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People told her she was crazy to talk tothose thugs that way. Especially after another mom who had taken a stand waskilled just five blocks away. Angela Dawson had waged her own battle against adifferent set of drug pushers—and lost. In a tragedy that made the nationalnews, the Dawson house was set on fire and Angela, her husband, Camell, andfive of their children died. A neighborhood man was charged. Armstead didn'tknow Angela Dawson, but she knew her children. After the deadly fire, she wasmore cautious—but she didn't stop. (- Unit7 (Book 2) Not on My Block)
人们对她说,她跟那帮恶棍这样讲话真是太蠢了。尤其是在仅仅五个街区外另一个表明立场的大妈被杀之后。这个大妈叫安吉拉·道森。她只身与另一伙毒品贩子进行了一场战斗——结果失败了。道森家的房子被人烧了,安吉拉、她的丈夫卡内尔和他们的五个孩子都死了,这一悲剧成了震惊全国的新闻。邻近街区内的一名男子受到指控。阿姆斯特德不认识安吉拉·道森,但她认识她的孩子。在这场致命的大火后,她更加当心了——但她并没有停止。
Colleges and universities across the nationhave decided to do more than talk about the rise in student cheating. Forinstance, the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland launched acampaign to stop one form of cheating. As 409 students filed out of their exam,they found all but one exit blocked. Proctors asked each student to produce anID card with an attached photo. Students who said they'd left theirs in thedorm or at home had a mug shot taken. The purpose of the campaign was to catch "ringers",students who take tests for other students. (- Unit8 (Book 2) Honesty: Is It Going out of Style?)
除了谈论学生作弊的增多外,全国各地的大学已决定采取一切措施。例如,马里兰大学心理系就开展了一场制止各种作弊形式的运动。当409名学生考完试鱼贯离开教室时,他们发现除了一个出口外,所有的出口都被堵住了。监考人员要求每个学生出示贴有照片的身份证。那些说把身份证留在宿舍或家中的学生都被拍了面部照。这一运动的目的是捉拿“冒名顶替者”,即帮别人代考的学生。
Consider my auto-repair man, again. He had ahabit of telling me jokes whenever he saw me. One time he raised his head fromunder automobile hood to say, "Doc, a deaf-and-dumb guy went into ahardware store to ask for some nails. He put two fingers together on thecounter and made hammering motions with the other hand. The clerk brought him ahammer. He shook his head and pointed to the two fingers he was hammering. Theclerk brought him nails. He picked outthe sizes he wanted, and left. Well, doc, the next guy who came was a blindman. He wanted scissors. How do you suppose he asked for them?"(- Unit 9 (Book 2) What Is Intelligence, Anyway?)
再来考虑一下我的汽车修理师吧。他有个习惯,每次见到我都要跟我讲些笑话。有一次他从汽车引擎罩下面抬起头来说:“博士,有一个又聋又哑的人走进一家五金店买钉子。他把两个手指头一起放在柜台上,用另一只手做了几次锤击的动作。店员给他拿来一把锤子。他摇摇头,指了指他正在敲击的那两个手指头。店员给他拿来了钉子。他选出了自己需要的尺寸,然后就走了。听好,博士,接着进来的是个瞎子。他要买剪刀。你猜他是怎么表示的呢?”
Praise is particularly appreciated by thosedoing routine jobs: gas-station attendants, waitresses—even housewives. Do youever go into a house and say, " What a tidy room! " ? Hardly anybodydoes. That's why housework is considered such a dreary grind. Comment is often madeabout activities which are relatively easy and satisfying, like arrangingflowers; but not about jobs which are hard and dirty, like scrubbingfloors. Shakespeare said, "Ourpraises are our wages. " Since so often praise is the only wage ahousewife receives, surely she of all people should get her measure.(- Unit10 (Book 2) Profits of Praise)
那些从事例行工作的人们特别懂得赞扬的意义,如汽车加油站的服务员、女侍者——甚至家庭主妇。当你走进一栋房子时,你可曾说过:“多么整洁的房间啊!”?几乎没有人这么说过。家务劳动之所以被认为是沉闷乏味的苦差,原因就在于此。人们常对一些较容易又令人满意的行为,如插花;但对像擦地板这类又苦又脏的工作却不予置评。莎士比亚说过:“对我们的称赞就是给予我们的报酬。”既然在很多情况下,称赞是家庭主妇得到的唯一报酬,那么,她理应得到自己的一份赞扬。
And so I do not have a criminal record. Butwhat was most shocking at the time was the things my release from the charge soclearly depended on. I had the "right " accent, respectablemiddle-class parents in court, reliable witnesses, and I could obviously afforda very good solicitor. Given the obscure nature of the charge, I feel sure thatif I had come from a different background, and had really been unemployed,there is every chance that I would have been found guilty. While asking forcosts to be awarded, my solicitor's case quite obviously revolved around thefact that I had a " brilliant academic record". (- Unit 1 (Book 3) A Brush with the Law)
这样,我的履历上没有留下犯罪记录。但当时最令人震惊的是,那些显然导致我无罪的证据。我讲话的“口音”表明我教养良好,到庭的有体面的中产阶级的双亲,有可靠的证人,还有,我显然请得起一名很好的律师。从对我指控的这种捕风捉影的做法来看,我肯定,如果我出生于另一种背景的家庭里并且真的失了业的话,我完全可能被判有罪。当我的律师要求赔偿诉讼费时,他公然把辩护的证据建立在我“学业优异”这一事实上。
We are not now, nor have we recently beensuffering from a lack of information. Think how much more information we havethan Copernicus had four centuries ago. And he didn't do anything less Earth-shattering(pun intended) than completely change the way the universe was viewed. Hedidn't do it by uncovering more information - he did it by looking differentlyat information everyone else already had looked at. Edward Jenner didn't invent preventivemedicine by accumulating information; he did it by reframing the question. (- Unit2 (Book 3) Fruitful Questions)
无论是现在还是最近,我们都不缺乏信息。试想我们拥有的信息比400年前的哥白尼多了多少。但他作出了足以震撼地球的(权作双关语)惊人之举,完全改变了人们对宇宙的看法。他做出此举不是靠发现更多的信息,而是靠用不同的眼光来看大家都看到过的信息。爱德华·詹纳不是靠积累信息发明预防药物,靠的是重新表述问题。
Certainly I don't teach because teaching iseasy for me. Teaching is the mostdifficult of the various ways I have attempted to earn my living: mechanic,carpenter, writer. For me, teaching is ared-eye, sweaty-palm, sinking-stomach profession. Red-eye, because I never feelready to teach no matter how late I stay up preparing. Sweaty-palm, because I'm always nervousbefore I enter the classroom, sure that I will be found out for the fool that Iam. Sinking-stomach, because I leave the classroom an hour later convinced thatI was even more boring than usual. (- Unit 3 (Book 3) Why I Teach)
当然,我之所以教书不是因为我觉得教书轻松。我做过各种各样的工作籍以谋生:机修工、木工、作家,可是教书其中最难的一行。对我来说,教书是个会令人熬红眼睛、手掌出汗、精神沮丧的职业。说熬红眼睛,是因为我晚上无论备课备到多晚,总觉得备得还不充分。说手掌出汗,是因为我跨进教室之前总是非常紧张,学生一定会发觉原来我是个傻瓜。说精神沮丧,是因为我一小时后走出教室时,确信这堂课上得比平常还要平淡无味。