大学英语新课标第三册英语U2B3课文

Whereas You Were an Insensitive Fool The simple truth is that if you want to be heard by your husband you must speak a language he understands 如果你想你丈夫听你的 你就必须说他能听懂的语言 这是一个 简单的事实 An example A friend of mine is married to a wealthy money waster spendthrift who used to drive like a maniac madman tailgating speeding weaving between lanes My friend repeatedly expressed her fear about his dangerous habits but he didn t modify his behavior money was the language he spoke She gave him one final warning slow down or else He didn t so without any fanfare she withdrew 40 000 from their bank accounts and bought herself a luxury convertible I hear he s a pretty safe driver now 举个例子 我的一个朋友 她的丈夫很有钱 爱挥霍 开起车子 来像个疯子 追逼前车 超速 随意变道 我的朋友不止一次对她 丈夫表示这种危险的驾车习惯让人害怕 但他不曾有任何改变 钱 是他能听懂的语言 我朋友给了最后通牒 开慢点 否则 他当 然没有听进去 于是我朋友从他们的银行账户里取了 40000 美元给 自己买了辆豪华敞篷跑车 当然这样做并不是为了炫耀 我听说她 丈夫现在开车非常小心 My husband is a lawyer so naturally the language he best understands is that of the legal profession For more than two decades we have enjoyed a peaceful relationship of love respect and decency 我的丈夫是一名律师 自然法律行业的语言是他最能理解的 在 过去的 20 多年里我们一直互敬互爱 相处融洽 Until six weeks ago that is when I stumbled off a curb on the first day of a long awaited vacation abroad breaking my foot and thus ending the trip before it really began That s when my mild mannered gentle husband with whom I ve raised two children the man I truly love and rely on became someone I didn t know resentful insensitive uncaring And his hideous behavior lasted long beyond the accident and its immediate aftermath indeed it continued until I figured out how to get his attention 6 周前 在我们期待已久的境外游的第一天 我被台阶绊倒 摔 下来伤了脚 因此不得不结束还未真正开始的假期 就是那时 那 个温和的 绅士的 与我共同抚育了两个孩子的丈夫 我真心爱着 和依赖的爱人变得陌生起来 愤怒 麻木 没有同情心 他糟糕的 表现一直持续着 直到我想出法子引起他的注意 Neither my silent seething nor my open anger would reach him So I Lisa K Friedman being of sound mind and broken foot turned to the language he spoke I served him with a mock complaint claiming Breach of Contract our marriage contract I drafted it myself using all the standard conventions as I have watched him do many times Then I hired a legal courier to deliver it to my husband s office identify him and conclude with the standard assertion You have been served 不管我生闷气还是大发雷霆都不能触动他 我 Lisa K Friedman 虽然摔坏了脚 但是脑子还是好使的 所以我用他的语 言跟他沟通 我自己起草了一份模拟诉状 声称他违反合约 然后 我雇人将诉状递到了我丈夫的办公室 What he saw when he opened the envelope went something like this 当他打开信封时 他看到的内容如下 Complaint 诉状 COMES NOW Plaintiff Lisa K Friedman and for her complaint against the Defendant her husband states as follows 原告 Lisa K Friedman 起诉被告即原告丈夫 陈述如下 The Parties 当事人 1 The Plaintiff is a housewife whose principal role includes general household maintenance food service transportation and management of the domicile shared by them their two children and one dog 原告系一名家庭主妇 其主要指责包括 负责一家人的生活 准 备一日三餐 接送小孩 打扫一家四口和一条狗居住的家 2 Her husband the Defendant is an attorney in Washington D C Jurisdiction and Venue 被告 其夫系一名华盛顿特区的律师 3 The Circuit Court for Montgomery County Md handles major criminal and civil cases including marital breach of contract complaints filed by any and all outraged wives who after suffering vacation ending injuries are cruelly blamed and mistreated by their husbands Background Facts 4 On June 29 1986 Lisa K Friedman heretofore known as the Plaintiff and her husband signed a Contract of Marriage the Contract 5 The Contract contemplated among many clauses that the parties will love and comfort in sickness and in health for an estimated length of time described in the Contract as as long as they both shall live Count One Breach of Contract 6 The Defendant breached the Contract by failing and refusing to offer aid and comfort to the Plaintiff after she stumbled off a curb in front of the hotel where the couple intended to enjoy a romantic and restful three nights before beginning their highly anticipated hugely expensive and meticulously planned archaeological hiking tour of remote historical sites in Israel and Jordan The fall fractured the fifth metatarsal bone of her right foot It is not relevant to the complaint that neither the Plaintiff nor the Defendant immediately knew that the foot was broken despite the Plaintiff s report that she heard a snapping sound when she stumbled and fell The Defendant dismissed this evidence of a broken bone contending ridiculously that it must have been the strap on her sandal snapping The Plaintiff did not feel the bone snap because she was consumed at the time by a white light of pain so intense that it blotted out all other physical sensation Therefore they did not find out the foot was broken until days later when they were back in the United States because no medical care was sought for the Plaintiff in Israel even though the next morning her foot was so swollen she could hardly distinguish her toes and the entirety of her foot resembled an exotic purple vegetable or gourd 7 The Defendant breached the Contract by behaving in a nasty and demeaning way toward the Plaintiff in the immediate aftermath of the accident including but not limited to terse comments ridicule eye rolling and ignoring of the injured Plaintiff He seemed at one point to be almost having a stroke the Plaintiff s characterization as he contemplated the myriad disappointments associated with the untimely demise of their dream vacation And even though the Defendant seemed to sense that his behavior toward the Plaintiff was truly awful and unforgivable he simply couldn t control it due to the mounting displeasure and inconvenience caused by her untimely stumble This inconvenience included but was not limited to the Defendant s resentment filled two hour search for crutches for the Plaintiff which left him mute with frustration for a time he was unwilling to communicate verbally with the Plaintiff in any manner about any subject 8 The Defendant breached the Contract and all acceptable codes of husbandly and human conduct by remaining unhelpful when it came to the required purchase of airline tickets for their premature return to the United States At the time the Defendant could not have known that the cost of these last minute tickets would total a staggering 6 000 But he did know that this amount would be added to the 4 000 the Plaintiff and Defendant already had paid for their original advanced purchase tickets secured using mileage bonus coupons and would not include the countless thousands of dollars in nonrefundable expenses they had laid out for guides lodging and transportation So perhaps it was the Defendant s piqued awareness of this looming financial nightmare that caused him to snap at the Plaintiff about booking the tickets This is your problem You take care of it Which the Plaintiff then did from the hotel lobby in her borrowed wheelchair using a lent international cellphone after the battery on hers had died