第4章 青春不散场 (3)
As college students are prone to do. I decided that if I just slept for a while and woke up really early， I would be able to manifest a major. I don’t know exactly what it is in the college student’s brain that thinks some magical process occurs between 2： 00 A. M. and 6： 00 A. M. that will suddenly make everything more clear.
It had worked for me in the past， but not this time. In fact， as college students are also prone to do， I overslept. 1 woke up at 10： 00 A. M.. I had missed my lst class， Physics for Poets， and I had 3 hours to commit the rest of my life to something， anything. There was always business.
I left for campus hoping for a divine major-declaring inspiration between my house and the administration building that would point me in the right direction. Maybe a stranger would pass by on the street and say，“This is what you should do for the rest of your life： animal husbandry.” Maybe I would see someone hard at work and become inspired to pursue the same career. I did see a troupe of Hare Krishnas who didn’t seem particularly troubled about majors， but that didn’t quite seem to be a career path suited to my temperament. I passed a movie theater playing Once Is Not Enough， and was tempted to duck inside and enjoy the film based on Jacqueline Susann’s best—selling novel and starring David Janssen. I passed up the temptation. But， wait a minute！ Movies. I love movies！ I could major in movies. No， there is no major in movies. Film， you idiot， I thought. That’s it！I was lost but now I was found. I was declared.
15 years later， I think of all my friends who so confidently began college with their majors declared. Of those who went around snottily asking，“what’s your major？” very few are working in their chosen professions. I didn’t end up a filmmaker. In fact， I’m now on my 4 th career—and some days， I still feel undeclared. It really doesn’t matter what you major in， as long as you get the most out of college. Study what interests you， and enjoy learning about the world. There is plenty of time to decide what you will do with the rest of your life.
这个问题就像一首古老的教堂圣歌，回荡在走廊里，一直飘向院子。每个人都在问这个问题，它成了新的流行语，成了人们口头吟诵的新的诗句，甚至比“你是什么星座”这个问题还要流行。然而，我无法回答这个问题，我害怕被问到这个问题。我就像某种被偷运过国际边界的禁运生物，因为我没有选定专业。我的生活没有目标，就像一个被解开绳子漂浮于太空的宇航员。我宁愿再考一次学术能力测验，也不愿意面对“你学什么专业”这个问题。
明天是选定专业的最后一天，最后一天！在人类学、社会学、分子生物学等等领域，别人都在努力开创自己的事业，都在快乐地沿着自己的生活轨迹前进。朋友们安慰我说：“不要担心，你总可以主修商务。”商务？这对我来说是不能的。我宁愿去死，也不会主修商务，我是一个艺术家。事实上，我不用上大学就能够走入社会，并且，我突出的才干马上就可以得到社会的认可。
为了招待一些朋友，父母举办了一次晚宴，那是在我决定命运的前一天晚上。这真是一个避难所！父母的朋友们会在乎什么专业呢？我可以放松几个小时，平静地吃上一顿晚餐。
我想错了！专业成为了所有人谈论的话题。每个人都与我谈论他们的专业，并且对我应该选择什么专业各抒己见。这些人的建议没有让我向任何一个专业更加靠近，反而令我更加困惑。在这些人中，没有一个人与自己的专业看起来相称的。牙医厄尔金先生的牙齿中嵌着菠菜叶；牙医詹金斯夫人的牙齿中也嵌着菠菜叶；工业化学家詹金斯夫人向她的小牛肉上涂抹番茄酱；水利工程师艾伯特森先生，总是把他喝水的玻璃杯打翻。
晚宴结束后，大家都走了。夜越来越深了，我仍然没有选定专业。我把目录册拿出来，开始翻找可能的专业，我已经翻了无数次了。主修航空工程学？可是我晕机。主修汉语？去中国一直是我的心愿，然而，我即使主修的不是这个专业也可以去中国。牙科？正在那时，我从镜子中看到自己的牙齿上嵌了菠菜叶，看来这也行不通了。
我认为，如果自己小睡一觉，然后早早地起床，就能够决定主修哪个专业了，大学生就常常这么做。大学生的脑袋在凌晨2点至6点之间究竟产生了哪些不可思议的思维，使得他们能够把所有事情都想明白，对此我无法彻底地了解。这个办法曾经对我是有用的，这次却不灵验了。
我睡过头了，事实上，大学生也很容易睡过头。我早上十点钟才起床，第一节课应该是“诗人的自然哲学”，我错过了那节课。接下来，我有三个小时让自己思考一些专业，甚至是任何专业。然而，商业总是出现在脑海中。
我从家里出来，往校园里走去，心中期盼着能够在家与学校行政楼之间的这段路程获得一些灵感，给我指引正确的方向，选定一个非常好的主修专业。也许，在大街上时，一个陌生人会经过我的身旁，对我说：“畜牧业就是你一生应该从事的行业。”也许，我会看到一个努力工作的人，被这个人所感染，然后选择与其相同的职业。在路上，我的确看到了野兔克利须那剧团，那看起来确实不像一个适合我的职业道路，剧团的人看起来并不特别为专业所困扰。我路过了一家电影院，那里正在放映《一次不够》，电影是根据杰奎琳？苏珊的畅销小说改编而成的，主演是大卫？简森，我真想溜进去一睹为快。然而，我抵制住了这种诱惑。但是，等一下！影片，我喜欢影片！我可以主修影片，不，没有影片这个专业。我想了一下，蠢货，应该是电影。就选它了！之前，我迷失了，现在，我选定了专业，我找到了方向。
十五年之后，我想起了所有的朋友，他们自信地开始了大学生活，因为他们学着自己选定的专业。有些人曾经到处游荡，无礼地问别人：“你主修什么专业？”他们中几乎没有几个人仍旧从事当初选定的专业。我没有成为一名电影制片人，事实上，我现在从事的是我的第四种职业。有时候，我仍旧感到自己未定专业。只要你学习的是自己感兴趣的东西，并且乐于了解世界，那么，你学习什么专业并不重要。因为，关于你在以后的日子做什么的问题，你有大量的时间做决定。
心灵小语
在人生的道路上，每个人都会有迷茫的时候，面对人生的岔路口，该如何选择呢，是听从别人的建议，还是追随自己内心的感觉？不管怎样，你要对自己的选择感兴趣，并且乐于去了解。
记忆填空
1. Everyone else was____moving forward in their lives， striving toward careers in anthropology， sociology， molecular biology and the like.“Don’t____，” my friends would say. “You can always major in____.”
2. I decided that____I just slept for a while and woke up really early， I would be able to manifest a____. I don’t know exactly what it is in the college student’s_____hat thinks some magical process____between 2： 00 A. M. and 6： 00 A. M. that will suddenly make everything more_____ .
佳句翻译
1. 然而，我无法回答这个问题，我害怕被问到这个问题。
译________________________________
2. 事实上，我不用上大学就能够走入社会，并且，我突出的才干马上就可以得到社会的认可。
译________________________________
3. 十五年之后，我想起了所有的朋友，他们自信地开始了大学生活，因为他们学着自己选定的专业。
译________________________________
短语应用
1. I would rather have died than majored in business.
major in：主修，专攻
造_______________________________
2. And Mr. Albertson， the hydro-engineer， kept knocking over his water glass.
knock over：打翻，撞倒；使惊奇；消除
造_______________________________
可怕的学期论文
That Dreaded Term Paper
佚名 / Anonymous
When our professor at Georgia State University， Dr. Norman Dressel， crisply outlined the requirements of the term paper， he sounded especially forbidding. As he regarded us with his piercing eyes， his summation said it all： “Of course， the content is important， but so is proper form and precise bibliography and annotation.” The dread in the classroom seemed to weight the air.
After the bell， as my classmates filed out mumbling darkly， I recalled another classroom that of Mrs. Ado Coots， the terror of Forsyth County High. I could still picture her neat script in the margins of my English papers， carefully enumerating each of my grammatical shortcomings in bright blue ink.