How do women choose Mr Right: It's in his kiss!----揭秘为何“一吻定情”？

Winning a first kiss is enough of a challenge for most male suitors.

But getting the act itself right may be even more important - because apparently it can determine whether a relationship blooms.

According to scientists, women often judge men on the quality of the first kiss.

The pressure to perform, they say, rests mainly with men, because women have developed kissing as an evolutionary tool to find their Mr. Rights.

The research into the psychology of kissing uncovered a "complicated exchange of information" during a kiss.

Tongue contact and the exchange of saliva were found to help both sexes make subconscious assessments about each other. Women's breath can indicate hormone levels and fertility, while male saliva will have traces of the sex hormone testosterone.

Bad breath, as well as being unpleasant, can be interpreted by would-be lovers as a sign of health problems.

Researchers at New York's University at Albany questioned 1,000 students about their views on kissing.

The study, published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology, found that women "place more emphasis on a kiss and are more reliant on kissing as a mate assessment technique" than men.

Most women said that kissing was so integral to an intimate relationship that they wouldn't contemplate sex without it.

Psychologist Gordon Gallup, who led the study, said: "While many forces lead two people to connect romantically, the kiss - particularly the first one - can be a deal-breaker.

对于大多数男性追求者来说，赢得第一个吻可谓一大挑战。

但这个吻本身可能更重要，因为这一吻能决定两人的感情能否开花结果。

科学家称，女性常会根据第一个吻的质量来评判对方。

而这一吻的压力主要在于男性，因为女性已将“接吻”发展成了一种用于寻找“白马王子”的“进化手段”。

该项有关接吻心理学的研究发现，在接吻的过程中，存在“复杂的信息交流”。

科学家发现，舌头的接触及唾液的交换有助于男女双方对彼此做出潜意识判断。女性的呼吸能反映其激素水平和生育能力，而男性的唾液则能体现其睾丸激素的水平。

口气不清新或让人不舒服会被对方视为身体不健康的标志。

奥尔巴尼纽约大学的研究人员对1000名学生的“接吻观”进行了调查。

调查发现，女性比男性“更看重接吻，而且更依赖它作为评判对方的手段”。该研究结果在《进化心理学》期刊上发表。

大多数女性称，接吻是亲密关系必不可少的因素，如果没有接吻，她们不会考虑性接触。

该调查的负责人、心理学家戈登•盖勒普说：“尽管让两人结合的力量有很多，但接吻——尤其是初吻，可能会毁了一份恋情。”

好好的想想



Today we have higher buildings and wider highways,but shorter temperaments and narrower points of view;

　　今天我们拥有了更高层的楼宇以及更宽阔的公路，但是我们的性情却更为急躁，眼光也更加狭隘；

　　We spend more,but enjoy less;

　　我们消耗的更多，享受到的却更少；

　　We have bigger houses,but smaller famillies;

　　我们的住房更大了，但我们的家庭却更小了；

　　We have more compromises,but less time;

　　我们妥协更多，时间更少；

　　We have more knowledge,but less judgment;

　　我们拥有了更多的知识，可判断力却更差了；

　　We have more medicines,but less health;

　　我们有了更多的药品，但健康状况却更不如意；

　　We have multiplied out possessions,but reduced out values;

　　我们拥有的财富倍增，但其价值却减少了；

　　We talk much,we love only a little,and we hate too much;

　　我们说的多了，爱的却少了，我们的仇恨也更多了；

　　We reached the Moon and came back,but we find it troublesome to cross our own street and meet our neighbors;

　　我们可以往返月球，但却难以迈出一步去亲近我们的左邻右舍；

　　We have conquered the uter space,but not our inner space;

　　我们可以征服外太空，却征服不了我们的内心；

　　We have highter income,but less morals;

　　我们的收入增加了，但我们的道德却少了；

　　These are times with more liberty,but less joy;

　　我们的时代更加自由了，但我们拥有的快乐时光却越来越少；

　　We have much more food,but less nutrition;

　　我们有了更多的食物，但所能得到的营养却越来越少了；

　　These are the days in which it takes two salaries for each home,but divorces increase;

　　现在每个家庭都可以有双份收入，但离婚的现象越来越多了；

　　These are times of finer houses,but more broken homes;

　　现在的住房越来越精致，但我们也有了更多破碎的家庭；

　　That's why I propose,that as of today;

　　这就是我为什么要说，让我们从今天开始；

　　You do not keep anything for a special occasion.because every day that you live is a SPECIAL OCCASION.

　　不要将你的东西为了某一个特别的时刻而预留着，因为你生活的每一天都是那么特别；

　　Search for knowledge,read more ,sit on your porch and admire the view without paying attention to your needs;

　　寻找更我的知识，多读一些书，坐在你家的前廊里，以赞美的眼光去享受眼前的风景，不要带上任何功利的想法；

　　Spend more time with your family and friends,eat your favorite foods,visit the places you love;

　　花多点时间和朋友与家人在一起，吃你爱吃的食物，去你想去的地方；

　　Life is a chain of moments of enjoyment;not only about survival;

　　生活是一串串的快乐时光；我们不仅仅是为了生存而生存；

　　Use your crystal goblets.Do not save your best perfume,and use it every time you feel you want it.

　　举起你的水晶酒杯吧。不要吝啬洒上你最好的香水，你想用的时候就享用吧！

　　Remove from your vocabulary phrases like"one of these days"or "someday";

　　从你的词汇库中移去所谓的“有那么一天”或者“某一天”；

　　Let's write that letter we thought of writing "one of these days"!

　　曾打算“有那么一天”去写的信，就在今天吧！

　　Let's tell our families and friends how much we love them;

　　告诉家人和朋友，我们是多么地爱他们；

　　Do not delay anything that adds laughter and joy to your life;

　　不要延迟任何可以给你的生活带来欢笑与快乐的事情；

　　Every day,every hour,and every minute is special;

　　每一天、每一小时、每一分钟都是那么特别；

　　And you don't know if it will be your last.

　　你无从知道这是否最后刻。

我的野蛮祖母



　　My grandmother was an iron-willed woman, the feared matriarch of our New York family back in the 1950s.

　　20世纪50年代我们家住在纽约，当时祖母是一家之主，也是一个令人敬畏的强悍女人。

　　When I was five years old, she invited some friends and relatives to her Bronx apartment for a party. Among the guests was a neighborhood big shot who was doing well in business. His wife was proud of their social status and let everyone at the party know it. They had a little girl about my age who was spoiled and very much used to getting her own way.

　　我5岁那年，她邀请了一些亲戚朋友到布朗克斯的公寓里聚会。在客人中有个做生意发了财的大款，他的妻子神气地向大家炫耀他们家的社会地位。他们有个娇气的小女儿，年纪跟我差不多，脾气很蛮横。

　　Grandmother spent a lot of time with the big shot and his family. She considered them the most important members of her social circle and worked hard at currying their favor.

　　祖母殷勤地伺候着那个大款和他的家人，她把他们看作是她的社交圈里最重要的人物，因此她不遗余力地逢迎他们。

　　At one point during the party, I made my way to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. A minute or two later, the little girl opened the bathroom door and grandly walked in. I was still sitting down.

　　晚会进行中，我走进了洗手间并随手把门关上。大概一两分钟后，我当时还坐在马桶上，那个小女孩推开洗手间的门，大模大样地走了进来。

　　"Don't you know that little girls aren't supposed to come into the bathroom when a little boy is using it!?" I hollered.

　　“难道你不知道当一个男孩在使用洗手间的时候女孩子是不可以进来的吗！？”我生气地嚷着说。

　　The surprise of my being there, along with the indignation I had heaped upon her, stunned the little girl. Then she started to cry. She quickly closed the door, ran to the kitchen, and tearfully complained to her parents and my grandmother.

　　听到我生气的吼声，她一下子惊呆了，然后“哇”的一声哭了起来。她飞快地关上门向厨房跑去，边哭边向她的父母和我的祖母告状。

　　Most of the partygoers had overheard my loud remark and were greatly amused by it. But not Grandmother.

　　大多数的客人其实都听到了我的怒骂声，他们都被逗乐了，可祖母一点都没笑。

　　She was waiting for me when I left the bathroom. I received the longest, sharpest tongue-lashing of my young life. Grandmother yelled that I was impolite and rude and that I had insulted that nice little girl. The guests watched and winced in absolute silence. So forceful was my grandmother's personality that no one dared stand up for me.

　　当我从洗手间出来，祖母劈头盖脸地把我骂了一通，骂我没礼貌、少教养、冲撞了那可爱的小女孩。客人们都在静静地看着，我的祖母实在太霸道了，根本没有人敢为我说话。

　　After her harangue was over and I had been dismissed, the party continued, but the atmosphere was much more subdued.

　　等她骂完叫我滚开之后，晚会继续进行，但气氛已经大大减弱。

　　Twenty minutes later, all that changed. Grandmother walked by the bathroom and noticed a torrent of water streaming out from under the door.

　　可二十分钟之后，一切全都变了。当祖母从洗手间走过的时候，她发现有股水流从门缝里涌出来。

　　She shrieked twice—first in astonishment, then in rage. She flung open the bathroom door and saw that the sink and tub were plugged up and that the faucets were going at full blast.

　　她先是惊异地叫了一声，很快又愤怒地尖叫起来。她猛力地撞开洗手间的门，发现洗手盆和浴缸都被塞子塞住了，水龙头被拧到最大，水正哗啦啦地直流。

　　Everyone knew who the culprit was. The guests quickly formed a protective barricade around me, but Grandmother was so furious that she almost got to me anyway, flailing her arms as if trying to swim over the crowd.

　　每个人都知道是谁搞的鬼，客人们马上在我周围形成了一堵人墙保护我。愤怒的祖母使劲地挥舞着双手，样子就像在人堆里游泳一样。好几次她差点够着我。

　　Several strong men eventually moved her away and calmed her down, although she sputtered and fumed for quite a while.

　　最后几个魁梧的男人才把祖母制住，把她拉开让她冷静下来，但她还是气急败坏地嚷了好一阵子。

　　My grandfather took me by the hand and sat me on his lap in a chair near the window. He was a kind and gentle man, full of wisdom and patience. Rarely did he raise his voice to anyone, and never did he argue with his wife or defy her wishes.

　　祖父这时走了过来，牵着我的手到靠窗的一张椅子上坐下，还把我抱到他的膝盖上坐。祖父的性格好，脾气也特别好。他很少提高嗓门和别人说话，也从来没有和祖母吵架，也从来没有违背过祖母的意愿。

　　He looked at me with much curiosity, not at all angry or upset. "Tell me," he asked, "why did you do it?" 

　　他很好奇地打量着我，没有半点生气或烦恼的样子，“告诉我，”他说，“你为什么要这样做呢？”

　　"Well, she yelled at me for nothing," I said earnestly. "Now she's got something to yell about."

　　“是这样的，她先无缘无故地骂了我一顿，”我认真地说，“这回她骂我就有理由了！”

　　Grandfather didn't speak right away. He just sat there, looking at me and smiling.

　　祖父没有马上说话，他只是坐在那儿，笑眯眯地看着我。

　　"Eric," he said at last, "you are my revenge."

　　最后他终于开口说：“艾里克，我的乖孙子，你总算替爷爷出了口气！”



http://220.181.26.88/Songs/English/Misc/Various%20Artists/Various%20Artists%20--%20Amour/07%20-%20Dido%20-%20Thank%20You.mp3?wxc

与比尔·盖茨面对面


　　Before Microsoft came along, there really was no software industry was just a few companies selling very high-priced software only to companies, big companies. The idea of  low-cost software that would be empowering for individuals and that them could be literally around the world hundreds of thousands of these successful companies-that was part of the Microsoft dream. And in fact, the software industry is 10,000 times bigger because of the work we do. The vast majority of all the revenue in the software business is because Microsoft has a uniform platform that has gotten out to go around the world. And so in every country we've helped companies grow up, create jobs, pay taxes around the software world. The main competitors who don't like us are actually hardware companies who have been used to charging very high prices for the hardware and the PCs changed that.

　　微软成立之前并没有真正的软件业,只有几家公司向另外一些大公司以高昂价格销售软件而已。低成本软件的意念适用于个人,并在世界上拥有无数家成功的公司一一那是微软的部分梦想。事实上,经过我们的努力,软件业的规模已经扩大了一万倍。软件业的收益如此巨大是因为微软有一个标准的平台应用于全世界。所以在每一个国家,我们都在软件业中帮助公司发展、创造就业机会、交纳税款。和我们想法不一样的主要竞争者——实际上是硬件公司，他们习惯于高价销售硬件,而个人电脑改变了这种现象。

　　It's hard to think of a business that's had a more positive effect for customers than the PC business. The rate of product improvement, the kind of empowerment it provides, its ability to create and stay in touch. You known the closest comparison is when publishing came along and people had books. Of course books created a problem. You know, the people wanted to control things didn't like books, the people who wanted to sell high-priced hand written things didn't like the printing press. But overwhelming it was something that people knew really that it was very positive. The same thing's happened with the PC. There's no company that in terms of our work has gotten as positive feedback and you how has gotten as broad a set of users. Those users are always telling us what they'd like to see us make better, and that's partly why it's a fun business because we get to make new versions of the software all the time.

　　很难想出有哪个行业能比个人电脑行业对客户产生更积极的影响。产品的升级换代频率使得创造力跟上社会的步伐。你知道,打个最贴切的比喻说吧,有了出版后,人们拥有了书。当然有书就产生了问题。当时人们想要控制书本,想高价出卖手写体的人不喜欢印刷品。但不可避免的是,人们发现印刷品确实是积极有用的东西。个人电脑也一样。在我们这一行,没有哪家公司得到过积极的反馈且拥有大量用户。那些用户总会告诉我们,他们想看到我们做得更好,那就是为什么它是一个有趣行业的部分原因,因为我们一直在出产新版软件。

　　Well, the vision of Microsoft is about information as you want it, any time, anywhere, any place. And this is an overall strategy about making it easier to write software, easier to share data, revolutionizing user interface with the speech and handwriting. And making reading off the computer as good or better than paper and so today we're as radical as ever in seeing that the horizons for software will let us get so much more than even what we have now.

　　微软的想法是,让人们得到想要的信息,无论何时、何地都能得到。这是一个总体战略,使得编写软件更容易,共享数据更容易,使用户界面的言语和书写革命化。使得电脑阅读与书面阅读一样好,甚至更好,所以我们今天跟以往一样很激动地看到,软件的界面将会注我们得到比现在所拥有的更多东西。

　　The digital future includes lots of specialized devices. If all you want to do is make a voice call, you will have a device for that, if all you want to do is take a photo, you'll have a device for that. The PC of course will be the device whenever you want to see a full-size screen to do anything with documents or web browsing or planning, you'll use that. Now sometimes these devices will be combined together and we have enough partners who make these devices that every possible combination will be tried. You know putting the phone and the camera together, bringing the wristwatch a camera together, and it'll be completely up to the market to decide exactly how they'd like to see these things packaged. But no doubt, the photos will go digital, movies will go digital, music will go digital, and so the ability of the user to share and enrichen these things will be dramatically better than it's been without digital. 

　　一个数码未来包括有很多专业工具。如果你想打一个声音电话,你会有专门的工具如果你想拍照,你也会有专门的工具。当然个人电脑就是这工具,每当你想利用全屏幕处理文件或上网或制订计划,你就可以用到它。现在这些工具有时候会组合使用,我们有许多制造这些工具的合作伙伴,从而使得每种可能的组合都得到过尝试。你想想,把电话和照相机组合起来,把手表和照相机组合起来,完全接照市场的要求来确定如何包装这些东西。但毫无疑义的是,照片会数码化,电影会数码化,音乐会数码化,于是用户能比无数码时代要更好得多地去共享并丰富这些资源。

西班牙的红色圣佛明节


　　Surely the most interesting part of Pamplona's San Fermin Festival is its focus on danger and death. Why would so many people, over hundreds of years, take part in something everyone fears?

　　当然，在旁普罗纳的圣佛明节中，最有意思的就是对危险和死亡的关注。为什么数百年来有那么多人要参与这个所有人都害怕的事呢？

　　The American writer Ernest Hemmingway explores this very question in his 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises. The main1 characters, who begin to feel empty2 living in modern Paris, travel to Spain and join in the San Fermin Festival. There, they see death through Spanish eyes.

　　美国作家海明威在他1926年写的小说《太阳照常升起》中，探讨了这个问题。小说的主人公住在繁华的巴黎，由于内心感到空虚，就到西班牙旅游，参加圣佛明节。在那里，他们领悟到西班牙人对死亡的看法。

　　By joining in the events of this colorful festival, they begin to understand how the Spanish, in celebrating death, are actually celebrating life. Through the images3 of the black bull and the bullfighter's blood-red cloth, they discover that the Spanish find meaning in life by worshipping4 heroic5 death. With people running for their lives, and bullfighters dancing with the bulls, life and death come together at the San Fermin Festival.

　　由于参加这个多采多姿的庆典活动，他们开始了解，西班牙人在庆祝死亡的同时，其实是在庆祝生命。由黑色的公牛、斗牛士手中血红色的布，他们发现西班牙人透过崇拜悲壮的死亡，发掘生命的意义。随着人们没命地奔逃、斗牛士和公牛舞蹈，在圣佛明节，生命和死亡总是如影随形，密不可分。

保持健康从饮食做起


Two colleagues, Bill and Mary, areshavingslunch in their office cafeteria.

　　比尔和玛丽是同事，他们正在公司的自助餐厅吃午餐。

　　Mary: I can't believe my eyes, Bill. Are youshavingsa salad for lunch? No burger?

　　玛丽：比尔，我真不敢相信我的眼睛。你午餐只吃沙拉？不吃汉堡？

　　Bill:Get used to it, Mary. I'm off burgers for good. Most fast food is loaded with sodium.

　　比尔：玛丽，你得开始习惯喽。我已经决定永远不吃汉堡了。大部分快餐，钠的含量都很高。

　　Mary: I know. But why your sudden interest in lessening your salt intake?

　　玛丽：这我知道。但你为什么突然想减少盐的摄取量？

　　Bill:My doctor says I should cut back on sodium-rich foods to lower my blood pressure.

　　比尔：医生说我必须少吃高钠盐的食物以降低血压。

　　Mary: Do you have hypertension? I would have thought you were too young.

　　玛丽：你有高血压？你还这么年轻。

　　Bill:Actually, my blood pressure isn't that high yet, but they say it increases with age.

　　比尔：事实上我的血压也没有那么高，但据说血压会随年龄的增长而增高。

　　Mary: Well, I'm glad you're starting to pay more attention to your diet.

　　玛丽：啊，真高兴看到你开始比较注意饮食了。

　　Bill:I want to lower my risk of heart attack and stroke, too.

　　比尔：我也想降低得心脏病和中风的危险。

　　Mary: So do I. That's why I've been trying to lower my cholesterol level.

　　玛丽：我也是，这就是为什么我一直想降低胆固醇指数的原因。

　　Bill:I've noticed you've been munching4 away on lots of fruits and vegetables recently.

　　比尔：我注意到你最近大吃蔬菜水果。

　　Mary: That's right. I could stand to lose a few pounds, too.

　　玛莉：没错。这样我还可以减掉几磅。

　　Bill:In that case, you should come to my health club with me.

　　比尔：既然如此，你应该跟我一起去健身俱乐部。

　　Mary: You've joined a health club? I would never have dreamed that you'd take something like this so seriously.

　　玛丽：你参加健身俱乐部了？我做梦也没想到你会这样认真对待一件事。

　　Bill:So, how about it? Can you tear yourself away from the TV tonight?

　　比尔：怎么样？你舍得不看今晚的电视吗？

　　Mary: Why not? If you can break your unhealthy eating habits, I can surely break a sweat.

　　玛丽：为什么不呢？你都可以改正不良饮食习惯，我流点汗又何妨？

浴巾新创意


When you’re dripping wet, does your towel really absorb? Sure, a thick, plush terry cloth towel feels soft and warm rubbing the skin. But five minutes later you’re still wet… or, at least, not as dry as you could be.

　　你浑身滴水的时候，你的毛巾真能吸水吗？当然，又厚又软的毛巾布做成的浴巾擦在皮肤上带来既柔软又温暖的感觉，但是五分钟之后，你的身体还是湿的……或者至少不像应该达到的那么干爽。

　　When choosing towels, Americans are—for the most part—hooked on terry cloth. Terry cloth is a type of fabric with woven loops providing thickness. When the loops have been sheared off on one side, the fabric is known as velour. Velour provides extra softness and size. Another popular type of towel fabric is jacquard, which has a reversible design woven in. These fabrics make the big, thick bath towels preferred by Americans.

　　挑选浴巾的时候，绝大多数美国人只看得毛巾布。毛巾布是一种织物,有很多纺织时钩出的小圈圈,从而带来厚度。把一边的小圈圈全部剪掉的面料就叫做丝绒。丝绒质地更加柔软，尺寸也更大。 还有一种做浴巾很受欢迎的面料是织成正反面图案颜色相反的提花布。美国人偏好的那种又大又厚的浴巾就是这几种布料做的。

　　European towels

　　欧式毛巾

　　Consumers in many other countries, however, prefer lightweight towels. The Europeans and Japanese have figured out a way to make towels with a honeycombed, highly textured weave. This “waffle weave” creates more surface area for soaking up water.

　　但很多国家的消费者偏好轻薄的毛巾。欧洲人和日本人已想到一种方法，可以用一种织地细密、纹路呈蜂巢状的织法来做毛巾，这种“华夫格织法”创造了更多吸水空间。

　　Additionally, many Europeans prefer to air dry their laundry rather than use electric dryers. Hanging heavy plush towels out to dry just isn’t feasible in most climates.

　　更有甚者，欧洲人喜欢把洗净的衣服晾干，而不用烘干机。把厚重的毛巾拿到户外晾，在大部分的天气环境里都不可行。

　　The only waffle weave bath towels widely available in the U.S. currently are manufactured in Europe, and are more expensive than American-made towels. The higher labor costs for milling and weaving in Europe, where more traditional manufacturing methods are employed, account for the higher purchase price. Also, the attention to fine finishing details increases the expense. European makers do not employ cost-saving techniques, such as using the selvage of the fabric as the side of a towel rather than finished seams. Though by no means cheap, European waffle weave towels actually cost less than the high-end plush terry towels favored by many American consumers.

　　目前在美国很多地方都买得到的华夫格织浴巾都是在欧洲生产的，比美国本地生产的浴巾昂贵。欧洲采用较传统的生产方式，加工与纺织的人工成本因而较昂贵，售价也较高。此外，讲究精致加工也增加了成本。欧洲厂商不用节约成本 的技巧，像是毛巾边缘用布匹的织边充数，省去缝边手续。欧洲的华夫格织毛巾虽然一点也不便宜，但价格还是低于很多美国消费者喜爱的高档厚软毛巾。

　　Vocabulary focus

　　Absorb (v) to take liquid in, especially gradually

　　Hooked on (idiom) enjoying something so much that one is unable to stop having, watching or doing it

　　Shear (v) to cut or clip, usually quite short

　　Honeycombed (adj) similar to the wax structure containing many small holes which is made by bees to store their honey

　　Specialized Terms

　　Terry cloth (n) 毛巾布 a type of thick cotton cloth with short threads on each side, used especially for making towels

　　Milling (n) 加工 the operation of cutting, shaping, finishing or working products manufactured in a mill

　　Selvage (n) 布匹的织边 the edge of a fabric that is woven so that it will not fray or ravel

爱只是一根线


Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to earn money in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don’t act in the romantic ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, “I love you” is too luxurious for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more out of the question. Finally my father has a bad temper. When he’s very tired from the hard work, it is easy for him to lose his temper.

　　有时候，我真的怀疑父母之间是否有真爱。他们天天忙于赚钱，为我和弟弟支付学费。他们从未像我在书中读到，或在电视中看到的那样互诉衷肠。他们认为“我爱你”太奢侈，很难说出口。更不用说在情人节送花这样的事了。我父亲的脾气非常坏。经过一天的劳累之后，他经常会发脾气。

　　One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently sat down beside her and looked at her.

　　一天，母亲正在缝被子，我静静地坐在她旁边看着她。

　　“Mom, I have a question to ask you,” I said after a while.

　　过了一会，我说：“妈妈，我想问你一个问题。”

　　“What?” she replied, still doing her work.

　　“什么问题？”她一边继续缝着，一边回答道。

　　“Is there love between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very low voice.

　　我低声地问道：“你和爸爸之间有没有爱情啊？”

　　My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. She didn’t answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.

　　母亲突然停下了手中的活，满眼诧异地抬起头。她没有立即作答。然后低下头，继续缝被子。

　　I was very worried because I thought I had hurt her. I was in a great embarrassment and I didn’t know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words:

　　我担心伤害了她。我非常尴尬，不知道该怎么办。不过，后来我听见母亲说：

　　“Susan,” she said thoughtfully, “Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it’s really there. Love is inside.”

　　“苏珊，看看这些线。有时候，你能看得见，但是大多数都隐藏在被子里。这些线使被子坚固耐用。如果生活就像一床被子，那么爱就是其中的线。你不可能随时随地看到它，但是它却实实在在地存在着。爱是内在的。” 

　　I listened carefully but I couldn’t understand her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital, they both looked very pale. It seemed both of them had had a serious illness.

　　我仔细地听着，却无法明白她的话，直到来年的春天。那时候，我父亲得了重病。母亲在医院里待了一个月。当他们从医院回来的时候，都显得非常苍白。就像他们都得了一场重病一样。

　　After they were back, every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. My father had never been so gentle. It seemed they were the most harmonious couple. Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened through the leaves. All of these made up the most beautiful picture in the world.

　　他们回来之后，每天的清晨或黄昏，母亲都会搀扶着父亲在乡村的小路上漫步。父亲从未如此温和过。他们就像是天作之合。在小路旁边，有许多美丽的野花、绿草和树木。阳光穿过树叶的缝隙，温柔地照射在地面上。这一切形成了一幅世间最美好的画面。

　　The doctor had said my father would recover in two months. But after two months he still couldn’t walk by himself. All of us were worried about him.

　　医生说父亲将在两个月后康复。但是两个月之后，他仍然无法独立行走。我们都很为他担心。

　　“Dad, how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day.

　　有一天，我问他：“爸爸，你感觉怎么样？”

　　“Susan, don’t worry about me.” he said gently. “To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom. I like this kind of life.” Reading his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.

　　他温和地说：“苏珊，不用为我担心。跟你说吧，我喜欢与你妈妈一块散步的感觉。我喜欢这种生活。”从他的眼神里，我看得出他对母亲的爱之深刻。

　　Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this experience, I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm..

　　我曾经认为爱情就是鲜花、礼物和甜蜜的亲吻。但是从那一刻起，我明白了，爱情就像是生活中被子里的一根线。爱情就在里面，使生活变得坚固而温暖。

我的人生追求

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life :the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, in a wayward course,are over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

　　有三种简单然而无比强烈的激情左右了我的一生;对爱的渴望,对知识的探索和对人类苦难的难以忍受的怜悯。这些激情像飓风,反复地吹拂过深重的苦海,濒于绝境。

　　I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy-ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all my rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it ,next because it relieves loneliness-that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the co1d unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what-at last-I have found.

　　我寻找爱,首先是因为它使人心醉神迷。这种陶醉是如此的美妙,使我愿意牺牲所有的余生去换取几个小时这样的欣喜。我寻找爱,还因为它解除孤独(在可怕的孤独中,一颗颤抖的灵魂从世界的边缘看到冰冷、无底、死寂的深渊。最后,我寻找爱,还因为在爱的交融中,神秘而又具体入微地,我看到了圣贤和诗人们想象出的天堂的前景。这就是我所寻找的,而且,虽然对人生来说似乎过于美妙,这也是我终于找到了的。

　　With equa1 passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A 1ittle of this, but not much, I have achieved.

　　以同样的激情我探索知识。我希望能够理解人类的心灵。我希望能够知道群星为何闪烁。我试图领悟毕达哥拉斯所景仰的数字力量,它支配着此消彼长。仅在不大的一定程度上,我达到了此目的。

　　Love and knowledge, so far they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evi1,but I can't, and I too suffer.

　　爱和知识,只要有可能,通向着天堂。但是怜悯总把我带回尘世。痛苦呼喊的回声回荡在我的内心。忍饥挨饿的孩子,惨遭压迫者摧残的受害者,被儿女们视为可憎的负担的痛苦无助的老人,使人类所应有的生活成为了笑柄。我渴望能够减少邪恶,但是我无能为力,而且我自己也在忍受折磨。

　　This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and wou1d gladly live it again if the chance were offered me. 

　　这就是我的一生。我发现它值得一过。如果再给我一次机会,我会很高高兴地再活它一次。

世间的我们


    We

　　我们

　　Allegedly about a million years ago we became humans as result of evolution.

　　据说大约一百万年以前.我们进化成人类,

　　Then we spent 900 thousand years learning to make and use tools;

　　然后花了九十万年学用工具;

　　Again another 90 thousand years getting acquainted with fire and its usefulness;

　　花了九万年学用火,

　　Again 9 thousand years becoming gradually experienced in farming;

　　花了九千年学种田,

　　Again 9 hundred years acquiring the skills in building machines...

　　花了九百年学造机器……

　　But in this century, the present hundred years,we've learned flying;

　　到了今世界的这一百年,我们会飞了;

　　Achieved the use of nuclear energe-the ultimate energy we can ever tap,

　　我们会用最终极的能--核能,

　　And succeeded in landing on the moon.

　　我们会登上月亮,

　　It's said that we'll eventually be able to retain vitality against aging.

　　据说-- 我们还将有长生不老之术.

　　We have boundless abilities and potentialities.

　　我们本事大极了.

　　So let us be blessed.

　　请为我们祝福.