【英语语言学习】父爱如山

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Thirty years ago, Ted¹ Conover wrote "Rolling Nowhere: Riding The Roads With America's Hobos," an account of his time hopping³ freight⁴ trains across America. Asa, his teenage son, read the book last year, and asked his father if he'd show him how to hop² a freight. So Ted Conover's account of a father-son adventure appears in the July issue of Outside magazine. And Ted and Asa Conover join us now from our studios in New York. Gentlemen, thanks so much for being with us.

ASA CONOVER: Thanks for inviting⁵ us, Scott.

TED CONOVER: Thanks.

SIMON: Asa, did you really want to do this, or was this just a, a lighthearted remark you made to amuse your father, and damn⁶ he took it seriously.

A. CONOVER: Well, after reading the book, it seemed like he had had a lot of fun on the train. And it was interesting to me to do something that he had done that really started his career as well. And I knew that he had taken my mom on a train before they got married and I thought, if she has done it, I deserve to do it.

SIMON: So there you guys are in the rail yard in Denver. The first train comes rolling along and Asa, it looked good to you but Ted, not to you? What was going through your heads, respectively?

T. CONOVER: In my head is the knowledge that in the movies, you catch a train that's moving. But in real life, professional tramps⁸ prefer to catch a train that's stopped because it's more likely you'll be fine afterwards. So I really did not want to hop a moving train with Asa.

SIMON: Well, tell us about the - that moment, Asa, when you became - what's the phrase I'm looking for here?

A. CONOVER: A temporary tramp⁷?

(LAUGHTER)

SIMON: (Laughing) All right.

A. CONOVER: Well, it was one of the most exciting things I had ever done. And it's very fulfilling for me because the dad I know who writes books is different than the character I see in his stories. Often I don't believe the things that he's done because at home, he's a very law-abiding individual. And I was very excited to see him guide me on a quasi-legal journey as he described it in the article.

SIMON: I don't want to downplay the fact that this is illegal. I mean, people should know it over and over again. And I wonder, Ted Conover, do you have any concern that your son now thinks it's OK to break the law as long as it's fun?

(LAUGHTER)

T. CONOVER: I hadn't thought I'd been such a rule-abiding kind of dad. But he informed me that I had. And I, so I kind of felt I was undermining⁹ a lifetimes work of teaching respect for the law. But on the other hand, you know, I consider it a victimless crime. And I caution¹⁰ everybody not to try this without a great deal of forethought and preparation.

SIMON: Asa, reading the article, it sounds like you wanted to get off after the first day.

A. CONOVER: I wanted to get off after about the third day. I realized once we had moved around a bit that the majority of the experience ended up being waiting, rather than getting on trains or riding them. And the other thing I found is that once you're on board, it's very loud. And even though I had expected to be talking to my father on board, it was really difficult to have conversation. We'd have to kind of shout at each other. And so most of the time I was lying. I'd be reading, or listening to music if possible. And the views we saw were incredible¹¹. Some of the most beautiful places I've ever been. But you can only take so much of just lying in the same place, especially when it's very loud and you have to wait on hot tracks for a train to come, not knowing if it's going to be there. And I had had about enough of that after the third day.

SIMON: We should explain you guys slept in motels¹², too.

(LAUGHTER)

A. CONOVER: Yeah, that is true.

T. CONOVER: We did it the easy way. The total easy way. My original immersion¹³ involved basically just looking for people doing this professionally to hang out with and eating with them, smoking with them, drinking with them. With Asa, that wasn't the goal. We were out to spend time together in this unique American way. And yeah, I wanted to share something from my life.

SIMON: Did - let me try to put you both on the spot a bit, what did you learn about each other?

T. CONOVER: I think I learned more about me than I learned about Asa. One of the things I learned was that I'm different now that I have a son. Back then, I could take all kinds of chances, and did. What I didn't expect was that I would be so nervous all of the time on this trip. I was totally nervous. And it was such a relief to be done and neither of us was hurt. I do think, the same time I feared the day he read my book and asked me to ride on a train, I was also looking forward to the day I'd get to see if he could do it. And actually, what the trip was mostly about, you know, when your kids get into high school, they're less interested in spending time with you. And to be able to have your kids full attention, for hours, is kind of a cool thing, especially as they get older. So that was probably the best part of the whole thing.

A. CONOVER: I don't know. I think it was a very important experience for both of us because it showed me a side of his life that I didn't really know before. And it was nice to see before I left home for college.

SIMON: Speaking with us from New York, Asa Conover and Ted Conover. Ted Conover's article about their adventure on the rails appears in the July issue of Outside magazine. Gentlemen, very good to speak with both of you.

A. CONOVER: You too, thanks, Scott.

T. CONOVER: Thank you, Scott.

1 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。

2 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

3 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

4 freight   

n.货物，货运；vt.运送（货物）看，装货于

参考例句：

• Tons of freight were flown into this airport every day.每天有许多吨货物被空运到这个机场。
• There is ten yuan in the bill for freight.发票中包括运费十元。

5 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

6 damn   

int.该死，他妈的；vt.指责，贬斥，诅咒

参考例句：

• Damn this useless typewriter!这台破打字机真该死！
• I knew damn well what he was going to say.我非常清楚他要说什么。

7 tramp   

n.流浪者，步行，跋涉；v.步行，跋涉

参考例句：

• She wants to go for a tramp in the country.她想去乡间远足。
• A tramp came to the door and asked for food.一个流浪汉来到门前讨饭吃。

8 tramps   

n.重步声( tramp的名词复数 )；长途跋涉；游民；荡妇

参考例句：

• Tramps are from the lowest stratum of society. 流浪汉来自社会最下层。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They think all backpackers are tramps. 他们认为所有背包的人都是徒步旅行者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

9 undermining   

在某物下挖洞或挖通道( undermine的现在分词 )； 侵蚀…的基础； 暗中破坏； 逐渐削弱

参考例句：

• Far from undermining this chivalry of age, the Chinese people have reinforced it. 对于老年人应受尊敬这一问题，中国人远非贬损它，而是强调它。
• The party is accused of undermining the secular state. 这个党被控损害土耳其的世俗性质。

10 caution   

n.小心，谨慎，警告；vt.告诫，警告

参考例句：

• You should exercise extreme caution when driving in fog.在雾中开车要极为小心。
• There is no need for such caution.不必如此小心谨慎。

11 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

12 motels   

n.汽车旅馆( motel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All the motels lie beside the road. 所有的汽车旅馆都位于公路旁边。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A lot of motels lie beside the turnpike. 很多汽车旅馆都位于付费公路旁边。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 immersion   

n.沉浸；专心

参考例句：

• The dirt on the bottom of the bath didn't encourage total immersion.浴缸底有污垢，不宜全身浸泡于其中。
• The wood had become swollen from prolonged immersion.因长时间浸泡，木头发胀了。