英语一阅读翻译

2006

Text 1

In spite of “endless talk of difference”，American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. There is “the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse，and the casualness and absence of deference”characteristic of popular culture. People ar e absorbed into “a culture of consumption” launched by the 19th——century department stores that offered “vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite,” these were stores “anyone cou ld enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a public and democratic act.” The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.

不管我们如何喋喋不休地谈论差别，美国社会实际上是一台同化人们的神奇的机器。这就是民主化的着装和言谈，并且还有种随意和缺乏尊重感，这些构成了通俗文化的特性。人们被一种消费文化所吸引了，这种文化是由十九世纪在高雅的氛围中陈列着琳琅满目的商品的百货商店所开始的。他们不是为了迎合有知识的精英们而开设的专门商店，而是创建了“不分阶层和背景人人都可以进入”的大众商店。这使得购物成为一种大众的、民主的行为。大众传媒、广告和体育也是协助人们均质化的推动力。

Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous. Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today's immigration is neither at unprecedented levels nor resistant to assimilation. In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent .In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1，000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890, 9.2 for every 1, 000. Now, consider three indices of assimilation–language, home ownership and intermarriage.

尽管这种文化并不算高雅，但也算不上有害，移民们很快就融入了这种共同文化。Gregory Rodriguez为美国移民研讨会撰文指出，今天的移民既不是处于空前的水平，也不抵制同化。在1998年，移民占全国人口的9.8%；在1900年为13.6%。在1990年以前的十年之中，在每千位居民当中，有千分之3.1的新来的移民；而在1890年以前的十年之中，每千位居民当中就有千分之9.2的移民。现在，让我们来看一下三个同化指标——语言、拥有产权住房和异族结婚情况。

The 1990 Census revealed that “a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most common countries of origin spoke English “well” or “very well” after ten years of residence.” The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English. “By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majorit y of immigrant families.” Hence the description of America as a “graveyard” for languages. By 1996 foreign–born immigrants who had arrived before 1970 had a homeownership rate of 75.6 percent, higher than the 69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans. 1990年的人口普查透露：“来自十五个移民数量最多的国家的移民在到美国十年后英语说得‘好’或‘很好’。”移民的子女几乎都说两种语言，且精通英语。“到了第三代，在大多数移民家庭，他们的母语就消失了。”因此，有人就把美国描述成了“语言的坟场”。到了1996年，出生于国外的、在1970年以前到达美国的移民有75.6%购置了自己的住房，这个数字高出土生土长的美国人的拥有自己所有权住房的百分比——69.8%。

Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics “have higher rates o f intermarriage than do U.S–born whites and blacks.” By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics, and 41 percent of Asian–American women are married to non-Asians.

在国外出生的亚裔和西班牙裔移民“与美国本土白人和黑人相比，与异族通婚的比率要高。”到了第三代，有三分之一的西班牙裔女性与非西班牙裔男性结婚，而有41%亚裔美国妇女与非亚裔男性结婚。

Rodriguez notes that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet “some Americans fear that immigrant living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nation’s assimilative power.”

罗得里格斯写道，即使那些住在世界各地偏僻村庄的孩子们都是诸如阿诺.施瓦辛格和加思.布鲁克斯等明星的星迷，然而“一些美国人却害怕住在美国的移民不知为何能不受这个国家的同化力量的影响”。

Are there divisive issues and pockets of seething anger in America? Indeed. It is big enough to have a bit of everyth ing. But particularly when viewed against America‘s turbulent past, today’s social induces hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment.

在美国是否存在不和以及潜在的不安？答案是肯定的，因为这个国家足够大以至于什么现象都存在。但是与美国动荡狂暴的过去相比，如今的社会基本不能说明美国的社会环境正变得黑暗，且正在恶化。

Text 2

Stratford-on-Avon, as we all know, has only one industry-William Shakespeare-but there are two distinctly separate and increasingly hostile branches. There is the Royal Shakespeare Company （RSC）, which presents superb productions of the plays at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre on the Avon. And there are the townsfolk who largely live off the tourists who come, not to see the plays, but to look at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, Shakespeare’s birthplace and the other sights.

众所周知Stratford-on-Avon只有一个特色,那就是威廉•莎士比亚,但这儿却有两个相互独立的部门,他们随着时间的变化而日益变得敌对。这儿有皇家莎士比亚公司（RSC），它在Avon的莎士比亚纪念剧院里将很多优秀的戏剧作品呈现给大家。这儿的居民大部分是靠挣来游玩的游客的钱来维持生计，这些游客并不是来看戏剧的，而是来看Anne Hathaway的庄园，莎士比亚的出生地和其他的景色。The worthy residents of Stratford doubt that the theatre adds a penny to their revenue. They frankly disl ike the RSC’s actors, them with their long hair and beards and sandals and noisiness. It’s all deliciously ironic when you consider that Shakespeare, who earns their living, was himself an actor （with a beard）and did his share of noise - making.

Stratford的当地乡绅们都质疑剧院有没有为当地的税收收入做一点贡献。他们直言讨厌RSC的演员，这些演员留着长头发，长胡须，拖着凉鞋，吵吵嚷嚷。这真是一种绝妙的讽刺，当你想到作为他们摇钱树的莎士比亚,自己也是个演员，留着胡子，一起大吵大闹。

The tourist streams are not entirely separate. The sightseers who come by bus- and