新世纪大学英语读写第一册课文翻译.docx

1、新世纪大学英语读写第一册课文翻译When we are writing we are often told to keep our readers in mind, to shape what we say to fit their tastes and interests. But there is one reader in particular who should not be forgotten. Can you guess who? Russell Baker surprised himself and everyone else when he discovered the an

2、swer.咱们写作时常常被警告，头脑里要有读者，笔者所云必然要符合读者的口味和兴趣。但有一名读者特别不该忘记。你能猜出是谁吗？当拉塞尔贝克找到这个问题的答案时，他自己和他人都感到大为惊讶。Writing for MyselfRussell Baker1 The idea of becoming a writer had come to me off and on since my childhood in Belleville, but it wasnt until my third year in high school that the possibility took hold. Unt

3、il then Ive been bored by everything associated with English courses. I found English grammar dull and difficult. I hated the assignments to turn out long, lifeless paragraphs that were agony for teachers to read and for me to write.为自己而写拉塞尔贝克从孩提时期，我还住在贝尔维尔时，我的头脑里就断断续续地转着看成家的念头，但直等到我高中三年级，这一想法才有了实现的

4、可能。在这之前，我对所有跟英文课沾边的事都感到腻味。我感觉英文语法枯燥难懂。我痛恨那些长而乏味的段落写作，老师读着受累，我写着痛苦。2 When our class was assigned to Mr. Fleagle for third-year English I anticipated another cheerless year in that most tedious of subjects. Mr. Fleagle had a reputation among students for dullness and inability to inspire. He was said

5、to be very formal, rigid and hopelessly out of date. To me he looked to be sixty or seventy and excessively wore primly severe eyeglasses, his wavy hair was primly cut and primly combed. He wore prim suits with neckties set primly against the collar buttons of his white shirts. He had a primly point

6、ed jaw, a primly straight nose, and a prim manner of speaking that was so correct, so gentlemanly, that he seemed a comic antique.弗利格尔先生接咱们的高三英文课时，我就准备着在这门最最单调乏味的课上再熬上沉闷的一年。弗利格尔先生在学生中以其说话干巴和鼓励学生无术而出名。听说他拘谨刻板，完全掉队于时期。我看他有六七十岁了，古板之极。他戴着古板的毫无装饰的眼镜，微微卷曲的头发剪得笔齐，梳得纹丝不乱。他身穿古板的套装，领带端端正正地顶着白衬衣的领扣。他长着古板的尖下巴，古

7、板的直鼻梁，提及话来一本正经，字斟句酌，彬彬有礼，活脱脱一个滑稽的老古玩。3 I prepared for an unfruitful year with Mr. Fleagle and for a long time was not disappointed. Late in the year we tackled the informal essay. Mr. Fleagle distributed a homework sheet offering us a choice of topics. None was quite so simple-minded as What I Did o

8、n My Summer Vacation, but most seemed to be almost as dull. I took the list home and did nothing until the night before the essay was due. Lying on the sofa, I finally faced up to the unwelcome task, took the list out of my notebook, and scanned it. The topic on which my eye stopped was The Art of E

9、ating Spaghetti.我作好准备，打算在弗利格尔先生的班上一无所得地混上一年，很多日子过去了，还真不出所料。后半学期咱们学写随笔小品文。弗利格尔先生发下一张家庭作业纸，出了很多题目供咱们选择。像暑假二三事那样傻乎乎的题目却是一个也没有，但绝大多数一样乏味。我把作文题带回家，一直没写，直到要交作业的前一天晚上。我躺在沙发上，最终不能不面对这一讨厌的作业，便从笔记本里抽出作文题目单粗粗一看。我的目光落在吃意大利细面条的艺术这个题目上。4 This title produced an extraordinary sequence of mental images. Vivid memori

10、es came flooding back of a night in Belleville when all of us were seated around the supper table - Uncle Allen, my mother, Uncle Charlie, Doris, Uncle Hal - and Aunt Pat served spaghetti for supper. Spaghetti was still a little known foreign dish in those days. Neither Doris nor I had ever eaten sp

11、aghetti, and none of the adults had enough experience to be good at it. All the good humor of Uncle Allens house reawoke in my mind as I recalled the laughing arguments we had that night about the socially respectable method for moving spaghetti from plate to mouth.这个题目在我脑海里唤起了连续串不同寻常的图像。贝尔维尔之夜的清楚的回

12、忆如潮水一般涌来，那时，咱们大家一路围坐在晚餐桌旁艾伦舅舅、我母亲、查理舅舅、多丽丝、哈尔舅舅帕特舅妈晚餐做的是意大利细面条。那时意大利细面条仍是很少听说的异国食物。多丽丝和我都还从来没吃过，在座的大人也是经验不足，没有一个吃起来驾轻就熟的。艾伦舅舅家诙谐有趣的场景全都重此刻我的脑海中，我回忆起来，当晚咱们笑作一团，争辩着该如何地把面条从盘子上送到嘴里才算合乎礼仪。5 Suddenly I wanted to write about that, about the warmth and good feeling of it, but I wanted to put it down simply

13、 for my own joy, not for Mr. Fleagle. It was a moment I wanted to recapture and hold for myself. I wanted to relive the pleasure of that evening. To write it as I wanted, however, would violate all the rules of formal composition Id learned in school, and Mr. Fleagle would surely give it a failing g

14、rade. Never mind. I would write something else for Mr. Fleagle after I had written this thing for myself.突然我就想描述那一切，描述那时那种温馨美好的气氛，但我把它写下来仅仅是想自得其乐，而不是为弗利格尔先生而写。那是我想从头捕捉并珍藏在心中的一个时刻。我想重温那个夜晚的愉快。但是，照我希望的那样去写，就会违背我在学校里学的正式作文的各种法则，弗利格尔先生也肯定会打它一个不合格。没关系。等我为自己写好了以后，我可以再为弗利格尔先生写点什么别的东西。6 When I finished it t

15、he night was half gone and there was no time left to compose a proper, respectable essay for Mr. Fleagle. There was no choice next morning but to turn in my tale of the Belleville supper. Two days passed before Mr. Fleagle returned the graded papers, and he returned everyones but mine. I was prepari

16、ng myself for a command to report to Mr. Fleagle immediately after school for discipline when I saw him lift my paper from his desk and knock for the classs attention.等我写完时已是半夜时分，再没时间为弗利格尔先生写一篇安分守纪、像模像样的文章了。第二天上午，我别无选择，只好把我为自己而写的贝尔维尔晚餐的故事交了上去。两天后弗利格尔先生发还批悔改的作文，他把他人的都发了，就是没有我的。我正准备着遵命一下学就去弗利格尔先生那儿挨训，

17、却看见他从桌上拿起我的作文，敲了敲桌子让大家注意听。7 Now, boys, he said. I want to read you an essay. This is titled, The Art of Eating Spaghetti.好了，孩子们，他说。我要给你们念一篇小品文。文章的题目是：吃意大利细面条的艺术。8 And he started to read. My words! He was reading my words out loud to the entire class. Whats more, the entire class was listening. Liste

18、ning attentively. Then somebody laughed, then the entire class was laughing, and not in contempt and ridicule, but with open-hearted enjoyment. Even Mr. Fleagle stopped two or three times to hold back a small prim smile.于是他开始念了。是我写的！他给全班高声念我写的文章。更难以想象的是，全班同窗都在听着他念，而且听得很专心。有人笑作声来，接着全班都笑了，不是轻蔑嘲弄，而是乐乎乎

19、地开怀大笑。就连弗利格尔先生也停顿了两三次，好抑制他那一丝拘谨的微笑。9 I did my best to avoid showing pleasure, but what I was feeling was pure delight at this demonstration that my words had the power to make people laugh. In the eleventh grade, at the eleventh hour as it were, I had discovered a calling. It was the happiest moment

20、 of my entire school career. When Mr. Fleagle finished he put the final seal on my happiness by saying, Now that, boys, is an essay, dont you see. Its - dont you see - its of the very essence of the essay, dont you see. Congratulations, Mr. Baker.我尽力不流露出得意的心情，可是看到我写的文章竟然能使他人大笑，我真是心花怒放。就在十一年级，可谓是最后的时

21、刻，我找到了一个此生想做的事。这是我整个求学生涯中最幸福的一刻。弗利格尔先生念完后说道：瞧，孩子们，这就是小品文，懂了没有。这才是知道吗这才是小品文的精髓，知道了没有。祝贺你，贝克先生。他这番话使我沉浸在十全十美的幸福当中。How do you feel when old friends are far away? Do you make an effort to keep in touch? Sometimes it is easy to put off writing a letter, thinking that there will be plenty of time tomorrow

22、. But then sometimes, as this story shows, we leave it too late. Perhaps reading it will make you want to reach for your pen.老朋友天各一方，你心有何感？你是不是尽力维持联系？有时候写信的事很容易会一拖再拖，总以为明天有的是时间。但是，正如这则故事所表明的，有时咱们拖得太晚了。或许读一读这个故事会让你提起笔来。All the Cabbie Had Was a Letter Foster Furcolo1 He must have been completely lost

23、in something he was reading because I had to tap on the windshield to get his attention.出租车司机拥有的就剩一封信福斯特弗克洛他准是完全沉浸在所读的东西里了，因为我不能不敲挡风玻璃来引发他的注意。2 Is your cab available? I asked when he finally looked up at me. He nodded, then said apologetically as I settled into the back seat, Im sorry, but I was rea

24、ding a letter. He sounded as if he had a cold or something.他总算抬头看我了。“你出车吗？”我问道。他点颔首，当我坐进后座时，他抱歉地说：“对不起，我在读一封信。”听上去他像是得了伤风什么的。3 Im in no hurry, I told him. Go ahead and finish your letter. “我不着急，”我对他说，“你接着把信读完吧。”4 He shook his head. Ive read it several times already. I guess I almost know it by heart

25、.他摇了摇头。“我已经读了好几遍了。我想我都能背出来了。”5 Letters from home always mean a lot, I said. At least they do with me because Im on the road so much. Then, estimating that he was 60 or 70 years old, I guessed: From a child or maybe a grandchild? “家信抵万金啊，”我说。“至少对我来讲是这样，因为我老是在外旅行。”我估量他有六七十岁了，便猜想说：“是孩子仍是孙子写来的？”6 This i

26、snt family, he replied. Although, he went on, come to think of it, it might just as well have been family. Old Ed was my oldest friend. In fact, we used to call each other Old Friend - when wed meet, that is. Im not much of a hand at writing. “不是家里人，”他回答说。“不过，”他接着说，“想起来，也可以算是一家人了。埃德老伙计是我最老的朋友了。实际上，过

27、去我俩老是以老朋友相称的 就是说，当我俩相见时。我这人就是不大会写东西。”7 I dont think any of us keep up our correspondence too well, I said. I know I don I take it hes someone youve known quite a while?“我看大家写信都不那么勤快，”我说，“我自己笔头就很懒。我看，你熟悉他挺久了吧？”8 All my life, practically. We were kids together, so we go way back. “差不多熟悉了一生了。我俩小时候就一路玩，

28、所以我俩的友谊确实很长了。”9 Went to school together? “一路上的学？”10 All the way through high school. We were in the same class, in fact, through both grade and high school. “都一路上到高中呢。事实上，我俩从小学到高中都在一个班里。”11 There are not too many people whove had such a long friendship, I said. “维持这么长久友谊的人可真不多见啊，”我说。12 Actually, the

29、 driver went on, I hadnt seen him more than once or twice a year over the past 25 or 30 years because I moved away from the old neighborhood and you kind of lose touch even though you never forget. He was a great guy. “其实呢，”司机接着说，“近25到30年来，我跟他一年只见一两次面，因为我从原来住的街区搬了出来，联系自然就少了，虽说你一直放在心上。他在的时候可真是个大好人。”1

30、3 You said was. Does that mean -? “你适才说他在的时候。你是说 ？”14 He nodded. Died a couple of weeks ago.他点了颔首。“前几个礼拜过世啦。”15 Im sorry, I said. Its no fun to lose any friend - and losing a real old one is even tougher.“真遗憾，”我说，“失去朋友真不是个滋味，失去个真正的老朋友更让人受不了。”16 He didnt reply to that, and we rode on in silence for a

31、 few minutes. But I realized that Old Ed was still on his mind when he spoke again, almost more to himself than to me: I should have kept in touch. Yes, he repeated, I should have kept in touch.他开着车，没有接话儿。 咱们沉默了几分钟。可我知道他还在想着老埃德。他又开口时，与其说是跟我说话，还不如说是喃喃自语：“我真该一直维持联系。真的，”他重复道，“我真该一直维持联系。”17 well, I agre

32、ed, We should all keep in touch with old friends more than we do. But things come up and we just dont seem to find the time. “是啊，”我表示赞同，“咱们都该与老朋友维持更多的联系。不过老是有事情冒出来，恍如就是抽不出空来。”18 He shrugged. We used to find the time, he said. Thats even mentioned in the letter. He handed it over to me. Take a look.-他耸了耸肩。“咱们过去总能抽出空来，”他说。“信里还提到呢。”他把信递给我，“你看看吧。”19 Thanks, I said, but I dont want to read your mail. Thats pretty personal.