第一页：片段欣赏
第二页：巧学口语
第三页：小小翻译家
第四页：文化一瞥

 

精彩对白

Natalie: Never?

Ryan: No.

Natalie: Ever?

Ryan: No.

Natalie: You never want to get married?

Ryan: Nope.

Natalie: Never want kids?

Ryan: Not a chance.

Natalie: Ever?

Ryan: Never. Is that so bizarre? 

Natalie: Yes. Yes, it is.

Ryan: I just don't see the value in it. All right, sell it to me. 

Natalie: What?

Ryan: Sell me marriage.

Natalie: Okay, how about love? Stability, just somebody you can count on.

Ryan: How many stable marriages do you know?

Natalie: Somebody to talk to, someone to spend your life with.

Ryan: I'm surrounded by people to talk to. I doubt that's going to change.

Natalie: How about just not dying alone?

Ryan: Starting when I was 12, we moved each one of my grandparents into a nursing facility. My parents went the same way. Make no mistake, we all die alone. Now, those cult members in San Diego with the Kool-Aid and the sneakers, they didn't die alone. I'm just saying there are options.

Natalie: Brian left me.

Ryan: All right. Okay, okay. All right. All right. Yeah. Hey. Natalie, this is Alex, my friend. This is Natalie.

Alex: I should give you both a moment.

Natalie: No. No, that's fine. I'm fine. It's a pleasure to meet you.

Ryan: We should just all go up to our rooms and freshen up.

Alex: Or maybe a drink?

Natalie: Now you're talking.

Alex: He broke up with you over text message?

Ryan: It's kind of like firing someone over the Internet.

Alex: What a weaselly prick.

Natalie: Yeah. But what does that make me? Someone who falls for a prick. 

Alex: We all fall for them. Pricks are spontaneous, they're unpredictable, and they're fun. And then we're surprised when they turn out to be pricks.

Natalie: I followed him to Omaha.

Ryan: You did?

Natalie: I had a job waiting for me in San Francisco when he got an offer from ConAgra. He said we could start a life together. So, I followed him.

Ryan: To Nebraska?

Natalie: I thought I'd be engaged by now. No offense.

Ryan: None taken.

Natalie: When I was 16, I thought by 23 I'd be married, maybe have a kid, corner office by day, entertaining at night. I was supposed to be driving a Grand Cherokee by now.

Alex: Yeah, life can underwhelm you that way.

Natalie: I mean, where did you think you'd be by...

Alex: It doesn't work that way.

Ryan: At a certain point, you stop with the deadlines.

Alex: It can be a little counterproductive.

Natalie: I don't want to say anything that's anti-feminist. I really appreciate everything that your generation did for me.

Alex: It was our pleasure.

Ryan: Well done.

Natalie: But sometimes it feels like no matter how much success I have, it's not gonna matter until I find the right guy.

Alex: You really thought this guy was the one?

Natalie: I could have made it work. He... He really fit the bill. You know?

Ryan: The bill?

Natalie: White-collar, college grad, loves dogs, likes funny movies, 6'1", brown hair, kind eyes, works in finance but is outdoorsy, you know, on the weekends. I always imagined he'd have a single syllable name like Matt or John or Dave. In a perfect world, he drives a 4Runner. And the only thing he loves more than me is his golden Lab. And a nice smile. What about you?

Alex: Let me think. You know, honestly, by the time you're 34, all the physical requirements just go out the window. I mean, like, you secretly pray that he'll be taller than you, and not an asshole would be nice. Just someone who enjoys my company, comes from a good family. Because you don't think about that when you're younger. I don't know. Someone who wants kids. Likes kids. Wants kids. Healthy enough to play with his kids. Please let him earn more money than I do. You might not understand that now, but believe me, you will one day. Otherwise, that's a recipe for disaster. And hopefully some hair on his head, but, I mean, even that's not a deal breaker these days. A nice smile. Yeah, a nice smile. Nice smile just might do it.

Natalie: Wow, that was depressing. I should just date women. 

Alex: Tried it. We're no picnic ourselves.

Natalie: I don't mind being married to my career, and I don't expect it to hold me in bed as I fall asleep. I just don't want to settle.

Alex: You're young. Right now you see settling as some sort of a failure.

Natalie: It is, by definition.

Alex: Yeah. But by the time someone is right for you, it won't feel like settling.And the only person left to judge you will be the 23-year-old girl with a target on your back.[page]

第一页：片段欣赏
第二页：巧学口语
第三页：小小翻译家
第四页：文化一瞥

1. make no mistake: 别搞错。完全可以肯定。

例如：The policeman made no mistake that Jack was the murderer in this case.（警察完全确定Jack是这个案子的凶手。）

2. cult:（有极端宗教信仰的）异教团体。

3. fresh up：使精神饱满，也可以表示“梳洗一番”。

4. weaselly: 狡猾的。

Weasel做名词时用来指“黄鼠狼”，引申开来，还可以表示“告密者、狡猾的人”，以及“逃避、推诿”的行为。 例如：Their boss escaped to weasel out of his responsibility.（他们的老板为逃避责任溜走了。）

5. prick：刺，刺痛。

来看看这些带“刺”的短语吧。

prick your conscience; your conscience pricks：唤醒良心；受到良心谴责。

prick (up) your ears：（动物）竖起耳朵；（人）倾耳细听。

6. fall for：爱上，倾心。

例如：They met, fell for each other and got married six weeks later.（他们俩一见倾心，六个星期后就结了婚。）

7. no offense：无意冒犯。

8. none taken: 没事，没关系。这里是对上文“ 无意冒犯”的回应。

9. counterproductive：事与愿违，适得其反。

10.anti-feminist：反对女权主义的人，反男女平等主义的人。Feminist就是指“女权主义者”。　

11.fit the bill：符合要求，也可以说成fill the bill。

12.outdoorsy：爱好户外活动的，户外生活的。

13.deal breaker：交易破坏者。艾丽克斯这里的意思是“不过，现在人们不会介意这个”。

14.no picnic：不容易，不是轻松的事。

例如：Bringing up a family when you are unemployed is no picnic.（失了业又要养家，这可不轻松。）[page]

第一页：片段欣赏
第二页：巧学口语
第三页：小小翻译家
第四页：文化一瞥

 

1.无意冒犯。

________________________
2.我不想说反对女权主义的话。

_________________________
3.他非常符合要求。

_________________________
4.不过，现在人们不会介意这个。

_________________________

答案见下期

Up in the air《在云端》精讲之四 参考答案

1.He just waltzes in and cuts in line?
2.Are you talking about, like, frequent flyer miles?
3.My sister is kooky. She thinks this is charming.
4.That domed main terminal, it's the first of its kind.[page]

第一页：片段欣赏
第二页：巧学口语
第三页：小小翻译家
第四页：文化一瞥

 

娜塔莉说，她并不想说反对女权主义的话。那么什么是女权主义呢？这种理论又是怎么来的呢？来看看下面这段介绍吧。

女权主义

女权主义是指一个主要以女性经验为来源与动机的社会理论与政治运动。在对社会关系进行批判之外，许多女权主义的支持者也着重于性别不平等的分析以及推动妇女的权利、利益与议题。女权主义理论的目的在于了解不平等的本质以及着重在性别政治、权力关系与性意识之上。女权主义探究的主题则包括歧视、刻板印象、物化（尤其是关于性的物化）、身体、家务分配、压迫与父权。

女权主义（Feminism）源自西方，译文理解成一个主要以女性经验为来源与动机的社会理论与政治运动。 Feminism一词最早出现在法国，意味着妇女解放，后传到英美，逐渐流行起来。五四时，传到中国，定为女权主义。在西方，最初是指追求男女平等，首先是争取选举权。20世纪20－30年代，西方国家的妇女，基本上都争取到平等的政治权利，但在社会生活与人们的观念中，仍与男子不平等。女权主义者开始认识到，这其中有一个性别关系，性别权力的问题，所以女权运动就变为分析男女为何不平等，男女的权力架构，强调性别分析。

中国的女权主义，是指女性争取与男性平等，体现女性自我精神与能量的一种女性思想、社会言论及政治协助行为。男女平等是女权主义最基本的目标，在争取与男性平等的同时，女性还要注重自我的价值表现，展示女性的独特魅力，挖掘并发挥女性的社会力量，为社会各阶层女性的思想与行为解放而努力。

后现代女权主义开始于上个世纪60-80年代，其产生大概和两个因素有关，一是由于60年代的“性解放”和将男女对立起来的女权思想，带来了无数的家庭破裂，单亲母亲，问题儿童和艾滋病流行，于是人们反思：社会值不值得为性解放和女权主义付出那么大的代价？另一个因素是，80年代以后，越来越多的女人占据了政府企业学校传媒的领导地位，当了老板，男人们惊呼：母鸡打鸣了！女人也开始怀疑：还会不会生蛋？于是，后现代的女权应运而生。

如果说第二代的“现代女权主义” 重实践，则第三代的“后现代女权主义”更重视超出女性范围的哲学思考，社会主义和性自由的色彩更浓厚。