TED演讲:我无家可归的一年(1)

 　　I'm a writer and a journalist, and I'm also an insanely curious person, 我是一个作家，一个新闻记者，我也是一位具有强烈求知欲的人，

　　so in 22 years as a journalist, I've learned how to do a lot of new things. 所以在做新闻记者的22年里，我知道了很多新奇的事物。

　　And three years ago, one of the things I learned how to do was to become invisible. 而三年前，我学会做的一件事就是变成隐形人。

　　I became one of the working homeless. 我成了一个无家可归的工作者。

　　I quit my job as a newspaper editor after my father died in February of that same year, and decided¹ to travel. 我辞掉了报纸编辑的工作，在我父亲那年二月去世之后，我决定去旅行。

　　His death hit me pretty hard. And there were a lot of things that I wanted to feel and deal with while I was doing that. 他的去世对我打击非常大。当时这么做，是因为有很多我想去感知和处理的事。

　　I've camped my whole life. And I decided that living in a van for a year to do this would be like one long camping trip. 旅游时我天天都在露营。并且决定在休旅车里住一年，就当作是一段长期野营旅行。

　　So I packed my cat, my Rottweiler and my camping gear into a 1975 Chevy van, 所以，我就带上我的猫，我的罗特威尔犬和露营的装备，装载到1975产的雪佛莱旅游车上，

　　and drove off into the sunset, having fully² failed to realize three critical things. 开车去看日落，但当时完全没想过三件严重的事。

　　One: that society equates³ living in a permanent structure, even a shack⁴, with having value as a person. 一：社会将住房，即使是很小的房间，和人的价值等同起来。

　　Two: I failed to realize how quickly the negative perceptions of other people can impact our reality, if we let it. 二：我没有意识到其他人的负面言语对我们本身的影响是多么严重，假如我们放任不管。

　　And three: I failed to realize that homelessness is an attitude, not a lifestyle. 三：我没有意识到无家可归是一种生活态度，而不是一种生活方式。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 equates   

v.认为某事物（与另一事物）相等或相仿( equate的第三人称单数 )；相当于；等于；把（一事物） 和（另一事物）等同看待

参考例句：

• He equates success with material wealth. 他认为成功等同于物质财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This equates to increased and vigor, better sleep and sharper mental acuity. 也就是说可以起到增强活力，改善睡眠，提高心智的作用。 来自互联网

4 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。