J_00795_ch21201

Lesson Twelve
Selling the Post (II)

Russell Baker
 Learning Guide
　　小男孩第一天的推销失败了，母亲面授技巧也无济于事。妹妹却颇具乃母风范，推销极为成功。三年过去了，母亲终于认识到此子无缘跻身于商界，开始为他寻找其他成功之路。一天她终于发现了他的写作天赋。
1. We lived in Belleville, New Jersey, a commuter town at the northern fringe of Newark. ①It was 1932, the bleakest year of the Depression. ②My father had died two years before, leaving us with a few pieces of Sears, Roebuck furniture and not much else, and my mother had taken my sister, Doris, and me to live with one of her younger brothers. This was my Uncle Allen. ③Uncle Allen had made something of himself by 1932. As salesman for a soft-drink bottler, he had an income of $ 30 a week; wore pearl-gray spats, detachable collars, and a three-piece suit; was happily married; ④and took in threadbare relatives.

　　① It was 1932, the most bleakest year of the Depression. 
　　　那是1932年，大萧条时期最不景气的年头。
　　　The year 1932 was the most difficult year of the Depression. 
　　② My father had died two years before leaving us with a few pieces of Sears, Roebuck furniture, and not much else…
　　　两年前，我父亲去世，除了几家西尔斯和罗巴克家具之外，没给我们留下什么别的东西。 
　　　My father died in 1930, and he hadn't left us anything valuable.
　　③ Uncle Allen had made something of himself by 1932.
　　　By 1932 my uncle Allen had been quite a successful man. 
　　④ …and took in threadbare relatives。
　　　接纳身穿破衣烂衫的亲戚住在他家。
　　　…and had my mother and her children live together with him.
　　
 


2. ①With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. That's where the people were. There were two filling stations at the intersection with Union Avenue, as well as an A & P, a street fruit stall, a bakery, a barber shop, a drugstore, and a diner shaped like a railroad car. ②For several hours I made myself highly visible, shifting position now and then from corner to corner, from shop window to shop window, to make sure everyone could see the heavy black lettering on the bag that said the Saturday Evening Post. ③When the angle of the light indicated it was suppertime, I walked back to the house.


　　① With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. There's where the people were.
　　　With my load of magazines, I went to Belleville Avenue where there were always people. 
　　② For several hours I made myself highly visible, shifting position now and then from corner to corner, from shop window to shop window, to make sure everyone could see the heavy black lettering on the bag that said the Saturday Evening Post.
　　　一连好几个钟头我尽量惹人注意，不时转移地方，一会儿在这个街角，一会儿到另一个街角，一会儿在这个橱窗旁，一会儿又换个橱窗，想办法让所有的人都能看到包上《星期六晚间邮报》这几个粗体字。 
　　　For several hours I tried to make myself seen, shifting places from time to time so that everyone was sure to see the heavy bag… 
　　③ When the angle of the light indicated it was suppertime, I walked back to the house.
　　　太阳西下表明该吃晚饭的时候，我走回了家。 
　　　When I found the sun setting, I knew it was time for supper, so I went back home.
　　
3. "How many did you sell, Buddy?" my mother asked.


4. "None."


5. "Where did you go?"


6. "The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues."


7. "What did you do?"


8. "Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post."


9. "You just stood there?"


10. "Didn't sell a single one."


11. ①"For God's sake, Russell!"


　　① “For God's sake, Russell!”
　　　For God's /Christ's sake: used to express strong annoyance (The two expressions may offend some people, and should be used carefully.)
12. ①Uncle Allen intervened. "I've been thinking about it for some time," he said, "and I've about decided to take the Post regularly. Put me down as a regular customer." I handed him a magazine and he paid me a nickel. It was the first nickel I earned.


　　① Uncle Allen intervened.” I've been thinking about it for some time,” he said, “I've about to decided to take the Post regularly. Put me down as a regular customer.”
　　　Put me down as a regular customer：把我算成一个长期买主吧。 
　　　Uncle Allen cut in. “ I have been considering taking the Post regularly. Write my name down as a regular customer.”
13. ①Afterwards my mother instructed me in salesmanship. ②I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with charming self-confidence, and break down resistance with a sales talk pointing out that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.


　　① Afterwards my mother instructed me in salesmanship.
　　　接着我母亲教我如何推销。 
　　　After that my mother taught me how to get people to buy the magazines. 
　　② I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with charming self-confidence, and break down resistance with a sales talk, pointing out that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home. 
　　　我得按人家的门铃，跟大人说话要表现出叫人喜欢的自信心，对不愿买的人进行宣传，消除他们的抵制情绪，对他们说无论多穷，家里也不能没有《星期六晚间邮报》。 
　　　I would have to talk to people pleasantly and confidently, persuading them to buy the magazine by saying that the Post was the best and the most valuable magazine that every family should have a copy at home.
　　
14. I told my mother I'd changed my mind about wanting to succeed in the magazine business.


15. ①"If you think I'm going to raise a good-for-nothing," she replied, "you've got another think coming." She told me to hit the streets with the canvas bag and start ringing doorbells the instant school was out the next day. ②When I objected that I didn't feel any aptitude for salesmanship, she asked how I'd like to lend her my leather belt so she could whack some sense into me. ③I bowed to superior will and entered journalism with a heavy heart.


　　① “If you think I'm going to raise a good-for-nothing,” she replied,” you've got another think coming.”
　　　你要是以为我会去培养一个废物，那你趁早打消这个念头。 
　　　My mother said to me If I thought she would raise a worthless person, I’d better give up the thought. 
　　② When I objected that I didn't feel any aptitude for salesmanship, she asked how I'd like to lend her my leather belt so she could whack some sense into me.
　　　我说我不同意，我根本就没有学推销术的天分，她听了这话后，就问我是不是想把皮带借给她，把我揍一顿，让我明白点道理。
　　　I argued that I was not competent for the job as a salesman. She asked me to lend her my leather belt so that she could give me a sound beating to make me more sensible. 
　　③ I bowed to superior will and entered journalism with a heavy heart.
　　　我只好屈服于我母亲至高无上的意志，心事重重地进入了新闻行业。 
　　　I gave in to my mother's will and began selling magazines unwillingly.( I had to obey my mother and started my journalistic career by selling the post.)
16. ①My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. It probably started even before memory began, when I was a country child in northern Virginia and my mother, dissatisfied with my father's plain workman's life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people, with calluses on their hands, overalls on their backs, and fourth-grade educations in their heads. ②She had fancier ideas of life's possibilities. ③Introducing me to the Saturday Evening Post, she was trying to wean me as early as possible from my father's world where men left with their lunch pails at sunup, worked with their hands all their lives, and died with a few sticks of mail-order furniture as their legacy. ④In my mother's vision of the better life there were desks and white collars, well-pressed suits, evenings of reading and lively talk, and perhaps — if a man were very, very lucky and hit the jackpot, really made something important of himself — perhaps there might be a fantastic salary of $5,000 a year to support a big house and a Buick with a rumble seat and vacation in Atlantic City.


　　① …my mother, dissatisfied with my father's plain workman's life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people, with calluses on their hands, overalls on their backs, and forth-grade educations in their heads.
　　　我母亲不满足于父亲普通工人的生活，决心让我长大以后不像他和他的家人那样，手上长满老茧，身上穿着工装，头脑里只有小学四年级的文化水平。 
　　　my mother was not satisfied with my father's life, and made up her mind that I would not grow up like him and his people with rough hands, one-piece overalls worn at work and little schooling. 
　　② She had fancier ideas of life possibilities. 
　　　她（比父亲）对生活前景抱有更美好的幻想。
　　　She believed that life was full of possibilities. She expected that her son would have a better life than his father. Her hopes and wishes seemed impractical considering our circumstances. 
　　③ Introducing me to the Saturday Evening Post, she was trying to wean me as early as possible from my father's world.
　　　她让我尝试和体验推销《星期六晚间邮报》，是试图让我尽早脱离我父亲的那个天地。 
　　　By getting me a job selling the Saturday Evening Post, she hoped that I would be freed from the influence of my father’s way of life. ( She wanted her son to enter business in the future, so she thought it was important for her son to learn salesmanship as early as possible.) 
　　④ In my mother's version of the better life there were desks and white collars, well-pressed suits, evening of reading and lively talks and perhaps-if a man were very, very lucky and hit the jackpot, really made something important of himself －perhaps there might be a fantastic salary of $ 5000 a year to support a big house and a Buick with a rumble seat and vocation in Atlantic City. 
　　　In my mother's mind a better life for me should be like this: I should be well dressed and work in an office behind a desk. In the evening I should read newspapers or books or have lively talks about business, politics, sports, etc. If I am lucky enough, I might earn $5000 a year so that I can buy a big house and an expensive car and a vocation in Atlantic City.
17. And so I set forth with my sack of magazines. I was afraid of the dogs that snarled behind the doors of potential buyers. I was timid about ringing the doorbells of strangers, relieved when no one came to the door, and scared when someone did. ①Despite my mother's instructions, I could not deliver an engaging sales pitch. When a door opened I simply asked, "Want to buy a Saturday Evening Post?" In Belleville few persons did. It was a town of 30,000 people, and most weeks I rang a fair majority of its doorbells. But I rarely sold my thirty copies. Some weeks I canvassed the entire town for six days and still had four or five unsold magazines on Monday evening; then I dreaded the coming of Tuesday morning, when a batch of thirty fresh Saturday Evening Post was due at the front door.


　　① Despite my mother's instructions, I could not deliver an engaging sales pitch.
　　　尽管我母亲教了我，我就是不会滔滔不绝地向人宣传那杂志。 
　　　Though my mother had taught me how to sell the magazines, I could not say anything to attract the customers' attention, and urge them to buy the Post.
18. ①One rainy night when car windows were sealed against me I came back soaked and with not a single sale to report. My mother beckoned to Doris.


19. "Go back with Buddy and show him how to sell these magazines," she said.


20. ②Brimming with zest, Doris, then seven years old, returned with me to the corner. She took a magazine from the bag, and when the light turned red she strode to the nearest car and banged her small fist against the closed window. ③The driver, probably startled to see such a little girl assaulting his car, lowered the window to stare, and Doris thrust a Saturday Evening Post at him.


　　① One rainy night when car windows were sealed against me I came back soaked and with not a single sale to report.
　　　One rainy night when all the drivers refused to buy the Post, I returned home wet all over without selling a single copy. 
　　② Brimming with zest, Doris, then seven years old, returned with me to the corner.
　　　多丽丝那时7岁，她满腔热忱地跟我回到街角处。 
　　　My seven-year –old sister Doris who was full of zest returned with me to the corner. 
　　③ The driver, probably startled to see such a little girl assaulting his car, lowered the window to stare, and Doris thrust a Saturday Evening Post at him. 
　　　那个开车人发现闯到他车旁的竟然是个很小的女孩子，可能感到十分惊讶，于是放下车窗，盯她一眼，这时多丽丝把一份《星期六晚间邮报》塞给了他。 
　　　The driver was so surprised to see such a little girl attacking his car that he lowered the window to look at her, then Doris thrust a Post at him.
 


 


21. "You need this magazine," she piped, "and it only costs a nickel."


22. ①Her salesmanship was irresistible. ②Before the light changed half a dozen times she disposed of the entire batch. ③I didn't feel humiliated. I was so happy I decided to give her a treat. Leading her to the vegetable store on Belleville Avenue, I bought three apples, which cost a nickel, and gave her one.


　　① Her salesmanship was irresistible.
　　　她的推销技巧令人无法拒绝。 
　　　Her skills in selling were so good that it was hard to refuse her. 
　　② Before the light changed half a dozen times she disposed of the entire batch.
　　　还没有等红绿灯改变6次，她就把30份杂志卖完了。 
　　　Before long she sold out all the copies of Post. 
　　③ I didn't feel humiliated. I was so happy that I decided to give her a treat.
　　　I didn't feel ashamed of my poor performance at all. Instead, I felt very happy and decided to buy something for her in return for her help.
23. "You shouldn't waste money," she said.


24. "Eat your apple." I bit into mine.


25. "You shouldn't eat before supper," she said. "It'll spoil your appetite."


26. Back at the house that evening, she dutifully reported me for wasting a nickel. ①Instead of a scolding, I was rewarded with a pat on the back for having the good sense to buy fruit instead of candy. ②My mother reached into her bottomless supply of maxims and told Doris,"An apple a day keeps the doctor away."


　　① Instead of scolding, I was rewarded with a pat on the back for having the good sense to buy fruit instead of candy.
　　　母亲不但没有责备我，还因为我挺懂事，买的是水果而不是糖，拍了拍我的后背表示赞赏。 
　　　Mother didn't scold me for spending a nickel in apples. As I was sensible enough to buy fruits instead of candy, she padded me on the back affectionately to show her approval. 
　　② My mother reached into her bottomless supply of maxims.
　　　我母亲这时从她那无穷无尽的格言警语库中信手拈出一条。 
　　　My mother cited one maxim as she liked from her inexhaustible maxims.
27. By the time I was ten I had learned all my mother's maxims by heart. ①Asking to stay up past normal bedtime, I knew that a refusal would be explained with "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." ②If I whimpered about having to get up early in the morning, I could depend on her to say, "The early bird gets the worm."


　　① Asking to stay up past normal bedtime…
　　　我请求晚睡时 
　　　When I asked Mother to allow me to go to bed later than I usually did… 
　　② If I whimpered about having to get up early in the morning, I could depend on her to say, “The early bird gets the worm”.
　　　我要是抱怨早晨还得早早起床，我保证她就会说：“早起的鸟儿能逮住虫儿。”
　　　If I complained about having to get up early in the morning, I was certain that she would say “ The one who arrives first has the best chance for success.”
28. The one I most despised was, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again." ①This was the battle cry with which she constantly sent me back into the hopeless struggle whenever I moaned that I had rung every doorbell in town and knew there wasn't a single potential buyer left in Belleville that week. After listening to my explanation, she handed me the canvas bag and said, "If at first you don't succeed..."


　　① This was the battle cry with which she constantly sent me back into the hopeless struggle whenever I moaned that I had rung every doorbell in town and knew there wasn't a single potential buyer left in Belleville that week.
　　　每当我嘟囔着说我按过了城里各家各户的门铃，贝尔维尔当周不会再有人买那杂志时，我母亲就用这个战斗口号打发我回去做那件毫无成功希望的事情。 
　　　Whenever I told her that I had tried my best, but still failed to sell any more copies, she would repeat the proverb, encouraging me to try again.
29. ①Three years in that job, which I would gladly have quit after the first day except for her insistence, produced at least one valuable result. ②My mother finally concluded that I would never make something of myself by pursuing a life in business and started considering careers that demanded less competitive zeal.


　　① Three years in that job, which I would gladly have quit after the first day except for her insistence, produced at least one valuable result. 
　　　这活要不是我母亲非要我干，我干过一天之后就不想干了。不过干了3年至少产生了一个很有价值的效果。 
　　　If my mother had not insisted I would have given up the job after the first day's experience. However, it brought about one positive result.
　　② My mother finally concluded that I would never make something of myself by pursuing a life in business and started considering careers that demand less competitive zeal.
　　　我母亲最后得出结论，认为我在商界是不会有所作为的，她开始为我考虑不需要很高竞争热忱的职业。 
　　　My mother finally realized that I would never attain achievements in the world of business, and began thinking of another career that was not so competitive and didn’t require an enterprising spirit.
30. One evening when I was eleven I brought home a short "composition" on my summer vacation which the teacher had graded with an A. ①Reading it with her own schoolteacher's eye, my mother agreed that it was top-drawer seventh grade prose and complimented me. Nothing more was said about it immediately, ②but a new idea had taken life in her mind. ③Halfway through supper she suddenly interrupted the conversation.


　　① Reading it with her own schoolteacher's eye, my mother agreed that it was top-drawer seventh grade prose and complimented me.
　　　我母亲以自己当老师的眼光读了这篇作文，她认为这确实四7年级高水平的文章，她还表扬了我。 
　　　Reading with her judgment as a schoolteacher, my mother said that it was the best seventh grade prose and praised me. 
　　② …but a new idea had taken life in her mind.
　　　不过她的脑子已经产生了一个新主意。
　　　…but a new idea had been born in her mind. 
　　③ Halfway through supper she suddenly interrupted the conversation. 
　　　In the mid of our supper she suddenly brought to an end what we were talking about.
　　
31. "Buddy," she said, "maybe you could be a writer."


32. ①I clasped the idea to my heart. ②I had never met a writer, and shown no previous urge to write, and hadn't a notion how to become a writer, but I loved stories and thought that making up stories must surely be almost as much fun as reading them. ③Best of all, though, and what really gladdened my heart, was the ease of the writer's life. Writers did not have to trudge through the town peddling from canvas bags, defending themselves against angry dogs, being rejected by surly strangers. ④Writers did not have to ring doorbells. ⑤So far as I could make out, what writers did couldn't even be classified as work.


　　① I clasped the idea to my heart. 
　　　我把这个想法存在心里。 
　　　I bore the idea in my mind. ( I liked the idea very much.)
　　② I had never met a writer, and shown no previous urge to write, and hadn’t a notion how to become a writer.
　　　我从来没有见过作家，以前也没有想写作的迫切愿望，对怎样才能成为作家一点概念都没有。 
　　　I had never met a writer, nor shown any desire to write, nor had any idea how to become a writer. 
　　③ Best of all, though, and what really gladden my heart , was the ease of the writer's life.
　　　不过，（当作家）最好之处——真正令我高兴的事——是作家生活的安逸。 
　　　The one thing that really made me happy was the easy and comfortable life a writer could have.
　　④ Writers did not have to trudge through the town peddling from canvas bags, defending themselves against angry dogs, being rejected by surly strangers.
　　　作家不必疲惫不堪地穿街走巷背着帆布袋去叫卖，不必提防那些恶狗，不必遭受陌生人恶言恶语的回绝。 
　　　Writers did not have to suffer all the hardship involving in selling the Post－walking tiredly through the town to sell the Post, constantly being on guard against angry dogs and being treated rudely by strangers. 
　　⑤ So far as I could make out, what writers did couldn't even be classified as work.
　　　按我当时的理解，作家干的事甚至不能算是工作。 
　　　As far as my understanding was concerned, I thought the things the writer did was too easy to be considered as work.
　　
33. I was enchanted. Writers didn't have to have any gumption at all. I did not dare tell anybody for fear of being laughed at in the schoolyard, but secretly I decided that what I'd like to be when I grew up was a writer. (1477 words)


请认真答题，答题结果将记入知识点测评的成绩！


（单选题）47.The teacher _____ that the girl was too young to be qualified as the monitor.


A． opposed
B． objected
C． refused
D． disapproved
【答案】B


【解析】本题考查核心动词object的用法。object直接接that从句，意思是“提出……作为理由反对，反对的理由是……”，该句句意是“老师反对的理由是那个小女孩年龄太小当班长不够格。”


【知识点】核心动词object的用法