外研版选修三册第二单元阅读讲解

Unit 2 A life's work

第14页阅读讲解

Life Behind the Lens
镜头背后的人生

1 A white-haired old man riding an ordinary bicycle around the streets of New York, always wearing the same blue worker's jacket and simple black running shoes. If you saw him, you'd never think there was anything remarkable about him. And yet every member of New York's wealthy high society wanted nothing more than to pose for this man.
一位白发老人总是穿着一件蓝色工装夹克和样式简单的黑色跑鞋，骑着一辆普通的自行车在纽约街头穿梭。如果你看到他，你不会觉得他有任何引人注目的地方。然而，纽约富裕的上流社会中每一个人都想着对他摆姿势、请他拍照。

2 This ordinary-looking man was Bill Cunningham, one of the most important American photographers of the last 50 years.
这位看起来普普通通的人就是比尔·坎宁安，美国近五十年来最重要的摄影师之一。

3 What made Cunningham so great? It certainly wasn't the use of expensive, technologicallyadvanced equipment. Cunningham always used simple, relatively cheap cameras and took all his pictures on the streets of New York, not in a studio. Nor was it a wide range of contacts and connections. Although he always knew where fashionable parties and events were happening, Cunningham liked to photograph ordinary people in the poor Bronx as much as VIPs in rich Manhattan. He found inspiration where others could not, in simple, everyday scenes, such as a man buying oranges at the local grocery store, or a woman riding home on the graffiticovered subway. These things were real, and it was within their reality that Cunningham saw both beauty and potential. Through his fascination with what people were wearing, and not who they were, he opened the doors of fashion to everyone – fashion as he saw it belonged to the people, not just to high society and big brands.
是什么使得坎宁安享有如此盛誉？当然不是因为他用了昂贵先进的设备。坎宁安总是使用简单、相对便宜的相机，他所有照片的拍摄地都是纽约的街道，而不是摄影棚。也不是因为他交友广泛，识人无数。虽然他总是知道时尚聚会和大型活动举办的地点，但无论是对于在贫穷的布朗克斯拍摄普通人，还是在富裕的曼哈顿拍摄贵宾，他都同样喜欢。他能在一些简单的日常场景中得到其他人无法得到的灵感，比如一个在当地杂货店买橘子的男人，或是一个乘坐画满涂鸦的地铁回家的女人。这些东西是真实的，在这种真实中，坎宁安看到了美好和潜力。他用自己迷恋的对象——关注人们穿什么，而不是这些人是谁——向所有人打开了时尚的大门。早他看来，时尚属于民众，而不仅仅属于上流社会和大品牌。

4 Moreover, what made Cunningham great was his devotion to photography, and the hours and hours of sheer hard work he put into his work. Cunningham would go out onto the streets of New York each and every day, regardless of the weather. He would even stay outside in a storm, not coming back until he knew he had the right photos. He hardly ever took a day off and not once stayed home sick. This devotion and hard work is what we see reflected within his photos. This is what makes them so special.
此外，坎宁安的伟大之处还在于他对摄影的奉献精神，以及他在工作中投入的大量时间和精力。不管天如何，坎宁安每天都会走上纽约的街头。甚至在暴风雨时，他也会待在外面，直到他认为自己已经拍摄到满意的照片才回家。他几乎从未休过一天假，也从未因病待在家中。我们可以从他的照片中看到这种奉献和努力。这就是使得这些照片如此与众不同的原因。

5 Although he was a world-famous fashion photographer, Cunningham's approach to life was uncomplicated. He lived in a small apartment with a shared washroom. A simple restaurant was where he usually had the same meal of sausages, eggs and coffee.
虽然坎宁安是一位世界著名的时尚摄影师，但他的生活方式却并不复杂。他住在一间与其他人共用浴室的小公寓里。他经常到一家简单的餐馆吃同样的食物，有香肠、鸡蛋和咖啡。

6 Cunningham never accepted the benefits offered to him for being a fashion photographer. He valued his integrity and would not be bought by anyone, no matter how many free clothes or flights to faraway destinations he was offered. And if he went to a celebrity party, he was there to work rather than have fun. “Money's the cheapest thing,” he once said, then added: “... freedom is the most expensive.” This lack of self-interest and promotion kept Cunningham focused on his craft, enabling him to capture New York's unique street style.
作为时尚摄影师，坎宁安从未接受过这个职业带给他的好处。他珍视自己的正直，不为任何人所动摇，无论提供给他多少免费衣物或远程航班。而且如果他去参加名人聚会，他是去工作而不是玩乐。“钱是最不值钱的东西,"他曾说,“.....由是最昂贵的。”对自身利益和升迁毫不关注，这使坎宁安能够专注于自己的技能，捕捉到纽约独特的街头风格。

7 Cunningham's passion for photography lasted throughout his life. He was 87 when he passed away, and had been working right up until his last illness. Nothing ever stopped him from getting the photo he wanted. His hard work made him more than a fashion photographer – he was a “cultural anthropologist”, who we can thank for recording the life of a whole city and its people over half a century. Bill Cunningham was an observer, and not one of the observed, a worker not a star – and this was how he wanted it.
坎宁安对摄影的热爱贯穿他的一生。他在87岁时与世长辞，一直到最后生病前他都在工作。没有什么能阻挡他拍到想要的照片。他的辛勤工作使他不仅是一名时尚摄影师——他更是一位“文化人类学家”，我们感谢他记录了整个城市及其人民长达半个世纪的生活。比尔·坎宁安是一位观察者，而不是位被观察者，是一名劳动者而不是一个明星—而这正是他想要的。

第20页阅读讲解

MASTERS OF TIME
时间大师

1 In the quiet courtyards of Xi San Suo, behind the high walls of the Forbidden City, time ticks at its own pace. If it hadn't been for a three-episode documentary, outsiders would never have known that the plainly-dressed people working here are masters of their craft, who have spent their lives restoring precious antiques. Among these is the clock restoration master, Wang Jin.
在紫禁城高墙内西三所安静的庭院里，时间按着自己的节奏流逝着。要不是那三集纪录片，外面的人永远也不会知道，在这里工作的那些衣着朴素的人竟然都是精于各门技艺的大师，他们毕生都在修复珍贵的古董。这其中便包括钟表修复大师王津。

2 Walking through the seven crimson gates towards his workplace, Wang Jin still regards himself as an ordinary worker in the Palace Museum, although now he is often stopped by admirers wanting their photo taken with him. Day in, day out, Mr Wang and his students spend their time restoring clocks dating back hundreds of years. But for quite some time, he and his student Qi Haonan used to be the only two people repairing timepieces in the Palace Museum.
王津穿过七重深红色的大门，走向自己的工作地点。尽管现在他经常被想和他合影的粉丝拦住，他仍然认为自己是故宫博物院的一名普通工人。王先生和他的学生们日复一日地修复着数百年前的钟表，但在过去相当长的一段时间里，故宫博物院修理钟表的工匠只有他和他的学生斤昊楠。

3 Qing emperors were very fond of clocks. Therefore, in order to please them, foreign envoys presented these emperors with the most intricate and splendid timepieces. Today, the Palace Museum has one of the most significant collections of timepieces in the world, mainly originating from Europe and China. With objects ranging from small pocket watches to clocks over one metre in height, each of these requires its own unique method of restoration. Given the complexity of the work and the lack of necessary materials, this means that each expert can work on a maximum of two large pieces a year. But, through their painstaking efforts, Mr Wang and his students do more than repair the clocks – they bring them back to life.
清朝的皇帝们十分喜欢钟表。因此，外国使节们把最精致、最华丽的钟表送给这些皇帝来取悦他们。如今，故宫博物院拥有一部分世界上最重要的钟表藏品，这些钟表主要来自欧洲和中国。小到怀表，大到超过一米高的钟表，每一件都有其独特的修复方法。工作的复杂性和必要材料的缺乏意味着每位专家每年最多只能修复两件大型钟表。但是，王先生和他的学生们通过艰苦的努力不只是修复了钟表——他们还让钟表恢复了生命。

4 The only sound to break the silence in Wang Jin's workshop is the chiming melody of the repaired and polished clocks. To Wang Jin it is the most beautiful music in the world. Now, after eight months of endless adjustments, the time has finally come for Mr Wang to wind up the gigantic clocks that date back to the time of Emperor Qianlong. The intricately fashioned objects that have stood still for centuries instantly come back to life: water flows, boats sail, dogs bark, chickens flap their wings and a woman starts to spin. It is a truly awe-inspiring moment. It is suddenly clear that when the clock masters say that “these antiques have lives”, it is neither an exaggeration nor a metaphor.
在王津的工作坊里，唯一能打破寂静的声音是在修理、抛光钟表时发出的报时的旋律。对王津来说，这是世界上最美的音乐。经过八个月无休止的调整，王先生现在终于进行到了为乾隆皇帝时代的巨型钟表上弦的时候。那些已经静止了几个世纪的造型复杂的摆件瞬间复活了：水流动着，船航行着，狗吠叫着，鸡拍动着翅膀，一个女人纺着线。这真是一个令人惊叹的时刻。人们突然明白，当钟表大师们说“这些古董有生命”时，这既不是夸张，也不是比喻。

5 But, despite the combined work of several generations of masters, it seems unlikely that the restoration of the clocks will ever be complete. Even if every clock in the Palace Museum were restored, there would still be work to do, because restoration would probably need to begin again on the clocks that were repaired long ago. This is a race against time that can never be won! Nonetheless, Mr Wang remains optimistic about the future of these timepieces. Following in the footsteps of his own teacher all those years ago, Mr Wang has now passed on his skills to the new members, who will take on many of the future repairs. What's more, inspired to follow in his father's footsteps, Mr Wang's son now has also taken up repairing antique clocks. This new generation of artisans will not only help preserve traditional skills; the innovation they bring to the craft will also ensure that the art of clock repairing stands the test of time.
但是，尽管经过了几代大师的共同努力，钟表的修复似乎永远不可能完成。即使故宫博物院的每一件钟表都被修复了，仍然有工作要做，因为可能需要重新开始对很久以前修复的钟表进行修复。这是一场与时间的寒跑，却永远不可能赢！尽管如此，王先生对这些钟表的未来仍持乐观态度。多年前，王先生继承了师父的事业，而现在他将自己的技艺传授给了将承担未来许多修复工作的新成员。更重要的是，在继承父业这一壮志的激励下，王先生的儿子现在也开始修复古董钟表。新一代的工匠不仅能够协助保留传统技艺，他们给技艺带来的创新也将确保钟表修复去术能够经得起时间的考验。

6 In today's fast-paced world, the saying that “time waits for no man” has never seemed more apt. Yet inside the hidden courtyards of Xi San Suo, there is something timeless about the way Mr Wang and his colleagues sedately piece together the past with skilful hands and modest hearts. It is as if they have become one with their craft and with the history of the country.
在当今快节奏的世界里， “时间不等人”的说法似乎再贴切不过了。然而，在西三所的隐秘庭院里，王先生和他的同事们用灵巧的双手和谦逊的心沉着地拼凑着过去，带来了永恒，好像他们已经与自己的技艺和这个国家的历史融为了一体。