书城教材教辅用美国小学课本学英语
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第47章 Literature文学艺术(12)

reverberate [ri"v?:b?reit] vt. 使回响,使反射;

vi. 回响,反响,弹回

Practice

What do you think the author have lived for?

译文

我的一生被三种简单却又无比强烈的激情所控制:对爱的渴望,对知识的探索和对人类苦难的难以抑制的怜悯。这些激情像狂风,把我恣情吹向四方,掠过苦痛的大海,迫使我濒临绝望的边缘。

我寻求爱,首先因为它使我心为之着迷,这种难以名状的美妙迷醉使我愿意用所有的余生去换取哪怕几个小时这样的幸福。我寻求爱,还因为它能缓解我心理上的孤独。我感觉心灵的战栗,仿如站在世界的边缘而面前是冰冷、无底的死亡深渊。我寻求爱,因为在我所目睹的结合中,我仿佛看到了圣贤与诗人们所向往的天堂之景。这就是我所寻找的,虽然对人的一生而言似乎有些遥不可及,但至少是我用尽一生所领悟到的。

我用同样的激情去寻求知识。我希望能理解人类的心灵,希望能够知道群星闪烁的缘由。我试图领悟毕达哥拉斯所景仰的“数即万物”的思想。我已经悟出了其中的一点点道理,尽管并不是很多。

爱和知识,用它们的力量把人引向天堂。但是同情却总把人又拽回到尘世中来。痛苦的呼喊声回荡在我的内心。饥饿的孩子,受压迫的难民,贫穷和痛苦的世界,都是对人类所憧憬的美好生活的无情嘲弄。我渴望能够减少邪恶,但是我无能为力,我也难逃其折磨。

这就是我的一生。我已经找到它的价值。而且如果有机会,我很愿意能再活它一次。

练习

你认为作者是为什么而生的?

The longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable

pity for the suffering of mankind.

20 Mirror, Mirror, What do I See? 镜子镜子告诉我

A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror.

Mirrors have a very particular function. They reflect the image in front of them. Just as a physical mirror serves as the vehicle to reflection, so do all of the people in our lives.

When we see something beautiful such as a flower garden, that garden serves as a reflection. In order to see the beauty in front of us, we must be able to see the beauty inside of ourselves. When we love someone, it’s a reflection of loving ourselves. We have often heard things like “I love how I am when I’m with that person.” That simply translates into “I’m able to love me when I love that other person.” Oftentimes, when we meet someone new, we feel as though we “click”. Sometimes it’s as if we’ve known each other for a long time. That feeling can come from sharing similarities.

Just as the “mirror” or other person can be a positive reflection, it is more likely that we’ll notice it when it has a negative connotation. For example, it’s easy to remember times when we have met someone we’re not particularly crazy about. We may have some criticism in our mind about the person. This is especially true when we get to know someone with whom we would rather spend less time.

Frequently, when we dislike qualities in other people, ironically, it’s usually the mirror that’s speaking to us.

I began questioning myself further each time I encountered someone that I didn’t particularly like. Each time, I asked myself: “What is it about that person that I don’t like?” and then “Is there something similar in me?” in every instance, I could see a piece of that quality in me, and sometimes I had to really get very introspective. So what did that mean?

It means that just as I can get annoyed or disturbed when I notice that aspect in someone else, I better reexamine my qualities and consider making some changes. Even if I’m not willing to make a drastic change, at least I consider how I might modify some of the things that I’m doing.

At times we meet someone new and feel distant, disconnected, or disgusted. Although we don’t want to believe it, and it’s not easy or desirable to look further, it can be a great learning lesson to figure out what part of the person is being reflected in you. It’s simply just another way to create more self-awareness.

Vocabulary 词汇

hostile ["h?stail;"h?stil] adj. 怀敌意的,敌对的

vehicle ["vi:ikl] n. 车辆,交通工具,运载工具,媒介物,传播媒介

connotation ["k?n?u"tei??n] n. 内涵,含蓄,暗示,隐含意义

criticism ["kriti, siz?m] n. 批评,苛求,考证

ironically [ai"r?nikli] adv. 讽刺地,说反话地

introspective ["intr?u"spektiv] adj. 内省的,反省的

aspect ["?spekt] n. 方面,外貌,形势,方向

drastic ["dr?stik] adj. 激烈的,猛烈的

desirable [di"zai?r?bl] adj. 值得要的,令人满意的;

n. 合意的人或事物

Practice

1.Everyone you meet is your      .

2.When we love someone, it’s a       of loving ourselves.

3.That kind feeling between us and strangers come from sharing      .

4.We should       ourselves when we encountered someone that we didn’t particularly like.

5.Figure out what part of the person is being reflected in you is a way to create more      .

译文

充满爱意的人生活在充满爱意的世界里,充满敌意的人则生活在充满敌意的世界里。你所遇到的每一个人都是你的镜子。

镜子里有一个非常独特的功能,那就是映射出在其前面的影像。就像真正的镜子具有反射功能一样,我们生活中的所有人也都能映射出他人的影子。

当我们看到美丽的事物时,例如一座花园,那这花园就起到了反射作用。为了发现我们面前美好的事物,我们必须能发现自己内在的美。我们爱某个人,也正是我们爱自己的表现。我们经常听到这样的话:“当我和那个人在一起的时候,我爱那时的自己。”这句话也可以简单地说成:“在我爱那个人的同时,我也能爱我自己。”有时,我们遇见一个陌生人,感觉仿佛是一见如故,就好像我们已经相识甚久。这种熟悉感可能来自于彼此身上的共同点。

就像“镜子”或他人能映射出我们积极的一面一样,我们更有可能注意到映射出自己消极方面的“镜子”。例如,我们很容易就能记住我们碰到自己不太喜欢的人的时刻。我们可能在心里对那个人有些反感。当我们认识自己不喜欢与之相处的人时,这种情况就更为明显。

具有讽刺意味的是,通常当我们讨厌别人身上的某些特质时,那就说明你其实讨厌自己身上相类似的特质。

每次,当我遇到不太喜欢的人时,我就开始进一步质问自己。我会扪心自问:“我不喜欢那个人的哪些方面?”然后还会问:“我是不是有和他相似的地方?”每次,我都能在自己身上看到一些令我厌恶的特质。我有时不得不深刻地反省自己。那这意味着什么呢?

这意味着,就像我会对其他人身上令我厌恶的特质感到恼怒或不安一样,我应该更好地重新审视自己的特质,并考虑做一些改变。即使我不想做大的改变,至少我会考虑该如何修正自己正在做的一些事情。

我们时常会遇到陌生人,并感到疏远或厌恶。尽管我们不想去相信,不容易也不想去深究,但是弄清楚别人的哪些特质在自己身上有所体现是非常有意义的一课,这也正是增强自我意识的另一个途径。

练习

1.你所遇到的每一个人都是你的     。

2.我们爱某个人也正是我们爱自己的     。

3.我们和陌生人之间的熟悉感可能来自于彼此的     。

4.当我们遇到不太喜欢的人时,应该     自己。

5.弄清楚别人的哪些特质在自己身上有所体现是增强     的一个途径。

1.mirror  2.reflection 3.similarities

4.question 5.self-awareness