在美国,橄榄球是最热门的体育运动之一。每年赛季始于初秋,人们会去现场或者通过电视观看比赛。角逐到最后的两支球队将在“超级碗”(Super Bowl)大赛中争夺冠军,这是美国最重要的体育赛事之一。由于橄榄球与美国人的生活息息相关,一些关于球员的词汇经常出现在他们的日常对话里,如“quarterback”(四分卫)、“tailback”(殿卫)、“running back”(跑锋)和“left tackle”(左内线锋)等。感兴趣的同学可以将相关词汇整理下来,集中记忆哦!
迈克尔还差一篇作文才能达到奖学金的学分要求。肖恩用橄榄球为例给他讲解诗歌《轻骑旅进击》,帮迈克尔找到下笔点……
Michael: Courage is a hard thing to figure. You can have courage based on a dumb[笨的] idea or a mistake, but you’re not supposed to question adults, or your coach, or your teacher, because they make the rules. Maybe they know best. But maybe they don’t. It all depends on who you are, where you come from. Didn’t at least one of the 600 guys think about giving up and joining with the other side? I mean, Valley of Death – that’s pretty salty stuff. That’s why courage is tricky[棘手的,微妙的].
Should you always do what others tell you to do?
Sometimes you might not even know why you’re doing something. I mean, any fool can have courage. But honor, that’s the real reason you either do something or you don’t. It’s who you are and maybe who you want to be. If you die trying for[努力获得] something important, then you have both honor and courage. And that’s pretty good. I think that’s what the writer was saying, that you should hope for courage and try for honor, and maybe even pray that the people telling you what to do have some, too.
迈克尔:要理解勇气并不容易。你可以因为一个笨主意或者一个错误而产生勇气,但一般来说,我们不应该质疑大人,例如你的教练或者老师。因为是他们制定的规则。也许他们最懂,但也许不是。这都取决于你是谁,来自什么地方。难道那
600名士兵中没有一个人考虑过放弃,向对手投诚吗?我是说,“死亡之谷”——那真是一个浸满血泪的故事。所以勇气是一种很微妙的东西。你应该总是对别人言听计从吗?
有时候,你可能根本不知道自己为什么要这样做。我的意思是,任何一个笨蛋都可能有勇气。但是,荣耀才是你有所为、有所不为的真正动因。那才是真正的你,才是你想成为的那个人。若是为了实现重要的使命而失去生命,那就是荣耀与勇气兼得。那实在太棒了。我认为这就是作者想要表达的东西——你要渴求勇气,努力获得荣耀,也许更要祈祷那些对你下达指令的人同样具备勇气和荣耀。
口语锦囊
这段原声材料是《轻骑兵进击》(The Charge of the Light Brigade)的读后感。1854年10月25日,600多名英国轻骑旅士兵在克里米亚战争期间冒着枪林弹雨袭击俄国火炮部队,由于指挥决策失败,造成严重伤亡,战斗地点被后人称为“死亡之谷”。英国著名诗人丁尼生(Alfred Tennyson)后来写下《轻骑兵进击》以歌颂这批勇士——
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismay’d?
Not tho’ the soldier knew
Someone had blunder’d:
Their’s not to make reply,
Their’s not to reason why,
Their’s but to do and die:
Into the Valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
…
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.
迈克尔准备入读养父母的母校,美国大学体育总会怀疑图伊夫妇收养迈克尔的目的,派人进行调查。迈克尔离家出走,利·安妮意识到自己从未考虑过养子的处境和意愿……
Leigh Anne: I swore I would never ask this, but how did you get out of there, Michael?
Michael: When I was little and something awful was
happening, my Mama would tell me to close my eyes. She was tryin’ to keep me from seeing her do drugs or other bad things. And when she was finished or the bad things were over, she’d say, “Now when I count to three, you open your eyes. The past is gone, the world is a good place, and it’s all gonna be okay.”
Leigh Anne: You closed your eyes. You know, when I was driving all over Kingdom come looking for you, I kept thinking about one thing: Ferdinand the Bull. I know I shoulda asked you this a long time ago, Michael. Do you even wanna play football? I mean, do you even like it?
Michael: I’m pretty good at it.
Leigh Anne: Yeah, you are. Sean and I have been
talking, and…Michael, if you’re gonna accept a football scholarship, we think it should be to Tennessee. And I promise that I will be at every game cheering for you.
Michael: Every game?
Leigh Anne: Every game. But I will not wear that
gaudy[艳俗的] orange. I will not. It is not in my color wheel and I’m not gonna wear it.
Michael: So you, you want me to go to Tennessee?
Leigh Anne: I want you to do whatever you want. It’s your decision, Michael, it’s your life.
Michael: What if I wanted to flip[抛] burgers?
Leigh Anne: It’s your decision; it’s your life.
Michael: Okay.
Leigh Anne: Okay what?
(Days later.)
Michael: I’m sorry I left the other day.
Investigator: You were pretty upset.
Michael: You asked a lot of questions.
Investigator: I’m just trying to get to the bottom of[找出原因] this.
Michael: But all the questions you asked were about why everybody else wanted me to go to Ole Miss.
Investigator: Okay.
Michael: Not once did you ask – why did I want to go there?
Investigator: Alright, fine, Michael. Why do you want to go to Ole Miss?
Michael: Because it’s where my family goes to school. It’s where they’ve always gone to school.
利·安妮:我发誓,我真的不想问这个问题,但你怎么会出淤泥而不染的呢,迈克尔?
迈克尔:小时候,每当有坏事发生的时候,妈妈总会叫我闭上眼睛。她尽量不让我看见她吸毒或者干坏事。等她吸完了,或者坏事过去了,她就会说:“我数到‘三’,你就可以睁开眼睛。过去的已经过去,世界依然美好,一切都会没事的。”
利·安妮:你闭上了眼睛。你知道吗,我从金德姆路开车过来找你的时候,一直在想一件事:公牛费迪南德。我知道我早该问这个问题了,迈克尔。你到底愿不愿意打橄榄球?我的意思是,你到底喜不喜欢这项运动?
迈克尔:我蛮在行的。
利·安妮:是啊,没错。肖恩和我已经谈过了……迈克尔,如果你真想得到橄榄球奖学金的话,我们认为还是去田纳西大学好了。我保证每一场比赛都会到场,为你加油。
迈克尔:每一场比赛?
利·安妮:每一场比赛。但我不会穿那俗气的橙色队服,一定不会。那不是我喜欢的颜色,我不会穿的。
迈克尔:这么说……你希望我去田纳西?
利·安妮:我希望你尽情做自己想做的事情。这由你决定,迈克尔,这是你自己的人生。
迈克尔:如果我想去卖汉堡包呢?
利·安妮:这由你决定,这是你自己的人生。
迈克尔:好吧。
利·安妮:好吧什么?
(几天后。)
迈克尔:对不起,前几天我就这样走掉了。
调查员:你当时很不开心。
迈克尔:你问了很多问题。
调查员:我只是想搞清楚事情的真相。
迈克尔:但你问的所有问题都是关于别人为什么要我上密西西比大学。
调查员:是的。
迈克尔:你从没问过——为什么我想去那里?
调查员:那好,迈克尔,你为什么想去密西西比大学?
迈克尔:因为那是我家人上学的地方。他们向来都在那里念书。
口语锦囊
公牛费迪南德在美国是脍炙人口的儿童故事形象,出自美国作家曼罗·里夫(Munro Leaf)所著的《爱花的牛》(The Story of Ferdinand, 1936)。这本儿童读物讲述了一头不喜欢打架,只爱花花草草的小公牛的故事,1938年被沃尔特·迪斯尼(Walt Disney)改编为动画片《公牛费迪南德》,并获得奥斯卡最佳动画短片奖。
“Ole Miss”是人们对密西西比大学(The University of Mississippi)的昵称。1897年,该大学第一次印制年册,为了给