全新版大学英语综合教程第一册学习笔记（原文及全文翻译）——8 - Fable Of The Lazy Teenager（懒散少年的寓言）
Unit 8 - Fable Of The Lazy Teenager（懒散少年的寓言）
Benjamin Stein weaves a tale to bring home to young Americans the need to change the way they think about education. Read it and see whether you think it holds any lessons for us as well.
FABLE OF THE LAZY TEENAGER
Benjamin Stein
One day last fall, I ran out of file folders and went to the drugstore to buy more. I put a handful of folders on the counter and asked a teenage salesgirl how much they cost. "I don't know," she answered. "But it's 12 cents each."
I counted the folders. "Twenty-three at 12 cents each, that makes $2.76 before tax," I said.
"You did that in your head?" she asked in amazement. "How can you do that?"
"It's magic," I said.
"Really?" she asked.
No modestly educated adult can fail to be upset by such an experience. While our children seem better-natured than ever, they are so ignorant — and so ignorant of their ignorance — that they frighten me. In a class of 60 seniors at a private college where I recently taught, not one student could write a short paper without misspellings. Not one.
But this is just a tiny slice of the problem. The ability to perform even the simplest calculations is only a memory among many students I see, and their knowledge of world history or geography is nonexistent.
Moreover, there is a chilling indifference about all this ignorance. The attitude was summed up by a friend's bright, lazy 16-year-old son, who explained why he preferred not to go to U.C.L.A. "I don't want to have to compete with Asians," he said. "They work hard and know everything."
In fact, this young man will have to compete with Asians whether he wants to or not. He cannot live forever on the financial, material and human capital accumulated by his ancestors. At some point soon, his intellectual laziness will seriously affect his way of life. It will also affect the rest of us. A modern industrial state cannot function with an idle, ignorant labor force. Planes will crash. Computers will jam. Cars will break down.
To drive this message home to such young Americans, I have a humble suggestion: a movie, or TV series, dramatizing just how difficult it was for this country to get where it is — and how easily it could all be lost. I offer the following fable.
As the story opens, our hero, Kevin Hanley 1990, a 17-year-old high school senior, is sitting in his room, feeling bitter. His parents insist he study for his European history test. He wants to go shopping for headphones for his portable CD player. The book he is forced to read — The Wealth of Nations — puts him to sleep.
Kevin dreams it is 1835, and he is his own great-great-great-grandfather at 17, a peasant in County Kerry, Ireland. He lives in a small hut and sleeps next to a pig. He is always hungry and must search for food. His greatest wish is to learn to read and write so he might get a job as a clerk. With steady wages, he would be able to feed himself and help his family. But Hanley's poverty allows no leisure for such luxuries as going to school. Without education and money, he is powerless. His only hope lies in his children. If they are educated, they will have a better life.
Our fable fast-forwards and Kevin Hanley 1990 is now his own great-grandfather, Kevin Hanley, 1928. He, too, is 17 years old, and he works in a steel mill in Pittsburgh. His father came to America from Ireland and helped build the New York City subway. Kevin Hanley 1928 is far better off than either his father or his grandfather. He can read and write. His wages are far better than anything his ancestors had in Ireland.
Next Kevin Hanley 1990 dreams that he is Kevin Hanley 1945, his own grandfather, fighting on Iwo Jima against a most determined foe, the Japanese army. He is always hot, always hungry, always scared. One night in a foxhole, he tells a friend why he is there: "So my son and his son can live in peace and security. When I get back, I'll work hard and send my boy to college so he can live by his brains instead of his back."
Then Kevin Hanley 1990 is his own father, Kevin Hanley 1966, who studies all the time so he can get into college and law school. He lives in a fine house. He has never seen anything but peace and plenty. He tells his girl friend that when he has a son, he won't make him study all the time, as his father makes him.
At that point, Kevin Hanley 1990 wakes up, shaken by his dream. He is relieved to be away from Ireland and the steel mill and Iwo Jima. He goes back to sleep.
When he dreams again, he is his own son, Kevin Hanley 2020. There is gunfire all day and all night. His whole generation forgot why there even was law, so there is none. People pay no attention to politics, and government offers no services to the working class.
Kevin 2020's father, who is of course Kevin 1990 himself, works as a cleaner in a factory owned by the Japanese. Kevin 2020 is a porter in a hotel for wealthy Europeans and Asians. Public education stops at the sixth grade. Americans have long since stopped demanding good education for their children.
The last person Kevin 1990 sees in his dream is his own grandson. Kevin 2050 has no useful skills. Machines built in Japan do all the complex work, and there is little manual work to be done. Without education, without discipline, he cannot earn an adequate living wage. He lives in a slum where there is no heat, no plumbing, no privacy and survives by searching through trash piles.
In a word, he lives much as Kevin Hanley 1835 did in Ireland. But one day, Kevin Hanley 2050 is befriended by a visiting Japanese anthropologist studying the decline of America. The man explains to Kevin that when a man has no money, education can supply the human capital necessary to start to acquire financial capital. Hard work, education, saving and discipline can do anything. "This is how we rose from the ashes after you defeated us in a war about a hundred years ago."
"America beat Japan in war?" asks Kevin 2050. He is astonished. It seems as impossible as Brazil defeating the United States would sound in 1990. Kevin 2050 swears that if he ever has children, he will make sure they work and study and learn and discipline themselves. "To be able to make a living by one's mind instead of by stealing," he says. "That would be a miracle."
When Kevin 1990 wakes up, next to him is his copy of The Wealth of Nations. He opens it and the first sentence to catch his eye is this: "A man without the proper use of the intellectual faculties of a man is, if possible, more contemptible than even a coward."
Kevin's father walks in. "All right, son," he says. "Let's go look at those headphones."
"Sorry, Pop," Kevin 1990 says. "I have to study."
参考译文——懒散少年的寓言
去年秋天的一天，我的档案夹用完了，就去杂货店买。我把一大把档案夹放在柜台上问那个十多岁的女店员多少钱。“不知道”，她回答道，“反正是12美分一个”。
我数了数档案夹。“二十三个，12美分一个，不算税应该是2.76美元”我说道。
“你心算的吗？”她惊讶地问道。“你是怎么做到的？”
“这是魔力”我说到。
“真的吗？”她问。
略受些教育的成年人没有谁不会为这样的经历感到不安。虽然我们的孩子们看起来比以往任何时候都要和气，但他们却是如此的无知——对自己的无知也感到无所谓——这真是吓到我了。在我最近执教的一所私立大学里，六十四人的一个四年级班上，没有一个人写作文的时候不犯拼写错误。没一个例外的。
但这只是问题的一小部分。在我所遇到过的学生中，再也没有过去学生都会有的那些哪怕是进行最简单的计算的能力，他们对世界的历史和地理都一无所知。
更甚的是，他们对这些无知感到令人颤栗的漠然。一位朋友的儿子聪明但却懒散，他在解释为什么不想上加州大学洛杉矶分校时所说的话是对这种态度高度的概括。“我不想去必须和那些亚洲人竞争”他说到“他们太勤奋而且知道所有事情”。
实际上，这个年轻人将必须去和亚洲人竞争，无论他是否想去。他不能永远靠他的先祖所积累的经济、物质与人力资源而活着。过不了多久，他头脑方面的懒散将会严重地影响他的生活方式，也将会影响到我们其他所有人。一个现代的工业化国家无法靠一帮呆滞、无知的劳动力来发展下去。飞机会坠毁，计算机会死机，汽车会抛锚……
为使这样的美国青年彻底认识到这一点，我的愚见是：拍一部电影，或电视连续剧，生动地描述我们国家的今天如何来之不易——而要丧失这—切又何其容易。下面我奉上—篇寓言故事。
故事开始时，我们的主人公凯文·汉利1990，一名十七岁的高三学生，正坐在自己房间里，心情痛苦。他父母一定要他准备欧洲史考试。而他则想去买——副激光唱片随身听的耳机。他被迫要读的书——《国富论》——让他打瞌睡。
凯文进入梦乡，时值1835年，他是他本人的高祖父（爷爷的爷爷），十七岁，是爱尔兰克雷郡的—个农民。他住在小小的陋室里，睡在一头猪旁。他老是挨饿，总是要找吃的。他最大的心愿是学会读书写字，以便找—个职员的工作。有了固定的工资，他就能养活自己，贴补家用。但汉利的贫穷使他无从享受上学这样的奢侈。没有教育，没有钱，他无能为力。他惟一的希望寄托在孩子身上。如果他们能接受教育，他们就会生活得好—些。
我们的寓言故事快速展开。现在凯文·汉利1990 成了他自己的曾祖父（爷爷的爸爸），凯文·汉利1928 。他也是十七岁，在匹兹堡—家钢铁厂工作。他的父亲从爱尔兰来到美国，参加过纽约地铁的修建。凯文·汉利1928比自己的父亲和祖父境遇好多了。他能读书写字。他的工资比先辈在爱尔兰时的收入高多了。
接下来凯文·汉利1990梦见自己成了他自己的祖父凯文·汉利1945。他正在硫黄岛与死敌日本军队作战。他总是又热又饿又害怕。—天晚上他在散兵坑里与一个朋友讲自己为什么在那儿作战：“这样我的儿子、孙子就能生活在和平安全的环境里。等我回国了，我要勤奋工作，让儿子上大学，这样他就可以干脑力活儿，而不是靠卖苦力生活。”
接着凯文·汉利1990成了他自己的父亲凯文·汉利1960 他终日用功，这样就可以上大学，进法学院。他住在漂亮的房子里。他一生在和平环境中过着富裕的生活。他对女朋友说，等他有了儿子，他不会像他父亲逼他那样逼自己的儿子整天读书。
就在这时，凯文·汉利1990被自己的梦惊醒了。他离开了爱尔兰，离开了那家钢铁厂，离开了硫黄岛，不由松了口气。他又睡着了。
他接着做梦，这次成了他自己的儿子凯文·汉利2020。枪声日夜不停。他那整个—代人忘却了过去为什么要有法律，因此现在没有法律了。人们丝毫不关心政治，政府不为工人阶级提供服务。
凯文2020的父亲，自然就是凯文1990本人，在日本人开的—家工厂当清洁工。凯文2020 在—家专为有钱的欧洲人和亚洲人开的酒店里当行李工。公共教育到六年级为止。美国人早就不再要求自己的孩子接受良好的教育。
凯文1990最后梦见的是他自己的孙子。凯文2050没有有用的技能。日本制造的机器包揽了所有复杂的工作，没有什么体力活可做。没有受过教育，没有受过训练，他挣不到足够的钱养活自己。他住在贫民窟，没有暖气，没有卫生设备，无法不受四邻干扰，靠搜捡破烂度日。
总之，他的生活就像凯文·汉利1835在爱尔兰时—模一样。可是有—天，凯文·汉利2050与一位研究美国衰亡史的来访日本人类学家交上了朋友。那人跟凯文解释说，—个人即使没有钱，他所接受的教育也能提供积累金融资本所必需的人力资本。勤奋、教育、节俭、纪律能成就一切。“我们就是这样从一百多年前你们打败我们的战争废墟中站起来的。”
“美国在战争中打败日本? ”凯文2050问道。他惊讶之极。这听起来就像说巴西在1990年打败美国—样不可思议。凯文2050发誓，如果他有孩子的话，他—定要让他们工作、上学、学习并约束自己。“能凭自己的脑力，而不是靠偷窃为生，”他说，“那将会是个奇迹。”
凯文1990醒了过来，身旁放着他的那本《国富论》。他打开书，跳入眼帘的第—句话就是：“一个不能恰当运用人类智力的人极可能比懦夫更可鄙。”
凯文的父亲走了进来。“好了，儿子，”他说。“咱们去看耳机吧。”
“抱歉了，爸爸，”凯文1990说。“我得看书学习了。”
New Words and Expressions:
fable
n. 寓言
teenager
n. a person who is between 13 and 19 years old 青少年
run out of
use up or finish a supply of (sth.) 用完，耗尽
file
n. a collection of papers on one subject 档案，卷宗
folder
n. holder for loose papers 文件夹
drugstore
n. (AmE) （兼营杂货的）药房
handful
n. 一把；少量
counter
n. 柜台
tax
n. 税
in amazement
with a feeling of great surprise or disbelief 惊讶地
modestly
ad. not in very large quantity, size, etc. 不太多，不太大，适中
upset
vt. make (sb.) worry or feel unhappy 使苦恼，使心烦意乱
ignorant
a. knowing little or nothing 无知的；不知道的
ignorance
n. 无知；愚昧
senior
n. (AmE) student in the last year of college or high school （大学或中学）毕业班的学生
slice
n. a part of sth.; a thin flat piece cut from sth. 部分；（薄薄的）一片
ability
n. 能力
nonexistent
a. not existing 不存在的
chill
v. become or make (sth. or sb.) cold （使）变冷；（使）不寒而栗
indifference
n. a lack of interest or feeling 漠不关心
sum
vt. 合计；总结；概述
sum up
总结，概括
compete
vi. 竞争
compete with/against
try to be better than (sb. else) 与…竞争
Asian
n., a. 亚洲人；亚洲（人）的
financial
a. connected with money 财政的；金融的
accumulate
v. collect, or gather together, esp. over a period of time 积累，积聚
ancestor
n. 祖先，祖宗
intellectual
a. 智力的
affect
vt. have an influence on 影响
industrial
a. 工业的
function
vi. operate; act 运作；起作用
n. 作用，功能
idle
a. lazy; not doing anything 懒散的；空闲的
jam
v. get stuck 发生故障；卡住；堵塞
break down
stop working; fail, collapse 停止运转；失败，垮了
drive home
make (sth.) clear so that people understand it 使清楚无误地理解
humble
a. 谦卑的；卑微的
suggestion
n. sth. suggested 建议
movie
n. film 电影
dramatize
vt. write (sth.) again in a form which can be performed 将…改编为剧本，将…戏剧化
European
a., n. 欧洲（人）的；欧洲人
portable
a. light and small enough to be easily carried or moved 便携（式）的，手提（式）的
CD = compact disc
激光唱片；（计算机用的）光盘
county
n. （英国的）郡；（美国的）县
hut
n. 小屋；棚屋
search for
look for 寻找
wage
n. 工资，工钱
poverty
n. the state of being poor 贫穷，贫困
leisure
n. spare time 空闲，闲暇
luxury
n. 奢侈品；奢华；奢侈
mill
n. a factory 工厂，制造厂
subway
n. (AmE) underground railway 地铁
better off
richer; more comfortable 更富有；更舒服
foe
n. (lit) an enemy 敌人
scare
v. frighten （使）惊慌，（使）恐惧
foxhole
n. 散兵坑（小型掩体）
security
n. the state of feeling safe and free from worry 安全
wake up
stop sleeping 醒了
porter
n. （旅馆、火车站等的）搬行李工人；搬运工人
wealthy
a. rich; having wealth 富的，富裕的
complex
a. not simple 复杂的
manual
a. 体力的；手工做的
adequate
a. enough 充分的，足够的
slum
n. 贫民窟
plumbing
n. （水、煤气等）管道设施
privacy
n. the state of being alone and undisturbed （不受干扰的）独处；隐私，隐秘
trash
n. (AmE) 垃圾；废物
befriend
vt. help; act as a friend to 帮助；以朋友态度对待
decline
vi., n. 衰败，衰退；下降
acquire
vt. get 取得，获得
ash
n. 废墟；灰，灰烬
astonish
vt. surprise very much 使惊讶
swear
vt. make a serious promise about 发誓，宣誓
make a living by
靠…维持生计
miracle
n. 奇迹
faculty
n. any of the powers of the body or mind 官能
contemptible
a. 令人鄙视的，可轻蔑的
coward
n. 懦夫
pop
n. (infml) father
Proper Names
Benjamin Stein
本杰明·斯坦
U.C.L.A. = University of California at Los Angeles
（美国）加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校
Kevin Hanley
凯文·汉利
Kerry
克雷（爱尔兰郡名）
Ireland
爱尔兰
Pittsburgh
匹兹堡（美国宾夕法尼来州城市）
Iwo Jima
硫黄岛（日本岛屿）
Brazil
巴西
参考资料：
- 全新版大学英语综合教程第一册 Unit8:Coping with an Educational Problem_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
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