新视野大学英语(第二版)第四册读写教程课文Unit1-8翻译

Unit 1An 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。 Dont 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 fames 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 audiences 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 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 stylesa Tennessee Williams play or a plot by Ernest Hemingway or a poem by Robert Frost or T.S. Eliotare 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 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。 Fames spotlight can be hotter than a tropical junglea 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 contaminate the entire well of a mans 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 mans 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 Wildes 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 Homeward, 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 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 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 wont 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。*本单元完*Unit 2He 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 mothers 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 Chaplins 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 countriesFrance, Italy, Spain, even Japanhave 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 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 Chaplins 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, Chaplins comic beggar didnt 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 didnt 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 Tramps quick eye for a pretty girl had a coarse way about it that was considered, well, not quite nice by English audiencesthats how foreigners behaved, wasnt 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 whod 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 hed been able to speak with an educated accent in those early short comedies, its 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 freedomand, more importantly, the moneyto 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 he went along. 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 cant 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 didnt 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 Chaplins 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 lovedand 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 sometimesas in his early marriagesthe 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 wholl 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。 Its 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 ONeill 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 whod 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 Chaplins life became as many unfounded rumors surrounded them bothand, later on, she was the center of calm in the quarrels that Chaplin sometimes sparked in his own large family of talented children.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 Sennetts clumsy Keystone Cops would have done, but one cant help feeling Chaplin would have regarded this strange incident as a fitting memorialhis 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。*本单元完*Unit 3 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, Im 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 governments 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 Im 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. Im 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 lo