英汉翻译作业
1．翻译下列句子，注意定语从句的译法
1) He is wisest that is honest.
诚实者最明智。
2）He is rich, which I unfortunately am not.
他很富有，遗憾的是，我却不富有。
3) He said he had no time, which isn’t true.
他说他没有时间，这并不是真的。
4) He has asked me to prepare a paper which he will circulate.
他要求我准备一份文件，以便用来传阅。
5) Archimedes’principle applies to all fluids, by which we mean all liquids and gases.
阿基米德理论适用于所有流体，用流体意味着所有的液体和气体。
6) The longest glacier so far discovered in China, the Karagul, which is 34 km. in length, is located here.
卡拉古尔冰川有34公里长，是我国到目前为止发现的最长的冰川。
7）This is a college of science and technology, the students of which are trained to be engineers or scientists.
这事一个科学技术学校，这里的学生被培养成为工程师和科学家。
8) After regular intervals which depend partly upon the amount of traffic carried and partly upon the local conditions, the so-called “permanent way”requires replacement.
每隔一段时间之后，所谓“永久性道路”就需要更换。
这段时间很短，部分取决于运输量，部分取决于当地的条件。
9) So what do the Americans think of the foreign visitors who arrive for the torrid heat, just when locals from the United States tended to avoid Death Valley？
美国本地人对死谷避之唯恐不及，国外旅客却纷纷为炎炎烈日而至，对此美国人是怎么看得呢？
10）They seemed to enjoy those rewards which they had purchased by a course of unremitting fatigue and by victories which almost exceeded belief.
他们对这些酬劳看来是很得意的，这些酬劳是他们历经千辛万苦，通过取得许多次令人难以置信的胜利得来的！
2．段落翻译
Culture Shock
Do you think studying in a different country is something that sounds very exciting? Like many young people who leave home to study in another country, do you think you would have lots of desirable fun? Certainly, it is a new experience, which brings the opportunity of discovering fascinating things and a feeling of freedom.
你认为在异国求学听起来有些兴奋吗？像很多年轻人离开家乡到另一个国家学习，你觉得你会有很多值得拥有的乐趣吗？当然，它是一种新的经历，能够带来发现迷人事情的机会和自由的感觉。
In spite of these advantages, however, there are also some challenges you will encounter. Because your views may clash with the different beliefs, norms, values, and traditions that exist in different countries, you may have difficulty adjusting to a new culture and to those parts of the culture not familiar to you. This is culture shock. Evidently, at least four essential stages of culture-shock adjustment occur.
尽管有这些优势，但是，你也会遭遇一些挑战。
因为你的看法可能与存在于不同地区的信念、规范、价值观念和传统发生冲突，你也许会有困难去调整自己来适应新文化和那些不熟悉的文化。
这就是文化冲击。
明显的，至少四个必不可少的文化冲击调整阶段要发生。
3. 用顺译法翻译下列句子
1）In the factory of the future, designers will not need production engineers to tell them whether a new product will work and how much it will cost.
在工厂的未来里，设计师将不需要生产工程师告诉他们新产品成效怎样和开销怎样。
2）We depend upon the sun’s rays for the light and warmth which keep us alive, but there are some kinds of rays from the sun which would burn us to death if we were not protected from them.
我们依靠太阳光线来获取光和温暖以保持生活，但是有些来自地球的光线会把我们焚烧致死，如果我们没有保护自己免受伤害。
3）And if this something else is rightly chosen, if it is really attended by the illumination of another field of interest, gradually, and often quite swiftly, the old undue grip relaxes and the process of recuperation and repair begins.
如果选得合适，而且的确受到别的领域的情趣的启迪，那么渐渐地，往往也是很顺利的，原先不适当的紧张就会松弛下来，恢复和修整的
过程就会开始。
4．用逆译法翻译下列句子
1）A student of mathematics must become familiar with all the signs and symbols commonly used in mathematics and bear them in mind and be well versed in the definitions, and formulas as well as the technical terms in the field of mathematics, in order that he may be able to build up the foundation of the mathematical subject and master it well for pursuing advanced study.
一个数学系学生必须变得对那些在数学中普遍使用的符号和表征了如指掌，将它们牢记在心，并且做到精通数学领域的术语和公式，以使他能很好的建立起数学学科的基础并得以掌握，在学习中不断追求进步。
2）It was our view that the United States could be effective in both the tasks assigned by the President, i.e., of ending hostilities, and making a contribution to a permanent peace in the Middle East—if we conducted ourselves so that we could remain in permanent contact with all of these elements in the equation.
在我们的意识中，如果我们采取行动以便能够继续与中东问题各方始终保持接触,那么我们美国就能有效地担当起总统所提出的两项任务,那就是在中东结束敌对行动以及对该地区的永久和平作出贡献。
英译汉句子翻译30分 每题3分
句子翻译题 30分〔每题3分〕1. He talked to the foreigner in hesitant English.他结结巴巴地用英语同那个外国人交谈。
2. Such materials are characterized by good insulation and high resistance to wear.这些材料的特点是：绝缘性好，耐磨性强。
3. Before them lay miles of miles of beautiful plain with lots of wild animals among the grass.美丽的草原，茵茵的绿草，野生动物成群结队，绵延数英里，展现在眼前。
4. They asked long lists of questions, numerically arranged, about the climate, products, laws, business chances, and statistics of the country in which the consul had the honor of the representing his government.他们一、二、三、四地列了一个很长的问题表，向那位领事问了一连串的问题，诸如领事派驻国的气候、物产、法律、贸易机会以与种种的统计资料。
5. As the temperature increases, the volume of water bee greater.温度增高，水的体积就增大。
6. Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style.所谓翻译，是指在译语中用最切近而又自然的对等语再现原语的信息，首先在语义上，其次是在文体上。
英语汉译英作业汇总
Unit 11、然而，许多人认为现代文明的发展不仅取决于科学技术，而且也取决于教育的社会化。
（5~6）Many people believe, however, that the development of modern civilization depends not only on science and technology, but also on educational/education socialization.2、人类应努力提高自身的研究能力，无论是理论研究还是应用研究能力。
（24~16）Man should make efforts to improve his own research ability, whether pure or applied research. 3、无论别人说什么，他都怀疑，因此受到大家的冷落。
（34~35）He is skeptical of/about whatever others say and therefore is left out in the cold.4、此外，我们对实验结果依然表示怀疑，因为我知道总有一些难以预料的因素，干扰了公正客观研究（39~42）Furthermore, I am dubious/doubtful/skeptical of/about the experiment result, since I know that a number of unexpected factors tend to disturb impartial and objective investigation/research.Unit31、毫无疑问，诸如所谓“来生”实际上是不存在的。
（来生：After-life,参见课文line1-2）There is no doubt that no such thing as the so-called …after-life‟ really exists.2、我们要尽可能多的说服那些似乎犹豫不决的人改变态度。
0500046英汉翻译_作业二_1002
Translation Practice TwoI. Translate the following sentences into English1. 中华文明博大精深、源远流长, 为人类文明进步作出了巨大贡献。
2. 今天邀大家来开座谈会，目的是要和大家交换意见，……3. 只有你方把现有订货量增至我们所确定的最低数字，我们才能供货。
4. 采取“一国两制”适合中国的国情，并非权宜之计。
5. 国家要统一，民族要复兴，台湾问题不能无限期地拖延下去。
II. Translate the following sentences into Chinese.1. As the weather was fine, we decided to climb the mountain.2. As water can float a ship, so can it swallow the ship.3. Put into an old Chinese proverb, it means that one will never find it difficult to do anything until one has experienced it.4. A notion has taken hold in the United States to the effect that the only people who should be encouraged to bring children into the world are those who can afford them.5. As soon as the cinema is in darkness, spotlights are focused on the curtains which are drawn slowly apart, often to the accompaniment of music to reveal the title of the cinema.III. Translate the following passage into Chinese.Attitudes toward WorkA person may have an idea about himself that will prevent him from doing good work.He may have the idea that he is not capable of it. It is easy to get such an idea even though there is not justification for it. A child may think he is stupid because he does not understand how to make the most of his mental faculties, or he may accept another person’s mistaken estimate of his ability. Older people may be handicapped by the mistaken belief that are incapable of learning anything new because of their age.IV. Translate the following passage into English.回家的感觉真好，可以吃到妈妈亲手做的家乡菜。
英汉语言对比与翻译作业
英汉语言对比与翻译作业1. It is flattering to believe that they are too profound to be expressed so clearly that all who run may read, and very naturally it does not occur to such writers that the fault is with their own minds which have not the faculty of precise reflection.翻译：认为自己的思想深奥，不可能表达得很清楚，让任何人都能理解，这是一种虚荣的念头。
这样的作家当然不会想到，问题还是出在自己脑子缺乏精确思考的能力。
2. He had a disconcerting habit of expressing contradictory ideas in rapid succession.翻译：他有一种令人不安的习惯：一会儿一个看法，自相矛盾，变化无常。
3．While the present century was in its teens, and on one sunshiny morning in June, there drove up to the great iron gate of Miss Pinkerton’s academy for young ladies, on Chiswick Mall, a large family coach, with two fat horses in blazing harness, driven by a fat coachman in athree-cornered hat and wig, at the rate of four miles an hour. (Thackeray)翻译：(当时)这个世纪刚过了十几年。
《英汉翻译》练习题
英汉翻译期末练习题Part I: Phrase Translation01. white elephant无用而累赘的东西02. fond dream黄粱美梦03. happy medium 中庸之道04. narrow escape九死一生05. north, south, east, west东、南、西、北06. be at a loss不知所措07. supreme authority至高无上08. wet paint油漆未干09. No Thoroughfare禁止通行10. Employees Only顾客止步11. Please Tender Exact Fare恕不找零12. 20% Off八折优惠13. catch at shadows捕风捉影14. look for a needle in a haystack大海捞针15. between hammer and anvil腹背受敌16. white lie善意的谎话17. black sheep害群之马18. carry coals to Newcastle多此一举19. be fair and square光明正大20. share weal and woe患难与共21. the think tank智囊团22. personal remark人身攻击23. French leave不辞而别24. fish in the air水中捞月25. a castle in the air空中楼阁26. shed crocodile tears猫哭耗子27. play the lute to a cow对牛弹琴28. hen party妇女聚会Part II: Sentence Translation01. She needs to find somewhere to live.译：她需要找个住的地方。
02. My school runs a factory.译：我的学校办了一家工厂。
汉译英简单练习题
汉译英简单练习题汉译英一直是学习英语的重要环节。
通过这个练习，我们可以巩固词汇和语法知识，提高对英语表达的准确性和流利度。
下面是一些简单的汉译英练习题，供大家参考：1. 欢迎来到中国！希望你在这里度过愉快的时光。
Welcome to China! I hope you have a great time here.2. 我和我的家人最近去了一趟北京，参观了长城和故宫。
My family and I recently went to Beijing and visited the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.3. 这个城市以其美丽的风景和悠久的历史而闻名。
This city is famous for its beautiful scenery and rich history.4. 昨天我在书店买了一本英语词典，希望可以提高我的英语水平。
Yesterday, I bought an English dictionary at the bookstore, hoping to improve my English skills.5. 知识就像一盏明灯，引导着我们走向成功的道路。
Knowledge is like a lamp that guides us on the path to success.6. 健康是最重要的财富，我们应该注重饮食和运动。
Health is the greatest wealth, and we should pay attention to our diet and exercise.7. 学校组织了一次野餐活动，让学生们放松一下，增加彼此的交流。
The school organized a picnic event to allow students to relax and enhance their communication with each other.8. 今年夏天，我计划和我的朋友们一起去旅行，探索不同的地方。
英译汉练习200题
英译汉200题1. 27个标成红色的题目，要重点复习. 建议先看英语，尝试翻译，然后掌握不熟悉的单词意思，只要大概意思相同即可2.其余173题也要尽量掌握。
比较简单记忆，容易突击消化.考试4题20分，尽量拿满分.重点掌握27个（必考2个）：1. Wang Li’s（人名有可能变化,4月为：Tom’s） father has taught English here since he graduated from PekingUniversity.王丽的父亲从北京大学毕业后就一直在这里教英语。
give this book to whoever comes first. 请把这本书给最先来的人。
it was late, they kept on working. 尽管已经很晚了，他们还在继续工作。
4. Apples here like water and sunshine. 这里的苹果喜欢水和阳光。
5. Tom（人名有可能变化或Fred）was such a hardworking student that he soon came out first in the class. 汤姆是一个学习十分用功的学生，以至于不久他就成了班里学习最好的学生。
and William have lived under the same roof for five years. 泰德和威廉已经在同一个屋檐下生活了五年了。
7. A lot of natural resources in the mountain area are to be exploited and used.那个山区有许多自然资源有待于开发利用。
8. In Foreign Languages Department, a checking machine is used to correct the studen ts’ test papers. 外语系用阅卷机给学生批卷。
学位英语英汉互译翻译题
1.They have agreed that they will stick to the policy and will not change it.他们一致同意，要求坚持这个政策，绝不改变。
2.How can you turn down the offer? I'm afraid she will feel hurt.你怎么能拒绝他的请求呢？恐怕他会伤心的。
3.Each term our professor would write out a list of books for us to read.每学期教授都会列出一系列书目让我们阅读。
4.I believe you have left behind your purse in the living room.我想你是把钱包丢在卧室里了。
5.We have run out of paper and ink. Ask Mrs Edward to lend us some.纸和笔用完了，让爱德华太太借给我们一些吧。
6.English is used by more people than any other language except Chinese.除了汉语以外，英语比其他任何一种语言使用的都多。
7.Take the medicine now, I believe it will relieve your pain.现在就吃药，我相信他会减轻你的痛苦的。
8.The results of the survey are interesting and they bring about more questions than they can answer.调查的结果非常有趣，带来了许多无法回答的问题。
9.The company has to balance the benefits against the coast in the last three months.公司在最后三个月内要达到收支平衡。
英汉互译作业
英汉互译作业I. Translate the following sentences into Chinese.1. What harm is there in advocating philanthropic work when it isbeneficial to the state, society and the individual?当慈善工作对国家，社会和个人有利的时候，倡导慈善工作会存在什么危害呢？2. Those who want nothing more than promotion and riches, doeverything to curry favour with their superiors. They make such aspectacle of themselves that it makes one sick.那些人为了升官发财而想尽办法讨好他们的上级。
他们在做这些事情的行为实在让人做呕。
3. Though the colours in this picture are beautiful, I think the trees areshaded a bit too dark. However, that does not affect the picture as a whole.虽然这幅画里的颜色是漂亮的，但我认为树的阴影部分有点深。
然而，这并不影响整幅画的效果。
4. Zhang San has been out of work for ages and having no friends orrelatives to fall back on, he is now penniless and down and out.张三已经失业很久了，并且他没有任何的朋友或亲戚可以依靠，现在的他可以说是身无分文，穷困潦倒。
5.With his present financial situation, a car of good make is just notwithin his means.就他目前的财务状况，一辆好的汽车已不是他所的财力所能支付的。
英译汉翻译练习
1 Glories of the StormNancy PetersonIt begins when a feeling of stillness creeps into my consciousness. Everything has suddenly gone quiet. Birds do not chirp. Leaves do not rustle. Insects do not sing.The air that has been hot all day becomes heavy. It hangs over the trees, presses the heads of the flowers to the ground, sits on my shoulders. With a vague felling of uneasiness I move to the window. There, in the west, lies the answer——cloud has piled on cloud to form a ridge of mammoth white towers, rearing against blue sky.Their piercing whiteness is of brief duration. Soon the marshmallow rims flatten to anvil tops, and the clouds reveal their darker nature. They impose themselves before the late-afternoon sun, and the day darkens early. Then a gust of wind whips the dust along the road, chill warning of what is to come.In the house a door shuts with a bang, curtains billow into the room. I rush to close the windows, empty the clothesline, secure the patio furnishings. Thunder begins to grumble in the distance.The first drops of rain are huge. They splat into the dust and imprint the windows with individual signatures. They plink on the vent pipe and plunk on the patio roof. Leaves shudder under their weight before rebounding, and the sidewalk wears a coat of shiny spots.The rhythm accelerates; plink follows plunk faster until the sound is a roll of drums and the individual drops become an army marching over fields and rooftops. Now the first bolt of lightning stabs the earth. It is heaven’s exclamation point. The storm is here!In spite of myself, I jump at the following crack of thunder. It rattles the windowpane and sends the dog scratching to get under the bed. The next bolt is even closer. It raises the hair on the back of my neck, and I take an involuntary step away from the window.The rain now becomes a torrent, flung capriciously by a rising wind. Together they batter the trees and level the grasses. Water streams off roofs and out of rain spouts. It pounds against the window in such a steady wash that I am sightless. There is only water. How can so much fall so fast? How could the clouds have supported this vast weight? How can the earth endure beneath it?Pacing through the house from window to window, I am moved toopen-mouthed wonder. Look how the lilac bends under the assault, how the day lilies are flattened, how the hillside steps are a new-made waterfall! Now hailstones thump upon the roof. They bounce white against the grass and splash into the puddles. I think of the vegetable garden, the fruit trees, the crops in the fields; but, thankfully, the hailstones are not enough in numbers or size to do real damage. Not this time.For this storm is already beginning to pass. The tension is released from the atmosphere, the curtains of rain let in more light. The storm has spent most of its energy, and what is left will be expended on the countryside to the east.I am drawn outside while the rain still falls. All around, there is a cool and welcome feeling. I breathe deeply and watch the sun’s rays streak through breaking clouds. One ray catches the drops that form on the edge of the roof, and I am treated to a row of tiny, quivering colors—my private rainbow.I pick my way through the wet grass, my feet sinking into the saturated soil. The creek in the gully runs bank—full of brown water, but the small lakes and puddles are already disappearing into the earth. Every leaf, brick, shingle and blade of grass is fresh-washed and shining.Like the land, I am renewed, my spirit cleaned. I feel an infinite peace. For a time I have forgotten the worries and irritations I was nurturing before. They have been washed away by the glories of the storm. （翻译此文的第五段至第九段）2 Felicia's JourneyWilliam TrevorThe sun is warm now, the water of the river undisturbed. Seagulls teeter on the parapet in front of her, boats go by. The line of trees that breaks the monotony of the pavement is laden with leaves in shades of russet. Figures stride purposefully on a distant bridge, figures in miniature, creatures that could be unreal. Somewhere a voice is loud on a megaphone.She is not hungry. It will be a few hours before she begins to feel hungry and then there will be the throwaway stuff in the bins. The sky is azure, evenly blue, hardly faded at the edges at all. She moves a hand back and forth on a slat of the seat she is sitting on, her fingers caressing the smooth timber, the texture different where the paint has worn away.The gap left where a tooth was drawn a fortnight ago has lost its soreness. She feels it with her tongue, pressing the tip of her tongue into the cavity, recalling the aching there has been. It was the Welshman, Davo, who said that. They went along together because he knew the way, ―Not many would bother with your toothache,‖ Davo said. Not many would think toothache would occur in a derelict’s mouth.‖ You can always come back,‖ the woman dentist said. ―Don’t be in pain.‖The woman dentist has dedicated her existence to the rotten teeth of derelicts, to derelicts’ odour and filth. Her goodness is a great mystery.She turns her hands so that the sun may catch them differently, and slightly lifts her head to warm the other side of her face.3 Life in a Violin CaseThe turning point of my life was my decision to give up a promising business career and study music. My parents, although sympathetic, and sharing my love of music, disapproved of it as a profession. This was understandable in view of the family background. My grandfather had taught music for nearly forty years at Springhill College in Mobile and, though much beloved and respected in the community, earned barely enough to provide for his large family. My father often said it was only the hardheaded thriftiness of my grandmother that kept the wolf at bay. As a consequence of this example in the family, the very mention of music as a profession carried with it a picture of a precarious existence with uncertain financial rewards. My parents insisted upon college instead of a conservatory of music, and to college I went – quite happily, as I remember, for although I loved my violin and spent most of my spare time practicing, I had many other interests.Before my graduation form Columbia, the family met with severe financial reverses and I felt it my duty to leave college and take a job. Thus was I launched upon a business career – which I always think of as the wasted years.Now I do not for a moment mean to disparage business. My whole point I is that it was not for me. I went into it for money, and aside from the satisfaction of being able to help the family, money is all I got out of it. It was not enough. I felt that life was passing me by. From being merely discontented I became acutely miserable. My one ambition was to save enough to quit and go to Europe to study music. I used to get up at dawn to practice before I left for ―downtown‖, distracting my poor mother by bolting a hasty breakfast at the last minute. Instead of lunching with my business associates, I would seek out some cheap café, order a meager meal and scribble my harmony exercises. I continued to make money, and finally, bit by bit, accumulated enough to enable me to go abroad. The family being once more solvent, and my help no longer necessary, I resigned from my position and, feeling like a man released from jail, sailed for Europe. I stayed four years, worked harder than I had ever dreamed of working before and enjoyed every minute of it.―Enjoyed‖ is too mild a word. I walked on air. I really lived. I was a free man and I was doing what I loved to do and what I was meant to do.If I had stayed in business, I might be a comparatively wealthy man today, but I do not believe I would have made a success of living. I would have given up all those intangibles, those inner satisfactions, that money can never buy, and that are too often sacrificed when a man’s primary goal is financial success.Money is a wonderful thing, but it is possible to pay too high a price on it.4 Love Is Not Like MerchandiseSydney J. HarrisA reader in Florida, apparently bruised by some personal experience, writes into complain, ―If I steal a nickel’s worth of merchandise, I am a thief and punished; but if I steal the love of another’s wife, I am free.‖This is a prevalent misconception in many people’s minds---that love, like merchandise, can be ―stolen‖. Numerous states, in fact, have enacted laws allowin g damages for ―alienation of affections‖.But love is not a commodity; the real thing cannot be bought, sold, traded or stolen. It is an act of the will, a turning of the emotions, a change in the climate of the personality.When a husband or wif e is ―stolen‖ by another person, that husband or wife was already ripe for the stealing, was already predisposed toward a new partner. The ―love bandit‖ was only taking what was waiting to be taken, what wanted to be taken.We tend to treat persons li ke goods. We even speak of the children ―belonging‖ to their parents. But nobody ―belongs‖ to anyone else. Each person belongs to himself, and to God. Children are entrusted to their parents, and if their parents do not treat them properly, the state has a right to remove them from their parents’ trusteeship.Most of us, when young, had the experience of a sweetheart being taken from us by somebody more attractive and more appealing. At the time, we may have resented this intruder---but as we grew older, we recognized that the sweetheart had never been ours to begin with. It was not the intruder that ―caused‖ the break, but the lack of a real relationship.On the surface, many marriages seem to break up because of a ―third party‖. This is, however, a psychological illusion. The other woman or the other man merely serves as a pretext for dissolving or a marriage that had already lost its essential integrity.Nothing is more futile and more self-defeating than the bitterness of spurned love,the veng eful feeling that someone else has ―come between‖ oneself and a beloved. This is always a distortion of reality, for people are not the captives or victims of others---they are free agents, working out their own destinies for good or for ill.But the rejected lover or mate cannot afford to believe that his beloved has freely turned away from him--- and so he ascribes sinister or magical properties to the interloper. He calls him a hypnotist or a thief or a home-breaker. In the vast majority of cases, however, when a home is broken, the breaking has begun long before any―third party‖ has appeared on the scene.5 Chapter one Mellstock-Lane of Under The Greenwood TreeThomas HardyTo dwellers in a wood almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature. At the passing of the breeze the fir-trees sob and moan no less distinctly than they rock; the holly whistles as it battles with itself; the ash hisses amid its quiverings; the beech rustles while its flat boughs rise and fall. And winter, which modifies the note of such trees as shed their leaves, does not destroy its individuality.On a cold and starry Christmas-eve within living memory a man was passing up a lane towards Mellstock Cross in the darkness of a plantation that whispered thus distinctively to his intelligence. All the evidences of his nature were those afforded by the spirit of his footsteps, which succeeded each other lightly and quickly, and by the liveliness of his voice as he sang in a rural cadence:"With the rose and the lilyAnd the daffodowndilly,The lads and the lasses a-sheep-shearing go."The lonely lane he was following connected one of the hamlets of Mellstock parish with Upper Mellstock and Lewgate, and to his eyes, casually glancing upward, the silver and black-stemmed birches with their characteristic tufts, the pale grey boughs of beech, the dark-creviced elm, all appeared now as black and flat outlines upon the sky, wherein the white stars twinkled so vehemently that their flickering seemed like the flapping of wings. Within the woody pass, at a level anything lower than the horizon, all was dark as the grave. The copse-wood forming the sides of the bower interlaced its branches so densely, even at this season of the year, that the draught from the north-east flew along the channel with scarcely an interruption from lateral breezes.6 TrustAndy RooneyLast night I was driving from Harrisburg to Lewisburg , Pa. , a distance of about eighty miles. It was late, I was late and if anyone asked me how fast I was driving, I'd have to plead the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination. Several times I got stuck behind a slow-moving truck on a narrow road with a solid white line on my left, and I was clinching my fists with impatience.At one point along an open highway, I came to a crossroads with a traffic light. I was alone on the road by now, but as I approached the light, it turned red and I braked to a halt. I looked left, right and behind me. Nothing. Not a car, no suggestion of headlights, but there I sat, waiting for the light to change, the only human being for at least a mile in any direction.I started wondering why I refused to run the light. I was not afraid of being arrested, because there was obviously no cop around, and there certainly would have been no danger in going through it.Much later that night, after I'd met with a group in Lewisburg and had climbed into bed near midnight, the question of why I'd stopped for that light came back to me. I think I stopped because it's part of a contract we all have with each other. It's not only the law, but it's an agreement we have, and we trust each other to honor it: we don't go through red lights. Like most of us, I'm more apt to be restrained form doing something bad by the social convention that disapproves of it than by any law against it.It's amazing that we ever trust each other to do the right thing, isn't it? And we do, too. Trust is our first inclination. We have to make a deliberate decision to mistrust someone or to be suspicious or skeptical. Those attitudes don't come naturally to us. It's a damn good thing too, because the whole structure of our society depends on mutual trust, not distrust. This whole thing we have going for us would fall apart if we didn't trust each other most of the time. In Italy , they have an awful time getting any money for the government, because many people just plain don't pay their income tax. Here the Internal Revenue Service makes some gestures toward enforcing the law, but mostly they just have to trust that we'll pay what we owe. There has often been talk of a tax revolt in this country, most recently among unemployed auto workers in Michigan , and our government pretty much admits if there was a widespread tax revolt here, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.We do what we say we'll do; we show up when we say we'll show up; we deliver when we say we'll deliver; and we pay when we say we'll pay. We trust each other in these matters, and when we don't do what we've promised, it's a deviation from the normal. It happens often that we don't act in good faith and in a trustworthy manner, but we still consider it unusual, and we're angry or disappointed with the person or organization that violates the trust we have in them. (I'm looking for something good to say about mankind today.)I hate to see a story about a bank swindler who has jiggered the books to his own advantage, because I trust banks. I don't like them, but I trust them. I don't go in and demand that they show me my money all the time just to make sure they still have it.It's the same buying a can of coffee or a quart of milk. You don't take the coffee home and weigh it to make sure it's a pound. There isn't time in life to distrust every person you meet or every company you do business with. I hated the company that started selling beer in eleven-ounce bottles years ago. One of the million things we take on trust is that a beer bottle contains twelve ounces.It's interesting to look around and at people and compare their faith or lack of faith in other people with their success or lack of success in life. The patsies, the suckers, the people who always assume everyone else is as honest as they are, make out better in the long run than the people who distrust everyone — and they're a lot happier even if they get taken once in a while.I was so proud of myself for stopping for that red light, and inasmuch as no one would ever have known what a good person I was on the road from Harrisburg to Lewisburg, I had to tell someone.。