Unit2课文分析与翻译

1、,1,The Virtues of Growing Older,Unit 2,Detailed Reading,8.Detaild Analysis (P1),The Virtues of Growing Older Carol Siskin Our society worships youth. Advertisements convince us to buy Grecian Formula and Oil of Olay so we can hide the gray in our hair. Middle-aged folks work out in gyms and jog down

2、 the street, trying to delay the effects of aging.,Detailed Analysis,Grecian Formula: a popular mens hair coloring product in the United States, first introduced in 1961 and is still made.,Oil of Olay,Oil of Olay: Olay originated in South Africa as Oil of Olay. It is a brand based around facial mois

3、turizer and skin care products. It claims to have the effect of helping people to stay looking young.,Wouldnt any person over thirty gladly sign with the devil just to be young again? Isnt aging an experience to be dreaded? Perhaps it is un-American to say so, but I believe the answer is “No.” Being

4、 young is often pleasant, but being older has distinct advantages.,Para. 2,Gladly sign with the devil just to be young again,Explanation:,Literally, sign a contract with the devil, so that the devil would help you become young again, just like Goethes Faust. Metaphorically, be willing to do anything

5、 (even sth. bad) to become young again.,Part I (Paras.1-2): Analysis,What does the writer mean by saying “it is un-American to say so”? Does the writer deny the virtues of being young?,When young, you are apt to be obsessed with your appearance. When my brother Dave and I were teens, we worked fever

6、ishly to perfect the bodies we had. Dave lifted weights, took megadoses of vitamins, and drank a half-dozen milk shakes a day in order to turn his wiry adolescent frame into some muscular ideal. And as a teenager, I dieted constantly. No matter what I weighed, though, I was never satisfied with the

7、way I looked. My legs were too heavy, my shoulders too broad, my waist too big.,Para. 3,Para. 3,When Dave and I were young, we begged and pleaded for the “right” clothes. If our parents didnt get them for us, we felt our world would fall apart. How could we go to school wearing loose-fitting blazers

8、 when everyone else would be wearing smartly tailored leather jackets? We would be considered freaks. I often wonder how my parents, and parents in general, manage to tolerate their children during the adolescent years. Now, however, Dave and I are beyond such adolescent agonies. My rounded figure s

9、eems fine, and I dont deny myself a slice of pecan pie if I feel in the mood.,If our parents didnt get them for us, we felt our world would fall apart.,Translation:,如果父母不给我们买我们想要的衣服，我们就觉得世界末日到了。,Explanation:,If our parents deny us such requests /didnt grant us such requests, we felt our world would

10、break up/ collapse.,Para. 3,Dave still works out, but he has actually become fond of his tall, lanky frame. The two of us enjoy wearing fashionable clothes, but we are no longer slaves to style. And women, Im embarrassed to admit, even more than men, have always seemed to be at the mercy of fashion.

11、 Now my clothes are attractive yet easy to wear. We no longer feel anxious about what others will think. As long as we feel good about how we look, we are happy.,we are no longer slaves to style,Explanation:,we no longer follow the fashion blindly,at the mercy of fashion,Explanation:,completely cont

12、rolled by fashion,And women, Im embarrassed to admit, even more than men, have always seemed to be at the mercy of fashion.,Explanation:,And as a member of women, Im embarrassed to admit that women are less capable than men of resisting the temptation of fashion.,Para. 4,Being older is preferable to

13、 being younger in another way. Obviously, I still have important choices to make about my life, but I have already made many of the critical decisions that confront those just starting out. I chose the man I wanted to marry. I decided to have children. I elected to return to college to complete my e

14、ducation., but I have already made many of the critical decisions that confront those just starting out.,Translation:,但是当刚刚踏入社会的年轻人在为生活中的每个重要决策感到焦头烂额之时，我已经做过很多重要的决断。,Para. 4,But when you are young, major decisions await you at every turn. “What college should I attend? What career should I pursue? S

15、hould I have children?” These are just a few of the issues facing young people. Its no wonder that, despite their carefree faade, they are often confused, uncertain, and troubled by all the unknowns in their future.,Para. 5,But the greatest benefit of being forty is knowing who I am. The most unsett

16、ling aspect of youth is the uncertainty you feel about your values, goals, and dreams. Being young means wondering what is worth working for. Being young means feeling happy with yourself one day and wishing you were never born the next. It means trying on new selves by taking up with different crow

17、ds. It means resenting your parents and their way of life one minute and then feeling you will never be as good or as accomplished as they are.,It means trying on new selves by taking up with different crowds.,Explanation:,It means trying behaving differently from their usual selves by associating w

18、ith different groups of people. / It means that they make friends with different people in order to find new/real identities for themselves.,Para. 5,By way of contrast, forty is sanity. I have a surer self-identity now. I dont laugh at jokes I dont think funny. I can make a speech in front of a town

19、 meeting or complain in a store because I am no longer terrified that people will laugh at me; I am no longer anxious that everyone must like me. I no longer blame my parents for my every personality quirk or keep a running score of everything they did wrong raising me. Life has taught me that I, no

20、t they, am responsible for who I am. We are all human beings neither saints nor devils.,I no longer blame my parents for my every personality quirk or keep a running score of everything.,Translation:,我不再因为我性格中的怪癖责怪我父母，也不再一直记恨他们在抚养我长大过程中犯下的过错。,Explanation:,I no longer blame my parents for the strange

21、ness/ the strange features of my personality or keep counting/ reminding myself the mistakes they have made in the process of raising me.,Part II (Paras.3-5): Analysis,Is it accurate to say that older people are free from uncertainty (Para. 4)? What is the hidden meaning of the last sentence of Para

22、. 5?,Para. 6,Most Americans blindly accept the idea that newer is automatically better. But a human life contradicts this premise. There is a great deal of happiness to be found as we grow older. My own parents, now in their sixties, recently told me that they are happier now than they have ever bee

23、n. They would not want to be my age. Did this surprise me? At first, yes. Then it gladdened me. Their contentment holds out great promise for me as I move into the next perhaps even better phase of my life.,Their contentment holds out great promise for me as I move into the next perhaps even better

24、phase of my life.,Explanation:,When I enter the next, perhaps even better, stage of my life, their contentment promises me / makes me believe that Ill be as happy as they are when I am their age.,Translation:,在我迈向生命的下一个阶段，或许是更好的一个时期时，我父母的幸福感向我提供了这样一个保证：我也将会是幸福的。,Part III (Para.6): Analysis,How to understand the last paragraph?,Translate the following sentences into English.,1. Many vain young people are obsessed with fancy cars despite the fact that they are not yet rich enough to afford them. 2. Their marriage fi