Unit 4
What I wish for all students is some release from the grim grip of the future. 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.
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, 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.
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.当然,我的希望是天真的.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.
Unit 5
America can be a strange 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.
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 doesn't stand for apple pie. It stands for:
Ambition. In the Old World, people are taught to hide it. Here it's quite proper to announce that you're after the boss's job or want to make a million dollars by the age of 30.
关于美国的基础知识：欧洲人眼里的美国迈克尔多布斯对一个外国人来说,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.
我应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）.在旧大陆欧洲,人们受的教育是对自己的雄心藏而不露.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.
Unit 6
Every 23 minutes
A heart breaks.
Someone's 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.
Every 23 minutes.
A dream ends.
Someone's 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 which all promises have been broken by force.
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.清晨带来的只是无法挽回的损失.每23分钟.一个梦想结束.当期望化为乌有时,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.
Unit 7
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 little, played the violin a little. You didn't have to be good at it; the point was to be fortunate enough to have the leisure time for such pursuits. But in today's competitive world we have to be "experts" even in our hobbies.
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.
Unit 8
When you’re eating among other people, you don’t raise your voice; it’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 without them, and yet it’s 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; there’s no one else around --- no headlights, no police cruiser idling behind you . You’re tired and in a hurry. But you wait for the light to change. Is it for safety’s 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; there’s no one to catch you. Still, you sit and wait.
