英语沙龙：明天会更好

Tomorrow Will Be a Better Day

I'm 16. The other night while I was busy thinking about important social issues,

like what to do over the weekend, I overheard¹ my parents talking about my future.

My dad was upset—not the usual stuff that he and Mom worry about,

like which college I'm going to, how far away it is from home and how much it's going to cost.

Instead, he was upset about the world his generation is turning over to mine.

He sounded like this: "There will be a pandemic that kills millions,

a devastating² energy crisis³, a horrible worldwide depression and a nuclear explosion set off in anger."

As I lay on the living room couch⁴, starting to worry about the future my father was describing,

I found myself looking at some old family photos.

There was a picture of my grandfather in his uniform.

He was a member of the war class.

Next to his picture were photos of my great-grandparents.

Seeing those pictures made me feel a lot better.

I believe tomorrow will be better, not worse.

Those pictures helped me understand why.

I considered some of the awful things my grandparents and great-grandparents had seen in their lifetimes:

two world wars, killer⁵ flu, a nuclear bomb.

But they saw other things, too, better things:

the end of two world wars, the polio vaccine⁶, passage of the civil rights laws.

I believe that my generation will see better things, too

—that we will witness the time when AIDS is cured and cancer is defeated;

when the Middle East will find peace, and the Cubs⁷ win the World Series—probably only once.

I will see things as inconceivable to me today as a moon shot was to my grandfather

when he was 16, or the Internet to my father when he was 16.

Ever since I was a little kid, whenever I've had a lousy day,

my dad would put his arm around me and promise me that "tomorrow will be a better day."

I challenged my father once, "How do you know that?"

He said, "I just do." I believed him.

As I listened to my Dad talking that night,

so worried about what the future holds for me and my generation,

I wanted to put my arm around him, and tell him what he always told me:

"Don't worry Dad, tomorrow will be a better day."

1 overheard   

adj. 串音的, 偶而听到的 动词overhear的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• We talked quietly so as not to be overheard. 我们低声交谈，以免别人听到。
• I told Lucy the news under my breath, but Joyce overheard me. 我低声地把这个消息告诉露西，可还是被乔伊斯听到了。

2 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

3 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

4 couch   

n.睡椅，长沙发椅；vt.表达，隐含

参考例句：

• Lie down on the couch if you're feeling ill.如果你感觉不舒服就躺到沙发上去。
• The rabbIt'sprang from its grassy couch.兔子从草丛中跳出。

5 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

6 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

7 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》