Unit 9B - Fresh Air Will Kill You
Fresh Air Will Kill You
Smog, which was once the big attraction of Los Angeles, can now be found all over the country from Butte, Montana, to New York City, and people are getting so used to polluted air that it's very difficult for them to breathe anything else.
I was lecturing recently, and one of my stops was Flagstaff, Arizona, which is about 7,000 miles above sea level.
As soon as I got out of the plane, I smelled something peculiar.
"What's that smell?" I asked the man who met me at the plane.
"I don't smell anything," he replied.
"There's a definite odor that I'm not familiar with," I said.
"Oh, you must be talking about the fresh air. A lot of people come out here who have never smelled fresh air before."
"What's it supposed to do?" I asked suspiciously.
"Nothing. You just breathe it like any other kind of air. It's supposed to be good for your lungs."
"I've heard that story before," I said. "How come if it's air, my eyes aren't watering?"
"Your eyes don't water with fresh air. That's the advantage of it. Saves you a lot in paper tissues."
I looked around and everything appeared crystal clear. It was a strange sensation and made me feel very uncomfortable.
My host, sensing this, tried to be reassuring. "Please don't worry about it. Tests have proved that you can breathe fresh air day and night without its doing any harm to the body."
"You're just saying that because you don't want me to leave," I said. "Nobody who has lived in a major city can stand fresh air for a very long time. He has no tolerance for it."
"Well, if the fresh air bothers you, why don't you put a handkerchief over your nose and breathe through your mouth?"
"Okay, I'll try it. If I'd known I was coming to a place that had nothing but fresh air, I would have brought a surgical mask."
We drove in silence. About fifteen minutes later he asked, "How do you feel now?"
"Okay, I guess, but I sure miss sneezing."
"We don't sneeze too much here," the man admitted. "Do they sneeze a lot where you come from?"
"All the time. There are some days when that's all you do."
"Do you enjoy it?"
"Not necessarily, but if you don't sneeze, you'll die. Let me ask you something. How come there's no air pollution around here?"
"Flagstaff can't seem to attract industry. I guess we're really behind the times. The only smoke we get is when the Indians start signaling each other. But the wind seems to blow it away." The fresh air was making me feel dizzy "Isn't there a diesel bus around here that I could breathe into for a couple of hours?"
"Not at this time of day. I might be able to find a truck for you."
We found a truck driver, and slipped him a five-dollar bill, and he let me put my head near his exhaust pipe for a half hour. I was immediately revived and able to give my speech.
Nobody was as happy to leave Flagstaff as I was. My next stop was Los Angeles, and when I got off the plane, I took one big deep breath of the smog-filled air, my eyes started to water, I began to sneeze, and I felt like a new man again.
参考译文——新鲜空气会让你送命
新鲜空气会让你送命
烟雾曾是洛杉矶的一大景观，如今却在全国各地——从蒙大拿州的比尤特到纽约市——随处可见；人们越来越习惯于受污染的空气，现在要他们呼吸点别的什么玩意儿，反倒十分困难了。
前些日子我在做巡回演讲，其中有一站是亚利桑那州的弗拉格斯塔夫，该城地处海拔7000英里以上。
我一下飞机就闻到某种特别的怪味。
“那是股什么味儿?”我问那个来机场接我的人。
“我可没闻到什么啊，”他说。
“肯定有股我不熟悉的怪味儿，”我说。
“哦，你准是在说新鲜空气吧。不少来这儿的人以前从没呼吸过新鲜空气。”
“那玩意儿用来干嘛的？”我狐疑地问。
“不干嘛。你就像呼吸任何别的空气那样呼吸好了。据说对肺有好处。”
“这说法我从没听说过，”我说。“如果这也算是空气，那我的眼睛怎么没在淌眼泪呢?”
“新鲜空气不会让你眼睛流眼泪的，它的好处就在于此。可以省掉你不少面巾纸。”
我环顾四周，一切都显得水晶般地清澈。这倒给人一种怪异的感觉，让我觉得浑身不自在。
我的东道主觉察出了这点，便设法拿话来宽慰我。“请不要为此担心。试验业已证明，你尽可日夜呼吸新鲜空气，而不会对身体造成任何伤害。”
“你说这话无非是不想让我离开罢了，”我说。“住惯了大城市的人，要他们长时间呼吸新鲜空气，谁都受不了的。这玩意消受不了。”
“嗳，要是新鲜空气真让你烦心的话，你干吗不用手帕捂住鼻子，用嘴来呼吸?”
"对呀，我来试试。如果早知道我来的地方只有新鲜空气，我就会带一只口罩来了。”
我们开着车，沉默无语。过了刻把钟，他问：“这会儿你觉得怎么样？”
“我想还可以吧，不过我倒是很想能再打个喷嚏。”
“我们这儿的人不常打喷嚏，”那人并不讳言。“你们那儿的人常打喷嚏吗？”
“时时刻刻都在打。有些日子你就是光打喷嚏不干别的。”
“你们很喜欢打喷嚏啰？”
“那倒未必，可要是不打喷嚏你不就没命了嘛。我问你，这一带怎么会没有空气污染的呢?”
“弗拉格斯塔夫似乎引不起工业界的兴趣。我想我们确实太落伍了。我们只有在印第安人发信号相互传递信息时，才会有点烟雾。可是一阵风似乎就将它吹散了。”新鲜空气搞得我头昏眼花。“附近难道没有烧柴油的公共汽车，好让我钻进去呼吸一两个小时？”
“这时候可没有公共汽车。也许我可以给你找辆卡车。”
我们找到一位卡车司机，塞给他一张五美元的钞票，于是他便让我把头贴近卡车排气管吸了半小时。我立刻恢复了元气，能够发表演讲了。
我离开弗拉格斯塔夫时的那股快活劲儿，没有谁能同我相比。我下一站是洛杉矶；我一下飞机，便深深地吸了一大口满是烟雾的空气，我的双眼开始流眼泪，我开始打喷嚏，于是我觉得自己脱胎换骨变了个人似的。
Key Words:
tolerance ['tɔlərəns]
n. 忍耐力，宽容，容忍，公差
crystal ['kristl]
n. 水晶，晶体
adj. 晶体的，透明的
uncomfortable [ʌn'kʌmftəbl]
adj. 不舒服的，不自在的
odor ['əudə]
n. 气味，名声，气息
reassuring [,ri:ə'ʃuəriŋ]
adj. 可靠的；安心的；鼓气的 v. 使放心（reassure）
plane [plein]
adj. 平的，与飞机有关的
n. 飞机，水平
advantage [əd'vɑ:ntidʒ]
n. 优势，有利条件
vt. 有利于
definite ['definit]
adj. 明确的，确切的，有把握的
sensation [sen'seiʃən]
n. 感觉，感知力，激动，轰动
sneeze [sni:z]
n. 喷嚏
vi. 打喷嚏
silence ['sailəns]
n. 沉默，寂静
vt. 使安静，使沉默
pollution [pə'lu:ʃən]
n. 污染，污染物
mask [mɑ:sk]
n. 面具，面罩，伪装
v. 戴面具，掩饰，遮
minutes ['minits]
n. 会议记录，(复数)分钟
exhaust [ig'zɔ:st]
v. 耗尽，使衰竭，使筋疲力尽
n. 排气装置
plane [plein]
adj. 平的，与飞机有关的
参考资料：
大学英语精读(第三版) 第一册:Unit09B Fresh Air Will Kill You(2)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语