When he got the call that his son was ill in California and not expected to live for long, Bill didn't know [how] (1) he was going to get the money for his wife and himself to make the trip. Bill had worked as a truck driver his entire life, but he never managed to have any [savings] (2).
So with [embarrassment] (3) Bill walked the mile to the filling station (加油站) and told the owner , \"My son is really sick and I've got no cash. Can you trust (赊账给) me for the phone call to California?\"
\"Pick up the [phone] (4) and talk as long as you need to,\" was the answer. As he started to dial (码
拨
电
话
驾
号驶
), he was [interrupted] (5) by a stranger, jumping down from the cab (
室) of a truck and asking, \"Aren't you Bill Beasley? Your son was one of my best friends when we were growing up together. When I went off to college, I lost [touch] (6) with him. Heard you say he's sick?\"
After the call Bill was told that that truck driver had paid for it and left him an [envelope] (7). He opened it and pulled out two pieces of paper. One read, \"You were the first truck driver my dad trusted enough to let me go along with.\" The second one was a [signed] (8) check with an attached [message] (9): \"Fill out the amount [needed] (10) for you and your wife to make the trip. Merry Christmas!\"
当他打电话，他的儿子在加利福尼亚生病了，不会长久，比尔不知道[如何]（1）他要为他的妻子把钱和自己去旅行。比尔曾经当过卡车司机，他的整个生命，但他从未有任何[储蓄]（2）。
所以[尴尬]（3）比尔走了一英里的加油站（加油站）告诉店主，“我的儿子真的病了，我没有现金。你能相信（赊账给）我打电话到加利福尼亚吗？”
“拿起[电话]（4），只要你需要，就说：”。他开始拨号（拨电话号码），他是[中断]（5）被一个陌生人，跳跃从出租车上下来（驾驶室）一辆卡车，问，“你不是比尔比斯利吗？你儿子在我们一起成长的时候是我最好的朋友之一。当我上大学时，我和他失去了联系（6）。听你说他病了？”
在比尔打电话说，卡车司机已经付了，留下他一个[信封]（7）。他打开它，拿出2张纸。一看，“你是第一个卡车司机，我爸爸相信得足以让我一起去。”第二个是[签署]（8）检查附[信息]（9）：“填写[需要]（10）为你和你的妻子，使旅行。圣诞快乐！”
The American Dream used to go something like this:The American Dream used to go something like this: arrive in this country for an unskilled job with
small pay. Save and save 1until you can open a small business--in recent 2years, a take-out restaurant or a dry cleaner. Buy a modest 3house in the suburbs. Send the children to college and hope they grow 4up to be doctors. In the past decade, that dream5 has changed. For many immigrants6 today, the new version of the dream goes like this: arrive in America for a high-tech job with good pay, invest and invest until you can open your own business7. Buy a huge house in an exclusive suburb. And if you do not have an engineering 8 degree? Work like crazy, get a tech-related job and invest9 a large part of your wages into stocks until you don’t wait for your kids are rich10
美国梦过去曾这样做：美国梦过去是这样的：在这个国家的一个不熟练的工作
小额支付。保存，直到（1），你可以打开一个小企业-在最近（2）年，一个外卖餐厅或干洗店。买一个温和的（3）的房子在郊区。送孩子上大学，希望他们成长（4），成为医生。在过去的十年中，那个梦想（5）已经改变。对于许多移民（6）今天，这个梦想的新版本是这样的：到达美国的高科技工作，良好的薪酬，投资和投资，直到你可以打开你自己的业务（7）。在郊区买一所大房子。如果你没有一个工程（8）学位？疯狂的工作，找一份技术相关的工作，把你的工资中的一部分投入9到股票中，直到你不再等待你的孩子（10）
I was trying to make something of myself,trying to fit into the necktie world,trying to flee the very world of rusted wrenches,muddy work boots,and grease-stained hands that we had been born into.But I kept breaking down on the way.
He was not fleeing that place with me.He was in it,then and forever.As the oldest brother,he went to work as a boy,digging coal out of frozen mud so we could heat the house,raising hogs so there would be something delicious at suppertime instead of just beans and corn bread.He never had a job that did not depend on sweat and muscle and guts.
But instead of laughing at me or even just ignoring me as I tried to escape that life,he came to rescue me,every time I broke down on the side of the road,my clip-on tie flapping in the wind.
I would hold the flashlight as he worked for hours under a hood or under a car till he finally got me rolling again,got me on my way.
Not one time,not once,did he refuse to come when I needed him.
He is only three years older than me,my brother Sam,but he helped raise me,helped me climb up to something that I used to think was better.Now,knowing him better,I know that I didn't go someplace better-only different.
我很想做点什么,努力适应自己的领带的世界,试图逃离的世界、生锈、泥泞的工作压力,grease-stained靴子,我们已经出生的手中.但是我一直崩溃.
他没有逃离这地方和我在一起.他是在这之后,永永远远.作为最古老的哥哥,他就去工作了作为一个男孩,挖煤的冰冻的泥浆,所以我们能够取暖,饲养猪因此会有某些美味晚餐的时候,而不是豆和玉米面包.他从未有过的工作并不取决于汗水和肌肉和内脏.
但是,而不应该嘲笑我,或者干脆忽视我,就像我试图逃避生活,他来救我,我每次抛锚在路边,我用别针别上的领带扑在风中飘扬.
我可以为他工作几个小时手电筒下或在一辆汽车引擎盖直到最后给我滚,让我在路上了.
不,不是一次,他拒绝来当我需要他.
他只有三岁,我哥哥比我大山姆,但是他帮助我、帮助我爬到一些我曾经认为是更好的.现在,了解他,我知道我没去某处不同.
(Jenny and Raymond had been lovers before World War II set them apart. Eight years later Raymond happened to learn that Jenny was still living alone in London...)
So Raymond found himself unpacking his bag in a London hotel before he had decided on his approach (
接
近
的
途
径) to Jenny. He first thought of the telephone, but he knew that wouldn't do. Jenny believed that he was dead. He couldn't just ring up and say he wasn't. Nor could he just ring her doorbell and be standing there on the mat. She would think she was 了
seeing things (
眼
花启
). A hot bath and a change of clothes did not bring any revelations (
示), either. He sat down at the writing desk and began a latter to her -- tore it up and began another -- and tore that up. He threw down the pen and went out into the early October dusk of London, deliberately avoiding the address where Jenny was living.
He was unaccustomed to dilemmas (两难境
界) like this which could not be reasoned out in a decent length of time, and he was getting angry with himself. Moodily he turned into a cheerful-looking restaurant and had a lonely meal, aware that he might have Jenny's happy face across the table -- he was wasting time – but after so many years, did a few more hours matter?
（珍妮和雷蒙德是情人，第二次世界大战前把他们分开。八年后，雷蒙德知道发生了珍妮还独自生活在伦敦……）
雷蒙德发现自己打开他的包在伦敦的一个酒店之前，他已决定对他的做法，珍妮。他首先想到的电话，但他知道不做。珍妮认为他死了。他不能打电话，说他不是他也只是环门铃，站在垫子上。她以为她看到的东西。洗个热水澡，换上衣服，不带任何启示，要么。他坐在写字台开始后她——把它撕碎，开始另一个——撕了。他把笔放下，去到十月早期伦敦的黄昏，刻意回避的地址在哪里，珍妮的生活。
他不习惯这样的困境，不能推断在相当长的时间，而他对自己非常生气。闷闷不乐的他变成了一个令人愉快的餐厅，有一个孤独的饭，知道这么多年后他可能珍妮的笑脸桌子对面——他是在浪费时间–但，再做几小时的事吗？
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