英譯漢試題集

1、高級(jí)筆譯翻譯考試模擬試題及答案1 I think lawyers mistakenly believe complex language enhances themystique of the law.2 Not long ago, a foreign visitor whose English is extremely good toldme of his embarrassment in a tea shop.3 Meanwhile individual schools are moving on their own to redressthe imbalance between teac

2、hing and research.4We have created a faculty of scholars frequently so narrow in theirstudies and specialized in their scholarship they are simply incapable ofteaching introductory courses.5 Then the players find out the lottery is not particularly good bet andthey find other forms of gambling.6 The

3、 English language is in very good shape. It is changing in itsown undiscoverable way, but it is not going rotten like a plum droppingoff a tree.7 There has always been a close cultural link, or tie between Britainand English-speaking America, not only in literature but also in thepopular arts, espec

4、ially music.8 We must just make the best of things as they come along.9 But once I made the decision, I went at it with all flags flying.10Autumns mellow hand was upon the woods, as they owned already,touched with gold and red and olive.解析：我認(rèn)為律師們有一個(gè)錯(cuò)誤的想法，即復(fù)雜的語言能增加法律的深?yuàn)W性。不久前，一位英語極好的外國客人告 訴我他在一家小吃店里的窘

5、狀。與此同時(shí)，各學(xué)校正采取步驟糾正教學(xué)與科研不平衡的狀況。我們已經(jīng)造就出一批學(xué)者，他 們的研究范 圍常常如此之窄，學(xué) 問如此之專門，以致他們簡直無法勝任入門課程的教學(xué)。后來玩彩券的人 發(fā)現(xiàn)買彩券并不是特 別有利的賭博方式，于是就找到其他形式的 賭博。英語目前的情況很好，它正按照它那不易 為人發(fā)現(xiàn)的方式在起著變化,而不是像一只 樹上掉下的李子那 樣在逐漸腐爛。在英國和 說英語的美國之 間，不僅在文學(xué)方面，而且在流行 藝術(shù)，特別是音樂方面，一直有著密切的接觸和 聯(lián)系。當(dāng)然，事情發(fā)生后，我們還得要盡力去 補(bǔ)救.不過，我一旦做出決定，就大張旗鼓地去 進(jìn)行了。秋季的成熟的手已 經(jīng)在撫摸樹木，它們順從秋季

6、的到來，染上了金黃、丹紅和橄欖綠。高級(jí)筆譯翻譯考試模擬試題及答案 6更新人：春上冬下更新時(shí)間：2013-6-191 I have a cake in the oven that I was making for the Senorasdinner.The world is scraping bottom in the deepest economic slump in a half-century.Now, dear, hurry home and make yourself pretty in your pink dress.Military strategy may bear some s

7、imilarity to the chessboard but it is dangerous to carry the analogy too far.Studies show that otherwise rational people act irrationally when forced to stand in line or wait in crowds, even becoming violent.6Prolonged high unemployment will threaten the current leadership inother capitals as well,

8、and it could ignite violent upheavals in some of themost hard-pressed land.7 Many advocated strong action to bring the Prime Minister into line.8 He cannot whollydetach himselffromthe technicalities andpersonal inconveniences which accompany the battle for intelligence.9 I will not have it said that

9、 I could never teach my daughter properrespect for her elders.10 Although the recession has reached every corner of the planet, theimpact is uneven.解析：1 我爐子里正烤著一個(gè)蛋糕，本來是給太太晚餐 時(shí)吃的。2 世界目前正在 為度過這場 半個(gè)世 紀(jì)以來最 嚴(yán)重的經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退爾使出了最后一點(diǎn)力量。3 好吧，乖孩子，趕緊回家，穿上那身粉紅衣服，打扮得漂漂亮亮的。4 打仗的策略同下棋可能有某些相似之 處，但是如果把這兩者之間的類比搞過了頭則是危險(xiǎn)的。5 有些

10、研究表明，如果被迫去排 隊(duì)或擠在人群中等候，本來很 講道理的人也會(huì)失去理智，甚至暴跳如雷。持續(xù)的高失業(yè)率也會(huì)給其他國家的 現(xiàn)有領(lǐng)導(dǎo)構(gòu)成威脅，而且可能會(huì)在一些最窘迫的國家引起暴亂。他們中許多人主張采取強(qiáng)有力的措施使 這位總理先生在行 動(dòng)上與美國一致起來。他無法完全 擺脫伴隨著情 報(bào)戰(zhàn)而來的技 術(shù)性問題和使他個(gè)人感到不方便的事情。我可不愿意 讓人家指著脊梁骨 說我從來不教自己的女兒要尊敬長輩。10 雖然這場經(jīng)濟(jì) 衰退波及全球的每個(gè)角落，但各地受到的影響不盡相同。高級(jí)筆譯翻譯考試模擬試題及答案 51 Mr. Kingsley and his Red Brick boys will have to l

11、ook to theirlaurels.2 The hungry boy was wolfing down his dinner.3I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in anation where they will not be judged by the color of the skin but by thecontent of their character.4 The importance of oceanography as a key to the understandingof our

12、planet is seldom as well appreciated.5 I pulled up a chair and sat down. I sat with my legs wide apartat first. But this struck me as being irreverent and too familiar. So I putmy knees together and let my hands rest loosely on them.6 There is a mixture of the tiger and ape in the character of theim

13、perialists.7 A country that wishes to become a member of WTO is to sendin itsapplication before a workingparty is formed by WTOforexamination of the specific conditions of the country.8 When prices range from $34,500 to $50,000 per car, evidencethat these machines are more than a cut above the rest

14、is essential.9 One of the most heartwarming aspects of people who are bornwith a facial disfigurement, whether minor or major, is the number ofthem who do not allow it to upset their lives, even reaching out to helpothers with the same problem.10 The heavily laden infantry, though enjoying a superio

15、rity ofsix-to-one, simply could not keep to schedule and lost 60000 men in oneday.解析：1 金斯利先生和他那些二流大學(xué)的學(xué)生 們必須小心翼翼地保持已經(jīng)取得的榮譽(yù)。2 那個(gè)饑餓的男孩狼吞虎咽似地吃 飯。3 我有一個(gè)夢想，有一天，我的四個(gè)孩子將生活在 這樣的國家里，在那里，判斷他們的準(zhǔn)則不是他們的膚色，而是他們的道德品 質(zhì)。海洋學(xué)是 認(rèn)識(shí)我們星球的關(guān) 鍵，其重要性人們卻很少理解。我把椅子挪 過去坐下，開始兩腳分開，但我突然 覺得這樣顯得不尊重，太不拘節(jié)禮，便把兩膝并攏，把雙手隨便地放在膝蓋上。帝國主義者的性格有殘暴的

16、一面，也有狡猾的一面。一個(gè)國家若想成 為世貿(mào)組織 的成員，須先呈遞申請(qǐng)，而后由世貿(mào)組織組 成一個(gè)工作小 組對(duì)該國的具體條件 進(jìn)行審查。由于每輛汽車的價(jià)格從 34500 美元到 50000 美元不等，因此就必須有證據(jù)說明這些汽車比別的高級(jí)一些。有些人天生 臉上就有或大或小的缺陷，但令人欣慰的是， 這些人中有相當(dāng)一部分并沒有 讓這些缺陷擾亂了他們的生活，他們甚至還主動(dòng)去幫助其他有 類似問題的人。10 這支步兵盡管在數(shù)量上享有六比一的有 時(shí)，但是由于個(gè)人負(fù)重量很大，根本無法按 時(shí)行動(dòng)，因而在一天內(nèi)就損失了六萬人。2【原文】Designed by Apple in California Assembl

17、ed in China is etchedinto the glossy black of every iPhone. The designer is mourned anddeified the world over, but the assemblers are huddled in anonymity.Indeed, the story ofAppleriseover the last decade isas muchAmerica s story as it is China s. If Steve Jobs was the general who led thebattle for

18、global digital technology supremacy, then it took hundreds ofthousands of his troops in factory overalls and to realize his vision withprecision and consistency.But kneading innovation in the abstract in Cupertino was realized astangibledevicesincity-sizedfactoryinShenzhen,China.Commercialization of

19、 the sophisticated products, whilesuccessivelylowering prices, would ve been impossible without China s essentialThe Chinese factory worker s role in the Apple story should not obscure Steve Jobs monumental achievements as an innovator. Nor should thoseworkers roles be marginalized inthe breathless

20、paeans to Jobs salmost-mythical legend. As a matter of fact-many of the stories thatgerminate in Silicon Valley usually find their denouement in Shenzhen ornearby factory towns.【參考譯文】在每一部蘋果手機(jī)光亮的后蓋上，都刻著 “加州 設(shè)計(jì)，中國組裝”的字樣。雖 然蘋果的 設(shè)計(jì)師 被全世界果粉悼念，并奉若神明，但其背后無數(shù)的手機(jī)裝配工卻始 終籍籍無名。過去十年里，蘋果的崛起既是一段美國故事，同 時(shí)也是一段中國故事。如果

21、說喬布斯好比是引 領(lǐng)全球數(shù)字科技王者之 戰(zhàn)的將軍，那么，那些手法精準(zhǔn)、步調(diào)一致的工人們就是實(shí)現(xiàn)他愿景的千 軍萬馬。然而，在中國深圳大如城市的工 場中，庫比蒂諾(蘋果總部所在地 ) 抽象而濃縮的創(chuàng)新變成了一臺(tái)臺(tái)有形 設(shè)備。盡管價(jià)格一再下降，但若沒有中國，這些高精 設(shè)備的商業(yè)化是不可能成功的。中國工人的功 勞雖無法掩蓋改革者 喬布斯那不朽的成就，但也不能被磨 滅在他被視若傳奇的贊歌中。事實(shí)上，很多在硅谷萌 發(fā)的故事最后都會(huì)在深圳及其周邊工業(yè)城鎮(zhèn)中找到落幕的土壤?！窘馕觥侩m然說本段涉及的是大家耳熟能 詳?shù)奶O果手機(jī)和其 創(chuàng)始人喬布斯，但是要真正翻 譯好還是一樁難事。我們可以發(fā)現(xiàn)本段中有不少被動(dòng)句，而在

22、實(shí)際的翻譯過程中，需要做到將被 動(dòng)語態(tài) 與主動(dòng)語態(tài)進(jìn) 行靈活變通，盡可能使語句通順。同時(shí)，本段也有不少修辭手法，如比 喻和擬人，對(duì)于這些語句的翻譯還需考生在英 語學(xué)習(xí)過程中，不忘提高中文的遣 詞造句能力，使自己的翻 譯更添文采。翻譯考試筆譯高級(jí)翻譯譯文 14更新人：春上冬下更新時(shí)間：2013-6-30Ive money, Im rich. The heir to four fortunes. Grandfather onMothers side was a Newpert. The family held some good real estate inRhode Island until t

23、hey sold it for many times what they gave for it.Grandmother on Fathers side was a Salts, whose bottled mineral water,once available only through prescription and believed indispensable inthe cure of all fevers, was the first product ever to be reviewed by theFood and Drug Administration, a famous a

24、nd controversial case. Thegovernment found it to contain nothing that was actually detrimental tohuman beings, and it went public, so to speak. Available now over thecounter, the Salts made more money from it than ever.我有錢，我富足，我繼承了四筆 遺產(chǎn)。外公姓紐 波特，紐家在羅得島坐擁不菲房 產(chǎn)，后來以高出原價(jià)好多倍出手。奶奶姓索 爾茨。她的家族生產(chǎn)的瓶裝 礦泉水，一度只能憑醫(yī)

25、生 處方才能 買到，據(jù)說是治各種發(fā)熱癥所必需，是聯(lián)邦食品藥品管理局有史以來 審查的第一宗 產(chǎn)品。那個(gè)案例名噪一 時(shí)、頗具爭議。政府發(fā)現(xiàn) 它沒有對(duì)人體有害的 東西，也就上市了?，F(xiàn)在誰都可以在商店 買到，索爾茨家族因此 賺得缽滿盆滿。翻譯考試筆譯高級(jí)翻譯譯文 13更新人：春上冬下更新時(shí)間：2013-6-27Ive been spared a lot, one of the blessed of the earth, at least oneof its lucky, that privileged handful of the dramatically prospering, thesort wh

26、ose secrets are asked, like the hundred-year-old man. There is nosecret, of course; most of what happens to us is simple accident. Highishbirth and a smooth network of appropriate connection like a tea servicewritten into the will. But surely something in the blood too, locked intogood fortunes domi

27、nant genes like a blast ripening in a time bomb. Set togo off, my good looks and intelligence, yet exceptional still, take awaymy mouthful of silver spoon and lapful of luxury. Something my own,not passed on or handed down, something seized, wrested mygoodcharacter, hopefully, my taste perhaps. What

28、s mine, whats mine? Saytaste the souls harmless appetite.我一直活得無憂無慮，深得上帝垂愛，至少算個(gè)幸運(yùn)兒，少數(shù)人才享有的尊榮富 貴，我垂手得之。就像百 歲人瑞總有人討教，我的秘訣也總有人探詢。當(dāng)然，秘訣談 不上，人間之事大多 純屬偶然。高貴的出身、順暢的關(guān)系網(wǎng)有如憑 遺囑繼承的茶具，隨我所用。當(dāng)然，我的幸運(yùn)也有某種與生俱來的因素，一種血液里固有的 強(qiáng)勢基因 ;它像定 時(shí)炸彈，到時(shí)就會(huì)爆炸。一旦爆炸，我出 類拔萃的相貌和智慧將會(huì)使口 銜銀匙、滿堂金玉的身世完全微不足道。我的成功源自我自己特有的 東西，不是祖?zhèn)鞯母Ｊa，是某種我拼命抓住、努力

29、得到的 東西 我良好的性格或品味。那么，究竟什么才是我自己特有的 東西?是什么呢 ? 是品味吧一一那種無害的心靈欲求。翻譯考試筆譯高級(jí)翻譯譯文 11更新人：春上冬下更新時(shí)間：2013-6-27I go to visit my great-aunts. A few of them think now that I ammy cousin, or their daughter who died young. We recall an anecdoteabout a relative last seen in 1948, and they ask if I still like living in

30、NewYork City. I have lived in Los Angeles for three years, but I say that I do.The baby is offered a horehound drop, and I am slipped a dollar bill tobuy a treat. Questions trail off, answers are abandoned, the baby playswith the dust motes in a shaft of afternoon sun.我去看望姑婆們。其中幾位把我當(dāng)成了我的堂妹，或她 們?cè)缡诺呐畠?/p>

31、，我們回憶起一位 親戚的軼事，上次相見是在 1948 年。她們問我是否還喜歡住在紐約市。其實(shí)我在洛杉 磯已經(jīng)住了三年，但我還是說喜歡紐約。她們給 我女兒帶苦味的薄荷糖吃，還塞給我一塊錢“再買點(diǎn)好吃的。”慢慢地，問題少了，回答也就省了。女兒在午后的一 縷陽光里，歡快地抓弄著 塵埃。翻譯考試筆譯高級(jí)翻譯譯文 15更新人：春上冬下更新時(shí)間：2013-6-30Mother was an Oh. Her mother was the chemical engineer whofirst discovered a feasible way to store oxygen in tanks. And Fat

32、her wasNoel Ashenden, who though he did not actually invent the match-book,went into the field when it was still a not very flourishing novelty, andwhose slogan, almost a poem, Close Cover Before Striking(a simplestroke, as Father liked to say), obvious only after someone else hasalready thought of

33、it (the Patent Office refused to issue a patent on what itclaimed was merely an instruction, but Fathers company had the messageonitsmatchbooks before hiscompetitorseven knewwhatwashappening), removed the hazard from book matches and turned theindustryandFathers firmparticularlyintoaflamingsuccessov

34、ernight Fathersjoke, not mine. Later, when the inroads of Ronsonand Zippo threatened the business, Father went into seclusion for sixmonths and when he returned to us he had produced another slogan: ForOur Matchless Friends. It saved the industry a second time and was thesecond and last piece of wor

35、k in Fathers life.家母隨外婆姓歐。外婆是化學(xué)工程 師，成功開發(fā)了罐裝氧氣。家父是諾爾?艾興登。盡管紙板火柴不是他 發(fā)明的，但當(dāng)它還是個(gè)新玩意兒、不怎么旺 銷時(shí)，他就人了這個(gè)行業(yè)。他的推銷廣告 頗有詩意：“闔蓋一劃火自來 ”(就像父 親常說的，輕輕一劃就成 )。很顯 然，這是拾人牙慧(專利局因此拒 發(fā)專利證，說這只不過是句使用 說明。但父親的公司在對(duì)手還懵然不覺時(shí)，就搶先把這句廣告詞印在火柴盒上 )。正是這句推銷廣告消除了 紙板火柴使用 時(shí)的危險(xiǎn)，使整個(gè)行業(yè)，特別是父親的火柴公司，一夜之間生意火了起來 這是父親的玩笑而非我本人的幽默。后來，榮升和芝寶打火機(jī)打人市 場，火柴生意受

36、到威脅。父親于是隱退，半年后推出了另一句廣告 詞：“我友 (有)火柴 ”，父親 因此第二次拯救了火柴 業(yè)，這也是父親一生中第二個(gè)也是最后一個(gè)成就。翻譯考試筆譯高級(jí)翻譯譯文 10更新人：春上冬下更新時(shí)間：2013-6-26Days pass. I see no one. I come to dread my husbands eveningcall, not only because he is full of news of what by now seems to me ourremote life in Los Angeles, people he has seen, letters wh

37、ich requireattention, but because he asks what I have been doing, suggests uneasilythat I get out, drive to San Francisco or Berkeley. Instead I drive acrossthe river to a family graveyard. It has been vandalized since my last visitand the monuments are broken, overturned in the dry grass. Because I

38、once saw a rattlesnake in the grass I stay in the car and listen to acountry-and-Western station. Later I drive with my father to a ranch hehas in the foothills. The man who runs his cattle on it asks us to theroundup, a week from Sunday, and although I know that I will be in LosAngeles I say, in th

39、e oblique way my family talks, that I will come. Oncehome I mention the broken monuments in the graveyard. My mothershrugs.日子一天天過去，我沒拜訪任何人。我開始對(duì)丈夫晚間打來的電話感到害怕，不光是因 為他老是跟我 講洛杉磯的情況，見到誰啦，哪些信件該回啦，等等，而洛杉磯的生活距離我似乎已遙 遠(yuǎn)了啊 !還因?yàn)樗麊栁以谧鍪裁?，有點(diǎn)拘束地建 議我出去走走，開車去舊金山或伯克利。我卻駕車去了河 對(duì)岸的一塊家族墓地。自我上次來 過之后，墓地被破壞了，墓碑?dāng)嗔眩乖诳莶?叢里。以前

40、我曾在草 叢里見到一條響尾蛇，所以這次我待在 車上，收聽鄉(xiāng)村與西部音 樂臺(tái)的廣播。后來我同父親開車去了他在山麓小丘上的 農(nóng)場。為他放牛的人 請(qǐng)我們下周日來看他趕攏牛群。盡管我明明知道那 時(shí)我已回到洛杉 磯了，但我還是以家里人繞彎子的方式 說要來。一回到家里，我就提起了墓地里的斷碑。母親聳了聳肩。翻譯考試筆譯高級(jí)翻譯譯文 8更新人：春上冬下更新時(shí)間：2013-6-26Or perhaps it is not any more. Sometimes I think that those of uswho are now in our thirties were born into the last

41、 generation to carry theburden of home, to find in family life the source of all tension anddrama. I had by all objective accounts a normal and a happy familysituation, and yet I was almost thirty years old before I could talk to myfamily on the telephone without crying after I had hung up. We did n

42、otfight. Nothing was wrong. And yet some nameless anxiety colored theemotional charges between me and the place that I came from. Thequestion of whether or not you could go home again was a very real partof the sentimental and largely literary baggage with which we left homein the fifties; I suspect

43、 that it is irrelevant to the children born of thefragmentation after World War II. A few weeks ago in a San Franciscobar I saw a pretty young girl on crystal take off her clothes and dance forthe cash prize in an amateur-topless contest. There was no particularsense of moment about this, none of th

44、e effect of romantic degradation, ofdark journey, for which my generation strived so assiduously. Whatsense could that girl possibly make of, say, Long Days Journey intoNight? Who is beside the point?或許，現(xiàn)在情況 變了。我有時(shí)想，我們這些三十幾 歲的人，注定成為承擔(dān)“家”的重 負(fù)、并經(jīng)受家庭生活中種種 緊張和沖突的最后一代人。在別人的眼里，無論從哪方面看，我都曾 擁有一個(gè)“正常 ”而“幸福 ”的

45、家。然而，直到將近三十 歲以前，我與娘家人通 電話后總是要哭鼻子。我們沒吵過架，也沒出過岔子。但一絲莫名的 憂慮，浸染了我和生我養(yǎng)我的家之 間的情感糾葛。五十年代我們離家時(shí)，背負(fù)著一個(gè)裝著 傷感、多半是 書籍的行囊。還能回家 嗎?這個(gè)問題便是行囊中 實(shí)實(shí)在在的一部分。我想，這個(gè)問題大概與二 戰(zhàn)后破碎家庭里出生的孩子無關(guān)。幾個(gè)禮拜前，在舊金山的一個(gè)酒吧里，我看 見一位吸了毒的漂亮姑娘，脫去衣服跳舞，僅僅是為得到一場“業(yè)余無上裝 ”比賽的現(xiàn)金獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)!這沒有什么特別的意思，與浪漫沉 淪沾不上邊兒，與我們這一代人所 趨之若鶩的“黑暗之旅 ”也沾不上 邊兒。那位姑娘呀，你對(duì)進(jìn)入黑夜的漫 長旅程作何理解?到

46、底是誰離題了?翻譯考試筆譯高級(jí)翻譯譯文 9更新人：春上冬下更新時(shí)間：2013-6-26That I am trapped in this particular irrelevancy is never moreapparent to me than when I am home. Paralyzed by the neurotic lassitudeengendered by meeting ones past at every turn, around every corner,inside every cupboard, I go aimlessly from room to room.

47、I decide tomeet it head-on and clean out a drawer, and I spread the contents on thebed. A bathing suit I wore the summer I was seventeen. A letter ofrejection from The Nation, an aerial photograph of the site for a shoppingcenter my father did not build in 1954. Three teacups hand-painted withcabbag

48、e roses and signed E.M., my grandmothers initials. There is nofinalsolution for letters of rejection fromThe Nation and teacupshand-painted in 1900. Nor is there any answer to snapshots of onesgrandfather as a young man on skis, surveying around Donner Pass in theyear 1910. I smooth out the snapshot

49、 and look into his face, and do anddo not see my own. I close the drawer, and have another cup of coffeewith my mother. We get along very well, veterans of a guerrilla war wenever understood.這個(gè)不相干的 問題困擾著我，在我返回老家后尤 為明顯。走過每個(gè)角落，打開每個(gè)食櫥，轉(zhuǎn)身駐足間，我一次次地面 對(duì)過去，思緒不寧，及至疲乏不堪，我還是漫無目的地逐個(gè)房 間走著。我決意正視過去，清理出一個(gè)抽 屜，把東西攤在床

50、上。一件我十七 歲那年夏天穿的泳衣 ;一封民族周刊的退稿信;一張從空中拍 攝的選址照片，1954 年父親曾打算在那里建 購物中心 ;還有三只茶杯，上面有手 繪的百葉薔薇，并簽有祖母名字的兩個(gè)首字母 E.M.。我不知道該如何 處理 1900 年手繪的茶杯和民族周刊的退稿信，也不知道該如何處理祖父 1910 年的幾張快照。照片里的祖父青春年少， 踩著滑雪板，在察看唐 納山口。我撫平照片，注視著祖父的 臉，依稀看到自己的影子，又似乎沒有。我關(guān)上抽屜，陪母親又喝了一杯咖啡。我 們現(xiàn)在相處得很好，就像打 過游擊戰(zhàn)的老兵一 樣，真不明白過去為何有齟齬。翻譯考試筆譯高級(jí)翻譯譯文 7更新人：春上冬下更新時(shí)間：

51、2013-6-26I am home for my daughters first birthday. By home I do notmean the house in Los Angeles where my husband and I and the babylive, but the place where my family is, in the Central Valley of California.It is a vital although troublesome distinction. My husband likes my familybut is uneasy in

52、their house, because once there I fall into their ways,which are difficult,oblique, deliberately inarticulate, not my husbandsways. We live in dusty houses (D-U-S-T, he once wrote with his fingeron surfaces all over the house, but no one noticed it) filled with mementosquite without value to him (wh

53、at could the Canton dessert plates. mean tohim? How could he have known about the assay scales, why should hecare if he did know?), and we appear to talk exclusively about people weknow who have been committed to mental hospitals, about people weknow who have been booked on drunk-drivingcharges, and

54、 aboutproperty, particularly about property, land, price per acre and C-2 zoningand assessments and freeway access. My brother does not understand myhusbands inabilityto perceive the advantage in the rather commonreal-estate transaction known as sale-leaseback, and my husband in turndoes not underst

55、and why so many of the people he hears about in myfathers house have recently been committed to mental hospitals orbooked on drunk-driving charges. Nor does he understand that when wetalk about sale-leasebacks and right-of-way condemnations we are talkingin code about the things we likebest, the yel

56、lowfieldsand thecottonwoods and the rivers rising and falling and the mountain roadsclosing when the heavy snow comes in. We miss each others points, haveanother drink and regard the fire. My brother refers to my husband, in hispresence, as Joans husband. Marriage is the classic betrayal.我回家給女兒過周歲生日。我所說的“家 ”，并非指丈夫，我和小寶寶在洛杉 磯的家，而是指位于加州中央谷地的娘家。 這樣區(qū)分，盡管麻煩，卻很重要。丈夫不是不喜 歡我娘家的人，但是在我娘家卻 頗不自在。因?yàn)槲乙换厝ィ腿旧狭四锛胰说?習(xí)慣，說起