中学三年级 · 阅读系列
Lesson 53 · A Story Told in Two Languages
文体:家庭记录 · 朗读音轨 53

先听一遍
听听祖母为什么说,那句关于喝茶的话不只是请她喝茶。
展开英文短文,再悬停查词
My grandmother told me a story about the day she moved to this town. She began in Japanese, then switched to English when she described the neighbor who had welcomed her.
“She said, ‘Come in whenever you need a cup of tea,’” Grandmother recalled. I tried to translate it word for word. Grandmother stopped me. “It meant more than tea. She was saying I did not have to be alone.”
We wrote the story together for a family album. I kept the English sentence and added a short note in Japanese about what it meant to her. A sentence can be translated, but a person's reason for remembering it may need an extra story.
读懂了什么?
读完后,试着用一句话说出本文的主要意思,并从原文找出支持它的一句话。
查看中文译文
祖母给我讲她搬到这座镇上的那一天。她先用日语讲,讲到欢迎她的那位邻居时,又换成了英语。
‘她说:你什么时候想喝杯茶,都可以进来。’祖母回忆道。我想把这句话逐字翻译出来,祖母却叫住我:‘那说的不只是茶。她是在告诉我,我不必一个人待着。’
我们一起把故事写进家庭相册。我保留了那句英语,又用日语加了一小段注释,说明这句话对祖母意味着什么。句子可以翻译;一个人为什么记住它,有时还需要多讲一段故事。
本课重点词语
以下是本课重点词语的中文讲解;英文正文中有虚线的单词可悬停查看词义和发音。
- switch to
- 换成;祖母从日语转用英语。
- describe
- 描述;讲述邻居欢迎她的事。
- neighbor
- 邻居;向新搬来的人伸出友谊。
- welcome
- 欢迎;邀请祖母进门喝茶。
- whenever
- 无论何时;表示邀请随时有效。
- recall
- 回忆;祖母重述当年说的话。
- word for word
- 逐字逐句;主人公最初的翻译方法。
- mean more than
- 不止意味着;喝茶还意味着陪伴。
- family album
- 家庭相册;两人共同记录故事。
- add a note
- 加注释;说明原话对祖母的意义。
背景知识
邻居说的‘随时来喝茶’是一种欢迎与陪伴的邀请。逐字翻译能传达字面意思,却未必能传达祖母当时感受到的善意;补充背景能让读者理解得更完整。