美文欣赏-On beauty
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美并不是一种需求,而是一种狂喜。她不是干渴的嘴唇,也不是伸出的空手,而是一颗滚烫的心,一个愉悦的灵魂。她不是你们想看到的样子,也不是你们想听到的乐曲,而是你们虽闭上眼睛也能看到的样子,虽掩住耳朵也能听到的旋律。
And a poet said, Speak to us of Beauty.
And he answered:
Where shall you seek beauty, and shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide?
And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech?
The aggrieved and injured say, "Beauty is kind and gentle.
Like a young mother half-shy of her own glory she walks among us."
And the passionate say, "Nay, beauty is a thing of might and dread.
Like the tempest she shakes the earth beneath us and the sky above us."
The tired and the weary say, "Beauty is of soft whisperings. She speaks in our spirit. Her voice yields to our silences like a faint light that quivers in fear of the shadow."
But the restless say, "We have heard her shouting among the mountains.
And with her cries came the sound of hoofs, and the beating of wings and the roaring of lions."
At night the watchmen of the city say, "Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east." And at noontide the toilers and the wayfarers say, "We have seen her leaning over the earth from the windows of the sunset."
In winter say the snow-bound, "She shall come with the spring leaping upon the hill."
And in the summer heat the reapers say, "We have seen her dancing with the autumn leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her hair."
All these things have you said of beauty.
Yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs unsatisfied,
And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.
It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth.
But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted.
It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear,
But rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears.
It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a wing attached to a claw,
But rather a garden for ever in bloom and a flock of angels for ever in flight.
People of Orphalese, beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.
But you are life and you are the veil.
Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
But you are eternity and you are the mirror.
Vocabulary:
aggrieve: 令委屈,令苦恼
noontide: 正午,白昼
enchant: 施魔法,使迷惑
furrow: 犁,耕
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想笑就笑-你的钟准吗
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Stupid Question
Dan was the doorman of a club in a big city. Everyday, thousands of people passed his door, and a lot of them stopped and asked him, "What's the time, please?"
丹在一个大城市的某个俱乐部当守门人。每天都有数千人经过他的门口,而且许多人都会停下来问他:"请问现在几点?"
After a few months, Dan said to himself, "I'm not going to answer all those stupid people any more. I'm going to buy a big clock and put it upon the wall here." Then he did so.
几个月后,丹想:"我不想再回答这些蠢人提出的问题了,我要去买一只大钟,把它挂在这儿的墙上。"于是他买了一只钟,把它挂在了墙上。
"Now people aren't going to stop and ask me the time," he thought happily. But after that, a lot of people stopped, looked at the clock and then asked Dan, "Is that clock right?"
"现在人们总不会再停下来问我时间了。"他高兴地想。可是打那以后,每天仍有许多人停下来,看看钟,然后问丹:"这钟准吗?"
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双语故事-狼和人
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The Wolf and the Man
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Once upon a time the fox was talking to the wolf about the strength of man, how no animal could withstand him, and how all were obliged to employ cunning in order to protect themselves from him.
The wolf answered, "If I could see a man just once, I would attack him nonetheless."
"I can help you to do that," said the fox. "Come to me early tomorrow morning, and I will show you one."
The wolf arrived on time, and the fox took him out to the path which the huntsman used every day. First an old discharged soldier came by.
"Is that a man?" asked the wolf.
"No," answered the fox. "He has been one."
Afterwards came a little boy on his way to school.
"Is that a man?"
"No, he will yet become one."
Finally a huntsman came by with his double-barreled gun on his back, and a sword at his side.
The fox said to the wolf, "Look, there comes a man. He is the one you must attack, but I am going back to my den."
The wolf then charged at the man.
When the huntsman saw him he said, "Too bad that I have not loaded with a bullet." Then he aimed and fired a load of shot into his face.
The wolf pulled an awful face, but did not let himself be frightened, and attacked him again, on which the huntsman gave him the second barrel. The wolf swallowed his pain and charged at the huntsman again, who in turn drew out his naked sword, and gave him a few blows with it left and right, so that, bleeding all over, he ran howling back to the fox.
"Well," Brother Wolf, said the fox, "how did you get along with man?"
"Oh," replied the wolf, "I never imagined the strength of man to be what it is. First, he took a stick from his shoulder, and blew into it, and then something flew into my face which tickled me terribly. Then he breathed once more into the stick, and it flew up my nose like lightning and hail. Then when I got next to him, he drew a naked rib out of his body, and he beat me so with it that he almost killed me."
"See what a braggart you are," said the fox. "You throw your hatchet so far that you cannot get it back again."
从前有只狐狸向狼谈起人的力量,说没有动物能抵挡得了,所以他认为所有动物都必须施展计谋才能保护自己。可狼回答说:「假如我有机会碰到一个人,我就扑上去让他无法抵挡。」狐狸说:「我可以帮你碰到人啊。明早你早点来我家,我把他指给你看。」第二天,狼很早就来了,狐狸带它来到猎人每天的必经之路。他们碰到的第一个人是个退役老兵,狼问:「那是个人吗?」「不是,」狐狸回答,「他以前是。」接着他们遇到一个去上学的小男孩。「那是个人吗?」狼又问。「不是,」狐狸回答说,「他将来是。」最后一个猎人朝它们走来,他肩上扛着双筒猎?,腰间还插着一把猎刀,狐狸对狼说:「那个就是人,你该朝他扑过去,我可是要回我洞里去了。」
於是狼朝猎人冲了过去。猎人一看说:「真可惜我没装上子弹,而是散弹。」他瞄准狼的脸开了一枪。狼疼得一阵痉挛,可还是没被吓倒,又朝猎人冲了过去。猎人又开了一枪。狼忍着巨痛扑向猎人,没想到猎人抽出猎刀左右开弓地在狼身上划了几道口子。狼鲜血四溅,嚎叫着逃到狐狸那里去了。「狼兄弟,」狐狸说,「和人相处怎么样?」「哈!」狼回答说,「我从没想到人的力量会这么大!他先是从肩上取下一根棍子,朝里面吹了一口气,就有甚么东西飞到我脸上,痒得我要命;接着他又吹了一次,就有东西飞到我鼻子周围,像下了一阵雹子。当我靠近他时,他从身上抽出一根白得发亮的肋骨狠狠地打我,几乎把我打死在那里。」狐狸说:「你这个吹牛大王,谁让你把话说得太大了,自己连退路都没有了呢。」
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英文歌曲-When a man loves a woman 当男人爱上女人
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When a man loves a woman
Percy Sledge
When a man loves a woman
Can't keep his mind on nothing else
He'll trade the world
For the good thing he's found
If she's bad he can't see it
She can do no wrong
Turn his back on his best friend
If he put her down
When a man loves a woman
Spend his very last dime
Trying to hold on to what he needs
He'd give up all his comfort
Sleep out in the rain
If she said that's the way it ought to be
Well, this man loves a woman
I gave you everything I had
Trying to hold on to your precious love
Baby, please don't treat me bad
When a man loves a woman
Down deep in his soul
She can bring him such misery
If she plays him for a fool
He's the last one to know
Loving eyes can't ever see
When a man loves a woman
He can do no wrong
He can never own some other girl
Yes when a man loves a woman
I know exactly how he feels
'Cause baby, baby, baby, you're my world
当男人爱上女人
普西史雷吉
当男人爱上女人
他无法假装若无其事
他会用全世界来交换
只为了他找到的好东西
即使她很坏,他也看不见
她不会有错
他会背弃他最要好的朋友
如果他已爱上她
当男人爱上女人
他会花光最后一毛钱
努力维持他的需要
他会放弃所有的享乐
睡在大雨中
只要她说那是必要的
嗯,这个男人爱上了女人
我给了你一切
努力维系你那珍贵的爱
宝贝,请别亏待我
当男人爱上女人
在他的灵魂深处
她能使他凄惨落魄
如果她欺骗愚弄他
他会是最后一个知道的人
恋爱中的人是盲目的
当男人爱上女人
他不能做错事
他不能再拥有其它女孩
没错,当男人爱上女人
我感同身受
因为宝贝,?是我的全世界
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科普知识-自称遇外星人者乃记忆出错
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Do you have memories of being abducted by aliens and whisked away in a spaceship?You wouldn't be alone. Several thousand people worldwide claim to have had such close encounters, researchers say. But in a new study, a psychology expert at London's Goldsmiths College says these experiences are proof of the frailty of the human memory, rather than evidence of life in other galaxies.
"Maybe what we're dealing with here is false memories, and not that people are actually being abducted and taken aboard spaceships," says Professor Chris French, who surveyed 19 self-proclaimed alien abductees.
Several of the abductees reported being snatched from their beds or cars by alien creatures around four feet high, with spindly arms and legs and oversized heads, French said.
Some men said they were subjected to painful medical examinations by the aliens, during which their sperm was extracted.
Many of the alien experiences could be explained by sleep paralysis, a condition in which a person is awake and aware of the surroundings but is unable to move.
Sleep paralysis often leads to hallucinations and 40 percent of people experience the state at least once in their lives, French said.
A rich imagination was also at play. Several of the alien abductees were already prone to fantasising and also claimed to have seen ghosts and have psychic or healing abilities.
"People have very rich fantasy lives," said French, who is due to present his findings at a public seminar at London's Science Museum on Wednesday.
"So much so that they often mix up what's happening in their heads with what is going on in the real world."
中文:
你是否记得自己曾经被外星人绑架并被迅速转移到了一艘宇宙飞船上?如果答案是肯定的话,那你也大可不必为此而感到惊讶。英国专家近日表示,声称自己见过外星人的人可能是那些人的记忆系统出了某些问题而已。
据路透社10月26日报道,在全世界,有多达数千人声称自己曾与外星人有过此类亲密接触。但在最新公布的一项研究成果中,一位来自英国伦敦戈德史密斯学院的专家表示,这些所谓的奇特经历根本不能成为其它星系具有生命存在的有力证据,只能证明那些人的记忆系统出了某些问题而已。
克里斯?弗兰奇教授说:"也许我们在这里需要面对的是来自记忆方面的种种问题,而不是有人真的被外星人绑架并被送上了宇宙飞船。"弗兰奇先后对19宗声称被外星人绑架的案例进行了调查。
弗兰奇表示,有几位被绑架者表示,自己是在家中的床上或汽车里被外星生物带走的,而那些外星人的身高约为4英尺,四肢修长且头部显得硕大无比。还有些人则宣称外星人曾在他们身上进行过充满痛苦的医学实验,在此过程中,外星人还专门提取了他们的精液。
很多与外星人有关的经历都可以用睡眠性麻痹来解释,这种症状指的是一个人处于清醒的状态且完全了解四周的情况,但却无法动弹。按照弗兰奇的说法,睡眠性麻痹通常可以使人出现幻觉,而有40%的人会在其一生中至少有过一次这种经历。另外,异常丰富的想象力也会在其中起到某些作用。
在接受调查的被绑架者中,有那么几位已被证实平时总爱处于浮想联翩的状态中,而且他们还曾表示自己看到过各种幽灵,并认为自己具有心灵感应或身体康复的能力。弗兰奇表示:"对有些人来说,他们幻想中的世界显得极为丰富多采,以至于他们总是习惯于将自己头脑里的所思所想与现实世界中实际发生的事情混为一谈。"
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商务英语:美国经济数据疲弱 加剧经济放缓担忧
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美国昨日公布了一系列疲弱的经济数据,加剧了市场对美国经济增长放缓的担忧。美国消费者信心下滑至两年低点,大城市房价出现了16年来的最大跌幅。
A build-up of bearish data fuelled fears of a US economic slowdown yesterday as consumer confidence slumped to a two-year low and house prices in big cities suffered their biggest drop in 16 years.
越来越多的证据表明,信贷紧缩和房地产市场危机正蔓延至美国国内经济的其它领域,这将加大美联储(Fed)面临的压力,迫使其在今日结束的货币政策会议上不得不抛开对通胀日益加剧的担忧,做出降息决定。
The growing evidence that the credit squeeze and housing meltdown are spreading to the rest of the domestic economy will increase pressure on the Federal Reserve to set aside concerns over rising inflation and cut interest rates today.
宝洁(Procter & Gamble)和美国钢铁(US Steel)等蓝筹公司发布的业绩令投资者颇感失望,从而加剧了笼罩市场的悲观气氛。在这一消息打击下,截至纽约午盘交易时间,标准普尔500(S&P?500)指数下跌0.3%。
Blue chips such as Procter & Gamble and US Steel added to the gloom with results that disappointed investors and contributed to a 0.3 per cent fall in the S&P?500 in New York midday trading.
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英文诗歌-莎士比亚诗歌 Sonnet 87
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Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing,
And like enough thou know'st thy estimate:
The charter of thy worth gives thee releasing;
My bonds in thee are all determinate.
For how do I hold thee but by thy granting?
And for that riches where is my deserving?
The cause of this fair gift in me is wanting,
And so my patent back again is swerving.
Thyself thou gavest, thy own worth then not knowing,
Or me, to whom thou gavest it, else mistaking;
So thy great gift, upon misprision growing,
Comes home again, on better judgment making.
Thus have I had thee, as a dream doth flatter,
In sleep a king, but waking no such matter.
再会吧!你太宝贵了,我无法高攀;
显然你也晓得你自己的声价:
你的价值的证券够把你赎还,
我对你的债权只好全部作罢。
因为,不经你批准,我怎能占有你?
我哪有福气消受这样的珍宝?
这美惠对于我既然毫无根据,
便不得不取消我的专利执照。
你曾许了我,因为低估了自己,
不然就错识了我,你的受赐者;
因此,你这份厚礼,既出自误会,
就归还给你,经过更好的判决。
这样,我曾占有你,像一个美梦,
在梦里称王,醒来只是一场空。
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英文演讲-President's Radio Address
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November 3, 2007
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on Judge Michael Mukasey's nomination to be our next Attorney General. I thank the committee for scheduling this vote. I urge them to approve this fine man's nomination, and send it to the full Senate as quickly as possible.
In a time of war, it is vital for the President to have a full national security team in place -- and the Attorney General is a key member of that team. The Attorney General is America's top law enforcement officer, with critical responsibilities for preventing terrorist attacks and protecting our Nation.
Judge Mukasey is uniquely qualified to fill this vital role. He served nearly two decades on the Federal bench, and some of his most important legal experience is in the area of national security. He presided over the trial of the terrorist known as "the Blind Sheikh" and his co-defendants in the conspiracy to destroy prominent New York City landmarks, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. And when the World Trade Center was attacked again on September the 11th, 2001, Judge Mukasey quickly reopened his court, even though it was just blocks from Ground Zero. He and other judges in his district worked day and night to ensure that applications for warrants were processed, investigations could proceed, and the rule of law was upheld.
This is the kind of leader America needs to head the Department of Justice at this important moment in our history. Judge Mukasey is a man of achievement. He is a man of character. And he has been praised by Republicans and Democrats alike for his honesty, intellect, fairness, and independence.
Since I sent his nomination to the Senate, Judge Mukasey has provided nearly six hours of testimony. He patiently answered more than 200 questions during his hearings, and he responded promptly to nearly 500 written questions. Yet some senators are working against his nomination because they want him to take a position on the legality of specific techniques allegedly used to question captured terrorists.
As Judge Mukasey explained in a letter to Judiciary Committee members, he cannot give such a legal opinion for several reasons. First, he does not know whether certain methods of questioning are in fact used, because the program is classified, he's not been given access to that information, and therefore he is in no position to provide an informed opinion. Second, he does not want our professional interrogators in the field to take an uninformed opinion he has given in the course of a confirmation hearing as meaning that any conduct of theirs has put them in legal jeopardy.
Finally, he does not want an uninformed legal opinion to give terrorists a window into which techniques we may use, and which we may not. That could help them train their operatives to resist questioning, and withhold vital information we need to stop attacks and save lives.
Congressional leaders should not make Judge Mukasey's confirmation dependent on his willingness to make a public judgment about a classified program he has not been briefed on. If the Senate Judiciary Committee were to block Judge Mukasey on these grounds, it would set a new standard for confirmation that could not be met by any responsible nominee for Attorney General. And that would guarantee that America would have no confirmed Attorney General during this time of war.
Senate leaders should move Judge Mukasey's nomination out of Committee and bring it to the Senate floor for an up or down vote. In this time of war, America needs the best people leading our efforts to protect the American people. With Judge Mukasey serving as Attorney General, our national security team will be stronger -- and the Senate should confirm this good man as quickly as possible.
Thank you for listening.
END
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翻译技巧-“啃老族”的正确翻译
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"啃老族"是当今紧张而忙碌生活的产物。有这样一个句子:这个啃老族已经30岁了,但仍然依靠他的父母生活。有人是这样翻译的:
This Neet is already 30 years old but still lives on his parents.
其实严格地说,live on后面要跟sth,不跟sb;而live off后面可以跟sb或sth,意思分别是"靠什么人养活"和"靠什么活着",目前还没有"live on sb"的搭配。例如:They live on a diet of bread and cheese.(他们靠吃面包和奶酪活着。)This unemployed worker lives on unemployment benefit.(这个失业工人靠失业救济金为生。)
"啃老族"指既没有上学也没有就业或接受职业技能培训但必须依靠父母养活的青年人。在英国英语中,"NEET"指啃老族的一员,"NEET group"指啃老族群体。"NEET"是"Not Currently Engaged in Education, Employment or Training "或"Not in Education, Employment or Training"的缩略语。美国英语则称之为"boomerang child/kid"。
Boomerang原指澳大利亚土著居民的飞镖。例如:
An investigation indicates that about 70% of the unemployed young people in our country now live off their parents, thus becoming Neets."(调查显示,我国目前约七成失业青年靠父母养活,因而成为啃老族。)
In Japan, more and more young people have joined in the Neet group who neither go to collage nor go to work.."(越来越多的日本青年加入到既不上学又不工作的啃老族。)
The boomerang child phenomenon has become a social problem on a nationwide scale."(啃老族现象已成为全国性的社会问题。)
如果把"啃老族"翻译为adult dependent child是不妥的。"adult dependent child"的意思是"有心理缺陷或生理缺陷的需要抚养的成年子女",比"啃老族"含义要宽泛。例如:An adult dependent child is one who is incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability.(一个需要抚养的成年子女是因为心理缺陷或生理缺陷而不能自理的人。)
所以开头的那句话应该翻译为:
This Neet is already 30 years old but still lives off his parents.
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