凯瑟Unit 2 Space Invaders课文翻译综合教程四

2021年1月20日发(作者：stabilizer)

Unit 2

Space Invaders
Richard Stengel
At
my
bank
the
other
day,
I
was
s
tanding
in
a
line
snaking
around
some
tired
velvet
ropes when a man in a sweat-suit started inching toward me in his eagerness to deposit
his Social Security check. As he did so, I minutely advanced toward the woman reading
the Wall Street Journal in front of me, who, in mild annoyance, began to sidle up to the
man
scribbling
a
check
in
front
of
her,
who
absentmindedly
shuffled
toward
the
white-haired lady ahead of him, until we were all hugger-mugger against each other, the
original lazy line having collapsed in on itself like a Slinky.
I estimate that my personal space extends eighteen inches in front of my face, one
foot
to
each
side,
and
about
ten
inches
in
back
—

though
it
is
nearly
impossible
to
measure exactly
how
far behind
you
someone
is standing.
The
phrase

space
has a quaint, seventies ring to it (
gratifying
expressions
that
are
intuitively
understood
by
all
human
beings.
Like
the
twelve-mile
limit
around
our
national
shores,
personal
space
is
our
individual
border
beyond which no stranger can penetrate without making us uneasy.
Lately, I've found that my personal space is being invaded more than ever before. In
elevators,
people
are
wedging
themselves
in
just
before
the
doors
close;
on
the
street,
pedestrians are zigzagging through the human traffic, jostling others, refusing to give way;
on the subway, riders are no longer taking pains to carve out little zones of space between
themselves
and
fellow-passengers; in
lines
at
airports,
people
are
pressing forward
like
fidgety taxis at red lights.
At
first,
I
attributed
this
tendency
to
the

explosion
and
the
relentless
Malthusian logic that if twice as many people inhabit the planet now as did twenty years
ago, each of us has half as much space. Recently, I've wondered if it's the season: T-shirt
weather
can
make
proximity
more
alluring
(or
much,
much
less).
Or
perhaps
the
proliferation
of
coffee
bars
in
Manhattan
—

the
number
seems
to
double
every
three
months
—
is infusing so much caffeine into the already jangling locals that people can no
longer keep to themselves.


Personal space is mostly a public matter; we allow all kinds of invasions of personal
space
in
private.
(Humanity
wouldn't
exist
without
them.)
The
logistics
of
it
vary
according to geography. People who live in Calcutta have less personal space than folks in
Colorado.
would
wager
that
people
in
the
Northern
Hemisphere
have
roomier
conceptions
of
personal space than those in the Southern. To an Englishman, a handshake can seem like
trespassing,
whereas
to
a
Brazilian,
anything
less
than
a
hug
may
come
across
as
chilliness.