课文新世纪大学英语4答案.docx

课文新世纪大学英语4答案Fame |声誉| Fame is very much like an animal chasing its own tail who, when he captures it, does not know what else to do but to continue chasing it. Fame and the publicity that accompaniesit, force the famous person to participate in his or her own destruction. Ironic, isnt it? Those who gain fame most often gain it as a result of possessing a single talent or skill: singing, dancing, painting, or writing, etc. The successful performer develops a style that gains some popularity, and it is this popularity that usually convinces the performer to continue performing in the same style, since that is what the public seems to want and to enjoy. But in time, the performer becomes bored singing the same songs in the same way year after year, or the painter becomes bored painting similar scenes or portraits, or the actor is tired of playing the same character repeatedly. The artist becomes the slave of his or her own success because of the public demands. If the artist attempts to change his or her style of writing or dancing or singing, etc., the audience may turn away and look to give the momentary fame to another and then, in time, to another, and so on and so on. 声誉极像一个追逐自己尾巴的动物，抓住了以后除继续穷追不舍外，再也不知道还能做什么。声誉以及随之而来的名气迫使名人陷入穷途末路。真有点讽刺意味，不是吗？ 名人有名多因有一技之长，如唱歌、跳舞、绘画、写作等等。成功的表演者展示出一种 风格，获得声誉。而且这种声誉常常使这位表演者确信，必须把这种风格发扬光大，因为这就是大众所需要和喜爱的。可是随着时间的推移，如果歌手年复一年地用老调唱老歌，画师画千篇一律的风景或画像，演员反复饰演同一角色，他们势必都会感到厌烦。由于公众的要求，艺人竟变成了自己功名的奴隶。倘若他或她想改变笔调、舞步、唱腔的话，大众就会弃他而去，转而把那飘忽不定的声誉赐予他人，一段时间后再转给他人，这样不停地转下去。 Two Truths to Live by |人生的两条真理| The art of living is to know when to hold fast and when to let go. An ancient man said long ago: “A man comes to this world with his fist clenched, but when he dies, his hand is open.” Surely we ought to hold fast to life, for it is wonderful, and full of a beauty. We know that this is so, but all too often we recognize this truth only in our backward glance when we remember what it was and then suddenly realize that it is no more. 人生的艺术就是要懂得收与放。而人生就是这样,一个矛盾：尽管到头来注定一切都不能长久，它还是令我们依恋于它所赋予的各种恩赐。正如古人所言：“一个人出生时拳头紧握，过世时却松手而去。” 当然，我们应该紧紧把握人生，因为它既神奇，又美 丽。我们都懂得这个道理。可是 我们却常常在回首往事时才突然觉醒，意识到其中之美，可为时已晚，一切都时过境迁。 Stripping Down to Bare Happiness |返朴归真| “What were talking about is simplification, not deprivation,” explains Sara, a friend of mine. “It isnt that you cant do all the things you like, but you change. You dont like them anymore. Some of the old habits seem so wasteful and unsatisfying that you really lose your taste for them. So you still have everything you wantonly on less money.” When I first met them, Sara and Michael were a two-career couple with a home of their own, and a large boat bought with a large loan. They began to take an interest in the concept of “voluntary simplicity” with the birth of their daughter whom they wanted to raise all by themselves. Neither one of them, it turned out, was willing to restrict what they considered their “real life” into the brief time before work and the tired hours afterward. “我们讨论的是简化生活，而不是物质匮乏，”我的朋友萨拉解释说，“绝对不是你不可以做你喜欢的那些事情，而是你在改变，不再喜欢同样的事情罢了。一些旧的习惯看上去是那样的浪费又不能令人满意，你真的对它们失去了兴 趣。所以你仍然拥有你需要的每一件东西只不过不需要花那么多的钱罢了。” 当我第一次遇见他们时，萨拉和迈克尔夫妇双双从业，拥有自己的住宅和用一大笔贷款购置的一条大船。随着女儿的出世而他们又想亲自抚养她，他们开始对“自愿简朴”的理念产生了兴趣。他们俩谁都不愿意把他们视为生活中最重要的部分仅仅局限于上班前的一小段时间和下班后已疲惫不堪的那几个小时。 The Story of an Hour |一小时的故事| Knowing that Mrs Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death. It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences, veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husbands friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallards name leading the list of “killed”. He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to prevent any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message. 因知道马拉德太太患有心脏病，在告诉她丈夫死亡的消息时特别小心，尽量委婉。 把这个坏消息透露给她的是她姐姐约瑟芬。她说话时断断续续，只能半遮半掩地给她一些暗示。她丈夫的朋友理查兹也在场，就在她身边。铁道事故的消息传来时，理查兹正好在报社办公室，布伦特利·马拉德的名字排在“死亡”名单的首位。第二封电报让他相信确有此事，于是他便立刻动身，赶在那些粗心大意、考虑不周的朋友之前把这个不幸的消息带了回来。