新视野大学英语 读写教程第四册 unit2-c

　　A Family of Firsts
In my family, success is weighed by a single standard: the ability to be first. It does not matter what you are first at as long as you are first at something.
My relatives came from Europe at the height of the Machine Age (机器时代). Every day, something else in America was new and first. The first flush¹ toilet (抽水马桶), the first radio, the first hat with a fan. My family got first fever. Foods and other good ideas all counted. Styles, inventions, phrases, too. The sole² standard for being first at something was simply not having heard that somebody else had done it. Then you earned the right to say the wonderful words: "I did it first!"
My great-grandfather on my mother's mother's side invented the toodle. The toodle is a little square of paper with a bit of mustard³ (芥末) rolled up into it. You could take a toodle to work in the morning with a piece of cold meat and squeeze⁴ some fresh mustard on it at lunch.
This great-grandfather, the toodle inventor, had three daughters: Ruthie (露茜), the first girl who ever made a curtain into a jacket; Gertie (格尔蒂), the first girl who ever made a jacket into a curtain; and Polly (波莉), my grandmother, who perfected a brush to clean the inside of a water tap. "Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't dirty," she was fond of saying.
Polly was proud of the fact that every inch of her apartment was touched by human hand at least twice a year. She even dusted the tops of doors, using a top-of-the-door duster made of old stockings, stuffed⁵ with more old stockings. Old stockings have always been perceived⁶ as a challenge by my family. My mother uses hers as an onion bag, an idea she says she invented. She also takes credit⁷ for being the first person to use both legs of a pair of stockings at the same time, one leg for onions, one leg for potatoes or garlic. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Perhaps my most famous relative of all, the one who really left his mark on America, was Reb Sussel (莱伯·萨塞尔), my great-grandfather on my father's father's side. According to family stories, he introduced the pastrami (五香烟熏牛肉) sandwich to the world. In 1879, Reb Sussel left his native country to find fame and fortune on the streets of New York. He had worked at a mill⁸ in the old country, but, finding⁹ the wheat business too much of a grind¹⁰, began selling pots and pans¹¹ off his back. He had no home and would sleep in the basements or stables of the people he sold pots to. While praying one morning he was kicked by a horse.
Reb Sussel knew how to butcher meat, so he decided¹² to change his job and opened a small butcher shop. The first week, a friend stopped by and asked if he could store a trunk in the back of the shop. "I'm just going back to the old country for a few years," he said. "If you store my trunk, I'll tell you how to make pastrami." As the story goes, Great-Grandpa took the trunk, learned¹³ how to make pastrami, and began selling big pieces of pastrami over the counter. Soon he was selling it by the slice. Then, between two pieces of bread. He met up with my great-grandfather on my mother's side, who introduced him to the toodle, and before long, people were coming to his shop for sandwiches more than they were coming for meat.
My father's father, Jacob Volk (雅各布·沃尔克), took credit for the wrecking¹⁴ ball. Jake took his wrecking ball all over lower Manhattan Island (曼哈顿) in New York. Painted on the sides of all his trucks were the words "The Most Destructive¹⁵ Force on Wall Street". He married Granny Ethel (格兰妮·爱丝尔), who was so beautiful she did not have to be first at anything. She was, though — the first calendar girl in Princeton, N.J. In the early 1900's her picture was used by a bank there for its first calendar. That's where Grandpa met her, in the bank. She was so beautiful, she once received a letter addressed:
Postman (邮递员), Postman
Do your duty
Deliver this letter
To the Princeton beauty.
It was dropped off right at her front door.
My grandmother on my mother's side invented the shoe pocket. It was her belief that if you always kept a nickel¹⁶ in your shoe, nothing bad would happen to you. You could always make a phone call. You could always buy something. You would never be broke. But the nickel could slide around. And if it could slide around, it could slide out. So she constructed a small pocket that fastened to the inner¹⁷ sole. That way, any pair of shoes could have its own secret sum of money.
Me, I have yet to make my mark. I am still waiting to find a first. Sometimes I think my life is too comfortable. Why should I mother an invention if all my needs are met? But then something gets my attention, and I begin to think of new uses for items such as old light bulbs or eggshells. When you come from a family of firsts, whether you like it or not, you're thinking all the time.
When you come from a family of firsts, you never forget the burden and the inspiration¹⁸ of your past.
(Words: 907)

1 flush   

vi.奔流；vt.冲洗；adj.齐平的；n.脸色，脸红

参考例句：

• Father asked me to flush off the garage floor.父亲叫我冲洗车库的地板。
• There was a flush in her cheeks.她满脸通红。

2 sole   

adj.惟一的；独一无二的，专用的；独占的

参考例句：

• She is my sole trust.她是我惟一信赖的人。
• My sole purpose is to help you.我唯一的目的是帮助你。

3 mustard   

n.芥子，芥末，深黄色，强烈的兴趣，热情的人

参考例句：

• This meat should be seasoned with salt and mustard.这肉里应该加点盐和芥末调味。
• This mustard is hot enough to bite your tongue.这种芥末很辣，你的舌头会吃不消的。

4 squeeze   

vt.硬塞，硬挤；挤压；n.榨；经济困难；拮据

参考例句：

• This machine helps you to squeeze more juice out.这台机器能挤出更多的果汁。
• It was a tight squeeze in the crowded bus.公共汽车上载客太多，挤得很。

5 stuffed   

adj.充满的；饱的v.塞住( stuff的过去式和过去分词 )；把…装进；把…装满；（使）吃撑

参考例句：

• stuffed animals in glass cases 玻璃柜里的动物标本
• I was stuffed to the gills with chocolate cake. 我嘴里塞满了巧克力蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 perceived   

v.感觉( perceive的过去式和过去分词 )；视为；认为；理解为

参考例句：

• I perceived a change in his behaviour. 我注意到他举止有些改变。
• On entering his house, we at once perceived him to be tasteful. 我们一进他的房子，立刻感觉到他是个高品位的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。

8 mill   

n.磨坊，碾磨机；制造厂，工厂；vt.磨，碾

参考例句：

• The rice mill was wrecked by the enemy bombing.碾米厂遭到了敌机的轰炸。
• The farmer took his grain to the mill.这个农民把谷子送到磨房。

9 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

10 grind   

n.（常贬义）用功的学生，书呆子；vt.磨，磨碎

参考例句：

• Would you please grind a pound of coffee for me? 请给我磨一磅咖啡好吗？
• Do you find learning English a grind?你觉得学英语是一件苦差事吗？

11 pans   

n.平底锅( pan的名词复数 )；（天平的）秤盘；马桶；盘状凹地（尤指盆地）

参考例句：

• Pots, pans, kettles and mops are kitchen utensils. 锅、盘、壶及拖把是厨房用具。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She clashed these pans down on the floor. 她将这些盘子哗啦一声摔在地上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

14 wrecking   

破坏

参考例句：

• He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟，反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句

15 destructive   

adj.破坏（性）的，毁灭（性）的

参考例句：

• In the end,it will be destructive of our whole society.它最终会毁灭我们整个社会。
• It is the most destructive storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的一次风暴。

16 nickel   

n.镍，（美国和加拿大的）五分钱

参考例句：

• Nickel can be used for making coins.镍可做成钱币。
• May I have a nickel?能给我五分钱吗？

17 inner   

adj.内部的，里面的；内在的，内心的；精神的

参考例句：

• The label is on the inner side of the box.标签贴在盒子内侧。
• Other people seek the mountains for renewal of their inner lives.另一些人到深山中去，寻求新的精神生活。

18 inspiration   

n.灵感，鼓励者，吸气

参考例句：

• These events provided the inspiration for his first novel.这些事件给了他创作第一部小说的灵感。
• What an inspiration she was to all around her!她对于她周围所有的人是一种多么大的鼓舞！