手机APP下载

您现在的位置: 首页 > 英语听力 > 英语演讲 > TED十佳演讲话题 > 正文

TED十佳演讲之入门 单一故事的危险性(3)

来源:可可英语 编辑:max   可可英语APP下载 |  可可官方微信:ikekenet
  


扫描二维码进行跟读打分训练

Then one Saturday, we went to his village to visit,

后来的一个星期六,我们去Fide的村庄拜访,
and his mother showed us a beautifully patterned basket made of dyed raffia that his brother had made.
她的母亲向我们展示了一个精美别致的草篮--是Fide的哥哥用染过色的酒椰叶编织的。
I was startled. It had not occurred to me that anybody in his family could actually make something.
我当时完全被震惊了。我从来没有想过Fide的家人居然有亲手制造东西的才能。
All I had heard about them was how poor they were, so that it had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor.
在那之前,我对Fide家唯一的了解就是他们是何等的穷苦,正因为如此,他们在我脑中的印象只是一个字──“穷”。
Their poverty was my single story of them.
他们的贫穷是我赐予他们的单一故事。
Years later, I thought about this when I left Nigeria to go to university in the United States.
多年之后,在我离开尼日利亚前往美国读大学的时候,我又想到了这件事。
I was 19. My American roommate was shocked by me.
我那时19岁。我的美国室友当时完全对我感到十分惊讶了。

单一故事的危险性

She asked where I had learned to speak English so well,

她问我是从哪里学得讲一口如此流利的英语,
and was confused when I said that Nigeria happened to have English as its official language.
而当我告知她尼日利亚刚巧是以英语作为官方语言的时候,她的脸上则是写满了茫然。
She asked if she could listen to what she called my "tribal music,"
她问我是否可以给她听听她所谓的“部落音乐”。
and was consequently very disappointed when I produced my tape of Mariah Carey.
可想而知,当我拿出玛丽亚凯莉的磁带时,她是何等的失望。
She assumed that I did not know how to use a stove.
她断定我不知道如何使用电炉。
What struck me was this: She had felt sorry for me even before she saw me.
我猛然意识到:在她见到我之间,她就已经对我充满了怜悯之心。
Her default position toward me, as an African, was a kind of patronizing, well-meaning pity.
她对我这个非洲人的预设心态,是一种充满施恩与好意的怜悯之情。
My roommate had a single story of Africa: a single story of catastrophe.
我那位室友的脑中有一个关与非洲的单一故事:一个充满了灾难的单一故事。
In this single story, there was no possibility of Africans being similar to her in any way,
在这个单一故事中,非洲人是完全没有可能在任何方面和她有所相似的;
no possibility of feelings more complex than pity, no possibility of a connection as human equals.
没有可能接受到比怜悯更复杂的感情;没有可能以一个平等的人类的身份与她沟通。

重点单词   查看全部解释    
complex ['kɔmpleks]

想一想再看

adj. 复杂的,复合的,合成的
n. 复合体

联想记忆
assumed [ə'sju:md]

想一想再看

adj. 假装的;假定的

 
confused [kən'fju:zd]

想一想再看

adj. 困惑的;混乱的;糊涂的 v. 困惑(confu

 
stove [stəuv]

想一想再看

n. 炉子,火炉窑;烘房;【主英】温室

 
catastrophe [kə'tæstrəfi]

想一想再看

n. 大灾难,大祸,彻底失败

联想记忆
pity ['piti]

想一想再看

n. 同情,怜悯,遗憾,可惜
v. 同情,怜悯

 
impossible [im'pɔsəbl]

想一想再看

adj. 不可能的,做不到的
adj.

联想记忆
consequently ['kɔnsikwəntli]

想一想再看

adv. 所以,因此

 
disappointed [.disə'pɔintid]

想一想再看

adj. 失望的

 
default [di'fɔ:lt]

想一想再看

n. 假设值,默认(值), 不履行责任,缺席 v. 默认

联想记忆

发布评论我来说2句

    最新文章

    可可英语官方微信(微信号:ikekenet)

    每天向大家推送短小精悍的英语学习资料.

    添加方式1.扫描上方可可官方微信二维码。
    添加方式2.搜索微信号ikekenet添加即可。