自考高级英语课文翻译.doc

自考高级英语课文翻译

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Lesson One Rock Superstars

关于我们和我们的社会，她们告诉了我们些什么？
What Do They Tell Us About Ourselves and Our Society?
摇滚乐是青少年叛逆的音乐。
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　——摇滚乐评论家约相•罗克韦尔
Rock is the music of teenage rebellion.
--- John Rockwell, rock music critic
知其崇拜何人便可知其人。
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　——小说家罗伯特•佩恩•沃伦
By a man’s heroes ye shall know him.
--- Robert Penn Warren, novelist
1972年6月的一天，芝加哥圆形剧场挤满了大汗淋漓、疯狂摇摆的人们。
It was mid-June, 1972, the Chicago Amphitheater was packed, sweltering, rocking.
滚石摇滚乐队的迈克•贾格尔正在台上演唱“午夜漫步人”。
Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones was singing “Midnight Rambler.”
演唱结束时评论家唐•赫克曼在现场。
Critic Don Heckman was there when the song ended.
她描述道：“贾格尔抓起一个半加仑的水罐沿舞台前沿边跑边把里面的水洒向前几排汗流浃背的听众。听众们蜂拥般跟随着她跑，急切地希望能沾上几滴洗礼的圣水。
“Jagger,” he said, “grabs a half-gallon jug of water and runs along the front platform, sprinkling its contents over the first few rows of sweltering listeners. They surge to follow him, eager to be touched by a few baptismal drops”.
1973年12月下旬的一天，约1.4万名歌迷在华盛顿市外的首都中心剧场尖叫着，乱哄哄地拥向台前。
It was late December, 1973, Some 14,000 screaming fans were crunching up to the front of the stage at Capital Center, outside Washington, D.C.
美国的恐怖歌星艾利丝•库珀的表演正接近尾声。
Alice Cooper, America’s singing ghoul, was ending his act.
她表演的最后一幕是假装在断头台上结束自己的生命。
He ends it by pretending to end his life – with a guillotine.
她的“头”落入一个草篮中。
His “head” drops into a straw basket.
“哎呀！”一个黑衣女孩子惊呼道：“啊!真是了不起，不是吗？”。
“Ooh,” gasped a girl dressed in black. Oh, isn’t that marvelous?”
当时，14岁的迈克珀力也在场，但她的父母不在那里。
Fourteen-year-old Mick Perlie was there too, but his parents weren’t.
“她们觉得她恶心，恶心，恶心，”迈克说，“她们对我说，你怎么受得了那些？”
“They think he’s sick, sick, sick,” Mike said. “They say to me, ‘How can you stand that stuff?’”
1974年1月下旬的一天，在纽约州尤宁谷城拿骚体育场内，鲍勃•狄伦和“乐队”乐队正在为音乐会上要用的乐器调音。
It was late January, 1974. Inside the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, Bob Dylan and The Band were tuning for a concert.
馆外，摇滚歌迷克利斯•辛格在大雨中等待着入场。
Outside, in the pouring rain, fan Chris Singer was waiting to get in.
“这是朝圣，”克利斯说，“我应该跪着爬进去。”
“ This is pilgrimage,” Chris said, “I ought to be crawling on my knees.”
对于这一切好评及个人崇拜，你怎么看？
How do you feel about all this adulation and hero worship?
当米克•贾格尔的崇拜者们把她视为上帝的最高代表或是一个神时，你是赞成还是反对？
When Mick Jagger’s fans look at him as a high priest or a god, are you with them or against them?
你也和克利斯•辛格一样对鲍勃•狄伦怀有几乎是宗教般的崇敬吗？
Do you share Chris Singer’s almost religious reverence for Bob Dylan?
你认为她或狄伦是步入歧途吗？
Do you think he – or Dylan – is misguided?
你也认为艾利丝•库珀令人恶心而拒不接受吗？
Do you reject Alice Cooper as sick?
难道你会莫名其妙地被这个奇怪的小丑吸引，原因就在于她表示出你最狂热的幻想？
Or are you drawn somehow to this strange clown, perhaps because he acts out your wildest fantasies?
这些并不是闲谈。
These aren’t idle questions.
有些社会学家认为对这些问题的回答能够充分说明你在想些什么以及社会在想些什么——也就是说，有关你和社会的态度。
Some sociologists say that your answers to them could explain a lot about what you are thinking and about what your society is thinking – in other words, about where you and your society are.
社会学家欧文•霍洛威茨说：“音乐表现其时代。”
“Music expressed its times,” says sociologist Irving Horowitz.
霍洛威茨把摇滚乐的舞台视为某种辩论的论坛，一个各种思想交锋的场所。
Horowitz sees the rock music arena as a sort of debating forum, a place where ideas clash and crash.
她把它看作是一个美国社会努力为自己的感情及信仰不断重新进行解释的地方。
He sees it as a place where American society struggles to define and redefine its feelings and beliefs.
她说：“重新解释是一项只有青年人才能执行的任务。只有她们才把创造与夸张、理性与运动、言语与声音、音乐与政治融为一体。”
“The redefinition,” Horowitz says, “is a task uniquely performed by the young. It is they alone who combine invention and exaggeration, reason and motion, word and sound, music and politics.”
作曲兼演唱家托德•伦德格伦对这个观点表示赞同。
Todd Rundgren, the composer and singer, agrees.
她说：“摇滚乐与其说是一种音乐力量不如说是一种社会心理的表现。就连埃尔维斯•普雷斯利也并非是一种伟大的音乐力量，她只不过是体现了50年代青少年那种心灰意冷的精神状态。”
“Rock music,” he says, “is really a sociological expression rather than a musical force. Even Elvis Presley wasn’t really a great musical force. It’s just that Elvis managed to embody the frustrated teenage spirit of the 1950s.”
毫无疑问，普雷斯利震惊了美国的成人世界。
Of course Presley horrified adult America.
报纸写社论攻击她，电视网也禁止播她，但可能埃尔维斯证实了霍洛威茨和伦德格伦的看法。
Newspapers editorialized against him, and TV networks banned him. But Elvis may have proved what Horowitz and Rundgren believe.
当她经过电视上埃德•沙利文的星期日晚间的综艺节目出现在千百万人面前时，就引起了某种辩论。
When he appeared on the Ed.Sullivan Sunday night variety show in front of millions, a kind of “debate” took place.
多数年纪大的观众眉头紧皱，而大多数年轻观众则报以掌声欢迎。
Most of the older viewers frowned, while most of the younger viewers applauded.
摇滚乐评论家们说，从埃尔维斯到艾利丝，许多歌星帮助我们的社会解说其信仰与态度。
Between Elvis and Alice, rock critics say, a number of rock stars have helped our society define its beliefs and attitudes.
鲍勃•狄伦触动了对现状不满的神经，她唱到民权、核散落物以及孤独。
Bob Dylan touched a nerve of disaffection. He spoke of civil rights, nuclear fallout, and loneliness.
她唱到变革和老一代人的迷茫，她在歌声中唱道：“这儿正发生着什么事，你不知道是什么事，对吗，琼斯先生？”
He spoke of change and of the bewilderment of an older generation. “Something’s happening here,” he sang. “You don’t know what it is, do you, Mr.Jones?
其它人也加入了这场辩论。
Others entered the debate.
霍洛威茨说，甲壳虫乐队以幽默的方式，或许还借助麻醉品的力量来倡导和平与虔诚。傲慢无理、打架斗殴的滚石乐队成员要求革命。杰斐逊飞机乐队的歌曲“我们能够联合”和“志愿者”（有一场革命）则是激进青年的更进一步的两项声明。
The Beatles, Horowitz said, urged peace and piety, with humor and maybe a little help from drugs. The Rolling Stones, arrogant street-fighting men, demanded revolution. The Jefferson Airplane’s “We Can Be Together” and Volunteers (Got a Revolution)” were two further statements of radical youth.
但政治并不是60年代强硬派摇滚乐所辩论的惟一主题，始终作为任何音乐永恒组成部分的情感也是一个重要题目。
But politics wasn’t the only subject debated in the hard rock of the sixties. Feelings, always a part of any musical statement, were a major subject.
詹妮丝•乔普林用歌声表示自己的悲哀。
Janis Jophin sang of her sadness.
甲壳虫乐队揭示出爱与恨之间的一系列的感情。
The Beatles showed there were a range of emotions between love and hate.
以后又出现了“乐队”乐队把乡村音乐和西部音乐所表示的较为传统的观念与强硬派摇滚乐较为激进的“都市”观念结合在一起。
Then came The Band, mixing the more traditional ideas of country and western music into the more radical ”city” ideas of the hard rock.
霍洛威茨认为这一成分的乡村音乐帮助听众表示了一种“摆脱这一切”，“重返过去时光”的强烈愿望。
This country element, Horowitz feels, helped its audience express an urge to “get away from it all,” to “go back to the old day.
当前最能说明霍洛威茨看法的例子之一就是约翰•丹佛，她最著名的歌曲《阳光照在我肩上》、《高高的落基山》和《乡间小路》把民间摇滚乐的音乐灵魂与力量结合了起来，而歌词则赞美了“往日美好时光”的朴素的欢乐。
.” One of the best current examples of what Horotwitz is talking about is John Denver. His most notable songs – “Sunshine on My Shoulders”, “Rocky Mountain High”, and “Country Road” – combine the musical drive and power of folk rock, while the lyrics celebrate the simple joys of “the good old days.”
这样的例子不胜枚举。
The list could go on and on.
这些摇滚乐音乐家们和所有的艺术家一样反映出我们借以认识并形成属于自己的感情与信念。
Like all artists, these rock musicians mirror feelings and beliefs that help us see and form our own.
我们以什么来回报她们呢？当然是掌声和赞美。
What do we give them in return? Applause and praise, of course.
在1972年的一次全国民意测验中，10％的男高中生和30％以上的女高中生都说她们最崇拜的人是超级摇滚歌星。
In one 1972, national opinion poll, more than 10 percent of the high school boys and 20 percent of the girls said their hero was a rock superstar.
另外我们给她们金钱， 商业杂志《福布斯》认为，“当今成为百万富翁的捷径是当摇滚歌星。”
We also give them money. “The fastest way to become a millionaire these days,” says Forbes, a business magazine, “is to become a rock ‘n’ roll star.”
今天的英雄们——至少其中一部分人——告诉我们，她们很喜欢所得到的报偿。
Today’s heroes – some of them, anyway – tell us they enjoy their rewards.
我暗自嘲笑这些先生们和女士们,她们从没想到过我们会成为金娃娃。”演唱这支歌曲的是“文化英雄”艾利丝•库珀。
“And I laughed to myself at the men and the ladies. Who never conceived of us billion-dollar babies.” The particular “culture hero” who sings that is Alice cooper.
可是，依然存在着一个大问题：为什么她是文化英雄？
The big question remains: Why is he a culture hero
她，或者当今任何其它走红的摇滚歌星能告诉我们些什么有关她们的歌迷的事情？
What does he – or any other current rock success – tell us about his fans?
对于我们自己和我们的社会有些什么了解？现在怎样，过去如何，将来又将向何处去？
About ourselves and our society? Where it is, where it was, where it’s heading?

青年人的四种选择
Lesson 2: Four Choices for Young People
在毕业前不久，斯坦福大学四年级主席吉姆•宾司给我写了一封信，信中谈及她的一些不安。
Shortly before his graduation, Jim Binns, president of the senior class at Stanford University, wrote me about some of his misgivings.
她写道：“与其它任何一代人相比，我们这一代人在看待成人世界时抱有更大的疑虑……同时越来越倾向于全盘否定成人世界。”
“More than any other generation,” he said, “our generation views the adult world with great skepticism… there is also an increased tendency to reject completely that world.”
很明显，她的话代表了许多同龄人的看法。
Apparently he speaks for a lot of his contemporaries.
在过去的几年里，我倾听过许多年轻人的谈话，她们有的还在大学读书，有的已经毕业，她们对于成人的世界同样感到不安。
During the last few years, I have listened to scores of young people, in college and out, who were just as nervous about the grown world.
大致来说，她们的态度可归纳如下：“这个世界乱糟糟的，到处充满了不平等、贫困和战争。对此该负责的大概应是那些管理这个世界的成年人吧。如果她们不能做得比这些更好，她们又能拿什么来教育我们呢？这样的教导，我们根本不需要。”
Roughly, their attitude might be summed up about like this: “The world is in pretty much of a mess, full of injustice, poverty, and war. The people responsible are, presumably, the adults who have been running thing. If they can’t do better than that, what have they got to teach our generation? That kind of lesson we can do without.”
我觉得这些结论合情合理，至少从她们的角度来看是这样的。
There conclusions strike me as reasonable, at least from their point of view.
对成长中的一代人来说，相关的问题不是我们的社会是否完美（我们能够想当然地认为是这样），而是应该如何去应付它。
The relevant question for the arriving generation is not whether our society is imperfect (we can take that for granted), but how to deal with it.
尽管这个社会严酷而不合情理，但它毕竟是我们惟一拥有的世界。
For all its harshness and irrationality, it is the only world we’ve got.
因此，选择一个办法去应付这个社会是刚刚步入成年的年轻人必须作出的第一个决定，这一般是她们一生中最重要的决定。
Choosing a strategy to cope with it, then, is the first decision young adults have to make, and usually the most important decision of their lifetime.
根据我的发现，她们的基本选择只有四种：
So far as I have been able to discover, there are only four basic alternatives:
1）脱离传统社会
1）Drop Out
这是最古老的方法之一，任何年龄的人无论在任何地方，也无论是否使用迷幻剂都能够采用。
This is one of the oldest expedients, and it can be practiced anywhere, at any age, and with or without the use of hallucinogens.
那些认为这个世界残酷、复杂得令人难以忍受的人一般会选择这个办法。
It always has been the strategy of choice for people who find the world too brutal or too complex to be endured.
实质上，这是一种寄生式的生活方式，采取此策略的人经过这样或那样的方式寄生于这个她们蔑视的社会，而且拒绝对这个社会承担责任
By definition, this way of life is parasitic. In one way or another, its practitioners batten on the society which they scorn and in which they refuse to take any responsibility.
我们中的一些人对此很厌恶——认为这种生活方式很不光彩。
Some of us find this distasteful – an undignified kind of life.
但对于那些卑微、懒惰又缺乏自尊的人来说，这可能是可行的最能够忍受的选择了。
But for the poor in spirit, with low levels of both energy and pride, it may be the least intolerable choice available.
2）逃避现实社会
2) Flee
这个策略早在远古就有先例。
This strategy also has ancient antecedents.
自文明诞生以来，就有人企图逃避文明社会，希望寻求一种更为朴素、更富田园风情、更为宁静的生活。
Ever since civilization began, certain individuals have tried to run away from it in hopes of finding a simpler, more pastoral, and more peaceful life.
与那些脱离传统社会的人不同，这些人不是寄生者。她们愿意自食其力，愿意为社会作出贡献，可是她们就是不喜欢这个文明世界的环境。确地说，不喜欢这充满丑恶和紧张的大都市。
Unlike the dropouts, they are not parasites. They are willing to support themselves and to contribute something to the general community, but they simply don’t like the environment of civilization; that is, the city, with all its ugliness and tension.
这种方法的问题在于无法大规模地进行实践。
The trouble with this solution is that it no longer is practical on a large scale.
不幸的是，在我们的地球上，高尚的野蛮人和未被破坏的自然景色已越来越少；除了两极地区以外已经没有未开发的土地了。
Our planet, unfortunately, is running out of noble savages and unsullied landscaped; except for the polar regions, the frontiers are gone.
少数富有的乡绅还能够逃避现实去过田园生活——但总的说来，迁移的潮流是向相反的方向流动。
A few gentleman farmers with plenty of money can still escape to the bucolic life – but in general the stream of migration is flowing the other way.
3）策划革命
Plot a Revolution
在对民主进程单调乏味的运作方式毫无耐心或相信只有武力才能改变基本社会制度的那些人中，这一策略颇受欢迎。
This strategy is always popular among those who have no patience with the tedious working of the democratic process or who believe that basic institutions can only be changed by force.
它吸引了每一代年轻人中那些更为活跃和更具理想主义的人。
It attracts some of the more active and idealistic young people of every generation.
对她们来说，这种策略具有浪漫的吸引力，一般以某位魅力非凡且令人振奋的人物为其象征。
To them it offers a romantic appeal, usually symbolized by some dashing and charismatic figure.
这一策略简单明了并具有更大的吸引力：“既然这个社会已经无可救药，那就让我们砸碎它，在它的废墟上面建一个更好的社会。”
It has the even greater appeal of simplicity: “Since this society is hopelessly bad, let’s smash it and build something better on the ruins.”
我最好的朋友中有些是革命者，她们中的一些人过得相当满足。
Some of my best friends have been revolutionists, and a few of them have led reasonably satisfying lives.
这部分人其实是那些革命并未成功的人，她们能够继续兴高采烈地策划大屠杀，直至老态龙钟。
These are the ones whose revolutions did not come off; they have been able to keep on cheerfully plotting their holocausts right into their senescence.
另外一些人年纪轻轻就死了，死在监狱里或街垒旁。
Others died young, in prison or on the barricades.
但最不幸的是那些革命成功的人。
But the most unfortunate are those whose revolutions have succeeded.
她们极度失望，看到她们推翻的权力机构又被新机构所替代，而新机构依旧是那样冷酷，那样毫无生机。
They lived in bitter disillusionment, to see the establishment they had overthrown replaced by a new one, just as hard-faced and stuffy.
当然，我并不是说革命一无所成。
I am not, of course, suggesting that revolutions accomplish nothing.
一些革命（美国革命，法国革命）确实将事情变得越来越好。
Some (The American Revolution, the French Revolution) clearly do change things for the better.
我只是想说革命无论成败，那些策划革命的革命者们都注定要失望。
My point is merely that the idealists who make the revolution are bound to be disappointed in either case.
因为胜利的曙光无论如何也不会照耀在她们梦想中的那个摆脱了人类一切卑劣的灿烂的新世界上。
For at best their victory never dawns on the shining new world they had dreamed of, cleansed of all human meanness.
相反，它照在了一个熟悉的平庸的地方，这个地方仍旧需要食品杂货和污水排放。
Instead it dawns on a familiar, workaday place, still in need of groceries and sewage disposal.
无论贴着什么样的政治标签，革命后的国家都不是由激进的浪漫主义者来治理，而是由市场营销、卫生工程和管理官僚机构的专家来治理。
The revolutionary state, under whatever political label, has to be run-not by violent romantics-but by experts in marketing, sanitary engineering, and the management of bureaucracies.
对一些决心改造社会，但同时又希望能找到一种比武装革命更可行的方法的理想主义者来说，还有另外一种选择。
For the idealists who are determined to remake society but who seek a more practical method than armed revolution, there remains one more alternative.
4）循序渐进，逐步改变社会
Try to Change the World Gradually, One Clod at a Time
乍一看，这一途径毫无吸引力。
At first glance, this course is far from inviting.
它缺乏魅力，而且见效很慢。
It lacks glamour. It promises no quick results.
它依靠劝说和民主决策这些令人恼火且不可靠的方法来实现。
It depends on the exasperating and uncertain instruments of persuasion and democratic decision making.
它需要耐心，可我们却总是缺乏耐心。
It demands patience, always in short supply.
它惟一的好处是有时这方法行得通——在这个特定的时间和地点，它比其它的任何策略都更有可能制止世界上的某些恶行。
About all that can be said for it