十八岁的天空221世纪大学英语课文翻译

2021年1月19日发(作者：林德宏)
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Unit 1

Book 3






Do you remember your first love All those exciting
and wonderful new emotions
–

the way
your heart raced when that special
person was near
–
those anxious, awkward moments when you didn't know
what to say or do And then (for most of us) that sad moment when for one
reason or another it all came to an end … Ernest Hemingway once said,

–
but the authors of the texts in
this
unit
have
a
different
point
of
view.
Text
A
focuses
on
the
unexpected
side effects of the author's first venture into romance, while Text B
recalls
the
ups
and
downs
of
the
author's
great
love
for
…
his
car!
Finally,
the authors of Text C offer some fascinating advice about how to
successfully navigate romantic relationships.

Text A

How I Got Smart





A common misconception among
youngsters attending school is that their
teachers
were
child
prodigies.
Who
else
but
a bookworm, with none of the normal kid's
tendency to play rather than study, would grow up to be a teacher anyway






I've tried desperately to explain to my students that the image
they have of me as an enthusiastic devotee of books and homework during
my
adolescence
was
a
bit
out
of
focus.
On
the
contrary,
I
hated
compulsory
education
with
a
passion.
I
could
never
quite
accept
the
notion
of
having
to go to school while the fish were biting.

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But
in
my
sophomore
year,
something
beautiful
and
exciting
happened.
Cupid
aimed his arrow and struck me right in the heart. All at once, I enjoyed
going to school, if only to gaze at the lovely face in English II.





My
princess
sat
near
the
pencil
sharpener,
and
that
year
I
ground
up enough pencils to fuel a campfire. Alas, Debbie was far beyond my
wildest dreams. We were separated not only by five rows of desks, but by
about 50 . points. She was the top student in English II, the apple of
Mrs. Larrivee's eye.




Occasionally,
Debbie
would
catch
me
staring
at
her,
and
she
would
flash a smile that radiated intelligence and quickened my heartbeat. It
was a smile that signaled hope and made me temporarily forget the
intellectual gulf that separated us.




I schemed desperately to bridge that
gulf. And one day, as I was passing the
supermarket, an idea came to me. A sign in the
window
announced
that
the
store
was
offering
the
first volume of a set of encyclopedias at the
special price of 29 cents. The remaining volumes would cost $$ each.





I
purchased
Volume
I
--
Aardvark
to
Asteroid
--
and
began
my
venture
into
the
world
of
knowledge.
I
would
henceforth
become
a
seeker
of
facts.
I would become Chief Brain in English II and sweep my princess off her
feet with a surge of erudition. I had it all planned.

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My
first
opportunity
came
one
day
in
the
cafeteria
line.
I
looked
behind
me
and
there
she
was.






“Hi,” she said.




Aft
er
a
pause,
I
wet
my
lips
and
said,
“Know
where
anchovies
come
from”





She seemed surprised. “No, I don't.”





I
breathed
a
sigh
of
relief.
“The
anchovy
lives
in
salt
water
and
is
rarely
found
in
fresh
water.”
I
had
to
talk
fast,
so
that
I
could
get
all
the facts in before we reached the cash register. “Fishermen catch
anchovies
in
the
Mediterranean
Sea
and
along
the
Atlantic
coast
near
Spain
and Portugal.”





“How fascinating,” said Debbie, shaking her head in disbelief.
It was obvious that I had made quite an
impression.




A few days later, during a fire drill,
I
casually
went
up
to
her
and
asked,
“Ever
been
to the Aleutian Islands”






“Never have,” she replied.





“Might be a nice place to visit, but I certainly wouldn't want
to live there,” I s
aid.





“Why not” said Debbie, playing right into my hands.

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“Well, the climate is forbidding. There are no trees on any of
the
100
or
more
islands
in
the
group.
The
ground
is
rocky
and
very
little
plant life can grow on it.”





“I don't think I'd even care to visit,” she said.




The fire drill was over and we began to file into the building,
so I had to step it up to get the natives in. “The Aleuts are short and
sturdy
and
have
dark
skin
and
black
hair.
They
live
on
fish,
and
they
trap
blue foxes an
d seals for their valuable fur.”




Debbie's eyes widened in amazement.




One day I was browsing through the library.
I spotted Debbie sitting at a table, absorbed in a
crossword puzzle. She was frowning, apparently
stumped
on
a
word.
I
leaned
over
and
asked
if
I
could
help.






“Four
-
letter word for Oriental female servant,” Debbie said.





“Try amah,” I said, quick as a flash.




Debbie
filled
in
the
blanks,
then
turned
to
stare
at
me
in
amazement.
“I don't believe it,” she said. “I just don't believe it.”




And so it went, that glorious, joyous, romantic sophomore year.
Debbie
seemed
to
relish
our
little
conversations
and
hung
on
my
every
word.
Naturally, the more I read, the more my confidence grew.

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In
the
classroom,
too,
I
was
gradually
making
my presence felt. One day, during a discussion of
Coleridge's
“The
Ancient
Mariner”,
we
came
across
the word albatross.






“Can anyone tell us what an albatross is” asked Mrs. Larrivee.





My
hand
shot
up.
“The
albatross
is
a
large
bird
that
lives
mostly
in the ocean regions below the equator, but may be found in the north
Pacific as well. The albatross measures as long as four feet and has the
greatest wingspread of any bird. It feeds on fish and shellfish. The
albatross has an enormous appetite, and when it's full it has trouble
getting into the air again.”




There
was
a
long
silence
in
the
room.
Mrs.
Larrivee
couldn't
quite
believe what she had just heard. I sneaked a look at Debbie and gave her
a big wink. She beamed proudly and winked back.




What
I
failed to
perceive
was
that
Debbie
all
this while was going steady with a junior from a
neighboring school -- a basketball player with a C+
average. The revelation hit me hard, and for a while
I
felt
like
forgetting
everything
I
had
learned.
I
had
saved
enough
money
to buy Volume II --Asthma to Bullfinch -- but was strongly tempted to
invest in a basketball instead.





I
felt
not
only
hurt,
but
betrayed.
Like
Agamemnon,
but
with
less
drastic consequences, thank God.

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In
time
I
recovered
from
my
wounds.
The
next
year
Debbie moved from the neighborhood and transferred to
another
school.
Soon
she
became
no
more
than
a
memory.





Although the original incentive was gone, I
continued
poring
over
the
encyclopedias,
as
well
as
an
increasing
number
of other books. Having tasted of the wine of knowledge, I could not now
alter my course. For:





“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing:







Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.”






So
wrote
Alexander
Pope,
Volume
XIV
--
Paprika
to
Pterodactyl.




斯蒂夫· 普罗迪





上学的孩子们中间有一种普遍的错误想 法，即认为他们的老师当年都是些神
童。不管怎么说，除了不像一般孩子那样生性贪玩、不愿学习的书呆 子之外，还
有谁愿意长大后当老师呢





我竭力向我的学生们解释我在他们心目中的形象
----
一个在青春期热
衷于书本和作业的人
----
有一点被扭曲了。
相反，
我极为憎恨义务教育。
我永
远都无法接受在鱼儿上钩时不得不去上学的想法。< br>
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但是 ，在我中学二年级的时候，发生了一件美妙而又激动人心的事。爱神丘
比特瞄准他的箭，正好射中了我的 心。突然间，我喜欢上学了，而这只是为了能
够凝视英语二班里那张可爱的脸。





我的公主坐在卷笔器旁边，那一年我削的铅笔足以点燃一堆篝火。可黛
比却远远超出了我的期望。
将我们隔开的不仅有五排课桌，
还有约
50
分的智商。
她是英语二班的尖子，拉里维太太的掌上明珠。





偶尔，
黛比会发觉我在盯着她看，
这时她便会露出一个闪烁着智慧光芒，< br>令我心跳加快的微笑。
这是一个标志着希望、
使我暂时忘记将我们分开的智力上
的鸿沟的微笑。



我想尽办法去跨越那条鸿沟。有一天，我经过超市，突 然想到了一个主意。
橱窗里的一块广告牌称商店正以
29
美分的特价供应一套百科全书 的第一卷。其
余各卷则为每卷美元。





我买下了第一卷
----
从
Aardvark
（土豚）
到
Asteroid
（海星）
----
然
后开始了在知识世界中的 冒险历程。
打那以后，
我将成为一个事实探寻者。
我将
成为英语二班的首席智 者，
以渊博的知识使我的公主倾心于我。
我全都计划好了。



一天，在自助餐厅排队时，我的第一个机会来了。我往身后一看，她正好在
那儿。

“嘿，”她说。





我犹豫了一下，然后润了润嘴唇说，“知道凤尾鱼是从哪儿来的吗”





她显得有点惊讶。“不，我不知道。”

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我松了口气。“凤尾鱼生 活在咸水里，淡水里很少见。”我不得不讲得
很快，
以便在我们到达收银台之前，
道出 所有的细节。
“渔民们在地中海和邻近
西班牙、葡萄牙的大西洋海岸捕捉凤尾鱼。”





“真有意思，”黛比一边说一边疑惑地摇着头。显然我已经 给她留下了
一个挺深的印象。




几天之后，在一次消 防演习时，我装作不经意地走到她身边，问，“去过
阿留申群岛吗”





“从来没去过，”她答道。





“也许是一个旅游的好去处，但我肯定不愿意住在那儿，”我说。





“为什么不愿意呢”黛比说，这正中了我的计。





“呃，
那儿的气候太险恶。
在群岛的
100
多 座岛屿中，
没有一座有树木。
地上遍布岩石，几乎没有植物能在上面生长。”





“我想我连去旅游也不愿意，”她说。





消防演习结束了，我们开始排队进入大楼，所以我不得不赶紧再谈谈土
著居民。“阿留申人身材矮小，体格健壮，有着深色的皮肤和黑色的头发。他们
以鱼为主食，他 们设陷阱捕捉北极狐和海豹，以获得它们珍贵的毛皮。”





黛比惊讶地睁大了眼睛。



一天，我正在图书馆里浏览书刊。我 发现黛比坐在一张桌子旁，正专心致志
地做着一个填词游戏。
她皱着眉头，
显然被一个 词难住了。
我弯下身去问我是否
能帮上忙。





“一个意为东方女佣的四字母词，”黛比说。

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“试一试
amah,”我以闪电般的速度说。





黛比填入空格，然后转过头惊讶地盯着我。“我真不敢相信，”她说。
“简直不敢相 信。”





那个光辉灿烂的、充满欢乐的、富有浪漫 色彩的二年级就这样继续着。
黛比似乎很喜欢我们的简短交谈，
全神贯注地听着我的每一句话。
自然，
我读得
越多，信心也越强。



在教室里 ，我也渐渐让别人感到了我的存在。一天，在一次关于柯尔律治的
《古舟子咏》的讨论中，我们碰到了< br>albatross
（信天翁）这个词。





“有谁能告诉我们信天翁是什么吗”拉里维太太问。





我立刻举起了手。“信天翁是一种大鸟，主要栖息在赤道以南的海域，
不过也有可能 在北太平洋发现它们。
信天翁身长达
4
英尺，
翼幅是鸟类中最大的。
它以鱼类和带壳的水生动物为食。
信天翁胃口很大，
吃饱后便很难再飞上天。
”





许久，教室里鸦雀无声。拉里维太太无法相信她刚刚所 听到的内容。我
偷偷地瞥了黛比一眼，
对她使劲眨了眨眼。
她自豪得笑容满脸，
也对我眨了眨眼。



我未能察觉到的是那一阵子黛比正同一个邻近学校的三年级学生约会
----
一个 平均分为
C+
的篮球运动员。这一发现对我打击很大，有一度我真想忘掉所
有学过的东 西。当时我已攒够了钱买第二卷
----
从
Asthma
（哮喘病）到< br>Bullfinch
（红腹灰雀）
----
但我真想去买一只篮球。





我觉得自己不仅受到了伤害，而且还遭到了背叛。就象阿伽 门农一样，
不过感谢上帝，后果并没有那么严重。



最终我从伤 痛中恢复了过来。第二年，黛比搬离了这个街区，转到了另一所
学校。很快，她便成了记忆中的人物而已 。

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虽然最初的动力没有了，但我却继续钻研百科全书，以及越来越多的其
它书籍。已经 品尝过知识的美酒，此时我已无法改变我的前进方向了。因为：





“一知半解，为害匪浅：





开怀畅饮吧，否则就不要品尝埃里亚圣泉。”





亚历山大· 蒲柏如此写道，
见第十四卷
----
从
Papri ka
（红灯笼辣椒）
到
Pterodactyl
（翼手龙）。

Before
you
read
Text
B,
have
a
look
at
some
of
the
figures
of
speech
the
author
uses
to
convey
his
ideas.
Examine
the
italicized
words
and phrases in the sentences below. What comparisons are being
made What mental pictures do they bring to your mind What ideas
is
the
author
trying
to
convey
Put
in
your
answer
before
clicking
for the answer key.

1. A young man's first car is less a means of transportation than
a

monument
to his discovery of youthful freedom.


A young man's first car is compared to
a monument
- something that
is_______________. (fairly permanent, admirable, noble, significant,
etc.)

2. Before long, that car and I had become

the best of friends
.

The mental picture
the best of friends

brings is that the car and the
wtiter are_____.(emotionally linked, inseparable, enjoying one another
and willing to do a lot for each other)

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3. I
piled
ten friends into the car.

The writer pushed his friends into the car in a__________(disorderly/
careless/
thoughtless)
way
perhaps
as
if
they
were
_________
(objects).

4. The car was far from a beauty, but
she

was mine.

The word
she
is used to convey the writer's affection for his car, as
if it was a ____ (delicate, sensitive emotional) being.

5.
I've
never
questioned
my
youthful
emotions
that
day
when
the
mechanic
delivered his sad
verdict
.

The word
verdict
conveys a feeling of ________ (inescapable doom -- a
life-changing statement).

Text B



Coming of Age

Sam Walker




Okay,
I'll
admit
it.
Sitting
behind
the
wheel
of
my
first
car
before
it was towed off to the junkyard, I cried. You can tell me a car is only
so
much
glass
and
steel,
but
I'll
never
apologize
for
losing
my
cool
that
day. A young man's first car is less a means of transportation than a
monument to his discovery of youthful freedom. At least mine was.




It
had
all
started
two
years
earlier:
Soon
after
my
16th
birthday,
my parents retired the old red family car and passed it on to me. Before
long,
that
car
and
I
had
become
the
best
of
friends.
We
gave
rides
to
just
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