精美英文欣赏:从民族荣誉看奥运

Two weeks ago while at a soccer match in Houston, the woman beside me said she was in London last year and "the Olympics will be a mess", or at least that was a polite paraphrase¹. It had been clear from my pink freckled² skin and my lack of enthusiasm for using the word "awesome⁴" that I was from elsewhere. Asking me if I was a Brit, the woman then shared her expectation of the British ability to deliver . I muttered quietly, and it has to be said not with great confidence, that it will be good. I wish that I had been beside my American friend watching television on Friday. With virtually the whole nation, I was amazed, amused and filled with awe³ at British creativity and achievement. My own whingeing about tickets and our failings as a nation were simply superseded⁵ by the delight of history, spectacle and a parachuting monarch⁶. I was proud to be British. Yet pride can be a difficult thing.

早上好。两周前，在休斯敦的一场足球赛上，我旁边一位女士说，她去年到过伦敦，“伦敦奥运会将是一塌糊涂”，或者可以这样委婉地解释。从我长有雀斑的粉色肤色和很少用“酷毙了”这个词，可以明确判断我非英国人。那女士问了我是否是英国人，然后和我分享了她对英国递送能力的期许。我喃喃自语，这不得不说缺少强大信心，但是会好的。我真希望周五那天，和我的美国朋友一起看的电视。事实上，我对英国整个民族的创造力和成就，感到惊奇、愉悦和敬畏。我对无门票的牢骚和对失败国家的抱怨，立刻被厚重的历史、精彩绝伦的表演和跳伞女王带来的愉悦代替。我身为英国人，很骄傲。然而骄傲会是个艰难事。

The early church theologian, St Augustine, said that it was "pride that changed angels into devils. It is humility⁷ that makes men as angels". Certain types of pride can lead to unhealthy nationalistic fervor⁸, arrogance⁹ and even aggression¹⁰. But pride is a complex thing, often expressing itself differently in different cultures and genders¹¹. Jane Austin famously distinguished¹² between pride and vanity, suggesting, "Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity, to what we would have others think of us". It seems to me that pride is healthy if woven with modesty¹³, self deprecating humour and an honesty that sometimes we don't get it right. Perhaps most importantly it is the attitude that does not grasp selfishly at power and status but shares its gifts with all.

早期的基督教神学家奥古斯丁曾说过，“骄傲使天使堕落为恶魔，谦虚使凡人成为天使”。某些骄傲会引起危险的民族主义狂热、傲慢自大、甚至挑衅攻击。然而骄傲很复杂，不同的文化，不同的性别对其表述不一。简?奥斯汀对骄傲和虚荣有过极好地区分，她说，”骄傲更多的是我们对自己的评价；虚荣，则是期望别人对自己的评价“。在我看来，如果骄傲和谦虚、自嘲、诚实并存，那么骄傲是可取的，但有时我们很难做到。也许最重要的是态度，有那种无私放弃权利和地位，与众人分享自己天赋的态度。

At the heart of the opening ceremony, pride was earthed by the message that this is for everyone, symbolised supremely¹⁴ by the stepping aside of the great Olympians to allow young people to light the flame. This comes not from vanity but confidence. Former President Jimmy Carter picked up on this confidence when he commented, "A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping¹⁵ hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster¹⁶ and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity." So in all that is to come I want to take pride in my nation, my family, others and even myself in a way that names and celebrates that which is good, while still refusing to use the word awesome.

在开幕式间，骄傲被这一切属于大家这一信息掩埋，年轻人取代伟大的奥运会选手点亮奥运圣火，便是最高的象征。这不是虚荣，而是自信。美国前总统吉米?卡特评论这一现象时，他重拾这种信心，他说，”一个强大的国家，犹如一个强大的人，能温文尔雅、坚定不移、深思熟虑、自我克制和乐于助人。一个软弱的国家，犹如一个软弱的人，必须咆哮怒嚎、自我吹嘘、轻率鲁莽和做些其它显示出不安的事情”。因此，我对自己国家感到骄傲，对自己家庭感到骄傲，对他人感到骄傲，甚至对自己命名和庆祝美好事物的方式感到骄傲，尽管仍旧拒绝使用“酷毙了”这个词。

1 paraphrase   

vt.将…释义，改写；n.释义，意义

参考例句：

• You may read the prose paraphrase of this poem.你可以看一下这首诗的散文释义。
• Paraphrase the following sentences or parts of sentences using your own words.用你自己的话解释下面的句子或句子的一部分。

2 freckled   

adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her face was freckled all over. 她的脸长满雀斑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Her freckled skin glowed with health again. 她长有雀斑的皮肤又泛出了健康的红光。 来自辞典例句

3 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

4 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

5 superseded   

[医]被代替的，废弃的

参考例句：

• The theory has been superseded by more recent research. 这一理论已为新近的研究所取代。
• The use of machinery has superseded manual labour. 机器的使用已经取代了手工劳动。

6 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

7 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

8 fervor   

n.热诚；热心；炽热

参考例句：

• They were concerned only with their own religious fervor.他们只关心自己的宗教热诚。
• The speech aroused nationalist fervor.这个演讲喚起了民族主义热情。

9 arrogance   

n.傲慢，自大

参考例句：

• His arrogance comes out in every speech he makes.他每次讲话都表现得骄傲自大。
• Arrogance arrested his progress.骄傲阻碍了他的进步。

10 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

11 genders   

n.性某些语言的（阳性、阴性和中性，不同的性有不同的词尾等）( gender的名词复数 )；性别；某些语言的（名词、代词和形容词）性的区分

参考例句：

• There are three genders in German: masculine, feminine and neuter. 德语中有叁性：阳性、阴性和中性。 来自辞典例句
• Japan was fourth among the genders of foreign students. 日本在二十个留美学生输送地中列第四位。 来自互联网

12 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

13 modesty   

n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素

参考例句：

• Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。
• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。

14 supremely   

adv.无上地，崇高地

参考例句：

• They managed it all supremely well. 这件事他们干得极其出色。
• I consider a supremely beautiful gesture. 我觉得这是非常优雅的姿态。

15 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

16 bluster   

v.猛刮；怒冲冲的说；n.吓唬，怒号；狂风声

参考例句：

• We could hear the bluster of the wind and rain.我们能听到狂风暴雨的吹打声。
• He was inclined to bluster at first,but he soon dropped.起初他老爱吵闹一阵，可是不久就不做声了。