新世纪大学英语第三册Unit1课文翻译

Translation of the Text (课文翻译)

Unit 1 What is Friendship?

Introduction

1.Friendship is an eternal theme in human history.

=友谊是人类历史上一个永恒的主题。

2.A life without friendship is hard to imagine.

=没有友谊的生活是难以想象的。

3.But what is friendship?

=但是，什么是友谊呢？

4.Read the following text and see if you can gain some new insights into the true meaning of friendship.

=阅读下文，看看是否你能对友谊的真正含义获得某些新颖而深刻的见解。

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1.When we approach the notion of friendship, our first problem is that there is a lack of socially acknowledged criteria for what makes a person a friend.

=当我们开始探讨友谊这个概念时，我们所遇到的第一个问题是，缺乏一个社会公认的择友标准。

2.In one setting, we may describe someone as a friend; in another, the label may seem less appropriate.

=在某一情境下，我们会把某个人称作朋友；然而，情境一旦变迁，朋友这个称呼似乎就没那么贴切了。

3.Therefore, people tend to have a very thin understanding of what friendship really means.

=因此，人们对于友谊的真谛的理解往往是非常肤浅的。

4.To help us understand what friendship really means, we need to review some classical views of friendship.

=为了帮助我们理解友谊的真谛，我们需要回顾有关友谊的几种传统的看法。

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1.One classical view of friendship is provided by Aristotle, the famous ancient Greek philosopher. =一种传统的友谊观是由著名的古希腊哲学家亚里斯多德提出来的。

2.Aristotle distinguishes between (what he believes to be) genuine friendships and two other forms: one based on mutual usefulness, the other on pleasure.

=亚里斯多德将他心目中真正的友谊同另外两种形式的友谊截然分开。这两种友谊分别是：基于互利的友谊；基于愉悦的友谊。

3.So, according to Aristotle, we may find three kinds of friendship.

=所以，根据亚里斯多德的观点，我们可以将友谊分为三类。

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1.Friendship (based on utility).

=建立在功利之上的友谊

2.Utility is an impermanent thing: it changes according to circumstances.

=功利是非永恒的事情：它会依照环境而变化。

3.When the ground for friendship disappears, the friendship also breaks up.

=当友谊的根基消失时，友谊也随之破灭。

4.Friendship (of this kind) seem to occur most frequently between the elderly, because at their age what they want is not pleasure but utility.

=这种类型的友谊似乎在老人之间最为常见，因为上了年纪的人所需要的不是愉悦而是实用。

5.Friendships (based on utility) are also frequently found among those (in middle or early life) (who are pursuing their own advantage).

=基于功利的友谊也经常存在于追逐个人利益的中年人和青年人中。

6.Such persons do not spend much time together, because sometimes they do not even like one another, and therefore feel no need of such an association unless they are mutually useful.

=这些人在一起共同消磨的时光不会太多，因为他们有时甚至不喜欢对方，所以，除非觉得可以互相利用，否则没有交往的必要。

7.They take pleasure in each other’s company only in so far as they have hopes of advantage from it.

=只有当他们认为有希望从彼此的陪伴中获取好处时，他们才会乐于呆在一起。Paragraph 4

1.Friendship based on pleasure.

=建立在愉悦之上的友谊。

2.Friendship (between the young) is thought to be grounded on pleasure, because the lives of the young are regulated by their feelings, and their chief interests are in their own pleasure and the opportunity (of the moment).

=年轻人之间的友谊常被看作是建立在愉悦基础之上的，因为年轻人的生活受感情支配，他们的主要兴趣点是自己的快乐和眼前的重要机会。

3.As they grow up, however, their tastes change too, so that they are quick to make and to break friendships.

=然而，随着他们的成长，他们的情趣也会日渐变化，所以，他们交友容易，分手也干脆。

4.That is why they fall in and out of friendship quickly, changing their attitude often, even within the same day.

=年轻人的态度变化无常，甚至一日数变，这就是为什么他们的友谊总是迅速开始，又匆匆结束的原因了。

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1.Friendship based on goodness.

=建立在美德之上的友谊。

2.Perfect friendship is based on goodness.

=完美无暇的友谊建立在美德之上。

3.Only the friendship of those (who are good, and similar in their goodness), is perfect.

=只有那些品德高尚而且拥有相似美德的人之间建立的友谊才是最完美的。

4.The conduct of good men is the same or similar.

=品行高尚的人，其行为是相同的，或者是类似的。

5.It is (between good men) that both love and friendship are chiefly found and in the highest form. =爱和友谊多半在品行高尚的人之间发生，而且以最高雅的形式出现。

6.Such friendships are rare and they need time and intimacy; for as the saying goes, true friends must go through trials and tribulations together.

=这种友谊是罕见的，需要时间，需要亲密的交往。常言道：真正的朋友必须同甘共苦，历经风雨。

7.And no two persons can accept each other and become friends until each has proved to the other that he is worthy of love, and so won his trust.