高級英語 Advanced English(張漢熙) 第二冊 14.Loving and Hating New York

Loving and Hating New York

Thomas Griffith

1 Those ad campaigns celebrating the Big Apple, those T-shirts with a heart design proclaiming “I love New York,” are signs, pathetic in their desperation, of how the mighty has fallen. New York City used to leave the bragging to others, for bragging was “bush” Being unique, the biggest and the best, New York didn’t have to assert how special it was.

2 It isn’t the top anymore, at least if the top is measured by who begets the styles and sets the trends. Nowadays New York is out of phase with American taste as often as it is out of step with American politics. Once it was the nation’s undisputed fashion authority, but it too long resisted the incoming casual style and lost its monopoly. No longer so looked up to or copied, New York even prides itself on being a holdout from prevailing American trends, a place to escape Common Denominator Land.

3 Its deficiencies as a pacesetter are more and more evident. A dozen other cities have buildings more inspired architecturally than any built in New York City in the past twenty years. The giant Manhattan television studios where Toscanini’s NBC Symphony once played now sit empty most of the time, while sitcoms cloned and canned in Hollywood, and the Johnny Carson show live, preempt the airways from California. Tin Pan Alley has moved to Nashville and Hollywood. Vegas casinos routinely pay heavy sums to singers and entertainers whom no nightspot in Manhattan can afford to hire. In sports, the bigger superdomes, the more exciting teams, the most enthusiastic fans, are often found elsewhere.

4 New York was never a good convention city – being regarded as unfriendly, unsafe, overcrowded, and expensive – but it is making something of a comeback as a tourist attraction. Even so, most Americans would probably rate New Orleans, San Francisco, Washington, or Disneyland higher. A dozen other cities, including my hometown of Seattle, are widely considered better cities to live in.

5 Why, then, do many Europeans call New York their favorite city? They take more readily than do most Americans to its cosmopolitan complexities, its surviving, aloof, European standards, its alien mixtures. Perhaps some of these Europeans are reassured by the sight, on the twin fashion avenues of Madison and Fifth, of all those familiar international names – the jewelers, shoe stores, and designer shops that exist to flatter and bilk the frivolous rich. But no; what most excites Europeans is the city’s charged , nervous atmosphere, its vulgar dynamism .

6 New York is about energy, contention, and striving. And since it contains its share of articulate losers, it is also about mockery, the put-down , the loser’s shrug (“whaddya gonna do?”). It is about constant battles for subway seats, for a cabdriver’s or a clerk’s or a waiter’s attention, for a foothold , a chance, a better address, a larger billing. To win in New York is to be uneasy; to lose is to live in jostling proximity to the frustrated majority.

7 New York was never Mecca to me. And though I have lived there more than half my life, you won’t find me wearing an “I Love New York” T-shirt. But all in all, I can’, t think of many places in the world I’d rather li, ve. It’, s not easy to define why.

8 Nature’s pleasures are much qualified in N, ew York, . You never see a star-filled sky; the city’s bright glow arrogantly obscures the heavens. Sunsets can be spectacular: oranges and reds tinting the sky over the Jersey meadows and gaudily reflected in a thousand windows on Manhattan’s jagged skyline. Nature constantly yields to man in New York: witness those fragile sidewalk trees gamely struggling against encroaching cement and petrol fumes. Central Park, which Frederick Law Olmsted designed as lungs for the city’s poor, is in places grassless and filled with trash, no longer pristine yet lively with the noise and vivacity of people, largely youths, blacks, and Puerto Ricans, enjoying themselves. On park benches sit older people, mostly white, looking displaced. It has become less a tranquil park than an untidy carnival.

9 Not the glamour of the city, which never beckoned to me from a distance, but its opportunity – to practice the kind of journalism I wanted – drew me to New York. I wasn’t even sure how I’d measure up against others who had been more soundly educated at Ivy League schools, or whether I could compete against that tough local breed, those intellectual sons of immigrants, so highly motivated and single-minded, such as Alfred Kazin, who for diversion (for heaven’t sake!) played Bach’s Unaccompanied Partitas on the violin.

10 A testing of oneself, a fear of giving in to the most banal and marketable of one’s talents, still draws many of the young to New York. That and, as always, the company of others fleeing something constricting where they came from. Together these young share a freedom, a community of inexpensive amusements, a casual living, and some rough times. It can’t be the living conditions that appeal, for only fond memory will forgive the inconvenience, risk, and squalor. Commercial Broadway may be inaccessible to them, but there is off- Broadway, and then off-off-Broadway. If painters disdain Madison Avenue’s plush art galleries, Madison Avenue dealers set up shop in the grubby precincts of Soho. But the purity of a bohemian dedication can be exaggerated. The artistic young inhabit the same Greenwich Village and its fringes in which the experimentalists in the arts lived during the Depression, united by a world against them. But the present generation is enough of a subculture to be a source of profitable boutiques and coffeehouses. And it is not all that estranged.

11 Manhattan is an island cut off in most respects from mainland America, but in two areas it remains dominant. It is the banking and the communications headquarters for America. In both these roles it ratifies more than it creates. Wall Street will advance the millions to make a Hollywood movie only if convinced that a bestselling title or a star name will ensure its success. The networks’ news centers are here, and the largest book publishers, and the biggest magazines – and therefore the largest body of critics to appraise the films, the plays, the music, the books that others have created. New York is a judging town, and often invokes standards that the rest of the country deplores or ignores. A market for knowingness exists in New York that doesn’t exist for knowledge.

12 The ad agencies are all here too, testing the markets and devising the catchy jingles that will move millions from McDonald’s to Burger king, so that the ad agency’s “creative director” can lunch instead in Manhattan’s expense-account French restaurants. The bankers and the admen. The marketing specialists and a thousand well-paid ancillary service people, really set the city’s brittle tone— catering to a wide American public whose numbers must be respected but whose tastes do not have to shared. The condescending view from the fiftieth floor of the city’s crowds below cuts these people off from humanity. So does an attitude which sees the public only in terms of large, malleable numbers— as impersonally as does the clattering subway turnstile beneath the office towers.

13 I am surprised by the lack of cynicism, particularly among the younger ones, of those who work in such fields. The television generation grew up in the insistent presence of hype, delights in much of it, and has no scruples about practicing it. Men and woman do their jobs professionally, and, like the pilots who from great heights bombed Hanoi, seem unmarked by it. They lead their real lives elsewhere, in the Village bars they are indistinguishable in dress or behavior from would-be artists, actors, and writers. The boundaries of “art for art’s sake” aren’t so rigid anymore; art itself is less sharply defined, and those whose paintings don’t sell do illustrations; those who can’ get acting jobs do commercials; those who are writing ambitious novels sustain themselves on the magazines. Besides, serious art often feeds in the popular these days, changing it with fond irony.

14 In time the newcomers find or from their won worlds; Manhatten is many such words, huddled together but rarely interaction. I think this is what gives the city its sense of freedom. There are enough like you, whatever you are. And it isn’t as necessary to know anything about an apartment neighbor- or to worry about his judgment of you- as it is about someone with an adjoining yard. In New York, like seeks like, and by economy of effort excludes the rest as stranger. This distancing, this uncaring in ordinary encounters, has another side: in no other American city can the lonely be as lonely.

15 So much more needs to be said. New Your is a wounded city, declining in its amenities . Overloaded by its tax burdens. But it is not dying city; the streets are safer than they were five years age; Broadway, which seemed to be succumbing to the tawdriness of its environment, is astir again.

16 The trash-strewn streets, the unruly schools, the uneasy feeling or menace, the noise, the brusqueness- all confirm outsiders in their conviction that they wouldn’t live here if you gave them the place. Yet show a New Yorker a splendid home in Dallas, or a swimming pool and cabana in Beverly Hills, and he will be admiring but not envious. So much of well-to-do America now lives antiseptically in enclaves, tranquil and luxurious, that shut out the world. Too static, the New Yorker would say. Tell him about the vigor of your outdoor pleasures; he prefers the unhealthy hassle and the vitality of urban life. He is hopelessly provincial. To him New York- despite its faults, which her will impatiently concede (“so what else is new?”) — is the spoiler of all other American cities.

17 It is possible in twenty other American cities to visit first-rate art museums, to hear good music and see lively experimental theater, to meet intelligent and sophisticated people who know how to live, dine, and talk well; and to enjoy all this in congenial and spacious surroundings. The New Yorkers still wouldn’t want to live there.

18 What he would find missing is what many outsiders find oppressive and distasteful about New York – its rawness, tension, urgency; its bracing competitiveness; the rigor of its judgments; and the congested, democratic presence of so many other New Yorkers, encased in their own worlds, the defeated are not hidden away somewhere else on the wrong side of town. In the subways, in the buses, in the streets, it is impossible to avoid people whose lives are harder than yours. With the desperate, the ill, the fatigued, the overwhelmed, one learns not to strike up conversation (which isn’t wanted ) but to make brief, sympathetic eye contact, to include them in the human race. It isn’t much, but it is the fleeting hospitality of New Yorkers, each jealous of his privacy in the crowd. Ever helpfulness is often delivered as a taunt: a man, rushing the traffic light, shouts the man behind him. “ You want to be wearing a Buick with Jersey plates?” — great scorn in the word Jersey, home of drivers who don’t belong here.

19 By Adolf Hitler’s definition, New York is mongrel city. It is in fact the first truly international metropolis. No other great city- not London, Paris, Rome or Tokyo- plays host (or hostage) to so many nationalities. The mix is much wider- Asians, Africans, Latins - that when that tumultuous variety of European crowded ashore at Ellis Island. The newcomers are never fully absorbed, but are added precariously to the undigested many.

20 New York is too big to be dominated by any group, by Wasps or Jews or blacks, or by Catholics of many origins — Irish, Italian, Hispanic. All have their little sovereignties, all are sizable enough to be reckoned with and tough in asserting their claims, but none is powerful enough to subdue the others. Characteristically, the city swallows up the United Nations and refuses to take it seriously, regarding it as an unworkable mixture of the idealistic, the impractical, and the hypocritical. But New Yorkers themselves are in training in how to live together in a diversity of races- the necessary initiation into the future.

21 The diversity gives endless color to the city, so that walking in it is constant education in sights and smells. There is wonderful variety of places to eat or shop, and though the most successful of such places are likely to touristy 　hybrid compromises, they too have genuine roots. Other American cities have ethnic turfs jealously defended, but not, I think, such an admixture of groups, thrown together in such jarring juxtapositions . In the same way, avenues of high-rise luxury in New York are never far from poverty and mean streets. The sadness and fortitude of New York must be celebrated, along with its treasures of art and music. The combination is unstable; it produces friction, or an uneasy forbearance that sometimes becomes a real toleration.

22 Loving and hating New York becomes a matter of alternating moods, often in the same day. The place constantly exasperates , at times exhilarates . To me it is the city of unavoidable experience. Living there, one has the reassurance of steadily confronting life.

第十四課亦愛亦恨話紐約

托馬斯格里非斯

那些贊美"大蘋果"的廣告活動，還有那些印著帶有"我愛紐約"字樣的心形圖案的T恤衫，只不過是它們在絕望中發(fā)出悲哀的跡象，只不過是紐約這個非凡的城市日趨衰落的象征。紐約過去從不自我炫耀，而只讓別的城市去這樣做，因為自我炫耀顯得"小家子氣"。紐約既然是獨一無二的、最大的而且是最好的城市，也就沒有必要宣稱自己是如何與眾不同了。

然而，今日的紐約再不是頭號城市了。至少，在開創(chuàng)時尚、領導潮流方面，紐約是再也配不_卜這個稱號了。今日的紐約非但常常跟不上美國政治前進的步伐，而且往往也合不上美國人生活情趣變化的節(jié)拍。過去有一個時期，它曾是全國流行服裝款式方面無可爭議的權(quán)威，但由于長期抵制越來越流行的休閑服裝款式而喪失了，其壟斷地位。紐約已不再是眾望所歸、紛起仿效的對象了，如今它甚至以成為風行美國的時裝潮流的抵制者，以成為擺脫全國清一色的單調(diào)局面的一隅逃遁之地而自鳴得意。

紐約無力保持排頭兵的地位這一點已是越來越明顯了。有十多座其他城市都已經(jīng)有了一些在建筑藝術(shù)上很富有創(chuàng)造性的建筑物，而紐約最近二十年來所造的任何一幢建筑物都不能與之相比。曾是托斯卡尼尼全國廣播公司交響樂團演出場所的巨人般的曼哈頓電視演播廳，現(xiàn)在經(jīng)常是空無一人，而好萊塢大量生產(chǎn)出的情景喜劇和約翰尼·卡森節(jié)目的實況轉(zhuǎn)播卻占滿了加利福尼亞的廣播電視發(fā)送頻道。美國流行歌曲創(chuàng)作發(fā)行中心從紐約的廷潘胡同轉(zhuǎn)移到了納什維爾和好萊塢。拉斯韋加斯的賭場經(jīng)常出高薪聘請曼哈頓沒有哪一家夜總會請得起的歌手和藝員。而體育運動方面，那些規(guī)模較大的體育館、比較激動人心的球隊以及熱情最高的球迷們，往往都出現(xiàn)在紐約以外的地方。

紐約從來都不是召集會議的好場所--因為那兒少友情.不安全，人口擁擠，消費高昂--但現(xiàn)在它似乎正在一定程度上爭回其作為旅游勝地的地位。即便如此，大多數(shù)美國人對新奧爾良、舊金山、華盛頓或迪斯尼樂園等地的評價可能還是高于紐約。人們普遍認為，還有十幾座其他城市，包括我的家鄉(xiāng)西雅圖，都比紐約更適于居住。

那么，為什么有許多歐洲人稱紐約是他們最喜愛的城市呢?他們比大多數(shù)美國人更欣賞紐約這個國際大都市的五彩繽紛的生活，它那殘存的、獨此一家的歐洲社會準則以及它那眾多外來民族混雜而居的社會。這些歐洲人中有些人也許是因為在麥迪遜大街和第五大街這兩條雙胞胎似的繁華大街上看到那些熟悉的國際名牌商號--那些專為迎合并蒙騙那些輕浮淺薄的有錢人而存在的珠寶店、鞋店和服裝設計店…而感到心頭踏實。然而事實并非如此，最令歐洲人激動不已的是這個城市的那種精神飽滿的緊張氣氛和它那種野性的活力。

紐約充滿著活力、競爭和奮斗。同時，由于存在著一批能說會道的失意者，它也充滿著嘲笑、輕侮和失意者的心灰意冷("你說該咋辦?")。它充滿著無休無止的斗爭一一為了地鐵上的座位，為了引起一個的士司機、一個辦事員或一個侍者的注意，為了有一個立足之地，為了一次成功的機會。為了一個較好的居住地方，為了讓自己名字出現(xiàn)在一張大一點的海報上。在紐約，一個人若成功了，他會感到惶惶不安;如果失敗了，他就得和那灰心喪氣的大多數(shù)人一起苦熬歲月。

紐約從來都不是我心目中的麥加圣地。盡管我在那兒生活了大半輩子，你卻休想看到我穿上一件印著"我愛紐約"的文化衫。但總的說來，我倒還想不出這世界上有多少個地方我更愿意去居住。至于為什么，就很難說得清。

在紐約所能欣賞到的自然美景非常有限。你從來看不到一片繁星點點的夜空，城里的萬家燈火交相輝映使得天空黯然失色。唯有日落時分的景色尚可謂壯觀：澤西市草地上的天空染上了一塊塊深淺不一的橙紅色，在曼哈頓那些高高矮矮、大大小小的建筑物上的萬千扇玻璃窗的反射下，更顯得絢麗多彩。大自然對紐約人總是低頭服輸。只須看看人行道上那些脆弱的樹木迎著四面進逼的水泥路面和陣陣襲來的石油煙氣拚命掙扎的樣子，就足以說明問題了。由弗雷德里克·勞·奧姆斯特德設計的紐約中央公園本應是城市貧民休養(yǎng)身體、呼吸新鮮空氣的場所，但如今園內(nèi)有些地方已寸草不生，垃圾遍地，無復當年的清新質(zhì)樸之氣，然而依舊人聲嘈雜，生意盎然，許多人一一多數(shù)為年輕人、黑人和波多黎各人，仍在其間自得其樂。公園中的長條椅上則坐著一些上了年紀的人，其中以白人居多，看樣子都是一些流離失所的人。這里已經(jīng)不是什么靜造的公園了，倒更像是一個亂哄哄的狂歡場所。

吸引著我來到紐約的不是這個城市的魅力--它從沒有在遠方向我遙遙招手呼喚，而是它給我提供了一個從事我夢寐以求的新聞事業(yè)的機會。我當時甚至拿不準自己的能力如何能比得上那些在東北部一些名牌大學受過更好教育的人，又怎能競爭得過紐約那些意志堅強的本地人，那些才華橫溢的移民子弟.他們是那樣的目標明確，用心專一，比如那個艾爾弗雷德·卡津，他作為業(yè)余消遣(真是不可思議j)競能用小提琴演奏巴赫的無伴奏組曲。

今天仍有許多青年被吸引到紐約來，因為他們想考驗一下自己，怕讓自己的才能淪為極其平庸而易于上市的商品。除此之外，還有另外一些為逃避家鄉(xiāng)某種束縛的年輕同伴，也總是被吸引到紐約來。這些青年們在一起共享自由，同處于一個消費低廉的娛樂區(qū)，一起過著自由自在的生活，也共同度過了一些艱難時刻。吸引他們的不可能是紐約的生活條件，因為只有不合實際的樂觀回憶才會忘記他們在那兒的生活中所遇到的不便、危險和貧困。商業(yè)性的百老匯劇院可能不會向他們開門，但還有那些外百老匯劇院和外外百老匯劇院。倘若畫家們對麥迪遜大街上那些奢侈豪華的畫廊不屑一顧，那些畫廊老板們便會在索荷區(qū)陋巷之內(nèi)開設小分店?？墒?middot;也許是波希米亞式藝術(shù)獻身的純潔性被人渲染過甚，這些年輕藝術(shù)家們也住進了格林威治村及其外圍地區(qū)。那是大蕭條時期由于面對一個敵對的世界而團結(jié)在一起的一批藝術(shù)實驗主義者住過的地方。但今天的這一代青年藝術(shù)家已經(jīng)形成了一個顯著的亞文化群，以至于他們成了一些精品時裝和咖啡館的賺錢對象。他們已不再是那么與世隔絕了。

曼哈頓是一個在許多方面與美國大陸隔絕的孤島，但在兩個領域內(nèi)它仍處于支配地位。它是美國金融和通訊的中樞。在這兩個方面，它所起的審批作用大于其創(chuàng)造作用。華爾街只有在確信某種暢銷書或是某位影星的大名準保一部影片的成功時才會為制作一部好萊塢影片投放百萬巨資。美國廣播電視網(wǎng)的新聞中心、最大的圖書出版商和最大的期刊雜志都在這里，因而最龐大的一支評論家隊伍也在這里，他們可以對別人創(chuàng)作出的電影、戲劇、音樂、圖書和其他作品評頭論足。紐約是一個裁判城市，經(jīng)常炮制出一些全國其他地方的人不是為之感到遺憾就是完全不予理睬的規(guī)范標準。在紐約這地方真正的知識學問沒有市場，狡黠伶俐卻頗有市場。

商業(yè)廣告公司也全集中在這里。這些廣告公司窺測著市場動向，挖空心思地炮制出一些瑯瑯上口、易于記誦的廣告詞，把千千萬萬的顧客從"麥克唐納"拉到"伯格·金"，因而廣告公司的"創(chuàng)作主任"便可以坐在曼哈頓那些記帳報銷的高級法國餐館里吃午餐了。實際上，就是那些銀行家、廣告商、市場營銷專家以及那數(shù)以千計的為他們工作的高薪雇員們?yōu)榧~約這個城市定下了尖銳生硬的調(diào)子--對廣大的美國公眾要投其所好，對他們?nèi)藬?shù)的多寡必須予以重視，但對他們的興趣愛好卻不必加以認同。從摩天大樓的五十層樓上屈尊俯就地光顧樓下的蕓蕓眾生。這些富人們就會感覺到他們與這些蕓蕓眾生仿佛不是同類;還有他們那種就像他們的辦公高樓下面地鐵入口處卡嗒作響的轉(zhuǎn)門一樣，絲毫不帶任何感情地視廣大人民群眾如一大堆可以任意排列組合的數(shù)字的態(tài)度，也同樣使他們產(chǎn)生不屬于人類的感覺。

我對這些行業(yè)的從業(yè)人員，尤其是其中較為年輕的一些人那種缺乏憤世嫉俗情緒的態(tài)度感到驚訝。電視的一代是在強烈的廣告刺激的環(huán)境中成長起來的一代。他們也很欣賞這種廣告刺激，并且毫不猶豫地去親身實踐。許多男男女女都以職業(yè)性的態(tài)度對待自己的工作，就像那些從高空向河內(nèi)投擲炸彈的飛行員一樣，對于其工作本身的意義似乎毫不在意。他們真正的生活寄托在別的地方。在格林威治村的酒吧間里，他們的衣著打扮、言談舉止都與那些預備藝術(shù)家、演員和作家毫無二致。"為藝術(shù)而藝術(shù)"的界限已不再那么難以突破了，藝術(shù)本身的定義也不像以前那樣明晰了。藝術(shù)家的畫作賣不出去便轉(zhuǎn)而畫插圖;演員找不到拍戲的機會就去拍廣告;作家在創(chuàng)作鴻篇巨著的同時還得為通俗雜志撰文以維持生計。此外，這些年來嚴肅藝術(shù)往往要靠通俗藝術(shù)來提供養(yǎng)料，這倒使通俗藝術(shù)發(fā)生了一些可喜的諷刺性變化。

那些初來紐約的人早晚有一天會找到或形成他們自己的小圈子。曼哈頓有許多這類小圈子，密密麻麻地擠在一起，但彼此之間卻極少往來。我想正是這種情況給紐約一種自由感。不管你屬于哪類人，與你同樣的人都多的是。對于同住一座公寓的鄰居，你不必去了解他的任何情況，也不必在意他對你的看法如何，只有住在鄉(xiāng)下的屋院相連的鄰居才有此必要。在紐約，人以群分，人們對于自己圈子以外的人一律視同路人，以免浪費精力。人們在日常交往中的這種保持距離、冷漠無情的態(tài)度還有一種影響：那些有孤獨感的人在紐約比在其他任何美國城市都更覺孤獨。

要說的情況還有很多。總之，紐約是一個受了創(chuàng)傷的城市，它重稅壓身，不堪負擔，好景不再，江河日下。但紐約并不是一個就要死的城市;與五年前相比較，如今紐約的街道更安全了，曾一度似乎是在繁華旖旎的環(huán)境包圍之下一蹶不振的百老匯大街如今又呈現(xiàn)出勃勃的生機。

街道上布滿垃圾，學校里毫無秩序，市民們個個惶惶不安，到處噪聲不絕于耳，人人講話粗聲大氣--這一切都會使局外人更加堅定決心：就算把紐約送給他們，他們也不愿意在這里居住。然而，你如果讓一個紐約人去看達拉斯市的一所富麗堂皇的住宅，或是貝弗利希爾斯市的一個帶小屋的游泳池，他一定會表示贊賞，但卻不會眼紅。現(xiàn)在有許多美國有錢人在安靜、豪華、與世隔絕的小天地里過著世外桃源式的生活。紐約人會說，這太沉悶了?？墒牵闳绻麑λv起戶外游山玩水的勁頭，他又會說他更欣賞都市生活那種雖有害于健康但卻熱熱鬧鬧的活潑氣氛。他有著無可改變的鄉(xiāng)土觀念。對他來說，紐約--就算連他自己也無可奈何地承認有一些缺點("還有什么新的嗎?")--使他對所有其他美國城市都不屑一顧。

人們有可能在二十個其他的美國城市里參觀到第一流的藝術(shù)博物館，聽到美妙的音樂，看到生動活潑的實驗戲劇，遇到懂得怎樣生活、吃飯和談話，而且是在舒適寬敞的環(huán)境中去享受這一切聰明而又世故的人物。然而，紐約人還是不愿意居住在那里。他所戀戀不舍的正是紐約的那些在許多外地人看來難以忍受、令人討厭的地方…它的粗俗、緊張、急迫感，它那劍拔弩張的競爭，它那嚴厲苛刻的評判，以及那么多封閉在各自的小圈子里、不分尊卑貴賤地擠作一團的紐約人。那些在競爭中吃了敗仗的人并非躲在城里某個看不見的地方。在地鐵里，在公共汽車上，在大街上，到處都會不可避免地遇見一些生活過得比你艱難的人。對于那些悲觀絕望、疾病纏身、精疲力竭、不知所措的人，最好不要與之交談(他們并不希望交談).只需用同情的目光稍稍接觸一下，表示把他們視同人類就行了。這雖沒什么了不起，但對于最忌在大庭廣眾之中暴露隱私的紐約人來說，這就是他們那種一閃即逝的友好表示。即使是一種幫助，紐約人往往也要用嘲罵來表示：一個人闖紅燈，沖到一輛開過來的汽車前，他身后的那個人便會大聲喊叫："當心點，老弟，你難道想讓一輛帶著澤西牌照的汽車撞倒嗎?"--"澤西"一詞具有很強的諷刺意味，指的是所有的外地司機的家鄉(xiāng)。

按照阿道夫希特勒的定義，紐約是一個雜種城市。事實上，它是第一個真正的國際大都市。沒有別的大城市--無論是倫敦、巴黎、羅馬還是東京--能接納(或是收容)這么多的民族?，F(xiàn)在比當時各種各樣的歐洲人吵吵嚷嚷登上埃利斯島的時候更為混雜一一又有了亞洲人、非洲人和拉丁系人。新來者永遠不會被完全同化。只是不穩(wěn)定地加入到未被消化的多數(shù)中去。

紐約太大了，無法為任何一個集團所控制，不論是盎格魯撤克遜新教的白人還是猶太人、黑人或來源不同的天主教徒--愛爾蘭人、意大利人、西班牙血統(tǒng)的人。所有這些集團都有他們小小的天地，人數(shù)相當多，不容忽視;在維護他們的要求方面都很堅韌，但沒有一個強大到足以制服其他集團。這個城市很典型地把聯(lián)合國加以吞沒，不把它當一回事，把它看作一個空想、不切實際、虛偽、無法運轉(zhuǎn)的混合體。但是紐約人卻在訓練自己如何在一個多民族的社會里共同生活--這是邁向未來必要的開端。

多樣化使這個城市色彩無窮。漫步此城，可以不斷受到情景與風味方面的教育。有眾多的各有特色的地方可以去吃飯或購買物品。雖然其中最成功的似乎是那些為招引游客而把各種：民族特色混在一起的地方，但是他們也都有真正的根基。在其他的美國城市，不同的民族各有自己的地盤，并小心翼翼地加以保護，但是我認為那里沒有這種不和諧地把不同的集團擱在一起的大雜燴。f司樣地，在紐約擁有多層高樓的豪華大街與它近鄰的窮街陋巷相映成趣。對紐約的憂傷和剛毅要與其藝術(shù)和音樂的財富一起加以贊美。這種結(jié)合是不穩(wěn)定的，它產(chǎn)生摩擦或是一種不穩(wěn)定的克制。這種克制有時變成一種真正的容忍。

對紐約的愛與恨成了一個不斷交替變化著的情緒問題。這種情緒的變化常常發(fā)生在同一天。這個地方經(jīng)常使人惱怒，有時也讓人振奮。對我來說，這是一個取得不可或缺的經(jīng)驗的城市。住在這兒，人們可以放心，一定能持續(xù)地面向生活。

(選自《大西洋》，1978年9月)

詞匯(Vocabulary)

bush (adj.) : rustic，countrified，belonging to small towns粗俗的;鄉(xiāng)土氣的;鄉(xiāng)下的

beget (v.) : bring into being;produce使產(chǎn)生，引起，招致

holdout (n.) : [Americanism]a place that holds out [美語]堅固據(jù)點

deficiency (n.) : the quality or state of being deficient; absence of something essential;a shortage缺乏，缺少，欠缺;缺陷，不足之處

pacesetter (n.) : a person that leads the way or serves as a model標兵

sitcom (n.) : [口]situation comedy的縮略

clone (v.) : derive all the descendants asexually from a single individual無性繁殖

preempt (v.) : radio and TV]replace(a regularly scheduled program)[廣播、電視]先占，先取得

casino (n.) : a public room or building for entertainments.dancing，or，now specifically，gambling俱樂部，娛樂場;(現(xiàn)尤指)賭場

nightspot (n.) : nightclub夜總會

bilk (v.) : cheat or swindle;defraud欺騙，蒙騙

dynamism (n.) : the quality of being energetic，vigorous，etc.推動力;活力，精力，勁頭

put-down (n.) : [American slang]a belittling remark or crushing retort[美俚]貶低的話;反駁;無禮的回答

foothold (n.) : a secure position from which it is difficult to be dislodged立足點，據(jù)點

jostle (v.) : bump or push，as in a crowd;elbow or shove roughly(在人群中)擁擠;用肘推;撞

proximity (n.) : the state or quality of being near;nearness in space，time，etc.最近;接近;(地方，時間等)最接近

obscure (v.) : darken;make dim使黑暗;使朦朧

tint (v.) : give a color or a shading of a color to著上(淡)色

gaudy (adj.) : bright and showy, but lacking in good taste;cheaply brilliant and ornate華麗而俗氣的，炫麗的

jagged (adj.) : having sharp projecting points鋸齒狀的;(外形)參差不齊的

skyline (n.) : an outline，as of a city，seen against the sky (城市等)以天空為背景映出的輪廓

gamely (adv.) : pluckily;courageously勇敢地，不屈不撓地

encroach (adj.) : trespass or intrude (on or upon the rights.property，etc.，of another)，esp. in a gradual or sneaking way侵占，占用(別人的時間);侵犯(別人的權(quán)力、財產(chǎn)等)

pristine (adj.) : still pure or untouched;uncorrupted; unspoiled質(zhì)樸的;純潔的;未受腐蝕的

vivacity (n.) : the quality or state 0f being vivacious;liveliness to pint;animation快活;活潑;充滿生命力;有生氣

carnival(n.) : a reveling or time of revelry;festivity;merrymaking狂歡，歡宴，盡情作樂

glamour (n.) : seemingly misterious and elusive fascination or allure，as o{some person，0bject，etc.;bewitching charm; the current sense(人的)魅力;(物、景色的)吸引力，迷惑力

beckon (v.) : call or summon by a silent gesture(以招手、點頭等)表不召喚或招呼

breed (n.) : kind;sort;type種類，類別，類型

banal (adj.) : dull or stale as because of overuse;trite：hackneyed;commonplace陳腐的;平庸的;平凡的;老一套的

squalor (n.) : the quality or condition of being squalid;filth and wretchedness骯臟;悲慘，不幸

inaccessible (adj.) : impossible to reach or enter訣不到的;進不去的

plush (adj.) : [American slang]luxurious，as in furnishings [美俚]豪華的

grubby (adj.) : messy;untidy臟的;凌亂的

precincts (n.) : environs neighborhood范圍;界線

fringe (n.) : an outer edge;border;margin外圍，邊緣;邊界

subculture (n.) : the distinct cultural patterns of a group(within a society)of persons of the same age，social or economic, status. ethnic background，etc.亞文化群

boutique (n.) : a small shop，or a small department in a store，where fashionable，usually expensive，clothes and other articles are sold時裝精品店(或百貨公司中的時裝精品部)

estrange (n.) : turn(a person)from an affectionate or friendly attitude to an indifferent，unfriendly，or hostile one. alienate the affections of使疏遠;使失和

ratify (v.) : pprove or confirm，esp.，give official sanction to批準;認可

deplore (v.) : be regretful or sorry about;lament懊悔;遺憾;痛惜

catchy (adj.) : easily caught up and remembered醒目的;引人注意的

jingle (n.) : a verse that jingles;jingling arrangement of words or syllables具有簡單韻律的詩句;合于簡單韻律的排列

admen (n.) : [Americanism]a person whose work or business is advertising[美]廣告員

ancillary (adj.) : that serves as an aid;helping;auxiliary作為助手的;輔助的

brittle (adj.) : having a sharp，hard quality(聲音)尖利的，刺耳的

condescending (adj.) : showing condescension，esp.，patronizing表示屈尊的;(尤指)以恩人自居的，屈尊俯就的

malleable (adj.) : capable of being changed，molded，trained，etc.;adaptable柔順的;易適應的;可訓練的

turnstile (n.) : a similar apparatus，often coin-operated used at entrances to admit persons one at a time and to count those passing through(使人逐個通過的)旋轉(zhuǎn)(式)柵門

hype (n.) : cheating，esp. the extravagant promotional advertising欺騙;騙局(尤指大肆宣傳，大做廣告)

scruple (n.) : a feeling of hesitancy，doubt，or uneasiness arising from difficulty in deciding what is right，proper，ethical.etc.：qualm or misgiving about something one thinks is wrong躊躇;顧忌，猶豫

adjoining (adj.) : touching at some point or along a line;contiguous隔壁的：毗連的;毗鄰的

amenity (n.) : an attractive or desirable feature,as of a place, climate,ere.(地方,氣候等的)舒適,宜人;溫柔

succumb (v.) : give way;yield;submit屈服，屈從

tawdry (adj.) : cheap and showy;gaudy;sleezy俗氣的;俗麗的;花哨而庸俗的

astir (adj.) : in motion; in excited activity動起來的;轟赳采的;有活動力的

strew (v.) : scatter，partly cover撒，撒布

brusque (adj.) : rough and abrupt in manlier or speech.curt(態(tài)度、語言上)粗暴的，魯莽的;唐突的

cabana (n.) : a small shelter used as a bath house on the beach, etc,;a cabin(海灘等地的)簡易浴室(或更衣處);小屋;棚屋

antiseptic (adj.) : untouched by life，its problems，emotions，etc.冷靜的;超然的;客觀的

enclave (n.) :a minority culture group living as an entity within a larger group在大文化團體中的一少數(shù)派集團

hassle (n.) : [Americanism]a state of commotion or confusion;turmoil[美]混亂

congenial (adj.) : suited to one's needs or disposition;agreeable適合的;愜意的;令人愉快的

bracing (adj.) : invigorating;stimulating;refreshing令人鼓舞的;令人振奮的;激勵的

rigor (n.) : harshness or severity嚴厲

taunt (n.) : a scornful or jeering remark; gibe嘲笑，嘲弄，嘲罵

mongrel (n.) : [a derogatory term] mixed breed，race.origin or character[貶]雜種;混交種

metropolis (n.) : any large city or center of population：culture，etc.大城市，大都會

tumultuous (adj.) : full of or characterized by tumult：wild and noisy;uproarious;riotous喧鬧的，喧囂的;吵鬧的

hybrid (adj.) : (of animal，plant，etc.)from parents of different species or varieties混合的;雜種的(動植物等)

turf (n.) : [slang]a neighbour hood area regarded by a street gang as its own territory to be defended against other gangs[俚](街頭流氓集團的)地盤;勢力范圍

admixture (n.) : a mixture混合(狀態(tài))

jar (n.) : clash，disagree，or quarrel sharply抵觸;沖突;不調(diào)和，不和諧;爭吵

juxtaposition (n.) : putting side by side or close together并列，并置

fortitude (n.) : the strength to bear misfortune，pain，etc.，calmly and patiently firm courage堅韌不拔，剛毅

forbearance (n.) : .the quality of being forbearing;self control;patient restraint容忍，忍耐

exhilarate (v.) : fill with high spirits鼓舞;使興奮

短語(Expressions)

out of phase : out of harmony相異的，不協(xié)調(diào)的

例：The driver f10und that the windshield wipers were out of phase.司機發(fā)現(xiàn)擋風玻璃上的刮水器動作不協(xié)調(diào)。

measure up : be good enough t0 do a particular job or to reach a par-ticular standard合格，符合標準

例：How will the manager measure up to his new responsibilicy?經(jīng)理怎樣才能達到他新職責的標準呢?

play host(to) : provide the place，food etc.for a special meeting or event招待，接待

例：Beijing will play host to the Olympics in 2008.北京將在2008年主辦奧運會。