50 · 新年的决心
New Year Resolutions
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The New Year is a time for resolutions. Mentally, at least, most of us could compile formidable lists of "dos" and "don'ts". The same old favorites recur year in year out with monotonous regularity. We resolve to get up earlier each morning, eat less, find more time to play with the children, do a thousand and one jobs about the house, be nice to people we don't like, drive carefully, and take the dog for a walk every day. Past experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain inveterate smokers, it is only because we have so often experienced the frustration that results from failure. Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out. We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolutions to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our bad old ways. Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted to keep my resolutions to myself. I limited myself to two modest ambitions: to do physical exercises every morning and to read more of an evening. An all-night party on New Year's Eve provided me with a good excuse for not carrying out either of these new resolutions on the first day of the year, but on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the task.
The daily exercises lasted only eleven minutes and I proposed to do them early in the morning before anyone had got up. The self-discipline required to drag myself out of bed eleven minutes earlier than usual was considerable. Nevertheless, I managed to creep down into the living room for two days before anyone found me out. After jumping about on the carpet and twisting the human frame into uncomfortable positions, I sat down at the breakfast table in an exhausted condition. It was this that betrayed me. The next morning the whole family trooped in to watch the performance. That was really unsettling, but I fended off the taunts and jibes of the family good-humouredly and soon everybody got used to the idea. However, my enthusiasm waned. The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. Little by little the eleven minutes fell to zero. By January 10th, I was back to where I had started from. I argued that if I spent less time exhausting myself at exercises in the morning, I would keep my mind fresh for reading when I got home from work. Resisting the hypnotizing effect of television, I sat in my room for a few evenings with my eyes glued to a book. One night, however, feeling cold and lonely, I went downstairs and sat in front of the television pretending to read. That proved to be my undoing, for I soon got back to my old bad habit of dozing off in front of the screen. I still haven't given up my resolution to do more reading. In fact, I have just bought a book entitled How to Read a Thousand Words a Minute. Perhaps it will solve my problem, but I just haven't had time to read it!
原稿补充 · 独立短句The thing is, once you've known what love feels like, well, when you're without it, you feel lonely, like a huge something is missing.
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整篇课文
The New Year is a time for resolutions. Mentally, at least, most of us could compile formidable lists of "dos" and "don'ts". The same old favorites recur year in year out with monotonous regularity. We resolve to get up earlier each morning, eat less, find more time to play with the children, do a thousand and one jobs about the house, be nice to people we don't like, drive carefully, and take the dog for a walk every day. Past experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment. If we remain inveterate smokers, it is only because we have so often experienced the frustration that results from failure. Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out. We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolutions to everybody so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our bad old ways. Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted to keep my resolutions to myself. I limited myself to two modest ambitions: to do physical exercises every morning and to read more of an evening. An all-night party on New Year's Eve provided me with a good excuse for not carrying out either of these new resolutions on the first day of the year, but on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the task.
The daily exercises lasted only eleven minutes and I proposed to do them early in the morning before anyone had got up. The self-discipline required to drag myself out of bed eleven minutes earlier than usual was considerable. Nevertheless, I managed to creep down into the living room for two days before anyone found me out. After jumping about on the carpet and twisting the human frame into uncomfortable positions, I sat down at the breakfast table in an exhausted condition. It was this that betrayed me. The next morning the whole family trooped in to watch the performance. That was really unsettling, but I fended off the taunts and jibes of the family good-humouredly and soon everybody got used to the idea. However, my enthusiasm waned. The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. Little by little the eleven minutes fell to zero. By January 10th, I was back to where I had started from. I argued that if I spent less time exhausting myself at exercises in the morning, I would keep my mind fresh for reading when I got home from work. Resisting the hypnotizing effect of television, I sat in my room for a few evenings with my eyes glued to a book. One night, however, feeling cold and lonely, I went downstairs and sat in front of the television pretending to read. That proved to be my undoing, for I soon got back to my old bad habit of dozing off in front of the screen. I still haven't given up my resolution to do more reading. In fact, I have just bought a book entitled How to Read a Thousand Words a Minute. Perhaps it will solve my problem, but I just haven't had time to read it!
The thing is, once you've known what love feels like, well, when you're without it, you feel lonely, like a huge something is missing.
新年，是下决心的时候。至少在脑海里，我们大多数人都能列出一长串“要做”和“不做”的事情。年复一年，那些老愿望总以同样的节奏重复出现：每天早起，少吃一点，多陪孩子，处理家里数不清的杂事，对不喜欢的人也和气些，谨慎驾驶，每天遛狗。过去的经历告诉我们，有些事是做不到的。如果我们仍是戒不掉烟的老烟民，只因戒烟失败的挫败感已经经历过太多次。大多数人自我改善失败，是因为计划太宏大，根本没时间执行。我们还会犯一个根本性的错误：把自己的决心逢人便讲，等旧毛病一复发，就显得更加可笑。明白这些陷阱后，今年我决定悄悄行动，只给自己定了两个不大的目标：每天早晨锻炼，晚上多读点书。除夕夜一场通宵聚会，恰好给了我一个理由，让我元旦当天一项也没做。不过到了第二天，我便认认真真地开始执行。
每天的锻炼只需十一分钟，我打算趁家人还没起床，早早做完。要逼自己比平时早十一分钟离开被窝，所需的自制力可不小。不过，我还是成功地连续两天偷偷溜到客厅，没让人发现。在地毯上蹦蹦跳跳，把身体扭成各种不舒服的姿势后，我精疲力尽地坐上早餐桌。正是这副样子暴露了我。次日清晨，全家人一拥而来，围观我的“表演”。这真叫人不自在，但我还是好脾气地挡住大家的嘲弄，没多久，他们也就习惯了。可我的热情却逐渐退去，锻炼时间一点点缩短，十一分钟慢慢变成了零。到1月10日，我已经彻底回到原点。我给自己找理由：早晨少花些力气折腾，晚上下班回来，才有精神读书。为了抵抗电视的催眠，接连几个晚上，我独自坐在房间里，眼睛紧盯着书。可有一天夜里，我觉得又冷又孤单，便下楼坐到电视前，假装还在看书。这一下彻底坏了事，我很快又恢复了对着屏幕打瞌睡的老习惯。不过，多读书的决心我还没放弃。事实上，我刚买了一本《如何每分钟读一千词》。也许它能解决问题，只是我还一直没腾出时间看呢！
问题是，一旦体会过爱的滋味，失去它时，就会感到孤单，仿佛心里缺了很大的一块。
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用 Past experience has taught me that… 总结一条有实际依据的经验。
译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时、何景霖整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第175—179页，2022年2月第3版。