Nobody Eats Alone

Nobody Eats Alone

我們一起用餐吧

⊙ By Steve Hartman 翻譯：T Boy

開學(xué)了，學(xué)校里、班里總會(huì)有一兩個(gè)新生，初來(lái)乍到的TA誰(shuí)都不認(rèn)識(shí)，形單影只。你在課間與同學(xué)玩耍，在學(xué)校食堂里與好友興高采烈地邊吃邊聊的時(shí)候，可曾想過(guò)他們的感受？校園生活的內(nèi)容不僅僅是學(xué)習(xí)，還有課外活動(dòng)和同學(xué)情誼。也許，你可以為減輕TA的孤獨(dú)感做點(diǎn)什么。

聽力難度

美式發(fā)音 適合泛聽

語(yǔ)速：175詞/分鐘When the lunch bell rings at Boca High in Boca Raton, Florida, 3,400 kids spill into the courtyard and1)split into their social groups. But not everyone gets included. Here at Boca High, and at schools across the country, someone always sits alone.

Denis Estimon (Student): It’s not a good feeling, like you’re by yourself. And that’s something that I don’t want anybody to go through.

Denis Estimon is a Hatian immigrant. When he came here in first grade, he says he felt2)isolated, especially at lunch. Now

1) split [spl?t] v. 分開

2) isolated [?a?s?le?t?d] adj. 孤立的，單獨(dú)的he’s a senior. He’s popular. But he has not forgotten that first grade feeling.

Denis: To me it’s like, if we don’t try to go make that change, who’s gonna do it?

So with some friends, Denis started a club called We Dine Together.

Students: We Dine…Together. We Dine…Together. We Dine…Together.

Their mission is to go into the courtyard at lunchtime to make sure no one is starving for company.

Denis: Denis.

Student A: I’m new here.

Denis: You’re new here? When did you first come here?

For new kids especially, the club is a godsend. Since it started last fall, hundreds of friendships have formed, some very unlikely. Jean Max Meradieu (Student): You’re probably meeting kids you never would meet on the football team.

Student B: Ever.

Jean Max Meradieu actually quit the football team, gave up all the3)perks that come with it, just so he could spend more time with this club.

Jean: I don’t…I don’t mind not getting a football scholarship. This is what I really wanna do.

Just imagine how different your teenage years would have been if the coolest kids in school all of a sudden decided you mattered. It obviously takes a lot of4)empathy to devote your lunch period to this. Either that, or5)firsthand experience.

Allie Sealy (Student): I went from coming from a school that I always had friends to coming to where I had nobody. So…

Club member Allie Sealy transferred two years ago. She says with no one to sit next to, lunch can be the most6)excruciating part of the day.

Allie: It just seems really unfair. It’s honestly an issue. Meeting someone who actually cares and lis…and listens to what you have to say, really makes a difference. And that could happen at lunch, that could happen at our club. It’s gonna make a difference.

And not just here at Boca High. Denis and his team are now trying to open chapters of We Dine Together at schools across the country. And maybe, when they’re done showing kids how to make outsiders feel accepted, they can teach us adults, too.

3) perk [pз?k] n. 額外待遇

4) empathy [?emp?θ?] n. 感情移入

5) firsthand [fз?st?h?nd] adj. 第一手的，親自得到的

6) excruciating [?k?skru???e?t??] adj. 極痛苦的

For new kids especially, the club is a godsend.

當(dāng)你急切需要某樣?xùn)|西，而又非常意外地得到它時(shí)，你就可以稱它為godsend——天賜之物。我們從單詞的組成（god + send）就可以看出它的珍貴性。這個(gè)單詞可以指實(shí)物（如：久旱之后的降雨、財(cái)物等）、抽象之事（如：期待已久的好消息、在危急關(guān)頭得到的幫助等），也可指人或機(jī)構(gòu)。這個(gè)單詞強(qiáng)調(diào)了兩樣?xùn)|西：意外和急需。注意：盡管這個(gè)單詞看起來(lái)像個(gè)動(dòng)詞，但它的詞性其實(shí)是名詞，如：

· Your payment was an absolute godsend; we were nearly broke.（你的款項(xiàng)絕對(duì)是及時(shí)雨，我們已經(jīng)身無(wú)分文了。）

· His arrival was a godsend just when we needed someone.（正當(dāng)我們需要人的時(shí)候，他的到來(lái)真是天公作美。）

在美國(guó)佛羅里達(dá)州博卡-拉頓市的博卡高中里，每當(dāng)午餐鈴聲響過(guò)，三千四百名學(xué)生就會(huì)涌入庭院，隨即分成各個(gè)不同的小團(tuán)體。

但并不是所有人都有去處。在博卡高中，以及全美各地的學(xué)校里，總會(huì)有人獨(dú)自進(jìn)餐。

丹尼斯·埃斯提蒙（學(xué)生）：自己獨(dú)自一人，那種感覺(jué)可不好受。我不希望任何人有這樣的經(jīng)歷。

丹尼斯·埃斯提蒙是來(lái)自海地的移民。他說(shuō)，剛到美國(guó)上一年級(jí)的時(shí)候，他有一種孤獨(dú)的感覺(jué)，尤其是午餐時(shí)段。如今他已經(jīng)是畢業(yè)班的學(xué)生了，人氣很高，但他從來(lái)沒(méi)有忘記一年級(jí)時(shí)的感受。

丹尼斯：對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，如果我們不主動(dòng)做出改變，那誰(shuí)會(huì)去做呢？

于是，丹尼斯與幾個(gè)朋友一道，成立了一個(gè)名為“我們一起用餐”的俱樂(lè)部。

眾學(xué)生：我們一起……用餐。我們一起……用餐。我們一起……用餐。

他們的使命就是在午餐時(shí)段走到庭院去，確保不會(huì)有誰(shuí)渴望朋友，卻無(wú)人作伴。

丹尼斯：我叫丹尼斯。

學(xué)生甲：我是新來(lái)的。

丹尼斯：你是新來(lái)的？你什么時(shí)候到的？

特別是對(duì)新生來(lái)說(shuō)，這個(gè)俱樂(lè)部簡(jiǎn)直是上天派來(lái)的救星。自從俱樂(lè)部在去年秋天成立以來(lái)，數(shù)百人在這里找到了友誼，有些友情看上去讓人頗感意外。吉恩·馬克斯·梅拉杜（學(xué)生）：你在這里可能會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)一些在橄欖球隊(duì)沒(méi)有機(jī)會(huì)遇到的人。學(xué)生乙：絕對(duì)不會(huì)遇到。

為了可以多花些時(shí)間與俱樂(lè)部的人相處，吉恩·馬克斯·梅拉杜竟然退出了橄欖球隊(duì)，放棄了身為隊(duì)員可以得到的所有好處。吉恩：我不……拿不到橄欖球獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金我也不在乎，俱樂(lè)部的活動(dòng)才是我真正想做的事。

試想一下，學(xué)校里最受歡迎的學(xué)生突然對(duì)你重視起來(lái)，這對(duì)你的青蔥歲月會(huì)產(chǎn)生多大的影響。顯然，能夠用自己的午餐時(shí)段來(lái)做這事，你要么是特別關(guān)心他人，要么就是有過(guò)類似的親身經(jīng)歷。阿萊·西利（學(xué)生）：我在以前的學(xué)校從不缺朋友，但來(lái)到這里，一個(gè)人也不認(rèn)識(shí)，所以……

俱樂(lè)部成員阿萊·西利兩年前轉(zhuǎn)學(xué)到博卡高中，她說(shuō)，午餐時(shí)獨(dú)坐一隅是一天當(dāng)中最難受的時(shí)候。阿萊：實(shí)在是太不公平了。這確實(shí)是個(gè)問(wèn)題。認(rèn)識(shí)一個(gè)真正關(guān)心你，愿意聽……聽你說(shuō)話的人真是太不一樣了，而這可能是你吃午飯時(shí)的事，也有可能是在我們的俱樂(lè)部里，這會(huì)給你的校園生活帶來(lái)很大變化。

而這不僅僅發(fā)生在博卡高中。丹尼斯與他的團(tuán)隊(duì)正努力在全美各地的學(xué)校開設(shè)“我們一起用餐”分部。說(shuō)不定他們?cè)诮o其他孩子示范如何讓局外人感覺(jué)賓至如歸的同時(shí)，也可以給我們這些成年人上一課呢。

一國(guó)元首，日理萬(wàn)機(jī)，卻每年都從繁忙的事務(wù)中抽出時(shí)間，為開學(xué)的學(xué)子打氣加油，可見(jiàn)開學(xué)一事之重要。我們一起來(lái)聽聽美國(guó)前總統(tǒng)奧巴馬都說(shuō)了些什么。