unit 1
An artist who seeks fame is like a dog chasing his own tail who, when he captures it, does not know what else to do but to continue chasing it.
艺术家追求成名，如同狗自逐其尾，一旦追到手，除了继续追逐不知还能做些什么。
The cruelty of success is that it often leads those who seek such success to participate in their own destruction.
成功之残酷正在于它常常让那些追逐成功者自寻毁灭。
"Don't quit your day job!" is advice frequently given by understandably pessimistic family members and friends to a budding artist who is trying hard to succeed.
对一名正努力追求成功并刚刚崭露头角的艺术家，其亲朋常常会建议“正经的饭碗不能丢！”他们的担心不无道理。
The conquest of fame is difficult at best, and many end up emotionally if not financially bankrupt.
追求出人头地，最乐观地说也困难重重，许多人到最后即使不是穷困潦倒，也是几近精神崩溃。
Still, impure motives such as the desire for worshipping fans and praise from peers may spur the artist on.
尽管如此，希望赢得追星族追捧和同行赞扬之类的不太纯洁的动机却在激励着他们向前。
The lure of drowning in fame's imperial glory is not easily resisted.
享受成功的无上光荣，这种诱惑不是能轻易抵挡的。
Those who gain fame most often gain it as a result of exploiting their talent for singing, dancing, painting, or writing, etc.
成名者之所以成名，大多是因为发挥了自己在歌唱、舞蹈、绘画或写作等方面的特长，并能形成自己的风格。
They develop a style that agents market aggressively to hasten popularity, and their ride on the express elevator to the top is a blur.
为了能迅速走红，代理人会极力吹捧他们这种风格。他们青云直上的过程让人看不清楚。
Most would be hard-pressed to tell you how they even got there.
他们究竟是怎么成功的，大多数人也都说不上来。
Artists cannot remain idle, though.
尽管如此，艺术家仍然不能闲下来。
When the performer, painter or writer becomes bored, their work begins to show a lack of continuity< in its appeal and it becomes difficult to sustain the attention of the public.
若表演者、画家或作家感到无聊，他们的作品就难以继续保持以前的吸引力，也就难以保持公众的注意力。
After their enthusiasm has dissolved, the public simply moves on to the next flavor of the month.
公众的热情消磨以后，就会去追捧下一个走红的人。
Artists who do attempt to remain current by making even minute changes to their style of writing, dancing or singing, run a significant risk of losing the audience's favor.
有些艺术家为了不落伍，会对他们的写作、跳舞或唱歌的风格稍加变动，但这
将冒极大的失宠的危险。
The public simply <22>discounts styles other than those for which the artist has become famous.
公众对于他们藉以成名的艺术风格以外的任何形式都将不屑一顾。
Famous authors' styles—a Tennessee Williams play or a plot by Ernest Hemingway or a poem by Robert Frost or T.S. Eliot—are easily recognizable.
知名作家的文风一眼就能看出来，如田纳西·威廉斯的戏剧、欧内斯特·海明威的情节安排、罗伯特·弗罗斯特或 T.S.艾略特的诗歌等。
The same is true of painters like Monet, Renoir, or Dali and <24>moviemakers like Hitchcock, Fellini, Spielberg, Chen Kaige or Zhang Yimou.
同样，像莫奈、雷诺阿、达利这样的画家，希区柯克、费里尼、斯皮尔伯格、陈凯歌或张艺谋这样的电影制作人也是如此。
Their distinct styles marked a significant change in form from others and gained them fame and fortune.
他们鲜明独特的艺术风格标志着与别人不同的艺术形式上的重大变革，这让他们名利双收、
However, they paid for it by giving up the freedom to express themselves with other styles or forms.
但也让他们付出了代价，那就是失去了用其他风格或形式表现自我的自由。
Fame's spotlight can be hotter than a tropical <27>jungle—a <28>fraud is quickly exposed, and the pressure of so much attention is too much for most to endure.
名气这盏聚光灯可比热带丛林还要炙热。骗局很快会被揭穿，过多的关注带来的压力会让大多数人难以承受。
It takes you out of yourself: You must be what the public thinks you are, not what you really are or could be.
它让你失去自我。你必须是公众认可的那个你，而不是真实的你或是可能的你。
The performer, like the politician, must often please his or her audiences by saying things he or she does not mean or fully believe.
艺人，就像政客一样，必须常常说些违心或连自己都不完全相信的话来取悦听众。
One drop of fame will likely <29>contaminate the entire well of a man's soul, and so an artist who remains true to himself or herself is particularly amazing.
一滴名气之水有可能玷污人的心灵这一整口井，因此一个艺术家若能保持真我，会格外让人惊叹。
You would be hard-pressed to underline many names of those who have not compromised and still succeeded in the fame game.
你可能答不上来哪些人没有妥协，却仍然在这场名利的游戏中获胜。
An example, the famous Irish writer Oscar Wilde, known for his uncompromising behavior, both social and sexual, to which the public objected, paid heavily for remaining true to himself.
一个例子就是爱尔兰著名作家奥斯卡·王尔德，他在社交行为和性行为方面以我行我素而闻名于世
。虽然他的行为遭到公众的反对，却依然故我，他也因此付出了惨痛的代价。
The mother of a young man Oscar was intimate with accused him at a banquet in front of his friends and fans of sexually influencing her son.
在一次宴会上，他一位密友的母亲当着他的朋友和崇拜者的面，指责他在性方面影响了她的儿子。
Extremely angered by her remarks, he sued the young man's mother, asserting that she had damaged his "good" name.
他听了她的话以后大为光火，起诉了这个年轻人的母亲，声称她毁了自己的“好”名声。
He should have hired a better attorney, though.
但是，他真该请一个更好的律师。
The judge did not second Wilde's call to have the woman pay for damaging his name, and instead fined Wilde.
结果是，法官不仅不支持他提出的让这个女人赔偿他名声损失费的请求，反而对他本人进行了罚款。
He ended up in jail after refusing to pay, and even worse, was permanently expelled from the wider circle of public favor.
他由于拒交罚款最终还被送进了监狱。更糟糕的是，他再也无法获得更多公众的宠爱。
When things were at their worst, he found that no one was willing to risk his or her name in his defense.
在最糟糕的时候，他发现没有一个人愿意拿自己的名声冒险来替他说话。
His price for remaining true to himself was to be left alone when he needed his fans the most.
为保持真我，他付出的代价是，在最需要崇拜者时，谁也不理他。
Curiously enough, it is those who fail that reap the greatest reward: freedom!
奇怪的是，收获最大的恰恰是失败者。他们收获了自由！
They enjoy the freedom to express themselves in unique and original ways without fear of losing the support of fans.
他们可以自由地表达，独辟蹊径，不落窠臼，不用担心失去崇拜者的支持。
Failed artists may find comfort in knowing that many great artists never found fame until well after they had passed away or in knowing that they did not sell out.
失败的艺术家寻求安慰时，可以想想许多伟大的艺术家都是过世多年以后才成名，或是他们没有出卖自己。
They may justify their failure by convincing themselves their genius is too sophisticated for contemporary audiences.
他们也可以为自己的失败辩解：自己的才华实在过于高深，不是当代听众或观众所理解得了的。
Single-minded artists who continue their quest for fame even after failure might also like to know that failure has motivated some famous people to work even harder to succeed.
那些失败了却仍不肯放弃的顽固派也许会乐于知道，某些名人曾经如何越挫越勇，直至成功。
Thomas Wolfe, the American novelist, had his first novel Look Homewa
rd, Angel rejected 39 times before it was finally published.
美国小说家托马斯·伍尔芙的第一本小说《向家乡看吧，安琪儿》被拒39次后，才最终得以出版。
Beethoven overcame his father, who did not believe that he had any potential as a musician, to become the greatest <43>musician in the world.
贝多芬战胜了父亲认为他毫无音乐家潜质的偏见，成为世界上最伟大的音乐家。
And Pestalozzi, the famous Swiss educator in the 19th century, failed at every job he ever had until he came upon the idea of teaching children and developing the fundamental theories to produce a new form of education.
19世纪瑞士著名教育家裴斯泰洛齐原先干的工作没有一件成功，直到他想到去教小孩子，并研究出一种新型教育模式的基础理论。
Thomas Edison was thrown out o school in the fourth grade, because he seemed to his teacher to be quite dull.
托马斯·爱迪生在四年级时被赶出了学校，因为老师觉得他似乎太迟钝。
Unfortunately for most people, however, failure is the end of their struggle, not the beginning.
但不幸的是，对大多数人而言，失败是奋斗的结束，而不是开始。
I say to those who <45>desperately seek fame and fortune: good luck.
对那些孤注一掷的追名逐利之徒，我要说：祝你们好运。
But alas, you may find that it was not what you wanted.
但是，遗憾的是，你会发现这不是你想得到的。
The dog who catches his tail discovers that it is only a tail.
狗自逐其尾所得到的只是一条尾巴而已。
The person who achieves success often discovers that it does more harm than good.
获得成功的人常常发现成功对他来说弊大于利。
So instead of trying so hard to achieve success, try to be happy with who you are and what you do.
所以要为真实的你、为自己的所为感到高兴，而不是拼命去获得成功。
Try to do work that you can be proud of.
做那些你为之感到骄傲的事情。
Maybe you won't be famous in your own lifetime, but you may create better art.
可能在有生之年你默默无闻，但你可能创作了更好的艺术。
Unit 2
He was born in a poor area of South London.
他出生在伦敦南部的一个贫困地区。
He wore his mother's old red stockings cut down for ankle socks.
他穿的短袜是从妈妈的红色长袜上剪下来的。
His mother was temporarily declared mad.
他的妈妈一度被诊断为精神失常。
Dickens might have created Charlie Chaplin's childhood.
狄更斯或许能创作出查理·卓别林的童年故事，
But only Charlie Chaplin could have created the great comic character of "the Tramp", the little man in rags who gave his creator permanent fame.
但只有查理·卓别林才能
塑造出了不起的喜剧角色“流浪汉”，这个使其创作者声名永驻的衣衫褴褛的小人物。
Other countries—France, Italy, Spain, even Japan—have provided more applause (and profit) where Chaplin is concerned than the land of his birth.
就卓别林而言，其他国家，如法国、意大利、西班牙，甚至日本，都比他的出生地给予了他更多的掌声（和更多的收益）。
Chaplin quit Britain for good in 1913 when he journeyed to America with a group of performers to do his comedy act on the stage, where talent <6>scouts recruited him to work for Mack Sennett, the king of Hollywood comedy films.
在1913年，卓别林永久地离开了英国，与一些演员一起启程到美国进行舞台喜剧表演。在那里，他被星探招募到好莱坞喜剧片之王麦克·塞纳特的旗下工作。
Sad to say, many English people in the 1920s and 1930s thought Chaplin's Tramp a bit, well, "crude".
令人遗憾的是，20世纪二、三十年代的很多英国人认为卓别林的“流浪汉”多少有点“粗俗”。
Certainly middle-class audiences did; the working-class audiences were more likely to clap for a character who revolted against authority, using his wicked little cane to trip it up, or aiming the heel of his boot for a well-placed kick at its broad rear.
中产阶级当然这样认为。劳动阶层反倒更有可能为这样一个反抗权势的角色拍手喝彩：他以顽皮的小拐杖使绊子，或用皮靴后跟对准权势者肥大的臀部踢一下。
All the same, Chaplin's comic beggar didn't seem all that English or even working-class.
尽管如此，卓别林的滑稽乞丐形象并不那么像英国人，甚至也不像劳动阶级的人。
English tramps didn't sport tiny moustaches, huge pants or tail coats: European leaders and Italian waiters wore things like that.
英国流浪者并不留小胡子，也不穿肥大的裤子或燕尾服：欧洲的领导人和意大利的侍者才那样穿戴。
Then again, the Tramp's quick eye for a pretty girl had a coarse way about it that was considered, well, not quite nice by English audiences—that's how foreigners behaved, wasn't it?
另外，“流浪汉”瞟着漂亮女孩的眼神也有些粗俗，被英国观众认为不太正派──只有外国人才那样，不是吗？
But for over half of his screen career, Chaplin had no screen voice to confirm his British nationality.
而在卓别林大半的银幕生涯中，银幕上的他是不出声的，也就无从证明他是英国人。
Indeed, it was a headache for Chaplin when he could no longer resist the talking movies and had to find "the right voice" for his Tramp.
事实上，当卓别林再也无法抵制有声电影，不得不为他的“流浪汉”寻找“合适的声音”时，他确实很头疼。
He postponed that day as long as
possible: In Modern Times in 1936, the first film in which he was heard as a singing waiter, he made up a nonsense language which sounded like no known nationality.
他尽可能地推迟那一天的到来：在 1936 的《摩登时代》里，他第一次在影片里发声唱歌。在片中，他扮演一名侍者，满口胡言乱语，听起来不像任何国家的语言。
He later said he imagined the Tramp to be a college-educated gentleman who'd come down in the world.
后来他说，他想象中的“流浪汉”是一位受过大学教育，但已经没落的绅士。
But if he'd been able to speak with an educated accent in those early short comedies, it's doubtful if he would have achieved world fame.
但假如他在早期那些短小的喜剧电影中能操一口受教育人的口音，那么他是否会闻名世界就难说了，
And the English would have been sure to find it "odd". No one was certain whether Chaplin did it on purpose but this helped to bring about his huge success.
而英国人也肯定会觉得这很“古怪”。没有人知道卓别林这么干是不是有意的，但这促使他获得了巨大的成功。
He was an immensely talented man, determined to a degree unusual even in the ranks of Hollywood stars.
他是一个才能非凡的人，他的决心之大甚至在好莱坞明星中也十分少见。
His huge fame gave him the freedom—and, more importantly, the money—to be his own master.
他的巨大名声为他带来了自由，更重要的是带来了财富，他因此得以成为自己的主人。
He already had the urge to explore and extend a talent he discovered in himself as -------------------------------------在事业发展之初，他就感到一种冲动要去发掘并扩展自己身上所显露的天才。
"It can't be me. Is that possible? How extraordinary," is how he greeted the first sight of himself as the Tramp on the screen.
当他第一次在银幕上看到自己扮演的“流浪汉”时，他说：“这不可能是我。那可能吗？瞧这角色多么与众不同啊！”
But that shock roused his imagination.
这种震惊唤起了他的想象。
Chaplin didn't have his jokes written into a script in advance; he was the kind of comic who used his physical senses to invent his art as he went along.
卓别林并没有把他的笑料事先写成文字。他是那种边表演边根据感觉去创造艺术的喜剧演员。
Lifeless objects especially helped Chaplin make "contact" with himself as an artist.
没有生命的物体特别有助于卓别林发挥自己艺术家的天赋。
He turned them into other kinds of objects.
他将这些物体想象成其他东西。
Thus, a broken alarm clock in the movie The Pawnbroker became a "sick" patient undergoing surgery; boots were boiled in his film The Gold Rush and their soles eaten with salt
and pepper like prime cuts of fish (the nails being removed like fish bones).
因此，在《当铺老板》中，一个坏闹钟变成了正在接受手术的“病人”；在《淘金记》中，靴子被放在锅里煮，靴底被蘸着盐和胡椒吃掉，就像上好的鱼片一样（鞋钉就像鱼骨那样被剔除）。
This physical transformation, plus the skill with which he executed it again and again, is surely the secret of Chaplin's great comedy.
这种对事物的转化，以及他一次又一次做出这种转化的技巧，正是卓别林伟大喜剧的奥秘所在。
He also had a deep need to be loved—and a corresponding fear of being betrayed.
他也深切地渴望被爱，同时也害怕遭到背叛。
The two were hard to combine and sometimes—as in his early marriages—the collision between them resulted in disaster.
这两者很难结合在一起，有时这种冲突导致了灾难，就像他早期的几次婚姻那样。
Yet even this painfully-bought self-knowledge found its way into his comic creations.
然而即使是这种以沉重代价换来的自知之明也在他的喜剧创作中得到了表现。
The Tramp never loses his faith in the flower girl who'll be waiting to walk into the sunset with him; while the other side of Chaplin makes Monsieur Verdoux, the French wife killer, into a symbol of hatred for women.
“流浪汉”始终没有失去对卖花女的信心，相信她正等待着与自己共同走进夕阳之中；而卓别林的另一面使他的凡尔杜先生，一个杀了妻子的法国人，成为了仇恨女人的象征。
It's a relief to know that life eventually gave Charlie Chaplin the stability and happiness it had earlier denied him.
令人宽慰的是，生活最终把卓别林先前没能获得的稳定和幸福给了他。
In Oona O'Neill Chaplin, he found a partner whose stability and affection spanned the 37 years age difference between them, which had seemed so threatening, that when the official who was marrying them in 1942 turned to the beautiful girl of 17 who'd given notice of their wedding date, he said, "And where is the young man? "—Chaplin, then 54, had cautiously waited outside.
他找到了沃娜·奥尼尔·卓别林这个伴侣。她的沉稳和深情跨越了他们之间37岁的年龄差距。他们的年龄差别太大，以致当1942年他们要结婚时，新娘公布了他们的结婚日期后，为他们办理手续的官员问这位漂亮的17岁姑娘：“那个年轻人在哪儿？”──当时已经54岁的卓别林小心翼翼在外面等候着。
As Oona herself was the child of a large family with its own problems, she was well prepared for the battle that Chaplin's life became as many unfounded rumors surrounded them both—and, later on, she was the center of calm in the quarrels that Chaplin sometimes sparked in his own large family of talented childr
en.
由于沃娜本人出生在一个被各种麻烦困扰的大家庭，她对卓别林生活中将面临的挑战也做好了充分准备，因为当时关于他俩有很多毫无根据的流言。后来在他那个有那么多天才孩子的大家庭中，卓别林有时会引发争吵，而她则成了安宁的中心。
Chaplin died on Christmas Day 1977.
卓别林死于1977年圣诞节。
A few months later, a couple of almost comic body thieves stole his body from the family burial chamber and held it for money.
几个月后，几个近乎可笑的盗尸者从他的家庭墓室盗走了他的尸体以借此诈钱。
The police recovered it with more efficiency than Mack Sennett's clumsy Keystone Cops would have done, but one can't help feeling Chaplin would have regarded this strange incident as a fitting memorial—his way of having the last laugh on a world to which he had given so many.
警方追回了他的尸体，其效率比麦克·塞纳特拍摄的启斯东喜剧片中的笨拙警察要高得多。但是人们不禁会感到，卓别林一定会把这一奇怪的事件看作是对他的十分恰当的纪念──他以这种方式给这个自己曾为之带去这么多笑声的世界留下最后的笑声。
Unit3
A welfare client is supposed to cheat. Everybody expects it.
人人都觉得福利救济对象是在骗人。
Faced with sharing a dinner of raw pet food with the cat, many people in wheelchairs I know bleed the system for a few extra dollars.
当我认识的许多坐轮椅的人面临与宠物猫分吃生猫食的窘境时，都会向福利机构多骗取几美元。为了能领到一点额外的福利款，
They tell the government that they are getting two hundred dollars less than their real pension so they can get a little extra welfare money.
他们告诉政府说他们实际上少拿了200美元的养老金，
Or, they tell the caseworker that the landlord raised the rent by a hundred dollars.
或告诉社会工作者，说房东又将房租涨了100 美元。
I have opted to live a life of complete honesty.
我选择了过一种完全诚实的生活，
So instead, I go out and drum up some business and draw cartoons.
因此我不会那样做，而是四处找活，揽些画漫画的活。
I even tell welfare how much I make!
我甚至还告诉福利机构我赚了多少钱！
Oh, I'm tempted to get paid under the table.
哦，私下里领一笔钱当然对我挺有吸引力，
But even if I yielded to that temptation, big magazines are not going to get involved in some sticky situation.
但即使我挡不住这种诱惑，我投稿的那些大杂志也不会去给自己惹麻烦。
They keep my records, and that information goes right into the government's computer.
他们会保留我的记录，而这些记录会直接进入政府的电脑。
Very high-profile.
真是态度鲜明，毫不含糊。
As a welfare client I'm expected to bow before the caseworker.
作为一名福利救济对象，我必须在社会工作者面前卑躬屈膝。
Deep down, caseworkers know that they are being made fools of by many of their clients, and they feel they are entitled to have clients bow to them as compensation. I'm not being bitter.
社会工作者心里知道，许多救济对象在欺骗他们，因此他们觉得，作为补偿，他们有权让救济对象向他们点头哈腰。我并不是故意感到忿忿不平。
Most caseworkers begin as college-educated liberals with high ideals.
大多数社会工作者刚开始时都是些大学毕业生，有理想，而且思想开明。
But after a few years in a system that practically requires people to lie, they become like the one I shall call "Suzanne", a detective in shorts.
可是，在这个实际上是要人撒谎的体制里干了几年后，他们就变得与那个叫“苏珊娜”的人一样了──一个穿运动短裤的侦探。
Not long after Christmas last year, Suzanne came to inspect my apartment and saw some new posters pasted on the wall.
去年圣诞节过后不久，苏珊娜到我家来了解情况，看到墙上贴着新的宣传画，
"Where'd you get the money for those? " she wanted to know.
便想知道：“你从哪儿弄到钱来买这些？”
"Friends and family."
“从朋友和家人那儿。”
"Well, you'd better have a receipt for it, by God. You have to report any donations or gifts."
“那么，你最好要张收据，真的，你接受任何捐献或礼物都要报告。”
This was my cue to beg.
她这是在暗示我：得哀求她了。
Instead, I talked back.
但是我却将她顶了回去。
"I got a cigarette from somebody on the street the other day. Do I have to report that? "
“那天在马路上有人给我一根烟，我也得报告吗？”
"Well, I'm sorry, but I don't make the rules, Mr. Callahan."
“对不起，卡拉汉先生，可是规定不是我制订的。”
Suzanne tries to lecture me about repairs to my wheelchair, which is always breaking down because welfare won't spend money maintaining it properly.
苏珊娜试图就修理轮椅的问题训斥我。由于福利部门不愿意花钱好好地修理，所以它总是坏。
"You know, Mr. Callahan, I've heard that you put a lot more miles on that wheelchair than average."
“您是知道的，卡拉汉先生，我听说您的那辆轮椅比一般人用得多得多。”
Of course I do.
我当然用得多，
I'm an active worker, not a vegetable.
我是个工作很积极的人，又不是植物人。
I live near downtown, so I can get around in a wheelchair.
我住在闹市区附近，可以坐着轮椅到处走走。
I wonder what she'd think if she suddenly broke her <19>hip and had to <20>crawl to work.
我真想知道如果她突然摔坏臀部，不得不爬着去上班时，会是什么感受。
Government cuts in welfare have resulted in hunger and suffering for a lot of people, not just me.
政府削减福利开支已经导致许多人挨饿受苦，我只是其中之一。
But people with spinal cord injuries felt the cuts in a unique way: The government stopped taking care of our chairs.
但它对脊柱伤残的人的影响更为突出：政府已经不管我们的轮椅了。
Each time mine broke down, lost a screw, needed a new roller bearing, the brake wouldn't work, etc., and I called Suzanne, I had to endure a little lecture.
每次我的轮椅出问题，掉了螺丝，需要换个新轴承，或刹车不灵时，我都打电话给苏珊娜，但每次都要挨训。
Finally, she'd say, "Well, if I can find time today, I'll call the medical worker."
她最后总会说：“好吧，如果今天我能抽出时间的话，我会找医务人员的。”
She was supposed to notify the medical worker, who would certify that there was a problem.
她该通知医务人员，由医务人员来确认问题确实存在，
Then the medical worker called the wheelchair repair companies to get the cheapest bid
然后打电话给各家轮椅维修公司，拿到最低的报价。
Then the medical worker alerted the main welfare office at the state capital.
接着医务人员就通知州政府的福利总部，
They considered the matter for days while I lay in bed, unable to move.
他们再花几天时间考虑这件事。而这期间我只能躺在床上，动弹不得。
Finally, if I was lucky, they called back and approved the repair.
最后，如果我幸运的话，他们会给我回电话，同意维修。
When welfare learned I was making money on my cartoons, Suzanne started "visiting" every fortnight instead of every two months.
当福利部门获悉我画漫画赚钱时，苏珊娜就开始每两个星期“拜访”我一次，而不再是每两个月一次了。
She looked into every corner in search of unreported appliances, or maids, or a roast pig in the oven, or a new helicopter parked out back.
她寻遍每个角落，想找出我未上报的电器，或者是女仆、烤炉里的烤猪、停在房后新买的直升飞机什么的。
She never found anything, but there was always a thick pile of forms to fill out at the end of each visit, accounting for every penny.
她从来都是一无所获，但最后我总要填厚厚的一叠表格，说明每一分钱的来历。
There is no provision in the law for a gradual shift away from welfare.
如何逐渐脱离福利照顾，这在法律条款中没有明确规定。
I am an independent businessman, slowly building up my m
arket.
我是一个独立的生意人，正在慢慢建立起自己的市场。
It's impossible to jump off welfare and suddenly be making two thousand dollars a month. But I would love to be able to pay for some of my living and not have to go through an embarrassing situation every time I need a spare part for my wheelchair.
要脱离福利救济，一下子每月挣2, 000美元是不可能的。但我很想自己负担部分生活费用，不必在每次需要为轮椅买点配件时都去尴尬地求人。
There needs to be a lawyer who can act as a champion for the rights of welfare clients, because the system so easily lends itself to abuse by the welfare givers as well as by the clients.
真需要有一位律师来捍卫福利救济对象的权利，因为这一福利体制不仅容易使福利提供者滥用权力，也很容易使救济对象滥用权力。
Welfare sent Suzanne to look around in my apartment the other day because the chemist said I was using a larger than usual amount of medical supplies.
前几天，由于药剂师说我使用的医疗用品超出常量，于是福利部门派苏珊娜到我的住所调查。
I was, indeed: The hole that has been surgically cut to drain urine had changed size and the connection to my urine bag was leaking.
我确实多用了，因为外科手术中切的排尿孔的大小改变了，尿袋的连接处发生渗漏。
While she was taking notes, my phone rang and Suzanne answered it.
她正做着记录，我家的电话铃响了。
The caller was a state senator, which scared Suzanne a little.
苏珊娜接听了电话，是一位州议员打来的，这使她慌了一下。
Would I sit on the governor’s committee and try to do something about the thousands of welfare clients who, like me, could earn part or all of their own livings if they were allowed to do so, one step at a time?
数以千计像我这样的福利救济对象，如果允许的话，可以慢慢地负担自己的一部分甚至全部生活费用，对此，我要不要在州政府的委员会里尝试着做点儿什么呢？
Hell, yes, I would!
还用说吗？我当然要！
Someday people like me will thrive under a new system that will encourage them, not seek to convict them of cheating.
总有一天，像我这样的福利救济对象将在一种新的福利制度下过上好日子，这种制度不会千方百计证明福利救济对象在欺骗，而是要鼓励他们自立。
They will be free to develop their talents without guilt or fear—or just hold a good, steady job.
他们将能自由地、毫无愧疚、毫不担忧地发挥他们的才干，或拥有一份稳定的好工作。
Unit 4
A transformation is occurring that should greatly boost living standards in the developing world.
一个将会大大提高发展中国家生活水准的转变正方兴未艾。
Places that until recently were deaf and dumb are rapidly acquiring up-to-date telecommunications that will let them promote both internal and foreign investment.
一些不久前还是信息闭塞的地方正在迅速获得最新的通信技术，这将促进他们吸纳国内外投资。
It may take a decade for many countries in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe to improve transportation, power supplies, and other utilities.
亚洲、拉丁美洲和东欧的许多国家也许需要10年时间来改善其交通、电力供应和其他公用设施。
But a single optical fiber with a diameter of less than half a millimeter can carry more information than a large cable made of copper wires.
但是只一根直径小于半毫米的光纤电缆就可以比由铜丝制成的粗电缆承载更多的信息。
By installing optical fiber, digital switches, and the latest wireless transmission systems, a parade of urban centers and industrial zones from Beijing to Budapest are stepping directly into the Information Age.
由于安装了光纤电缆、数字转换器和最新的无线传输系统，从北京到布达佩斯的一系列城区和工业区正在直接步入信息时代。
A spider's web of digital and wireless communication links is already reaching most of Asia and parts of Eastern Europe.
一个蛛网般的数字和无线通信网络已经发展到亚洲的大部分地区和东欧的部分地区。
All these developing regions see advanced communications as a way to leap over whole stages of economic development.
所有这些发展中地区都把先进的通信技术看作一种跨越经济发展诸阶段的途径。
Widespread access to information technologies, for example, promises to condense the time required to change from labor-intensive assembly work to industries that involve engineering, marketing, and design.
例如，信息技术的广泛应用有望缩短劳动密集型的组装工业转向涉及工程、营销和设计的那些产业所需的时间。
Modern communications "will give countries like China and Vietnam a huge advantage over countries stuck with old technology".
现代通信技术“将使中国、越南这样的国家比那些困于旧技术的国家拥有巨大的优势”。
How fast these nations should push ahead is a matter of debate.
这些国家应以多快的速度向前发展是人们争论的一个问题。
Many experts think Vietnam is going too far by requiring that all mobile phones be expensive digital models, when it is desperate for any phones, period.
许多专家认为，越南在目前急需电话的情况下，却要求所有的移动电话都必须是昂贵的数字型电话，这种做法太超前了。
"These countries lack experience in weighing costs and choosing between technologies," says one expert.
一位专家说：“这些国家缺乏成本估算和
选择技术的经验。”
Still, there's little dispute that communications will be a key factor separating the winners from the losers.
然而毋庸争辩，通信技术将是区分输赢的关键因素。
Consider Russia.
看一看俄罗斯的情况吧。
Because of its strong educational system in mathematics and science, it should thrive in the Information Age.
由于其坚实的数学和科学教育基础，它应该在信息时代有繁荣的发展。
The problem is its national phone system is a rusting antique that dates from the l930s.
问题是，它的国内电话系统是一堆生锈的20世纪30年代的老古董。
To lick this problem, Russia is starting to install optical fiber and has a strategic plan to pump $40 billion into various communications projects.
为了解决这一问题，俄罗斯已经开始铺设光纤电缆，并制定了投入400亿美元建设多项通信工程的战略计划。
But its economy is stuck in recession and it barely has the money to even scratch the surface of the problem.
但是由于其经济陷于低迷，几乎没有资金来着手解决最基本的问题。
Compare that with the mainland of China. Over the next decade, it plans to pour some $100 billion into telecommunications equipment.
与俄罗斯相比，在未来10年中，中国大陆计划对通信设备投入1,000亿美元。
In a way, China's backwardness is an advantage, because the expansion occurs just as new technologies are becoming cheaper than copper wire systems.
从某种意义上说，中国的落后成了一种有利因素，因为这一发展正好发生在新技术比铜线电缆系统更便宜的时候。
By the end of 1995, each of China's provincial capitals except for Lhasa will have digital switches and high-capacity optical fiber links.
到1995年底，中国除了拉萨以外的省会都将有数字转换器和高容量的光纤网，
This means that major cities are getting the basic infrastructure to become major parts of the information superhighway, allowing people to log on to the most advanced services available.
这意味着其主要城市正在具备必需的基础设施，成为信息高速公路的主要部分，使人们能够进入系统，获得最先进的服务。
Telecommunications is also a key to Shanghai's dream of becoming a top financial center.
电信工程也是上海实现其成为一流的金融中心这一梦想的关键。
To offer peak performance in providing the electronic data and paperless trading global investors expect, Shanghai plans telecommunications networks as powerful as those in Manhattan.
为了能给国际投资者提供其所期望的电子数据和无纸化交易方面的出色服务，上海计划建设与曼哈顿同样强大的电信网络。
Meanwhile, Hungary also hopes to jump into the modern world.
与此同时，
匈牙利也希望跃入现代世界。
Currently, 700,000 Hungarians are waiting for phones.
目前，有70万匈牙利人等着装电话。
To partially overcome the problem of funds and to speed the import of Western technology, Hungary sold a 30% stake in its national phone company to two Western companies.
为了部分地解决资金问题，加速引进西方技术，匈牙利将国有电话公司30%的股份出售给了两家西方公司。
To further reduce the waiting list for phones, Hungary has leased rights to a Dutch-Scandinavian group of companies to build and operate what it says will be one of the most advanced digital mobile phone systems in the world.
为进一步减少电话待装户，匈牙利已将权利出租给一家荷兰－斯堪的纳维亚企业集团，来建造并经营一个据说位居世界先进行列的数字移动电话系统。
In fact, wireless is one of the most popular ways to get a phone system up fast in developing countries.
事实上，无线方式是在发展中国家快速建设电话系统的最受欢迎的方式之一。
It's cheaper to build radio towers than to string lines across mountain ridges, and businesses eager for reliable service are willing to accept a significantly higher price tag for a wireless call—the fee is typically two to four times as much as for calls made over fixed lines.
建造无线电发射塔要比翻山越岭架设线路更便宜。而且，急切盼望可靠服务的企业乐于花费可观的高价来换取无线电话服务──其资费通常是固定线路电话资费的二至四倍。
Wireless demand and usage have also exploded across the entire width and breadth of Latin America.
整个拉丁美洲对无线通信的需求和使用已急速增长。
For wireless phone service providers, nowhere is business better than in Latin America—having an operation there is like having an endless pile of money at your disposal.
对于无线电话服务商来说，没有任何地方的业务比拉丁美洲更好了──在那里有一个营运点就好像有一堆无穷无尽供你使用的钞票。
BellSouth Corporation, with operations in four wireless markets, estimates its annual revenue per average customer at about $2,000 as compared to $860 in the United States.
在四个无线电话市场有营运点的贝尔南方电话公司估计，来自于其每个客户的平均年收入均为2,000美元，而在美国仅为860美元。
That's partly because Latin American customers talk two to four times as long on the phone as people in North America.
产生这种情况的部分原因是拉丁美洲客户的通话时间是北美洲客户的二至四倍。
Thailand is also turning to wireless, as a way to allow Thais to make better use of all the time they spend stuck in traffic.
泰国也在求助于无线通信方式，以便让泰国人在发生交通堵
塞时更好地利用时间。
And it isn't that easy to call or fax from the office: The waiting list for phone lines has from one to two million names on it.
而且在泰国，从办公室往外打电话或发传真并不那么容易：待装电话的名单上有一二百万个名字。
So mobile phones have become the rage among businesspeople who can remain in contact despite the traffic jams.
因此移动电话在商务人士中成为时尚，他们在交通堵塞时也能与外界保持联系。
Vietnam is making one of the boldest leaps.
越南正在做一个最大胆的跳跃。
Despite a per person income of just $220 a year, all of the 300,000 lines Vietnam plans to add annually will be optical fiber with digital switching, rather than cheaper systems that send electrons over copper wires.
尽管越南人均年收入只有220美元，它计划每年增加的30万条线路将全部为有数字转换功能的光纤电缆，而不是那些以铜线传送电子信号的廉价系统。
By going for next-generation technology now, Vietnamese telecommunications officials say they'll be able to keep pace with anyone in Asia for decades.
由于现在就选用了下一代的技术，越南负责通信的官员说他们能够在数十年中与亚洲的任何一个国家保持同步。
For countries that have lagged behind for so long, the temptation to move ahead in one jump is hard to resist.
对于那些长期落后的国家来说，一跃而名列前茅的诱惑难以抵御。
And despite the mistakes they'll make, they'll persist—so that one day they can cruise alongside Americans and Western Europeans on the information superhighway.
而且，尽管他们会犯错误，他们仍会坚持不懈──总有一天，他们将能在信息高速公路上与美国和西欧并驾齐驱。
Unit 5
Here we are, all by ourselves, all 22 million of us by recent count, alone in our rooms, some of us liking it that way and some of us not.
事实如此，我们孤独无依地生活着。据最近的统计，共有2,200万人独自生活在自己的住所里。其中有些人喜欢这种生活，有些却不喜欢。
Some of us divorced, some widowed, some never yet committed.
有些离了婚，有些鳏寡无伴，也有些从未结过婚。
Loneliness may be a sort of national disease here, and it's more embarrassing for us to admit than any other sin.
孤独或许是这里的一种民族弊病，我们羞于承认它，甚于其他任何罪恶。
On the other hand, to be alone on purpose, having rejected company rather than been cast out by it, is one characteristic of an American hero.
而另一方面，故意选择独处，拒绝别人的陪伴而非为同伴所弃，却是美国式英雄的一个特点。
The solitary hunter or explorer needs no one as they venture out among the deer and wolves to tame the grea
t wild areas.
孤独的猎人或探险者去鹿群和狼群中冒险，征服广袤的荒野时，并不需要有人陪伴。
Thoreau, alone in his cabin on the pond, his back deliberately turned to the town. Now, that's character for you.
梭罗独居在湖畔的小屋，有意疏离了城市生活。现在，这成了你的个性。
Inspiration in solitude is a major commodity for poets and philosophers.
独处的灵感是诗人和哲学家最有用的东西。
They're all for it.
他们都赞成独处，
They all speak highly of themselves for seeking it out, at least for an hour or even two before they hurry home for tea.
都因能够独处而自视甚高，至少在他们匆忙赶回家喝茶之前的一两个小时之内是这样。
Consider Dorothy Wordsworth, for instance, helping her brother William put on his coat, finding his notebook and pencil for him, and waving as he sets forth into the early spring sunlight to look at flowers all by himself.
就拿多萝西·华兹华斯来说吧，她帮哥哥威廉穿上外衣，为他找到笔记本和铅笔，向他挥手告别，目送他走进早春的阳光去独自对花沉思。
"How graceful, how benign, is solitude," he wrote.
他写道：“独处多么优雅，惬意。”
No doubt about it, solitude is improved by being voluntary.
毫无疑问，如果自愿独处，感觉要好得多。
Look at Milton's daughters arranging his cushions and blankets before they silently creep away, so he can create poetry.
看看弥尔顿的女儿们：她们为他准备好垫子和毯子，然后蹑手蹑脚地走开，以便他能创作诗歌。
Then, rather than trouble to put it in his own handwriting, he calls the girls to come back and write it down while he dictates.
然而他并不自己费神将诗歌写下来，而是唤回女儿们，向她们口述，由她们记下来。
You may have noticed that most of these artistic types went outdoors to be alone.
也许你已经注意到，这些艺术家类型的人，大多是到户外独处，
The indoors was full of loved ones keeping the kettle warm till they came home.
而家里则自有亲人备好了热茶，等着他们回家。
The American high priest of solitude was Thoreau.
美国的独处代表人物是梭罗。
We admire him, not for his self-reliance, but because he was all by himself out there at Walden Pond, and he wanted to be—all alone in the woods.
我们钦佩他，并非因为他能自力更生，而是因为他孤身一人在瓦尔登湖畔生活，他喜欢这样──独居在湖畔的树林中。
Actually, he lived a mile, or 20 minutes' walk, from his nearest neighbor; half a mile from the railroad; three hundred yards from a busy road.
实际上，他最近的邻居离他只有一英里，走路也就20分钟；铁路离他半英里；交通繁忙的大路
距他300码。
He had company in and out of the hut all day, asking him how he could possibly be so noble.
整天都有人进出他的小屋，请教他何以能够如此高洁。
Apparently the main point of his nobility was that he had neither wife nor servants, used his own axe to chop his own wood, and washed his own cups and saucers.
显然，他的高洁之处主要在于：他既没有妻子也没有仆人，自己动手用斧头砍柴，自己洗杯洗碟。
I don't know who did his laundry; he doesn't say, but he certainly doesn't mention doing his own, either.
我不知道谁为他洗衣服，他没说，但他也肯定没提是他自己洗。
Listen to him: "I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude."
听听他是怎么说的：“我从未发现比独处更好的伙伴。”
Thoreau had his own self-importance for company.
梭罗以自尊自重为伴。
Perhaps there's a message here: The larger the ego, the less the need for other egos around.
也许这里的启示是：自我意识越强，就越不需要其他的人在周围。
The more modest and humble we feel, the more we suffer from solitude, feeling ourselves inadequate company.
我们越是感觉谦卑，就越受孤独的折磨，感到仅与自己相处远远不够。
If you live with other people, their temporary absence can be refreshing.
若与别人同住，他们的小别会使你感到耳目一新。
Solitude will end on Thursday.
孤独将会于星期四结束。
If today I use a singular personal pronoun to refer to myself, next week I will use the plural form.
如果今天我提到自己时使用的是单数人称代词，那么下星期我就会使用复数形式。
While the others are absent you can stretch out your soul until it fills up the whole room, and use your freedom, coming and going as you please without apology, staying up late to read, soaking in the bath, eating a whole pint of ice cream at one sitting, moving at your own pace.
其他人不在的时候，你可以放飞自己的灵魂，让它充满整个房间。你可以充分享受自由，随意来去而无需道歉。你可以熬夜读书、大泡浴缸、一口气吃掉整整一品脱的冰淇淋。你可以按自己的节奏行动。
Those absent will be back.
暂别的人会回来。
Their waterproof winter coats are in the closet and the dog keeps watching for them at the window.
他们的冬季防水大衣还放在衣橱里，狗也在窗边密切留意他们归来的身影。
But when you live alone, the temporary absence of your friends and acquaintances leaves a vacuum; they may never come back.
但如果你单独居住，那么朋友或熟人的暂时离别会使你感到空虚，也许他们永远也不会回来了。
The condition of loneliness rises and falls, but the need to talk goes on fo
rever.
孤独的感觉时起时落，但我们却永远需要与人交谈。
It's more basic than needing to listen.
这比需要倾听更重要。
Oh, we all have friends we can tell important things to, people we can call to say we lost our job or fell on a slippery floor and broke our arm.
噢，我们都有朋友，可以把大事要事向他们倾诉。我们可以打电话对朋友说我们丢了工作，或者说我们在湿滑的地板上摔倒了，跌断了胳膊。
It's the daily succession of small complaints and observations and opinions that backs up and chokes us.
每日不断的琐碎抱怨，对各种事情的看法和意见，积在那儿，塞满了我们的心。
We can't really call a friend to say we got a parcel from our sister, or it's getting dark earlier now, or we don't trust that new Supreme Court justice.
我们不会真打电话给一位朋友，说我们收到了姐姐的一个包裹，或者说现在天黑得比较早，或者说我们不信任最高法院新来的法官。
Scientific surveys show that we who live alone talk at length to ourselves and our pets and the television.
科学调查表明，独居的人会对着自己、对着宠物、对着电视机唠叨不休。
We ask the cat whether we should wear the blue suit or the yellow dress.
我们问猫儿今天该穿蓝色套装还是黄色裙装，
We ask the parrot if we should prepare steak, or noodles for, dinner.
问鹦鹉今天晚餐该做牛排还是面条。
We argue with ourselves over who is the greater sportsman: that figure skater or this skier.
我们跟自己争论那个花样滑冰选手和这个滑雪运动员到底谁更了不起。
There's nothing wrong with this.
这没什么不妥，
It's good for us, and a lot less embarrassing than the woman in front of us in line at the market who's telling the cashier that her niece Melissa may be coming to visit on Saturday, and Melissa is very fond of hot chocolate, which is why she bought the powdered hot chocolate mix, though she never drinks it herself.
也对我们有好处，而且不像有些人那么令人尴尬：在超市付款处，排在前面的女人告诉收银员，她的侄女梅利莎星期六可能会来看她。梅莉莎非常喜欢热巧克力，所以她买了速溶热巧克力粉，虽然她自己从来不喝这东西。
It's important to stay rational.
重要的是保持理性。
It's important to stop waiting and settle down and make ourselves comfortable, at least temporarily, and find some grace and pleasure in our condition, not like a self-centered British poet but like a patient princess sealed up in a tower, waiting for the happy ending to our fairy tale.
重要的是不再等待，而是安顿下来，使自己过得舒服，至少暂时要这样。要在我们自身的条件下发现一些优雅和乐趣，不要做一个以自
我为中心的英国诗人，而要像一个被关在塔楼里的公主，耐心地等待着我们的童话故事迎来快乐的结局。
After all, here we are.
毕竟，事已至此，
It may not be where we expected to be, but for the time being we might as well call it home.
这或许不是我们所期望的局面，但眼下我们不妨称之为家吧。
Anyway, there is no place like home.
不管怎么说，没有什么地方比家更好。
Unit 6
Students taking business courses are sometimes a little surprised to find that classes on business ethics have been included in their schedule.
商科学生有时对课程里包含商业道德课略感吃惊。
They often do not realize that bribery in various forms is on the increase in many countries and, in some, has been a way of life for centuries.
他们通常没意识到在很多国家，形形色色的贿赂行为正日益增多。在某些国家，这已成为人们几百年来的一种生活方式。
Suppose that during a negotiation with some government officials, the Minister of Trade makes it clear to you that if you offer him a substantial bribe, you will find it much easier to get an import license for your goods, and you are also likely to avoid "procedural delays", as he puts it.
假定在一场与政府官员的谈判中，贸易部长向你明确表示如能给他一大笔贿赂，那么你的商品拿到进口许可证就会容易得多，还可能避免他所说的“程序上的延误”。
Now, the question is: Do you pay up or stand by your principles?
现在的问题是：你是被迫掏钱呢，还是坚持原则？
It is easy to talk about having high moral standards but, in practice, what would one really do in such a situation?
高尚的道德标准说起来容易，但实际上人们在这种情况下究竟会怎么做呢？
Some time ago a British car manufacturer was accused of operating a fund to pay bribes, and of other questionable practices such as paying agents and purchasers an exaggerated commission, offering additional discounts, and making payments to numbered bank accounts in Switzerland.
早些时候，一家英国汽车制造商被指控利用一笔基金行贿，并进行其他一些可疑运作，如给代理商和客户高额回扣、提供额外折扣、向一些在瑞士银行开的匿名账户汇款等。
The company rejected these charges and they were later withdrawn.
这家汽车公司否认了这些指控，后来指控也被撤销了。
Nevertheless, at that time, there were people in the motor industry in Britain who were prepared to say in private: "Look, we're in a very competitive business.
然而，当时英国汽车业里就有人准备私下里说：“瞧，我们这一行竞争激烈，
Every year we're selling more than a ￡1billion worth of cars abroad.
每年我们汽车的海外销
售额超过10亿英镑。
If we spend a few million pounds to keep some of the buyers happy, who's hurt?
如果花几百万英镑能让一些客户高兴，谁会有损失呢？
If we didn't do it, someone else would."
我们不这样干，别人也会这样干的。”
It is difficult to resist the impression that bribery and other questionable payments are on the increase.
很容易产生这样的印象：贿赂以及其他可疑开支正日渐增多。
Indeed, they seem to have become a fact of commercial life.
的确，这似乎已成为商界的一个事实。
To take just one example, the Chrysler Corporation, the third largest of the US car manufacturers, revealed that it made questionable payments of more than $2.5 million between 1971 and 1976.
仅举一例：美国第三大汽车制造企业克莱斯勒汽车公司透露，它在1971至1976年间共发生了250万美元的可疑开支。
By announcing this, it joined more than 300 other US companies that had admitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that they had made payments of one kind or another—bribes, extra discounts, etc.—in recent years.
这一事实的披露，使克莱斯勒与其他300多家美国公司一样，向美国证券交易委员会承认自己近年曾有过某种形式的支出，像贿赂、额外打折等。
For discussion purposes, we can divide these payments into three broad categories.
为方便讨论起见，我们可将这些支出分为三大类。
The first category consists of substantial payments made for political purposes or to secure major contracts.
第一大类是那些为政治目的或为获得大宗合同所付出的大笔款项。
For example, one US corporation offered a large sum of money in support of a US presidential candidate at a time when the company was under investigation for possible violations of US business laws.
比如，有一家美国企业曾因可能违反美国商业法规而受调查，当时它捐出一大笔款项支持一位总统候选人。
This same company, it was revealed, was ready to finance secret US efforts to throw out the government of Chile.
后来发现，这家公司也打算资助美国推翻智利政府的秘密行动。
In this category, we may also include large payments made to ruling families or their close advisers in order to secure arms sales or major petroleum or construction contracts.
这一大类也包括为得到武器销售或重大的石油、建筑等项目的合同而向权势家族及其身边的顾问所付出的大笔款项。
In a court case involving an arms deal with Iran, a witness claimed that ￡1 million had been paid by a British company to a "negotiator" who helped close a deal for the supply of tanks and other military equipment to that country.
在一桩涉及对伊朗武器销售的案子中，一位证人声称一家英