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　　[1]Peace of mind is something I think about every day. It's great to have confidence when stepping out my front door that I will be able to move around the local environment without fear and return home safely.
　　[2]But peace of mind depends on mutual trust from every citizen-that as we walk the streets and conduct our personal affairs we hold the same basic views and values about maintaining a civil society.
　　[3]Every time a Violent crime or terrorist act is perpetrated（注：perpetrate犯罪，做壞事）on unsuspecting（注：不懷疑的；未料到的。）victims, when a sniper（注：狙擊兵，槍手。）starts shooting or a bomb explodes, our collective peace of mind is eroded, along with our willingness to trust all the unknown people with whom we share sidewalks, shopping malls, and other public spaces.
　　[4]Safety precautions and technology may encourage peace of mind but they can't substitute for it. My neighborhood bank branch was robbed a few years ago. Now thick plastic slabs protect every teller's window and surveillance cameras moni tor the lobby. If I am gunned down while making a deposit, the videotapes will probably help police apprehend the guilty party and★ bring him or her to swift justice（注：bring to justice進行法律制裁，繩之以法。）, but that fact doesn't make me sleep better at night. I would rather have no security cameras and no robbers to worry about in my personal universe.
　　[5]Forgive my wishful thinking, but you don't have to look far in this world to see how cultural creativity and dynamism evaporate when people are forced to devote most of their time and energy to self-defense.
　　[6]We have spent more than 200 years trying to build a society that provides everyone with ongoing opportunities to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and it hasn't been easy. A 1915 book entitled A History of Travel in America by Seymour Dunbar described the harsh conditions facing early settlers who crossed the★ eastern mountain ranges（注：東部群山指的是美國東部的阿巴拉契亞山脈(Appalachian Mountians)。）and headed into the★western wilderness（注：西部荒野，西部荒漠尚未開墾的地方，指美國阿巴拉契亞山脈和密西西比河之間遼闊的地區。）. It explained how the constant danger and anxiety affected their outlook and behavior.
　　[7]Writes Dunbar, "They walked with a soft and swinging stride, keeping themselves always well poised,for no man ever knew whether his next move would be a leap to the right or to the left, a dive behind a log, a dash ahead or a rush backward over the path he had come
　　[8]I had a frontier（注：邊疆，兩處交界處，此處指19世紀初美國從東向西移民的東西交界的地方。）moment recently when★ a white panel truck（注：白色廂式卡車，白色廂式載運汽車。）resembling the suspect vehicle in the★ Washington, D. C.（注：=Washington,District of Columbia。）, area shootings rounded a corner and sped toward my house. For an instant I froze, and then just as quickly relaxed, remembering that I live 3,000 miles from the mystery gunman（注：持槍歹徒，尤指盜匪，職業兇手等。）. But I didn't take my eyes off the truck as it drove past.
　　[9]Peace of mind can't be measured. All I know for sure is that I appreciate every moment I have it. And I am alarmed whenever I get the feeling it may be steadily slipping away.
　　[1]平靜的心態是我每天都要考慮的東西。如果每天走出家門時我都充滿信心，能毫不担心地在附近轉轉，然后安全返家，那就太好了。
　　[2]但是平靜的心態取決于每個公民相互間的信任一也就是，當我們走在街上，辦著各人的事情時，我們對于維系一個文明社會持有同樣的基本觀點和價值觀。
　　[3]每當毫無戒心的無辜受害者受到暴力犯罪或恐怖行動的傷害時，當槍手射出子彈或炸彈爆炸時，我們共同的平靜心態就會減退；同時，對所有與我們走在同一人行道上、在同一商場購物或是在其他公共場合分享空間的陌生人，我們也都漸漸失去了信任感。
　　[4]安全措施和技術也許有助于人們獲得平靜的心態，但它們不能取代它。我家附近有一家銀行的分行曾在數年前被搶。如今每個出納員的窗口都用厚重的塑料板防護著，監視攝像機監控著營業大廳。如果我在存款時被槍擊倒，監視錄像帶可能會幫助警方找到犯罪團伙并迅速將其繩之以法，可是這卻無法讓我在晚上好好地睡個安穩覺。我寧愿沒有安全攝像系統，也不必担心有強盜來侵擾我個人的生活空間。
　　[5]請原諒我一廂情愿的想法，但是在這個世界上，只要你睜眼向四周望去，就能看到人們被迫將他們的時間和精力大多花在了自衛上，有多少充滿智慧的創造力和充沛的精力為此而“蒸發”消失了。[6]我們花了200多年的時間試圖建立一個社會，這個社會為每個人提供不斷的機會享受生活、享受自由、追求幸福，可是要達到這個目標從來就不是容易辦到的事。1915年西摩·鄧巴寫了一本題為《美國旅行史》的書，書中描寫了早期移民在越過東部群山向西部荒野進發時所面對的嚴酷條件。該書說明了持續的危險和焦慮怎樣影響了人們的思想和行為。
　　[7]鄧巴寫道：“他們踏著軟弱無力、搖搖擺擺的步子向前邁進，總是極力使自己保持平靜，因為沒有人知道他下一步是需要向右還是向左跳躍，是抓住一段圓木跳入水中，或者是該向前急沖，還是該趕緊沿著來時的路后退……。”
　　[8]我最近曾有片刻置身邊疆的感受，當時有一輛白色廂式卡車——類似華盛頓哥倫比亞特區槍擊案中的那輛可疑車輛——繞過一處街角向我的房子疾馳而來。我剎那間競嚇得呆若木雞，但很快又松弛了，因為我回憶起我住的地方距離那神秘槍手有3000英里之遙呢。可是，那輛卡車駛過我身旁時，還是連眼睛都不敢眨一眨地盯著它。
　　[9]心態的平靜無法測量。但我所能肯定的是，我珍惜擁有平靜心態的每一刻。而每當我想到平靜的心態也許正在不斷從身邊悄悄溜走時，我就會感到一絲不安。
英語世界京G381中學外語教與學Jeffrey Shaffer20032003黃席群方陵生Pioneering Peace of Mind 作者：英語世界京G381中學外語教與學Jeffrey Shaffer20032003黃席群

網載 2013-09-10 21:49:56

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