A Truly Outstanding Article一篇真正出类拔萃文章-心灵鸡汤

 　　The trend in everyday conversation is to use grandiose¹ words. "Outstanding" is new "good," "amazing" is the new "OK," and "huge" is the new "big."

　　I was in a restaurant in D.C. last weekend and everything I asked was answered in superlatives.

　　Me: How s the salmon²?

　　Server: Fantastic!

　　Me: Does it come with rice?

　　Server: Absolutely!

　　Would a "good" and a "yes" have been sufficient? Undeniably!

　　At Starbucks, the smallest coffee you can order is a Tall. Tall would seem to indicate that there was also a short and medium, with Tall being the largest. But at Starbucks, Tall is small. Grande, which is both Italian and Spanish for large, is medium.

　　Likewise, at your local 7-Eleven you cannot buy a small: Your choices are Big Gulp³, Super Gulp and Extremely Big Gulp. OldBananaNavyGap also did away with the small. You cannot buy anything from the chain stores that is really a "small." My father is an average-sized man. He hasn t gained weight (or height, for that matter) for the past 30 years. Ergo, his size remains⁴ the same. But in the same amount of time, his T-shirt size has gone from small/medium to medium to large to extra large.

　　Upon reflection, the reason for all this colossal-speak is clear: We are bored with our fantastic, wonderful lives. We want the next-next thing now. Now!

　　And we also want others to think that we still care, that we can still be delighted, that we know that everything is just GREat. Even when deep inside we know it can t be. Everything can t be great. Hence, we live in a world where extreme is ordinary, where radical⁵ is quotidian⁶; exceptional is pedestrian. And to not be overly delighted by the mundane⁷ is appalling⁸. It s horrific. And, Dude, that s heinous⁹.

　　I m not scientist, and my methods of proof leave a little to be desired, or a lot to be desired, or an immensity. An to be honest, I guess I d rather live in a world where people were overly excited than depressed¹⁰.

　　But listen to the voices around you. Listen to your own voices. There is nothing on the news that is good or bad, only things that are wonderful or devastating¹¹. Even the weather is either beautiful or horrible.

　　Listen the next time when someone asks you something and you aGREe, because when you could simply say "yes," instead you will say "absolutely" or "without doubt" or "Oh, yeah, unquestionably - absolutely without doubt."

　　Have people forgotten what it is like to be OK? Simply OK with what they have and who they are?

　　If everything is outstanding, if everything is the most amazing thing ever, is anything ever amazing at all?

　　一篇真正出类拔萃的文章：夸大其词

　　用词浮夸是如今日常会话的时髦。"出类拔萃"代替了"好"，"不可思议"代替了"不错"，"巨大"代替了"大"。

　　上周末我去哥伦比亚特区的一家餐馆，我的每一个问题得到的回答全是最高级的修饰语。

　　我：鲑鱼怎么样？

　　服务生：妙不可言！

　　我：带米饭吗？

　　服务生：千真万确！

　　说一个"好"和一个"是的"够不够？毋庸置疑嘛！

　　在Starbucks咖啡店，你能点到的最小份的咖啡叫"高杯"。这似乎意味着还有矮杯和中杯，"高杯"该为最大杯。可是在Starbucks，"高杯"却是小杯。"豪华"--- 这个词在意大利语和西班牙语中是大的意思 --- 才是中杯。

　　同样地，你在当地的7-Eleven便民店里也买不到小杯咖啡：供选择的只有大杯、超大杯和特大杯。OldBananaNavyGap商店也废除了小号。在它的连锁店你买不到真正的"小号"。我父亲是中等体形，他的体重(或身高也如此)在过去三十年没增加过。所以他的身体尺寸没变化。可是在同样长的时间里，他的T恤尺寸却从小 / 中号增至中号、大号、加大号。

　　回头想想，这种夸大其词的原因很明了：我们对精彩、美妙的生活已经厌倦。我们现在想要的是未来之未来的东西。现在就要！

　　同时，我们想让别人认为我们仍然在意生活，仍然能够兴高采烈，认为我们知道一切都是那么美好。哪怕在内心深处我们清楚这不可能。不可能事事都妙不可言。由此以来，我们生活在这样一个世界：极度等于平凡，极端等于普通，非凡等于一般。而对寻常事物若不是感到特别高兴就成了骇人听闻。"太恐怖了"。"啊，令人发指"。

　　我不是专家，我的证明方法有一些，或许多，或巨大的待改进之处。坦白地说，我想我也宁愿活在一个人们激动过分而不是垂头丧气的世界里。

　　但是听听你周围的声音吧。听听自己的心里话。从新闻中听不到任何好或坏的消息，只有一些要么美妙之极，要么糟糕透顶的东西。连天气都变成了或美丽或恐怖。

　　当下次有人问你什么而你表示同意的时候，你留意听听，因为本来你可以简单地说声"是的"，可你却会说"绝对如此"或"毫无疑问"或"哦，是啊，无可争议 --- 绝对地毫无疑问"。

　　难道人们已经忘了"好"是什么样的吗？忘了什么是过得"还不错"、自己是谁了吗？

　　如果一切都成了出类拔萃，如果事事都是令人无比诧异，那还有无令人诧异一说呢？

1 grandiose   

adj.宏伟的，宏大的，堂皇的，铺张的

参考例句：

• His grandiose manner impressed those who met him for the first time.他那种夸大的举止给第一次遇见他的人留下了深刻的印象。
• As the fog vanished,a grandiose landscape unfolded before the tourists.雾气散去之后，一幅壮丽的景观展现在游客面前。

2 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

3 gulp   

vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽

参考例句：

• She took down the tablets in one gulp.她把那些药片一口吞了下去。
• Don't gulp your food,chew it before you swallow it.吃东西不要狼吞虎咽，要嚼碎了再咽下去。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

6 quotidian   

adj.每日的，平凡的

参考例句：

• Television has become part of our quotidian existence.电视已成为我们日常生活的一部分。
• Most solutions to the problem of global warming are tediousl,almost oppressively,quotidian.大多数应对全球变暖的措施都是冗长乏味，几近压制，以及司空见惯的。

7 mundane   

adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的

参考例句：

• I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作，而不是一份平凡无奇的。
• I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的，即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。

8 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

9 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

10 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

11 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。