乔布斯传 第279期:寻找乔安妮和莫娜(3)

 　　He later claimed it was mainly out of curiosity.

　　后来他说这主要是出于好奇心：

　　"I believe in environment more than heredity in determining your traits¹,

　　“我相信环境比遗传对你的影响更大，

　　but still you have to wonder a little about your biological roots," he said.

　　但你还是会对你的血缘有点儿好奇。”

　　He also wanted to reassure² Joanne that what she had done was all right.

　　他还想安慰乔安妮她当初把他送给别人领养是没问题的。

　　"I wanted to meet my biological mother mostly to see if she was okay and to thank her,

　　“我想见我的生母，主要是为了看看她过得好不好，我还要感谢她，

　　because I' m glad I didn't end up as an abortion³. She was twenty-three and she went through a lot to have me."

　　因为我很髙兴我没有被堕胎。她当时23岁，为了把我生下来她承受了很多。”

　　Joanne was overcome with emotion when Jobs arrived at her Los Angeles house.

　　当乔布斯来到她在洛杉矶的家时，乔安妮激动不已。

　　She knew he was famous and rich, but she wasn't exactly sure why.

　　她知道他很出名很富有，但她不太清楚是因为什么。

　　She immediately began to pour out her emotions.

　　她的感情顿时奔涌而出。

　　She had been pressured to sign the papers putting him up for adoption⁴, she said,

　　她说她当时承受了很大压力才在他的领养文件上签字，

　　and did so only when told that he was happy in the house of his new parents.

　　而且她是在被告知他会在新的父母家非常幸福才签字的。

　　She had always missed him and suffered about what she had done.

　　她一直很想念他，并为她所做的事情感到痛苦。

　　She apologized over and over, even as Jobs kept reassuring⁵ her that he understood, and that things had turned out just fine.

　　她反反复复地道歉，即使乔布斯一直安慰她说他能够理解，而且事情的结果还好。

　　Once she calmed down, she told Jobs that he had a full sister, Mona Simpson, who was then an aspiring⁶ novelist in Manhattan.

　　平静下来后，她告诉乔布斯他有个同父同母的亲妹妹，莫娜·辛普森，现在在曼哈顿，是个雄心勃勃的小说家。

　　She had never told Mona that she had a brother, and that day she broke the news, or at least part of it, by telephone.

　　以前她从未告诉过莫娜她有个哥哥，就在那天她打电话公布了这个消息——或至少是一部分信息。

　　"You have a brother, and he's wonderful, and he's famous, and I'm going to bring him to New York so you can meet him," she said.

　　“你有个哥哥，他很棒，很有名，我要带他来纽约见你。”她说。

1 traits   

n.人的个性，显著的特点，特征( trait的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We do not know which behavioural traits are inherited and which acquired. 我们不知道哪些行为特征是遗传的，哪些是后天养成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His generosity is one of his good traits. 慷慨大方是他的好品质之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

3 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

4 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

5 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

6 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句