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资料提示：（原 文） 近读报纸，对国内名片和请柬的议论颇多，于是想起客居巴黎时经常见到的法国人手中的名片和请柬，随笔记下来，似乎不无借鉴之处。 在巴黎，名目繁多的酒会、冷餐会是广交朋友的好机会。在这种场合陌生人相识，如果是亚洲人，他们往往开口之前先毕... |
（原 文）
近读报纸，对国内名片和请柬的议论颇多，于是想起客居巴黎时经常见到的法国人手中的名片和请柬，随笔记下来，似乎不无借鉴之处。
在巴黎，名目繁多的酒会、冷餐会是广交朋友的好机会。在这种场合陌生人相识，如果是亚洲人，他们往往开口之前先毕恭毕敬地用双手把自己的名片呈递给对方，这好像是不可缺少的礼节。然而，法国人一般却都不大主动递送名片，双方见面寒喧几句甚至海阔天空地聊一番也就各自走开。只有当双方谈话投机，希望继续交往时，才会主动掏出名片。二话不说先递名片反倒有些勉强。
法国人的名片讲究朴素大方，印制精美，但很少有镶金边儿的，闪光多色的或带香味儿的，名片上的字体纤细秀丽，本人的名字也不过分突出，整张纸片上空白很大，毫无拥挤不堪的感觉。
（参考译文）
In reading recent newspapers, I have come to find that people in China have become more and more interested in discussing about name cards and invitation letters. This has triggered my reminiscences of the name cards and invitation letters of the French people that I saw when I was residing in Paris. In writing down those random reminiscences, I believe that they might provide some useful information for us to learn from.
In Paris, all the wine parties and buffet receptions held on various occasions provide optimum opportunities to make friends with all varieties of people. When encountering a stranger on such an occasion, an Asian would invariably hand over his name card to the newly-met stranger with full reverence, with both of his hands, even before he starts to converse with the stranger. Such an act seems to have become an indispensable ritual (formality/ etiquette). By contrast, an average Frenchman seldom takes the initiative to (offers to / volunteers to) present his name card. Instead, he would simply walk away after an exchange of routine greetings or even some aimless (random/ casual) chat. Only when both sides become deeply engrossed (engaged / involved) in their conversation and have the intention to make further acquaintance with each other would they offer to give their name cards. It would seem somehow bizarre if a French person offers his name card without saying anything to the stranger in the first place.
The French tend to take extraordinary precaution to make their name cards simple yet elegant. Exquisitely designed and printed, their name cards are seldom golden-framed, or colorfully shiny, or tinted with fragrant smells. The letters as appear on their name cards tend to be diminutive but beautiful, not allowing the name of the card-bearer to be overly prominent/salient. The entire card contains much empty space, imparting no sense of over-crowdedness.
2、（原 文）
Four months before the election day, five men gathered in a small conference room at the Reagan-Bush headquarters and reviewed an oversize calendar that marked the remaining days of the 1984 presidential campaign. It was the last Saturday in June and at ten o’clock in the morning the rest of the office was practically deserted. Even so, the men kept the door shut and the drapes carefully drawn. The three principals and their two deputies had come from around the country for a critical meeting. Their aim was to devise a strategy that would guarantee Ronald Reagan’s resounding reelection to a second term in the White House.
It should have been easy. These were battle-tested veterans with long ties to Reagan and even longer ones to the Republican party, men who understood presidential politics as well as any in the country. The backdrop of the campaign was hospitable, with lots of good news to work with: America was at peace, and the nation’s economy, a key factor in any election, was rebounding vigorously after recession. Furthermore, the campaign itself was lavishly financed, with plenty of money for a topflight staff, travel, and television commercials. And, most important, their candidate was Ronald Reagan, a president of tremendous personal popularity and dazzling communication skills. Reagan has succeeded more than any president since John. F. Kennedy in projecting a broad vision of America -a nation of renewed military strength, individual initiative, and smaller federal government.
（参考译文）
在离选举日还有四个月的时间，有五个人聚集在里根－布什总部的一个小型会议室里，翻着看一张硕大无比的日历，日历上清晰地标识出了1984年总统竞选剩下的日子。这是六月份的最后一个星期六的上午10时，整幢办公楼的其他部分几近人去楼空。即便如此，这几个人仍将大门紧闭，小心翼翼地拉下窗帘。三个主要人物及其二个副手从美国的不同地方汇聚在一起，召开一个殊为重要的会议。他们的目标是构思出一种策略，来确保里根能再次当选，在第二任期内再度入主白宫。
要谋求再次当选理应轻而易举。这是一些久经沙场的退伍老兵，与里根有着千丝万缕的漫长联系，与共和党的联系甚至更为久远。这些人深谙总统政治，一如他们熟知这个国家中的所有政治事务那样。竞选的背景十分宜人，可供大做文章的好消息俯拾皆是：美国正置身于太平盛世之中；作为选举的一个关键因素，整个国家的经济在步出萧条期之后正强劲反弹。此外，竞选本身所筹得的款项更是不计其数。用于支付一流水平的竞争班子工作人员工资、进行巡回造势、以及制作播放电视广告的钱款绰绰有余。最为重要的是，他们所推介的总统候选人是罗纳尔德· 里根（Ronald Reagan），一位风度翩翩，魅力无穷，又极具迷人沟通技巧的执政总统。与约翰·F·肯尼迪（John F. Kennedy）以来的任何一位历届总统相比，里根更成功地勾勒出了一幅广阔的关于美国未来的前景--美国将成了一个重振军事雄风、民众富于个人进取心、联邦政府更加精简高效的国家。
3、（原 文）
来美国求学的中国学生与其他亚裔学生一样，大多非常刻苦勤奋，周末也往往会抽出一天甚至两天的时间去实验室加班，因而比起美国学生来，成果出得较多。我的导师是亚裔人，嗜烟好酒，脾气暴躁。但他十分欣赏亚裔学生勤奋与扎实的基础知识，也特别了解亚裔学生的心理。因此，在他实验室所招的学生中，除有一名来自德国外，其余5位均是亚裔学生。他干脆在实验室的门上贴一醒目招牌："本室助研必须每周工作7天，早10时至晚12时，工作时间必须全力以赴。"这位导师的严格及苛刻是全校有名的，在我所呆的3年半中，共有14位学生被招进他的实验室，最后博士毕业的只剩下5人。1990年夏天，我不顾别人劝阻，硬着头皮接受了导师的资助，从此开始了艰难的求学旅程。
（参考译文）Like students from other Asian countries and regions, most Chinese students who come to pursue further education in the United States work on their studies most diligently and assiduously. Even on weekends, they would frequently spend one day, or even two days, to work overtime in their laboratories. Therefore, compared with their American counterparts, they are more academically fruitful.
My supervisor ( advisor / tutor) is of Asian origin who is addicted to alcohols and cigarettes, with a sharp (an irritable) temper. Nevertheless, he highly appreciates the industry and the solid foundational knowledge of Asian students and has a particularly keen insight into the psychology of Asian students. Hence, of all the students recruited by his laboratory, except for one German, the rest five were all from Asia. He even put a striking notice on the door of his lab, which read, "All the research assistants of this laboratory are required to work 7 days a week, from 10 AM to 12 PM. Nothing but work during the working hours." This supervisor is reputed on the entire campus for his severity and harshness. In the course of the 3 and half years that I stayed there, a total of 14 students were recruited into his laboratory and only 5 of them stayed on until they graduated with their Ph. D. degrees.
In the summer of 1990, ignoring the remonstrations (admonishments / dissuasions) from others, I accepted my supervisor’s sponsorship and embarked on the difficult journey of academic pursuit (undertaking further studies in the United States).
4、（原 文）
Opera is expensive: that much is inevitable. But expensive things are not inevitably the province of the rich unless we abdicate society’s power of choice. We can choose to make opera, and other expensive forms of culture, accessible to those who cannot individually pay for it. The question is: why should we? Nobody denies the imperatives of food, shelter, defense, health and education. But even in a prehistoric cave, mankind stretched out a hand not just to eat, drink or fight, but also to draw. The impulse towards culture, the desire to express and explore the world through imagination and representation is fundamental. In Europe, this desire has found fulfillment in the masterpieces of our music, art, literature and theatre. These masterpieces are the touchstones for all our efforts; they are the touchstones for the possibilities to which human thought and imagination may aspire; they carry the most profound messages that can be sent from one human to another.
（参考译文）聆听歌剧，无疑昂贵至极。但是，昂贵的事物并非必定属于富人的范畴，除非我们放弃社会的选择权。我们可以选择去使歌剧以及其他某些昂贵的文化形式也能为那些不具备个人支付能力的人所享受。但问题是，我们有必要这么做吗？没人会否认食物、居所、防护、健康与教育的不可或缺性。但即便是在史前时代的洞穴中，人类伸出手来，早就不单纯是为了吃、喝或搏杀，而且亦进行绘画创作。人类对于文化的冲动，通过形象思维和再现手段来表现并探索世界的欲望，乃亘古有之。在欧洲，这一欲望在我们的音乐、艺术、文学和戏剧杰作中寻找到了其实现形式。这些杰作构成了我们全部努力的试金石。作为试金石，它们能衡量出人类的思想和想象力所可能企及的程度。它们携带着最寓意深刻的主题，可在人类彼此间相互传递。
5、原 文
我们代表团下榻日月潭中信大饭店，送走了最后一批客人，已是次日凌晨3点了。我躺在床上久久不能入睡，披衣走到窗前，往外看去，只见四周峰峦叠翠，湖面波光粼粼。望着台湾这仅有的景色如画的天然湖泊，我想了许多，许多……
这次到台湾访问交流，虽然行程匆匆，但是，看了不少地方，访了旧友，交了新知，大家走到一起，谈论的一个重要话题就是中华民族在21世纪的强盛。虽然祖国大陆、台湾的青年生活在不同的社会环境中，有着各自不同的生活经历，但大家的内心都深深铭刻着中华文化优秀传统的印记，都拥有着振兴中华民族的共同理想。在世纪之交的伟大时代，我们的祖国正在走向繁荣富强，海峡两岸人民也将加强交流，共同推进祖国统一大业的早日完成。世纪之交的宝贵机遇和巨大挑战将青年推到了历史前台。跨世纪青年一代应该用什么样的姿态迎接充满希望的新世纪，这是我们必须回答的问题。
日月潭水波不兴，仿佛与我一同在思索……
（参考译文）Our delegation checked into the ZhongXin Hotel by the side of the Riyuetai Lake. It was already 3 o’clock early the next morning by the time I saw off the last group of guests. For a long time, I could not fall asleep, even though I was comfortably lying in the bed. Putting on my clothes again, I got off the bed and walked to the window. Extending my eyes into the distance through the window, I was greeted by the view of the surrounding mountains and hills shrouded in layered greenness and the silvery flickering of waves scuttling across the surface of the Pool. Looking at the sole naturally-formed picturesque lake in Taiwan, I felt an infinite train of thoughts passing through my mind … …
The current visit to Taiwan for exchange, brief and cursory as it is, has enabled us to see many places, to visit old friends while making new acquaintances. Whenever people gather together, an important topic of discussion has been how the Chinese nation can become prosperous and powerful in the 21st century. Although the young people on the Mainland and in Taiwan live in different social contexts (environments / milieus), with their individually different experiences of life, in the innermost recesses of their hearts are wrought an indelible mark by the fine traditions of the Chinese culture. They all cherish the same ideal to rejuvenate the Chinese nation (They share the same ideal to rejuvenate the Chinese nation). In this great epoch at the turn of the century, our motherland is developing toward greater prosperity and powerfulness. People across the Taiwan Straits are bound to strengthen their exchanges and will mutually promote the earliest possible achievement of the great cause of reunification of the motherland. The precious opportunities and the tremendous challenges at the turn of the century have pushed the young people to the foreground (forefront) of the historical arena (stage). At this transitional phase between the two millennia, in what way the young generation should embrace the forthcoming new century replete with hopes is a question to which we have to seek an answer.
In the Riyuetai Lake, the waves across the lake surface have by now all vanished. Enveloped in utter tranquility, the Lake has joined me in deep thoughts … …
6、原 文
I agree to some extent with my imaginary English reader. American literary historians are perhaps prone to view their own national scene too narrowly, mistaking prominence for uniqueness. They do over-phrase their own literature, or certainly its minor figures. And Americans do swing from aggressive overphrase of their literature to an equally unfortunate, imitative deference. But then, the English themselves are somewhat insular in their literary appraisals. Moreover, in fields where they are not pre-eminent - e. g. in painting and music -they too alternate between boasting of native products and copying those of the Continent. How many English paintings try to look as though they were done in Paris; how many times have we read in articles that they really represent an "English tradition" after all.
To speak of American literature, then, is not to assert that it is completely unlike that of Europe. Broadly speaking, America and Europe have kept step. At any given moment the traveler could find examples in both of the same architecture, the same styles in dress, the same books on the shelves. Ideas have crossed the Atlantic as freely as men and merchandise, though sometimes more slowly. When I refer to American habit, thoughts, etc., I intend some sort of qualification to precede the word, for frequently the difference between America and Europe (especially England) will be one of degree, sometimes only of a small degree. The amount of divergence is a subtle affair, liable to perplex the Englishman when he looks at America. He is looking at a country which in important senses grew out of his own, which in several ways still resembles his own - and which is yet a foreign country. There are odd overlappings and abrupt unfamiliarities; kinship yields to a sudden alienation, as when we hail a person across the street, only to discover from his blank response that we have mistaken a stranger for a friend.
（参考译文） 在某种程度上，我赞同我那假想中的英国读者的观点。美国文学史家或许惯于过分狭隘地看待其本国文坛，误将卓著当作独特。他们确实会用过多的笔墨来渲染其本国文学，至少，对其次要作家他们肯定会这样做。此外，美国人确实会走极端，要么咄咄逼人地大肆渲染其文学，要么进行着同样不幸的亦步亦趋式的顶礼膜拜。但反过来说，英国人自己在其文学鉴赏中也显得有些狭隘愚陋。此外，在他们并无上乘表现的领域--例如绘画与音乐，他们也会走极端，不是吹嘘他们本国的作品，就是大肆模仿欧洲大陆的作品。有多少幅英国绘画试图看上去仿佛是在巴黎完成的；但我们又有多少次曾在文章中读到它们真正代表着一种"英国式的传统"呢？
那么，要谈论美国文学，倒并非意欲断言，它与欧洲文学全然大相径庭。广而言之，美国与欧洲一直同步发展，协调一致。在任何一个特定的时刻，旅行者在两地均能目睹同一样式的建筑实例，相同款式的服饰，书架上相同的书籍。在大西洋两岸，思想如同人员与货物往来一样自由交流，尽管有时会略显迟缓。当我提及美国式的习惯、思想等概念时，我意欲在"美国式的"这一词汇之前加上某种限定，因为欧美（尤其是英美）之间的差异往往只是程度上的差异而已，并且有时候仅仅只是微乎其微的一点程度差异而已。差异的多寡是件极为微妙的事务，这极容易使一个英国人在审视美国时大惑不解。他所审视的那个国家，从某些重要的意义上来说，诞生于他自己的国家，并在某些方面仍与他自己的国家相差无几--然而，它却实实在在是一个异邦。两者间存在着某些古怪的交替重迭，以及令人甚感突兀的陌生感；亲缘关系已让位于一种突如其来的异化与疏远，这种情景仿佛就像我们隔着马路向另一个人打招呼，结果却从这个人漠无表情的反应中发现，我们原来竟然错将生人当成了熟人。
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