Books Are People,Too!

一沁供稿翻译：范婕

你有想过书籍也有生命吗？在书架上、在床头、在你手上，书籍们可能正在自顾自地上演着小剧场……嘘！这个秘密或许会让阅读变得更有趣哦！来看看书籍拯救达人巴鲁什先生的故事吧！

A man was accused of failing to return more than 700 children’s books to fi ve different libraries. He was1)released from2)jail yesterday after a book3)publisher agreed to post his bond of $1,000. The publisher said, “There’s a story here. This is a man who loves books. Mr. Barush just can’t let go of them. He hasn’t stolen a single book. So what’s the crime? We plan to publish his story.”

When asked why he didn’t return the books, Mr. Barush said, “Well, how could I?They became family to me. I was afraid to return them, because I knew that kids or dogs would get hold of these books and chew them up, throw them around,4)rip the pages,5)spill soda on them and drown them in the toilet.”

He continued, “Books are people, too! They talk to you, they take care of you,and they6)enrich you with wisdom and humor and love. A book is my7)guest in my home. How could I kick it out? I8)repaired9)torn pages. I10)dusted them with a soft clean cloth. I turned their pages so they could get some fresh air. ”

“Every week I11)reorganized them on their shelves so they could meet new friends. My books were happy books. Now they’re all back in the library, on the lower shelves, on the floors, at the mercy of all those runny-nosed kids. I can hear them calling me! I need to12)rescue them. Excuse me. I have to go now.”

参考译文

一个男子从五所不同的图书馆借走了七百多本儿童书，因未归还而受到指控。有位图书出版商答应帮他缴纳一千美元的保释金，该男子于昨日得以释放。这位出版商说：“这背后有个故事值得讲一讲。巴鲁什先生是个热爱书籍的人，他只是舍不得送走那些书，并没有偷过一本，所以何罪之有呢？我们计划出版他的故事。”

当被问到为何不归还书籍时，巴鲁什先生说：“啊，我怎么能那样做呢？它们已经成了我的家人，我不敢把它们还给图书馆了，因为我知道小孩或者狗狗抓起它们就放在嘴里咬，随处乱扔，撕下书页，还会把汽水洒在上面，甚至丢到厕所里。”

他接着说：“书也是人啊！它们和你说话，它们关心你，它们用智慧、幽默和爱充实你。一本书就是一位来访的客人，我怎么能把它从家里踢出去呢？我修复损坏的书页，用干净柔软的毛巾为一本本书掸去灰尘，还把它们一页页翻开，让它们呼吸新鲜空气。”

“每星期我都会调整书架上书籍的摆放位置，让它们认识新伙伴。书们在我这里很开心。现在它们全都回到了图书馆，被放在低层的架子上，被丢在地上，被那些流鼻涕的孩子随意摆布。我能听见它们在呼唤我！我要救它们。不好意思，我得去了。”

词组加油站

be accused of 被指控犯有……罪

post one’s bond 为……交保证金

let go of… 放开……

chew…up 嚼碎……

kick…out 把……逐出去

at the mercy of 受……支配，任凭……摆布

名师考点小结

1. more than意为“超过，多于”，相当于over，其后常与数词连用。例如：

He is more than fi fty years old. 他50多岁了。

拓展：more…than…意为“……比……多”。

There are more girls than boys in our class. 在我们班，女孩比男孩多。

2. agree to意为“同意，赞同”。后常接表示“建议”或“计划”的名词；接动词原形时构成动词不定式结构。例如：

He agrees to go there. 他同意去那儿。

拓展：

(1) agree with指“意见一致”，后面常接表示“人”的主语或宾语从句，也可以接表示“意见”和“看法”的词。

We all agree with him. 我们都同意他的意见。

(2) disagree是agree的反义词，相当于not agree。例如：

I disagree.=I don’t agree. 我不赞成。

3. take care of是固定短语，意为“照看，照顾”，其同义短语为look after。例如：You must take care of/look after your grandma. 你必须好好照顾你的祖母。

拓展：“Take care!”意为“小心！”。例如：

Take care! There is a dog near you. 当心！你身边有只狗。

1) release [rɪ'liːs] v. 释放

2) jail [dʒeɪl] n. 监狱，拘留所

3) publisher ['pʌblɪʃə] n. 出版商

4) rip [rɪp] v. 扯破，撕坏

5) spill [spɪl] v. 洒出，泼出

6) enrich [ɪn'rɪtʃ] v. 充实，丰富

7) guest [ɡest] n. 客人，嘉宾

8) repair [rɪ'peə] v. 修理

9) tear [teə] v. 撕裂

10) dust [dʌst] v. 擦去灰尘

11) reorganize [rɪ'ɔːɡənɑɪz] v. 重新安排

12) rescue ['reskjuː] v. 营救，救援