译文及生词短语整理：朗读者小组

My College Application Essay

Translation

These are my underoos.  Its been a while since I’ve worn them, but sometimes I find myself thinking back to a time when they transformed me into someone who was everything I wanted to be--free from fearandfull of courage.

这些是我的内裤。我穿着它们已经有段时间了，但有时候我发现自己想到了过去有段时间，它们把我转变成一个我全身心想要成为的人——一个没有恐惧，充满勇气的人。

When I was small, I remember fear as a painfully integral part of my existence, shaping how I went through the day.  Outdoors, I was afraid of theCopperheadshiding under every leaf, theBlack Widowslurkingin every dark corner, the lightning that might at any moment spring from a dark cloud, and therabiesthat Old Yeller taught me could turn even my own dog, Jiminy Cricket, against me.  Indoors, I was afraid of theburglars; bad men who I was convinced would one day invade my home to take me or my family away.

在我小的时候，我记得恐惧是我存在的一个痛苦的组成部分，决定了我如何度过每一天。在户外，我害怕可能躲在任何一片叶子下的铜头蛇，潜伏在每一个黑暗角落里的黑寡妇，那可能在任何时候从黑暗的云层中劈出来的闪电，Old Yeller告诉我的甚至能把我自己的小狗Jiminy Cricket变成疯狗的狂犬病。在室内，我害怕窃贼;我害怕我所信任的“坏人”有一天会侵入我的家，把我和我的家人带走。

As a child I let the fear control me.  If I were playing basketball, and my basketball rolled into the woods, then I would stop playing.  I was sure that if I went after it the Copperhead, alreadypoised to bite, would attack.  If I were lying in bed at night and wanted a drink, I would go thirsty rather than venture out into the darkness where someone or something might be lying in wait to hurt me.  I was a scared little chicken of a kid, and I beat myself up for it.  "Why are you so afraid?," I remember often thinking, as there was a very rational voice inside of me that told me howridiculousit was for me to be soinhibitedby fear.

如果我继续玩下去，已经准备好咬我的铜头蛇将会攻击我。如果我晚上躺在床上想要喝水，我宁愿忍受口渴也不愿冒险进入黑暗中，怕有人或某些东西可能在潜伏着想要伤害我。我小时候是个胆小鬼，我为此痛批了自己一顿。 “你为什么这么害怕？”我记得我经常这样想，因为在我心里有一个非常理性的声音告诉我，我让恐惧支配时是多么可笑。

I think that it was partly as a response to my fear that I began toidolizewho I did-- “The Man of Steel.”  Faster than aspeedingbullet, more powerful than alocomotive, and able to leap high buildings in a single bound, Superman was invulnerable to bullets, spiders, freeze rays and snake bites alike.  And I loved him for it.  He did, however, have one weakness:Kryptonite.  When confronted by an enemy with the glowing green chunk of rock from his home planet, Superman was stripped bare of all of his powers, and he became a physically weak man--a fearful man, but he never gave up.  Never did Superman let his fear of the one thing that could destroy him control him, and never did he run from it.  He always fought hard against the fear, and he always, somehow, won.

我认为这在一定程度上是为了回应我的恐惧，我开始崇拜“超人”。他比射出的子弹飞得更快，比机车更有威力，一个跳跃就能跨越一栋高楼。超人免疫子弹，蜘蛛，冷冻光线和毒蛇咬伤。因此我爱他。但他却有一个弱点：氪石。当他面对携带着这从他家乡带来的灼热的绿色大块石头的敌人时，超人几乎被剥夺了他所有的力量，他成了一个身体虚弱的人——一个恐惧的人，但他从未放弃。超人从来没有让对可以摧毁他的事物的恐惧来控制他，而且从来没有逃避它。他总是竭力与恐惧抗争，总是以某种方式赢得了胜利。

As a kid I'm pretty sure that I never thought about it that deeply.  All I knew was that I wanted to be Superman.  I went through a period when I never wanted to take off my Superman underoos.  With them, I ‘was’ Superman.  I think it embarrassed my mom when I wore them (cape and all) to school, so she convinced me to wear over them abusiness suitand glasses so as to be Clark Kent.  That was fine with me.  I remember spending what seemed like hours in front of the mirror practicing making an 'S' curve with a front lock of my hair, never able to get it just right.  When I went over to my best friend's house I would wear my suit and glasses, butbefore longwe wouldbe down toour underoos practicing 'flying' into his couch.

作为一个孩子，我很确定我从来没有深入想过这些。我所知道的就是我想成为超人。我经历了一段时间，那时我从不想脱掉我的超人内裤。穿着它，我就是“超人”。我觉得当我把超人披风穿上学校时，我妈妈很尴尬，所以她说服我穿上一件西装并戴了眼镜，以便我看起来像克拉克·肯特。这对我来说很好，我记得我在镜子前面花了几个小时，将我前额的一缕头发弄成S形，却总是不能够摆好。当我去我最好的朋友的家时，我会戴上我的西装和眼镜，但是不久之后，我们将会在他的沙发上练习像超人那样飞翔。

I never did learn to fly, I never got the 'S' curve just right, and I don't think my Clark Kent phase at school lasted too long before I got tired of coming homedrenchedin sweat; but I never stopped wanting to be the “Man of Steel.”

我从未真正学会飞翔，我从未弄好过S型发型，并且我想我模仿克拉克·肯特的穿着也没有持续很久，因为不久后我就厌倦了每天都带着一身汗回家；但是我从未停止过想要成为超人的梦想。

As I grew, most of my old fears eventually left me, and though they were all slowly replaced by new ones, and those new ones by yet newer ones, I feel like maybe I've learned something from Superman about dealing with them.  Rather than run from a fear, it works a lot better to face it, and confront it.  Maybe the result will be failure, or maybe pain, but in the end, at least I've progressed, andmore often than notmoved beyondthe fear.

随着我年岁渐长，我大部分之前的恐惧最终都消失了，不过他们都慢慢地由新的恐惧所替代，新的恐惧又被更新的恐惧所替代，我想或许我已经从超人对待恐惧上学到了一些东西。相比于逃避恐惧，直面恐惧会有更好的效果。或许由此产生的结果会是失败，或是痛苦，但是最终至少我进步了，并且通常克服了恐惧。

I really haven't changed that much.  I'm still today likely to jump if out of the corner of my eye I see a copper-colored leaf move, but I'm also much more likely to face my fear, and seek out opportunities that put me in situations to move me beyond petty fears.  It's likely that I'll never learn to fly, but perhaps someday, when I face my Kryptonite, I will be strong enough to struggle against it and, hopefully,prevail.

事实上，在恐惧上我并没有改变太多，直到现在如果从眼角的余光中看到一片铜斑蛇颜色的叶子在移动的话，我都会吓得一跳。但是现在我会更多地选择面对恐惧，寻找机会让我在现实处境中克服恐惧。很可能我永远都学不会飞翔，但是或许有一天，当我面临我的“氪星石”时，我将坚强到足以与之抗争，并希望能够战胜它。

New words

1.Copperheads美  ['kɑpɚ,hɛd] 

n. 铜头蛇

e.g. All the snakes began writhing during the quake (copperheads, cotton mouth, false water cobra, etc.).

所有的蛇类在地震中挣扎扭动（铜斑蛇，水腹蛇，巴西水王蛇，等等）

2.lurk英  [lɜːk] 美  [lɝk] 

vi. 潜伏；潜藏

e.g. Hidden dangers lurk in every family home.

每个家庭都存在潜伏的危险。

3.rabies英  ['reɪbiːz; -ɪz] 美  ['rebiz] 

n. 狂犬病

e.g. More than 99% of all human deaths from rabies occur in Africa and Asia.

狂犬病造成的所有人类死亡中，有99%以上发生在非洲和亚洲。

4.burglar英  ['bɜːglə] 美  ['bɝɡlɚ] 

n. 夜贼，窃贼

e.g. Burglars broke into their home.

窃贼闯进了他们家。

5.ridiculous英  [rɪ'dɪkjʊləs] 美  [rɪ'dɪkjələs] 

adj. 可笑的；荒谬的

e.g. She broke in with a ridiculous objection.

她突然插嘴提了个可笑的异议。

6.inhibit英  [ɪn'hɪbɪt] 美  [ɪn'hɪbɪt] 

vt. 抑制；禁止

e.g. The high cost of borrowing is inhibiting investment by industry in new equipment.

高昂的借贷成本正抑制行业对新设备的投资。

7.idolize英  [ˈaɪdəˌlaɪz] 美  [ˈaɪdəlˌaɪz] 

vt. 极端崇拜

e.g. Naomi idolized her father as she was growing up.

在成长过程中，娜奥米很崇拜她父亲。

8.speeding英  ['spiːdɪŋ] 美  ['spidɪŋ] 

adj. 高速行驶的

e.g. He was booked on a charge of speeding.

他因超速行车被警方记录在案。

9.locomotive英  [ləʊkə'məʊtɪv] 美  [,lokə'motɪv] 

n. 机车；火车头

e.g. At the conductor's whistle the engine-driver starts his locomotive-engine.

乘务员哨声一响， 司机开动机车。

10.Kryptonite氪星石

e.g. Even when he’s forced to hurl an entire continent made out of deadly Kryptonite into space, Superman bounces back from the brink of death.

就算他被迫向宇宙扔下一颗由致命的氪星碎片制成的一块大陆大小的炸弹，超人还是能从死亡边缘逃脱。

11.drenched英  [drentʃd] 美  [drentʃd] 

adj. 湿透的；充满的

e.g. My TDD rule of thumb is that tests should be moist but not drenched.

对于 TDD，我的经验规则是测试应该是潮湿的，但是不要湿透。

12.prevail英  [prɪ'veɪl] 美  [pri'vel] 

vi. 战胜

e.g. We hoped that common sense would prevail.

我们希望常识能占上风。

Phrases

1.free from fear无所畏惧

2.full of courage充满勇气

3.Black Widows黑寡妇(一种能残食其配偶的有毒蜘蛛)

4.poised to bite准备咬他

5.business suit西装

6.before long不久以后

7.be down to只剩下

8.more often than not通常；多半

9.move beyond超越

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