留学书单：去美国求学之前必读的5本书

 　　Heading Stateside for your own voyage of discovery? Take some inspiration from a couple of these titles.

　　即将去美利坚开启你的探索之旅吗？先来读读下面这几本书获得一点启发吧。

　　1. JACK¹ KEROUAC, ON THE ROAD

　　1. 《在路上》，杰克·凯鲁亚克著

　　Published in 1957, Kerouac’s masterpiece captured the voice of America’s ‘Beat Generation’, an iconoclastic² group of writers that sprung up in the post-war US as a reaction against mainstream³ social values:materialism, capitalist accumulation, passive acceptance of religious and ethical⁴ codes. On the Road describes the whistle-stop travels of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty. The story is enriched by the clarity of Kerouac’s spontaneous prose, yet has resounded⁵ with young readers to this day for its underlying⁶ values of exploration, experimentalism, and the (ultimately fruitless) search for true value in life.

　　凯鲁亚克在1957年出版的这部杰作发出了美国“垮掉的一代”的声音，这一派作家的思想有悖于传统信仰，在二战后的美国迅速崛起，反应了对战后祖国主流价值观，即物质主义、资本积累、对宗教和道德准则的被动接受等的抗议。《在路上》描绘了萨尔（Sal Paradise）与狄安（Dean Moriarty）的美国之行。凯鲁亚克的散文自然真切，也因为故事内在的价值观——探索、尝试、（虽说最后没有成功却）不断寻找生命的真实意义等——一直引起年轻读者的共鸣。

　　留学书单：去美国求学之前必读的5本书

　　2. JOHN STEINBECK, THE GRAPES OF WRATH⁷

　　2. 《愤怒的葡萄》，约翰·史坦贝克著

　　Arguably Nobel Prize-winning American writer John Steinbeck’s greatest work, The Grapes of Wrath follows the fortunes of the Joads, a family of Oklahoman farmers forced to flee their Dust Bowl home during the Great Depression. On the road to California, they encounter hunger, poverty, abandonment, and exploitation, yet also great generosity⁸, sacrifice, maturity⁹, and finally rebirth. Upon publication, the novel’s accessible prose and sensitivity to the plight¹⁰ of America’s labouring poor both resonated with the country’s working classes and aroused the ire of some of Steinbeck’s contemporaries. A true paean¹¹ to the power of the human spirit, it is studied in high school English classrooms to this day.

　　《愤怒的葡萄》可以说是诺贝尔文学奖获得者、美国作家约翰·史坦贝克最出色的长篇小说，故事描写了约德家族的兴衰。20世纪30年代大萧条时期，这个俄克拉荷马州的农家因为其农场位于美国中部的“灰盆”（当时因为气候原因频繁爆发大规模沙尘暴），被迫逃离家园。在走向加州的路上，他们遭遇了饥饿，贫穷，被遗弃和剥削等悲惨经历，同时也见证了同胞的慷慨、牺牲、成熟和最后的重生。小说刚刚出版时，因史坦贝克的文笔朴实感性，体恤民情，引起了美国工人阶级的共鸣，但同时也激起了一些同时代人士的怒火。这部小说歌颂了人文精神的力量，迄今都是美国学生英语课堂里的必学材料。

　　3. ROBERT M. PIRSIG, ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE

　　3. 《禅与摩托车维修艺术》，罗伯特·梅纳德·波西格著

　　Simultaneously¹² a thrilling piece of travel literature and a philosophical¹³ treatise¹⁴, Robert M. Pirsig’s 1974 novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance traces the author’s bike trip from Minnesota to California. Interspersed¹⁵ with vivid sweeps of the American prairies, each chapter also chronicles a series of philosophical discussions as a father recovering from electroconvulsive therapy gradually tries to reconcile his own worldviews with those of the people around him and liberation from a materialist¹⁶ spiritual vacuum. Drawing on both the Western and Eastern philosophical canon, this challenging read ultimately serves as a platform for Pirsig to introduce his own Metaphysics of Quality.

　　这是一部很有意思的旅游文学作品，也可以被看作一篇哲学论文。波西格74年出版的长篇小说《禅与摩托车维修艺术》描绘了作者从美国明尼苏达州到加州的一段骑行之旅。除了对北美莽莽大草原的生动描述，每一章里，波西格还针对一系列哲理性话题进行了探讨。随着作者的讨论，主人公——一位从电痉挛治疗中逐渐恢复的父亲，不断尝试协调自己和周围人的世界观，并试图摆脱物质文化带给他的空虚感。波西格借用东西方的哲学论点，阐述了自己的“质量形而上学论”，虽然要看懂相当不易，一旦读完却绝对会受益匪浅。

　　4. ALICE WALKER, THE COLOR PURPLE

　　4. 《紫色姐妹花》，爱丽丝·沃克著

　　Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epistolary novel The Color Purple won huge acclaim¹⁷ for its sensitive exploration of the lives of African-American women in America’s Deep South during the 1930s. Set in rural Georgia, Celie, the novel’s protagonist¹⁸, suffers immense abuse and victimisation as a black girl growing up in a racially segregated¹⁹ community. Later, her meeting with Shug Avery, a glitzy singer and magic-maker, helps Celie push back against the repressive society around her and take charge of her own destiny.

　　由爱丽丝·沃克所著，曾获普利策文学奖的书信体小说《紫色姐妹花》，因其对30年代居住于美国南方腹地的非裔美国女性生活的感性探讨，备受称赞。故事发生于乔治亚州的乡村地区，当时因种族隔离制度，小说的黑人女主角西丽（Celie）在成长过程中遭受了大量的虐待和迫害。后来，她认识了一位耀眼的歌手兼魔术师阿弗利（Shug Avery），由此开始抵抗这个压抑的社会并主动掌握自己的命运。

　　5. PHILIP K. DICK, THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE

　　5. 《高堡奇人》，菲利普·迪克著

　　A novel of diffuse²⁰ influences and phenomenal imaginative power, Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle challenged the foundations of American exceptionalism. Dick postulates²¹ an alternate ending to the Second World War, one which witnessed the defeat of the Allies, the conquest of the American continent by the Japanese Empire and Nazi²² Germany, and the subsequent Cold War ‘fought’ between the two new Axis²³ Powers. Suffused²⁴ with East Asian philosophy, and featuring passages written in stunning²⁵ Japanese-English creole, the book explores the veracity²⁶ of the reality we live in, how we negotiate ‘true’ or ‘fake’ identities in the face of persecution²⁷, and how much true ‘value’ can be derived²⁸ from any sense of national pride.

　　这本小说的灵感集众家之长，作家的想象力也令人赞叹。《高堡奇人》挑战了“美国例外主义”的基本原则。迪克在书中假设二战有了另外一种结局，反法西斯同盟被打败，全北美洲都被日本帝国和纳粹德国所征服，接下来这两大轴心国之间便开始“冷战”。整本书充满了东亚哲学原理，还包含了迪克自编的令人惊叹的“日英混合语”。作者通过创造这个平行世界，探讨了现实世界的真实性，人们面对迫害表达个性的方式，以及从民族自豪感中到底能获得多少真实“价值”。

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 iconoclastic   

adj.偶像破坏的，打破旧习的

参考例句：

• His iconoclastic tendencies can get him into trouble. 他与传统信仰相悖的思想倾向可能会给他带来麻烦。 来自辞典例句
• The film is an iconoclastic allegory. 电影是一个关于破坏的寓言。 来自互联网

3 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

4 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

5 resounded   

v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音

参考例句：

• Laughter resounded through the house. 笑声在屋里回荡。
• The echo resounded back to us. 回声传回到我们的耳中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

7 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

8 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

9 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

10 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

11 paean   

n.赞美歌，欢乐歌

参考例句：

• She struck up the first paean on the grand piano.她开始在那架大钢琴上演奏起第一首颂歌。
• The novel is a paean to the end of empire.该小说奏响了一个帝国落寞的赞歌。

12 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

13 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

14 treatise   

n.专著；(专题)论文

参考例句：

• The doctor wrote a treatise on alcoholism.那位医生写了一篇关于酗酒问题的论文。
• This is not a treatise on statistical theory.这不是一篇有关统计理论的论文。

15 interspersed   

adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The grass was interspersed with beds of flowers. 草地上点缀着许多花坛。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 materialist   

n. 唯物主义者

参考例句：

• Promote materialist dialectics and oppose metaphysics and scholasticism. 要提倡唯物辩证法，反对形而上学和烦琐哲学。
• Whoever denies this is not a materialist. 谁要是否定这一点，就不是一个唯物主义者。

17 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。

18 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

19 segregated   

分开的； 被隔离的

参考例句：

• a culture in which women are segregated from men 妇女受到隔离歧视的文化
• The doctor segregated the child sick with scarlet fever. 大夫把患猩红热的孩子隔离起来。

20 diffuse   

v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的

参考例句：

• Direct light is better for reading than diffuse light.直射光比漫射光更有利于阅读。
• His talk was so diffuse that I missed his point.他的谈话漫无边际，我抓不住他的要点。

21 postulates   

v.假定，假设( postulate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They proclaimed to be eternal postulates of reason and justice. 他们宣称这些原则是理性和正义的永恒的要求。 来自辞典例句
• The school building programme postulates an increase in educational investment. 修建校舍的计画是在增加教育经费的前提下拟定的。 来自辞典例句

22 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

23 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

24 suffused   

v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her face was suffused with colour. 她满脸通红。
• Her eyes were suffused with warm, excited tears. 她激动地热泪盈眶。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

25 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

26 veracity   

n.诚实

参考例句：

• I can testify to this man's veracity and good character.我可以作证，此人诚实可靠品德良好。
• There is no reason to doubt the veracity of the evidence.没有理由怀疑证据的真实性。

27 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

28 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》