unit 7 Life of a Salesman.doc

Making a living as a door-to-door salesman demands a thick skin, both to protect against the weather and against constantly having the door shut in your face. Bill Porter puts up with all this and much, much more. 干挨家挨户上门推销这一营生得脸皮厚，这是因为干这一行不仅要经受风吹日晒，还要承受一次又一次的闭门羹。比尔 · 波特忍受着这一切，以及别的种种折磨。 Life of a Salesman Tom Hallman Jr. 1 The alarm rings. Its 5:45. He could linger under the covers, listening to the radio and a weatherman who predicts rain. People would understand. He knows that. 一个推销员的生活 小汤姆 · 霍尔曼 闹钟响了。是清晨5：45。他可以在被子里再躺一会儿，听听无线电广播。天气预报员预报有雨。人们会理解的。这点他清楚。 2 A surgeons scar cuts across his lower back. The fingers on his right hand are so twisted that he cant tie his shoes. Some days, he feels like surrendering. But his dead mothers challenge echoes in his soul. So, too, do the voices of those who believed him stupid, incapable of living independently. All his life hes struggled to prove them wrong. He will not quit. 3 And so Bill Porter rises. 他的下背有一道手术疤痕。他右手的手指严重扭曲，连鞋带都没法系。有时，他真想放弃不干了。可在他内心深处，一直回响着已故老母的激励, 还有那些说他蠢，说他不能独立生活的人的声音。他一生都在拚命去证明他们错了。他决不能放弃不干。 于是比尔·波特起身了。 4 He takes the first unsteady steps on a journey to Portlands streets, the battlefield where he fights alone for his independence and dignity. Hes a door-to-door salesman. Sixty-three years old. And his enemies -- a crippled body that betrays him and a changing world that no longer needs him -- are gaining on him. 他摇摇晃晃迈出了去波特兰大街的头几步，波特兰大街是他为独立与尊严而孤身搏杀的战场。他是个挨家挨户上门推销的推销员，今年63岁。他的敌人――辜负他的残疾的身体和一个不再需要他的变化着的世界――正一步一步把他逼向绝境。 5 With trembling hands he assembles his weapons: dark slacks, blue shirt and matching jacket, brown tie, tan raincoat and hat. Image, he believes, is everything. 他用颤抖的双手收拾行装：深色宽松裤，蓝衬衣和与之相配的茄克衫，褐色领带，土褐色雨衣和帽子。在他看来，形象就是一切。 6 He stops in the entryway, picks up his briefcase and steps outside. A fall wind has kicked up. The weatherman was right. He pulls his raincoat tighter. 7 He tilts his hat just so.