【正文】 ife too. In the summer we canoe on the river, go piicking in the woods and take long bicycle rides. In the winter we ski and skate. We get excited about sunsets. We love the smell of the earth warming and the sound of cattle lowing. We watch for hawks in the sky and deer in the cornfields. 這也是一種令人滿足的生活。冬日里我們滑雪溜冰。我們愛聞大地回暖的氣息，愛聽牛群哞叫。 4 But the good life can get pretty tough. Three months ago when it was 30 below, we spent two miserable days hauling firewood up the river on a sled. Three months from now, it will be 95 above and we will be cultivating corn, weeding strawberries and killing chickens. Recently, Sandy and I had to retile the back roof. Soon Jim, 16 and Emily, 13, the youngest of our four children, will help me make some longoverdue improvements on the outdoor toilet that supplements our indoor plumbing when we are working outside. Later this month, we39。就在三個(gè)月前，氣溫降到華氏零下30度，我們辛苦勞作了整整兩天，用一個(gè)雪橇沿著河邊拖運(yùn)木柴。前一陣子我和桑迪不得不翻修后屋頂。這個(gè)月晚些時(shí)候，我們要給果樹噴灑藥水，要油漆谷倉，要給菜園播種，要趕在新的小雞運(yùn)到之前清掃雞舍。桑迪則有她自己繁忙的工作日程。正如老話說的那樣，在這種情形之下，壞人不得閑――賢德之人也歇不了。從12月一直到3月底，我們都被深達(dá)5英尺的積雪困著。 7 When spring came, it brought two floods. First the river overflowed, covering much of our land for weeks. Then the growing season began, swamping us under wave after wave of produce. Our freezer filled up with cherries, raspberries, strawberries, asparagus, peas, beans and corn. Then our cannedgoods shelves and cupboards began to grow with preserves, tomato juice, grape juice, plums, jams and jellies. Eventually, the basement floor disappeared under piles of potatoes, squash and pumpkins, and the barn began to fill with apples and pears. It was amazing. 開春后，有過兩次泛濫。接著一次是生長(zhǎng)季節(jié)到了，一波又一波的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品潮涌而來，弄得我們應(yīng)接不暇。接著我們存放食品罐的架子上、柜櫥里也開始堆滿一罐罐的腌漬食品，有番茄汁、葡萄汁、李子、果醬和果凍。真是太美妙了。s blessings and half a year39。其時(shí)，我開始認(rèn)真考慮起辭了職去從事自由撰稿的事來。當(dāng)時(shí)，兩個(gè)大的女兒肖恩和埃米正在費(fèi)用很高的常春藤學(xué)校上學(xué)，而我們只有幾千美金的銀行存款。于是，帶著老板的祝福，口袋里揣著作為累積津貼的半年薪水，我走了。ve crawled into blackbear dens for Sports Illustrated, hitched up dogsled racing teams for Smithsonian magazine, checked out the Lake Champlain monster for Science Digest, and canoed through the Boundary Waters wilderness area of Minnesota for Destinations. 那以后有過一些焦慮的時(shí)刻，但總的來說，情況比我們料想的要好得多。 10 I39。t need as much either. I generate enough ine to handle our $600amonth mortgage payments plus the usual expenses for a family like ours. That includes everything from music lessons and dental bills to car repairs and college costs. When it es to insurance, we have a poor man39。我掙的錢足以應(yīng)付每月600美金的房屋貸款按揭以及一家人的日常開銷。至于保險(xiǎn)，我們買了一份低收入者的主要醫(yī)療項(xiàng)目保險(xiǎn)。醫(yī)療保險(xiǎn)則支付超出部分的80％。除了這一保險(xiǎn)項(xiàng)目，以及兩輛汽車每年400美金的保險(xiǎn)，我們就沒有其他保險(xiǎn)了。 11 We39。我們每個(gè)月仍出去吃一兩次飯，不過現(xiàn)在我們光顧的是當(dāng)?shù)夭宛^，而不是城里的高級(jí)飯店。我們?nèi)獬缘蒙倭?，酒喝得便宜了，電影看得少了。t entertain much. During the growing season there is no time for socializing anyway. Jim and Emily are involved in school activities, but they too spend most of their time at home. 我想，不是所有熱愛鄉(xiāng)村的人都會(huì)樂意過我們這種生活的。其一是耐得住寂寞。在作物生長(zhǎng)季節(jié)，根本就沒工夫參加社交活動(dòng)。 13 The other requirement is energy a lot of it. The way to make selfsufficiency work on a small scale is to resist the temptation to buy a tractor and other expensive laborsaving devices. Instead, you do the work yourself. The only machinery we own (not counting the lawn mower) is a little threehorsepower rotary cultivator and a 16inch chain saw. 另一項(xiàng)要求是體力――相當(dāng)大的體力。相反，你要自己動(dòng)手。 14 How much longer we39。s guess perhaps for quite a while, perhaps not. When the time es, we39。ve been able to acplish. We should make a fair profit on the sale of the place, too. We39。到走的時(shí)候，我們會(huì)愴然離去，但也會(huì)為自己所做的一切深感自豪。我們自己在農(nóng)場(chǎng)投入了約35，000美金的資金，要是現(xiàn)在售出的話價(jià)格差不多可以翻一倍。但是一旦經(jīng)濟(jì)形勢(shì)好轉(zhuǎn)，對(duì)我們這種農(nóng)場(chǎng)的需求又會(huì)增多。t move here primarily to earn money though. We came because we wanted to improve the quality of our lives. When I watch Emily collecting eggs in the evening, fishing with Jim on the river or enjoying an oldfashioned piic in the orchard with the entire family, I know we39。我們來此居住是因?yàn)橄胩岣呱钯|(zhì)量。 Donna Barron describes how American family life has changed in recent years. She identifies three forces at work. What are they? Read on to find out. Then ask yourself whether similar forces are at work within China. Will family life here end up going in the same direction? 唐娜她指出有三種力量在起作用。讀后問一下自己，同樣的力量在中國是否也在起作用。s another evening in an American household. 美國家庭生活：變化中的景象 唐娜 2 The door swings open at 5:30 sharp. Hi, honey! I39?！班耍H愛的！我回來了！”親愛的老爸走了進(jìn)來，他在辦公室上了一天的班，肚子餓了，人也累了。 3 After a leisurely meal together, Mom does the dishes. That, after all, is part of her job. The whole family then moves to the living room. There everyone spends the evening playing Scrabble or watching TV. 全家人從容地吃完飯后，媽媽就刷洗碗碟。接著全家人聚在起居室。 4 Then everyone is off to bed. And the next morning Dad and the kids wake up to the sounds and smells of Mom preparing pancakes and sausages for breakfast. 隨后各自上床睡覺。 5 (1) What? You say that doesn39。re not alone. In fact, you39。事實(shí)上，大多數(shù)人很可能都跟你一樣這么想的。s are fewer and fewer. They39。如今你仍能見到這樣的家庭――不過得在電視里。例如，《交給比弗吧》一劇中媽媽帶著珍珠項(xiàng)鏈、穿著高跟鞋做家務(wù)。但像比弗那樣的家庭正在消失，因?yàn)槲覀兩钪械娜齻€(gè)部分發(fā)生了變化：我們的工作方式，餐飲方式以及娛樂方式。 7 Let39。m home! might not be spoken by dear old Dad. Dear old Mom is just as likely to be saying them. A generation ago, most households could get along on one paycheck Dad39。今天，“嗨，親愛的，我回家了！”這句話可能不是出自親愛的老爸之口。在上一代，大多數(shù)家庭可以靠一份工資――爸爸的工資――維持。但今天，一半以上有幼兒的母親外出工作。而單親家庭的數(shù)量在過去30年中急劇增長(zhǎng)。ll find them at an afterschool program or a neighbor39。當(dāng)父親一人外出上班時(shí)，孩子們放學(xué)回家有媽媽在。要不他們就回到空無一人的家。這些孩子會(huì)不會(huì)失去童年時(shí)期本應(yīng)有的一些重要的東西？還是會(huì)因此培養(yǎng)起一種健康的自立意識(shí)？這些問題是克立弗太太過去從來不用操心的。不多久前，大多數(shù)男人還就近工作。爸爸經(jīng)常走著去上班，或者順路搭友好鄰居的車。 10 Today39。t return until dark. No running home for lunch for today39。他們上班距離之遠(yuǎn)會(huì)讓他們的父母驚訝得倒抽一口涼氣。上班族坐公共汽車、地鐵，或開車行駛在交通擁擠的公路上。今天的通勤族不再趕回家吃午飯。s been a second big change in American family life. If both parents are away from home for long hours, who39。要是父母都長(zhǎng)時(shí)間不在家，那誰在廚房里忙著準(zhǔn)備美味的菜肴呢？越來越多聽到的回答是沒有人做飯。t spend hours in the kitchen if they get home at 5:30. 如今，很少人有時(shí)間采購、烹制“家?！憋埐?。但燒這種飯菜要花幾個(gè)小時(shí)。 13 So what do working families eat? They ch