大学英语精读第三册课文翻译

Unit 1

Text

A young man finds that strolling along the streets without an obvious purpose can lead to trouble with the law. One misunderstanding leads to another until eventually he must appear in court for trial……

一个青年发现，在大街上毫无明显目的地游逛会招致警方的责罚。误会一个接一个发生，最终他只得出庭受审……

A Brush with the Law

与警察的一场小冲突

I have only once been in trouble with the law. 我平生只有一次跟警方发生纠葛。

The whole process of being arrested and taken to court was a rather unpleasant experience at the time, but it makes a good story now. 被捕和出庭的整个过程在当时是一件非常不愉快的事，但现在倒成了一篇很好的故事。

What makes it rather disturbing was the arbitrary circumstances both of my arrest and my subsequent fate in court. 这次经历令人可恼之处在于围绕着我的被捕以及随后庭上审讯而出现的种种武断专横的情况。

It happened in February about twelve years ago. 事情发生在大约12年前，其时正是2月。

I had left school a couple of months before that and was not due to go to university until the following October. 几个月前我中学毕业了，但上大学要等到10月。

I was still living at home at the time. 当时我还在家中居住。

One morning I was in Richmond, a suburb of London near where I lived. 一天早晨，我来到里士满。这里是伦敦的一个郊区，离我住的地方不远。

I was looking for a temporary job so that I could save up some money to go travelling. 我在寻找一份临时工作，以便积些钱去旅游。

As it was a fine day and I was in no hurry, I was taking my time, looking in shop windows, strolling in the park, and sometimes just stopping and looking around me. 由于天气晴朗，当时又无急事，我便慢悠悠看看橱窗，逛逛公园。有时干脆停下脚步，四处张望。

It must have been this obvious aimlessness that led to my downfall. 现在看来，一定是这种明显的毫无目的的游逛，使我倒了霉。

It was about half past eleven when it happened. 事情发生在11点半钟光景。

I was just walking out of the local library, having unsuccessfully sought employment there, when I saw a man walking across the road with the obvious intention of talking to me. 我在当地图书馆谋职未成，刚刚走出来，便看到一个人穿越马路，显然是要来跟我说话。

I thought he was going to ask me the time. Instead, he said he was a police officer and he was arresting me. 我以为他要问我时间，不料他说他是警官，要逮捕我。

doubt. 起先我还以为这是在开玩笑，但又一个警察出现在我的面前，这次是位身着警服的，这一下使我确信无疑了。'But what for?' I asked. “为什么要抓我?”我问道。

"Wandering with intent to commit an arrestable offence,' he said. “到处游荡，企图作案，”他说。

'What offence?' I asked. “作什么案?”我又问。

'Theft,' he said. “偷窃，”他说。

'Theft of what?' I asked. “偷什么?”我追问。

'Milk bottles,' he said, and with a perfectly straight face too! “牛奶瓶，”他板着面孔说道。

'Oh,' I said. “噢，”我说。

It turned out there had been a lot of petty thefts in the area, particularly that of stealing milk bottles from doorsteps. 事情原来是这样的，在这一地区多次发生小的扒窃案，特别是从门前台阶上偷走牛奶瓶。

Then I made my big mistake. 接着，我犯了一个大错误。

At the time I was nineteen, had long untidy hair, and regarded myself as part of the sixties' 'youth countercultrue. 其时我年方19，留一头蓬乱的长发，自认为是60年代“青年反主流文化”的一员。

As a result, I want to appear cool and unconcerned with the incident, so I said, 'How long have you been following me?' in the most casual and conversational tone I could manage. 所以我想装出一副冷漠的、对这一事件满不在乎的样子。于是我尽量用一种漫不经心的极其随便的腔调说，“你们跟踪我多久啦?”

I thus appeared to them to be quite familiar with this sort of situation, and it confirmed them in their belief that I was a thoroughly disreputable character. 这样一来，在他们眼里，我就像是非常熟悉这一套的了，也使他们更加确信我是一个地地道道的坏蛋。

A few minutes later a police car arrived. 几分钟后，开来了一辆警车。

'Get in the back," they said. 'Put your hands on the back of the front seat and don't move them.' “坐到后面去，”他们说。“把手放到前排座位的靠背上，不准挪动。”

They got in on either side of me. It wasn't funny any more. 他们分别坐在我的两边。这可再也不是闹着玩的了。

At the police station they questioned me for several hours. 在警察局，他们审讯了我好几个小时。

I continued to try to look worldly and au fait with the situation. 我继续装成老于世故、对这种事习以为常。

When they asked me what I had been doing, I told them I'd been looking for a job. 当他们问我在干什么时，我告诉他们在找工作。

'Aha,' I could see them thinking, 'unemployed'. “啊，”我可以想象他们在想，“果然是个失业的家伙。”

Eventually, I was officially charged and told to report to Richmond Magistrates' Court the following Monday. Then they let me go. 最后，我被正式起诉，并通知我下周一到里士满地方法庭受审。随后他们让我离开。

I wanted to conduct my own defence in court, but as soon as my father found out what had happened, he hired a very

We went along that Monday armed with all kinds of witnesses, including my English teacher from school as a character witness. 我们星期一出庭的时候，带了各种各样的证人，其中包括我中学的英语老师，做我人品的见证人。

But he was never called on to give evidence. My 'trial' didn't get that far. 但结果法庭没有叫他作证。我的“审判”没有进行到那一步。

The magistrate dismissed the case after fifteen minutes. 开庭15分钟，法官就驳回了对我的指控。

I was free. The poor police had never stood a chance. 我无罪获释。可怜的警方一点儿赢的机会都没有。

The solicitor even succeeded in getting costs awarded against the police. 我的律师甚至让法庭责成警方承担了诉讼费用。

And so I do not have a criminal record. 这样，我的履历上没有留下犯罪的记录。

But what was most shocking at the time was the things my release from the charge so clearly depended on. 但当时最令人震惊的，是那些显然导致宣布我无罪的证据。

I had the 'right' accent, respectable middle-class parents in court, reliable witnesses, and I could obviously afford a very good solicitor. 我讲话的口音“表明我教养良好”，到庭的有体面的中产阶级的双亲，有可靠的证人，还有，我显然请得起一名很好的律师。

Given the obscure nature of the charge, I feel sure that if I had come from a different background, and had really been unemployed, there is every chance that I would have been found guilty. 从对我指控的这种捕风捉影的做法来看，我肯定，如果我出身在另一种背景的家庭里，并且真的是失了业的话，我完全可能被判有罪。

While asking for costs to be awarded, my solicitor's case quite obviously revolved around the fact that I had a 'brilliant academic record'. 当我的律师要求赔偿诉讼费时，他公然把辩护的证据建立在我“学业优异”这一事实上。Meanwhile, just outside the courtroom, one of the policemen who had arrested me was gloomily complaining to my mother that another youngster had been turned against the police. 与此同时，就在审判室外面，一位抓我的警察正在沮丧地向我母亲抱怨，说是又一个小伙子要跟警察作对了。

'You could have been a bit more helpful when we arrested you,' he said to me reproachfully. 他带着责备的口气对我说，“我们抓你的时候，你本可以稍微帮点忙的。”

What did he mean? 他说这话什么意思?

Presumably that I should have looked outraged and said something like, 'Look here, do you know who you're talking to? I am a highly successful student with a brilliant academic record. How dare you arrest me!'大概是说我本该显出愤愤不平的样子，并说，“喂，留神点，你知道你在跟谁说话?我是学业出众的高材生。你敢抓我!”

Then they, presumably, would have apologized, perhaps even taken off their caps, and let me on my way. 那样一来，他们或许会向我道歉，说不定还会脱帽致意，让我走开呢。

NEW WORDS

n. brief fight or encounter 小冲突；小接触

process

n. course; method, esp. one used in manufacture 过程；制作法

arbitrary

a. based on one's own opinion only, not on reason 任意的；武断的

circumstance

n. (usu. pl.) conditions, facts, etc. connected with an event or person 情况，环境subsequent

a. following, later 随后的，接下去的

fate

n. what will happen or happened to sb. or sth. 命运

due

a. expected; supposed (to) 预期的；约定的；到期的

temporary

a. lasting only for a limited time 暂时的

stroll

a. walk at leisure 散步，闲逛

obvious

a. easily seen or understood; clear 明显的，显而易见的

downfall

n. ruin 垮台；衰落

employment

n. one's regular work or occupation; job 职业；工作

wander

vi. move about without a purpose 闲逛；漫游

commit

vt. do (sth. wrong, bad, or unlawful)干（坏事），犯（错误、罪）

arrestable

a. deserving to be arrested

offence (AmE offense)

n. crime; the hurting of feelings; something unpleasant 罪行；冒犯；不愉快的事

a face or expression that shows no emotion, humor, or thought 板着的脸

petty

a. small; unimportant 小的；不足道的

doorstep

n. a step in front of a door

regard

vt. consider in the stated way 把……看作；把认为(as)

counterculture

n. a culture, esp. of the young who oppose the traditional standards and customs of their society 反主流文化unconcerned

a. not worried; untroubled; indifferent 无忧虑的；淡漠的

casual

a. careless; informal 漫不经心的，随便的

conversational

a. of or commonly used in talking 会话（用）的

confirm

vt. make certain; support 证实，肯定；确定

belief

n. something believed; trust 相信；信念；信仰

thoroughly

ad. completely; in every way 完全地，彻底地

thorough a.

disreputable

a. having or showing a bad character; having a bad name 声名狼籍的

worldly

a. experienced in the ways of society 老于世故的

au fait

a. (F) familiar 熟悉的；精通的

aha

int. a cry of surprise, satisfaction, etc. 啊哈！

magistrate

vt. direct the course of; manage 处理；主持；引导；指挥

defence (AmE defense)

n. the act of defending in court the person who has been charged 辨护

solicitor

n. (esp. in Britain) lawyer who advises clients on legal matters and speaks on their behalf in lower courts （初级）律师witness

n. a person who gives evidence in a court of law; sth. serving as evidence or proof 证人；证据trial

n. the act or fact of examining and deciding a civil or criminal case by a law court 审判

dismiss

vt. (of a judge) stop (a court case) 驳回，对……不予受理

cost

n. (pl.) the cost of having a matter settled in a law court. esp. that paid to the winning party by the losing party 诉讼费award

vt. give by a decision in court of law; give or grant by an official decision 判给；授予

accent

n. way of speaking typical of the natives or residents of a region, or of any other group 口音；腔调respectable

a. deserving respect 值得尊敬的

reliable

a. that may be relied or depended upon 可靠的，可信赖的

given

prep. taking into account; if allowed or provided with 考虑到；假定

obscure

a. not clearly seen or understood 模糊的；晦涩的

guilty

a. having broken a law; showing or feeling that one has done wrong 有罪的；内疚的

revolve

v. (cause to) go round in a circle （使）旋转

brilliant

n. a room where a law court is held 审判室

meanwhile

ad. during the same period of time 同时

gloomily

ad. depressedly, dejectedly 忧郁地；沮丧地

complain

vi. speak in an unhappy, annoyed, dissatisfied way 抱怨

complaint n.

reproachfully

ad. 责备地

presumably

ad. probably

outrage

vt. arouse anger or resentment by injury or insult 引起……的气愤

successful

a. having done what one has tried to do; having gained a high position in life, one's jo

b. et

c. 成功的；有成就的

apologize

vi. say one is sorry 道歉，谢罪

apology

n.道歉，歉意

PHRASES & EXPRESSIONS

take sb. to court

start an action in law against sb. 对某人提出诉讼

a couple of

(informal) a small number of, a few, usually two 少数，几（个）；一对

save up

keep for future use; put money away in the form of savings 储蓄

take one's time

do sth. in a leisurely manner; not hurry 慢慢来，不着急

at the beginning 起先

turn out

prove to be 结果；证明是

call on

ask (sb.) to do sth. esp. formally 要求

stand a chance

have an opportunity; be likely to do or get sth. 有机会，有希望

revolve around

have as a center or main subject围绕

turn against

(cause to) oppose, be hostile to

PROPER NAMES

Richmond

里士满（英国地名）

Richmond Magistrates' Court

里士满地方法院

Unit 3 Text

Every teacher probably asks himself time and again: What are the reasons for choosing teaching as a career? 也许每位教师都一再问过自己：为什么选择教书作为自己的职业？

Do the rewards teaching outweigh the trying comments? Answering these questions is not a simple task. Let's see what the author says. 教书得到的回报是否使老师的烦恼显得不值得多谈？回答这些问题并非易事。让我们看看本文的作者说了些什么。

Why I Teach

我为什么当教师

Peter G. Beidler

Why do you teach? My friend asked the question when I told him that I didn't want to be considered for an administrative position. 你为什么要教书呢? 当我告诉一位朋友我不想谋求行政职务时，他便向我提出这一问题。

He was puzzled that I did not want what was obviously a "step up" toward what all Americans are taught to want when they grow up: money and power. 所有美国人受的教育是长大成人后应该追求金钱和权力，而我却偏偏不要明明是朝这个目标“迈进”的工作，他为之大惑不解。

Teaching is the most difficult of the various ways I have attempted to earn my living: mechanic, carpenter, writer. 我做过各种各样的工作，籍以谋生：机修工、木工、作家，教书是其中最难的一行。

For me, teaching is a red-eye, sweaty-palm, sinking-stomach profession. 对我来说，教书是个会令人熬红眼睛、手掌出汗、精神沮丧的职业。

Red-eye, because I never feel ready to teach no matter how late I stay up preparing. 说熬红眼睛，这是因为我晚上无论备课备到多晚，总觉得备得还不充分。

Sweaty-palm, because I'm always nervous before I enter the classroom, sure that I will be found out for the fool that I am. 说手掌出汗，这是因为我跨进教室之前总是非常紧张，自认为学生一定会发觉原来我是个傻瓜蛋。

Sinking-stomach, because I leave the classroom an hour later convinced that I was even more boring than usual. 说精神沮丧，这是因为我1小时后走出教室时，确信这堂课上得比平常还要平淡无味。

Nor do I teach because I think I know answers, or because I have knowledge I feel compelled to share. 我之所以教书，也不是因为我认为自己能够解答问题，或者因为我有满腹学问，觉得非与别人分享不可。

Sometimes I am amazed that my students actually take notes on what I say in class! 有时我感到很惊异，学生竟真的把我课上讲的东西做了笔记!

Why, then, do I teach? 这样说来，我为什么还要教书呢?

I teach because I like the pace of the academic calendar. June, July, and August offer an opportunity for reflection, research and writing. 我教书，是因为我喜爱校历的步调。6月、7月和8月提供了一个供思考、研究和创作的机会。

I teach because teaching is a profession built on change. When the material is the same, I change ——and, more important, my students change. 我教书，是因为教学是建立在“变化”这一基础上的职业。教材还是原来的教材，但我自身却变化了--更重要的是，我的学生变化了。

I teach because I like the freedom to make my own mistakes, to learn my own lessons, to stimulate myself and my students. 我教书，是因为我喜欢有让自己犯错误的自由，有让自己吸取教训的自由，有激励自己和激励学生的自由。

As a teacher, I'm my own boss. If I want my freshmen to learn to write by creating their own textbook, who is to say I can't? 作为教师，我可以自行做主。如果我想要求一年级学生通过自行编写课本的办法来学习写作，谁能说我不可以那样做呢?

Such courses may be huge failures, but we can all learn from failures. 这样的课程也许会彻底失败，但我们都可以从失败的尝试中获得教益。

I teach because I like to ask questions that students must struggle to answer. 我教书，是因为我喜欢向学生提出必须绞尽脑汁才能回答的问题。

The world is full of right answers to bad questions. While teaching, I sometimes find good questions. 我们这个世界有无穷无尽的正确答案来对付拙劣的问题。何况我在教学过程中有时也会想到一些出色的问题。

书，是因为我喜欢想方设法使自己和我的学生从象牙塔里走出来，步入现实世界。

I once taught a course called "Self-Reliance in a Technological Society." My 15 students read Emerson, Thoreau, and Huxley. They kept diaries. They wrote term papers. 我曾经开过一门叫做“在工业技术社会里如何自力更生”的课程。我教的15位学生读了爱默生、梭洛和赫胥黎的作品，记了日记，还写了学期论文。

But we also set up a corporation, borrowed money, purchased a run-down house and practiced self-reliance by renovating it. 但除此而外，我们还办起一个公司，借钱买下一所破旧的房屋，通过对这一建筑物的整修翻新，我们就自力更生这一课题进行了一次实践活动。

At the end of the semester, we sold the house, repaid our loan, paid our taxes, and distributed the profits among the group. 在期末我们把房子卖掉，还清贷款，缴了税，余下的收益分给了参加实践的学生。

So teaching gives me pace, and variety, and challenge, and the opportunity to keep on learning. 所以说，教学使我的工作进程有了规律，使我的生活变得丰富多彩，教学向我提出了挑战，也给了我不断学习的机会。

I have left out, however, the most important reasons why I teach. 不过，我要教书的最重要的几个原因还没有讲到呢。One is Vicky. My first doctoral student, Vicky was an energetic student who labored at her dissertation on a little-known 14th century poet. 其中一个原因与维基有关。维基是我的第一个博士生。她精力充沛，孜孜不倦地撰写她那篇论述14世纪一位不知名诗人的学位论文。

She wrote articles and sent them off to learned journals. She did it all herself, with an occasional nudge from me. 她写过一些文章，寄给了学术刊物。这一切都由她独立完成，我偶尔从旁略加指点。

But I was there when she finished her dissertation, learned that her articles were accepted, got a job and won a fellowship to Harvard working on a book developing ideas she'd first had as my student. 我亲眼看到了她完成论文，看到了她得悉自己的文章被采用，亲眼目睹她找到了工作并获得了在哈佛大学当研究员的职位，著书论述她在做我学生时萌发的思想。

Another reason is George, who started as an engineering student, then switched to English because he decided he liked people better than things. 另一个原因与乔治有关。他开始学的是工程学，后来他深信自己爱人胜过爱物，所以改学英语。

There is Jeanne, who left college, but was brought back by her classmates because they wanted her to see the end of the self-reliance house project. 还有珍妮。她中途辍学，但是她的同学把她拉了回来，因为他们想让她看到自力更生整修旧房子这一项目的结果。

I was there when she came back. I was there when she told me that she later became interested in the urban poor and went on to become a civil rights lawyer. 我亲眼看到她回来了。我亲耳听到她对我说，她后来对城市贫民产生了兴趣，继而成了捍卫公民权的律师。

There is Jacqui, a cleaning woman who knows more by intuition than most of us learn by analysis. 还要提一提清洁女工

Jacqui has decided to finish high school and go to college. 杰基已经决定读完中学，然后还要上大学。

These are the real reasons I teach, these people who grow and change in front of me. 这些在我眼前成长、变化的人，便是我要当教师的真正原因。

Being a teacher is being present at the creation, when the clay begins to breathe. 当一名教师意味着是创造的见证人，他目睹人体开始呼吸，开始了生命。

A "promotion" out of teaching would give me money and power. But I have money. “升职了”，不再教书了，也许会给我带来金钱和权力。

I get paid to do what I enjoy: reading, talking with people, and asking question like, "What is the point of being rich?" 可是我现在也有钱。我拿了薪金去做自己乐意做的事：读书、交谈、提问，比如问：“做个富翁有什么意思呢?”

And I have power. I have the power to nudge, to fan sparks, to suggest books, to point out a pathway. What other power matters? 我现在还有权呢。我有权启迪，有权激发才智，有权开出书目，有权指点迷津。还有其他什么权力更值得考虑呢?

But teaching offers something besides money and power: it offers love. 但教书还会带来金钱和权力以外的东西：那便是爱。

Not only the love of learning and of books and ideas, but also the love that a teacher feels for that rare student who walks into a teacher's life and begins to breathe. 不仅是爱学习、爱书本、爱思想，而且还有老师对出类拔萃的学生的爱。这样的学生走进了老师的生活，老师自己也开始成长了。

Perhaps love is the wrong word: magic might be better. “爱”这个字也许用得不恰当：用“魔力”可能更为贴切。

I teach because, being around people who are beginning to breathe, I occasionally find myself catching my breath with them. 我教书，是因为在与开始成长的学生朝夕相处时，我有时感到自己也和他们一起开始成长了。

NEW WORDS

administrative

a. of the management of affairs 行政的，管理的

administration

n. 管理（部门），行政（机关）

puzzle

vt. fill with doubt and confusion 使迷惑

step (-) up

n. promotion; increase in size, speed, etc.

mechanic

a. covered with sweat, sweating

palm

a. 手掌

profession

n. occupation, esp. one requiring special training, such as law, medicine, or teaching convince

vt. make (sb.) feel certain; cause (sb.) to realize

compel

vt. force (sb. or sth. to do sth.)

pace

n. rate or speed of development, or in walking, etc. 速度；步速

calendar

n. 日程表，日历

opportunity

n. favourable occasion or chance

reflection

n. careful thinking; consideration 深思；考虑

reflect

vi.反射；细想

stimulate

vt. encourage; excite 刺激；激励

freshman

n. student in his first year at a college or university

failure

n. a person, attempt, or thing that fails; lack of success

ivory

n. 象牙

ivory tower

n. place or condition of retreat from the world of action into a world of ideas and dreams 象牙塔self-reliance

n. trust, confidence; dependence 信赖；信心；依靠

technological

a. of or related to technology 技术的

corporation

n. (AmE) 有限公司

run-down

a. old and broken or in bad condition

renovate

vt. restore (old buildings, oil paintings, etc.) to a former, better state 修复，修整

semester

n. (AmE) either of the two periods into which a school year is divided; term 学期

repay

vt. pay back (money, etc.)

loan

n. sth. lent, esp. a sum of money 借出的东西；贷款

distribute

vt. divide among several or many; give or send out 分发；分送

distribution

n.分配，分发

variety

n. difference in quality, type or character; a number of or a collection of different things 变化，多样化；种种challenge

n. the quality of demanding competitive action, interest, or though 挑战

doctoral

a. having to do with the university degree of doctor 博士的

energetic

a. vigorous 精力充沛

dissertation

n. （学位）论文

poet

a. showing or requiring much knowledge 博学的

journal

n. magazine or daily newspaper 杂志；日报

occasional

a. happening from time to time, not regular 偶尔的，间或的

nudge

n. (fig.) words, actions or feeling that stimulate 启示

vt. push or touch slightly, esp. with the elbow to attract attention; (fig.) stimulate

fellowship

n. position or a sum of money granted to a person for advanced study or research 研究员职位；研究员薪金switch

vt. change or shift; turn

urban

a. of a town or city

civil rights

n. the rights of a citizen without regard to his race, religion, sex, etc. 公民权

lawyer

n. person who practises law 律师

intuition

n. (power of) the immediate understanding of truths, events, facts without reasoning 直觉analysis

n. the separation of a substance into parts for careful examination and study 分析

creation

n. act of creating; sth. created 创造（物）

clay

n. 粘士

point

n. main idea or purpose 要点；意义，目的

pathway

n. path

a. unusually good; distinctive 稀有的；杰出的

magic

n. mysterious charm; strange influence or power; art of obtaining mysterious results by tricks 魔力；魔术

PHRASES & EXPRESSIONS

stay up

not go to bed until after the usual time 不睡觉，熬夜

take notes

记笔记

build on

base on; use as a base for further development

keep a diary

记日记

leave out

fail to mention or include; omit

send off

post; dispatch

work at/ on

give one's attention to doing or trying to do

catch one's breath

rest and get back one's normal breath, as after running; stop breathing for a moment from surprise, fear, shock, etc.

PROPER NAMES

Emerson

爱默生（姓氏及男子名）

Thoreau

梭洛（姓氏）

Huxley

赫胥黎（姓氏）

Vicky

维基（女子名，Victoria 的昵称）

哈佛（美国大学名）

Jeanne

珍妮（女子名）

Jacqui

杰基（女子名，Jacqueline的昵称）

Unit 5 Text

A mother and her son learn more from a moment of defeat than they ever could from a victory. Her example of never giving up gives him courage for the rest of his life.从失败的一刻中，母亲和儿子收获了他们从成功中不曾收获到的。母亲永不放弃的精神给他此后的人生以很大的勇气。

The Day Mother Cried

妈妈哭的那天

Gerald Moore

Coming home from school that dark winter's day so long ago, I was filled with anticipation. 在很久以前一个昏暗的冬天，我放学回家，心中充满了期待。

I had a new issue of my favorite sports magazine tucked under my arm, and the house to myself. 我腋下夹着一期新的我最爱看的体育杂志，再者，家里没有别人打扰我。

Dad was at work, my sister was away, and Mother wouldn't be home from her new job for an hour. 爸爸在上班，妹妹不在家。妈妈刚找到新工作，还得过一个小时才下班。

I bounded up the steps, burst into the living room and flipped on a light.我跳上台阶，冲进起居室，啪嗒一声打开电灯。

I was shocked into stillness by what I saw. 我被眼前的景象惊呆了。

Mother, pulled into a tight ball with her face in her hands, sat at the far end of the couch. She was crying. I had never seen her cry.妈妈双手捂着脸，身子紧缩成一团，坐在长沙发的那一端哭泣着。我看见妈妈哭这还是第一次。

I approached cautiously and touched her shoulder. "Mother?" I said "What's happened?" 我小心翼翼地向她走去，轻轻拍她的肩膀。“妈妈，”我说，“怎么啦?”

She took a long breath and managed a weak smile. "It's nothing, really. Nothing important. Just then I'm going to lose this new job. I can't type fast enough." 妈妈深深吸了一口气，强作微笑。“没什么，真的。没有什么要紧的事。只是我这份新工作要丢了。我字打得不够快。”

"But you've only been there three days," I said. "You'll catch on." “可你上班才三天，”我说。“你会熟练起来的。”

I was repeating a line she had spoken to me a hundred times when I was having trouble learning or doing something important to me. 我这是在重复她讲过上百次的一句话，每当我学习或做一件与自己关系重大的事情而遇到困难时，她总是这样跟我说的。

this." “不成，”妈妈黯然神伤地说。“过去我总是讲，只要我下决心，什么事都能干成。现在我仍然认为大多数的事我都能做。但打字这件事我干不了。”

I felt helpless and out of place. 我感到无能为力，而且十分尴尬。

At age 16 I still assumed Mother could do anything. 我虽然十六岁了，但仍然以为妈妈什么都能干。

Some years before, when we sold our ranch and moved to town, Mother had decided to open a day nursery. 几年前，当我们卖掉农场，搬到城里住的时候，妈妈决定开办日托所。

She had had no training, but that didn't stand in her way. 她过去没有受过这方面的训练，但这并不能阻碍她。

She sent away for correspondence courses in child care, did the lessons and in six months formally qualified herself for the task. 她写信要求参加幼托函授课程，学习了六个月就正式获得从事这项工作的资格。

It wasn't long before she had a full enrollment and a waiting list. I accepted all this as a perfectly normal instance of Mother's ability.不久她的日托所招生额满，而且还有不少小孩登记等着入托呢。我觉得凭妈妈的能力，办成这一切是理所当然的。

But neither the nursery nor the motel my parents bought later had provided enough income to send my sister and me to college. 然而，无论是托儿所或是我父母后来购买的汽车旅馆都不能提供足够的收入供我妹妹和我上大学。

In two years I would be ready for college. In three more my sister would want to go. 两年后就该是我上大学的时候了。再过三年，妹妹也要上了。

Time was running out, and Mother was frantic for ways to save money. 时间一天天过去，妈妈拼命想办法积蓄钱。

It was clear that Dad could do no more than he was doing already——farming 80 acres in addition to holding a full-time job.很清楚，爸爸已尽了最大努力--除了一份全日工作之外，还耕种了八十英亩地。

A few months after we'd sold the motel, Mother arrived home with a use typewriter. 我们卖了汽车旅馆没几个月，妈妈搬回来一台旧打字机。

It skipped between certain letters and the keyboard was soft. 这架打字机有时会跳字，键盘也很松。

At dinner that night I pronounced the machine a "piece of junk."那天吃晚饭时，我把这台机器说成是“废物一件”。"That's all we can afford," mother said. "It's good enough to learn on." “我们只买得起这样旧的，”妈妈说。“学打字用是够可以的了。”

And from that day on, as soon as the table was cleared and the dishes were done, Mother would disappear into her sewing room to practice. 从那天起，餐桌一收拾，盘子一洗，妈妈马上到她的缝纫间去练习。

The slow tap, tap, tap went on some nights until midnight.有几天，那缓慢的嗒、嗒、嗒的声音一直持续到午夜。

It was nearly Christmas when I heard Mother got a job at the radio station. I was not the least but surprised, or impressed. But she was ecstatic. 临近圣诞节的时候，我听说妈妈在电台找到一份工作。我一点也不惊奇，也不觉得有什么特别，但妈妈却欣喜万分。

妈的高兴劲儿已经烟消云散。

Mother looked tired and drawn. I responded by ignoring her.妈妈绷着脸，看上去很疲劳，我没对她作任何表示。Tuesday, Dad made dinner and cleaned the kitchen. Mother stayed in her sewing room, practicing. "Is Mother all right?" I asked Dad. 星期二，爸爸做晚饭，收拾厨房。妈妈呆在缝纫间练习打字。“妈妈还好吗?”我问爸爸。

"She's having a little trouble with her typing," he said. "She needs to practice. I think she'd appreciate it if we all helped out a bit more." “妈妈打字碰到点困难，”他说，“她需要练习。我想，如果我们在家里多帮一点忙，她会很感激的。”

"I already do a lot," I said, immediately on guard. “我已经做得不少了，”我马上警觉起来，说道。

"I know you do," Dad said evenly. "And you may have to do more. You might just remember that she is working primarily so you can go to college." “我知道你做得不少，”爸爸心平气和地说。“说不定你还得再多干一点。你要记住，她现在工作主要是为了能供你上大学。”

I honestly didn't care. I wished she would just forget the whole thing. 老实说，上不上大学我并不在乎。我真希望妈妈一点也不要把这事放在心上。

My shock and embarrassment at finding Mother in tears on Wednesday was a perfect index of how little I understood the pressures on her. 星期三，当发现妈妈哭时我所感到的震惊和窘迫，完全表明了我对妈妈所承受的压力是多么的不理解。

Sitting beside her on the couch, I began very slowly to understand.我坐在她的身旁，慢慢开始理解了。

"I guess we al have to fail sometime," Mother said quietly. “我想我们都不免有失败的时候，”妈妈平静地说。

I could sense her pain and the tension of holding back the strong emotions that were interrupted by my arrival. 我可以感觉到她的痛苦，也感觉到她在极力抑制着由于我闯进来而被打断的强烈情感的发泄。

Suddenly, something inside me turned. I reached out and put my arms around her.突然，我心里一酸，伸开双臂，把妈妈搂在怀里。

She broke then. She put her face against my shoulder and sobbed. 妈妈再也控制不住了。她把脸贴着我的肩膀，抽泣着。

I help her close and didn't try to talk. I knew I was doing what I should, what I could, and that it was enough. 我紧紧抱着她，没有说话。我明白我是在做我应该做的和我所能做的，这就够了。

In that moment, feeling Mother's back racked with emotion, I understood for the first time her vulnerability. 妈妈非常激动，我感到她的背在颤抖。就在那一时刻，我第一次明白妈妈也有弱点。

She was still my mother, but she was something more: a person like me, capable of fear and hurt and failure. 她还是我的妈妈，但又不仅如此：她和我一样也是一个普通的人，会害怕，会受到伤害，会遭遇失败。

I could feel her pain as she must have felt mine on a thousand occasions when I had sought comfort in her arms.我感觉到她的痛苦，就像我千百次在她怀里寻求安慰时，她感到我的痛苦一样。

A week later Mother took a job selling dry goods at half the salary the radio station had offered. 一周过后，妈妈找到一个

"It's a job I can do," she said simply. “这是一个我能胜任的工作，”她简单地说道。

But the evening practice sessions on the old green typewriter continued. 但在晚上，她继续在那台绿色的旧打字机上练习。

I had a very different feeling now when I passed her door at night and heard her tapping away. 那时，每当我在夜晚走过她的房门前，听着她那一刻不停的嗒、嗒的打字声时，我的感情与过去迥然不同了。

I knew there was something more going on in there than a woman learning to type.我深知，在那个房间里进行着的绝不仅仅是一个妇女在学习打字。

When I left for college two years later, Mother had an office job with better pay and more responsibility. 两年后我上大学时，妈妈找到一份薪金比原来高但责任也比原来重的办公室工作。

I have to believe that in some strange way she learned as much from her moment of defeat as I did, because several years later, when I had finished school and proudly accepted a job as a newspaper reporter, she had already been a journalist with our hometown paper for six months.使我不得不相信的是，妈妈不可思议地从失败中学到的东西竟与我所学到的一样多。因为几年后，我大学毕业、自豪地受聘担任报纸记者时，她已在我们家乡的报社里当了六个月的记者了。The old green typewriter sits in my office now, unrepaired. 那台绿色旧打字机现在放在我的办公室里，至今没有修理过。

It is a memento, but what it recalls for me is not quite what if recalled for Mother. 它是一件纪念品。但它所勾起的我的回忆与妈妈的不尽相同。

When I'm having trouble with a story and think about giving up or when I start to feel sorry for myself and think things should be easier for me, I roll a piece of paper into that cranky old machine and type, word by painful word, just the way mother did. What I remember then is not her failure, but her courage, the courage to go ahead.每当我写文章遇到困难想打退堂鼓时，或是自叹不走运时，我就往那台破旧的打字机里卷进一张纸，像妈妈当年一样，一个字一个字地吃力地打着。这时，我回忆起的不是妈妈的失败，而是她的勇气，她那一往无前的勇气。

It's the best memento anyone ever gave me. 这台打字机是我一生中得到的最好的纪念品。

NEW WORDS

anticipation

n. expectation

anticipate

vt.期望

issue

n. 发行物（刊物的）一期

vt. put or push into a desired convenient position so as to hold tightly; draw together into a small space 塞（进）；卷（起）bound

vi. move along quickly by jumping or leaping movements 跳跃

flip

v. turn or move quickly or with a jerk

tight

a. drawn, fixed or fastened together firmly 紧的，牢的

ad. firmly, closely

couch

n. a long comfortable seat with a back and arms on which more than one person may sit; sofa 长沙发椅approach

v. come near or nearer(to)

cautiously

ad. very carefully 细心地，谨慎地

cautious

a.谨慎的，小心的

type

vt. write (sth.) with a typewriter

line

n. a row of words in a poem; a row of words on a page of writing or in print （诗、文的）一行

helpless

a. unable to look after oneself or take action to help others, powerless

assume

vt. take as true without actual proof; suppose 假设，主观认为

ranch

n. a very large farm for raising horses, cattle or sheep 大牧场，大农场

nursery

n. a place where small children are temporarily cared for 托儿所

day nursery

n. a place where small children are cared for during the day

training