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BeckyBlanton_2009G-_我无家可归的一年_
I'm a writer and a journalist , and I'm also an insanely curious person. 我是一个作家,一个新闻记者, 我也是一位具有强烈求知欲的人。
journalist:n.新闻工作者;报人;记日志者; insanely:adv.疯狂地;狂暴地;精神错乱地; curious:adj.好奇的,有求知欲的;古怪的;爱挑剔的;
So in 22 years as a journalist 所以在做新闻记者的22年里,
I've learned how to do a lot of new things. 我知道了很多新奇的事物。
And three years ago, one of the things I learned how to do was to become invisible . 而三年前,我学会做的一件事就是 变成隐形人。
invisible:adj.看不见的;n.看不见的人或物;
I became one of the working homeless. 我成了一个无家可归的工作者。
I quit my job as a newspaper editor after my father died in February of that same year, and decided to travel. 我辞掉了报纸编辑的工作 在我父亲那年二月去世之后 我决定去旅行
quit:v.离开;放弃;停止;使…解除;n.离开;[计]退出;adj.摆脱了…的;已经了结的;
His death hit me pretty hard. 他的去世对我打击非常大。
And there were a lot of things that I wanted to feel and deal with while I was doing that. 当时这么做,是因为有很多我想去感知和处理的事。
I've camped my whole life. And I decided that living in a van for a year to do this would be like one long camping trip. 旅游时我天天都在露营。并且决定 在休旅车里住一年 就当作是一段长期野营旅行。
van:n.厢式货车;客货车;v.选矿;用车搬运;
So I packed my cat, my rottweiler , and my camping gear into a 1975 Chevy van, and drove off into the sunset , having fully failed to realize three critical things. 所以,我就带上我的猫,我的罗特威尔犬 和露营的装备装载到1975产的雪佛莱旅游车上, 开车去看日落 但当时完全没想过三件严重的事
rottweiler:n.罗特韦尔犬(德国的一种狗); gear:n.齿轮; v.适合; Chevy:雪佛兰(Chevrolet); sunset:adj.霞红色的; n.日落(时分); v.(使)定期届满废止; critical:adj.鉴定的;[核]临界的;批评的,爱挑剔的;危险的;决定性的;评论的;
One: that society equates living in a permanent structure , even a shack , with having value as a person. 一:社会将住房 即使是很小的房间, 和人的价值等同起来。
equates:vt.使相等;视为平等;vi.等同; permanent:adj.永久的,永恒的;n.烫发; structure:n.结构;构造;建筑物;vt.组织;构成;建造; shack:n.棚屋;小室;vi.居住;
Two: I failed to realize how quickly the negative perceptions of other people can impact our reality, if we let it. 二:我没有意识到 其他人的负面言语 对我们本身的影响是多么严重,假如我们放任不管。
negative:adj.[数]负的;消极的;否定的;阴性的;n.否定;负数;[摄]底片;v.否定;拒绝; perceptions:n.认知;观念(perception的复数);理解; impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响;
Three: I failed to realize that homelessness is an attitude , not a lifestyle. 三:我没有意识到 无家可归是一种生活态度 而不是一种生活方式。
homelessness:n.无家可归; attitude:n.态度;看法;意见;姿势;
At first, living in the van was great. 一开始,住在车里是很不错的。
I showered in campgrounds. I ate out regularly . 我在露天洗澡,正常的去外面吃东西。
regularly:adv.经常地;有规律地;定期的
And I had time to relax and to grieve . 而且有时间去抒发情感。
relax:v.放松,休息;松懈,松弛;变从容;休养; grieve:v.使悲伤,使苦恼;悲痛,哀悼;
But then the anger and the depression about my father's death set in. 但是后来,因我父亲去世而带来的悲愤和痛沮开始加剧。
depression:n.沮丧;洼地;不景气;忧愁;
My freelance job ended. And I had to get a full-time job to pay the bills. 我自由作家的工作结束了。我就需要去找一件全职工作 来支付我的账单。
freelance:n.自由作家;自由记者;adj.自由投稿的; full-time:adj.专职的;全日制的;全部时间的;
What had been a really mild spring turned into a miserably hot summer. 从一个非常温和的春天 变到一个极其炎热的夏天会怎样呢。
mild:adj.温和的; n.(英国的一种)淡味麦芽啤酒; miserably:adv.贫困地;可悲地;糟糕地;非常不幸地;
And it became impossible to park anywhere -- 不管车停在哪都是难以忍受的
(Laughs) （笑声）
- without being very obvious that I had a cat and a dog with me, and it was really hot. 不用说也很明显 我带着一只猫和一只狗,而且非常的热。
obvious:adj.明显的;显著的;平淡无奇的;
The cat came and went through an open window in the van. 猫从车窗来回的跑。
The doggy went into doggy day care. 狗跑到了狗狗护理中心。
doggy:n.(儿语)小狗,汪汪,狗狗;adj.狗的;像狗一样的
And I sweated. 我则大汗淋漓。
Whenever I could, I used employee showers in office buildings and truck stops. 不管什么时候,只要可以,我就会去用 在办公大楼和卡车车站里员工用的淋浴。
Or I washed up in public rest rooms. 或者在公共卫生间里洗洗。
Nighttime temperatures in the van rarely dropped below 80 degrees Fahrenheit , making it difficult or impossible to sleep. 在夜里车里的温度很少会降到华氏80度以下, 这使我几乎无法入睡。
Nighttime:n.夜间;adj.夜间的;夜里发生的; rarely:adv.很少地;难得;罕有地; Fahrenheit:adj.华氏的;华氏温度计的;n.华氏温度计;华氏温标;
Food rotted in the heat. 食物在高温下腐坏。
Ice in my ice chest melted within hours, and it was pretty miserable . 冷藏柜里的冰几个小时就化完了, 非常苦闷的时期。
melted:v.(使)熔化,融化;(使)软化,变得温柔;(melt的过去分词和过去式) miserable:adj.悲惨的;痛苦的;卑鄙的;
I couldn't afford to find an apartment, or couldn't afford an apartment that would allow me to have the rottweiler and the cat. 我没钱找公寓, 或者找不到让我 可以养狗和猫的地方。
afford:v.给予,提供;买得起;
And I refused to give them up. 我不想把它们抛弃。
So I stayed in the van. 所以我继续待在旅行车里。
And when the heat made me too sick to walk the 50 feet to the public restroom outside my van at night, 但炎热的天气使我饱受折磨 以至于在夜里走50英尺 到车外面的公共卫生间都懒的动。
I used a bucket and a trash bag as a toilet. 我用桶和垃圾袋当厕所。
bucket:n.大桶状物; v.拼命划桨; trash:n.垃圾;废物;v.丢弃;修剪树枝;
When winter weather set in, the temperatures dropped below freezing. And they stayed there. 当冬天来临的时候,温度骤降 到零度以下。然后就一直这么冷。
And I faced a whole new set of challenges. 我又遇到了一堆新问题,
I parked a different place every night so I would avoid being noticed and hassled by the police. 每晚我的车都停在不同的地方。 这样才可以不让警察发现以至于和警察争吵。
hassled:v.争吵;争辩;使烦恼(hassle的过去分词);
I didn't always succeed. 当然,并不是每次都成功。
But, I felt out of control of my life. 但是,我觉得我已无力掌控自己的生活了。
And I don't know when or how it happened, but the speed at which I went from being a talented writer and journalist to being a homeless woman, living in a van, took my breath away. 我也不知道什么时候或者是如何发生的, 我这么快就从一个 有才的写手,新闻从业者 变成一个无家可归,住在车里的女人 这简直是快的难以置信。
I hadn't changed. My I.Q. hadn't dropped. 我并没有变。我的智商没有降低。
My talent, my integrity , my values, everything about me remained the same. 我的才能,我的正直,我的价值, 所有关于我的这些东西都还是一样。
integrity:n.完整;正直;诚实;廉正;
But I had changed somehow . 但是从某种程度上,我还是改变了,
somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地;
I spiraled deeper and deeper into a depression. 我越来越沮丧,像一个漩涡一样不断地往下沉。
spiraled:n.螺旋; adj.螺旋形的; vt.使成螺旋形; vi.盘旋;
And eventually someone referred me to a homeless health clinic . 后来有人介绍我去一个专为无家可归之人开的健康诊所。
eventually:adv.最后,终于; referred:v.提到;引用;认为;指示;涉及;(refer的过去式和过去分词) clinic:n.诊所;临床实习;(医院的)门诊部;门诊时间;
And I went. I hadn't bathed in three days. 我去了。我有三天都没有洗澡了,
bathed:adj.沐浴的;淋漓的,湿透的;沉溺的;v.沐浴;(bath的过去分词);
I was as smelly and as depressed as anyone in line. 我和其他那些排队的人一样沮丧,身上的味道也很难闻。
smelly:adj.有臭味的,发臭的; depressed:adj.沮丧的; v.使抑郁; (depress的过去式和过去分词)
I just wasn't drunk or high. 我只是没有喝醉或者兴奋。
And when several of the homeless men realized that, including a former university professor, they said, "You aren't homeless. Why are you really here?" 当一些无家可归的人意识到, 包括一个以前在大学任教的教授, 他们说:“你不是无家可归,你真正在这里的原因是什么？”
Other homeless people didn't see me as homeless, but I did. 其他的无家可归的人不把我当作是无家可归的人看待。 但是我自己是这么认为的。
Then the professor listened to my story and he said, "You have a job. You have hope. 后来,教授听了我的故事后他说, “你有工作,有希望。
The real homeless don't have hope." 真正无家可归的人并没有希望可言。”
A reaction to the medication the clinic gave me for my depression left me suicidal . And I remember thinking, "If I killed myself, no one would notice." 诊所针对我沮丧开的药物的副作用 让我有点自杀的倾向。我还记得当时想, “如果我自杀了,可能没人会发现的”
reaction:n.反应,感应;反动,复古;反作用; medication:n.药;药物; suicidal:adj.自杀的,自杀性的;自我毁灭的;自取灭亡的;
A friend told me, shortly after that, that she had heard that Tim Russert, a nationally renowned journalist had been talking about me on national T.V. 在那不久后,我的一个朋友就告诉我, 她听说提姆 路塞特, 一个全国知名的记者 在全国播放的电视节目上谈论到了我。
nationally:adv.全国性地;以国民立场地;举国一致地; renowned:adj.著名的;闻名的;有名的;受尊敬的
An essay I'd written about my father, the year before he died, was in Tim's new book. 一篇我写的关于我父亲的短文, 在他去世前一年写的,被收录到了提姆的新书里。
And he was doing the talk show circuit . And he was talking about my writing. 他那时在做巡回演讲,提到我的写作。
talk show:n.脱口秀; circuit:n.环行路线;电路;线路;巡回赛;v.巡回;周游;
And when I realized that Tim Russert, former moderator of Meet the Press, was talking about my writing, while I was living in a van in a Wal-Mart parking lot , 当我发现提姆 路塞特,前Meet the Press节目的调解员, 在谈论我的写作。 而我却生活在停在沃尔玛停车场里的旅行车里面,
moderator:n.[核]慢化剂;仲裁人;调解人;缓和剂; Wal-Mart:n.沃尔玛; parking lot:n.停车场;
I started laughing. 我开始笑了,
You should too. 呵,你们也该笑笑。
(Laughter) （笑声）
I started laughing because it got to the point where, was I a writer, or was I a homeless woman? 我开始笑, 因为这正是问题根结, 我是一位作家呢,还是一位无家可归的女人？
So I went in the bookstore. And I found Tim's book. 于是我走进一家书店。找到提姆的书。
And I stood there. And I reread my essay. 我站在那,又重新读了一遍我写的短文。
reread:vi.重读,再读;vt.重读;再读;n.重读;
And I cried. 我哭了。
Because I was a writer. 因为我是一位作家,
I was a writer. 是一位作家。
Shortly after that I moved back to Tennessee . 在那之后,我很快就搬回了田纳西。
Tennessee:n.田纳西州(美国州名);
I alternated between living in a van and couch surfing with friends. 有时住在车里,有时会去朋友家睡沙发。
alternated:交替;轮流(alternate的过去分词);间隔的;轮流的;交替的; couch:n.睡椅,长沙发;床;卧榻;v.蹲伏,埋伏;躺着; surfing:v.冲浪;进行冲浪运动;(互联网上)浏览;(surf的现在分词)
And I started writing again. 我又重新开始写作了。
By the summer of the following year I was a working journalist. 在接踵而来的夏天里,我又成为了一名新闻记者。
I was winning awards. I was living in my own apartment. 我得了奖,住在我自己的公寓里。
I was no longer homeless. 我不再无家可归。
And I was no longer invisible. 我也不再被无视。
Thousands of people work full and part-time jobs, and live in their cars. 无数的人在从事着全职和兼职的工作, 而且住在他们的车里。
But society continues to stigmatize and criminalize living in your vehicle or on the streets. 但是社会还继续污蔑他们 并视住在交通工具里或者睡在街上为犯罪。
stigmatize:vt.诬蔑;玷污;给…打上烙印; criminalize:vt.宣告…为犯法行为;判定…为非法事件; vehicle:n.[车辆]车辆;工具;交通工具;运载工具;传播媒介;媒介物;
So the homeless, the working homeless, primarily remain invisible. 所以那些无家可归,有工作但是无家可归的人,大部分还是隐藏着的。
primarily:adv.首先;主要地,根本上;
But if you ever meet one, engage them, encourage them, and offer them hope. 但是如果你见到了, 雇用他们,鼓励他们,并给予他们希望。
engage:v.吸引,占用;使参加;雇佣;使订婚;预定;
The human spirit can overcome anything if it has hope. 只要有希望,人类的精神可以克服一切困难。
overcome:vt.克服;胜过;vi.克服;得胜;
And I'm not here to be the poster girl for the homeless. 我并不是来这里为无家可归的人做宣传的。
poster:n.海报;巨幅装饰画;发布消息的人;
I'm not here to encourage you to give money to the next panhandler you meet. 我不是来这里鼓励你们去施舍下一个你见到的乞丐。
panhandler:n.叫花子;乞丐;
But I am here to tell you that, based on my experience, people are not where they live, where they sleep, or what their life situation is at any given time. 而我在这里是来告诉你们,根据我过去的经历, 人不是由他们所住的地方, 睡得地方, 或者他们在任何一个时间的生活状态所决定的。
Three years ago I was living in a van in a Wal-Mart parking lot. 三年前,我住在一个停在 沃尔玛的停车场的汽车里。
And today I'm speaking at TED. 而今天我却在TED演讲。
Hope always, always, finds a way. Thank you. 希望永远,永远,会指引前路。谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）