全新版大學(xué)英語2第二單元ALifeFullofRiches

1、ALifeFullofRiches富裕的一世ItwasearlyDecember2003，myfirstseasonasaSalvationArmybellringer,whenIwasconfrontedwiththequestion。IwasstandingjustoutsidethedoorwayofaWal-Mart,offeringa”thankyouandasmiletoeachpersonwhodroppedadonationintomyredkettle。Aneatlydressedwomanandheryoungsonwalkeduptothekettlestand。Whil

2、eshesearchedherpurseforsomecash,theboylookedupatme.Icanstillseetheconfusionandcuriosityinhiseyesasheasked,”Areyoupoor？”初次面對(duì)這個(gè)問題，是在2003年12月初,我第一次為救世軍搖鈴募捐的時(shí)候。當(dāng)時(shí)我就站在沃爾瑪商場(chǎng)進(jìn)口處門外，對(duì)每一位向我的紅壺里投入捐錢的人都報(bào)以一聲“感謝和一個(gè)淺笑。一位衣著整齊的婦人牽著她的幼子向放壺的臺(tái)子走過來.她在錢包里摸著找錢時(shí)，孩子仰頭看了我一眼，問我：“你窮嗎？”當(dāng)時(shí)他眼里充滿迷惑和氣奇，時(shí)到現(xiàn)在天仍記憶猶新。Well，Istammered，tr

3、yingtothink,”Ihavemorethansomepeople,butnotasmuchasothers.Hismotherscoldedhimforthesocialnono，andtheyhurriedofftodotheirshopping.Hisquestion，however，didnotleaveme.“嗯,我結(jié)結(jié)巴巴，邊想邊回答，“我比有些人擁有的多，但比其余人擁有的少。因?yàn)楹⒆訂柫艘粋€(gè)在交際上不應(yīng)問的問題，訓(xùn)誡了他一頓,他倆便急忙的趕去購物的問題卻向來留在我的心頭揮之不去?！蹦赣H.可是孩子Iveneverthoughtofmyselfaspoor，butIcantde

4、nycertainfactsEvery.timeIfilloutmy1040form,Ifallintooneofthelowestincomebrackets。Inthepast35years,Ivetakenjustonevacationtrip。MyTVisablackandwhitesetthatsomeonegavemeeightyearsago.我從不認(rèn)為自己“窮”，但有些事實(shí)我不能否定.每當(dāng)我填1040稅務(wù)申報(bào)表時(shí)，我都屬于收入最低的品位之一.在過去的三十五年中,我只出去度過一次假。我的電視機(jī)是黑白的,還是八年前他人送給我的。YetIfeelnothingmorethanapas

5、singwhimtoattainthematerialthingssomanyotherpeoplehave。My1999carshowsthewearandtearof105，000miles。Butitisstilldependable.Myapartmentismodest,butquietandrelaxing.Myclothesarewellsuitedtomywork，whichisprimarilyoutdoors。Myminimalcomputerneedscanbemetatthelibrary。但是，想要獲取其余那么多人都有的物質(zhì)的東西，對(duì)我來說,只可是是片刻即逝的念想而已

6、。我的汽車是1999年的產(chǎn)品,到此刻開了十萬五千英里，已經(jīng)很破很舊了,可是它依舊可靠。我的住宅不大，可是很寂靜，住著挺舒心。我的衣服很合適于我的工作，主要都在戶外.我對(duì)計(jì)算機(jī)的極少的需求，能夠在圖書室獲取解決.InspiteofwhatIdonthave，Idontfeelpoor。Why?Iveenjoyedexceptionallygoodhealthfor53years。ItsnotjustthatIvebeenillnessfree,itsthatIfeelvigorousandspirited。Exercisingisactuallyfunforme.Ilookforwardtolo

7、ng，energizingwalks.AndIlovethecando”attitudethatfollows.只管有些東西我沒有，我其實(shí)不感覺貧困。這是為何五十三年來我向來特別健康.我不但不患病，并且精力充足，情緒飽滿.鍛煉對(duì)我而言是確的確實(shí)的快事，我愿意長距離步行，越走越有勁。我喜歡步行后隨之產(chǎn)生的一種“什么都干得了”的心態(tài).Ialsocherishthegiftofcreativity。WhenIwriteabeautifullineofpoetry，orfabricateajokethatticklessomeone，Ifeelrichinside。Imcontinuallysurpr

8、isedattheinsightsthatcomethroughmywritingprocess。Andtalkingwithsomanyinterestingwriterfriendsisoneofmymainsourcesofenjoyment。我還十分珍惜我的創(chuàng)作才能。當(dāng)我寫出漂亮的詩句或假造出能把人逗樂的笑話時(shí)心感覺很富裕。經(jīng)過寫作而獲取的洞察力，不停地令我詫異。而與那么多寫作朋友談話我樂趣的主要源泉之一。，我內(nèi),是ButthereisonevitalareaofmylifewhereIamnotsowelloff.Inasocietythatspendssomuchemotional

9、energyonthepursuitofpossessions,Ifeeloutofplace可是在我生活中,有一個(gè)重要方面我其實(shí)不那么富裕.在一個(gè)對(duì)物質(zhì)財(cái)產(chǎn)的追求投入這樣之多心力的社會(huì)中，我感覺很不自在。WhenIwasyounger，therewasanexceptionallyinterestingpersonIdated。Whatwasmostimportanttoher,shetoldme，was”whatsontheinside。IthoughtIhadfoundsomeonespecialtosharemylifewith。ThenItookhertoseemyapartment

10、。Atthetime，Ilivedinabasementefficiencywithafewpiecesofdatedfurniture。Theonlynew，comfortablechairwastheoneatmydesk。Shortlyafterhervisit,ourrelationshipwentstraightsouth。我年青時(shí)曾與一位特別風(fēng)趣的女士談過朋友。她對(duì)我說，對(duì)她而言，最重要的是“一個(gè)人的心里。我認(rèn)為我找到了非同一般的生活伴侶。以后我就帶她到我的寓所。當(dāng)時(shí)我住的是一個(gè)地下室經(jīng)濟(jì)型小套間,只有幾件陳腐的家具。獨(dú)一新而舒坦的椅子是書桌旁的那把。她來訪后不久,我們的關(guān)系就急轉(zhuǎn)

11、直下。Theseeminglyabruptchangeinherprioritieswasjolting。Itremainsamostmemorableturningpointinmypersonaljourney.她所看重的東西仿佛忽然有了變化，使我大為震動(dòng)。在我的人生旅途上,這仍舊是一個(gè)最難以忘卻的轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)。Incontrasttorelationships,stuffjustdoesntmeanthatmuchtoIthinkme.mostpeoplefeelthesameway-exceptwhentherearesocialconsequencestonothavingparticul

12、aritems。Thereisacommercialontheradiothatbegins，Everybodywantsahigh-endTV.。”Thepressuretopurchaseisreal.Itmaybetruethateverybodywantsahigh-endTV.Afterall，nobodywantstobeanobody。相關(guān)于人際關(guān)系而言，物質(zhì)財(cái)產(chǎn)對(duì)我其實(shí)不那么重要。我認(rèn)為大部分人與我同感-除非當(dāng)某一物件的缺失會(huì)引起社會(huì)結(jié)果時(shí)，人們才會(huì)有不一樣的想法。電臺(tái)播放的一個(gè)商業(yè)廣告開頭這樣說：“每一個(gè)人都想擁有一臺(tái)高檔電視”，購置這類電視機(jī)的壓力確切不移?；蛟S每一個(gè)人真的

13、都想要一臺(tái)高檔電視機(jī)，畢竟沒有人想做一個(gè)無名之輩。ButImhappytolivewithoutone。Infact，notbeingfocusedonmaterialgoodsfeelsquitenaturaltome。Therearemanypeoplethroughouttheworldwhowouldconsidermylifestyletobeaffluent.可是沒有這樣的電視機(jī)我也仍舊活得快樂。事實(shí)上不專注于物質(zhì)財(cái)產(chǎn)然。在這個(gè)世界上有好多人認(rèn)為我活得很富裕。,對(duì)我而言相當(dāng)自Neartheendoftheyear，whenIputontheSalvationArmy，sredsom

14、ethingapronchangesinsideme.Insteadoffeelingoutofplaceeconomically，Ibegintofeelagenuinesenseofbelonging。AsIringmybell,peoplestoptosharetheirpersonalstoriesofhowmuchitmeanttobehelpedwhentheyweregoingthrougharoughtime。PeoplehelpingpeopleissomethingIfeeldeeplyconnectedto.WhileImringingthebell,completest

15、rangershavebroughtmehotchocolate,leavingmewithalingeringsmile.Countlessindividualshavehelpedtokeepmewarmwiththesentimentsoftheseason：Thankyouforringingonsuchacoldday.Can”Igetyouacupofcoffee?Bless”youforyourgoodwork.December”isthetimeofyearIfeelwealthiest.鄰近年終每當(dāng)我系上救世軍的紅圍裙時(shí)，我的心里會(huì)發(fā)生變化。我不但不感覺經(jīng)濟(jì)上不自在,還開始感覺一種真實(shí)的歸屬感。我搖鈴時(shí)，人們會(huì)停下腳步，給我敘述他們的故事，敘述他們碰到困難時(shí)遇到幫助對(duì)他們多么重要.我感覺我與人助人這件事深深地聯(lián)系在一起。在我搖鈴的時(shí)候，從未碰面的陌生人給我拿來熱騰騰的巧克力飲料,留給我一個(gè)久不用逝的淺笑。無數(shù)的路人向我表達(dá)圣誕節(jié)的祝福，使我感覺暖和。“感謝你在這樣的冷天搖鈴?！耙灰医o您弄一杯咖啡？”“你做好事，上帝保佑你.”十二月是一年中我感覺最富裕的時(shí)候。Overthepastfouryears，Ivegrowntounderstandmor