Impressions of America
美国印象

说起美国，大家脑海中首先想到的或许就是影视中所展现的鳞次栉比的高楼大厦，穿着新潮的男女老少……然而，真正到过美国之后，这种想象可能会被颠覆。想象从来不等于现实，想要真正了解一个地方，就要走近它。英国作家奥斯卡·王尔德用他自己的亲身经历告诉了我们这一点。

Oscar Wilde
奥斯卡·王尔德

The first thing that struck me on landing in America was that if the Americans are not the most well-dressed people in the world, they are the most comfortably dressed. Men are seen there with the dreadful chimney-pot hat, but there are very few hatless men; men wear the shocking swallowtail coat, but few are to be seen with no coat at all. There is an air of comfort in the appearance of the people which is a marked contrast to that seen in this country, where, too often, people are seen in close contact with rags.

The next thing particularly noticeable is that everybody seems in a hurry to catch a train. This is a state of things which is not favorable to poetry or romance. Had Romeo or Juliet been in a constant state of anxiety about trains, or had their minds been agitated by the question of return-tickets, Shakespeare could not have given us those lovely balcony scenes which are so full of poetry and pathos.

America is the noisiest country that ever existed. One is waked up in the morning, not by the singing of the nightingale, but by the steam whistle. It is surprising that the sound practical sense of the Americans does not reduce this intolerable noise. All Art depends upon exquisite and delicate sensibility, and such continual turmoil must ultimately be destructive of the musical faculty.

There is not so much beauty to be found in American cities as in Oxford, Cambridge, Salisbury or Winchester, where are lovely relics of a beautiful age; but still there is a good deal of beauty to be seen in them now and then, but only where the American has not attempted to create it. Where the Americans have attempted to produce beauty they have signally failed. A remarkable characteristic of the Americans is the manner in which they have applied science to modern life.

This is apparent in the most cursory stroll through New York. In England an inventor is regarded almost as a crazy man, and in too many instances invention ends in disappointment and poverty. In America an inventor is honoured, help is forthcoming, and the exercise of ingenuity, the application of science to the work of man, is there the shortest road to wealth. There is no country in the world where machinery is so lovely as in America.

初到美国，第一件让我印象深刻的事情是，美国人的穿着算不上世界上最讲究的，但却是最舒适的。那里的男士戴着很糟糕的高顶礼帽，很少有根本不戴帽子的；男士们穿着难看的燕尾服，很少有不穿外套的。他们的神情舒适怡然，与我大多数时候在这里看到的衣衫褴褛形成了鲜明对比。

第二件显而易见的事情是，这里的每一个人看起来都在匆忙地赶火车。这种情景既不富有诗意，也不浪漫。如果罗密欧或者朱丽叶总是在担心赶火车，或者一直为返程票而烦心，那么莎士比亚就不可能写出发生在阳台上的那富有诗意、哀婉动人的一幕一幕了。

美国是有史以来最嘈杂的国家。清晨，人们不是在夜莺的歌声中醒来，而是被汽车的鸣笛吵醒。令人吃惊的是，美国人的听力敏感度在这种难以容忍的噪音中竟然没有降低。所有的艺术都依赖于细腻、微妙的洞察力，而这种持续的骚动最终必定会影响他们的音乐天赋。

牛津、剑桥、索尔兹伯里、温切斯特这些城市都很美，还有很多令人向往的年代久远的遗迹，相比之下，美国的城市就逊色多了，但是它们不时也有不少可看的美景，但是仅限于美国人没有涉足改造的地方。那些美国人试图去创造美景的地方，最后都明显失败了。美国人最值得称道的特征是他们将科学应用于现代生活的方式。

只要在纽约随便逛逛就能发现这一点。在英国，发明家在人们眼中差不多就是一个疯子，发明大多最终都以失落和贫困潦倒告终。而在美国，发明家则是备受尊崇的，他们能够适时地获得帮助，善于发明创造，将科技应用到人们的工作中，是创造财富最好的捷径。世界上几乎没有哪个国家比美国更能将机器应用自如了。

巧记词汇

dreadful [ˈdredfl] a. 糟透的

【拓】terrible [ˈterəbl] a. 很糟的

chimney-pot [ˈtʃɪmni pɒt] n. 高顶礼帽；烟囱管帽

【拓】chimney [ˈtʃɪmni] n. 烟囱

swallowtail ['swɒləʊteɪl] n. 燕尾服

【拓】swallow [ˈswɒləʊ] n. 燕子

agitate [ˈædʒɪteɪt] v. 使焦虑不安

【拓】upset [ʌpˈset] v. 使烦恼

pathos [ˈpeɪθɒs] n. 伤感

【拓】sadness [ˈsædnəs] n. 悲伤

exquisite [ɪkˈskwɪzɪt] a. 细腻的

【拓】delicate [ˈdelɪkət] a. 微妙的

turmoil [ˈtɜːmɔɪl] n. 混乱；骚动

【拓】confusion [kənˈfjuːʒn] n. 混乱

cursory [ˈkɜːsəri] a. 粗略的

【拓】rough [rʌf] a. 粗略的

ingenuity [ˌɪndʒəˈnjuːəti] n. 善于创新

【拓】creative [kriˈeɪtɪv] a. 有创造力的

趣学短语

a good deal of 大量的，很多的

【例】Robin spends a good deal of his time in airplanes, flying overhead the world far below, and he enjoys the trips. 罗宾有很多时间都在飞机上，飞行在距离地面遥远的天空，他很享受这些旅程。