The picture vividly depicts a lovely American girl in traditional Chinese costume with a sweet smile on her face. She wears ribbons, necklaces and other accessories that are characteristic of the clothes of a certain Chinese minority group. Undoubtedly, the costume has added oriental charm/glamour to her beautiful look/appearance/features.
What the picture conveys goes far beyond only/merely a new fashion trend. Instead, it carries cultural meanings/implications as well. The fact that people from different countries are attracted to mysterious Chinese culture indicates that to some extent a culture can be accepted, respected, appreciated and shared internationally. In other words, a nation’s unique/distinctive culture can become international through worldwide economic and cultural exchanges. Since the trend of globalization become irresistible, the increasing cultural exchanges can effectively improve mutual understanding and friendship.
It is my view that national culture as priceless spiritual treasure should be preserved and cherished. Meanwhile, there are good reasons to advocate international culture for those ideas from the other cultures, controversial or even absurd at first sight, can provide a different perspective for us to observe the world in the long run. Nevertheless, when we are confronted with a different culture, we should be sensible enough to absorb its essence and to resist its dark side. Only in this way can we promote cultural development positively and make our world dimensional, colorful and vigorous. (221 words)
這幅圖畫生動描述了一位可愛的美國小女孩身穿傳統(tǒng)的中國服裝，面帶甜蜜的微笑。她戴著具有某個中國少數(shù)民族服飾特征的發(fā)帶、項鏈和其他裝飾品。毫無疑問，這套服裝為她美麗的外表增添了東方的魅力。
這幅圖畫所表達(dá)的遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不只是一種新的時尚潮流。反之，它具有文化內(nèi)涵。神秘的中國文化吸引了各國人民這一事實，顯示了在某種程度上，一種文化可以被國際性地接受、尊重、欣賞和分享。換而言之，一個民族獨特的文化可以通過全球性的經(jīng)濟和文化交流走向世界。由于全球化潮流不可阻擋，所以文化交流可以有效增進(jìn)相互間的理解和友誼。
在我看來，我們應(yīng)該保存和珍惜作為無價精神財富的民族文化。同時，我們很有必要推廣世界文化，因為來自其他文化的觀點，即使乍看起來相互矛盾或荒謬，但從長遠(yuǎn)看來，可以為我們觀察這個世界提供一種不同的視角。然而，在我們面臨不同文化時，應(yīng)該充滿理智地取其精華、去其糟粕。只有這樣我們才能積極發(fā)展民族文化，并使我們的世界豐富多元、五顏六色、充滿活力。
There was a time when the owners of shops and businesses in Chicago had to pay large sums of money to gangsters in return for 'protection.' If the money was not paid promptly, the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop. Obtaining 'protection money' is not a modern crime. As long ago as the fourteenth century, an Englishman, Sir John Hawk wood, made the remarkable discovery that people would rather pay large sums of money as have their life work destroyed by gangsters.
Six hundred years ago, Sir Johan Hawk wood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers and settled near Florence. He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto. Whenever the Italian city-states were at war with each other, Hawk wood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded. In times of peace, when business was bad, Hawk wood and his men would march into a city-state and, after burning down a few farms, would offer to go away if protection money was paid to them. Hawk wood made large sums of money in this way. In spite of this, the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero. When he died at the age of eighty, the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had a pictured painted which was dedicated to the memory of 'the most valiant soldier and most notable leader, Signor Giovanni Haukodue.'
曾經(jīng)有一個時期,芝加哥的店主和商行的老板們不得不拿出大筆的錢給歹徒以換取"保護(hù)"。如果交款不及時,歹徒們就會很快搗毀他的商店,讓他破產(chǎn).榨取"保護(hù)金"并不是一種現(xiàn)代的罪惡行徑.早在14世紀(jì),英國人約翰.霍克伍德就有過非凡的發(fā)現(xiàn):"人們情愿拿出大筆的錢,也不愿畢生的心血毀于歹徒之手.
600年前,約翰.霍克伍德爵士帶著一隊士兵來到意大利,在佛羅倫薩附近駐扎下來,很快就出了名.意大利人叫他喬凡尼.阿庫托.每次意大利各城邦之間發(fā)生戰(zhàn)爭,霍克伍德把他的士兵雇傭給愿給他出高價的君主。和平時期,當(dāng)生意蕭條時,霍克伍德便帶領(lǐng)士兵進(jìn)入某個城邦,縱火燒毀一兩個農(nóng)場,然后提出,如向他們繳納保護(hù)金,他們便主動撤離�；艨宋榈掠眠@種方法掙了大筆錢.盡管如此,意大利人還是把他視作某種英雄。他80歲那年死去時,佛羅倫薩人為他舉行了國葬,并為他畫像以紀(jì)念這位"驍勇無比的戰(zhàn)士、杰出的領(lǐng)袖喬凡尼.阿庫托先生."
Lesson 24 A skeleton in the cupboard “家丑”
We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years. The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation. The terrible secret is called ‘a skeleton in the cupboard’. At some dramatic moment in the story, the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. The reader's hair stands on end when he reads in the final pages of the novel that the heroine, a dear old lady who had always been so kind to everybody, had, in her youth, poisoned every one of her five husbands.
It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction. To varying degrees, we all have secrets which we do not want even our closest friends to learn, but few of us have skeletons in the cupboard. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton, and he is very proud of the fact. George studied medicine in his youth. Instead of becoming a doctor, however, he became a successful writer of detective stories. I once spent an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house. George showed me to the guest-room which, he said, was rarely used. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers, I decided to hang one of the two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes. The sudden movement of the door made it sway slightly and it gave me the impression that it was about to leap out at me. Dropping my suit, I dashed downstairs to tell George. This was worse than ‘a terrible secret’; this was a real skeleton! But George was unsympathetic. ‘Oh, that,’ he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend. ‘That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time. ’
在小說中，我們經(jīng)常讀到一個表面上受人尊重的人物或家族，卻有著某種多年不為人所知的駭人聽聞的秘密。英語中有一個生動的說法來形容這種情況。驚人的秘密被稱作“柜中骷髏”。在小說的某個戲劇性時刻，可怕的秘密泄漏出來，接著便是某人的聲譽掃地。當(dāng)讀者讀到小說最后幾頁了解到書中女主人公，那位一向待大家很好的可愛的老婦人年輕時一連毒死了她的5個丈夫時，不禁會毛骨悚然。
這種事發(fā)生在小說中是無可非議的。盡管我們?nèi)巳硕加懈鞣N大小秘密，連最親密的朋友都不愿讓他們知道，但我們當(dāng)中極少有人有柜中骷髏。我所認(rèn)識的唯一的在柜中藏骷髏的人便是喬治·卡爾頓，他甚至引以為自豪。喬治年輕時學(xué)過醫(yī)，然而，他后來沒當(dāng)上醫(yī)生，卻成了一位成功的偵探小說作家。有一次，我在他家里度周末，過得很不愉快。這事我永遠(yuǎn)不會忘記。喬治把我領(lǐng)進(jìn)客房，說這間房間很少使用。他讓我打開行裝后下樓吃飯。我將襯衫、內(nèi)衣放進(jìn)兩個空抽屜里，然后我想把隨身帶來的兩套西服中的一套掛到大衣柜里去。我打開柜門，站在柜門前一下子驚呆了。一具骷髏懸掛在眼前，由于柜門突然打開，它也隨之輕微搖晃起來，讓我覺得它好像馬上要跳出柜門朝我撲過來似的。我扔下西服沖下樓去告訴喬治。這是比“駭人聽聞的秘密”更加驚人的東西，這是一具真正的骷髏啊!但喬治卻無動于衷。“噢，是它呀!他笑著說道，儼然在談?wù)撘晃焕吓笥选?ldquo;那是塞巴斯蒂安。你忘了我以前是學(xué)醫(yī)的了。”
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