2024考研英语：《经济学人》中英读译Day174

英语阅读能力依靠什么？必然是词汇的积累，但，仅仅是词汇的积累是不够了，更应该了解英语句式，不同句型所表达意义。如何培养自己的阅读语感呢？那么就跟着聚创考研网小编每天学一点英语，一起为考研筑起坚实的地基。阅读是需要积累的，就像我们需要经常和人沟通才会促进我们的表达能力一样~小伙伴跟着小编一起，每天坚持打卡，培养英语阅读能力及语感，了解文章一些经典词汇的用法。

经济学人:妈妈,这个故事讲给你听(3)

I was not the only target of Mama's philosophy.At one time or another, Mama had several dozen people in the neighborhood waiting for spring to relieve them of indigestion,mice, domestic difficulties, and trouble with the horizontal hold on their television sets.Sometimes, sitting in school during history (which Mama promised me I'd find less boring in the spring),I would daydream my mother into other places and other times.Once I saw her patting Napoleon on the back, after he got the news from the Russian front.("Maybe in spring ...") She was beside George Washington at Valley Forge, brushing snow off his epaulets.
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我不是妈妈处事哲学的唯一目标。有那么一段时间，附近有几十个人等着春天时，妈妈帮他们解决消化不良、老鼠、家庭琐事，以及电视机水平放置等等的各种麻烦。有时，上历史课时（妈妈答应我，春天我会觉得不那么无聊），我会白日做梦妈妈去了别的地方，或出现在别的时间。有一次我看到她拍拿破仑的背，那是在他得到俄国前线的消息之后。（“也许在春天……”）她在福吉谷和乔治华盛顿在一起，擦去他肩章上的雪。

("In spring, maybe, you'll win the revolution.") She was looking over Thomas Edison's shoulder, comforting him in his early failures.("Don't worry; maybe in the spring you'll try something new.")I have been worrying for weeks now about what to give my mother for Mother's Day.For most people, this is a modest problem, solved by the purchase of a bathrobe or a box of candy.For me, however, Mother's Day represents an annual challenge to do the impossible—find a gift that will make neither Mama nor me feel terrible.Expensive gifts—which Mama defines as costing over $1.98—are out, because they make Mama feel terrible.("This is awful," she says, examining an apron. "I feel just terrible. You shouldn't have spent the money on me.")Inexpensive presents—under $1.98—please Mama, but they make me feel terrible.There is always the danger that a gift given to Mama will bounce swiftly back to the giver.

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（“在春天，也许你会赢得革命。”）她看着托马斯·爱迪生的肩膀，安慰他早年的那些失败。（“别担心，也许春天你会尝试一些新东西。”）几个星期以来，我一直在担心母亲节该送什么礼物给妈妈。对大多数人来说，这并不是什么大问题，买一件浴袍或一盒糖果就可以解决。然而，对我来说，母亲节是一年一度挑战不可能之事的时候，我要找到一份既不会让妈妈也不会让我自己感到难受的礼物。按照妈妈的定义，价值超过1.98美元的昂贵礼物已经过时了，因为它们让妈妈感觉很糟糕。（“这太可怕了，”她边说边查看一条围裙。“我感觉糟透了，你不该把钱花在我身上。”）1.98美元以下的便宜礼物会让妈妈高兴，但它们让我感觉糟透了。送给妈妈的礼物总有被迅速退回给送礼者的危险。

If I buy her something wearable, she perceives in an instant that it could be let in here, let out there, and it would fit me perfectly.If I give her a plant, she cuts off the top for me to take home and root in a glass of water.If I give her something edible, she wants me to stay for lunch and eat it.Papa, a sensible man, long ago stopped trying to shop for Mama.Instead, on Mother's Day, her birthday, and other appropriate occasions,he composes a short epic poem in which he tells of their meeting, courtship, and subsequent marriage.After nearly 30 years of poems, Papa sometimes worries that the edge of his poetic inspiration has dulled, but Mama doesn't complain.She comes into the room while he is struggling over a gift poem and says, "It doesn't have to rhyme as long as it's from the heart."This year, finally, I think I, too, have found a painless gift for Mama.I am going to give her a magazine article, unrhymed but from the heart,in which I wish her "Happy Mother's Day" and tell her there's nothing Papa or I could ever buy, find, or make her that would be half good enough anyway.

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如果我给她买些可穿戴的东西，她会立刻意识到，它可以放在这里，放在那里，它会非常适合我。如果我给她一棵植物，她就会把它的顶部剪掉，让我带回家，然后把根部放在一杯水里。如果我给她吃的，她会把我留下来吃午饭。爸爸是个聪明人，很久以前就不再为妈妈买东西了。取而代之的是，在母亲节、她的生日和其他合适的场合，他会写一首短诗，讲述他们的相遇、求爱和随后的婚姻。经过近30年的诗歌创作，爸爸有时担心他的诗歌灵感已经枯竭，但妈妈没有抱怨。当他为一首作为礼物的诗歌苦苦挣扎时，她会走进房间说：“只要是发自内心的，就不必押韵。”今年，我想我也终于为妈妈找到了一份轻松愉快的礼物。我要送给她一篇发表在杂志中的文章，没有赞美，但发自内心，我在文章最后祝她“母亲节快乐”，并告诉她，我和爸爸无法买到、找到或作出什么礼物，能与这份礼物相媲美。