当前位置:文档之家› 最新外教社大学英语精读第三册unit5原文+翻译+课后翻译

最新外教社大学英语精读第三册unit5原文+翻译+课后翻译

Unit5A mother and her son learn more from a moment of defeat than they ever could from a victory. Her example of never giving up gives him courage for the rest of his life.从失败的一刻中,母亲和儿子收获了他们从成功中不曾收获到的。

母亲永不放弃的精神给他此后的人生以很大的勇气。

The Day Mother CriedGerald MooreComing home from school that dark winter's day so long ago, I was filled with anticipation. I had a new issue of my favorite sports magazine tucked under my arm, and the house to myself. Dad was at work, my sister was away, and Mother wouldn't be home from her new job for an hour. I bounded up the steps, burst into the living room and flipped on a light.妈哭的那天在很久以前一个昏暗的冬天,我放学回家,心中充满了期待。

我腋下夹着一期新的我最爱看的体育杂志,再者,家里没有别人打扰我。

爸爸在上班,妹妹不在家。

妈妈刚找到新工作,还得过一个小时才下班。

我跳上台阶,冲进起居室,啪嗒一声打开电灯。

I was shocked into stillness by what I saw.Mother, pulled into a tight ball with her face in her hands, sat at the far end of the couch.She was crying. I had never seen her cry.我被眼前的景象惊呆了。

妈妈双手捂着脸,身子紧缩成一团,坐在长沙发的那一端哭泣着。

我看见妈妈哭这还是第一次。

I approached cautiously and touched her shoulder. "Mother?" I said. "What's happened?"我小心翼翼地向她走去,轻轻拍她的肩膀。

“妈妈,”我说,“怎么啦?”She took a long breath and managed a weak smile. "It's nothing, really. Nothing important. Just that I'm going to lose this new job. I can't type fast enough."妈妈深深吸了一口气,强作微笑。

“没什么,真的。

没有什么要紧的事。

只是我这份新工作要丢了。

我字打得不够快。

”"But you've only been there three days," I said. "You'll catch on." I was repeating a line she had spoken to me a hundred times when I was having trouble learning or doing something important to me.“可你上班才三天,”我说。

“你会熟练起来的。

”我这是在重复她讲过上百次的一句话,每当我学习或做一件与自己关系重大的事情而遇到困难时,她总是这样跟我说的。

"No," she said sadly. "I always said I could do anything I set my mind to, and I still think I can in most things. But I can't do this."“不成,”妈妈黯然神伤地说。

“过去我总是讲,只要我下决心,什么事都能干成。

现在我仍然认为大多数的事我都能做。

但打字这件事我干不了。

”I felt helpless and out of place. At age 16 I still assumed Mother could do anything. Some years before, when we sold our ranch and moved to town, Mother had decided to open a day nursery. She had had no training, but that didn't stand in her way. She sent away for correspondence courses in child care, did the lessons and in six months formally qualified herself for the task. It wasn't long before she had a full enrollment and a waiting list. I accepted all this as a perfectly normal instance of Mother's ability.我感到无能为力,而且十分尴尬。

我虽然十六岁了,但仍然以为妈妈什么都能干。

几年前,当我们卖掉农场,搬到城里住的时候,妈妈决定开办日托所。

她过去没有受过这方面的训练,但这并不能阻碍她。

她写信要求参加幼托函授课程,学习了六个月就正式获得从事这项工作的资格。

不久她的日托所招生额满,而且还有不少小孩登记等着入托呢。

我觉得凭妈妈的能力,办成这一切是理所当然的。

But neither the nursery nor the motel my parents bought later had provided enough income to send my sister and me to college. In two years I would be ready for college. In three more my sister would want to go. Time was running out, and Mother was frantic for ways to save money. It was clear that Dad could do no more than he wasdoing already — farming 80 acres in addition to holding a fulltime job.然而,无论是托儿所或是我父母后来购买的汽车旅馆都不能提供足够的收入供我妹妹和我上大学。

两年后就该是我上大学的时候了。

再过三年,妹妹也要上了。

时间一天天过去,妈妈拼命想办法积蓄钱。

很清楚,爸爸已尽了最大努力--除了一份全日工作之外,还耕种了八十英亩地。

A few months after we'd sold the motel, Mother arrived home with a used typewriter.It skipped between certain letters and the keyboard was soft. At dinner that night I pronounced the machine a "piece of junk."我们卖了汽车旅馆没几个月,妈妈搬回来一台旧打字机。

这架打字机有时会跳字,键盘也很松。

那天吃晚饭时,我把这台机器说成是“废物一件”。

"That's all we can afford," Mother said. "It's good enough to learn on." And from that day on, as soon as the table was cleared and the dishes were done, Mother would disappear into her sewing room to practice. The slow tap, tap, tap went on some nights until midnight.“我们只买得起这样旧的,”妈妈说。

“学打字用是够可以的了。

”从那天起,餐桌一收拾,盘子一洗,妈妈马上到她的缝纫间去练习。

有几天,那缓慢的嗒、嗒、嗒的声音一直持续到午夜。

It was nearly Christmas when I heard Mother got a job at the radio station. I was not the least bit surprised, or impressed. But she was ecstatic.临近圣诞节的时候,我听说妈妈在电台找到一份工作。

我一点也不惊奇,也不觉得有什么特别,但妈妈却欣喜万分。

Monday, after her first day at work, I could see that the excitement was gone. Mother looked tired and drawn.I responded by ignoring her.星期一,妈妈第一天上班回来,我发觉妈妈的高兴劲儿已经烟消云散。

妈妈绷着脸,看上去很疲劳,我没对她作任何表示。

Tuesday, Dad made dinner and cleaned the kitchen. Mother stayed in her sewing room, practicing. "Is Mother all right?" I asked Dad.星期二,爸爸做晚饭,收拾厨房。

妈妈呆在缝纫间练习打字。

“妈妈还好吗?”我问爸爸。

"She's having a little trouble with her typing," he said. "She needs to practice. I think she'd appreciate it if we all helped out a bit more."“妈妈打字碰到点困难,”他说,“她需要练习。

相关主题