我們花了10天的時間完成了村上春樹的一本回憶錄What I Talk About When I Talk About Running。我們享受了閱讀的樂趣犀暑,從村上春樹的文字中收獲了很多人生的感悟,其中多處段落值得再次翻閱去細細品味和感受搔确。村上春樹在本書中表面上是寫跑步闻葵,其實更多地向我們展現(xiàn)了他的寫作和人生。
譬如他寫道:
If Something is worth doing, it's worth giving it your best-or in some cases beyond your best.
值得做的事皆撩,就值得把它做好,甚至做到更好哲银。
Running every day is a kind of lifeline for me , so I'm not going to lay off or quit just because I'm busy. If I used being busy as an excuse not to run, I 'd never run again . I have only a few reasons to keep on running, and a truckload of them to quit. All I can do is keep these few reasons nicely polished.
放棄的理由有千萬種扛吞,堅持下去的理由總是那么幾個。當你有放棄的念頭涌現(xiàn)時荆责,一定要問問自己: 我當初為什么要堅持呢滥比?我的初心是什么?當你銘記起初心做院,那么使你堅持下去的“個別”原因就可以打敗“萬千種”誘導(dǎo)你放棄的借口盲泛。銘記初心,方能成就自我键耕。勿忘初心寺滚,你做到了嗎?
What I mean is, I didn’t start running because somebody asked me to become a runner. Just like I didn’t become a novelist because someone asked me to. One day, out of the blue, I wanted to write a novel. And one day, out of the blue, I started to run— simply because I wanted to. I’ve always done whatever I felt like doing in life. People may try to stop me, and convince me I’m wrong, but I won’t change.
無論你做什么事情屈雄,這都是你自己的選擇村视,沒有任何其他人可以左右你的選擇。選擇去做自己熱愛的事情酒奶,義無反顧蚁孔,勇敢前行。各位惋嚎,加油杠氢!
當然,我們也在其中學(xué)到了很多地道表達和習慣用語另伍。
我從一本書中總結(jié)了以下12個習慣用語修然,希望對你的英文學(xué)習有所幫助。
1. think out loud/think aloud(出現(xiàn)1次)
to think about something by talking, either to yourself or with other people 邊想邊說, 邊想邊說出聲, 自言自語
eg: Oh, sorry. I was thinking aloud.噢,對不起愕宋。 我在自言自語玻靡。
原文:Instead, this is a book in which I’ve gathered my thoughts about what running has meant to me as a person. Just a book in which I ponder various things and think out loud.
2. make a go of sth(出現(xiàn)1次)
to do something successfully 成功做成某事
eg: She was determined to make a go of her programming business.
原文:Most people I knew had predicted that the bar wouldn’t do well. They figured that an establishment run as a kind of hobby wouldn’t work out, that somebody like me, who was pretty naive and most likely didn’t have the slightest aptitude for running a business, wouldn’t be able to make a go of it
3. flat out(出現(xiàn)1次)
(1)in a direct manner; bluntly直率地,不圓滑地中贝;直接的
eg:I told him flat out ‘No’. 我斬釘截鐵地告訴他“不”
(2)At top speed以最高速度
eg: Workers are working flat out to meet the rise in demand for new cars. 為滿足對新轎車需求的增加囤捻,工人正全力以赴地工作。
原文: Most people I knew were flat out against my decision, or else had grave doubts about it.
4. out of the blue(出現(xiàn)3次)
unexpectedly; without warning 出乎意料邻寿;突然蝎土;晴天霹靂
eg: The decision came out of the blue. 這個決定來得很突然。
原文:One day, out of the blue, I wanted to write a novel. And one day, out of the blue, I started to run—simply because I wanted to.
5. keep one’s head above water(出現(xiàn)1次)
to just be able to manage, especially when you have financialdifficulties在艱難的處境下生存绣否,努力克服生活誊涯、工作和財務(wù)上的困難。
eg:We have so little money that we can hardly keep our headsabove water.
原文:Up till then, it had been a question of sheer survival, of keeping my head above water, and I didn’t have room to think of anything else.
6. be nothing short of sth /be nothing less than sth(出現(xiàn)1次)
used to emphasize that something or someone has a particular quality or seems to be something簡直是; 近乎〔用于強調(diào)〕
eg:His behaviour was nothing short of rudeness.他的行為非常無禮蒜撮。
原文: Running twenty six miles in heat like that is nothing short of an act of madness.
7. throw in the towel(出現(xiàn)1次)
to stop trying to do something because you lack determination or because you think you cannot win“認輸暴构,放棄”。在拳擊比賽中段磨,教練可以將毛巾投入賽場內(nèi)取逾,作為停止比賽的信號。在有人放棄或承認失敗的情況下苹支,使用這個成語砾隅。
eg: What keeps you motivated in difficult situations when you want to throw in the towel? 當你想要認輸時,是什么在困境中給你動力债蜜?
原文:My time was going to be awful anyway, I thought, so why not just throw in the towel?
8. be quick/slow on the uptake(出現(xiàn)1次)
( informal)to be quick/slow to understand sth 領(lǐng)悟得快╱慢
eg: Is he always this slow on the uptake? 他總是理解得這么慢嗎晴埂?
原文:Muscles are like work animals that are quick on the uptake. If you carefully increase the load, step by step, they learn to take it.
9. no mean feat / achievement / task etc.(出現(xiàn)1次)
something that is very difficult to do, so that someone who does it deserves to be admired不小的業(yè)績/成就/任務(wù)等
eg: They sold 1 million cards in the first year of business-no mean feat, given the problems many businesses are facing.考慮到許多公司面臨的種種問題,他們在開張的第一年就賣出了一百萬張卡 — 真是很不錯的業(yè)績寻定。
原文:Shipping all these records back to Japan was no mean feat.
10. at a fast, good, steady, rapid etc. clip (出現(xiàn)3次)
quickly迅速儒洛;很快地
eg: Traffic was moving at a good clip.往來車輛的速度很快。
原文:Up to around the eighteenth mile I was going along at a good enough clip, and I was sure I’d run a decent time.
11. if my memory serves me (well/right/correctly)(出現(xiàn)2次)
used for saying that you think you have remembered something correctly如果我記得不錯的話
eg: He was mayor from 1945 to 1949, if my memory serves me correctly.
原文:If memory serves, I’ve never seen her wearing the same outfit twice.
12. rain cats and dogs(出現(xiàn)1次)
used for saying that a lot of rain is falling下傾盆大雨
eg:Heardly had we left home when it began to rain cats and dogs.我們剛離開家,就下起傾盆大雨來了.
原文:It was raining cats and dogs, plus the windshield wiper on my rental car was acting up, and by the time I returned to Cambridge late at night I was exhausted.
以上這些習慣用語盡管在本書中出現(xiàn)了3次特姐,2次,1次黍氮,但是其他作品中會多次出現(xiàn)唐含,值得我們?nèi)ビ洃浐蛻?yīng)用。例如: make a go of sth可以替換succeed in doing sth沫浆,thow in the towel和give up 通用捷枯,at a fast clip代替quickly, rain cats and dogs動詞短語可以替換downpour的名詞用法等等。大家平時多積累這些習慣用語专执,可以讓自己的口語表達更地道淮捆,也可以應(yīng)用于英文寫作中,讓行文更富有變化。
-END-