大英四翻译

It was a brilliant, hot day on the Seattle waterfront, with unspoilt views across the bay to outlying islands.

Just beyond a stretch of grass where people lay with books and lovers, came the melody of live unaccompanied singing. It turned out to be four men outside a cafe singing a love song about Cupid, each with different voice ranges, and a deep, swaying crowd, clapping along.

The Starbucks logo of the cafe struck me as a little old-fashioned until someone mentioned that this was the first Starbucks ever opened anywhere in the world.

I had come to Seattle because of a recent survey by the Centre for Economic Performance in London, on how easy or difficult it was to get rich in different parts of the world — or if not rich, at least move out of poverty.

这是西雅图海边阳光明媚、赤日炎炎的一天，穿越海湾能一眼望见远处的岛屿，其自然美景没有受到任何破坏。

人们躺在一片草坪上看书或和恋人相依，一阵充满活力的无伴奏的歌声从草坪的另一端传了过来。原来是一家咖啡馆外面有4位男子正在唱着一首关于丘比特的情歌，每个人都有着不同的音域。围了几圈的人群正摇摆着身体合着节奏拍手。

这家咖啡馆的星巴克徽标让我觉得有一点过时，直到有人提到这是世界上第一家开张的星巴克时我才恍然大悟。

我是因为最近的一次调查来到西雅图的。这项调查是由位于伦敦的经济运转情况中心发起的，旨在了解在世界不同的地方发财致富究竟有多么容易或多么困难——如果不是发财致富，至少也是摆脱贫困。

America had fulfilled my ambition for furthering my education and professional experience. I had arrived with the equivalent of a high-school diploma, and after 10 years, I hold a graduate degree and have a relatively successful professional career. Every inch of progress, however, had been achieved through exhausting battles. My college education had been financed partly through working multiple minimum-wage jobs. I was fortunate to secure a job upon graduation, but adjusting to corporate culture exacted another toll. Initially, I found myself putting in twice the effort just to keep up.

I learned to feign assertiveness after realizing that I would not be taken seriously otherwise. Scared by a wave of layoffs, I went to graduate school part time because it was the only way I knew that afforded me an edge in job security. By the time I became eligible to apply for citizenship, I had spent a small fortune in legal fees and endured stressful years grappling with the complexities of securing permanent residency in America.

美国满足了我学业深造和职场历练的雄心。我来的时候差不多是高中学历，而10年后，我拥有了研究生学位，也有了比较成功的职业生涯。然而，前进的每一步都是通过令人精疲力竭的奋斗取得的。我的大学学费一部分是通过打多份报酬极低的零工挣来的。毕业以后，我很幸运地找到一份工作。可是，适应企业文化需要付出另一种代价。最初，我需要付出双倍的努力才跟得上。渐渐地，我意识到如果缺乏自信，别人就不把你当回事儿，于是便学着装出一副自信满满的样子。迫于裁员潮的威慑，我利用业余时间读了研究生，因为那是我所知道的能在保障工作方面取得优势的唯一办法。当我有资格申请公民身份时，又花了一大笔律师费，并且忍受了充满压力的数年时光，努力应对种种纷繁复杂的情况以获得在美的永久居住权。

First love, I thought, may register in the blood with dizzying effect, but the love that endures

takes up residence in the soul. In this way, love becomes something far more powerful than bone and flesh. It completes us, gives us the wholeness we need to navigate safely through life.

I could have watched my wife for hours as the waves broke and advanced toward her bare feet. In a world sometimes marred by hurt and anguish, I felt profoundly grateful that the sun had risen for me on such a love. I could feel it now flowing from me to her and back to me again, joined everywhere, complete, like the seas, and a harbor against all tempests.

我想，令人目眩神速的初恋也许会融入血液中，但经得起考验的爱则永驻心头。从这个意义上说，爱比躯体更具活力。爱使我们变得完整，赋予我们平安度过一生所需的一切。

我可以就这样数个小时一直端详着我的妻子。海浪不断迸溅开来，冲击着她光光的脚丫。这个世界有时因为伤害和痛苦而大煞风景，我却深深地感恩升起的旭日为我照亮了这样的真爱。此时此刻，我感到这般情感从我的心间流向了她的心头，然后又返回过来，把一切都连结了起来，这般地完整，就像面前的大海和港湾，能抵挡一切暴风雨。

If you want to find the best stories at the Olympics, look in the corners, away from the spotlight. For me, in covering the Olympics over the last 24 years, the lesser-lit places have been where the most memorable moments took place.

Sure, TV always hypes the favorites. We are already being bombarded with big-name expectations in Beijing, such as swimming star Michael Phelps or basketball’s Kobe Bryant. But, personally, I soured on big-name stuff back in Barcelona in 1992, after the Dream Team’s Michael Jordan, who earned millions endorsing Nike, refused to get on the medal stand if he had to wear a Reebok sweat suit.

想要发现奥运比赛中最精彩的故事吗？那么请把目光转向远离聚光灯的偏僻角落。在长达24年报道奥运会的经历中，对我来说，最令人难忘的一幕幕往往是在不太为人瞩目的角落里上演的。

当然，电视总是大肆宣传那些大众的宠儿。铺天盖地的报道都是关于大明星的，如泳坛健将迈克尔·菲尔普斯或篮球名将科比·布莱恩特，人们对他们在北京的表现充满期待。然而，1992年的巴塞罗那奥运会上发生了一件事，令我个人从此再也没有兴趣报道大明星了。当时，梦之队的迈克尔·乔丹拒绝穿上锐步的运动衫登上领奖台，理由是耐克公司向他支付了数百万美元的代言费。

Suppose your great-great-grandparents, who lived four generations ago, materialized in America of the present day. Surely they would first be struck by the clamor of 21st-century living. Yet as your ancestors learned more about how we live, they would be dazzled. Over-indulgence now plagues not just the well-off but the poor. College is the common destination for the young, not just a place for the wealthy. Many other aspects of day-to-day life would amaze our recent ancestors: medical progress that in a century has increased the average life span from 41 years to 77; the end of backbreaking physical toil for most wage earners; the advent of instantaneous global communication and same-day travel to distant cities; home ownership for the majority, with air conditioning and flat-screen TVs for the masses.

你的曾曾祖父母生活在4代之前，设想一下他们现身在今天的美国。喧嚣的21世纪的生活肯定会给他们留下深刻的印象。然而，随着你的祖辈对我们现在的生活方式了解更多，他们一定会感到惊奇。过于放纵的毛病不仅富人染上了，连穷人也摊上了。大学是年轻人共同的目的地了，不再是富家子弟才可以去的场所。很多日常生活的其他方面也会让我们的先辈惊讶：百年来的医学进步将人的平均寿命从41岁延长到77岁；大多数工薪收入者免除了累断腰的体力劳动；即时的全球通讯技术；遥远城市可以朝发夕至；大多数人拥有家宅，空调和平面电视遍及平民百姓家。