新東方網(wǎng)課新概念英語(yǔ)2

新概念英語(yǔ)第4冊(cè)閱讀常見(jiàn)話(huà)題："白色信封"寄哀思

13."白色信封"寄哀思

There?s a small, white envelope in our Christmas tree. It has been there for the past 10 years or so. It all began because my husband Mike hated the commercial aspects of Christmas: overspending. So one year I decided to reach for something special for Mike.

我家的圣誕樹(shù)上掛著一個(gè)小小的白色信封，它在上面已經(jīng)掛了大約十年了。這一切都源自丈夫邁克對(duì)圣誕節(jié)商業(yè)氣息的厭惡：人們大把地花錢(qián)。于是，有一年我決定為他準(zhǔn)備一份特別的禮物。

The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son was wrestling at school that year and shortly before Christmas, there was a match against a team sponsored by a church. Those youngsters dressed in ragged sneakers while our boy and his teammates in their new wrestling shoes. The other team was also wrestling without headgear.

我的靈感是通過(guò)非同尋常的方式得來(lái)的。那年我們的兒子在學(xué)校摔跤隊(duì)接受訓(xùn)練。圣誕節(jié)前夕，學(xué)校安排了一場(chǎng)比賽，對(duì)手是由教會(huì)資助的一支摔跤隊(duì)。那些小伙子穿著破爛不堪的運(yùn)動(dòng)鞋，而兒子和他的隊(duì)友都腳蹬嶄新的摔跤鞋。并且，對(duì)方選手在比賽時(shí)也沒(méi)有戴頭盔。

We ended up winning them without doubt. Mike shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won,"he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them."

毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，我們最終打敗了他們。邁克傷心地?fù)u搖頭說(shuō)：“我真希望他們其中一個(gè)可以贏。他們很有潛力，但是這樣輸?shù)舯荣惥偷扔谳數(shù)袅怂麄兊男判摹?rdquo;

That was when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a store, bought a piece of wrestling headgear and a pair of shoes and sent them anonymously to the church. On Christmas Eve, I placed a white envelope in the Christmas tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year.

我由此想到了送他什么禮物。當(dāng)天下午，我到商店買(mǎi)了一個(gè)摔跤專(zhuān)用頭盔和一雙鞋子，并匿名將它們寄給教會(huì)。平安夜里，我把一個(gè)白色信封掛在圣誕樹(shù)上，里面寫(xiě)著我做的事情，并告訴邁克這是我送給他的禮物。他的笑容是那年圣誕節(jié)里最閃亮的風(fēng)景。

For each Christmas, I followed the tradition. One year I sent a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game.

以后的每個(gè)圣誕節(jié)，我都沿襲這種做法。有一年，我?guī)е蝗褐钦蟽和タ戳艘粓?chǎng)曲棍球比賽。

After we lost Mike due to cancer, our children and I