国家地理:为什么旅行是一项基本的人类活动(1)

I've been putting my passport to good use lately. I use it as a coaster and to level wobbly table legs. It makes an excellent cat toy.

最近我善加利用了我的护照。我把它用来当杯垫，垫在高低不一的桌脚下。给猫咪玩也很棒。

Welcome to the pandemic of disappointments. Canceled trips, or ones never planned lest they be canceled. Family reunions, study-abroad years, lazy beach vacations. Poof. Gone. Obliterated¹ by a tiny virus.

欢迎来到“失望大流行”。取消的旅行，或唯恐被取消而直接打消的旅行念头。家族聚会、海外留学、慵懒的海滩假期。噗，没了。因为一个小小的病毒而荡然无存。

Only a third of Americans say they have traveled overnight for leisure since March, and only slightly more, 38 percent, say they are likely to do so by the end of the year, according to one report. Only a quarter of us plan on leaving home for Thanksgiving, typically the busiest travel time. The numbers paint a grim picture of our stilled lives.

一份报告显示，自3月份以来，只有三分之一的美国人表示他们有过为休闲而通宵旅行的经历，只有38%的人表示他们可能会在年底前这么做。只有四分之一的美国人计划在感恩节离开家，这通常是最繁忙的旅行时间。这些数字描绘了我们死气沉沉的生活。

It is not natural for us to be this sedentary. Travel is in our genes². For most of the time our species has existed, "we've lived as nomadic³ hunter-gatherers moving about in small bands of 150 or fewer people," writes Christopher Ryan in Civilized⁴ to Death. This nomadic life was no accident. It was useful. "Moving to a neighboring band is always an option to avoid brewing⁵ conflict or just for a change in social scenery," says Ryan. Robert Louis Stevenson put it more succinctly⁶: "The great affair is to move."

像这样长久待在同一个地方对我们来说并不自然。旅行写在我们的基因里。在人类存在的大多数时间，“我们一直是居无定所的狩猎采集者，以150人以下的小群体移动。”克里斯多福·莱恩在其著作《文明至死》中写道。这样居无定所的生活并非偶然形成，而是有其功用。莱恩指出：“迁移到邻近的族群中，一直是个化解自己团体内部酝酿的冲突以及转换社交场景的手段。”写了《金银岛》的19世纪作家罗伯特·刘易斯·史蒂文森说得更精简：“移动是人类的大事。”

What if we can't move, though? What if we're unable to hunt or gather? What's a traveler to do? There are many ways to answer that question. "Despair," though, is not one of them.

但如果我们不能移动会怎么样？如果我们无法狩猎或采集会怎么样？一名旅人又该如何是好？问题的答案虽有千百种，但“绝望”不会是其中之一。

1 obliterated   

v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭

参考例句：

• The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

3 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

4 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

5 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

6 succinctly   

adv.简洁地；简洁地，简便地

参考例句：

• He writes simply and succinctly, rarely adding too much adornment. 他的写作风格朴实简练，很少添加饰词。 来自互联网
• No matter what question you are asked, answer it honestly and succinctly. 总之，不管你在面试中被问到什么问题，回答都要诚实而简明。 来自互联网