英语专业晨读美文-人生篇 3 Dancing All the Dances

[00:01.83]Dancing All the Dances As Long As I Can

[00:06.86]I believe in dancing.
[00:10.52]I believe it is in my nature to dance by virtue¹ of the beat of my heart,
[00:15.11]the pulse of my blood and the music in my mind. So I dance daily.
[00:21.02]The seldom-used dining room of my house is now an often-used ballroom²
[00:25.72]—an open space with a hardwood floor, stereo, and a disco ball.
[00:30.75]The CD-changer has six discs at the ready:
[00:33.81]waltz, swing, country, rock-and-roll, salsa, and tango.
[00:39.17]Each morning when I walk through the house on the way to make coffee,
[00:42.89] I turn on the music, hit the "shuffle³" button, and it's Dance Time!
[00:47.70]I dance alone to whatever is playing.
[00:50.44] It's a form of existential aerobics⁴, a moving meditation⁵.
[00:54.81]Tango is a recent enthusiasm. It's a complex and difficult dance,
[00:59.62] so I'm up to three lessons a week, three nights out dancing,
[01:03.34]and I'm off to Buenos Aires for three months of immersion⁶ in tango culture.
[01:07.83]The first time I went tango dancing I was too intimidated⁷ to get out on the floor.
[01:12.86]I remembered another time I had stayed on the sidelines,
[01:16.50] when the dancing began after a village wedding on the Greek island of Crete.
[01:20.44] The fancy footwork confused me.
[01:22.86]"Don't make a fool of yourself," I thought. "Just watch."
[01:27.02]Reading my mind, an older woman dropped out of the dance,
[01:30.74]sat down beside me, and said,
[01:32.93] "If you join the dancing, you will feel foolish.
[01:35.66] If you do not, you will also feel foolish. So, why not dance?"
[01:40.58]And, she said she had a secret for me.
[01:43.43]She whispered, "If you do not dance, we will know you are a fool.
[01:47.80] But if you dance, we will think well of you for trying."
[01:51.19]Recalling her wise words, I took up the challenge of tango.
[01:55.89]A friend asked me if my tango-mania wasn't a little ambitious.
[02:00.05] "Tango? At your age?  You must be out of your mind!"
[02:04.10]On the contrary: It's a deeply pondered decision.
[02:07.93]My passion for tango disguises a fearfulness.
[02:11.64] I fear the shrinking of life that goes with aging.
[02:15.03] I fear the boredom⁸ that comes with not learning and not taking chances.
[02:19.52]I fear the dying that goes on inside you
[02:22.80]when you leave the game of life to wait in the final checkout⁹ line.
[02:26.74]I seek the sharp, scary pleasure that comes from beginning something new—
[02:31.87]that calls on all my resources and challenges my mind,
[02:35.60] my body, and my spirit, all at once.
[02:38.88]My goal now is to dance all the dances as long as I can,
[02:42.70] and then to sit down contented¹⁰ after the last elegant tango some sweet night
[02:47.84]and pass on because there wasn't another dance left in me.
[02:51.23]So, when people say, "Tango? At your age? Have lost your mind?"
[02:56.48]I answer, "No, and I don't intend to."
 

1 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

2 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

3 shuffle   

n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走

参考例句：

• I wish you'd remember to shuffle before you deal.我希望在你发牌前记得洗牌。
• Don't shuffle your feet along.别拖着脚步走。

4 aerobics   

n.健身操，健美操，韵律操

参考例句：

• Doing aerobics is a good way to improve one's health.做有氧健身操是改善健康状况的一个好方法。
• Aren't you going to the aerobics class this morning?今天上午你不是去上有氧运动课吗？

5 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

6 immersion   

n.沉浸；专心

参考例句：

• The dirt on the bottom of the bath didn't encourage total immersion.浴缸底有污垢，不宜全身浸泡于其中。
• The wood had become swollen from prolonged immersion.因长时间浸泡，木头发胀了。

7 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

9 checkout   

n.（超市等）收银台，付款处

参考例句：

• Could you pay at the checkout.你能在结帐处付款吗。
• A man was wheeling his shopping trolley to the checkout.一个男人正推着购物车向付款台走去。

10 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。