PBS高端访谈:社群的力量

JUDY WOODRUFF: We close now with a look at some good news. It comes from Roger Rosenblatt. He was in years past a longtime essayist for the NewsHour. And, tonight, he offers his Humble¹ Opinion on how a community can come together for a common cause.

ROGER ROSENBLATT, Writer: Amid the usual, the too usual, the wanton shootings, the terrorist attacks, the racist² politicians, the bullying³ of women, the predators⁴, in the middle of all that, there is news of this. In Newton, Massachusetts, a neighborhood rallies round a 2-year-old deaf girl. Feeling deserted⁵ and alone, she cannot communicate with the world around her. So the world around her hires a teacher and learns sign language. Now, every morning, the people on her street speak in signs, and greet their little neighbor, who laughs and calls them friend. The shock of tenderness out of the blue, the shock of human tenderness, no less amazing than the stories of death, destruction, savagery⁶ and crime. But why are we surprised at our surprise? Have we grown so accustomed to think the worst of experience constitutes our lives, that evidence of the best of experience is unbelievable, out of the question? I think we are too passive to the news. The news is simply what is happening. We, too, can be what is happening. These are our lives. Ought we not to attempt to control them? Ought we not to assert and discover those moments of moral satisfaction by which we know life, too? It would be romantically unrealistic to regard the terrors and dark caves of the world as an aberration⁷. We know too much. We have seen too much. But we can recognize the thrilling beauty of the world too, when we see it, and cherish it, and celebrate it, and spend time with it. Tenderness need not be shocking. Good works happen all the time. And they are not at all difficult to understand. Here's a story: A little deaf girl in Newton, Massachusetts, lives in a saddening silence, and then she doesn't. Her neighbors change their lives to be her friend.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Lovely. And welcome back to the NewsHour, Roger Rosenblatt.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：节目接近尾声，我们再听一则好消息，主角是罗杰·罗森布拉特。多年来，他一直是《新闻一小时》的评论家。今晚，他带来自己关于社群为共同事业而努力的分享。

罗杰·罗森布拉特，作家：肆意枪杀、恐怖袭击、种族主义政治家、欺侮女性、食物链低端被压迫，这些现象时有发生。但我要分享的是这样一则消息：在马萨诸塞州的牛顿，有一个地方为一名2岁的聋人女孩而团结一致。这名女孩感到自己被抛弃，形单影只，她无法与周围的世界交流。因此，她周围的人雇佣了一名老师，以学习手语。如今，每天早上，街上的人们都用手语与她讲话，向她问好。大家都笑着说她是自己的朋友。这里罕见的人性之暖让人震惊，这种震惊一点都不亚于死亡、毁灭、野蛮和犯罪消息给人带来的震惊。不过，我们为什么要对意料外的事情感到吃惊呢？我们长大的经历为何会让我们习惯往坏想，导致好的经历也让人根本无法相信呢？我认为，是因为我们对新闻太过消极了，新闻只是反映实事而已。我们自己也可能成为新闻中的要素。这就是生活。我们不应该试图控制这一切吗？我们不应该去发现展现这些道德正确的时刻吗？毕竟我们对生活的美好感受都是从这里出发的呀。将世界上黑暗恐怖的元素视为偏离正轨是不符合实际的。因为我们知道的太多，也看到了太多。但我们也要承认世界上存在着惊人的美，当我们看见的时候，会心怀珍惜，会想庆祝并沉浸于其中。温暖不需要成为惊人的一幕，因为好的事情也一直在发生。而且并不难理解。比如，那个马萨诸塞州牛顿市本来悲伤地生活在安静中，却得到周围人温暖的聋人小女孩。她的邻居们也因为成为她的朋友而改变了生活。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：很棒的分享。欢迎您常来我们节目，罗杰·罗森布拉特先生。

1 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

2 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

3 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

6 savagery   

n.野性

参考例句：

• The police were shocked by the savagery of the attacks.警察对这些惨无人道的袭击感到震惊。
• They threw away their advantage by their savagery to the black population.他们因为野蛮对待黑人居民而丧失了自己的有利地位。

7 aberration   

n.离开正路，脱离常规，色差

参考例句：

• The removal of the chromatic aberration is then of primary importance.这时消除色差具有头等重要性。
• Owing to a strange mental aberration he forgot his own name.由于一种莫名的精神错乱，他把自己的名字忘了。