新概念英语美音版第三册:Lesson 50 New Year resolutions

Lesson 50 New Year resolutions
新年的决心
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What marked the end of the writer's New Year resolutions?
The New Year is a time for resolutions.
新年是下决心的时候，
Mentally, at least, most of us could compile formidable lists of 'dos' and 'don'ts'.
至少在大多数人的心里会编排出一份“应做什么”和“不应做什么”的令人生畏的单子。
The same old favorites recur year in year out with monotonous regularity.
相同的决心以单调的规律年复一年地出现。
We resolve to get up earlier each morning, eat less,
我们决心每天早晨起得早些；吃得少些；
find more time to play with the children, do a thousand and one jobs about the house,
多花点时间与孩子们一起做游戏；做大量的家务；
be nice to people we don't like, drive carefully, and take the dog for a walk every day.
对不喜欢的人友善一些；小心驾车；每天都要带着狗散步；等等。
Past experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment.
以往的经验告诉我们有些事是办不到的。
If we remain inveterate smokers, it is only because we have so often experienced the frustration that results from failure.
如果我们烟瘾大，戒不掉，那是因为屡戒屡败，失去了信心。
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.
我们大多数人想自我完善却遭到失败，这是因为我们的规划过于宏大，而又根本没有时间去实施。
We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolutions to everybody
我们还犯有一个根本性的错误，即把我们的决心向大家宣布。
so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our bad old ways.
这样一旦滑回到那些老习惯上去，我们在别人的眼里会显得更加难堪。
Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted to keep my resolutions to myself.
我深知这些问题，于是，今年我对自己的计划要严加保密，
I limited myself to two modest ambitions: to do physical exercise every morning and to read more of an evening.
只给自己定下两项适中的任务；每天早上锻炼身体，每天晚上多看点书。
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,
新年除夕举办的一次通宵晚会，使我理直气壮地在新年头一天免去了这两项任务。
but on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the task.
不过，新年第二天，我全力以赴地照着去做了。
The daily exercises lasted only eleven minutes and I proposed to do them early in the morning before anyone had got up.
早锻炼一共只有11分钟，我打算在别人起床之前进行。
The self-discipline required to drag myself out of bed eleven minutes earlier than usual was considerable.
这就要求我比平时早11分钟把自己从床上拽起来，这种自我约束是很艰苦的。
Nevertheless, I managed to creep down into the living room for two days before anyone found me out.
不过开头两天我还是成功地蹑手蹑脚地来到楼下起居室，被谁也没发现。
After jumping about on the carpet and twisting the human frame into uncomfortable positions,
我在地毯上跳过来蹦过去，扭曲身子，摆出各种姿势，弄得浑身不舒服，
I sat down at the breakfast table in an exhausted condition.
然后坐到桌边吃早饭，一副筋疲力尽的样子。
It was this that betrayed me.
正是这副模样泄露了我的秘密。
The next morning the whole family trooped in to watch the performance.
第二天早晨全家人结队来到起居室看我表演。
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.
这真叫人不好意思，但我心平气和地顶住了全家人的嘲笑和奚落。不久，大家对我习以为常了，
However, my enthusiasm waned.
而这时我的热情却减退了。
The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished.
我花在锻炼上的时间逐渐减少，
Little by little the eleven minutes fell to zero.
慢慢地从11分钟减到了零。
By January 10th, I was back to where I had started from.
到了1月10日，我恢复了原来的作息时间。
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.
我辩解说，早晨少耗费精力锻炼，晚上下班回家看书时头脑更清醒些。
Resisting the hypnotizing effect of television, I sat in my room for a few evenings with my eyes glued to a book.
有几天晚上，我极力摆脱了电视的诱惑，坐在自己的房间里，两眼盯在书上。
One night, however, feeling cold and lonely, I went downstairs and sat in front of the television pretending to read.
可是，有一天夜里，我感到又冷又孤单，便来到楼下坐在电视机前假装看书。
That proved to be my undoing, for I soon got back to my old bad habit of dozing off in front of the screen.
这下我可完了，因为不一会儿，我就恢复了以前的坏习惯，在屏幕前打起瞌睡来。
I still haven't given up my resolution to do more reading.
但我还没有放弃多看些书的决心。
In fact, I have just bought a book entitled How to Read a Thousand Words a Minute.
事实上，我刚买来一本叫《一分钟读一千字的诀窍》的书。
Perhaps it will solve my problem, but I just haven't had time to read it!
也许这本书能解决我的问题，但我一直还没时间去看这本书！