實戰(zhàn)口語情景對話：Ageing 變老

Adrienne: Now, Vivian, do you mind me asking how old you are?

埃德里安娜：薇薇安，你介意我問你的年紀嗎?

Vivian: I was 80 years old on November 3rd, 2004.

薇薇安：2004年11月3日是我80歲的生日。

Adrienne: Wow! 80! What does it feel like to be 80?

埃德里安娜：哇!80歲!80歲感覺怎么樣?

Vivian: It's a little inconvenient because my mind didn't turn 80 but my body did and I find it sometimes my mind follows my body too! And it's hard to be as quick as I used to be and I always want to do more, now than I able to do. I can't do what I used to do when I was younger.

薇薇安：有點兒不方便，因為雖然我的頭腦不是80歲的狀態(tài)，但我的身體卻是80歲的狀態(tài)，而且我發(fā)現(xiàn)有時我的頭腦會跟身體一樣呈現(xiàn)80歲的狀態(tài)!我很難像以前那樣反應(yīng)迅速，而且我想做的事情比我能做的事情多。年輕時經(jīng)常做的事情現(xiàn)在都做不了了。

Adrienne: Oh, that's disappointing and probably a little frustrating.

埃德里安娜：哦，這真令人失望，可能還有些令人沮喪。

Vivian: Very frustrating! Very frustrating! Especially when you have been active all of your life and all of a sudden things are just, have slowed down to where you can't do all those running around, flying around tasks that you used to be able to do in the morning. Sometimes it takes me two days to get everything accomplished. Well those are definite disadvantages to getting older.

薇薇安：非常令人沮喪!非常沮喪!尤其是你的一生曾經(jīng)一直很活躍，而突然所有事情都慢下來了，你不能再四處跑動，不能再像以前那樣早上處理一些工作。有時我可能會用兩天的時間才能完成事情。這些絕對是變老以后的壞處。

Adrienne: Are there any advantages? Can you give us some hope?

埃德里安娜：那有沒有好處呢?你能給我們點希望嗎?

Vivian: Yes! Yes! There is hope. You have reached an age where you understand where you have been. I'm very fortunate that I lived in the 1900's. I was born in 1924. I saw the airplane invented. I saw the beginning of penicillin. I saw the medication for polio which stopped it in its track. I saw so many things. World War II. I was married in World War II and my husband went overseas for two years during that time, and my first two years of marriage was by letters, so it was, it's a good time, 80, you look back on all those things and you're glad to be part of it. You begin to understand the changes that are taking placejust as they took place when you were young, but you don't come to that realization until you become old. You don't become wiser. You just become more knowledgeable.

薇薇安：當(dāng)然，當(dāng)然有希望。你到了一個可以理解所經(jīng)歷事情的年紀。我非常幸運能出生在20世紀，我生于1924年。我見證了飛機的發(fā)明。我見證了盤尼西林的誕生。我見證了預(yù)防小兒麻痹癥藥物的出現(xiàn)。我見證了許多事情。包括第二次世界大戰(zhàn)。我在二戰(zhàn)期間結(jié)婚，結(jié)婚后我丈夫出國待了兩年的時間，所以我結(jié)婚的前兩年是靠書信和丈夫聯(lián)系的，那是段不錯的時光，當(dāng)你80歲的時候，你會回顧這些事情，而你會為經(jīng)歷了這些事情而感到高興。你開始理解發(fā)生的那些變革，那些發(fā)生在你年輕時的變革，但是直到你上了年紀以后你才會得到這種理解。并不是因為你變聰明了，而是因為你見多識廣了。

Adrienne: Well, that doesn't sound so bad.

埃德里安娜：那聽上去還不錯。