譯文及生詞短語整理：朗讀者小組

My College Application Essay

Translation

These are my underoos. ?Its been a while since I’ve worn them, but sometimes I find myself thinking back to a time when they transformed me into someone who was everything I wanted to be--free from fearandfull of courage.

這些是我的內(nèi)褲。我穿著它們已經(jīng)有段時間了，但有時候我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己想到了過去有段時間，它們把我轉(zhuǎn)變成一個我全身心想要成為的人——一個沒有恐懼，充滿勇氣的人。

When I was small, I remember fear as a painfully integral part of my existence, shaping how I went through the day. ?Outdoors, I was afraid of theCopperheadshiding under every leaf, theBlack Widowslurkingin every dark corner, the lightning that might at any moment spring from a dark cloud, and therabiesthat Old Yeller taught me could turn even my own dog, Jiminy Cricket, against me. ?Indoors, I was afraid of theburglars; bad men who I was convinced would one day invade my home to take me or my family away.

在我小的時候，我記得恐懼是我存在的一個痛苦的組成部分，決定了我如何度過每一天。在戶外，我害怕可能躲在任何一片葉子下的銅頭蛇，潛伏在每一個黑暗角落里的黑寡婦，那可能在任何時候從黑暗的云層中劈出來的閃電，Old Yeller告訴我的甚至能把我自己的小狗Jiminy Cricket變成瘋狗的狂犬病。在室內(nèi)，我害怕竊賊;我害怕我所信任的“壞人”有一天會侵入我的家，把我和我的家人帶走。

As a child I let the fear control me. ?If I were playing basketball, and my basketball rolled into the woods, then I would stop playing. ?I was sure that if I went after it the Copperhead, alreadypoised to bite, would attack. ?If I were lying in bed at night and wanted a drink, I would go thirsty rather than venture out into the darkness where someone or something might be lying in wait to hurt me. ?I was a scared little chicken of a kid, and I beat myself up for it. ?"Why are you so afraid?," I remember often thinking, as there was a very rational voice inside of me that told me howridiculousit was for me to be soinhibitedby fear.

如果我繼續(xù)玩下去，已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好咬我的銅頭蛇將會攻擊我。如果我晚上躺在床上想要喝水，我寧愿忍受口渴也不愿冒險進(jìn)入黑暗中，怕有人或某些東西可能在潛伏著想要傷害我。我小時候是個膽小鬼，我為此痛批了自己一頓。 “你為什么這么害怕？”我記得我經(jīng)常這樣想，因為在我心里有一個非常理性的聲音告訴我，我讓恐懼支配時是多么可笑。

I think that it was partly as a response to my fear that I began toidolizewho I did-- “The Man of Steel.” ?Faster than aspeedingbullet, more powerful than alocomotive, and able to leap high buildings in a single bound, Superman was invulnerable to bullets, spiders, freeze rays and snake bites alike. ?And I loved him for it. ?He did, however, have one weakness:Kryptonite. ?When confronted by an enemy with the glowing green chunk of rock from his home planet, Superman was stripped bare of all of his powers, and he became a physically weak man--a fearful man, but he never gave up. ?Never did Superman let his fear of the one thing that could destroy him control him, and never did he run from it. ?He always fought hard against the fear, and he always, somehow, won.

我認(rèn)為這在一定程度上是為了回應(yīng)我的恐懼，我開始崇拜“超人”。他比射出的子彈飛得更快，比機(jī)車更有威力，一個跳躍就能跨越一棟高樓。超人免疫子彈，蜘蛛，冷凍光線和毒蛇咬傷。因此我愛他。但他卻有一個弱點：氪石。當(dāng)他面對攜帶著這從他家鄉(xiāng)帶來的灼熱的綠色大塊石頭的敵人時，超人幾乎被剝奪了他所有的力量，他成了一個身體虛弱的人——一個恐懼的人，但他從未放棄。超人從來沒有讓對可以摧毀他的事物的恐懼來控制他，而且從來沒有逃避它。他總是竭力與恐懼抗?fàn)帲偸且阅撤N方式贏得了勝利。

As a kid I'm pretty sure that I never thought about it that deeply. ?All I knew was that I wanted to be Superman. ?I went through a period when I never wanted to take off my Superman underoos. ?With them, I ‘was’ Superman. ?I think it embarrassed my mom when I wore them (cape and all) to school, so she convinced me to wear over them abusiness suitand glasses so as to be Clark Kent. ?That was fine with me. ?I remember spending what seemed like hours in front of the mirror practicing making an 'S' curve with a front lock of my hair, never able to get it just right. ?When I went over to my best friend's house I would wear my suit and glasses, butbefore longwe wouldbe down toour underoos practicing 'flying' into his couch.

作為一個孩子，我很確定我從來沒有深入想過這些。我所知道的就是我想成為超人。我經(jīng)歷了一段時間，那時我從不想脫掉我的超人內(nèi)褲。穿著它，我就是“超人”。我覺得當(dāng)我把超人披風(fēng)穿上學(xué)校時，我媽媽很尷尬，所以她說服我穿上一件西裝并戴了眼鏡，以便我看起來像克拉克·肯特。這對我來說很好，我記得我在鏡子前面花了幾個小時，將我前額的一縷頭發(fā)弄成S形，卻總是不能夠擺好。當(dāng)我去我最好的朋友的家時，我會戴上我的西裝和眼鏡，但是不久之后，我們將會在他的沙發(fā)上練習(xí)像超人那樣飛翔。

I never did learn to fly, I never got the 'S' curve just right, and I don't think my Clark Kent phase at school lasted too long before I got tired of coming homedrenchedin sweat; but I never stopped wanting to be the “Man of Steel.”

我從未真正學(xué)會飛翔，我從未弄好過S型發(fā)型，并且我想我模仿克拉克·肯特的穿著也沒有持續(xù)很久，因為不久后我就厭倦了每天都帶著一身汗回家；但是我從未停止過想要成為超人的夢想。

As I grew, most of my old fears eventually left me, and though they were all slowly replaced by new ones, and those new ones by yet newer ones, I feel like maybe I've learned something from Superman about dealing with them. ?Rather than run from a fear, it works a lot better to face it, and confront it. ?Maybe the result will be failure, or maybe pain, but in the end, at least I've progressed, andmore often than notmoved beyondthe fear.

隨著我年歲漸長，我大部分之前的恐懼最終都消失了，不過他們都慢慢地由新的恐懼所替代，新的恐懼又被更新的恐懼所替代，我想或許我已經(jīng)從超人對待恐懼上學(xué)到了一些東西。相比于逃避恐懼，直面恐懼會有更好的效果。或許由此產(chǎn)生的結(jié)果會是失敗，或是痛苦，但是最終至少我進(jìn)步了，并且通常克服了恐懼。

I really haven't changed that much. ?I'm still today likely to jump if out of the corner of my eye I see a copper-colored leaf move, but I'm also much more likely to face my fear, and seek out opportunities that put me in situations to move me beyond petty fears. ?It's likely that I'll never learn to fly, but perhaps someday, when I face my Kryptonite, I will be strong enough to struggle against it and, hopefully,prevail.

事實上，在恐懼上我并沒有改變太多，直到現(xiàn)在如果從眼角的余光中看到一片銅斑蛇顏色的葉子在移動的話，我都會嚇得一跳。但是現(xiàn)在我會更多地選擇面對恐懼，尋找機(jī)會讓我在現(xiàn)實處境中克服恐懼。很可能我永遠(yuǎn)都學(xué)不會飛翔，但是或許有一天，當(dāng)我面臨我的“氪星石”時，我將堅強(qiáng)到足以與之抗?fàn)帲⑾Ｍ軌驊?zhàn)勝它。

New words

1.Copperheads美 ?['kɑp?,h?d]?

n. 銅頭蛇

e.g. All the snakes began writhing during the quake (copperheads, cotton mouth, false water cobra, etc.).

所有的蛇類在地震中掙扎扭動（銅斑蛇，水腹蛇，巴西水王蛇，等等）

2.lurk英 ?[l??k] 美 ?[l?k]?

vi. 潛伏；潛藏

e.g. Hidden dangers lurk in every family home.

每個家庭都存在潛伏的危險。

3.rabies英 ?['re?bi?z; -?z] 美 ?['rebiz]?

n. 狂犬病

e.g. More than 99% of all human deaths from rabies occur in Africa and Asia.

狂犬病造成的所有人類死亡中，有99%以上發(fā)生在非洲和亞洲。

4.burglar英 ?['b??gl?] 美 ?['b?ɡl?]?

n. 夜賊，竊賊

e.g. Burglars broke into their home.

竊賊闖進(jìn)了他們家。

5.ridiculous英 ?[r?'d?kj?l?s] 美 ?[r?'d?kj?l?s]?

adj. 可笑的；荒謬的

e.g. She broke in with a ridiculous objection.

她突然插嘴提了個可笑的異議。

6.inhibit英 ?[?n'h?b?t] 美 ?[?n'h?b?t]?

vt. 抑制；禁止

e.g. The high cost of borrowing is inhibiting investment by industry in new equipment.

高昂的借貸成本正抑制行業(yè)對新設(shè)備的投資。

7.idolize英 ?[?a?d??la?z] 美 ?[?a?d?l?a?z]?

vt. 極端崇拜

e.g. Naomi idolized her father as she was growing up.

在成長過程中，娜奧米很崇拜她父親。

8.speeding英 ?['spi?d??] 美 ?['spid??]?

adj. 高速行駛的

e.g. He was booked on a charge of speeding.

他因超速行車被警方記錄在案。

9.locomotive英 ?[l??k?'m??t?v] 美 ?[,lok?'mot?v]?

n. 機(jī)車；火車頭

e.g. At the conductor's whistle the engine-driver starts his locomotive-engine.

乘務(wù)員哨聲一響， 司機(jī)開動機(jī)車。

10.Kryptonite氪星石

e.g. Even when he’s forced to hurl an entire continent made out of deadly Kryptonite into space, Superman bounces back from the brink of death.

就算他被迫向宇宙扔下一顆由致命的氪星碎片制成的一塊大陸大小的炸彈，超人還是能從死亡邊緣逃脫。

11.drenched英 ?[drent?d] 美 ?[drent?d]?

adj. 濕透的；充滿的

e.g. My TDD rule of thumb is that tests should be moist but not drenched.

對于 TDD，我的經(jīng)驗規(guī)則是測試應(yīng)該是潮濕的，但是不要濕透。

12.prevail英 ?[pr?'ve?l] 美 ?[pri'vel]?

vi. 戰(zhàn)勝

e.g. We hoped that common sense would prevail.

我們希望常識能占上風(fēng)。

Phrases

1.free from fear無所畏懼

2.full of courage充滿勇氣

3.Black Widows黑寡婦(一種能殘食其配偶的有毒蜘蛛)

4.poised to bite準(zhǔn)備咬他

5.business suit西裝

6.before long不久以后

7.be down to只剩下

8.more often than not通常；多半

9.move beyond超越

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