長(zhǎng)篇英語(yǔ)美文帶中文閱讀
近年來(lái)，隨著社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)的迅速發(fā)展，快速獲取信息對(duì)于現(xiàn)代人來(lái)說(shuō)是十分重要的，而獲取信息的最佳途徑之一就是通過(guò)閱讀，英語(yǔ)教學(xué)的主要目的之一就是提高學(xué)生的英語(yǔ)閱讀理解能力。下面是學(xué)習(xí)啦小編帶來(lái)的長(zhǎng)篇英語(yǔ)美文帶中文閱讀，歡迎閱讀!
長(zhǎng)篇英語(yǔ)美文帶中文閱讀篇一
A Hard Day in the Kitchen
廚房里的一場(chǎng)鬧劇
shannon Hodge
香農(nóng)·霍奇
Everything had gone wrong that morning. The chef had arrived late, nursing a hangover, andthe kitchen hadn't been cleaned properly the night before, which put him in a worse mood.
那天早晨，一切事情都不對(duì)勁。廚師來(lái)晚了，昨晚喝多了，還沒(méi)緩和過(guò)來(lái)，同時(shí)，本該及時(shí)收拾干凈的廚房還是一團(tuán)糟，使得他心情更糟。
The boss, having attended the same party, was in a similar state. He was holding his head andtrying to do the accounts at the same time. Enclosed in his little glass-fronted office，Carolinecould see his face growing more puce by the moment. He was just reaching for his first sherry.
同他一起出席聚會(huì)的老板也是一樣，昏昏沉沉的。他用手托著腦袋試圖要結(jié)賬. 卡若琳坐在由玻璃窗圍著的辦公室里，看著他的臉變得更紫了。他在仲手拿第一瓶雪利灑。
Running backwards and forwards between the kitchen and the dining room, Caroline had notime to think for a while.
卡若琳在后廚和前廳之間忙碌著，無(wú)暇思索。
When shefd first managed to get the waitressing job in the restaurant, she was delighted, forshe was at her first year at university and jobs were scarce. She sighed. She'd wondered atthe time at her ease in getting employment. It now appeared that her boss’ reputation hadpreceded him, and no one else had applied. However, she had no time to think of that now. Aportly blue-eyed man was giving her furious looks as he waited for his order. Damn! What wasit again? She had been caught up with the
fussy woman who had been so particular about how her steak was cooked. In fact, theoffending meal had been sent back to the kitchen twice. It was, the woman complained, toowell done---she liked her steak “blue”. Yuk! thought Caroline. Give me a well-done piece ofsteak every time. The man continued to glower at her while he watched the gray-haired lady'santics.
當(dāng)卡若琳首次得到餐廳服務(wù)員工作的時(shí)候，她非常高興，因?yàn)槟菚r(shí)她僅是一名大一學(xué)生，對(duì)于大一的學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)，工作是很難找的。她又嘆了口氣，她在想當(dāng)時(shí)怎 么就那么容易得到這份工作，現(xiàn)在算是明白了，她的老板聲名在外，沒(méi)人來(lái)他這應(yīng)聘.但是，她現(xiàn)在沒(méi)時(shí)間考慮那么多了。一個(gè)胖胖的藍(lán)眼睛的男子正怒視著她好像在抱怨沒(méi)及時(shí)給他點(diǎn)餐。該死，這回又是什么?她又被那個(gè)挑剔的女人糾纏上了，那個(gè)女人對(duì)她烹飪的牛排總是挑三揀四的。事實(shí)上，這份讓客人惱火的菜己經(jīng)反廚兩次了。那個(gè)女人抱怨說(shuō)這牛排太過(guò)火了，她喜歡五分熟的牛排?？ㄈ袅障肭校俏页?，每次我都點(diǎn)熟過(guò)了的牛排。此時(shí)，那個(gè)要點(diǎn)餐的男子一邊看著那灰白發(fā)的女人那古怪樣子，一邊繼續(xù)怒視著卡若琳。
Sweetly Caroline went to him and made sure that his order was right. “I wanted，，， heenunciated in ringing tones, “just a moderate grill, French fries，and a well-done steak.” Heglared dismissively at the woman at the next table “And a green side salad.” “Right，sir，，，she chirped with a cheer she did not feel. “Coming right up.” With that, shehastily retreated to make sure that Joseph the chef had it right this time.
卡若琳笑意盈盈地來(lái)到那個(gè)男子桌前并確認(rèn)一下他點(diǎn)的菜。那個(gè)男子簡(jiǎn)直說(shuō)給我一份五分熟的烤肉，還有法國(guó)炸薯?xiàng)l和一份熟透的牛排他不屑的瞅了那個(gè)女人一眼接著又說(shuō)再加一份蔬菜薩拉” ”好的，先生，”卡若琳輕快的回道馬上就給您上菜隨即，她匆匆跑回廚房讓廚師約瑟夫這次務(wù)必做好。
Yes, thank goodness it was ready. Caroline thought the side salad of lettuce with tomato,several slices of hard-boiled egg, cucumber and dressing looked very attractive.
謝天謝地，終于做好了。卡若琳想，這份用西紅柿，幾片煮雞蛋，黃瓜和調(diào)料搭做出來(lái)的蔬菜薩拉實(shí)在是太誘人了。
In her haste, she did not see the young man at a comer table casting her sympathetic glancesas he waited patiently. Tall and about 25 with tousled black hair and an impish grin, he waswatching “the circus” as he mentally dubbed it.
匆忙中，她沒(méi)注意到坐在角落的那個(gè)男子在耐心等待的同時(shí)向她投來(lái)同情的眼光。他個(gè)頭挺高，大概25歲左右，一頭蓬亂的黑發(fā)，一臉頑皮樣，他一直注視著這出“雜耍式的服務(wù)”，并暗自給他所見(jiàn)的一切起了個(gè)綽號(hào)。
He could see the pretty young waitress getting more and more frustrated. Poor girl, she lookedat the end of her tether. He wondered what he could do to give her a hand and pour oil ontroubled waters.
他看到那個(gè)漂亮的年輕女服務(wù)員越來(lái)越沮喪了。“可憐的女孩，她看來(lái)已到了走投無(wú)路的感覺(jué)了。”他在想能做些什么來(lái)幫助這個(gè)女孩。
But all was not over. The man, Henry Savage, had finished his grill with much enjoyment andnow turned to his salad. He poised with his knife and fork in mid-air, his expression a study. Agreen caterpillar was slowly crawling out from under the lettuce. It was large, fat, andapparently well-fed. It paused in its travels to survey the scene. Purple with fury, Henry couldbarely find his voice.
但是事還沒(méi)有完 。那位男子，亨利?薩維奇享受地吃完了烤肉，又轉(zhuǎn)向他的色拉。忽然，他舉起刀和叉停在了半空中，帶著一種研究的表情看著它。一條綠色蠕蟲(chóng)正慢慢地從生菜下面爬出來(lái)。它很大，很肥，顯然在里面吃得很好。它在旅途中停了下來(lái)以欣賞風(fēng)景，亨莉氣得臉色發(fā)紫，幾乎無(wú)法言語(yǔ)。他生氣地叫著：他用顫抖的手指指那條蟲(chóng)說(shuō)：
“Waitress!” he thundered. “Come here this moment!” He sounded every inch the headmaster hewas.
“女服務(wù)員!馬上來(lái)這兒!”顯然是一副十足的校長(zhǎng)派頭。
“What do you call this?” He pointed with a quivering finger at the caterpillar, which decided theworld outside was not as copy as hiding behind the lettuce leaf and retreated.
“你說(shuō)這是什么?”這時(shí)，這條蟲(chóng)肯定認(rèn)為外面世界不如藏在生菜葉子里那么舒服，于是就縮回去了。
Caroline, petrified by the tone of the shout, came into the dining room at a trot.
卡若琳被他那喊叫聲驚呆了，馬上跑到餐廳里。
By now, the whole room had ground to a halt. The diners were all staring at her, mostly insympathy.
現(xiàn)在整個(gè)房子里都沒(méi)有任何聲音。所有人都用同情的目光看著她。
Henry speechlessly gestured at the salad where the caterpillar, bored by its seclusion, hadreappeared."
亨利默默地用手勢(shì)指著那色拉，在那兒，那條蟲(chóng)又重新出現(xiàn)了。
Caroline blanched. Nervously she tried to speak, but failed, then managed, “Sorry, sir, it’s neverhappened before, we’ll make you a new one.” Grabbing the salad, she whisked it away into thekitchen. But Henry Savage was not to be deterred. After a shouted opinion of what he thoughtof the restaurant, he stormed out.
卡羅琳臉色變得蒼白，她緊張的想說(shuō)些什么，但沒(méi)說(shuō)出來(lái)。后來(lái)終于說(shuō)出：“對(duì)不起，先生，這種事以前從來(lái)沒(méi)有發(fā)生過(guò)。我們替你另做一份。”她端起那碗色拉，快步走著把它端進(jìn)廚房。但亨利·薩維奇不肯就此罷休。他大喊著發(fā)表著餐館應(yīng)該是什么樣的言論后，就猛地跑了出去。
Caroline, with a hastily prepared new salad in her hands, returned to an empty table. She didn’tknow where to put herself with the rest of the customers peering at her. Bursting into tears,she rushed back to the kitchen. “Take that, you stupid man, next time make sure you washthe salad when you’ve got a hangover,” she ground out to the startled chef. “I’ll give you atossed salad!” she snarled and threw the contents of the bowl over his head.
卡羅琳端著快速做好的新的色拉回到空桌子旁。她不知道自己該怎么辦，所有人都盯著她。她哭了，然后跑向廚房。她對(duì)受驚嚇的廚師尖叫般的大聲嚷：“認(rèn)錯(cuò)吧，你這愚蠢的人，下次你要是再酒后頭痛，也得一定把生菜洗干凈。”“我給你一份拌好的色拉!”她說(shuō)著把那碗菜扣到他的頭上。
The manager, by now completely sober, appeared. When a hasty explanation was made byone of the more lucid customers, he was remarkably nice about the whole episode. Maybe hehad a guilty conscience. Caroline mused, remembering that sometimes he was the one whohelped wash the lettuce if the staff were too busy. In any event, the whole incident wasquickly smoothed over and everyone’s temper restored.
經(jīng)理出現(xiàn)了，他現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)是清醒狀態(tài)。當(dāng)一位頭腦較機(jī)靈的顧客匆忙地向他做了一番解釋以后，他非常理智得看待這件事情。也許他良心上也感到有罪惡感?？_琳沉思著，想起有時(shí)候如果員工們太忙的話，他就是幫助洗生菜的人。無(wú)論如何，整個(gè)事件很快順利的發(fā)展著，而每個(gè)人有恢復(fù)了軒瀾的情緒。
After Caroline had washed her face, tided herself up and resumed working, the young manbeckoned her over. “I watched you handle that,” he said admiringly. “I think you did great. Thatold man really gave you ‘what for.’ Do you think you could do it all over again for a film I’mproducing? It was far better than a custard pie any day, you did it so beautifully!” Here hechuckled. “But you really should have thrown it over the old boy’s head: he was being theunreasonable one.”
羅琳洗完臉后，整理了一下，又重新工作時(shí)，那個(gè)年輕人向她招手。他贊揚(yáng)地說(shuō)：“我看著你處理了這件事。我想你處理得很好。那老人確實(shí)給你一個(gè)“惡作劇”。你能考慮為我制作的一部影片再重演一遍剛才發(fā)生的事嗎?無(wú)論如何，它比那些奶油派要好得多，你干得真漂亮!”這時(shí)他咯咯地笑了起來(lái)。“但是你真該把那碗色拉扣到那老家伙的頭上，他那時(shí)挺不講理的。”
They looked at each other. Caroline could feel the beginnings of a smile on her face. All ofsudden both of them burst out laughing. Maybe it wasn’t going to be such a bad day after all.
他們看了對(duì)方一眼，卡羅琳開(kāi)始感到自己露出了笑臉。突然，他們兩人都大笑起來(lái)。也許，這并不算很糟糕的一天。
長(zhǎng)篇英語(yǔ)美文帶中文閱讀篇二
A Nation of Hypochondriacs
一個(gè)疑病癥患者的國(guó)度
Norman Cousins
諾曼·克森斯
The main impression growing out of twelve years on the faculty of a medical school is that theNo.1 health problem in the U.S. today, even more than AIDS or cancer, is that Americans don'tknow how to think about health and illness. Our reactions are formed on the terror level. Wefear the worst, expect the worst, thus invite the worst. The result is that we are becoming anation of weaklings and hypochondriacs, a self-medicating society incapabel of distinguishingbetween casual, everyday symptoms and those that require professional attention.
在一所醫(yī)學(xué)院校任教十二年來(lái),我獲得的主要印象是:當(dāng)今美國(guó)頭號(hào)的健康問(wèn)題,甚至比愛(ài)滋病或癌癥都更為嚴(yán)重的問(wèn)題,就是美國(guó)人不知道如何去認(rèn)識(shí)健康與疾病。我們的反應(yīng)是建立在恐懼這個(gè)尺度之上的。我們怕最壞的事,期待著最壞的事,而恰恰就招來(lái)了最壞的事。結(jié)果,我們變成了一個(gè)一個(gè)虛弱的、自疑有病的國(guó)度,一個(gè)分不清哪些 是日常偶發(fā)癥狀、哪些又是需要醫(yī)生醫(yī)治的癥狀,而自己擅自用藥的社會(huì)。
Somewhere in our early educatioin we become addicted to the notion that pain means sickness.We fail to learn that pain is the body's way of informing the mind that we are doing somethingwrong, not necessarily that something is wrong. We don't understand that pain may be tellingus that we are eating too much or the wrong things; or that we are smoking too much ordrinking too much; or that there is too much emotional congestion in our lives; or that we arebeing worn down by having to cope daily with overcrowded streets and highways, theprounding noise of garbage grinders, or the cosmic distance between the entrance to theairport and the departure gate. We get the message of pain all wrong. Instead of addressingourselves to the cause, we become pushovers for pills, driving the pain underground andinviting it to return with increased authority.
在我們?cè)缙?a href='http://www.zbfsgm.com/zixun/jiaoyu/' target='_blank'>教育的某個(gè)階段,我們變 得對(duì)疼痛即疾病這一概念深信不疑。我們不知道,人體只是用疼痛這種方式通知大腦,我們的行為出了差錯(cuò),而并—定是健康有間題。我們不明白,疼痛可能是在告威我們,或吃得太飽,或吃得不當(dāng),或吸煙太多,或飲酒過(guò)度,或生 活中感愔煎熬太苦,或因每天都得面對(duì)擁擠的大街和公路、忍受垃圾粉碎機(jī)的撞擊聲和奔波于從機(jī)場(chǎng)入口到登機(jī) □之間的長(zhǎng)距離而被搞得過(guò)分疲勞。我們把疼痛傳達(dá)的信息全搞錯(cuò)了。我們不去探査其緣由,卻大服其藥,把疼痛 壓下去,從而招致它以更大的威力再次發(fā)作。
Early in life, too, we become seized with the bizarre idea that we are constantly assaulted byinvisible monsters called germs, and that we have to be on constant alert to protectourselves against their fury. Equal emphasis, however, is not given to the presiding fact thatour bodies are forestalling an attack is to maintain a sensible life-style.
我們?cè)谏倌陼r(shí)代就種下了一種奇怪的觀念:一種肉眼看不見(jiàn)的叫做 細(xì)菌的小妖怪在不斷向我們進(jìn)玟,我們必須常備不懈地保護(hù)自己不受其傷害。然而，我們對(duì)另一個(gè)重要事實(shí)卻未能給予同樣的重視，那就是，我們的身體裝備精良，足以對(duì)付這些小妖怪，而且防止妖怪進(jìn)攻的最佳途徑就是保持合理的生活方式。
The most signficant single statement about health to appear in the medical journals during thepast decade is by Dr. Franz Ingelfinger, the late and former editor of the New England Journalof Medicine. Ingelfinger noted that almost all illnesses are self-limiting. That is, the human bodyis capable of handling them without outside intervention. The thrust of the article was thatwe need not feel we are helpless if disease tries to tear away at our bodies, and that we canhave greater confidence in the reality of a healing system that is beautifully designed to meetof its problems. And even when ourside help is required, our own resources have something ofvalue to offer in a combined strategy of treatment.
《新英格蘭醫(yī)學(xué)雜志》前主編(已故)弗朗茲·英杰芬格博士的文章,是過(guò)去十年中醫(yī)學(xué)刊物上發(fā)表的有關(guān)健康的最重要論述,他指出，幾乎所有的疾病本身都有一定的極限。也就是說(shuō)，人體可在沒(méi)有外來(lái)干預(yù)的情況下對(duì)付這些疾患。這篇文章雄辯地指出，受到疾病攻擊時(shí)，我們無(wú)需感到無(wú)助，而且對(duì)下述事實(shí)應(yīng)抱有更充分的信心：人體的康復(fù)機(jī)制十分精妙，足以應(yīng)付大部分疾病。即使在需要外援的情況下,我們的肌體本身也能對(duì)治療進(jìn)行有力的合作。
No one gets out of this world alive, and few people come through life without at least oneserious illness. If we are give a serious diagnosis, it is useful to try to remain free of panic anddepression. Panic can constrict the blood vessels and impose an additional burden on theheart. Depression, as medical researchers all the way back to Galen have observed, can set thestage for other illnesses or intensify existing ones. Is is no surprise that so many patients wholearn that they have cancer or heart disease---or any other catastrophic disease---becomeworse at the time of diagnosis. the moment they have a label to attach to their symptoms, theillness deepens. All the terrible things they have heard about disease produce the kind ofdespair that in turn complicates the underlying condition. It is not unnatural to severelyapprehensive about a serious diagnosis, but a reasonable confidence is justified. Cancertoday, for example, is largely a treatable disease. A heavily damaged heart can bereconditioned. Even a positive HIV diagnosis does not necessarily mean that the illness will moveinto the active stage.
沒(méi)有一個(gè)人能活著離開(kāi)這個(gè)世界，極少有人一生—世沒(méi)生過(guò)一次重病。如果醫(yī)生診斷說(shuō)你得了重病，力戒恐慌和沮喪是大有益處的?？只艜?huì)使血管收縮，增加心臟負(fù)擔(dān)。而沮喪，正如自占希臘名醫(yī)蓋倫以來(lái)的醫(yī)學(xué)專家們所指出的.可誘發(fā)其他疾病或家中目前的疾病，難怪許多患者一聽(tīng)說(shuō)自己得了癌癥或心臟病—或其他什么災(zāi)難性疾病，病癥立即就會(huì)惡化。一旦給自己的各種癥狀貼上某種標(biāo)簽，病情便隨他們想起聽(tīng)到過(guò)的有關(guān)疾病的種種可怕的事情，感到絕望，而這反過(guò)來(lái)又使病情愈發(fā)嚴(yán)重。診斷得了重病，憂心忡忡，本屬合情合理，但也應(yīng)保持一定的信心。例如，癌癥現(xiàn)在已基本上是一種可治之 癥。嚴(yán)重受損的心臟也可以重新修復(fù)。即使診斷出HIV呈陽(yáng)性。也不一定就意味著疾病會(huì)進(jìn)入活躍期。
One of the interesting things researchers at the UCLA medical center have discovered is thatthe enviroment of medical treatment can actually be enhanced if seriously ill patients can be keptfree of depression. In a project involving 75 malignantmelanoma patients, it was learned that adirect the connection exists between the mental state of the patient and the ability of theimmuse system to do its job. In a condition of emotional devastation, immune function isimpaired. Conversely, liberation from depression and panic is frequently accompanied by a anincrease in the body's interleukins, vital substances in the immune system that help activatecancer-killing immune cells. The wise physician, therefore, is conscious of both the physicaland emotional needs of the patient.
加利福尼亞大學(xué)洛杉磯分校醫(yī)學(xué)中心的研究人員有一個(gè)有趣的發(fā) 那就：讓重病患者擺脫沮喪心情，實(shí)際上就能使醫(yī)療環(huán)境得以改善。一項(xiàng)包括75名惡性黑瘤患者的研究顯示，病人的心理狀態(tài)和免疫功能之間存在直接聯(lián)系。在心情十分惡劣的情況下，免疫系統(tǒng)也會(huì)受損。相反，擺脫了沮喪和恐慌，常常會(huì)使得體內(nèi)白細(xì)胞間素增多，而這種物質(zhì)在免疫系統(tǒng)中至關(guān)重要，它有助于激活克癌免疫細(xì)胞。因此明智的醫(yī)生對(duì)病人的身體和心理需求都會(huì)加以重視。
People who have heart attacks are especially prone to despair. After they come through theemergency phase of the episode, they begin to reflect on all the things they think they will beunable to do. They wonder whether they will be able to continue at their jobs, whether they willbe able to perform satisfactorily at sex, whether they can play tennis or golf again. In short,they contemplate an existence drained of usefulness and joy. The spark goes out of theirsouls. It may help for these people to know that in addition to miracles that modern medicinecan perform, the heart can make its own bypass around the occluded arterirs and thatcollateral circulation can provide a rich supply of oxygen. A heart attack need not bereggarded as consignment to a mincing life-style. Under circumstances of good nutrition, areasonable amount of exercise and a decrease in the wear and tear of stressful events, lifeexpectancy need not be curtailed.
心臟病患者尤其容易心情沮喪。闖過(guò)急救階段以后，他們便開(kāi)始思考所有那些他們認(rèn)為自己再也不能做的事情。他們擔(dān)心是否還能繼續(xù)工怍，是否還能正常發(fā)揮性功能，是否還能打網(wǎng)球或高爾夫球?？傊?，他們臆想出一種沒(méi)有一點(diǎn)奉獻(xiàn)和換了的生活。他們靈魂中的火花熄滅了。 讓這些人了解下事實(shí)將是有益的：一方面現(xiàn)代醫(yī)學(xué)能創(chuàng)造奇跡，另一方面，心臟本身也可以使血液繞過(guò)阻塞的動(dòng)脈，而這種旁側(cè)循環(huán)同樣可提供足夠的氧氣。無(wú)須認(rèn)為患上心臟病就意味著要戰(zhàn)戰(zhàn)兢兢地生活，只要營(yíng)養(yǎng)良好，適當(dāng)運(yùn)動(dòng)，減少重大事件對(duì)自己的壓力，壽命就未必會(huì)縮短。
Plainly, the American people need to be re-educated about their health. They need to know thatthey are the possessors of a remarkably robust mechanism. They need to be de-intimidatedabout disease. They need to understand the concept of a patient-physician partnership inwhich the best that medical science has to offer is combined with the magnificent resources ofmind and body.
顯然，美過(guò)人需要接受一次健康問(wèn)題的再教育。他們應(yīng)該知道，自己擁有十分強(qiáng)健的肌體，不必為疾病所嚇倒。他們需要理解這樣一個(gè)概念：患者和醫(yī)生要建立一種伙伴關(guān)系。這樣，醫(yī)學(xué)可提供的最佳治療就能與患者身體和心理的奇妙功能結(jié)合起來(lái)。
We need not wait, of course, for a catastrophic illness before we develop confidence in ourability to rise to a serious challenge. Confidence is useful on the everyday level. We arestronger than we think. Much stronger.
當(dāng)然，我們不必等到了災(zāi)難性疾病才對(duì)自己奮起對(duì)抗嚴(yán)重挑戰(zhàn)的能力樹(shù)立其信心。信心每時(shí)每刻都是重要的。我們比自己想象中的要更強(qiáng)健。強(qiáng)健得多。
長(zhǎng)篇英語(yǔ)美文帶中文閱讀篇三
Are Books an Endangered Species?
書(shū)籍是即將絕滅的物種嗎?
Bob Greene
鮑勃·格林
In the house where I grew up, we had a room we called the library. It wasn't a real library, ofcourse, it was just a small den dominated by a television set. But there were bookshelves builtinto all four walls, and hundreds of books---hardback books with spines of many colors---surrounded us in that room. The books, collected by my parents and grandparents throughouttheir lifetimes, were a part of my childhood.
在我成長(zhǎng)的房子里有一間屋子， 我們把它稱做圖書(shū)館。當(dāng)然，那不是真正的圖書(shū)館，它僅僅是由電視機(jī)占據(jù)了主要位置的一間書(shū)齋。但是它四面墻上全部裝修了嵌入式書(shū)架，上面擺了數(shù)百本書(shū)籍—那些精裝本的書(shū)籍呈現(xiàn)著各種顏色，它們?cè)谀情g屋里把我們團(tuán)團(tuán)圍住。這些書(shū)是我父母和祖父母花了畢生的精力收集來(lái)的，它們成為我童年的一部分。
My generation---the generation that came of age in the 1950s and 1960s---may be the lastone to know that feeling, the feeling of being surrounded by millions of words; those wordswere the products of years of work by authors famous and obscure. For now in the midst ofthe 1970s, we are seeing a subtle but unmistakable turning away from such things. Thehouses of America, I fear, may soon include no room for libraries. The hardcover book---thatsymbol of the permanence of thought, the handing down of wisdom from one age to the next---may be a new addition to our list of endangered species.
我這一代人—即20世紀(jì)50和60年代成年的人—可能是了解這種心情的最后一代人了，那種被上百萬(wàn)文字環(huán)繞著的感覺(jué);那些文字是歷代知名的和默默無(wú)聞的作家們的產(chǎn)品。當(dāng)前，在20世紀(jì)70年代中期，我們正目睹一個(gè)不易覺(jué)察卻毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)存在的慢慢背離書(shū)籍這類(lèi)事物的傾向?？峙旅绹?guó)的家庭很快就不會(huì)再留出房間做圖書(shū)館了。精裝圖書(shū)—那思想永駐的象征，那從一個(gè)時(shí)代向下一時(shí)代傳留的智慧—可能會(huì)添加到我們將滅絕的物種名單上的一項(xiàng)新的補(bǔ)充。
I have a friend who runs a bookstore in a Midwestern college town. He has found that he cannotsell hardback books; paperbacks are his stock in trade, and even those are a disappointmentto him. "You know how er used to see people carrying around book bags?" he tells me. "Well,now I look out the window of my shop, and all I see are students carring packages from therecord stores. The students aren't reading any more. They're listening to albums."
我有個(gè)朋友，他在一座中西部大學(xué)城開(kāi)了一家書(shū)店。他發(fā)現(xiàn)他賣(mài)不出精裝書(shū);他的買(mǎi)賣(mài)主要是做平裝、簡(jiǎn)裝書(shū)籍，就連這種書(shū)賣(mài)得也很令他傷心。“你知道我們過(guò)去總是看見(jiàn)人們手中提著一袋袋的書(shū)，對(duì)吧?”他對(duì)我說(shuō)，“唉，現(xiàn)在我從鋪?zhàn)拥拇皯敉鋈?，?jiàn)到的都是學(xué)生拿著大包小包從唱片鋪?zhàn)永镒叱鰜?lái)。學(xué)生們不再讀書(shū)了，他們成天聽(tīng)唱片。
And indeed he may be right. Stories of problems young people have with reading are not new,but trend seems to be worsening. Recently the chancellor of the University of Illinois's branchcampus in Chicago said that 10 percent of the freshman at his university could read no betterthan the average eighth grader. As dismal a commentary as this is, there is an even morechilling aspect to it: of those college freshmen whose reading skills were equivalent to the sixthto eight-grade level, the chancellor reported that many had ranked in the top half of their high-school classes.
的確，他說(shuō)得蠻有道理。關(guān)于年輕人讀書(shū)方面問(wèn)題的種種閑話雖然不是今日才有，但是不讀書(shū)的這個(gè)傾向似乎愈演愈劣。近來(lái)，位于芝加哥的伊利諾斯大學(xué)分校校長(zhǎng)說(shuō)，在他學(xué)校里百分之十的一年級(jí)學(xué)生讀書(shū)能力比一般中學(xué)八年級(jí)學(xué)生好不了多少。這話就夠令人憂愁的，可它還有更令人心寒的一面：據(jù)這位校長(zhǎng)報(bào)道，在這些讀書(shū)能力同中學(xué)六年級(jí)至八年級(jí)程度相當(dāng)?shù)拇髮W(xué)一年級(jí)學(xué)生中，不少人在中學(xué)各自的班上是排名在前一半的學(xué)生。
A professor at the same university said that even after four years on campus, some of thecollege graduates could hardly read or write. And the ramifictions this situation brings to thenation are obvious, and will become even more so in the years to come. Those ramifictions arealready being felt in the cultural marketplace. A first work of fiction, if it has any luck at all, willsell perhaps 3000 copies in its hardback edition. Publishers and authors know not to expectmuch better thn that. And a record album? Well, a new group called Boston recently released analbum of the same name. It is their first record, so far it has sold 3.5 million copies.
就是這所大學(xué)里的一位教授說(shuō)，即使在學(xué)校念下四年書(shū)來(lái)，有些大學(xué)畢業(yè)生仍舊不能讀和寫(xiě)。這種狀況給國(guó)家?guī)?lái)的后果是明顯的，而且在今后的年月里將會(huì)更明顯。我們說(shuō)的后果已經(jīng)在文化市場(chǎng)上體現(xiàn)了出來(lái)。一部一流的小說(shuō)，如果有運(yùn)氣的話，可能賣(mài)出3，000本精裝本。出版商和作家都明白，不能企望超過(guò)這個(gè)數(shù)目許多。而一套唱片呢?一個(gè)叫做波士頓的新樂(lè)隊(duì)最近發(fā)行了以波士頓命名的一套唱片。這是他們制作的第一套唱片，迄今為止已銷(xiāo)售了3，500，000份。
Much of the problem is that we live in a passive age. To listen to a record album, to sit througha movie, to watch a television show---all require nothing of the cultural consumer, save hismere presence. To read a book, though, takes an act of will on the part of the consumer. Hemust genuinely want to find out wht is inside. He cannot just sit there; he must do something,even though the something is as simple an action as opening the book, closing the door andbeginning to read.
問(wèn)題主要在于我們是生活在一個(gè)被動(dòng)的年代。聽(tīng)一套唱片，看完一場(chǎng)電影，看電視節(jié)目--這些不需要文化消費(fèi)者做任何事，只要他在場(chǎng)就行。而讀一本書(shū)就要求消費(fèi)者方面有毅力。他必須真正想知道書(shū)里說(shuō)了什么。他不能僅僅坐在那里;他得做點(diǎn)事，即使這事十分簡(jiǎn)單，只不過(guò)就是動(dòng)手翻開(kāi)書(shū)本，關(guān)上門(mén)，然后開(kāi)始讀。
In generations before amy own, this was taken for granted as an important part of life. Butnow, in the day of the "information retrieval system," such a reverence is not being placed onthe reding, and then saving, of books. If a young American reads at all, he is far more likely topurchase a paperback that may be flipped through and then thrown away. In a disposableage, the book for keeping and rereading is an anachronism, a ponderous dinosaur in ahighspeed society.
對(duì)我前面歷代的人們來(lái)說(shuō)，讀書(shū)天經(jīng)地義是構(gòu)成生活的一個(gè)重要部分。但是現(xiàn)在，在這個(gè)“信息檢索系統(tǒng)”的時(shí)代，讀書(shū)和藏書(shū)已不能獲得這種尊重。如果一位美國(guó)青年要讀書(shū)，他很可能去買(mǎi)一冊(cè)簡(jiǎn)裝書(shū)，這樣就可以很快地翻完，然后把它扔掉。在一個(gè)講求把沒(méi)用物品處理掉的時(shí)代里，要保存和重讀書(shū)簡(jiǎn)直是與時(shí)代格格不入的行為，就像個(gè)笨重的恐龍?jiān)诟咚俚纳鐣?huì)里寸步難行。
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