新概念英語第四冊Lesson5課程翻譯

Lesson 5 Youth青年

First listen and then answer the following question：

聽錄音，然後回答以下問題。

How does the writer like to treat young people？

People are always talking about 'the problem of youth'。 If there is one —— which I take leave to doubt —— then it is older people who create it， not the young themselves。 Let us get down to fundamentals and agree that the young are after all human beings —— people just like their elders。 There is only one difference between an old man and a young one： the young man has a glorious future before him and the old one has a splendid future behind him： and maybe that is where the rub is。

When I was a teenager， I felt that I was just young and uncertain —— that I was a new boy in a huge school， and I would have been very pleased to be regarded as something so interesting as a problem。 For one thing， being a problem gives you a certain identity， and that is one of the things the young are busily engaged in seeking。

I find young people exciting。 They have an air of freedom， and they not a dreary commitment to mean ambitions or love of comfort。 They are not anxious social climbers， and they have no devotion to material things。 All this seems to me to link them with life， and the origins of things。 It's as if they were， in some sense， cosmic beings in violent and lovely contrast with us suburban creatures。 All that is in my mind when I meet a young person。 He may be conceited， ill—mannered， presumptuous or fatuous， but I do not turn for protection to dreary cliches about respect of elders —— as if mere age were a reason for respect。 I accept that we are equals， and I will argue with him， as an equal， if I think he is wrong。

【參考譯文】

人們總是在談論“青年問題”。如果這個問題存在的話 —— 請允許我對此持懷疑態度 —— 那麼，這個問題是由老年人而不是青年人造成的。讓我們來認真研究一些基本事實：承認青年人和他們的長輩一樣也是人。老年人和青年人只有一個區別：青年人有光輝燦爛的前景，而老年人的輝煌已成為過去。 問題的癥結恐怕就在這裏。

我十幾歲時，總感到自己年輕，有些事拿不準 —— 我是一所大學裏的一名新生，如果我當時真的被看成像一個問題那樣有趣，我會感到很得意的。因為這至少使我得到了某種承認，這正是年輕人所熱衷追求的。

我覺得年輕人令人振奮，無拘無束。他們既不追逐卑鄙的名利，也不貪圖生活的舒適。他們不熱衷於向上爬，也不一味追求物質享受。在我看來，所有這些使他們與生命和萬物之源聯繫在了一起。從某種意義上講，他們似乎是宇宙人，同我們這些凡夫俗子形成了強烈而鮮明的對照。每逢我遇到年輕人，腦子裏就想到這些年輕人也許狂妄自負，舉止無理，傲慢放肆，愚昧無知，但我不會用應當尊重長者這一套陳詞濫調來為我自己辨護，似乎年長就是受人尊敬的理由。我認為我和他們是平等的。如果我認為他們錯了，我就以平等的身份和他們爭個明白。

1。leave n。允許

2。fundamentals n。基本原則

3。glorious adj。光輝燦爛的

例句：The prophet foretold a glorious future for the young ruler。

那先知預言這年輕的統治者會有輝煌的前程。

4。splendid adj。燦爛的

例句：We have a splendid national culture。

我們有燦爛的民族文化。

5。rub n。難題

6。identity n。身份

例句：He confessed his real identity to his wife。

他向妻子坦白了他的真實身份。

7。dreary adj。 沉鬱的

例句：Addressing envelopes all the time is dreary work。

成天給信封寫地址是一種沉悶單調的工作。

8。commitment n。信奉

例句：I have learned that the path to happiness starts with commitment and personal responsibility。

我已經知道自己承擔責任和義務才是通向幸福生活的起點。

9。mean adj。 吝嗇，小氣

10。devotion n。熱愛

例句：They told of his devotion to duty。

他們談到了他忠於職守。

11。suburban adj。 見識不廣的，偏狹的

12。conceited adj。 自高自大的

例句：Don't grow conceited over your successes。

你不要因為成功而變得自高自大。

13。presumptuous adj。自以為是的，放肆的

例句：It is too presumptuous of him to do so。

他這樣做太放肆了。

14。fatuous adj。愚蠢的

例句：A fatuous and self—indulgent ruler wouldn't spend much time reading and replying to memorials。

一個昏君是不會用多少時間來批覆奏疏的。

15。cliche n。陳詞濫調

例句：He preluded with some cliche。

他一開場便是老生常談。

1。People are always talking about 'the problem of youth'。

參考翻譯：人們總是在談論“青年問題”。

講解：always通常帶有感情色彩，表示高興，氣憤，抱怨等，可以通過上下文語境來判斷。

2。If there is one —— which I take leave to doubt —— then it is older people who create it， not the young themselves。

參考翻譯：如果這個問題存在的話 —— 請允許我對此持懷疑態度 —— 那麼，這個問題是由老年人而不是青年人造成的。

講解：which I take leave to doubt是定語從句，修飾one（指的是Problem）。is……，not……，這種形式可以換成：Not……But……

3。Let us get down to fundamentals and agree that the young are after all human beings —— people just like their elders。

參考翻譯：讓我們來認真研究一些基本事實：承認青年人和他們的長輩一樣也是人。

講解：after all畢竟，無論如何

例句：You should take care of her，after all she is your relative。

你應該照顧她，畢竟她是你的親戚。

4。and I would have been very pleased to be regarded as something so interesting as a problem。

參考翻譯：如果我當時真的被看成像一個問題那樣有趣，我會感到很得意的。

講解：would have been虛擬語氣

與過去事實相反的虛擬語氣通常用would have 過去分詞來表示。

5。For one thing， being a problem gives you a certain identity， and that is one of the things the young are busily engaged in seeking。

參考翻譯：因為這至少使我得到了某種承認，這正是年輕人所熱衷追求的。

講解：for one thing，for another一方面，另一方面

例句：We lost the game because， for one thing， our opponents were quite strong and， for another， our teamwork was poor。

這場球打輸了，一方面是由於對方實力較強，另一方面也是因為我們沒有配合好。

engage in使從事於，參加

例句：He was engaged in a barren argument with Paul。

他在同保羅作無用的爭論。

6。They have an air of freedom， and they not a dreary commitment to mean ambitions or love of comfort。

參考翻譯：我覺得年輕人令人振奮，無拘無束。他們既不追逐卑鄙的`名利，也不貪圖生活的舒適。他們不熱衷於向上爬，也不一味追求物質享受。

講解：air在這裏不是空氣的意思，而是抽象的，表示自由的氣氛，味道，感覺等等。

7。 All this seems to me to link them with life， and the origins of things。 It's as if they were， in some sense， cosmic beings in violent and lovely contrast with us suburban creatures。

參考翻譯：在我看來，所有這些使他們與生命和萬物之源聯繫在了一起。

講解：in contrast with與…完全不同

例句：Chinese banks will announce record profits for 2007 in coming weeks in contrast with their global counterparts， which have been forced into large write—offs in the wake of the credit crisis。

未來數週中國各家銀行將發佈2007年創紀錄的利潤，這與其外國同行形成鮮明的對比——在信貸危機之後，外國銀行被迫進行了大筆減記。

1。If there is one —— which I take leave to doubt —— then it is older people who create it， not the young themselves。

如果這個問題存在的話 —— 請允許我對此持懷疑態度 —— 那麼，這個問題是由老年人而不是青年人造成的。

2。Let us get down to fundamentals and agree that the young are after all human beings —— people just like their elders。

讓我們來認真研究一些基本事實：承認青年人和他們的長輩一樣也是人。

3。and I would have been very pleased to be regarded as something so interesting as a problem。

如果我當時真的被看成像一個問題那樣有趣，我會感到很得意的。

4。For one thing， being a problem gives you a certain identity， and that is one of the things the young are busily engaged in seeking。

因為這至少使我得到了某種承認，這正是年輕人所熱衷追求的。

5。 It's as if they were， in some sense， cosmic beings in violent and lovely contrast with us suburban creatures。

從某種意義上講，他們似乎是宇宙人，同我們這些凡夫俗子形成了強烈而鮮明的對照。