最新Unit-10-The-Idiocy-of-Urban-Life课文翻译综合教程四

Unit 10The Idiocy of Urban LifeHenry Fairlie1 Between about 3 . and 6 . the life of the city is civil. Occasionally thelone footsteps of someone walking to or from work echo along the sidewalk. All work that has to be done at those hours is useful － in bakeries, for example.Even the newspaper presses stop turning forests into lies. Now and then a car comes out of the silence and cruises easily through the blinking traffic lights.The natural inhabitants of the city come out from damp basements and cellars.With their pink ears and paws, sleek, well-groomed, their whiskers combed, rats are true city dwellers. Urban life, during the hours when they reign, is urbane.2 These rats are social creatures, as you can tell if you look out on the citystreet during an insomniac night. But after 6 ., the two-legged, daytime creatures of the city begin to stir; and it is they, not the rats, who bring the rat race. You might think that human beings congregate in large cities because they are gregarious. The opposite is true. Urban life today is aggressively individualistic and atomized. Cities are not social places.3 The lunacy of modern city life lies first in the fact that most city dwellerstry to live outside the city boundaries. So the two-legged creatures have created suburbs, exurbs, and finally rururbs (rubs to some). Disdaining rural life, they try to create simulations of it. No effort is spared to let city dwellers imagine they are living anywhere but in a city: patches of grass in the more modest suburbs, broader spreads in the richer ones further out; prim new trees planted along the streets; at the foot of the larger backyards, a pretense to bosky woodlands.4 The professional people buy second homes in the country as soon as they canafford them, and as early as possible on Friday head out of the city they have created. The New York intellectuals and artists quaintly say they are “going to the country” for the weekend or the summer, but in fact they have createda little Manhattan-by-the-Sea around the Hamptons, spreading over the LongIsland6 potato fields whose earlier solitude was presumably the reason why they first went there. City dwellers take the city with them to the country, for they will not live without its pamperings. The main streets of America’s small towns, which used to have hardware and dry goods stores, are now strips ofboutiques. Old-fashioned barbers become unisex hairdressing salons. The brown rats stay in the cities because of the filth the humans leave during the day.The rats clean it up at night. Soon the countryside will be just as nourishing to them, as the city dwellers take their filth with them.5 Work still gives meaning to rural life, the family, and churches. But inthe city today work and home, family and church, are separated. What the office workers do for a living is not part of their home life. At the same time they maintain the pointless frenzy of their work hours in their hours off. They rush from the office to jog, to the gym or the YMCA pool, to work at their play with the same joylessness.6 Even though the offices of today’s businesses in the city are themselvesmoving out to the suburbs, this does not necessarily bring the workers back closer to their workplace. It merely means that to the rush-hour traffic into the city there is now added a rush-hour traffic out to the suburbs in the morning, and back around and across the city in the evening. As the farmer walks down to his farm in the morning, the city dweller is dressing for the first idiocy of his day, which he not only accepts but even seeks － the journey to work.7 In the modern office building in the city there are windows that don’t open.This is perhaps the most symbolic lunacy of all. Outdoors is something you can look at through glass but not to touch or hear. These windows are a scandal because they endanger the lives of office workers in case of fire. But no less grievous, even on the fairest spring or fall day the workers cannot put their heads outside. Thus it is not surprising that the urban worker has no knowledge of the seasons. He is aware simply that in some months there is air conditioning, and in others through the same vents come fetid central heating. Even outside at home in their suburbs the city dw ellers may know that sometimes it’s hot, and sometimes it’s cold, but no true sense of the rhythms of the seasons is to be had from a lawn in the backyard and a few spindly trees struggling to survive.8 The city dweller reels from unreality to unreality through each day, alwaystrying to recover the rural life that has been surrendered for the city lights.No city dweller, even in the suburbs, knows the wonder of a pitch-dark country lane at night. Nor does he naturally get any exercise from his work.9 Every European points out that Americans are the most round-shoulderedpeople in the world. Few of them carry themselves with an upright stance,although a correct stance is the first precondition of letting your lungs breathe naturally and deeply. Electric typewriters cut down the amount of physical exertion needed to hit the keys; the buttons of a word processor need even less effort, as you can tell from the posture of those who use them. They rush out to jog or otherwise Fonda-ize their leisure to try to repair the damage done during the day.10 Everything in urban life is an effort either to simulate rural life or tocompensate for its loss by artificial means. It is from this day-to-day existence of unreality, pretence, and idiocy that the city people, slumping along their streets even when scurrying, never looking up at their buildings, far less the sky, have the insolence to disdain and mock the useful and rewarding life of the country people who support them. Now go out and carry home a Douglas fir, call it a Christmas tree, and enjoy 12 days of contact with nature. Of course city dwellers don’t know it once had roots.城市生活之蠢行亨利·费尔利1 每天凌晨3点到6点，城市生活文明有礼。

（完整版）Unit10TheIdiocyofUrbanLife习题答案综合教程四（2）Unit 10 The Idiocy of Urban LifeKey to the ExercisesText comprehensionI . Decide which of the following best states the author's purpose of writing.BII. Judge, according to the text, whether the following statements are true or false.1. F (Refer to Paragraph2. It is human beings who bring the rat race into human society.)2. F (Refer to Paragraph 2. It tells us that the opposite is true. Urban life today is aggressively individualistic and atomized. Cities are not social places.)3. T (Refer to Paragraph4. "... they have created a little Manhattan-by-the-Sea around the Hamptons, spreading over the Long Island potato fields whose earlier solitude was presumably the reason why they first went there.")4. T (Refer to Paragraph 4. "The main streets of America's small towns ?are now strips of boutiques. Old-fashioned barbers become unisex hairdressing salons.")5. F (Refer to Paragraphs 5 and6. According to the author, work in the rural areas is meaningful whereas the frenzy of the urban work hours is pointless. When the farmer walks to his farm in the morning, he is doing something significant. By contrast, the city worker isstarting the first idiocy of his day when he is getting ready for his journey to work at this time of the day.)6. T (Refer to Paragraph7. The windows in the modern office buildings are perhaps the most symbolic lunacy of all. Even on the fairest spring or fall day the workers cannot put their heads outside.)III. A nswer the following questions.1. Refer to Paragraph 1. The author mentions rats at the beginning of the article for the purpose of contrasting rats with human beings. In a sense, both rats and human beings are city dwellers, but there are differences between them in terms of life in the city. As natural inhabitants of the city, rats are social creatures and lead a stable urban life. By contrast, most human dwellers do not enjoy the urban life but try to live outside the city boundaries; and they live an individualistic and atomized rather than gregarious life. Therefore, relatively speaking, rats are true city dwellers.2. Refer to Paragraph3. The idiocy of the practice lies in the pretence of the city dwellers. For one thing, they disdain rural life on the one hand, and on the other hand they try to simulate it by creating large or small patches of greenery around their suburb, exurb or rururb residences. For another, while they intend to live a rural life by going tothe country, they have in fact spoiled the natural features of the rural areas and created urban surroundings where they have settled down. As a result their purpose fails in the end.3. Refer to Paragraph 6. The author's saying so reflects his attitude towards office work in the city. Unlike farming which is part of the rural home life, joyless work in the city is separated,both physically and emotionally, from home life and consequently causes unnecessary frenzy. The worker's going to and returning from work wastes a lot of time and thus is pointless, yet the worker "not only accepts but even seeks" it. Hence the idiocy of "the journey to work."4. Refer to Paragraph 8. The quoted statement describes in what environment the city dweller lives and works. With the windows that never open, the modern office, artificially cooled in summer and heated in winter, alienates the worker from the true natural world. The home surroundings are no better. They provide the dweller with no true sense of the seasons either. In general, the city dweller is removed from nature and submerged in a man-made environment every day.5. Refer to Paragraph 9. This phenomenon is caused by the demerits of office work. Compared with physical labor in rural life, office work in the city needs very little physical exertion, but it requires long-time sitting with the same posture every day. Even the after-work exercises cannot compensate for the damage done to the physical constitution of the worker during work hours. This accounts for the round-shoulderedness of Americans.IV. Explain in your own words the following sentences.1. Rats make city life courteous and refined when they dominate the city deep at night.2. City dwellers create all kinds of city vogues in the country, for they will not live without these fashionable things.3. These windows are disgraceful because they put the lives of office workers in danger if a fire should occur.4. A lawn in the backyard and a few spindle-shaped trees struggling for life are not enough to give the dweller any true sense of the season changes.Structural analysis of the textThe text can be divided into the following three parts:Part 1, Paragraphs 1?: the author presents the thesis of his argument, i.e. aggressively individualistic and atomized urban life goes against both the purpose of the city and human nature, and thus is foolish.Part 2, Paragraphs 3?: the author provides evidence for the idiocy of urban life.Part 3, Paragraph 10: the author reiterates his thesis, i.e. urban life is idiotic.Rhetorical features of the textThe following italicized words and expressions are used to express the author's attitude towards city life:The Idiocy of Urban Life / aggressively individualistic and atomized / not social places / lunacy of modern city life / create simulations of it / a pretense to bosky woodlands / take their filth with them / maintain the pointless frenzy of their work hours in their hours off / work at their play with the same joylessness / a scandal / has no knowledge of the seasons / fetid central heating / no true sense of the rhythms of the seasons / reels from unreality to unreality / don't know it once had roots.Vocabulary exercisesI. Explain the underlined part in each sentence in your own words.1. doing propaganda work/printing lies on paper2. fierce competition among people3. foolishness/stupidity4. senseless turmoil5. something disgraceful6. people with bent shouldersII. Fill in the blank in each sentence with a word or phrase from the box in its appropriate form.1. knowledge2. simulation3. insolence4. urban5. scurry6. congregation7. compensate 8. rat raceIII. F ill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the given words.1. idiotic2. urbanity3. solitary4. exerted5. insolent6. grieved7. lunatic 8. habitatIV. Choose the word that can replace the underlined part in each sentence without changing its original meaning.1. B2. C3. C4. A5. B6. A7. A8. BV. Give a synonym or an antonym of the word underlined in each sentence in the sense it is used.1. Synonym: bearing (stance)2. Antonym: impolite (rude, ill-mannered)3. Synonym: friendly (social, sociable)4. Antonym: modestly (timidly, gently)5. Synonym: smelly (stinking, foul, malodorous)6. Synonym: thin (lanky)7. Antonym: accept (respect)8. Synonym: strangelyVI. Explain the meaning of the underlined part in each sentence.1. somewhere away from a studio, office, library or laboratory where practical work is done or data is collected2. support3. seemingly4. unconscious5. very happy6. ask forGrammar exercisesI. Highlight the parts of the following sentences as required, using "it be ?that/who."1. It was Harry who told the police.2. It was I who told him the news.3. Subject: It was Susan who would like to read some detective stories.Object: It was some detective stories that Susan would like to read.4. It is only when one is ill that one realizes the value of health.5. Subject: It was John who painted a lovely picture.Object: It was a lovely picture that John painted.6. Subject: It was Galileo who invented the telescope.Object: It was the telescope that Galileo invented.7. Subject: It was Tom's mother who threw an egg at the minister yesterday.Object: It was an egg that Tom's mother threw at the minister yesterday.Adverbial of place: It was at the minister that T om's mother threw an egg yesterday.Adverbial of time: It was yesterday that Tom's mother threw an egg at the minister.8. Subject: It was Bill who released the chairman's illness to the reporters at the party last night.Direct object: It was the chairman's illness that Bill released to the reporters at the party last night.Adverbial of place: It was at the party that Bill released the chairman's illness to the reporters last night.Adverbial of time: It was last night that Bill released the chairman's illness to the reporters at the party.II. Emphasize the underlined parts of the following sentences, using whatever means possible.1. Do be civil this time.2. Even the victims themselves can't explain how the accident occurred.3. John I can comprehend; but the others speak gibberish.4. Ambitious she must have been, or she wouldn't have come.5. His face not many admired, while his character still fewer could praise.6. They have promised to finish the work, and finish it they will.7. Hidden in the cellar were several barrels of wine. / It was several barrels of wine that were hidden in the cellar.8. What he was doing was making a plan.III. G ive responses to the questions below, beginning with "No, what I ?" correcting what was said in the questions.1. No, what I said was that I wanted you to fill the boxes with these books.2. No, what I did was to invite her to my house instead.3. No, what I thought was that he was going on his own.4. No, what I did was to repair the old one.5. No, what I did was to phone the managing director directly.6. No, what I'd like you to work on is Exercise Two.7. No, what I meant was that I will text-message you when I get there.8. No, what I did was to send them some home-made cakes.IV. Turn the following sentences into the active voice. Where no agent is mentioned, one must be supplied.1. People say that Byron lived on vinegar and potatoes.2. They were towing the damaged ship into harbour when the towline broke.3. They are lengthening the runways at all the main airports.4. Experts have proved that this scientific theory is false.5. Get a builder to put in a lift and then you won't have to climb up all these stairs.6. Our opponents must have started this rumour.7. The authorities put this ship into quarantine and forbade passengers and crew to land.8. People say that early Egyptian and Greek soldiers used carrier pigeons.V. Put the following sentences into English.1. The door won't lock.2. The door hasn't been locked.3. His new novel sells well.4. The girl doesn't photograph well.5. He has not been photographed well.6. This material doesn't dye well.7. The flat is to let.8. The railway divides here into two lines.VI. Make sentences of your own after the sentences given below, keeping the underlined structures in your sentences.(Reference version)1. As the gate was closed, he walked away.The sun was setting as we reached home.As he predicted, the wind changed.2. They have to face the fact that the nearest filling station is 30 miles away.Translation exercisesI. Translate the following sentences into Chinese.1. 偶尔从寂静中开来一辆汽车，在闪烁的交通灯下轻巧地驶过。

Unit 10The Idiocy of Urban LifeHenry Fairlie1 Between about 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. the life of the city is civil. Occasionally the lonefootsteps of someone walking to or from work echo along the sidewalk. All work that has to be done at those hours is useful －in bakeries, for example. Even the newspaper presses stop turning forests into lies. Now and then a car comes out of the silence and cruises easily through the blinking traffic lights. The natural inhabitants of the city come out from damp basements and cellars. With their pink ears and paws, sleek, well-groomed, their whiskers combed, rats are true city dwellers. Urban life, during the hours when they reign, is urbane.2 These rats are social creatures, as you can tell if you look out on the city streetduring an insomniac night. But after 6 a.m., the two-legged, daytime creatures of the city begin to stir; and it is they, not the rats, who bring the rat race. You might think that human beings congregate in large cities because they are gregarious. The opposite is true. Urban life today is aggressively individualistic and atomized. Cities are not social places.3 The lunacy of modern city life lies first in the fact that most city dwellers try tolive outside the city boundaries. So the two-legged creatures have created suburbs, exurbs, and finally rururbs (rubs to some). Disdaining rural life, they try to create simulations of it. No effort is spared to let city dwellers imagine they are living anywhere but in a city: patches of grass in the more modest suburbs, broader spreads in the richer ones further out; prim new trees planted along the streets; at the foot of the larger backyards, a pretense to bosky woodlands.4 The professional people buy second homes in the country as soon as they canafford them, and as early as possible on Friday head out of the city they have created.The New York intellectuals and artists quaintly say they are “going to the country”for the weekend or the summer, but in fact they have created a little Manhattan-by-the-Sea around the Hamptons, spreading over the Long Island6 potato fields whose earlier solitude was presumably the reason why they first went there. City dwellers take the city with them to the country, for they will not live without its pamperings. The main streets of America’s small towns, which used to have hardware and dry goods stores, are now strips of boutiques. Old-fashioned barbers become unisex hairdressing salons. The brown rats stay in the cities becauseof the filth the humans leave during the day. The rats clean it up at night. Soon the countryside will be just as nourishing to them, as the city dwellers take their filth with them.5 Work still gives meaning to rural life, the family, and churches. But in the citytoday work and home, family and church, are separated. What the office workers do for a living is not part of their home life. At the same time they maintain the pointless frenzy of their work hours in their hours off. They rush from the office to jog, to the gym or the YMCA pool, to work at their play with the same joylessness.6 Even though the offices of today’s businesses in the city are themselves movingout to the suburbs, this does not necessarily bring the workers back closer to their workplace. It merely means that to the rush-hour traffic into the city there is now added a rush-hour traffic out to the suburbs in the morning, and back around and across the city in the evening. As the farmer walks down to his farm in the morning, the city dweller is dressing for the first idiocy of his day, which he not only accepts but even seeks －the journey to work.7 In the modern office building in the city there are windows that don’t open. Thisis perhaps the most symbolic lunacy of all. Outdoors is something you can look at through glass but not to touch or hear. These windows are a scandal because they endanger the lives of office workers in case of fire. But no less grievous, even on the fairest spring or fall day the workers cannot put their heads outside. Thus it is not surprising that the urban worker has no knowledge of the seasons. He is aware simply that in some months there is air conditioning, and in others through the same vents come fetid central heating. Even outside at home in their suburbs the city dw ellers may know that sometimes it’s hot, and sometimes it’s cold, but no true sense of the rhythms of the seasons is to be had from a lawn in the backyard and a few spindly trees struggling to survive.8 The city dweller reels from unreality to unreality through each day, alwaystrying to recover the rural life that has been surrendered for the city lights. No city dweller, even in the suburbs, knows the wonder of a pitch-dark country lane at night.Nor does he naturally get any exercise from his work.9 Every European points out that Americans are the most round-shoulderedpeople in the world. Few of them carry themselves with an upright stance, althougha correct stance is the first precondition of letting your lungs breathe naturally anddeeply. Electric typewriters cut down the amount of physical exertion needed to hit the keys; the buttons of a word processor need even less effort, as you can tell fromthe posture of those who use them. They rush out to jog or otherwise Fonda-ize their leisure to try to repair the damage done during the day.10 Everything in urban life is an effort either to simulate rural life or to compensatefor its loss by artificial means. It is from this day-to-day existence of unreality, pretence, and idiocy that the city people, slumping along their streets even when scurrying, never looking up at their buildings, far less the sky, have the insolence to disdain and mock the useful and rewarding life of the country people who support them. Now go out and carry home a Douglas fir, call it a Christmas tree, and enjoy 12 days of contact with nature. Of course city dwellers don’t know it once had roots.城市生活之蠢行亨利·费尔利1 每天凌晨3点到6点，城市生活文明有礼。

Unit 10The Idiocy of Urban LifeHenry Fairlie1 Between about 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. the life of the city is civil. Occasionally the lonefootsteps of someone walking to or from work echo along the sidewalk. All work that has to be done at those hours is useful －in bakeries, for example. Even the newspaper presses stop turning forests into lies. Now and then a car comes out of the silence and cruises easily through the blinking traffic lights. The natural inhabitants of the city come out from damp basements and cellars. With their pink ears and paws, sleek, well-groomed, their whiskers combed, rats are true city dwellers. Urban life, during the hours when they reign, is urbane.2 These rats are social creatures, as you can tell if you look out on the city streetduring an insomniac night. But after 6 a.m., the two-legged, daytime creatures of the city begin to stir; and it is they, not the rats, who bring the rat race. You might think that human beings congregate in large cities because they are gregarious. The opposite is true. Urban life today is aggressively individualistic and atomized. Cities are not social places.3 The lunacy of modern city life lies first in the fact that most city dwellers try tolive outside the city boundaries. So the two-legged creatures have created suburbs, exurbs, and finally rururbs (rubs to some). Disdaining rural life, they try to create simulations of it. No effort is spared to let city dwellers imagine they are living anywhere but in a city: patches of grass in the more modest suburbs, broader spreads in the richer ones further out; prim new trees planted along the streets; at the foot of the larger backyards, a pretense to bosky woodlands.4 The professional people buy second homes in the country as soon as they canafford them, and as early as possible on Friday head out of the city they have created.The New York intellectuals and artists quaintly say they are “going to the country”for the weekend or the summer, but in fact they have created a little Manhattan-by-the-Sea around the Hamptons, spreading over the Long Island6 potato fields whose earlier solitude was presumably the reason why they first went there. City dwellers take the city with them to the country, for they will not live without its pa mperings. The main streets of America’s small towns, which used to have hardware and dry goods stores, are now strips of boutiques. Old-fashioned barbers become unisex hairdressing salons. The brown rats stay in the cities becauseof the filth the humans leave during the day. The rats clean it up at night. Soon the countryside will be just as nourishing to them, as the city dwellers take their filth with them.5 Work still gives meaning to rural life, the family, and churches. But in the citytoday work and home, family and church, are separated. What the office workers do for a living is not part of their home life. At the same time they maintain the pointless frenzy of their work hours in their hours off. They rush from the office to jog, to the gym or the YMCA pool, to work at their play with the same joylessness.6 Even though the offices of today’s businesses in the city are themselves movingout to the suburbs, this does not necessarily bring the workers back closer to their workplace. It merely means that to the rush-hour traffic into the city there is now added a rush-hour traffic out to the suburbs in the morning, and back around and across the city in the evening. As the farmer walks down to his farm in the morning, the city dweller is dressing for the first idiocy of his day, which he not only accepts but even seeks －the journey to work.7 In the modern office building in the city there are windows that don’t open. Thisis perhaps the most symbolic lunacy of all. Outdoors is something you can look at through glass but not to touch or hear. These windows are a scandal because they endanger the lives of office workers in case of fire. But no less grievous, even on the fairest spring or fall day the workers cannot put their heads outside. Thus it is not surprising that the urban worker has no knowledge of the seasons. He is aware simply that in some months there is air conditioning, and in others through the same vents come fetid central heating. Even outside at home in their suburbs the city dwellers may know that sometimes it’s hot, and sometimes it’s cold, but no true sense of the rhythms of the seasons is to be had from a lawn in the backyard and a few spindly trees struggling to survive.8 The city dweller reels from unreality to unreality through each day, alwaystrying to recover the rural life that has been surrendered for the city lights. No city dweller, even in the suburbs, knows the wonder of a pitch-dark country lane at night.Nor does he naturally get any exercise from his work.9 Every European points out that Americans are the most round-shoulderedpeople in the world. Few of them carry themselves with an upright stance, althougha correct stance is the first precondition of letting your lungs breathe naturally anddeeply. Electric typewriters cut down the amount of physical exertion needed to hit the keys; the buttons of a word processor need even less effort, as you can tell fromthe posture of those who use them. They rush out to jog or otherwise Fonda-ize their leisure to try to repair the damage done during the day.10 Everything in urban life is an effort either to simulate rural life or to compensatefor its loss by artificial means. It is from this day-to-day existence of unreality, pretence, and idiocy that the city people, slumping along their streets even when scurrying, never looking up at their buildings, far less the sky, have the insolence to disdain and mock the useful and rewarding life of the country people who support them. Now go out and carry home a Douglas fir, call it a Christmas tree, and enjoy 12 days of contact with nature. Of course city dwellers don’t know it once had roots.城市生活之蠢行亨利·费尔利1 每天凌晨3点到6点，城市生活文明有礼。

U n i t10T h eI d i o c y o f U r b a n L i f e课文翻译综合教程四-CAL-FENGHAI.-(YICAI)-Company One1Unit 10The Idiocy of Urban LifeHenry Fairlie1 Between about 3 . and 6 . the life of the city is civil. Occasionally the lonefootsteps of someone walking to or from work echo along the sidewalk. Allwork that has to be done at those hours is useful － in bakeries, for example.Even the newspaper presses stop turning forests into lies. Now and then a car comes out of the silence and cruises easily through the blinking traffic lights.The natural inhabitants of the city come out from damp basements and cellars.With their pink ears and paws, sleek, well-groomed, their whiskers combed,rats are true city dwellers. Urban life, during the hours when they reign, isurbane.2 These rats are social creatures, as you can tell if you look out on the city street during aninsomniac night. But after 6 ., the two-legged, daytime creatures of the city begin to stir;and it is they, not the rats, who bring the rat race. You might think that human beings congregate in large cities because they are gregarious. The opposite is true. Urban life today is aggressively individualistic and atomized. Cities are not social places.3 The lunacy of modern city life lies first in the fact that most city dwellers try tolive outside the city boundaries. So the two-legged creatures have createdsuburbs, exurbs, and finally rururbs (rubs to some). Disdaining rural life, they try to create simulations of it. No effort is spared to let city dwellers imaginethey are living anywhere but in a city: patches of grass in the more modestsuburbs, broader spreads in the richer ones further out; prim new treesplanted along the streets; at the foot of the larger backyards, a pretense tobosky woodlands.4 The professional people buy second homes in the country as soon as they canafford them, and as early as possible on Friday head out of the city they have created. The New York intellectuals and artists quaintly say they are “going to the country” for the weekend or the summer, but in fact they have created a little Manhattan-by-the-Sea around the Hamptons, spreading over the LongIsland6 potato fields whose earlier solitude was presumably the reason whythey first went there. City dwellers take the city with them to the country, for they will not live without its pamperings. The main streets of America’s small towns, which used to have hardware and dry goods stores, are now strips ofboutiques. Old-fashioned barbers become unisex hairdressing salons. Thebrown rats stay in the cities because of the filth the humans leave during the day. The rats clean it up at night. Soon the countryside will be just as nourishing to them, as the city dwellers take their filth with them.5 Work still gives meaning to rural life, the family, and churches. But in the city today workand home, family and church, are separated. What the office workers do for a living is not part of their home life. At the same time they maintain the pointless frenzy of their work hours in their hours off. They rush from the office to jog, to the gym or the YMCA pool, to work at their play with the same joylessness.6 Even though the offices of today’s businesses in the city are themselves movingout to the suburbs, this does not necessarily bring the workers back closer to their workplace. It merely means that to the rush-hour traffic into the citythere is now added a rush-hour traffic out to the suburbs in the morning, and back around and across the city in the evening. As the farmer walks down to his farm in the morning, the city dweller is dressing for the first idiocy of his day, which he not only accepts but even seeks － the journey to work.7 In the modern office building in the city there are windows that don’t open. This is perhapsthe most symbolic lunacy of all. Outdoors is something you can look at through glass but not to touch or hear. These windows are a scandal because they endanger the lives of office workers in case of fire. But no less grievous, even on the fairest spring or fall day the workers cannot put their heads outside. Thus it is not surprising that the urban worker has no knowledge of the seasons. He is aware simply that in some months there is air conditioning, and in others through the same vents come fetid central heating. Even outside at home in their suburbs the city dwellers may know that sometimes it’s hot, and sometimes it’s cold, but no true sense of the rhythms of the seasons is to be had from a lawn in the backyard and a few spindly trees struggling to survive.8 The city dweller reels from unreality to unreality through each day, always trying to recoverthe rural life that has been surrendered for the city lights. No city dweller, even in the suburbs, knows the wonder of a pitch-dark country lane at night. Nor does he naturally get any exercise from his work.9 Every European points out that Americans are the most round-shouldered people in theworld. Few of them carry themselves with an upright stance, although a correct stance is the first precondition of letting your lungs breathe naturally and deeply. Electric typewriters cut down the amount of physical exertion needed to hit the keys; the buttons of a word processor need even less effort, as you can tell from the posture of those who use them.They rush out to jog or otherwise Fonda-ize their leisure to try to repair the damage done during the day.10 Everything in urban life is an effort either to simulate rural life or to compensate for its lossby artificial means. It is from this day-to-day existence of unreality, pretence, and idiocy that the city people, slumping along their streets even when scurrying, never looking up at their buildings, far less the sky, have the insolence to disdain and mock the useful and rewarding life of the country people who support them. Now go out and carry home a Douglas fir, call it a Christmas tree, and enjoy 12 days of contact with nature. Of course city dwellers don’t know it once had roots.城市生活之蠢行亨利·费尔利1 每天凌晨3点到6点，城市生活文明有礼。