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TaniaLuna_2012S-_从1美分如何让我自觉像百万富翁_
I'm five years old, and I am very proud. 我5岁那年,我非常自豪,
My father has just built the best outhouse in our little village in Ukraine . 因为我父亲刚刚建好 我在乌克兰小村里最好的屋外厕所。
outhouse:n.外屋;屋外厕所;附属建筑物; Ukraine:n.乌克兰(原苏联一加盟共和国,现已独立);
Inside, it's a smelly , gaping hole in the ground, but outside, it's pearly white formica and it literally gleams in the sun. 内部是臭哄哄的,在地上挖的一个大洞, 但是外面,却是珍珠白胶木, 在阳光下闪闪发光。
smelly:adj.有臭味的,发臭的; gaping:v.张口结舌地看;张开;裂开;豁开;(gape的现在分词) pearly:adj.珍贵的;珍珠似的;生产珍珠的;用珍珠装饰的; formica:n.福米加(商标,用作贴面板等的抗热硬塑料); literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地: gleams:n.闪光;瞬息一现(gleam的复数);v.闪烁;闪现(gleam的第三人称单数形式);
This makes me feel so proud, so important, that I appoint myself the leader of my little group of friends and I devise missions for us. 这让我感到那么的自豪且重要, 好让我可以自命为小伙伴们的领袖 去指挥我们的任务。
appoint:v.任命;委任;确定(时间、地点); devise:v.设计; n.[法]遗赠财产的遗嘱(或其中的条款); missions:n.任务; v.给…交代任务; (mission的复数)
So we prowl from house to house looking for flies captured in spider webs and we set them free. 我们在屋舍之间玩耍 看苍蝇黏在蜘蛛网上 我们将它们放生。
prowl:vi.徘徊,潜行;vt.在…搜寻;潜行于;n.徘徊,潜行;悄悄踱步; captured:adj.捕获的;被俘的;v.捕获;占领;引起;(capture的过去式和过去分词) spider:n.蜘蛛;
Four years earlier, when I was one, after the Chernobyl accident, the rain came down black, and my sister's hair fell out in clumps , and I spent nine months in the hospital. 往前推4年,在我1岁的时候, 发生了切尔诺贝利（核泄漏）事故, 天空下著黑雨, 我姐姐的头发成簇地脱落, 我在医院待了9个月。
Chernobyl:n.切尔诺贝利(乌克兰的一座城市); clumps:块;
There were no visitors allowed, so my mother bribed a hospital worker. 期间不允许任何访客, 我的母亲只好贿赂了一个医院工作者。
bribed:v.向(某人)行贿;贿赂;(bribe的过去分词和过去式)
She acquired a nurse's uniform , and she snuck in every night to sit by my side. 她拿到了一件护士制服, 每天晚上偷偷坐在我的身旁,
acquired:adj.习得的; v.获得; (acquire的过去分词和过去式) uniform:adj.统一的;一致的;相同的;始终如一的;n.制服;v.使穿制服;使成一样; snuck:潜行(sneak的过去式和过去分词);
Five years later, an unexpected silver lining. 5年之后,出现了意想不到的希望,
unexpected:adj.意外的,想不到的; silver:n.银; v.给…镀(或包)银; adj.银色的;
Thanks to Chernobyl, we get asylum in the U.S. 由于这场灾难,我们得到了美国政府的庇护。
asylum:n.庇护;收容所,救济院;
I am six years old, and I don't cry when we leave home and we come to America, because I expect it to be a place filled with rare and wonderful things like bananas and chocolate and Bazooka bubble gum , 那时我6岁,离开家乡时并没有哭, 然后我们来到了美国, 因为我将要抵达的地方充满了, 稀奇珍宝,比如香蕉、巧克力 以及火箭牌泡泡糖,
Bazooka:n.火箭炮;长号式乐器; bubble:n.泡;气泡;肥皂泡;一点感情;v.起泡;冒泡;洋溢着(某种感情); gum:n.牙龈;树胶;齿龈;树脂;v.在…上涂胶;用黏胶粘;
Bazooka bubble gum with the little cartoon wrappers inside, 火箭牌泡泡糖里面都装有小卡通画,
wrappers:n.封装器;面皮(wrapper的复数形式);
Bazooka that we'd get once a year in Ukraine and we'd have to chew one piece for an entire week. 在乌克兰,我们每年只能有拿到一盒泡泡糖 然后一片要嚼上一整个星期。
So the first day we get to New York, my grandmother and I find a penny in the floor of the homeless shelter that my family's staying in. 当我们来到纽约的第一天, 我的祖母和我发现了1美分硬币 就在我们住下的收容所的地板上。
Only, we don't know that it's a homeless shelter. 只有我们认为那个不是收容所。
We think that it's a hotel, a hotel with lots of rats. 我们把它当成了宾馆,一个充满了老鼠的宾馆。
So we find this penny kind of fossilized in the floor, and we think that a very wealthy man must have left it there because regular people don't just lose money. 所以当我们发现了这1美分,像化石般凝固在地板上, 我们以为是哪个非常富有的人丢在了那里 因为普通人不会丢钱。
fossilized:adj.石化的;僵化的;老化的;v.石化(fossilize的过去式和过去分词);
And I hold this penny in the palm of my hand, and it's sticky and rusty, but it feels like I'm holding a fortune . 我把这1美分牢牢地握在手里, 它又粘又生锈, 但是让我觉得,我握住了财宝。
palm:n.手掌;手心;棕榈树;v.把…藏在手中(尤指玩戏法); sticky:adj.粘的;粘性的; fortune:n.财富;命运;运气;v.给予财富,偶然发生
I decide that I'm going to get my very own piece of Bazooka bubble gum. 我决定去用它来买属于自己的一片 火箭牌泡泡糖。
And in that moment, I feel like a millionaire. 在那一瞬间,我觉得自己是百万富翁。
About a year later, I get to feel that way again when we find a bag full of stuffed animals in the trash , and suddenly I have more toys than I've ever had in my whole life. 一年之后,我再次体验了这种感觉, 当我发现一个装满毛茸茸玩具的袋子丢在垃圾站, 突然之间我有那么多的玩具, 比我从小到大玩过的还要多。
stuffed:adj.饱;装满的;v.填满;装满;给…装馅;(stuff的过去分词和过去式) trash:n.垃圾;废物;v.丢弃;修剪树枝;
And again, I get that feeling when we get a knock on the door of our apartment in Brooklyn, and my sister and I find a deliveryman with a box of pizza that we didn't order. 还有一次,我又有了百万富翁的感觉, 当有人敲响我们布鲁克林公寓的门, 我和姐姐发现是一位送货员, 带来了一盒我们没有定过的匹萨,
deliveryman:n.送货人;
So we take the pizza, our very first pizza, and we devour slice after slice as the deliveryman stands there and stares at us from the doorway . 然后我们就拿下了这匹萨,我们的第一块匹萨, 我们狼吞虎咽地吃了一片又一片 完全不顾送货员站在门口盯着我们看。
devour:v.狼吞虎咽地吃光;津津有味地看;吞没;毁灭; slice:n.片; v.切成片; (很容易地)切开; stares:vi.凝视,盯着看;显眼;vt.凝视,盯着看;n.凝视;注视; doorway:n.门口;途径;
And he tells us to pay, but we don't speak English. 后来他要我们付钱,但我们不会说英语。
My mother comes out, and he asks her for money, but she doesn't have enough. 我的母亲闻声而来,他向她要钱, 但是我们的钱根本不够。
She walks 50 blocks to and from work every day just to avoid spending money on bus fare . 母亲每天上下班徒步走50个街区 只是为了省一些公交车的钱。
spending money:n.零花钱;零用钱; fare:n.车费;饭菜;船费;飞机票价;v.成功(或不成功、更好等);
Then our neighbor pops her head in, and she turns red with rage when she realizes that those immigrants from downstairs have somehow gotten their hands on her pizza. 接着我们的邻居探出头来, 然后她变得怒不可遏,当她意识到 这些楼下的移民 用他们的手碰了她的匹萨。
rage:n.狂怒;暴怒;(某情况引起的)愤怒;v.发怒;怒斥;猛烈地继续;激烈进行; immigrants:n.移民(immigrant的复数); downstairs:adv.在楼下;往楼下;adj.楼下的;n.楼下(尤指地面的一层); somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地;
Everyone's upset . 所有人都很不愉快。
upset:adj.沮丧; v.打乱; n.苦恼; (意外的)混乱;
But the pizza is delicious. 但是匹萨却非常美味。
It doesn't hit me until years later just how little we had. 家庭的贫困并没有打击到我,直到多年以后
On our 10 year anniversary of being in the U.S., we decided to celebrate by reserving a room at the hotel that we first stayed in when we got to the U.S. 在我们来到美国的10周年纪念时, 我们决定去定一个宾馆来庆祝 我们想去定刚来美国时住的“宾馆”,
reserving:v.保留;预约;推迟(reserve的ing形式);adj.储备的;n.预约;预订;
The man at the front desk laughs, and he says, "You can't reserve a room here. This is a homeless shelter." 可是前台服务员大笑着说, “你可没法再定这里的房间,因为这里是流浪汉收容所。”
front desk:n.总台; reserve:n.储备,储存; vt.储备; vi.预订;
And we were shocked. 我们当时就惊呆了。
My husband Brian was also homeless as a kid. 我的丈夫布莱恩也是一个无家可归的孩子,
His family lost everything, and at age 11, he had to live in motels with his dad, motels that would round up all of their food and keep it hostage until they were able to pay the bill. 他的家庭失去了一切,在他11岁时, 他不得不和父亲住在汽车旅店, 汽车旅店的人扣下了他们所有的食物 以此为要挟,直到他们付清了账单,
motels:n.汽车旅馆(motel复数); hostage:n.人质;抵押品;
And one time, when he finally got his box of Frosted Flakes back, it was crawling with roaches . 后来,当他们最终拿回了装玉米麦片的盒子 里面已经爬满了蟑螂。
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地; Flakes:n.鳞片;白点;发裂; crawling:v.爬行;匍匐行进;(crawl的现在分词) roaches:n.蟑螂(roach的复数);
But he did have one thing. 但他确实拥有了一件财富。
He had this shoebox that he carried with him everywhere containing nine comic books, two G.I. Joes painted to look like Spider-Man and five Gobots. And this was his treasure. 他把这个盒子留下来,随时带在身边 里面装了9本漫画书, 2个玩具美国兵,涂得像个蜘蛛侠 以及5个机器人。这些是他的宝贝,
shoebox:n.鞋盒;adj.(建筑物)鞋盒似的;
This was his own assembly of heroes that kept him from drugs and gangs and from giving up on his dreams. 是他自己收藏的英雄们, 保护他远离毒品和犯罪, 让他不放弃自己的梦想。
assembly:n.装配;集会,集合; gangs:n.帮派(gang的复数);v.成帮结伙;合伙行动(gang的三单形式);
I'm going to tell you about one more formerly homeless member of our family. 我想再多说一个例子, 曾经无家可归,现在是我的家庭成员,
formerly:adv.以前;原来;
This is Scarlett. 她是斯嘉丽。
Once upon a time , Scarlet was used as bait in dog fights. 之前,斯嘉丽被人用作斗狗的诱饵,
Once upon a time:从前(常用于故事的开头) Scarlet:adj.深红的;鲜红色的;罪孽深重的;淫荡的;n.猩红色;红衣;绯红色;鲜红色布; bait:v.引诱;在…中放诱饵;折磨;n.饵;诱饵;vi.中途休息;
She was tied up and thrown into the ring for other dogs to attack so they'd get more aggressive before the fight. 她被栓住扔在笼子里, 让其他的狗去攻击,这样它们会在比赛前更兴奋
aggressive:adj.侵略性的;好斗的;有进取心的;有闯劲的;
And now, these days, she eats organic food and she sleeps on an orthopedic bed with her name on it, but when we pour water for her in her bowl, she still looks up and she wags her tail in gratitude . 现在,她可以吃到有机食品 睡在骨骼矫正床上,写有她的名字, 现在当我们往她的碗里倒水 她还是会摇摇尾巴,用感激的眼神看着我们。
organic:adj.有机的;不使用化肥的;绿色的;有机物的;n.分子有机体; orthopedic:adj.整形外科的(等于orthopaedic); pour:v.倒; n.流出; (已熔金属的)一次浇注量; wags:n.(明星足球运动员的)太太团;wag的复数形式; gratitude:n.感谢(的心情);感激;
Sometimes Brian and I walk through the park with Scarlett, and she rolls through the grass, and we just look at her and then we look at each other and we feel gratitude. 有时我和布莱恩带着斯嘉丽在公园散步, 她在草丛上打滚, 我们就只是看着她嬉耍, 然后再看看对方, 我们就会心生感激。
We forget about all of our new middle-class frustrations and disappointments , and we feel like millionaires. 我们忘却那些新中产阶级曾经经历的痛苦 以及失落, 我们感觉自己就是百万富翁。
middle-class:adj.中产阶级的;中层社会的; frustrations:n.沮丧;受阻;阻止;挫败;(frustration的复数) disappointments:n.失望;沮丧;
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）