偶像励志英语演讲21:失败的好处和想象的重要性(3)

 　　I know the irony¹ strikes like with the force of a cartoon anvil² now, but...

　　我现在明白了反讽就像用卡通铁砧去打击你，但……

　　So they had hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English literature. A compromise was reaced that in retrospect³ satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents' car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled⁴ off down the Classics corridor.

　　他们希望我取得高职学位，而我却想攻读英国文学。最后，我和父母达成了妥协，我改学现代语言，现在回想起来，当时双方都不怎么满意。于是，父母的车刚一开远，我就丢下德语，去学习古典文学。

　　I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all the subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology⁵ when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.

　　我不记得告诉过父母自己在学习古典文学，他们可能是在我毕业典礼那一天才知道的。我想，他们也许认为，在全世界的所有专业中，不会有比研究希腊神话更没用的专业了，那甚至无法换来一间独立宽敞的卫生间。

　　I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis⁶, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering⁷ you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibily lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticize my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails⁸ fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticized only by fools.

　　在这里我想说明一点：我不会因为父母的观点而怪他们。不要因为父母给你的人生路指错了方向就无休止地埋怨他们。当你到一定年龄，可以自己把握人生时，就应该自己承担责任。再者，父母这样做是希望我不会过穷日子，所以我不能责怪他们。他们经历了贫穷，我后来也一度很穷，所以我很理解他们，因为贫穷并不是一种高贵的经历。贫穷会让人感觉恐惧、有压力，有时甚至让人感觉沮丧。贫穷意味着说不尽的羞辱和艰辛。靠自己的努力摆脱贫穷值得自豪，只有傻瓜才会将贫穷浪漫化。

　　重点讲解：

　　1. in retrospect

　　回顾；回想；

　　eg. In retrospect, I wish that I had thought about alternative courses of action.

　　回想起来，我真希望自己当时考虑过其他做法。

　　eg. It was a very strange feeling in retrospect — I was frightened, but excited at the same time.

　　回想起来那是一种非常奇怪的感觉——我当时既害怕又兴奋。

　　2. remember doing sth.

　　记得做过某事；

　　eg. I definitely remember sending the letter.

　　我记得这封信肯定发出去了。

　　eg. I remember having heard you speak on that subject.

　　我记得曾听你谈论过那个题目。

　　3. when it comes to

　　谈到；涉及；

　　eg. Most of us know we should cut down on fat. But knowing such things isn't much help when it comes to shopping and eating.

　　我们大多数人都知道应该减少脂肪的摄入量。但是在购物和吃东西的时候，这些常识就丢到一边去了。

　　eg. However, when it comes down to somebody that they know, they have a different feeling.

　　然而，涉及他们认识的人，他们的感觉就不同了。

　　4. in parenthesis

　　插一句；

　　eg. In parenthesis, I'd say that there were two aspects to writing you must never lose sight of.

　　插一句，关于写作，我认为有两个方面你绝不能忽视。

　　5. blame sb./sth. for sth.

　　因某事归咎于/责怪/怪罪某人某事；

　　eg. She blamed him for the failure of their marriage.

　　她把婚姻的触礁归咎於他。

　　eg. They blamed the rise in oil prices for the big increase in inflation.

　　他们把通货膨胀大幅度增长归咎于石油价格的上涨。

　　6. what is more

　　更有甚者；更为重要的是；

　　eg. She learns quickly, and what's more, she remembers what she has learnt.

　　她学得很快，而且所学的全都记得。

　　eg. You should remember it, and what's more, you should get it right.

　　你应该记住它，更重要的是，应该正确理解它。

1 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

2 anvil   

n.铁钻

参考例句：

• The blacksmith shaped a horseshoe on his anvil.铁匠在他的铁砧上打出一个马蹄形。
• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly.订书机上的铁砧安装错位。

3 retrospect   

n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯

参考例句：

• One's school life seems happier in retrospect than in reality.学校生活回忆起来显得比实际上要快乐。
• In retrospect,it's easy to see why we were wrong.回顾过去就很容易明白我们的错处了。

4 scuttled   

v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走

参考例句：

• She scuttled off when she heard the sound of his voice. 听到他的说话声，她赶紧跑开了。
• The thief scuttled off when he saw the policeman. 小偷看见警察来了便急忙跑掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

6 parenthesis   

n.圆括号，插入语，插曲，间歇，停歇

参考例句：

• There is no space between the function name and the parenthesis.函数名与括号之间没有空格。
• In this expression,we do not need a multiplication sign or parenthesis.这个表达式中，我们不需要乘号或括号。

7 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

8 entails   

使…成为必要( entail的第三人称单数 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需

参考例句：

• The job entails a lot of hard work. 这工作需要十分艰苦的努力。
• This job entails a lot of hard work. 这项工作需要十分努力。