大学英语第三册UNIT3全文翻译对照

The land of the lock

1. Years ago in American, it was customary for families to leave their doors unlocked, day and night. In this essay, Greene regrets that people can no longer trust each other and have to resort to elaborate security system to protect themselves and their the author is writing his opinion, he uses many examples to reinforce his ideas and to prove his thesis. 几年前在美国，许多美国家庭的门通常都是日夜不上锁的。在本文中，格林遗憾地指出人们已经不再彼此信任，不得不求助于各种复杂的安全设备来保护自身及其贵重物品。作者在提出自己观点的同时，举出了大量的事例来证实和强调自己的观点；

2. In the house where i grow up, it was our custom to leave the front door on the latch at night. I don't know if that was a local term or if is universal;"on the latch"meant the door was closed but not locked . None of us carried keys the last one in for the evening would close up,and that was it. 在我长大成人的家里，我们的习惯是晚上把前门闩上。我不知道这是个地区用语还是普遍的说法；“闩着门”的意思是关着门但却不上锁。我们都不带钥匙；晚上最后进来的人会把门关上，如此而巳。

3 .Those days are over. In rural areas as well as in cities, doors do not stay unlocked,even for part of an evening.

那样的日子已经一去不复返了。现在不管是城市还是乡村，门不再是不上锁了，甚至天一黑门就要上锁。

4 .Suburbs and country areas are, in many ways, even more vulnerable thanwell-patrolled urban streets. Statistic show the crime rate rising more dramatically in those allegedly tranquil areas than in cities. At

any rate, the era of leaving the front door on the latch is over.

郊区及乡村地区在很多方面比巡视得很严密的城市街道还要容易出事。统计数字表明在那些据称是平静的地区，犯罪率的上升较之城市还要显著。不管怎么说，晚上闩着前门的日子已经结束了。

5. It has been replaced by locks , security chains, electronic alarm system and trip wires hooked up to a police station or private guard firm. Many suburban families have sliding glass doors on their patios,with steel bars elegantly built in so no one can pry the doors open.

门闩已经被锁，安全链、电子报警系统以及与警局或私人保镖公司相连的报警线所取代，许多郊区家庭在庭院里都装有滑动的玻璃门，很别致地装有暗藏的钢闩，这样就没人能橇开门了。

6. It is not uncommon, in the most pleasant of homes, to see pasted on the windows decals announcing that the premises are under surveillance by this security force or that guard company.

这很正常，在很多漂亮的家里，经常能见到窗户上张贴着图案显示本宅受某保安部队

或某保镖公司的监护。

7. The lock is a new symbol of American. Indeed ,a recent public-service advertisement by a large insurance company featured not actuarial charts but a picture of a child's bicycle with the now-usual padlock attached to it.

锁是美国的新的象征。确实．最新的一家保险公司的公益广告显示的不是数据表格而是一幅画，画面上有一辆儿童自行车，其上挂着—把现在常见的挂锁。

8 The ad pointed out that,yes,it is the insurance companies that pay for

stolen goods, but who is going to pay for what the new atmosphere of distrust and fear is doing to our way of lifewho is going to make the psychic payment for the transformation of American from the land of the free to the land of the lock

诚然，广告显示的是保险公司会为你失窃的东西负责，但是又有谁会补偿这种不信任和恐惧的气氛给我们生活方式带来的改变呢，谁来补偿美国由自由大陆转变为上锁的大陆所造成的心理损失呢

9 For that is what has have bcome so used to defending ourselves against the new atmosphere of America life,so used to putting up barriers,that we have not had time to think about what it may mean.

情况就是这样。我们已经非常习惯于保护自己不受美国生活新气氛的影响，习惯于围起屏障，却没有时间去考虑这一切意味着什么。

10 For some reason we are statisfied when we think we are well protected; it does not occur to us to ask ourselves: Why has this happened Why are we having to barricade ourslves against our neighbors and fellow citizens,and when,exactly,did this start to take over our lives 出干某种原因，当我们受到良好的保护时，我们自会心满意足；却从没想过问问自己：为什么会这样，为什么一定要在我们自己与邻居和同胞之间设立屏障呢，而且，我们的生活受制于这一现象，究竟是从何时开始的呢

11 And it has taken you work for a medium-to large-size company, chances are that you don’t just wander in and out of probably carry some kind of acccess card, electronic or otherwise,that allows in and out of your place of the front guard of the desk knows your face and will wave you in most days,but the fact remains that the business you work for feels threatened enough to keep outsiders away via these“keys”.