新视野大学英语读写教程听力 第四册 课文 4t05a

[by:和谐英语学习网|http://www.hxen.net|和谐英语||和谐英语学习网]
[00:00.00]喜欢hxen.net，就把hxen.net复制到QQ个人资料中！ Choose to Be Alone on Purpose
[00:-1.00]Here we are,all by ourselves,all 22 million of us by recent count,
[00:-2.00]alone in our rooms,some of us liking it that way and some of us not.
[00:-3.00]Some of us divorced,some widowed,some never yet committed.
[00:-4.00]Loneliness may be a sort of national disease here,
[00:-5.00]and it's more embarrassing for us to admit than any other sin.
[00:-6.00]On the other hand,to be alone on purpose,
[00:-7.00]having rejected company rather than been cast out by it,
[00:-8.00]is one characteristic of an American hero.
[00:-9.00]The solitary hunter or explorer needs no one
[00:10.00]as they venture out among the deer and wolves to tame the great wild areas.
[00:11.00]Thoreau,alone in his cabin on the pond,
[00:12.00]his back deliberately turned to the town. Now, that's character for you.
[00:13.00]Inspiration in solitude is a major commodity for poets and philosophers.
[00:14.00]They're all for it.They all speak highly of themselves for seeking it out,
[00:15.00]at least for an hour or even two before they hurry home for tea.
[00:16.00]Consider Dorothy Wordsworth,for instance,
[00:17.00]helping her brother William put on his coat,
[00:18.00]finding his notebook and pencil for him,
[00:19.00]and waving as he sets forth into the early spring sunlight
[00:20.00]to look at flowers all by himself.
[00:21.00]“How graceful,how benign,is solitude,"he wrote.
[00:22.00]No doubt about it,solitude is improved by being voluntary.
[00:23.00]Look at Milton's daughters arranging his cushions and blankets
[00:24.00]before they silently creep away,so he can create poetry.
[00:25.00]Then,rather than trouble to put it in his own handwriting,
[00:26.00]he calls the girls to come back and write it down while he dictates.
[00:27.00]You may have noticed that most of these artistic types
[00:28.00]went outdoors to be alone.
[00:29.00]The indoors was full of loved ones keeping the kettle warm till they came home.
[00:30.00]The American high priest of solitude was Thoreau.
[00:31.00]We admire him,not for his self-reliance,
[00:32.00]but because he was all by himself out there at Walden Pond,
[00:33.00]and he wanted to be.All alone in the woods.
[00:34.00]Actually,he lived a mile,or 20 minutes' walk,from his nearest neighbor;
[00:35.00]half a mile from the railroad;
[00:36.00]three hundred yards from a busy road.
[00:37.00]He had company in and out of the hut all day,
[00:38.00]asking him how he could possibly be so noble.
[00:39.00]Apparently the main point of his nobility
[00:40.00]was that he had neither wife nor servants,
[00:41.00]used his own axe to chop his own wood,
[00:42.00]and washed his own cups and saucers.
[00:43.00]I don't know who did his laundry;he doesn't say,
[00:44.00]but he certainly doesn't mention doing his own,either.
[00:45.00]Listen to him:
[00:46.00]"I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”
[00:47.00]Thoreau had his own self-importance for company.
[00:48.00]Perhaps there's a message here.
[00:49.00]The larger the ego,the less the need for other egos around.
[00:50.00]The more modest and humble we feel, the more we suffer from solitude,
[00:51.00]feeling ourselves inadequate company.
[00:52.00]If you live with other people,
[00:53.00]their temporary absence can be refreshing.
[00:54.00]Solitude will end on Thursday.
[00:55.00]If today I use a singular personal pronoun to refer to myself,
[00:56.00]next week I will use the plural form.
[00:57.00]While the others are absent
[00:58.00]you can stretch out your soul until it fills up the whole room,
[00:59.00]and use your freedom,coming and going as you please without apology,
[-1:00.00]staying up late to read,soaking in the bath,
[-1:-1.00]eating a whole pint of ice cream at one sitting,moving at your own pace.
[-1:-2.00]Those absent will be back.
[-1:-3.00]Their waterproof winter coats are in the closet
[-1:-4.00]and the dog keeps watching for them at the window.
[-1:-5.00]But when you live alone,
[-1:-6.00]the temporary absence of your friends and acquaintances