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

 

影片对白：

Janitor: Mike O'Donnell.

Mike: Do I know you?

Janitor: No. But I know you.

Mike: Oh, yeah?

Janitor: High school star. Never quite lived up to your potential. Sooner or later you all come back to the old school. Stand there and look at the picture of the glory days, wondering what might have been. Seems to me you guys are living in the past.

Mike: Well, of course I want to live in the past. It was better there.

Janitor: I'll bet you wish you had it to do all over again.

Mike: Huh. You got that right.

Janitor: You're sure about that?

Mike: Oh, yeah.

Maggie: Dad.

Girls: Hi, Mr. O'Donnell.

Mike: Ladies.

Maggie: What are you doing here?

Mike: Oh, I was just talking to...nobody. Doesn't matter. I got off work early, and I thought maybe we could go for some ice cream.

Maggie: Together? Why?

Mike: Just go get your brother, okay?

Waitress: Do you need anything else?

Mike: No, we're fine. What's the matter, Maggie? This used to be your favorite place. We used to come here for your birthday.

Maggie: Yeah, when I was, like, 8.

Mike: So, Al, basketball season's coming up. You ready?

Al: Yeah.

Mike: Been working on that outside shot?

Al: Mm-hm.

Mike: Passing?

Al: Good.

Mike: Dribbling?

Al: Really good.

Mike: Good's not going to get you a scholarship.

Al: I meant, it's great. It's great, Dad. It's great.

Mike: That's my boy. Remember, it's not how big you are.

Al: It's how big you play.

Mike: Right up here.

Al: Uh, Maggie got into Georgetown.

Mike: Maggie, that's awesome. Can you turn down the? (They arrive home) Okay, guys, see you soon. Love you. Nice chatting with you. (He meets his wife) What the hell are you doing? What the hell are you doing?! Hey, that's my stuff. Why are you destroying our yard?

Scarlet: It's not our yard. It's my yard, remember? You took the road not taken. And I get the yard. I'm going to turn it into a showpiece for my clients.

Mike: Clients of what?

Scarlet: Landscape design.

Mike: Landscape design?

Scarlet: I'm going to show people what I can do.

Mike: Yeah, well, the divorce isn't final for another two weeks, so you have no right.

Scarlet: Really? So I've spent the last 18 years of my life listening to you whine about all the things you could've done without me, and I have no right?

Mike: It's just I put a lot of work into this yard.

Scarlet: Did you? Really? Like the barbeque pit?

Mike: Yeah.

Scarlet: Yeah. The way I remember that is that you spent about an hour working on it, and then you spent the next two days complaining about if you had gone to college, you could've hired someone else to do it.

Mike: I don't think it was a whole two days.

Scarlet: Or the hammock over here.

Mike: Yeah.

Scarlet: Yeah. I think you quit that one because you just decided not to try anymore.

Mike: Look, try to see things from my point of view. I am extremely disappointed with my life.

Scarlet: I never asked you to marry me.

Mike: Yeah, but I did.

Scarlet: Well, you don't have to do me any more favors, then. We're not going to hold each other back anymore, okay?

Mike: Scar...

Scarlet: I'll see you at court, okay? At the trial.

Naomi: Scarlet.

Scarlet: Naomi! You came.

Naomi: Of course I came. What kind of bridesmaid would I be if I didn't hold your hand during the divorce? Now, just remember. The first one's always the hardest. Mike.

Mike: Naomi.

Naomi: Naomi.

Mike: I don't care.

Naomi: Let's get going. We got to get you ready. We got to get you back on the market.

Scarlet: Yeah, I'm a real catch. Single mom with two teenage kids and manure caked under my fingernails.

Naomi: Come on. You'll do great. You got the butt of a 12-year-old boy.

Mike: Oh, that's terrific. I hope our daughter heard that.

Naomi: Ugh. When was the last time you waxed?

Scarlet: Bye, Mike.

Mike: Bye.[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. live up to: 实践，不辜负，与……相配。影片中白胡子老人一语道破麦克心中的遗憾，即他一直认为自己不曾充分发挥自己的潜能。看一下例子：

The new house didn't live up to expectations.（这幢新房子没有预期的好。）

His wife was so clever that he felt he could never live up to her.

他的妻子那么聪明，他感到自己怎么也配不上她。

2. glory days: 往日的美好时光；昔日的辉煌。

3. get off work: 下班。也可以用knock off来表示“下班，收工”。例如：

What time do you knock off for lunch?（你什么时候中断工作吃午饭？）

4. outside shot: 外线投篮。

5. passing: 传球。

6. dribbling: 运球。

7. showpiece: （供展示用的）样品。

8.whine (about): 发牢骚。从Scarlet的话我们可以知道，Mike以前动不动就发牢骚说，自己当初如果没有和Scarlet结婚、被保送大学的话，今天就不会是这个样子。看一下例子：

Don't be a baby and whine about trifles.

别为芝麻大的事儿嘀咕个没完耍小孩子脾气了。

9. hold each other back: 妨碍对方。hold back有“阻挡，阻止……前进”的意思。例如：He was held back from further promotion.（他没得到进一步的提升。）

10. catch: 值得看重的婚配对象，值得获得的人（或物）。看一下例子：

Beatrice was marrying the catch of the season.

比阿特丽斯即将同那个活跃于当年社交季节的红人结婚。[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. 你应当遵守诺言。

________________________________________
2. 咱们现在歇一会儿吧。

________________________________________
3. 有些人总是为一些鸡毛蒜皮的事而不停地发牢骚。

________________________________________
4. 警察拦住人群。

________________________________________
5. 乔治年轻有为，是个不可多得的人才。

________________________________________

 

答案见下期

《重回17岁》精讲之一 参考答案

1. The crowd waited patiently while the teams warmed up.
2. The party warmed up when she came.
3. Hang on a minute while I look it up.
4. Hang on at your present job until you can get another.[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

中年危机 Midlife crisis

 

 

Midlife crisis is a term coined in 1965 by Elliott Jaques and used in Western societies to describe a period of dramatic self-doubt that is felt by some individuals in the "middle years" or middle age of life, as a result of sensing the passing of their own youth and the imminence of their old age. Sometimes, a crisis can be triggered by transitions experienced in these years, such as extramarital affairs, andropause(男性更年期) or menopause(绝经期), the death of parents or other causes of grief, unemployment or underemployment, realizing that a job or career is hated but not knowing how else to earn an equivalent living, or children leaving home. The result may be a desire to make significant changes in core aspects of day-to-day life or situation, such as in career, work-life balance, marriage, romantic relationships, big-ticket expenditures, or physical appearance.

Academic research since the 1980s rejects the notion of midlife crisis as a phase that most adults go through. In one study, fewer than 10% of people in the United States had psychological crises due to their age or ageing. Personality type and a history of psychological crisis are believed to predispose some people to this "traditional" midlife crisis. People going through this suffer a variety of symptoms and exhibit a disparate range of behaviors.

Many middle aged adults experience major life events that can cause a period of psychological stress or depression, such as the death of a loved one, or a career setback. However, those events could have happened earlier or later in life, making them a "crisis," but not necessarily a midlife one. In the same study, 15% of middle-aged adults experienced this type of midlife turmoil.

Some studies indicate that some cultures may be more sensitive to this phenomenon than others, one study found that there is little evidence that people undergo midlife crises in Japanese and Indian cultures, raising the question of whether a midlife crises is mainly a cultural construct. The authors hypothesized that the "culture of youth" in Western societies accounts for the popularity of the midlife crisis concept there.

Researchers have found that midlife is often a time for reflection and reassessment, but this is not always accompanied by the psychological upheaval popularly associated with "midlife crisis."

For the approximately 10% of middle aged adults who go through an age-related midlife crisis, the condition is most common ranging from the ages of 30-60 (a large study in the 1990s found that the average age at onset of a self-described midlife crisis was 46). Midlife crises last about 3–10 years in men and 2–5 years in women.

A midlife crisis could be caused by aging itself, or aging in combination with changes, problems, or regrets over:

* work or career

* spousal relationships

* maturation of children

* aging or death of parents

* physical changes associated with aging

Midlife crises seem to affect men and women differently. Researchers have proposed that the triggers for mid-life crisis differ between men and women, with male mid-life crisis more likely to be caused by work issues.

Some have hypothesized that another cause of the male mid-life crisis is the imminent menopause of the female partner and end of her reproductive career.

Individuals experiencing a mid-life crisis have some of these feelings:

* search of an undefined dream or goal

* a deep sense of remorse for goals not accomplished

* desire to achieve a feeling of youthfulness

* need to spend more time alone or with certain peers

They exhibit some of these behaviors:

* abuse of alcohol

* acquisition of unusual or expensive items such as motorbikes, boats, clothing, sports cars, jewelry, gadgets, tattoos, piercings, etc.

* depression

* blaming themselves for their failures.

* paying special attention to physical appearance such as covering baldness, wearing "younger" designer clothes etc.

* entering relationships with younger people (either/or sexual, professional, parental, etc.)

* placing overimportance (and possibly a psychologically damaging amount) on their children to excel in areas such as sports, arts or academics.