英语泛读(江苏自考)

essay on america
美国杂文
当清教徒住在英国时,他们因宗教信仰而受到迫害。

The church of england prohibited them from worshipping in their own way.
英国教会禁止他们以自己的方式崇拜。

there was no debate about the validity of the puritan's doctrine.
关于清教徒教义的有效性,没有争论。

they were considered heretics by the absolute power and authority of the church ,exercising the power of the status quo.
他们被认为是异端的绝对权力和权威的教会,行使权力的现状。

(当清教徒居住在英国时,他们因其宗教信仰而受到迫害。

英格兰教会禁止他们以自己的方式礼拜。

没有关于清教徒教义的有效性的辩论。

他们被教会的绝对权力和权威视为异教徒,行使现状的权力。

)
the Church of Englang believed in Christianity.
英国教会信奉基督教。

but was it the teaching of their founder to persecute others,lock them and take away their freedom simply because their beliefs were different?
但是,仅仅因为他们的信仰不同,他们的创立者的教导就是迫害他人,锁住他们,剥夺他们的自由吗?
In this case ,if they had cared to see,their own professed beliefs would have acted as a mirror to expose their hypocrisy and evil.
在这种情况下,如果他们想看的话,他们自己宣称的信仰就会成为一面镜子,揭露他们的虚伪和邪恶。

having the change to resettle in America the puritans acted.
清教徒们改变了在美国定居的计划。

if they had stayd in England,the Church and the Government would have destroyed them because of their beliefs and because they did not have the support from the general populace at the time.
如果他们留在英国,教会和政府就会因为他们的信仰而摧毁他们,因为他们当
时没有得到一般民众的支持。

1
what happened to the Puritans and their choice to settle in America set in motion a wave of determination so great,it not only became the driving force of the development and character of America society,but it also became the impetus for
the spreading of human rights and democracy worldwide.
清教徒所发生的事情,以及他们在美国定居的选择,掀起了一股如此强烈的决
心浪潮,它不仅成为美国社会发展和品格的动力,也成为人权和民主在世界范围内传
播的动力。

Why was this force so powerful that nothing could stop it form displaying its indomitable resolve in human spirit?
为什么这股力量如此强大,以至于任何东西都无法阻止它在人类精神中表现出其不屈
不挠的决心?
The Church of England tried to suppress the individual in their spiritual beliefs,their private domain, the seat of life where all people inquire about their own existence.
英格兰教会试图压制个人在他们的精神信仰,他们的私人领域,生活的中心,所有的
人询问他们自己的存在。

It tried to imprison their minds , the seat of judgment which is the main driving force to discern good from evil.
它试图囚禁他们的思想,审判的中心,这是区分善恶的主要动力。

This triggered a chain reaction that would release the flow of individual rights,that would saturate the American psyche,thus becoming the driving force that would shape our history and become the standard of behavior to protect what is most noble in humanity.
这引发了一种连锁反应,这种连锁反应会释放个人权利的流动,使美国人的心
理饱和,从而成为塑造我们历史的动力,并成为保护人类最崇高的东西的行为标准。

Now the seed was planted,from that time on the given right of the individual to stand up and depend himself aginst any foece or system
that would subdue his rights was set in motion.
现在种下了种子,从那时起,个人就有了站起来依靠自己的权利,因为任何会征服他
的权利的敌人或制度都会被启动。

this phenomenon where noble ideals continue to rise up even from the ashes of our own indignities is uniquely American.
这一现象-即使是从我们自己的屈辱的灰烬中,崇高的理想继续上升-是美国特有的。

the fact that we continually champion the cause for individual rights under any circumstances is what makes our struggle so important to the world's social structure and its future.
在任何情况下,我们都不断捍卫个人权利的事业,这使我们的斗争对世界的社
会结构和未来如此重要。

As time continued,many other people came to this country ,some for political reasons,some to escape prosecution and persecution ,some for economic reasons, and many were forced to come here and be sold as slaves.
随着时间的推移,许多其他人来到这个国家,有些是出于政治原因,有些是为了逃避起诉和迫害,有些是出于经济原因,还有许多人被迫来到这里作为奴隶被贩卖。

soon many different colonies were formed containing people from all parts of the globe,but still the English maintained an oppressive social and economiac grip over the colonies .
很快就形成了许多不同的殖民地,其中包括来自世界各地的人,但英国人仍然对殖民地保持着压迫性的社会和经济控制。

the colonists were an independent lot and there was no way they accepted the Church of England or the aristocratic social srructure as something they could embrace.
殖民者是一个独立的群体,他们不可能接受英格兰教会或贵族社会结构作为他们可以接受的东西。

This became apparent in the War of Indenpendence ,which produced documents such as the Declaration of Independence and eventually the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
这一点在独立战争中很明显,这场战争产生了诸如“独立宣言”以及最终的“宪法”和“权利法案”等文件。

These would confirm that the foundation of the country was the focus on individual freedom.
这些将证实该国的基础是关注个人自由。

This was a far cry from a monarch and aristocracy where the people were neither empowered by charter or even given the right to hold their own leaders accountable for their actions.
这与君主制和贵族制度大相径庭,在那里,人民既没有得到宪章的授权,也没有被赋予让自己的领导人对自己的行为负责的权利。

Through this struggle a government was formed by the people and for the people where the leaders would be directly accountable to its citizens.
在这场斗争中,人民和人民组成了一个政府,领导人将直接对其公民负责。

Jefferson stated in the past people were never empowerrd to censure or punish their leaders and those that would even raise their voice in protest were consindered traitors.
杰斐逊说,在过去,人们从来没有权力谴责或惩罚他们的领导人,那些甚至会提高他们的声音抗议的人都是叛国者。

This right is of central importance because it truly defines the core of our social and ethical system ,which had set us apart from the rest of the world.
这一权利至关重要,因为它真正地定义了我们的社会和伦理体系的核心,这使
我们与世界其他地区脱节。

The Constisution provided the separation of Church and State.
“宪法”规定了政教分离。

Now the goverment became the blanket under which all people could have their own beliefs,the freedom to speak out without fear of backlash from any
group,religious institution or the government itself.
现在,政府变成了所有人都可以拥有自己信仰的毯子,他们可以自由地发表意见,而不必担心任何团体、The goverment was structured to protect and defend the rights of all the people.
政府的结构是为了保护和捍卫全体人民的权利。

Thus it became the modle that influenced thinking so deeply, that
it would give rise to the movement of enlightened structures in both the secular and religious realm in the twenty-first century.
因此,它成为影响如此深刻的思维的模式,它将在21世纪引起开明结构在世俗和宗
教领域的运动。

宗教机构或政府本身的强烈反对。

This is in direct concurrence with the spirit and teachings of
great religious leaders where the integrity of the individual is to be cherished and protected.
这与伟大的宗教领袖的精神和教诲是直接一致的,在那里,个人的完整性将得
到珍视和保护。

These founding documents would be the building blocks of a new emerging civilzation where the people are empowered to keep those who are in positions of authority in check, in other words, to keep the status quo in check.
这些创始文件将是新兴文明的基石,在这种文明中,人民有权控制处于权威地
位的人,换言之,就是控制现状。

Even though these documents were founded to protect the rights of the individual there was still slavery.
尽管这些文件是为保护个人权利而建立的,但仍然存在奴隶制。

There Americans of African desent were considered 3/5 human.
非洲裔美国人被认为是人类的3/5。

Now the Church in Amweican became hypocritical.
现在,美国教会变得伪善。

Not only did their own religious doctrines mirror their hypocrisy, but the Bill of Rights exposed their evil.
他们自己的宗教教义不仅反映了他们的伪善,而且人权法案也揭露了他们的罪恶。

They had condoned and even protected the idea of slavery.
他们宽恕甚至保护了奴隶制的概念。

But the force of individual rights and the integrity of individuals continued to drive forward and now that it was written into our sacred founding documents ,such hypocrisy could not last.
但是,个人权利的力量和个人的完整性继续向前推进,既然它已经写入我们神圣的建国文件,这种虚伪就不可能持续下去。

With the appearance of Lincoln,the status quo was challenged again and institution that had supported social injustice was challenged by the integrity of the Bill of Rights.
随着林肯的出现,现状再次受到挑战,支持社会不公正的制度受到人权法案完整性的挑战。

With that established , the indignity of slavery gave birth to the Emancipation Proclamation.
随着这一点的确立,奴隶制的侮辱产生了“解放宣言”。

Again the status quo was put in check by our sacred doctrines and the people who close to speak out ,prorect and honor them .
再一次,我们的神圣教义和那些接近发表言论、鼓吹和尊重这些教义的人,制止了现状。

The gap between the doctrines of the people and their actions now became smaller. 人民的学说与他们的行动之间的差距现在越来越小。

Amazingly,the driving force keeps moving forward like a raging current that has only one purpose :to wash away all that is evil and perverse.
令人惊奇的是,这股动力就像一股狂暴的水流一样继续前进,只有一个目的:冲走一切邪恶和邪恶的东西。

Through the twentieth century this force continued to gather momentun,dawing into its vortex all manner of movements:
women'rights ,civil rights,worker'rights-the list gose on ,the roar gets louder!
在整个二十世纪,这股力量继续聚集在一起,潜入各种运动的漩涡:妇女权利、公民权利、工人权利-这份清单在继续,咆哮声越来越大!
The strength of people to rise to the occasion when justice is thwarted continues. 人民奋起迎接正义受挫的力量仍在继续。

Now the seed plantrd over two hundred years ago honoring the integrity of and the individual ,acts as the flag for our invincible fortress, a fortress that eternally protects all humanity form the advancement of tyranny and terrorism.
二百多年前,种子种植以尊重个人的完整性为荣,充当我们无敌堡垒的旗帜,这是一座永远保护全人类不受暴政和恐怖主义之害的堡垒。

This ideal alone is what directs our destiny and defines us as Americans.
只有这一理想才能指导我们的命运,并将我们定义为美国人。

America remains the great enigma to the rest of the world.
美国仍然是世界上最伟大的谜团。

How can a country that is so young give birth to process that is so profound and so advanced?
一个这么年轻的国家怎么能产生如此深刻和先进的进程呢?
The answer lies in the fact that all countries in the world throughout history except America are homogenous where the system's main stress had been on the
group ,not the individual.
答案在于,纵观历史,除了美国以外,世界上所有国家都是同质化的,美国的主
要压力来自于群体,而不是个人。

Within these system many individuals have had to sacrifice themselves to save the group or save face of the community even at the expence of their owm integrity.
在这些系统中,许多人不得不牺牲自己来拯救群体,甚至不惜牺牲自己的诚
信。

An individual in those systems rarely questions authority and in the rare case that it happens ,the person finds himself cut off or ostracized from the community where the social trends acquiescing to authority is the only acceptable behavior to keep the society unified and in harmony
在这些系统中,一个人很少质疑权威,在罕见的情况下,他发现自己被切断或排斥在社会趋势默认权威是唯一可接受的行为,以保持社会的统一和谐。

But America emphasizes the development of strong, outspoken individual as the makeup of the group and nation, who would
willingly ,if necessary ,give their lives to protect the integrity of the individual and their freedom first and foremost .
但美国强调发展强大、直言不讳的个人,将其作为集团和国家的组成部分,如果有必要,他们愿意献出生命,首先保护个人的完整和自由。

We do not keep silent or acquiesce or sacrifice our lives and dignity to support any people or group that would trample on the rights of the individual,chailming to preserve and protect our nation.
我们不会保持沉默、默许或牺牲我们的生命和尊严,以支持任何践踏个人权利、维护和保护我们国家权利的民族或团体。

In this land ,no group or authority can ever slience the people from speaking out
for change or standing up against injustice to the people.
在这片土地上,任何团体或当局都不能让人民沉默,不要求改变,也不能站起来反对人民的不公正。

This process will never cease.
这一进程永远不会停止。

Only you can have the choice to exercise this right and etch your life in glorious victory for all the people.
只有你才能选择行使这一权利,把你的生活铭刻在全体人民光荣的胜利中。

This is you choice,your privilege and your responsibility as free people.
这是你作为自由人民的选择、特权和责任。

America knows how to put the status quo in check.
美国知道如何控制现状。

This is our nature.
这是我们的天性。

Tt is in our blood.
它在我们的血液里。

It is what keeps our heart pure.
它使我们的心保持纯洁。

We have take the bold step to honor the enlightenmentn and the development of the individual as the key buliding block to a new global civilization.
我们采取了大胆的一步,尊重启蒙和个人的发展,作为一个新的全球文明的关键积木。