to ask if there are planets circling
other
stars. Over five hundred years
ago, Nicholas of Cusa took it for granted that
there were. Modern
astronomers think he
is likely to have been right, for if our solar
system was formed from a cloud
of dust
and gas that automatically formed planets, that
should be true of many other stars as well,
and even, perhaps, of nearly all stars.
在试图
回答这个问题之前，
我们得问一下是否有行星环绕其他恒星运行。
五百多年前，
库萨的尼古拉斯想当然地认为是有的。
现代天文
学家认为他很可能是对的，
因为如果我们的
太阳系在由尘埃和气
体组成的云团生成的同时也自动生成了若干行星的话，
那么其它许多恒
< br>星，甚至可能几乎所有恒星，也应该如此。
3
But
that
is
risky
reasoning.
It
would
be
much
better
if
one
star,
aside
from
our
own
sun,
were
actually
found
to
have
a
planetary
system.
Unfortunately,
even
with
our
present-day
instruments, we
can't see any planets circling other stars. Such a
planet would be 4.4 light-years
away,
even if it were circling the very nearest star,
and it would be shining only by the reflected
light of that star, so that it would
not deliver enough light to be seen at that
distance. There is an
answer,
however.
Sirius
B
was
discovered
by
Bessel
because
its
gravitational
pull
was
forcing
Sirius A to move in a wavy line, not
because it was seen through a telescope. Might a
planet, or
group of planets, do the
same for the stars they circle?
但这只是大胆的推理。
如果能在太阳系以外真的发现一颗有行星系统的恒星，
那这一
推理就有根据多了。
很遗憾，
即使借助于当今的先进
仪器，
我们还是没法看到任何行星环绕
其他恒星运行。哪怕环绕
着距离我们最近的恒星运行，这种行星也将会远在
4.4
光年以
外，
而且由于行星仅仅依靠恒星的反射而发光，因此它发出的光在如此之远处是不可能被
看见
的。不过，答案还是有的。贝塞尔发现天狼
B
星不是通过望远镜看见的，而是由于其引力
作用使得天狼
A
星呈波浪形运行。会不会有一颗行星，或一组行星，对它们所环行的恒星
产生同样的作用呢？
4
In
theory, yes, though the effect would be extremely
small. (1) The best chance for detecting
a planet outside our solar system is to
choose a star that is very close to us so that we
can measure
any deviation from its path
most accurately. It should also be small, so that
a planet could affect its
motion
sufficiently, and the planet itself would have to
be very large to produce a sizable effect.
这在理
论上是成立的，
尽管其作用将是极其微小的。
探测太阳系外行星
最有可能的机
会是选择一颗离我们相当近的恒星，这样我们就能非常精确地测量其运行轨
道的任何偏离。
这颗恒星要小，
这样行星就能明显地影响其运行
，
而那颗行星一定要相当之大，
足以对其产
生相当的影响。
5
The
Dutch-American astronomer Peter Van de Kamp
investigated nearby small stars for just
that purpose. He felt that he had
detected tiny irregularities in the motion of
nearby stars such as
61
Cygni,
Lalande
21185,
and,
in
particular,
Barnard's
Star.
In
addition
to
being
very
near
us,
Barnard's
Star
is
quite
small
and
Van
de
Kamp
thought
that
from
its
motion
he
had
detected
a
Jupiter-sized planet circling it. He
found similar large planets in connection with the
other stars he
studied.
But
his
work
was
at
the
very
edge
of
what
his
instruments
could
detect,
and
later
astronomers since have
decided that his results were not reliable.
荷兰裔美国天文学家彼
得·
范德肯普为此观测了附近的小恒星。
他认为自
己观测到了附近恒星运行的细微的异常之
处，
如天鹅座
61
，
拉兰德
2118
5
，
尤其是巴纳德恒星。
巴纳德恒星不
仅与地球距离相当接近，
而且比较小。
彼得·
< br>范德肯普认为，
他在该恒星的运行过程中发现有一颗与木星一样大小的
行星环绕其运行。
他发现同样大小的行星与他所研究的其他恒星也有这种联
系。
但他的研究
超出了他的器材所能观测的范围，后来的天文学
家认定，他的研究结果并不可靠。
6
On
the
other
hand,
in
the
last
couple
of
years
some
bright
stars
have
been
found
to
be
surrounded by bands of
dust. It is hard to avoid thinking these might be
asteroid belts, and where
asteroids
exist, larger planets ought to exist, too.
Nevertheless, we still have not actually observed
any planets circling other stars, and
must be satisfied with reasoning they are very
likely to exist
just the same.
在另一
方面，近年来发现有一些光线强烈的恒星为尘埃团所环绕。人们不禁要猜测，
这些尘埃团
可能是小行星带，而小行星带存在之处，也应该有较大的行星存在。然而，
我们
尚未能真正观测到任何环绕其他恒星运行的行星，只能推测它们是有可能存在的。
7
If,
however, there are planets circling most stars,
what does that tell us about the possibility
of life on those planets?
然而，
即
使大多数恒星都有行星环绕运行，
这与行星上是否可能存在生命又有什么联
系呢？
8
Life
certainly
can't
exist
on
any
world
that
is
part
of
another
planetary
system,
just
as
it
cannot exist on any world
in our own planetary system. The planet has to be
suitable for life.
生命当然不会在别的行星系的任何一个星球上存在，
正如生命并不存在于我们的行星
系中的任何一颗星球上一样。有生命存在
的行星必须拥有适合生命存在的条件。
9
For one thing, a planet
would have to have a reasonably stable orbit. (2)
If it had an erratic
orbit, there might
be times when its temperature would rise above the
boiling point of water or, at
other
times, drop below Antarctic temperatures, and
there would not be much chance of finding
life
as
we
know
it.
What's
more,
a
planet
would
have
to
be
massive
enough
to
hold
on
to
an
atmosphere
and an ocean, but not so massive that it collected
hydrogen and helium.
首先，
这样的行星要有相对固定的运
行轨道。
如果运行轨道不定，
很可能行星的温度
时而会高于水的沸点，时而又会低于南极气温，那样就不太有可能找到我们所熟悉的生命。
还有，
这样的行星必须具有相当规模，
足以保持住大
气层以及大片水面，
但又不能过于巨大，
不然会积聚氢气和氦气
。
10
(3)
But
even
assuming
that
a
planet
is
the
right
size
and
has
the
proper
chemical
composition and a
stable orbit neither too far from its star nor too
close, so that its temperature is
at
all times in the range of liquid water (as is true
of Earth except for the polar regions), a great
deal
would
still
depend
on
the
kind
of
star
it
was
revolving
about.
Stars
that
are
much
more
massive than the sun, for instance,
would not be very apt to have such planets; their
lives on the
main sequence are too
short. After all, here on Earth, organisms as
advanced as primitive shellfish
did not
appear until life had existed on the planet for 3
billion years. If that is the normal rate of
evolution, then a planet circling a
star such as Sirius could never have life advanced
beyond the
simplest form of bacterial
life, for after a mere half-billion years, Sirius
would become a red giant
and destroy
the planet.
但是即使假定有一颗行星，它的大小正好，
化学成分适宜，
运行轨道稳定，
与恒星的
距离既不太远也不太近
，
气温始终保持在液态水温的范围之内
（正如地球上极地以外地
区的
温度一样）
，
那儿是否存在生命，
在很大程度上仍得取决于它所围绕运转的是什么样的恒星。
例如
，
远比太阳巨大的恒星不太可能拥有这类行星；
在主星序中它们
的生命过于短暂。
在我
们的地球上，
即
便像原始壳类动物这样的生物也直到生命在地球上出现了
30
亿年后才刚刚
进化而成。
如果这是正常的进化速度，
那么一颗环绕着像天狼星这样的恒星运行的行星顶多
只能进化到像细菌这样
的最简单的生命体，
因为只需
5
亿年时
间，
天狼星就会成为一颗红巨
星将该行星毁灭。
11
Furthermore, if a star is very small
and dim, a planet must be very close to it to get
enough
light and heat to support life
as we know it. But at that close distance, tidal
effects would cause the
planet to face
only one side to the sun, so that half the planet
would be too hot and half too cold.
再者，如果一颗恒星又小又暗，行
星要获得足够的光和热以维持我们所熟悉的生命，
就必须与该恒星靠得相当近。
但距离过近，
潮汐作用就会导致其一面朝向恒星，
这样该行星
的一半球体会过于炎热，另一半则太冷。
12
In
other words, we need stars about the size of our
sun.
换言之，我们需要大小接近于我们的太阳的恒星。
13
Then
again,
such
stars
cannot
be
part
of
close
binaries
or
in
other
regions
where
there
would
be too much energetic radiation from surrounding
stars. Suppose we decide that only one
out of three hundred stars has a chance
of possessing a planet that would be hospitable to
our kind
of life, and only one out of
three hundred of such stars has a planet of the
right size, chemical
composition,
and
temperature
to
actually
support
life.
That
might
still
mean
the
existence
of
millions of life-bearing planets
scattered among the stars.
可是，
这类恒星还不能是相邻的双星
中的一颗，
也不能处于周围恒星能量辐射活动过
于强烈的区域。
我们不妨假定，
300
颗恒星中只有一颗有可能拥有适宜于类似
地球生命的行
星，
300
颗这类恒星中
只有一颗星大小合适，有着适宜的化学构成与温度以真正维持生命。
那仍可能意味着星际
间散布着数百万颗蕴含生命的行星。
14
However, what are the chances that on
one of these planets intelligent life has
developed,
capable of developing a
technology like ours?
可是，
在这些行星当中，
出现具有智慧的生命，
能够发展类似于地球的科技文明的可
能性又有多大？
15
There are no optimistic answers to that
question. After all, Earth had to exist for 4.6
billion
years before a life form
appeared that was capable of developing
technology.
对这一问题没有乐观的回答。应该记住，地球在形成了
46
亿年之后方出现了能发展
科技的生命体。
16
Even
if
the
chances
of
its
happening
are
small,
it
might
still
be
that
thousands
of
technologies have developed among the
stars, but then there's a still more difficult
question: How
long would such
technologies endure?
即使这一情形发生的可能性很小，
星
际间仍可能已经出现了成千上万种科技文明，
但
这就引发了一个
更难以回答的问题：这些科技文明会持续多久？
17
Intelligent beings, as they learn to
dispose of great sources of energy, might use them
for
self-destructive purposes.
Certainly, now that mankind has developed advanced
technologies, we
have begun to use them
in ruinous wars and are in the process of
destroying our environment with
them.
If
this
is
typical,
then
the
universe
might
be
full of
life-bearing
planets
that
have
not
yet
achieved
a
technology,
and
equally
full
of
others
that
have
already
achieved
an
advanced
technology
and
have
destroyed
themselves.
There
would
be
only
a
very,
very
few
besides
ourselves who had achieved the
technology and had not yet had time to destroy
themselves.
具有智慧的生命在学会大量运用能源之后，
或许会把能源用于自毁目
的。
的确，
人类
在发展了先进的科技之
后，
已经开始将其用于毁灭性的战争，
我们也正在运用这些技术
破坏
自己的生存环境。
如果这一情形具有典型性，
那么宇宙之中既可能充满了无数尚未发展科技
文明的有生命的行星，同样也可
能有着许多业已拥有先进科技、并已自我毁灭的其他行星。
除了地球之外，有为数极少的
行星可能也已经发展了科技，但还没来得及将自身摧毁。
18
In about 1950, the Italian-American
physicist Enrico Fermi asked the question: Where
are
they? What he meant was, if the
stars are rich in technologies, why hasn't some
alien life form
reached us? (4) (We
can't count wild tales of flying saucers and
ancient astronauts, because the
evidence in their favor is extremely
weak.)
大约在
1950
年，意大利裔美国物理学家
安里克·费米问道：它们在何方？他的意思
是，
如果星际间充满
了科技文明，
何以没有外星人前来造访？
（我们不能把那些有关
飞碟和
古代太空人的荒诞传说当真，因为能对此加以证实的证据微乎其微。
）
19
Perhaps aliens have not appeared
because the distances between the stars is too
great to
cross, or they have reached us
and decided to let us develop in peace, or have
failed to appear for
any number of
other reasons. We can't be sure that simply
because no alien is here, there are no
aliens somewhere out there.
也许外星人尚未现身是由于星际间
距离太遥远，
或是他们曾经造访并决定任由人类自
行发展，或是
由于种种其他原因未能前来。我们不能仅仅因为外星人没有在我们这里出现，
便断言他处
并无外星人。
unit 5 Writing
Three Thank-You Letters
Alex Haley
served in the Coast Guard during World War ll. On
an especially lonely day to
be at sea
-- Thanksgiving Day -- he began to give serious
thought to a holiday that has become, for
many Americans, a day of overeating and
watching endless games of football. Haley decided
to
celebrate the true meaning of
Thanksgiving by writing three very special
letters.
亚历克斯·
黑利二战时在海岸警卫队服役。
出海在外，
时逢一个倍感孤寂的日子――
感恩节，
他开始认真思考起这一节日的意义。
对许多美国人而言，
这个节日已成为大吃大喝、
没完没了地看橄榄球比赛的日子。
黑利决定写三封不同寻常的信，
以此来纪念感恩节的真正
意义
。
Writing Three Thank-You Letters
Alex Haley
1
It was 1943, during World War II, and I
was a young U. S. coastguardsman. My ship, the
USS
Murzim,
had
been
under
way
for
several
days.
Most
of
her
holds
contained
thousands
of
cartons
of
canned
or
dried
foods. The
other
holds
were
loaded
with
five-
hundred-pound
bombs
packed
delicately in padded racks. Our destination was a
big base on the island of Tulagi in the
South Pacific.
写三封感谢信
亚利克斯·黑利
那是在二战期间的
1943
年，我是个年轻的美国海岸警卫队队员。我们的船，美国军
舰军市一号已
出海多日。
多数船舱装着成千上万箱罐装或风干的食品。
其余的
船舱装着不少
五百磅重的炸弹，
都小心翼翼地放在垫过的架子上
。
我们的目的地是南太平洋图拉吉岛上一
个规模很大的基地。<
/p>
2
I
was
one
of
the
Murzim's
several
cooks
and,
quite
the
same
as
for
folk
ashore,
this
Thanksgiving morning had seen us busily
preparing a traditional dinner featuring roast
turkey.
我是军市一号上的一个厨师，
跟岸上的人一样，
那个感恩节的上午，
我们忙着在准备
一道以烤火鸡为主的传
统菜肴。
3
Well, as any
cook knows, it's a lot of hard work to cook and
serve a big meal, and clean up
and put
everything away. But finally, around sundown, we
finished at last.
当厨师的都知道，要烹制一顿大餐，摆上桌，再刷洗、收拾干
净，是件辛苦的事。不
过，等到太阳快下山时，我们总算全都收拾停当了。
4
I
decided first to go out on the Murzim's afterdeck
for a breath of open air. I made my way
out there, breathing in great, deep
draughts while walking slowly about, still wearing
my white
cook's hat.
我想先去后甲板透透气。
我信步走去，
一边深深呼吸着空气，一边慢慢地踱着步，头
上仍戴着那顶白色的厨师帽。
5
I got to thinking about
Thanksgiving, of the Pilgrims, Indians, wild
turkeys, pumpkins, corn
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
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