2014年翻译资格考试高级笔译强化练习试题(3)_第2页

　　Something to Look Forward To

　　Little children look forward to the arrival of lunar New Year, adults to that of spring. When a child I couldn't understand what the elders hoped for. But New Year's Day was always the greatest red-letter day of all the year, for it meant the nicest food as well as a lot of fun, which was really fascinating. As soon as the festival was over, another one was my dream and I wished time flew as fast as possible.

　　Days spent in expectation come and go really very fast. Very soon I Finished primary school, went to junior and senior muddle school, and finally to college; with ever greater desire for more varied things: for graduation with honours, for an ideal job, for a successful career, for more earnings to share my parents' burden, for a satisfactory wife. . .. Climbing the upward steps of hope I had become a fully grown man before I was aware of it, a busy breadwinner with a family on my hands.

　　Life began to show its various facets. Whether I have turned more vulgar or great, I have always something to look forward to. It may be arrival of a letter, publication of an article, the bonus-distributing day, a gratifying result of something, a get-together or a pleasure trip. . .Such expectations serve as a prop to a person's faith in life.

　　A day without hope would be unimaginably pale. There must be something to look forward to each day to brighten one's life and keep it out of shadows. To a person cherishing hopes every morning rises a new sun. Even if it is a fantasy or an illusion, so long as it shows a ray of hope it still urges you on in pursuit of that little sparkle without letup.

　　Deprived of moisture content, soil turns into desert. Deprived of hope, what is there left to a person? A small hope sustains a person for a day, a great one for a lifetime. Human beings cannot do without something to look forward to.