名篇赏析 5-8

03 Equality and greatness

平等与伟大

Between

persons

of

equal

income

there

is

no

social

distinction

except

the

distinction

of

merit.

Money

is

nothing:

character,

conduct,

and

capacity

are

everything.

Instead

of

all

the

workers

being

leveled

down

to

low

wage

standards

and

all

the

rich

leveled

up

to

fashionable

income

standards,

everybody

under

a

system

of

equal

incomes

would

find her or his own natural level. There would be great people and ordinary people

and little people, but the great would always be those who had done great things,

and never the idiot whose mothers had spoiled them and whose fathers had left a

hundred thousand a year; and the little would be persons of small minds and mean

characters,

and

not

poor

persons

who

had

never

had

a

chance.

That

is

why

idiots

are

always in favour of inequality of income (their only chance of eminence), and the

really great in favour of equality.

By George Bernard Shaw

?

注释

distinction[di s

?

ti

?

k

??

n]

:

the

condition

or

fact

of

being

dissimilar

or

distinct;

difference

区别，差别

merit[

?

merit]:

功绩，荣誉，价值

eminence [

?

emin

?

ns]

:

a position of great distinction or superiority

卓越

?

作者简介

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was an Irish-born playwright, pamphleteer and

music

and

theater

critic.

Shaw

was

a

ruthless

social

critic

and

irreverent

toward

institutions. By forging a drama that combined moral passion and intellectual

conflict

and

experimenting

with

symbolic

farce,

Shaw

helped

to

reshape

the

stage

of his time and to mold the thought of his own and later generations. His play

The Devil

’

s Disciple

became a success in the United States, and Shaw

’

s next

work,

Man and Superman

(1903) helped establish Shaw

’

s reputation in London.

Among the plays that followed was

Saint Joan

(1923), for which Shaw received

the 1925 Nobel Prize in literature.

萧伯纳，英国戏剧家，

1856

年

7

月

26

日生于

爱尔兰都柏林。

1885

年萧伯纳开始戏剧创作。

到

1949

年为止，

共完成剧本

51

部。

1925

年获得诺贝尔文学奖。

5 American dream

美国梦

美国梦是一个被众多美国人普 遍信仰的信念，

即通过努力的工作，

非凡的勇气与意志力，

每

个人都可以致富，实现自己的梦想。

机会 均等是美国梦的灵魂。聪明、

勤奋与坚忍不拔是实

现美国梦的必 要条件。

To

Americans,

industriousness,

thrift

and

ambition

are

positive

values.

We

encourage

our

children

to

be

competitive,

to

get

ahead,

to

make

money,

to

acquire

possession.

In

games

and

in

business

alike,

the

aim

is

to

win

the

game,

the

trophy,

the

contract.

We

go

in

for

labor- saving

devices,

gadgets,

speed

and

shortcuts.

We

think

every

young

couple

should

set

up

a

home

of

their

own.

And

we

pity

the

couple

who

must

share

their

home with their parent, let alone with other relatives. Actually, of course, not

all Americans hold all these values. And those who do may hold other, and at times

contradictory,

values

that

affect

their

ways

of

behaving.

In

the

main,

however,

the

collective expectation of our society is that these are desirable goals, and the

individual, whatever his personal inclination, is under considerable pressure to

conform.

By Corinne Brown

?

注释

< /p>

positive[

?

p

?

z

?

tiv]

:

积极的，却有助益的

gadget[

?

g

?

d

?

it]

:

小器具，小配件

conform[k

?

n

?

f

?

:m]

:

一致，符合

?

作者简介

Corinne

Brown

has

her

master

degree

in

history.

The

author

of

children

’

s

books

is

also

a

poet

and

playwright.

Her

stories

demonstrate

that

children

from

diverse

backgrounds

can

choose

to

get

along

even

when

adults

are

hostile

to

each

other.

Brown is the author of

Let

’

s Keep This Secret

.

科林娜

.

布朗，儿童作家、诗人及剧作家。

对 美国人而言，

刻苦努力、勤俭节约、胸怀大志都是积极向上的美德。

我们鼓励子女敢于竞

争、力争上游、自谋营生、积累财富。在比赛中，在商务往来中 ，目标就是要赢得比赛，获

得奖品，签订合约。我们孜孜不倦地追求省力的工具、灵巧的 装置，提高速度，寻求捷径。

我们认为每对年轻夫妇都应该有属于自己的家，