双语：东北一学生的作文登上了《纽约时报》

 　　《纽约时报》最近举办了一项征文活动，邀请申请美国大学课程、并成功拿到Offer的中国学生分享他们的申请文书。本篇文书来自金延峰，目前就读于Middlebury College(明德学院：美国顶级文理学院)一年级，修读计算机科学与心理学双学位。金延峰来自辽宁沈阳，高中就读于东北育才中学，下文由他本人翻译为中文。

　　I Observe the World Through Science and Arts科学和人文让我看到世界的美

　　The aircraft turbulence¹ stops. As the plane moves above thegrim clouds, a bright beam of sunlight slips through the window. Outside the window is a brandnew world: the once suffocating² sky has opened. The sun, nature’s omnipotent³ artist, reluctantlybids farewell, turning the azure⁴ into tangerine⁵. Stormy clouds boil underneath⁶, with the size of aboundless ocean and the fury of the Yellow River…机身的颠簸停止了。当飞机越过云层，一束阳光从窗户中溜了进来。放眼望去，外面仿佛一个崭新的世界：原本压抑的天空打开了。落日就像大自然全能的艺术家，不情愿地向人们说着再见，利用最后一丝余晖将那抹天蓝染成了橘红色。脚下，乌云在沸腾，阔如大海，怒似黄河……"Hey Tony, what are you doing?" My friend asks.

　　“哎，你干什么呢?”我的朋友问我。

　　"The sky... it's like God’s masterpiece. How can it be so beautiful?" I mumble⁷ as my soul returns toreality.

　　“这天空，就像上天的杰作。怎么会这么美……”我小声嘟囔着，还沉浸在窗外的美景之中。

　　"Come on. You’re already in high school. Leave the sky for kids to marvel⁸ at.

　　“拜托，你已经是高中生了。这种小孩子的事儿你也做。”

　　Embarrassed, I try to defend myself, but a voice of doubt stifles⁹ my words: What is the point ofstaring outside?

　　我有些尴尬，试图为自己辩护，却因为自己心中的质疑开不了口。是啊，盯着窗外看到底有什么用呢?

　　I have always been attracted to nature's beauty. It makes me think. I still remember my childhoodhobby of looking at the night sky and the star lights that spent years, or even centuries, to arriveat our planet. Those same lights enabled me to travel through time and visualize¹⁰ my dream ofbeing a scientist, artist and innovator¹¹:

　　我总是被大自然的美所吸引。它的美让我思考。我还记得小时候在夜空下看星星的爱好。望着那来自几千年前的点点星光，我仿佛穿越了时空，看到了我想成为一名科学家、艺术家和创新者的梦想:

　　As a luminescent star trail poured into my eyes, I found myself looking through the eyes ofGalileo, awed¹² by the infinite opportunities of the universe. Tracing the outline of a quartet ofcelestial lights, I saw Pachelbel sitting high, appreciating his greatest masterpiece --- Canon in D.Suddenly, a bright comet raced past, leading me into a small garage, where Steve Jobs changedthe world by turning pure science into a real work of art.

　　当一缕银色的星光流入眼中，我仿佛看见伽利略当年所看到的天空，同他一样感受到了对宇宙无限可能的敬畏。当那一点点光芒融汇在一起，我仿佛看见巴哈贝尔端坐于天际，欣赏着他最伟大的杰作——D调卡农。突然，一颗彗星划过天空，带我进入了那个实现梦想的车库。就在那里，乔布斯将科学与艺术完美地融合在了一起。

　　Human history recorded in those ancient lights flashed before my eyes, unfolding, dissolving. Itseemed to me that life was both transient and everlasting¹³. Just as the lights of dead stars were stilldecorating the night sky above us, so the accomplishments¹⁴ of those ephemeral lives were stillaffecting the way we lived every day. As a child, I naively¹⁵ hoped that in the future, when peoplelook up at the sky, they would also see my story as an innovator standing¹⁶ at the crossroad ofscience and arts. That is still my dream.

　　这些古老的光记录着人类的历史，如电影般在我眼前展开，又逝去。生命对我来说仿佛既短暂，又永恒。那些星星可能已经死去，但它们的光芒仍然装饰着这片天空，就好像那些短暂的生命仍因他们的成就而影响着我们生活的方方面面。小时候，我很天真地希望，有一天，当人们抬起头时，他们也会读到我的故事，在那颗明星中看到一名站在科学与人文艺术交汇处的创新者。这仍是我的梦想。

　　Nature gives me two eyes. Through one eye, I observe the world of science; through the othereye, I appreciate the world of arts. On seeing the perfect shape of snowflakes melting in my hand,I run home to search for the formation of snow crystals. Noticing the gradual change in the colorof the dusk sky, I begin to delve¹⁷ deeper into the scattering¹⁸ of lights. The sun’s daily movementsinspire me to think about the rise and fall of empires and lives. The tender light of the moon thathas always guarded human civilization promotes my curiosity about our ancestors’ philosophies ofhuman existence. Viewing nature through the lens of science and arts, I truly enjoy the beauty ofthis three-dimensional world.

　　上天赋予了我两只眼睛。我用一只来观察科学的世界，另一只来欣赏人文艺术的美。当看到那完美的六边形雪花在我手中融化时，我会立刻跑回家研究冰晶的形成。观察到黄昏时天空渐变的颜色，我会更深入地去探索光的散射。每天的日出日落让我联想到帝国的兴衰和人生的起起落落。那一直守护着人类文化的柔和的月光激励我去探索古代哲学家对于人类存在的思考。通过科学和人文艺术这两种角度来看待自然，我领略到了这个三维世界真正的美。

　　The plane turns right and my eyes regain¹⁹ focus on the sky outside. Darkness falls. Clouds dissolve.

　　随着飞机右转，我的眼神重新聚焦在窗外。夜幕开始降临，乌云已经散去。

　　Below the overarching sky, the planet of human lives rotates, now illuminated²⁰ by clusters of man-made sparks. In the distant horizon where nature and human civilization meet, the boundarybetween science and arts vanishes.

　　苍穹之下，这颗承载着几十亿生命的行星在转动。此时，一簇簇人造的火花已将它点亮。在那遥远的天际，自然与人类文明相遇，而科学与人文艺术间的界限也变得模糊。

 

1 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

2 suffocating   

a.使人窒息的

参考例句：

• After a few weeks with her parents, she felt she was suffocating.和父母呆了几个星期后，她感到自己毫无自由。
• That's better. I was suffocating in that cell of a room.这样好些了，我刚才在那个小房间里快闷死了。

3 omnipotent   

adj.全能的，万能的

参考例句：

• When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science.我们达到万能以后就不需要科学了。
• Money is not omnipotent,but we can't survive without money.金钱不是万能的，但是没有金钱我们却无法生存。

4 azure   

adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的

参考例句：

• His eyes are azure.他的眼睛是天蓝色的。
• The sun shone out of a clear azure sky.清朗蔚蓝的天空中阳光明媚。

5 tangerine   

n.橘子，橘子树

参考例句：

• Hand me of a the ripest tangerine please.请递给我一个最熟的橘子。
• These tangerine are transported here by air from Fuzhou.这些福橘是刚刚从福州空运过来的。

6 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

7 mumble   

n./v.喃喃而语，咕哝

参考例句：

• Her grandmother mumbled in her sleep.她祖母含混不清地说着梦话。
• He could hear the low mumble of Navarro's voice.他能听到纳瓦罗在小声咕哝。

8 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

9 stifles   

（使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的第三人称单数 )； 镇压，遏制

参考例句：

• This stifles the development of the financial sector. 这就遏制了金融部门的发展。
• The fruits of such a system are a glittering consumer society which stifles creativity and individuality. 这种制度的结果就是一个压制创造性和个性的闪光的消费者社会。

10 visualize   

vt.使看得见，使具体化，想象，设想

参考例句：

• I remember meeting the man before but I can't visualize him.我记得以前见过那个人，但他的样子我想不起来了。
• She couldn't visualize flying through space.她无法想像在太空中飞行的景象。

11 innovator   

n.改革者；创新者

参考例句：

• The young technical innovator didn't lose heart though the new system was not yet brought into a workable condition. 尽管这种新方法尚未达到切实可行的状况，这位青年技术革新者也没有泄气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Caesar planned vast projects and emerged as a great innovator. 恺撒制定了庞大的革新计划。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

12 awed   

adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声，人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

14 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

15 naively   

adv. 天真地

参考例句：

• They naively assume things can only get better. 他们天真地以为情况只会变好。
• In short, Knox's proposal was ill conceived and naively made. 总而言之，诺克斯的建议考虑不周，显示幼稚。

16 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。

17 delve   

v.深入探究，钻研

参考例句：

• We should not delve too deeply into this painful matter.我们不应该过分深究这件痛苦的事。
• We need to delve more deeply into these questions.这些是我们想进一步了解的。

18 scattering   

n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散

参考例句：

• The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

20 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市