Unit7TheJoyofTravel新编大学英语第二版第三册课文翻译.docx

1、Unit7TheJoyofTravel新编大学英语第二版第三册课文翻译Unit-7-The-Joy-of-Travel新编大学英语第二版第三册课文翻译Unit 7 The Joy of TravelTransformative TravelTwenty-five years ago I felt like a wreck. Although I was just 23, my life already seemed over. The future appeared as much like a wasteland as the emptiness I could see while look

2、ing back to the past. I felt lost, without choices, without hope. I was stuck in a job I hated and trapped in an engagement with a woman I didnt love. At the time, both commitments seemed like a good idea, but I suppose it was the fantasy of being a successful, married businessman that appealed to m

3、e far more than the reality. I decided to take a class just for the entertainment value. It happened to be an introductory counseling course, one that involved personal sharing in the group. We were challenged to make commitments publicly about things we would like to change in our lives, and in a m

4、oment of pure impulsiveness, I declared that by the next class meeting I was going to quit my job and end my engagement. A few days later I found myself unemployed and unattached, excited by the freedom, yet terrified about what to do next. I needed some kind of transition from my old life to a new

5、one, a sort of ritual that would help me to transform myself from one person into another. So I did something just as impulsive as my previous actions: I booked a trip for a week in Aruba. In spite of what others might have thought, I was not running away from something but to something. I wanted a

6、clean break, and I knew I needed to get away from my usual environment and influences so as to think clearly about where I was headed. Once settled into my room on the little island of Aruba, I began my process of self-change. I really could have been anywhere as long as nobody could reach me by pho

7、ne and I had the peace and quiet to think about what I wanted to do. I spent the mornings going for long walks on the beach, the afternoons sitting under my favorite tree, reading books and listening to tapes. Probably most important of all, I forced myself to get out of my room and go to meet peopl

8、e. Ordinarily shy, I now decided that I was someone who was perfectly capable of having a conversation with anyone I chose. Since nobody knew the real me, the way I had always been, I felt free to be completely different. It took me almost a year to pay off that trip, but I am convinced that my sing

9、le week in Aruba was worth three years in therapy. That trip started a number of processes that helped me to transform myself. This is how I did it: I created a mindset that made me ready for change. I expected that big things were on the horizon, that a trip such as this could change my life. I bel

10、ieved with all my heart that I could change, if only I could find a quiet place to sort things out and experiment with new ways of thinking and acting. I insulated myself from the usual influences in my life and the people whose approval was most important. One of the reasons that therapy often take

11、s so long is that, once you leave the safety and support of a session, you reenter the world where familiar people elicit the familiar reactions. By separating myself from others approval and influences, I was able to think more clearly about what I really wanted. I structured my time in order to pr

12、oduce change and growth. Solitude, isolation, or new environments in themselves are not enough; you must also complete tasks that are relaxing and educational. The most important part of any therapy is not what you understand or what you talk about, but what you do. Insight without action is enterta

13、ining but not always helpful. Instead of reading novels and calling home regularly, I took the time to participate in different activities that would make me change. I pushed myself to experiment with new ways of being. I sampled alternative lifestyles and pretended to be a different person. I acted

14、 in unfamiliar ways just to see how it felt. Whatever I would usually do in various circumstances, I forced myself to do the opposite. This reinforced the idea that anything was possible, that I could do anything I wanted. I made public commitments of what I intended to do so it would be harder to b

15、ack down. There were times when I wanted to avoid doing those things I found most frightening. Until this trip, I had never traveled to a strange place deliberately alone. Whenever I thought about taking safe routes, I imagined that I would soon have to face my classmates and that I would have to ex

16、plain my actions to them. I processed my experiences systematically. I wrote in a journal each day and spoke to people I met about what I was doing and why. When I returned, I talked to several people I trusted about what had taken place. Each of them offered a different perspective that I valued an

17、d found useful in incorporating the experience into my life. I made changes when I returned that continued the transformation that started while I was in Aruba. It is easier to make changes when you are away from home than to maintain the changes after you return. To make sure I didnt slip back into

18、 old patterns, I immediately made new decisions about my work and my relationships that kept me moving forward. I decided that much of my future traveling would have some transformative dimension to it. Although it is possible to make extraordinary progress in a single week, transformative change ta

19、kes place over a lifetime. I promised myself that I would make other trips from time to time in order to continue my growth. 新生之旅25年前我感觉自己成了废物。尽管那时我只有23岁，但我的生活似乎到了尽头。我的未来看起来好似荒漠，就像回顾过去时，看到的是一片空虚。我感到迷茫，毫无选择余地，毫无希望可言。我当时被困在两件事中：做着一份我憎恨的工作，并与一个我并不爱的女人订有婚约。当初，两个承诺都好像是不错的主意，但是我想吸引我的只是成为一个成功的已婚商人的幻想，而远非现实

20、。我决定进修一门课程，仅仅为了好玩而已。这刚好是一门咨询入门课程，需要个人参与到集体中去。（这门课程）要求我们对生活中要进行的变动做出公开承诺。出于一时冲动，我宣布在下次上课之前，我会辞去工作并解除婚约。几天后，我失业了，也解除了婚约，为获得的自由而兴奋，但又因为不知道下一步做什么而惶恐。我需要某种从旧生活到新生活的转变，一种有助于我从一种人转型为另一种人的（必不可少的）程序。于是我做了一件与我前面的行为同样冲动的事情：我预定了到阿鲁巴岛为期一周的旅行。不管别人会有什么样的想法，但是我并不是在逃避现实，而是在追求未来。我想有一个彻底的决裂，而且我知道我需要离开自己熟悉的环境，摆脱原来的影响，以

21、便考虑清楚自己将何去何从。在阿鲁巴小岛上的房间里一安顿下来，我就开始了自我改变的进程。其实只要没人能打电话找到我没让我能平静安宁地思考我想做的事，我到哪里去都可以。上午我在海滩上长时间地散步，下午则坐在我喜爱的树下看书，听录音磁带。最重要的也许是我强迫自己走出房间去与别人交往。平常我很腼腆，但这时我确信自己是一个完全能和任何人交谈的人。因为没人了解“真实的”我，知道我过去的样子，所以，我感到自己可以自由自在，一改常态。我用了将近一年的时间才付清那趟旅行的费用，但是我相信在阿鲁巴岛上仅仅一周的效果就相当于三年的治疗。那次旅行启动了一系列有助于自我转变的过程。以下是我具体的做法：我让自己在精神状态

22、上做好了转变的准备。我期待重大的事情将会来临，期待这样的旅行会改变我的生活。我真心实意地相信我会转变，只要我能找一个安静的地方来理清头绪，来尝试新的思维和行事方法。我使自己摆脱了那些常常对我生活会用影响的事，远离那些非要得到其首肯的人。治疗之所以往往需要很长的时间，原因之一是，一旦给予你安全感和帮助的一个疗程结束后，你重新又回到了原来的世界，那儿你的熟人会诱使你重蹈覆辙。通过把自己置身于别人的肯定和影响之外，我能对自己真正想要的东西有更加清楚的认识。我把时间安排好，以便使自己开始转变并取得进展。仅仅依靠独居、隔绝或者全新的环境是不够的；你还必须完成那些轻松而又能使自己受教育的任务。任何一种疗法

23、的关键不在于你领悟到什么或谈论了什么，而在于你做了什么。未付诸行动的认识固然可喜，但往往无助于事。我没有把时间花在看小说和定期给家里打电话上面，而是花在能促使我自己转变的种种活动之中。我敦促自己尝试新的生存方式。我体验不同的生活方式，佯装自己是另一个人。我采用有别于从前的行为方式来体验自己的感受。同时，在各种情况下，不管我通常会怎样做，我总是迫使自己反其道而行之。这进一步坚定了我的想法：世上无难事，只要我想要做的事，我都能够做到。我就自己想做的事情做公开的承诺，这样我就没有退缩的余地了。对于那些让我非常害怕的事情，我有过想回避不干的念头。在这次旅行之前，我从没有特地一个人外出旅行过。每当我想走

24、保险棋的时候，我就会想到马上不能不面对我的同学，要对自己的行为做出解释。我系统地分析我的经历。我每天写日记，并且告诉我遇到的人自己正在做什么以及为什么这样做。旅行归来之后，我和几个我信任的人谈论所发生的事情。他们中的每个人都有独到的见解，这些见解都弥足珍贵，而且我发现他们的见解有助于我把这种经历融入到我生活中去。我回来后做了一些改变，使我能够把在阿鲁巴岛上开始的自我改造继续下去。当你离家在外时做些改变比较容易，而回来后要保持这些变化就难了。为了保证自己不重新回到老路上去，回来后我马上对自己的工作和与他人的关系做出了新的决定，这些决定会继续推动我前进。我决定我将来的很多旅行将会具有自我改造的意义

25、。尽管在短短的一星期之内也可能取得惊人的进展，但是自我改造的过程将贯穿于一生之中。我向自己保证我将不时地去旅行，以便不断地取得进步。The Romance of Train TravelIf there is one main characteristic of the modern world that makes our lives different from our grandparents, it is probably speed. We are always on the move, and we dont have much patience with slow systems

26、 of transportation. We want to get there, and we want to do it fast! Carmakers, airline owners, and the planners of mass transit systems all share a common goal. They are all trying to provide us with faster and faster ways to reach our destinations. Nevertheless, many of us actually want to slow do

27、wn. Although we complain when our plane isnt on schedule or when we have to wait in a traffic jam, we also complain about always being in a hurry. Every once in a while, we hear the sound of a train whistleclear and high in the night airand we feel sad. There is a strong sense of nostalgia for other

28、 places and other times, when life was slower and, perhaps, better. Why does a train whistle bring on a feeling of nostalgia Perhaps its because many of us remember a favorite novel or movie that took place on a train, and the story told of danger and excitement. Theres a sense of romance about a tr

29、ain that simply doesnt exist on a modern jet plane. Several railroad companies are taking advantage of the nostalgia for train travel: They are offering unique tours for travelers who arent in a hurry and who enjoy the romance of the past. For almost a hundred years, the famous Orient Express carrie

30、d royalty, the rich, spies, and dangerous international criminals. It was the scene of mystery, crime, and often history. But after World War II, when air travel became popular, it never got back its old sense of romance, and it finally went out of business in 1977. Soon after that, however, an Amer

31、ican businessman began to buy the old Orient Express cars and fix them up. He restored the train to its former condition, and since 1982, the train has run twice a week from London to Venice and back. Although the twenty-four-hour trip doesnt offer the danger and excitementthe adventureof the past,

32、it offers luxury: rich dark wood, fresh flowers, champagne, very special food, and live entertainment in a bar car with a piano. Another famous excursion by train is the Trans-Siberian Special, which makes just three trips each summer from Mongolia to Moscow. As passengers board the train at the beginning of their trip, they toast one another with Russian vodka at a welcoming party. For the next week they cross the former Soviet Union with occasional stops for sightseeing in big cities and small villages. In addition, there is a bonus on this trip; this extra advantage is a daily lecture on b