精美英文欣赏:我们身处的谎言世界(1)

At this moment you could be anywhere, doing anything.Instead you sit alone before a screen.

此刻，你本可以在任何地方做任何事，但你却独自坐在屏幕前。

So what's stopping us from doing what we want?

究竟是什么在阻碍我们做想做的事，

Being where we want to be?

到想去的地方？

Each day we wake up in the same room and follow the same path, to live the same day as yesterday.

每天我们都在同样的房间醒来，遵循同样的生活轨迹，过着和昨天同样的生活。

Yet at one time each day was a new adventure.

曾几何时每一天都是一场新的冒险。

Along the way something changed.

然而某种改变发生了。

Before our days were timeless,now our days are scheduled.

曾经的一天没有时间的束缚，如今的一天却被各种计划占据。

Is this what it means to be grown up?

难道这就是长大后的生活？

To be free? But are we really free?

我们追求着所谓的自由，可是我们真的自由吗？

Food, water,land.The very elements we need to survive are owned by corporations.

食物、水、土地。我们需要的生存元素都被大企业垄断。

There's no food for us on trees,no freshwater in streams,no land to build a home.

树上没有食物，河里没有清水，没有土地来建造家园。

If you try and take what the Earth provides you'll be locked away.

如果你尝试享用地球所供给的东西，你就已经被关在了牢笼之中。

So we obey their rules.We discover the world through a textbook.

于是我们服从他们的规定。我们通过教科书来了解世界。

For years we sit and regurgitate what we're told.Tested and graded like subjects in a lab.

多年来我们坐着机械式地被灌输千篇一律的知识。像试验品一样被测试和评分。

Raised not to make a difference in this world,raised to be no different.

不被抚育去改变世界、做与众不同的人。

Smart enough to do our job but not to question why we do it.

聪明到能够完成眼下的工作却从不质疑为什么要这样做。

So we work and work,left with no time to live the life we work for.

于是我们不停地工作，无暇享受自己心目中追求已久的生活。

Until a day comes when we are too old to do our job.

直到肉体衰老无力行动。

It is here we are left to die.Our children take our place in the game.

我们的一生就会在此止步，而我们的孩子则会代替我们继续这一场游戏。

To us our path is unique,but together we are nothing more than fuel.

我们总觉得自己的人生是独特的。但我们加在一起不过是燃料而已

The fuel that powers the elite¹.

驱动着精英们的燃料。

The elite who hide behind the logos of corporations.This is their world.

那些隐藏在大企业商标后的精英们，这是他们的世界。

And their most valuable resource is not in the ground.It is us.

他们最有利的资源不在地下，而是我们。

We build their cities,we run their machines,we fight their wars.

我们建造他们的城市，操作他们的机器，残杀于他们的战争。

After all,money isn't what drives them.It's power.

说到底驱动他们的不是金钱，而是权利。

Money is simply the tool they use to control us.

金钱只是他们用来控制我们的工具而已。

Worthless pieces of paper we depend on to feed us, move us, entertain us.

是那几张用来满足我们温饱、交通、娱乐的毫无价值的纸张。

They gave us money and in return we gave them the world.

他们付钱给我们，而我们却把整个世界拱手相让。

Where there were trees that cleaned our air are now factories that poison it.

曾经为我们进化空气的森林，如今成为了一座座污染大气的工厂。

Where there was water to drink,is toxic² waste that stinks³.

曾经我们取水而饮的清澈河流，现在却被臭气熏天的有毒废料占据。

Where animals ran free,are factory farms where they are born and slaughtered⁴ endlessly for our satisfaction.

曾经动物们自由奔跑的土地，成了无限养殖屠杀动物的工厂化农场以饱我们口腹之欲。

Over a billion people are starving,despite us having enough food for everybody.

我们的粮食能够喂饱全世界，但却有超过十亿人每天在忍饥挨饿。

Where does it all go?

它们都到哪里去了？

70% of the grain we grow is fed to fatten⁵ the animals you eat for dinner.

70%我们种植的谷物都用于喂给了我们要吃的动物。

Why help the starving? You can't profit off them.

为什么要帮助饥民们？你不能从他们身上获利。

We are like a plague⁶ sweeping⁷ the earth,tearing apart the very environment that allows us to live.

我们似乎成为了一种肆虐地球的瘟疫，把赖以生存的环境破坏的支离破碎。

We see everything as something to be sold, as an object to be owned.

万物在我们眼里都被沦为了可买卖和占有的东西。

But what happens when we have polluted the last river?

但当我们污染了最后一条河流会怎样呢？

Poisoned the last breath of air?Have no oil for the trucks that bring us our food?

毒化了最后一丝纯净的空气，没有汽油供卡车来运送食物给我们？

When will we realize money can't be eaten, that it has no value?

我们何时才能意识到毫无价值的钱是不能吃的？

We aren't destroying the planet.We are destroying all life on it.

我们并不是在毁灭地球，而是在毁灭地球上的所有生灵。

Every year thousands of species⁸ go extinct⁹.

每年，成千上万的物种濒临灭绝。

And time is running out before we're next.

很快就将轮到我们。

1 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

2 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

3 stinks   

v.散发出恶臭( stink的第三人称单数 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透

参考例句：

• The whole scheme stinks to high heaven—don't get involved in it. 整件事十分卑鄙龌龊——可别陷了进去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soup stinks of garlic. 这汤有大蒜气味。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 fatten   

v.使肥，变肥

参考例句：

• The new feed can fatten the chicken up quickly enough for market.新饲料能使鸡长得更快，以适应市场需求。
• We keep animals in pens to fatten them.我们把动物关在围栏里把它们养肥。

6 plague   

n.瘟疫，鼠疫，祸患，灾难；v.烦扰，使痛苦

参考例句：

• Plague was then prevailing in that city.当时瘟疫正在该城流行。
• The plague once could wipe out a village.鼠疫曾一度可以夺走整个村庄村民的生命。

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

9 extinct   

adj.灭绝的，不再活跃的，熄灭了的，已废弃的

参考例句：

• All hopes were extinct.所有希望都破灭了。
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。