发表于 2008-8-19 16:04
只看该作者
1楼
一棵开花的树
- 聊斋角色：
- 职业作家
- 帖子：
- 1346
- 精华：
- 5
- 积分：
- 2472
发表于 2008-8-19 16:04
只看该作者
2楼
一棵开花的树
- 聊斋角色：
- 职业作家
- 帖子：
- 1346
- 精华：
- 5
- 积分：
- 2472
|
MAKING SENSE Eventually the household collapsed in a sprawl of inter-housemate sex. This drove me nuts. (paragraph 3) When my housemates started sleeping with each other, our friendships were destroyed. This made me very upset. It was where I both learned to...I would also find much to hate. (paragraph 4) In this room, I learned to enjoy being alone. But when I suffered a nervous breakdown, I also learned to hate it. I spent a lot of time sitting by the window and came to associate the view out over the rougher Leeds suburbs with what I was certain was some profound thinking indeed. (paragraph 7) As I looked out over some of Leeds'' poorer neighborhoods from my flat window, I thought about life. At the time, I was sure these thoughts were brilliant. That flat was where I set about the business of growing up. (paragraph 7) In that apartment, I began to grow up. …and served up offerings to the long-suffering woman who would eventually become my wife. (paragraph 7) In that apartment, I learned to cook. The brave woman who tried my dishes eventually became my wife. BACKGROUND Halls of UK universities: In the UK, the most common form of accommodation for higher education students is the university residence hall. These are often located on campus or a short distance away, and are owned by the institution. International students are often guaranteed accommodation at least for their first year. Students live in a study-bedroom in a corridor of around eight to 10 rooms. They may have to share a bathroom, though many institutions offer en-suite rooms (套间), particularly for postgraduate and adult students. Halls of residence are often the cheapest accommodations available. Some provide two meals a day; others provide shared kitchens where students can cook. Most have laundry facilities and cleaners who change bed sheets and empty bins. The cost of utilities, such as water and electricity, are part of the rent. SOURCE: WWW.BRITISHCOUNCIL.ORG anteroom 接待室，休息室 attic 阁楼 breakdown 故障，崩溃 courtesy of 经由某途径 domain 领地 dub 称为 eyrie 鹰巢，高山住屋 fascist 法西斯分子 fester 腐烂 feverish 焦躁的，兴奋的 gibberish 无意义的话 migraine-inducing 引起偏头痛的 offering 献礼，贡品 profound 意义深远的 rooftop 屋顶 self-importantly 自命不凡地 sociable 好交际的 sordid 肮脏的 sprawl 蔓延，扩散 swirly 成涡旋形的 |
1
Growing up in a private space
(2) I was not a sociable student, at least not when it came to the sordid business of sharing a home. I wanted peace. I wanted quiet. I wanted a bathroom with a carpet that didn''t stick to my heels.
(3) After a year in halls I stupidly moved in with a bunch of people who were my friends at the beginning and who weren''t at the end. They dubbed me the house fascist, a title I probably deserved. The kitchen festered unless I cleaned it. The bathroom carpet still stuck to my heels. Eventually the household collapsed in a sprawl of inter-housemate sex. This drove me nuts,1 mostly because I was never invited to take part.
(4) In my third year, things started looking up. A friend, Duncan, had a room available in an attic flat on the edge of the university campus. Eventually the top floor of 42 Clarendon Road became the one place in my entire life where I would live alone. It was where I both learned to like my own company and where, courtesy of a breakdown, I would also find much to hate.2
(5) I managed to fit an awful lot of life into that very small space. It was dominated by one large room shaped by sloping attic roofs. It had migraine-inducing swirly carpets and a tiny anteroom that could be used as a study if you didn''t stretch your legs. It had all been Duncan''s domain, but after some feverish negotiation - "I''ll move in but only if I can have this room" - it became mine.
(6) When Duncan left at the end of our third year, I realized I could afford to take on the whole flat. I had been elected editor of the student newspaper by then, a full-time paid job, and self-importantly I reckoned I needed somewhere to which I could retreat. I was certain my rooftop eyrie was just the place.
(7) Mostly I just liked the peace and the quiet and the view and the chance to be by myself. I spent a lot of time simply sitting by the window and came to associate the view out over the rougher Leeds suburbs with what I was certain was some very profound thinking indeed.3It wasn''t, of course. It was post-adolescent gibberish. That flat was where I set about the business of growing up.4 It was where I retuned from Radio Aire to Radio Four and stopped taking sugar in my coffee; it was where I began learning to cook, and served up offerings to the long-suffering woman who would eventually become my wife.5