书城外语那些美好而忧伤的记忆(每天读一点英文)
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第14章 Forgiveness (2) (1)

He heard back,“Dad!?! It’s me,Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive,you’d save me and when you saved me,they’d be saved. You promised,no matter what happens,You’ll always be there for me! You did it,Dad!”

“What’s going on in there? How is it ?”the father asked.

“There are 14 of us left out of 33,Dad. We’re scared,hungry,thirsty and thankful you’re here. When the building collapsed,it made a triangle,and it saved us.”

“Come out,boy!”“No,Dad! Let the other kids out first,because I know you’ll get me! No matter what happens,I know you’ll always be there for me!”

我永远都会在你的身边

特雷西·安德森

不管发生什么,我永远都会在你的身边!

1989年,一次8.2级的地震几乎铲平美国,在短短不到4分钟的时间里,夺去了3万多人的生命!

在彻底的破坏与混乱之中,有位父亲在安顿好他的妻子后,跑到他儿子就读的学校,而触目所见,却是被夷为平地的校园。看到这令人伤心的一幕,他想起了曾经对儿子所作的承诺:“不论发生什么事,我都会在你身边。”至此,父亲热泪满眶。目睹曾经的学校成为了一堆瓦砾,真叫人绝望。但父亲仍然牢记着他对儿子的承诺。

他开始努力回忆每天早上送儿子上学的必经之路,终于记起儿子的教室应该就在那幢建筑物后面的右边的角落里,他跑到那儿,开始在碎石砾中挖掘。

当这位父亲正在挖掘时,其他束手无策的学生家长也赶到了现场,揪心地叫着:“我的儿子呀!”“我的女儿呀!”一些好意的家长试图把这位父亲劝离现场,告诉他“一切都太迟了!他们全死了!这样做没用的,回去吧,接受现实吧,你这样做一点用都没有。”面对种种劝告,这位父亲的回答只有一句话:“你们愿意帮我吗?”然后继续一块一块地挖,在废墟中寻找着他的儿子。

消防队长来了,他也试图把这位父亲劝走,对他说:“火灾频现,四处都有爆炸,你在这里太危险了,这边的事我们会处理,你回家吧!”对此,这位慈爱、关切的父亲仍然说:“你们要帮我吗?”

警察赶到了现场并对他说:“你现在又气又急,该结束了,你在危及他人,回家吧!我们会处理一切的。”这位父亲依旧是那句话:“你们愿意帮我吗?”然而,人们无动于衷。

为了弄清楚儿子是死是活,这位父亲鼓起了勇气,独自一人继续挖掘。在挖掘了8小时,12小时,24小时,36小时……38小时后,父亲推开了一块巨大的石头,他听到了儿子的声音。

父亲大声地叫着:“阿曼德!”

然后传来了儿子的回音:“爸爸吗?是我,爸爸,我告诉其他的小朋友不要着急。我告诉他们如果你活着,你会来救我的。如果我获救了,他们也就获救了。你答应过我,不管发生什么,你永远都会在我的身边,你做到了,爸爸!”

“你那里的情况怎样?”父亲问。

“我们有33个,只有14个还活着。爸爸,我们好害怕,又渴又饿,谢天谢地,你在这儿。教室倒塌时,刚好形成一个三角形的洞,这个洞救了我们。”

“快出来吧!儿子!”“不,爸爸,让其他小朋友先出去吧!因为我知道你会来接我的!不管发生什么事,我知道你永远都会在我的身边!”

实战提升篇

核心单词

flatten [5flAtn] v. 使平坦;弄平

chaos [5keiCs] n. 混乱;杂乱的一团

commitment [kE5mitmEnt] n. 托付,交托;委任

reality [ri(:)5Aliti] n. 现实;真实

anxious [5ANkFEs] adj. 焦虑的,挂念的

alive [E5laiv] adj.活着的;现存的

scare [skZE] v. 惊吓,使恐惧

triangle [5traiAN^l] n.三角板,三角尺

实用句型

No matter what happens,I’ll always be there for you!

不管发生什么,我永远都会在你的身边!

①这里是no matter引导的让步状语从句。

②no matter 无论……,类似的表达还有regardless of不管,不顾等。

翻译行不行

1.在逃亡期间,他在人迹罕至的旷野中走了6天。(in the midst of)

2.谁能帮我照顾一下这个孩子呢?(take care of)

3.他的新小说什么时候出版?(come out)

第一章 To Buy An Hour From Father

·Samuel·

A man came home from work late,tired and irritated,to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door.

“Daddy,may I ask you a question?”

“Yeah,sure,what is it?”replied the man.

“Daddy,how much do you make an hour?”

“That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?”the man said angrily.“I just want to know. Please tell me,how much do you make an hour?”pleaded the little boy.

“If you must know,I make $20 an hour.”

“Oh,”the little boy replied,with his head down. Looking up,he said,“Daddy,may I please borrow $10?”

The father was furious,“If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense,then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for this childish behavior.”

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so,the man had calmed down,and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10 and he really didn’t ask for money very often.

The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

“Are you asleep,son?”he asked.

“No,daddy,I’m awake,”replied the boy.

“I’ve been thinking,maybe I was too hard on you earlier,”said the man,“it’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here is the $10 you asked for.”

The little boy sat straight up,smiling.“Oh,thank you daddy!”he yelled. Then,reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man,seeing that the boy already had money,started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money,then looked up at his father.

“Why do you want more money if you already have some?”the father grumbled.

“Because I didn’t have enough,but now I do,”the little boy replied.“Daddy,I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”

向爸爸买一个小时

塞缪尔

男人带着一身的疲倦,恼火地回到家,这时天色已晚,他发现5岁的儿子在门口等着他。

“爸爸,可以问你个问题吗?”

“当然可以,想问什么?”男人答道。

“你一个小时能赚多少钱?”

“这不关你的事。为什么问这个?”男人生气了。“我只是想知道。请你告诉我,你一个小时赚多少钱?”小男孩哀求道。

“如果非要知道的话,告诉你,我一小时赚20美元。”

“哦,”小男孩的头低下了,然后又抬起,说道:“爸爸,我可以向你借10美元吗?”

男人暴怒,“如果你问这个问题,只是为了借钱买个愚蠢的玩具或一堆废品,那你趁早滚回房间睡觉去。好好想想你这种自私的行为!我每天辛辛苦苦地工作,难道就是为了你这种幼稚的行为吗?”

小男孩默默地回到房里,关上门。这时男人坐下来,想到刚才的提问感到更加恼怒。为什么他为了借钱胆敢问出这种问题?大约一个小时后,男人平静下来,开始想:或许他真的需要10美元买东西呢?他可是很少开口要钱的。

男人走到小男孩房门前,打开了门。

“睡了吗,儿子?”男人问道。

“没有呢,爸爸。”男孩答道。

“我一直在想,可能我刚才对你太过分了,”男人说,“爸爸工作一天太累了,所以把火都撒在你身上了。这是你要的10美元。”

小男孩顿时坐了起来,兴奋地叫道:“谢谢,老爸!”然后,他把手伸到枕头底下,摸出一叠皱巴巴的钞票。男人看到男孩手里攥着一把钱,又生气了。小男孩慢慢地数着钱,然后抬头望着父亲。

“你自己有钱,为什么还跟我要钱?”父亲抱怨道。