Lesson 50 New Year resolutions
新年的決心
Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題。
What marked the end of the writer's New Year resolutions?
The New Year is a time for resolutions.
新年是下決心的時候，
Mentally, at least, most of us could compile formidable lists of 'dos' and 'don'ts'.
至少在大多數(shù)人的心里會編排出一份“應(yīng)做什么”和“不應(yīng)做什么”的令人生畏的單子。
The same old favorites recur year in year out with monotonous regularity.
相同的決心以單調(diào)的規(guī)律年復(fù)一年地出現(xiàn)。
We resolve to get up earlier each morning, eat less,
我們決心每天早晨起得早些；吃得少些；
find more time to play with the children, do a thousand and one jobs about the house,
多花點時間與孩子們一起做游戲；做大量的家務(wù)；
be nice to people we don't like, drive carefully, and take the dog for a walk every day.
對不喜歡的人友善一些；小心駕車；每天都要帶著狗散步；等等。
Past experience has taught us that certain accomplishments are beyond attainment.
以往的經(jīng)驗告訴我們有些事是辦不到的。
If we remain inveterate smokers, it is only because we have so often experienced the frustration that results from failure.
如果我們煙癮大，戒不掉，那是因為屢戒屢敗，失去了信心。
Most of us fail in our efforts at self-improvement because our schemes are too ambitious and we never have time to carry them out.
我們大多數(shù)人想自我完善卻遭到失敗，這是因為我們的規(guī)劃過于宏大，而又根本沒有時間去實施。
We also make the fundamental error of announcing our resolutions to everybody
我們還犯有一個根本性的錯誤，即把我們的決心向大家宣布。
so that we look even more foolish when we slip back into our bad old ways.
這樣一旦滑回到那些*慣上去，我們在別人的眼里會顯得更加難堪。
Aware of these pitfalls, this year I attempted to keep my resolutions to myself.
我深知這些問題，于是，今年我對自己的計劃要嚴(yán)加保密，
I limited myself to two modest ambitions: to do physical exercise every morning and to read more of an evening.
只給自己定下兩項適中的任務(wù)；每天早上鍛煉身體，每天晚上多看點書。
An all-night party on New Year's Eve provided me with a good excuse for not carrying out either of these new resolutions on the first day of the year,
新年除夕舉辦的一次通宵晚會，使我理直氣壯地在新年頭一天免去了這兩項任務(wù)。
but on the second, I applied myself assiduously to the task.
不過，新年第二天，我全力以赴地照著去做了。
The daily exercises lasted only eleven minutes and I proposed to do them early in the morning before anyone had got up.
早鍛煉一共只有11分鐘，我打算在別人起床之前進(jìn)行。
The self-discipline required to drag myself out of bed eleven minutes earlier than usual was considerable.
這就要求我比平時早11分鐘把自己從床上拽起來，這種自我約束是很艱苦的。
Nevertheless, I managed to creep down into the living room for two days before anyone found me out.
不過開頭兩天我還是成功地躡手躡腳地來到樓下起居室，被誰也沒發(fā)現(xiàn)。
After jumping about on the carpet and twisting the human frame into uncomfortable positions,
我在地毯上跳過來蹦過去，扭曲身子，擺出各種姿勢，弄得渾身不舒服，
I sat down at the breakfast table in an exhausted condition.
然后坐到桌邊吃早飯，一副筋疲力盡的樣子。
It was this that betrayed me.
正是這副模樣泄露了我的秘密。
The next morning the whole family trooped in to watch the performance.
第二天早晨全家人結(jié)隊來到起居室看我表演。
That was really unsettling, but I fended off the taunts and jibes of the family good-humouredly and soon everybody got used to the idea.
這真叫人不好意思，但我心平氣和地頂住了全家人的嘲笑和奚落。不久，大家對我習(xí)以為常了，
However, my enthusiasm waned.
而這時我的熱情卻減退了。
The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished.
我花在鍛煉上的時間逐漸減少，
Little by little the eleven minutes fell to zero.
慢慢地從11分鐘減到了零。
By January 10th, I was back to where I had started from.
到了1月10日，我恢復(fù)了原來的作息時間。
I argued that if I spent less time exhausting myself at exercises in the morning, I would keep my mind fresh for reading when I got home from work.
我辯解說，早晨少耗費精力鍛煉，晚上下班回家看書時頭腦更清醒些。
Resisting the hypnotizing effect of television, I sat in my room for a few evenings with my eyes glued to a book.
有幾天晚上，我極力擺脫了電視的誘惑，坐在自己的房間里，兩眼盯在書上。
One night, however, feeling cold and lonely, I went downstairs and sat in front of the television pretending to read.
可是，有一天夜里，我感到又冷又孤單，便來到樓下坐在電視機(jī)前假裝看書。
That proved to be my undoing, for I soon got back to my old bad habit of dozing off in front of the screen.
這下我可完了，因為不一會兒，我就恢復(fù)了以前的壞習(xí)慣，在屏幕前打起瞌睡來。
I still haven't given up my resolution to do more reading.
但我還沒有放棄多看些書的決心。
In fact, I have just bought a book entitled How to Read a Thousand Words a Minute.
事實上，我剛買來一本叫《一分鐘讀一千字的訣竅》的書。
Perhaps it will solve my problem, but I just haven't had time to read it!
也許這本書能解決我的問題，但我一直還沒時間去看這本書！