The Dance

by Nate Evans

翻译：范婕

玛丽从小就热爱舞蹈，没想到长大后，舞蹈还成了维系家庭和爱的纽带。这究竟是怎么一回事呢？一起来看看吧。

Mary Ann had been preparing for this moment since she was three years old. Mom wouldn’t let her start dance class until she was five, so she would turn on some music and dance in front of her dad.As Mary grew, so did her1)passion for dance.

As Mary entered high school, her parents were growing further and further apart. Except for when Mary danced, her mom and dad would come to the show and they would all go out to eat together2)afterwards. It wasn’t much, but it3)provided some of her happiest moments.

Still, even those meals were4)distant memories now. Her parents had5)separated 3 months after she left for college.

It was a very important show for Mary.

1) passion ['pæʃən] n. 热诚，酷爱

2) afterwards ['ɑːftəwədz] adv. 之后，随后

3) provide [prə'vɑɪd] v. 提供

4) distant ['dɪstənt] adj. 遥远的

5) separate ['sepəreɪt] v. 分开

“Get in line! Get ready! Remember you have five minutes each and have fun out there!” the dance instructor said. Mary was fi rst in line. Her whole life had built up to this moment. As she walked on stage, the music started. Her body moved gracefully and she burst forth with all her might! As the music trailed off, the crowd6)erupted with7)applause.

The performance was over. However, Mary was leaving with just her mom. She was a little sad, because her dad didn’t come. But when she opened the door to her car, she found a note and a picture. In the picture, it was she and her dad dancing together. And the note said, “That was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I am so proud of you. I will be waiting at our restaurant.”

All at once, Mary’s heart8)exploded with9)emotion as she broke out in tears. It wasn’t much, but for at least this one night—dance had brought them together as a family once again.

词组加油站

★ burst forth 迸发

★ with all one’s might 竭尽全力

★ trail off 减弱，变小

6) erupt [ɪ'rʌpt] v. 爆发

7) applause [ə'plɔːz] n. 鼓掌

8) explode [ɪks'pləʊd] v. 爆发

9) emotion [ɪ'məʊʃən] n. 情感，情绪

名师考点小结

1. prepare for后接名词或代词，含有“为即将要发生的某一行动或某种情况做准备”的意味。其动作意味很强，可直接用作谓语。例如：

We were given two days to prepare for the examination. 我们有两天的时间来准备考试。

注意：prepare for可分开来写，即prepare...for，这时prepare是及物动词。

当prepare后接表示物的名词时，prepare...for通常表示“为（某人）准备（什么）”。例如：

We must prepare a room for our guest. 我们必须为客人准备一间房。

当prepare后接表示人的名词，介词for后接事物等名词时，它通常表示“培养或指导（某人）准备（什么）”。例如：

They are preparing their child for college. 他们正培养孩子准备上大学。

2. proud是形容词，意为“骄傲的”。其名词形式为pride。常见短语为be proud of（以……而自豪），take pride in（以……而自豪），the pride of（……的骄傲）。

We are proud of Evergrande. 我们以恒大队而自豪。

If you work hard, you will be the pride of your parents. 如果你努力学习，你将会成为父母的骄傲。

3. at least意为“至少”，表示数量和程度。例如：

There were at least two hundred people present at the meeting. 至少有200人出席了会议。If I had money, I would take a trip around the world for at least one time.

我如果有钱，我至少会环游世界一次。

参考译文

玛丽·安从三岁起就心心念念地期待着这一刻，为这一刻的到来做着准备。等到玛丽五岁的时候，妈妈才同意让她去上舞蹈课，她总是喜欢播放着音乐，在爸爸面前跳啊跳啊。随着玛丽慢慢长大，她对舞蹈的热爱也与日俱增。

到玛丽上高中的时候，父母的关系变得越来越疏远。只有当玛丽上台跳舞时，父母才会同时来到现场，然后一家人会在一起吃顿饭。这样的情境也许是微不足道的，但却是玛丽感觉最温馨幸福的时刻。

而如今，像一家人在一起吃饭这样的机会也成了遥远的回忆。在她离家上大学三个月后，父母离婚了。

这是一场对玛丽来说非常重要的演出。

“排好队！大家准备！记住，你们每个人有五分钟的表演时间，尽情跳起来吧！”舞蹈教练对大家说道。玛丽排在队列中的第一位。对玛丽来说，此生只为此刻。当她走上舞台，音乐响起了。她优雅起舞，随后更是全情投入！当音乐慢慢停下来，观众迸发出热烈的掌声。

演出结束了，然而只有妈妈陪着玛丽离开现场，爸爸没有来，她有些难过。但当她打开车门时，看到车上有张纸条和一幅画，画上是她和爸爸一起跳舞的场景，纸条上写着：“你跳得太棒了，是我见过最美的，你让我感到无比自豪。我在咱们常去的餐厅等你。”

玛丽立刻激动极了，泪流满面。这样的情境也许不足为道，但至少在这个夜晚，舞蹈让一家人再次团聚了。