1、Unit1上学的孩子们中间有一种普遍的错误想法，即认为他们的老师当年都是些神童。不管怎么说，除了不像一般孩子那样生性贪玩、不愿学习的书呆子之外，还有谁愿意长大后当老师呢？A common misconception among youngsters attending school is that their teachers were child prodigies. Who else but a bookworm, with none of the normal kids tendency to play rather than study, would grow up to be a t
2、eacher anyway? 我极力向我的学生们解释，我在他们心目中的形象一个在青春期热衷于书本和作业的人有一点被扭曲了。相反，我极为痛恨义务教育。我永远都无法接受在鱼儿上钩时不得不去上学的想法。Ive tried desperately to explain to my students that the image they have of me as an enthusiastic devotee of books and homework during my adolescence was a bit out of focus. On the contrary, I hated com
3、pulsory education with a passion. I could never quite accept the notion of having to go to school while the fish were biting.Unit 2孩子们之所以有权享受特殊照顾有两个理由：无助和无辜。他们还没有具备推理的能力或来自经验的智慧。因此，他们不能自卫（不能照料自己） ，无可指责（不可能真正犯罪） 。这就是我们给予他们特殊保护的原因。在紧急情况下，我们有责任先救他们，因为孤弱无助的他们已将生命交付于我们手中。在战时，他们应该受到特殊豁免权的保护，因为他们不可能会威胁或冒犯到
4、任何人。Children are entitled to special consideration for two reasons: helplessness and innocence. They have not yet acquired either the faculty of reason or the wisdom of experience. Consequently, they are defenseless (incapable of fending for themselves) and blameless (incapable of real sin). Thats w
5、hy we grant them special protection. In an emergency, it is our duty to save them first because they, helpless, have put their lives in our hands. And in wartime, they are supposed to be protected by special immunity because they can have threatened or offended no one.Unit 3我真诚地相信，对于孩子们来说，对于想要指导他们的父
6、母们来说，感受比知道要重要得多。如果事实是以后能长出知识与智慧的种子，那么情感和感官印象则是种子必须赖以生长的沃土。幼儿时期就是培育土壤的时候。一旦情感被激起一种对美的感受，对新的和未知事物的激动，一种同情、怜悯、羡慕或爱恋的感觉我们就会渴望了解引起我们情感反应的事物。一旦找到，这种知识就比纯粹的信息具有持久得多的意义。为孩子们的求知欲铺平道路比向他们灌输一堆他们尚难吸收的事实更为重要。I sincerely believe that for children, and for parents seeking to guide them, it is not half so important
7、 to know as it is to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil. Once the emotions have been aroused a sense
8、 of the beautiful, the excitement of the new and the unknown, a feeling of sympathy, pity, admiration or love then we wish for knowledge about the object of our emotional response. Once found, such knowledge has far more lasting meaning than mere information. It is more important to pave the way for
9、 childrens desire to know than to put them on a diet of facts they are not ready to assimilate.Unit 4我希望于所有学生的是从未来的严酷无情中得到一些解脱。我希望他们有机会把他们每一阶段的教育纯粹作为一种经历来享受，而不是作为一种为下一步作准备的令人厌倦的需要。我希望他们有权利试验、跌跤，并懂得失败如同胜利一样具有教育意义，失败并不是世界的末日。What I wish for all students is some release from the grim grip of the future
10、. I wish them a chance to enjoy each segment of their education as an experience in itself and not as a tiresome requirement in preparation for the next step. I wish them the right to experiment, to trip and fall, to learn that defeat is as educational as victory and is not the end of the world.当然，我
11、的希望是天真的。在美国人不赞扬的为数不多的权利之中，有一个便是失败的权利。成就是民族之神，它在我们的媒体中受到崇拜身价百万的运动员，富有的主管人员在我们对财富的赞美中得到荣耀。年轻人就是在这样一种强有力的国教熏陶下长大的。My wish, of course, is naive. One of the few rights that America does not proclaim is the right to fail. Achievement is the national god, worshipped in our media the million-dollar athlete,
12、 the wealthy executive and glorified in our praise of possessions. In the presence of such a potent state religion, the young are growing up old.Unit 5对一个外国人来说，身在美国可能是一种奇特的经历。在国外呆了 7 年以后4 年在法国，3 年在波兰，我和妻子于一月份到达了美国。从杂乱的初步印象中，我们编了一套从 A 到 Z 的解释，来说明为什么对那些从欧洲来到这里的人来说，美国会是这样陌生的一个国家。America can be a strang
13、e experience for a foreigner. My wife and I arrived in the United States in January after seven years overseas four in France, three in Poland. From the jumble of first impressions, we compiled an A-to-Z explanation of why America can be such a foreign country to those who arrive here from Europe.我应
14、该一开始就说明我是英国人，但在佛罗里达出生的我的妻子莉萨却是如苹果馅饼一般地道的美国人。不过，在我们列出的清单中，A 并不代表苹果馅饼。它代表的是：雄心（Ambition） 。I should explain at the outset that I am from Britain, but my Florida-born wife Lisa is as American as apple pie. In our list, however, A doesnt stand for apple pie. It stands for: Ambition.在旧大陆欧洲，人们受的教育是对自己的雄心藏而
15、不露。在这儿，宣称你在追求老板的职位或者想在 30 岁以前赚上 100 万美元，并没有什么不合适。In the Old World, people are taught to hide it. Here its quite proper to announce that youre after the bosss job or want to make a million dollars by the age of 30.Unit 6每 23 分钟。一颗心破碎了。某人的痛苦冲破其躯体的束缚，化作眼泪流出，随着哭声迸发，反抗着一切抚慰其绝望心情的努力。睡眠无法使其逃脱醒来时的噩梦。清晨带来的只是
16、无法挽回的损失。Every 23 minutesA heart breaks.Someones pain shatters the confines of her body, leaking out in tears, exploding in cries, defying all efforts to soothe the despair. Sleep offers no escape from the nightmare of awakening. And morning brings only the irreversibility of loss.每 23 分钟。一个梦想结束。当期望化
17、为乌有时，某个人的未来变得渺茫，成为空白。电话不会再响，汽车不会再停在房前。在一个所有的诺言都被暴力打破的世界里，明日之重变得让人无法承受。Every 23 minutes.A dream ends.Someones future blurs and goes blank as anticipation fades into nothingness. The phone will not ring, the car will not pull up to the house. The weight of tomorrow becomes unbearable in a world in whi
18、ch all promises have been broken by force.Unit 7遗憾的是，“三脚猫”已经过时了。过去如果一位女士或先生会唱一点，画一点，拉一点小提琴，那就是一种社会等级的标志。你不必很出色；关键是要有幸拥有这一份闲情逸致。但是在今天这个充满竞争的世界里我们甚至在业余爱好方面也必须是“专家”才行。Unfortunately, doing things badly has gone out of style. It used to be a mark of class if a lady or a gentleman sang a little, painted a
19、 little, played the violin a little. You didnt have to be good at it; the point was to be fortunate enough to have the leisure time for such pursuits. But in todays competitive world we have to be “experts“ even in our hobbies.Unit 8When youre eating among other people, you dont raise your voice; it
20、s just one example of the unwritten rules we live by. When you consider it, you recognize that those rules probably govern our lives on a more absolute basis than the ones you could find if you looked in the law books. The customs that govern us are what make a civilization. There would be chaos wit
21、hout them, and yet its not at all clear why -even in our disintegrating society -we obey them.How many times have you stopped at a red light late at night? You can see in all directions; theres no one else around - no headlights, no police cruiser idling behind you . Youre tired and in a hurry. But you wait for the light to change. Is it for safetys sake? No; you can see that there would be no accident if you drove on. Is it to avoid getting arrested? No; you are alone; theres no one to catch you. Still, you sit and wait.
