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The Kindness of Strangers Mike Mclntyre

One summer I was driving from my home town of Tahoe City, Calif, to New Orleans. In the middle of the desert, I came upon a young man standing by the roadside. He had his thumb out and held a gas can in his other hand. I drove right by him. There was a time in the country when you' d be considered a jerk if you passed by somebody in need. Now you are a fool for helping. With gangs, drug addicts, murderers, rapists, thieves lurking everywhere, "I don't want to get involved" has become a national motto.

Several states later I was still thinking about the hitchhiker. Leaving him stranded in the desert did not bother me so much. What bothered me was how easily I had reached the decision. I never even lifted my foot off the accelerator.
Does anyone stop any more? I wondered. I recalled Blanche DuBois's famous line: "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Could anyone rely on the kindness of strangers these days? One way to test this would be for a person to journey from coast to coast without any money, relying solely on the good will of his fellow Americans. What kind of Americans would he find? Who would feed him, shelter him, carry him down the road?
The idea intrigued me.

The week I turned 37, I realized that I had never taken a gamble in my life. So I decided to travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic without a penny. It would be a cashless journey through the land of the almighty dollar. I would only accept offers of rides, food and a place to rest my head. My final destination would be Cape Fear in North Carolina, a symbol of all the fears I'd have to conquer during the trip.
I rose early on September 6, 1994, and headed for the Golden Gate Bridge with a 50-pound pack on my back and a sign displaying my destination to passing vehicles: "America."

For six weeks I hitched 82 rides and covered 4223 miles across 14 states. As I traveled, folks were always warning me about someplace else. In Montana they told me to watch out for the cowboys in Wyoming, In Nebraska they said people would not be as nice in Iowa. Yet I was treated with kindness everywhere I went. 1 was amazed by people's readiness to help a stranger, even when it seemed to run contrary to their own best interests.

参考译文

来自陌生人的友善

一个夏天，我从家乡Calif的Tahoe小镇开车到新奥尔良。在沙漠里，我遇到了一个年轻人，他站在路边，伸出一只手的拇指，另一只手里拿着一个汽油罐。我把车停在他身边。在美国，人们一度认为，那些遇到处于困境者的人是傻瓜。现在你是个需要帮助的傻瓜。到处都是犯罪团伙、瘾君子、杀人犯、强奸犯、盗窃者，“我不想被牵涉进去”成了全国性的名言。

几天后，我仍在想这个搭便车的人。把他孤立无助地扔在沙漠里这件事并没有让我很烦恼，我烦恼的是自己这么迅速地作出决定。我从来没有这么冷漠无情。还会有人拦路吗？我茫然了。我想起布兰奇.迪布瓦的名句：“我一直都依赖着陌生人的友善。”如今还有人依赖陌生人的友善吗？要对此做出验证，办法就是只身一人、身无分文地做一次横穿美国的旅行，一路上只依靠着美国同胞的友善。能遇到什么样的美国人呢？谁来为他提供食物、住宿、带他走一段路呢？

这周我37岁了，我意识到，自己有生以来从未下过赌注。因此，我决定身无分文地进行从太平洋到大西洋的旅行。这是在这块金钱万能的大陆上进行的一文不名的旅行。我只能接受别人提供的搭乘、食物和住宿。我最终的目的地是北卡罗来纳州的Cape Fear，这个地方的名字象征我在旅程中要征服的恐惧。

我是在1994年9月6日启程的，背着50磅的行囊，手持一个牌子，上面是向过往的车辆展示的字：美国，这是我的目的地。

六周的时间里，我搭了82次车，行了4223英里，穿越14个州。所到之处，人们总是提醒我当心别的地方的危险。在蒙大纳州，人们告诉我小心怀俄明州的牛仔。在内布拉斯加州，人们说爱荷华州的人不那么友善。然而，每到一个地方，我总是受到了热情的招待。人们准备随时帮助陌生人，这让我很吃惊，甚至是在似乎有违他们最大利益时也是如此。

词汇释义

1.come upon v. 突然产生, 要求, 成为...负担, 偶遇

例句：
I come upon a group of children play in the street.
我遇到一群孩子在街上玩耍。

2.lurk n. 潜伏,潜行 v. 潜藏,潜伏,埋伏

例句：
The thief lurked in the shadows.
小偷在阴暗处躲着。

3.hitchhiker n. 搭便车的旅行者,短篇广告,顺便插入的广告

例句：
He picked up two hitchhiker at the entrance to the motorway.
在高速公路入口，他让两个免费搭车旅行者搭了他的车。

4.stranded adj. 搁浅的,进退两难的

例句：
The tourist group is stranded in the mountain hut by a sudden snowstorm.
由于突降暴风雪，旅游团被困在山上的小棚屋里。

5.almighty adj. 万能的,全能的

例句：
It is said that God is almighty.
据说上帝是万能的。

6.readiness n. 预备,准备,敏捷

例句：
Everything is in readiness.
一手准备就绪。

难句讲解

1.There was a time in the country when you' d be considered a jerk if you passed by somebody in need.

【参考译文】在美国，人们一度认为，那些遇到处于困境者的人是傻瓜。

【结构解析】“There was a time”意思是“曾经有一段时间、一度”，“passed”前省略了"are"。

2.One way to test this would be for a person to journey from coast to coast without any money, relying solely on the good will of his fellow Americans.

【参考译文】要对此做出验证，办法就是只身一人、身无分文地做一次横穿美国的旅行，一路上只依靠着美国同胞的友善。

【结构解析】“this”指上文的“Could anyone rely on the kindness of strangers these days”，“journey from coast to coast”是指travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean。