全新版大學英語綜合教程3課文原文及翻譯

1、unit 3 The Land of the LockYears ago in America, it was customary for families to leave their doors unlocked, day and night. In this essay, Greene regrets that people can no longer trust each other and have to resort to elaborate security systems to protect themselves and their possessions.許多年前,在美國,

2、家家戶戶白天黑夜不鎖門是司空見慣的。在本文中,格林嘆惜人們不再相互信任,不得不憑借精密的安全設(shè)備來保護自己和財產(chǎn)。The Land of the LockBob Greene1 In the house where I grew up, it was our custom to leave the front door on the latch at night. I don't know if that was a local term or if it is universal; "on the latch" meant the door was closed

3、but not locked. None of us carried keys; the last one in for the evening would close up, and that was it.鎖之國鮑伯·格林小時候在家里,我們的前門總是夜不落鎖。我不知道這是當?shù)氐囊环N說法還是大家都這么說;"不落鎖"的意思是掩上門,但不鎖住。我們誰都不帶鑰匙;晚上最后一個回家的人把門關(guān)上,這就行了。2 Those days are over. In rural areas as well as in cities, doors do not stay unlock

4、ed, even for part of an evening.那樣的日子已經(jīng)一去不復返了。在鄉(xiāng)下,在城里,門不再關(guān)著不鎖上,哪怕是傍晚一段時間也不例外。3 Suburbs and country areas are, in many ways, even more vulnerable than well-patroled urban streets. Statistics show the crime rate rising more dramatically in those allegedly tranquil areas than in cities. At any rate, th

5、e era of leaving the front door on the latch is over.在許多方面,郊區(qū)和農(nóng)村甚至比巡查嚴密的城市街道更易受到攻擊。統(tǒng)計顯示,那些據(jù)稱是安寧的地區(qū)的犯罪率上升得比城鎮(zhèn)更為顯著。不管怎么說,前門虛掩不落鎖的時代是一去不復返了。4 It has been replaced by dead-bolt locks, security chains, electronic alarm systems and trip wires hooked up to a police station or private guard firm. Many subur

6、ban families have sliding glass doors on their patios, with steel bars elegantly built in so no one can pry the doors open.取而代之的是防盜鎖、防護鏈、電子報警系統(tǒng),以及連接警署或私人保安公司的報警裝置。郊區(qū)的許多人家在露臺上安裝了玻璃滑門,內(nèi)側(cè)有裝得很講究的鋼條,這樣就沒人能把門撬開。5 It is not uncommon, in the most pleasant of homes, to see pasted on the windows small notices

7、 announcing that the premises are under surveillance by this security force or that guard company. 在最溫馨的居家,也常?？吹玫酱吧腺N著小小的告示,稱本宅由某家安全機構(gòu)或某個保安公司負責監(jiān)管。6 The lock is the new symbol of America. Indeed, a recent public-service advertisement by a large insurance company featured not charts showing how much at

8、 risk we are, but a picture of a child's bicycle with the now-usual padlock attached to it.鎖成了美國的新的象征。的確,一家大保險公司最近的一則公益廣告沒有用圖表表明我們所處的危險有多大,而是用了一幅童車的圖片,車身上懸著如今無所不在的掛鎖。7 The ad pointed out that, yes, it is the insurance companies that pay for stolen goods, but who is going to pay for what the new

9、atmosphere of distrust and fear is doing to our way of life? Who is going to make the psychic payment for the transformation of America from the Land of the Free to the Land of the Lock?廣告指出,沒錯,確是保險公司理賠失竊物品,但誰來賠償互不信任、擔心害怕這種新氛圍對我們的生活方式所造成的影響呢?誰來對美國從自由之國到鎖之國這一蛻變作出精神賠償呢?8 For that is what has happened.

10、 We have become so used to defending ourselves against the new atmosphere of American life, so used to putting up barriers, that we have not had time to think about what it may mean.因為那就是現(xiàn)狀。我們已經(jīng)變得如此習慣于保護自己不受美國生活新氛圍的影響,如此習慣于設(shè)置障礙,因而無暇考慮這一切意味著什么。9 For some reason we are satisfied when we think we are w

11、ell-protected; it does not occur to us to ask ourselves: Why has this happened? Why are we having to barricade ourselves against our neighbors and fellow citizens, and when, exactly, did this start to take over our lives?出于某種原因,當我們覺得防范周密時就感到心滿意足;我們沒有問過自己:為什么會出現(xiàn)這種情況?為什么非得把自己與鄰居和同住一城的居民相隔絕,這一切究竟是從什么時候

12、開始主宰我們生活的?10 And it has taken over. If you work for a medium- to large-size company, chances are that you don't just wander in and out of work. You probably carry some kind of access card, electronic or otherwise, that allows you in and out of your place of work. Maybe the security guard at the

13、front desk knows your face and will wave you in most days, but the fact remains that the business you work for feels threatened enough to keep outsiders away via these "keys."這一切確是主宰了我們的生活。如果你在一家大中型公司上班,你上下班很可能不好隨意進出。你可能隨身帶著某種出入卡,電子的或別的什么的,因為這卡能讓你進出工作場所。也許前臺的保安認識你這張臉,平日一揮手讓你進去,但事實明擺著,你所任職的

14、公司深感面臨威脅,因此要借助這些“鑰匙”不讓外人靠近。11 It wasn't always like this. Even a decade ago, most private businesses had a policy of free access. It simply didn't occur to managers that the proper thing to do was to distrust people.這一現(xiàn)象并非向來有之。即使在十年前,大多數(shù)私營公司仍采取自由出入的做法。那時管理人員根本沒想到過恰當?shù)氖侄问遣恍湃嗡恕?2 Look at the a

15、irports. Parents used to take children out to departure gates to watch planesland and take off. That's all gone. Airports are no longer a place of education and fun; they are the most sophisticated of security sites.且看各地機場。過去家長常常帶孩子去登機口看飛機起飛降落。這種事再也沒有了。機場不再是一個有趣的學習場所;它們成了擁有最精密的安全檢查系統(tǒng)的場所。13 With

16、electronic X-ray equipment, we seem finally to have figured out a way to hold the terrorists, real and imagined, at bay; it was such a relief to solve this problem that we did not think much about what such a state of affairs says about the quality of our lives. We now pass through these electronic

17、friskers without so much as a sideways glance; the machines, and what they stand for, have won.憑借著電子透視裝置,我們似乎終于想出妙計讓恐怖分子無法近身,無論是真的恐怖分子還是憑空臆想的。能解決這一問題真是如釋重負,于是我們不去多想這種狀況對我們的生活質(zhì)量意味著什么。如今我們走過這些電子搜查器時已經(jīng)看都不看一眼了,這些裝置,還有它們所代表的一切已經(jīng)獲勝。14 Our neighborhoods are bathed in high-intensity light; we do not want to

18、 afford ourselves even so much a luxury as a shadow.我們的居住區(qū)處在強光源的照射下;我們連哪怕像陰影這樣小小的享受也不想給自己。15 Businessmen, in increasing numbers, are purchasing new machines that hook up to the telephone and analyze a caller's voice. The machines are supposed to tell the businessman, with a small margin of error

19、, whether his friend or client is telling lies.越來越多的商人正購置連接在電話機上、能剖析來電者聲音的新機器。據(jù)說那種機器能讓商人知道他的朋友或客戶是否在撒謊,其出錯概率很小。16 All this is being done in the name of "security" that is what we tell ourselves. We are fearful, and so we devise ways to lock the fear out, and that, we decide, is what securi

20、ty means.所有這一切都是以“安全”的名義實施的:我們是這么跟自己說的。我們害怕,于是我們設(shè)法把害怕鎖在外面,我們認定,那就是安全的意義。17 But no; with all this "security," we are perhaps the most insecure nation in the history of civilized man. What better word to describe the way in which we have been forced to live? What sadder reflection on all tha

21、t we have become in this new and puzzling time?其實不然;我們雖然有了這一切安全措施,但我們或許是人類文明史上最不安全的國民。還有什么更好的字眼能用來描述我們被迫選擇的生活方式呢?還有什么更為可悲地表明我們在這個令人困惑的新時代所感受到的惶恐之情呢?18 We trust no one. Suburban housewives wear rape whistles on their station wagon key chains. We have become so smart about self-protection that, in the

22、 end, we have all outsmarted ourselves. We may have locked the evils out, but in so doing we have locked ourselves in.我們不信任任何人。郊區(qū)的家庭主婦在客貨兩用車鑰匙鏈上掛著防強暴口哨。我們在自我防衛(wèi)方面變得如此聰明,最終聰明反被聰明誤。我們或許是把邪惡鎖在了門外,但在這么做的同時我們把自己鎖在里邊了。19 That may be the legacy we remember best when we look back on this age: In dealing with

23、 the unseen horrors among us, we became prisoners of ourselves. All of us prisoners, in this time of our troubles.那也許是我們將來回顧這一時代時記得最牢的精神遺產(chǎn):在對付我們中間無形的恐懼之時,我們成了自己的囚徒。在我們這個問題重重的時代,所有的人都是囚徒。Many people in America own handguns. Some, like Gail Buchalter, buy a gun for self-defense. Others, like her frien

24、ds, refuse to do so because they think that guns cause more problems than they solve. Gail used to share her friends' views, but eventually changed her mind. Read what she has to say and decide whether she made the right choice.在美國,許多人擁有手槍。有人為了自衛(wèi)買槍,如蓋爾·巴卡爾特。另外一些人則拒絕這么做,比如她的許多朋友,因為他們認為,槍支引發(fā)的

25、問題比解決的更多。以前蓋爾與她的朋友們持有相同的觀點,但后來她改變了看法。讀一讀她所說的一切,并判定她的選擇是否明智。Why I Bought A GunGail Buchalter 1 I was raised in one of Manhattan's more desirable neighborhoods. My upper-middle-class background never involved guns. If my parents felt threatened, they simply put another lock on the door.我為什么買槍蓋爾

26、83;巴卡爾特我在曼哈頓一個相當不錯的社區(qū)長大。我的中上階級的社會背景從來與槍支無涉。我的父母要是覺得有威脅存在,他們僅僅是在門上再加把鎖。2 By high school, I had traded in my cashmere sweaters for a black arm band. I marched for Civil Rights, shunned Civil Defense drills and protested the Vietnam war. It was easy being 18 and a peacenik. I wasn't raising an 11-y

27、ear-old child then.高中時,我用一件開司米羊毛衫跟人換了個黑色的臂章。我參加人權(quán)游行,反對國防演習,抗議越南戰(zhàn)爭。作為妙齡18的少女,當一名反戰(zhàn)分子,真是輕松自在。那時我還沒有一個11歲的孩子要撫養(yǎng)。3 (1 Today, I am typical of the women whom gun manufactures have been aiming at as potential buyers - and one of the millions who have taken the plunge.時至今日,我成了一個典型的被槍支制造商看重并視為其潛在買主的那種女人-成了成千

28、上萬個采取這種行動的人中的一員。4 I began questioning my pacifist beliefs one Halloween night in Phoenix, where I had moved when I married. I was almost home when another car nearly hit mine head-on. With the speed of a New York cabbie, I rolled down my window and screamed curses as the driver passed. He instantly

29、made a U-turn, almost climbing on my back bumper. By now, he and his two friendswere hanging out of the car windows, yelling that they were going to rape, cut and kill me.一個萬圣節(jié)的晚上,在我婚后移居的鳳凰城,我開始懷疑自己的和平主義信條。一輛車與我的車差點迎頭相撞時,我?guī)缀醵嫉郊伊恕Ｎ乙约~約城出租車司機的敏捷,快速搖下車窗高聲咒罵那位開車的。他當即掉轉(zhuǎn)車頭,幾乎撞上我的車后保險杠。這時,他和兩個同伴從車窗伸出頭來,嚷嚷著要

30、強奸我,砍我,殺了我。5 I already had turned into our driveway when I realized my husband wasn't home. I was trapped. The car had pulled in behind me. I drove up to the back porch and got into the kitchen, where our dogs stood waiting for me. The three men spilled out of their car and into our yard. 我開進車道才

31、想起丈夫不在家。這下我進退兩難。那輛車尾隨著跟了進來。我把車開到后門廊停下,沖進廚房,我家的那兩條狗站在那兒等我。那三個家伙從汽車里一擁而出,進了院子。6 My heart was pumping. I grabbed the collars of Jack, our 200-pound Irish wolfhound, and his 140-pound malamute buddy, Slush. Then I kicked open the back door - I was so scared that I became aggressive - and actually dared

32、the three creeps to keep coming. With the dogs, the odds had changed in my favor, and the men ran back to the safety of their car, yelling that they'd be back the next day to blow me away. Fortunately, they never returned.我的心怦怦直跳。我抓起杰克和斯露西的頸圈一條是200磅重的愛爾蘭狼狗,另一條是它的伙伴,140磅重的北極犬。隨后我一腳踢開后門我嚇壞了,變得暴躁好斗

33、事實上我要激那三人過來。有狗相助,局勢變得對我有利,他們退回安全的車里,嚷嚷著說要明天來宰了我?？偹阈疫\,他們沒再露面。7 A few years and one divorce later, I headed for Los Angeles with my 3-year-old son, Jordan (the dogs had since departed. When I put him in preschool a few weeks later, the headmistress noted that I was a single parent and immediately warn

34、ed me that there was a rapist in my new neighborhood.幾年后,我離了婚,帶著3歲的兒子喬丹前往洛杉磯(那兩條狗也死了。幾個星期后我送他去幼兒園,老師發(fā)現(xiàn)我是個單身母親,馬上提醒我,我剛搬入的居住區(qū)里有個強奸犯。8 I called the police, who confirmed this fact. The rapist followed no particular pattern. Sometimes he would be waiting in his victim's house; other times he would

35、break in while the person was asleep. Although it was summer, I would carefully lock my windows at night and then lie there and sweat in fear. Thankfully, the rapist was caught, but not before he had attacked two more women.我給警察局打了個電話,他們證實了這一情況。那個強奸犯沒有什么特別的作案規(guī)律。有時他在受害者家里等候,有時他趁人入睡時潛入。當時正是夏天,可夜間我還是謹慎

36、地鎖住窗戶,然后躺在床上,嚇得渾身是汗。謝天謝地,那個強奸犯被逮捕了,可那是在他又強暴了兩名女子之后。9 Soon the papers were telling yet another tale of senseless horror. Richard Bamirez, who became known as "The Walk-In Killer," spent months crippling and killing before he was caught.(2 His alleged crimes were so brutal, his desire to inf

37、lict pain so intense, that I began to questionmy beliefs about not taking human life under any circumstances. The thought of taking a human life disgusts me, but the idea of being someone's victim is worse. And how, I began to ask myself, do you talk pacifism to a murderer or a rapist?不久,報紙上又報道起

38、另一個喪心病狂的恐怖人物的事來。此人名叫理查德·巴米里,人稱“入室殺手”,被抓獲前,一連幾個月殘害、殺死他人。據(jù)稱他的犯罪行為非常野蠻,他加害于人的欲望非常強烈,這使我開始對自己在任何情況下決不殺人的信念產(chǎn)生了懷疑。取人性命的想法令我憎恨,但成為他人受害者的念頭更可怕。我開始問自己,你怎么跟一個殺人犯或強奸犯來談論和平呢?10 Finally, I decided that I would defend myself, even if it meant killing another person. (3 I realized that the one-sided pacifism

39、I once so strongly had advocated could backfire on me and worse, on my son. Reluctantly, I concluded that I had to insure the best option for our survival. My choices: to count on a cop or to own a pistol.最后,我決定要自我防衛(wèi),哪怕這意味著殺死他人。我意識到,自己曾積極提倡的一廂情愿的和平主義會為害自身,更糟的是,會為害我的兒子。于是我極不情愿地決定:為了我們的生存,我必須確保有一個最佳選擇

40、方案。我的選擇:依靠警察,或擁有一支槍。11 I called a man I had met a while ago who, I remembered, owned several guns. He told me he had a Smith & Wesson 38 Special for sale and recommended it, since it was small enough for me to handle yet had the necessary stopping power.我給不久前認識的一個人打電話,我記得他有好幾支槍。他告訴我,他有一支史密斯-韋森0.

41、38口徑特種槍要出售,建議我買下,因為那支槍小巧好使,又有必要的威懾力。12 I bought the gun. That same day, I got six rounds of special ammunition with plastic tips that explode on impact. These are not for target practice; these are for protection.我買下了槍。在同一天,我弄到了6發(fā)包著塑料頭、一撞擊就崩碎的特別的子彈。這些子彈不是打靶練習用的,是防身用的。13 For about $50, I also picked

42、up a metal safety box. Its push-button lock opens with a touch if you know the proper combination, possibly taking only a second or two longer than it does to reach into a night-table drawer. Now I knew that my son, Jordan, couldn't get his hands on it while I still could.花了大約50美元,我還買了個金屬安全盒。如果知

43、道正確的暗碼,它的按鈕式鎖一碰就開,大概比伸手去床頭柜抽屜取他只慢一兩秒鐘。我知道兒子喬丹拿不到它,但我拿得到。14 When I brought the gun home, Jordan was fascinated by it. He kept picking it up, while I nervously watched. But knowledge, I believe, is still our greatest defense. And since I'm in favor of education for sex, AIDS and learning to drive,

44、 I couldn't draw the line at teaching my son about guns.我把槍拿回家,喬丹興奮得不得了。他不停地拿起來看,我緊張地瞧著。但我相信,知識仍是我們最有力的防范手段。由于我主張對孩子進行性知識教育,艾滋病知識教育,以及讓孩子學會開車,我不能不贊成教兒子關(guān)于槍的知識。15 Next, I took the pistol and my son to the target range. I rented a 22-caliber pistol for Jordan.(A .38 was too much gun for him to hand

45、le. I was relieved when he put it down after 10 minutes - he didn't like the feel of it.隨后,我攜槍帶兒子去射擊場。我給喬丹租了一支0.22口徑的手槍。(0.38口徑的他擺弄不了。10分鐘后他放下了槍,我不禁松了口氣他不喜歡握槍的感覺。16 But that didn't prevent him from asking me if he should use the gun if someone broke into our house while I wasn't home. I

46、shouted "no!" so loud, we both jumped. I explained that, if someone ever broke in, he's young and agile enough to leap out the window and run for his life.但他并不因此不來問我,如果我不在家時有人闖入,他能不能用槍。我大喝一聲“不行!”,喊聲響得把我們都嚇得跳了起來。我解釋說,要是真有人闖入,他人小,又靈活,完全可以跳窗逃生。17 Today he couldn't care less about the

47、gun. Every so often, when were watching television in my room, I practice opening the safety box, and Jordan times me. I'm down to three seconds. I'll ask him what's the first thing you do when you handle a gun, and he looks at me like I'm stupid, saying: "Make sure it's unl

48、oaded. But I'm not to touch it or tell my friends about it." Jordan's already bored with it all.如今他對那支槍早沒了興趣。兩人在我的臥室一起看電視時,我常常練習開啟安全盒,喬丹替我計時。我已經(jīng)快到只需要3秒鐘了。我會問他,拿槍時第一件要做的事是什么,他像看傻瓜似的看著我,說:“要看看子彈是不是沒上膛。不過我是不會去碰它,也不會跟朋友們說的?！眴痰屢呀?jīng)厭倦了。18 I, on the other hand, look forward to Mondays - "

49、Ladies' Night" at the target range - when I get to shoot for free. I buy a box of bullets and some targets from the guy behind the counter, put on the protective eye and ear coverings and walk through the double doors to the firing lines.而我則盼著每個星期一射擊場的“女士專場”我可以免費練習射擊。我在柜臺上買一盒子彈,幾個靶子,戴上護眼罩和護

50、耳罩,穿過雙層門,來到射擊區(qū)。19 Once there, I load my gun, look down the sights of the barrel and adjust my aim. I fire six rounds into the chest of a life-sized target hanging 25 feet away. As each bullet rips a hole through the figure drawn there, I realize I'm getting used to owning a gun and no longer fee

51、ling faint when I pick it up. The weight of it has become comfortable in my hand. And I am keeping my promise to practice. Too many people are killed by their own guns because they don't know how to use them.到了那兒,我把子彈裝上膛,看著槍管上的瞄準器調(diào)整瞄準方向。我對著25英尺開外的真人大小的靶子的胸部連發(fā)6彈。隨著一發(fā)發(fā)子彈洞穿對面畫著的圖像,我意識到,自己正在習慣擁有槍支,拿

52、槍時不再害怕了。槍的重量在手上已覺得挺舒服。我堅持練習。太多的人由于不知如何使用槍而死在自己的槍下。20 It took me years to decide to buy a gun, and then weeks before I could load it. It gave me nightmares.我花了好多年才決定買槍,又花了好幾個星期才學會把子彈裝上膛。槍讓我惡夢不斷。21 One night I dreamed I woke up when someone broke into our house. I grabbed my gun and sat waiting at the

53、 foot of my bed. Finally, I saw him turn the corner as he headed toward me. He was big and filled the hallway - an impossible target to miss. I didn't want to shoot, but I knew my survival was on the line. (4 I wrapped my finger around the trigger and finally squeezed it, simultaneously acceptin

54、g the intruder's death at my own hand and the relief of not being a victim.I woke up as soon as I decided to shoot.一天夜晚,我夢見自己醒來,發(fā)現(xiàn)有人闖進屋子。我一把抓起槍,坐在床腳處等著。最后我看著他拐過墻角朝我走來。他很高大,把過道都堵住了根本不可能擊不中。我不想開槍,但我知道生死在此一搏。我手指扣住扳機,最后用力一扣,準備在親手結(jié)束侵入者性命的同時慶幸自己沒有成為犧牲品。就在我決定開槍時我醒了。22 I was tearfully relieved that it h

55、ad only been a dream.我如釋重負,不由得熱淚長流,幸虧這只是個夢。23 I never have weighed the consequences of an act as strongly as I have that of buying a gun - but, then again, I never have done anything with such deadly consequences. Most of my friends refuse even to discuss it with me. They believe that violence leads

56、 to violence.我從來沒有像在買槍一事上對某種行為的后果如此反復權(quán)衡可是,我也從來沒做過后果如此嚴重的事。我的大多數(shù)朋友甚至不肯跟我談論這事。他們認為,暴力只能導致暴力。24 They're probably right.他們或許是對的。unit 4 The Watery PlaceIt was just an error, a stupid error, the kind anyone could make. Only now Earth is never going to have another visitor from space. Not ever.這僅僅是一個錯誤

57、,一個愚蠢的錯誤,那種人人都可能犯的錯誤。只是從今往后再也不會有太空客前來訪問地球了。再也不會了。The Watery PlaceIssac Asimov 1 We're never going to have visitors from space. No extraterrestrials will ever land on Earth - at least, any more.水鄉(xiāng)伊薩克·阿西莫夫我們不會再有太空游客前來了。外星人將不會登陸地球至少是再也不會了。2 I'm not just being a pessimist. As a matter of fa

58、ct, extraterrestrials have landed. I know that. Space ships are crisscrossing space among a million worlds, probably, but they will never come here. I know that, too. All on account of a ridiculous error.我這不是悲觀。事實上,外星人登陸過地球。這個我知道。在宇宙的千百萬顆星球當中穿梭往來的太空飛船可能有許多,可它們永遠不會再來我們這兒了。這我也知道。而這一切都是由于一個荒唐的錯誤導致的。3 I

59、'll explain.且聽我解釋。4 It was actually Bart Cameron's error and you'll have to understand about Bart Cameron. He's the sheriff at Twin Gulch, Idaho, and I'm his deputy. Bart Cameron is an impatient man and he gets most impatient when he has to work up his income tax. You see, beside

60、s being sheriff, he also owns and runs the general store, he's got some shares in a sheep ranch, he's got a kind of pension for being a disabled veteran (bad knee and a few other things like that. Naturally, it makes his tax figures complicated.這實際上是巴特·卡默倫的錯,所以你得對巴特·卡默倫這人有所了解。他是愛達荷州特溫加爾奇的治安官,我是他的副手。巴特·卡默倫是個脾氣暴躁的人,到了他不得不整