英语专业晨读美文-人生篇 15 The Can Man

[00:03.83]The Can Man
[00:05.83]I work in a major U.S. factory.
[00:08.75]We make refrigerators.
[00:10.60]Four thousand five hundred new refrigerators every day.
[00:13.91]It is a union shop and it's gradually shrinking
[00:17.10]as many blue collar factories seem to be but
[00:20.08]that is not what this story is about.
[00:22.09]This story is about one man who works in this huge factory.
[00:25.37]I've seen him around for years but never paid much attention.
[00:29.14]He always seemed just a little odd.
[00:31.53]A little short. A little... scruffy¹.
[00:34.24]Always the same old red ball cap.
[00:36.56]And always a garbage bag in one hand.
[00:38.40]He walks around this big old factory on his breaks
[00:41.47]and his lunch time collecting aluminum² cans.
[00:43.88]Day after day, month after month on hot days and cold days.
[00:48.32]Over the years I've followed him
[00:50.77]as he walked to his old pickup³ truck on the coldest day
[00:53.09] with snow blowing and everyone with their collars
[00:55.29]turned up and their hands in their pockets.
[00:56.95]He would be there with a 40 gallon garbage bag
[01:00.49]full of aluminum cans. He'd toss it into the back of his truck
[01:04.75]and jump in and I'd reach my car and jump in
[01:07.31]and we'd all race to the exit of this big half empty parking lot.
[01:10.61]Today I was working on a broken machine in this factory
[01:13.92]and the can man came by with his bag picking up cans.
[01:17.74]Our manager was standing⁴ there because the machine
[01:20.63]I was working on had been “down” for a couple of hours
[01:24.12]and he was getting worried
[01:25.45]that we might run out out of the parts for one of the assembly lines.
[01:28.80]I was finishing and I stood up just as
[01:31.06]the manager asked the can man what he did with all those cans.
[01:34.39]I'd never thought to ask him that question
[01:37.00]because I always just assumed he cashed them
[01:39.57]in at the recycle center.
[01:41.32]The can man said:“I give them to my neighbor.
[01:44.34]He's epileptic and can't hold a job.”
[01:47.61]I blurted⁵ out:“your mean you've been collecting all those cans
[01:51.40]for all these years to give to your neighbor?”
[01:53.83]“It ain't much,” he said, “but I give them to him.
[01:56.27]He can't hold a job, he has too many seizures⁶.”
[01:59.88]Right then and there in that factory
[02:01.82]I found myself looking smack⁷ at the face of him.
[02:04.70]He was wearing a T-shirt and an old red ball cap
[02:08.73]and he had a garbage bag full of aluminum cans in his hand!
[02:11.89]I don't even know his name,
[02:13.98]but I thank him for the lesson he's taught me.
 

1 scruffy   

adj.肮脏的，不洁的

参考例句：

• Despite her scruffy clothes,there was an air of sophistication about her.尽管她衣衫褴褛，但神态老练世故。
• His scruffy appearance does not reflect his character.他邋遢的外表并不反映他的性格。

2 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

3 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 blurted   

v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止，她已脱口而出。
• He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相，说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

7 smack   

vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍

参考例句：

• She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。
• I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。