美国国家公共电台 NPR A Puzzled Teen Seeks Answers And Finds Crosswords In 'Down And Across'

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Scott Ferdowsi is 16 years old, hasn't figured out what he wants to do with his life. That worries his Iranian-American parents who believe their son lacks drive - grit¹ - and doesn't take advantage of the opportunities they work so hard to give him. Hoping to find his purpose in life, Scott quits his perfectly² good summer internship³, high-tails it to Washington D.C., the city of ambitious young people working as bartenders and servers on their way to being lobbyists and legislators. "Down And Across" is the debut⁴ novel for young adults from Arvin Ahmadi. He joins us from New York.

Thanks so much for being with us.

ARVIN AHMADI: Thank you for having me.

SIMON: Does he lack grit, or has he just not found something to fall in love with a little?

AHMADI: He doesn't know. And that's the thing. And that's kind of how I fell upon grit. It's this inspirational idea that the No.1 indicator⁵ of success isn't your IQ or where you come from, it's grit, your ability to persevere⁶.

SIMON: Tenacity⁷ might be - yeah.

AHMADI: Sure. Tenacity, persistence⁸. But it's also kind of terrifying, especially if you have this track record of trying different things or giving up.

SIMON: Scott's given up a lot, hasn't he?

AHMADI: He has. He's tried every club at school, switches his future path every five seconds. He can't quite nail down what that future path will look like.

SIMON: His name at birth was Saaket. Tell us about his name, how he changed and about his family.

AHMADI: Sure. So Scott is Iranian-American. His parents are Iranian immigrants. And Saaket in Farsi means quiet. And he ends up going by Scott from a young age. And that, to me, was because I think so many of us, especially children of immigrants - children who look different - hated being different. And so Scott from an early age - you know, he decides to go by an American name because that's a way of making himself less different.

SIMON: And tell us about his parents. I loved his parents.

AHMADI: Yeah. Well, his parents are tricky¹⁰ because the opening scene is an argument between Scott and his dad, you know, who he finds to be overbearing. And his dad is trying to compromise. And Scott, of course, takes that little bit of compromise that his parents are leaving him home alone for a few weeks, and he abuses it. He runs away from home. And I think that's the struggle with his parents.

SIMON: Any of you in your character?

AHMADI: No, no, not at all (laughter). Now the story...

SIMON: That wasn't the answer I was expecting.

AHMADI: No, the story is very autobiographical. I mean, it was inspired when I saw a real-life TED⁹ Talk by a real-life professor, Angela Duckworth, about grit. And it inspired me, and it terrified me. And so I created this fictional¹¹ version of her and had Scott run away to meet her.

SIMON: I've read that Scott, as you originally drafted him, wasn't an Iranian-American youngster.

AHMADI: That's correct. When I first started writing "Down And Across," Scott was Jack¹², and he was not Iranian. And then I - you know, eventually, I made him half-Indian and half-white so that I could inject some of my experiences in there, the son of immigrants. And you know, finally I decided¹³ - screw it. I'm going to make this an authentic¹⁴ story about my experiences growing up and struggling with failure and my future path.

SIMON: You struggled with failure?

AHMADI: Yeah, which is funny to think about because I was, like, your classic overachiever in high school.

SIMON: Yeah.

AHMADI: I grew up in Northern Virginia. I went to a local magnet school, Thomas Jefferson. And I participated in every club and went to a good college. But no, deep down, I constantly had impostor syndrome¹⁵. I think it was this constant uncertainty¹⁶ about my future. And I think we're seeing more stories like that in a lot of different mediums - how, on the surface, a person may appear one way but underneath¹⁷ the surface, they're are a lot more complicated and there's this self-doubt.

SIMON: Yeah. Well, that's one of the oldest stories in the arts, not to mention YA...

AHMADI: Of course.

SIMON: ...literature, isn't it? Yeah.

AHMADI: Right. But it's not a story that we saw very much among diverse folks - among marginalized folks, among women, among people of color, people from different sexualities. So I think we're getting those classic stories now but repurposed in a diverse sense.

SIMON: As a parent, I don't want to approve of a youngster who deceives his parents and runs away. But all of that being said, he shows a lot of grit in doing that, doesn't he?

AHMADI: He does. And I wouldn't advise running away either. I gave it a shot when I was a teenager, and I only lasted 12 hours. And...

SIMON: Twelve hours?

AHMADI: (Laughter) Yeah, I ran away from Northern Virginia to Dupont Circle, so I didn't even make it very far. I...

SIMON: Twelve hours - that's 12 blocks, too, or is it...

AHMADI: No, I mean, I just hopped¹⁸ on a Metro¹⁹ bus.

SIMON: Forgive me - when you got home, did your parents even know you'd run away (laughter)?

AHMADI: They did. And you know why - you know how they did? Because I had left a window open. I - you know, I could've have used the door and closed the door.

SIMON: Yeah.

AHMADI: But because I was a dramatic teenager, I escaped through the window and left it open so they knew I had run away. But no, I admire Scott's tenacity. And I think it's a lesson for us all that we're shaped by experiences and that we should be willing to take risks - maybe not necessarily running away, especially as teenagers, but do things outside of our comfort zone.

SIMON: Arvin Ahmadi - his debut YA novel is "Down And Across." Thanks so much for being with us.

AHMADI: Thanks a lot, Scott.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRECIOUS FATHERS' "PRAIRIE TRAIN")

1 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 internship   

n.实习医师，实习医师期

参考例句：

• an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
• a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习

4 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

5 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

6 persevere   

v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• They are determined to persevere in the fight.他们决心坚持战斗。
• It is strength of character enabled him to persevere.他那坚强的性格使他能够坚持不懈。

7 tenacity   

n.坚韧

参考例句：

• Tenacity is the bridge to success.坚韧是通向成功的桥。
• The athletes displayed great tenacity throughout the contest.运动员在比赛中表现出坚韧的斗志。

8 persistence   

n.坚持，持续，存留

参考例句：

• The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
• He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。

9 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

10 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

11 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

12 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

13 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。

14 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

15 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

16 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

17 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

18 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

19 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。