中石油2016通用英语选读课文36To-Be-Content-with-One's-Lot乐天知命

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1 / 6 36 To Be Content with One's Lot乐天知命

〔be content with 对…满足；lot n. 命运〕

1. Peter Hesslerdescribed two lifestyles and asked his Chinese students to

choose the one they preferred, either a very long yetultimatelyaverageand uneventful life, ora very exciting, fun-filled lifethat only lasted 24

years. Almost all of his 20 something year old students chose the

first option. This surprised Peter because, from his experience with American

youths, he was sure the Americans wouldn't have chosen a long, uneventful life.

1、彼得•赫斯勒请他的中国学生在以下两种生活方式中选择其一：一种是平庸却长寿，另一种是只能活24年却享乐无比。那些20岁左右的学生们几乎都选择了第一种生活。彼得十分惊讶，在他看来美国青年并不会如此一致地选择平庸但长寿的生活〔可译为：这令彼得十分惊讶，因为以他对美国青年的经验，他认定他们不会选择平庸但长寿的生活〕。

2.The Chinese traditionally

think an uneventful, but long life is better than a

short life full offun and adventure. There's even an idiomfor

the

traditional Chinese attitude, "A good death is worse than a lazy life."

This

sayingrevealsa deeplyingrained

sense of optimism and acceptance of fate. It's nothing at alllike

the Western idea of heroes made throughtragedy.

2、无聊无趣但天长地久地活下去，好过冒生命之险求得享乐的短命，这似乎是中国传统的价值观(直译为：具有传统观念的中国人认为：平凡但长寿要好过沉浸于快乐与冒险的短寿)。有习语为证：“好死不如赖活着。〞它透露出根深蒂固的乐观与宿命。与英雄产生于悲剧的西方价值观完全不同(It's nothing at all；at all 根本；完全，用于否认句中)。

3. 30 years

ago, at the beginning of China's reform, a group of

intellectualsbelieved

the acceptance of one's lot would hurt the

growth of the People's Republic. The way they

saw it, the

Westerners' "seafaring culture"

had allowed them to

expand and advance while China's "agrarian culture" had shut the country off from the world and kept it focusing on itself.

3、30年前改革开放之初，一批知识分子认为乐天知命、安于本分的传统观念有害于中华民族的开展。在他们看来，西方的“蓝色文明〞使其开放、进步；〔allow sb. to . . . .

2 / 6 do sth. 允许某人作某事〕而中国的“黄土文化〞使之封闭、守旧〔shut off 切断；keep doing sth. 一直做某事；focus on 集中于〕。

4.Researching the uniquetraits of a

nationalitycan reveal a number of interesting features.

David N. Keightly is a professor of historyat the University of California

Berkeley and he made a study ofthe unique attitudes of the Chinese people.

He believed their acceptance of fate originates from a

geographicalstandpoint. The birthplace of the Chinese

civilization is the Central Plains where the climate has lessvariationthanthe Mediterraneanor the Near East. China's two main rivers,

the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, both run from West to East, and don't

change much in latitude. This means the cultivationboth upstream and downstream are very similar. This

uniformity of theagrarian culturereduced the

incentive for mutualtrade and the

need for people to travel very far. Hence, the exchange of thoughts, ideas and

technology becamerestricted and the ancientChinese

culture tended to isolate itself within their regions of influence.

4、研究一个民族的某种特性是件有趣的事情〔直译为：研究一个民族的特质可以揭示许多有趣的事情〕。美国加州大学伯克利分校的历史学教授大卫•凯特利研究分析了中国人乐天知命的特性。他认为这种特性源于中国特有的地理环境。与地中海和近东地区相比，中国文明的发祥地中原地区的气候类型更加有规律可寻(直译为：中国文明的发源地是在中原地区，这里的气候与地中海和近东地区相比，更加缺少变化)。中国的两大主要河流——黄河和长江——都是自西向东流，而且它们的纬度变化也不大，这意味着河流上游和下游所种植的农作物类型差异不大。因此就缺乏了相互贸易的动力，中国的古代文明自然就成为农耕文明〔直译为：上下游“耕地文明〞的一致性减少了相互贸易的动力与人们向更远处旅行的必要〕。而那些很少旅行的人们就没有可能去交流思想和技术，封闭由此产生〔直译为：因此交流思想和技术受到限制，中国古文化趋于在自身势力围自我封闭〕。

5.According to Professor Keightly's theory, the climate of ancient China

was very good. This would createa sense of optimism in the Chinese

culture. In comparison, the people of the Mediterranean and the

Near East had to face more natural disasters and were less optimistic.

Besides the geographical factor which influences the development of cultures, . . . .

3 / 6 Keightley believes the Chinese practice ofancestor

worship has significantly influenced the makeupof the Chinese

people. Keightley says, "I believe, the cultures that engage inancestor worshipare going to be conservative cultures. They're not

going to find new things attractive because, that will be achallengeto the

ancestors. There's no room in this culture for a skeptic."

5、凯特利教授相信中国古代的气候良好〔直译为：根据凯特利教授的理论，中国古代的气候良好〕，因此生成了中国文化中的那种乐观主义。相比拟之下，无论是地中海还是近东，都面临着更多的自然灾害，因而少了些乐观。除了地理环境对文化开展的影响(直译为：除了影响文化开展的地理因素外)，凯特利教授认为中国人对祖先的崇拜也极深地影响了中国人的特性。凯特利教授相信：“这种祖先崇拜的文化，是一种保守的文化。你不会去发现新的有吸引力的东西，因为那是对祖先的挑战。中国文化中没有怀疑的余地。〞

6. Chinese people tend to want to return to the past, while Westerners are

always looking towards the future. By comparing their livesto the past, it

creates an unlimited feeling of satisfaction. With no otherdesires, people in ancient times had the opportunity to coexist harmoniouslywith nature. They worked towardsan existencewhere their social development was in syncwith the natural world.This sort of self-satisfaction