时代周刊:反省2020 糟糕的一年(5)

But even so, very little of what we watched helped us make sense of this moment. We're bored, we're anxious, we're overworked or, worse, unemployed¹: We've had lots of time to get to know ourselves better, which often leaves us more bewildered and less trusting of our judgment². We're drained. We give up and watch The Office again, though there are worse things. This isn't the time to be hard on ourselves for not knowing exactly what we want, except to continue to remain healthy and alive, and to do what we can to make sure the same goes for our neighbors and loved ones. Amid the pandemic's worst days of New York's first wave—those days in April when the number of cases and deaths continued to climb, when refrigerated trucks lined up to keep corpses³ from rotting, when we had no idea how, or if, this horror could be stemmed—one of my neighbors stepped out onto his fire escape during the evening cheer and recreated Jimi Hendrix's "The Star Spangled Banner" on his guitar. The notes wailed⁴ and withered⁵, swelled⁶ and crested⁷, a story we'd heard a million times yet somehow needed to hear right then. Those of us listening from our windows—perhaps, out of laziness or depression, still in our pj's at 7 p.m.—clung to its ragged⁸ majesty⁹. Why didn't our forebears choose a more singable national anthem¹⁰? Because they were waiting for the invention of the electric guitar.

但即便如此，我们所看到的很难能帮助我们理解这一刻。我们感到无聊、焦虑、劳累过度，或者更糟糕的是，我们失业了：我们有很多时间来更好地了解自己，这往往让我们更加困惑，更不相信对自己的判断。我们精疲力尽了，我们无力挣扎了，虽然糟糕的事情一大堆，但我们只能再看一次《办公室》。现在不是因为自己不知道究竟想要什么而对自己苛刻的时候，现在我们要做的是健康地活着，同时尽自己所能确保邻居和所爱之人也能健康地活着。在纽约第一波疫情最严重的日子里——4月份的那些日子里，病例和死亡人数持续攀升，当冷藏卡车排着队防止尸体腐烂时，当我们不知道如何或者是否可以阻止这种恐惧时——在晚上的欢呼声中，我的一个邻居走到自家的消防梯上，用他的吉他重现了吉米·亨德里克斯的《星条旗闪烁》。音符悲鸣，时而枯萎，时而高涨，那是一个我们已经听过无数遍的故事，但不知怎的，此刻的我们需要再听一听。我们这些在窗户边倾听的人——或许是出于懒惰或沮丧，晚上7点还穿着睡衣——紧紧依附着它那破败的威严。为什么我们的祖先没有选一首更动听的国歌呢？因为他们在等待电吉他的发明。

We're tired with good reason, but our flag is still there. This virus attacks the weakest and most vulnerable and has thus disproportionately affected¹¹ certain portions of the population. All the rules and restrictions¹² have made us weary, yet it's more important than ever to be vigilant¹³. When the U.S. COVID-19 death toll¹⁴ reached 200,000, the magnitude of that number seemed unimaginable. Now it pushes toward 300,000, though the promise of several vaccines¹⁵ at least offers hope. For now, members of our families, friends whom we love dearly, people we've never met but whose work has touched us continue to die. The virus is a blanket problem that hits all of us in painfully personal, targeted ways.

我们厌倦了充分的理由，但我们的旗帜还在那里。这种病毒攻击最脆弱的群体，因此对特定人群造成了不成比例的影响。所有的规则和限制都让我们厌烦，但我们却需要比以往任何时候更加警惕。当美国新冠死亡人数达到20万时，这一数字之大令人难以想象。虽说有几种疫苗的前景至少带来了希望，但现在这一数字已经逼近30万。现在，我们的家人，我们亲爱的朋友，还有那些我们素未谋面但工作令我们感动的人相继死去。这种病毒包罗万象，以一种令个人痛苦的、有针对性的方式袭击着我们所有人。

Meanwhile, our President himself contracted the virus and, just days after being pumped through with steroids and experimental treatments, emerged in public—still, almost beyond doubt, contagious—to crow that if he could kick the disease, we could too. Shortly thereafter, he lost an election and insisted he hadn't—more gaslighting, but at least we're having some success stopping up the valve that's emitting the fumes¹⁶. Democracy isn't dead yet. Somehow we patched it up with a scrap¹⁷ of duct tape, just in time.

同时我们的总统也感染了病毒，在接受类固醇注射和实验性治疗的几天之后他出现在了公众面前——毫无疑问他还具有传染性——他得意洋洋地说如果自己能够战胜病毒，那么我们也能。不久之后他输掉了选举，但他坚称自己没有输——反而说出更多蛊惑言论，但至少我们已经成功地堵住了排放烟雾的阀门。民主还没有倒下，我们用一小块胶带及时把它修好了。

Will it hold? Americans are inherently optimistic. It's why our allies like us, even if they secretly mock us behind our backs—but we don't care! We're a nation with our thumbs perpetually stuck in our suspenders. Our optimism is our most ridiculous trait, and our greatest. It can't always be morning in America. Sometimes we have to get through the darkest hour just before. The aurora¹⁸ bides¹⁹ its time.

能坚持下去吗？这就是为什么我们的盟友喜欢我们，即使他们在我们背后偷偷嘲笑我们——但我们不在乎！我们是一个拇指永远卡在背带里的国家，乐观是我们最可笑的品质，也是我们最伟大的品质。美国不可能永远都是早上，有时我们必须熬过刚刚过去的最黑暗的时刻，极光在等待时机。

1 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

2 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

3 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

4 wailed   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She wailed over her father's remains. 她对着父亲的遗体嚎啕大哭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The women of the town wailed over the war victims. 城里的妇女为战争的死难者们痛哭。 来自辞典例句

5 withered   

adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
• The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。

6 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

7 crested   

adj.有顶饰的，有纹章的，有冠毛的v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的过去式和过去分词 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点

参考例句：

• a great crested grebe 凤头䴙䴘
• The stately mansion crested the hill. 庄严的大厦位于山顶。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

9 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

10 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

13 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

14 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

15 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

16 fumes   

n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体

参考例句：

• The health of our children is being endangered by exhaust fumes. 我们孩子们的健康正受到排放出的废气的损害。
• Exhaust fumes are bad for your health. 废气对健康有害。

17 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

18 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

19 bides   

v.等待，停留( bide的第三人称单数 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待；面临

参考例句：

• He is a man who bides by a bargain. 他是个守信用的人。 来自互联网
• I cherish his because in me it bides. 我爱他的心，因为他在我体内安眠。 来自互联网