中石油2016通用英语选读课文36To-Be-Content-with-Ones-Lot乐天知命.doc

36 To Be Content with Ones Lot乐天知命（be content with 对满足；lot n. 命运）1. Peter Hessler described two lifestyles and asked his Chinese students to choose the one they preferred, either a very long yet但是 ultimatelyadv最后，最终，终于，根本，基本上 average平常的，平均的 and uneventfuladj平凡的，无特别事件的 life, or a very exciting, fun-filled life that only lasted 24 years. Almost all of his 20 something大约，左右 year old students chose the first option. This surprised Peter because, from his experience with American youths, he was sure the Americans wouldnt 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 of fun and adventure. Theres even an idiom习语 for the traditional Chinese attitude, A good death is worse than a lazy life. This saying谚语 reveals显示，揭露 a deeply ingrainedadj根深蒂固的，彻底的 sense of optimism乐观 and acceptance of fate宿命. Its nothing at all like the Western idea of heroes made through tragedyn悲剧.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(Its nothing at all；at all 根本；完全，用于否定句中)。3. 30 years ago, at the beginning of Chinas reform改革, a group of intellectuals知识分子 believed the acceptance of ones lot would hurt the growth of the Peoples Republic中华民族. The way they saw it, the Westerners seafaring culture航海文化，蓝色文明 had allowed them to expand扩展，扩张 and advance while Chinas agrarian culture耕地文化，黄土文化 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发展。在他们看来，西方的“蓝色文明”使其开放、进步；（allow sb. to 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 unique独特的，独一无二的 traitsn特性，显著的特点 of a nationality民族 can reveal a number of interesting features特色，特征，特点. David N. Keightly is a professor of history at the University of California Berkeley and he made a study of the unique attitudes of the Chinese people. He believed their acceptance of fate originates from来自，起源于 a geographical地理的 standpoint立场，观点. The birthplace of the Chinese civilization文明 is the Central Plains where the climate has less variation变化 than the Mediterranean地中海 or the Near East. Chinas two main rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, both run from West to East, and dont change much in latitude纬度. This means the cultivationn耕作，培养，教养 both upstream河流上游 and downstream河流下游 are very similar. This uniformityn均匀性，一致 of the agrarian culture耕地文明 reduced the incentiven动机，刺激adj激动的 for mutualadj共同的，相互的 trade and the need for people to travel very far. Hence, the exchange of thoughts, ideas and technology became restricted受限制的 and the ancient古代的 Chinese culture tended to isolate使隔离，孤立 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别不大。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及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范围内自我封闭）。5. According to根据 Professor Keightlys theory, the climate of ancient China was very good. This would create a sense of optimismn乐观主义 in the Chinese culture. In comparison相比较之下, the people of the Mediterranean and the Near East had to face more natural disasters灾难 and were less optimistic. Besides the geographical factor which influences the development of cultures, Keightley believes the Chinese practice惯例 of有的习惯 ancestor祖先 worship崇拜 has significantly influenced the makeup特性 of the Chinese people. Keightley says, I believe, the cultures that engage in从事于，参加，忙于 ancestor worship are going to be conservative保守的 cultures. Theyre not going to find new things attractive because, that will be a challenge挑战 to the ancestors. Theres no room in this culture for a skepticn怀疑者.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。相比较之下，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发展的影响(直译为：除了影响文化发展的地理因素外)，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期待 the future. By comparing their lives to the past, it creates an unlimited无限的 feeling of satisfaction. With no other desires欲望，要求, people in ancient times had the opportunity to coexistvi同时共存，和平相处 harmoniously和谐地 with nature. They worked towards争取，努力达到 an existence生存方式，存在 where their social development was in syncn同时，同步 with the natural world. This sort of这种 self-satisfaction and onenessn单一，唯一 with nature helped Chinese people develop a more optimistic attitude towards life.6、中国人趋向于回顾过去（tend to do sth.倾向于做某事; want to do sth. 想要做某事），而西方人更多的是展望未来(look towards 期待)。与过去相比较，就会对当下的生活生出无限的满足感。无欲无求，在古代，人们就能够定下心来与自然和谐相处，努力达到天人合一的境界。这种自我满足以及与自然和谐共存，使中国人产生出乐观的生活态度。7. The Westerners have the opposite approach相反的看法 because they fear the uncertainty of the future. This leads them to work hard in changing their current situation现状 in the hope of希望 making tomorrow better than today. During this process, its almost impossible to abide by遵守，接受 the rules of the natural world or human nature. The idea of being content with ones lot is hard-pressed处于困境 to take hold生根 in this sort of environment.7、西方人的观点与此相反，源于对未来的不确定感，这促使他们努力改变现状（lead sb. to do sth. 引导某人做某事），以期明天比今天更好。在努力的过程中难免会违反自然规律和扭曲人性（直译为：在努力的过程中，遵守自然规律和人性几乎是不可能的）。乐天知命、安于本分的价值观在这样的文化氛围中是难以形成的（直译为：满足于自身命运的价值观在这样的文化氛围中是难于生根的）。8. Over these past few decades十年, the ideas of the West and the East have practically been reversed反转，颠倒. The Chinese people have little choice but to drop the traditional idea of being content with ones lot if they want to improve their economic standing. They now emulate模仿，尽力赶上 the West in opening up开创 and becoming more enterprisingadj.有事业心的，有进取心的. Unfortunately, this process of chasing追逐 materialistic唯物主义的 dreams results in结果是 the destruction破坏，摧毁 of nature. People have had to deal with increasing pressure and the income gap收入差距 between rich and poor has become larger and larger. People are beginning to realize that the traditional idea we inherited from从继承 our ancestors, of being content with what ones lot, makes a lot of sense很有道理. As the West has forged ahead取得进展，锐意进取 over the centuries, on the basis of基于 its enterprising attitude, corruption贪污，腐败 and malpracticen玩忽职守 has kept pace并驾齐驱. Today, the West is turning towards转向 the East to find a way out找到出路.8、有趣的是，近几十年来，至少在表面上，东西方似乎呈现出一种互换的态势。中国人因为经济的落后，不得不抛弃传统的乐天知命观，学习西方的进取和开拓（直译为：如果中国人想要改善他们的经济状况，不放弃传统的乐天知命观，他们可选择的道路不多，现在他们开始效仿西方人的开创和进取精神）。不幸的是，在尽全力追逐物质主义的过程中，环境遭到破坏。社会财富分配不均衡，人们不得不承受巨大的心理压力。这令人意识到老袓宗“乐天知命”的价值观念自有其道理。西方人在数百年的无休止进取后，弊端丛生，如今也纷纷转向东方的价值观寻找出路。9. Maybe theres something in the text-message短信 thats doing the rounds on the Internet, when it says, Once youre 50, pretty and ugly look the same. Once youre 60, high-rank and low-rank look the same. Once you re 70, lots of money and little money look the same. Once youre 80, men and women look the same. Once youre 90, living and dying look the same.9、最近有一则网上流行的短信：“到了五十，好看难看一个样；到了六十，官大官小一个样；到了七十，钱多钱少一个样；到了八十，男的女的一个样；到了九十，活的死的一个样。”10. In a way, the message, pretty much, suggests暗示，建议 that, even though China exported出口 computers to America and Chinese people have traded in their bikes for BMWs, the past thirty years of reform hasnt changed our traditions and, the idea of being content with ones lot has never left our bones.10、在某种程度上，这条短信似乎暗示：改革开放30年，尽管中国生产的电脑已经卖到了美国，并且中国人已经丢掉自行车，开起了宝马（trade infor 以旧换新），但仍没有改变他们的传统，乐天知命的价值观仍在骨子里，不曾磨灭。课后练习：1. or a very exciting, fan-filled life that only 24 years.A. lastedB. laterC. lateD. last2. This reveals a deeply ingrained sense of optimism and acceptance of fate.A. saysB. saidC. sayingD. say3. The Westerners seafaring culture had allowed them while Chinas agrarian culture had shut the country off from the world and kept it itself.A. expanding and advancing; focusing onB. to expand and advance; focus onC. to expand and advance; focusing on 4. He believed their acceptance of fate originates a geographical standpoint.A. toB. fromC. intoD. of5. This