Unit 7 Choices in Life新编大学英语第二版第一册课文翻译

Unit 7 Choices in Life
Take Risks When There's No Danger
by Wallace Wilkins
[1] Many of us have grown up with warnings to be careful. When people leave one another, for example, they often say, "Take care." Taking these words seriously could inhibit your development. Imagine how differently you might have developed if your friends and family said to you, "Take risks."
[2] Pause to consider how different you might be. Do you imagine that if you take more risks in the future you will be extremely successful? Or does the thought cross your mind that you might become physically injured or harmed?
[3] When dealing with risks, many people often believe that risk brings danger. This is because our language confuses danger with the possibilities of discomfort or disapproval that risk brings. When considering taking a risk, some people will imagine:
[4] "If I'm not careful, he'll kill me!"
[5] "I would just die!"
[6] "I'd fall to pieces!"
[7] Can you think of similar expressions? If you color your thoughts about the future with alarming thoughts, you will inhibit your action. However, those alarms are false alarms.
[8] Those mistaken expressions do not describe what actually happens when you try to change something. You are not likely to be killed or fall to pieces. If the outcome isn't what you had hoped, you may experience some mild discomfort, and that's all. Mild discomfort is part of the risk for achieving final success.
[9] When those strong expressions bother you, you won't take a risk. The only things that will be "killed" are your initiative, your confidence, and your advancement.
[10] You can advance your career by knowing the differences between risk and danger. Here's the difference: Risk is when an outcome is uncertain. Danger is when your flesh will be torn.
[11] Some new ideas succeed. Some don't. The risk of failure does not make the future dangerous. Your flesh will not get torn during most changes.
[12] For many people, public speaking is a great example of confusing risk with danger. I know a manager who used to be frightened by the thought of speaking in front of an audience. Of course, he did not know what the outcome would be before his first speech. Instead of thinking that it was only a risk, he created excessive anxiety as if it was dangerous. Even though he knew it was not likely, he imagined that the audience might
throw objects at him, or attack him like an angry crowd.
[13] While anxious, he took the risk and gave his first speech. He found that the audience was casually supportive. With his new skill, he has developed into a more positive, successful leader. He still makes a few mistakes during his speeches. But no audience has ever torn his flesh!
[14] Each time you do something new or different, you are faced with a risk. The next time you face uncertainty about the future, separate risk from danger. If you know that danger is likely, I suggest that you avoid the dangerous situation unless you know that you can manage the danger.
[15] If you determine that danger is not likely, then think about possible results that may occur in the future. If it seems the future is safe, put your plans into practice. You don't have to be certain about what will happen before you take action.
[16] You can use these danger-free, risk-taking strategies immediately. The next time you leave someone, notice if the other person says, "Take care." Surprise your friend by saying "Take risks!"
没有危险时请冒险
1 我们许多人从小到大一直被提醒要小心谨慎。

比如，当人们分别时，常常互相叮嘱：“小心点！”倘若你认真听从这些话，很可能会妨碍你的发展。

想象一下，假定你的朋友和家人对你说的是：“去冒冒险吧” ，那么你的发展又会是多么的不同。

1 你不妨停下来想一想，你的未来会有多么不同。

你是否设想过，如冒冒险，你会取得巨大的成功。

或者说，你的脑海里是否出现过自己身体会受到伤害的念头？
2 说到冒险，许多人常常认为它会带来危险。

这是因为我们的语言常把两个概念混为一谈：危险及冒险可能会带来的困苦或责怪。

在考虑是否冒险时，有的人会这么想：
3 “如果我不小心，他会要我的命！”
4 “我就会死！”
5 “我会粉身碎骨！”
6 你会有类似的想法吗？倘若你在思想上给未来抹上惊恐的色彩，你的行动就会受到制约。

而这类惊恐都是虚惊。

7 这些错误的想法并不意味着在你尝试某种变革时的确会发生这样的情况。

你不可能被杀死或者粉身碎骨。

假如事与愿违，也许你会经受些轻微的困苦，仅此而已。

但这点困苦却是为获取最终成功所冒的风险的一部分。

8 当(上述)那些过激的想法令你不安时，你就不去冒险。

被“扼杀”的只能是你的主动性、你的自信和发展。

9 明白了冒险和危险的区别，你就能拓展事业。

这两者的区别是：当结果不确定时就有风险，而当你肉体要受到严重伤害时就有危险。

10 有些新想法能够获得成功，而有些则不能。

有失败的风险并不意味着未来很危险。

大多数的变更不会使你的身体遭受严重的伤害。

11 对许多人来说，演讲就是一个混淆风险和危险的最典型例子。

我认识一位经理，他以前一想到要面对公众演讲就十分害怕。

当然，在第一次演讲前他并不知会有怎样的结果。

他没意识到演讲不过是一种冒险，反而把自己搞得过分地紧张，犹如大敌当前。

他想象着听众会向他扔东西，或者愤怒地群起而攻之，尽管他知道这不太可能。

12 尽管他感到忐忑不安，他冒险地作了平生第一次演讲。

结果发现，听众很随和地支持他。

由于具备了演讲这一新技能，他成了一位更积极、更成功的领导者。

尽管他在演讲时还要出点差错，但从来没有听众伤害过他。

13 每当做一件新的或者不同的事情时，你都会面临风险。

下一次你不能确定未来会怎样时，请把风险与危险区分开。

如果你知道危险存在的可能性很大，那么我建议你避开险情，除非你确信自己能够对付它。

14 如果你断定不大会有危险，那就考虑一下将来会出现什么情况。

如果看来前景是安全的，那就实施你的计划。

在采取行动前，你不必把将会发生什么弄得清清楚楚。

15 对这种不会有危险的冒险策略你可以马上采用。

下一回与朋友分别时，注意他是否嘱咐你说，“小心点。

（如果是，” ）那你就给他一个意外，对他说，“冒冒险吧！”
The Two Brothers
[1] Two brothers set out on a journey together. At noon they lay down in a forest to rest. When they woke up they saw a stone lying next to them. There was something written on the stone, and they tried to make out what it was.
[2] "Whoever finds this stone," they read, "let him go straight into the forest at sunrise. In the forest a river will appear; let him swim across the river to the other side. There he will find a she-bear and her cubs. Let him take the cubs from her and run up the mountain with them, without once looking back. On the top of the mountain he will see a house, and in that house will he find happiness."
[3] When they had read what was written on the stone, the younger brother said:
[4] "Let us go together. We can swim across the river, carry off the bear cubs, take them to the house on the mountain, and together find happiness."
[5] "I am not going into the forest after bear cubs," said the elder brother, "and I advise you not to go. In the first place, no one can know whether what is written on this stone is the truth—perhaps it was written in jest. It is even possible that we have not read it correctly. In the second place, even if what is written here is the truth—suppose we go
into the forest and night comes, and we cannot find the river. We shall be lost. And if we do find the river, how are we going to swim across it? It may be broad and swift. In the third place, even if we swim across the river, do you think it is an easy thing to take cubs away from a she-bear? She will seize us, and instead of finding happiness, we shall perish, and all for nothing. In the fourth place, even if we succeeded in carrying off the bear cubs, we could not run up a mountain without stopping to rest. And, most important of all, the stone does not tell us what kind of happiness we should find in that house. It may be that the happiness awaiting us there is not at all the sort of happiness we would want."
[6] "In my opinion," said the younger brother, "you are wrong. What is written on the stone could not have been put there without reason. And it is all perfectly clear. In the first place, no harm will come to us if we try. In the second place, if we do not go, someone else will read the inscription on the stone and find happiness, and we shall have lost it all. In the third place: if you do not make an effort and try hard, nothing in the world will succeed. In the fourth place: I should not want it thought that I was afraid of anything."
[7] The elder brother answered him by saying: "The proverb says: 'In seeking great happiness small pleasures may be lost. 'And also: 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.'"
[8] The younger brother replied: "I have heard: 'He who is afraid of the leaves must not go into the forest. ' And also: 'Beneath a stone no water flows. '"
[9] Then the younger brother set off, and the elder brother remained behind.
[10] No sooner had the younger brother gone into the forest than he found the river, swam across it, and there on the other side was the she-bear, fast asleep . He took her cubs, and ran up the mountain without looking back. When he reached the top of the mountain the people came out to meet him with a carriage to take him into the city, where they made him their king.
[11] He ruled for five years. In the sixth year, another king, who was stronger than he, waged war against him. The city was conquered, and he was driven out.
[12] Again the younger brother became a wanderer, and he arrived one day at the house of the elder brother. The elder brother was living in a village and had grown neither rich nor poor. The two brothers rejoiced at seeing each other, and at once began telling of all that had happened to them.
[13] "You see," said the elder brother, "I was right. Here I have lived quietly and well, while you, though you may have been a king, have seen a great deal of trouble."
[14] "I do not regret having gone into the forest and up the mountain," replied the
younger brother. "I may have nothing now, but I shall always have something to remember, while you have no memories at all."
两兄弟
1 两兄弟一起出门。

中午时分，他们在森林里躺下休息。

醒来时发现身边有块石头，上面写了一些字，于是他们试着看上面写的是什么。

2 “凡发现此石者，”他们念到，“于日出时分径直进入森林。

里面会有一条河，游泳过河抵达彼岸，会在那里发现一只母熊及其幼仔。

然后从熊身边将幼仔抢走，跑步上山，切勿回头观望。

山顶上有一座房子，于此处可找到幸福。

”
3 他们看完石头上的文字后，弟弟说：
4 “我们一起去吧，我们一起游到对岸，带走熊仔，一齐把它们带到山上的房子里，一起在那里找到幸福。

”
5 “我不想到森林里找寻熊仔，”哥哥说到，“我劝你也别去。

因为，第一，谁也不知道石头上写的话到底是真是假——说不定这不过是写着玩的。

甚至有可能我们没有真正读懂其中的意思。

其次，就算这里写的都是真的——入果进了森林，天黑了，又找不到那条河，我们会迷路的。

就算找到河，我们又怎么游过去？要是它又宽又急呢？第三，就算我们游过河，你觉得从母熊身边带走小熊十那么容易的事吗？她会扎住我们的，那时不但找不到幸福，还会丧命，落得一场空，第四，就算我们真的带走了熊仔，我们也不能一口气跑上山。

而且最重要的是，这块石头并没有说我们在那座房子里会找到什么样的幸福。

也许在那里等着我们的幸福根本就不是我们想要的亚种幸福呢。

6 “我觉得，”弟弟说到,“你说得不对。

石头上的字不会无缘无故的存在。

一切都写得清清楚楚的。

第一，我们试试总没有坏处。

第二，我们如果不去，别人也会看到石头上铭刻的字从而找到幸福，那我们就什么都没有了。

第三，你若不下功夫去试一下，那就一事无成。

第四，我不应该让人家认为我胆小怕事。

”
7 哥哥回答道：”常言道：为找大幸福，小乐或尽失；双鸟在林不如一鸟在手。

”
8 弟弟回敬道：“我也听说：山路不敢走，岂能当猎手；艺高人胆大。

”
9 于是弟弟出发了，而哥哥没有去。

10 弟弟一进森林就看到那条河，游到对岸，看到沉睡的母熊。

他抓起熊仔头也不回地直奔山顶，人们赶着马车来迎接他，把它带到城里，拥他为王。

11 他在位统治了5 年，第六年，另一个势力强于他的王国向他开战，城池失守，他也被驱逐出境。

弟弟又成了流浪汉了。

有一天，他到了哥哥家。

哥哥这时住在一个村庄里，记没有变穷，也没变富。

兄弟俩别后重逢，分外欣喜，立刻开始畅谈分手后发生的一切。

12 “你看，”哥哥说，“我是对的。

我在这里过着安逸的生活，而你呢，虽然做过国王，可麻烦也经历了不少。

”
13 “我没有后悔进林子上山。

”弟弟回答道，“我也许目前一无所有，可我将一直拥有值得回忆的东西，而你却没有任何东西值得回忆。

”
The Night the President Met the Burglar
[1] A cat burglar broke into the bedroom of the President of the Unites States, who confronted him, struck a deal with him and helped him escape.
[2] The President and First Lady—she slept through the encounter —never told the Secret Service and he ordered a journalist friend not to print the story.
[3] The journalist kept his word, and this is the first time the incident has been reported .
[4] The event occurred in the early morning hours in one of the first days of the presidency of Calvin Coolidge, late in August, 1923. He and his family were living in a third-floor suite at the Willard Hotel in Washington. President Warren G. Harding's widow still was living in the White House.
[5] Coolidge awoke to see an intruder go through his clothes, remove a wallet and unhook a watch chain.
[6] Coolidge spoke: "I wish you wouldn't take that."
[7] The intruder, gaining his voice, said: "Why?"
[8] "I don't mean the watch and chain, only the charm. Take it near the window and read what is engraved on the back of it," the President said.
[9] The burglar read: "Presented to Calvin Coolidge, Speaker of the House, by the Massachusetts General Court."
[10] "Are you President Coolidge?" he asked.
[11] The President answered, "Yes, and the Legislature gave me that watch charm... .I'm fond of it. It would do you no good . You want money. Let's talk this over."
[12] Holding up the wallet, the intruder bargained: "I'll take this and leave everything else."
[13] Coolidge, knowing there was $80 in the wallet, persuaded the intruder to sit down and talk. The young man said he and his college roommate had overspent during their vacation and did not have enough money to pay their hotel bill.
[14] Coolidge added up the room rate and two train tickets back to the campus. Then he counted out $32 and said it was a loan.
[15] He then told the intruder that there probably would be a Secret Service agent patrolling the hotel corridor, so the man left through the same window he had entered.
[16] The President told his wife, Grace, about the event. Later, he told two friends,
Judge Walter L. Stevens, the family lawyer, and Frank MacCarthy, a free-lance writer.
[17] The President never told MacCarthy the intruder's name. As the 25th anniversary of the event approached, 15 years after Coolidge's death, MacCarthy, by then working for the Springfield Union, asked Mrs. Coolidge to let him use the story.
[18] She declined, saying, "There is already too much publicity given to acts of violence."
[19] MacCarthy honored her request, asking only that she review the story for accuracy and allow him to use it after her death.
[20] Mrs. Coolidge died July 8, 1957, and MacCarthy died less than four months later without publishing his article.
[21] MacCarthy had shared the story with me when we worked together. Because all reasons for keeping the secret have disappeared, this report has been reconstructed from MacCarthy's own article.
[22] I have called the young man a burglar because MacCarthy's article so identifies him , but his notes show that Coolidge said the young man repaid the $32 loan in full.
总统遇见小偷的晚上
1 美国总统面对一个闯进他卧房的窃贼，与他达成协议，还帮助他逃之夭夭。

2 总统和第一夫人（她在这次意外遭遇的整个过程中熟睡不醒）从未告诉特工处，也责令他的记者朋友不要让这则新闻见报。

3 这位记者格守诺言，这件事情时至今日才第一次公之于众。

4 事情发生在1923 年8 月下旬的一天凌晨，那时卡尔文。

柯立芝刚上任不久。

总统和他的家人住在华盛顿维拉的饭店的三楼套房内。

前总统沃伦·G·哈定的遗孀仍住在白宫内。

5 柯立芝醒来，看见一个入室窃贼在翻他的衣服，取走钱包，解下表链。

6 柯立芝说道：“我希望你别把那个拿走。

”
7 该窃贼开口问道：“为什么？”
8 “我不是指表和表链，我是说你别拿那个表饰。

把它拿到窗边，看看它的背面刻着什么，”总统说道。

9 窃贼念到：“献给卡尔文·柯立芝，众议院院长，麻省高级法院敬赠。

”
10 “你是柯立芝总统？”窃贼问。

11 总统答道：“是的，表饰是议会赠送的……我很喜欢它，但对你没有什么用.你要的是钱。

我们来商议一下吧.”
12 窃贼举起钱包讨价还价道：“我拿走这个，其他的留下。

”
13 柯立芝心知钱包里有80 美元，便劝说窃贼坐下来谈谈。

年轻人说他和他的大学室友放假期间超支了，以至于无法支付旅店帐单。

14 柯立芝把旅馆房费和两张返回校园的火车票钱加在一起算了算，从钱包中数出32 美元，说这是贷款。

15 然后他告诉窃贼饭店的走廊上可能会有特工在巡逻，于是年轻人就从他进来的窗户离开了。

16 总统将这件事情告诉了妻子格雷丝。

后来他还告诉了两位朋友，沃尔特。

L。

斯蒂文斯法官和家庭律师佛兰克。

麦卡锡，一位自由撰稿人。

17 总统从未把窃贼的名字告诉麦卡锡。

在此事发生25 周年来临之际，柯立芝总统已去世15 年，就职于斯普林菲尔德工会的麦卡锡向柯立芝夫人请求采用这则故事。

18 她谢绝了，说道：“如今对暴力事件宣传得已经太多了。

”
19 麦卡锡尊重她的要求，只请求她为准确起见将这件事回顾一遍，并准许他在她去世后使用。

20 柯立芝夫人于1957 年7 月8 日去世，之后不到4 个月，麦卡锡耶离开了人世，没能让文章面世。

21麦卡锡与我共事时曾告诉过我这个故事。

由于所有保守秘密的理由都不复存在，这则报道便有麦卡锡自己的文章改编而成。

22 我称这个年轻人为“窃贼” ，因为麦卡锡的文章中也是这么称呼他的，但他注明柯立芝曾说这个年轻人后来已将32 美元借款如数奉还。