2016考研英語(yǔ)閱讀熱點(diǎn)：邁入60歲 好多事你就不擔(dān)心了

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There is a lot that is annoying, and even terrible,about aging. The creakiness of the body; the driftingof the memory; the reprising of personal history adnauseam, with only yourself to listen.

變老有太多惱人和糟糕的事情：身體變差，記憶力下降，沒(méi)完沒(méi)了地重復(fù)個(gè)人的過(guò)去，并且只有你一個(gè)聽(tīng)眾。

But there is also something profoundly liberatingabout aging: an attitude, one that comes hard won.Only when you hit 60 can you begin to say, withgreat aplomb: “I’m too old for this.”

不過(guò)變老還包含一種深刻的解放：獲得一種得來(lái)不易的態(tài)度。只有到了60歲的時(shí)候，你才會(huì)開(kāi)始泰然自若地說(shuō)：“我太老了，這個(gè)不適合我。”

This line is about to become my personal mantra. I have been rehearsing it vigorously, amazedat how amply I now shrug off annoyances that once would have knocked me off my perch.

這句話將會(huì)成為我的個(gè)人箴言。我拼命地練習(xí)著這句話，然后驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)，對(duì)于那些曾經(jīng)打擊過(guò)自己虛榮心的惱人之事，現(xiàn)在的我竟然已經(jīng)不屑一顧了。

A younger woman advised me that “old” may be the wrong word, that I should consider I’m toowise for this, or too smart. But old is the word I want. I’ve earned it.

一位比我小的女性建議我說(shuō)，“老”這個(gè)字可能用得不對(duì)，應(yīng)該換成我太“明智”或者太“聰明”了，這個(gè)不適合我。但是“老”是我想要的，是我爭(zhēng)取到的。

And let’s just start with being an older woman, shall we? Let others feel bad about their chickenwings — and their bottoms, their necks and their multitude of creases and wrinkles. I’m too oldfor this. I spent years, starting before I was a teenager, feeling insecure about my looks.

先從作一個(gè)老女人開(kāi)始吧?雞翅胳膊，臀部，脖子，一層層的褶子和皺紋，這些東西讓別人發(fā)愁去吧。我太老了，不在乎了。我已經(jīng)花了太多時(shí)間憂心于自己的樣貌，在進(jìn)入青少年時(shí)期之前就開(kāi)始了。

No feature was spared. My hairline: Why did I have to have a widow’s peak, at 10? My toes: tooshort. My entire body: too fat, and once, even, in the depths of heartbreak, much too thin.Nothing felt right. Well, O.K., I appreciated my ankles. But that’s about it.

沒(méi)有哪個(gè)部位能夠幸免。我的發(fā)際線：為什么我才十歲就非得有個(gè)寡婦尖?我的腳趾頭：太短。我的全身：太胖。然后有一次傷心至極時(shí)，我又嫌棄身體太單薄。總之沒(méi)有一個(gè)地方是稱心的。好吧，我對(duì)腳踝還挺滿意，不過(guò)僅此而已。

What torture we inflict upon ourselves. If we don’t whip ourselves into loathing, then meangirls, hidden like trolls under every one of life’s bridges, will do it for us.

我們?cè)谡勰ブ�自己。如果不迫使自己厭惡自我，那么刻薄的女孩子們，就像一座座生命之橋下藏著的巨怪一樣，�?huì)替我們來(lái)厭惡自己。

Even the vogue for strange-looking models is little comfort; those women look perfectly,beautifully strange, in a way that no one else does. Otherwise we would all be modeling.

連古怪模特的潮流都帶不來(lái)什么安慰;她們看上去完美無(wú)瑕，怪得那么美，怪得別人無(wú)法企及。要不然我們都可以去當(dāng)模特了。

One day recently I emptied out an old trunk. It had been locked for years; I had lost the keyand forgotten what was in there. But, curiosity getting the best of me on a rainy afternoon, Imanaged to pry it open with a screwdriver.

最近有一天，我打開(kāi)了一個(gè)舊箱子。因?yàn)榘谚�匙弄丟了，這個(gè)箱子被鎖著很久，我也忘了里面裝的都是些什么。不過(guò)，在一個(gè)下雨的午后，在好奇心的驅(qū)使下，我用螺絲刀成功地打開(kāi)了箱子。

It was full of photographs. There I was, ages 4 to 40. And I saw for the first time that evenwhen I was in the depths of despair about my looks, I had been beautiful.

箱子里面裝滿了我4歲到40歲的照片。我第一次發(fā)現(xiàn)，雖然對(duì)自己的長(zhǎng)相曾深感絕望，可是曾經(jīng)的我很美麗。

And there were all my friends; girls and women with whom I had commiserated countless timesabout hair, weight, all of it, doling out sympathy and praise, just as I expected it heaped uponme: beautiful, too. We were, we are, all beautiful. Just like our mothers told us, or should have. (Ahem.)

里面還有我所有朋友的照片。對(duì)于她們的頭發(fā)、體重等，我曾無(wú)數(shù)次地表示同情，偶爾會(huì)給她們一些安慰和贊美。不過(guò)正如我所料，現(xiàn)在看來(lái)她們也很美麗。我們?cè)��?jīng)、現(xiàn)在都很美麗。我們的母親就是這么告訴我們的，或者應(yīng)該這么告訴我們(嗯哼)。

Those smiles, radiant with youth, twinkled out of the past, reminding me of the smiles I knowtoday, radiant with strength.

照片中的笑容，洋溢著青春的氣息，提醒著自己今日我所知的笑容散發(fā)著一股力量。

Young(er) women, take this to heart: Why waste time and energy on insecurity? I have nodoubt that when I’m 80 I’ll look at pictures of myself when I was 60 and think how young I wasthen, how filled with joy and beauty.

年輕的女性們，你們要銘記在心：為何要把時(shí)間和精力浪費(fèi)在安全感的缺乏上?毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，當(dāng)我80歲的時(shí)候看著自己60歲的照片時(shí)，我就會(huì)想到自己當(dāng)年是多么的年輕，美麗和喜悅。

I’m happy to have a body that is healthy, that gets me where I want to go, that maybe sagsand complains, but hangs in there. So maybe I’m too old for skintight jeans, too old for six-inch stilettos, too old for tattoos and too old for green hair.

我很高興自己有著健康的身體，它讓我能去自己想去的地方，或許它松松垮垮，偶有不適，不過(guò)還是堅(jiān)持住了。所以可能我太老了，已經(jīng)不適合穿緊身牛仔褲，不適合穿6寸的細(xì)高跟鞋，也不適合紋身，把頭發(fā)染成綠色了。

Weight gain? Simply move to the looser end of the wardrobe, and stop hanging with Ben andJerry. No big deal. Nothing to lose sleep over. Anyway, I’m too old for sleep, or so it seemsmost nights.

體重增加了?那就穿拿衣柜里的寬松款衣服好了，別整天跟本和杰瑞廝混(指Ben & Jerry's牌冰激凌——譯注)。這沒(méi)什么大不了。不值得為之輾轉(zhuǎn)難眠。而且，我這把年紀(jì)不需要睡覺(jué)了，至少大多數(shù)的夜晚看起來(lái)是這樣。

Which leaves me a bit cranky in the daytime, so it is a good thing I can now work from home.Office politics? Sexism? I’ve seen it all. Watching men make more money, doing less work.Reading the tea leaves as positions shuffle, listening to the kowtow and mumble of stifledresentment.

睡眠減少會(huì)讓我在白天有點(diǎn)煩躁，所以現(xiàn)在能在家辦公還不錯(cuò)。辦公室政治?性別歧視?我都見(jiàn)識(shí)過(guò)了。看著男人們干活少拿錢多。在人事變動(dòng)時(shí)看著杯中的茶葉讀解未來(lái)。聽(tīng)著唯唯諾諾、敢怒不敢言的低語(yǔ)。

I want to tell my younger colleagues that it doesn’t matter. Except the sexism, which, likepoison ivy, is deep-rooted: You weed the rampant stuff, but it pops up again.

我想對(duì)比我小的同事們說(shuō)，這些都不重要。只有性別歧視不一樣，這東西就像毒漆藤，根深蒂固：它們遍地叢生，拔掉了也還會(huì)再冒出來(lái)。

What matters most is the work. Does it give you pleasure, or hope? Does it sustain your soul?My work as a climate activist is the hardest and most fascinating I’ve ever done. I’m too old forthe dark forces, for hopelessness and despair. If everyone just kept their eyes on the ball, andfollowed through each swing, we’d all be more productive, and not just on the golf course.

最重要的是工作。它讓你感到快樂(lè)，或者有希望嗎?它能滋養(yǎng)你的心靈嗎?我目前是一名氣候環(huán)境活動(dòng)人士，這是我所做過(guò)的最艱難、也最讓我著迷的工作。年紀(jì)大了，我已經(jīng)沒(méi)興趣為黑暗勢(shì)力服務(wù)，也無(wú)意做無(wú)望和讓人絕望的工作。只要眼睛盯著球，每次揮桿都一個(gè)跟進(jìn)動(dòng)作，我們都會(huì)更有效率，不只是在高爾夫球場(chǎng)上。

The key to life is resilience, and I’m old enough to make such a bald statement. We will alwaysbe knocked down. It’s the getting up that counts. By the time you reach upper middle age, youhave started over, and over again.

還原能力在生活中很關(guān)鍵，到了這個(gè)年紀(jì)，我大可以這么直白地講。我們總有被生活擊倒的時(shí)候，能重新站起來(lái)才有價(jià)值。等到了中年，你就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，自己已經(jīng)把人生重來(lái)不止一次了。

And, I might add, resilience is the key to feeling 15 again. Which is actually how I feel most ofthe time.

我還可以再加上一點(diǎn)，還原能力是重新找回自己15歲時(shí)感覺(jué)的秘訣。實(shí)際上，我現(xiàn)在大部分時(shí)間都像活在15歲。

But I am too old to try to change people. By now I’ve learned, the very hard way, that what yousee in someone at the beginning is what you get forevermore. Most of us are receptive to a bitof behavior modification. But through decades of listening to people complain aboutmarriages or lovers, I hear the same refrains.

但年紀(jì)大了，我就不愿意費(fèi)力去改變別人。付出大代價(jià)之后，我現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)明白，你一開(kāi)始看到一個(gè)人是什么樣，他/她就永遠(yuǎn)是什么樣。大多數(shù)人都能接受一些行為習(xí)慣的矯正。但這幾十年聽(tīng)人們抱怨自己的婚姻或愛(ài)人，我聽(tīng)到永遠(yuǎn)是一樣的內(nèi)容。

I have come to realize that there is comfort in the predictability, even the ritualization, ofrelationship problems. They become a dance step; each partner can twirl through familiarmoves, and do-si-do until the music stops.

我開(kāi)始意識(shí)到，人際關(guān)系中的可預(yù)見(jiàn)性，甚至儀式化的東西，也會(huì)讓人覺(jué)得舒服。它們變成了一種舞步，每個(gè)伴侶都以熟悉的動(dòng)作舞蹈，繞步換位，直到音樂(lè)停止。

Toxic people? Sour, spoiled people? I’m simply walking away; I have little fight left in me. It’seasier all around to accept that friendships have ebbs and flows, and indeed, there’s somethingquite beautiful about the organic nature of love.

碰上毒舌、脾氣不好和驕縱的人怎么辦?直接走開(kāi)，我已經(jīng)沒(méi)什么跟人斗的勁頭了。接受友情有起有落這一點(diǎn)會(huì)好過(guò)很多，而且愛(ài)的有機(jī)本質(zhì)也的確有它動(dòng)人的地方。

I used to think that one didn’t make friends as one got older, but I’ve learned that the oppositehappens. Sometimes, unaccountably, a new person walks into your life, and you find you arenever too old to love again. And again. (See resilience.)

過(guò)去我認(rèn)為人年紀(jì)大了就不會(huì)再交朋友，但我已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)也不是這么回事。有時(shí)候，會(huì)有人莫名走進(jìn)你的生活，然后你發(fā)現(xiàn)，自己并沒(méi)有老到不能愛(ài)的那一天。而且還會(huì)有下一次(這也是還原能力)。

One is never too old for desire. Having entered the twilight of my dating years, I can tell you it ismuch easier to navigate the Scylla and Charybdis of anticipation and disappointment whenyou’ve had plenty of experience with the shoals and eddies of shallow waters. Emphasis onshallow. By now, we know deep.

也不要說(shuō)自己太老了，不該有什么欲望。我已經(jīng)進(jìn)入約會(huì)時(shí)光的晚期，可以負(fù)責(zé)任地告訴你，當(dāng)你在淺水區(qū)見(jiàn)識(shí)了足夠多的淺灘和漩渦，哪天要面對(duì)斯庫(kù)拉(Scylla)和卡律布狄斯(Charybdis)這個(gè)級(jí)別的希望與失望起落時(shí)，會(huì)容易許多。把注意力放在淺水上。到如今，我們已經(jīng)知道深水是什么樣了。

Take a pass on bad manners, on thoughtlessness, on unreliability, on carelessness and on allthe other ways people distinguish themselves as unappealing specimens. Take a pass on yourown unappealing behavior, too: the pining, yearning, longing and otherwise frittering away ofvaluable brainwaves that could be spent on Sudoku, or at least a jigsaw puzzle, if not thatBeethoven sonata you loved so well in college.

對(duì)于別人的不禮貌、欠考慮、不靠譜和粗心大意，以及所有令人生厭的品質(zhì)，忽略它們吧。也改改自己一些討人厭的習(xí)慣：執(zhí)念、向往、強(qiáng)求和諸如此類浪費(fèi)寶貴腦細(xì)胞的活動(dòng)，這些腦細(xì)胞蠻可以用來(lái)玩數(shù)獨(dú)，或至少能玩?zhèn)�拼圖，如果不想聽(tīng)大學(xué)時(shí)最愛(ài)的貝多芬奏鳴曲的話。

My new mantra is liberating. At least once a week I encounter a situation that in the old(young) days would have knocked me to my knees or otherwise spun my life off center.

我最新的箴言是解放自己。每周至少一次，我會(huì)遇到狀況，放在以前(年輕的時(shí)候)，它會(huì)讓我崩潰，或讓生活失去重心。

Now I can spot trouble 10 feet away (believe me, this is a big improvement), and I can say tomyself: Too old for this. I spare myself a great deal of suffering, and as we all know, there isplenty of that to be had without looking for more.

如今，在離它十英尺遠(yuǎn)的地方，我就認(rèn)出這類麻煩(相信我，這是個(gè)很大的進(jìn)步)，而且還能跟自己說(shuō)：太老了，折騰不起。這讓我少受很多折磨，而且我們都知道，就算你不自找麻煩，這種事也有一大堆在前面等著你呢。

If there can be such a thing as a best-selling app like Yo, which satisfies so many urges toboldly announce ourselves, I want one called 2old4this. A signature kiss-off to all that wasonce vexatious. A goodbye to all that has done nothing but hold us back. That would be an appworth having. But, thankfully, I’m too old to need such a thing.

既然這世上會(huì)有Yo這樣滿足很多人大聲宣示自我需求的產(chǎn)品存在，還成為最暢銷應(yīng)用，那我也想要一個(gè)叫“2old4this”(年紀(jì)大了，用不著)的應(yīng)用。把它作為一個(gè)標(biāo)簽，用來(lái)拒絕那些曾經(jīng)讓你大傷腦筋的東西，用來(lái)跟所有無(wú)所助益卻又牽絆我們的事物說(shuō)再見(jiàn)。這樣的應(yīng)用應(yīng)該挺值擁有。但是，謝天謝地，我年紀(jì)大了，用不著了。